CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-04-27 07:03:28 (13 comments, 6 reshares, 33 +1s)

Blast from the Past
A recording of the Andrew Denton show from1994, shot in Sydney Australia. I found it quite shocking to see this as my memory of the show is slightly different and I have no recall of my long lost half sister from Norway. Andrew is brilliant and a lovely chap.

2013-04-27 06:47:59 (31 comments, 13 reshares, 74 +1s)

Floating Wind Turbines That Produce Power Even When There's No Wind

Critics of wind power keep coming back to the same old complaint: what happens when there’s no wind? A new design from researchers at MIT could finally offer a solution to this renewable energy conundrum. Engineers have conceived of an offshore wind turbine anchored by hollow concrete spheres that could also turn seawater into electricity. The turbine would allow offshore wind farm managers to store excess energy for a time when there’s no wind.

The design would use massive concrete orbs (think: the diameter of the dome on the U.S. Capitol building) to anchor floating wind turbines to the ocean floor. When it’s particularly windy and the turbines produce more power than is needed, some of the energy could be diverted to a pump that would remove the water from the hollow sphere. Then, if there comes atime wh... more »

2013-04-27 06:34:54 (9 comments, 26 reshares, 82 +1s)

2013-04-26 15:07:45 (26 comments, 1 reshares, 19 +1s)

First draft of News from the Squares complete
I've got there, I've finished the first draft of my new sci-fi novel, News from the Squares. I've just recorded the first chapter, this isn't for the audiobook, this is for me. I record the entire book and then listen to it. I've found it to be a very reliable way of noticing massive, ugly, glaring errors which I attempt to correct before it goes off to editors. Then there's a massive re-write, then a further recording, then, maybe, it'll be getting close. So finishing the first draft is not anywhere near finishing the book. Still, I've loved writing it and so far, I think chapter one is quite good. 

2013-04-24 10:32:28 (39 comments, 6 reshares, 142 +1s)

IT'S NOT ALWAYS THAT EASY, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE
Due to surprisingly pleasant weather conditions and unusual travel routines, over the last couple of days I have driven 196 miles in my Nissan Leaf using only renewable energy. How do I know? Well, I was the only one to plug it in and I know where and when I plugged it in and for how long.
I drew the power from two sources, firstly, solar PV at home. Normally I charge at night, but last Friday I got home, battery low, didn't plug the car in and waited until the sun came up the following morning. I'd checked the forecast and it was meant to be sunny and clear, I woke up and it really was. The car absorbed 14.6 kWh of electricity, the solar panles produced 17.2 kWh on Saturday. I re-charged the car for nothing. Zero fuel cost.
The following day I went to see my old pal Charlie on his boat.
We had lunch, went for a stroll and... more »

2013-04-23 10:59:09 (30 comments, 0 reshares, 85 +1s)

It really was all black and white in the 1970's
Just found this old snap, taken on Ryecroft Street in Fulham in early 1978. Yes, that slim young man (I was 22) was me.
The picture was taken by Angie Hunter who lived in the same house. She later went on to be Tony Blair's right hand woman during his 1st term at number 10. I never got invited to any parties though. :-)
edit: Yes, I used to smoke, shocking to remember. Stopped in '89, started again in 2000! Doh! Stopped in 2003.
The shoes, I made those myself, it's what I used to do. I was at that time a 'shoemaker.' Not a 'cobbler.' A cobbler mends shoes. I made them, a shoemaker is posher okay. 

2013-04-20 13:21:57 (22 comments, 1 reshares, 18 +1s)

Just had a listen
Only just got the chance to listen to the show, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised they let me have my you and yours moment. I think I sound a bit weird, maybe that's because I was on a dodgy skype line. Interesting discussion though.

2013-04-17 16:01:40 (52 comments, 2 reshares, 16 +1s)

I forgot again!
I just did an interview with Winifred Robinson for the BBC Radio 4 program You and Yours about electric vehicles. They have already run a trail for tomorrows episode apparently stating 'electric cars, they're just not ready yet are they' or something along those lines. I've had to rely on Twitter for the quote so it may be mildly inaccurate.
After my rather strange experience last week, being interviewed by a charming reporter called Andrew Bomford for a report on the BBC's flagship news show 'PM.'  I was included in the program, albeit very briefly. The journalist also wrote a piece for the BBC news website about the topic, he informed me he had included quotes from me in the piece, then sent another e-mail shortly after saying all the quotes had been removed. I had been expunged, I was a non being. Who knows the reason, maybe it wasjust... more »

2013-04-16 08:04:25 (28 comments, 6 reshares, 45 +1s)

Why Science Works and Old Media Fails
Last year a report came out of Trondheim University in Norway giving a very negative take on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of electric cars in comparison to diesel. I read it, got depressed, heard about it on Fox news, got more depressed, heard more about it endlessly on the BBC, got even more depressed. 'Electric Cars Pose Environmental Risk' is the BBC headline if you want to google it.
Then I found a very well researched and damning rebuttal from a scientist in America who suggested the report suddenly may be less than watertight. In fact it was leaking like a rusting hulk. 
Leaving all that in the past, I assumed that would be an end to it. An oil company funded University in Norway publishes a damning report about electric cars, old media has a mass love fest about it, asks no questions about the research, job done.
Buten... more »

2013-04-15 19:26:10 (9 comments, 10 reshares, 44 +1s)

It's official. Virtual Reality is going to go mainstream.

2013-04-12 15:07:26 (39 comments, 11 reshares, 58 +1s)

Crowd Funding an online video series?
I took the plunge today and asked my Twitter followers if they would consider supporting a series like Fully Charged through Indegogo or Kickstarter. The response was very instant and positive.
I haven't done launched anything yet but it looks like an exciting challenge, to be unencumbered by corporate sponsorship would be an excellent position for a series looking into fairly contentious areas of energy generation, energy use, the true costs of various fossil fuels, electricity infrastructure, transport etc.
I had a great relationship with British Gas last year, they were very supportive and open to different ideas but I want to move on, away from the traditional TV model where shows are supported by advertising. Fully Charged deals with new technology by using new media, I want to go the whole hog.
I would love feedbackfr... more »

2013-04-12 10:50:14 (65 comments, 47 reshares, 144 +1s)

A proper Petrol Head Giving a Very Realistic Appraisal of a Very Expensive Electric Car.
Chris Harris from drive delivers a fascinating take on the Mercedes SLS AMG electric drive.
As he points out very clearly, "In a normal SLS (petrol) the car produces 300 grams of CO2 per kilometer. (actual published figure is 321 gm/km) and the electric car, charged in Northern Europe with a mixture of coal, nuclear and renewable produces15 - 20 grams per kilometer." 
Very interesting car and brilliantly produced video.

2013-04-08 15:18:58 (81 comments, 10 reshares, 97 +1s)

A scientist as PM
There are a lot of people from my end of the political spectrum busy reminding those who’ve forgotten, or those who’ve been born since her period of tenure of the many negative things Mrs T did to this country and the world, however, there is one important anomaly I wish to raise among the waves of righteous criticism.

In a landmark speech to the Royal Society, given at Fishmongers Hall in the City of London on September 27 1988, Margaret Thatcher said:
 
“For generations, we have assumed that the efforts of mankind would leave the fundamental equilibrium of the world's systems and atmosphere stable. But it is possible that with all these enormous changes (population, agricultural, use of fossil fuels) concentrated into such a short period of time, we have unwittingly begun a massive experiment with the system of this planet itself."
... more »

2013-03-29 23:10:47 (50 comments, 21 reshares, 59 +1s)

A 'non review' of the Renault Zoe
There are plenty of places you can read detailed reports about the technical intricacies of the newly launched Renault Zoe. I’m not going to write a review as such, more my opinion of what this new car might represent.
Over the last 3 years or so an increasing number of large car manufacturers have seen the writing on the wall and started developing new electric cars, the best known being the Tesla Model S and the Nissan Leaf.
I pick those two because you can’t buy a Tesla Model S ‘V8 petrol’ or a Nissan Leaf  ‘turbo diesel.’ They have been designed and built as electric cars, not converted from existing models. As other manufacturers see these vehicles they start to get anxious, now BMW, VW, Ford, Toyota and many others are about to launch battery electric vehicles.
The next of these to appear is the Renault Zoe, (availablefrom 7th Jun... more »

2013-03-27 14:12:03 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

To take part in this hangout do the following;
1 - Add our page into your circles (so we can invite you)
2 - Register by saying "YES, I will come" to this event
3 - IMPORTANT - Write in the comments below what you are interested in talking to Robert and the team about

Welcome all. At 3pm GMT on Thursday 28th March, beaming live from Nissan's world class car plant in Sunderland UK, new home of the Leaf, we will be hosting an 'on air' hang out with Leaf owner, advocate of all things EV or green and all round good guy Robert Llewellyn (+Robert Llewellyn)! 

Yes, we know, apparently he was Kryton from Red Dwarf as well! Irony light to overdrive!

Also in attendance will be Nissan's European head of social media, David Parkinson and the UK PR director Tom Barnard. Not quite as exciting but fun never the less!

We will chooseap... more »

2013-03-25 17:26:53 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

What I'm doing on Thursday

2013-03-24 21:39:26 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Around the world with Trev
Postd on Fully Charged today, a look at the amazing development work being done in Adelaide, Australia.

2013-03-24 15:01:07 (18 comments, 9 reshares, 60 +1s)

Around the world with Trev
Just posted this video on the Fully Charged feed, Trev is an unusual electric car that has proven beyond question that electric cars can do some extreme stuff. I met the team behind the project when I was in Adelaide, earlier this year. Yes it was a hot day and yes I was wearing shorts.

2013-03-23 18:31:38 (12 comments, 3 reshares, 30 +1s)

The Year 2000, as seen from 1894

Just posted on my blog.

2013-03-21 12:19:24 (16 comments, 7 reshares, 44 +1s)

Talks
I'm having great fun and learning a lot doing a series of talks about electric vehicles. I'm doing one tonight in Liverpool, many more in the future. Due to the success of these talks I'm now planning a tour, a little better organised and planned in advance. 
Next week I'm going to be involved in a G+ hangout when I visit the Nissan Leaf manufacturing plant in Sunderland, I'll post more info about that next week. 

2013-03-15 14:20:36 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 24 +1s)

Aha! Sound of befuddled old fool realising what he's done
As +Rupert Wood kindly reminded me, the reason I got the comment about not self promoting was nothing to do with Google, nothing to do with this stream, but something I posted in the community section.
I'm on the https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/116520796966821217655
community where they expressly forbade self promotion, quite understandable and I won't do it again.
Can I just say how much I wish I'd never mentioned it. Can I say that? Can I say it again?
And.... moving on.

2013-03-15 12:26:14 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 22 +1s)

Shooting yourself in the Google-Foot
My last post was a blatant attempt to promote my friends film but I mentioned the criticism I got about self promotion from someone on G+ a while back (I don't have time to scroll back through my feed and find the comment) but anyway, forget that, it was clearly nonsense, have a look at the Indegogo site for The Quest for the Game Child

2013-03-15 10:18:27 (43 comments, 1 reshares, 18 +1s)

Not Quite Self Promotion
I got ticked off by someone a few months back when I mentioned my new book on Google Plus. I dont know who she was but she was very firm.
'We don't allow self promotion on Google plus.' she said. I was cowed into submission.
So this isn't really self promotion, I'm promoting someone else entirely, the fact that I will appear in a very minor way in this crowd funded production is of little or no consequence. It features the wildly talented YouTube star Ashens, I'll just potter about in the background. Have a look, maybe even be as rash as supporting this exciting venture.

2013-03-13 22:35:37 (39 comments, 6 reshares, 49 +1s)

Over Exposed
I'm sure most of you are lucky enough not to be constantly bombarded with stories on a specific subject. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you know more about Google Glass than is healthy, but I'm very over exposed to electric car news, both positive and negative.
Last week it was a negative story in the Wall Street Journal, written by some bloke called Bjorn Lomborg who stated that there was a 'dirty little secret' regarding the CO2 component of manufacturing electric cars. I have to say I just sighed and moved on, same old tired argument I'd heard before which has been thoroughly debunked before. I didn't even slap it up on G+. It was beneath my contempt, and I have very low contempt.
Bjorn Lomborg wrote a book called "The Skeptical Environmentalist." which was found to be "scientifically dishonest."
Quelle Surprise.
That... more »

2013-03-12 12:09:09 (26 comments, 10 reshares, 56 +1s)

Graphene
I love this amazing video from an amazing city about an amazing new material.

2013-03-10 12:41:44 (24 comments, 10 reshares, 108 +1s)

UNUSUAL SLEEPING POSITIONS #23
Joey is our 5 month old Lurcher who manages to adopt truly original sleeping positions. Here he is last November and earlier today after a long walk and breakfast.

2013-03-08 13:24:41 (34 comments, 6 reshares, 25 +1s)

International Women's Day
Just read this article on the BBC news website and it's freakishly apposite for my current project 'News from the Squares.' I'm writing a utopian sci-fi novel set 200 years in the future where the world is effectively run by women. Maybe I could have set it much sooner?
(Edit)
I just started reading the comments, never a good idea to read the bottom half of the internet but my, oh my the unhappy chaps are out in force.

2013-03-08 12:01:04 (20 comments, 1 reshares, 44 +1s)

Funny Photo
Sometimes they just catch you off guard. A picture taken at a small event in Cheltenham to launch a local electric car charging scheme. It forms part of the council's plan to spend £5 million worth of Government money it successfully bid for last year to improve and promote sustainable forms of transport in Gloucestershire. (There were lots of cyclists there aswell, just not in this picture) There will be 12 electric car charging points in public parking spaces, improved facilities for cyclists and encouragement for local residents to walk.
In the pic, myself and Transport Minister Norman Baker. He's a lovely chap and made me laugh.

2013-03-05 14:24:28 (317 comments, 51 reshares, 323 +1s)

Barack and his Granddad
This picture has been doing the rounds recently, I have no idea where it came from but there's a few versions already on G+. It is apparently the President of the US aged six, with his grandfather. Very intriguing picture, my daughter was fascinated.

2013-03-04 15:09:16 (123 comments, 14 reshares, 88 +1s)

The Politics of Envy
As usual in the comments in my previous post, up popped the age old, worn out and utterly vacuous conservative accusation, this is just the politics of envy.
I can say from solid personal experience that I have never been envious of people who earn more than me. During the very occasional periods where I have been paid above the national average (now not being one of them) I learned very rapidly that money does not solve all problems. If you are a twat when your poor, you are still a twat when you're rich but you can do a lot more damage to the world, (see bosses of Lehman Brothers)
Most money obsessed rich people are twats by definition simply because they are primarily interested in 'making money,' what intelligent, sensitive or well balanced person would be envious of someone like that? No one I have any sympathy for. The fact that oursoci... more »

2013-03-04 06:35:08 (71 comments, 15 reshares, 60 +1s)

Those Swiss, Always Ahead of the Pack
Perfect illustration to the last post on my feed.
Due to being a ridiculous optimist I think this notion will start to spread around the world, but due to being a realist, it's only 30 years too late. The very notion of some bloke being paid $78 million dollars for anything, sawing off his own penis and feeding it to his cat, I don't care what he does, when 50% of the worlds population are at or below the poverty line it's a direct assault on the rest of us when some .... bloke is handed that much money for doing nothing. 

2013-03-03 19:06:21 (52 comments, 39 reshares, 94 +1s)

If enough people watched and actually thought about this video on Wealth Inequality in America, there would probably be riots in the streets.

2013-02-27 16:46:21 (37 comments, 3 reshares, 142 +1s)

Wow, I learned even more
I am loving G+ more and more. The comment stream on my last post is an extraordinary conversation encompassing passionate discussion about private car ownership, the innate human right to drive very fast in powerful fossil hungry cars, massive intrusive unstoppable UN based plans to eliminate 99% of the worlds populations leaving the super elite to... um, do rather a lot fo agriculture so they can eat, how small towns suck, or, how small towns are wonderful and how we do/don't need government regulation. Brilliant, stimulating, mostly polite-ish and a testament to open, unencumbered debate. Long may it last