Monday, January 31, 2005
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Solar Power
I read somewhere that a solar panel 70 square miles in area, built in the Sahara Dessert and using current (there's a joke there somewhere) technology, could supply all of the world's electrical power requirements - quite amazing. I appreciate that a 70 square mile solar panel is rather large but in terms of the earth's land surface area, which is 57,500,000 sq miles, it is tiny - unlike the cable coming out of the end which would have to be huge.
So with at least four power cuts locally this year, and concerns that we in the UK are going to be saddled with a brown-out ridden, unreliable electrical grid like the Yanks - thanks to under investment by the power companies and dodgy regulators. I got to wondering what the world would be like if some serious research money was put into solar panel development.
Imagine you could pick up a 6ft x 2ft 6in solar panel at B&Q as easily as a sheet of MDF and at a sensible price. If we give Apple Computers the the job of designing it then it would be plug and play, or would that be plug and power, and would just..., well..., work.
As technology advances we might end up with clothing with flexible and washable solar panels built in. Small quantities of power on the move for you phone, camera, GPS or iPod.
What about photovoltaic paint - slap it on a fence or the shed roof and light up your home - any spare juice you put into the National Grid and charge them for it. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
In the meantime, as I wait for this technology to evolve, I've put each work computers on a UPS and have a 2.5KW generator in the garden shed for emergencies.
Currently listening to: Weak by Skunk Anansie
So with at least four power cuts locally this year, and concerns that we in the UK are going to be saddled with a brown-out ridden, unreliable electrical grid like the Yanks - thanks to under investment by the power companies and dodgy regulators. I got to wondering what the world would be like if some serious research money was put into solar panel development.
Imagine you could pick up a 6ft x 2ft 6in solar panel at B&Q as easily as a sheet of MDF and at a sensible price. If we give Apple Computers the the job of designing it then it would be plug and play, or would that be plug and power, and would just..., well..., work.
As technology advances we might end up with clothing with flexible and washable solar panels built in. Small quantities of power on the move for you phone, camera, GPS or iPod.
What about photovoltaic paint - slap it on a fence or the shed roof and light up your home - any spare juice you put into the National Grid and charge them for it. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
In the meantime, as I wait for this technology to evolve, I've put each work computers on a UPS and have a 2.5KW generator in the garden shed for emergencies.
Currently listening to: Weak by Skunk Anansie
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Blatant lies
I wonder what life would be like if other professions lied as blatantly as politicians.
Just imagine!
Pilot to ATC: "This is BA544 inbound to Heathrow at flight level 320"
Co-pilot to Pilot: "But were at flight level 120!"
Pilot to Co-pilot: "Keep telling them 320, no wait, tell them 280 - but make it sound convincing"
And imagine getting home from the vets with your assuredly healthy cat, only to find it as stiff as a board in the carrying box.
So if there is anyone out there who has day to day contact with any of our politicians feel free to just randomly lie to them.
If Tony Blair pops into your newsagent for a paper and a packet of fags tell him you haven't got any papers (despite the mountain on the counter) and the fags are 14.50 euros each. When two Jags Prescott pops his motor in for a service tell him your a party hat manufacturer and you don't remember ever selling him anything.
See how they like it.
Currently listening to: The Distance by Travis
Just imagine!
Pilot to ATC: "This is BA544 inbound to Heathrow at flight level 320"
Co-pilot to Pilot: "But were at flight level 120!"
Pilot to Co-pilot: "Keep telling them 320, no wait, tell them 280 - but make it sound convincing"
And imagine getting home from the vets with your assuredly healthy cat, only to find it as stiff as a board in the carrying box.
So if there is anyone out there who has day to day contact with any of our politicians feel free to just randomly lie to them.
If Tony Blair pops into your newsagent for a paper and a packet of fags tell him you haven't got any papers (despite the mountain on the counter) and the fags are 14.50 euros each. When two Jags Prescott pops his motor in for a service tell him your a party hat manufacturer and you don't remember ever selling him anything.
See how they like it.
Currently listening to: The Distance by Travis
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Apple is doomed!
Apple profits soar on iPod sales
Once again, Apple proves that it can't even go out of business correctly. It is obvious from this last quarter's performance that the company is in complete denial that it will soon go down the tubes. Is there anything that this company doesn't screw up?
Currently listening to: Silver Star by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Once again, Apple proves that it can't even go out of business correctly. It is obvious from this last quarter's performance that the company is in complete denial that it will soon go down the tubes. Is there anything that this company doesn't screw up?
Currently listening to: Silver Star by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Oh no, here come the proles. The tasteless rabble...
Oh no, here come the proles. The tasteless rabble. The masses who see nothing past the price tag. Of course you can't blame them if their trust funds aren't large enough to provide them with life's very finest—they wouldn't appreciate it anyways - but surely Apple should know better than to serve the poor peasants la crème de la vie on the discount rack at Sears.
There was a time, not long ago, when you could tell everything that mattered about a person by his or her choice of operating system. You would notice a man at the local bistro with his titanium PowerBook and a deep garnet Merlot, and you instinctively knew: here is a man with a certain flair, a je ne sais quoi that makes his company worth your while. You’d wonder if the dark-clad woman striding down the street was your type; then you’d notice tucked under her arm a Duo 2300c, so retro and so delicously delicate, and you’d be smitten, simply devastated. You’d go for coffee along Bedford and the two of you would talk about the next East Village gallery opening, or the latest collection from Philippe Starck, or how Frank Lloyd Wright had ruined American architecture.
And it wasn't just about being able to identify like-minded individuals. As a Mac user yourself, you belonged to an exclusive club of discriminating individuals and creative geniuses. Artists like Picasso. Activists like Teresa Heinz. Revolutionaries like Václav Havel. Writers like Dave Eggers. Actresses like Chloë Sevigny. I remember at a cocktail party in SoHo once—it must have been in the mid-’90s—Susan Sontag, Haruki Murakami and I spent hours debating the merits of Mac OS 8’s new “Platinum” theme. Those were fine times, indeed.
But ever since the introduction of the mass-produced iMac and iBook, it’s been getting harder to distinguish the aesthetically conscious literati from the unwashed masses. It started with the yuppies, and now it’s moving on to state-school students and former Dell buyers. On Bedford Avenue, L Café is gone, replaced by a Baby Gap. Soon it will be smelly Linux enthusiasts (ugh!) popping their pimples over translucent keyboards and lickable widgets.
We Mac users were willing to forgive Apple the iPod’s popularity, but this... if this rumor is true, then this is going too far. Mon Dieu! Apple, why do you want to sell to these poor peasants? These people don’t appreciate beauty and elegance. They don’t understand it. They probably even voted for Bush—all four times.
Mr. Jobs, please establish eligibility requirements for the purchase of a new Mac. A good start would be to disqualify anyone who listens to Ashanti or anything they play on K-Rock. You could also disqualify people who think digital watches are cool, as well as all objectivists. In America, don’t even bother selling to the lower Midwest. Don’t accept applications postmarked from trailer parks. Ban the entire Hilton family.
One way or another, something must be done to preserve the Macintosh community. Anguished but unified, we cry out with one voice. Dam the river, close the gates, pull up the portcullis, keep out the tasteless proles. Please, Mr. Jobs, don’t wait until it’s too late.
Love it! Found on SlashDot.
There was a time, not long ago, when you could tell everything that mattered about a person by his or her choice of operating system. You would notice a man at the local bistro with his titanium PowerBook and a deep garnet Merlot, and you instinctively knew: here is a man with a certain flair, a je ne sais quoi that makes his company worth your while. You’d wonder if the dark-clad woman striding down the street was your type; then you’d notice tucked under her arm a Duo 2300c, so retro and so delicously delicate, and you’d be smitten, simply devastated. You’d go for coffee along Bedford and the two of you would talk about the next East Village gallery opening, or the latest collection from Philippe Starck, or how Frank Lloyd Wright had ruined American architecture.
And it wasn't just about being able to identify like-minded individuals. As a Mac user yourself, you belonged to an exclusive club of discriminating individuals and creative geniuses. Artists like Picasso. Activists like Teresa Heinz. Revolutionaries like Václav Havel. Writers like Dave Eggers. Actresses like Chloë Sevigny. I remember at a cocktail party in SoHo once—it must have been in the mid-’90s—Susan Sontag, Haruki Murakami and I spent hours debating the merits of Mac OS 8’s new “Platinum” theme. Those were fine times, indeed.
But ever since the introduction of the mass-produced iMac and iBook, it’s been getting harder to distinguish the aesthetically conscious literati from the unwashed masses. It started with the yuppies, and now it’s moving on to state-school students and former Dell buyers. On Bedford Avenue, L Café is gone, replaced by a Baby Gap. Soon it will be smelly Linux enthusiasts (ugh!) popping their pimples over translucent keyboards and lickable widgets.
We Mac users were willing to forgive Apple the iPod’s popularity, but this... if this rumor is true, then this is going too far. Mon Dieu! Apple, why do you want to sell to these poor peasants? These people don’t appreciate beauty and elegance. They don’t understand it. They probably even voted for Bush—all four times.
Mr. Jobs, please establish eligibility requirements for the purchase of a new Mac. A good start would be to disqualify anyone who listens to Ashanti or anything they play on K-Rock. You could also disqualify people who think digital watches are cool, as well as all objectivists. In America, don’t even bother selling to the lower Midwest. Don’t accept applications postmarked from trailer parks. Ban the entire Hilton family.
One way or another, something must be done to preserve the Macintosh community. Anguished but unified, we cry out with one voice. Dam the river, close the gates, pull up the portcullis, keep out the tasteless proles. Please, Mr. Jobs, don’t wait until it’s too late.
Love it! Found on SlashDot.
