Photo of David Gardiner
A blog of software development, .NET and other interesting things
  • Jun 30, 2008

    Passed 70-547

    What a nice way to start the day! I passed the Designing and Developing Web-Based Applications by Using the Microsoft .NET Framework exam scoring 825.

    So I’m now a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer: Web Developer :-)

  • Jun 28, 2008

    Standby power in the home

    A few months ago I was visiting our local library, when I noticed some interesting kits behind the the desk. They turned out to be "Home Energy Action Toolkits" (which has an acronym of HEAT!). I put my name down on the list, and finally last week it was my turn to borrow one of the kits.

    They include the following items:

    • Power-mate power meter
    • Infrared thermometer
    • Stop watch
    • Compass
    • Worksheet

    I was primarily interesting in using the power meter to gauge how much power various appliances use in our home.

    Here's what I discovered:

    Appliance Standby (Watts) On (Watts)
    DVD Player 2.1 12
    VCR 5.6 16
    CRT TV n/a 56
    2400 W Heater 1.3 960/1370/2210 (low/med/high)
    CD Cassette Radio 1 5.3 8.5/6.5/6.3 (Cd/Tape/Radio)
    CD Cassette Radio 2 4.0 5.9/5.3 (Tape/Radio)
    Computer + CRT Monitor 8.5 160
    Computer speakers 2 3.6
    Small CRT TV n/a 44
    1000 W Heater n/a 960
    Camera battery charger 0.4  
    Automatic garage roller door 10.4 100
    Mobile phone charger 0.2  
    Microwave oven 5.4 1550
    ADSL Modem n/a 8.3
    VoIP ATA n/a 2.9

    Two other appliances were also measured, using a feature of the power meter which calculates running costs by allowing you to enter in the cost per kilowatt hour (I used 17.99 cents). The results were very interesting:

    Dishwasher 14.44 cents per standard cycle
    Bread machine 8.3 cents to make 1.25Kg loaf

    So it probably is cheaper to make your own bread after all.

    As a family we’re not too bad at turning off things that we’re not using. We’ve also started the move to compact fluorescent lights, and I intend to make use of a service like Envirosaver, which will come out and replace all your incandescent bulbs with CF ones for free.

  • Jun 28, 2008

    CodeCampSA 2008

    CodeCampSA is on again, over the weekend of July 12-13th.

    The speaker list looks impressive:

    (Yes, I've put up my hand again!)

    The event is free, but to assist organisers you're encouraged to register your interest. There's also a dinner at Marcellina's in Hindley St on the Saturday night which sounds great.

    I'm definitely going on Saturday - will have to see about Sunday though.

    Updated Jason’s surname, and added links to speaker blogs – let me know if I’ve missed someone.