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Good grief! Thought I was seeing things.



Researchers develop coconut-flavoured pineapple

In what is believed to be a world first, Queensland researchers have created a new variety of pineapple with a coconut flavour. Senior horticulturalist Garth Senewski says the AusFestival pineapple is now in the final stages of production. He says its unique taste should prove popular with consumers.
"Taste tests tell us that AusFestival is a winner - it has this lovely coconut flavour, which you won't find in any other pineapple in Australia," he said.
It will be another two years before AusFestival is commercially available.

Sounds good to me.

Wonder what the boffins will think of next?

Why???

Pineapple taste heaps better than coconut (except for maybe on lammingtons).

Its probably got a lot to do with they have genetically modified the pineapple to last longer in Woolworth's cold stores.

Have you ever noticed how some tomatoes have a slight salmon taste? That's what happens when big business want tomatoes to last longer. Atlantic Salmon genetics allow the tomatoes to keep for much longer at lower temperatures.

Mike.

Apparently this being one of the best inventions of twenty twelve?

Google's Project Glass is Google's attempt to make wearable computing mainstream, and it's effectively a smart pair of glasses with an integrated heads-up display and a battery hidden inside the frame. It looks as though Project Glass will see aa public release in 2014 or 2015. Google's Project Glass glasses will probably use a transparent LCD or AMOLED display to put information in front of your eyeballs. It's location-aware thanks to a camera and GPS, and you can scroll and click on information by tilting your head, something that is apparently quite easy to master. Google Glasses will also use voice input and output. Google is experimenting with designs that will fit over existing glasses so people won't have to wear two lots of specs.
Which all sounds fantastic, but will depend on the implementation. I wonder if scammers and spammers could hack into the spectacle software?

The ACCC is investigating complaints that taxi companies in Queensland are strongly against taxi drivers using new smartphone apps that bring in new jobs and, some believe, make booking a taxi simpler and cheaper.

In one case last month, Townsville Taxis general manager Michael Jacoby allegedly made a booking using smart phone app GoCatch in order to catch drivers using it.

A driver, Queensland United Hire Drivers Association president Alister Smith, was then summoned to Jacoby’s office, where he was told his use of the app was against the taxi network’s rules and could result in financial penalties.

Apparently a behavioural pattern that is taking place around the country, where taxi networks are attempting to portray booking apps that compete with their business, such as GoCatch and Ingogo, as unsafe and potentially illegal – a claim supporters of the app dispute.

Newsletters have been sent to drivers across entire networks, warning taxi drivers and operators against using the apps. They threaten financial penalties and even disaffiliation from the network, which in some regional towns means taxi drivers and operators are forced to find different employment.

Drivers blowing more than .05 will be forced to fit interlock devices to their vehicles under tough new laws plans by the Victorian state government.

The Victorian state government is planning to introduce tough new laws for drink drivers, with all offenders blowing more than .05 forced to fit interlock devices to their vehiicles. Currently, only drivers who reoffend, blow over .15 or register a reading above .07 while under the age of 26 must install an interlock. An interlock prevents a car’s engine from starting until the driver blows a zero alcohol reading.
But it’s not just the inconvenience factor police hope will deter drivers from getting behind the wheel after a big night out.

Senior Sergeant Pat Cleary from Ballarat Highway Patrol believed the high cost of installing an interlock, which is borne completely by the offender, would also have drivers thinking twice.

“We find the interlock devices is an excellent deterrent. The monetary costs are extreme,” Senior Sergeant Cleary said.

“Any piece of legislation that will act as a deterrent to drink drivers we would have to support. And in terms of the interlock itself, that further deterrent will be the extensive cost. Certainly to most the financial deterrent is a striking consequence.”
So just how much does an interlock cost? One local interlock supplier put the price of installing an interlock at $170, followed by a $130 per month servicing fee.

Depending on the offence, cars can be fitted with interlocks for between six months and four years. Per year, drink drivers would be looking at fees in excess of $1500.

But the costs don’t stop there. Drivers who blow into the interlock while under the influence of alcohol must pay $65 to have the device unlocked, while it costs $99 to get the device removed. Hardship provisions do exist for those on concessions such as Centrelink.