posted by admin on May 15

Think that solar panels look unsightly – and you have a heritage home?

Well, worry no more – there is an eco invention that is right up your street! It’s one of the eco inventions that I think all eco advances should be:

It doesn’t take any extra effort from you than fitting a normal ‘solar panel’
It doesn’t create any extra work from you or your family to run
It doesn’t mean that you have to ‘put up’ with a second rate service
It doesn’t mean that you have to lower your standards of appearance or behaviour

The reason that these photovoltaic panels don’t do any of the above is because they are in the shape of and have the appearance of actual roof tiles. Yes – they are sheets of ‘slate’ virtually identical to actual slate tiles!

What a fantastic idea – why didn’t we think of it sooner?

No Extra Effort:
These photovoltaics are so easy to incorporate into your roof that they won’t cause you any more strife than fitting normal pv panels.

Well obviously you won’t be fitting them – an experienced and qualified fitter will do that for you – but I mean they won’t need excessive paperwork to be completed; won’t need extra support scaffolding once in place – and they can’t really ‘fall off’ either.

No Extra Work:
You don’t need to pay to much attention to them either. You don’t need to remember to turn them off when you leave the home (like your lights and electricals); you won’t need to ration their use (like turning off the tap while tooth-brushing); and you won’t need to remember to wash them out before recycling them.

They run themselves with no effort what so ever – just put your feet up and watch a movie!

Same Standards:
Unlike turning down the heating and wearing more jumpers, eating less meat, wearing your clothes more times, using less petrol and not flushing the toilet after every ‘number 1′ – using these photovoltaic slate panels doesn’t affect anything at all in your life.

Just like all alternative energy sources – the power that they generate will be backed up with mains electricity should you have any problems – I mean we all know that it isn’t sunny everyday! So don’t fret about a cloudy day – as the combination of energy sources is seemless. You won’t even know when your kettle is boiling on sunshine and when it needs fossil fuels!

Same (Or Better) Appearance:
And as with few eco alternatives – these slates are actually improving the appearance of your home while you are striving to be ‘green’. You haven’t got giant shiny panels on your south facing – and possibly – street facing roof. The appearance and value of your home should be unaffected by installing these.

And this is particulalry important if your home is a listed building, or you don’t want to distract from its cute cottage or castle appearance with standard solar panels.

Rather than growing broad beans up your front wall and a pile of different colour recycing bins and boxes filling up your front garden – these eco inventions will be all but invisible on your home.

That’s how eco friendly inventions should be!

Visit www.solarslate-ltd.com for more details…..

posted by admin on May 7

Just a really quick post here to let you know that the world has gone mad!

I was in a local book store today, and happened to be standing next to a Gift Card display rack – and noticed that 1 of the cards was for Farmville.

I looked again – and yes, it was a £10 Gift Card for a make believe game on the Internet! A whole actual real £10 to be used buying pretend farm machinery and silver ponies.

Now I know that we spend far too much money on unnecessary clothes, electronics, music and apps – but to spend money on virtual ‘farm’ shopping seems a step to far!

A book gift card can educate, a clothing gift card can make the perfect night – but a Farmville gift card can only buy imaginary equipment to farm your imaginary crops to feed to your imaginary animals……

That is all I have to say on the matter!

posted by admin on Apr 29

When was the last time that you took a First Aid Course?

If it was more than a year ago – you could well be out of date! There have been changes to the way of thinking when dealing with an emergency situation, and you should keep up.

By changes, I don’t mean that everything is totally different and that the ‘old’ way won’t save a life anymore – what I mean is that through experience and advances – the way to do things has been improved; both for the casualty or for the First Aider.

For The Casualty:
Firstly – we are only trying to save your life – we aren’t fixing things or making things better: we are just keeping you alive.

Whether that means dragging you out of a car or pulling you off the road – as long as it means that we can get you breathing normally, we dont mind.

What if your legs are broken? Well firstly – they are already broken anyway; and secondly – if you aren’t breathing then what does it matter what we do with your legs? It’s a choice: broken legs or not breathing?

I know which I would choose!

For The First Aider:
It is so simple now that you can’t go wrong. Rather than having to remember how many fingers up the breast bone for CPR, what to do for a young person instead of an adult, etc – it’s all the same.

People used to get so so worried that they were doing CPR in the wrong place, or using too many fingers – that people weren’t being given immediate First Aid. People were delaying emergency actions due to the worry of minor details; and lives were lost, so it’s all the same now.

Only children under 1 get anything different these days – and it makes for very fast first aid!

You only get a few minutes to really save a life – so make sure they count. Don’t waste time planning what you are going to do or waiting to ask someone else – just do it, and do it fast!

If you are worried about what to do – then book yourself onto a refresher course to make sure you are up to date – and don’t wait for work to put you on a course! Don’t you want to know first aid to save your family and friends rather than a customer in your store or office?

I’ll be taking a course every 6 months to make sure that I make a difference!

posted by admin on Apr 20

Would you like to own a pocketful of notes that were worth nothing?

Well, there are plenty of people around the world who are happy to do just that! The idea isn’t to not pay for goods and services – it is to not pay for something they are already paying for.

Still none the wiser?

Well, if you were collecting your drivers licence – would you want to pay the clerk extra for just giving it to you? Would you want to pay a passport agent to simply ‘check’ you through customs?

But they want a note from you for the privilege – so what are you going to do?

They know that what they are asking for is illegal – but they are making an easy buck. So now do you see why people are carrying zero currency notes?

photo credit: marksdk

Zero Gain:
Imagine the embarrassment of that official when you wave a giant Zero note in front of them for everyone to see – rather than folding it neatly in half and sliding it across the counter. Officials can go to jail for requesting ‘tips’ like this.

The organisation behind the most notable of these notes (the Zero Rupee) are 5th Pillar – an organisation against corruption in a democratic society. But India is not alone in the fight against corrupt officials; Argentina, Belize and even the United States are using similar notes to try to win support – and make accepting bribes totally unacceptable.

The notes are designed to look just like an existing note from whichever country – but with the Zero wording and figure as well as comments which refer to the fact that they are against ‘bribes’.

Obviously – these notes will not always be appropriate to use – particularly if you are a lone traveller and in a particularly remote area – but for everyday residents, these can make a huge difference.

You are more than welcome to make a donation to the organisation – even if you are not using the notes yourself – as they are distributing them free of charge to ordinary people!

They might be worth nothing to use – but they cost money to design, create and distibute. See the 5th Pillar website for more details.

And if you get your hands on one while travelling – don’t stick it in a box as a souvenir – keep them in circulation, doing what they were designed to do!

posted by admin on Apr 9

Would you like an implant that could type for you and change the TV channel?

They have been using brain waves to move objects for some time – but only the very basics – and you have to wear a giant cap with dozens of wires coming out of it. Not so practical.

Yet, now medical advances have allowed for more complex signals to be collected from the brain, and then translated into actual letters! Imagine what this could lead to.

The hindrance to this technology was always that the signal had to be picked up through the skull and hair so were therefore much weaker than if attached to the brain itself – a bit like trying to get wi-fi too far from the source.

Get Inside:
So by moving the sensors onto the surface of the brain itself – these signals can be greatly enhanced to make more things possible.

Wireless technology has already shown us all the amzing things that can be done by very small handheld gadgets – so why not make something run by your brain rather than the ether!

By attaching electrodes to certain areas of the brain – your electrical thoughts can be harnessed in exactly the same way that your body does it already. We know which parts of the brain fire when you move your finger, have a dream, react to a fright and even when you smile – so why not find out how the brain reacts to certain words, letters and pictures?

Imagine the achievements of an arthritic author if the could type their essays with just their thoughts? Think of that disabled shopper able to steer themselves around the malls just by thinking ‘left’ or ‘right’.

Get Outside:
And it wouldn’t just be about filling the gap for people who had physical barriers – what about people working in certain industries being able to complete forms or procedures online by just thinking.

There is the potential for this to become some sort of implant for communication, security access or identification. It could all be a bit Sci-Fi – but if the technology is there for one reason – why not see if it can be applied elsewhere…..

You can already play simple games by ‘thinking’ of your moves – but this new technology taps straight into the brain interface and allows the same type of reaction as a mouse click on a computer.

By setting up a control system in the brain that reacts to a thought or a sound, you can then link it up to any type of technology that just needs a click to operate it.

And we all know the freedom that the mouse gave us!