We in New Zealand are currently replacing our paper money. Going plastic, same as Australia. The old paper notes are still in circulation but are removed as they become rough and tatty. Our Reserve bank has also said they are keeping a lot of the paper money in case there is a run on physical money in the days before 1/1/00.
Our old paper notes had the the watermark/metallic strips etc but still got copied (easy to pass of in dim bars). The plastic ones will be much harder to copy although it will occur just not by the average person with a colour copier.
The new plastic notes also stay 'fresher' longer. Much better.
This kind of stuff has been around for years. I know of a New Zealand power company that have been using panasonic toughbooks for the last couple of years (their faultman use them as a map viewer - field GIS).
also check out the Fujitsu Stylistic series of pen based machines. These are based on mobile pentiums and are also solid as a rock. Mine has been for a swim in the goldfish pond with no problems. Dropped off the roof of the house (3.5 metres) with no problems.
There isn't a very market because of the cost. And that the tech lags behind standard laptops. You can get a 366mhz laptop but I doubt you'll find a 366mhz ruggedised laptop.
In New Zealand a good off the shelf laptop costs about NZ$4000 (US$2000), but a 266mhz toughbook costs about NZ$7000 (US$3500). The price difference is such that many organisations buy normal laptops for their field staff as even though they replace them more often than the ruggedised versions it still works out cheaper.
Slashdot Mirror
Where's the equivalent of You Don't Know Jack for modern consoles?
Released earlier this year. http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/you-dont-know-jack
Close.
GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems.
For more info see the comp.infosystems.gis FAQ at:
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/faq-index.html
Cheers,
Adam.
We in New Zealand are currently replacing our paper money. Going plastic, same as Australia. The old paper notes are still in circulation but are removed as they become rough and tatty. Our Reserve bank has also said they are keeping a lot of the paper money in case there is a run on physical money in the days before 1/1/00.
Our old paper notes had the the watermark/metallic strips etc but still got copied (easy to pass of in dim bars). The plastic ones will be much harder to copy although it will occur just not by the average person with a colour copier.
The new plastic notes also stay 'fresher' longer. Much better.
Cheers,
Adam.
This kind of stuff has been around for years. I know of a New Zealand power company that have been using panasonic toughbooks for the last couple of years (their faultman use them as a map viewer - field GIS).
also check out the Fujitsu Stylistic series of pen based machines. These are based on mobile pentiums and are also solid as a rock. Mine has been for a swim in the goldfish pond with no problems. Dropped off the roof of the house (3.5 metres) with no problems.
There isn't a very market because of the cost. And that the tech lags behind standard laptops. You can get a 366mhz laptop but I doubt you'll find a 366mhz ruggedised laptop.
In New Zealand a good off the shelf laptop costs about NZ$4000 (US$2000), but a 266mhz toughbook costs about NZ$7000 (US$3500). The price difference is such that many organisations buy normal laptops for their field staff as even though they replace them more often than the ruggedised versions it still works out cheaper.
Cheers,
Adam.