Technology And the Gillard Putsch

Steve brought up an interesting point about how technology has allowed instant access to the inner mechanisms of politics due to smartphones, portable laptops and other pieces of equipment that allows you to Tweet, blog, SMS information at an extraordinary rate.

Also discussed were dedicated GPS units for truck drivers. There are two or three that I know of – Garmin has one. Truck focused GPS allow truckies to write in the height and length of a truck and adds this to your GPS info so you don’t go down a road with a low bridge or take a corner where a truck can’t turn.

Also spoke to Steve about the Samsung Galaxy, which using the Android operating system. Amongst other things it comes with a customisable home screen – including the fonts and pics – so you can make it how you like. There is a also a nifty little widget, which if you write a lot of SMS’s, allows you to use a swipe key, so you can SMS a lot quicker.

Lots of questions as per usual. An email question about the iPhone – will you be able to use it in Aussie if you buy it from the US? The last iteration from the US was tied to carrier AT&T, so I’m unsure. That being said, I wouldn’t bother getting one because there will only be a three-weeks between it being available in the US and Australia.

John wants to futureproof his house with the latest gear.. I would say get a 3D TV, then a personal video recorder (PVR) with a Freeview sticker so you can record your digital television. Make sure you ask that the PVR is firmware upgradeable. Make sure that if you buy a blu ray player is 3D enabled too.

Milo is looking at getting the iPhone 4 but is worried about battery life, which has been a concern of the iPhone. There are a lot of different pouches that can power up the iPhone and there will be a load of accessories available for it. You will also be able to charge it up from your laptop or cigarette lighter.

Robert wanted to know about 3D and whether it would work for him as he had one eye. It won’t work. However, if 3D televisions do become the norm they will still be able to watch it in 2D.

David wanted to know about the iPhone and he is out in the country and uses external aerials with other smartphones. He wanted to know if there was such a thing as an accessory like an aerial for the iPhone. I’m not too sure, but I have found that the iPhone seems less powerful with pick up in some areas.

Lloyd is after a phone that just works like a phone and no bells and whistles, and he needs a hands-free car kit. There are millions of them out there so you have a myriad of options to choose from. You can get a phone like that for about $50. You can get a cheap car kit too.

Gary has an 1TB Western Digital drive and did a firmware upgrade and he lost everything that was on the drive. There is a website called www.recuva.com, which could possibly help Gary get his information back.