FUTURE POWER

Absolutely fantastic news – the agencies of the EU have combined to build the world’s first fusion power station. Its the next big step towards clean, safe and utterly huge quantities of power.

Something like fifty years in the development, fusion is what lights the Sun. Its capable of generating its own fuel and even consuming all the waste from the old-fashioned fission reactors we’ve used to date, and still need to build over the next ten years.

So, a brilliant win-win-win development.

From the first successful experiment in January this year to todays €10 billion announcement may seem a quick jump, but its been coming for a long time, and the ‘experiment’ is just to demonstrate that a fully commercial power station cam be built in the next twenty years. The confidence that its all going to work is very, very high.

Its long term planning, but many thousands of people have been working their whole careers to achieve this, so its welcome news indeed.

The ground is already being cleared in Cadarache in southern France for the worlds first experimental fusion power station.

Its an enormous expense, but the rewards can be fantastic, including a low-carbon economy with enough spare power to operate enough air cleaning plant to wash all the excess carbon out of the atmosphere.

Fantastic!!

CONFERENCE CALLS

There are two alternate approaches you can now take to hold a meeting via phones:

1 There are many phones on the market with a loudspeaker button. Pressing that usually amplifies the incoming sound of the phone for several people to hear. There is a small microphone on the phone that picks up the sound from immediately around it. It might need an extension microphone for large groups. This will allow two-party calls, but not multiparty calls.

2 Skype allows several people to be added to the call by phoning them in turn.

Its also got video calling facilities.

For those not familiar with Skype, its a piece of software that allows calling other Skype users with no charge, and allows calling ordinary phones at modest charge, wherever they happen to be in the world. Its a free download, and millions have it on Macs, PCs, phones and iPads. It is close to a de-facto standard phone system for all devices for the next twenty years.

Talk to the microphone on the laptop, and the sound comes from the built-in speakers or the big screen on the wall. For a large group of people at this end, its probably useful to have a microphone on a long cable

To use it look for the window:

At the top, highlighted in green, are those Skype users in the phone book who are online. Included is a test service you can practice with.

Right clicking brings up a second window with the CALL button. It might already be visible on the window edge.

Clicking that starts the call and brings up a window like this, below, and includes a video image if both parties have video camera.

Calls are ended using the red button.

There are volume controls and mute buttons along the window edge.

With a video Skype call, the incoming image is large, the outgoing image is shown in the corner of the window

Further down the contact list are the Skype users not online, and below them the contacts with just ordinary phone lines or mobiles:

The Skype service is prepaid. At the top right of this window is the remaining credit in €uro, topped up as usual using a credit card.

The usual call charge to land lines in the western world is about 1p, and to mobiles is 15p.

When a call has been established its possible to add in further contacts, both Skype and non-Skype types. Each of the (non-Skype) calls is billed additionally, and for video multiple-participant calls there are extra charges.

Everyone should become familiar with Skype because of its widespread use, and its free calling, something that should help in team working. Its also the practical way to have a proper video conference between several parties. Its many features allow drawings and other documents to be circulate between the participants, and there is a whiteboard feature for sketching out ideas for others to see. These are features that not so long ago cost a great deal from the well know telecoms companies.

www.icip.co.uk/news

Constructing a Website

Fifteen or more years ago developing a website was a bit of a black art. It still can be.

Not so much the composing of the text and pictures because that can be done in Word. But its sending it to a website that can cause trouble, and take time.

But you’re already familiar with uploading to webpages through the likes of Facebook and eBay. Both take whatever you type into their sites and then place it as a live page on the Internet. We’re also familiar with uploading pictures to Kodak’s online gallery or videos to uTube of Vimeo. They make it fairly painless.

What if you want a complete site? Companies like Easily and BigDaddy sell your the domain name, the space to hold your site, the email accounts and even have templates for the appearance of the site. They have online tools where you fill in the titles, text, and images.

For sites of more than a dozen pages some context management software (CMS) is useful. There are lots of types, (Drupal, DotNetNuke, Joomla) and each needs a learning process, but for a slowly changing site they can be useful.

But increasingly we see the need to change sites far more rapidly, and without having to go through a logging-in process or getting back to a computer with the software installed.

So some quite large sites have turned to blogging software like WordPress. Blogs have to be quickly changed, and the site formatting needs to be automatic. You can either download a copy to use on your own site, or, better, simpler, and cheaper, sign up to a free site.

The software they offer takes some learning, but after a few hours of setting the colour schemes, the titles and so on, you will find that adding pages is blindingly simple. In fact its done by composing an email with pictures, and sending it to the site. Its loaded and viewable in seconds. And of course, where ever you happen to be in the world, its simple and cheap to send emails, Twitter messages and the like.

So updating a website from a phone is now quite practical. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Go to our site www.icip.co.uk and look in the News section to see the effect of adding a WordPress page into a normal website.

To see a medium sized website that seems to have been constructed entirely this way try www.panbo.com

SLOW STARTING COMPUTERS

If you are experiencing a delay of several minutes between turning on your computer and being able to start working on it, you might like to know why. Its because the operating system and programs need to load from the local hard disc, then your profile needs to load from the server. Profiles include all your emails, photos, music and other files, so in some cases are now huge. We’re using the fastest type of network, but still, its a lot of data.

With the full Shut-Down all the programs are closed, you have to save files, and the Desktop is returned to its usual state with nothing running. The profile is returned to the server. The computer then closes all operating system software, and shuts off. Reversing this process takes a long time.

There are a couple of ways around this: Sleep / Standby Mode, and Hibernate. These are built into Windows, and are in the Shut-Down menu.

Sleep Mode is much quicker. None of the programs need to be exited, and you can leave files open, although you should always save them as a safeguard. Sleep mode captures everything on the screen and when you restart, its all still there just as you left it. It takes seconds rather than many minutes.

If you have a laptop, Sleep Mode is invaluable since you can halt the computer mid-sentence when you are writing a note, and pick up again almost immediately when you restart. You can even have the laptop go into sleep mode whenever you close the lid, and restart when you open it again.

Even with a desktop its very handy if you want to close the computer down for an hour or two.

It works by switching off power to practically everything, but keeping the memory active. This uses a very small amount of power. On a laptop, the battery can last for many days in this mode. On a desktop the power reduces considerably too, but you can’t disconnect from the mains otherwise the memory will be lost, and so will be the settings. You’ll need to restart from cold.

This is the best option for laptop computers.

Hibernate is very similar but slower. Again it doesn’t need to close any software that you are working with, or any files that may be open. This time it copies the memory contents to a file on the hard disc so that all the power can be switched off. The hard disc is much slower than memory, so this process takes longer. But its better for a longer period of inactivity since it needs no battery or mains power at all, and you can disconnect the mains. You might hibernate your computer overnight and at weekends, but put it to sleep during the day.

This is the best option for workstations.

People have been using both these techniques for years without problems, so give them both a try to see which method suits you.

Finally, if you live in a Passiv Haus you are going to need all the waste heat from computers and screens set to stand-by, but in the meantime, there are dozens of power adapters under desks that continue to turn electricity into inessential heat throughout the night. So if you feel so inclined, please don’t hesitate to unplug the ones connected to your computer and screen (and phones). Some others are operating the network hubs, so take care. A Hibernating computer doesn’t need any power, so its safe to disconnect, but a Sleeping computer needs to remain connected, although the screen can be unplugged.

Taking Files Home

We all seem to have multiple computers these days, and its becoming worse now that phones also receive emails and have stores of pictures, written documents, and so on. So, which computer did I leave the file on, and if I made a copy to take with me on CD or memory stick, which is the latest version, the one at home, or the one on the office computer?

Synchronising everything on these computers isn’t the answer since you may want to segregate home and office files. Carrying the files about on a memory stick works, except for phones, and you have to remember to update the files.

But there is a case for having a folder of files that is identical on each computer, laptop, phone or iPad that you use.

DropBox is such a service, and its free.

This software will download and run on Macs, Windows, and several phone types.

It puts a folder on each device, and whatever you put in that folder, whether it be a picture, text file, or address book, is automatically backed up to your account on a secure server somewhere in The Cloud. This is an immediate safeguard, a remote backup device for anything with an internet connection.

Phones and laptops don’t usually have a backup device, so this is already a good idea.

But there is more.

The identical folder of information will appear on each of your computers. And you can add files from those computers too so you end up with a pool of important files from all your computers, all backed up and all accessible from every device.

So what happens when you change a file?

Dropbox checks automatically, and if it suspects a modification has been made, or files have been added or removed, it copies the changes to the server, and then down to each of the other computers that you have the software on. So it synchronises all your devices, but only for the files that you choose to put in the DropBox folder. The computers don’t need to be switched on, DropBox will update them as soon as they are online, and works unobtrusively in the background.

Even better, it tracks changes, so you can go back to an earlier version of a modified file. And you can do that from any of the computers. It also allows files to be shared with others, so if you have a collaborative project underway, this might help. You can even log-in via any computer, and view the files from there, subject to the username and password restraints.

DropBox is quick, secure, and free for 2 gbytes of storage, which should be enough for most people. They charge for larger storage if needed.

Dropbox Features

File Sync

Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically.

• 2GB of online storage for free, with up to 100GB available to paying customers.
• Sync files of any size or type.
• Sync Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
• Automatically syncs when new files or changes are detected.
• Work on files in your Dropbox even if you’re offline. Your changes sync once your computer has an Internet connection again.
• Dropbox transfers will correctly resume where they left off if the connection drops.
• Efficient sync – only the pieces of a file that changed (not the whole file) are synced. This saves you time.
• Doesn’t hog your Internet connection. You can manually set bandwidth limits.

File Sharing

Sharing files is simple and can be done with only a few clicks.

• Shared folders allow several people to collaborate on a set of files.
• You can see other people’s changes instantly.
• A “Public” folder that lets you link directly to files in your Dropbox.
• Control who is able to access shared folders (including ability to kick people out and remove the shared files from their computers).
• Automatically create shareable online photo galleries from folders of photos in your Dropbox.

Online Backup

Dropbox backs up your files online without you having to think about it.

• Automatic backup of your files.
• Undelete files and folders.
• Restore previous versions of your files.
• 30 days of undo history, with unlimited undo available as a paid option.

VECTOR DRAWING

Many people like to transfer 2D CAD drawings to another program for colouring room zones or site plan. Usually they look to use Photoshop, but its very expensive.

There is little to choose between any of these bit-map and vector-drawing packages since all have far more features than could possibly be used. So choose whatever suits your style.

So why not start with a free one? A well regarded free vector-drawing tool is Inkscape.

Its popular with Mac graphics specialists, a good sign, and works with most flavours of Windows.

Its one of the increasing group of software tools developed, like WikiPedia by its users for their own use. As a result, nobody pays, and not just the people who developed it. As an open-source system, its well supported with clip-art and documentation, again free to use.

Well worth adding to your collection.

www.inkscape.org

PDF MARKUP

Receiving a PDF format drawing by email often means marking it with comments and modifications before returning it to sender.

This software does that without having to print out the drawing or have to rescan it.

It opens PDF files including large-format drawings, and allows them to be marked up on screen with ‘highligher pens’ of various types and it can be annotated. You can keep the marked and unmarked drawings on file. Martin has tried it and reports it as easy to use.

Its not free, but the site licence is reasonably priced.

A fully working 30-day demo copy is available online. It looks a bit clunky, but its fast enough, and the demo version leaves just a small notice on the output file so its fine to use for live projects.

http://www.informatik.com/imagistik.html

Reading AutoCAD Drawings

If you receive an AutoCAD drawing that can’t be read because its the wrong version, new or old, there is an easy answer.

Download a free copy of DoubleCAD.

This is capable of reading lots of formats so should cope with viewing and editing the drawing, and then saving it in a different generation of DWG or DXF.

In fact DoubleCAD is a fully-fledged 2D CAD draughting system with a resemblance to AutoCAD itself, so you might want to use it for other things too. Its from IMSI who have a long record of producing reliable and fast CAD software under the TurboCAD banner. DoubleCAD is fairly new to the market, but it probably has much in common (under the skin) with TurboCAD, so its likely to be reliable.

VIDEO CONFERENCING

With interest increasing in reducing the costs, a new version of Skype is worth looking at for face to face meetings without the travel.

Skype permits high quality free phone calls. It has also been allowing several participants, (audio conferencing) for some time.

Skype video calling has been exceptionally good for many years and they even have a high-definition version for the price of buying a HD camera, about £60.

But the video conferencing version is new.

The Skype video conference will work with up to five participants. Its still a development system, but its expected to also have the ability to share drawings and other files, and use a white-board that all can see.

The demo version is available now for Windows PCs.

Most people will have access to a computer for video calling, but there are now a few dedicated video desk phones like this one. Asus, £180 or so. Not yet with the video-conferencing, though.

Theres are some mobile phones that have Skype video calling: Nokia N900.

iPad News

You can’t have missed the iPad fuss and bother. It rivals the Second Coming.

Where does it fit?

Its a large iPod Touch, able to browse the Internet, deal with emails, write notes, and run some of the thousands of little programs (called Apps) that are so popular. It is portable, has a ten-hour battery, and its quick.

This is, without doubt, the key: S-P-E-E-D

There have been other tablet computers, some as good looking, but this is practical because its by far the fastest. Others may come, but beware the processor they contain. This brand-new Apple processor is fantastic.

Besides, like the iPods, it switches on instantly. And its well built.

On home turf, its now become the neatest, cleanest, fastest way to get online. With its dock and keyboard its a pretty cute desktop computer too.

On the road, it works well with WiFi or a MiFi internet connection, and there is also a version with 3G.

But, there are limitations. The biggest by far, for me, is that it has no pen, so drawing straight onto the screen is not possible. Neither is handwriting onto the screen. I’ve had both on previous tablet devices. Drawing with a finger on an iPad seems to suit David Hockney, but it doesn’t work for me. Perhaps he has thinner fingers.

None of the other limitations, no USB, camera and Flash, worry me one little bit, and neither should they worry you. Thats just techno-nit-picking, unless you are especially interested in MetOpera which is still Flash-only, in which case I sympathise.

And this is really cheap.

Apple hope, practically insist, you will buy their MacBook (£900+), iPhone (£450+) AND the iPad (£430+) Close to £2000 in total Plus two monthly data-plans from a phone company, another £500 per year.

Nope, the £590 3G iPad does it all, so save yourself a lot of cash.

The iPad, with the additional keyboard, makes an excellent little computer running Skype for important calls. Buy a £10 disposable phone for those times when you are on the beach or pub, and put the rest of the saving into an ISA.

Brilliant device, should be the first of a whole family of variants.

History shows us that Dell, MicroSoft, and Nokia don’t know how to do this sort of thing. HP do, but their offering was dropped last month before even being released.

So don’t hesitate.