Verizon at Home

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It’s summer and many U.S.cities are sweltering in record-high heat.  This can mean increased danger for tragic deaths of children who are sometimes accidentally left in the back seat by distracted parents. 

Matt Richtel of The New York Times writes this week about Department of Transportation hearings that will address how technology could come to the rescue and save children’s lives.  In an era when cars can park themselves, alert drivers who drift off to sleep and practically wash your dishes at the same time, it only makes sense that technology could be used to alert a driver who has left a child behind in the car.  Of course, aware and educated drivers are also a huge part of the solution, and the DOT will be looking at those issues as well.  Would you make use of this kind of technology?

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Another issue raised by the soaring heat is energy conservation.  Down here in Texas, energy retailer CenterPoint Energy and the Department of Energy have announced the results of a test they’ve conducted in 500 Houston-area homes.  The residents were provided with a battery-powered smart meter that can sit on a table.  The meter tracks real-time power use and is meant to raise awareness of home energy usage and, thereby prompt energy conservation.  This was interesting to me, since I’ve been excited about Verizon’s upcoming rollout of our own Home Monitoring and Control service.  Read this story to find out if Houstonites modified their behavior based simply on becoming more aware of their energy consumption.

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There are many mundane, non-automated devices that could probably be improved by technology – but I’ve never thought of the toilet as one of them.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has its sights set on improving the old “porcelain throne.”  Why?  Because the sanitation benefits of flush toilets have yet to be extended to two-thirds of the planet, due to the expense involved in connecting toilets to water and sewage systems in underdeveloped nations.  This means that 1.5 million children die yearly from diarrheal diseases related to lack of sanitary bathroom facilities.  The Foundation has given out eight grants to universities who are creatively thinking about how to reinvent the toilet so it can be more easily installed in more places, and so it can also actually sanitize waste products.  Yes, I know the topic is not terribly appetizing, but this CNN story is an interesting take on how thinking outside the box about something so ordinary can lead to extraordinary life-saving benefits.

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 Have a great weekend, everyone, and stay cool!