By @edent · compression power · 2 comments · 550 words · read ~1,130 times.
How efficient are modern codecs? Can we ever work out whether the power use of compression algorithms is a net gain for global power consumption? Come on a thought experiment with me. I have invented a new image compression format. It shrinks images to 50% smaller sizes than AVIF and is completely lossless. Brilliant! There's […]
Continue reading →By @edent · electricity electronics Energy Saving green power · 21 comments · 950 words · read ~21,744 times.
Every few years, a dodgy stat does the rounds claiming you can save £££ if you switch off all your gadgets at the wall. The standby mode of your TV is bleeding you dry!!! Energy Saving Trust@EnergySvgTrustA quick way to #saveenergy at home is to turn off tablets, laptops and consoles as soon as you […]
Continue reading →By @edent · battery electricity gadget power · 6 comments · 500 words · read ~398 times.
I never get power cuts. But, we've had two in the last week. They've both been fixed quickly, but it takes an age for my cable modem to reboot - and then an age for my smarthome to reconnect to the WiFi. So it was time to invest in an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). My […]
Continue reading →By @edent · electricity energy power solar · 2 comments · 650 words · read ~690 times.
Our domestic solar panels have generated more electricity in a year than we have consumed. We installed 5kW of solar panels on our roof in 2020. Half are East-facing, half West-facing. Over a full year, they've generated 4,165kWh. By comparison, the average UK household uses about 3,800kWh of electricity per year. But working out exactly […]
Continue reading →By @edent · electricity maslow moixa NaBloPoMo power solar · 7 comments · 850 words · read ~1,830 times.
A few years ago, I took part in a local trial to install a solar battery in our home. The battery was excellent - and made a reasonable difference for our energy use. Sadly, last year, it died. It was prototype hardware, and these things happen. Moixa offered to replace it with an updated model […]
Continue reading →By @edent · emoji ios power unicode · 1 comment · 300 words · read ~284 times.
It has been four years since Unicode officially accepted our Power Symbols proposal into the standard. Now I’m delighted to announce that users on iOS 14 are finally able to use the full set of Power Symbols. ⏻ ⏼ ⭘ ⏽ ⏾ They’re available to use in the browser, in emails, and messages. Here’s how […]
Continue reading →By @edent · charging hardware power review Sponsored Post USB · 1 comment · 450 words · read ~591 times.
The good folks at Ntonpower have sent me this utterly ridiculous, and fantastically over-powered USB charger. It has ten frickin' ports each one capable of delivering 2.4 amps. So, what's it like? Straight up, it looks like a plastic toast rack. It's a chunky beast, but surprisingly lightweight. You won't have trouble lifting it, but […]
Continue reading →By @edent · alexa hacks IoT power review sonoff sponsored wifi · 3 comments · 550 words · read ~7,249 times.
I've been sent a couple of Sonoff smarthome gadgets. You can read my review of the S20 WiFi plug socket and the POW in line power controller. Here's a video of me controlling them from my Amazon Alexa: The latency seems a little slow - hard to tell if that's Amazon only relying on US […]
Continue reading →By @edent · IoT power sponsored wifi · 2 comments · 550 words · read ~6,011 times.
The good folks at Sonoff have sent me a bunch of kit to review. See my previous review of the S20 WiFi plug. This is the Sonoff Pow - a WiFi enabled in-line power switch. Set Up Wiring up the Pow is relatively easy. The cover to the terminal block is secured with a simple […]
Continue reading →By @edent · electricity power USB · 7 comments · 500 words · read ~1,416 times.
My solar panels deliver pure Direct Current electricity into my house. All my house has Alternating Current circuits. Therefore, I need an inverter to change the DC to AC. This is inefficient. Most of the electronic devices I own are powered by DC. So I plug little wall-warts into the AC sockets to convert back […]
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