What are the defects?
A manufacturing defect causes failure of the cable’s USB connection.
What are the hazards?
If the defect occurs, it causes overheating and melting of the USB connection’s plastic housing and poses a fire hazard to consumers.
via Catchoftheday.com.au & Scoopon—1M & 3M iPhone 5 Lightning Cable.
The major thing is that from October first pretty much all power supplies sold in Australia will have to sport a minimum 80+ Silver efficiency rating, thus knocking a large number of budget units off the market altogether.
via 80+ Silver Power Supply Units set to be the new normal. – PC & Tech Authority.
Mandatory reporting under the Australian Consumer Law — Webinar – YouTube.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) hosted a live webinar on 10 April 2013 to help explain the mandatory reporting of product-related death, injury and illness.
This is a video recording of that Webinar.
Some questions were able to be answered during the webinar; a lot more have now been answered and are available on the following website: www.productsafety.gov.au/mandatoryreporting
I was working in my yard when a car came crashing through my hedge and ended up on my front lawn. I rushed to help an elderly lady driver out of the car.
I said with excitement, “You appear quite elderly to be driving.”
“Yes, I am,” she replied proudly. “I’ll be 97 next month, and I am now old enough that I don’t need a driver’s license anymore.”
She continued, “The last time I went to my doctor, he examined me and asked if I had a driver’s license. I told him yes and handed it to him. He took scissors and cut up my license and threw the pieces into the waste basket.”
He said, “You won’t need this anymore,” so I thanked him and left!
“During previous tests, the batteries scarcely crossed the 200-cycle mark. By means of a special combination of anode and cathode material, we have now managed to extend the life span of lithium-sulfur button cells to 1400 cycles,”
The experts at IWS measure the capacity of a battery in watt hours per kilogram whpk. Over the long term, they expect lithium-sulfur batteries to reach an energy density of up to 600 whpk. For comparison: the maximum energy density of the lithium-ion batteries currently in use is a mere 250 whpk. “In the medium term, figures around the 500 whpk mark are more realistic. In practical terms, this means you can drive twice as far with the same battery weight,” says Althues. This of course implies that significantly lighter battery models are possible …
via A longer life for lithium-sulfur batteries :: ElectronicsOnline.
Fact Sheet: Computers – Minimum Energy Performance Standards | Energy Rating Website.
This fact sheet was released in March 2013. In Australia, regulatory requirements for computers are set under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Computer) Determination 2012 (Determination). The Determination specifies what products are and are not covered, and incorporates requirements for Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), Energy Rating Labels (ERL) and testing from the relevant Australian/New Zealand Standard by reference.
This becomes mandatory in Australia from 01 October 2013.
If cracks develop and if used in an explosive dust environment (IEC/EU: Zone 21, and US/CA: Class II, Division 1), ingress of conductive dust may cause a short circuit that could ignite a dust explosive atmosphere surrounding the unit, potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Preparing safety standards for devices and systems used by billions of people and the need to merge the activities of two separate IEC TCs that covered, respectively, data processing equipment and office machines, and electronic equipment for household and similar use, led to the creation of IEC TC 108 in 2001.
IEC e-tech > March 2013 – Clearing up misconceptions on IEC 62368-1.
“For many years AV and ITE products have been introduced in the market place at an ever quicker pace and technologies used to produce them have been converging. IEC TC (Technical Committee) 108: Safety of electronic equipment within the field of audio/video, information technology and communication technology, which prepares the separate IEC 60065 and IEC 60950-1 series of safety standards for AV and IT equipment, felt necessary to create a “hazard-based” standard, which would cover both. This led to the development of a new International Standard, IEC 62368-1, Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment – Part 1: Safety requirements, published in January 2010. This standard has gained wide acceptance in many markets where national versions have been published.”
“Several national standards around the world have been published based on Edition No. 1 of IEC 62368-1, and it is expected that it will be more widely adopted by other countries and regions when Edition 2 is published later in 2013.”
World’s top supercomputer from ‘09 is now obsolete, will be dismantled
Texting while walking? Nevada assemblyman moves to ban it
via Texting while walking? Nevada assemblyman moves to ban it – latimes.com.
Munford said: “I was just amazed by what I saw,” he said. “So many people are almost oblivious. They are texting and texting, totally unaware as they cross even six-lane highways.”
IEC e-tech > January/February 2013 – Think lumens not watts.
Extract:
For decades, choosing a new or replacement light bulb has been easy: consumers would look at the wattage … (however) replacement of incandescent bulbs by energy-efficient products… introduced confusion … as … producers often only gave the watt equivalent of the new bulbs. … The situation is no clearer now that LED-based lamps are becoming more popular and increasing in efficiency all the time.
Watts indicate the power needed to light the bulb, and lumens indicates the amount of visible light emitted by a source. The value of the bulbs required may differ according to the lighting effect desired. The table in the article gives average ratings for incandescent, CFL and LED bulbs.
ACMA – New single compliance mark–RCM.
Announcement
Single compliance mark scheme begins
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has today introduced a single compliance mark (RCM) to illustrate a device’s compliance with all applicable ACMA standards—telecommunications, radiocommunications, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and electromagnetic energy (EME). The C-Tick and A-Tick compliance marks are being phased out.
The requirements to sell electrical equipment in Queensland changed on 1 March 2013 with the introduction of a new Electrical Equipment Safety System EESS and changes to the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002… It will lead to harmonised legislation throughout Australia and enable the public to search a national database of responsible suppliers and electrical equipment registrations for the first time. The database will allow electrical equipment to be easily traced to the supplier and its legal supply in Australia and New Zealand to be verified.The EESS changes the requirements for businesses that import, manufacture or sell in-scope electrical equipment. All in-scope electrical equipment sold in Queensland must be linked to a registered responsible supplier prior to sale. If it is Level 2 or Level 3 equipment it must also registered on the national database.Technical safety requirements have not changed under the EESS, but tighter evidence of conformity is required for some items.
via Requirements for selling electrical equipment – Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
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