Author: Bal Bansal

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Car Technology

EV: Going Electric…

So I thought I’d share with you. I’ve gone Electric. That’s right. If you read my blog posts – you’ll know I have a Tesla Model 3. (Oh… if you are thinking about getting a Tesla, reach out to me first! – I can share my referral link – and using that, you can get 1,000 supercharge miles free!)

So, back to the car. Why did I go for a Tesla?

Well, firstly – the key thing was charging. Tesla are miles ahead with their Supercharger network. Having used them a few times, they are so easy to enable (just input your credit card on your Tesla acct), easy to use… when you pull up to one, you just plug it in! And easy to navigate to! (You’ll find out more what I mean about this down below)

At a supercharger in West London – from 17% to 70% took 17mins! (That’s like adding about 220 miles approx!)

The biggest fear – when moving to an electric car, is something called ‘range anxiety’. Yes, this is a real thing. People fear – that they’ll run out of battery or won’t have enough – what are they going to do!!!??!!

Well, another great thing about the Tesla is – you put in where you are going into the Sat Nav – and it’ll determine;

a) Your route, the battery percentage that will be used and other handy information

b) If you don’t have enough battery, it’ll suggest you’ll need to charge!

c) It will tell you where to charge!

An example of this – I was travelling from London, up north – and it told us, I’ll need to stop at the Supercharger at Northampton (just a minute of the M1) and charge up for 15mins! That would be sufficient enough for me to get to my destination!

Then there’s home charging – when you get an Electric Vehicle – I’d recommend you get a home charger. It usually works out cheaper and better if you can charge at home. Appreciate if you don’t have a driveway and it’s on-street parking only, you’ll have to look at options!

If you’re moving from an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle, suggest you look at hybrids first. My previous car was a hybrid. And that helped me understand more about driving on electric/battery only. Obviously, it was nice to have the engine to kick in and support when required.

If you’re going to jump straight to an electric car – always do the maths. By that, size of battery (miles it can do), miles you do… and the rest of the analysis you would normally do when looking for a new car.

Interior is very important. Let’s be honest, it’s what you’ll be seeing most of the time! And Tesla, as you may know… just have one giant iPad type of screen!

Inside of my Tesla Model 3 – with the big iPad type of screen to control everything.

Now, the photo above – is mine (minus all the information!). I thought it would be difficult to get used to this. Let’s be honest – always had something in front of me telling me speed, revs, time, fluid levels, etc… and now… I have an iPad!

In all fairness, it’s not that hard to use. And for the past six months of driving. I’ve got used to it! And it isn’t that bad. Everything is conveniently located to make it easy as possible. For example, the speedometer is top right of the screen – so closest to you.

A lot of new cars – like the Polestar and others, have big screens. Everything is moving that way. Though I did hear this morning that Audi will be sticking with sticks and knobs.

So, in summary… If you are thinking about going Electric, here’s some steps you should think about…

  1. Have a think about going hybrid first before fully electric (may help reducing that range anxiety!!) and you’ll increase your knowledge about vehicles that are powered by a battery.
  2. What type of electric car will suit your needs. There’s more and more coming to the market – with a variety of battery ranges, etc… so check what works best for your lifestyle.
  3. How technologically savvy you are. Tesla 3 have one big iPad (the model S and X come with a display in front of you), Audi are sticking to knobs and cars such as Polestar have a mix.
  4. All manufacturers now have an electric car in their model line up. VW have the ID models, Ford have the Mustang E, BMW have some great hybrids (such as the 330e) and electric such as i3, i4, etc… and Mercedes have the EQ models. So go to their show rooms and have a look at the cars.

I hope the above helps. In my next blog posts, titled EV:…. I’ll share more about servicing, driving, everyday use and more!

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Week in Review

Week 36… 2021!

What a week! Here in the UK we had a mini-heatwave! Which I’ll be honest, was quite nice to sit back in the garden again. Not sure what the weather looks like for the next few weeks.

Either way, I’ll keep bringing my weekly update for you! And this week, it’s about Facebook…

  1. Facebook and Ray Ban make some Smart moves!

The company has created its first “smart glasses”, with a pair of cameras to take photos and videos, a microphone and speaker to listen to podcasts, and a voice assistant to let you do the whole thing hands-free.

If the whole thing sounds, and looks, familiar, it’s because the concept bears a heavy resemblance to Snapchat’s Spectacles, now in their third generation. It’s not the first time Facebook has been heavily inspired by the younger company, and even the name of the glasses feels sure to rub salt into the wound: they’ve been named Stories, apparently in homage to the social media format invented by the Snapchat founder, Evan Spiegel, and adopted to revolutionary effect by, first, Instagram, then countless other sites on the internet.

There’s one final wrinkle to the pitch: the glasses don’t actually come from Facebook at all. Yup, you got that! Instead, the company is working with Ray-Ban, on whose classic Wayfarer designs the hardware has been modelled, and the device will be branded as a Ray-Ban product first and foremost.

“Our mission is to help build tools that will help people feel connected any time, anywhere,” said Facebook’s Monisha Perkash. “We want to create a sense of social presence, the feeling that you’re right there with another person sharing the same space, regardless of physical distance.”

2. Next up- not tech related but more about inspiration…

Raducanu turned professional in 2018.

She made her WTA Tour main draw debut at the 2021 Nottingham Open, where she gained entry on a wildcard, originally ranked Number 338 in the world.

Fast forward – she got the opportunity to play in Wimbledon – where she pulled out in the 2nd set, fourth round match due to breathing difficulties.

And last night – against all the odds, someone who had to go through the qualifiers – won the US Open!

She is now expected to rise to Number 23 in the world. How phenomenal is this!!! What a great achievement!! The whole – never give up, enjoy the moment… the funniest part here is… she’d book her return flight tickets for a few weeks back because she didn’t think she’d progress as far!!

Well done Emma. Fantastic.

So there you go – today it’s all about Facebook collaborating with Ray Bans, and Emma showing that you should never give up – keep trying and keep pushing. You are in control of your own destiny.

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Week in Review

Week 35… 2021!

And so, with that… it begins to feel very autumnal. It’s getting darker earlier, slightly colder in the mornings etc.. however, I hear that in the UK, we’re going to have a mini (2 to 3 days) heatwave!

And with that… let’s move onto the Top Two Tech Stories of the week.

  1. Up first… iPhone 13 information!

The Apple iPhone 13 is set to arrive in the UK in September.

The technology giant has not announced the launch date of its new smart phone but rumours suggest it could be September, with UK pre orders set to open as early as 17 September.

Previous launches have taken place on the final Friday of the month but the launch could be October.

The iPhone 13 could be in high demand when it does hit the shelves in the UK because there are signs Apple will struggle to have enough units for everybody who wants the new handset.

It is believed the Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, is hiring hundreds of thousands of extra workers over the next month to make enough of the smartphones but this recruitment drive may be slower than Apple needs to meet demand.

There is also a global shortage of chips that could impact supply. Apple’s finance chief Luca Maestri said: “We expect supply constraints during the September quarter to be greater than what we experienced during the June quarter. The constraints will primarily impact iPhone and iPad.”

Also.. the shortage of chips which has been widely acknowledged is having an impact on cars and many other electronic items. Let’s hope we can resume production and up the productivity sooner rather than later.

2. Up next, BMW’s new electric bike!

BMW’s Motorrad division has been pumping out some wild concepts over the last few years as the larger company turns its attention towards electric vehicles. It’s latest is also the to date, but still looks extremely cool: the CE 02 mini-bike. 

Debuted this week ahead of the IAA Mobility conference in Germany, the CE 02 is a tiny two-wheeler that borrows some of the futuristic vibes BMW has been honing for its larger concept bikes — including the CE 04, which is actually going into production. Clad in silver and black and “technoid typography,” the minimalist design looks like it came right off the set of a sci-fi movie.

The CE 02 has an 11kW belt-drive motor, which can help the bike reach a top speed of around 90 kilometers per hour (about 56 miles per hour). BMW isn’t sharing the battery capacity, but claims the CE 02 can go about 90 kilometers on a full charge. 

There are no pedals, but BMW says there will be footrests — though in the photos, the only footrest that anyone is using is a skateboard clipped to the underside of the bike. (Hey, it’s a concept!) A circular LED headlight lights the way, while a small display between the handlebars serves up the basic information like speed and battery status. “Otherwise, the technology is deliberately restrained,” BMW says. The whole package weighs 120 kilograms (about 265 pounds).

I love this… because we need smaller, electric vehicles that can transport us around towns and inner cities. I personally would definitely purchase this!

So there we go… get ready for the new iPhone 13 and the new electric scooters which are a concept but could quickly turn to be reality!

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Uncategorized Week in Review

Week 34… 2021!

A lot happened this week! – So much so… I was tempted to share more than two stories, but no… we have a process and the process shall be followed, because expectations may rise, variation is not good…

So let’s get straight into it… here’s my Top Two Tech Stories of the Week!

  1. First up, we have a German company, that’s created a road where it’ll charge electric vehicles!!

Indiana (US) may very well be the primary state to have a wi-fi charging street that tops up your electrical automobile as you drive alongside it.

Because the 21st century rolls on, we’ve all had these one or two moments the place we see some new expertise and the tempo of innovation actually comes residence to roost in our heads, usually with some recollection of Star Wars or Star Trek.

Perhaps for some it might have been the self-driving characteristic of the Tesla, or good residence methods, however for motorists in Indiana, that second could come by means of a shiny new wi-fi street.

Whereas battery charging instances are getting better every year, it’s nonetheless essentially the most limiting issue relating to the acquisition of an EV. The Indiana Division of Transportation (INDOT) has determined to sort out that by burying electrified wire coils that create a magnetic subject alongside the street floor, mimicking the best way wi-fi charging stations for tablets and telephones are designed.

As a way to use the roads, vehicles can be fitted with a receiver coil to choose up the cost as they go alongside, and turning into magnetized, draw electrical energy from the coils themselves. How awesome is that!

2. Up next… 12 year old makes £290,000 from NFT’s!

A 12-year-old boy from London has made about £290,000 during the school holidays, after creating a series of pixelated artworks called Weird Whales and selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

With NFTs, artwork can be “tokenised” to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold – you may remember this from a previous blog post of mine.

They do not generally give the buyer the actual artwork or its copyright.

Benyamin Ahmed is keeping his earnings in the form of Ethereum – the crypto-currency in which they were sold.

This means they could go up or down in value and there is no back-up from the authorities if the digital wallet in which he is holding them is hacked or compromised.

He has never had a traditional bank account! Crazy – right?!

“It was a little bit of a fun exercise – but I picked up on really early that they were really receptive to it and they were really good,” Imran said. 

“So then we started getting a little bit more serious – and now it’s every single day… but you can’t cram this stuff, you can’t say I’m going to learn coding in three months.” 

The boys did 20 or 30 minutes of coding exercises a day – including on holiday, he said.

So there you go… a 12yr old who’s made £290,000 from NFT’s and wireless charging for electric cars!

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

I’ll be honest. It’s a bit of a deep one today. With recent events – what is the purpose of being? I’ve been reading a few books recently and looking at articles/diagrams that explain it.

Not going too deep here – we’re only on this planet for a limited amount of time. Make the most of it…

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Week in Review

Week 33… 2021!

Bit of a crazy week this week. A lot has been happening, both in the tech world… and also, my personal world.

Anyway, here’s my Top Two Tech Stories of the week… and starting with Elon who never seems t disappoint us!

  1. Tesla’s Human Robot

Tesla will branch out from building electric, self-driving cars to produce humanoid robots designed to “eliminate dangerous, repetitive, boring tasks” and respond to voice commands from their owners.

The robot, referred to as Optimus by those inside the company, will be 173 centimetres tall and weigh 57 kilograms. Its body will be powered by 40 electromechanical actuators and its face will feature a screen display.

Optimus will be able to carry a cargo of up to 20 kilograms, and Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk claims that a working prototype will be ready next year.

“Tesla is arguably the world’s biggest robotics company because our cars are like semi-sentient robots on wheels,” he said. “It kind of makes sense to put that onto a humanoid form. We’re also quite good at sensors and batteries and actuators.” Said Elon.

Musk said the machine will be limited to a walking speed of 8 kilometres per hour and will be deliberately weak enough that most humans will be able to overpower it if needed. “You never know,” said Musk, who had suggested earlier in his presentation that artificial general intelligence – hypothetical AIs that could complete any task a human can perform – was the largest threat currently facing humanity.

Up next, we have something happening over at Apple…

2. Not one but a few launch events for Apple!

We know that Apple is planning to launch a wealth of new devices before the end of the year – including the iPhone 13, the Apple Watch 7, the iPad mini 6, a new entry-level iPad, updated AirPods and a couple of MacBooks – but when are they going to be unveiled?

According to a new DigiTimes report based on supply chain sources, all of this hardware will be launched in the month of September 2021, across a couple of virtual events that are going to be streamed online.

It would be an unusual move for Apple, but it’s not entirely out of the question – after all, prerecorded virtual events without any in-person attendees are easier to queue up than ones held in a physical location with an audience.

Apple traditionally has a lot of hardware to launch in the final third of each year, with the new iPhone usually starting everything off in September. However, last year’s launch schedule was heavily impacted by the global pandemic.

And how is the pandemic going to effect other companies – we know it’s having an impact on the car market – where automotive manufacturers have had to cut down production due to shortages in the supply chain (mainly down to chip shortages).

So there we go… Elon with a human robot, and Apple with a lot of devices coming around September (onwards) time… within several events.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

This week’s Friday Thought is dedicated to my friend, Inder Mahil who passed away earlier this week.

He was the same age as me. No underlying health conditions.

We went punjabi school together on Saturdays when we were kids, we went to the same university and had a good drink together… and recently saw him take his young son to football training.

It’s a bit of a lengthy Friday Thought – but honestly, Life is so short. Make the most of it. No regrets.

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Uncategorized

Week 32… 2021!

One has been on holiday… hence the delay in this week’s Top Two Tech Stories… however, here they are!

  1. Up first… Tech related (maybe) but close to my heart (definitely!)

Lamborghini actually did it. For the first time in the history of Lamborghini supercars, the storied company from Sant’Agata Bolognese revived a nameplate for a new vehicle. It’s not just any nameplate either – the Countach is arguably the exotic car that created the supercar segment. And now, after 30 years, it lives again.

And let’s be honest… how awesome does it look!

Why is this close to my heart… when I was a kid, I had a poster of the original.

First thing’s first. You can’t have a Lamborghini Countach without a V12 and this one has it in spades. The familiar 6.5-litre naturally aspirated engine develops 769 bhp (573 kilowatts) on its own, but it has help in the form of a 34-bhp (25-kW) electric motor powered by Lamborghini’s 48-volt supercapacitor tech. With everything combined, the Countach cranks out 803 bhp (599 kW) to all four wheels through a seven-speed gearbox. Lamborghini says it reaches 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, 124 mph in 8.6 seconds, and if you never lift, wind resistance will stop you at 221 mph. It’s easily the quickest, fastest Countach ever.

2. Tik Tok helping you work rest and sleep…

TikTok has announced a series of changes it says are designed to protect its teenage users’ wellbeing.

Users aged 13-15 will not receive push notifications from 21:00 – and for 16- and 17-year-olds, from 22:00.

This is to help them focus on work, study, relaxation and sleep, the video-sharing app says.

It is also changing its default settings so 16- and 17-year-olds will have to opt in to receive direct messages.

About time some of these apps took some responsibility and ensured that well-being is a priority.

So there you go…. from the new Countach (even though it’s not electric… but I’m looking forward to it very much!) to wellbeing is being taking seriously by Tik Tok!

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Uncategorized

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Quite simply really. Stay Happy. Be Good… and Enjoy yourself.

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Week in Review

Week 31… 2021!

Hope you’re keeping well. I’ve been away for the week. Took some time out- had the out of office on… and enjoyed a few sunny days by the south coast. I think it’s important for us all to recharge now and again. For me, I spent time reading a book, thinking about my purpose and enjoying some good food!

Ok, here’s my Top Two Tech Stories of the week…

  1. Up first, Whatsapp!

WhatsApp has introduced a new feature for its mobile app that aims to mimic the likes of Snapchat. While Disappearing Messages on the platform stretches to a minimum of seven days, WhatsApp has added a new View Once feature for photos and videos. The new feature is now available on iPhone as well as Android.

While the feature is great to have, there is still a risk if the receiver takes a screenshot of it. Henceforth, the platform can just update the feature with a notification alert – but we’ll have to wait for this.

This all sounds a lot like Snapchat and other platforms, where you can quickly (and for a short time) view a photo or video before it disappears. We can see our favourite and most used platforms adopting these features – maybe in a move to make us have less apps.

2. Up next… legacy systems!

Half of all government spending on computers is dedicated to keeping old systems going, a report has found.

The UK government spends £4.7bn a year on IT across all departments, and £2.3bn goes on patching up systems, some of which date back 30 years or more.

Labour said the situation showed Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove’s “incompetence and failure to deliver”.

The Cabinet Office said it was taking action to reduce the government’s reliance on outdated technology.

The Cabinet Office report, called Organising for Digital Delivery, warns that government could end up spending between £13bn and £22bn over the next five years on obsolete systems.

Some government digital services “fail to meet even the minimum cyber-security standards,” it adds, and data can not be properly extracted from them, making them “one of the greatest barriers” to civil service innovation.

The government has made a big push to use data to improve public services, but despite “significant sums” being spent on data storage departments are “making little use of this data to influence action or decision-making”. 

The report also says the government is not carrying out any kind of monitoring of performance of computer systems, as is common in leading private and public sector organisations. 

A performance management system was put in place in 2012, but has since fallen into disuse – and even the technology that monitors its performance is now obsolete and vulnerable to a cyber attack.

The report also highlights digital success stories, such as the rapid launch of the NHS coronavirus testing service and the furlough scheme.

The Home Office’s EU Settlement Scheme is also cited as example of rapid rollout.

The report says government departments that need a new digital service should launch a “minimum loveable product”. 

This means, for example, not worrying about making the website look nice and having lots of features, but to focus on the absolute bare essentials required for launching a service to the public.

There you go… from Whatsapp letting you share photos and videos for a short duration and then they disappear to systems being used by the Government that should’ve disappeared a long time ago!