As Christmas is just around the corner, I am trying to write more light hearted, fun posts, to try to get everyone in the festive spirit.
At the end of every year, JibJab publish their take on the year, in the form of a (usually very funny) video. The video tries to stuff as much news and humour into about two minutes as it possible can.
The 2011 video has just been released, so I thought I would share it around 🙂
You have to watch the video three or four times to see how much they have included, as they really do put so much in!
This year gives mention to the Arab Spring, the collapse of the News of the World, the anti-capitalist protests, the London riots, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Americas loss of its AAA credit rating, Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, Rebecca Black, Justin Bieber, the Royal Wedding, Steve Jobs and so much more!
Here for your enjoyment is JibJab’s 2011 year review, called 2011 Buh-Bye!
%CODEYOUTUBEJIBJAB2011%
Good video isn’t it 🙂
What’s your take on the year? What have JibJab missed out, that probably should have been included?
If you really enjoyed that, head over to the JibJab originals page for more year reviews and fun 🙂
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Smart meters are a clever new technology, that can help to improve the way your energy usage is monitored and recorded, but many people know very little about this new bit of tech.
Smart Meters
Smart meters are a technology that are transforming our understanding of energy, and how we use it. What they allow you to do is to work out how much energy you are using, and on what, much better than ever before.
Smart meters measure gas and electricity usage in your home, by replacing your old electricity and gas meter, with an all new one.
For more information, watch this useful British Gas video about smart meters 🙂
The Benefits
This new energy meter allows you to see much easier how much electricity you are using, due to their handy in-home display, which puts you in control of your energy.
Thanks to smart meters you can see in real time how much energy you are using. You can check this on its user friendly energy monitor, either online or through our smartphone app. So if you have your kettle and TV on and you are using 1KW, then you know what those appliances use.
According to British Gas this gives you the potential to reduce your bills by around a fantastic 10%! This is because thanks to smart meters, you can see what energy you are using, and therefore can start to make small changes to use less and save money on your bills.
Another handy thing about smart meters is that they report wireless, so there is no longer a need (or the hassle!) for you or an engineer to take readings. Furthermore, the readings sent will now be 100% accurate, for total piece of mind.
Installation
In the UK British Gas are aiming to provide smart meters in all homes in the near future – meaning that everyone can benefit from this new technology.
They are starting the roll out now, with 120,000 homes in the UK already having a smart meter. This will grow to around 1.5million by the end of 2012.
Because they are so useful, the UK government has mandated that all households will need to have smart meters installed by 2019.
British Gas have already started to introduce smart meters to homes across the UK, in order to make sure that we are ready in time for 2019.
When your home is ready for an upgrade, British Gas will contact you and their highly trained Smart Energy Experts will change your meters, and explain how to use your energy display and save on your bills.
The other day I stumbled across a video on Microsoft Office’s YouTube Channel which showed a vision that Microsoft had of the/a possible technological future.
The video contained all sorts of cool, crazy and weird things, from electronic mugs that determined your mood and glasses (the ones on your eyes not the ones you drink out of!) that could translate audio, to animated newspapers (digital paper) and 3D holograms.
Below is the video:
So what do you think, is this the future, is it too optimistic, or just a little weird?
I am now very much looking forward to the future to see how right Microsoft got it!
As with most things in life, a rather comical spoof has been of one of Microsoft other visions of the future. I thought I would include it here to give you a laugh too 🙂
What’s your take on these two videos? Does the second speak more truth than the first, your newspaper will crash, we will all have mental implants, oh, and there will be small fiddly bits of tech which you can easily loose!