GeekPi

LED! LED! LED!

When it comes to lighting technology, that’s what I hear on an almost daily basis. The thing is though, most of these writers know next to nothing about lighting, and are taking all of their facts from a press release; which of course always puts the product in a positive light (pun intended).

The call for the LED is a noble, but misdirected mantra of the industry and public at large – at least with today’s technology. It’s a fairly well known fact that in most applications, regular Edison style incandescent (aka, ‘regular’ light bulbs) are a pretty big energy waster. Then came the big old fluorescent tubes that most offices have. And then came the compact fluorescent light (CFL), which twisted the bulb and make the light controlling ballast all in one unit. And one of the more recent technologies that shows promise is the Light Emitting Diode (LED). The thing is though, don’t get caught up in the hype and marketing! LED’s are not that efficient.

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Today’s geek lexicon expansion lesson:

Twitterpated

-adj.

• DESCRIPTION:

A feeling of intense infatuation with Twitter that causes an individual to spend large portions of time posting, updating, retweeting, surfing and checking Twitter on their computer or mobile device. One who is obsessed with the social networking site Twitter.

• USED IN A SENTENCE:

I really wish I could dedicate more of my time to covering events and technology, because when it comes down to it, most of the ‘big name’ tech blogs out there just straight up suck.

They enjoy being treated like journalists, but then hide behind the term of blogger when they post rumors and conjecture everywhere. I’m a pretty close follower of both Engadget and Gizmodo, but I have to tell you, some of their writers/editors are some of the most unprofessional I’ve ever come across. Especially when taking into account their little stunts like at last year’s CES, where one of their writers thought it’d be a hoot if they used a ‘TV-B-Gone’ to sabotage exhibitor’s presentations.

Case-in-Point: Jesus Diaz, Senior Associate Editor, Gizmodo. He posted today a fairly descent write up on the differences in gaming capabilities between the iPhone 3G and the improved 3Gs. All in all, an ok article, with some actual facts. The problem is his very ‘engrish’ headline of “Will Future iPhone Games Run on My Iphone 3G?”

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After an unforeseen Microsoft leak to the media, one day early, the official Microsoft word is they are firm on their release date for Windows 7:

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009.

They also say it will likely Release To Manufacturers (RTM) in late July.

The question is, when will people start lining up?

Most people don’t give a second thought about their electric utility meter, other than just taking a look at it to make sure it’s still spinning. The same goes for their utility bill. It’s just another, likely ever increasing bill to dread each month.

The Bill

My inbox this morning held my latest electric bill from Puget Sound Energy. Another $99 to pay to the utility company. Yay! As an owner of a small, under insulated, baseboard electric heat home, I’m wary of my winter time bills. The summer is typically in the $40 range. The winter? Typically $250+ a month. Ouch.

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The new lights are in and they’re spectacular. Now most folks can’t really get too excited about lighting, but when you’re a geek pushing for electrical grid ‘Net-Zero,’ this is a big deal.

Now before you get into this, I just wanted to reiterate that this is a personal blog, and that I do not get reimbursed or directly sponsored by any of the manufacturers I mention. The only reason I went with their fixtures is because I personally thought they’d be the best for the job. My quoted prices are pretty good, because I work for an architecture firm, and will likely vary from what you can find. So now that that I taken care of some housekeeping, my review:

Comparison

What you’re looking at on the left (click to enlarge) is the obligatory ‘before & after’ photo. Unlike most of the ones you see in infomercials, this one doesn’t include any editing trickery. They were taken from the same spot, with the shades drawn to keep outside light from interfering. The f-stop, shutter speed, and iso are exactly the same. Other than the text, and positioning, they feature zero post editing. Pretty impressive. There are twice as many fixtures and bulbs on the ‘before’ image and yes, all of the lights are on in the left photo. It’s just that much brighter with an efficient lamp and fixture.

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By Renee Allwine

Not even the CIA can save Chuck this time

Rumor has it that the NBC show Chuck might not live to see its third season. If television die-hards have taught us anything, it’s that they aren’t going to let their precious show go down without a fight. [Read more →]

My proposal: Cut energy consumption of existing buildings in the USA by 50%

It’s not that hard to do. Plus the investment will even pay you back.

In recent years, there is a greatly renewed interest in renewable energy and efficiency upgrades. As a geek, I’m not into this as a us/them or democrat vs republican debate – I see it as a great way to look into minimizing waste and being more efficient. That benefits everyone.

I’ve been quite busy as of late, presenting to the Seattle Renewable Energy Group, and actively taking zero energy building and energy auditing courses to expand my areas of knowledge. I hope to get some good hands on experience with blower doors and thermal cameras.

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After a long while, our office is now changed over to exchange 2007. We’ve been having some trouble getting people used to the new access portal, but overall, it’s quite the improvement. While poking around in the web interface control panel, I was quite surprised to find a pair of interesting Exchange 2007 web interface skins [Read more →]

Today’s geek lexicon expansion lesson:

Jawbonehead

-noun [Read more →]