Last December, I developed an interest in Vancouver’s hidden music makers—the builders of musical instruments. I wrote a double-barrelled story about natural fibre horn maker, David Gowman, and harpsichord maker, Craig Tomlinson. Now, let me tell you about the Furnaphone, and why “anything’s a potential instrument.”
Drummer Dan keeps his carbon footprint small getting to his next gig.
With Bike to Work Week, Velopoloosa, and the In the House Festival all converging this weekend, the stage is set to highlight another fascinating musical instrument maker, Daniel Lunn.
Daniel is making a name for himself as a drummer (and guitarist) around town, but for someone who plays an instrument that is legendary for its lack of portability, it’s his mode of transportation that caught my attention—by bicycle.
Webtech Wireless’ Quadrant helps reduce theft, and aids in the recovery of stolen vehicles. In Mexico City, where automobile theft rates exceed 30%, GNP previously faced huge payouts due to rising vehicle theft, and urgently needed a solution.
Webtech Wireless announces the launch of its new corporate identity, unveiled last week to employees worldwide, and being rolled-out across all of the Company’s operations over the coming months. The new identity will be applied to all marketing and communications materials, including the launch of a new website slated for early next month.
On March 11, 2011, the tragic 9.1 Mw Sendai earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan, again demonstrated Quadrant’s usefulness in times of crises. As Pacific Rim nations raced to secure their coastlines before the tsunami hit, Kelvin was able to use Quadrant GPS to allocate trucks and drivers, and to prepare to assist with evacuations and clean up on the Big Island.
Within the first two years of deploying the Quadrant solution (2008-2009), HELCO realized a fuel savings of over 22,000 gallons (US). In 2010, HELCO saved an additional 18,000 gallons. Kelvin Kohatsu, HELCO Fleet Administrator, credits the impressive reduction and subsequent cost savings for their decision to renew the contract and attributes lower fuel costs to a combination of “GPS technology, driver training (operator knowledge), more fuel efficient vehicles, and improved dispatch management.”
Quadrant customer, MTS Sales & Service, has reported “a tangible reduction in the cost of fleet management costs of 69%.” This figure is based on the difference in the cost of their old fleet management solution and savings in vehicle usage using Webtech Wireless’ Quadrant. Gino Venditti, VP of Operations, says that in addition to the superior quality of service and reliability (at the above-mentioned reduction in cost), it is now possible to manage routes, forecast fuel usage, and monitor assets with real-time notifications of unauthorized vehicle use.
Hino Trucks hails its newest solution designed—in partnership with WebTech Wireless—to advance GPS telematics’ fleet-management capabilities in their trucks. The new offering, HINO INSIGHT, enables fleet managers to gain daily snapshots of their fleets’ critical diagnostics status and performance against established targets. One of the unique elements to Hino INSIGHT is the “Dashboard” main page of the 
