The Commonwealth Government of Australia has excluded Telstra from the National Broadband Network (NBN) request for proposals process.

Based on a technicality: the failure to provide a plan to engage small to medium enterprises in Australia to help carry out the work, the Government has excluded Telstra from the process.

This is the next step in ongoing battles between the Government and Telstra senior execs who are well versed in playing hardball.

itsNbits expects this to be a short term issue designed to try to pull Telstra into line. Its unlikely a decent NBN can be made without Telstra playing a key role due to the size and complexity of the work required.

Running late. Massive cost overruns.

And never an answer as to why.

Sensible people asked why Victoria didn’t simply implement a proven system similar to London’s Oyster Card or Hong Kong’s Octopus card. Both are far cheaper, off-the-shelf and proven solutions that cater to volumes far in excess of what Victoria has in the foreseeable future – and do so at an much cheaper price.

Well now itsNbits has an exclusive insight: Victoria’s State Government is attempting to roll out a world-first technology, and is so desperate to success that cost and time are somewhat secondary considerations.

The planned system will enable public transport users to travel on trains, trams and buses without the need to swipe their Myki card. The card can stay in the user’s wallet or handbag, and the card readers will still be able to read the cards. All the user has to do is walk between or near the reading devices.

No need to fumble in your wallet to find the card. No pulling out cards and holding them near card readers.

Simply walk on through, and, in what is alleged to be a world first, the system will locate and identify your card, and bill you appropriately using the cheapest applicable fare. God knows where else they might stick readers to unknowingly track people, just like the silent (no beep) channel on E-tags used to track cars at various points around Melbourne they also tend to forget to tell us about.

At least some Mykis will offer an anonymous purchase option.

And that attempt to roll out a world first, ladies and gentlemen, is the key to the reason why there seems to be an insane cost-and-time-is-no-option logic being applied by the Victorian State Government. They have gone so far and it’s cost so much, that its likely they desperately need the glory of a world first to justify it all. And if they fail, then they pretty much have to admit that they spent an unnecessary fortune on a system equal to or potentially worse than any other similar system in the world.

Personally, I’d rather we get a $1B refund to the state coffers, spend $100M or so on a proven solution, and in return simply have to hold our Oyster card near a reading device. We could have done that several years ago. On time. On budget.

Instead they have wasted hundreds of millions of state money, have a solution that’s potentially still a fair way off before full and successful implementation, is likely to have significantly higher upkeep costs due to it being so heavily customised, and all so there are some bragging rights about not having to take your card out of your pocket.

World Youth Day – Sydney, Australia. 18 July 2008

In this shocking photo (see below), the Dark Lord himself can be seen, undertaking his secret campaign to dominate World Youth Day.

It is not known if the Pope and Darth Vader threw down and whipped out their light sabers to battle for the forces of good and evil.

The Pope has not yet answered our prayers asking for an explanation.

More news as it comes to hand.

Check it out!

A small download of software from Google is needed, but it takes only a minute.

You can log in with your existing Gmail/Google login information.

Why not drop on in and remodel the room a bit for me while you learn how to add and move things?

To kick it off, simply click on “Click to enter room” at the bottom of the image below!

Well, thanks to (somewhat ironically) our favourite Holden forums, some pricing for the new Ford FG series including XR6 Turbo, XR8, G6E, G6E Turbos and XT is now available.
Pricing for some options can also be found below, although it does not appear to be the full options list.

FG Sedans
XT five-speed auto $36,490
G6 five-speed auto $39,990
G6E six-speed auto $46,990
G6E Turbo six-speed auto $54,990
XR6 six-speed manual $39,990
XR6 five-speed auto $39,990
XR6 Turbo six-speed manual $45,490
XR6 Turbo six-speed auto $46,990
XR8 six-speed manual $45,490
XR8 six-speed auto $46,990

FG Commercials
Falcon Ute Cab Chassis six-speed manual $27,795
Falcon Ute Styleside Box six-speed manual $28,195
R6 Cab Chassis six-speed manual $29,795
R6 Styleside Box six-speed manual $30,195
XR6 Cab Chassis six-speed manual $34,090
XR6 Styleside Box six-speed manual $34,490
XR6 Turbo Styleside Box six-speed manual $38,490
XR8 Styleside Box six-speed manual $38,490

BF III Wagon
BF Falcon Wagon MkIII $37,720

Options (sedans)
ZF six-speed auto $1500
E-Gas (with four-speed auto) $1400
16-inch alloy wheels (XT) $500
17-inch alloy wheels (XT) $1000
18-inch alloy wheels: G6 & G6E / XR6 $1000
19-inch alloy wheels: G6 & G6E / XR6 $2400
19-inch alloy wheels: G6ET / XR6T & XR8 $2000
Full size steel spare wheel $100
Full size alloy spare wheel $250
Reverse sensing system $500
Reverse camera $500
Curtain & side thorax airbags $300
Leather seat trim $2100
Premium sound $1100
Satellite navigation $2000
Prestige paint $400
Tow pack (1600kg) $495
Technology Pack $450
Safety Pack $600
XR Luxury Pack: XR6 $5400
XR Luxury Pack: XR6T & XR8 $5000

Options (Commercials)
Automatic trans. in lieu of manual $1000
E-Gas (with four-speed auto) $2400
16-inch one-tonne alloy wheels $1000
17-inch alloy wheels $1000
19-inch alloy wheels $2400
Automatic climate control $2295
Traction control $750
Leather seat trim $1100
Prestige sound $700
Satellite navigation $2000
Prestige paint $400
one-tonne suspension $495
Tow pack (1600kg) $495
Tonneau cover (Styleside Box) $270
Aluminium tray (Cab Chassis) $1460
Technology Pack $450
Safety Pack $600
XR Sports Pack $1000
XR Luxury Pack $4000

Options (wagon)
E-Gas (with four-speed auto) $1400
16-inch alloy wheels $500
Heavy duty suspension $350
Full size alloy spare wheel $250
Side head/thorax airbags $300
Prestige sound $700
Rear power windows $470
Cargo blind $150
Prestige paint $400
Tow pack (1600kg) $495

Melbourne (Australia) scientists have built and demonstrated a tiny 5mm per side CMOS chips (pictured above) that can transmit 5Gbps over short distances – about 10m – featuring a tiny 1mm antenna, a power amp that is only a few microns wide, and a low 2 watt power consumption . “GiFi” appears set to revolutionise short distance data transmission, and transmits in the relatively uncrowded 60GHz range.

Best of all, the chip is only about a year away from public release, and will only cost around AUD$10 (US$9.20) to produce.

It will be very interesting indeed to read the initial reviews of the new XR6Turbo.

In addition to a turbo that spools up significantly faster than the current XR6 Turbo, and boost increased from 6psi to 10psi, a much improved intercooler is provided, with significant increases in volume and reduced flow restriction.

But that’s nothing compared to two other features which now have more detail available:

1) Overboost: the T will allow overboost of approximately 10% for a few seconds, likely under high load wide-open-throttle conditions. This, assuming the power figures don’t take this into account, could mean brief peak output much nearer to 300kW.

2) More detail on launch control: when the clutch is engaged and sufficient accelerator depression made to allow the engine to reach the new 3500rpm clutch-in (stationary) limit, after three seconds the turbo will be spooled up using exhaust mixed with air that’s been pumped into the cylinders deactivated as part of the launch control process. When the clutch is released the cylinders are brought back online, and the car is able to take off with the turbo already partially spooled up. This is potentially significantly closer to genuine launch control than the simple 3500rpm clutch-in rev limit that was initially revealed.

Its refreshing to see Ford looking outside the square for ideas that will help give a competitive edge against competitors like the Holden VE-SS, and the more detail that comes to hand, the more it sounds like the new GF XR6Turbo will be a large change – large enough to help stop declining sales of what is a great but until now ageing car.

Some new information on the 2008 FG Series XR6 Turbo

Now Updated! Click here for latest info on launch control and overboost system!

Changes to the turbo:

The engine now puts out 270kW, and 533Nm from 2000-4750rpm. Effectively the specs from the outgoing F6 Typhoon.

Aside from apparently using the stronger LPG conrods, the other internal engine changes are not known at this stage.

However, Ford has made some changes to the turbo itself.

The turbo is still a Garrett turbo, but now has a smaller compressor wheel. While this will mean faster spool-up when the engine is off the boil – rumoured to be 30% faster spool up which will mean less lag – it will also likely limit the ability of the turbo to cope with larger boost. In other words while it will be possible to increase boost via editing of the ECU software, you may not be able to increase boost as far as you can with the existing turbo.

Whether this is an actual problem for tuners remains to be seen – the existing turbo has a very high capacity for increased boost which may not be pushed to its limits anyway in normal tuning. The upper limits of the new turbo setup should be able to be calculated once the new compressor wheel has been properly identified.

Launch control:

Rumours of launch control in the manual XR6 Turbo may be exaggerated. Proper launch control involves the ECU taking control of some aspects of the car (clutch, ignition or similar depending on how they choose to implement it), and has the aim of producing searing take-offs where in wet or dry the car will take off pretty much as fast as possible – without the normal complexity of balancing clutch use with power application to avoid either bogging down or spinning the wheels.

In the FG Series XR6 Turbo, the launch control is said to consist of a ~3500rpm rev limiter which applies when the clutch is depressed. What this means is that you cant rev the car higher before you release the clutch even if you floor it. If true, this seems more aimed at reducing driveline damage and abuse than as a launch control, as even in the BA or BF XR6Turbo 3500rpm will tend to smoke the tyres if launched quickly at that many revs (with no traction control engaged). Add the extra torque and power of the FG series, and it will likely do so even more easily.

Editing the software to increase boost:

The BF introduced a flag in the ECU which is tripped when any calibration has been over-written. This means that despite efforts to reflash the “standard” tune back to the ECU before servicing the car, Ford can tell that at some stage the ECU was reflashed. This will then void aspects of the warrantee related to the impacts of reflashing the ECU (ie engine, potentially powertrain etc).

This flag is also present in the FG series, so it is important that people editing/flashing the ECU know that they are voiding parts of their warrantee – and that even if Ford dont say anything to you, it is very likely if you ruin a relevant part of the car and try to claim it on warrantee that you will be (rightfully) declined at that stage.

No additional protections to stop flashing the ECU have been introduced – but people should be aware of the possible consequences and lack of warrantee support if something goes wrong.

iPod:

The Optional Technology Pack inlcudes iPod and Bluetooth integration. iPods are connected to an interface box in the centre console and it feeds directly into the car’s entertainment system. This interface is much more complex than the current audio-only interface: it means all the relevant information from the iPod (song titles etc) can be displayed on the centre display, and via the car’s controls the driver can control the ipod (select different tracks etc).

The FG Series XR6 Turbo is available starting May 2008.

Click here for update: More detail on launch control, and turbo over-boost will be available! WooHoo!