2earth

Hey op here. You make a great point regarding marketing and conspicuous consumption - it just wasn't the focus of the article for me to investigate those cultural differences. It would certainly add more context.

I didn't aim to be judgemental and sorry it came off that way, yet, it's difficult to comment on something otherwise (from a personal standpoint). I do think it's wasteful - environment is a focus of my blog.

On using reddit - I don't use any social media, reddit was a quick way to get some pictures to illustrate the points. Obviously, I don't propose this is research grade work.

Hey, op, thanks for the points - a quick reply here:

-I'm very out of date, yes...I wrote a lot of notes ages ago and came around to finishing the article a long time later. I also don't use social media for good reasons so am not aiming to provide info that anyone doesn't already have. The article was mostly an excuse to read Baudrillard, and goddamn that is hard work ;-)

-i did not miss the point that being trendy attracts others of the same age. As women account for 80% of sales that is clearly not the key cause of the trend but is relevant for some

-agree my 'analysis' is lacking, could have conducted interviews, analysed multiple social media platforms.......

-the story of 'i saw this dude in a supermarket' is partly used to create a narrative in the article. And, obviously, I am not going to ask a guy 10 years younger than me why he is wearing a toy!

-'does he play with it at home' - how could I have been clearer that I doubt he plays with it and that it's for ornament, and possibly to attract girls.

Reminds me of (though different wordplay) Foot heads arms body

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Michael_Foot#Foot_Heads_A...]

Big technological changes aren't easy to adapt to. To explore my own experiences and feelings about AI I decided to mimic the chatbot format but with myself on both sides of the screen: a self-interview to explore my reluctance to adopt, my concerns and worries. Perhaps this chat can help me understand my own complex reaction to AI?

Nice idea, I might try it!

I noticed "copyright info goes here (c) 2025" - which you might want to update!

Thanks, I'll look into it

200x200? You're crazy!

Also: yes, good idea

Hey, thanks a lot for sharing, a couple comments/questions:

Would it be possible add a little more writeup in tooltips etc to help interpret graphs?

The time series data isn't possible to interrogate on a phone at all and in general I suspect it's too complex for most users, unless you're downloading a dataset and analysing. So I wonder if there's another way of displaying the data that gives some interpretation. Presumably the main figure we care about here is something like "hourly total renewable supply" and "hourly demand" so the energy mix might be better shown as a stacked chart not individual lines?

Perhaps the "non renewable" hourly component could be represented as a grey fill, to help communicate the total mix?

Would it be possible to also show the daily/monthly/annual totals in a sort of balance sheet, so we can see how/where tradeoffs between non-renewable and renewable certificates were made?

Perhaps I'm not explaining myself too well but while the point is to illustrate that at a real time level many suppliers are not matching demand with renewable supply, it becomes a bit confusing because it almost looks like they just aren't meeting demand at all.

Thanks for the work, it's a great project and will no doubt be valuable for policymakers

Oh that is so much better! I'll to a footnote with credit.

Thanks a lot, glad you enjoyed!

Sure!

The battery provides approx 6V - the timing circuit uses a 555 IC to create a pulsed signal. The combination of resistor and capacitor values determines the period of oscillation. Then, the output signal from this circuit is used to switch a transistor on and off. That makes/breaks a connection from the battery to the LED strings.

I also added a switch to select between the red LED and Yellow LED strings.

Will draw the final circuit if I get some time :)

Op here. Noted; it was a 'halloween special'. But maybe I can find something more readable as well as fun for the theme

A one-day electronics project to make two flashing-LED Belisha beacon outfits. Hope you enjoy!

Exceptional archive, thanks for your work!

hey, author here, thought I'd reply to you. Cheers for reading and thanks for the feedback.

I wanted to explore how the focus on tech-centrism impacts the product design and styling. I do think Dyson makes compromises on cost and ergonomics to uphold their brand values. Does that mean the products are bad? No - but I think they could be better. Do I think a lot of other products on the market are far, FAR worse? yes. But Dyson asks us to hold them to much higher standards (and pay a lot more). So I think serious design criticism is warranted.

Dryer time - there is a huge spectrum here. There are many dryers which cost a fraction of an airblade and dry with similar speed. My real point is that dry speed is a key factor but not the only factor, and that I believe other manufacturers have set their design decision-making with a different set of priorities.

You make a good point about colour-coded interaction points - and the consistent application of those colours across the vacuum product range is good as well. I intend to update the article with some feedback and I'll be sure to mention that for balance.

Regarding James Dyson and the invention culture: I worked with senior ex-dyson designers some 6 years ago so have some 2nd hand awareness over the IPR culture and JD's oversight of design reviews. I agree that I don't think the public literally think that it's JD himself inventing things (though, he is certainly more involved in design than a typical CEO). Yet the objective of the Dyson branding is surely to ensure that the name James Dyson is firmly in the public consciousness as an inventor extraordinaire. I think that is a conscious choice by Dyson and that it has a sizeable influence on societal perceptions of the design profession.

Cheers!

Please, James, don't sue me. It's just my opinion as a fellow Design Engineer... and in my defence, I probably wouldn't have written this if your company didn't constantly proclaim how amazing all your products are. And besides, these days, I can't exactly opt-out of a Dyson-altered existence, given that you're systematically making public washrooms everywhere louder, wetter, more expensive and more confusing. I don't really like your products, James, I don't like what they stand for and I don't like you either, for that matter. Anyway, here's (just some of) the reasons why. But please, James, don't sue me.

Couldn't get above 3 for numerous tries, after 5 minutes or so managed to get to 18! I learned a lot playing this (and reflected on things I already "knew" but never reflected on why). Thanks!

Hey, I visited SC and was super fascinated by it too! As I commented below I CAD modelled it on my blog:

https://2earth.github.io/website/20241003.html

This blew my mind. I'm a mechanical engineer from Wantage, where this clock was made, (but had no knowledge of it!)

I wrote a blog post reverse engineering (including a detailed CAD model) and discussing a very similar but nearly 200 year older clock at the (relatively nearby?) Salisbury cathedral. It's a good chance to reflect on longevity and design philosophy. Seems relevant to share!

https://2earth.github.io/website/20241003.html