Oakland, California

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I believe this is the apartment building we lived in when my ship, the USS Peregrine, was in overhaul in the Bethlehem Shipyards in San Francisco, California.

421 Simonton Street, Key West, Florida

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We used to live upstairs over this store when I was in the Navy. The entrance was in the center where the indented doors are. You walked through a courtyard and then up some stairs. No air conditioning. Jalousie windows. This was when I was on the USS Peregrine. I am now reading the Alex Rutledge series of detective stories written by Tom Corcoran that take place in Key West. It is fun to read about all the places I used to know and visit.

123 Broad Street

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This was my home when I was growing up. I lived here until I finished college and joined the Navy.

115 North Salem

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My grandfather's house in Sumter, South Carolina. My dad and his 8 brothers and sisters grew up here. We all gathered every Sunday at my grandfather, Popoo's, house. I have many fond memories of being there with a multitude of cousins and all my aunts and uncles talking at the same time,

The Complete Kaisei Voyage Blog

Project Kaisei Cruise Blog by Karen Hawes

Day 28 S/V Kaisei: The Voyage Ends/The Journey Begins

Project-Kaisei - Sailing Vessel Kaisei

What does a blog about sailing vessels, what people do with trash, and an airplane nicknamed "Rivet Ball" have in common? As always truth is stranger than fiction and as is often the case these days Facebook plays a role. My cousin, Robert L. Brown, a retired teacher, active historian, and former Air Force Officer was at one time a crew dog on a plane flying out of a small island in Alaska, an island called Shemya. "Rivet Ball" flew out of the single runway on Shemya and along the Russian coastline capturing electronic intelligence and evidence of Soviet ICBM launches. The weather was terrible and landings were always a challenge. On one of those landings in bad weather "Rivet Ball" encountered slush and ice on the runway preventing the braking needed to stop. "Rivet Ball" slid off the end of the runway and ended up a twisted and broken bird but her crew escaped with minor injuries. King Hawes and my cousin were fellow crew dogs on the broken plane and have remained friends ever since. Recently I encountered King on Facebook and knowing the connection to my cousin we became Facebook friends. It was then that I learned that he has some very talented daughters, the youngest, Karen is maintaining a the blog Open Waters where she is documenting her experiences on the sailing brig Kaisei. The excerpt below is from her blog.

Kaisei Meets New Horizon

Just a quick update, because internet access is a little iffy out at sea. . . I’m traveling west and north, on the brigantine Kaisei – a tall-mast ship with Ocean Voyages Institute. We’re over 1,000 miles from nearest land, taking a short swim break in the deep waters. The crew of 25 are enjoying a much-needed break from the long days and short nights – or long nights and short days (depending on what shift you’re working)!

I’m onboard as the medic, engineer, and computer geek/website assistant to the blog for Project Kaisei – Sailing Vessel Kaisei. There’s a second ship, the New Horizon, which is also working with OVI on Project Kaisei.

Obviously, I’m also onboard for my exploration of trash, for Trash Trip. The fact that I’m out at sea, searching for the plastic vortex of trash, is a dream come true! I have known about the gyre but never imagined it possible to reach. We have seen plenty of bits and pieces of trash along the way but we have yet to encounter the elusive island of floating trash. The gyre is a big place and we’re a small vessel. If and when we do encounter it I can only imagine how that will feel!

Find pictures and updates about our ship at the blog for The Kaisei and I will post my own updates when I can and when I return. Thanks to all who have contacted me so far – I will reply when I’m back on land

Florida decrease in population a good thing or bad?

In my humble opinion this could be, in the long run, the best thing that has happened to our state in decades.  The reality is that no society can live on growth forever.  it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we live with limited resources.  Food, energy, water, all are limited.  We have been living beyond our means for half a century now.  It is time for Florida, the US, and the world to stop counting on growth to pay for everything and for everyone to realize that there is a certain population that is sustainable.  We passed that level a very long time ago and the continuing degradation of our environment is the result.

For Florida, 'end of an era' of population growth - USATODAY.com

Last month came the most jaw-dropping announcement of all: The state that made population growth the linchpin of its economy for more than 60 years lost a net 58,000 people this year, according to newly released estimates for April 1.

"It's the end of an era," says Robert Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech. "Florida represents an entire postwar vision of the good life — palm trees, low cost and no taxes, just easy living. They could turn it around, but in the short haul, it's paradise lost."

Geography and Sex Offenders

1554 Walnut Avenue Antioch , antioch ca - Google Maps

Hindsight is 20 20 but wouldn't a simple Internet connection and Google Maps combined with the fact that the guy who kidnapped and imprisoned that poor California girl for 18 years was a registered sex offender have enabled the police or other authorities to rescue her sooner?  A Google mashup of locations of registered sex offenders combined with the link above would have shown something fishy going on.  Seems that local building or zoning code enforcement using the Google Maps tool would have revealed some serious code violations.  A GIS map of property lines and the image above would have shown that he was running some sort of illicit activity on part of his property.

70th Wedding Anniversary

8/6/09
The Brown’s are a model for marriage, celebrate 70th
By Chris Bullard

While divorce rates in the U.S. hover around 50 percent, one Clarendon county couple is setting the example of long-term commitment.

Marrying at the ages of 19, Robert and Jeanette Brown will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on Aug. 9.

How did they do it?

“That’s a question I can’t answer,” Jeanette said. “I guess it was meant to be.”

Growing up in Sumter, Robert and Jeanette met in a high school typing class.

“When we were coming up, people just met at somebody’s house,” Robert said. “The girls and boys went to different schools after a certain grade. I needed a typing class, and it was my job to lead the football team over to the girl’s school for it. We ended up sitting by each other in the class.”

“He was dating someone else at the time,” added Jeanette. “But they broke up, and I mended his heart.”

On Aug. 9, 1939, the two were married in a Lutheran church on the corner of North Washington Street and Hampton Avenue in Sumter, where a Tuomey Hospital parking garage now stands.

“There wasn’t any air conditioning in the church and the men wore white linen suites,” recalled Robert. “I remember it was so hot we were sweating through the suits and one boy had to go home and change because you could see his blue striped shorts.

“They pinned white sheets all over the pulpit and put smilax on there. It was beautiful.”

“That was the trend back then,” added Jeanette.

The couple spent their honeymoon in Washington D.C. with only $100.

CHRIS BULLARD/Manning Times

Robert and Jeanette Brown stand together on the front porch of their home on Lake Marion. The Browns, married at the age of 19, will soon celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.

“I kept books of our money and we came home with 68 cents,” said Jeanette. “We said we didn’t live on money, but on love. But I learned that wasn’t true.”

As life continued on for the couple, they had one child, Robert Brown III. Jeanette retired from Sumter County Health Department Vital Statistics in 1978 and Robert retired as Vice President of Wachovia Bank in Sumter in 1982.

Robert III, who now lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., sees his parents as a model for maintaining a long-lived relationship.

“Mom and Dad have always enjoyed life and have many good friends in the Manning and Sumter area,” he said. “I believe their ability to enjoy the best in people and to enjoy time spent with good friends has been a part of their long marriage. In these times of marriages that only last a few years, they are a model of what a marriage contract really means.”

“As we aged we’ve gotten into a social group. We go to a breakfast club and a supper club,” said Jeanette. “We love Clarendon.”

“Our neighbors really look out for us and we live in a great community,” said Robert.

To celebrate this anniversary, many of the Brown’s friends and neighbors planned a party.

“We had a big 50th anniversary,” said Jeanette. “For our 60th anniversary there was a banner that said ‘For 60 loving years.’ I told them they spelled love wrong – it should be endure.”

The Browns now also have one grandson and three great-grandchildren. So what’s next for this enduring couple?

“We live day by day,” said Jeanette.

“We’re just going on with our plans,” added Robert. “Why stop?”

The Real Facts on Health Care Reform by AARP

AARP - Health Action Now! : Myths vs. Facts

Don't Let the Myths About Health Care Reform Scare You.

There are special interest groups trying to block progress on health care reform by using myths and scare tactics. Like the notion that health care reform would ration your care, hurt Medicare or be a government takeover. Actually, these are false statements.

All of the health care reform plans currently being debated in Congress would ensure that you and your doctor are the ones making decisions about your health. The majority of working Americans will continue to receive their health care through their employer. In addition, health care reform will strengthen Medicare by eliminating billions of dollars in waste while lowering prescription drug prices.

Throughout the debate on how to fix what's broken about our health care system, AARP pledges to help you cut through the noise and find the facts about what health care reform means for you and your family. When we see special interests using scare tactics, we'll make sure you're given the facts so you can make informed decisions about health care reform.

The following are some of the most common myths being spread about health care reform and the facts that prove them wrong – click here to watch a video by AARP on the myths and facts of reform.

Vacation Mode, August 18, 2009

We were away from home from August 3rd to August 17th. During that period all electronics were unplugged except for two DVRs and the Acer Aspire One netbook that functions as the server for BBBrown.mysolarlog.com. Two inefficient non-Energy Star refrigerators were running as well as the pool pump 5 hours a day. The weather was relatively good for solar generation but the ambient temperatures were high, in the 90s. The jump in percentage generated can be clearly seen in this chart which shows daily percent generated since January 1 of this year, 2009.

Weekly Investor Round Up

Weekly Investor Round Up

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Florida's Solar Incentives NPR Market Place

Solar energy gains ground in Florida | Marketplace From American Public Media

More on Sustainability

Thursday, August 13, 2009

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Solar energy gains ground in Florida

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Gainesville, Fla. is the first city in the country to adopt a new solar incentive program, making it profitable for an average person or business to put up solar panels and begin feeding power back to the grid. Jennifer Collins reports.

Kai Ryssdal: Gainesville, Florida sits right in the heart of the Sunshine State. It's probably best know for its powerhouse college football team, the University of Florida Gators. The city's also started attracting attention for power of a different sort. Solar energy. Panels are popping up all over the city. So are the economic benefits. Jennifer Collins has more from the Marketplace Sustainability Desk.

Plastic and water

Solutions Journal


What a strange concept. Love bottled water? Have you ever thought about the fact that thte bottles are made from oil and the water, in most cases, is just tap water? If it is truly water from distant mountain springs then oil is used to ship it all over the world. Very bizarre.

Curbing Electrical Bills, And Helping the Planet - DrWeil's Weekend Tip

Curbing Electrical Bills, And Helping the Planet - DrWeil's Weekend Tip

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You're Gonna Get Nailed.

Great TV campaign by the State of Tennessee.

V-Bat Vertical Take Off and Landing Aircraft

I Feel Better About Our Computers

I thought we were not the norm with our three desktops and three laptops.  I guess that is not so unusual after all according to this very interesting article at ZDNet:

How many PCs are enough? 5? 10? | Tech News on ZDNet

Despite a PC market in freefall, it seems silicon.com readers are still packing a fair few pieces of hardware.

Asked how many PCs - including laptops, desktops and netbooks - they own, 45 per cent of ZDNet sister site silicon.com readers who responded admitted to having between three and five.

An even more hardware-heavy 32 per cent claimed to have between five and 10 computers tucked away while another six per cent 'fessed up to having more than 10 machines. And presumably very large houses and/or understanding partners.

At the low end, 11 per cent owned up to having a pair of PCs, five per cent said they own just one and a hardware-shunning one per cent said they have no PCs at all (which presumably means they responded to the poll either in the office or on a friend's hardware.)

Monk Parakeets

Last week my granddaughters and I bought two new birdfeeders. One is a hanging feeder and the other a platform feeder. We told the girls that we were hoping the hanging tubular one would attract some parrots. Amazingly, parrots have visited the feeder. Well, to be technically correct parakeets have visited. We have had one Black Hooded Parakeet and three Monk Parakeets. I grabbed my video camera and shooting through the kitchen window and the patio screens got this short video.

See http://invasions.bio.utk.edu/invaders/monk.html for more info on the Monk Parakeet as an invader.

Gambling the Future? Excerpts from Dave Cohen's article on ASPO-USA

Is Business-As-Usual Likely In A Peak Oil Scenario? :: ASPO-USA: Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas

2010-2020 — The Decisive Decade

If the peak oil hypothesis is correct, world oil production will likely be in decline well before 2020. During this same period, the United States may (or may not) implement a cap & trade system to rein in CO2 emissions. The proposed legislation aims to cut emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. Emissions declined in 2008 following on the oil shock of 2007. The financial meltdown in 2008:Q3 guarantees a similar emissions decline in 2009.

As I described in The Reign of Error, Europe already has a cap & trade system in place. Europe’s carbon market, created under the Kyoto Protocol, has not actually resulted in reduced emissions in the Eurozone. This sleight-of-hand is due to allowable offsets whereby a putative reduction outside of Europe (e.g. in Asia, or Africa) is counted as a reduction within Europe. At best, Europe has reduced the carbon intensity of any economic growth that took place since the formation of the carbon market. The proposed cap & trade system in the United States contains the same loophole.

Assuming that peak oil occurs early in the next decade, and the currently envisioned cap & trade system, which goes into effect in 2012, is actually implemented, we can expect an overall decline in carbon emissions in the United States during the period 2010-2020. If growing emissions are a necessary condition for economic growth, as I have argued here and in The Radical Hypothesis, it follows that the American economy will shrink, not grow, in the coming decade.

If world oil production peaks, I predict most people will forget about terrifying business-as-usual climate scenarios. Instead, they will get down to the hard business of replacing oil by any means possible. If the economy is shrinking, any means necessary will be used to jump start growth. I am not so much interested in what should happen. I am interested in what will happen.

Thus, the years 2010-2020 will likely be the decisive decade of the 21st century. We should know by 2020 whether economies can grow as emissions decline. The result will define our response to anthropogenic climate change in all the decades to follow. We will know whether the consensus view espoused by Joe Romm, John Holdren and many others, as I have believed all along, is merely a politically expedient, faith-based “green jobs” guess about how things will turn out. Should that guess be proved wrong, our political leaders will run the other way.


Contact the author at dave.aspo@gmail.com

My friend Troy's Philipine Adventure

Welcome to Troys 2009 Uhaj Native Village Adventure


Rick and Cordella live next door to us and our best friends. They are an extraordinary family who live an intensive life outside their work life which in itself is intense. They travel to Honduras and work at a school for girls with their church. They are involved in a lot of other charitable organizations as well as their church. This summer, their son Troy, traveled to Banaue in the Philippines to study native woodcarving from a master wood carver there. He has documented his adventure with photos and a diary on this website. He will be coming home soon and we all are excited about hearing the details of his summer study adventure in Banaue. Barbara and I believe that this adventure and the experiences he is having are absolutely amazing. Troy has traveled half way around the planet on his own. Lived in a remote village in the Philippines and studied the art of woodcarving with only hand tools for a month. He has also hiked to remote sites and has lived in an area that has farmed the steep hillsides growing rice in terraced fields for centuries. We cannot wait to see him and hear of his adventures and we know he is anxious to return home but will miss the friends that he has made there.

Images of Mass Consumption

There is a strange beauty in these images of mass consumption but also conflicting feelings of horror.  The feelings are like those when you are driving and a bad accident has occurred and you have to drive right by it. You don't want to look but something compels you to.

The Images by Chris Jordan

Leo Uses Audio Boo to talk about China

AudioBoo / Some Thoughts About Censorship As We Fly Home

Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy

About FARE

The Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy “FARE” is a coalition of concerned individuals, businesses, communities, associations, policy makers, non-profits, and renewable energy producers. FARE is dedicated to educating and engaging Floridians on Renewable Energy Dividends. RED's have proven to be the most wide-spread and effective legislation for the promotion of renewable energy. Support FARE today and help secure a future for Florida that includes job creation, energy independence and environmental stewardship.

Weather and NPR

Our weather has been unusually hot. High temps daily in the 90s. That is really unusual for us. Even so, our PV system has been cranking out 35 percent and up of our energy. With the AC running constantly that is not too bad. We still have a lot of work to do on conservation. When our major appliances get old enough we will replace them with Energy Star ones. We have two refrigerators and that alone should save us about 10+ KWH per day. It is more cost effective to replace inefficient appliances than it is to add more solar panels.

A couple of days ago while taking Barbara to the dentist I turned on the radio. It happened to be tuned to NPR and the Dian Rehm show. They were talking about solar energy. It was a good show with a great panel made up of:

Rob Lamkin, CEO, Cool Earth Solar

Rhone Resch, president and chief executive officer, Solar Energy Industries Association

Peter Fox-Penner, principal and chairman emeritus, The Brattle Group, an international economic consulting firm,former Department of Energy official, and author of the forthcoming Island Press book "Smart Power"

Alex Daue, Renewable Energy Coordinator with the Wilderness Society.

Something urged me to call in and boy was I shocked when they took my call. I was so surprised that my thoughts were not as organized as I would have liked them to be. I still managed to convey some of our experiences of living in a solar home and got a nice compliment from the panel. You can go to the Diane Rehm Show website and listen if you want. My call came in about two thirds of the way into the show. Click here to go to the website. The audio links are on the right.

Another Tiny PC

fit-PC2 Wiki

CompuLab introduces fit-PC2 – the smallest, most power-efficient Intel Atom PC to date. fit-PC2 architecture is what sets it apart from other nettop PCs - fit-PC2 is designed around the Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz and the ultra low power Intel US15W system controller hub, rather than the Atom N270 and 945G used in other nettop-PCs, thereby reducing power consumption by more than two thirds.
US15W incorporates hardware video acceleration. This allows fit-PC2 to run Windows XP or Ubuntu Linux at just 6W and to play full HD 1080p H.264 video using less than 7W.
Unique Features
Size

The most striking feature of fit-PC2 is its size - 4" x 4.5" x 1.05" - smaller than a CD.
Fanless Operation

fit-PC2 is totally fanless - the all-aluminum case dissipates heat. This has two advantages -

*
o fit-PC2 is noiseless, or absolutely silent if used with a solid state disk.
o Increased reliability due to no moving parts.

Wall Wart Computer

Marvell SheevaPlug: $99 Linux PC hidden in a wall-wart - SlashGear

Marvell SheevaPlug: $99 Linux PC hidden in a wall-wart
By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Feb 24th 2009

Worth Reading?
NoYes

+92 [96 votes]

Marvell have been talking up their SheevaPlug reference design, a wall-wart power plug that actually hides an entire Linux PC. Priced at $99, inside the SheevaPlug there’s an ARM-based 1.2GHz Sheeva embedded processor, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 512MB of flash storage, gigabit ethernet and USB 2.0; in fact the development kit is available now.

Black-hooded Parakeet

Black-hooded Parakeet
Originally uploaded by ReinhardG

We had one of these on our bird feeder this morning. Since we use one of those weight balanced feeders, the parakeet was unable to perch without closing the cover over the seed. I heard the typical sounds of a parrot and I always try to see them even though they are fairly common in this area . To my surprise, a Nanday or Black-hooded parakeet was trying to land on the feeder. I understand that they are an invasive species but it sure was pretty.

Roar and Brake

This comment extracted from a CNET article on the Toyota Prius sure struck a nerve.  We have noticed the same thing as we drive.  People sit at a light.  The light turns green and the stomp the accelerator to get to the next light which turns red just as they arrive.  We cruise past in "old man mode" and they stomp it and brake hard at the next light as we cruise through.  It was amuzing to see someone else express this as well as this commentor on the web site did.

Chasing the Toyota Prius' 50-mpg nirvana | Green Tech - CNET News

@sausagebiscuit

What I do find amusing is that most traffic lights are timed for a specific road speed. I can't tell you how many times, I have been passed by a guy doing 5 over the limit. While I drive the limit. 90% of the time I find him stopped at the next light. As I roll up doing the speed limit the light turns green I don't need to brake or accelerate. I pass the guy who passed me, only to see him roar up past me again. And we repeat the process over and over, as he roars past brakes hard at the light sits, and grumbles then roars past again.

Solar Startups in the Sunshine State

Some of Central Florida's solar-power companies - OrlandoSentinel.com

Energy Alternatives, DeLand: A former airline pilot, Sandra Williams was waiting in a long line of planes in New York when she suddenly became aware of what she calls "my long history of bad fossil-fuel karma." She whipped out a calculator and determined that she had personally been responsible for using 1.5 million gallons of gas in her aviation career. She hung up her captain's uniform and started working on a book called The Queen of Green Tells All. In 2005, she started her company and got to work installing solar water heaters in homes and businesses. Williams is seeking grants to do solar education.

Great way to use rainwater.

Rain2o: Source for Rain Water Harvesting Equipment

HOW MUCH RAIN FALLS ON YOUR ROOF?

Would you be surprised to hear 50,000 gallons annually? That’s the answer when big and small homes are averaged together and different levels of rain fall are taken into account (see Table 1). A modest ½” of rain yields 700 gallons of rain water on a typical roof and all of that pours through your downspouts. Rain barrels are an excellent way to collect and store some of your rain water for use between rains, for example, to water your gardens using soaker hoses. The cost to set up a few rain barrels is modest and easily recouped through savings from reduced water and sewer bills.

Laser "cure" for blindness tested (BBC)

This is pretty exciting news for our older friends who may have macular degeneration.

BBC NEWS | Health | Laser 'cure' for blindness tested

Laser 'cure' for blindness tested
Elderly eye
AMD causes blurred or distorted central vision

A ground-breaking laser treatment could prevent millions of older people from going blind, experts believe.

The technique helps reverse the effects of age-related macular degeneration - the leading cause of blindness in over 60s in the western world.

Developed by pioneering eye expert Professor John Marshall of King's College London, the laser returns the back of the eye to its youthful state.

Five new apps for the Iphone

Five fab apps for iPhone OS 3.0 and the new 3GS

Here's a quick look at five applications iPhone and iPod Touch owners should consider. The easiest way to track them down is by accessing the App Store on the iPhone and searching for the app title. (You can do it in iTunes, too, if you want.)

Bob flies the BluBaby

Blu-Baby Flight Demo from Robert Brown on Vimeo.

Remarkable video footage from RC models.

Making of: FPV Air2Air Hydroplane from flip on Vimeo.

Florida lawmakers just can't get it right. Sunshine State? Not yet.

Solar disarray: Lawmakers bungle green push

As a blazing sun bore down this week, Southwest Florida got a sweltering reminder of true solar power.

With the intensity and frequency of its sunshine, Florida should be a world leader in harnessing this potent form of renewable energy.

Yet, the state has only a handful of commercial solar arrays, offers a paltry $5 million rebate program and serves merely as a conduit for federal stimulus funds targeted to renewable energy projects.

Despite good goals set by Gov. Charlie Crist, Florida has done too little to increase the use and generation of solar power or to encourage businesses or jobs in developing, supplying or installing the equipment.

Behind the scenes...how RC gear really works.

RC Gear from Crazy Builders on Vimeo.

This is a pretty interesting explanation of how RC, Radio Control, gear works. We take a lot of this for granted but when you see what goes on behind the scenes you understand just how remarkable the technology is today. Wait for the end. Pretty funny.

Aspire One Solar Logger

AspireOneSolarLogger
Originally uploaded by rbrown3rd

My new netbook, and Acer Aspire One. This one is running Windows XP and is functioning as the server that uploads data to http://bbbrown.mysolarlog.com/ . It takes the place of a headless Dell machine running Windows Vista. This change reduces energy consumption of the server by 1.22 kwh per day. This is a significant savings over the old machine and is just one little bit of energy that we are no longer consuming. It is amazing how many small things we have plugged in that are sucking small amounts of energy. It all adds up.

webkit

webkit
Originally uploaded by asadotzler

Talk about a steady decline. Internet Explorer has been gliding down from the altitude it got by being bundled with all new computers. Does this mean that the PC user community is getting more savvy with time? Firefox shows a steady growth. I just tested the new Safari 4 on my Mac and it has some very nice features. I believe that it is built on the Gecko engine like the new Firefox. I have also test Chrome by Google and it is really fast but as of yet has few addons or enhancements. For now, I will stick with Firefox as my web browser.

Dramatic gains in truck efficiency through aerodynamic testing.

AeroTruck E-38096: Air flow testing on aerodynamic truck

During a decade spanning the 1970s and 1980s, Dryden researchers conducted tests to determine the extent to which adjustments in the shape of trucks reduced aerodynamic drag and improved efficiency. During the tests, the vehicle's sides were fitted with tufts, or strings, that showed air flow. The investigators concluded that rounding the vertical corners front and rear reduced drag by 40 percent, yet decreased the vehicle's internal volume by only 1.3 percent. Rounding both the vertical and horizontal corners cut drag by 54 percent, resulting in a three percent loss of internal volume. A second group of tests added a faired underbody and a boat tail, the latter feature resulting in drag reduction of about 15 percent.

My Firefox Add Ons

Believe me when I say I have done a LOT of testing with Firefox addons.  After considerable experimentation this is my current stable of Firefox addons that provide such incredible functionality that I have yet to see a web browser that approaches this setup.  I'll publish a series of discussions about each of these in the future and what I find so useful about each of them but for now, here is my list:

Firefox and the "Awesomebar"

A Little Something Awesome about Firefox 3 :: The Mozilla Blog

A Little Something Awesome about Firefox 3
Posted by Mary Colvig

April 21st, 2008 · Mozilla News, Tips & Tricks

Deb Richardson, author of the about:mozilla newsletter, wrote one of the better explanations I’ve seen on the “AwesomeBar,” Firefox 3’s revamped URL bar. It’s not the most humble of names, but if you check out Deb’s post you’ll see why it’s earned it.

In Deb’s words, here’s a quick snapshot of what makes Firefox 3’s URL bar just so awesome:

Dubbed the “AwesomeBar”, it lets you use the URL field of your browser to do a keyword search of your history and bookmarks. No longer do you have to know the domain of the page you’re looking for — the AwesomeBar will match what you’re typing (even multiple words!) against the URLs, page titles, and tags in your bookmarks and history, returning results sorted by “frecency” (an algorithm combining frequency + recency).

Only in South Florida

Iguana problems tackled at Palm Beach County symposium -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Leapin' lizards. Literally.

More than 100 people showed up at the Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service building west of West Palm Beach on Tuesday to learn about everything iguana. There was information ranging from what plants are most vulnerable to an iguana palate to how to harass and euthanize them if they become a nuisance.

Cooliris for Firefox

I love this addition to Firefox.  It is a stunningly beautiful way to browse photos and videos by category or on any web page.  This is one of my recommended Firefox add ons.

Cooliris :: Firefox Add-ons

Full-Screen, 3D -- Cooliris is simply the fastest and most stunning way to browse photos and videos from the Web or your desktop. Effortlessly scroll a "3D Wall" of your content from Facebook, Google Images, YouTube, Flickr, and hundreds more.

The future of browsing, at least with Firefox our favorite browser.

From "ReadWriteWeb" a glimpse into the future of web browsers.  We currently use Firefox with several add ons that give our browser customized power.  One of these is called Ubiquity and another enhances tabbed browsing.  The add ons that we find useful to us seem to be useful to others too.  The future of Firefox seems to incorporate all of them into the browser itself.  We find this article innteresting and perhaps you will too.

The Future of Firefox: No Tabs, Built-In Ubiquity - ReadWriteWeb

Thanks to its extensibility, Firefox quickly became the favorite browser for most power users. But while extensions are a great way to make Firefox more functional, Mozilla's designers are also currently thinking about a complete redesign of the way the browser looks and feels, in order to keep up with changing usage patterns. The most radical proposal we have seen so far would do away with the standard browser tabs, and replace them with an interface that looks more like iTunes than Firefox.

Earth Trainer Tomato Growing

This is a great set of instructions for growing tomatoes  hydroponically in plastic storage containers.  The link is here.  Complete instructions including videos are available.  Just continue through the article to the bottom.  I've always had an interest in this and will probably give it a try this spring.  I used a hydroponically watered feed tray to start some Amaryllis seedlings.  They are all doing well.  One of our lilies produced big seed heads and just as an experiment we tried germinating them by using what is known as the "California Method.'  It involves floating the seeds in glass containers until they germinate.  I used some big glass casserole trays and it worked.  I would say we got about a fifty percent germination rate.  The method of growing described in this tomato article might also be a great way to continue growing those seedlings.  I am definitely going to give this a try. 

Nice Orchids For You..

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Nice Orchids For You..

View more presentations from Dinisha .

Plug-in Vehicles for Clean transportation

This this technology is far off in the future?  Watch a video about a family who has driven for 7 years and 70,000 miles with no gas and using only the energy generated from their solar panels.  This could have been implemented almost a decade ago and was not.  Our own house generates excess energy during the day.  We could use it to charge up a plug in vehicle.

Watch this fascinating video right here.

New things in Gmail

Gmail has served us well as a web based email client.  The developers are always coming up with new things to make it even more appealing.  Here are some new features that I really like:

	YouTube previews in mail by Stanley C and Braden K Shows a video preview whenever you receive a YouTube link in an email. You can watch the video right inline!
	Picasa previews in mail by Dan, Stanley, Mark & Umesh Shows photos previews whenever you receive a Picasa link in an email.
	Flickr previews in mail by Dan P Shows photos previews whenever you receive a Flickr link in an email.

...and this one is especially nice.  It is still under development but works well.  The delay needs to be a bit longer or user configurable.  But, this is very nice.  We used to have an undo in our email at work and it saved me many times when I sent something and then had second thoughts about it.

Undo Send by Yuzo F Oops, hit "Send" too soon? Stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button.

First Ever Whale Sedation

A right whale was sedated in order to remove entangled fishing gear.  About 90 percent of the gear was removed.  Read more.

Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency

Here is a list of all the new tax credits for energy efficiency.  There are a lot of them.

Solar systems thirty percent off. Buy now.

Solar stuff that Obama will help you buy.

The new tax credits amount to thirty percent off for photovoltaic and solar water heating systems.  If only we had the money.  Well in Florida you also get $4 a watt for photovoltaic systems and $500 for solar water heaters.  So, for photovoltaic systems that is almost another thirty percent off.  Wow.  Wish the tax credit cap had been removed when we installed ours.  We would have saved a LOT.

Mozy Backups

After years of using external hard drives and all sorts of other backup schemes for my computers I took the plunge and decided to give Mozy a try. This site is a good summary of the service. I gave up thinking I could be a reliable support service for my own computers. First I switched to using Google Mail when it first came out. I admit that much of the decision was based on the functionality I saw in their calendar and the way it integrated with email. So, we have used Gmail and Google Calendar for years now and have been extremely happy with it. I won't go into all of the reasons because this post is about Mozy. You can read the excellent review of the service at this site. I'll post more about my use of this service as time goes on. Our two computers, a Mac and a PC, are in the initial backup stage right now. That is a bit time consuming but once the first backup is completed all others are incremental so that they should take only a short time. I was satisfied with the security and privacy protections at Mozy. Thanks Nick Barardi for an excellent overview and review of Mozy.

Energy Panel Discussion

This is an insight into what the future holds for energy management and monitoring.

They sail on pink oil, the strangest sailing club in the world.

Sail World - Powerboat-world: Sail and sailing, cruising, boating news

I found this article to be fascinating from a sailing viewpoint and from a geographical viewpoint.  I might also add that anyone with an interest in water management would find the story about this transient lake in Australia intriguing as well.  Sailors are indeed some of the most interesting people in the world.

My Favorite Firefox Addons

These are the Firefox add on applications that I have installed.  Extensive testing and evaluation have demonstrated that these are most useful for every day web browsing and file manipulation. 

Greem Tax Credits In New Stimulus Bill

How You Can Green Your Home and Cash in on Stimulus Money | Environment | AlterNet

Hampton Falls, N.H. -- Energy-saving systems for the attic, basement, and in between have effectively gone on sale, courtesy of the United States Congress.

The Mothership Media Center

This is the media center in the Mothership, my Iphone in Ipod mode with a Belkin FM transmitter that sends the music to the FM radio. This puts our huge library of music into a very small package with a great graphical search interface. This makes owning the Iphone worthwhile if none of the other amazing functions and applications were available. The music quality is better than the speakers we have in the Mothership. We can listen to hours and hours of our favorite music this way. A real plus is that the power consumption is extremely low.

Google Maps or Mapquest? Vote here.

Reader Poll: Google Maps or MapQuest?

Here at Lifehacker, most of us made the switch to Google Maps in its early days—back before MapQuest had added any of the AJAX map scrolling and zooming that made Google Maps stand out. Still, when it comes to getting directions, I'm always surprised when I hear people use MapQuest as a verb the same way they use Google (i.e., "I'll just MapQuest it."). So we're curious to hear which you're using for your mapping and directions needs:

LED, CFL or Incandescent? Ask Pablo

LED lights | Salon Life

A 10W CFL, available online for $6.90, has an expected median lifetime of 10,000 hours. While this is about 10 times longer than the life expectancy of an incandescent bulb, it is only one-fifth the expected life of the LED. So LEDs have the potential of cutting down on ladder time by a factor of 50 over incandescent bulbs! At about 25 cents apiece, the incandescent has by far the lowest upfront cost, which is why many people still use them. If we normalize the cost of all the bulbs over a 50,000-hour period, the incandescent bulbs cost $12.50, while CFL bulbs cost $34.50, and the LED bulb costs $59.95. But, as you may already know, the upfront cost of a bulb is by far the cheapest part. It's the electricity required to operate the bulb that adds up.

Over a period of 50,000 hours, a 40W incandescent bulb will use 2,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh). At 15 cents per kWh, this will put $300 in the pocket of your local utility, bringing the total cost of the incandescent bulb, over 50,000 hours, up to $312.50. The CFL bulb only uses 500kWh over the same time period, or $75, totaling $109.50. Finally, the LED bulb will use 350kWh for $52.50, with a total cost of $112.45. So, in this example, the LED light does cost a few dollars more but the difference is negligible. Think of the time you will save by not running to the store to buy bulbs and climbing the ladder to change them.

Buy a Prius or a used car?

Prius Envy | Mother Jones

So how are we nonengineers supposed to know when to junk our old car without guilt? By Päster's numbers, building an average midsize car in 2007 emitted 18,000 pounds of CO2—about the same as burning 900 gallons of gas. He won't commit to exact numbers, but he does have a rule of thumb: If your jalopy is moderately efficient (i.e., gets better than 25 mpg) and you don't drive it much, keeping it is better than buying a new car. "But if you have an old car with pretty lousy fuel economy," he says, "then you're better off getting a new car because the emissions from making a new car are really not that big compared to the emissions from using the car."

Gainesville, Florida Passes First Feed-in Tarriff in US

Florida City Passes First Solar Feed-in Tariff in US : Red, Green, and Blue

Place Names

Tranquility Cove and Tranquility Cove (in Clarendon County, SC)

Found these references to Tranquility Cove on the Internet. Interesting that the name is referenced in many places that are part of the internet. It would have been impossible for my grandfather to have imagined this when he stood here before the lake was flooded and named it. The name "Tranquility Cove" appears in many places now including all of the US Geological Survey maps. Every place name has a history. The one that I remember most vividly is "Cape Canaveral." When I was stationed there in the Navy back in the 1960's, Congress tried to change the name of the town as well as the base to "Cape Kennedy." A great furor erupted in the town and the protest resulted in the name remaining the original "Cape Canaveral." How many fascinating place names based on a real story have been wiped clean by some well meaning city council, state government, or congress to honor some contemporary person or event. This is shameful in my opinion because original place names should be protected along with their history and meaning.

Just want to share with you my experience with the Acer Aspire One in the solid state Linux configuration. The little netbook is a perfect Internet appliance. You are not going to be doing heavy duty image processing or video editing on it but I have found it can do it if you want to I loaded GIMP, the open source version of Photoshop on it and it works fine.

Mine, the Linux version, comes with a 16 gb solid state drive but has a slot for expansion via an SD card. I bought an 8 gb card for it for $12.95 from supermediastore. Today I see they have a 16 gb card for $24.95. This still leaves a slot for the SD card from your camera or other device free. I am 100 percent happy with the solid state version and would not buy a Windows XP version for this little machine.

It connects automatically to any available WiFi access point with no problem. It boots and runs very fast and gives me two hours of battery life with no special settings. I personally would not spend the extra $150 plus to get a Windows version with a rotating hard drive in it since that is pushing the little machine beyond the Internet appliance usage I intended it for. I just thought that this might be useful information for anyone considering buying one for this purpose. I paid $250 for mine and I love it.

Here is a great video review of the machine from the Tiger Direct Laptop Lounge. The one reviewed is the Windows XP one which is great if you are more comfortable with that OS but you are going to spend more and I don't really think that is necessary. Also, I just don't like the idea of a spinning drive in a machine like this. It is going to be with you all the time. In the car, on the bus, everywhere. I just think the solid state one is going to be more durable in the long run. Plus, you can bet that the kids are going to be playing with it when you are not using it.




Here are some news items about the Aspire One harvested by Google News:

Really, you’re going to buy it for me? ZDNet - USA He loves the Acer Aspire One and it has made it vastly easier for him to work, both in and out of class. This particular 9th-grader has Pervasive ... See all stories on this topic

The end of my love affair with Apple? ZDNet - USA As more teachers and students have a chance to play with the Acer Aspire One netbook that I’ve been floating around, most find, even if they don’t care for ... See all stories on this topic

Acer Aspire ONE now available at sub-Rs.15k VARIndia (press release) - New Delhi,India The icing on the cake being the fully loaded Windows XP Home version of the Aspire ONE now available for the very first time at an incredible price of under ... See all stories on this topic