Tag Archives: life

Shake your power and sustainability

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My wife showed me this really great project called Shake Your Power. I recommend backing their project up on kickstarter. The project is lead by a great musician called Sudha Kheterpal. It’s a good way of transforming kinetic energy to electricity. I’m not going to go into details on how it’s doing it, because their video is doing a great job.

My question on twitter to them was about the support behind this product (especially dead batteries). And their answer was that they wanted to hear my engineering ideas. Here they are:

First of all this is not an engineering issue (unless you want to solve one of the world’s biggest problems: concentrating energy in a reusable and tiny format). My question was more along the lines: What will these people do when their batteries are end of life? And this actually is a support issue.

You are working on a product that will change people’s life for good. People will depend on this product for their main portable electric source.

I’m assuming that the battery is a LiPo (or Li-ion) type. These type of batteries have a lifespan of 300-500 charges. After that, their output starts to degrade significantly. If we are talking about Africa, another factor will be temperatures over 30º C. High temperatures put even more stress on LiPo batteries.

With everyday charging and using, you will most likely get 1-2 years of life from these batteries. And when these batteries are dead, they will need replacing. And if people cannot find electricity, they probably will not be able to find special LiPo batteries.

My recommendation is simple: Leave the charger unit in the shaker just like the way it is. Replace your batteries with easy to find, rechargeable AA batteries.

Or better, build a support infrastructure behind this project that will find the owner and replace the batteries let’s say every 2 years. It might be a bigger challenge than engineering this product, but your change will be permanent!

I just don’t want this to be yet another western project that reaches out to developing countries and forgets about the people that they touched within a few years.

Image by Shake Your Power. All Rights Reserved.
Image by Shake Your Power. All Rights Reserved.

Balonda Yaşamak

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Son zamanlarda bir çok arkadaşım (özellikle de sosyal medya üzerinde) ülkenin halinden nefret ediyor. Türkiye’nin bu kadar rezalet yönetilmesine rağmen neden hala AKP iktidarının %50’ye varan oyla başa tekrardan gelebildiğine şaşırıyor ve kendine ve başkalarına açıklamak için nedenler bulmaya çalışıyor.

İşin ilginci de, bu insanların (ve benim tabii ki) bütün sosyal medya arkadaşları da öyle düşünüyor! Çevresinde AKP yandaşı fikir üreten o kadar az kişi var ki, insanlar haliyle son seçimlerin nasıl böyle sonuçlandığına inanamıyorlar.

İşte bu, herkesin kendi balonunda yaşadığının en önemli göstergesi.

İnsanlar haliyle en rahat olduğu ortamlarda hareket etmeyi tercih ederler. Rahat kavramı birçok nedene bağlı olabilir: Kültürel, dinsel, ailesel, yemeksel, iklimsel, vs… Örneğin kabaca: islam dinine bağlı, sıcak iklimde büyümüş, haftasonlarını aile yemekleri içinde geçiren bir insanın, başka dine bağlı, buz gibi bir ülkede, kendi başına izole yaşaması düşük ihtimalli bir tercihtir.

Tercihlerimiz her zaman bize bağlı olmayabilir ama sosyal medya gibi kendimize kolaylıkla uydurabileceğimiz bir ortamda, bize rahat gelmeyen fikirleri olan insanları silerek, çok kolay bir şekilde sevdiğimiz parametrelere uyan bir ortam yaratabiliriz. Sonuçta birisi her dakika AKP’yi öven bir Facebook post’u yapıyorsa, siz de bundan rahatsız oluyorsanız, bu kişiyi listenizden silersiniz, olur biter.

Ama bunu yaptıktan sonra sonuclarına da katlanmanız, bizbize takıldığınızı unutmamanız gerekiyor. Aynı şey sizin balonunuzun dışında ve kendi balonu içerisinde yaşayan insanlar icin de geçerli. Herkes birbirine aynı seyleri anlatıp duruyor ama kimse balonunun dışını etkileyemiyor.

Demokrasi tamamen rakamlara dayalı olduğu icin balonunuzda istediğiniz kadar davul çalın, diğer balon dinlemiyor. Ya balonunu patlat, ya da olanlara şaşırma. Kalın saglicakla.

(Picture credit: The boy in the bubble)

ArtsyCat

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My buddies just opened their art shop. They have a great water marble (Ebru) art web page where you can purchase them imprinted on iPhone/iPad cases, mugs and greeting cards.

If you want something unique and beautiful for the approaching Valentine’s Day or any other occasion, I recommend you to take a look at their page.

Google doesn’t know better?

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When google first released their Nexus One, I wanted to buy one badly. But I lived so many frustrations with the buying experience, I decided not to and went ahead and bought a Nokia n900.

Google “listened” the frustrated buying experience, and pulled the plug on selling phones. When they announced that they are going to release the new Nexus S with Best Buy, my initial reaction was: WTF? You buy a Google phone built by Samsung with a T-mobile plan at Best Buy?

I understand Google needs a retail partner to sell their product to a bigger market, but why not do like others and sell it through your carrier “partner”? They already have agreements with big retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, etc…

At this point I already have a very good Data+Voice plan, I don’t have a contractual bound with T-Mobile, I’m ready to commit to a 2 year plan. But I still cannot buy this phone without paying some $10-$30/month over the $199 with two year agreement, and here are the screenshots to prove it.

WTF Best Buy?

Also what about releasing another “Google” Phone (G2) with T-mobile at the same time? If I was T-Mobile, I would be pissed off and refuse to sell any Google product… It’s like Google really doesn’t want people to buy any of their phone…

I think I will pass on Nexus S and continue with my n900…

Capital Bikeshare

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Today I had a chance to test out the Capital Bikeshare. It’s a project funded by Arlington County and DC to build a better bicycle sharing system than what DC built 2 years ago (Smart Bike). Right now they have more than 100 stations and 1000+ bikes.

The system has three memberships. Daily, Monthly and yearly, $5, $25, $75 respectively. (Currently they have a discount on yearly membership: $50). Each time you check out a bike the first 30 minutes is free, then they start charging per usage.

The system is designed and priced to go from one point to the other and not to rent a bike per day. It’s a great commuting option for those who live in DC Metro area.

My test today was the daily membership. I paid $5 and got the bike from behind the Pentagon City mall (Pentagon Row). I rode it to the station at 18th and M st NW. Since I work close by it was the best option for me. It took me a little over 20 minutes.

The bicycles are cute and look like typical city bikes. They have tall and thick wheels, 3 gears on the right, a bell on the left handle. They also have a rack on the handlebar to carry some small bag or jacket, etc..

Renting them is easy. If you got one day membership, you swipe your card and it asks you your phone number and your zip code. Then it gives you a number that you punch on the left side of any bike you like on the rack. When the light turns green, you pull the bike from the rack and you pedal away. Monthly and annual members use their issued token to do the same thing.

My metro ride during rush hour is $2.45 each way. It means close to $5 per day. The commute with Capital Bikeshare will be around $1.50 and healthier. 🙂 So it’s a win/win situation! Emre approved…

Here is me doing silly videos on my first Bikeshare ride: