Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Energy Information

Google.org SmartPower Energy Information Project




"By monitoring my energy use, I figured out that the bulk of my electricity was caused by my two 20-year-old fridges, my incandescent lights and my pool pump, which was set to run more than necessary. By replacing the refrigerators with new energy-efficient models, the lights with CFLs and setting the pool pump to only run at specified intervals, I've saved $3,000 in the past year and I am on track to save even more this year! "
Russ, Hardware Engineer
"I don't own a toaster and because I live by myself, I've always used my standard electric oven to toast bread. After seeing the power spikes from my sunday breakfasts, I did a little research on the power required to toast bread using a toaster compared to an electric oven and found that toasting bread in an oven uses 33 times as much energy as a typical toaster! With this savings, I realized that I would save money (not to mention time) by buying a toaster."
Don, Software Engineer

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Orbited – Networking for the Web

Orbited – Networking for the Web

Orbited provides a pure JavaScript/HTML socket in the browser. It is a web router and firewall that allows you to integrate web applications with arbitrary back-end systems. You can implement any network protocol in the browser—without resorting to plugins.

Integration

Orbited ships with support for many protocols out of the box, including IRC, XMPP, and STOMP (ActiveMQ, RabbitMQ)

Scalability

Orbited’s shared-nothing architecture supports arbitrarily large server clusters—perfect horizontal scalability.

Usability

Orbited works in all browsers, cross-port and cross-subdomain, with no loading bars, clicks, or spurious history entries.

Standards

Orbited uses only web standards to provide the most future-proof API and implementation.


Sunday, February 15, 2009

Going to Art and Code

flying in, but would love to drive back East to Rochester with someone

Sunday, February 08, 2009

InformIT: Building the Ultimate Virtual Lab for Free, for Fun, and for Profit, Part 1 > Why Virtual, and Why ESXi?

InformIT: Building the Ultimate Virtual Lab for Free, for Fun, and for Profit, Part 1 > Why Virtual, and Why ESXi?

What can save you countless hours and dollars, and is even good for the environment? A free virtual lab that consolidates the hardware and power requirements of numerous systems into a single machine! In this two-part series, Seth Fogie gives you all the info you need to set up and build your own virtual lab — for free, with much fun, and potentially for profit.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

San Francisco to Get Bike-Sharing Pilot Program in 2009 : TreeHugger

San Francisco to Get Bike-Sharing Pilot Program in 2009 : TreeHugger:

San Francisco to Get Bike-Sharing Pilot Program in 2009

by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 01.30.09
Cars & Transportation (bikes)
Buzz up!

gavin newsom san francisco mayor biking photo

Good News for San Francisco Commuters
While visiting Paris, a city with a quite successful bike-sharing program, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom announced that his city would get a bike-sharing pilot program in 2009.

Planning for Bikes Pays Off Big in Portland : TreeHugger

Planning for Bikes Pays Off Big in Portland : TreeHugger: "according to this video and accompanying article, a nascent industry has developed in Portland around bike usage. The city currently has 125 bike-related businesses, mostly small and locally-owned, covering everything from repair and custom bike building to accessories and consulting. And it is a growing industry.

The catalyst for all of this economic growth was a decision by the city to invest in designing the city for bikes. Officials say they have spent some $20 to $25 million on bicycle infrastructure over the past few years, and have plans to spend another $24 million to significantly expand Portland's bicycle network. The city also supports local bike-oriented businesses. If this seems like a lot of money to be spending on bikes, consider that an average highway interchange costs between $10 and $15 million, not including planning costs and the cost of buying up the land on which to build.

Bike-friendly planning creates many opportunities, and not just economic. Local artists have been given the chance to design unique symbols for bike lanes, giving a human touch to the traffic markings. Check out this article on the artists; here a some examples of their work."

What is ImmobiTag? :: ImmobiTag :: Protect your bike for life from being stolen with ImmobiTag

What is ImmobiTag? :: ImmobiTag :: Protect your bike for life from being stolen with ImmobiTag

The Tag

The tag emits a unique Radio Frequency Identification number that is registered online during activation of the tag.

How does electronic bike tagging work?

You Shall Have Bike Lanes Wherever You Go : TreeHugger

You Shall Have Bike Lanes Wherever You Go : TreeHuggerturn-lights jacket imagespeed imagebikelane projector image

Weatherization Stimulus: Lots of It, Fast - BusinessWeek

Weatherization Stimulus: Lots of It, Fast - BusinessWeek: "According to the DOE Weatherization Program, $1 invested returns $1.65 in energy-related benefits, and at the same time leverages $1.54 in other resources from private funding, utilities, state funds, and other federal funds. A home that's weatherized at a cost of several thousand dollars can save some $350 per year on energy bills, claims the Obama Administration. (The Weatherization Program's estimate comes in at about $413.)

For low-income families, such savings could be crucial. According to an Oak Ridge National Laboratory study, low-income families paid 17% of their annual income on energy, compared with the 4% spent by higher-income households."

Katie Couric Disses Energy-Saving Weatherization As Embarrassing : TreeHugger

Katie Couric Disses Energy-Saving Weatherization As Embarrassing : TreeHugger

...Yet they and nearly all the rest of us can save money by weatherizing, even if we get someone else to perform the service and pay directly out of pocket. Obama's response to Couric implied that weatherization, instead of being an embarrassing pork product, is actually a 'threefer':
Obama: Well, let's think about it. We're going to weatherize homes, that immediately puts people back to work and we're going to train people who are out of work, including young people, to do the weatherization. As a consequence of weatherization, our energy bills go down and we reduce our dependence on foreign oil. What would be a more effective stimulus package than that? I mean, you're getting a threefer. Not only are you immediately putting people back to work but you're also saving families on your energy bills and you're laying the groundwork for long term energy independence. That's exactly the kind of program that we should be funding.

Monday, February 02, 2009

VMware ThinApp (formerly Thinstall), Application Virtualization for IT Directors, Developers, ISV - VMware

VMware ThinApp (formerly Thinstall), Application Virtualization for IT Directors, Developers, ISV - VMware



Key Benefits for Developers:

  • Package your applications in standard EXE and MSI files
  • Deliver a zero-footprint application that doesn’t need an install
  • Convert traditional applications to virtualized applications quickly and easily
  • Streamline your regression testing with sandboxing and snapshot capabilities
  • Package or link any runtime you want directly with your application
  • Eliminate risks and conflicts with other applications on the endpoint

Miller Dowel Company | Using the Miller Dowel | View Our Demo

Miller Dowel Company | Using the Miller Dowel |

Originally designed as an alternative to nails and screws in decks and dock construction, the Miller Dowel is now major news for anyone doing wood furniture or building cabinets and mill work or creating wood products of any kind.
View the Miller Dowel Demo