Nick Thorne http://www.nickthorne.com Renewables and Technology Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:17:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Mobile App Skills: A Note to Universities Last week, I had a welcome enquiry from one of our local universities asking which skills students need to work in the mobile app industry. Here is my reply:

I have tried to find students from the Southampton area to write mobile apps. But find the good ones are busy already

For mobile apps, we mean:

Objective . . . → Read More: Mobile App Skills: A Note to Universities]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2012/01/31/mobile-app-skills-a-note-to-universities/ 22 years of Java in Interactive TV and Still Waiting for the Revolution Listening to all the hubbub in CES2012 about TVs with Apps being the next big thing give cause for a wry chuckle. These TVs are mainly based on Google’s Android operating system. And the thing is that Android is based on a layer of Java on top of Linux. What’s funny ? Well, it has taken . . . → Read More: 22 years of Java in Interactive TV and Still Waiting for the Revolution]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2012/01/10/22-years-of-java-in-interactive-tv/ Reducing home energy use through heated clothing About 18 months ago, I worked up the attached paper entitled “Thermally Active Clothing for Building Carbon Footprint Reduction” by Nick Thorne and Simon Bramwell.

“Abstract - Clothing with built in heat sources and thermal controls is becoming more popular. This study investigates possibilities for reducing the energy consumption of buildings through smart use of this novel . . . → Read More: Reducing home energy use through heated clothing]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2011/11/27/reducing-home-energy-use-through-heated-clothing/ iOS 5, iCloud and the great caching debate I am currently working on an iPad app that when deployed will refer to a 2GByte product catalogue stored locally.

It has to be stored locally because customers are not always in an area with 3G and or broadband.

Enter Apple’s iOS 5 upgrade, and the new caching behaviour that has put developers into a spin. It was . . . → Read More: iOS 5, iCloud and the great caching debate]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2011/10/28/ios-5-icloud-and-the-great-caching-debate/ MSc Renewable Energy Topics It has taken since 2008 to complete the 8 modules and project. So about time for a wrap up of the topics studied.

Each module is made up of a 3 hour exam worth 75% to 85% of the marks, with the balance from a project.

The 8 modules I took are as follows:

Wind 1 [Wind Characteristics, Wind . . . → Read More: MSc Renewable Energy Topics]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2011/10/09/msc-renewable-energy-topics/ One app up one app down Today, we finally got our iPad app into App Store. We were caught up in the In App Purchase rule changes. First we had to add it, then the rules relaxed half way through implementation, so we asked again and they accepted it as was.

I also took down Anchor Alarm Free. I have been very busy . . . → Read More: One app up one app down]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2011/07/25/one-app-up-one-app-down/ Progress Sorry this blog has been a bit quiet of late. That’s because things have been rather busy in Nick Thorne Ltd.

The MSc keeps on coming, with the interim report on an anaerobic digester plant submitted. While it is the greenest way to process waste by far, it is also one of the most techno . . . → Read More: Progress]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2011/05/17/progress/ Anaerobic Digester Project I visited Energy Expo Now on Thursday to discuss anaerobic digestion projects for making energy from municipal solid waste. There are quite a few projects underway in the UK.

The show was mainly targeted at the on-farm market where crop residues and animal waste form the bulk of feedstock.

Completing this project by July, plus the Biomass 2 . . . → Read More: Anaerobic Digester Project]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2011/02/19/anaerobic-digester-project/ Renewable Energy MSc Project: Solar, Wind, Fish …? Today has been mainly spent reading through the 2009/2010 projects list for my renewable energy MSc at Loughborough University. Just to get an idea of the kinds of projects we are likely to see on offer for 2010/2011.

There are projects from every area of renewable energy, solar, wind, wave and biomass. They cover integration into the . . . → Read More: Renewable Energy MSc Project: Solar, Wind, Fish …?]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2010/11/10/renewable-energy-msc-project-solar-wind-fish/ Anchor Alarm Free: a Free Google Android Anchor Alarm App Quite a bit of spare time has been sucked up over the last two weeks knocking together an anchor alarm app for Google Android.

One for the yacht sailors, so they can sup their G&Ts with confidence in the knowledge that this little app (for use as a back up only of course – see the EULA) . . . → Read More: Anchor Alarm Free: a Free Google Android Anchor Alarm App]]> http://www.nickthorne.com/2010/10/30/anchor-alarm-free-a-free-google-android-anchor-alarm-app/