Smart Grid Could Pose Threat To Privacy

Posted by on under measuring energy, smart meters, privacy forum, kreps, intimate details, approximate number, billing period, energy use, compas, sanctity, occupants, intervals, electricity |

Presto Vivace writes "Brian Kreps of the Washington Post reports on a study jointly released Tuesday by the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Future of Privacy Forum. It seems that in the process of collecting all that feedback about energy use utility companies will inevitably collect a great deal of information about us. From the article, 'Instead of measuring energy use at the end of each billing period, smart meters will provide this information at much shorter intervals, the report notes. Even if electricity use is not recorded minute by minute, or at the appliance level, information may be gleaned from ongoing monitoring of electricity consumption such as the approximate number of occupants, when they are present, as well as when they are awake or asleep. For many, this will resonate as a 'sanctity of the home' issue, where such intimate details of daily life should not be accessible.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tagi: measuring energy, smart meters, privacy forum, kreps, intimate details, approximate number, billing period, energy use, compas, sanctity, occupants, intervals, electricity

7 Sweet Toys for Young Architects (and Old Ones, Too)

Posted by on under interactive world map, frank lloyd wright, wood lattice, shade canopy, young architects, victorian dream, ywood, rain barrel, wind turbine, furniture set, creatis, rubber wood, astic, acrylic glass, approximate number, hammacher, s college, solar panel, c |

These toys are the building blocks of your kid’s imagination. And hopefully the foundation of every Saturday of the rest of my life. I recommend starting with a LEGO-tastic Guggenheim and then working your way up to a 7’10 in-house skyscraper project. So awesome.

#1 – Epic Contemporist Playhouse

Here’s a super chic playhouse for your little contemporist. Actually, you might want to go ahead and ship this to me courtesy of your kid’s college fund. Featuring acrylic glass windows and a wood lattice interior, the structure is made of birch plywood and basically couldn’t get any cooler. Oh wait, it can. There’s an optional furniture set, shower with wash stand and backyard swimming pool. Playtime just got snazzy.

Via Kids Love Design

#2 – Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Sets

This is just the first kit from LEGO Architecture’s Frank Lloyd Wright series. There will be six total! Each kit comes with historical photographs and literature about the original buildings.

Via Architects Gifts Plus

#3 – The First LEED Certified Dollhouse

With a curved roof, solar panel, wind turbine, rain barrel, recycle bins and moveable shade canopy, this is by far the most forward-thinking dollhouse yet. Made from sustainably harvested rubber wood, the house is furnished and decorated with nontoxic paints.

Via Heirloom Wooden Toys

#4 – Skyscrapers Taller Than Your Dad

This is the real deal. Complete with 3,200 interlocking plastic parts, the Young Architects Skyscraper Kit includes 24 pages of detailed blueprints for constructing countless buildings. You can even list your creations on an interactive world map on the manufacturer’s website. And if you’re feeling extra inventive, submit a new idea of yours with the proposed skyscraper height and approximate number of pieces, and they’ll send you a PDF with instructions to build.

Via Hammacher

#5 – Paper Victorian Dream Home

Design and build your dream home with this incredibly detailed 3D kit. Using a grid system to make construction simple, you can assemble an architectural work of art and then go Godzilla all over its tiny homeowners when you’re finished. Excellent.

Via MoMA Store

#6 – For the Special Tater Tots in Your Life

A desk, art center and miniature hideaway hut all in one, the Deskhouse even comes with a solid oak chimney for art supply storage. Lucky babies!

Via Kids Love Design

#7 – Saving Up for a Bigger Piggy Bank

The sweet and simple Chalkboard House Bank by Mudpuppy “encourages long-term saving.” Decorate the chalkboard-glazed exterior and then smash it open to retrieve the goods. Bonus treat: free stick of chalk for the “smokestack” hole.

Via Etsy Shop

Tagi: interactive world map, frank lloyd wright, wood lattice, shade canopy, young architects, victorian dream, ywood, rain barrel, wind turbine, furniture set, creatis, rubber wood, astic, acrylic glass, approximate number, hammacher, s college, solar panel, c

Techcrunch: The iPad Will Make Apple’s Acquisition Of Quattro Wireless Look Even Smarter

Posted by on under early adopters, iphe, ipad, coue, miker, approximate number, yoda, apps, acquisition, debut, developers, apple |

Early adopters who will be among the first to unbox and fire up an Apple iPad in a couple of months, will have nearly 140,000 applications readily available from the App Store right out the gate. That's the approximate number of applications that are currently offered for free or for a fixed fee on the iPhone / iPod Touch App Store, which will soon be known only as the App Store (or under an entirely different moniker, though unlikely). This is, in my opinion at least, one of the key benefits of being one of those early adopters: they won't have to wait for developers to get acquainted with an entirely new SDK first, nor will they have to wait for them to build and get Apple's approval for the apps they want to publish. Just in case you forgot: more than 3 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store onto devices since its debut. Thriving, the platform is, as Yoda would put it.
Tagi: early adopters, iphe, ipad, coue, miker, approximate number, yoda, apps, acquisition, debut, developers, apple