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I was at the John Logie Baird lecture last night, listening to Peter Heslop of Arqiva speaking about the Digital Switchover (DSO). During his presentation he showed this video of a helicopter being used during an Antenna lift (no I don’t want to be a helicopter pilot now.. ) . What amazed me were the three gentlemen climbing to the top of the antenna to facilitate its construction… To coin a well-used piece of text speak.. OMG….!
There is much fun to be had with the installation of PIR security lights… My partner and I have just installed some at our new home. A porch light for the front, one for the side driveway and one for the back garden. We spent Sunday evening trying to ‘sneak up’ on them to see how far we could get before the PIR detector spotted us… much to the amusement of our new neighbours who must have been wondering what on earth we were doing…I’m surprised our evening adventures weren’t followed by a visit from the local constabulary… Everyone is familiar with them but I wonder how many people know how they actually work and what is inside them? I don’t! So… to satisfy my inner geek I spent some time surfing the internet to find out, and came across this ‘PIR teardown and tutorial’ on youtube which was…
It’s true..! I am… My friends have known this for many years. I am at my best when the sun is shining. During the autumn and winter months I have a special 10,000 lux desk lamp in the office to combat SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and stop me wanting to hibernate until March. It’s like sitting outside in the midday sun in the height of summer! I have a plethora of solar powered gadgets at home. Solar lights in the garden, a solar powered desk fan, solar powered ornaments that move around when the sun is shining and even a solar powered battery charger that lives on my (south facing) kitchen windowsill. Unfortunately my garden isn’t big enough to warrant having one of these but believe me if it was, I would! However, I’m not keen on having solar panels installed on the roof as I’m not sure…
.... is the sound you make when you realise that you should have spent that little bit more money and bought the 64GB iPad instead of the 32. I was recently off sick for a few days and spend a lot of time under the duvet with the iPad watching various films and TV programmes. Halfway through downloading Series 2 of Sherlock from iTunes, it decided to tell me that I didn’t have enough storage capacity. Thus ensues the agonising decision of what to delete in order to free up the space needed. Do I really want to delete ‘100 greatest ‘70’s Disco Hits’ in favour of keeping ‘The Complete Stone Roses’…? Cue another Big Bang Theory moment where ((Music + video) / storage capacity) x happiness = should have bought a larger gigabyte iPad. I really should investigate Cloud Computing and keep some stuff…
I don’t watch much television... Actually I should say that I’m just ‘choosy’ in what I watch. I can’t simply sit in front of it and watch whatever happens to be on. However, there are particular programmes that I like and will make time to see such as The Big Bang Theory (of course) and the wonderful recent BBC series ‘Sherlock’ (another programme that makes being ‘odd’ rather cool ) Broadcasting, television and the way in which we watch it have become more and more advanced since I was a child (which wasn’t that long ago really...) with the introduction of satellite and cable TV, Digital Television, High Definition, 3D, Internet TV and On Demand services. Which leads me to wonder, where does it go next? Where is television and broadcasting heading in the future? I’m going to the annual John…
1 st October heralds the start of the new session for the IET's Communities. Lots of really exciting events and activities coming up this year which you can find on our Events Calendar My colleagues and I will be busy supporting our army of volunteers to produce their events and activities which are, in the main, open to the general public for everyone's enjoyment (why should we keep all the fun to ourselves..? ) Most are free to attend and take place in the evenings so why not come along and learn something new?
If you’ve ever been to the IET’s Savoy Place venue in London I’m sure you know that the view from the balcony in the Riverside Room is amazing. Spanning a 180 degree view along the river Thames from the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, down stream to Canary Wharf and St Pauls Cathedral. And at night, when the city lights up, it’s even more magical… The view however, is forever changing with the continuous construction of new buildings and the newest kid on the block is even taller and shinier than those before. So tall in fact, that at 1017ft, it’s now the tallest (habitable) building in Europe. I’m sure the view from the top is stunning but at £25 to access the viewing platform, I’m not sure that I’ll get to see it anytime soon… Those who know London well will know that I’m referring to…
Whenever I arrive at Kings Cross station in transit to Savoy Place, I’ve always wondered if they ever test the buffers at the end of the platform to see if they will actually stop an ‘out of control’ speeding train doing some 90 mph? Not that it will ever happen given the level of technology present to prevent such an occurrence, but it is something that I’ve always wondered about. It’s also something that I wouldn’t mind seeing if they ever did test them… So any of you Safety or Railway Engineers out there, give me a call if you hear of anything! I had another ‘inner Sheldon Cooper’ moment yesterday... At Covent Garden tube station I overheard a small child asking his mother why it was so windy in the underground tunnels. I resisted the temptation to launch into a full on explanation of the…
Anyone who knows me well will tell you that yes, I am a geek. Some will say that I’m all five characters of The Big Bang Theory rolled into one which can be amusing for some and frustrating for many others… Not interested in girls toys as a child but rather more intrigued by my brother’s electronic toys, often taking them apart to see how they worked. Much to the annoyance of my brother and even more so my parents, as (as usually happens) there was always a few bits left over when I reassembled it and it never quite worked the same... on Boxing Day. I think I can be forgiven though as I was only around 8 or 9 at the time. However, the tinkering never quite stopped and more recently a gas installer servicing my boiler had to contend with me looking over his shoulder telling him which wires…
Genevieve Beart, the Australian representative for the IET Present Around The World (PATW) competition for 2012, was recently announced as the runner-up in the Asia-Pacific regional final, securing an additional £300 in prizemoney to add to that of her previous wins at the Victorian and Australian stages of the competition. Genevieve's presentation was on her innovative electronic system for identifying the spectral characteristics of light in the home for treating jaundice in newborn children. With other competitors from Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore, Genevieve was runner-up only to Abigail Arulandu, the representative from New Zealand, who will go on to represent the Asia-Pacific region at the International Final in London later this year. Everyone from the IET…
Genevieve Beart, a former electrical engineering student at the University of Melbourne, has won the national Present Around the World competition which was held in Sydney last month. Genevieve competed against representatives from SA, QLD, NSW and WA and impressed the judges with both her presentation skills and her achievements from her final year project, BiliDoc – a handheld device that provides a safe, simple and automated home phototherapy treatment process for infants with low-risk jaundice. Genevieve will now go on to represent Australia in the South Pacific Regional Final which will be held in Singapore later this year. Congratulations Genevieve, and we wish you best of luck at the South Pacific Regional competition!
