Solar Technology – A Way to Save Money

Solar technology is a wonderful method for saving cash and use completely eco-friendly power, but to be perfectly sincere, it’s not suitable for everybody. Solar power equipment and installation is pricey. Certain areas and house circumstances will not be suitable for generating energy, and certain places and states will not deliver the identical incentives, rendering it a tougher decision. In order to clear up a few of the questions and dilemma, here are 5 various questions you should ask yourself to find out if solar power fits your needs and also your home.
Are You Going To Be At Your Residence For A Long Time?
This is probably the very first and most important questions to ask when it comes to solar powered energy. A solar power system can be quite costly ($10,000-$40,000 depending on the dimension and wattage), so much like when purchasing a property, you need to consider your alternatives carefully. The average house will end up reducing about $100-$200/month based on the incentives and programs you qualify for, so you are looking at about four up to 3 decades before the system pays for itself. If you’re undecided how much time you’ll be in your home, leasing your solar equipment will probably be the best choice.
Does Your State/City Make It Worthwhile?
This is how you’re going to have to do some investigation. Several states (most notably California and Vermont) seriously incentivize the purchase, installation and use of solar panel systems to the degree that you will not just save money, but you may actually profit from your extra energy and from the sale of SRECs. Some other states do not have such programs or possibly a accreditation program for SREC generation, which makes it much more expensive for the same equipment. Do your research, and make sure to find all of the city, state and federal programs you qualify for.
Is Your House In An Ideal Location?
You can’t make solar power without sun rays, so having a home with a little roof (a narrow house) or even a house that is shaded by trees, hillsides or structures will seriously restrict the amount of energy you can generate. You do not need a huge top in direct sunlight for solar to make sense, but the better your situation, the more money you’ll save over the lifetime of the panels.
Do You Have Significant Energy Needs?
Determining your power requirements can be tricky. Most people do not power their houses 100% from solar power, but you need to get a good suggestion of just how much you will need. A typical a solar panel system will produce in between 1000-2000 kWh each month. To get a good idea of just how much energy this is, the easiest way might be to look at your electricity bill to see how much you are currently utilising. Alternately, you might go through your house and add up the electrical appliances you actually need. For instance, a pc uses around 300-500 watts, whereas a refrigerator uses 500-1000 watts. How this switches to kWh is take your total power level usage (for this instance, let’s say it’s only the computer and also the fridge, so around twelve hundred watts) times the time period it’s being utilized (again, let’s think that both are utilized twenty-four hours/day) and you get 28,800 watt hours (or 28.8 kWh). There are also gadgets you can get to evaluate your utilization, or you can merely look at your meter and measure it from month to month or daily.
Is Going Green Crucial To You?
Finally, how important is it that you “go green”? For some, the cost, the irritation of trying to get governing programs and the prospective to save virtually no cash depending on your circumstances may not matter when you take into consideration the positive impact you’ll be having on the environment. The green facet of going solar is an intangible value that you’ll need to think about and decide for yourself what its worth. Ultimately, there will be some cost associated with either decision, so weigh all of the implications and options carefully before making your final decision.…

Kwarx Technology in Glassware

Not since man first figured out a transparent and user friendly material could be produced from ordinary ingredients such as soda, lime and silica has there been such an important and ground-breaking innovation than the development of Kwarx technology in glass and stemware.

The Romans may well have been the original innovators of glass, or glesum, meaning a transparent, lustrous substance, but it was the French, of the new millennium, who changed the functionality and appearance of glass forever with Kwarx technology.

The Glass-making Method

Although the actual method and superior blend of ingredients, which elevates glassware to an entirely new and ultra modern dimension, is a closely guarded secret, the technology behind Kwarx ensures permanent lustre, unparalleled clarity and additional strength – the latter crucial to the UK glassware hire industry.

The importance of the perfect glass to accompany the finest of wines has long been overlooked. The latest trend to serve and imbibe ‘new’ wines instead of cellar wines has, however, demanded innovative and superior glassware to best enhance the intrinsic qualities of these wines. Claimed to be a result of a fine synthesis of human endeavour, new and innovative treatment methods, an entirely new manufacturing process and a blend of rare raw materials, Kwarx was specifically designed with wine tasting or oenology in mind.

A New Range is Born

This is where the Chef & Sommelier Open Up range has stepped in. One of the first stemware lines to boast the pioneering spirit of Kwarx, this range has a number of elements crucial to the full-throated enjoyment of the wine, not least the lustre, transparency and powerful resilience associated with the new material.

Fine rims, measuring 0.9mm, elevates the Open Up range to that of hand blown lead crystal, but without the fragility.

The upper part of the bowl is rounded inwards facilitating the timeous release of heady aromas and flavours, whilst at the same time providing an exact measure for the correct amount of wine the glass should hold to best effect.

Long stems complement the clean, angular lines of the Open Up bowl.

Flat bases ensure maximum stability. Accompanied by the new-found strength of Kwarx glass, the Open Up range is virtually indestructible!

When next hosting a party, wine tasting experience or simply an elegant meal with friends, opt for the Chef & Sommelier Open Up range, resplendent with the lustrous, clear and unbreakable Kwarx technology. Apart from the actual stemware, the Open Up range range comes with a Kwarx infused decanter, ensuring all bar equipment hire needs are met with the latest and most durable glass in the world.…

The Four Truths of Technology Projects

As a long-time public sector Chief Information Officer I have always focused on building community-not just building bedrooms. Several years ago, we identified three goals. The first was to lay out a plan that would bring our city onto the playing field with the top “connected” cities in the nation. The second was to create increased competition among technology providers in our metropolitan edge community. And our third goal was to position homes in the city for a future of ultra high-speed Internet, futuristic digital and high definition television and entertainment and mobile communications.
The result included one of the most comprehensive municipal technology projects in the nation. Our projects addressed a broad range of community technologies including broadband, Wi-Fi, digital television and cellular wireless. By looking at the total community technology spectrum, we are not trying to get a point product (such as Wi-Fi) to meet all our citizens’ needs. We are looking for multifaceted solutions to meet a wider range of citizens’ needs.
Over the years we developed some leading edge technologies (for their time). We were one of the first cities in Arizona to convert to a total VOIP (Voice over IP) converged communications system, we embraced key technologies such as a internally developed electronic permitting system, and we developed a state of the art data center. We developed many citizen oriented services such as providing information about their address from multiple public data sources. And we provided an extensive look into our financial systems provided by public monies. Many of our initiatives were designed to fulfill our goal of providing citizens and our employees with advanced technology and communication in the medium of their choice.
In the middle of our innovation binge (now tempered with a struggling economy), I asked myself a few rhetorical questions: Why are leading-edge projects so hard to understand? What does it take for staff and other management see the light? Why does everyone (or so it seems) fight the project? As I looked back across my 25+ years in IT some of my more innovative initiatives-large and small, successful and failed-I identified some common patterns that I call “The Four Truths.”
Truth #1: Innovation is change
Change and innovation walk on the same path. Change and innovation threaten the status quo and upset the apple cart. The American public loves innovation, except when it surfaces in their own backyards. My own staff was uneasy with some of the projects and how it might change their roles. They were fearful that a project would be thrust at them on top of their already burdensome workload. As we rolled out some of the larger projects, we started to understand how our role would be one of oversight rather than hands-on in the trenches installation. Change management would continue to be an educational process, not just from the tactical and operational aspects, but also from the strategic value that such a project would bring to the City.
Truth#2: The road will be blocked
Every innovation effort includes a series of roadblocks that attempt to keep us from our stated goals. It is too easy to listen to the naysayer’s and critics. Successful project managers are those who forge a path over, around or through the roadblocks.
Truth #3: Innovation without implementation is merely a dream
Our quest for innovation has taught me that many visionaries have great dreams, but few can bring those dreams to fruition. Some of our projects were hard to implement, but perseverance and hard work by a team of brilliant technicians led to completion. Many of the projects had to bring diverse stakeholders together and I sometimes find that keeping a project in focus and on track is harder than actually doing the project.
Truth#4: Innovation without marketing is soon be forgotten
Marketing is not just about selling a product; it’s about selling a concept. It’s about convincing stakeholders that you can see their future and that the idea will satisfy their needs and enhances their lives. As CIOs we have all seen superior products fall by the wayside because marketing was weak or ineffective or because the competitor’s marketing was superior.
Marketing must be pursued throughout the entire innovation process. You must market the idea in order to bring it to the table. Once the idea is introduced, you market to the stakeholders and customers, and then to the press and the media. After roll-out, you must continue marketing to the customers to make sure the products or services deliver on your promises. Communication of the project vision has its ups and downs. Sometimes, our senior management team had to be convinced how their departments could be impacted by the project.
When it comes to innovation, there’s one foundational trait underlying all these truths-persistence. Bertrand Russell said “No great …

Technology in Real Estate – Out With the Old

It’s time to take legacy solutions like BacNet, Modbus, LonTalk, etc… out of base buildings…forever. While every other industry on the planet has standardized around Internet Protocol (IP), and gained the benefits of open communication, information exchange, and technology that gets more functional as it becomes less expensive, the real estate development and property management industries have standardized around antiquated, limited technologies that are only utilized in their vertical.
Walk into the headquarters of every manufacture of legacy base building solutions and you will find that 100% of them run their mission critical business systems on an IP network with current web enabled applications. Why, because there are no Modbus phones, no LonTalk high density storage devices, no BacNet computers etc… These solutions are based on technologies (ARCnet, Token Ring, RS-232 etc…) that have long been abandoned by mainstream global communications. They were abandoned because they are too slow and too limited in their interoperability to be practical.
That is why in today’s “speed of business” & “on demand” world… property management is still reactive, driven by individuals utilizing “paper in binders” to get the job done. They don’t have the tools that every other industry has.
The returns in construction costs and long term operational & energy savings are available today. The IP solutions for base buildings have been around for years, tenants are demanding more, it’s now time for owners to get involved and challenge the construction industry to stop building and retrofitting facilities with technologies that were obsolete before they were installed.…

Outsourcing Information Technology – What is It?

Information technology (popularly referred to as IT) is an important aspect of doing business now. With a whole lot of consumers taking their business to the internet, outsourcing IT really does make a lot of sense, because IT experts are in huge demand in a lot of industries. In addition to this, a lot of functions of information technology can be managed much more affordably if tasks are outsourced to independent firms and individuals instead of utilizing in-house providers.
Outsourcing information technology projects take place in a lot of industries due to a lot of factors. First and foremost, this helps to control the costs associated with IT projects, this can be quite expensive to manage by on-site employees, who have rather limited resources, equipment and of course time. When information technology requirement change or the budget is limited, outsourcing information technology helps to save money and resources.
One other good reason why IT outsourcing is used by a lot of companies is because of time factors. Having an additional IT support that works for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week on a project will of course help improve the chances of getting the project done in a timely fashion. In a lot of cases, this can really speed up the time needed in order to complete a project by vital deadlines.
Most times, software or web development projects become quite complex, which will necessitate the extra support of IT experts who are known to specialize in much more difficult projects. Outsourcing information technology is used by a lot of organizations that are limited in handling complicated or new processes. A project may be a lot more effectively performed by certified IT experts who can work round the clock in order to address much more difficult aspects of the task. Sometimes it might take months to accomplish a particular task with an existing in-house information technology team.
One of the pretty good reasons for using IT outsourcing is to be able to also adapt fast and affordable demands of customers. If an organization wishes to compete in the market today, the organization must be able to make improvements and changes quickly so as to still retain customer loyalty. Today, customers in general demand a very fast response, services and products that will address their immediate needs and cheaper solutions to their problems.…

DisplayPort Extenders Replace HDMI Extender And HDMI Switch Technology As Audio/Video Standard

DisplayPort extenders and switches are rapidly becoming the industry standard for extension of audio and video production as well as in personal computing graphics. The most current evolution of this cutting-edge technology is marked by recent advances in DisplayPort technology that give all DisplayPort extenders the highest bandwidth on the market of any available audio/video repeater- whether DVI, or HDMI extender technology.
DisplayPort extenders are poised to take audio and video signal data further, faster, at a higher resolution, and with less signal loss than ever before! This means that DVI and HDMI extenders are possibly reaching the end of their product life-cycles.
DisplayPort Achieves 70% Greater Bandwidth over HDMI Switch/HDMI Extender Options
DisplayPort extenders are capable of carrying more bandwidth than any other legacy DVI or HDMI extender options available, up to 17.28 gigabits per second (gb/s) in the current generation, 70% greater bandwidth than the highest generation HDMI switch specifications. DVI components face the limitation. Even the value-oriented first generation DisplayPort standard is capable of delivering speeds up to 8.64 gb/s.
DVI and HDMI Extenders Have Lower Bandwidth
By comparison, the final generation HDMI extender has a maximum throughput of 10.2 gb/s, and the value-oriented first generation HDMI extender specification tops out at just 4.95 gb/s. Value-oriented first generation single link DVI cable is also limited to only 4.95 gb/s. The most expensive dual link DVI extenders are capable of data transfer at maximum speeds of 9.9 gb/s, whereas single link DVI cable is even slower. Value-oriented single link DVI cable is limited to only 4.95 gb/s. DVI and HDMI switch speeds are identical.
DisplayPort: Most Recently Updated, Here to Stay
Second generation DisplayPort 1.1a was released in November 11, 2009. Second generation HDMI was released on June 22, 2006. The HDMI switch is unlikely to receive any major upgrades in the near future due to initial bandwidth and technical design parameters. The same goes for HDMI extender technology.
Perhaps most unfortunately for DVI technology die-hards, the consortium of tech companies that first came together to establish the DVI standard has since disbanded. There will be no future updates to DVI.
DisplayPort Primary Features
DisplayPort 1.1a has all the great technical specifications of DisplayPort 1.0, but with perhaps the greatest advantage over legacy HDMI switch and DVI switch support- DisplayPort is designed to carry audio and video signal over fiber optic. A DisplayPort fiber optic switch should outperform a typical DVI or HDMI switch.
What this means is that for the first time ever, production companies and techno geeks alike are now able to enjoy sending audio and video signals over long distances with minimal signal degradation. While typical HDMI switch and HDMI extender brands pay a royalty fee to the licensor, DisplayPort is an open license technology, (with the exception of HDCP digital rights management), and is royalty free.
DisplayPort Becomes New Graphic Standard
Graphics standards in video cards and monitor displays are migrating rapidly towards DisplayPort due to its billing as the highest bandwidth and most current technology. By 2013, many of the world’s primary computer vendors and display makers including AMD, Dell, Intel, Lenovo, LG, and Samsung will feature DisplayPort as their primary audio and video display technology, with HDMI offered as a legacy carryover. This may buy time for HDMI extender and HDMI switch makers, but DVI vendors will be out of luck.
Many other industry heavyweights including computer vendors- Apple, Acer, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba; and graphics and display makers- Asus, ATI, Matrox, NEC, NVidia, Pioneer, Philips, RealTek, and Viewsonic have already started retailing dozens of new products utilizing the new DisplayPort standard.…

The Wii, Motion Technology and Gaming

On November 19th 2006, Nintendo changed the face of gaming by introducing motion technology to games consoles. This allowed for a whole range of different games which required a completely new type of gameplay. Instead of bashing buttons on a normal controller, gamers were given a remote. The remote’s movements are picked up by a sensor, allowing the Nintendo Wii to monitor and record the movements of the gamer. Virtual technology has been showcased in several futuristic films but the Wii was our first taste of motion sensor technology and a taster of things to come.
Before the Wii, no console had developed the technology to take advantage of motion sensors to monitor our movements. The Wii signalled the start of a new type of gaming where your actions could be imitated on the television screen right in front of you. They used this type of technology to develop many simple games such as Wii Sports, which has many short activities such as tennis and bowling. Since then, Nintendo have introduced many more games that require you to use the remote in completely different ways compared to a standard controller.
The main difference with the Wii is that it can require you to be much more active. With standard controllers, you can sit down and not move for several hours whilst gaming. With the Wii, some people prefer standing up as this gives them the room to perform a particular movement. This type of motion technology has attracted different types of people with the elderly being reported as enjoying a bit of Wii action in retirement homes.
This level of popularity has not gone unnoticed, which is evident with Xbox and PS3 releasing their own versions of motion technology. Xbox released their Kinect sensor in November 2010, where no controller was used in conjunction with the system and their main motto was ‘you are the controller’. The Kinect sensor is able to pick up your body movements without the need for a controller and it also incorporated hand movements to scroll through menus. This is very impressive technology and is a sign of the future.
PlayStation followed suit by releasing the PlayStation Move controller in September 2010. This is similar to the Wii remote as you have to use the controller to monitor your body movements. It received impressive reviews with many praising its accuracy and how it has been used to develop motion-based gameplay.
Nintendo started everything back in 2006 but the competition have raised the bar in terms of motion technology with more accurate and innovative products than the Wii. With the 4-year gap between release dates, this was inevitable but in 2012 we will see whether Nintendo can raise their level to continue the good work started by the Wii.…

How to Integrate Technology Into a Real Estate Business?

Real estate has been one of the most profitable and sustainable business. People have become very rich through real estate dealing. Real estate agents use a lot of ways to ensure that they succeed in increase their business. Large businesses with a lot of real estate agents also use different tactics to improve their sales. Large property dealers often spend a fortunate of their earnings on training their sales staff for increase in business. They often however, overlook the fact that technology has been making a greater impact on our lives. This underestimation in role of technology brings a lot of problems for the old style real estate business people. First of all people have started using technology to locate the properties in any country of the world. Secondly, people use internet more then the physical resources to gather information and intelligence.
Search engines have change and there has been a new term coined, known as “social search” which is done through the online social networking sites. People now use technology extensively for all the purposes. Using technology has changed the way things are done for good. The first thing is to use technology for your online business presence. You can get your website designed specifically according to your demand for your real estate business. This would help you establish your online presence.
One other very important way to use technology is to have laptop along with you. Your laptop should have some arrangement for electricity as well as internet. Taking the laptop will help you make presentations to any new client and you can also add to it a lot of useful information, which you won’t be able to remember otherwise. It is also a good practice to find your way through and also the property details through the different internet applications, in case you have problems in finding directions. These are some of the very important technology uses you can have for your real estate property. If you are thinking about the possible benefits then you must rethink. Now people don’t use internet as a luxury in their businesses any more. They use internet to get their hands onto the latest information available so they don’t loose their edge over some other businesses already using technology to their advantage.…

Latest Technological Developments in Web Technology – Ajax and Ruby on Rails

Anyone who closely follows the developments in the Web Technology trends will know that call of the day is Ajax and Ruby on Rails. And, today the buzz word is the customizable online message processor. It is an open source and web based message life cycle management system that can be used for software development projects.
This tool provides basic message life cycle management functions that may include the regular add, edit, delete, review and other functions. Some of the current functionality include:
1. Content validation that is rule-based to validate the input as per the pre-defined rules. As a result, the inputs that do not comply with the rules will not be saved in the system.
2. Each individual can make modifications and enter comments.
3. It allows you to import or export XML directly into your software.
4. Can be modified easily to best meet your project requirements.
5. Can be deployed as a web application easily.
This tool has been built on Ruby on Rails, which is a strong framework for developing the web applications. The Customizable online message processor can be extended or customized as per your specific needs. It also provides easy way to manage the database related design and helps you to track the complex database transactions.
It can also be used for the development of product specific requirements like user authentication and other related applications.
As we enter the Web 3.0 era, there are many other upcoming apps under rapid development, and they will hit the market pretty soon. So, keep an eye on the release of the latest open source projects in the world of web technology.…