Our Reserve Bank really does seem to have some odd ideas. Recently there was the mortgage levy proposal and now it is suggesting that tinkering with GST could be an ideal method of dealing the peaks and troughs of our apparent rampant consumerism.

The suggestion is that in times of resource constraints GST could be increased across the board with the extra tax revenue hoarded to be given back as a GST cut during weak economic periods.

This whole idea is actually quite ridiculous for a couple of obvious reasons:

1. We have a fixed GST rate on everything. Any increase in GST will affect poor people. Basics such as food and electricity will become more expensive.
2. Governments never give anything back. You can guarantee that any extra tax revenue will not be put aside and will instead be pumped into the consolidated fund.
3. It would be easy to defraud. Any small business could purchase that new TV or car and simply claim back the GST as they do now.

Our Reserve Bank is fast becoming the Ministry of Silly Thoughts.

The Telecom annual result was posted today for the 06/07 period. You can read the full release here

What struck me was the revenue for mobile data at $218m which is a increase of 27.5% over the previous year. Generally mobile data also ncludes SMS, music downloads and WAP so it is difficult to say exactly what the 3G data revenues were. What it does go to show is that mobile data is very much mainstream now. My company sells an EVDO router and we have definitely seen an increase in people purchasing this product for general internet access in areas where DSL is not available. The recent ComCom price determination for LLU at around $32 per line in rural areas is certainly going to also help with the growth and adoption of mobile data as a primary Internet access technology for people living outside the cities.

According to the financial report mobile voice revenues were down .8% but overall revenue growth in mobile was 5.4%, this was obviously helped along by the surge in mobile data. With total mobile revenues at $816m mobile data makes up 26.7% of the total.

Apparently DSL is starting to flatten out so I wonder if mobile data will one day be a bigger revenue stream than DSL? For the first time that I have seen, the total broadband connections of 635,000 includes not just DSL but also mobile broadband.

Lord of the rings did a lot for our country with reviewers raving about our stunning scenery. Our tourism board took it to the world with the 'Pure New Zealand' campaign. On the face of it we are clean, green and beautiful or at least that is what we claim. The reality unfortunately is somewhat quite different and to prove the point I have put together what I consider are our top 5 dirty little eco-secrets where the only thing 'green' is the layer of apathetic scum growing over the shame of our collective consumption, emission and disposal habits.

1. Cows

Lets face it cows or cattle in the dairy sector are the single biggest emitters of 'greenhouse gas', with the agricultural sector overall contributing 48.5% of our total emissions in 2005. We all know that dairy is growing with large amounts of land being converted to grazing and farming land. Not only will this increase emissions but it puts a strain on water resources and it also increases the likelihood of toxic run-off polluting our streams and water ways.

Methane from enteric fermentation of ruminant animals (scientific for farts) makes up 31% of our total harmful emissions.

2. Power Generation

66% of our power generation comes from Hydro but since 1990 emissions from public electricity and heat generation have risen 134%. Hydro generation is a 'moving target'. In times of low lake levels we fire up those coal plants to supplement the short fall. We are very much behind other countries (especially Germany) when it comes to a clear policy around micro-power generation or return-on-investment from home based wind turbines or solar generators. Germany and a number of other countries have clear policies around what are called 'Feed-in Tariffs' or FiTs. A FiT sets a defined or fixed rate of return for selling excess power back to the grid. This rate is set to allow a reasonable return for the consumer on the high setup costs of installing a micro-generator. Our government profits to the tune of many 100's of millions of dollars from selling 'dirty power' but does not yet give any incentive to the consumer to contribute to 'zero emission' power generation. The reality is that in the future electric or hydrogen vehicles will require a third more electricity than we can currently generate. Most power companies have or do try to install bigger wind farms but most of the biggest wind farms are blocked by resource consent issues, back lash from residents living in proximity of the development or a total lack of return on investment. A few years ago a plan by Meridian energy to build 60kms of canals and 6 hydro stations on the Waitaki River in the South Island was canned due to local back-lash from many parties including Kai Tahu, the local iwi. Kai Tahu submitted that Project Aqua would cause big losses on cultural/spiritual values, loss of 'big river' affecting mana, loss of mahika kai sites and loss of tributaries. The Green Party was also a big proponent against Meridians plans.

So, we do not encourage micro-generation, we do not want wind farms 'in our back yard', we will not allow nuclear power plants and we fight any new hydro developments. At the same time we complain about burning coal.

Would the last person to leave the country please turn out the lights.

3. Transportation

In 2005 road transport contributed 16.4% of emissions. Since 1990 diesel transport emissions are up 236% whilst petrol emissions are up 27.4%.

For years now successive governments have allowed or ignored the rampant importation of old Japanese cars that would fail European emission tests. Vehicles older than seven years are known to be significantly dirtier than newer vehicles. I have read estimates that over 1,000 Nz'ers die each year from the effects of this pollution. This is a higher number than the deaths from second hand smoke yet we were quicker to stop smokers lighting up in bars. It is only a year ago that the government proposed a '10 second visible smoke test' when going for a Warrant of Fitness. The visible smoke test does not detect the invisible particulates than fill our air. The government, in fact, whimped out on making a gas analyser mandatory due to the cost.

What then is a life worth?

4. eWaste or electronic waste

A number of countries have adopted what is called RoHS. This is a restriction on certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. In countries where RoHS ia mandatory the manufacturer must provide a BOM (Bill of Materials) attesting that the electronic equipment does not contain or contains within certain allowable limits substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) Flame retardant and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) Flame retardant. There is much debate about what is allowable and at what levels but here in New Zealand we have no requirement for electronic products to be RoHS declared. The clear purpose of RoHS is to limit the amount of hazardous waste ending up in landfill.

Most of the electronic waste in our country is simply dumped, there are small scale computer recyclers and Dell has run a few drop-off days for old computers and monitors. We have no legislation or co-ordinated body to deal with the eWaste issue.

 

As all us Geeks know, the life cycle of our beloved toys is getting shorter and shorter. We are upgrading and disposing at a growing rate. IDG quotes that around 450,000 PC's are sold in this country each year add to that all the TV's, cell phones, MP3 players and you can start to see what a problem this really is.

5. Household rubbish

We are actually not that thrifty or thoughtful at all when it comes to disposing of waste. In fact we have an ever growing waste problem. Local councils are leading the way in finding solutions but a lot of the damage has already been done.

Nationally we dispose of 3.4 million tonnes of rubbish into landfills every year and out of this total nearly 282 thousand tonnes is considered to be hazardous. Each day we throw out 1 million disposable nappies which take hundreds of years to break down.

A nationwide study in 1992 identified 7,200 potentially contaminated sites of which 716 are landfill and 1,580 sites are considered a potential high risk to human health and/or the environment.

About me and my eco-ness:

I am the atypical kiwi. I own three cars, I drive to work each day and do not use public transport. I fill a large wheelie bin each week with little supermarket bag 'rubbish missiles' filled with plastic wrappers and disposable nappies. My house is full of inefficient Halogen spot lights and I consume electricity like it is free. My two home theater systems and televisions are always on 'stand by'. Every week we fill at least 10 plastic supermarket bags with shopping. Last year I sent to landfill one old TV, a microwave, a stereo, two monitors and a broken PC.

I admit it I am lazy, apathetic and I have never really thought about the environment but writing this blog has certainly raised my awareness of the issues we face. If there is a hell for consumers and polluters I have definitely booked a place. I am now going to try to make amends by doing some very simple things:

1. Learn what can and can not be recycled or put in the 'green bin'

2. Buy some reusable bags for grocery shopping

3. Stop using plastic bags in the kitchen rubbish bin to cut down on 'rubbish missiles'

4. Turn off the home theatre system/s and TV's.

5. Try and replace some of my lighting with energy efficient bulbs

6. Think about what I am sending to landfill and dispose of my old electronics wisely

7. Get a smaller wheelie bin or change to fortnightly collections

8. Consider cycling to work a few days a week and selling one car

I know it doesn't seem much and you could argue that we should give up the disposable nappies and I should bus to work, but with no legislation or laws governing my eco-behavior it is my choice what I will and will not do.

Doing something is apparently better than doing nothing.

According to this article on the LA Times the venerable 'Back to The future' car will be built again in limited numbers of around 20 cars per year.

I always liked the DeLorean DMC-12 with its gull wing doors and shiny stainless steels exterior. It was made famous in the Back to the Future trilogy as the time traveling super car. DeLorean had quite a chequered history as a maker of the DMC-12. With the British government pumping millions of pounds into the company because it was employing Irish locals at a time of great unemployment. John DeLorean died in 2005 and he probably became more infamous for the money laundering and Cocaine episode than for the car itself. Unfortunately the whole DeLorean saga became a huge embarrassment for the British government of the day as they made a costly gamble with tax payer money.

Only 9200 DeLorean DMC-12's were built but apparently over 6000 still survive. One of them lives in Wellington and belongs to an old colleague of mine who  purchased it on an impulse.  The last time I went drinking with him he said I could borrow it for a few hours. I might just have to give him a call.

The spot rate for electricity dropped today by 7.5% to $65.63 per MWh. This equates to 6.56 cents per kWh at the wholesale rate. The odd thing with electricity is that the retail pricing only ever increases, it never goes down, unlike petrol which fluctuates based on a number of factors. The only slight reprieve has been the government signaling that the band for cheaper power (based on household consumption) will increase from 8000kWh to 9000kWh per annum but only for the colder regions of our country. This means that if you use less power you will effectively be better off by $20 per year. The irony of increasing this limit is that it will only affect people who don't consume. These people are probably going to work each day and only running heating at night. The people who consume the most power are probably the ones who need the biggest help. Older people, invalids and single parents raising children at home have to have heating and they are probably running the heating for longer periods than those people who go to work.

On Sunday I was having a discussion with my extended family on how much they pay for electricity. My last power bill was $285.00 which is not bad considering my wife is at home raising our son so the heat pumps are on quite often. My in-laws who work Monday to Friday paid $200.00 last month. My brother and sister-in-law paid a whopping $580.00 which was a combination of gas and electricity. Considering that gas is used for heating and hot water they still paid $300 for electricity.

So, from this little group of 3 children, 6 adults and 3 houses we collectively contributed to the SOE gravy train $1080.00 for gas and electricity. Of this gross (and I mean gross) amount $120.00 was GST.

I currently pay 17.36 cents per kWh and the power company still controls my hot water. Based on the current wholesale rate of 6.56 cents the retail margin is a whopping 62%, plus there also the additional 70 cents per-day 'line charge', 'supply charge' or whatever it is for.

Electricity actually has a higher gross profit than that other monopoly the Auckland Airport Company. You have to wonder if 6.56 cents is the wholesale rate what does it actually cost to generate electricity? Does anyone know? There must be a wholesale margin in there somewhere.

Interesting - ebay has probably classified the Enigma as 'offensive material'. Their policy states under the heading of 'Offensive Material Policy'

Examples of items that will generally be removed:

• Items that bear symbols of the Nazis, the SS, or the KKK, including authentic German WWII memorabilia such as Olympic medals that bear such marks

The Enigma featured in ebay displayed the Nazi insignia and therefore a symbol of the Nazi regime. I know that ebay has to have rules but sometimes these blanket rules pick out items that are not by their very nature either promoting or glorifying the Nazi regime.

The Enigma is a classic piece of technology that did in part lead to the development of the Colossus computer which is the forerunner to the modern PC.

If it had been an Enigma without the Nazi insignia the auction would probably not have been pulled.

I would love to add this marvel to my collection of old and interesting computer bits but at a current bid of USD28,000 it is a little outside my price range.

The auction runs for another 7 days.

[Edit] There really was one on ebay but the auction just disappeared[/Edit]

If you don't know what an Enigma machine is there is a great write up over at Wikipedia

For now I will have to stick with the online Enigma software emulator

OZCOUHVQ

I am not sure who penned this but I thought it was quite funny

Remember when:

Memory was something you lost with age
An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A cursor used profanity

A keyboard was a piano
A web was a spider's home 
A virus was the flu

A hard drive was a long trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived

And if you had a 3 inch floppy....

I am showing my age now. My first job when I left school was working for an importer of high end electronic test equipment. We had typists and a Telex machine. Anything that needed typing was dictated and a Telex was hand written on a form which was then handed to a typist who once a day sent all the Telex's. We had an IBM System 34 and one VDU (or terminal) in the office. Computer time was booked in advance and limited to a 30 minute session. The printers were dot matrix and were so noisy they were housed in a separate room.

I sold the first real time image capture and processing system in NZ to Massey University. It was a large box that interfaced to a Digital Vax, the real time image was monochrome and software was used to add colour. It was manufactured by Imaging Technology, a company that was based in Canada and it cost Massey $300,000.

A lot has changed in 20 years.

Yesterday I blogged about the lovely new Sierra Wireless 595U EVDO USB modem that I had won in a prize. The first review was about the actual USB device which has survived in its intended form for 24 hours. This morning I set about pulling it apart to extract the radio module. So, RIP USB and here is part 2.

Firstly, when the front cover and battery are removed there is a noticeable white sticker which is covering a dummy SIM card socket.



With the front cover removed the solder lugs for the vacant SIM socket are visible near the top of the front of the board. Very smart design as Sierra obviously use the same board and case for the AC875U HSDPA USB Modem.


Next, we removed the back cover which revealed the main antenna stuck to the top of the radio module which is plugged into the Aux antenna port, the external antenna socket is plugged into the Main antenna port. The two antenna ports are for antenna diversity but it appears that this feature is not used.



The antenna is stuck to the radio module by way of sticky tape backed foam. We just ripped it off without worrying about it too much. This leaves all the bits separated. The main board, the module and the antenna.



The module is the bit we actually want:


The USB Modem uses an MC5725 mini PCI Express module. This module uses the Qualcomm MSM6800 chipset. It supports both 800MHz and 1900MHz CDMA EVDO. The module has 3 end points which are multiplexed over a single USB (Mux) interface. This means that the control, debug and data channels are all accessible simultaneously over USB.

Now that the module is removed we have placed it into a router daughter board:



The daughter board fits into a Ctek 4200E SkyRouter.



Now, finally we can try out this industrial router that we imported 3 months ago. We are the NZ distributor for Ctek but up until now we have not been able to get our hands on the MC5725 module. This is the same module that is used in some Toshiba and HP laptops as an embedded 3G modem. The next step is to test the router and then submit it to Telecom for approval. Hopefully, we will soon have a source for the modules and we will no longer need to butcher USB modems.

As a sideline we pulled apart the desk cradle and our suspicions were confirmed. It does not contain any electronic components. It is simply a USB socket, cable and metal weight.

Very funny, just try not to inhale the iSmoke and iFumes. I think it could do with an iCherry on the top.