The ending, redefined.

Its 11am on December 21st 2012, the darkest day of the year. The sun has been in hiding and the weather is overcast.

The Christmas lights are illuminating the shady depths of the tree while the a pump circulates energy in the lifeless pond outside. The FM radio fills the quiet house with the sound of brass and bells as my computer and phone recharge their batteries.

For technical accuracy, there is a light on, a small web server, ADSL router and energy monitoring equipment running.

… and still 149 watts of excess electricity from my domestic solar PV array is being exported to the grid! Good times.

Almost all electronics have been made in China for some years now. We have become familiar with ‘Made in China’ printed on everything. When is the last time you saw a ‘Made in UK’ label on anything, let alone electronics?

Back in January I rebuked the Raspberry Pi Foundation for wanting to boost UK IT skills but not providing manufacturing jobs here. Instead choosing to mass produce Raspberry Pis in China. I am very pleased to hear that some are now being made in Wales!

So it’s game on. Buy all the Pis you like for teaching kids, running XBMC, hosting your own Friendica account, whatever you like!

Note that Made in UK Raspberry Pis are only available from Element14/Premier Farnell.

Ipswich (and Suffolk) Credit Union have produced a fantastic new video. It’s not about the money, it’s about the people. Get yourself an account, I’ve done it already!