Bollocks, Steve
I read this earlier: Thoughts on Flash. It's basically Steve Job's stance on Flash and, in a sense, his justification of why Apple isn't going to be supported in Apple's embedded devices. 
Steve Jobs is acting like a [brilliant] spoiled brat with the coolest toys on the block, and he's been acting that way for years. I hate closed software systems as much as the next guy, but I completely disagree with limiting developers. The engineer-months and capital investment required to make Flash run well and safely on an iPhone/iPad is absolutely nothing compare to the requirement for the thousands of Flash developers out there to port their apps to Objective C and OS X.
Exclusivity Has It's Advantages. Agreed.
He's just being selfish by demanding that things run super smooth on his devices. And you know what, that's his prerogative. They're his devices, and consumers should know coming into it that they're getting into a closed system. Luckily, the devices are more beautiful and popular than a homecoming queen, so developers are happily heading to their nearest Apple Store to buy a new Mac, join the for-pay Apple Developer plan so that they can get a key to sign their junk, and put up with the their App Store policies when submitting their apps into a system that can be harder to get into than a night club in South Beach wearing a pair of cutoff jean shorts and Crocs.
But We're More Open Than Them. Bollocks.
But there's no reason for him to be bad mouthing Adobe like this, especially with some of his weak arguments. Like his example of how Apple creates open standards for the web:
"Apple even creates open standards for the web. For example, Apple began with a small open source project and created WebKit, a complete open-source HTML5 rendering engine that is the heart of the Safari web browser used in all our products."
Kudos for Webkit back years ago, but Webkit is not an open standard...it's an open source project that supports open standards. Thankfully Google's got their hands on it and made it way faster. Just like Adobe's Tamarin is an opensource project that runs an open standard (ECMAScript 4), and Mozilla has used it for the basis of TraceMonkey. Sure Apple participates in plenty of W3C standards committees and more, but so does Adobe.
We're Thinking of You, Developers. Bollocks.
Then later he tries to talk about how Adobe's CS5 cross-platform feature will bar Flash developers from unlocking the full feature set of the iPhone when they try to build it for the iPhone. And I say if a developer needs those supposed spiffy new features, then he can port his code to Objective C and use Apple's Xcode. The other (likely) larger base of developers that don't need those features would likely be very happy to simply use CS5 to build their existing flash-based programs for the iPhone/iPad. But this really gets my goose. He's claiming that Adobe will be really slow to add support for these new cutting edge features of OS X. I agree that it might take some time...why? Because Apple won't document these new features until they come out in Xcode. Heck, there are all sorts of secret APIs that they don't release that the hacker community has found. They had an entire SDK out before Apple even allowed native development for iPhone. But Steve had this to say as his rationale for why Adobe might be slow to release support for new iPhone/iPad feature:
"And Adobe has been painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple’s platforms. For example, although Mac OS X has been shipping for almost 10 years now, Adobe just adopted it fully (Cocoa) two weeks ago when they shipped CS5."
Sure Adobe just moved to Cocoa for CS5. Cocoa is their main API (largely GUI) for Mac OS X. This statement basically means that finally CS5 tools will look 100% like other Mac Apps. This act has absolutely nothing to do with Adobe providing access to OS X features for their CS5 cross-platform development tools. It just means they finally spent all the time to rewrite their apps to use Apple's Cocoa API. I completely support Adobe's decision for two reasons. Firstly, they've got a lot of freaking apps in CS5. It's an enormous suite. Secondly, their GUI framework allowed them to do a tremendous amount of specialization in their CS5 apps, that isn't as simple with Cocoa. If anyone here has ever used a pro app on a Mac, then you'll realize two things. The fonts are tiny and there are buttons, switches, and windows everywhere. Take Apple's Final Cut Pro. It looks absolutely nothing like a regular Mac app. Heck it looks radically different than iMovie even. Now Final Cut Pro may use Cocoa, but I speculate that it's heavily modified to go beyond Cocoa for its GUI.
If Steve really had the developers' best interests in mind, then he'd help Adobe get Flash10 running silky smooth on the iPad. You can make an argument that the iPhone isn't powerful enough, unless they start using a GHz class processor in it too. If he's worried about Flash looking crappy, then they should employ some sort of UI mechanism to let users know right away what is Flash and what isn't when a page is rendered. Perhaps they could include a selective Flash Blocking feature for Safari...of course that would piss off advertisers.
As much as it pains me to say it... There are a lot of Flash developers as well as significant investments out there. Flash has features and an install base that HTML5 won't be able to match for years to come. So if some hack developers want to write some sort of sorry farming game using Flash and then haphazardly get that app running as an OS X widget, an iGoogle Gadget, a Facebook App, an iPhone/Android/Blackberry/Pre app, a wordpress plugin, or any other piece of computing real estate that users waste their time on...then I say just let them. But if Steve wants to keep Flash off of his devices, then he can. If developers don't like it, then they can boycott. If users don't like it, then they can get an Android phone.
Don't Get Into a Pissing Match
I've got no complaints if he says it's for the users and the preservation of his platform. But don't claim that this is for developers and to champion open standards. I think the rhetoric in the blogosphere and in the media has really fueled this battle between Apple and Adobe. Apple is playing a ruthless game, and Adobe is doing the only thing that they can. But Apple shouldn't let itself be drawn out into a pissing match with Adobe over who's more open or who has more of the developer community's interests in mind.
Hey, I Use a Mac
This may be about money, marketshare, control, or ego. We won't know for some time. However, I think a perfectly legitimate rationale for this is that Apple is shunning Adobe because they think the Flash runtime is still garbage on mobile devices. It doesn't appear that Steve has any interest in making Flash 10 any better, and he certainly doesn't want anything "ugly" on his beautiful platforms. And as I mentioned earlier, this is his prerogative. I use a Macbook Pro for precisely that reason. The apps always run fast, have great user interfaces, and always work. If someone says they're an Apple Developer, then you can be guaranteed that they've been assimilated to the Cult of Apple/Jobs. Apple has a history of maintaining their backward compatibility for only a limited time and then forcing their developers to update to their new architectures, APIs, etc. It makes for great apps. Frankly I feel that developers should be doing this for the sake of their users anyway. But they don't...so Steve make them.
Thoughts on Earth Week 2010
Earth Week came and left again this year. I saw plenty of great facts and ideas all shared with enthusiasm. My employer did their part to spread the good word through informational emails, postings, and guest speakers. I even gave a little demonstration of my Enertia and answered a bunch of questions.
Original Earth Week Logo from 1970
My week was capped off by a hilarious exhibit of irony. I saw a guy in a Prius delivering phone books in my neighborhood. I commented to the guy how ideal a Prius is for the stop and go deliveries that he's making. He agreed, but when I told him I didn't want a phone book he really didn't get it. "It's free, Dude. Are you sure?" So perhaps the message isn't getting to everyone.
Earth Week is Not a Diet
As I was riding home this afternoon, I started to wonder how many practices really stick with people once the week is over. I saw a few new people drinking out of the free waterbottles that they gave out some time ago. They gave out free mugs at work this week, too. Yet I still saw plenty of occurrences of people grabbing disposable cups of coffee and bottled water from the fridge, likely just out of habit.
I'm not trying to guilt people into picking up better habits, and I'm especially not trying to pat myself on the back. I'm really just trying to understand people's behaviors and thought patterns with regards to their habits. I'm oversimplifying a bit, but I think people are just adverse to change. That's not to say that they don't want to change, I just think people go about it entirely wrong. They rush into it and make too many changes at once. Soon overwhelmed they slip back into their old habits. It's the same reason that people yo-yo diet instead of making permanent changes to their lifestyle. Let's not let Earth Week just be another diet.
Making a Slow Lifestyle Adjustment
When it comes to the environmental impact of my habits, I tend to make slow changes over time. Like many people, it started years ago by simple things like shutting off the water while I brushed my teeth. When I moved off to college I started recycling. I changed my habits with lights in the house and made sure to turn off nearly every light unless I was in the room. Eventually I moved to CFLs. Then I gave up bottled water, started carrying a water bottle and a coffee mug. I reduced my paper waste while eating out. Heck, maybe I'll start carrying handkerchiefs so I don't have to use disposable napkins at all.
The interesting thing about all of these habits is that really none of them are mine. They're all ideas that were in fad at one point in time and so I just picked them up one-by-one (except maybe for the handkerchiefs). If I would have just started doing all of this one day, it's very doubtful that I'd be doing any of them today.
Tree Hugger's Hankie
I feel that Earth Week is a good way to raise awareness, but I'm not sure it's leading people to change. As soon as the week is over, the guilt is washed away and people are grabbing for that bottled water in the fridge again. I think Earth Week needs to continue to raise awareness, but that each year it should focus on one aspect of daily life and try to promote a new, environmentally friendly habit in that area.
With that, I propose that Earth Week 2011 be the week that the world starts using handkerchiefs again. I'm tired of seeing dudes stand there grabbing napkin after napkin because the dispenser is one of those smart ones that only give you one at a time.
Home Roasting Coffee
I originally guest wrote this piece for The Frugal Hostess.
Home Roasting Coffee
A few weeks ago, a friend in the office shared something really remarkable with me. He shared a cup of coffee, freshly brewed in his French press. I've been a coffee drinker all of my life, but I quit a year ago as part of a series of diet changes. I mistakenly thought my heavy caffeine intake was causing my energy crashes throughout the day. Come to find out, it was the excessive use of highly refined sugar.
Standard equipment for the bread machine / heat gun (BMHG) method.
My friend re-introduced me to coffee in a big way. It was the first time that I had coffee from a French press, although that alone didn't account for how amazing it tasted. That kind of flavor is only accomplished by high-quality, non-blended coffee beans that are roasted a few days before and ground that morning. My friend is a home coffee roaster.
A Lost Tradition
Buying your coffee roasted and ground is a relatively new trend that emerged in the 20th century. Until then, people often bought their beans green and roasted them at home since green beans store dry for months. Eventually, neighborhood roasters starting taking over the roasting chores for urbanites. It really wasn't until breakthroughs in packaging that people were later able to buy reasonably fresh coffee that was roasted, ground, and shipped to their local corner markets.
Even though the neighborhood roasters were being pushed out, coffee shops still survived. Then with the explosion of Starbucks, Americans were re-introduced to good[-ish] coffee. It wasn't the quality of their signature Arabica beans that won our hearths though. It was their mass marketing and fancy coffee drinks. Starbucks provides Americans with a wealth of flavor through different brewing techniques, added flavorings, and liberal use of sweeteners.
It's a real shame too, because all of these contrivances actually mask the wonderful flavors in good, fresh coffee. These are flavors that we simply aren't experiencing, because we're buying generic blends roasted months ago and packaged into bags with one-way valves to let CO2 out and prevent fresh air from oxidizing the coffee.
Thanks in large part to the Internet, the tradition of home roasting is being resurrected. It's incredibly easy, very fast, and more rewarding than you can imagine.
How Is it Done?
There are numerous home roasting appliances available, but they're all expensive and they're all slow. My friend uses a popcorn air-popper, and it works really well. Unfortunately, the newer designs have a simple metal screen at the bottom that allows the hot air to flow in to the cooking chamber. This does little to circulate the beans, and so you have to stir them too.
Air poppers are not the only device that can be multi-purposed to roast coffee. Alton Brown would be seriously proud of the Internet home roasting community. They use everything from pans on a stove-top to dog dishes. My research led me to the method that seems to be the most advantageous: the bread machine / heat gun method.
WARNING! Pretty much any re-purposed setup that rapidly roasts coffee is going to cause some smoke, lots of light and fluffy chaff, and some strong aromas. I should probably state that there's a fire hazard, so please be careful. It's not at all recommended that you do this inside. Maybe I better go on record by stating the following: I do not recommend that anyone try this at home at all. This is for illustration purposes only and represents what I do in the privacy of my own backyard...with a fire extinguisher.
My First Attempt...Poor Dogs
I already had a bread machine and heat gun at home, so I decided to order some beans. I use Sweet Maria's. They have a wonderful selection of delicious beans. They get their beans from responsible farms that they personally visit often to ensure that they meet their criteria. The site is also a great source for home roasting supplies and information. I highly recommend that you stop there next after reading [and commenting on] this.
My bread machine is actually a loaner from a friend. It's design has a large hole in the bottom, which doesn't work well for removing the pan and pouring the hot beans into the colander for cooling. I poured my green beans in, readied my heat gun, and turned the bread machine on the dough cycle as you don't actually want the bread machine's heating element going.
The bread machine happily stirred the beans as I aimed the heat gun down into the pan. The beans started to heat up, but then the little mixing arm on the bread machine started to slide off the top. It seems the resistance of the beans was not enough to keep the arm from being pushed off. I thought I was going to lose my first batch of beans. Then I remembered the dog bowl technique.
I quickly cleaned out my dogs' ceramic water bowl, transferred the beans, and started stirring them by hand. Amazingly, it turned out really well. The bowl got incredibly hot, and I actually broke it when I dropped it a mere two inches into the sink later. But all in all, it wasn't bad.
Headed to Goodwill
I decided to get the bread machine of my dreams for the next batch. I headed to Goodwill and bough their top-of-the-line model for $9.00. The pan has an enclosed bottom, and a larger stirring rod that won't slide off easily. Besides, I could even mount it permanently if I wanted too since it wasn't a loaner.
I didn't like the way that the dough cycle pulsed the stirring arm, so I took it apart and hard-wired the AC motor to a switch. This wasn't necessary, but the geek in me just had to do it. This new setup is absolutely perfect. I can roast a pound of green beans in one 20 minute session and that lasts me two weeks.
The Basic Procedure
I won't go into too much depth, as Sweet Maria's has much better information. I shot a little video just to give a basic illustration (show below), but I also found a nice instructional video from someone else that you may want to watch.
Heating the beans with a hot air source, is a terrific way to get heat into the beans quickly...sometimes too quickly. So I start my beans off with my heat gun on high (1000 degrees), then when they hit about 350 degrees, I slow it down by dropping my heat down to 800 degrees. The beans will begin changing color and then start their first crack. Coffee beans crack just like popcorn, except they do it twice.
Once the first crack finishes, I drop the heat gun down to 700 degrees. The transition from 1st to second crack can be quick, and so you don't want to overshoot your degree of roast. There are a variety of stopping points, and Sweet Maria's goes into exquisite details. They also give you recommended ranges for each of their bean varieties too. I personally like a "Full City" roast, and so I stop roasting about 10-15 seconds into my second crack.
The second crack is quieter than the first crack, and the individual cracks are more rapid. For this reason, I try to make that I build up to the second crack slowly since my bread machine and heat gun make a lot of noise. Once my beans are done, I turn my heat gun's heater off but leave the blower on. Then I remove the bread machine pan with oven mitts and poor them into my metal colander. I then put the colander on top of running fan and shake them about. The quick cooling is important, because the beans will continue to roast after you remove the heat gun.
Once the beans are cooled, they can be stored in a glass or ceramic jar with a loose lid. The will continue to release CO2 for a few hours, so you don't want to seal them in. You can brew with them in a few hours, but I usually wait overnight. I only grind what I need for each pot of coffee to help preserve the freshness. Green beans can be stored for months, roasted beans can go one to two weeks, but ground coffee has to be used immediately.
Wrap Up
I personally think the bread machine / heat gun is the best method for its speed, volume, evenness of roast, and precise control of roast profile. You really don't need a thermometer, but I am red-green color deficient, and so can't detect color changes really well. You can also go by sound alone for most degrees of roast, but I like having the extra information.
You're going to be amazed at how good freshly roasted coffee is. You may not ever buy a fancy coffee drink again. It's certainly cheaper. Most of the beans that I buy are under $6.00 per pound. Add in the cost of my primo $9.00 bread machine and new dog dish, and I'm still ahead.
First 500 Miles on the Enertia
500 miles on the odometer
I hit a milestone this morning of 500 miles on my Enertia. At this point I consider the batteries to be sufficiently conditioned and working optimally...not that I have any data to back it up. I did do some mileage calculations today. I charged up at work earlier, so it was full before I left on my 31.0 mile trip home (I had to run an errand). Once I got home, I plugged it up to charge, except I plugged it into a Kill A Watt instead of plugging it directly into a socket. These things are so cheap. I highly recommend getting one if you're ever curious about how much power you're using. You can use it as a meter to check voltage, frequency, and current. Most of the time, you'll just set it to measure kilowatt hours consumed over a period. In my case, I was measure how much it consumed while charging.
Today's mpkWh
31 miles / 3.63 kW h = 8.54 mpkWh
I think I can do better, because that trip was on roads that I'm not familiar with. I'm much more efficient on my typical commute. Maybe I'll try to calculate this again tomorrow, but on a normal commute. I smell a spreadsheet coming along sooner or later. For now, here are some calculations on my first 500 miles.
Money Not Spent on Diesel
500.1 miles / 14.5 mpg * $2.999 = $103.43
I'm averaging 14.5 mpg in my truck right now, and diesel has been at $2.999 lately.
Money (I've) Spent on Electricity
500.1 miles / 8.54 mpkWh * $102.5 pKWH1000 / 1000 / 2 = $3.00
I used my mpkWh calculation above and then used a figure for the average price of 1000 kW h in my area. I'm going to double check that against my actual statement. And then you'll notice the little extra division by two. Well that's because I charge at home, and at work equally during the work week. Since I run must of my weekend errands on the Enertia, this is inaccurate too.
My $avings
Now my goal with the Enertia has never been to save money, so this is quite surprising to me. In two weeks, I've saved $100. My next step it to find out the carbon that I've saved. It should be easy to find out what my truck's emissions are, but I'm much more unsure of how my electricity is generated. I know there's a nearby nuclear power plant, but since the grid is so expansive and connected, who knows where it's coming from. Maybe I'll call up the power company tomorrow.
Hmmm... so at this rate, my Enertia ($7200) will be paid off in 3 years. That's if my chain and tires hold up. Oh yeah and I've got to pay a yearly highway use tax, and a yearly inspection. And I had to pay to have it delivered. Then there was the Best Buy prep fee. Yeah, definitely going to need a spreadsheet. 
Geeks: Our Planet’s Saviors?
Nerds and geeks have come a long way since Weird Science. While the term "nerd" is still a bit derogatory, "geek" has taken on new meaning. After the .com boom, geeks all over Silicon Valley were vaulted into the millionaire club by the hundreds...(maybe thousands?). It seems that just overnight geeks were cool[-ish]. Of course, many of these Internet millionaires didn't survive the .com bust with enough of their fortunes intact to make it to the Web 2.0 boom. Those that did were likely smart enough to not lose it again in our Great Recession. Many of these veterans are still quite young and looking for projects with deeper meaning.
Green Twilight Careers
Several of these notable tech entrepreneurs are using the global environmental crisis as their call to action to do something significant and long lasting. Tech veterans like Craig Bramscher are reinvesting their .com fortunes [along with other investors] into passionate ventures like the the Brammo Enertia. Even long-time geek philanthropist Bill Gates is redirecting his efforts towards fighting carbon emissions.
Bill Gates
And they're not the only ones. Successful Baby Boomers who have retired early after great careers are now looking towards the new green economy for a twilight career, something a little more altruistic. Of course, you could argue that it's that same generation that led us to the brink...but who's pointing fingers. At least my Dad let me have that 1978 GMC 3/4 ton pickup with the 350 complete with a four barrel carburetor that moved the needle when I opened up all four barrels. Regardless, these are experienced professionals with the technical, managerial, and business skills to make a difference. It's not just their skills that they're bringing back to the industry, either. Green investing is on the rise and there are even several simple Green ETFs to get you in the game.
Geek-Friendly Administration
Perhaps the country's most powerful geek is President Obama. I voted for him because I thought he was the more intelligent and rational of the two. I trusted that he would listen to his advisers, understand them, and make smart decisions. Sure I researched his voting record, stance on issues, and his campaign platform. Who knows how much of that can you trust? The only thing I was a little concerned with was foreign policy, since that's hardly a rational game. Seems like he's doing all right. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev thinks he's a pleasure to work with.
US Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu
And when it comes to our nation's energy needs, he's doing exactly as I had hoped. Brilliantly, he appointed a serious geek as Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu, a man well poised to lead us in an energy revolution. Fossil Fuels have been at the forefront of the World's energy infrastructures and government policies since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuels powered our country's tremendous development, and now they are at the center of our very way of life. The cabinet position of Secretary of Energy has long been filled with lifetime politicians with backgrounds in law, finance, political science, and the military. The office has dealt with oil crises, the rise [and stagnation] of nuclear, and global warming, and yet this is the first time that we've appointed a scientist. Although, to call Dr. Chu a mere scientist is a bit of an understatement. He's a Ph.D. from Berkley. He's a physicist, professor, the former director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a Nobel Prize winner.
I want that to sink in a little bit. This man is likely smarter [by an order of magnitude] than anyone you've ever met...or will ever meet. It's not like he's a barely functional super-genius either. He was a director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory after all.
Energy Revolution, the Start-Up
America's administration and tech/financial talent are all rallying behind the environmental cause, and I find it very promising. During my tech career, I've worked for a few companies, worked with numerous other companies, and worked on many different teams throughout. I've seen the way defense contractors work, and I've seen the way start-ups operate. Of the two, the utility companies operate somewhere nearer to the defense industry on that spectrum. They operate enormous legacy systems where uptime is absolutely vital. Therefore they innovate at a ridiculously cautious pace. If it were up to these utility companies to bring about a revolution, we'd be doomed.
However, the new breed of green start-ups in Silicon Valley and Central Florida come from a very different background. They know the importance of uptime as well, but they use a mixture of today's most advanced software and hardware to solve today's problems. They've been operating like this for years, because the start-up game is fast and vicious. It's literally innovate now or shutter up your swanky new office. The utilities have been in operation for decades and aren't going anywhere any time soon.
Coulomb Technologies ChargePoint Charging Station
Coulomb Technologies is a perfect example of one such green start-up. As more and more EVs and plug-in hybrids make their way onto American streets, it's going to put a tremendous burden on our energy infrastructure. I'm not just talking about the increased power demand, but simply the demand for places to plug in away from home. We've been building up our supply of corner gas stations since the first ICE (internal combustion engine) cars made their ways onto our streets. We can't take that long to build up our network of charging stations. The answer getting these charging stations out quickly may be as simple as enhancing our many businesses and workplaces to accommodate charging instead of building massive banks of charging in special facilities. One thing that I'm learning on my Enertia, is that 45 minutes of charging can sometimes make the difference between getting home under my bike's power...or under my foot power. Hence the rise of opportunity charging.
Coulomb Technologies is enabling such a system by selling charging stations to businesses and allowing them to set their own rate to charge for usage. This way companies like my employer can put them in and open them up to anyone for free, for a charge, or even just to employees. The brilliance of their design is that these charging stations are [relatively] inexpensive / dumb clients with the logic for all of the access control and billing done on their servers.
The door lifts to reveal the outlet, a 120V level 1 in this case.
The keep these charging stations cheap, they have developed an ingenious design using rather inexpensive wireless technologies. The station can be activated with a phone call from your mobile, but more importantly they use an RFID reader to allow access if you have an RFID enabled credit cards or a key from Coulomb. I'm not certain, but I'm assuming that even employers might be able to give access with the employee's badges. Although, I'm not sure if they would want to share that information with Coulomb.
The stations are managed via a wireless modem (CDMA or GSM). To keep costs low, only one unit on a site needs a modem. The remainder of the units talk through the main unit over a low cost ZigBee link. The reliance on wireless technology makes the deployment of these units incredibly simple. There's not need to patch into a wired network or phone line, they simply need to be hooked up to the facility's power and their ready to go. The system is designed with some good physical security as well. A session is started via the RFID or phone call. Initiating the session opens the door giving the user access to the outlet. Once they plug in, the door is then allowed to shut and is locked again starting the session. It remains locked until the user unlocks it again with their credit card, key, or mobile call. This not only protects the user's cord from being stolen, but it also prevents someone else from charging on their bill.
Even if your Hybrid doesn't plug in, you can park at this McDonald's lot.
The web 2.0 aspect of their technology is their client / server architecture. It enables them to deliver great features, such as email or SMS notifications when your vehicle is done charging. This allows you to free up the station early if you want. Although chances are, you're just parking your vehicle there because it's the next best thing to a handicapped spot and you drive a non-plug-in Prius. Please resist this urge. Some poor smuck on an EV might desperately need access to that charger to make it those last few miles home.
I'm third in line here...but they aren't even charging!
OK, so I didn't really need this charge, and they actually had another charging station on the other side of the parking lot. I just thought it was hilarious that these to Prius drivers parked right there. And isn't it remarkable that all three of our vehicles are gray?
While the email / SMS notifications are nice, I wasn't really blow away. I was, however, floored by their Google Map mashup and their iPhone app. They provide users a way to find charging stations near them and to know important details about them such as public accessibility, type of station (1 or 2) and whether or not they're in use. I speculate that they might also having billing rates in the future. Features like this are exactly the kinds of ideas that start-ups come up with and that a power utility might never.
Google Maps Mashup. There's an iPhone app too.
Personal Observations on the Enertia’s Design
The Brammo Enertia is a motorcycle of striking design. So much so, that I really didn't like it when it first starting making appearances on the Internet. It has some wonderful design influences, but for some reason, I just didn't appreciate them in a modern motorcycle form. For one, it was really tall. I was more accustomed to sportbikes with a low, sleek look and clip-on handlebars.
The Enertia's tall posture.
Some months later, I picked up a 1996 Ducati Monster. The monster is so wide and low in the rear, that I never realized that it's actually pretty tall in the front too.
Ducati Monster from Motorcyclist Magazine.
Retro-Anime?
Immediately, the Enertia struck me as having a retro design. At first, the wide, low-rise, low-swept handlebars reminded me of a flat track bike. Looking a little deeper though, I thought it picked up more subtle design cues from old board track racers: narrow chassis, nearly same-sized front and rear wheels, small tank, footpegs resembling pedals. Heck, the thing could have rocked spoked wheels if they weren't so heavy.
Indian Board Track Racer.
Harley XR-750 Flat Track Racer.
The profile didn't fit, though. From the side, the Enertia looks much larger with its tank and lower bodywork forming a full, round shape bisected by the twin-spar frame. Then there's the modern chopped tail with its plate holder extending way back like a Japanese sportbike. Perhaps I've just been playing too much Final Fantasy XIII and watching too much anime, but the Enertia started to look very Japanese too me. I don't mean contemporary Japanese, I mean fantasy Japanese. In a weird way, the Enertia sort of resembles the following concept from Suzuki with their massive, oversized front ends and tiny, chopped tails.
Suzuki's Anime insprired Biplane Concept
The Enertia's profile is rather large compared to it's svelte figure.
Definitely Freeride MTB Inspired
I was obviously struggling to find out what it is about the Enertia's style that was captivating me. There was something very familiar and sexy about it. I was obviously getting desperate to explain it, so I kind of gave up on the idea and just rode the damned thing.
After riding it for a few days, I really started getting comfortable with its riding position, light handling, and wide bars. One day, I was headed into a low speed corner that was filled with gravel, so I couldn't lean the bike in the typical sportbike-style. In a very natural move, I stuck my foot out instead. It wasn't quite supermoto style though, as I didn't have the bike leaned way under me. No, it actually felt more like downhill mountain biking. I thought to myself, "Wow, this thing is as much fun as mountain biking."
That night I was editing some photos that I took while uncrating the Enertia. I realized that I had my freeride mountain bike leaning against the frame of the garage door in one of them...and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The Enertia is built just like a freeride bike, with its forward cage footpegs, low seat, high/steep-ish frontend, and wide bars.
My Transition Preston FR MTB.
Looks a lot like a Freeride MTB to me.
So maybe I was full of it with regards to my board-tracking, anime machine theory, but I think I'm right on with the freeride MTB idea. The similarities are startling.
- Cage pedals
- Beefy front end
- Coil-over shock with piggy-back resevoir
- Ultra-wide, low-rise, low-sweep handlebars
- Short, stubby stem with raked dropouts on the forks
- Single front disc brake on the left side
- Large round motor cover that looks like a bicycle chainring guard
About the only difference is that he seat on my FR bike is high in that photo...whereas normally it's slammed. Otherwise these bikes are IDENTICAL! Even the angle of the downtube on the FR bike is strikingly similar to the twin-spar frame on the Enertia.
Maybe I'm just seeing the things that I love in the design of the Enertia, but please first consider this. The guys at Brammo live in Oregon, a land of great mountain biking. Oregon's next door to Washington, which is the home of the Transition Bicycle Company who the Preston FR bike show above. The designer at Brammo lists mountain biking as one of his hobbies on ElMoto.net. And the lead engineer is a downhill mountain bike racer. These guys know their motorcycles and their mountain bikes.
Non-Slip Beer Seat
And that's not all. I conjecture that they also appreciate their microbrews as illustrated by this incredibly subtle feature that I found on the Enertia. It has a cleverly disguised, non-slip six pack seat. You can't deny me this one. That little extension on the front of the seat is the perfect place to rest a six pack without having to keep a hand on it. Although it's not like your left hand is doing much on an Enertia without a clutch to operate.
Food Beer for thought...
Enertia: Initial Thoughts
I took delivery of my Brammo Enertia on Tuesday afternoon. After un-crating it and capturing the moment through a few pics, I got my paperwork together and ran over to the DMV. I got there just in time, as they literally shut the door behind me. I was prepared for a long and difficult process, but to my surprise it was rather painless. I had all of my work already filled out, so the clerk basically just typed in a few things in the computer and asked for my check. It went a little too fast, and up until that point I had not breathed a word about it being electric. Right as she was wrapping up the computer entry, I told her that I left the GAS/DIESEL field blank since it's electric and I wasn't sure how to cover that.
I'm not sure if it was such a good idea, but I purposely sprung the whole EV thing on her at the last minute, in the hopes that it would get rushed through since we already took care of everything else. Well, I have no idea what I was so worried about, because she promptly thanked me for catching that and went in and changed the a code in the computer from GAS to ELECTRIC. It seems that the DMV was already prepared for EVs. I probably could have just skipped the EV part, but I know if it was titled incorrectly that I would pay for it down the road, perhaps during the required annual "safety" inspections.
Quick Evening Ride
I finished up at the DMV so quickly that I was able to head home and enjoy a maiden voyage with plenty of daylight to spare. My goal was to get to task on conditioning (leveling) the batteries by running it down well past 50% state of charge (SOC) and then fully charging it overnight. The Enertia's battery management system (BMS) charges up to a displayed 99% SOC, then it goes into a slow charge state that is (to my best understanding) leveling each individual pack to ensure that they also discharge smoothly and evenly across all packs. We wouldn't want one pack discharging early and ruining it for the others.
Wow, what a blast. This was my first experience with an EV, save for driving a golf cart around the campus of a former employer. I couldn't get over how much more connected you feel with your surroundings. It's almost as pleasant as riding a bike on some remote mountain trail. At traffic lights, you can hear birds chirping, leaves blowing, even butterflies flapping their wings. Yes, I'm exaggerating a bit, but still, it was quite remarkable.
Then the motor cooling fan kicked in. That puppy is loud. You don't hear it over the wind and motor noise while you're moving along, but you definitely know it's running when you're stopped. To be fair, it's not really any louder than a sportbike's fans, but they never come on unless you're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in August...in Miami.
Later in the ride, I decided to take it on a 65 mph Interstate for an exit or two. I found it will go 63 mph - 67 mph with my 150 lbs. depending on the grade, but not for long. Riding at those speeds very quickly depletes the batter, and moreover, it generates a lot of heat. Brammo has built a lot of failsafes into the Enertia and if your motor generates too much heat, it will go into a "Thermal Cutback" mode that limits some acceleration until it cools. This is by no means a "limp-mode", but it does cut back just a little. The threat to the motor is that the magnets can become permanently demagnetized under extreme heat, which as you can imagine would turn the motor into a really heavy doorstop...with a loud fan.
I was forced off of the Interstate at an unfamiliar exit. I was so caught up in the moment during the ride, that I nearly got lost taking some weird back roads. Normally I revel in opportunities to take explore, but in this case my range anxiety was forcing me to find a quick and direct way back home. Luckily I did, and with some really thrifty throttle work, I managed to get back home with 2% SOC to spare. The difference in energy consumption is really remarkable between pinning the throttle on the Interstate and cruising around town at 45 mph - 50 mph. With some good coasting and preservation of momentum, you can really extend your range. The great thing is, these "hyper-miling" techniques are almost always universally applicable to your internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle driving as well.
Charging
Charging was really easy to figure out, perhaps because I read so much about it. Brammo has also revised their manual to make it more clear. In a nutshell,
- make sure the drive kill switch is off
- put the kick stand down
- crank the bars all the way to the left (locked) position,
- put the ignition in P/Charge postion
- with RFID-equiped key still in the ignition press and hold tank power button
- pull the key out to open seat
- unravel cord
- plug in to BMS and the other end into the wall
- lock seat back down
- walk away with a smug look on your face
On second thought, that's slightly complicated, but it makes perfect sense from an engineering standpoint.
I headed back out to the garage later to check on it (like a dozen times), and I could hear the whirring of another set of fans through the closed garage door. I think this new set of fans cool the batteries and maybe the BMS while charging. They're not too loud, especially compared to the motor fan. And if it's in your garage, then you won't care. However, I've got permission to park / charge my Enertia inside my office building in the shipping / receiving area while at work. Our head facilities guy is an electric motor industry veteran, and so he's very enthusiastic about the Enertia. Well, his office it right next to my charging Enertia with its fans blowing away. I hope it doesn't dampen his enthusiasm too much, as it's nice keeping your motorcycle inside of the building.
Update: I spoke with him this morning, and he said it doesn't bother him in the least. He's worked around loud equipment all of his life and my Enertia is but mild background noise. Now a roomful of kids next door might drive him up the wall.
Few Days Commuting
After charging up the Enertia overnight, I was ready to roll into work on Wednesday. I was so excited, that I was 2/3 of the way to work before I realized that it was 55 degrees out and I was wearing Summer riding gear. Here's a video of a mildly scenic portion of the commute that illustrates the typical sounds while riding, as well as me struggling to figure out how to get the thing around corners quickest.
By the way, I'm not taking up two lanes. My camera was mounted to the left bar end plug. It was kind of hard to mount it in the center, because of the instrument cluster.
My round trip mileage for my commute is just under the expected range. I'm not getting that yet, but my range is getting better every day. Since I have to charge at work right and at home now, I've been a bit of a hooligan on the throttle in order to deplete the batteries well below 50% SOC on each leg of the commute. It's important to give the BMS as much time as possible to level the batteries during the initial conditioning period, so I make sure to leave it on all day at work, and then all night at home. It's definitely paying off. YesterdayI was running late on the way home, and consequently I broke a few laws. I still ended up only consuming 60%, so in a few more days I'm going to be able to ride casually and easily stay under 50% consumption for each leg of the trip. But as Brian Wismann of Brammo explained to me, it's actually not going to extend the battery life too much by avoiding excess charging cycles...and the range-anxiety that it produces can be unnerving. I think in the future, drivers of EVs will be plugging them in whenever they're parked.
Thoughts on Handling
Over the course of the past few days, I've really been getting to know the handling of the Enertia. I've spent most of my street riding on sportbikes, adventure touring bikes, and race bikes. A few have been liter bikes, my current are 650s, and all have been V-Twins. Even my diminutive SV 650 racebike feels like a pig compared to the Enertia. The Enertia's wide handlebars, narrow chassis, and light weight make it feel very flickable. When you add to that the low unsprung mass, limited rotational inertia of the motor, and riding position, it makes for a ride that feels a lot like a downhill mountain bike at times. Some big-bike guys might find this a little too emasculating for them, but I think it's a blast (and not in a Buell Blast sort of way). Heck, I'm thinking of getting a 125cc race bike for the track now. The only gripe that I've got about the handling, is the relatively high center of gravity. It definitely wants to fall over in corners until you grow a pair and start railing through there. And forget about hanging off...the bike is so light, if you get only one cheek off the bike is practically straight up and down in the corners. The bike is actually closer to a low-travel motard bike. I'm very tempted to start sticking a foot out around corners, but I'm afraid I'd look like too big of a douche. Maybe I'll practice in the parking lot at work first.
The suspension is butter-smooth, and I'd say a bit overkill as far as performance goes. The Elka shock is certainly no Penske or Ohlins, but it's quite the performer in this package. I'm not sure how the forks are sprung / valved, but they're thankfully inverted with huge, sportbike-sized uppers. The forks look rad, and work well. My only complaint about them is that they make their rake at the dropouts instead of at the clamps. This means that the steering range is dramatically reduced. This absolutely sucks, because the bike is light and maneuverable enough to practically do circles inside of a handicapped parking spot. But don't try it; I've had my one moment of steering lockout mid-turn...the kind that freaks you and sends your foot stabbing at the ground in fear of dropping it. Dropping the bike might not be that big of a problem, since the bike is so narrow, and the bars are so wide. I'm guessing that nothing would hit except for the bar end plugs...which are really nice by the way.
More to Come
I've been thinking a lot about the design and style of the Enertia. I might put together a post on the topic. I'll try to get some artsy photos too. I'm sure I'll get around to a more detailed review as well. Heck, maybe I'll even try to get it on the track. Though I might have to run during lunch with the ladies and two-up riders.