fat

Delivering hot water as a service

First there was software as a service. But hot water as a service?

It's happening, says Chris Beekhuis, chief technology officer of Fat Spaniel Technologies, which makes software that monitors how well solar panels, solar thermal hot-water systems, and other energy equipment functions.

Hotels, government buildings, and utilities are all interested in deploying more solar thermal hot-water systems. (They are fairly self-explanatory: heat from the sun is captured and used to heat up water.) The federal government, in fact, has put out a mandate that 30 percent of the hot water in new or renovated buildings comes from solar … Read more

Microsoft + Yahoo!: A sign that Microsoft's best days are past

The New York Times hits the nail right on the head: If Microsoft were at the top of its game (as its numbers suggest), it wouldn't need to acquire Yahoo!:

...[Iif its proposed acquisition of Yahoo signals anything, it serves as a confirmation that Microsoft's glory days are in the past. Having failed to challenge Google where it matters most -- in online advertising -- it has been reduced to bulking up by buying Google's nearest but still distant competitor. In many ways, the company has become exactly what Bill Gates used to fear the most -- sluggish, bureaucratic, slow to respond to new forms of competition -- just as I.B.M. was when Microsoft convinced that era's tech behemoth to use Microsoft's operating system in its new personal computer.

of course, just as with IBM, becoming "sluggish, bureaucratic, [and] slow" is not to say that Microsoft is going out of business any time soon. Rather, it's just to say that Microsoft's glory days of market innovations are well past it (not that anyone was doubting this - when is the last time it really did anything innovative?).

But Microsoft can't be happy about failing miserably to compete in the 21st Century, as the Guardian notes, choosing instead to preserve its 20th-century gains:… Read more

The 'Fat Lady' is about to sing

The "Fatman" has competition, at least in name and girth. Loudspeaker maker Morel is releasing a new model affectionately dubbed the "Fat Lady."

Luxist says the speakers owe their name to a "zaftig shape" produced by more than two years at the drawing board, something of a pear-shaped design that supposedly offers evenly dispersed sound without deflection or distortion. Finished with a carbon-fiber composite over a fiberglass layer, the speakers house two 9-inch woofers, a 6-inch midrange, and a 1.1-inch "hand-coated, soft dome tweeter." But at $20,000 a pair, the … Read more

A machine that's worth its weight in fat

We should have seen this one coming after learning of Matsushita's plans to make slimmed-down massage chairs. Now another Japanese company has developed what appears to be the ultimate fat-analysis machine.

Tokyo-based Tanita--whose slogan is "the body fat experts"--has gone well beyond its bevy of smart scales to produce "a precise electronic, abdominal fat meter that can measure the amount of fat deep inside of you, even around your organs," according to Popgadget. The AB-101 does seem more civilized than being assaulted by those inhumane calipers, but it still looks like a cross between … Read more

Fat Spaniel gets $18 million for alt energy monitoring

Fat Spaniel Technologies, which makes software that lets you know how much power you're getting from that new solar system, has raised $18 million in another round of funding.

The company has created software with an intuitive interface that monitors the amount of electricity that a solar, wind or another alternative energy system generates, how much it saves in carbon dioxide emissions, and other information. The software (along with an associated service) effectively lets consumers and business owners justify their investments. Additionally, if the power coming from a solar panel drops suddenly or an battery pack stops working properly, … Read more

Software for getting the value from solar

How do you know if your solar systems are paying off? You watch them.

Fat Spaniel Technologies unfurled Insight Manager at the Solar Power 2007 conference. The software console is essentially a grander and more ornate version of the tools the company currently sells that let users see and understand how well their solar systems on individual buildings are working. The software has been sold to consumers but also has been installed in a few Wal-Marts.

Insight Manager can monitor several sites at once and provide information on electrical capacity and other issues. It can also be programmed to send … Read more

Actifry takes the fat out of frying

I'll never forget the summer my best friend received a FryDaddy home deep fryer as a birthday gift. For several months, accepting an invitation to dinner at her house required a willingness to shave a few days off your life span, courtesy of the platefuls of deep-fried fill-in-the-blank that she offered up to guests.

If only she'd received an Actifry, the latest appliance from European kitchen goods maker Tefal (in the U.S., T-Fal), which the company claims will make fried foods a little bit healthier by removing most of the cooking fat. With one tablespoon of oil … Read more

Hello Kitty's new definition of fat cat

This Hello Kitty business has finally crossed the line. Not only has the fearsome feline invaded everything from the car to the kitchen, but now it's mocking the most sensitive issue of all: our physique.

The "Hello Kitty Body Fat Meter"--the name alone is disturbing, in a Kubrick kind of way--measures how well you've done on the "Thigh Master," right down to the last Oreo calorie, for $50. And because we just can't have enough Kitty products around the house, Gizmodiva says there's even a matching kitchen scale to weigh your … Read more

'Body Watch' delivers the ugly truth

Sometimes, a gadget can be too smart for its own good. That's our opinion, anyway, about an unforgiving fitness device called the "Body Watch."

Why? Because this little sadist will unflinchingly deliver unwelcome news about the state of your physical condition--complete with body fat, body water and body mass--all in real time . And if you try to blame the results on mechanical error, be aware that the watch uses "bio-electrical impedance analysis" and "strain gauge precision technology" to determine the effects of all those Krispy Kremes, according to OhGizmo.

On the flip side, … Read more