I teach in Golders Green/Brent Cross on Tuesdays, and for the past several weeks I have noticed that there is a discarded satellite dish, apparently free for the taking, in one of the random rubbish piles I walk past.

Satellite receiver dishes, as I understand it, collect waves and focus them at the little sticky-out receiver thing (technical ( Read more... )

Okay, this has got me thinking. It's basically a pump that uses wave power to send water to a tower, and then when you need power you can use the water in the tower to generate power (for example, using a water wheel ( Read more... )

According to the BBC, the One Laptop Per Child project is considering selling its wind-up laptops to the public!

The laptops are intended to cost $100 or less each, will run Linux, will have wireless networking, and will have a hand crank to provide power if conventional power sources aren't available. They were first mentioned here over a year ( Read more... )

This Saturday in the Pembury Tavern. Reply there, not here, please. Also, feel free to come to part of it if you can't make it to the whole thing, just take your stuff with you when you leave (or make proper arrangements for someone else to deal with it). Also please do feel free to attend even if you don't have anything to take apart and just want ( Read more... )

It's been... far too long. Must not neglect this community so much. If you've applied for membership between, er, April and now, I might have missed out adding you. Do apply again. Sorry about that.

Welcome to new member blue_jez.

TechnoI have spare batteries for my phone now, and a stand-alone charger that talks to the solar panel. So, all my mobile use ( Read more... )

It's been a while since I posted anything here ( Read more... )

We recently moved, and with our new house we inherited some exciting things. Rain-gutters on the house! In shabby repair, but they are THERE. So far, no great bargains have come through the auction or thrifty ads for rain barrels, but we've got our eyes peeled ( Read more... )

I think I might be able to get to this course, although it's awfully close to exams for me, and I'll have to decide nearer the time whether I can afford the course fee (£90) and giving up some/all of my Sunday teaching; maybe they'd let me come Friday and Saturday and then go home?

Anyone else interested?

This post is a stub.

It's here to remind me to write about water conservation. IF any of you lot want to get started in comments feel free; I'll probably incorporate at least some of that into the main post later.

Relevant links:
This BBC news article about low rainfall
This post by hairyears about how bad the article is
The Environment Agency's page ( Read more... )

My last post was in November, and it was about heat-proofing. Then academic work ate my brane. Anyone would think I were doing a degree or something ( Read more... )