Though it's had its share of duds over the years, Mercedes has always preserved an image as a premium brand, The latest incarnation of the C-Class will surely help maintain that positive profile.
I have to confess to being a long-standing fan of the three-pointed star. The finest car I ever owned personally was a 1965 300 SEL that I took round the clock twice. And now I'm pleased to report that the C-Class has been among my best drives in 2011.
Safety, comfort, performance and agility are present in equal measure, underlined by the latest in technology.
This includes the newly developed agility control package, with its situation-responsive shock absorber control, an intelligent light system with five different lighting functions and an innovative preventive occupant protection system.
The C-Class offers a choice of four and six-cylinder engines with up to 13 percent more output than the previous models accompanied by up to 11 percent better fuel consumption.
The brand new C 180 Kompressor BlueEFFICIENCY, for instance, delivers exceptionally economical motoring without any performance penalty, all thanks to a series of weight-saving and energy management measures plus enhanced aerodynamics.
As happens with most cars as they enter new model years, the C-Class has grown, giving a more spacious interior.
It's a handsome beast, with a stylish wedge shape emphasising its high performance pretensions, especially in the AMG designed Sport derivative. That shape also gives generous back seat accommodation and enhanced luggage space.
A choice of Sport, Elegance and SE versions accentuate the potential buyer's option to tailor his or her purchase to personal tastes. At the top end of the range, the world's only seven-speed automatic transmission comes as standard while all other variants have a six-speed box featuring hill-start assist.
During its development, the new C-Class successfully passed more than 100 crash tests, including the particularly demanding in-house impact tests, some of which some go well beyond legal requirements.
Occupant protection is based on an intelligently designed bodyshell, 70 percent of which consists of high-strength and ultra high-strength steel. Compared to the previous series, Mercedes-Benz has enlarged the deformation zones and improved energy flows. The front-end structure of the new C-Class has four independently acting impact levels, which enable crash forces to be distributed over a wide area while bypassing the passenger cell.
The safety technology in the interior has been complemented with the very latest protection systems. Seven airbags are included as standard equipment: two adaptive airbags for the driver and front passenger, a knee bag for the driver, two side bags in the front seat backrests and two large window bags which extend from the A to the C-pillar during a side impact.
The driver, front passenger and the passengers on the outer rear seats also benefit from belt tensioners and belt force limiters as standard. The standard head restraints operate on the neck-pro principle: during a rear-end collision the padded surfaces are pushed forward within milliseconds to support the heads of the driver and front passenger at an early stage. This significantly reduces the risk of a whiplash injury.
2011年12月28日 星期三
2011年12月27日 星期二
New year, new rules on light bulbs cause controversy
The new year begins in just a few days, and with it comes a new law on light bulbs in this country. The government is trying to encourage more energy-efficient bulbs. But some Southwest Floridians prefer the incandescent bulbs.
"They see light bulbs as an investment. They just want to screw in a bulb and they want light," said Jack Lurie of Tropical Hardware in Fort Myers.
He says people are stock-piling the old incandescents, for fear of not being able to buy them in the future.
A law passed in 2007 says manufacturers must phase out the 100-watt bulbs in 2012, or make them much more energy-efficient.
Bulb makers will have to do away with other watt bulbs in coming years.
"I don't like it one bit. If they have a new product, then put it out there and let us decide whether to buy it. But don't tell us, you have to do this. That is government intrusion," said Patty Eppler of Fort Myers. "I prefer the incandescents and I will stay with them as long as I can."
The government would like people to use the compact flourescent lights, CFL's, or the light-emitting diodes, known as LED's.
Donna Croddy of Lee Lighting told WINK News: it is time for a change to a better technology than incandescents.
"That is a 135-year-old technology. It's time. God bless Thomas Edison, but it's time," she said.
The State Public Service Commission is expected to make a decision this week on an energy efficiency case involving Mon Power, that could save you a couple of bucks on your next electric bill.
Mon Power has apparently made several proposals that will help both residential and business customers lower their monthly electric bills.
Some of those savings can come by Mon Power offering rebates and other incentives to its customers for using electricity during off-peak times. The PSC approved a similar program for Appalachian Power Company earlier this year, and so far officials say their new energy efficient programs have helped save both customers and the company, money and energy.
One way the company did so was by providing customers with rebates when they buy compact fluorescent light bulbs, which that alone can help cut energy costs by about seven percent.
Not only do energy saving programs help cut consumers' electricity costs, but it also helps electric companies cut down on their production costs as well. Local Mon Power customers say they hope this proposal passes, and they see their electric bills drop.
"I think anything that would help the customers lower bills, benefits, anything that could just put a little more change in their pockets," said Peter Thompson, Mon Power Electric Customer.
Do you think regulators need to step in to ensure your electricity bills don't go up more than they should during peak usage seasons? Let us know, click here to answer our Facebook Question.
"They see light bulbs as an investment. They just want to screw in a bulb and they want light," said Jack Lurie of Tropical Hardware in Fort Myers.
He says people are stock-piling the old incandescents, for fear of not being able to buy them in the future.
A law passed in 2007 says manufacturers must phase out the 100-watt bulbs in 2012, or make them much more energy-efficient.
Bulb makers will have to do away with other watt bulbs in coming years.
"I don't like it one bit. If they have a new product, then put it out there and let us decide whether to buy it. But don't tell us, you have to do this. That is government intrusion," said Patty Eppler of Fort Myers. "I prefer the incandescents and I will stay with them as long as I can."
The government would like people to use the compact flourescent lights, CFL's, or the light-emitting diodes, known as LED's.
Donna Croddy of Lee Lighting told WINK News: it is time for a change to a better technology than incandescents.
"That is a 135-year-old technology. It's time. God bless Thomas Edison, but it's time," she said.
The State Public Service Commission is expected to make a decision this week on an energy efficiency case involving Mon Power, that could save you a couple of bucks on your next electric bill.
Mon Power has apparently made several proposals that will help both residential and business customers lower their monthly electric bills.
Some of those savings can come by Mon Power offering rebates and other incentives to its customers for using electricity during off-peak times. The PSC approved a similar program for Appalachian Power Company earlier this year, and so far officials say their new energy efficient programs have helped save both customers and the company, money and energy.
One way the company did so was by providing customers with rebates when they buy compact fluorescent light bulbs, which that alone can help cut energy costs by about seven percent.
Not only do energy saving programs help cut consumers' electricity costs, but it also helps electric companies cut down on their production costs as well. Local Mon Power customers say they hope this proposal passes, and they see their electric bills drop.
"I think anything that would help the customers lower bills, benefits, anything that could just put a little more change in their pockets," said Peter Thompson, Mon Power Electric Customer.
Do you think regulators need to step in to ensure your electricity bills don't go up more than they should during peak usage seasons? Let us know, click here to answer our Facebook Question.
2011年12月26日 星期一
Vista's PureForge Helps Police Hit the Brakes with Atomic-Forging
One of the most important elements of operating a vehicle is the ability to stop it. Of course, that can't be done without effective brakes, and replacing those things usually means a heavy hit in the wallet.
That's where PureForge has been aiming to come to the rescue. Founded in 2006, this Vista-based startup manufacturer of brake rotors and pads boasts that its products will outlast and outperform anything else anywhere.
Using its proprietary Atomic-Forging brake technology, PureForge rotors eliminate or at least significantly limit rotor wear (thus meaning fewer trips to the mechanic and saving money) while reducing toxic brake dust emissions.
This technology was created by Nathan Meckel, a 59-year-old Ramona resident and metallurgy expert, who co-founded PureForge. Atomic Forging is explained by the company as "a complex metallurgical" process. Using lightning-like energy channeled through an exotic metal, this energy transfers the exotic metal into a steel surface, changing that surface on the molecular level.
"The end result of this process is a layer of ultra-dense exotic metal that is formed with the surface of the metal, creating a brake rotor surface that is hard and tough."
PureForge is making inroads with law enforcement agencies across the state. In an on-going pilot program, PureForge has installed its brakes and rotors for motorcycles with the San Diego Sheriff's Department, the San Diego Police Department as well as PDs in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Bakersfield, Culver City and other cities. Meckel said some 16,000 vehicles are involved.
While PureForge aims to start fitting police squad cars next year, its bike brakes have been a hit with the officers.
"I really like the way these PureForge brakes feel --- very smooth and quick to stop," said San Diego Motor Sherriff Sergeant Scott Hill. "They perform exactly (as advertised). I like the fact that they don't shed brake dust, (because) our officers are responsible for keeping their bikes washed and clean."
In November, PureForge was invited to observe the San Diego Sherriff's motor officer training and testing day at Qualcomm Stadium. Braking distances were shorter with bikes using the Pure Forge equipment than those that didn't. Quick stopping is obviously essential for any motorcycle cop.
"It's very demanding use," said Meckel, a Chico native."If anyone is abusive on brakes, it's law enforcement. It's much safer, stops shorter and saves money (on maintenance)."
"You've got to take technology like this and test it in the real world. The police departments are loving it. Things are going incredible."
In another test, PureForge brakes and rotors were installed in a group of Harley Davidson motorcycles. These riders, often hard-charging on the road, were impressed.
"Harleys are known for terrible brakes," Meckel said."This was a brutal test, but even after 12,000 miles on a Harley (in one instance), I never had a complaint, never had a return. The pads are lasting 10, 20 times longer (than normal ones)."
Meckel and PureForge are certainly ambitious. Meckel said he'd like the company to focus on fleets, involving "light trucks, semis --- even railroad.
That's where PureForge has been aiming to come to the rescue. Founded in 2006, this Vista-based startup manufacturer of brake rotors and pads boasts that its products will outlast and outperform anything else anywhere.
Using its proprietary Atomic-Forging brake technology, PureForge rotors eliminate or at least significantly limit rotor wear (thus meaning fewer trips to the mechanic and saving money) while reducing toxic brake dust emissions.
This technology was created by Nathan Meckel, a 59-year-old Ramona resident and metallurgy expert, who co-founded PureForge. Atomic Forging is explained by the company as "a complex metallurgical" process. Using lightning-like energy channeled through an exotic metal, this energy transfers the exotic metal into a steel surface, changing that surface on the molecular level.
"The end result of this process is a layer of ultra-dense exotic metal that is formed with the surface of the metal, creating a brake rotor surface that is hard and tough."
PureForge is making inroads with law enforcement agencies across the state. In an on-going pilot program, PureForge has installed its brakes and rotors for motorcycles with the San Diego Sheriff's Department, the San Diego Police Department as well as PDs in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Bakersfield, Culver City and other cities. Meckel said some 16,000 vehicles are involved.
While PureForge aims to start fitting police squad cars next year, its bike brakes have been a hit with the officers.
"I really like the way these PureForge brakes feel --- very smooth and quick to stop," said San Diego Motor Sherriff Sergeant Scott Hill. "They perform exactly (as advertised). I like the fact that they don't shed brake dust, (because) our officers are responsible for keeping their bikes washed and clean."
In November, PureForge was invited to observe the San Diego Sherriff's motor officer training and testing day at Qualcomm Stadium. Braking distances were shorter with bikes using the Pure Forge equipment than those that didn't. Quick stopping is obviously essential for any motorcycle cop.
"It's very demanding use," said Meckel, a Chico native."If anyone is abusive on brakes, it's law enforcement. It's much safer, stops shorter and saves money (on maintenance)."
"You've got to take technology like this and test it in the real world. The police departments are loving it. Things are going incredible."
In another test, PureForge brakes and rotors were installed in a group of Harley Davidson motorcycles. These riders, often hard-charging on the road, were impressed.
"Harleys are known for terrible brakes," Meckel said."This was a brutal test, but even after 12,000 miles on a Harley (in one instance), I never had a complaint, never had a return. The pads are lasting 10, 20 times longer (than normal ones)."
Meckel and PureForge are certainly ambitious. Meckel said he'd like the company to focus on fleets, involving "light trucks, semis --- even railroad.
2011年12月25日 星期日
Harmony's Christmas celebration mirrors days of old
Since the days when "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" joined the hit parade, the Harmony Fire Chiefs and their crews have led Glocester and the surrounding villages in a yearly Christmas tree lighting and visit from Santa Claus. As carols are sung and hot cocoa is served, Santa trades in his sleigh and arrives in Harmony on a gleaming fire truck with roaring sirens and flashing red lights that accent the jolly old fellow's crimson suit and snowy white beard.
Organized in 1924, the Harmony Fire District has been the center of public safety and the spirit of Christmas in this rural turnpike village for more than eighty years. Pvt. Bob Pierce, HFD volunteer since 1978 and member of a lifelong family here, cannot recall a time when the village did not gather at the Harmony Fire Department to light the holiday tree.
Milton Aldrich, whose brother, Charles, served as longtime chief and whose family has northwestern Rhode Island roots as wide and deep as the forests around the nearby Scituate Reservoir, recalls Christmas times under Chief Harrison Winsor in the 1950's that welcomed the young and young at heart, from Snake Hill to Sawmill and on toward the village of Chepachet.
However, on a recent Sunday afternoon, a new generation welcomed Santa Claus once again at the Harmony Fire Department. Planning for the annual Christmas tree lighting and visit from Santa Claus began back in August. Chief Pearson and his committee met in late summer and through the fall to marshal community resources and to check on business contributions.
Despite a dark economy, reports of generous support glimmered like the twinkling lights on the tree to be decorated on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Among those individual donors and corporate contributors who gave generously to bring Santa Claus, gifts, and refreshments to Harmony's children and families, and who made the lights on the Station's Christmas tree shimmer this season were the Pepsi Beverages Co., Dino's Park n' Shop, Benny's, Yacht Club Bottling Works, Dunkin' Donuts, Christine's Cottage Florist, Towne House Flowers and the Chief and Mrs. Pearson.
At 4 o'clock sharp that Sunday, Chief Pearson's elves were everywhere in the Harmony Fire Department garage. As Secretary Kim Barber, Lt. John Falco, and Private Bianca Mullen directed the final preparations, townsfolk flooded through the doors.
Ruth Pearson and Heather Farrell delighted small children at a special craft station inside the garage, where little ones celebrated the season by decorating and signing Christmas cards to be delivered to residents of local health facilities in honor of their many holidays shared among families and friends.
Beneath the yellow protective gear and fire hats neatly arrayed, childhood holiday fashion was on parade as Kenzee Silva, soon to be six years old, was dressed to celebrate the season in a shirt bearing the image of a green-faced Grinch. Kenzee announced that she was "very excited" to be attending the party.
As the Harmony Christ-mas tree lighting and stationhouse celebration drew to a close, a long line of children snaked through the garage, waiting to hop on Santa's lap to share a Christmas wish and receive a gift that was partially paid for through the generosity of the Harmony Child Care & Preschool.
Organized in 1924, the Harmony Fire District has been the center of public safety and the spirit of Christmas in this rural turnpike village for more than eighty years. Pvt. Bob Pierce, HFD volunteer since 1978 and member of a lifelong family here, cannot recall a time when the village did not gather at the Harmony Fire Department to light the holiday tree.
Milton Aldrich, whose brother, Charles, served as longtime chief and whose family has northwestern Rhode Island roots as wide and deep as the forests around the nearby Scituate Reservoir, recalls Christmas times under Chief Harrison Winsor in the 1950's that welcomed the young and young at heart, from Snake Hill to Sawmill and on toward the village of Chepachet.
However, on a recent Sunday afternoon, a new generation welcomed Santa Claus once again at the Harmony Fire Department. Planning for the annual Christmas tree lighting and visit from Santa Claus began back in August. Chief Pearson and his committee met in late summer and through the fall to marshal community resources and to check on business contributions.
Despite a dark economy, reports of generous support glimmered like the twinkling lights on the tree to be decorated on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Among those individual donors and corporate contributors who gave generously to bring Santa Claus, gifts, and refreshments to Harmony's children and families, and who made the lights on the Station's Christmas tree shimmer this season were the Pepsi Beverages Co., Dino's Park n' Shop, Benny's, Yacht Club Bottling Works, Dunkin' Donuts, Christine's Cottage Florist, Towne House Flowers and the Chief and Mrs. Pearson.
At 4 o'clock sharp that Sunday, Chief Pearson's elves were everywhere in the Harmony Fire Department garage. As Secretary Kim Barber, Lt. John Falco, and Private Bianca Mullen directed the final preparations, townsfolk flooded through the doors.
Ruth Pearson and Heather Farrell delighted small children at a special craft station inside the garage, where little ones celebrated the season by decorating and signing Christmas cards to be delivered to residents of local health facilities in honor of their many holidays shared among families and friends.
Beneath the yellow protective gear and fire hats neatly arrayed, childhood holiday fashion was on parade as Kenzee Silva, soon to be six years old, was dressed to celebrate the season in a shirt bearing the image of a green-faced Grinch. Kenzee announced that she was "very excited" to be attending the party.
As the Harmony Christ-mas tree lighting and stationhouse celebration drew to a close, a long line of children snaked through the garage, waiting to hop on Santa's lap to share a Christmas wish and receive a gift that was partially paid for through the generosity of the Harmony Child Care & Preschool.
2011年12月22日 星期四
Trish Evans
This photograph captures eight seconds in time in November 2011, portraying the flow and navigation of three traceurs (freerunners) within a crumbling industrial building close to the Canal, taken at night, with the assistance of a full moon. To me, this image is symbolic of freedom, inquisitive playfulness and the reinvention of forgotten, once-thriving spaces.
My work has never been overtly academic and my approach has always been crudely simple; I attached LED lights to the traceurs' legs and arms, and took long exposure shots to capture their movement and interaction with the immediate environment.
The actual building is in a state of slow collapse and only still stands due to an internal body of scaffold, which is surrounded by an immense overgrowth of weeds. I had to trespass over dodgy old walls, boulders and through undergrowth in pitch black to take the shot.
I'm inspired by artists who reinvent or see the beauty of unremarkable 'things', and street-based art which doesn't need to be explained and doesn't need to be accessed - it's just impressively simple and just there. I'm also one of those people who loves really rubbish-looking architecture, boarded-up buildings and decaying concrete.
I studied in art and design, with a degree at Trent in Furniture and Product Design and from then on I have delivered and developed a whole host of contemporary arts projects, events and programmes. With a young family and a number of other freelance projects and work commitments, all of my photography is evening-based - usually after the kids are in bed, which is OK with a very considerate husband.
But I also project manage the event, which requires extensive planning, partnership work, fundraising, PR, etc. But, to be honest, I thrive on being busy and being creative.
This particular image is a work in progress for an installation called TRACE. This has been commissioned for Light Night in Nottingham on 10 February 2012, and will include projections ofmy photography and with film, sound and parkour in collaboration with a whole host of digital media and sonic artists.
It's an expansion on a previous installation I did last year, but the themes this time focus more specifically on the reinvention of abandoned spaces such as old industrial units, closed petrol stations and rooftops to convey a relationship and comparative existence.
It'll take place in an underpass, next to the Broadmarsh Centre and Maid Marian Way, under an NCP car park; a shining example of a disused and forgotten pocket of the city that has been adopted by the parkour community as a playground ripe for exploring and given new meaning.
As for future projects, I recently did a shoot with the parkour community in Berlin, and there is talk of taking our TRACE shoot to Paris. If funds and time were available to definitely say that these ideas could happen, that would be truly amazing. Perhaps they will…
My work has never been overtly academic and my approach has always been crudely simple; I attached LED lights to the traceurs' legs and arms, and took long exposure shots to capture their movement and interaction with the immediate environment.
The actual building is in a state of slow collapse and only still stands due to an internal body of scaffold, which is surrounded by an immense overgrowth of weeds. I had to trespass over dodgy old walls, boulders and through undergrowth in pitch black to take the shot.
I'm inspired by artists who reinvent or see the beauty of unremarkable 'things', and street-based art which doesn't need to be explained and doesn't need to be accessed - it's just impressively simple and just there. I'm also one of those people who loves really rubbish-looking architecture, boarded-up buildings and decaying concrete.
I studied in art and design, with a degree at Trent in Furniture and Product Design and from then on I have delivered and developed a whole host of contemporary arts projects, events and programmes. With a young family and a number of other freelance projects and work commitments, all of my photography is evening-based - usually after the kids are in bed, which is OK with a very considerate husband.
But I also project manage the event, which requires extensive planning, partnership work, fundraising, PR, etc. But, to be honest, I thrive on being busy and being creative.
This particular image is a work in progress for an installation called TRACE. This has been commissioned for Light Night in Nottingham on 10 February 2012, and will include projections ofmy photography and with film, sound and parkour in collaboration with a whole host of digital media and sonic artists.
It's an expansion on a previous installation I did last year, but the themes this time focus more specifically on the reinvention of abandoned spaces such as old industrial units, closed petrol stations and rooftops to convey a relationship and comparative existence.
It'll take place in an underpass, next to the Broadmarsh Centre and Maid Marian Way, under an NCP car park; a shining example of a disused and forgotten pocket of the city that has been adopted by the parkour community as a playground ripe for exploring and given new meaning.
As for future projects, I recently did a shoot with the parkour community in Berlin, and there is talk of taking our TRACE shoot to Paris. If funds and time were available to definitely say that these ideas could happen, that would be truly amazing. Perhaps they will…
2011年12月21日 星期三
City proceeds with plans to install lights at pool
The Morris City Council approved improved lighting to be put in at the Morris pool.
The council approved the addition to the pool project at its regular meeting Monday. It was approved 6 to1 with Alderman Don Hansen voting against it. Alderman Drew Muffler was absent.
The change order for the pool project was for $101,331 to put in new lighting that would provide for security and night swimming. The current lights had to be redone anyway, and to redo the existing security lights, it would be about $47,000, said Alderman Ken Sereno, chairman of the Parks and Annexation Committee.
Those security lights are not usable for night swimming, Mayor Richard Kopczick said. At the committee meeting last month pool managers Jim Hitchcock and George Dare shared with them new activities the pool could offer if it had night swimming, such as private parties or scuba lessons, Alderman Julian Houston added.
The $101,331 provides the installation of new lights that will serve for security and night swimming. For security, they would be on an automatic system, but for night swimming they would have to be put on manually.
Alderman Randy Larson asked why the additional expense did not go out for bid.
"The job is $1.7 million and this is just a standard change order," City Engineer Warren Olson said.
Larson asked Olson if he thought the price for the new lights was reasonable. Olson said it came is less than thought, as he estimated $110,000.
"If we don't do it now and they decide 10 years from now they need lights, it's going to be three times the price, because they'll have to tear out the concrete to put in the poles," Houston said.
Several updates are planned for the pool, which was originally built in the 1920s. Renovations include a new liner, returning diving boards to the pool, removing the baby pool and expanding the pool to the south for a zero-depth entry, installing a new filtration system and adding a splash park for young children, as well as water slides.
The project had been stalled because the state was not issuing Morris its permit due to a statewide issue with pool drains. Many pool drains nationally are considered dangerous due to a drainage system that was used. When open, they can suck a swimmer in and cause them to drown.
This was not a problem previously at the Morris pool, and the new pool plans call for an approved drainage system to be installed. The city expects to have its permit in January and, barring an unexpectedly terrible winter, Kopczick said, the project should still be completed by its scheduled June 1 date.
The council approved the addition to the pool project at its regular meeting Monday. It was approved 6 to1 with Alderman Don Hansen voting against it. Alderman Drew Muffler was absent.
The change order for the pool project was for $101,331 to put in new lighting that would provide for security and night swimming. The current lights had to be redone anyway, and to redo the existing security lights, it would be about $47,000, said Alderman Ken Sereno, chairman of the Parks and Annexation Committee.
Those security lights are not usable for night swimming, Mayor Richard Kopczick said. At the committee meeting last month pool managers Jim Hitchcock and George Dare shared with them new activities the pool could offer if it had night swimming, such as private parties or scuba lessons, Alderman Julian Houston added.
The $101,331 provides the installation of new lights that will serve for security and night swimming. For security, they would be on an automatic system, but for night swimming they would have to be put on manually.
Alderman Randy Larson asked why the additional expense did not go out for bid.
"The job is $1.7 million and this is just a standard change order," City Engineer Warren Olson said.
Larson asked Olson if he thought the price for the new lights was reasonable. Olson said it came is less than thought, as he estimated $110,000.
"If we don't do it now and they decide 10 years from now they need lights, it's going to be three times the price, because they'll have to tear out the concrete to put in the poles," Houston said.
Several updates are planned for the pool, which was originally built in the 1920s. Renovations include a new liner, returning diving boards to the pool, removing the baby pool and expanding the pool to the south for a zero-depth entry, installing a new filtration system and adding a splash park for young children, as well as water slides.
The project had been stalled because the state was not issuing Morris its permit due to a statewide issue with pool drains. Many pool drains nationally are considered dangerous due to a drainage system that was used. When open, they can suck a swimmer in and cause them to drown.
This was not a problem previously at the Morris pool, and the new pool plans call for an approved drainage system to be installed. The city expects to have its permit in January and, barring an unexpectedly terrible winter, Kopczick said, the project should still be completed by its scheduled June 1 date.
2011年12月20日 星期二
Lighting Rose Crossing Once Again
Last Christmas Eve, the mile of Rose Crossing between U.S. Highway 2 and Whitefish Stage was darker than it had been in years without luminaries lighting the road.
This year, Evergreen firefighters are bringing the light back to Rose Crossing, and they hope to start a new tradition of giving within the community.
Luminaries are candles that have been placed into paper bags that are weighed down with sand. In the past, residents on Rose Crossing, led by Kim Lister, have lined the road with these points of light as a way to celebrate the holidays with their neighbors.
The Christmas Eve tradition on Rose Crossing has been going on for at least 17 years, according to Evergreen Fire Rescue Chief Craig Williams, and his department would like to see it continue.
Williams said he contacted Lister after she decided not to light the luminaries last year to see if the fire department could help take on the tradition. The firefighters also wanted to add a new dimension to the project.
"I thought we could turn this into a fundraiser trying to benefit local groups and organizations in need," Williams said.
This year, people can purchase a $5 luminary and dedicate it to a loved one, Williams said. The regular luminaries will be in brown paper bags, and the purchased bag will be white. People who donate can pick up their bag at the fire department and decorate it before the event, Williams said.
The proceeds will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Evergreen.
Evergreen firefighters put up the initial cost of the candles, bags and sand, Williams said, which were quickly recouped by donations from the Lions Club of Evergreen and the Rotary Club.
Now, the fire department is hoping for donations that will go directly to the Boys and Girls Club.
The luminary lighting will begin at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve and run through 6 p.m., Williams said. Firefighters will be on hand to monitor the multiple tiny flames and Flathead County sheriff's deputies will help ensure the safety of participants and ward off vandals.
It will also be a training opportunity for the fire department, he said, because they will run the scene like an incident. But the basis of the event is about the community, he said.
"It's really cool; people generally drive with their lights off," Williams said.
Lister said last week that she and her family would provide mentorship support for the firefighters and that she was happy to see the luminary tradition come back. She and her family kept the event going for "many, many years" because it was beloved within the community.
"It was one of those things that gave a lot of people a gift, something to do as a family on Christmas Eve that was available to anyone regardless of where they came from," Lister said.
The Listers decided to switch gears last year and not pursue the luminaries because it takes up a big portion of the day that they would like to spend elsewhere, she said. After they made that decision, Lister said the fire department contacted her and tried to get the event going, but there wasn't enough time to pull it off.
This year, Evergreen firefighters are bringing the light back to Rose Crossing, and they hope to start a new tradition of giving within the community.
Luminaries are candles that have been placed into paper bags that are weighed down with sand. In the past, residents on Rose Crossing, led by Kim Lister, have lined the road with these points of light as a way to celebrate the holidays with their neighbors.
The Christmas Eve tradition on Rose Crossing has been going on for at least 17 years, according to Evergreen Fire Rescue Chief Craig Williams, and his department would like to see it continue.
Williams said he contacted Lister after she decided not to light the luminaries last year to see if the fire department could help take on the tradition. The firefighters also wanted to add a new dimension to the project.
"I thought we could turn this into a fundraiser trying to benefit local groups and organizations in need," Williams said.
This year, people can purchase a $5 luminary and dedicate it to a loved one, Williams said. The regular luminaries will be in brown paper bags, and the purchased bag will be white. People who donate can pick up their bag at the fire department and decorate it before the event, Williams said.
The proceeds will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Evergreen.
Evergreen firefighters put up the initial cost of the candles, bags and sand, Williams said, which were quickly recouped by donations from the Lions Club of Evergreen and the Rotary Club.
Now, the fire department is hoping for donations that will go directly to the Boys and Girls Club.
The luminary lighting will begin at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve and run through 6 p.m., Williams said. Firefighters will be on hand to monitor the multiple tiny flames and Flathead County sheriff's deputies will help ensure the safety of participants and ward off vandals.
It will also be a training opportunity for the fire department, he said, because they will run the scene like an incident. But the basis of the event is about the community, he said.
"It's really cool; people generally drive with their lights off," Williams said.
Lister said last week that she and her family would provide mentorship support for the firefighters and that she was happy to see the luminary tradition come back. She and her family kept the event going for "many, many years" because it was beloved within the community.
"It was one of those things that gave a lot of people a gift, something to do as a family on Christmas Eve that was available to anyone regardless of where they came from," Lister said.
The Listers decided to switch gears last year and not pursue the luminaries because it takes up a big portion of the day that they would like to spend elsewhere, she said. After they made that decision, Lister said the fire department contacted her and tried to get the event going, but there wasn't enough time to pull it off.
2011年12月19日 星期一
The Southampton VTS is a good room with good features and a good team
It may be some years before such a 3D display becomes the primary data source for VTS operators but it is expected to perform a valuable supplementary role in the control room today by providing a visual alternative that also includes a play-back capability that can be used for the analysis of any incidents.
The views of VTS equipment manufacturer Transas Marine endorse the importance of the software design and Chris Loizou, director of the company's shore-based systems business unit explains current thinking.
"The most important general questions which have to be addressed when estimating VTS software usability relate to how easy it is for a VTS operator to work with the system for the first time as well as when the system is already familiar to the operator, how fast and efficiently they may perform the required VTS operations. If an operator hasn't used the system for quite a long time, it is important to know how long it will it take him or her to start using the system with the same efficiency as before.
"Working conditions are also vital for the performance of the VTS operator. Not only the workstation design has to be optimised, ensuring convenient disposition of monitors and controls; comfortable sitting and furniture, lighting, but also the whole control room design shall be well thought out," explains Mr Loizou.
The importance of ergonomics in the control room has already been recognised by the ABP VTS managers in Southampton. They have commissioned John Hargreaves of HAM Associates to analyse their working environment and recommend improvements.
His company specialises in the ergonomics of emergency control rooms for the police and ambulance services so he has been spending long periods at Southampton noting how the VTS operators work. Although the aim is to ensure the optimum design of the new control room, lessons learned already are enabling the existing set-up to work more efficiently.
"The very nature of vessel traffic work is very tiring but there are things we can do to improve the situation," says Mr Hargreaves."Ultimately our aim is to reduce fatigue and thereby increase vigilance." His preliminary observations have already recommended improving the lighting and changing the arrangement of displays so that less head turning is required by the operators in Southampton.
Having already completed a study of the ABP Harwich VTS, John Hargreaves is aware of the need for the effective integration of the various systems in use. He looks to reduce the number of mouse clicks needed to complete a task and he has learned a lot by asking the VTS operators at Southampton to think aloud as they work. By encouraging the operators to give a running commentary on what they are doing, Mr Hargreaves has been able to examine how decisions are being made.
"Overall, the Southampton VTS is a good room with good features and a good team," he says but he is confident that he will find ways to improve it further."Based on our systematic examination system there is usually an awful lot that can be done to reduce the cognitive load of the operators," he says.
The views of VTS equipment manufacturer Transas Marine endorse the importance of the software design and Chris Loizou, director of the company's shore-based systems business unit explains current thinking.
"The most important general questions which have to be addressed when estimating VTS software usability relate to how easy it is for a VTS operator to work with the system for the first time as well as when the system is already familiar to the operator, how fast and efficiently they may perform the required VTS operations. If an operator hasn't used the system for quite a long time, it is important to know how long it will it take him or her to start using the system with the same efficiency as before.
"Working conditions are also vital for the performance of the VTS operator. Not only the workstation design has to be optimised, ensuring convenient disposition of monitors and controls; comfortable sitting and furniture, lighting, but also the whole control room design shall be well thought out," explains Mr Loizou.
The importance of ergonomics in the control room has already been recognised by the ABP VTS managers in Southampton. They have commissioned John Hargreaves of HAM Associates to analyse their working environment and recommend improvements.
His company specialises in the ergonomics of emergency control rooms for the police and ambulance services so he has been spending long periods at Southampton noting how the VTS operators work. Although the aim is to ensure the optimum design of the new control room, lessons learned already are enabling the existing set-up to work more efficiently.
"The very nature of vessel traffic work is very tiring but there are things we can do to improve the situation," says Mr Hargreaves."Ultimately our aim is to reduce fatigue and thereby increase vigilance." His preliminary observations have already recommended improving the lighting and changing the arrangement of displays so that less head turning is required by the operators in Southampton.
Having already completed a study of the ABP Harwich VTS, John Hargreaves is aware of the need for the effective integration of the various systems in use. He looks to reduce the number of mouse clicks needed to complete a task and he has learned a lot by asking the VTS operators at Southampton to think aloud as they work. By encouraging the operators to give a running commentary on what they are doing, Mr Hargreaves has been able to examine how decisions are being made.
"Overall, the Southampton VTS is a good room with good features and a good team," he says but he is confident that he will find ways to improve it further."Based on our systematic examination system there is usually an awful lot that can be done to reduce the cognitive load of the operators," he says.
2011年12月18日 星期日
'B' warm in a new home in Malton
With major energy suppliers increasing their prices by 18% this winter, householders will be looking for ways of reducing their fuel bills and Redrow could hold the key.
As the weather turns colder, some people may worry about the cost of cranking up the heating to keep warm. But by switching from an old home that let's difficult to heat, to an energy efficient new home at Priorpot Mews in the Norton area of Malton they could save money.
Newly built Redrow homes are among just 1% of the nation's properties that achieve a 'B' rating for energy efficiency; they are 40% more energy efficient than homes built only a decade ago and 70% more economical than properties built before 1990; and they consistently outperform the recommended minimum air-tightness standard, which means they lose less heat and have fewer draughts.
Patsy Aicken, sales director for Redrow Homes (Yorkshire), said: "Now that the nights have turned dark and wintry people will increasingly want to be turning on their heating, but may be concerned about the cost because of rises in gas and electricity bills.
"Government regulations require new homes to be built to increasingly demanding environmental standards, so our new homes are packed with features designed to minimise energy use. Research conducted three years ago suggests our customers could save around 500 a year on their fuel bills compared with the cost or running an older property and with increases in the cost of gas and electricity the average saving now could be even higher."
New Redrow homes include highly efficient heating systems with thermostatic heating control; state of the art double glazed doors and windows that are less draughty; ultra-effective wall and roof insulation; ground insulation to help keep floors warm; and energy-efficient light fittings. They also boast water-efficient kitchen and bathroom fittings for further savings.
"The cost of making an older property as energy efficient as one our new homes soon mounts up. To install a new heating system, loft insulation and new windows in a typical three-bedroom home would set you back almost 10,000," Patsy added.
Priorpot Mews features a choice of three and four-bedroom homes with prices from 152,999.
They all boast kitchens that are both practical and stylish with integrated top brand name appliances including microwave, oven and fridge freezer plus tall cupboards and extra wide drawers that offer plenty of storage space.
Family bathrooms and en-suite master bedrooms enjoy quality fixtures and fittings, with a tile range exclusive to Redrow.
As the weather turns colder, some people may worry about the cost of cranking up the heating to keep warm. But by switching from an old home that let's difficult to heat, to an energy efficient new home at Priorpot Mews in the Norton area of Malton they could save money.
Newly built Redrow homes are among just 1% of the nation's properties that achieve a 'B' rating for energy efficiency; they are 40% more energy efficient than homes built only a decade ago and 70% more economical than properties built before 1990; and they consistently outperform the recommended minimum air-tightness standard, which means they lose less heat and have fewer draughts.
Patsy Aicken, sales director for Redrow Homes (Yorkshire), said: "Now that the nights have turned dark and wintry people will increasingly want to be turning on their heating, but may be concerned about the cost because of rises in gas and electricity bills.
"Government regulations require new homes to be built to increasingly demanding environmental standards, so our new homes are packed with features designed to minimise energy use. Research conducted three years ago suggests our customers could save around 500 a year on their fuel bills compared with the cost or running an older property and with increases in the cost of gas and electricity the average saving now could be even higher."
New Redrow homes include highly efficient heating systems with thermostatic heating control; state of the art double glazed doors and windows that are less draughty; ultra-effective wall and roof insulation; ground insulation to help keep floors warm; and energy-efficient light fittings. They also boast water-efficient kitchen and bathroom fittings for further savings.
"The cost of making an older property as energy efficient as one our new homes soon mounts up. To install a new heating system, loft insulation and new windows in a typical three-bedroom home would set you back almost 10,000," Patsy added.
Priorpot Mews features a choice of three and four-bedroom homes with prices from 152,999.
They all boast kitchens that are both practical and stylish with integrated top brand name appliances including microwave, oven and fridge freezer plus tall cupboards and extra wide drawers that offer plenty of storage space.
Family bathrooms and en-suite master bedrooms enjoy quality fixtures and fittings, with a tile range exclusive to Redrow.
2011年12月15日 星期四
LED Thermal Characterization Gets Easier
One of the complex aspects of light-emitting diode (LED) system design is the thermal management. Do it right, and your LED lives a long, bright life. Analyze the thermals incorrectly, and you ruin your LED's performance, making it dimmer and causing it to fail prematurely.
A new method combines hardware measurement and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to let engineers predict the heat inside an LED, or an integrated circuit, as well as in the systems and subsystems surrounding it. Engineers from Mentor Graphics, which developed the new methodology, say the ability to scientifically characterize the thermal behavior of the component, as well as its systems and subsystems, has been missing up to now.
"If you've solved the heat problems at the component level, it doesn't necessarily mean you've solved the subsystem level," John Isaac, director of market development for Mentor Graphics' System Design Division, told us in an interview. "And if you've solved it at the subsystem level, it doesn't necessarily mean you've solved it at the system level. You have to solve the problem at all three levels in order to end up with good thermal management in your final product."
Few engineers would argue with Isaac's assessment. Most know they need to characterize all three levels -- the device itself, the printed circuit board, and the surrounding system -- whether they're designing an automotive headlamp or a massive sign at Times Square.
However, most use seat-of-the-pants methods, calculating their thermal needs from data sheets published by component manufacturers. For them, the question is not whether those sheets are accurate, but whether such methods really help determine larger system performance.
"Thermal experts are usually really good," Isaac says. "But if they're just 10 percent or 15 percent off, then you end up kidding yourself" about the thermal model's value.
Mentor Graphics' solution is to port the information from the in situ measurement hardware to a CFD model running on a separate computer. The company employs a hardware system known as T3Ster, which uses thermistors or similar sensors to measure electrical current from the pins on an LED's package.
T3Ster then employs its own software to create a "structure function" from the data points, making a graph that plots thermal resistance against thermal capacitance for each layer of the device. The hardware sends the R-C plots to a CFD-based package called FloTherm, which does a big-picture heat analysis of the entire system.
"This method gives us a phenomenal amount of data," says Keith Hanna, director of marketing for Mentor Graphics' mechanical analysis division. "It lets us see the heat path from the source all the way out to ambient."
Mentor Graphics' engineers say that the key to the methodology is T3Ster's ability to convert the massive number of data points into an R-C model that the CFD software can use. Up to now, they said, there has been no way for a CFD system to manipulate the data created by the test and measurement hardware.
A better understanding of the thermal mechanics of any LED-based device could be a critical step forward for engineers. In the electronics industry, widely published data suggests that if an LED's junction temperature stays at about 100C, the part will last for 80,000 hours.
Boost that temperature to 135C, and the part's lifetime can drop to about 20,000 hours. Mechanical engineers have long believed that if they can characterize the path to ambient accurately, they can draw that heat away from the junction and keep the device at 100 degrees.
A new method combines hardware measurement and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to let engineers predict the heat inside an LED, or an integrated circuit, as well as in the systems and subsystems surrounding it. Engineers from Mentor Graphics, which developed the new methodology, say the ability to scientifically characterize the thermal behavior of the component, as well as its systems and subsystems, has been missing up to now.
"If you've solved the heat problems at the component level, it doesn't necessarily mean you've solved the subsystem level," John Isaac, director of market development for Mentor Graphics' System Design Division, told us in an interview. "And if you've solved it at the subsystem level, it doesn't necessarily mean you've solved it at the system level. You have to solve the problem at all three levels in order to end up with good thermal management in your final product."
Few engineers would argue with Isaac's assessment. Most know they need to characterize all three levels -- the device itself, the printed circuit board, and the surrounding system -- whether they're designing an automotive headlamp or a massive sign at Times Square.
However, most use seat-of-the-pants methods, calculating their thermal needs from data sheets published by component manufacturers. For them, the question is not whether those sheets are accurate, but whether such methods really help determine larger system performance.
"Thermal experts are usually really good," Isaac says. "But if they're just 10 percent or 15 percent off, then you end up kidding yourself" about the thermal model's value.
Mentor Graphics' solution is to port the information from the in situ measurement hardware to a CFD model running on a separate computer. The company employs a hardware system known as T3Ster, which uses thermistors or similar sensors to measure electrical current from the pins on an LED's package.
T3Ster then employs its own software to create a "structure function" from the data points, making a graph that plots thermal resistance against thermal capacitance for each layer of the device. The hardware sends the R-C plots to a CFD-based package called FloTherm, which does a big-picture heat analysis of the entire system.
"This method gives us a phenomenal amount of data," says Keith Hanna, director of marketing for Mentor Graphics' mechanical analysis division. "It lets us see the heat path from the source all the way out to ambient."
Mentor Graphics' engineers say that the key to the methodology is T3Ster's ability to convert the massive number of data points into an R-C model that the CFD software can use. Up to now, they said, there has been no way for a CFD system to manipulate the data created by the test and measurement hardware.
A better understanding of the thermal mechanics of any LED-based device could be a critical step forward for engineers. In the electronics industry, widely published data suggests that if an LED's junction temperature stays at about 100C, the part will last for 80,000 hours.
Boost that temperature to 135C, and the part's lifetime can drop to about 20,000 hours. Mechanical engineers have long believed that if they can characterize the path to ambient accurately, they can draw that heat away from the junction and keep the device at 100 degrees.
2011年12月13日 星期二
Lights to turn on smiles
Flamingoes, giant umbrellas, talking ornaments and Santa Claus are all making an appearance in Renwick.
They are among 40,000 Christmas lights on display at Ron and Val Alcorn's home in Kowhai Dr.
For the past 16 years the Alcorns have been lighting up their driveway, garden, garage and house at Christmas time.
Mrs Alcorn said it started as a way to bring a smile to children's faces, and it grew from there. She works on the lights and ornaments throughout the year, collecting them from overseas, including relatives in the United States.
Unfortunately, 8 metres of lights she had ordered from Australia had not turned up in time to be put up this year.
Every year the display is changed slightly. "The neighbourhood kids will quickly tell me what is different."
This year a large star and 11 umbrellas had been added, as well as a few thousand more lights.
The couple, along with members of Mrs Alcorn's marching team, Funseekers Leisure Marchers, started putting together the display on November 10 and finished at the weekend.
Most of the lights were low voltage and ran off solar panels, but the power bill did go up about $100 a month while the lights were on, Mrs Alcorn said.
Donations left in a box at the gate helped pay the bill, and any extra money was donated to the marching team.
Peter Hind, of Blackmans Bay, has been installing Christmas lights at his place for as long as he can remember, with the display getting a bit bigger each year.
The 57-year-old electrician said he spent about two and a half days putting up the lights.
As well as colourful lights on strings and garden stakes, the display includes inflatable figures, glowing reindeer and the usual Christmas trees.
Mr Hind installs the lights at the start of each December.
He said he and his wife, Jill, got a kick out of seeing the smiles on the faces of passing children.
"It's good for the kids in the neighbourhood," he said.
The Hinds' place is one of a number of homes in Hampden Court that is lit up brightly this Christmas.
Mr Hind said it had become a bit of an annual street tradition, with neighbours gathering for an evening walk around to view the lights in the week leading up to Christmas.
Mr Hind said the widespread availability of solar-powered lights had made installation easier and power bills cheaper. He said 40 per cent of his lights were solar-powered.
They are among 40,000 Christmas lights on display at Ron and Val Alcorn's home in Kowhai Dr.
For the past 16 years the Alcorns have been lighting up their driveway, garden, garage and house at Christmas time.
Mrs Alcorn said it started as a way to bring a smile to children's faces, and it grew from there. She works on the lights and ornaments throughout the year, collecting them from overseas, including relatives in the United States.
Unfortunately, 8 metres of lights she had ordered from Australia had not turned up in time to be put up this year.
Every year the display is changed slightly. "The neighbourhood kids will quickly tell me what is different."
This year a large star and 11 umbrellas had been added, as well as a few thousand more lights.
The couple, along with members of Mrs Alcorn's marching team, Funseekers Leisure Marchers, started putting together the display on November 10 and finished at the weekend.
Most of the lights were low voltage and ran off solar panels, but the power bill did go up about $100 a month while the lights were on, Mrs Alcorn said.
Donations left in a box at the gate helped pay the bill, and any extra money was donated to the marching team.
Peter Hind, of Blackmans Bay, has been installing Christmas lights at his place for as long as he can remember, with the display getting a bit bigger each year.
The 57-year-old electrician said he spent about two and a half days putting up the lights.
As well as colourful lights on strings and garden stakes, the display includes inflatable figures, glowing reindeer and the usual Christmas trees.
Mr Hind installs the lights at the start of each December.
He said he and his wife, Jill, got a kick out of seeing the smiles on the faces of passing children.
"It's good for the kids in the neighbourhood," he said.
The Hinds' place is one of a number of homes in Hampden Court that is lit up brightly this Christmas.
Mr Hind said it had become a bit of an annual street tradition, with neighbours gathering for an evening walk around to view the lights in the week leading up to Christmas.
Mr Hind said the widespread availability of solar-powered lights had made installation easier and power bills cheaper. He said 40 per cent of his lights were solar-powered.
2011年12月12日 星期一
New Energy-Saving Bulbs Are Coming -- Here's How You Find the Right Ones for Your Home
Come January 1st, a new light bulb standard goes into effect that gradually phase out the 125-year-old inefficient incandescent bulbs. The old 100W bulb as we used to know it will go away in 2012 and be replaced by more efficient incandescent bulbs as well as other energy saving bulbs such as CFLs and LEDs. The old 75W incandescents will be phased out in 2013 and the 60 and 40W bulbs in 2014.
Back in 2007 these standards were signed into law by President Bush with broad bipartisan support and will require new bulbs to be roughly 30% more energy efficient. These standards have huge benefits and will cut our nation's electric bill by approximately $13 billion/year and eliminate the need for 30 large power plants.
Well guess what, January 1, 2012 is around the corner and there continues to be a lot of misinformation out there. Let me be clear: Consumers will continue to have an array of lighting choices, including new and improved incandescent bulbs.
In an attempt to help consumers better prepare for this new standard and find the right energy saving bulbs for their home, I put together in David Letterman style list of the "Top-5 Tips on How to Select the Right Energy Saving Bulbs." So here it goes:
In the past we all bought bulbs based on the amount of power it used. We all got the call — "bring me home a pack of 100W bulbs from the hardware store." While consumers were basing their bulb purchase on the amount of power it used, in reality they were trying to buy a certain amount of light and chose between the 40, 60, 75, or 100W incandescent bulb.
Given the range of efficiencies the new bulbs provide, buying a bulb solely on the amount of power it uses no longer makes sense and we'll have to shift to buying lumens. For example, a typical 60W light bulb produces around 800 lumens. The CFL that produces 800 lumens only uses 15W. To help consumers during this transition, bulb packages will likely contain a claim like "as bright as a 60W bulb" or "15W = 60W" to indicate the bulb is a suitable replacement for your old 60W incandescent bulb.
Most consumers are most familiar with and used to bulbs that are marketed as "warm white." CFLs and LEDs come in many flavors, some offer light that is similar to the slightly yellowish glow a "warm white" incandescent bulb provides while others offer "cooler" white light that is blueish/white in color.
While numerous surveys show that more than 80% of consumers who use CFLs state that they are very happy with them, the reason that some are dissatisfied is likely because they bought the wrong one. When shopping for a CFL or LED, be sure to look for one marketed as warm white. Those marketed as cool white or day light have much different light color, which only a small minority of consumers prefer.
An increasingly popular type of fixture in our home are the circular downlights in our ceilings, also known as recessed cans. These are intended to use directional type bulbs designed to shine the light downwards. As such do NOT put in a regular pear shaped bulb or a spiral CFL bulb inside the recessed can. They will not shine the light where you want it. Instead select an LED, CFL or halogen reflector or flood light.
Back in 2007 these standards were signed into law by President Bush with broad bipartisan support and will require new bulbs to be roughly 30% more energy efficient. These standards have huge benefits and will cut our nation's electric bill by approximately $13 billion/year and eliminate the need for 30 large power plants.
Well guess what, January 1, 2012 is around the corner and there continues to be a lot of misinformation out there. Let me be clear: Consumers will continue to have an array of lighting choices, including new and improved incandescent bulbs.
In an attempt to help consumers better prepare for this new standard and find the right energy saving bulbs for their home, I put together in David Letterman style list of the "Top-5 Tips on How to Select the Right Energy Saving Bulbs." So here it goes:
In the past we all bought bulbs based on the amount of power it used. We all got the call — "bring me home a pack of 100W bulbs from the hardware store." While consumers were basing their bulb purchase on the amount of power it used, in reality they were trying to buy a certain amount of light and chose between the 40, 60, 75, or 100W incandescent bulb.
Given the range of efficiencies the new bulbs provide, buying a bulb solely on the amount of power it uses no longer makes sense and we'll have to shift to buying lumens. For example, a typical 60W light bulb produces around 800 lumens. The CFL that produces 800 lumens only uses 15W. To help consumers during this transition, bulb packages will likely contain a claim like "as bright as a 60W bulb" or "15W = 60W" to indicate the bulb is a suitable replacement for your old 60W incandescent bulb.
Most consumers are most familiar with and used to bulbs that are marketed as "warm white." CFLs and LEDs come in many flavors, some offer light that is similar to the slightly yellowish glow a "warm white" incandescent bulb provides while others offer "cooler" white light that is blueish/white in color.
While numerous surveys show that more than 80% of consumers who use CFLs state that they are very happy with them, the reason that some are dissatisfied is likely because they bought the wrong one. When shopping for a CFL or LED, be sure to look for one marketed as warm white. Those marketed as cool white or day light have much different light color, which only a small minority of consumers prefer.
An increasingly popular type of fixture in our home are the circular downlights in our ceilings, also known as recessed cans. These are intended to use directional type bulbs designed to shine the light downwards. As such do NOT put in a regular pear shaped bulb or a spiral CFL bulb inside the recessed can. They will not shine the light where you want it. Instead select an LED, CFL or halogen reflector or flood light.
2011年12月11日 星期日
2013 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe
BMW's 6 Series has traditionally consisted only of two-door offerings, the new 2013 6 Series Gran Coupe may throw that convention to the wind.
Despite the name, the Gran Coupe has four doors and is technically a sedan. No matter -- the Gran Coupe's sultry looks and low, sloping roofline instantly distinguish it from a traditional sedan design. Aside from the revised sheetmetal and the addition of two doors, the new model is essentially a close twin of the 6 Series coupe and convertible models that are already on sale.
The Gran Coupe's front fascia design those used on existing 6 Series variants. The rounded nose features traditional kidney-shaped grilles and upswept headlights, with two long creases along the hood that meet at the Roundel emblem just above the grille. Xenon headlights are standard, although LED units are optional. In profile, the 6 Series resembles other so-called four-door coupes like the Volkswagen CC and Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class.
A sharp crease runs from the front fender emblem through the door handles, terminating at the edge of the LED taillights. The trunk is concave, with a flatter deck lid than the coupe and convertible models. The relatively short rear window is topped by a line of red LEDs, which serve as the high-mounted brake lamp. Eighteen-inch wheels, LED fog lights, and twin chrome exhaust tips are standard design flourishes. The C-pillars, of course, exhibit BMW's traditional Hofmeister kink.
Inside, too, the Gran Coupe doesn't fall far from the 6 Series tree. A tall center console bisects the cabin, while a 10.2-inch LCD screen for the iDrive system sits above the climate and audio controls on the center stack.
Elegantly sweeping dashboard lines and BMW's traditional four-binnacle instrument cluster are present, with the same assortment of technology and equipment as other 6 Series models. In addition to iDrive, the Gran Coupe has the Driving Experience Control button, which allows the driver to alter an array of vehicle settings in presets called Comfort, Sport, and Eco Pro.
The increased vehicle length and wheelbase helps improve rear-seat legroom compared to two-door 6 Series models, and the headliner is scalloped above the rear seats to provide slightly more headroom. BMW calls the car a "4+1", a tacit admission that while there are five seatbelts, the Gran Coupe is really meant for four passengers; a fifth occupant would have to straddle the large center console.
As in the two-door versions, much of the suspension is made from lightweight aluminum, and adaptive dampers are standard. Optional chassis tech includes Active Roll Stabilization, which adjusts the anti-roll bars to keep the car level in turns; and Integral Active Steering, which varies the steering ratio and can also steer the rear wheels to help reduce the car's turning radius.
Safety gizmos range from stability control and parking sensors, to the 360-degree Top View Camera and blind-spot warning system. Other options include a Bang & Olufsen stereo said to provide "a feast of aural pleasure," Night Vision, and full-LED headlights. The M Sport package bundles new fascias and side skirts, black-chrome exhaust tips, black brake calipers, 19-inch wheels (with 20-inchers optional), leather and Alcantara seats, and a leather steering wheel.
Pricing for the car and its assorted options won't be revealed until closer to the on-sale date. Expect it to start slightly higher than the 640i coupe's entry price of $74,425 (including an $875 destination charge).
Despite the name, the Gran Coupe has four doors and is technically a sedan. No matter -- the Gran Coupe's sultry looks and low, sloping roofline instantly distinguish it from a traditional sedan design. Aside from the revised sheetmetal and the addition of two doors, the new model is essentially a close twin of the 6 Series coupe and convertible models that are already on sale.
The Gran Coupe's front fascia design those used on existing 6 Series variants. The rounded nose features traditional kidney-shaped grilles and upswept headlights, with two long creases along the hood that meet at the Roundel emblem just above the grille. Xenon headlights are standard, although LED units are optional. In profile, the 6 Series resembles other so-called four-door coupes like the Volkswagen CC and Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class.
A sharp crease runs from the front fender emblem through the door handles, terminating at the edge of the LED taillights. The trunk is concave, with a flatter deck lid than the coupe and convertible models. The relatively short rear window is topped by a line of red LEDs, which serve as the high-mounted brake lamp. Eighteen-inch wheels, LED fog lights, and twin chrome exhaust tips are standard design flourishes. The C-pillars, of course, exhibit BMW's traditional Hofmeister kink.
Inside, too, the Gran Coupe doesn't fall far from the 6 Series tree. A tall center console bisects the cabin, while a 10.2-inch LCD screen for the iDrive system sits above the climate and audio controls on the center stack.
Elegantly sweeping dashboard lines and BMW's traditional four-binnacle instrument cluster are present, with the same assortment of technology and equipment as other 6 Series models. In addition to iDrive, the Gran Coupe has the Driving Experience Control button, which allows the driver to alter an array of vehicle settings in presets called Comfort, Sport, and Eco Pro.
The increased vehicle length and wheelbase helps improve rear-seat legroom compared to two-door 6 Series models, and the headliner is scalloped above the rear seats to provide slightly more headroom. BMW calls the car a "4+1", a tacit admission that while there are five seatbelts, the Gran Coupe is really meant for four passengers; a fifth occupant would have to straddle the large center console.
As in the two-door versions, much of the suspension is made from lightweight aluminum, and adaptive dampers are standard. Optional chassis tech includes Active Roll Stabilization, which adjusts the anti-roll bars to keep the car level in turns; and Integral Active Steering, which varies the steering ratio and can also steer the rear wheels to help reduce the car's turning radius.
Safety gizmos range from stability control and parking sensors, to the 360-degree Top View Camera and blind-spot warning system. Other options include a Bang & Olufsen stereo said to provide "a feast of aural pleasure," Night Vision, and full-LED headlights. The M Sport package bundles new fascias and side skirts, black-chrome exhaust tips, black brake calipers, 19-inch wheels (with 20-inchers optional), leather and Alcantara seats, and a leather steering wheel.
Pricing for the car and its assorted options won't be revealed until closer to the on-sale date. Expect it to start slightly higher than the 640i coupe's entry price of $74,425 (including an $875 destination charge).
2011年12月8日 星期四
Senior Living: Thoughtful gifts are always appreciated
There are two kinds of people. Those who are ready for Christmas by noon on Black Friday, and those who are not.
This column won't be of much use to those who have their lights up, holiday decorations artfully placed throughout the house, Christmas cards addressed, stamped and ready to mail, and last but not least, presents wrapped and under the tree or already dropped off at the post office. Keep reading if you still have shopping to do.
It's easy to shop for kids who make detailed Christmas lists and teenagers who love gift cards and electronic gadgets. It gets harder as people grow older. We hear a lot of wives complain that their husband just goes out and purchases what they want (or think they need) without regard to timing of a special occasion such as a birthday or Christmas. Husbands are perplexed when their wife seems like a professional shopper whose bargain hunting skills can't be matched.
Seniors may be the most difficult to shop for at Christmastime. After all, seniors have lived through many Christmases. Selecting gifts that can be appreciated can be a daunting task. Dietary restrictions or physical limitations may make the gift inappropriate or just awkwardly received.
People value gifts differently. Some believe a gift is the thing that represents a thoughtful expression of love — taking the time to select the right item and spending hard-earned money. Others would like the gift of yourself — giving your time to show your love, rather than giving a thing.
We have some ideas for those who want things, and those who value the gift of your time.
Food items — keep in mind dietary restrictions. Candy, nuts, salty snacks, specialty coffees may be difficult to consume for those who suffer from diabetes, digestive issues, tooth problems, high blood pressure, etc. Instead, give herbal teas, hot cocoa, mints, hard candy or home-baked goods that fit within their dietary restrictions.
Entertainment items — keep in mind physical limitations such as sight and hearing. Give large print books and crossword puzzles, a full spectrum light lamp, a folding lap table or desk, books on CD, or a headphone designed to receive TV broadcasts. Purchase a CD featuring music from their era.
Clothing items — keep in mind mobility limitations. Some shoes with heavy treads can cause trips and falls. Leather soled shoes don't catch on carpeting, buttons, zippers and snaps may be hard to manage for those with arthritis. Look for garments with soft and stretchy fabric in the person's favorite color.
Create your own gift certificate for an event — accompany your loved one to lunch or dinner at a favorite restaurant, a trip to the mall, movies or Turtle Bay Museum.
Give a "Fix-It Ticket" — offer to fix something in their home such as a leaky faucet, crumbling step or wobbly hand rail. Install grab bars, a shower seat in the bathroom and place nonskid strips in the tub or shower. For those who aren't so handy, change the batteries in their smoke detectors and replace burned out light bulbs.
This column won't be of much use to those who have their lights up, holiday decorations artfully placed throughout the house, Christmas cards addressed, stamped and ready to mail, and last but not least, presents wrapped and under the tree or already dropped off at the post office. Keep reading if you still have shopping to do.
It's easy to shop for kids who make detailed Christmas lists and teenagers who love gift cards and electronic gadgets. It gets harder as people grow older. We hear a lot of wives complain that their husband just goes out and purchases what they want (or think they need) without regard to timing of a special occasion such as a birthday or Christmas. Husbands are perplexed when their wife seems like a professional shopper whose bargain hunting skills can't be matched.
Seniors may be the most difficult to shop for at Christmastime. After all, seniors have lived through many Christmases. Selecting gifts that can be appreciated can be a daunting task. Dietary restrictions or physical limitations may make the gift inappropriate or just awkwardly received.
People value gifts differently. Some believe a gift is the thing that represents a thoughtful expression of love — taking the time to select the right item and spending hard-earned money. Others would like the gift of yourself — giving your time to show your love, rather than giving a thing.
We have some ideas for those who want things, and those who value the gift of your time.
Food items — keep in mind dietary restrictions. Candy, nuts, salty snacks, specialty coffees may be difficult to consume for those who suffer from diabetes, digestive issues, tooth problems, high blood pressure, etc. Instead, give herbal teas, hot cocoa, mints, hard candy or home-baked goods that fit within their dietary restrictions.
Entertainment items — keep in mind physical limitations such as sight and hearing. Give large print books and crossword puzzles, a full spectrum light lamp, a folding lap table or desk, books on CD, or a headphone designed to receive TV broadcasts. Purchase a CD featuring music from their era.
Clothing items — keep in mind mobility limitations. Some shoes with heavy treads can cause trips and falls. Leather soled shoes don't catch on carpeting, buttons, zippers and snaps may be hard to manage for those with arthritis. Look for garments with soft and stretchy fabric in the person's favorite color.
Create your own gift certificate for an event — accompany your loved one to lunch or dinner at a favorite restaurant, a trip to the mall, movies or Turtle Bay Museum.
Give a "Fix-It Ticket" — offer to fix something in their home such as a leaky faucet, crumbling step or wobbly hand rail. Install grab bars, a shower seat in the bathroom and place nonskid strips in the tub or shower. For those who aren't so handy, change the batteries in their smoke detectors and replace burned out light bulbs.
2011年12月7日 星期三
The Mysterious Mister Tien
And they found the perfect company to help spin their trash into gold: Kinsei Sangyo of Japan had advertised garbage-gassing units so clean and so green that only wisps of what looks like water vapor float from the stacks. Cleveland would be the first city in the U.S. to showcase the Kinsei technology — a new toy to wave in front of jealous neighbors.
So Cleveland Public Power called the only company licensed to sell Kinsei units in the U.S.: Princeton Environmental Group, based in New Jersey and headed by a man named Peter Tien. He made wonderful promises: a $180 million gasification plant would employ 90 to 120 Clevelanders. A Kinsei manufacturing facility would be built here, and Cleveland would become an epicenter for plant design and manufacturing across the country.
In order to witness the gasification majesty in action, the city paid for a junket to Asia in August 2009. For Tien, the trip marked the ideal opportunity to trot out another enviro-happy sales pitch: Could your fine city use some LED light bulbs too?
Tien, it turned out, also represented Chinese LED maker Sunpu Opto Semiconductor — and did he have a deal for Cleveland: For the low price of 10 years' worth of LED bulbs, Sunpu would build an LED factory on our shores, complete with 350 new jobs.
With visions of trash and light-bulb supremacy dancing in their heads, city officials delightedly forged ahead with Sunpu Opto. East Cleveland-based GE, which happens to specialize in light bulbs, was not as delighted. Neither were other U.S. LED companies, who were curious why they never had a shot at such a contract.
Outrage ensued, the city asked for contract bids, and in the end, Sunpu Opto didn't even try to compete — the company couldn't live up to the promises Tien had said it would. Neither could GE or anyone else, for that matter.
Yet in the midst of Cleveland's Great LED Fiasco of 2010, city leaders signed a $1.5 million no-bid contract with Tien's Princeton Environmental for preliminary designs and an EPA permit for a Kinsei gasification plant. The money is held in an escrow account, and Tien earns his cut once the EPA permit is approved.
But if the LED incident wasn't enough to sprout doubt about Tien's promises, recent gasification dealings should.
Scene obtained a string of e-mails between Cleveland Public Power and Tien indicating that trouble started last spring. Not only did Tien ask for a contract modification allowing him more time to produce the required design reports; he requested a $600,000 advance on his $1.5 million so he could pay his subcontractors.
"Transparency of process with a clear and well-developed timeline and milestones is what I need from you in order to remain confident of your ability to deliver on the contract," CPP Commissioner Ivan Henderson replied to one such request from Tien in April.
The city didn't hand over the cash, but it did extend Tien's deadlines. Now, with the EPA permit en route to approval, the city and CPP seem to have cooled to Tien's advances.
So Cleveland Public Power called the only company licensed to sell Kinsei units in the U.S.: Princeton Environmental Group, based in New Jersey and headed by a man named Peter Tien. He made wonderful promises: a $180 million gasification plant would employ 90 to 120 Clevelanders. A Kinsei manufacturing facility would be built here, and Cleveland would become an epicenter for plant design and manufacturing across the country.
In order to witness the gasification majesty in action, the city paid for a junket to Asia in August 2009. For Tien, the trip marked the ideal opportunity to trot out another enviro-happy sales pitch: Could your fine city use some LED light bulbs too?
Tien, it turned out, also represented Chinese LED maker Sunpu Opto Semiconductor — and did he have a deal for Cleveland: For the low price of 10 years' worth of LED bulbs, Sunpu would build an LED factory on our shores, complete with 350 new jobs.
With visions of trash and light-bulb supremacy dancing in their heads, city officials delightedly forged ahead with Sunpu Opto. East Cleveland-based GE, which happens to specialize in light bulbs, was not as delighted. Neither were other U.S. LED companies, who were curious why they never had a shot at such a contract.
Outrage ensued, the city asked for contract bids, and in the end, Sunpu Opto didn't even try to compete — the company couldn't live up to the promises Tien had said it would. Neither could GE or anyone else, for that matter.
Yet in the midst of Cleveland's Great LED Fiasco of 2010, city leaders signed a $1.5 million no-bid contract with Tien's Princeton Environmental for preliminary designs and an EPA permit for a Kinsei gasification plant. The money is held in an escrow account, and Tien earns his cut once the EPA permit is approved.
But if the LED incident wasn't enough to sprout doubt about Tien's promises, recent gasification dealings should.
Scene obtained a string of e-mails between Cleveland Public Power and Tien indicating that trouble started last spring. Not only did Tien ask for a contract modification allowing him more time to produce the required design reports; he requested a $600,000 advance on his $1.5 million so he could pay his subcontractors.
"Transparency of process with a clear and well-developed timeline and milestones is what I need from you in order to remain confident of your ability to deliver on the contract," CPP Commissioner Ivan Henderson replied to one such request from Tien in April.
The city didn't hand over the cash, but it did extend Tien's deadlines. Now, with the EPA permit en route to approval, the city and CPP seem to have cooled to Tien's advances.
2011年12月6日 星期二
Seasonal scene: Holiday lights go up in Forestville
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as many villages and cities have put up their holiday lights. For the village of Forestville, this is the first year it has had the opportunity to do so.
During the past year, with the work of Forestville resident and Planning Board member Gloria Yeager and others the village was able to collect enough donations to buy six snowflake lights to mount on the utility poles in the heart of the village.
The 6-foot LED snowflake lights were recently put up by volunteers to go along with the decoration of the village's median on Route 39.
At the recent Forestville Village Board meeting Yeager thanked everyone for their help.
"I would like to thank the community and the people who donated toward the snowflakes, they are up and also Kirk and Frank Schneider who installed them on Saturday morning for us. We had a lot of donations in memory of family and some of the merchants and village people donated ... I would like to thank those who donated and those who worked," she said.
She also thanked Jason Schneider for the use of his cherry picker, and for the ride that she and Trustee Beth Bowker took in it on Saturday.
Yeager worked with New York State Electric and Gas for permission to put up the lights and the village on the liability. She thanked Bowker, Trustee Carol Woodward and former Trustee George Taylor for their help as well.
"They look awesome," Woodward said.
Bowker agreed and said that many residents had told her they think the lights look good.
"Oh, I think they look beautiful," Bowker said.
In preparation for the upcoming holiday season the board mentioned the annual visit from Santa at the Fire Hall on Dec. 10. Santa will arrive at 6 p.m. and will hand out goodie bags to the children. There will also be photos, hot cocoa and wooden ornaments donated by Ray Woodward to decorate. If there is snow then there will also be sled rides.
The board accepted the request of the Skateboard Park Project Committee to disband as a result of the poor economy and lack of interest. The committee did decide to give the money that it had collected for the project for community organizations like the Fall Festival Committee, the Youth-Recreation Committee, the Forestville High School Bowling Team for new uniforms and to Forestville instrumental music teacher Jeffrey Geblein for band supplies.
Woodward reminded residents that the Forestville Food Pantry is collecting new pajamas for less fortunate children in the community.
During the past year, with the work of Forestville resident and Planning Board member Gloria Yeager and others the village was able to collect enough donations to buy six snowflake lights to mount on the utility poles in the heart of the village.
The 6-foot LED snowflake lights were recently put up by volunteers to go along with the decoration of the village's median on Route 39.
At the recent Forestville Village Board meeting Yeager thanked everyone for their help.
"I would like to thank the community and the people who donated toward the snowflakes, they are up and also Kirk and Frank Schneider who installed them on Saturday morning for us. We had a lot of donations in memory of family and some of the merchants and village people donated ... I would like to thank those who donated and those who worked," she said.
She also thanked Jason Schneider for the use of his cherry picker, and for the ride that she and Trustee Beth Bowker took in it on Saturday.
Yeager worked with New York State Electric and Gas for permission to put up the lights and the village on the liability. She thanked Bowker, Trustee Carol Woodward and former Trustee George Taylor for their help as well.
"They look awesome," Woodward said.
Bowker agreed and said that many residents had told her they think the lights look good.
"Oh, I think they look beautiful," Bowker said.
In preparation for the upcoming holiday season the board mentioned the annual visit from Santa at the Fire Hall on Dec. 10. Santa will arrive at 6 p.m. and will hand out goodie bags to the children. There will also be photos, hot cocoa and wooden ornaments donated by Ray Woodward to decorate. If there is snow then there will also be sled rides.
The board accepted the request of the Skateboard Park Project Committee to disband as a result of the poor economy and lack of interest. The committee did decide to give the money that it had collected for the project for community organizations like the Fall Festival Committee, the Youth-Recreation Committee, the Forestville High School Bowling Team for new uniforms and to Forestville instrumental music teacher Jeffrey Geblein for band supplies.
Woodward reminded residents that the Forestville Food Pantry is collecting new pajamas for less fortunate children in the community.
2011年12月5日 星期一
Winter lights in the Valley
It's that time of year again. The time of year when you get stuck inside watching movies and wondering when the warmth is going to come back so you can have fun outside again.
We often find ourselves trying to think of fun things to do during the winter months in the wonderful cold weather. Looking at Christmas lights could be the perfect solution.
The biggest Christmas light event is the Temple Square lights in downtown Salt Lake. But guess what? Now people don't have to travel to Salt Lake to see a great show of Christmas lights. Just a 15 to 30 minute car ride south of Orem and Provo are two fun little light shows, much closer than the lights displayed in Utah's capitol.
The first one is in Spanish Fork. There, they have the "Annual Spanish Fork Festival of Lights" put on by the city, which only costs $5 per car and the price goes up the larger your vehicle gets. The lights can be seen from now until Jan. 1 at Canyon View Park in Spanish Fork from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. If the local radio station is tuned to 99.9 FM, viewers can also listen to Christmas music while driving and looking at the lights.
The second set of lights is found just a little further south of Spanish Fork in Salem. Salem puts together a small but fun set of lights on Salem Pond, known as the "Salem Pond Holiday Lights."
You can park your car, get out and walk around the pond to see floating lights in the shape of Christmas trees as well as a nativity scene on the west end of the pond. One of the coolest features is being able to walk across the pond's bridge, which is covered in lights itself. Looking to the east, a dozen or so lights in the shape of more Christmas trees, can be seen.
These lights are located at Knoll Park in Salem and are on every night at dusk and run to the end of December.
For those who don't want to drive south, don't worry, just drive over to the shopping center at Riverwoods in north Provo.
At the Riverwoods there are Christmas lights everywhere and even free horse carriage rides. People can view the lights Monday through Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The carriage rides are available on Monday, Friday and Saturday nights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. One of the best features about the lights at the Salem Pond and the Riverwoods is that they are free.
Or for fun, just drive around town and check out neighborhood lights or make an adventure of it and get lost trying to find the houses with the best Christmas lights. All these wonderful lights and more are fun to see and experience. Take a date or go with a group of friends to enjoy the lights available in Utah Valley. Don't forget to dress warm and maybe even take some hot chocolate. It's cold outside. So get off your couch and stop watching all those movies and check out the sweet lights in the valley.
We often find ourselves trying to think of fun things to do during the winter months in the wonderful cold weather. Looking at Christmas lights could be the perfect solution.
The biggest Christmas light event is the Temple Square lights in downtown Salt Lake. But guess what? Now people don't have to travel to Salt Lake to see a great show of Christmas lights. Just a 15 to 30 minute car ride south of Orem and Provo are two fun little light shows, much closer than the lights displayed in Utah's capitol.
The first one is in Spanish Fork. There, they have the "Annual Spanish Fork Festival of Lights" put on by the city, which only costs $5 per car and the price goes up the larger your vehicle gets. The lights can be seen from now until Jan. 1 at Canyon View Park in Spanish Fork from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. If the local radio station is tuned to 99.9 FM, viewers can also listen to Christmas music while driving and looking at the lights.
The second set of lights is found just a little further south of Spanish Fork in Salem. Salem puts together a small but fun set of lights on Salem Pond, known as the "Salem Pond Holiday Lights."
You can park your car, get out and walk around the pond to see floating lights in the shape of Christmas trees as well as a nativity scene on the west end of the pond. One of the coolest features is being able to walk across the pond's bridge, which is covered in lights itself. Looking to the east, a dozen or so lights in the shape of more Christmas trees, can be seen.
These lights are located at Knoll Park in Salem and are on every night at dusk and run to the end of December.
For those who don't want to drive south, don't worry, just drive over to the shopping center at Riverwoods in north Provo.
At the Riverwoods there are Christmas lights everywhere and even free horse carriage rides. People can view the lights Monday through Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The carriage rides are available on Monday, Friday and Saturday nights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. One of the best features about the lights at the Salem Pond and the Riverwoods is that they are free.
Or for fun, just drive around town and check out neighborhood lights or make an adventure of it and get lost trying to find the houses with the best Christmas lights. All these wonderful lights and more are fun to see and experience. Take a date or go with a group of friends to enjoy the lights available in Utah Valley. Don't forget to dress warm and maybe even take some hot chocolate. It's cold outside. So get off your couch and stop watching all those movies and check out the sweet lights in the valley.
2011年12月4日 星期日
Aim for a green, eco-friendly Christmas this year
The wrapping paper and outdated ornaments, the dried-up evergreens and tangled lights--it all has to go somewhere.
Long after the last fruitcake expires, those holiday castoffs will still be sitting in your local landfill.
All told, Americans produce 25 million extra tons of trash during the holiday season.
That's a 25 percent spike in what we throw away, according to ULS (Use Less Stuff), a consumer resource for greener living.
This year, cut your consumption and have an earth-friendly holiday.
Below are some tips on ways to reduce, reuse and recycle, and green up your Christmas.
Update your lights. When they first appeared on the market, LED holiday lights lacked the warmth and charm of incandescent bulbs, and many consumers were hesitant to make the switch.
The latest offerings, however, capture the soft twinkle of traditional lights--and use 80 percent less energy.
"During the holidays, people want to spend time with their family and friends, not worry about their electricity bills," says Allyson Schmutter, spokeswoman for the Alliance to Save Energy.
"By remaining energy-conscious, consumers get to be both festive and frugal, and using LEDs is one of the best ways to cut your electric use during the holiday season.
The final tree is just wrapped (and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped) in strands of white twinkle lights. I purchased some of the LED lights last year, and I wasn't too fond of the bright light cast by them for use on the "real" indoor Christmas tree. I think the newer ones are a bit warmer. So we used all of the bright ones on the tomato-cage tree, as it will be used outside and the brightness will be effective.
"They use less energy than the more commonly used incandescent lights, and they are just as pretty to keep your home aglow." To save even more on your holiday electric bill, add timers to the new light displays.
Leaving lights on 24 hours a day will quadruple your energy costs and create four times the pollution, according to the Alliance to Save Energy.
When trading up, be sure to recycle your old strands.
Wrap it with Furoshiki. Skip the paper and bows, and instead give gifts hidden in carefully folded fabric.
This Japanese tradition dates back hundreds of years, and it's catching on here in the United States as a savvy alternative to wasteful wrapping paper. "The ages-old fabric-tying technique from Japan called furoshiki is quickly becoming a tres chic eco-friendly way to share gifts," says Dana S. Holmes.
"Wrapping a gift in fabric instantly sets it apart from the others--and the how-to videos all over YouTube prove that furoshiki is much easier than origami."
Long after the last fruitcake expires, those holiday castoffs will still be sitting in your local landfill.
All told, Americans produce 25 million extra tons of trash during the holiday season.
That's a 25 percent spike in what we throw away, according to ULS (Use Less Stuff), a consumer resource for greener living.
This year, cut your consumption and have an earth-friendly holiday.
Below are some tips on ways to reduce, reuse and recycle, and green up your Christmas.
Update your lights. When they first appeared on the market, LED holiday lights lacked the warmth and charm of incandescent bulbs, and many consumers were hesitant to make the switch.
The latest offerings, however, capture the soft twinkle of traditional lights--and use 80 percent less energy.
"During the holidays, people want to spend time with their family and friends, not worry about their electricity bills," says Allyson Schmutter, spokeswoman for the Alliance to Save Energy.
"By remaining energy-conscious, consumers get to be both festive and frugal, and using LEDs is one of the best ways to cut your electric use during the holiday season.
The final tree is just wrapped (and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped) in strands of white twinkle lights. I purchased some of the LED lights last year, and I wasn't too fond of the bright light cast by them for use on the "real" indoor Christmas tree. I think the newer ones are a bit warmer. So we used all of the bright ones on the tomato-cage tree, as it will be used outside and the brightness will be effective.
"They use less energy than the more commonly used incandescent lights, and they are just as pretty to keep your home aglow." To save even more on your holiday electric bill, add timers to the new light displays.
Leaving lights on 24 hours a day will quadruple your energy costs and create four times the pollution, according to the Alliance to Save Energy.
When trading up, be sure to recycle your old strands.
Wrap it with Furoshiki. Skip the paper and bows, and instead give gifts hidden in carefully folded fabric.
This Japanese tradition dates back hundreds of years, and it's catching on here in the United States as a savvy alternative to wasteful wrapping paper. "The ages-old fabric-tying technique from Japan called furoshiki is quickly becoming a tres chic eco-friendly way to share gifts," says Dana S. Holmes.
"Wrapping a gift in fabric instantly sets it apart from the others--and the how-to videos all over YouTube prove that furoshiki is much easier than origami."
2011年12月1日 星期四
Buildings can "Come to Life"
It is probably no surprise to hear that internet usage has surpassed that of watching T.V. with today's youth. One major study indicates that young people spend on average 16.7 hours per week "surfing the web". With the information they see provided in a format that would compete with a major Pixar production it's understandable why kids enjoy this medium.
It's also made a profound impact on the way they expect to see information presented, responding more positively to interactive experiences which "breathe life" into educational topics. This has made it challenging for teachers and parents to compete with the glitz and glamor of the internet when trying to present information they feel is important to their children's development.
This was the dilemma educators at one school district in Houston, Texas faced when planning their new LEED Gold facility. A major emphasis behind the district's desire to obtain LEED certification was to be able to educate students in the merits of energy-efficiency, hopefully positioning them as future leaders in community sustainability. Understanding the need for a high-tech delivery system, but not fully understanding what the message should be or how to convey it, the district turned to Nathan Bailey, Energy Solutions Consultant for Automated Logic in Houston.
ALC has been a partner with the district for more than 15 years as their Building Automation System provider and was eager to support the owner in their quest for LEED Gold. The goal was to utilize ALC's technology to transform building data into usable information that could be introduced into the learning environment, carrying with it the message of energy conservation and sustainability.
Bailey's concern was not so much the technical issues of this challenge but rather how he could accomplish the mission in a form compatible with the school's curriculum. This led to meetings that included the architect and engineer while reaching out to the school principal, teachers, curriculum developers and the district energy manager. Bailey recalls, "Everyone was asked for their input. Starting with what it would look like, where and when it would be used and how we could present everything in a way that would be both fun and educational at the same time".
The basic premise was to help students correlate energy savings into something that would be readily understood. "If we told them they had used 10,000 kWh of electricity they wouldn't understand the impact that had on the environment, but if we told them they used enough energy to power 100-houses, 10,000-TV sets or 100,000-light bulbs they would more likely understand what that meant. The same holds true with water, comparing consumption to things like bathtubs and swimming pools helps them understand and relate this back to something in their everyday life".
What developed from this process was dubbed "EcoScreen", taking hard form as a stylish kiosk display located in the school's front lobby and available to anyone walking through the front doors. Aesthetically impressive, fully interactional and easy to use, it appears "engaging" so as to draw students in for a closer look.
"We were determined to build EcoScreen so it would appear as familiar and friendly as possible, something students would find immediately recognizable". What better than a giant flat screen with an interactive touch screen display and high-definition graphics.
It's also made a profound impact on the way they expect to see information presented, responding more positively to interactive experiences which "breathe life" into educational topics. This has made it challenging for teachers and parents to compete with the glitz and glamor of the internet when trying to present information they feel is important to their children's development.
This was the dilemma educators at one school district in Houston, Texas faced when planning their new LEED Gold facility. A major emphasis behind the district's desire to obtain LEED certification was to be able to educate students in the merits of energy-efficiency, hopefully positioning them as future leaders in community sustainability. Understanding the need for a high-tech delivery system, but not fully understanding what the message should be or how to convey it, the district turned to Nathan Bailey, Energy Solutions Consultant for Automated Logic in Houston.
ALC has been a partner with the district for more than 15 years as their Building Automation System provider and was eager to support the owner in their quest for LEED Gold. The goal was to utilize ALC's technology to transform building data into usable information that could be introduced into the learning environment, carrying with it the message of energy conservation and sustainability.
Bailey's concern was not so much the technical issues of this challenge but rather how he could accomplish the mission in a form compatible with the school's curriculum. This led to meetings that included the architect and engineer while reaching out to the school principal, teachers, curriculum developers and the district energy manager. Bailey recalls, "Everyone was asked for their input. Starting with what it would look like, where and when it would be used and how we could present everything in a way that would be both fun and educational at the same time".
The basic premise was to help students correlate energy savings into something that would be readily understood. "If we told them they had used 10,000 kWh of electricity they wouldn't understand the impact that had on the environment, but if we told them they used enough energy to power 100-houses, 10,000-TV sets or 100,000-light bulbs they would more likely understand what that meant. The same holds true with water, comparing consumption to things like bathtubs and swimming pools helps them understand and relate this back to something in their everyday life".
What developed from this process was dubbed "EcoScreen", taking hard form as a stylish kiosk display located in the school's front lobby and available to anyone walking through the front doors. Aesthetically impressive, fully interactional and easy to use, it appears "engaging" so as to draw students in for a closer look.
"We were determined to build EcoScreen so it would appear as familiar and friendly as possible, something students would find immediately recognizable". What better than a giant flat screen with an interactive touch screen display and high-definition graphics.
2011年11月30日 星期三
HTC Radar Review
The HTC Radar features the unibody aluminium design with the plastic portion around the base opening up to insert your SIM card. There is no way to access the battery and when you insert or remove your SIM card, the phone tends to restart. The silver colour of the unibody finish runs along the edge on the front portion and covers a majority of the rear portion. We had got the white coloured model.
It is also available in black. On the front fascia you have the three touch sensitive buttons - Back, Home and Bing search. On the top left hand corner you have the proximity sensor and the VGA front facing camera on the right hand corner. Coming to the top you have the power/sleep button on the right hand side and a 3.5mm audio jack on the left hand side.
The left hand edge has the micro USB slot whereas on the right hand edge you have long volume rocker on the top edge and camera shutter button below. Flip around the phone and you get the 5MP camera which has a fixed aperture of F2.2 beside which you have the LED flash and a speaker section on the other side.
The HTC Radar is a 3.8-inch capacitive touchscreen phone having an S-LCD screen with the gorilla glass on top. It houses the Qualcomm MSM 8255 system-on-chip with a 1 GHz Scorpion processor and Adreno 205 GPU. It comes with an internal storage of 8 GB without any option to add external memory, which effectively means that you have only 6.54 GB at your disposal after budgeting the memory taken up by the OS and native apps.
AS you cannot skin Windows Phone OS, HTC has added some native apps. Some of the interesting ones are HTC Hub – which gives you the weather readings of your area and you can add around five other cities; Photo Enhancer allows you to add filters to photos; Flashlight allows you to use your LED flash as a flashlight; Locations is very similar to FootPrints seen on Android phones which allows you to take pictures and geo tag them along with information such as directions, website etc and finally HTC Watch allows you to purchase movies and TV shows, but we could not get this working here as the screen always used to prompt us to download updates and it only had Trailers tab.
The interface as is the case with Windows Phone OS, does not appear cluttered and the live tiles are carried forward in this update. If you have more than 45 applications, then it divides them into alphabets which makes accessing them easy.
Multitasking is a major feature of this iteration, allowing you to play music in the background while you are on another app. But if you are downloading stuff and minimise the screen, it resumes from where it had stopped when its reactivated. Social integration includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and you can sync your Yahoo, Gmail and Windows Live account.
Users who are migrating from Android and Apple will have to do a lot of unlearning as the tile interface is the underlying theme in most apps. Twitter and Facebook apps for instance are completely different from those seen on the other OSes. Facebook tile on the homepage keeps flipping photos of your contacts. Messaging and Mail tiles keep getting updated the moment you get any new message, giving you a quick view of unread mails or messages.
The integration philosophy around contacts is quite good. You can have all your social connectivity and contact information under one umbrella, so that you get all the notifications related to a particular contact in one place. You can also create groups for group messaging.
It is also available in black. On the front fascia you have the three touch sensitive buttons - Back, Home and Bing search. On the top left hand corner you have the proximity sensor and the VGA front facing camera on the right hand corner. Coming to the top you have the power/sleep button on the right hand side and a 3.5mm audio jack on the left hand side.
The left hand edge has the micro USB slot whereas on the right hand edge you have long volume rocker on the top edge and camera shutter button below. Flip around the phone and you get the 5MP camera which has a fixed aperture of F2.2 beside which you have the LED flash and a speaker section on the other side.
The HTC Radar is a 3.8-inch capacitive touchscreen phone having an S-LCD screen with the gorilla glass on top. It houses the Qualcomm MSM 8255 system-on-chip with a 1 GHz Scorpion processor and Adreno 205 GPU. It comes with an internal storage of 8 GB without any option to add external memory, which effectively means that you have only 6.54 GB at your disposal after budgeting the memory taken up by the OS and native apps.
AS you cannot skin Windows Phone OS, HTC has added some native apps. Some of the interesting ones are HTC Hub – which gives you the weather readings of your area and you can add around five other cities; Photo Enhancer allows you to add filters to photos; Flashlight allows you to use your LED flash as a flashlight; Locations is very similar to FootPrints seen on Android phones which allows you to take pictures and geo tag them along with information such as directions, website etc and finally HTC Watch allows you to purchase movies and TV shows, but we could not get this working here as the screen always used to prompt us to download updates and it only had Trailers tab.
The interface as is the case with Windows Phone OS, does not appear cluttered and the live tiles are carried forward in this update. If you have more than 45 applications, then it divides them into alphabets which makes accessing them easy.
Multitasking is a major feature of this iteration, allowing you to play music in the background while you are on another app. But if you are downloading stuff and minimise the screen, it resumes from where it had stopped when its reactivated. Social integration includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and you can sync your Yahoo, Gmail and Windows Live account.
Users who are migrating from Android and Apple will have to do a lot of unlearning as the tile interface is the underlying theme in most apps. Twitter and Facebook apps for instance are completely different from those seen on the other OSes. Facebook tile on the homepage keeps flipping photos of your contacts. Messaging and Mail tiles keep getting updated the moment you get any new message, giving you a quick view of unread mails or messages.
The integration philosophy around contacts is quite good. You can have all your social connectivity and contact information under one umbrella, so that you get all the notifications related to a particular contact in one place. You can also create groups for group messaging.
2011年11月29日 星期二
LEDs Produced on Patterned Sapphire Substrates With MicroTech's Wet Process Improve Overall Efficiency
MicroTech has developed a wet process station for the etching of PSS (Patterned Sapphire Substrate) wafers used to increase light extraction and efficiency in high brightness LEDs. The wet station can improve manufacturing throughput, a major stumbling block to making LEDs price competitive with fluorescent lighting.
As LED manufacturers look to decrease costs, the use of PSS becomes more important. The average light output power is reported to be up to 37% larger on a PSS than a standard sapphire wafer. The use of patterned sapphire substrates reduces the dislocation density in the GaN (gallium nitride) layer and enhances the LEE (light extraction efficiency) from the LED chip.
Traditional dry etching on PSS produces highly efficient, very bright light but throughput is slow and scalability is impacted as wafer sizes increase. Typically, more dry etch tools are needed to keep throughput up as wafer size increases.
In the wet etch process in the MicroTech system, GaN or InGaN (indium gallium nitride) coated wafers are submerged in the etch tank with a mixture of etching and buffering agents. Prior to submersion, a silicon dioxide mask is patterned using PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition). A lithography step exposes the desired pattern to etch. The sapphire etch process takes place between 260 degreesC and 300 degreesC. This ultra high temperature etches the wafers exponentially more quickly than the standard 150-180 degreesC process and therefore, speeds throughput.
Independent customer evaluations show a significant improvement in light extraction and efficiency in the substrates and a considerable cost savings, even if polishing work is performed on the wafers after etch to increase efficiencies. Development work is also being done to improve the dome shapes created on the wafers with a CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process. New non-cone shapes are also under development.
Recently MicroTech announced the delivery of a similar concept process station to the solar industry that delivers high throughput and lower cost-of-ownership benefits by moving from a dry CVD process to an efficient, production-proven, environmentally friendly wet process.
About MicroTech Systems With over 25 years' experience in high technology equipment manufacturing, MicroTech Systems provides engineering, manufacturing and applications support for wet process and chemical distribution tools.
Their innovative "intelligent process station" to monitor, measure and control the process makes their tools more efficient with a lower cost-of-ownership. They supply the semiconductor, solar, MEMS, LED, Biotech and FPD industries from their Silicon Valley headquarters, which includes a state-of-the-art cleanroom and process development lab.
As LED manufacturers look to decrease costs, the use of PSS becomes more important. The average light output power is reported to be up to 37% larger on a PSS than a standard sapphire wafer. The use of patterned sapphire substrates reduces the dislocation density in the GaN (gallium nitride) layer and enhances the LEE (light extraction efficiency) from the LED chip.
Traditional dry etching on PSS produces highly efficient, very bright light but throughput is slow and scalability is impacted as wafer sizes increase. Typically, more dry etch tools are needed to keep throughput up as wafer size increases.
In the wet etch process in the MicroTech system, GaN or InGaN (indium gallium nitride) coated wafers are submerged in the etch tank with a mixture of etching and buffering agents. Prior to submersion, a silicon dioxide mask is patterned using PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition). A lithography step exposes the desired pattern to etch. The sapphire etch process takes place between 260 degreesC and 300 degreesC. This ultra high temperature etches the wafers exponentially more quickly than the standard 150-180 degreesC process and therefore, speeds throughput.
Independent customer evaluations show a significant improvement in light extraction and efficiency in the substrates and a considerable cost savings, even if polishing work is performed on the wafers after etch to increase efficiencies. Development work is also being done to improve the dome shapes created on the wafers with a CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process. New non-cone shapes are also under development.
Recently MicroTech announced the delivery of a similar concept process station to the solar industry that delivers high throughput and lower cost-of-ownership benefits by moving from a dry CVD process to an efficient, production-proven, environmentally friendly wet process.
About MicroTech Systems With over 25 years' experience in high technology equipment manufacturing, MicroTech Systems provides engineering, manufacturing and applications support for wet process and chemical distribution tools.
Their innovative "intelligent process station" to monitor, measure and control the process makes their tools more efficient with a lower cost-of-ownership. They supply the semiconductor, solar, MEMS, LED, Biotech and FPD industries from their Silicon Valley headquarters, which includes a state-of-the-art cleanroom and process development lab.
2011年11月28日 星期一
BMC mulls tough norms for hoardings
It was only after an eight -year-old lost his life that the municipal corporation has realised the dangers of hoardings placed on the city's 33,000 lamp posts. The corporation now plans to implement tougher norms for hoardings on lamp posts such as increasing the distance between the road and hoarding and specify what material it should be made of.
"After the Viraj Parmar's incident, it became necessary to consider changes in the specifications for hoardings, especially those put up on lamp posts," said Mohan Adtani, additional municipal commissioner. On November 23, Parmar, a Class 3 student of Sardar Vallabh Ashram English Medium School in Sion, stuck his head out of the school bus window to wave goodbye to his friends. His head hit against hoarding hanging precariously on a lamp post.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) mandates that hoardings on lamp posts be placed at a height of above 8ft so that they do not hit pedestrians. But, it does not specify the distance to be maintained between the road and hoarding.
The BMC plans to ensure that there should be at least 3 ft distance between the road and advertisements on lamp posts. "We will demand that the advertisements be on flex or cloth and its frame made of light material not metal," said Adtani.
The BMC should have a uniform policy for hoardings, said Rajhans Singh, opposition leader in BMC. "We never see the BMC pull down commercial hoardings. They always target the political ones." BJP corporator Ashish Shelar said that even parties pay the BMC for putting up hoardings. "Why target only political hoardings?"he asked.
One of the reasons could be that the BMC earns around Rs400 crore a year from commercial hoardings. Now, the BMC has decided to charge the same fee for all kinds of hoardings, said an official from the licence department.
Mr KC Venugopal minister of state for power informed the Lok Sabha that the Bachat Lamp Yojana scheme aims to distribute the Compact Fluorescent Lamps to the households at a price equivalent to the price of the conventional incandescent Lamp ie INR 15 per lamp.
Three types of ICL lamp wattages commonly in use viz. 40W, 60W and 100W are likely to be replaced by the CFL wattages of 9-10W, 12-15W and 20-23W respectively under the BLY scheme. The BLY scheme upon implementation would result in reducing:
1. 6000 MW of electricity generation capacity translating into a potential saving of INR 24000 crores per annum.
2. Combined Green House Gases emission savings of 20 million tonnes of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) from grid connected power plants.
The CFL distribution has been undertaken in Kerala and few parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Assam has issued a tender to select the project implementor for Bachat Lamp Yojana and Tripura is negotiating with the project implementors for BLY implementation in the state.
"After the Viraj Parmar's incident, it became necessary to consider changes in the specifications for hoardings, especially those put up on lamp posts," said Mohan Adtani, additional municipal commissioner. On November 23, Parmar, a Class 3 student of Sardar Vallabh Ashram English Medium School in Sion, stuck his head out of the school bus window to wave goodbye to his friends. His head hit against hoarding hanging precariously on a lamp post.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) mandates that hoardings on lamp posts be placed at a height of above 8ft so that they do not hit pedestrians. But, it does not specify the distance to be maintained between the road and hoarding.
The BMC plans to ensure that there should be at least 3 ft distance between the road and advertisements on lamp posts. "We will demand that the advertisements be on flex or cloth and its frame made of light material not metal," said Adtani.
The BMC should have a uniform policy for hoardings, said Rajhans Singh, opposition leader in BMC. "We never see the BMC pull down commercial hoardings. They always target the political ones." BJP corporator Ashish Shelar said that even parties pay the BMC for putting up hoardings. "Why target only political hoardings?"he asked.
One of the reasons could be that the BMC earns around Rs400 crore a year from commercial hoardings. Now, the BMC has decided to charge the same fee for all kinds of hoardings, said an official from the licence department.
Mr KC Venugopal minister of state for power informed the Lok Sabha that the Bachat Lamp Yojana scheme aims to distribute the Compact Fluorescent Lamps to the households at a price equivalent to the price of the conventional incandescent Lamp ie INR 15 per lamp.
Three types of ICL lamp wattages commonly in use viz. 40W, 60W and 100W are likely to be replaced by the CFL wattages of 9-10W, 12-15W and 20-23W respectively under the BLY scheme. The BLY scheme upon implementation would result in reducing:
1. 6000 MW of electricity generation capacity translating into a potential saving of INR 24000 crores per annum.
2. Combined Green House Gases emission savings of 20 million tonnes of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) from grid connected power plants.
The CFL distribution has been undertaken in Kerala and few parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Assam has issued a tender to select the project implementor for Bachat Lamp Yojana and Tripura is negotiating with the project implementors for BLY implementation in the state.
2011年11月27日 星期日
Residents digest turkey and then break out the decor
Turkey dinners and midnight trips to big-box stores aren't the only hallmarks of Thanksgiving weekend. Many spent the time decking the halls — and lawns, decks, windows, mantels and just about everything else imaginable.
Chris Race of Delran had started decorating Saturday and continued Sunday with a trip to Riverton Pool and Garden Center in Cinnaminson to get a tree. He said he always decorates in the days following the turkey holiday.
"(Decorating on) Thanksgiving weekend? Always!" said Race as he strapped a 10-foot Fraser fir to his car's roof. A townhome resident, Race said he breaks out as many holiday adornments as his homeowners association will allow.
Inside the store, Jane Phillips of Cinnaminson browsed the selection of artificial holly boughs. This year was the first time she expanded her annual holiday decorating to the backyard, which is festooned in lights.
"It's like a winter wonderland," she said. "Now I'm working on the inside."
Like every year, the store offered photos with Santa, a petting zoo and free popcorn during the holiday décor rush. Manager Brenda Ainsworth said the same families return year after year to start their decorating tradition.
Santa held court in the Christmas tree room, while Stoney the Llama entertained outdoors along with two sheep, a goat, a pony, a potbellied pig, an alpaca, a rabbit and geese. Most wore reindeer antlers and holiday vests.
Similar fun could be found at Stellwag's Hidden Acres Farm in Delran, where live animals, model train displays and sleigh rides spice up the holiday shopping pilgrimage. Owner Dawn Gorbe said the trains are a new offering meant to give customers a rare treat while shopping.
Many area retailers say holiday lawn ornaments, greenery, lights, figurines and garland are flying off the shelves with gusto, a finding that contrasts with projections of lackluster consumer behavior for the season. According to holiday spending research findings by the Consumer Federation of America and the Credit Union National Association, 41 percent of 1,011 adults surveyed said they were planning to spend less on the holidays this year than last year and only 8 percent said they planned to spend more.
But Thanksgiving weekend was good as always at Moorestown Hardware on Mill Street, said owner Pete Bender.
"We're having a good season with decorating. There's no doubt about that people are in the spirit," said Bender, who describes retailing in a slumped economy as "flying, but at a low altitude."
"This weekend, we're really seeing a nice little blip of sales. Next week, it will probably flatten out," Bender said.
Both Bender and Beth Perkins, owner of Haines Farm and Garden Supply in Cinnaminson, said the usual hot sellers haven't really changed but the popularity of energy-efficient LED lights over traditional incandescent ones is definitely growing. The technology now illuminates everything from traditional garland to holiday photos to figurines, such as the flower-shaped "hyacinth" lights sold at Riverton Pool and Garden Center.
"Snowsicle" lights that adorn outdoor trees and solar-powered LED lawn snowflakes that change color are key items this year at the store, said Perkins.
Chris Race of Delran had started decorating Saturday and continued Sunday with a trip to Riverton Pool and Garden Center in Cinnaminson to get a tree. He said he always decorates in the days following the turkey holiday.
"(Decorating on) Thanksgiving weekend? Always!" said Race as he strapped a 10-foot Fraser fir to his car's roof. A townhome resident, Race said he breaks out as many holiday adornments as his homeowners association will allow.
Inside the store, Jane Phillips of Cinnaminson browsed the selection of artificial holly boughs. This year was the first time she expanded her annual holiday decorating to the backyard, which is festooned in lights.
"It's like a winter wonderland," she said. "Now I'm working on the inside."
Like every year, the store offered photos with Santa, a petting zoo and free popcorn during the holiday décor rush. Manager Brenda Ainsworth said the same families return year after year to start their decorating tradition.
Santa held court in the Christmas tree room, while Stoney the Llama entertained outdoors along with two sheep, a goat, a pony, a potbellied pig, an alpaca, a rabbit and geese. Most wore reindeer antlers and holiday vests.
Similar fun could be found at Stellwag's Hidden Acres Farm in Delran, where live animals, model train displays and sleigh rides spice up the holiday shopping pilgrimage. Owner Dawn Gorbe said the trains are a new offering meant to give customers a rare treat while shopping.
Many area retailers say holiday lawn ornaments, greenery, lights, figurines and garland are flying off the shelves with gusto, a finding that contrasts with projections of lackluster consumer behavior for the season. According to holiday spending research findings by the Consumer Federation of America and the Credit Union National Association, 41 percent of 1,011 adults surveyed said they were planning to spend less on the holidays this year than last year and only 8 percent said they planned to spend more.
But Thanksgiving weekend was good as always at Moorestown Hardware on Mill Street, said owner Pete Bender.
"We're having a good season with decorating. There's no doubt about that people are in the spirit," said Bender, who describes retailing in a slumped economy as "flying, but at a low altitude."
"This weekend, we're really seeing a nice little blip of sales. Next week, it will probably flatten out," Bender said.
Both Bender and Beth Perkins, owner of Haines Farm and Garden Supply in Cinnaminson, said the usual hot sellers haven't really changed but the popularity of energy-efficient LED lights over traditional incandescent ones is definitely growing. The technology now illuminates everything from traditional garland to holiday photos to figurines, such as the flower-shaped "hyacinth" lights sold at Riverton Pool and Garden Center.
"Snowsicle" lights that adorn outdoor trees and solar-powered LED lawn snowflakes that change color are key items this year at the store, said Perkins.
2011年11月24日 星期四
Lighting up for the season
"Instead of lighting the huge tree like we normally do, we'll be having a Christmas village atmosphere and lighting the smaller trees along the perimeter of the fire hall and public works offices there," said Councillor Amy Coady-Davis, chair of the parks, recreational and special events committee.
"Our tree didn't take root like we had planned, and there was some damage to the tree with high winds, so we removed the tree. And because we are trying to be environmentally conscious we will not be purchasing and transplanting another tree so we are going to make it a village-type atmosphere, which will be nice."
This way, the cost of purchasing and transplanting a tree is eliminated, she said, adding this is the second, if not third time a big tree has had to be transplanted.
"And obviously there is no guarantee that the tree will root and continue to grow," Coun. Coady-Davis said.
"You'll still get the same effect. It will be dark and we'll flick the switch and everything will illuminate."
The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. in front of the fire hall and Public Works Depot.
Coun. Coady-Davis said everything else included will be the same as previous years.
"We'll still have our regular activities, the Salvation Army Band and the greetings from the dignitaries," she said. "Well still be serving our hot chocolate and wieners and loot bags for the children and I'm sure Santa Claus will also make an appearance."
There will be somebody from the community appointed to help Mayor Al Hawkins flick the switch to light up the Christmas village.
"The absence of the tree, obviously, is going to be noticeable, but we want to make it as pretty and Christmassy as possible, so we usually have the little reindeer set and usually the float is there from the Santa Claus parade that the Town enters each year," Coun. Coady-Davis said. "We usually have some other lit figurines, so we're going to add to that this year and really try and step it up a little bit and make it a real Christmassy feel.
"We will have our Christmas carols with the Salvation Army band, they always come and play some beautiful music for us, and everybody looks forward to that," she said. "With the children there getting their hot chocolate and their treat bags, they are usually really excited. All we need I guess is a little sprinkle of snow to add to the moment."
Council purchased new LED lights for the tree last year.
In keeping with Christmas tradition and helping get people in the holiday mood, the Grand Falls Lions Club annual Santa Claus Parade will take place on Dec. 3, and the Keep Christ in Christmas Walk, which is co-sponsored by the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor and the Knights of Columbus, will take place on Dec. 11 and will be leaving from the fire hall at 2:30 p.m.
"Our tree didn't take root like we had planned, and there was some damage to the tree with high winds, so we removed the tree. And because we are trying to be environmentally conscious we will not be purchasing and transplanting another tree so we are going to make it a village-type atmosphere, which will be nice."
This way, the cost of purchasing and transplanting a tree is eliminated, she said, adding this is the second, if not third time a big tree has had to be transplanted.
"And obviously there is no guarantee that the tree will root and continue to grow," Coun. Coady-Davis said.
"You'll still get the same effect. It will be dark and we'll flick the switch and everything will illuminate."
The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. in front of the fire hall and Public Works Depot.
Coun. Coady-Davis said everything else included will be the same as previous years.
"We'll still have our regular activities, the Salvation Army Band and the greetings from the dignitaries," she said. "Well still be serving our hot chocolate and wieners and loot bags for the children and I'm sure Santa Claus will also make an appearance."
There will be somebody from the community appointed to help Mayor Al Hawkins flick the switch to light up the Christmas village.
"The absence of the tree, obviously, is going to be noticeable, but we want to make it as pretty and Christmassy as possible, so we usually have the little reindeer set and usually the float is there from the Santa Claus parade that the Town enters each year," Coun. Coady-Davis said. "We usually have some other lit figurines, so we're going to add to that this year and really try and step it up a little bit and make it a real Christmassy feel.
"We will have our Christmas carols with the Salvation Army band, they always come and play some beautiful music for us, and everybody looks forward to that," she said. "With the children there getting their hot chocolate and their treat bags, they are usually really excited. All we need I guess is a little sprinkle of snow to add to the moment."
Council purchased new LED lights for the tree last year.
In keeping with Christmas tradition and helping get people in the holiday mood, the Grand Falls Lions Club annual Santa Claus Parade will take place on Dec. 3, and the Keep Christ in Christmas Walk, which is co-sponsored by the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor and the Knights of Columbus, will take place on Dec. 11 and will be leaving from the fire hall at 2:30 p.m.
2011年11月23日 星期三
International film festival opens in Goa
Film star Shah Rukh Khan inaugurated the 42nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, by lighting the ceremonial lamp at the Ravindra Bhavan at Margao on Wednesday evening, in the presence of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni.
Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat; Secretary, Ministry of I&B, Uday Kumar Varma; actor Rituparna Sengupta; and IFFI Director Shankar Mohan were among those who attended the event.
Chief guest Shah Rukh Khan, while expressing happiness on his being a part of this cinematic extravaganza, shared his views on cinema as a medium that bound people in a shared experience. Cinema was a modern art of storytelling, "a collective focus addressed to all, open to all and including all."
Festivals such as the IFFI were a manifestation of human happiness and should be seen as a sharing of India, as people gathered to share their joy and creativity. An honest effort was critical for producing anything of value. He complimented the organisers for making that honest effort.
Ms. Soni stressed on the growing eminence of Indian cinema and described the IFFI as an agent of the growing acceptance of Indian cinema. This acceptance had given an impetus and an identity to the industry, making it one of the most prosperous film industries of the world. "Let IFFI become truly an international event, an international people's festival," she said.
Chief Minister Digambar Kamat spoke of his government's plans to make Goa a more desirable and a permanent destination for film shooting.
Life Time Achievement award, which was revived after almost 10 years, was conferred on French film maker Bertrand Tavernier.
The event showcased an extempore painting by Mr. Vilas Nayak on Mr. Tavernier, followed by the screening of a two-minute clip on the acclaimed filmmaker. Ms. Soni presented him with a certificate, a cheque for Rs.10 lakh, a scroll and a shawl.
The international jury panel led by renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Members Dan Wolman from Israel, Lawrence Kardish from the U.S., Lee Yong Kwan from the Busan Film Festival and Tahmineh Milani from Iran were felicitated by Rituparna Sengupta.
The opening film of the festival, 'The Consul of Bordeaux,' directed by Francisco Manso and Joao Correa portrayed the story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a man of conviction who saved 30,000 lives during the World War II. The cast and crew of the Portuguese film were honoured by the hosts.
Curtains will come down on the 42nd IFFI with the Asia premiere of the film 'The Lady' directed by Luc Besson, on December 3.
A group of "Save Old Goa" activists held demonstrations outside the venue, demanding that the closing ceremony of the IFFI be changed from December 3. The date clashed with the annual Old Goa Church festival and would cause inconvenience to the devotees due to the inevitable traffic problems associated with the IFFI ceremony.
The organisers had recently said they would seriously consider the request for a change in the closing date of the IFFI next year.
Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat; Secretary, Ministry of I&B, Uday Kumar Varma; actor Rituparna Sengupta; and IFFI Director Shankar Mohan were among those who attended the event.
Chief guest Shah Rukh Khan, while expressing happiness on his being a part of this cinematic extravaganza, shared his views on cinema as a medium that bound people in a shared experience. Cinema was a modern art of storytelling, "a collective focus addressed to all, open to all and including all."
Festivals such as the IFFI were a manifestation of human happiness and should be seen as a sharing of India, as people gathered to share their joy and creativity. An honest effort was critical for producing anything of value. He complimented the organisers for making that honest effort.
Ms. Soni stressed on the growing eminence of Indian cinema and described the IFFI as an agent of the growing acceptance of Indian cinema. This acceptance had given an impetus and an identity to the industry, making it one of the most prosperous film industries of the world. "Let IFFI become truly an international event, an international people's festival," she said.
Chief Minister Digambar Kamat spoke of his government's plans to make Goa a more desirable and a permanent destination for film shooting.
Life Time Achievement award, which was revived after almost 10 years, was conferred on French film maker Bertrand Tavernier.
The event showcased an extempore painting by Mr. Vilas Nayak on Mr. Tavernier, followed by the screening of a two-minute clip on the acclaimed filmmaker. Ms. Soni presented him with a certificate, a cheque for Rs.10 lakh, a scroll and a shawl.
The international jury panel led by renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Members Dan Wolman from Israel, Lawrence Kardish from the U.S., Lee Yong Kwan from the Busan Film Festival and Tahmineh Milani from Iran were felicitated by Rituparna Sengupta.
The opening film of the festival, 'The Consul of Bordeaux,' directed by Francisco Manso and Joao Correa portrayed the story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a man of conviction who saved 30,000 lives during the World War II. The cast and crew of the Portuguese film were honoured by the hosts.
Curtains will come down on the 42nd IFFI with the Asia premiere of the film 'The Lady' directed by Luc Besson, on December 3.
A group of "Save Old Goa" activists held demonstrations outside the venue, demanding that the closing ceremony of the IFFI be changed from December 3. The date clashed with the annual Old Goa Church festival and would cause inconvenience to the devotees due to the inevitable traffic problems associated with the IFFI ceremony.
The organisers had recently said they would seriously consider the request for a change in the closing date of the IFFI next year.
2011年11月22日 星期二
Vote on outdor Lighting Regulations Delayed Over Requests for Exemptions
Concerns about spoiling holiday displays and hindering agricultural operations prompted the Riverside County Board of Supervisors today to postpone -- for a second time -- a decision on whether to impose fines up to $500 on residents or businesses whose outdoor lights create a nuisance.
"I had no intention to restrict people from lighting their houses for Christmas," Supervisor John Tavaglione said of his proposed "light trespass" ordinance. "I don't care how long they want to leave their lights on. The more holiday lights we see, the better."
One of the measure's provisions stipulates that outdoor holiday decorations are to be turned off by 11 p.m. That restriction, along with concerns that wine growers might face penalties if they use mobile lights during nighttime grape-picking in vineyards, led County Counsel Pamela Walls to request additional time to modify the proposal so that exemptions could be put in place.
Supervisor Jeff Stone mentioned during a hearing on the measure last week that homeowners' associations and community centers are also worried about being fined for running high-intensity security lights.
"You're never going to make everybody happy," Corona-area resident William Larsen told the board today. "There are a few things I'd like to see more of (in the ordinance), and a few things I'd like to see less of."
Larsen inspired Tavaglione to start researching a light trespass law in February 2010 when he presented pictures to the board demonstrating how a neighbor's security lights were illuminating the second-floor of his home every night, all night.
Mead Valley resident Jeff McKinley said he has the same problem, and his only current remedy is to file a lawsuit against his neighbor, who has refused to adjust his exterior lights.
"I can't do anything about it," McKinley told the board today. "I don't have the resources to go to civil court."
Tavaglione said when he introduced the ordinance last month that it would provide the county with the necessary tools to "to deal with individuals who want to harass neighbors through lighting, or who have lighting in place that impacts communities."
The proposal would set penalties for property owners who allow their exterior "luminaires" to shine too brightly, infringing on neighbors' lots. Tavaglione said excess lighting not only wastes resources but affects people's health.
The proposed ordinance would require that all outdoor light fixtures "be located, adequately shielded and directed such that no direct light falls outside the parcel of origin, or onto the public right-of-way" and "shall not blink, flash or rotate."
Exceptions would be made for street lights and lights utilized by public safety agencies, as well as lights used for public or private monuments.
A complaint of light trespass would have to be filed with the sheriff's or code enforcement departments, whose personnel would conduct a follow-up investigation to confirm a violation.
The first two violations in a six-month period would be classified as infractions. A third offense in a six-month period would be treated as a misdemeanor.
The minimum fine for a first offense would be $100. The penalty for a second offense would be $250, and the penalty for three or more offenses would be $500 -- with the possibility of up to six months in county jail.
"I had no intention to restrict people from lighting their houses for Christmas," Supervisor John Tavaglione said of his proposed "light trespass" ordinance. "I don't care how long they want to leave their lights on. The more holiday lights we see, the better."
One of the measure's provisions stipulates that outdoor holiday decorations are to be turned off by 11 p.m. That restriction, along with concerns that wine growers might face penalties if they use mobile lights during nighttime grape-picking in vineyards, led County Counsel Pamela Walls to request additional time to modify the proposal so that exemptions could be put in place.
Supervisor Jeff Stone mentioned during a hearing on the measure last week that homeowners' associations and community centers are also worried about being fined for running high-intensity security lights.
"You're never going to make everybody happy," Corona-area resident William Larsen told the board today. "There are a few things I'd like to see more of (in the ordinance), and a few things I'd like to see less of."
Larsen inspired Tavaglione to start researching a light trespass law in February 2010 when he presented pictures to the board demonstrating how a neighbor's security lights were illuminating the second-floor of his home every night, all night.
Mead Valley resident Jeff McKinley said he has the same problem, and his only current remedy is to file a lawsuit against his neighbor, who has refused to adjust his exterior lights.
"I can't do anything about it," McKinley told the board today. "I don't have the resources to go to civil court."
Tavaglione said when he introduced the ordinance last month that it would provide the county with the necessary tools to "to deal with individuals who want to harass neighbors through lighting, or who have lighting in place that impacts communities."
The proposal would set penalties for property owners who allow their exterior "luminaires" to shine too brightly, infringing on neighbors' lots. Tavaglione said excess lighting not only wastes resources but affects people's health.
The proposed ordinance would require that all outdoor light fixtures "be located, adequately shielded and directed such that no direct light falls outside the parcel of origin, or onto the public right-of-way" and "shall not blink, flash or rotate."
Exceptions would be made for street lights and lights utilized by public safety agencies, as well as lights used for public or private monuments.
A complaint of light trespass would have to be filed with the sheriff's or code enforcement departments, whose personnel would conduct a follow-up investigation to confirm a violation.
The first two violations in a six-month period would be classified as infractions. A third offense in a six-month period would be treated as a misdemeanor.
The minimum fine for a first offense would be $100. The penalty for a second offense would be $250, and the penalty for three or more offenses would be $500 -- with the possibility of up to six months in county jail.
2011年11月21日 星期一
Goodbye Incandescents
After 130 years of using incandescent lamps, China is determined to abandon the energy-guzzling bulbs in favor of more energy-efficient ones.
On November 1, the Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and five other government departments jointly released a joint circular, vowing to gradually halt imports and sales of the traditional incandescent lamps.
Those lamps are widely used for both household and commercial lighting. Electricity is used to heat up the thin wire filament inside the bulb until it glows and produces light. Unfortunately, while incandescent bulbs are effective at illuminating even the darkest of spaces, they are not energy efficient. Much of the electricity is used to make heat, and light is only a by-product.
In 1882, China's first incandescent lamp was used in Shanghai, providing a more reliable alternative to oil lamps and candles. In the past 130 years, China has become the world's largest producer and consumer of incandescent bulbs. In 2010, the country's output of such bulbs stood at 3.85 billion, with sales hitting 1.07 billion yuan ($168.47 million).
As China embarks on a greener path of development, it is aiming to phase out these less efficient bulbs.
"This move is part of the government's vigorous efforts to push forward energy conservation and emission reduction," said Xie Ji, Deputy Director of Resource Conservation and Environment Protection under the NDRC.
The effort to replace incandescent lamps with energy-efficient ones nationwide will help save 48 billion kwh of electricity and reduce 48 million tons of carbon dioxide emission annually, said Xie.
"This year marks the beginning of the 12th Five-year Plan (2011-15), which is focused on economic rebalancing. Meanwhile, the United Nations Climate Change Conference is about to convene in Durban, South Africa," said Xie. "Against this background, China is taking swift action to propel green lighting and implementing effective measures in response to climate change."
Xie said some manufacturers of incandescent lamps in the country have been transforming their businesses and reducing production. NDRC data showed that in 2010 there were 10 enterprises nationwide with annual output of more than 100 million incandescent lamps, accounting for at least 70 percent of the industry's total output of such lamps.
China has been firmly committed to improving energy efficiency. In 1996, the Chinese Government launched a green lighting program, promoting wider use of energy-efficient lamps with heavy subsidies. Moreover, the country has joined hands with the United Nations Development Program and Global Environmental Facility to initiate a project aimed at lifting the quality and competitiveness of China's energy-efficient lighting products.
The circular said those projects have significantly helped China's lighting industry move up the value chain and improve product quality. In 1996, China's output of energy-efficient lamps was barely 3 percent of that of incandescent bulbs, but the ratio jumped to 1:1 in 2010. Last year, the country's output of energy-efficient lamps amounted to 4.26 billion, accounting for 80 percent of the world's total. There were around 20 manufacturers with annual output surpassing 50 million, making up 82.2 percent of the industry's overall output.
On November 1, the Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and five other government departments jointly released a joint circular, vowing to gradually halt imports and sales of the traditional incandescent lamps.
Those lamps are widely used for both household and commercial lighting. Electricity is used to heat up the thin wire filament inside the bulb until it glows and produces light. Unfortunately, while incandescent bulbs are effective at illuminating even the darkest of spaces, they are not energy efficient. Much of the electricity is used to make heat, and light is only a by-product.
In 1882, China's first incandescent lamp was used in Shanghai, providing a more reliable alternative to oil lamps and candles. In the past 130 years, China has become the world's largest producer and consumer of incandescent bulbs. In 2010, the country's output of such bulbs stood at 3.85 billion, with sales hitting 1.07 billion yuan ($168.47 million).
As China embarks on a greener path of development, it is aiming to phase out these less efficient bulbs.
"This move is part of the government's vigorous efforts to push forward energy conservation and emission reduction," said Xie Ji, Deputy Director of Resource Conservation and Environment Protection under the NDRC.
The effort to replace incandescent lamps with energy-efficient ones nationwide will help save 48 billion kwh of electricity and reduce 48 million tons of carbon dioxide emission annually, said Xie.
"This year marks the beginning of the 12th Five-year Plan (2011-15), which is focused on economic rebalancing. Meanwhile, the United Nations Climate Change Conference is about to convene in Durban, South Africa," said Xie. "Against this background, China is taking swift action to propel green lighting and implementing effective measures in response to climate change."
Xie said some manufacturers of incandescent lamps in the country have been transforming their businesses and reducing production. NDRC data showed that in 2010 there were 10 enterprises nationwide with annual output of more than 100 million incandescent lamps, accounting for at least 70 percent of the industry's total output of such lamps.
China has been firmly committed to improving energy efficiency. In 1996, the Chinese Government launched a green lighting program, promoting wider use of energy-efficient lamps with heavy subsidies. Moreover, the country has joined hands with the United Nations Development Program and Global Environmental Facility to initiate a project aimed at lifting the quality and competitiveness of China's energy-efficient lighting products.
The circular said those projects have significantly helped China's lighting industry move up the value chain and improve product quality. In 1996, China's output of energy-efficient lamps was barely 3 percent of that of incandescent bulbs, but the ratio jumped to 1:1 in 2010. Last year, the country's output of energy-efficient lamps amounted to 4.26 billion, accounting for 80 percent of the world's total. There were around 20 manufacturers with annual output surpassing 50 million, making up 82.2 percent of the industry's overall output.
2011年11月20日 星期日
Hundreds turn out for Festival of Lights
With the mercury at a warm 64 degrees, the weather Saturday didn't do much to invoke thoughts of Christmas.
That's especially true for a Canadian like Bud Reiser, the new morning host for Star 92.9 FM. The native of Newfoundland oversaw the ceremony kicking off Springfield's Festival of Lights. The centerpiece of the event was turning on the lights for a 33-foot Norway spruce growing near Mediacom Ice Park.
Reiser's northern roots were on full display when he referred to the weather as a nice fall day.
"Bud, this is winter in the Ozarks," said Bob Stephens, the mayor pro tem.
More than 1,000 people joined Reiser and Stephens for the official tree-lighting ceremony. First- and second-grade students ran around the park shaking silver jingle bells and talked about meeting Santa Claus. Other children and adults stood in line for cups of hot chocolate or other goodies.
Christmas is still five weeks away, and Reiser stood outside in a sweater. But the Canadian said he's used to seemingly unseasonable winter weather. Before living in Missouri, Reiser and his wife, also a Canadian, lived in Honolulu. He said they returned to Canada for just two years and two winters -- long enough to realize they wanted to live somewhere warmer.
"The first one was kind of a novelty," he said "The second one last year was like, 'Oh, brother.'"
Timing the festival right is difficult because of a variety of considerations, including the city's desire to have a full six weeks of activities, said Vince Crunk, the city's co-interim public information director. Weather is also a factor.
"It would be more seasonal if it were colder, but it's more comfortable if it's warmer," Crunk said.
Crunk said he was happy with the turnout, especially after the city decided to cancel the annual fireworks display because of high winds.
Even if the temperature didn't invoke thoughts of cold weather and cozy fires, Springfield residents said it wasn't too early to be in the Christmas spirit.
"No, it's never too early," said Chastity Chew of Springfield.
This was Chew's first Festival of Lights. Chew brought her children to the event. It was also the first time the Jordan Valley Park crew put a special lighting system on the tall spruce allowing the blinking bulbs to synchronize with music. It's called a Monster Brain, said Jeff Cumley, the park's manager. The system, once set up, allows lights to dance in syncopated patterns up and down the tall spruce
That's especially true for a Canadian like Bud Reiser, the new morning host for Star 92.9 FM. The native of Newfoundland oversaw the ceremony kicking off Springfield's Festival of Lights. The centerpiece of the event was turning on the lights for a 33-foot Norway spruce growing near Mediacom Ice Park.
Reiser's northern roots were on full display when he referred to the weather as a nice fall day.
"Bud, this is winter in the Ozarks," said Bob Stephens, the mayor pro tem.
More than 1,000 people joined Reiser and Stephens for the official tree-lighting ceremony. First- and second-grade students ran around the park shaking silver jingle bells and talked about meeting Santa Claus. Other children and adults stood in line for cups of hot chocolate or other goodies.
Christmas is still five weeks away, and Reiser stood outside in a sweater. But the Canadian said he's used to seemingly unseasonable winter weather. Before living in Missouri, Reiser and his wife, also a Canadian, lived in Honolulu. He said they returned to Canada for just two years and two winters -- long enough to realize they wanted to live somewhere warmer.
"The first one was kind of a novelty," he said "The second one last year was like, 'Oh, brother.'"
Timing the festival right is difficult because of a variety of considerations, including the city's desire to have a full six weeks of activities, said Vince Crunk, the city's co-interim public information director. Weather is also a factor.
"It would be more seasonal if it were colder, but it's more comfortable if it's warmer," Crunk said.
Crunk said he was happy with the turnout, especially after the city decided to cancel the annual fireworks display because of high winds.
Even if the temperature didn't invoke thoughts of cold weather and cozy fires, Springfield residents said it wasn't too early to be in the Christmas spirit.
"No, it's never too early," said Chastity Chew of Springfield.
This was Chew's first Festival of Lights. Chew brought her children to the event. It was also the first time the Jordan Valley Park crew put a special lighting system on the tall spruce allowing the blinking bulbs to synchronize with music. It's called a Monster Brain, said Jeff Cumley, the park's manager. The system, once set up, allows lights to dance in syncopated patterns up and down the tall spruce
2011年11月17日 星期四
The Island Garden Growing indoors during the winter
Brrr! The cold winter months are coming, but there is no need to give up growing altogether. At this time of year you can simply take your gardening indoors. All you need is a sunny windowsill, a brightly lit area, or some space in your basement with a few grow lights.
You can start seeds under fluorescent lights, but to get the plants to grow larger you'll need stronger lights. This usually means that you should invest in grow lights.
At a minimum you'll need about 40 watts per square foot of light for at least 14 hours a day to get plants to grow indoors. If you can provide 60 to 80 watts of light over your grow area and some water and fertilizer, you'll have the basis of a terrific indoor garden.
Of course, you'll need to water your indoor garden. One way to do that is to set up a hydroponic system. It's not that difficult and you don't have to get really fancy. I use 10-foot plastic gutters as the basis for my vegetable growing hydroponic system. A five-gallon bucket serves as the reservoir and a fish tank water filter pump moves the water from the bucket to the top end of the water system. All I do is turn the pump on and leave it until the bucket is empty. Fifteen minutes later the water has circulated around the system and is dripping back into the bucket. The water gets turned on twice a day. Occasionally, I'll turn it on a third time if the greenhouse has become quite hot, but that's not often at this time of year.
Last winter I grew snow peas, beets and lettuce in the hydroponic gutters, and this year I plan to grow even more vegetables. The only problem is that the snow peas hang downwards instead of growing upwards and yields are slightly lower. Because my gutters hang on wires from the top of the greenhouse, there is always a danger that they will overturn if the plants become too top heavy, but I have not gone that far yet.
Another way to grow large plants is to keep them warm, well lit, and well watered in regular potting soil. I don't recommend using soil from your yard. After a while it packs down and water has difficulty penetrating it, plus it can contain a lot of weed seeds. However, there are more trace nutrients in the soil from your yard so mixing up to 25 percent with potting soil and vermiculite or sand is not a bad idea, but make sure that the top layer of your pot is potting soil to control weeds.
If you grow indoor ornamental plants, make sure their leaves are clean. The leaves of many plants get dusty indoors and that affects the plants ability to photosynthesize. Keeping the leaves clean is one way to help your plant. Another way to help your indoor plant is not to overwater. The most common method to kill an indoor plant is to overwater, especially during winter when the plant's respiration rates have slowed down.
Keep your ornamentals in an area where they will get moderate sunlight. If your plants are in an interior room where they will not get sunlight, you might want to shine a grow light on them to help them survive.
Incidentally, plants in the home are good for you. They help absorb carbon dioxide and provide oxygen during the day when they are respiring. However, at night the reverse occurs and they give off carbon dioxide and absorb oxygen. Thus, you do not want to keep plants in your bedroom where you spend the night. You are best off keeping them in a sunny living area where you spend your days.
You can start seeds under fluorescent lights, but to get the plants to grow larger you'll need stronger lights. This usually means that you should invest in grow lights.
At a minimum you'll need about 40 watts per square foot of light for at least 14 hours a day to get plants to grow indoors. If you can provide 60 to 80 watts of light over your grow area and some water and fertilizer, you'll have the basis of a terrific indoor garden.
Of course, you'll need to water your indoor garden. One way to do that is to set up a hydroponic system. It's not that difficult and you don't have to get really fancy. I use 10-foot plastic gutters as the basis for my vegetable growing hydroponic system. A five-gallon bucket serves as the reservoir and a fish tank water filter pump moves the water from the bucket to the top end of the water system. All I do is turn the pump on and leave it until the bucket is empty. Fifteen minutes later the water has circulated around the system and is dripping back into the bucket. The water gets turned on twice a day. Occasionally, I'll turn it on a third time if the greenhouse has become quite hot, but that's not often at this time of year.
Last winter I grew snow peas, beets and lettuce in the hydroponic gutters, and this year I plan to grow even more vegetables. The only problem is that the snow peas hang downwards instead of growing upwards and yields are slightly lower. Because my gutters hang on wires from the top of the greenhouse, there is always a danger that they will overturn if the plants become too top heavy, but I have not gone that far yet.
Another way to grow large plants is to keep them warm, well lit, and well watered in regular potting soil. I don't recommend using soil from your yard. After a while it packs down and water has difficulty penetrating it, plus it can contain a lot of weed seeds. However, there are more trace nutrients in the soil from your yard so mixing up to 25 percent with potting soil and vermiculite or sand is not a bad idea, but make sure that the top layer of your pot is potting soil to control weeds.
If you grow indoor ornamental plants, make sure their leaves are clean. The leaves of many plants get dusty indoors and that affects the plants ability to photosynthesize. Keeping the leaves clean is one way to help your plant. Another way to help your indoor plant is not to overwater. The most common method to kill an indoor plant is to overwater, especially during winter when the plant's respiration rates have slowed down.
Keep your ornamentals in an area where they will get moderate sunlight. If your plants are in an interior room where they will not get sunlight, you might want to shine a grow light on them to help them survive.
Incidentally, plants in the home are good for you. They help absorb carbon dioxide and provide oxygen during the day when they are respiring. However, at night the reverse occurs and they give off carbon dioxide and absorb oxygen. Thus, you do not want to keep plants in your bedroom where you spend the night. You are best off keeping them in a sunny living area where you spend your days.
2011年11月16日 星期三
Finding magic in the great outdoors
Those are a few ways that science educator Melissa Levi has been able to inspire that "aha!" moment in children. Levi has led Lambton Wildlife's Young Naturalist and Junior Conservationist groups for six years, bringing her own energetic brand of hands-on environmental activities.
"She has really imaginative ideas and she's devoted to this (youth education)," said Janet Bremner, president of Lambton Wildlife. "We feel it's one of our most important programs."
It comes at a time when academics fear children are longing for contact with the great indoors. In 2005, American author and journalist Richard Louv coined the term "nature deficit disorder" to describe the trend. He suggests children growing up in front of television and computer screens will have a lack of respect for the environment.
Sean Jenniskens isn't one of those children. The 16-year-old who lives outside of Watford has always had an interest in the environment, participating in the Young Naturalist and then the Junior Conservationist groups the past eight years.
The club is a great change of pace because "it's nice to share ideas," he said.
He has enjoyed several one-of-a-kind experiences through the program.
"Every other month this year, and the last couple of years, we've been going to a raptor rehabilitation centre," he said. "You go to help feed the raptors with broken wings or a problem like that and then clean their cages, which is really fun."
While that might not be everyone's cup of tea immediately, both adults and children can come around to appreciating the environment with exposure, said Levi, who use to work at the Insect Zoo in Victoria, B.C.
"I was able to take people who came in (to the Insect Zoo) and said, 'Ew, bugs are gross,' and sort of turn them around," she said. "In the end, they'd be holding the bugs and they'd be so excited and thrilled for each other."
Levi now tries to bring that excitement to Sarnia-Lambton youth.
"Some kids, it takes them a little while to get into it, but once they do, there's no turning back," she said.
When she took some of the members to a snake restoration project, she soon "couldn't drag the kids away."
Simple activities, like tending to a school garden, can be just as effective in harvesting an appreciation for the environment.
"It doesn't have to be grandiose — polar bears or dolphins — but it can still create that same perspective change, that same sort of enthusiastic light bulb," Levi said.
Both the Young Naturalist Group, for ages 7-11, and the Junior Conservationist Group, age 12 plus, meet monthly. Membership is $15 for the first child and $5 for each additional child.
"She has really imaginative ideas and she's devoted to this (youth education)," said Janet Bremner, president of Lambton Wildlife. "We feel it's one of our most important programs."
It comes at a time when academics fear children are longing for contact with the great indoors. In 2005, American author and journalist Richard Louv coined the term "nature deficit disorder" to describe the trend. He suggests children growing up in front of television and computer screens will have a lack of respect for the environment.
Sean Jenniskens isn't one of those children. The 16-year-old who lives outside of Watford has always had an interest in the environment, participating in the Young Naturalist and then the Junior Conservationist groups the past eight years.
The club is a great change of pace because "it's nice to share ideas," he said.
He has enjoyed several one-of-a-kind experiences through the program.
"Every other month this year, and the last couple of years, we've been going to a raptor rehabilitation centre," he said. "You go to help feed the raptors with broken wings or a problem like that and then clean their cages, which is really fun."
While that might not be everyone's cup of tea immediately, both adults and children can come around to appreciating the environment with exposure, said Levi, who use to work at the Insect Zoo in Victoria, B.C.
"I was able to take people who came in (to the Insect Zoo) and said, 'Ew, bugs are gross,' and sort of turn them around," she said. "In the end, they'd be holding the bugs and they'd be so excited and thrilled for each other."
Levi now tries to bring that excitement to Sarnia-Lambton youth.
"Some kids, it takes them a little while to get into it, but once they do, there's no turning back," she said.
When she took some of the members to a snake restoration project, she soon "couldn't drag the kids away."
Simple activities, like tending to a school garden, can be just as effective in harvesting an appreciation for the environment.
"It doesn't have to be grandiose — polar bears or dolphins — but it can still create that same perspective change, that same sort of enthusiastic light bulb," Levi said.
Both the Young Naturalist Group, for ages 7-11, and the Junior Conservationist Group, age 12 plus, meet monthly. Membership is $15 for the first child and $5 for each additional child.
2011年11月15日 星期二
GE, The Fresh Market, Taiwan, Lighting Association, UV LED Curing Association
GE Lighting recognized The Fresh Market and Walmart for fleet-wide installations, while Taiwan begins street-lighting projects. The Lighting Association introduces an LED product verification program and three companies found the UV LED Curing Association.
GE Lighting honored The Fresh Market with its LED Retailer-of-the-Year award at GE's recent 3rd annual retail conference, held at its headquarters in East Cleveland, OH. Recipients of this award must have retrofit 20% or more of their fleet of stores to LED-based lighting, demonstrated at least 20% energy savings, and visually improved the appearance of the store as recognized by its customers. The Fresh Market has incorporated LED PAR38s into 40% of its stores for accent and general lighting applications.
Walmart, the multinational retailer based in Bentonville, AK, was a featured retailer at the conference and has set a goal to use 100% LED lighting in all of its 5366 stores through new construction and retrofitting. "Switching to LEDs was a no brainer," said Charles Zimmerman, vice president of international design and construction with Walmart. "Now we're using LEDs in display cases, parking lots and throughout the store, and now our LED lights are outliving our refrigerated display cases, providing zero maintenance."
A Walmart parking lot installation was the subject of a US DOE Caliper demonstration report published in May. The new installation revealed an estimated 40% energy savings versus high-pressure sodium lamps and a simple payback period of 6 years.
Also at the GE retailer conference, GE recognized Walgreens with its Retailer-of-the-Year award. Criteria for the award included the use of energy-efficient products in 80% or more of its fleet, demonstration of innovative lighting techniques with improved visual aesthetics, and demonstration of a positive impact on the community. Walgreens transitioned from F28 to F25 linear fluorescent lamps, which allowed a 9% energy savings and a 10% longer lamp life. The full release is provided here.
According to an article published in Taiwan Today, Shih Yen-shiang of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), has announced a NT$700 million project that will involve the replacement of 53,000 fluorescent street lamps with LED street lamps.
The ROC government will begin the 3-year replacement project, valued at $23.25 million, in January 2012. It will involve LED lamp installations in the cities of Keelung, Hsinchu and Chiayi. Shih announced the plan after meeting with LED companies including Everlight Electronics, Epistar and Delta Electronics.
"This replacement project will not only provide the nation with energy efficient lighting," Shih said, "it will also give local LED manufacturers a tremendous boost, as the experience they acquire from manufacturing and installing the new lights will help make them more competitive internationally."
Shih noted the importance of standards and stated that the government will accelerate its efforts to promote standards for the LED industry. The ministry noted that the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection has already set 49 specifications for the LED industry, on matters such as acceptable power density and energy-efficiency levels.
GE Lighting honored The Fresh Market with its LED Retailer-of-the-Year award at GE's recent 3rd annual retail conference, held at its headquarters in East Cleveland, OH. Recipients of this award must have retrofit 20% or more of their fleet of stores to LED-based lighting, demonstrated at least 20% energy savings, and visually improved the appearance of the store as recognized by its customers. The Fresh Market has incorporated LED PAR38s into 40% of its stores for accent and general lighting applications.
Walmart, the multinational retailer based in Bentonville, AK, was a featured retailer at the conference and has set a goal to use 100% LED lighting in all of its 5366 stores through new construction and retrofitting. "Switching to LEDs was a no brainer," said Charles Zimmerman, vice president of international design and construction with Walmart. "Now we're using LEDs in display cases, parking lots and throughout the store, and now our LED lights are outliving our refrigerated display cases, providing zero maintenance."
A Walmart parking lot installation was the subject of a US DOE Caliper demonstration report published in May. The new installation revealed an estimated 40% energy savings versus high-pressure sodium lamps and a simple payback period of 6 years.
Also at the GE retailer conference, GE recognized Walgreens with its Retailer-of-the-Year award. Criteria for the award included the use of energy-efficient products in 80% or more of its fleet, demonstration of innovative lighting techniques with improved visual aesthetics, and demonstration of a positive impact on the community. Walgreens transitioned from F28 to F25 linear fluorescent lamps, which allowed a 9% energy savings and a 10% longer lamp life. The full release is provided here.
According to an article published in Taiwan Today, Shih Yen-shiang of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), has announced a NT$700 million project that will involve the replacement of 53,000 fluorescent street lamps with LED street lamps.
The ROC government will begin the 3-year replacement project, valued at $23.25 million, in January 2012. It will involve LED lamp installations in the cities of Keelung, Hsinchu and Chiayi. Shih announced the plan after meeting with LED companies including Everlight Electronics, Epistar and Delta Electronics.
"This replacement project will not only provide the nation with energy efficient lighting," Shih said, "it will also give local LED manufacturers a tremendous boost, as the experience they acquire from manufacturing and installing the new lights will help make them more competitive internationally."
Shih noted the importance of standards and stated that the government will accelerate its efforts to promote standards for the LED industry. The ministry noted that the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection has already set 49 specifications for the LED industry, on matters such as acceptable power density and energy-efficiency levels.
2011年11月14日 星期一
Your Prius' Deepest, Darkest Secret
So you're considering buying a hybrid car. Or maybe you already have. Good for you! You're saving a bundle on gas and reducing your environmental footprint at the same time. But fuel isn't the only natural resource that your car requires. Its motor also contains a small amount of neodymium, one of 17 elements listed at the very bottom of the periodic table. Known as the rare earths, these minerals are key to all kinds of green technology: Neodymium magnets turn wind turbines. Cerium helps reduce tailpipe emissions. Yttrium can form phosphors that make light in LED displays and compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Hybrid and electric cars often contain as many as eight different rare earths.
And the stuff is good for more than just renewable energy technology. Walk down the aisles of your local Best Buy and you'll be hard-pressed to find something that doesn't contain at least one of the rare earths, from smartphones to laptop batteries to flat-screen TVs. They're also crucial for defense technology—radar and sonar systems, tank engines, and the navigation systems in smart bombs.
Given all this, it's not surprising that the rare-earths industry is booming. Demand for the elements has skyrocketed in the past few years, and a recent report predicted it to grow by 50 percent by 2017.
For the last few decades, China controlled the world's market for rare earths, producing about 97 percent of the global supply. But in late 2010, China cut its exports by 35 percent in order to keep the valuable metals for its own manufacturers. The prices of rare earths rose almost immediately. Fearing a shortage, US legislators sprang into action. This past April, Rep. Mike Coffman introduced a bill that would kick-start a domestic rare-earths renaissance in the United States.
A few rare-earths mines are slated to open in the United States in the next few years, the most hyped of which is a facility called Mountain Pass in California's Mojave Desert. (It's actually been around off and on since the '50s, but a company called Molycorp has given it a major makeover.) When it's running at full capacity, Mountain Pass will be the largest rare-earths mine in the world, producing upwards of 40,000 tons of the stuff every year.
Which means Molycorp will also have to deal with a whole lot of waste. Rare earths occur naturally with the radioactive elements thorium and uranium, which, if not stored securely, can leach into groundwater or escape into the air as dust. The refining process requires huge amounts of harsh acids, which also have to be disposed of safely. Molycorp claims that its new operations are leak-proof, but the company's ambitious plans have raised a few eyebrows among environmentalists, since the site has a history of spills.
But no matter how quickly new mines open, the United States won't be able to produce enough rare earths on its own—it's thought that North America contains only 15 percent of the world's supply. A recent Congressional Research Service report (PDF) recommended that the US seek reliable sources in other countries.
And the stuff is good for more than just renewable energy technology. Walk down the aisles of your local Best Buy and you'll be hard-pressed to find something that doesn't contain at least one of the rare earths, from smartphones to laptop batteries to flat-screen TVs. They're also crucial for defense technology—radar and sonar systems, tank engines, and the navigation systems in smart bombs.
Given all this, it's not surprising that the rare-earths industry is booming. Demand for the elements has skyrocketed in the past few years, and a recent report predicted it to grow by 50 percent by 2017.
For the last few decades, China controlled the world's market for rare earths, producing about 97 percent of the global supply. But in late 2010, China cut its exports by 35 percent in order to keep the valuable metals for its own manufacturers. The prices of rare earths rose almost immediately. Fearing a shortage, US legislators sprang into action. This past April, Rep. Mike Coffman introduced a bill that would kick-start a domestic rare-earths renaissance in the United States.
A few rare-earths mines are slated to open in the United States in the next few years, the most hyped of which is a facility called Mountain Pass in California's Mojave Desert. (It's actually been around off and on since the '50s, but a company called Molycorp has given it a major makeover.) When it's running at full capacity, Mountain Pass will be the largest rare-earths mine in the world, producing upwards of 40,000 tons of the stuff every year.
Which means Molycorp will also have to deal with a whole lot of waste. Rare earths occur naturally with the radioactive elements thorium and uranium, which, if not stored securely, can leach into groundwater or escape into the air as dust. The refining process requires huge amounts of harsh acids, which also have to be disposed of safely. Molycorp claims that its new operations are leak-proof, but the company's ambitious plans have raised a few eyebrows among environmentalists, since the site has a history of spills.
But no matter how quickly new mines open, the United States won't be able to produce enough rare earths on its own—it's thought that North America contains only 15 percent of the world's supply. A recent Congressional Research Service report (PDF) recommended that the US seek reliable sources in other countries.
訂閱：
文章 (Atom)