Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
Office OpenXML A Dead End, Microsoft Will Back ODF
During the LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco, I met with Bob Sutor, IBM’s vice president of open source and standards. We discussed document standards and the implications of ISO’s controversial decision to grant fast-track approval to Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) format.
Top 10 Cell Phone Etiquette Rules People Still Break
Do we really still need to talk about this? You’d think with over a decade of experience under our belts along with our inherent delusions of hyper sophistication that we’d have figured things out by now. But the sad truth remains: cell-phone baggery is worse than ever!
What would happen if we each used 10% less gas?
For starters, we’d save billions of dollars and keep billions of tons of carbon dioxide out of the environment. So, on that note, support proper tire inflation, not off-shore drilling.
Leaves, Twigs, and Bark: Cheap Biofuel Alternatives?
It seems like new reports are practically coming out daily about the next great gasoline alternative— furfural, algae, and switchgrass, just to name a few. Now 3 more contenders have entered the ring: leaves, twigs, and bark.
Colorado Creating World’s First Fossil Fuel-Free Community
Called Geos, the 25-acre area will have 250 homes from smaller 850 square feet to mansion-sized 3,500+ square feet placed in four neighborhoods. While that’s a whole lot of houses, they’ll be keeping a whopping 40% of the area as green space.
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Sunday, July 13th, 2008
Well, it’s gone. The guy came over this morning and loaded it up on a trailer and took it away.
I have to admit that I feel a little bit of cool draining from my body. It’s not too bad though, because I do have a plan. I’ll tell you about that later.
Here is a little history…I placed an ad to sell my motorcycle (1993 GSXR 1100) on three of my own websites. I knew these websites would come in handy. I got a lot of great response. I had the bike listed for $2,375, the bluebook value of the bike. Then, I changed my mind. I took the bike out of the garage and shined it up a little bit. Then, I cruised over to the local DMV to get the lowdown on registration. All I needed to do was to drive the bike over there and get it done. Easy enough.
When I got home, I went for a little ride down the road. Everything ran great, so I parked it in the garage. The next morning, the house stunk of gasoline, so I went down to the garage and noticed gas dripping out of the exhaust pipe connection. Since I am an expert mechanic, I knew the issue was a sticky float in one of the carburetors. Really, it’s not a difficult issue to deal with, if I was the kind of person who dealt with that kind of stuff.
My father told me that all I had to do was to get some good gas in there and go for a long ride. I knew this was true, but I have had my eye on a nice fuel injected motorcycle for some time. I edited my listings online and brought the price down to $750 for a quick sale. Within hours, I had responses to the ads. I also didn’t want to start the bike up because the exhaust had gasoline in it. If I started it up, either flames would shoot out of the exhaust or I would blow up, along with the motorcycle. Not my cup of tea.
The funny thing about the story is that the guy who emailed about the motorcycle is from the same town as us. He had to drive about six minutes to get here. He gave it a once over and then took it home where he is going to either just get it going or tear it down to clean the carburetors. Either way, he got a great bike at a great price.
Now, for my plan…check this out…oh, I’ll just wait until I get it.
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Monday, June 30th, 2008
Pentagon Fights EPA On Pollution Cleanup
The Defense Department, the nation’s biggest polluter, is resisting orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Fort Meade and two other military bases where the EPA says dumped chemicals pose ‘imminent and substantial’ dangers to public health and the environment.
8 Ways to Green Your Garden
Summer is a great opportunity to spend time in the garden. Sunny days provide nice weather and extra daylight. School is out so you’ve got extra potential workers. The ground is fertile from springtime rain.
Biodiesel’s New Approval Rating Could Ease Warranty Concerns
Lack of warranty support for biodiesel has been a major stumbling block for new diesel owners who want to start using the fuel. But three long-awaited ASTM specifications could help change that.
Unprecedented bill could spark renewables in US
A new feed-in tarriff bill, mimicing many laws already in place in Europe, could pave the road for a renewable energy revolution in the United States.
Cost Benefits Could Bring Natural Gas Vehicles To Forefront
There is nothing really new about using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a vehicle. The new thing, the reason that talk about CNG is growing, is that natural gas now costs about half as much per unit energy as gasoline and has an even greater cost advantage over diesel fuel.
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Friday, April 11th, 2008
I feel like I am reporting breaking news or something here.
I was on my way down to Lowe’s this afternoon when I happened to notice a very large area of black smoke in the sky in Middletown, NY. I kept looking at it, but it was over the horizon, so I couldn’t see what was causing it. I did my shopping in Lowe’s and pulled out of the parking lot. On the way out, I got these photos:
I thought this couldn’t be a good thing. Anyway, I wanted to see what the heck was causing all that smoke, so I checked it out online at this website. Apparently, Lee’s Quality Tire in New Hampton was on fire. A worker dropped a gasoline soaked rag on a light fixture and the place went up.
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Friday, November 16th, 2007
After I changed the oil in my car this afternoon, I had a nagging little chore to get finished up. It’s like one of those things you keep saying to yourself, “Oh man, I forgot to do that again.”
I had to pull out the motorcycle, add fuel stabilizer to the gas and take it for a ride. Since I only rode the thing once this year, I was looking forward to it. I added STABIL - Fuel Stabilizer to the almost full tank. I think it takes one ounce to every two and a half gallons of gasoline. I shook the bike around and started it up. The exhaust didn’t smell that good, but oh well. I had to take it for a ride to make sure the stable fuel worked its way into the carburetors. There are four of them. This is the most important thing. Here is a quote from their website -
“STA-BIL, America’s top selling fuel stabilizer, is a blend of scientific additives that prevents fuel from deteriorating. Stored fuel goes bad in as little as 60 days causing varnish deposits and corrosion to build up in engines. This build-up results in starting problems, poor performance, and reduced engine life. STA-BIL stops the formation of varnish and prevents corrosion.”
The ride was nice and short. I just cruised up the road and back. It was a little chilly and pretty windy, so it wasn’t really the day to go for a long ride. I am really going to try to ride more next summer.
The last thing I did was to take the battery out of the bike and hook it up to the battery tender. This is good to keep the battery lasting a nice long time. You should hook a battery up to a tender when it isn’t going to be used for a while.
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