Workplace charging: employers face a maze of issues when considering EV charging

Credit: Google/ Charged EVs

Some employers are providing charging facilities for employee owned electric vehicles (EVs).  Perhaps most famously, Google.

Benefits of charging at work for employees are obvious.  For the employer, they are less obvious, but can include a desire to be seen as an organization with forward vision, & to attract & retain employees.  In at least one jurisdiction, employers are required to take steps to reduce air pollution resulting from their employees traveling to work.

http://www.chargedevs.com/content/features-inside/workplace-charging-employers-face-maze-issues-when-considering-ev-charging / charge recharge EV electric vehicle car LiIon lithium ion battery range EVSE electric vehicle supply equipment LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design South Coast Air Quality Management District AQMD Rule 2202 EV Charging Pros EV charging for employees electric vehicle car Level 1 Level 2 travel commute RFP request for proposal fee free visitor amenity complimentary service IRS internal revenue service billing system track usage charging at work taxable fringe benefit must be reported electricity gasser uprising gas gasoline petrol employee equity issue plug in free gas card payment system access control recouping all costs installation electricity gift of public funds installation costs recovery networking networked ChargePoint CEO availability ECOtality access restrictions networked smart-charging solution locate charging stations map find directions charging stations available parking garages in use enhancing customer experience ease of access monthly fees workplace network access control authentication software manual administration provide 24/7 customer support private parking RFID radio frequency identification /

Get this look for your Android: Newspaper

Credit: Burro/ Android Guys

Don't know that I would actually want to use this, but it is certainly interesting & different.

http://www.androidguys.com/2013/03/26/get-this-look-for-your-android-newspaper/ / handset mobile device smartphone smart phone tablets home screen homescreen user experience present weekly series design faded papyrus antique antiquated faded newspaper background text faded grey icons text links popular apps app application applications at-a-glance at a glance weather time alarms upcoming appointments uniform design elements font RSS news feeds displayed display touch screen theme /

The Earth at night • NASA photographs

Photo credit: NASA

http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10014780.html / space orbit satellite /

Patent wars: Google Maps facing ban in Germany as trial advances

Can't see this as good news for consumers.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57573174-93/google-maps-facing-ban-in-germany-as-trial-advances/     / patent battle between Google Microsoft  Google Maps banned Germany Florian Mueller FOSS Patents, reported from court Munich Judge Dr. Matthias Zigann Munich I Regional Court Motorola Mobility subsidiary prior to counsel's argument claim construction infringement validity MMI's German subsidiary liable liability infringement key Microsoft patent EP0845124 computer system identifying local resources method therefor European equivalent U.S. Patent No. 6,240,360 Mueller consulted for Microsoft in the past a Microsoft win big headache for Google block Google Maps web applications apps application app Google spokesman declined to comment suit confident in our position look forward to defending it in court court's decision is not expected until June both parties filing new briefs in the meantime /

No more robocalls: New tech automatically hangs up on robots

Credit: BBC/ Ars Technica

An end to those damn annoying calls? Maybe.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/04/no-more-robocalls-new-tech-automatically-hangs-up-on-robots/ / Federal Trade Commission complaints illegal robocalls most common problem reported FTC shut down companies responsible billions robocalls  lacks lack technological solution stop robocallers dialing $50,000 prize best technology stopping robocalls three winners devised robocall blocking systems end scourge forever detect disconnect call consumers build a database bad numbers consumers report winner winners co-winners built systems focus on intercepting filtering illegal prerecorded calls using technology blacklist robocaller phone numbers whitelist numbers associated with acceptable incoming calls CAPTCHA style test to prevent illegal calls from ringing through to a user honored two Google employees Daniel Klein Dean Jackson devising crowd-sourced robocall identification blocking system financial prize none was offered for proposals from large businesses helping consumers winners split $50,000 prize Aaron Foss freelance software developer Long Island NY, computer engineer named Serdar Danis announcement press conference Nomorobo phone landline, VoIP cellular buy any extra hardware customer conditional call forwarding phone provider allowing calls to ring both number /

Lotus Mobile: A portable, affordable solar charging solution?

Credit: Monarch Power/ Green Car Reports

A few question marks over this: no details about output of the array, either in terms of output or how fast it will charge an electric vehicle.  Hard, to see Lotus Cars being happy with this use of the name Lotus.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1083312_lotus-mobile-a-portable-affordable-solar-charging-solution

Lotus Cars
http://www.lotuscars.com/gb/home / solar Sun energy light PV photovoltaic photo voltaic electricity charge battery portable transportable architecture support frame erect Lotus EV electric vehicle LiIon lithium ion recharge  /

Nokia developing phone that recharges itself without mains electricity

Linked below is an article about using energy in radio & TV waves to charge mobile devices.  Big question mark here.  Reality is likely to raise its ugly head.

It's fundamental that electricity (or any other form of energy) doesn't come from nowhere.  Radio & TV transmissions require huge inputs of energy (in the megawatt range) by the broadcaster.  At the receiver, this induces a tiny current in a tuned  circuit, which is amplified (with input of more energy from a wall outlet or battery) to produce  video &/or audio.

While this is a good system for distributing video &/or audio, it's a hopelessly inefficient system for distributing electricity.  As the owner of a mobile device, you may find "free" electricity attractive.  If this technology became widely available, one of two things would have to happen:

1. broadcasters would pay a disproportionately high price for "free" electricity for mobile devices; or
2. Nokia needs to discover a new law of physics.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/10/nokia-mobile-phone / Phone smartphone smart phone electromagnetic radiation battery recharge LiIon lithium ion trickle /