Sunday, January 7, 2007
Incredible waste
Cyd and I, after using them for 7 years or so, were forced to upgrade our handheld phones. They worked perfectly well but the battery packs were dying and irreplaceable.
Sony, Panasonic, Motorola, Nokia, just won't allow you to refit your device with new battery packs - no, you have to get a new gadget. The Korean makers are not any better.
It gets worse: after purchasing new phones, we also had to toss out our old charger-cradles as well as all other auxilliary equipment such as car chargers, usb connectors and headphones - a nice pile of high tec garbage - since the new phones came with totally different jacks.
How many cell phone users are there world wide? A billlion? Two? Can you imagine the world wide pile of cell phones and their chargers as they swap phones periodically (I don't know how often, but am certain that Cyd and I belong to the 'slow' crowd as we don't upgrade very often). Look at Chris Jordan's pictures. You can see a bigger version by clicking on them. I highly recommend you also check out his website at
http://www.chrisjordan.com
where you can find more samples of his fine photography. (By the way, if you have any connections to galleries in Japan, please post me a comment, as I am trying to set up an exhibition for him in Japan.)
How easy would it be to eliminate this incredible wastefulness with simple legislation that all phones have to be equipped with universal ports so that there is only 1 standard for chargers and headphones? It's like I have to refit my electrical outlets in my home every time I buy a new appliance!
Sony, Panasonic, Motorola, Nokia, just won't allow you to refit your device with new battery packs - no, you have to get a new gadget. The Korean makers are not any better.
It gets worse: after purchasing new phones, we also had to toss out our old charger-cradles as well as all other auxilliary equipment such as car chargers, usb connectors and headphones - a nice pile of high tec garbage - since the new phones came with totally different jacks.
How many cell phone users are there world wide? A billlion? Two? Can you imagine the world wide pile of cell phones and their chargers as they swap phones periodically (I don't know how often, but am certain that Cyd and I belong to the 'slow' crowd as we don't upgrade very often). Look at Chris Jordan's pictures. You can see a bigger version by clicking on them. I highly recommend you also check out his website at
http://www.chrisjordan.com
where you can find more samples of his fine photography. (By the way, if you have any connections to galleries in Japan, please post me a comment, as I am trying to set up an exhibition for him in Japan.)
How easy would it be to eliminate this incredible wastefulness with simple legislation that all phones have to be equipped with universal ports so that there is only 1 standard for chargers and headphones? It's like I have to refit my electrical outlets in my home every time I buy a new appliance!
And we thought all was ok
Someone did a study and concluded that 60% of all babies born in India would be in intensive care were they born in California.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Wind Power is Exciting - and so is the human mind
I have been an avid fan, supporter and investor in wind power. Like most people, I think of windmills when talking about generation of electricity from wind power, but recently I came across these exciting futuristic-looking images of different approaches to harnessing the power of the wind.
I copied text and images from a site called http://news.com.com/ which is loaded with interesting stuff and I can highly recommend a visit there!
In another twist on wind power, inventors are designing kites and balloons to generate electricity.
The wind industry is undergoing rapid growth as utilities, prompted by government incentives, seek out cleaner sources of power generation. Typically, these commercial-grade projects involve large wind turbines, which stand 100 to 400 feet high.
Kites and balloons are not widely used, and they face some of the same challenges as traditional wind turbines, such as bird deaths and complaints over location. But that isn't stopping people from coming up with "flying" wind generators.
One company, Magenn Power, intends to build a helium-filled balloon that resembles a giant cog wheel.
As the wind passes over it, the system generates electricity through an onboard generator. Power is transferred to the ground via its tethers, according to company Chief Executive Mac Brown.
The advantage that high-flying machines have over traditional wind turbines is that balloons can benefit from more steady air flow, Brown said. The company's Power Air Rotor product would fly at 1,000 feet.
Magenn, which is seeking $5 million in initial funding, intends to sell a 4-kilowatt system to remote villages in Pakistan and India that don't have electricity. Over time, its plan is to develop systems that are tied to the electricity grid to customers in North America and Europe.
"The value proposition we have is getting wind power anywhere," Brown said. "With turbines, you have to site them on coastal or high-wind areas."
Kites, too, are making a go at more than recreational flying.
A company called KiteShip has developed a kite designed to help motor a commercial ship. The kite, whose largest size would be bigger than a football field, can cut a ship owner's fuel cost and pollution emissions by 20 percent, according to the company. A similar system is under development at Germany's SkySails, which says its oversize kite will be pulling a cargo ship sometime this year.
An Italian sensor manufacturer has proposed the Kite Wind Generator Project (KiteGen), which also aims to capture the power of high-altitude wind.
The research project imagines that power plants could be created with kites attached to a giant revolving "merry-go-round" structure.
Briza Technologies, meanwhile, has proposed what it calls the Hovering Wind Turbine, which is also meant to capture faster, high-altitude winds.
The idea behind the hovering turbine is that it would be used as an alternative to turbines in offshore wind farms.
Another advocate of capturing the force of faster winds is Sky WindPower. The company proposes that systems be placed in altitudes of 15,000 feet, according to the company Web site.
I copied text and images from a site called http://news.com.com/ which is loaded with interesting stuff and I can highly recommend a visit there!
In another twist on wind power, inventors are designing kites and balloons to generate electricity.
The wind industry is undergoing rapid growth as utilities, prompted by government incentives, seek out cleaner sources of power generation. Typically, these commercial-grade projects involve large wind turbines, which stand 100 to 400 feet high.
Kites and balloons are not widely used, and they face some of the same challenges as traditional wind turbines, such as bird deaths and complaints over location. But that isn't stopping people from coming up with "flying" wind generators.
One company, Magenn Power, intends to build a helium-filled balloon that resembles a giant cog wheel.
As the wind passes over it, the system generates electricity through an onboard generator. Power is transferred to the ground via its tethers, according to company Chief Executive Mac Brown.
The advantage that high-flying machines have over traditional wind turbines is that balloons can benefit from more steady air flow, Brown said. The company's Power Air Rotor product would fly at 1,000 feet.
Magenn, which is seeking $5 million in initial funding, intends to sell a 4-kilowatt system to remote villages in Pakistan and India that don't have electricity. Over time, its plan is to develop systems that are tied to the electricity grid to customers in North America and Europe.
"The value proposition we have is getting wind power anywhere," Brown said. "With turbines, you have to site them on coastal or high-wind areas."
Kites, too, are making a go at more than recreational flying.
A company called KiteShip has developed a kite designed to help motor a commercial ship. The kite, whose largest size would be bigger than a football field, can cut a ship owner's fuel cost and pollution emissions by 20 percent, according to the company. A similar system is under development at Germany's SkySails, which says its oversize kite will be pulling a cargo ship sometime this year.
An Italian sensor manufacturer has proposed the Kite Wind Generator Project (KiteGen), which also aims to capture the power of high-altitude wind.
The research project imagines that power plants could be created with kites attached to a giant revolving "merry-go-round" structure.
Briza Technologies, meanwhile, has proposed what it calls the Hovering Wind Turbine, which is also meant to capture faster, high-altitude winds.
The idea behind the hovering turbine is that it would be used as an alternative to turbines in offshore wind farms.
Another advocate of capturing the force of faster winds is Sky WindPower. The company proposes that systems be placed in altitudes of 15,000 feet, according to the company Web site.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Motocross
As a conservationist Motocross goes a little against my grain and would not be the first choice of recreation for myself. The agressive noise, the consumption of gasoline, the obvious destructiveness do not fit into my concept of preservation and healing the planet. I must admit, however, that it is a great confidence builder and I enjoyed watching Conrad and Edi Kei do the kids course at Kawachinagano.
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. Motocross is derived from the French, and traces its origins to British Scrambling competitions. The name "motocross" is a contraction derived from the words "Motorcycle" and "Cross Country". So according to this definition of motocross from Wikepedia, the guys jumping and looping off a ramp on their motorcycles at a course in Kawachinagano are not Motocross riders but something else. What, you may ask? I guess they are full fledged thrill seekers and stuntmen.
I do have a question, though: what motivates a young man to ride a motorbike at full speed off a ramp, fling himself into the air and then, airborne, get off his vehicle to perform some tricks?
Enjoy these fascinating pictures of true athletes on their bikes.
Conrad and Edi Kei had a chance to meet the bikers during a break.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Supercharged for 2007
I am so charged, they call me Miss 100,000 Volt!
Mom, what did you put into my bottle this morning?
Prosit Neujahr!
Is there a better way to start a New Year than to join the Vienna Philharmonika at their customary New Year's Concert? This time Zubin Metha conducted the orchestra on a journey to sounds so rich and juicy that I had to mop up the floor beneath the TV. My favorite part was definitely Erinnerungen an Ernst, which is well known in Austria but never have I seen 90 plus grown academic men in tuxedos having so much fun with such a little tune, as they lapped up every note. A delight for the senses and a reminder of what music is all about.
Have fun and
Prosit Neujahr!
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