Archive for January 2010
Gary Neville, the footballing Captain Planet
Posted by Powwownowgreen in Opinions on 29th January 2010
[An artist's impression of Gary Neville's new eco-mansion.
Photo: MAKE ARCHITECTS OF LONDON]
This week I’d like to congratulate Gary Neville for again trying to do his bit for the environment by introducing some radical designs for a state-of-the-art zero-carbon house.
Known as an eco-warrior in the footballing world, the former England defender already drives a Toyota Prius hybrid car to training, probably to the amusement of his Manchester United colleagues. And now, after three years’ hard work, he and architect firm Make have submitted their designs for the 8,000 sq ft super eco-home on his Harwood estate.
Why the big conspiracy?
Posted by Powwownowgreen in Opinions on 28th January 2010
[image courtesy of Daniel Bos]
One of the delights of the internet is that no matter how obscure your interests, you’re likely to find somebody out there with the same interests as you. Whether river dancing, Eastern European gangster movies or plate spinning floats your boat, you’ll have no problem finding someone else out there who’s into it, too. It’s just one of the reasons the internet is so great.
Of course it also means that those with more controversial views can find others with the same beliefs. A view that they may have seemed ludicrous to them when it first popped into their heads suddenly gains extra weight once they find other people with views in line with their own, no matter how extraordinary. Their views are reinforced and soon a mass of ‘believers’ form.
Cake Club Quarter finals 2
Posted by Stewart.Millard in Events on 21st January 2010
This week saw the second quarter final with Nick and Zarah battling it out for a place in the semi finals, both cakes were amazing.
Zarah produced a lovely Chocolate Banana Cake (bottom) and Nick produced a Carrot Cake (Top one)
Powwownow implements new media gateway solution, delivered by Squire Technologies.
Posted by Casey Williams in News, Partnerships, Techie Talk on 20th January 2010
Last year, Powwownow replaced their 10 existing Cisco Media Gateways with an SS7 Media Gateway, a one box solution from Squire Technologies. The change has reduced operating costs and lowered power consumption by 66%.
Looking to increase revenue and service levels, Squire Technologies BT approved SS7 Media Gateway provided a scalable single box solution that delivered carrier grade SS7 to VoIP interconnect.
“Simple engagement with no contracts and no billing is Powwownow’s ethic, providing millions of affordable and easy to use conference calls worldwide. Service levels such as these require maximum resilience and our existing fleet of Cisco AS5400s were extremely power hungry and challenging to manage – the SS7 Media Gateway supplied by Squire Technologies has provided us a seamless single box solution ” – Paul Lees, Joint CEO.
Cake Club Quarter Finals 1
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on 15th January 2010
Cake Club Round Five
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on 15th January 2010
Many thanks to John and Zahra for making this weeks’ cake club a very eventful affair!
It was the first time we have ever had a hung jury with both cakes, and I am using that term loosely, gaining 5 votes each. We were forced to draft in Juha, Luiza and Chris as reluctant deciders.
The snow may be melting away, but the relevance of climate change remains
Posted by Powwownowgreen in Opinions on 14th January 2010
[Image courtesy of Marquisa]
The recent ‘big freeze’ that has struck the UK and large parts of the northern hemisphere has pushed global warming right back into the spotlight (if it was ever out of it) and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the climate change sceptics are quick to use it as evidence of the ‘myth’ of global warming. Surely one of the most prolonged cold periods in recent British history surely suggests that the earth is not getting warmer? Well, according to this rather interesting Greenpeace blog, it has no relevance whatsoever. As they point out:
‘Snow days’ – perfect for a Powwownow
Posted by Powwownowbizfish in News on 5th January 2010
[image courtesy of Lars Trebing]
The Met Office this morning warned that tonight the south of England could join our friends in the north by seeing several inches of snow fall – up to 40cm in some areas. In fact, there’s a good chance that by the time you read this you’ll be snowed in already.
If you’re off work, ‘snow days’, as they’ve become known, are great. Building snowmen, hurling snow balls and making snow angels. Yes, even if you’re fully grown (don’t pretend you don’t). For those having to work, however, it can be a nightmare. You feel restricted. Travel is laboured at best and a non-starter at worst. You can’t get to the office to access your computer or your files and national productivity seems to grind to a halt.
