B L O'Feld Megalomaniac Industries (BLOMI), a notoriously secretive organisation, has launched a Corporate website. The website contains information on the company values (a particularly short piece of data there), information on various projects, biographies of the key company personnel and, for those with scant regard for their own survival, recruitment information.
As a frequent visitor to their headquarters in Basildon, somewhere in the South Seas, to research my in-depth report on Project:Evil (their recent attempt to hold the planet to ransom) I was invited to write up an interview with Barry Liam O'Feld, CEO of BLOMI for Megalomaniac Monthly. You can read the interview on the BLOMI website.
If you've read Project:Evil or just want to know more about this villainous organisation, a company that strives to be less likeable than a party of corporate bankers on a bonus spending spree, then be sure to visit the BLOMI website. You can even email some of the key players, even Friend them on Facebook, but please don't email them your bank details, no matter how insistent they are. And if you do, don't include your PIN. I know, it sounds unlikely but these are very persistent people and they do pride themselves on being, well, evil.
And if you do email them your PIN please don't mention the identity of your firstborn.
But apart from some slightly dodgy practices around misusing other people's bank accounts and children - heck, they'd happily enslave anyone regardless of age, gender or profession (they claim to be an equal opportunity organisation) they seem like really nice guys.
So why not pay them a visit? Mr O'Feld insists on it, and you don't want to upset him!
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If you're not too busy reading up on BLOMI, sending them your bank details or squandering your first born on them then you can visit my website to take a look at my books
Books
Books written by Ray Sullivan
Showing posts with label power generation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power generation. Show all posts
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Kindle Fire - Arguments For and Against
As I reported the other day, the Kindle Fire looks like underwhelming the consumer market. I've read several reviews since the blog post which all confirm that the limitations imposed, presumably to keep costs down, are serious issues. One correspondent on Twitter ran a series of tweets that started off as excited messages when the device turned up earlier than expected and started working better than initial expectations, then the tweets deteriorated as the limitations became apparent.
But lets be honest here - we're talking $200 for a media device that doubles as an e-reader (or is it an e-reader that doubles as a media device?), so perhaps I was being a tad unkind in my evaluation earlier in the week. Reading through the later reviews it appears that the Engadget tech nerds weren't off trend though. I expressed a concern that the reviewers, exposed to cutting edge technology on a daily basis, might have had raised expectations compared to real people - yes I know they're real people too, with real families and so on, but their view on the tech world is bound to be distorted. However consumers unwrapping their Kindle Fires have confirmed the concerns about the low storage limit (8GB), the minimalist controls (one button) and the slower performance (compared to iPad).
There are alternative views, take a look at this Steve Rosenbaum article in Huff Post. Steve's view is that the iPad and the Fire can co-exist happily in the same household. He's also extremely tolerant of the shortcomings based on a belief, which is reasonable in some respects, that some issues will be ironed out quickly, others will slip into version 2. My main objection to his views are that the pre-order consumers, one million of them, are almost certainly not all wanting to be guinea pigs for Amazon - they probably expected to receive the finished article. His main contention is that the Fire is targetting a slightly different segment of the consumer market, one which actually didn't exist until its launch.
You see, although there have been tablets other than the iPad for some time, and at least one - the Nook - has occupied a similar apparent position to the Fire, none have the media content and backing that Amazon can provide. It's fair to say that Amazon is probably the only company out there that can currently take Apple on at this point in time as far as media content is concerned, although there are strong rumblings that Google want to cut a slice of that market, so watch this space.
So although there are other mini tablets about to launch, significantly the new Nook and the Kobo Vox, neither are likely to have access to the media that Amazon have. However, they might just produce good tablets that perform like the cut down iPad I suspect most of the 1 million pre-orders expected. My view is that if they do appear to be a better fit for the consumer perception then they will give the Fire a run for its money. There's also a strong rumour that Amazon are planning a 10 inch version of the Fire - now that may be a game-changer if it is coupled with improvements to identified issues with the current version of the Fire.
I don't think the contest for the holiday tablet purchase is over - far from it - and my guess is that Apple are not sweating over the competition from the Amazon Fire - probably the basic Kindle and the likes of the Kobo Touch are more likely to eat into the Apple sales than the Fire will - but I feel a really interesting six weeks is in front of us.
I can be followed onTwitter - @RayASullivan
email me on raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com
Visit my books on Amazon (for Kindle owners) and Smashwords (for access to all other formats and access to Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Sony and many other good ebookstores. Possibly also on eBay grrrrr
Now on WH Smith!
But lets be honest here - we're talking $200 for a media device that doubles as an e-reader (or is it an e-reader that doubles as a media device?), so perhaps I was being a tad unkind in my evaluation earlier in the week. Reading through the later reviews it appears that the Engadget tech nerds weren't off trend though. I expressed a concern that the reviewers, exposed to cutting edge technology on a daily basis, might have had raised expectations compared to real people - yes I know they're real people too, with real families and so on, but their view on the tech world is bound to be distorted. However consumers unwrapping their Kindle Fires have confirmed the concerns about the low storage limit (8GB), the minimalist controls (one button) and the slower performance (compared to iPad).
There are alternative views, take a look at this Steve Rosenbaum article in Huff Post. Steve's view is that the iPad and the Fire can co-exist happily in the same household. He's also extremely tolerant of the shortcomings based on a belief, which is reasonable in some respects, that some issues will be ironed out quickly, others will slip into version 2. My main objection to his views are that the pre-order consumers, one million of them, are almost certainly not all wanting to be guinea pigs for Amazon - they probably expected to receive the finished article. His main contention is that the Fire is targetting a slightly different segment of the consumer market, one which actually didn't exist until its launch.
You see, although there have been tablets other than the iPad for some time, and at least one - the Nook - has occupied a similar apparent position to the Fire, none have the media content and backing that Amazon can provide. It's fair to say that Amazon is probably the only company out there that can currently take Apple on at this point in time as far as media content is concerned, although there are strong rumblings that Google want to cut a slice of that market, so watch this space.
So although there are other mini tablets about to launch, significantly the new Nook and the Kobo Vox, neither are likely to have access to the media that Amazon have. However, they might just produce good tablets that perform like the cut down iPad I suspect most of the 1 million pre-orders expected. My view is that if they do appear to be a better fit for the consumer perception then they will give the Fire a run for its money. There's also a strong rumour that Amazon are planning a 10 inch version of the Fire - now that may be a game-changer if it is coupled with improvements to identified issues with the current version of the Fire.
I don't think the contest for the holiday tablet purchase is over - far from it - and my guess is that Apple are not sweating over the competition from the Amazon Fire - probably the basic Kindle and the likes of the Kobo Touch are more likely to eat into the Apple sales than the Fire will - but I feel a really interesting six weeks is in front of us.
I can be followed onTwitter - @RayASullivan
email me on raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com
Visit my books on Amazon (for Kindle owners) and Smashwords (for access to all other formats and access to Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Sony and many other good ebookstores. Possibly also on eBay grrrrr
Now on WH Smith!
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Blue Sky Thinking - Part Two
OK, so now we've got all the electricity we need to run our houses at minimal cost, what next?
Well, electrical efficiency will still be needed to be a major consideration, if only to help minimise the amount of power each household needs to buy off the grid. If you look around your house right now it's probable that you've got dozens of electrical devices, and many of these probably didn't exist ten years ago.
For example, how about your large screen TV set, your Sky box, hard drive recorder, iPad or Android tablet, Kindle, iPod dock, wireless printer, X Box, Wii, other gaming consoles? And that's just touching on your leisure devices. There are dozens of devices ranging from washing machines through to stoves and standard lamps dotted around the average household. Add to that list all the fixed electrics such as your lighting circuit. So, what's my point?
Well, you may recall from my last Blue Sky Thinking post I mentioned that during the evolutionary process most devices go through various phases including ones where they are essentially ugly and disjointed but starting to converge. I think it's fair to say that domestic devices are having 'Form' put on a higher agenda than in years gone by, possibly thanks to the likes of Apple who have always driven the aesthetic agenda. But our devices are disjointed and essentially stand-alone. This is where my wish list starts to kick in.
For starters, I think that all electronic devices should be able to be monitored and, where appropriate, controlled remotely through independent devices such as the iPad or other tablets. As an absolute minimum we shouild be able to determine the running time of any given device and know its power consumption. At a very basic level this would allow you to anticipate a device failure, so limiting the opportunity to be left high and dry by a failed device at the only time you ever really need it to work.
So, in my utopian world, you'd know when any device was running, when it stopped and how much power it consumed. This is fairly standard data collated in industry, so we're not necessarily talking about major development work here. The trick part is getting an open standard agreed so you don't have, say, Sony's proprietary system running on their equipment and Apple's take on the process running on theirs.
I also see that data as the starting point. How about being able to programme your hard drive recorders from your iPad, perhaps when away from home? A good start would be the ability to have a common programming interface - sure, let the device makers determine their own look and feel when hooked up to your TV if we must, but let the consumer choose one interface product to run on their tablet that allows them to programme different makes of hard drive recorder in a common way - no need to relearn a different interface when you change devices or have different makes in various parts of the house.
And what about being able to identify which lights are still on and doors still unlocked before you blow the virtual candle out as you turn in at night? Checking on the status of the washing machine when at the shops?
None of this is difficult technologically, the biggest struggle is in deciding how it is implemented. Nobody wants anyone to achieve total market dominance, hence my point above about open standards. If this was tackled then in a generation we could have all but a minority of legacy devices controllable remotely and being monitored to check their health.
It's got to be worth thinking about.
I can be followed onTwitter - @RayASullivan
email me on raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com
Visit my books on Amazon (for Kindle owners) and Smashwords (for access to all other formats and access to Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Sony and many other good ebookstores
Now on WH Smith!
Well, electrical efficiency will still be needed to be a major consideration, if only to help minimise the amount of power each household needs to buy off the grid. If you look around your house right now it's probable that you've got dozens of electrical devices, and many of these probably didn't exist ten years ago.
For example, how about your large screen TV set, your Sky box, hard drive recorder, iPad or Android tablet, Kindle, iPod dock, wireless printer, X Box, Wii, other gaming consoles? And that's just touching on your leisure devices. There are dozens of devices ranging from washing machines through to stoves and standard lamps dotted around the average household. Add to that list all the fixed electrics such as your lighting circuit. So, what's my point?
Well, you may recall from my last Blue Sky Thinking post I mentioned that during the evolutionary process most devices go through various phases including ones where they are essentially ugly and disjointed but starting to converge. I think it's fair to say that domestic devices are having 'Form' put on a higher agenda than in years gone by, possibly thanks to the likes of Apple who have always driven the aesthetic agenda. But our devices are disjointed and essentially stand-alone. This is where my wish list starts to kick in.
For starters, I think that all electronic devices should be able to be monitored and, where appropriate, controlled remotely through independent devices such as the iPad or other tablets. As an absolute minimum we shouild be able to determine the running time of any given device and know its power consumption. At a very basic level this would allow you to anticipate a device failure, so limiting the opportunity to be left high and dry by a failed device at the only time you ever really need it to work.
So, in my utopian world, you'd know when any device was running, when it stopped and how much power it consumed. This is fairly standard data collated in industry, so we're not necessarily talking about major development work here. The trick part is getting an open standard agreed so you don't have, say, Sony's proprietary system running on their equipment and Apple's take on the process running on theirs.
I also see that data as the starting point. How about being able to programme your hard drive recorders from your iPad, perhaps when away from home? A good start would be the ability to have a common programming interface - sure, let the device makers determine their own look and feel when hooked up to your TV if we must, but let the consumer choose one interface product to run on their tablet that allows them to programme different makes of hard drive recorder in a common way - no need to relearn a different interface when you change devices or have different makes in various parts of the house.
And what about being able to identify which lights are still on and doors still unlocked before you blow the virtual candle out as you turn in at night? Checking on the status of the washing machine when at the shops?
None of this is difficult technologically, the biggest struggle is in deciding how it is implemented. Nobody wants anyone to achieve total market dominance, hence my point above about open standards. If this was tackled then in a generation we could have all but a minority of legacy devices controllable remotely and being monitored to check their health.
It's got to be worth thinking about.
I can be followed onTwitter - @RayASullivan
email me on raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com
Visit my books on Amazon (for Kindle owners) and Smashwords (for access to all other formats and access to Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Sony and many other good ebookstores
Now on WH Smith!
Monday, 17 October 2011
Blue Sky Thinking - Part One
I have a view is that most major technology evolutions, or even revolutions, are initially a little ugly in hindsight, functionally over ambitious and destined to be hi-jacked by others in the same field who don't have the same emotional investment. I think we also see a progressive merging of technologies over time and eventually get to a state where the end product is more than the sum of its parts.
With that thought in mind I'm going to discuss some of the daft ideas I have for a brave new future - I'm expecting some rolled eyes and critical comments, bring them on!
For today, I'm going to look at the issue of power - electrical power. We all know that the country is heading for an energy crunch and we've seen how vulnerable we are due our dependancy on gas from abroad. Now there's been a lot of development in roof mounted solar panels in recent years and a scheme, about to be canned next April by the Government, has encouraged people to have solar panels fitted to their house roofs. The scheme allows power generated in this way to be used by the household with the panels, with anything not used being sold back to the national grid at four times the cost of buying units. The householder pays for the purchase and installation. Some commentators say the payback period is twenty-five years, others claim just four. The crux of the issue to me is two-fold, regardless of the payback period. First, the scheme only works because of an unrealistic subsidy (which is going to cease soon) and second, the finished panels are aesthetically awful.
Now my view is that the core idea has a lot of merit - look at any street in your city, town or village and think about how many square metres of roofing there is. The current scheme of plonking a few ugly panels almost at random is only scratching at the surface of the potential (if the electricians don't mind the pun). Here's my view on how the scheme should run:
First, there should be development of tiling materials that are individual solar panels but mimic the look, feel and weatherproofing capabilities of current (sorry, electricians) ceramic tiles. I can foresee ceramic tiles manufactured using traditional methods being treated post manufacture in a suitable voltaic material, preferably one that looks natural from the ground. In time, I would expect the tiles to be manufactured with the voltaic capabilities in one manufacturing step.
An obvious objection to be raised here is that the average electrician probably doesn't have the life disregarding temperament of the average roofer; the average roofer probably shouldn't be let anywhere near an electrical generating device with the potential to burn down a house if not installed and maintained correctly. This implies a re-skilling process is needed, especially as I would consider such an installation would need certifying on install and on periodic maintenance.
I also don't think the roof should be installed by the householder, nor paid for by them. In my blue sky world the initial target for the roofing material would be new build houses, with the roof installation paid for, and owned by, the energy companies. The owners of the houses would own and be responsible for everything up to and including the soffits, but the roof would never belong to them. Their responsibilty would be limited to not doing anything that could compromise the roofing and ensuring appropriate access for maintenance.
The benefit for the householder for relinquishing the ownership of the roof is that any power generated would be allocated to their house before anything else. Any surplus would belong to the energy company owning the roof. Additionally, any power drawn in excess of the instantaneous generation would be paid for at the normal rates. Which means the houses should be self sufficient in energy terms during the day, even in the winter, but would incur energy costs out of daylight hours. At least that's a starting point. As we're discussing new build at this point they would be designed to optimise the electricity generated to minimise their need to buy power back.
Over time there could be a retrospective programme to address the existing housing stock. Couple this with energy storage schemes, the amount of energy needed to be generated in the long term by power stations could be a fraction of the present amount.
In the next blue sky blog, I'll be moving inside the house, briefly.
I can be followed onTwitter - @RayASullivan
email me on raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com
Visit my books on Amazon (for Kindle owners) and Smashwords (for access to all other formats and access to Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Sony and many other good ebookstores.
Now on WH Smith!
With that thought in mind I'm going to discuss some of the daft ideas I have for a brave new future - I'm expecting some rolled eyes and critical comments, bring them on!
For today, I'm going to look at the issue of power - electrical power. We all know that the country is heading for an energy crunch and we've seen how vulnerable we are due our dependancy on gas from abroad. Now there's been a lot of development in roof mounted solar panels in recent years and a scheme, about to be canned next April by the Government, has encouraged people to have solar panels fitted to their house roofs. The scheme allows power generated in this way to be used by the household with the panels, with anything not used being sold back to the national grid at four times the cost of buying units. The householder pays for the purchase and installation. Some commentators say the payback period is twenty-five years, others claim just four. The crux of the issue to me is two-fold, regardless of the payback period. First, the scheme only works because of an unrealistic subsidy (which is going to cease soon) and second, the finished panels are aesthetically awful.
Now my view is that the core idea has a lot of merit - look at any street in your city, town or village and think about how many square metres of roofing there is. The current scheme of plonking a few ugly panels almost at random is only scratching at the surface of the potential (if the electricians don't mind the pun). Here's my view on how the scheme should run:
First, there should be development of tiling materials that are individual solar panels but mimic the look, feel and weatherproofing capabilities of current (sorry, electricians) ceramic tiles. I can foresee ceramic tiles manufactured using traditional methods being treated post manufacture in a suitable voltaic material, preferably one that looks natural from the ground. In time, I would expect the tiles to be manufactured with the voltaic capabilities in one manufacturing step.
An obvious objection to be raised here is that the average electrician probably doesn't have the life disregarding temperament of the average roofer; the average roofer probably shouldn't be let anywhere near an electrical generating device with the potential to burn down a house if not installed and maintained correctly. This implies a re-skilling process is needed, especially as I would consider such an installation would need certifying on install and on periodic maintenance.
I also don't think the roof should be installed by the householder, nor paid for by them. In my blue sky world the initial target for the roofing material would be new build houses, with the roof installation paid for, and owned by, the energy companies. The owners of the houses would own and be responsible for everything up to and including the soffits, but the roof would never belong to them. Their responsibilty would be limited to not doing anything that could compromise the roofing and ensuring appropriate access for maintenance.
The benefit for the householder for relinquishing the ownership of the roof is that any power generated would be allocated to their house before anything else. Any surplus would belong to the energy company owning the roof. Additionally, any power drawn in excess of the instantaneous generation would be paid for at the normal rates. Which means the houses should be self sufficient in energy terms during the day, even in the winter, but would incur energy costs out of daylight hours. At least that's a starting point. As we're discussing new build at this point they would be designed to optimise the electricity generated to minimise their need to buy power back.
Over time there could be a retrospective programme to address the existing housing stock. Couple this with energy storage schemes, the amount of energy needed to be generated in the long term by power stations could be a fraction of the present amount.
In the next blue sky blog, I'll be moving inside the house, briefly.
I can be followed onTwitter - @RayASullivan
email me on raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com
Visit my books on Amazon (for Kindle owners) and Smashwords (for access to all other formats and access to Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Sony and many other good ebookstores.
Now on WH Smith!
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