Occasionally i find myself questioning everyday technologies, especially how they acheive their goals. My current example is the use of backlighting on new televisions. In a well lit room why is it that we have to additionally power a light for the LCD screen rather than changing our image processing method to allow for more efficient use. Some people around my age may remember the "Game Boy Color" a small handheld device that made use of colour on an unlit LCD screen. It wasn't great but the battery life was phenominal and the software developers tweaked their work to meet the shortfalls of the technology.

The shortfalls of colourized LCD technology that were present in the 1990s have been overcome in newer technologies. Screens that allow us to switch between backlit and unlit modes, where the unlit mode makes use of a brighter and more reflective material - exponentially increasing the contrast ratio. Another unlit technology exists through the E-Ink displays. E-Ink displays have been popularized through the Amazon Kindle device, but the consumer market has yet to see a colourized E-Ink display. The colourized E-Ink display is rumoured to be complete, even so it may be difficult to get people to change how they choose to receive information as the display is still not suited to use for video.

I like to read, and slow refresh rate devices (like the E-Ink display) are well suited to that task. Though from time to time a refresh rate closer to human perceivable fluidity can be nice. Our culture has integrated video into our everyday lives to the point where countless productive hours of our lives are spent staring at a blinking box. I have one hope - that the box will stop blinking and we can save that energy for use in our factories - doing the work that we are not.

This article is about reclaiming water from the air, it may not work everywhere - but it is quite effective in the former swamp that my home has been built upon. Actually in many cases it has become necessary to use a dehumidifier -but this article isn't about why I need one, it is about how itss use can have practical applications outside of making your home dry.

A dehumidifier is built in a similar fashion as a fridge, and thrive on its open air abilty to produce condensation. This is often very good water, from the air, that we would otherwise breathe in and not recognize the work that it is doing. It takes a phenominal amount of electricity to operate a dehumidifier, which is why it is important to get one that is effective and in good repair.

You can tell that a dehumidifier is in good condition when the tank fills within the day or multiple times a day (presuming your tank is between 3 Litres and 5 Litres). We used to operate a unit that only required dumping once a week, and now I recognize that this was bad. It was ineffective at its work and in a sorry state of disrepair.

Back on track - the good dehumidifier does more with less electricity and more importantly - at 3 litres a day minimum that could suffice for drinking water for a small family. But in Canada we are not that desperate for clean water. This article is a reminder that a technology that is originally for comfort in our nation may be a tool for survival elsewhere. By filtering out contaminants, and avoiding toxified ground-water human quality of life can improve until they can develop their own infrastructure for purification and commerce.

Over most of 2009 I have considered numerous business opportunities that would be well suited in one way or another to the Niagara Region and Welland in particular.

Establishing myself as an independent energy provider. In the process of looking to save energy I have frequently come to the conclusion that by generating my own electricity I could actually make money - not simply save it. Your high-efficiency furnace will still cost money, albeit less, but electrical generation goes from your home through the grid to power our domestic industry. Even if it is a trickle at first the money made helps make our Canadian communities stronger economically and in turn easier to live in. I haven't pursued this dream.

Working on a Downtown Outdoor Theatre. I've come to miss the ease of access to projectors and the Anime Club at Brock University. Through this the idea to establish an open-access outdoor theatre came to mind. Rather than by trying to take on corporate vendors like Cineplex it would be good to focus on either niche markets (Anime), public domain films (ie. Marx Brothers), Documentaries, and other media ased on local interests. By keeping costs low and acquiring the proper permits this could be operated through food service/vending funds. Everybody wins, but I haven't pursued this dream.

Canal-side tourism and camping. There is very little canal-side business activity despite the fact that it is among our most advertised assets in Welland. I have rolled around the idea of a campground, Renaissance Faire (Small Theme Park) and even a floating restaurant. The issue of winter always arises - but there are effective and profitable ways to get past that. I haven't pursued this dream.

Maybe I should get one of these done... If only I could find work or stable capital investment for a university grad.

This has been a very busy day for posts, as this is the third in a series of quality of life improvements. This one takes aim at my peak allergy season, Autumn, which tends to linger into the Winter after closing all of the air inside the house.

More than a decade ago these allergies precipitated a major change in my house, one that had all of the carpets and other dust-catch zones removed. That included my stuffed animals and for two weeks - my cat. The cat came back, he went nuts on his new owner. That was an awesome cat.

Back on track - Air Quality was not much of a problem during the 90s as we made use of a very inefficient air purification system. Over time we even made the system less effective by changing to an inferior filter type. Alas, a couple years ago we retired the purifier and sold it at our garage sale. This was a good decision at the time.

Flash forward - Air quality isn't horrible but the number of visible airborne elements has increased. The number of cats has increased. The number of days I choose to use the allergy medication has also increased. This has had a negative effect on my quality of life in two ways - the allergy medication costs money and comes with a "5pm nap" when administered at approximately 9am. This is my experience with the best medication.

In Canada wearing a mask for protection from allergies during this season is met with suspicion and unnecessary questioning. This is especially true for a fellow with a beard like myself. As such I have come to a harsh conclusion that the allergy situation has become out of hand. I will be looking into new approaches, new technology, and lifestyle changes to meet the challenge of living with allergies without waste or wasteful behaviour. Maybe I'll discover something.

I have recently taken up an interest in Amateur radio. This hobby requires a significant amount of testing and preparation, may not pay off in the long run, and is typically associated with conspiracy nuts, older gentlemen, and SETI Operators. I may not fall into one of those categories for the time being, but my interest increased after I studied about digital transmissions over radio systems. PSK31 being one of the most popular examples, with notable recognition given to "slow-scan" image transmission. The opportunities are present for some real innovation and academic interest.

I understand that I am simply going where many others have gone before, and that the prevalence of Mobile Phones make the hobby a little watered down - but the open source community has been hard at work developing communication technologies for the HF and VHF bands.

Maybe this could help improve my understanding of electromagnetism - the foundation of my alternative energy and electronics research. Though this independent research is not receiving funding I have found ways to reuse old components and a bit of ingenuity to get rolling.

I would like to start by saying that I hae never found propane or gasoline in my backyard, but I have generated electricity using mechanical and photovoltaic systems. The highlight of this article is the domestic use of Inverters in alternative energy systems, and how the expense associated could be avoided by sticking to the use of Direct Current (DC). This is not a recommendation to factories or Canadian electricity regulators. This is for home use only which includes lighting, heating, fans, refrigeration, and consumer electronics.

My ongoing experiments and everyday use of photovoltaics is much easier without the need to apply an inverter at any level. My lights can use DC, my laptop uses DC, my Nintendo Wii and TV use DC. Almost all of these devices actually use an adapter to convert the Alternating Current (AC) to DC. This conversion is not perfect either, many of the adapters radiate heat to a very small degree. Measuring the input versus the output, there is not much energy lost in conversion. My issue is not with energy lost, but with money lost by having to produce and buy these converters when I have already been generating electricity at the stepping that these devices demand.

I want to clarify that people choosing to use photovoltaics or windpower to generate their own electricity may save more money converting some appliances to DC (like toasters or electric kettles) than to spend thousands of dollars trying to find an inerter to meet their needs that puts out a "perfect sinewave". By taking yourself off the grid you save energy for our factories and for sale to neighbouring energy providers - which can help to fund the future growth of our provincial and national electricity system.

The Internet has become the centre of activity between Copyright Offenders and Copyright Defenders, and every shade in between. The unfortunate truth is that it has carried over into the real world in very negative ways. I would like to address a couple of confusing, difficult, and unnecessary challenges facing the industry, consumers, and regulators.

I initially wanted to be more eloquent, but I will instead get right to the point. International copyright barriers on an open international telecommunications network disenfranchise corporate consumers and cripple public domain works with the same rights management. My example was a second copy of "Ringtone" by Wierd Al Yankovic which I cannot describe because I cannot access that is LISTED on YuTue while I am signed into my account. There is no way to buy into American access from Canada. I now have at least one problem with Wierd Al, and his record company (Sony Music, through Volcano Records) that likely insisted on the limit. I was troubled by this, because I supported his "Atlantic Records Sucks" campaign out of support for artists that were slighted and blacklisted by Warner Music Group.

I guess this means I'll have to spend more time (and less money) with my liberated peers at CCMixter and other Public Domain/Creative Commons web entities.

My other recent confusion has been surrounding PBS and their use of Saturday Night Fever and other corporate disco tracks as a program/fundraising element. Turns out that PBS does not work in the public domain or for public interest, they are another corporate entity with a slightly different revenue source. That made me confused, but I still enjoy PBS through WNED 94.5FM when I haven't brought any music with me.

This brings me to my latest and most pressing concern as a Canadian taxpayer - why are CBC programs not made freely available in a "Canada-Only" Public Domain License. When tax dollars are spent on programming (Private Production Studios), distribution (via OTA, Rogers Cable, Bell Satellite), and all the legal work in between I'm confused about how CBC programming is relevant. They have great web news programming, that is not easily accessible via RSS. gain the news is great on TV, but is surrounded by programming I like but never get directly from CBC - I usually have to wait until it goes into syndication on a station ran by the Rogers Telecom Monopoly through CTV or one of its lacklustre subsidiaries.

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I've gotten into the habit of advising others about simple technologies. Usually they involve one of two angles - saving money or improving quality of life for yourself and those around you. This is normally a good thing until I realize that certain situations can create competition between these two values. This competition between saving and quality of life (spending) is something I deal with on a case by case basis - but some people have chose to rehash my views without me to make a personal decision. So I figured that it is time to tackle competing value situations by re-hashing some examples.

Home infrastructure, like water heaters, are greatly inefficient and I have advocated alternatives to save money. Saving money is a priority for many people, but a nice warm shower in the morning (or evening) is important to a greater majority. This means you have to choose to either take one of the two extremes or meet in the middle. For example, some solar water heaters are only useful in the warmer six months so you swap back to natural gas or electric heat in the winter. Or use Photovoltaic panels and stay warm electrically all year - a a hit to efficiency due to multiple energy conversions. With this much confusion, some might not find it worth their time and cancel any changes - this part hurts the idealist in me, but that is me and not you. Everyone is responsible for their own choices, even though we are all in this society together.

The grey-scale of environmentalism pops up when we talk about Incandescent, Fluorescent, and Diode lighting sources. The most efficient is the LED technology, but acceptable colours are expensive and need to be spread out rather than using a single light source. Array lighting is new and changes how we need to think about design in order to become efficient. That kind of change tends to kill nostalgia, as every room in our new lighting era is bright in new ways. The grey zone in lighting kinda makes me worried, fluorescent lighting, as it is not the most efficient and carries new dangers. These new dangers can demolish the quality of life benefit to many consumers. Although some of my peers recently celebrated the European Union indefinite injunction on the sale of Incandescents. I think it is a great move for humanity to become more efficient together, but we shouldn't sell ourselves short - if LED bulbs are the most efficient then the EU Parliament should not be hypocritical and add Fluorescents to their ban before we experience mission crawl. (If the mission is to conserve energy, then it is not to protect businesses making fluorescent lighting. But they may use that excuse, which is a great error.) Some people think I am wrong because of the large price tag on quality LED lighting, but I have to admit that I'd rather see a spectrum from Candles, through Gas-torches, to Incandescents, and LEDs - my issue is with governments that pick and choose winners and losers rather than holding a goal and not cutting corners to get to it.

It really does seem like a solidarity movement in my own head between a libertarian and a socialist. Either way people should be able to save money and not introduce poison into their own homes. The libertarian would smile at the poorest finding work in the constant production of candles, distribution of natural gas, and sale of electricity from private vendors - and the technologically progressive people should gravitate toward efficient LED lighting. The socialist would choose the one cleanest power source, subsidize the LED appliances, force standards to ensure quality, and people would live in light. I guess even lighting can have a political spectrum.

I don't stand at one point on the spectrum (as of September 2009) but adapt to life situations developed at different points. Respond to grey development with grey ideas, and to green development with green ideas. I cannot guarantee that anyone will be 100% happy with the outcome on either end of the spectrum. I can guarantee that any barrier to positive human development will fall under the weight of its own burden. Thats when we get some real fun.

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