Stories by Andrew Hendry

Access denied: BPL turns to the home network

According to opponents and proponents of Broadband over Power Lines, the technology is unlikely to gain a foothold in the commercial access space but is finding a niche as a networking technology inside the home.

Moon calls it a day as AIIA CEO

Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) CEO, Sheryle Moon, will depart from the position at the end of this week to take up a new role as Australia and New Zealand director for Ross and Julia Ross staff recruitment brands.

Ubuntu breathes new life into school's abandoned hardware

When 3Ghz dual core computers running 2GB of RAM weren't being used for many heavily CPU-intensive applications in a Victorian secondary school library, the school's IT department initially joked about replacing them with older and previously abandoned hardware. Then it saw the serious side.

UltraBattery delivers watts missing

Scientists at the CSIRO have developed an UltraBattery that unites a supercapacitor and a lead acid battery inside a single cell, creating a hybrid high powered charge and discharge device that boasts a life cycle at least four times longer and 50 per cent more powerful than conventional battery systems.

Police raid alleged DVD piracy ring in western Sydney

The NSW Police Force and the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) dealt a significant blow to the pirate film industry with the seizure of thousands of allegedly illegal movies during police raids in Sydney today.

Borland unveils StarTeam 2008

Borland this week announced the availability of StarTeam 2008.

iiNet: Telstra will ruin the National Broadband Network

iiNet has declared that the Rudd government's National Broadband Network (NBN) will be a failure with higher fees for customers, fewer ISPs and a decline in innovation and competition if the current access and regulatory regime is not "dramatically reformed".

School districts serve up lessons in Linux

Windows may boast the lion's share of the desktop education market, but the economic and technical benefits of open source software has seen many schools and education institutions implement various flavours of Linux across their desktops and server back-ends.

People with disabilities reap rewards from e-recycling

One of NSW's largest charities, Wesley Mission, is providing employment and training opportunities for people with a disability by engaging them in its E-Recycling initiative.

All you can eat backup service targets consumers and SMEs

Carbonite has updated its online PC backup product. For a uniform price Carbonite version 3.5 provides an "all you can eat" style online backup service aimed at consumers and SMEs.

Book looks at IT's chic appeal to attract girl power

An Australian not-for-profit book aimed at attracting teenage girls into careers in IT has attracted international attention and will now go on sale as part of a global bid to entice more young girls into IT careers.

IT industry sees slight drop in wage increase, non-tech skills on the rise

The Australian Information Industry Association today released its Survey of Salaries and Remuneration Packaging for the ICT industry, which saw a half per cent drop in the average salary but bore no evidence of wage inflation despite the skills shortage.

Australian emergency services sites aren't up to scratch

A Dutch Web site performance monitor today released a report claiming that only one Australian emergency service Web site performed in line with industry standards for errors, availability and performance.

Aussie broadband value: stagnant or stingy?

Australian Internet users feel broadband value has not improved over the past twelve months, according to Whirlpool's 2007 Australian Broadband Survey, released this week.

RepRap: An open source 3D printer for the masses

Imagine the last time something in your house broke - a cup or plate, a bracket, a door handle, a component in an electrical appliance or mechanical device, a hinge, a switch - the list can go on and on. But instead of tossing the entire device out, or heading to the local hardware or electrical store to find an often costly replacement, imagine if you could recreate that object or component in your home on a 3D printer. Now imagine if the 3D printer you use to make that part could recreate itself as well.