NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said a component in the Acoustimass module could fail, causing a potential fire hazard when the voltage from the wall outlet is 220 volts or higher.
via BOSE home theatre speakers recalled due to fire risk – NSW Fair Trading.
Product safety information is now available in Chinese on the Product Safety Australia website. This is the first time the ACCC has translated online product safety information.The information is an overview of product safety in Australia in simplified Chinese, and is based on the Product safety in Australia fact sheet.
via Chinese translation of product safety information now available.
ACCCProductSafety’s channel – YouTube.
This contains a 7-part video of a Webinar for product safety testing of consumer products in Australia. Of general interest.
ACCC is the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission. Their general Product Safety page is at: http://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/970225
The survey of more than 900 office workers found a direct correlation between the amount of time spent at a computer and the likelihood of experiencing musculoskeletal pain over a 12-month period. 85% of people who spent more than eight hours a day working with a computer experienced neck pain, 74% reported shoulder pain and 70% reported lower back pain.
via Paperless office now a pain in the neck, says study :: SafetySolutions.
Answer
You should always check with your supplier that the product complies and that it has been assessed against local requirements. Ask the supplier to provide copies of current test certificates from an accredited or recognised test house.
If you are unsure, you should arrange to have the product tested yourself, preferably using a test house accredited to test to the specific standard.
SUMMARY OF THE REASONS FOR THE PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF A PERMANENT BAN ON SMALL, HIGH POWERED MAGNETS
The products of concern are small, high powered magnets which are generally supplied as aggregated masses to adults as novelty products for use by adults to create patterns and build shapes or which can be rearranged into different sizes and shapes or as jewellery for use in or around the mouth. These products are readily accessible from internet websites and a small number of retailers.
If any person ingests more than one of these high powered magnets, the magnets can be attracted to each other across the walls of the intestine or other digestive tissue creating the risk of perforation and other serious health conditions and, in some cases, death. There have been numerous incidents involving injury and at least one fatality reported in Australia following ingestion of these products.
The magnets appear innocuous and those about 5 mm in size may be potentially mistaken for small ball bearings or cake decoration confectionery. Warnings on packaging are likely to be insufficient and/or ineffective because once the product is removed from its packaging, the magnets themselves carry no warning.
Accordingly, it appears that swallowing these magnets is a reasonably foreseeable misuse of these products which may cause injury, including the risk of blockage, perforation, blood poisoning and in some cases, death.
via Proposed ban notice: Permanent ban on small, high-powered magnets.
IBM scientists used ultra short laser pulses to monitor the evolution of thousands of electron spins that were created simultaneously in a very small spot, said Gian Salis, co-author of the Nature paper and a scientist in the Physics of Nanoscale Systems research group at IBM Research.Usually, such spins find electrons randomly rotating and quickly losing their orientation. In this study, IBM and ETH researchers found, for the first time, how to arrange the spins neatly into a regular stripe-like pattern – the so-called persistent spin helix.
via IBM claims spintronics memory breakthrough | Computerworld New Zealand.
Current methods of generating terahertz radiation involve lasers, thermionic valves and special circuits cooled near absolute zero, often in room-sized apparatuses costing thousands of dollars.
Cornell researchers with Ehsan Afshari, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, have developed a new method using the familiar and inexpensive CMOS chip technology, generating power levels high enough for some medical applications.
via Generating terahertz on silicon chips :: ElectronicsOnline.
“It is truly an interdisciplinary team effort,” Zhou says. “The co-existence of photonics with electronics on the chip level shall enable multifunctional, energy-efficient super-chips for applications in computing, communications, sensing, imaging and so on.”
via Laser that could speed computer performance :: ElectronicsOnline.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched an Android version of its Recalls Australia app to provide easily accessible information on recalled consumer goods
via ACCC launches recalls app for Android.
The app is based on data from the ACCC’s Recalls Australia website – www.recalls.gov.au – and is available from the Google Play store at no cost. The ACCC will also shortly release a mobile friendly version of the website.
You can also find out about product safety issues online via the Product Safety Australia website www.productsafety.gov.au, Twitter (@ProductSafetyAU), Facebook (ACCC Product Safety) and a dedicated ACCC Product Safety YouTube Channel.
“This joint industry-government event focused on specific steps for APEC economies to consider that will advance the alignment of requirements based on minimum energy performance standards (MEPS). Workshop participants were asked to contribute to a plan to establish a harmonized MEPS regime that includes:
The public documents for the above event can be accessed via http://aimp.apec.org/MDDB/Pages/search.aspx?setting=ListMeeting&DateRange=2012/07/01%2C2012/07/end&Name=Aligning%20Energy%20Efficiency%20Regulations%20for%20ICT%20Products%3A%20Developing%20a%20Strategic%20Approach%202012
How to Make Computers More Powerful and More Energy Efficient at the Same Time
http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2012/07/18120.html
“Sequoia, is the world’s most powerful supercomputer”, … also there is another machine that “is the first commercial machine cooled by hot water”.
“While Sequoia is more than one and a half times faster than its nearest competitor, it is almost two and a half times more energy efficient. Meanwhile, the water-cooled Leibniz machine consumes 40 percent less energy than traditional air-cooled versions. Since water is able to remove heat 4,000 times more efficiently than air, hot water is an innovative means to more efficiently cool computers than the conventional approach based on chilled water. It also allows energy to be captured from the system and reused to heat the buildings during winter. These advances afford potential energy savings of around 1 million euros per year.”
This update has been revised on 2012-07-11 with new information. If you reviewed it before, please review it again now.
Until the official commencement of the EESS, some suppliers may wish to transition to the RCM sooner, to simplify production schedules. This is presently possible, with some limitations and conditions, under the legacy rules (excluding telecommunications products), but is not possible under the new rules until 1 March 2013. Please note the following issues related to this:
I hope this is clear. If you have any questions please let me know or leave a commen
“IBM is unveiling progress and new partners for its lithium air battery technology, which it started working on back in the Summer of 2009 and which could one day be a commercial product perhaps in the 2020/2030 timeframe”
“IBM says its lithium air battery could have an energy density of 1,000 watt hours per kilogram, which is more than double the energy density of some of the most cutting edge lithium ion batteries out there …. It’s also five to ten times more energy dense than the basic lithium ion batteries on the market.”
paulspiece.com 
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