Tech

In our household, energy is more than just a utility; it’s a way of life. We’ve gone to great lengths to optimize our home, employing a symphony of solar panels, batteries, geothermal systems, and even energy monitoring to keep things in check. But, as they say, the devil is in the details, and I’m on a mission to uncover the hidden secrets that conventional energy monitoring won’t reveal. I often remind my team that energy is a force that doesn’t just vanish into thin air. Whether we’re monitoring temperatures at our EV chargers to predict potential faults or pondering the idea of dissipating excess energy into a vault of oil to tame its fiery temperament, we understand that energy has to go somewhere. ...

Have you ever watched a video and thought, “Is this even real?” In today’s age of digital manipulation, discerning the real from the fake has become an intricate dance. I decided to see how the non-tech folks in my life would react to me using AI and Machine Learning to become multilingual maestro. The Genesis of the Idea The adventure began when I stumbled upon a post on Mastodon about using AI to generate deepfake videos. “Deepfakes,” if you’re unfamiliar, are videos produced through machine learning that often superimpose someone’s face or manipulate their voice to make it look like they’re doing or saying something they haven’t. It’s fascinating, but the implications can be quite worrisome. ...

I am fortunate to have exposure to work on grid policy and implementation in both the US and European Union. The duality of those two worlds colliding helps look for the best approaches in both spheres. I wanted to talk about the most significant differences for those also looking to understand the differences. It is safe to say that both the US and Europe recognise the critical importance of grid security in maintaining a stable and reliable energy supply. As you compare the two governing bodies, the biggest takeaway is how basic KISS security can be, regardless of the policy framework. One area I do see more considerable differences is in market and program design. The US programs allow for more manual intervention and temporal windows, while the EU leans heavily into automation for quicker network response. You see more technical controls around that. ...

Jack Morrison, from Scythe Robotics, made a post on LinkedIn talking about the electrification of tractors and how autonomous systems can aid in the process. I have thought about this topic for years and decided to do an entire blog post on Tractor Electrification and Autonomous Farming. I love what his team is doing and think the vision of small fleets of autonomous tractors is the future, but I wanted to outline some of the challenges this segment of vehicle electrification will have. Enjoy! ...

My thoughts on the Pixel 7a from a standard user… My Samsung Fold 4 has a beautiful bright pink line and two circles of dead pixels across the screen. Since I live in the middle of nowhere, I had to mail my phone to the Samsung Service Centre. Unfortunately, that meant being phone-less for at least a week, which, professionally, is a non-starter. I went to Best Buy and picked up a Pixel 7a to hold me over and serve as our backup phone. My last Pixel was the 5, and I loved that device. Small, clean, and it just worked. Given my travel schedule, it was SLOW and forced me to carry both a tablet and a phone. ...