Valta: energy usage simplified – #kickstarter

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/671204280/valta-energy-usage-simplified

New Kickstarter project combines smartphone

and wireless technology to end energy waste

Toronto June 23, 2013 – Smartphone users will soon be able to control and monitor any electronic appliance in their home or office with the touch of a button, if a Toronto-based start-up has their way.

The valta system, as it’s called, launched this week on Kickstarter. It is a ‘smart’ outlet, phone app, and power system that creates an RF network and allows users to control and monitor devices in the home and office.

The valta system is designed to do things that other so-called ‘smart’ systems cannot do, say company representatives.

Standby power detection: Valta is the only product on the market place that can detect unused devices in standby mode, which enables us to send push message to your mobile device to remind you to turn it off. By doing this, valta aims to change user behavior to adopt a more sustainable usage pattern for the long term.

Geofencing: Valta’s app has the capability to detect whether you are at home or away automatically through your smartphone. A valta user can set the app to turn off devices when away from home, and turn back on upon arrival home. The system is designed to avoid “Ooops, I forgot” moments while at the same time saving energy.

Extremely low power usage: By leveraging 915 MHz RF, valta sockets use less energy than any of its competitors (0.6 watts). Most energy management solution uses Wi-Fi, which consumes more energy, and in many cases, more energy than the standby power consumption of the devices they are monitoring. Why should anyone use a power-saving system that might use more power itself?

Better connectivity: Most people use Wi Fi for their Internet connectivity, so interference is a given. By leveraging 915 MHz RF, valta gets better range and less interference than Wi Fi or other solutions. Valta sockets have a minimum range of 100 meters, while Wi-Fi modules typically have a range of 50 meters.

Sleek Design: Most similar products in the market place are clunky and impractical. Sockets are large and cover up the entire wall plug, which takes away from practicality of the product. Valta sockets are sleek and minimalistic and designed to look good in the home or office. Plugging one in does not interfere with the customers from using the other plug for other purposes.

For more information on the kickstarter launch visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/671204280/valta-energy-usage-simplified?ref=live

About Valta:

Valta was started to bring transparency to electricity usage. The company founders wanted the masses to understand how energy is being used and wasted, and what we can do about it. Most energy management systems only allow you to turn on-and-off electrical devices remotely. The ones with energy measurements to help you manage usage are too technical and require insider knowledge and background to navigate. Some of this can be quite difficult to understand. The goal at Valta is to make energy management easy to understand by creating an elegant, yet simple to use system that can truly help people manage their energy usage without sacrificing their life style. Valta believes being energy efficient no longer just means turning down the thermostat, or turning off the light when you leave the room, it means eliminating energy waste. Valta provides a tool to use energy without wasting it, and help users to adopt more sustainable usage patterns.

Press Kit:

Here are our product videos posted on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__EuXVfpSKg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_ot-8XFJkY

Here are our product videos posted on vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/69059874

For product pictures, we have posted on behance at the following link for ease of download: http://www.behance.net/gallery/valta-remote-energy-management-system/9488837

Media Contacts

Toronto:

Jeff Lin

416-689-8288

Jeff.Lin@valta.com

Denver:

Tom Boyd

Flat Earth Media

970.331.3715

tom@tlrboyd.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/671204280/valta-energy-usage-simplified

Slender Man: Plush Toy – Kickstarter

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1336904045/slender-man-plush-toy

Slender Man is a 32″ plush created with the finest fabrics and materials. He is soft, yet durable toy.

Slender Man is a soft plush doll created with the finest fabrics and materials. He is soft, yet durable toy.

My two oldest girls came up with the idea for the Slender Man doll. I was working on another series of monster figure drawings when my girls ran into the studio proclaiming, “We need to make a huge, soft, creepy, Slender Man doll!” The idea was born. The three of us worked up a three foot sketch together to figure out just how tall and skinny he should be. Only four weeks later they were able to hold the finished doll in their tiny hands.

My youngest daughter adores him, (pictured below) referring to him as “my quiet friend who does not speak.”

Nevermore’s 32″ Slender Man toy is being produced with the permission of Victor Surge; the originator and man responsible for the initial photographs and writing behind Slender Man.

PRINT #1 “Come to Me”

Artist: Santiago Germano

PRINT #2“Search Party”

Artist: Denae Wilkowski

Detail of “Search Party.”

PRINT #3 “I’ve got your dolly”

Artist: Brenden Wilson

There are a limited number of 11 x 14″ Slender Man illustrations being offered with the doll as well as individually. Each print is limited to 30 and will be signed and numbered by the artist.

Slender Man (a.k.a Slenderman) is a mythical creature often depicted as a tall, thin figure wearing a black suit and a blank face. According to the legend, he can stretch or shorten his arms at will and has tentacle-like appendages protruding from his back. Depending on the interpretations of the myth, the creature may cause memory loss, insomnia, paranoia, coughing fits (nicknamed “slendersickness”), photograph/video distortions and can teleport at will.

On June 8th, 2009, a “’paranormal pictures” photoshop contest was launched on the Something Awful (SA) Forums.[1] The contest required participants to turn ordinary photographs into creepy-looking images through digital manipulation and then pass them on as authentic photographs on a number of paranormal forums. Something Awful users soon began sharing their faux-paranormal creations with layered images of ghosts and other anomalies, usually accompanied by a fabricated witness account to make them more convincing. On June 10th, SA user Victor Surge posted two black and white photographs of unnamed children with a short description of “Slender Man” as a mysterious creature who stalked children.

“We didn’t want to go, we didn’t want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time…” – 1983, photographer unknown, presumed dead.

One of two recovered photographs from the Stirling City Library blaze. Notable for being taken the day which fourteen children vanished and for what is referred to as “The Slender Man”. Deformities cited as film defects by officials. Fire at library occurred one week later. Actual photograph confiscated as evidence. – 1986, photographer: Mary Thomas, missing since June 13th, 1986.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1336904045/slender-man-plush-toy

Super Zero- a film that celebrates the average, the eccentric, and the powerless. #Kickstarter

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/811236299/super-zero-0

A geeky, shy and terminally ill teen rises from utter insignificance to become a Zombie Assassin and mankind’s last hope for survival.

The film follows 19-year-old engineering prodigy Josh Hershberg, an overweight, introverted and terminally ill gamer kid who has given up hope that he matters to the world. As Josh contemplates what future, if any, is worth looking forward to, a zombie apocalypse breaks out and quickly ravages the planet.

Josh suffers from a rare form of brain cancer. For some reason, this tricks the zombies into sensing he’s already dead and they simply ignore him. As the world crumbles around him, Josh takes advantage of his condition. He utilizes his engineering expertise to craft ridiculously powerful weapons to obliterate the undead and save the rest of humanity.

Think of Josh as a cross between Leonardo da Vinci and ‘Lardass’ from Stand By Me.

Unlike most films, Josh isn’t asked to change who he is. He’s the same shy, geek-culture lover he’s always been. He’s just like so many of us; a good person who tries hard, but has never been given the platform to succeed. But, since the world is flipped upside down, he now possesses ‘God Mode’ and is the most powerful human being on the planet!

THE APOCALYPSE:As a result of unprecedented events, the world’s water supply is vanishing. Luckily, the Mars rover has discovered a massive untapped reservoir under the Red Planet’s surface.

A sample of that liquid is on its way back home to be studied when the rocket carrying the payload crashes while re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Society quickly learns this water is not our salvation, but instead carries a horrific microbe that infects the population.