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              Out in the Shed with Ted.

Ted McEvoy.

Click the pic above to access the Kedron Wavell Services club web site.

ANZAC Day.

With ANZAC Day  fast approaching once again, DVA has made available a DVD which contains audio tracks performed by the Royal Military College Band at Duntroon which can be used at commemorative ceremonies. If you wish you can play or download the clips here, to play just click each link, to download, click each link then while it is playing, right click it and select "Save audio as.."

The Last Post.

The Rouse (or reveille).

Advance Australia Fair.

and for our Kiwi friends.

God defend New Zealand.

Vehicle Recall.

Vehicles fitted with defective airbags manufactured by Takata are now subject to a major recall notice recently issued by the Australian Government. The defective Takata airbags pose an extreme safety risk for drivers and passengers and have the potential to cause serious injury or even death. Your safety is important to us, which is why we are contacting you to ensure you’re aware of this issue and know what to do if you’re impacted.

Which vehicles are impacted?

The recall affects around 2.3 million vehicles across a number of makes, models and years. Impacted vehicle types include BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Jeep, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peformax, Subaru, Toyota and some motorcycles. To see if your specific vehicle make and model is on the current recall list, go to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s Product Safety Australia Takata airbag recall page, which is continually being updated as more information becomes available.

100 Things to do in Australia.

Recently I did the Ozzy Nomad thing and did the anti-clockwise tour of our wonderful country (HERE) and although I had a wonderful time and saw a pile of stuff, I think I might have missed quite a bit.

Janice Rogers from the US magazine “Your RV Lifestyle” recently did a tour and she’s come up with 100 “Must see/Must do” things everyone should have on their ‘bucket list’.

You can see them HERE.

Barcode Myth.

In Australia, the most common barcode type used by retailers is a system called GS1 (which was previously called EAN-13).  There is no truth to the wives tale, that barcode numbers in Australia include the country of origin. When a manufacturer buys barcode numbers, they typically buy 1000 at a time and when this happens, the first nine digits are the registrar and company number, the following three digits are the item reference, and the last digit is a check digit. There are no country of origin digits in Australian GS1 barcodes.

There is a law in Australia that the country of origin must appear on a product… but it's complicated.

• The phrase “grown in…” is generally reserved for food which is fresh, but there’s no stipulation that this phrase can’t be used for other products. This means that the product was grown in the country stipulated, but it’s possible it might have been packaged or processed elsewhere.

• The phrase “product of…”means that the product was grown/caught/raised and processed in that country.

• The phrase “made in…” means that it was made in the country stipulated and at least 50 percent of the cost was incurred there. So to be clear:

  • the product may not necessarily have been simply packed in the country stipulated;

  • the ingredients may not necessarily have been grown/caught/raised in that country;

  • it means that at least ½ of the cost of making the product was incurred in that country.

It’s important to note that each significant ingredient and the majority of processing must have occurred in the country of origin in order to use the phrases “grown in…” or “product of…”.

You will find the "Country of Origin" guidelines HERE.

Magic.

Wanna see some magic - see HERE.

DVA Minister's interview with 2CC.

Darren Chester is the 5th Minister for DVA since 2013. On average, the past ministers have held the portfolio for only 1 year!! how can you get your teeth into something as diverse as the DVA in that short time?? 

Recently he was interviewed on radio 2CC in Canberra by Tim "but wait there's more" Shaw.  The interview lasts for 14 mins and unfortunately, it's just typical Pollie speak - all to do about nothing.   Listen to it HERE

Britain’s 2.5million veterans are to be formally recognised

     with their own ID card.

The UK prime Minister, Theresa May, recently revealed Britain’s 2.5 million military veterans are, for the first time, to be formally recognised with their own ID. The MoD is working with the Department for Transport and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on the design for the special driving licenses which will be rolled out from next year

For many, the ID card will come in the form of a special new driving license which will be stamped with a large ‘V’.

Those who don’t drive will be issued with their own separate card. In a twofold purpose, the special IDs will give vets immediate and easy access to specialist services, which already stretch from priority health care and housing to hundreds of retail discount offers.

Secondly, they are intended to be a badge of honour for all ex-Royal Navy, Army and RAF personnel who have served their country.

The move – which mirrors US’s Veterans Affairs ID card – answers a long standing call by vets, who often struggle to prove they have served without producing a pile of paperwork. It is the first time the state has ever issued official proof of identity for veterans despite generations making the sacrifice of service over the centuries. The ID was the brain child of Veterans Minister Tobias Ellwood who said: “As a former soldier, I am aware of the personal attachment with the service ID. Carried at all times, it becomes symbolic of the responsibility and there is a strange sense of loss when upon departing the Armed Forces, it is taken from you. The ID will help us all better recognise our veterans and their service to our Country.”

Former US troops, who are honourably discharged, are issued with a Veterans’ Identification Card. It displays their name, photo, and details such as awards won or if they were a Prisoner of War. They use it for healthcare benefits at clinics run by the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs. It also allows them access to military bases as long as they are with a serving member there. There are also several unofficial versions, such as the Veterans’ Advantage Card which offers discounts at certain shops.

Perhaps we could look at something similar.

Republic of Korea war service medal approved for wear.

VETERANS of the Korean War have been approved to wear the Republic of Korea War Service medal by the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd).

Minister for Defence Personnel Michael McCormack said the approval to wear this medal after initially refused by the British Government in 1951 shows the Australian Honours and Awards system has evolved to become its own unique system of recognising our service men and women.

“The Australian Council of Korea Veterans Associations has campaigned have the decision reconsidered from an Australian perspective,” Mr McCormack said.

“The approval to wear the Republic of Korea War Service Medal demonstrates Australian Defence Force’s willingness to consider and accept change.
 

“During the Korean War, in which more than 15,000 Australians served, Australia used the Imperial Honours and Awards system and was therefore subject to the award policies set by the United Kingdom.”

Mr McCormack said the Republic of Korea War Service medal was introduced by South Korea in 1951 to recognise the assistance provided by members of the United Nations forces in combatting communist aggression in Korea.

“It has been policy to accept only one foreign award for a particular service or campaign,” Mr McCormack said.

“In this case the United Nations Medal KOREA had been accepted and therefore the offer of the Republic of Korea War Service Medal from the South Korean Government was refused.”

As a foreign award, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal is not administered by Defence. Eligible veterans may purchase the replica medal from any reputable medal dealer.

Veterans who have been awarded with the Australian Active Service Medal 1945-75 with clasp KOREA (AASM KOREA) are eligible for the Republic of Korea War Service medal.

The eligibility criteria as directed by the Republic of Korea are as follows:

• served between 25 June 1950 and 27 July 1953

• service prescribed must have been performed while:

  • on permanent assignment

  • on temporary duty within the territorial limits of Korea or on waters immediately adjacent for 30 consecutive or 60 non–consecutive days

  • as crew members of aircraft in aerial flight over Korea participating in combat operations or in support of combat operations.

Further information on the medal, including fact sheet, is available at the Defence Honours and Awards website:

http://www.defence.gov.au/Medals/Foreign/Republic-of-Korea-War-Service-Medal.asp

Fifty shades of Grey.

We had a novel experience at a recent meeting of our book club at The Men's Shed.

One of our senior members, Ted Roberts who is himself an author  lauded for his timeless work "Woodworking for Profit and Pleasure", came up with an interesting suggestion.

He said his wife thought that we should read a book called ..  "Fifty Shades of Grey" as we might learn something from it.. The chaps were all asked to attend our next meeting with some notes relating to their experience of reading the book and its relevance to our activities.

The follow-up meeting had a full house and  the blokes recounted the literary impact the novel had on their experiences:

See HERE.

Funny?

THIS is funny, or is just me??

The Last Rocket Fighter Aircraft.

During the Cold and the Korean Wars, the Russians had a large bomber aircraft that could fly high and fast and was virtually untouchable by the NATO military. Something had to be done. The UK played around with a joint jet/rocket powered aircraft which, although an excellent aircraft, had a similar fate as the TSR-2

You can see an excellent doco on those times HERE.

A new way to market?

The next phase in data collection is right under your feet. Online clicks give retailers valuable insight into consumer behaviour, but what can they learn from footsteps? It's a question a US company Scanalytics is helping businesses explore with floor sensors that track people's movements. The sensors can also be used in office buildings to reduce energy costs and in nursing homes to determine when someone falls. But retailers make up the majority of Scanalytics' customers, highlighting one of several efforts brick-and-mortar stores are undertaking to better understand consumer habits and catch up with e-commerce giant Amazon.

Physical stores had been at a disadvantage because they didn't have that granular level of understanding as to where users were entering, what they're doing, what shelves were not doing well, which aisles were not being visited, but it's become easier for stores to track customers in recent years. With Wi-Fi, among the earliest available options, businesses can follow people when they connect to a store's internet. One drawback is that not everyone logs on, so the sample size is smaller. Another is that it's not possible to tell whether someone is inches or feet away from a product.

In the US, Sunglass Hut and fragrance maker Jo Malone use laser and motion sensors to tell when a product is picked up but not bought and make recommendations for similar items on an interactive display. Companies such as Toronto-based Vendlytics and San Francisco-based Prism use artificial intelligence with video cameras to analyse body motions. That can allow stores to deliver customized coupons to shoppers in real time on a digital shelf or on their cellphones, said Jon Nordmark, CEO of Iterate.ai.

With Scanalytics, Nordmark said, "to have (the sensors) be super useful for someone like a retailer, they may need to power other types of things," like sending coupons to customers. Scanalytics co-founder and CEO Joe Scanlin said that's what his floor sensors are designed to do. For instance, the sensors read a customer's unique foot compressions to track that person's path to a digital display and how long the person stand in front of it before walking away, he said. Based on data collected over time, the floor sensors can tell a retailer the best time to offer a coupon or change the display before the customer loses interest, something that in the moment will increase their propensity to purchase a product," said Scanlin, who started developing the paper-thin sensors that are 2-square feet (0.19-sq. meters) as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2012. He employs about 20 people.

Wisconsin-based bicycle retailer Wheel and Sprocket uses Scanalytics' sensors — which can be tucked under utility mats — to count the number of customers entering each of its eight stores to help schedule staff. "That's our biggest variable expense," said co-owner Noel Kegel. "That sort of makes or breaks our profitability." Kegel wants to eventually have sensors in more areas throughout his stores to measure where customers spend most of their time and what products are popular, but he said it's too expensive right now.

The cost of having the sensors ranges from $20 to $1,000 per month, depending on square footage and add-on applications to analyse data or interact with digital signs. The emergence of tracking technologies is bound to raise concerns about privacy and surveillance but they don’t collect personally identifying information.

These technologies have not become ubiquitous in the U.S. yet, but it's only a matter of time. In a couple of years they will part and parcel of everyday life.

Won’t be long before they are out here too.

FULL MOON MONEY.

EVERY FULL MOON NIGHT – 2 x $1,000 CASH TO BE WON!

 

 

HOW TO ENTER:

 

Earn entries with every $5 turnover on a gaming machine. Entries will accumulate between draws.

FULL MOONS – DRAW DATES.

• Tuesday, January 2

• Wednesday, January 31

• Friday, March 2

• Saturday, March 31 – FULL MOON BONUS DRAWS FOR EASTER

• Monday, April 30

• Wednesday, May 30

• Thursday, June 28

Draws at 9.30pm and 10.30pm.

 

*Terms and conditions apply. Members only promotion. Gaming only promotion. You must be present for the draws.

Entries accumulate between draws.

           My only comment = bloody hell!

Suicides.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) is open for contributions from the general public and stakeholders into its audit of the ‘Efficiency of Veterans Service by DVA’.  The audit’s objective is to assess whether DVA is efficiently delivering services to veterans and their dependents and is about to examine if:

• DVA’s business systems and processes support the efficient delivery of services to veterans and their dependants; and

• compensation, support and health services are delivered efficiently by DVA.

This is an opportunity for us to make known any concerns in these areas.  It is likely any contribution will be part of a joint submission with other ESOs, however, in any event, I feel we should provide input to the audit.  Unfortunately, the submission timeframe is relatively short.  I ask you canvas your Division and provide me with any input by COB Feb 28th, which gives me time to consolidate the returns and provide a formal submission within the March 7th deadline. 

You may be interested in going to https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/efficiency-veterans-service-delivery-department-veterans-affairs although there’s not a good deal more information here than I have advised.

Airbus warns it may cease production of its iconic

A380 Superjumbo.

Aviation giant Airbus has warned it may have to cancel production of its iconic A380 ‘superjumbo’, after failing to sell a single aircraft in the whole of 2017.

The admission, made by Airbus’s chief operating officer John Leahy comes after years of struggling to convince airlines the enormous aircraft is worth its $US445 million ($559 million) price tag and huge refuelling costs. Leahy said if Airbus doesn’t get at least six new orders for A380s in 2018, the company would have “no choice” but to pull the plug.

Launched in 2007, the A380 was pitched as the future of commercial air travel. Its passenger capacity of at least 550 appeared to solve the problem of increasing consumer demand, which was far outpacing major airport capacity. Its smooth, quiet travel experience and comparative spaciousness were an instant hit with passengers, while aviation enthusiasts loved it for its awesome size. The plane is so big it looks like it shouldn’t be able to fly.

But airlines have not shared this enthusiasm. More than 10 years on from its launch, its France-based manufacturer Airbus has taken just 317 orders for the aircraft. Half of those orders have come from Dubai-based airline Emirates, which has ordered 140. Over the years things have got consistently worse, and in 2017 Airbus didn’t take any orders at all.

Qantas has the world’s third-biggest fleet of A380s, with 12 in operation.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has emerged in recent years as the A380’s main competitor. Since launched in 2011, the US-based Boeing has sold 1294 Dreamliners. In 2017, while Airbus failed to take a single order for an A380, Boeing took 94 orders for new Dreamliners.

As the graphic below shows, it is nearly as fast as the A380 and has a similar range.

Although the Dreamliner is more fuel efficient than the A380, its main disadvantage is its seating capacity – 290, half that of the A380’s 550 but a senior industry analyst thinks the A380’s size is actually its biggest liability. He says “Airlines are demonstrating a preference for a fleet of smaller aircraft that provide more flexibility to match capacity with in-demand routes.”

“The Dreamliner is also much cheaper than the A380, it requires much less capital outlay upfront, is much more fuel efficient, is cheaper to run and requires fewer passengers per flight to remain profitable.”

Jetstar has 11 Dreamliners, Qantas has eight on order and Air New Zealand has 11.

Major airlines are shifting away from the A380 for long-haul international flights to save on fuel costs, a bigger aircraft means that more seats need to be sold to remain profitable, which reduces flexibility and does not provide a long-term solution.

I feel that Airbus will drop the A380 this year and concentrate on its A330 XWB. This is an aircraft that will compete directly with the Dreamliner – see a comparison HERE.

Bay City Rollers featuring Les McKeown

SUNDAY JULY 29 @ 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Cost = $61.90

Click HERE to hear one of their favourites - "Bye Bye Baby" from 1975.

Just for Men!!

Most doctors agree, in order to remain fit and active and to enjoy a healthy and long life, people should exercise regularly and engage in some form of cardiac activity that gets the old heart pumping. They say you should work out to get your heart pumping at your maximum heart rate (MHR) which is calculated at 220 minus your age, ie: if you’re 70 years old you should exercise to get your heart beating at 220 – 70 = 150 beats per minute.

But, it’s not necessary to do all that hard sweaty exercise to get the old heart working, for most men, the sight of a pretty girl removing part of her attire will also do the trick, blokes are just wired that way.

We thought we’d do our bit to help blokes reach MHR without all that superfluous exercise stuff, just click the pic of the pretty girl.

"The plane that's a ship. The ship that's a plane."

On August 3, 1970, Pan Am 747 “Clipper Victor,” lifted off from JFK for San Juan, carrying 359 passengers and 19 crew. Flight 299 was a “redeye,” one of the first regularly scheduled routes since Pan Am inaugurated Boeing 747 service back in January.

Aboard was Esther de la Fuente, one of the first 747 flight attendants. In mid-flight, she was approached by a short, bearded man wearing a beret. “I want to go to Cuba,” he said. Esther thought he was joking and responded airily, “No. Let’s go to Rio. It’s a lot more fun at this time of year.”

Then he pulled out a gun, and the first ever 747 hijacking was underway.

Clipper Victor’s Captain, Augustus Watkins, declared an emergency and diverted for Havana. Flight 299 touched down at 5:31 am at Jose Marti Airport under the gaze of Fidel Castro.

As stunned passengers gathered their thoughts, Watkins exited the airplane with the hijacker, soon finding himself face-to-face with Castro. The Cuban leader then unloaded question after question about the flying behemoth, the largest airplane to ever land in his country.

It was the first time he had ever seen one with his own eyes.

Five years before Watkins was forced to set down in Havana, Pan Am president Juan Trippe asked Boeing CEO Bill Allen for a long-range airliner twice the size of a 707 in order to circumvent the problem of limited gates at airports. Boeing designer Joe Sutter incorporated design influences from the contemporary program that produced the huge Lockheed C-5 Galaxy airlifter. Three airframe designs were considered for the 747 with first one stacking one 707 fuselage on top of another, according to Boeing historian Michael Lombardi.

“The first idea was an airplane that looks a lot like the A380,” Lombardi told Popular Mechanics. “They dropped that because they couldn’t evacuate the cabin quickly enough in an emergency. Then they thought of two fuselages side-by-side, the idea of the twin-aisle, wide-body airplane.”

This basic idea has been the model for all wide-bodies since.

Pan Am operated the first commercial 747 flight, in January 1970 from New York to London. Click the video below.

In a world full of widebody airliners including the Airbus A380, people forget the 747’s mammoth size and its status as a prestige aircraft. Dubbed the “Jumbo Jet” by the media, the 747-100 was about 1.5 times as large as a Boeing 707 and could carry 440 passengers compared to the 707’s modest 189 head-count. In fact, the airplane was so large, Boeing had to build a new factory in Everett, Washington just for assembly and it remains the largest building by volume in the world.

The 747’s distinctive “hump” derived from Boeing’s expectation that supersonic airliners, like the SST being designed concurrently at Boeing, would eventually take over international routes, so the 747 was designed as a freighter with a hump accommodating a nose hatch below the cockpit and a large side door behind it.

While the supersonic dream was ultimately a commercial failure (for now), the 747 became an icon of industrial design. Along with numerous aerodynamic innovations, it was the first commercial aircraft to incorporate high-bypass turbofan engines like those developed for the C-5. The Jumbo also pioneered commercial autopilot for landing and quadruple main landing gear.

However, as good as it is/was, it seems its days are numbered, airline after airline are now retiring their 747’s in favour of the more economical twin-engined wide-body aircraft. It has been reported that not one US airline will operate passenger carrying 747's by the end of 2018 - though the cargo version will continue.  British Airways says it will retire its fleet of 747's by the end of 2024.

Retired?

If so, HERE’S some advice.

Silent Commercial.

Food City is a Southern grocery store chain with headquarters in Bristol, Tennessee. This is their one-minute commercial.  Not a word is spoken and none is needed.

Blessed are those who are cracked,

for they are the ones who let in the light!

Ok, Ok!! – I’m going back to my room now!!