Blog posts by Pete Wood

Like any respectable Geek, I've done my fair share of modifying stuff to make it "work better", or in some cases...accidently set fire to it!.  But in the case of these mobile phone masts, it's purely cosmetic.

If we were to take a before an after picture, I guess it would be bit like those makeover TV shows where they take a plain looking man or woman, give them a new haircut, new clothes and some strategic waxing, and hey presto... they look like a supermodel... well sometimes anyway... In the case of these telecoms masts, it's about blending in with the natural surroundings, and they've done a good job! The one in the picture is on the M4 motorway near Newbury in the UK, and belongs to Vodafone, whose HQ is down the road.  I've driven past this mast many times, but never noticed it before until I was in the car with a friend who pointed it out to me.

This just shows that technology and nature can blend together, and until we can get the trees to form a communications infrastructure, just as they do on the moon of Pandora in the movie Avatar, then we're have to make do with a make over regime.   I just wish they could do the same for Electricity Pylons, although my nephew thinks they look like Read more

           OSHCAMP October 2011

                  Openenergymonitor


In October 2011, DesignSpark sponsored OSHCAMP.  One of the workshops was about an Arduino based Energy Monitor.


As most of us know, Arduino is a brilliant platform for building projects.  Being part of the Open Source community means that we can share our ideas and help each other develop projects. The Openenergymonitor is a brilliant example of how we can get access to applications and build them for ourselves. 

Today, society is focused on saving energy, and how we can be more efficient with the energy we do use. With rocketing gas and electricity prices, we are all looking to reduce our bills. The openenergymonitor can help you understand the energy consumption of your home.  You can then make changes and impro… Read more

Only a few more sleeps left now until Christmas eve when Santa sets out to deliver toys to kids and gadgets to us geeks! :0) But did you know that modern technology actually allows us to track Santa on his journey?

Last year I stumbled across this brilliant website from NORAD.  With no expense spared, every year NORAD track's Santa in real time as he delivers presents around the globe. I for one am hoping for a new GPS, as my current one decides to stop working when I’m close to my destination!  My kids love this site, and it ensures they are in bed on Christmas eve within good time.

Now we come to the logistics of the whole thing.  If he was simply to travel in a circle around the Earth, then that’s about 25,000 miles, however, to visit every child's home in the world means that he would more likely travel around 4,670,193.27 miles in 24 hours!  That means he either has to travel faster than star light, or install a Read more

Our creative friends at Pico Technology had some fun with some sparklers on Guy Fawkes night this year!. My only question is how they managed to light them all without losing their eyebrows?!

Every 5th of November, the Britsh celebrate Guy Fawkes night.  On the 5th of November 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested for an assassination attempt on King James 1st, by trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London with a big stack of gunpowder.  Ever since then, every 5th of November, British people have celebrated the fact that King James survived this attempt by lighting bonfires and burning a effigy of Guy Fawkes. More recently Fireworks and Sparklers have become part of the celebration.

Thanks again to Peter and Tim at Pico Technology for these excellent pictures!

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