Today was a very special day.
I was fortunate to be a member of a group that visited Sir Terry Pratchett at his home, to present him with his tenth honorary doctorate (and his first from Australia).
Monthly Archives: May 2014
Energy Efficient Housing in Germany
Some friends of mine live in Königs Wusterhausen, in the outskirts of the Berlin area. This is a lovely lovely area bordered by lakes and forests. Of course, given its location, it gets quite cold in winter
They have built a highly energy efficient house there, which contains a number of great features that I would love to incorporate in an upcoming home renovation back in Adelaide.
Technology at Zurich Airport
I have come across some interesting technology items at Zurich airport today, on my way out to London.
Sebastian and Simon’s Excellent Adventure
On a Saturday where we had no other commitments, Sebastian Lip and I decided to go on a bit of a day trip from Switzerland to Italy.
In twelve hours, we covered quite a lot of ground, spanned two countries, and had a great time doing it 🙂
Thoughts about starting and growing Internode
This post just points out a couple of places on the Interwebs where I’ve discussed the journey around starting, growing, and ultimately selling Internode.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing, just read on for the location of those things. Continue reading
Flying the Stemme S6-RT Motorglider
I had the opportunity to visit the Stemme factory in Strausberg this week, and to fly a Stemme S6-RT motorglider.
This is the most recent aircraft produced by the people who make my wonderful Stemme S10-VT.
The Alexander Schleicher factory
I drove from Frankfurt airport to the Poppenhausen/Wasserkuppe area to visit the Alexander Schleicher (AS) glider factory.
Heading to Europe
This month I’m doing a research trip to Europe for various reasons.
I’ll be spending about one week in each of Germany, Switzerland and the UK.
Here are some impressions of the journey across the world from Adelaide to Frankfurt (via Dubai) on a Qantas/Emirates codeshare.
Electric Vehicles and Luxury Car Tax
Most first-world countries have a variety of incentives designed to encourage the purchase and use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) on public roads.
Wikipedia has a great summary of these incentives. Unfortunately, Australia is conspicuous by its absence from that list of enlightened countries. There are no meaningful incentives from the federal or state government in Australia to help to drive the adoption of zero emission vehicles.
Simon Hackett 