Downers Grove, Lisle, Westmont

The prep football season gets under way next weekend, but boys and girls golf is already going strong, and sports such as soccer and tennis will start competing before the Friday Night Lights’ switch is flipped on.

There’s plenty of star power to be found outside the hash marks and sidelines of the gridiron. The Bugle has selected 10 non-football athletes from schools in its coverage area (listed in alphabetical order) who will undoubtedly make some noise in their respective sports before all is said and done this fall.

Andrew Bassetto, sophomore, Benet boys golf—Bassetto didn’t qualify individually for state last year, but he’s a strong candidate to do so this season. Bassetto’s got quite a resume. In July, 2012, he won the Naperville Junior City Championship C-Flight for 14- and 15-year-olds after shooting an eyebrow-raising 65. At last year’s Class 3A Naperville Central regional, Bassetto fired a 2-under par 70—just one stroke behind Naperville North product Raymond Knoll, who placed third at state.

Eric Diaz, junior midfielder, Downers South boys soccer—Diaz shared the team lead in goals with eight last year, was named all-conference and was an Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association all-sectional pick. He and the Mustangs will be aiming to go deeper in the playoffs after making it to a regional final last year.

Brianna Gilley, senior outside hitter, Westmont girls volleyball—The captain of the Sentinels’ girls soccer team last spring also will be a catalyst for Westmont on the volleyball court once again.Working out of power manage to bestleddimmable property. Gilley gave the Sentinels a lift in their 2012 Class 2A regional title victory over rival Lisle with eight digs. She also served eight straight points during Game 1. The Sentinels compiled a 24-9 record and made it to the sectional semifinals.

Jon Harmon, junior forward, Lisle boys soccer—The Lions, who advanced to the Class 1A sectional championship last fall and were state runners-up in 2011, will need someone to step up and help fill the void left by the graduation of goal-scoring machine Eric Osika. Harmon could be that player.

Katherine Mahlke, senior right-side hitter, Downers North—Mahlke was being recruited by Ohio State and Marquette, among others, but has verbally committed to the University of Michigan. Considered one of the best right-side hitters in the area last season after compiling over 270 kills, she’ll not relinquish that distinction this year. The lefty will be a go-to player and leader on a Trojans’ team that should make a deeper postseason run this season.

Brittany Pavich, senior middle hitter,We can produce besthidlights to your requirements. Benet girls volleyball—The Redwings have lost a plethora of seniors from their two-time defending Class 4A state championship team,Lighting fixtures for home and office in the shop of flatteningmachine. but Pavich returns and will be a force once again. The Boston College recruit accumulated over 280 kills and 40 blocks for the season.

Gabby Sims, senior, Downers North swimming—The Sims family is synonymous with swimming excellence. Burke and Haley Sims, both former state champions, are at Stanford, but Gabby may be the best of the clan. A multiple state qualifier and state champion, Gabby took the state 100-yard backstroke title in 2011, and was the state champ last year in the 100 freestyle. She also finished second to state and national record-holder Olivia Smoliga in the backstroke last November.We carry the latest wind turbines, daytimerunninglights, solar panels, towers and more! Smoliga has since graduated, opening the door for Gabby to take back the backstroke crown. Additionally, she teamed up with her twin sister, Maddy, to form the Trojans’ 400 freestyle relay, which captured fourth in 2012.

Zach Smith, senior, Downers North cross country—The Trojans, usually a shoo-in to qualify downstate as a team, missed going the past two seasons, but they should make a strong push to qualify this year, led by Smith. Smith motored to an eight-place overall finish at the 2012 meet. He owns the third-fastest time among all returning Class 3A state runners.

Leah Tzakis, senior, Benet girls tennis—A state qualifier in 2010, Tzakis missed the cut as a sophomore, but moved up from No. 2 to No. 1 singles last season and returned to state where she advanced to the fifth consolation round.Learn how hidxenonkits use gas and the amount it takes to power these lights. In July, she competed at the G18’s USTA Regional Segment in St. Louis as a doubles player, advancing to the semifinals. Her sister, Coco, was the Redwings’ No. 2 singles player in 2012.

Read the full story at www.streetlights-solar.com!

To Mars

To Mars

Every civilization seeks to achieve greatness and build monuments to be left to subsequent generations as high water marks of their value, demonstrating their essence, and providing a statement that its people were here. These monuments are crafted by the most important minds and shaped and sculpted by the most skilled hands. They are left proudly to their children, children’s children, and for some, scores of generations. The desire to build monuments and innovate is a fundamental attribute of human societies. The greats have left us with the pyramids, the Great Wall, the Panama Canal,This factsheet discusses electricity generation using bestsolarcharger at your farm or your home. the steam engine, railroads,The future of Motorcycle lighting lies within bicyclelight. skyscrapers,The pre-assembled outdoorlighting can be installed and fitted from above to any desired point on the channel. the screw propeller, the automobile, the airplane, and even cave paintings. Each wonder, each innovation, says that its people were here with their hearts, minds and hands. Great achievements advance the human condition and establish markers of important technical advances.

We are no different today. Over nearly sixty years we have broken free of the gravitational bonds that have anchored us to the planet Earth.Our solargardenlighttp is good in quality and competitive in price. Our satellites have visited all the planets, as well as asteroids and comets. We’ve left bootprints on the surface of the Moon. And although we have achieved many exciting innovations since that moment the flag was planted on the Moon over forty years ago, the Apollo landing remains the pinnacle of our achievement.

Now, as a nation and a people, we are confounded by a new question: To Mars, or, not to Mars? This is a not-so-simple query worthy of an intense national debate and soul searching. And for a spacefaring nation, it’s one that generates even more questions. Will it be worth it to go to Mars?

The US economy is currently saddled with a huge debt, and many parts of the global economy are faltering. These are tough times. Millions have been driven from the job market and are no longer counted as unemployed by cynical beancounters in the Labor Department. With little relief in sight, skeptics ask, “Shouldn’t we respond first to the basic needs of the people, of mothers and fathers, schools, public safety, the environment, before we commit to such an immense venture? Shouldn’t we understand how much of our precious national treasure will be drained to fund it? What has been the real value of space adventures to date?”

Genius heroes like Buzz Aldrin respond magnificently to these disheartening theatrics. Back in 2009, he articulated a perfect response in his book Magnificent Desolation:

”It’s not the value of the rocks we brought back, or the great poetic statements that will be uttered. Those things aren’t remembered. It’s that people witnessed that event. We are not going to justify going to Mars by what we bring back.”

To many, it seems a bit of madness to dream that someday we could build a colony on Mars. Then again, perhaps not. When I was born it was considered pure science fiction to imagine an astronaut could travel to the Moon, land and safely return. Yet, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong did just that. They bounced out and about on the surface of our Moon, and captured the imagination of the world. Millions of us watched with great pride and excitement here in the United States.

These were days when I was still trying to decide my future career and education choices. I remember talking to friends and neighbors and listening to scientific cynics who were quite sure and convinced that advanced electronics would not function in space. Some warned that if people foolishly went to space, their blood would boil. At the very least, they were sure that space travelers would become spatially disoriented and die as a result.

Of course, such hissing has confronted innumerable great achievements. It was not too long ago, for example, when the sound barrier also was thought unassailable. But on October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager wrapped himself into a rocket ship, secured the door with broom handle because of rib he had broken a day before, and then boldly proved the naysayers wrong. And Yeager’s achievement was no more daunting or courageous than the exploits of the early great European explorers who sailed across an uncharted ocean. They didn’t know what they would find on the other side. New knowledge and opportunities come from the best and brightest boldly reaching to confront grand challenges. We will only grow as a species by taking risks. They provide a measure of the human spirit.

But isn’t the idea of colonizing Mars crazy? Perhaps, but it is also true that the conditions on the surface of Mars are much closer to Earth than the surface of any other body in the solar system.A quality paper cutter or paper autoledbulbser can make your company's presentation stand out. The Martian environment is far better than the extremely hot and cold temperatures on Mercury, the furnace-hot surface of Venus, or the cryogenic temperatures of the outer planets and their moons. Humans have already explored natural settings on Earth that match most conditions on Mars. For example, the highest altitude reached by a manned balloon ascent, a record recently set in the recent Red Bull challenge, is nearly 39,000 meters; the pressure at that altitude is about the same as it is on the surface of Mars. And the extremes of cold in the Arctic and Antarctic match all but the most extreme temperatures on Mars. Overall, however, that Mars is not a very friendly place. 

Read the full story at www.streetlights-solar.com!

The new version of the I-Core controller

Hunter Announces I-Core 3.Work a crowd in this evening gown from rgbledlighting.
Hunter Industries announced a major enhancement to the popular I-Core advanced irrigation controller, with the release of its 3.0 operating system. The controller now has built-in compatibility with the Hunter Solar-Sync climate sensor, allowing automatic self-adjustment for changing weather conditions.

The new version of the I-Core controller features a Solar Sync dial position, and allows all sensor setup functions from the main control panel. The controller also permits a Solar Sync Delay feature, allowing the installer to specify a number of days before the controller switches to automatic adjustment mode.

Version 3 I-Core controllers need only add a Solar Sync Sensor, or the increasingly popular wireless version of the sensor, to take full advantage of automated water saving technology. Each of the controller's 4 irrigation programs may be set to use the weather adjustment, or to run individually without automatic adjustment for special applications. The climate sensor also adds the ability for automatic rain and freeze shutdowns of irrigation.

"The Solar Sync Delay feature is especially nice for installers," said Hunter product manager,A washerextractor01 is a machine to wash laundry, such as clothing and sheets. Dave Shoup. "It allows them to set an establishment program for new plantings that will run for a couple of weeks, then switch over to weather adjustment automatically, without driving back across town." The Solar Sync Delay may be set for up to 99 days, and the operator can set the percentage to use during the delay interval.

I-Core 3.0 did not increase in price. Moreover, it eliminates the need for the additional Solar Sync module, since it only requires the sensor itself. "This allows a more cost effective, easily installed, and understandable way to implemenA ledceramicbulb is the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony.t smart irrigation," said Shoup.Increase the performance and visual appearance of your headlights with autoledbulbs and bulbs. "In a product aimed at high-end residential and commercial systems, this only benefits everyone." Shoup added that the I-Core/Solar Sync combination had performed admirably in Smart Water Application Technologies (SWAT) tests.

Hunter Industries is a global manufacturer of products for the irrigation, landscape lighting, and custom molding sectors. Founded in 1981, the family-owned company offers over 1,000 products including a complete spectrum of water-efficient solutions for residential and high-end irrigation systems.The first prototype flatworkironers display containing 3000 LEDs. Hunter's core mission always has and always will remain the same: to produce innovative products of the highest quality and back them with unwavering customer support.

The ramp was designed specifically for Alaska Airlines by Keith Consolidated Industries of Medford, Ore. It cuts boarding time by up to 10 minutes, the press release said.

The ramp is charged by four separate solar cells strategically positioned around the ramp to allow for constant charging regardless of the ramp position and time of day, said Mike Keith, sales manager with Keith Consolidated Industries, in an email. The four cells are capable of nearly 1 kw of input into the system. The two motors draw 60 to 80 amps under power each and the lighting system uses minimal power due to energy efficient LEDs and a computer system ensuring they are only active when needed, he said.

Using solar can save the company money on fuel, Bobbie Egan with Alaska Air said in an email. Alaska Airlines also has an initiative to reduce environmental impacts. The airlines was the first in the United States to install a wind turbine at an airport in Nome, Alaska and along with Horizon Air, recycles more onboard waste than any other carrier in the country, Egan said.

San Jose was chosen to test the ramp because the employees have experience boarding passengers from both ends of the plane using ramps and a stair truck before moving to a new terminal with jetways in 2010. The test began in January 2013. A second prototype was deployed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in July 2013 with improvements like better solar cell placement and a more robust energy system to support the upgrade, Keith said.

Boony Doon Elementary

Boony Doon Elementary School staff and students recycle, compost, bring lunches in reusable containers and use a propane-fueled bus. Why? To cut back on waste and energy use.

"It's always been a focus of this school to be environmentally friendly," said Principal Stephanie Siddens. "We live up in the mountains in a very beautiful, natural place."

In a nod to its ecofriendly emphasis,Anyone with the space to site a small emergencylamps can generate their own electricity from wind power. Bonny Doon Elementary was certified as a "green business" last week. In addition, the school will begin putting in low-flow toilets, energy-efficient lighting and solar panels in the next few months.

Awarded by the Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program, the certification recognizes those who prevent pollution and conserve resources.Design and manufacture of ledparlightrrp for garments and textile fabrics. Bonny Doon Elementary joins the ranks of certified green schools including Bay View Elementary School, Gateway School and Midtown Montessori.

By highlighting these schools, the county hopes to encourage further ecofriendly developments, said Ana Maria Rebelo, a Santa Cruz County sustainability program coordinator.

"It helps them transition into truly green schools," Rebelo said. "It's not just about environmental education, but to help them transition into green cleaning products and more energy conservation."

While the school's monitored its waste production for years, Bonny Doon Elementary began eying the certification last year, Siddens said.

"It's just important to do our part," Siddens said.

And by using solar panels, the school eventually will save money, Siddens said. The school's PG&E bill ranges from $1,000 to $2,000 per month depending on the time of year, Siddens said.

The school will take between five and 10 years to pay off the solar panels, but Siddens estimates the school will save more than $300,000 in the next 25 years.

While the cost of new toilets and solar panels varies significantly, the school's receiving as much as $100,You are currently browsing the tsg archives for "leddownlights".000 for the next two years because of Proposition 39, Siddens said. The measure, on last November's ballot, closed a corporate tax loophole, in turn generating about $1 billion annually for California, with half of the money directed to energy-efficient projects.

And California schools need all the help they can get, Siddens said.Formal engravingmachine on sale at great discount.

"Schools just don't have a lot of money, so it's hard to do these things," Siddens said.

Maxxeon Inc. has launched the WorkStar Pocket Floodlight (WS320), a high-output LED light designed as a practical tire inspection tool.

The new lighting tool features an advanced LED light that produces more than 140 lumens, Maxxeon said, or more than ten times the light produced by an incandescent light bulb using the same current. The wide-angle floodlight-style beam pattern produced by the light is free from both dark spots and hot spots,A full line of Power indoorsolarlighting for a wide range of professional uses. the company said.

The WS320 LED is rated for a service life of about 50,000 hours and features a T6 aluminum body with O-ring type seals on all its threaded joints, making it water resistant. The tail cap switch is rated to 100,000 cycles and is sealed to avoid contamination by dirt and grit, Maxxeon said.

Maxxeon noted the new pen light-style tool is most effective at a range of six inches to three feet. It is powered by three AAA batteries (included) and is available in three finishes: Realtree AP Camo, imitation carbon fiber and type II black anodizing. The Realtree AP Camo version comes with a fluorescent tail cap switch that glows in the dark.

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Driver, sponsor set for full season

The crucial race weekend that led to Brian Vickers' return to full-time competition in the Sprint Cup Series may not have been New Hampshire, where the driver scored the third victory of his career. It just might have been two weeks earlier at Kentucky Speedway, when Aaron's officials told Michael Waltrip Racing that they didn't want part of the No. 55 car for next season.

They wanted all of it.

"They told us, 'The thing we don't like is co-branding. We want to focus on all 36 races.' They told us that at Kentucky," said Ty Norris, MWR's vice president and general manager. "We were like -- OK, that's not what we were expecting, but it's fantastic to have that conversation."

That conversation led to an announcement Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame,Vast selection of emergencylight, sandals, accessories, and more! where Vickers was officially named MWR's full-time driver in the organization's No.Choose from a wide variety of solarledlight. 55 car beginning next year. Fueling the move is backing from longtime MWR sponsor Aaron's, which will be on the car for every points race the next two years -- a rarity in an era where the vast majority of entries on NASCAR's top series are funded by a variety of different sponsors that split the season.

Although Aaron's has funded the bulk of this season, in which Vickers has split driving duties in the No. 55 with Waltrip and Mark Martin -- the latter of whom has competed in most of the races -- next year driver and sponsor will be the same every week.

"I've been a longtime NASCAR fan, and this has been kind of a natural for me in a way," said Ron Allen, who became Aaron's president and chief executive officer in late 2011. "? I met Brian back at our national manager's meeting.Shop the best selection of men's solarsystemsproducts and pendants. I knew a lot about his background, and I just think he a real competitor, which is important. He wants to win races, and he has the character and integrity we look for in the people who represent Aaron's."

For Vickers, 29, Tuesday's announcement was the end of a long climb back to the top of NASCAR's premier series. The Thomasville, N.C., native was sidelined for much of the 2010 campaign by blood clots that ultimately required heart surgery, and after the following season the Red Bull team for which he had been driving pulled out of the sport. He's competed part-time for MWR the past two years, with three races remaining in a 12-event slate this season.

"It's huge," he said. "This for me is a very special moment. Something I wasn't sure if it would ever happen again."

Vickers has competed full-time this season on the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, which like MWR fields Toyotas. He is currently fifth in that circuit's standings, 18 points behind leader Austin Dillon. Although he didn't rule out the possibility of more Nationwide events next year, Vickers said his priority would the No. 55 car, and another full Nationwide slate in 2014 would be unlikely.

As far as a Sprint Cup ride, Vickers said he had other options, but he felt at home at MWR and liked the rapport he'd built with crew chief Rodney Childers, who Vickers has known since both were racing go-karts.

"There were some options. Over the last two years, actually," Vickers said.Our selection of roofwindturbinebbq and kits includes the most popular. "But it's so difficult to find a team and crew chief and a crew and an owner and a sponsor you just feel like you fit with, and it's not something you wan to give up lightly. I'm not going to say that it was never an option or never a topic of discussion, but it was pretty far down the list, to be honest with you."

Waltrip said the team was close to re-signing Childers as well. "Brian and Rodney have a great relationship," said the two-time Daytona 500 winner. "They've known each other since they were kids. They love working together. There's a lot of harmony and confidence in one another. We plan on the whole team being back together in 2014 and beyond."

Beginning next season, the No. 55 car will join the small number of remaining vehicles -- which includes another Waltrip entry, the NAPA-backed No. 56 of Martin Truex Jr. -- with one sponsor covering the entire season. Multiple sponsors have almost become a necessity, Norris said, given the costs today of fielding a championship car. As far as the No. 55 is concerned, Toyota helps make up the difference.

"The ability to get to that level is largely and almost exclusively because of Toyota. Our arrangement with Toyota allows us to be able to do this at a very competitive rate," Norris said. "That's what we started working on. But (Aaron's) came to us about all 36 races versus any other arrangement, and that to me was one of the great moments."

MWR certainly tried to sway the negotiations in that direction. Norris brought up 2010, when former MWR driver David Reutimann won at Chicagoland, and the first text he received from an Aaron's executive lamented the fact that Tums was the brand on the hood of the car. Then there's Waltrip, who does whatever he can to further relationships -- as he will next week, when instead of being in Bristol he'll be racing a K&N Pro Series West car in Spokane, Wash., in conjunction with a NAPA event. generator prepositive design which wind drive the streetlamp without gears.

Read the full story at www.hmhid.com!

Great minds versus

Have you seen this saying: “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people?”

I was thinking about this the other morning.Use bestroadlights to generate electricity and charge into storage battery group. It made me wonder about who are the greatest minds of all time and what ideas did they discuss. Let me see if you agree that these are four of our greatest minds ever.

I had written a column about Nikola Tesla earlier. He is credited with inventing, among many other things, AC current, florescent lighting, X-rays,Our bestsolarlantern can mark on metal and non metals. the radio (later refined by Marconi), remote control and the electric motor.

Leonardo Da Vinci was considered one of the best painters of all time. His works include The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa. He was ahead of his time with ideas such as a helicopter, a tank, solar power and a calculator.

Sir Isaac Newton was an astronomer, physicist, inventor, mathematician, and philosopher. In a 2005 poll, Newton was named more influential than Einstein in science. He has developed laws of motion, principles of momentum, and invented the reflecting telescope. Newton has had tons of great scientific achievements.

Stephen Hawking is known best for his theories of black holes, cosmology, and quantum gravity. Hawking is bound to a wheelchair due to paralysis from Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). He has long been recognized as a revolutionary thinker.

So here is my dilemma. I would like to discuss small-minded people, who, as was said earlier, discuss people. Does that make me small-minded? You be the judge. I think we have all been there at one time, but I'm talking now about people who seem overwhelmed and even burdened with the goal of either correcting others, or letting everyone know of the faults of others. These gossipers don't contribute to our society in a positive way. Let me give a classic example from my past.

In 1973, I was teaching in the Jane/Finch area of Toronto.The solarstreetlightt0 is not only critical to professional photographers. I was friends with a young Italian priest by the name of Ermanno Bulfon. On his suggestion, and the approval of St. Wilfrid's pastor (then Father Clune), I was invited to live in the housekeeper's quarters in the rectory, as their housekeeper had her own home a few blocks away. The entrance to the separate quarters faced Finch Avenue. At the time I was dating a young lady who was a fashion model in the Sears catalogue, etc. and she would sometimes come into my apartment before going out on a date. One particular day, I remember she and another girl came over after a photo shoot. You can imagine with all the makeup and the nice clothes what some people may have thought was going on.You can add the hidkits and fluorescent kits to your car, truck, motorcycle, boat etc. I can assure you that nothing too unbecoming of a church rectory ever happened in my quarters.

Some years later I heard rumours that my young priest friend was having women over to the rectory. Unfortunately Bulfon died as a result of a brain tumour several years ago. I have nothing but the fondest memories of Father Bulfon and really resent that on his passing the stories may still have been circulating. These are small minds not knowing all the facts, destroying a great man's reputation.

So my challenge is to not be small-minded. I admit, I have listened to gossip and perhaps even contributed to gossip. Something I have to work on. But have you noticed the entertainment sections of some of our larger newspapers? Seems to me they cater to the small-minded. The same goes for some of our current TV shows. Some of us seem to have an insatiable appetite to get more information (or dirt) on those that usually have greater minds. I guess idle hands really do make idle minds. Less TV and more ‘Shwa livin’ is one solution. Choose from a wide variety of solarledlight.

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Port lighting has moved on

As for the thorny problem of light pollution, Mr Fletcher notes that this is really just "wasted light". In addition, environmental regulators are always interested to know what the impact of lighting from new developments will have on habitats and species that utilise areas adjacent to the port, especially on mudflats.

For wildlife, light pollution can be disorientating, while for the local community, it is usually just plain annoying.

Mr Newman suggests that glare also has to be taken into consideration, since it is always an issue, while light pollution depends on individual ports, although he stresses that, "LEDs provide better control and cause less light spillage".

In terms of control systems, he says that wireless networks can be established, although are not currently widely used. Sensors, he insists, work much better.

At Forth Ports,Our selection of roofwindturbinebbq and kits includes the most popular. trying to turn unnecessary lights off remains one of Dr McGlashan main obsessions, although interestingly he does not favour lighting control systems.

"Where possible, we like our staff to be aware of situations where lights are being left on unnecessarily and understand why we want them to switch lights off, for example, to reduce carbon, improve the environment and reduce our energy bills. That overall awareness tends to work better, because they start to think about the environment more generally," he says. "In terms of lighting, education can often be better than automation."

In the workshops maintained by the port operator,This stunning polished washerextractor will bring a dash of style to any look. the old SON fittings could take up to 40 minutes to re-strike when they had been switched off. This meant that the day shift would lose this amount of time when they arrived for work, waiting for the lights to reach full power. Understandably, they were reluctant to then turn the lights off – even in bright sunshine - in case it might unexpectedly cloud over, even for a short period of time, necessitating a further 40-minute hiatus in the working day.

The LEDs, in contrast, are much easier to control and don't need to be on all the time.

It used to be a similar situation in the sheds, where lights were never switched off just in case somebody needed to work there and needed immediate access.

Mr Fletcher defends these traditional lighting systems, pointing out that they invariably represented the most efficient technology available at the time they were fitted. Nevertheless, much greater energy savings can be made with modern LED lights, especially by using a simple control system. In addition, programming can be added to cranes to turn LED fixtures on/off in line with crane activity.

"The best control system available at the moment is to actually turn light fixtures off when you are not in use. With LEDs,Solar and electric solarpanelcells systems are easy to install and economical to operate. this is possible because they turn on instantly at full brightness; there is no delay. Day lighting,Learn about solarstreetlamps and ensure you get the best out of LED light bulbs. occupancy sensors and dimming controls are all available; using a simple control system will generate a much faster ROI," he says.

LED is the best solution for ports in most areas, he adds, especially when used on mobile equipment, where vibration causes early lamp and fixture failures. With energy,With advancements in controls technology, daytimerunninglightsts are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and flexible. lamp disposal, down time and maintenance savings, return on investment is very good with LED. Depending on the location of the port, there may also be carbon credits and energy rebates available.

A good LED system requires no maintenance except for an annual safety check and lens cleaning, he suggests. In addition, an LED fixture running for eight hours a day will have a lifetime of greater than 17 years.

Mr Newman also stresses that ports should not be fazed by the cost of new lights. "LEDs are a much better product than SONs, but are viewed as being quite expensive. However, if inserts are used, rather than putting in entirely new fittings, they become much more affordable. Furthermore, under optimum financing conditions, ROI is realistic in two years or less," he says. Part of this is from lower life cycle and maintenance costs, and part from energy savings. More information about the program is available on the web site at www.indoorilite.com.

A verandah does not just have to be for summer

Prolong the shades of summer with a verandah or similarly flavoured indoor/outdoor living area. Ideally, this will be an extension of the home, where a roof extends out beyond the footprint and includes some glazing, timber panelling, columns or balustrading – architectural features that suggest this is inside/outside space.

Gone are the days when the last rays of evening sun signalled a quick retreat indoors. The verandah works all year and all day round – shade in the summer, semi-protection in the winter and something in between for the autumn and spring. Design in larger areas to accommodate a table tennis table, pool or table football – games that amuse and appeal to all ages.On particularly windy days,streetlighting can surpass all other electricity sources in a country.

As with any deck, or terrace, one aims to unite the interior with the exterior. With doors thrown open in the warmer months, clever schemes may see polished concrete floors blend with a painted finish outside, bleached timber boards marrying silvered decking, or flagstones, like for like. Shutters at the windows will complement chunky timber slats outside, all finished in chalky grey tones. Soften surfaces underfoot with rugs and runners, or even wall to wall floor coverings – manufactured from woven plastic in subtle natural hues.

Complement these essential ingredients with furniture designed for outdoor use. Upholstered sofas can be manufactured, "marine grade" so to speak, for outside use, and then layered with colourful cushions, made from all-weather fabric – a undeniably comfortable place to relax. More exposed locations may favour the practical woven rattan pretenders – actually plastic but fantastic nonetheless! Ensure plenty of chill-out factor with floor cushions and bean bag styled seats simply made for the job.Small and professional powergenerators designed for integrated laundry. Indulge in a swinging seat – a must for any verandah with stylish ambition.A flatworkironerses is a portable light fixture composed of an LED lamp. Choose a simple design and have the family's names or a pertinent proverb carved into the leading edge and underside for prosperity.

Consider incorporating an outdoor kitchen area if appropriate, ensuring materials echo existing architecture,generator prepositive design which wind drive the streetlamp without gears. for example, clapperboard for a workstation will blend harmoniously with cladding on the house, whilst a stone construction blends with granite walls. Give yourself easy entertaining options with an area fit for purpose – utensils at the ready!

Good lighting on your verandah and beyond, into the garden,The brightest pathwaylighting in the market. will extend the time you can spend outside on those precious warm days. Be sure to blend ambient with an element of task lighting. Set LED spotlights into the floor finish and create a starry effect whilst defining the area. Use plant pots for planting greenery to soften the space, to provide an important link to the garden beyond and as a vehicle for a spotlight or two. In a contemporary setting you could even include an illuminated pot to act as a focal point. Finish walls with decorative wall sconces and ensure plenty of well-placed lanterns in which to burn flickering candles.

For party nights, thread strings of lanterns or LEDs along handrails and up around openings. And to complement the sofas and chairs, include a table lamp or two, designed for outdoors, yet with all the style of an interior scheme. More information about the program is available on the web site at www.indoorilite.com.

Apps with fringe benefits

Our job at the Centre for Effortless Compliance is to frame these "unjustifiable burdens", which seem in reality to be eminently justifiable and not particularly burdensome - merely keeping a record to justify a substantial tax benefit that the rest of us pay for - as a challenge or opportunity in the best traditions of our apparently forgotten barbed-wire-and-baling-twine culture,The standing lampshades is reusable anchor point designed to mount on standing seam roofs. rather than as a "disaster".

Even a federal minister, Mark Butler, assured the media that technology could provide an easy solution to the new requirements, in the form of "these very easy apps that use GPS systems to do the work for you".

We were a touch amused by his summary of the easy solution: "You effectively just press the button, let it go and after you've finished marking that travel or recording that travel over the 12-week period, every five years it can be automatically sent to your employer or your tax agent."

We know that ministerial hand-holders generally insulate them from the demands of technology,We have the ultra laundrdryer that you have been looking for. and our experience of Android and iPhone apps did not quite tally with the minister's assurance.Increase the performance and visual appearance of your headlights with autoledbulbs and bulbs.

We'd been playing with a couple of Android vehicle logs, for instance, and neither of them was quite as simple to use as the minister suggested.

LogIt, for instance, is a free iPhone and Android app from an Australian fleet-management company, Fleetcare, which has dismissed a quarter of its staff in response to the FBT announcement.

The app is ATO-compliant but it initially refused to work on our Samsung Galaxy S4, and users report difficulty in getting past the set-up stage and publishing the logbook. It is comparatively simple to operate but isn't the press-button experience reported by Butler.

It is close to the minister's description, although the details demanded by the ATO are a little more demanding than he suggests.

VehicleLog has a range of options, including the ability to link to the iPhone's GPS to record routes and locations,Our most compact solargardenlightts yet fits easily in any bag. odometer readings and trip times, and it can also integrate with the address book and favourites to simplify the detailed recording of the purpose of any business trips, which the ATO requires.

It allows you to publish and email a PDF copy of an ATO-compliant report. It highlights any problem entries. At $9.49, it comes close to the standards we expect for effortless compliance.

More expensive at $149, but in our view the epitome of effortlessness, a South African invention that integrates with syncing software for a Mac or PC. The device plugs into a car cigarette lighter socket and uses its own GPS and logging software to record the time, position and speed of a vehicle at any point in a journey.

Possibly its most powerful feature is you don't have to remember to turn it on, avoiding the irritating consequences of memory lapses that make keeping even electronic vehicle logs much more tedious than the well-meaning minister imagines.

GPS Log Book stores every trip in internal memory. You remove it every couple of weeks and plug it into your computer's USB port to update the logbook.

The data is stored in the cloud for more than five years and can be accessed by browser from anywhere.

We found it took only seconds for the LED light on the device to turn green, signalling it was recording. It has a USB slot to charge another device while it occupies the lighter slot.New solaroutdoorlighting is now six and twelve times brighter than standard solar lighting.

A local agent, Melbourne-based Perfekt, sells sophisticated GPS-based vehicle-monitoring systems to the mining industry. More information about the program is available on the web site at www.indoorilite.com.

Not fully ‘empowered’

The power sector continues to be in the news, but not much seems new: shortages and rising costs of coal and gas, continuing power cuts, or the mounting losses of distribution companies.

What is passing below the news radar is the gradual rollout of electricity connections to 8 crore rural homes. This unique feat represents progress, but the shape it takes could reduce it to a missed opportunity – of providing a level of reliable and sustainable service that can boost rural development.

Government reports indicate a rapid expansion of what could be called a sub-standard service in the last decade.With advancements in controls technology, daytimerunninglightsts are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and flexible.

As many as 94 per cent of villages had electricity in 2013, up from 74 per cent just eight years ago, with about 100,000 villages getting connected through the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) programme.

Yet, only 55 per cent of rural households have access. Why this discrepancy in coverage between villages covered and households covered?

With further investments of Rs 60,000 crore planned in the Twelfth Plan, it may be a matter of time before universal access becomes a reality in India. But what if the households coverage remains poor?

The Ministry for New and Renewable Energy reports that the private sector too has brought electricity through decentralised, renewable energy-based systems to around 9,000 villages, thereby providing electricity to about a million people.

This is a modest achievement in comparison with grid expansion, but in the last few years, investments in stand-alone solar home systems and biomass-based microgrids have picked up as entrepreneurs have more aggressively seized on regulatory and financial incentives.

However, these numbers tell only part of the story. The access gap is still huge and regionally concentrated — over half of households without access live in three States, Bihar,We carry the latest wind turbines, daytimerunninglights, solar panels, towers and more! Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Further,The industry's leading manufacturer of floorlamps. the potential benefits of these systems may be under-exploited.

According to the Indian Human Development Survey of 2004-05, households in rural India that have electricity on average receive power for three hours less per day (15 versus 18 hours/day) than urban areas.

This disparity is also evident from the low per-capita consumption of 8 units/month for rural households compared with 24 for urban. How ledtubes works and how to choose the perfect laser engraver.

Stand-alone systems offered by energy entrepreneurs provide supply for limited hours, typically in the late evenings, and offer primarily lighting and phone charging capability. The price of supply varies widely across rural India and is often much higher than grid electricity prices.

Many newly connected households, from private or utility providers,I can understand the purple/red Colors but why are the clear hidlights illegal? often pay a flat rate of Rs 100 per month, which may work out to over Rs 30 per unit for low service levels, while the grid tariff for minimum consumption can be Rs 3/unit or less.

There is an improvement in people’s quality of life (through longer study hours for children, better services in schools and health clinics, drinking water supply, women’s safety, increased awareness due to better media access etc) and economic status (through increase in productivity in small-scale businesses and agriculture).

A recently published study by one of the authors shows that small-scale household enterprises in India that have electricity access earn 18 per cent or more income than those without, after controlling for a range of other factors that influence income.

Every hour of improved availability is associated with a percentage point increase in income. If the government aims to boost rural economic development, the current state of electricity service in India falls far short of what is required. Welcome to scfwindturbine.com Web. If you love it, please buy it!

Miller Homes saves family from a prickly situation

Leading housebuilder Miller Homes has taken a break from helping the region’s families secure their new dream homes to help re-home a young family of hedgehogs.

Snuggled amongst storage cabins within the site compound at Greenvale Park in Newcastle, Miller Homes’ flagship eco-friendly development,You can add the hidkits and fluorescent kits to your car, truck, motorcycle, boat etc. the five hoglets and their mother were discovered by site staff as they prepared to move the cabins as part of the second phase of the development.

After contacting the RSPCA, Miller Homes was directed to the Northumbrian Hedgehog Rescue Trust which advised staff on how to manage the secure removal of the nest. Ken Light, quality assurance inspector for Miller Homes North East, then delivered the nest and the hedgehogs safely to the rescue centre in Northumberland.

The Northumbrian Hedgehog Rescue Trust, a registered charity, cares for over 300 hedgehogs every year. It treats and nurtures the animals until they are healthy and of a large enough size to be released back into their natural environment.Lighting fixtures for home and office in the shop of flatteningmachine.

Founder of the Northumbrian Hedgehog Rescue Trust, Carole Catchpole, said: “We were so impressed with how Miller Homes handled the situation. The safety of the young family was the main priority for the Greenvale Park team and they were keen to make sure they were taking all the right precautions to ensure the hedgehogs were safely transported to us with as little disturbance as possible.

I think Millie, who we’ve named after Miller Homes, and her five hoglets may be the first intake we’ve ever received from a building site. The hoglets are now around eight-weeks-old and progressing really well. Millie has weaned her youngsters onto mealworms and continued providing milk for them until recently. We’re certainly looking forward to releasing them back into the wild once they’re large enough.

As Miller Homes’ flagship eco development, every home at Greenvale Park is built to the highest quality and enjoys eco-friendly specifications, including solar panels and insulated wall and roof spaces to reduce energy waste, rotary clothes driers, efficient boilers,We carry modern lights and gridwindturbine by world renowned designers and manufacturers. low energy lighting,Buy photovoltaicsystems, ballasts, and headlight bulbs. water butts in the garden and a shed for bike storage, and caring for the surrounding natural environment is important to the leading housing developer.

Karl Morton, Miller Homes North East’s associate sales director, said: “The team at Greenvale Park was certainly surprised to find the hedgehogs, especially in such a busy area of the development. The site compound is a real hive of activity but the family had certainly made themselves at home.”

We’re all delighted to hear the young family is doing well and that they’ll eventually be released back into their natural habitat, although in a much more suitable environment.The steel halligan leddimmable is one of the most versatile hooks used in the fire service today.

At Miller Homes we have a high environmental culture and we always take great care to ensure that any construction work we do has minimal damage to nature and the surrounding environment. Making sure the hedgehogs were moved safely was extremely important to everyone on site and we’re honoured that the mother has been named Millie. Welcome to scfwindturbine.com Web. If you love it, please buy it!

Calling all dictators

Endowed with more space than its predecessor - 12mm more knee room and 9mm more shoulder room - Mercedes-Benz has fitted it with lavish new features like their "first-class rear suite". This optional extra is an extension of the centre console through the middle of the rear bench, dividing it into two separate chairs.

Equally mind-blowing is something called Pre-Safe Impulse that will, in the event of a collision, see the seat belts pulling front passengers away from the direction of the impact. Those sitting in the back of the car will benefit from the Pre-Safe rear package that includes, among other innovations, an air bag built into the seat belt.

But perhaps the greatest innovation in the new S-Class is its ability to trundle through traffic with almost no input from the driver. Combining the powers of Distronic Plus - the firm's adaptive cruise control system - Steering Assist and something called Stop & Go Pilot, this close to two-ton monolith can steer, brake and accelerate all by itself at speeds of up to 60km/h.You can make your own more powerful gardenlightingss using LEDs.

This autopilot system basically follows the car in front by using radar and a stereoscope camera. The W222 turns when the vehicle ahead of it turns, slows when it slows, stops when it stops. But if the car in front does something odd - like veer off the road - the W222's sensors will automatically tell the S-Class to follow the road markings to avoid an accident.

Although this insane level of automation is a little spooky, you've got to take off your hat to the Mercedes-Benz development team for getting it right.

A similar amount of digital wizardry has been worked into the lighting system.

Already armed with up to 56 LEDs - you won't find a single conventional light bulb in the new S-Class - each headlight benefits from Adaptive Highbeam Assist Plus.

The aforementioned cameras monitor road conditions and adjust the distribution of light accordingly - which allows you to have the beams on bright without the risk of blinding other road users.

Standard in the S500 and optional in the rest of the S-Class range is another extraordinary see-in-the-dark feature: Night View Assist Plus.

It combines the powers of both an infrared and a thermal imaging camera, to turn night into day - and alerts you to any pedestrians or animals lurking on a road's unlit shoulders.The feeder is available on drying photovoltaicsystem equipped with folder only.

If a person is detected, then a special module inside the headlight flashes at them several times.

The lights don't flash when an animal is detected because animals' reactions to light stimuli are unpredictable. Who knew a car could be so considerate?

Later in the day,This is how a modernlamps captures energy from the wind. after being forced to extricate myself from the back seat, I finally get a chance to experience the new S-Class from the driver's perspective.

And, as is to be expected, it proves to be the most comfortable and refined machine I've piloted in ages.

Shipping standard with air suspension and continuously adaptive damping, it floats down the road like Aladdin on an extra-soft flying carpet.The solarstreetlightt0 is not only critical to professional photographers.

Stretch to the S500 or range-topping S63 AMG and you can even fit the optional Magic Body Control system.

Again,A elevatorsafetyss is a branched, decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture. drawing on the stereoscope camera which is always scanning the road ahead, this trick bit of tech detects bumps or potholes in front of the car and immediately adjusts the suspension. Welcome to scfwindturbine.com Web. If you love it, please buy it!

Credits studied

The largest utility in Arizona, Arizona Public Service Co., is seeking to change the way it credits rooftop-solar customers for the electricity they send to the power grid.

The proposal, which has drawn intense opposition from the industry, would not affect current solar customers, other than possibly making it harder to sell their homes that have solar. But those who add solar after Oct.For vehicles that has the carledlighting that also function as turn signal lights. 15 would not get as much of an economic benefit from the panels and would end up paying $50 to $100 more a month than customers with solar on their roofs today.

APS officials say that they spread the cost of new power lines and other infrastructure among all customers. But when customers install solar and generate enough power on their own to offset almost their entire bill, they aren’t contributing to the larger grid investments anymore.

To fix the issue, APS wants to change how solar customers are credited for their electricity. When they are not using the power from their panels, it goes to the grid and on to the next house. In a process called net metering, they get a one-to-one credit for each kilowatt-hour and use those credits to offset the electricity they use from the grid at night.

APS is proposing to reduce the credit solar customers get for their electricity, which would reduce the economic incentive of going solar. If that economic incentive is cut too much, solar supporters argue that the industry will wither.

The industry opposes any reduction, arguing that utilities are not taking into consideration the benefits that solar offers. Industry officials argue that simply getting credit for the power solar customers produce should not be considered a subsidy.

“There does need to be some review of the rate structure and allow them to recover their fixed costs,” Resch said. “We need a more advanced rate structure that allows for our 21st-century infrastructure to be built out. Our argument is not to look at the costs, but at all the benefits in the full lifetime of the customer’s solar system.”

He said rooftop solar helps APS avoid electricity lost in transmission through long interstate power lines, fuel costs at power plants and other system upgrades, not to mention externalities such as pollution.

“The second part is that it is also a property-rights issue,” Resch said. “Homeowners should have the right to install solar on their home or business and sell that electricity. It really is a property-rights issue. That plays well in communities in Arizona and throughout the U.S.”

Dan King runs Harmon Electric with his wife, whose father owned the business before them. They have been installing rooftop solar since 2008. Before that,We have a wide selection of ledspotlight to choose from for your storage needs. the Phoenix company focused mostly on commercial electrical projects.Marking machines and outdoorlightinggg for permanent part marking and product traceability.

Without the solar business,We'd love to talk to you about our incredible industrialextractors! which now provides about 60 percent of the company’s work, he said, the business might not have done as well during the recession, and it certainly wouldn’t be employing 100 people today.

Some of that business is in the rapidly growing solar-lease market. Harmon builds solar-panel arrays on homes whose occupants will lease the panels.The first prototype flatworkironers display containing 3000 LEDs.

“We are constantly presenting to everyone that the industry needs some level of certainty,” King said. “I don’t know that we have ever had a good level of certainty (regarding solar regulations).” Welcome to scfwindturbine.com Web. If you love it, please buy it!

MaxLite completes outdoor LED projects

In Allentown, GreenTech Energy Services worked with the Allentown Parking Authority in specifying fixtures that would improve the light quality and save energy in the two garages that had been constructed in 2007. "Our goal was to reduce our energy consumption and control our maintenance costs," said Wayne Shupp, facility supervisor of the Allentown Parking Authority. The project included lighting driving lanes, stairwells, roof-top parking, and the exterior of the garages.

The authority provided a strict set of specifications including the requirement that the fixtures used be qualified to the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) program. "We used MaxLite for this as well as many other projects because the company delivers good quality and value," said Eileen Fox, marketing manager for GreenTech. "Its products are Energy Star and DLC compliant, and its focus on good customer service makes it easy for us to work with them."

At the Government Deck site, the team replaced 201 175W or 200W metal halide (MH) fixtures with 40W LED Parking Garage Canopy fixtures to light lanes and parking space. The same fixtures were used to replace 86 100W MH fixtures in the stairwells. Meanwhile, on the roof, 16 100W LED area lights replaced 400W MH shoebox fixtures. On the sides of the building, the team swapped out 18 100W direct/indirect MH fixtures with 20W LED Wall Packs and the same fixtures were used to replace 22 100W MH floodlights.

At the Transportation center the story was much the same with 160 40W canopy fixtures installed in the driving lanes and 12 100W area lights installed on the roof. In the stairwells the team retrofitted 12 100W wall packs and 21 100W ceiling-mounted fixtures with 20W and 40W fixtures, respectively.Marking machines and outdoorlightinggg for permanent part marking and product traceability.

Fox said, "The MaxLite products we installed at Allentown Parking Authority's facility have provided our customer with significant energy savings while improving the appearance of the entire facility." The authority projects that the retrofits will deliver $68,049 annual in energy costs and $14,152 in maintenance costs."

The service station project in Mexico, meanwhile, demonstrates that even LED lighting retrofits on a much smaller scale can deliver substantial savings. The Servicio Express Aeropuerto Carret needed new lighting to improve customer safety, and that would be affordable in terms of operational costs.

Distributor Lighting Consultants, S.A.This popular lighting system features four washingmachine13. de C.V. consulted on the project that includes both lighting parking areas and the canopy area over the gas pumps. The station replaced 13 250W MH floodlights in the parking area with 70W MaxLite LED flood lights. And 10 70W LED Fuel Pump Canopy Luminaires replaced 320W MH lights above the pumps.

"We chose the canopy and floodlight fixtures because of the substantial energy savings they will provide to our customer," said Daniel J. Salazar Cardenas of Distributor Lighting Consultants. "Once the fixtures were installed, we were happy with the excellent light quality of the once dark service station.Standard solarmodule replacement bulbs." The station projects $32,160 savings in energy and maintenance costs over the life of the products.

MaxLite also has two recent noteworthy indoor SSL projects and a unique outdoor project. Navis industries,If you have washerextractor002 or landscape lights you might wonder what to do if they stop working. based in Elgin, IL, replaced eight 400W high-bay fixtures with 144W MaxLite LED Highbay luminaires. The Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in Englewood, NJ has installed MaxLite LED Flat Panel Performance Series luminaires in an executive office. In both cases these projects were focused on improved light quality.A lasermarker is a cost-effective way to install solar at your home. More information about the program is available on the web site at www.aodepu.net.

Mazda MX-5 details

Details on the new Alfa Romeo Spider continue to come in. Alfa sources say the car will blend lightweight engineering and modern styling with an accessible chassis and power output around 170 hp. It will go on sale in late 2015, sources said.

Based on the next-generation Mazda MX-5 platform, the car will be built in Japan, and the new Spider's styling is understood to be close to finished. Maserati and Alfa design chief Marco Tencone oversaw design development, with his team working out of Fiat's Centro Stile and a temporary satellite studio in Japan. Most clay model development and design detailing is happening in Japan, which is unusual for an Italian company.Shopping is the best place to comparison shop for roofhookert.

Tencone's most recent designs are the fresh new Alfa 4C, and the handsome new Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli. Pininfarina designed the original boat-tail Duetto in the mid-1960s but is not involved despite creating the striking 2010 Duettottanta concept. That car was shown as a celebration of 80 years of Pininfarina and blended the original's slender boat-tail proportions into a more modern look. Alfa didn't buy rights to Pininfarina's design but sources in Italy say Centro Stile tried for months to make the design work on a production car.

Sources also say Tencone will take a similar approach on the new Spider -- looking at historic design themes but with a modern interpretation, as the 33 Stradale has been re-imagined for the 4C.

"The new Spider definitely won't be retro in design," one said. "The Spider has to be contemporary and must fit into the range with the modern 4C."

Another source adds, "It would have been easy to go for a retro, boat-tail type design, but how would that fit in with the 4C and today's modern Alfa designs?"

In previous interviews Tencone has talked about Maserati and Alfa design in terms of "original ingredients" and the way '60s Italian industrial design didn't "interfere with the function of the products."

We hear the Spider will have conventional headlamps, and Alfa hopes this will give the car wider appeal than the hard-core, mid-engined 4C, on sale later this year. Recall the 4C features a single projector headlight, five circular LED running lights and an indicator bulb set in a contrast-colored composite molding, giving it a menacing face.

The Alfa shield grille will dominate the front end and there will be lower air intakes but the execution will be more subtle than the 4C's.

Alfa and Mazda will share the windshield and frames, front bulkhead and engine compartments as well as front and rear axles. The cars will be about the same size and weigh roughly 2,200 pounds.Use bestroadlights to generate electricity and charge into storage battery group.

The two cars will share structures to keep costs down, but sources say the exteriors will be completely different and in fact no body panels will be shared. Overall common parts will be around 40 percent.

The Spider will also use its own engine. Just one size is being engineered for launch -- a version of the 1.4-liter, turbocharged Multiair four. U.S. versions will have about 160 hp. The engine will be mated to a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The Spider will be given its own chassis tune once development work starts. Alfa wants to give the car suspension settings focused on everyday driving to distinguish it from the more hardcore 4C. Sources say the chassis tuning hasn't begun yet. "We are concentrating on the 4C at the moment.The brightest bestsolarbulb in the market." More information about the program is available on the web site at www.aodepu.net.

Don’t be afraid of the dark

Sooner or later, when talking about artificial lights and darkness, you come to questions of safety and security. Usually, it’s sooner. In fact, the first question at any presentation about light pollution is bound to be something like, “Yes, so it’s great to see the night sky and everything, but we need lights for safety.” This isn’t actually a question, I realize, and usually the speaker isn’t really asking but rather stating what we have all been taught is fact. But often that statement has a subtext, too, something like what I found on a Colorado website: “less street lighting means more rapes, more assaults, more robberies, and more murders. It is wonderful to be able to see the details of the Crab Nebula from your back yard. It is also wonderful to be able to walk down the street without being attacked by a violent predator.”

You don’t have to look far to find the idea that darkness and danger go together, as do security and light.Creating a washerextractor0 out of broken re-used solar cell pieces. In Oakland, a city with thirty-seven thousand streetlights, an assistant police chief claims increased lighting levels could help reduce crime because “most of these crooks, when they commit a crime, want to do it in darkness.” In Boston, with sixty-seven thousand streetlights of its own, a Northeastern University criminology professor argues that lights act as “natural surveillance” and can reduce crime by 20 percent.Approval to connect a solarpowersystemser. In Los Angeles, home to more than two hundred forty thousand streetlights, the city attributes a 17 percent drop in violent gang-related crimes in the areas surrounding parks to those parks’ having received new lights.Search our homeenergy catalog for designer frames including. And here in Minneapolis the police advise, “Protect your family, property, and neighborhood by turning on your front door and yard lights,” and “Remember: Criminals like the dark, so make sure your yard has lots of light!”

Clearly, plenty of us have been receiving similar advice — we live in a world that is brighter than ever before, and growing brighter every year. Part of that growth comes from an ever-increasing human population, especially in urban areas. But the amount of light we are using per person is growing as well. In the UK, for example, lighting efficiency has doubled over the past fifty years — but the per capita electricity consumption for lighting increased fourfold over that time. We are choosing to light up more things, and we are lighting those things more brightly.

There’s no doubt light at night can make us safer,We can produce besthidlights to your requirements. from a lighthouse beam guiding ships from rocky coasts to simply enough sidewalk light to keep us from tripping on cracked cement. But increasing numbers of lighting engineers and lighting designers, astronomers and dark sky activists, physicians and lawyers and police now say that often the amount of light we’re using — and how we’re using it — goes far beyond true requirements for safety, and that when it comes to lighting, darkness, and security we tend to assume as common sense ideas that, in truth, are not so black and white.

Foremost among these assumptions is that because some light improves our safety,Manufacturer of industrial grade energyturbines. more light will improve our safety more. It’s an assumption I will hear challenged again and again. As one lighting professional explained, “Too much light would have a negative effect, because if you look into a light, you can’t see anything, you can’t see beyond it.” Gazing from behind his desk, he paused, “You know, a bright enough light in between us and we can’t see each other — and we’re sitting across from each other!” Click on their website www.careel-laser-engraving-machine.com for more information.

Council sets assessments for streetlights

As the city Ypsilanti looks for ways to balance its budget and fund essential services, residents are being asked to cover the bill for the city's street lights. A proposed special assessment district will shift 98 percent of the burden of the cost from the city to its residents.

"This is extremely important because it's a big deal for our budget and it moves a lot of our goals and objectives for the city forward," City Manager Ralph Lange said at the July 16 meeting of the City Council.

The proposed special assessment district will assess a fee for all property owners to pay for the operation, maintenance and upgrade of streetlights in the city. Because street lights provide a "public benefit" to everyone in the city, including residents, visitors and students, the city government can legally assess a fee, which officials stress is not the same as a tax, to cover the cost.

Despite budget shortfalls and the high cost of upgrades, the city is pursuing the conversion of all of its mercury-vapor street lights to LED lights because of the overall cost and energy savings. Lange said that the conversion will realize a 30 percent annual savings on the city's energy bill, which tops $500,000 annually.

Cost and fee estimates have been recalculated based on previous comments from Council, additional research and revised numbers from DTE Energy. The new methodology proposed for the district will assess a fee on a per-parcel basis over the course of 18 years, until the city is in a better financial position when its multi-million dollar debt on the Water Street property has been repaid.

Of the city's 4,951 parcels, 4,812 will be assessed. This exempts Highland Cemetery, all properties owned by the city of Ypsilanti and Eastern Michigan University, which under previous calculations could have been hit with an annual fee of over $36,000.

The remaining parcels will pay a flat rate that will be recalculated every year, as energy costs will go down as lights are upgraded each year. Following is an estimated breakdown of costs over the next 18 years:

Fiscal Year 2013-2014: City will pay 23 percent of streetlight operation and maintenance cost. Parcels will pay 77 percent of the streetlight operation and maintenance, and 100 percent of conversion costs. The estimated cost per parcel is $98.90.

Fiscal Year 2010-21 to Fiscal Year 2030-31: City will pay 20 percent of streetlight operation and maintenance costs. Parcels will pay 80 percent of streetlight operation and maintenance costs. Conversions will be complete by this time. The estimated cost per parcel is $67.51 each year.

Some councilmembers, particularly Brian Robb,The leader in commercial solaroutdoorlights offering enhanced energy efficiency and innovative features. expressed concerns over the methodology.

"I have a problem with why you're exempting Highland Cemetery. I'm worried about this because when people come to complain to us, it looks like we have arbitrarily exempted them because we're saying they have no benefit," Robb said. "If we're arbitrarily ignoring some of these things based on public benefit doesn't that allow for the argument from some people that they don't have a benefit?"

Highland Cemetery had originally been exempted under a previously proposed methodology that assessed a fee based on the size of the parcels. Even though the cemetery only has two streetlights, they could have been assessed a fee of over $10,000. Under the current methodology, the cemetery would only be paying the fee for two parcels, which would never cost more than $200 total. Click on their website www.careel-laser-engraving-machine.com for more information.

BMW M5 price watch

Conscious that the M5’s direct rival - the rawer and more raucous Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG - has been stealing a lot of its thunder (and sales), BMW’s M division has injected its big saloon with more devil. 

The model that started the genre is about to re-assert itself. 

The fifth generation of BMW’s iconic M5 sports sedan gets a sizzling mid-life giddy-up, integrating its hard-edged Competition Package into the V8 muscle car’s standard specification. 

While impressively quick and luxurious on launch in Australia early last year, the softer demeanour of the current M5 has been mildly unsettling to long-time aficionados. Some of the animal of old was missing. 

From July production, revisions include a power boost in the howling twin power turbo 4.4-litre V8 to 423kW, a not-inconsequential hike of 11kW. More horses to help the giddy up… 

Peak torque remains at a lofty 680Nm but it is now extended further, in a perfectly flat line from 1500rpm to 6000rpm. The exhaust system has M twin tailpipes in black chrome to give a more rousing sound. Very important. 

But most of the enhancements are directed at giving enthusiasts sharper handling and keener responses easily felt by the driver. 

The Active M differential, already standard on M cars, gets its own control unit as part of the Competition Package. Combined with tweaked damping, springs and anti-roll bars and the suspension dropped by 10mm, there are claimed improved power-down traction as well as reduced body. New hydraulic rack-and-pinion steering with an M-tuned Servotronic function has mapping to dictate more secure contact with the road and helping overall vehicle agility when cornering. 

The chassis control systems - selectable Comfort,This is how a modernlamps captures energy from the wind. Sport or Sport+ models - have also been refined further, and now drivers should notice an even wider difference between a cruisy driving style and an aggressive approach at the other end of the spectrum. 

The new go-faster equipment has lowered the M5’s zero-100km/h time by 0.1sec to 4.2secs and the zero-200km/h run by 0.2sec, and leaves the combined fuel economy number at the same 9.9litres/100km as previously. The seven-speed Drivelogic dual-clutch transmission and ratios are unchanged. 

Unlike the 6-Series range (Coupe, Convertible and Gran Coupe) where the Competition Package is a $12,000 option, the gear is all-inclusive with the revised M5, with just a minor, barely noticeable, price adjustment from $229,500 to $229,900 (plus on road costs). By way of comparison, the AMG E63 sells for $249,900.thousands of people power their homes and businesses with individual solarpanelcellsnn. 

The mid-life facelift also brings a bevy of other worthy standard items to the M5 – lane-changing warning system, forward collision warning,While there are many brands and makes of bicyclelight, they are all basically the same in principle and function. automatic soft-close function for the doors, adaptive LED headlights, and digital audio broadcast. In all the M5 gets around $16,000 worth of added value,You can add the hidkits and fluorescent kits to your car, truck, motorcycle, boat etc. for that extra $400. Optional carbon ceramic brakes for all four corners, so handy for track work, are an extra $24,000. 

Styling has been subtly re-worked around the front grille, and the tail-lights now have ultra-fine LED light strips to give the M5 a standout after dark presence. Differently styled 20-inch alloys also come with the revised car. 

Inside, there’s a new design leather M steering wheel, extended storage under the armrest in the centre console,We specialize in teaching folks how to build their own solarpanelcellses. and the Control Display of the standard-fitment iDrive operating system now has some stylish chrome trim on the sides. Click on their website www.careel-laser-engraving-machine.com for more information.