A company called Digital Lumens has introduced product that networks LED lights together to form an “intelligent” lighting system. The system can turn on lights if people are present in a room, and adjust brightness levels over the course of a day. Overall, the system can cut lighting costs by 90% for commercial sites like warehouses. A real world example is the installation at Interstate Warehousing, which reports that they are now savings of more than $30,000 per year to operate the new section of the warehouse, and around 771,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) have been reduced annually. Each light engine in a Digital Lumens system contains three independently LED light bars, onboard controls, occupancy sensor, and a wireless antenna.

The system also collects performance data – how much energy each luminaire has used, run time hours, occupancy rates – and shares that in web-based reports on energy use.

Before and After The Installation Of Digital Lumens LEDs

The Highbay version produces spotlight effects for storage racks. The Midbay version produces dispersed light for open environments and is available in two color temperatures. Both versions are intended to replace 400W HID, HPS, and T5 or T8 fluorescent lighting.

Currently, the Digital Lumens system is aimed at commercial sites only. The company claims the system will realize cost savings within as little as two years.

Link: Digital Lumens

Hotspots are places with publically accessible wireless internet access. Depending on where you are in the U.S., finding a free Hotspot can be tricky. Here is a overview of what’s available:

Panera Bread Company offers free Wi-Fi in about 500 of its stores nationwide. Here is a complete list of Wi-Fi enabled Paneras, you can also search for a ZIP code or City.

Other cafes that have free Wi-Fi are Schlotzsky’s, The Atlanta Bread Company, Krystal Restaurants and Port City Java. Other cafes have free hotspots too, the best directory of these can be found at the Wi-Fi-FreeSpot™ Directory, where they are listed by state.

Many public libraries have free hotspots, the Wireless Librarian web has a list of these, however, the list is not comprehensive, and the Wi-Fi-FreeSpot™ Directory might be more useful for finding libraries.

Many hotels offer free Wi-Fi to guests, but few allow the public to connect for free. We did a survey of hotels in our area, and found that only Holiday Inn offers free access to non-guests. Here is a list of Holiday Inns, state-by-state. Two sites that list Wi-Fi Hotels are Geektools and Deals on Hotels.

Many airports are now hotspots. Some offer access in the entire airport while others may only have access in particular terminals or waiting areas. Also, many airline club lounges may have their own free access available. Here is a list of airport hotspots.

Where else can you find free hotspots? Apple Retail Stores are found in many locations. Some cities and neighbourhood groups have set up free hotspots in select locations, for example the National Mall in DC is Wi-Fi enabled. Some college campuses have networks that are publically accessible.

Camp Wireless lists campgrounds that are hotspots — these sites are generally only free to guests.

A new WIFI dectector has been released that not only spots Wi-Fi networks and details their signal strength, but reveals the name of each available network.

The Digital Hotspotter from Canary Wireless is also the first detector to reveal the most important piece of information of all: whether a network is encrypted. It is priced at $50.

Available from: Canary Wireless (currently on backorder until Jan 10, 2005)