fizzPOP’s potential new ‘space The space available at OPW is huge, but mostly shared. Location-wise, it is here. Yes, nearly all that building is the OPW! The first shots below show the bit that would be exclusively ours, once drywalled, and then I walked down the corridor taking shots to give an idea of the [...]
The drone wars
Last night I read an interesting article about the US process for ‘targeted killing’ of pretty much anyone. The photo at the end of the article, of a man with massive trauma to his chest and huge blood loss, was shocking. Even worse, as I scrolled down, the top of his head had been blown [...]
Are we underestimating the risk of human extinction?
I was reading this article: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/were-underestimating-the-risk-of-human-extinction/253821/ The Atlantic has some very good articles, and this one is an interview by Ross Andersen with a man called Nick Bostrom who suspects that we as a race are seriously underestimating the risks that the human race will self-extinguish, most likely by accident. Go read it. Anyway, I [...]
Building on the moon?
The last few days it has been revealed that NASA are planning a test of a 3D solar fuser printer. On the moon! Having seen a rather cool video of a chap who went out to the Sahara to trial his idea of making cups, bowls and other items using a steerable array of lenses [...]
Hackspaces
I haven’t written about Hackspaces specifically here before, which is more than a little remiss. I’m what I would term “slightly active” due to being really busy in general, and if you want to add anything, drop in a comment. Birmingham has a small group called “FizzPop” which meets in shared space in the Jewellery [...]
Kickstarter is dead, long live… who? & how?
Last year, Kickstarter, concerned about the public thinking they were a shop, made some changes. http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/27/technology/startups/kickstarter-products/index.html In short, in September they banned technology projects from running without a working prototype, and they banned the offer of multiple items as a reward. That these changes have killed the Kickstarter technology arena for (some) new starts [...]
School shooting mitigation system
The news of another school shooting by a disturbed but coldly calculating killer leaves us all sad. Apparently the school had a ‘new high security system’ but it obviously wasn’t. Though the risk of a shooting is low, the severity is incredibly high, so, much like a bombing or chemical attack, it is worth considering [...]
Anti-dazzle systems for car windscreens
Looking at some cheap digital sensors yesterday. I am amazed at how cheap the things that were just a few decades ago ten of thousands of pounds. At BAE I was part of a project that was worth millions, yet now that same functionality is embedded in a little unit costing $50, alongside the built-in [...]
How can you tell the difference between hazard lights and indicators?
No, it’s not a joke. When driving, cars and the like are often indicating or have their hazard lights on, but it is frequently impossible to tell the meaning, as usually only one side can be seen. The older car had a mechanical flasher relay, using a simple but robust metal strip which heats up [...]
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Nigel on About RubberTreePlant
- Simon on About RubberTreePlant
- admin on 2000-09-24 – New Idea of the Week – September 2000
Archives
- May 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- June 2005
- May 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- November 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
- May 2002
- April 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- January 2002
- December 2001
- November 2001
- October 2001
- September 2001
- August 2001
- July 2001
- June 2001
- May 2001
- April 2001
- March 2001
- February 2001
- January 2001
- December 2000
- November 2000
- October 2000
- September 2000
- July 2000
- January 2000
- January 200
‘That’s obvious – why didn’t I think of that?’
So New Scientist reports that a team have invented ‘white smell’ to join the ranks of ‘white noise’ and ‘white light’. ‘White’ here simply means ‘every part has the same relative strength. So with light, that’s lot of red, a bit less green, and blue somewhere in between, which your eyes read as ‘white’. With [...]