OWON Technology (part of LILLIPUT Group) is a globalized ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) service provider specialized in research and application of electronic and computer-related technologies. It is an ISO 9001:2008 certified research institute and manufacturer involved in design, manufacturing, marketing and delivery of electronic products across the world since... more
Search Products
Columnists
Compos Mentis is the pen name of a well-known North American expert in metering and AMR who has been involved in advanced technologies for the utility industry for more than 35 years. This column will appear from time to time, as the author selects various “balloons to pop”, as he terms them. “Compos Mentis” (Latin) means sane, sober, rational, clear-headed.
Follow the money! Carefully...
This column is to create a forum for ideas, passions and perspectives on our industry that are controversial,...
Where the rubber meets the road! Where? The consumer, the guy who pays the bills
This column is to create a forum for ideas, passions and perspectives on our industry that are controversial, provocative and energising. The views expressed here may be unpopular, politically incorrect, heretical or simply humorous. They may be ideas that all of us have had but didn’t...
This column is to create a forum for ideas, passions and perspectives on our industry that are controversial, provocative and energising. The views expressed here may be unpopular, politically incorrect, heretical or simply humorous. The views expressed may be ideas that all of us have had but didn’t care (or dare) to articulate. The opinions expressed are those of the author alone, but are probably shared by many who have yet to say so.
Ok, So What's a Smart Meter? Whatever You Want It To Be!
For an industry that isn’t too quick at adapting to new ideas or new technologies, we are pretty good at adopting new buzzwords! And why not? By hanging new terminology on old concepts it’s like giving them a fresh coat of paint and passing them off as new. We can all act in-th...
Have you noticed the change? Twenty years ago the restaurant served a meal when the meat was on one part of the plate, a vegetable in another part and the potato or rice or pasta in a third. The meat probably didn’t touch the vegetable which probably didn’t touch the potato –...
Avista Utilities, a division of Avista Corp. providing service to 330,000 electrical and 285,000 natural gas customers in three US states, has contracted with Nighthawk Systems Inc. to provide the CEO-700 whole house remote disconnect units. Using the proprietary Nighthawk board, the CEO-700 allows utilities to save the time and expense of travelling to customer locations to disconnect and reconnect electricity. Utilities can achieve a positive return on their investment in the CEO-700 by activating the unit as few as three times.
Two-way, my way, or the highway? The value of simplicity
We live in a culture where more is usually better. Bigger cars and SUVs, more choices when shopping on the web, super-sized burgers at the fast food place - and even bigger clothes to contain our bodies after we consume all the super-sized burgers!
Mi casa es su casa - (or: my standard is your standard)
Mi casa es su casa. That is a wonderful invitation to the home of another person. Oh sure, this traditional suggestion that whatever I have is yours may not literally be true, but it certainly makes a grand and well intentioned statement of hospitality.Now you are fully relaxed, with your feet...
Some utilities have developed this practice to a fine art. If you are a supplier of products or services to the utility industry, you will know exactly what I mean. The utility culture seems to be becoming more imperial, more highhanded, more reflective of a notion that direct, immediate, firs...
One of the great dumb philosophy questions is, If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? The obvious answer is: “Of course it does. What a stupid question. Next you’re going to ask about that clapping thing.” But philosophy isn&rsquo...
Have you noticed that our world often seems glutted with new acronyms. Not good! Too many new, unfamiliar acronyms create what I call acronym anxiety. We fear that if we have to ask what those letters stand for, we may l...
The head waiter of the upscale restaurant proudly delivered the steak dinners to the table. The waiter placed the plates before us with a flourish, and even an expression of culinary pride and smug satisfaction on his face. He backed up several paces and stood there, arms f...
Oh, say can you see: Spotting the latest cutting edge utility technologies
We are all in a rather funny business. In a few areas we’ve seen a lot of evolution and technology – computer based automation, for example. But it has taken 100 years for residential electric metering to graduate from the induc...
If you are not sleeping well, your health and happiness suffer. So goes an advertisement that is run by a chain of furniture stores on a local TV channel. The ad goes on to encourage the viewer to visit the furniture store and to speak to a ‘Trained Sleep Consultant.’ A ...
Quick Print
Back
Home
Send to Friend
