IRONY ALERT - The latest cycling innovation - power assist!

The purr of electronic gears sounds great - if you can get past the price

I am presuming (tried and failed to check via the site, which has to be one of the most indulgent, useless, time-consuming examples I have seen in a while) that these little servos use 'leccy, which is kind of quaint, above the weight, all things considered.

However, as one who can rarely access the highest a lowest gears thanks to poor spanner-technique, and has spent more than his fair time trying to get chain oil off his hands in one's posh frock at a Central London kerbside for much the same reason, I am intrigued as to whether the changing mechanism is different, and better, and if so why a human-powered/instigated version might not be created.

Money and image issues noted.

Gadget Inspector

Here's one that caught my eye:

Green gadgets can do more harm than good

This young lady seems a tad more than the usual 'punt out a press release and call it reporting', so I wonder if I might get an answer* to my questions.

Failing which, I wonder how I might get to be paid for writing such stories and/or get funded to go find out.

I'm still trying to verify what the engineer told me the last visit to fix my washing machine, namely that all these cold temperature washes are not that great at keeping the seals and pipes clean and are causing premature failures through build-ups of deposits hotter washes could keep clear.

Any links to the truth of this, and if so what the gain in eco from lower temps might be vs. the losses of having to fix or buy a new one?

I really despair the lack of balanced science and engineering reporting in the 'green arena', such that a device or initiative can be assessed not just for its 'hue & cred' but actual enviROI.

I can sort of accept an eco-option that might 'cost' more in £ terms; that's a clear choice.

But one that also makes things 'worse' seems a bad deal all round.

*Addendum:

Well, kudos to her. She saw a question and came back. Not a definitive answer, but it seems
I am on a worthwhile track, which kinda puts me at odds with every gov. & commercial marketing department in the land, all of whom have boxes to tick rather than enviROi's to ponder. She might be misguided on the hotter meaning whiter, mind, as it is my understanding that the water temp should not matter. Experience here does rather differ, mind.

To 'er'...divine. Well, better than nothing.

CES 2009: Greenpeace says gadgets could be greener