[LINK] Public Sphere #1 High Bandwidth for Australia Live from Canberra

[Tom Worthington]

At 11:26 AM 8/05/2009, Pia Waugh wrote:
>... DimDim link in the feedback post doesn't work. ...

Sorry, the DimDim link is fixed now. It was to: 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/05/dimdim-web-conference-for-e-learning.html>.

DimDim has the usual web conference facilities, such as video, audio, 
text chat, desktop and slide sharing. What interested me was being 
able to slow the video frame rate down and to share a web based presentation.

> > ... Akbil electronic token ...
>Sounds like a good story ...

The story is that I noticed presenters at the Public Sphere event 
were having difficulty using the touch-pad on the Apple Mac for 
controlling their presentations. So I dug around in my bag to find a 
cordless mouse. In the process I found an "Akbil" electronic travel 
token from a trip to Istanbul 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/travel/istanbul.shtml>. So I decided to use 
this in my talk, as an example of how ICT can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Akbil uses a metal can about the size of an Australian five cent 
coin, with a microchip in it. The insulated lid and body of the can 
are connected to the chip, so when it is pressed into a reader, power 
and data are supplied: 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport_in_Istanbul#AKB.C4.B0L_Smart_Tickets>.

Readers are located at the Istanbul tram, bus, train, metro, 
funicular and ferry stops. The result is a low cost integrated 
ticketing system which encourages people to use public transport 
instead of private cars, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A contact-less smart card might be more efficient, but the Akbil 
devices are very robust and the system is proven in operation, which 
is more than can be said for many failed smart card transport 
projects (including those of Sydney and Melbourne).



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian National University