Freeware Genius: as advertised, brilliant resource for locating and selecting freeware

FWG_logo3 Via LifeHacker, have discovered Freeware Genius

which is another must-have resource.

Their review of MindRaider persuaded me that MindRaider might well be worth what looked to be an initial time-energy investment. Some other recent pieces which might be helpful:

The best free antivirus: a comparison

Ten lesser known “must have” free Programs, part 1 (I’d only heard of two or three – and the rest look very interesting)

Photology: automagically finds images in huge image libraries

Freeware Genius. Bookmark this one forthwith.

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21C Education

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

“We need a new environmental consious on a global basis. To do this we need to educate people.” – Mikhail Gorbachev

“True education and progress lie in challenging assumptions, not in accepting them.” – Ralph Meima, Vermont Commons, Marlboro MBA

Marlboro MBA – Managing for Regeneration – Tom Rossmassler

“Don’t Follow Trends, Start them” Wendell Berry

“Look deep into nature and you will understand everything.” Einstein

“We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to.” Terri SwearingenTerri’s Goldman Prize

A small body … can alter the face of history – Mohatma Gandhi

The supreme reality of our time is the vulnerability of this planet. – John F. Kennedy

We hold in our hands the power to end povery and the power to end life on this planet. – John F. Kennedy

NPR's Talk of the Nation: Could $20-Per-Gallon Gasoline Make Us Happier?

From NPR’s Talk of the Nation, Thursday, 16 July.

Could $20-Per-Gallon Gasoline Make Us Happier?

When it’s time to fill up the gas tank, many fear the price of gas will return to the $4-a-gallon days of last summer. But according to author Chris Steiner, our lives would be a lot happier and healthier if gas prices rose into the double digits. Steiner explains himself, and the title of his book: $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better.

Shades of Green – Energy, Economics, and the Environment

Green, Your Place in the New Energy Revolution, at Amazon.

Green, Your Place in the New Energy Revolution, at Amazon.

A review of Green, Your Place In The New Energy Revolution, by Jane Hoffman and Michael Hoffman, Palgrave Macmillian, 2008, ISBN: 0230605443.

May you live in interesting times.” – Old Chinese curse.
“The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast” – Dylan

Jane Hoffman, a policy wonk, and Michael Hoffman, a professional capitalist, have written a terrific book on the challenges and opportunities we face in moving from a fossil fuel based economy to a sustainable energy economy. Their intended audience includes people who think about where the energy they use comes from, who work, or want to work in the field. If you’re in a position in which you make vote, or make policy, then you should read this book. If you’re life expectancy is greater than 4 years, or you have children or grandchildren, then you should read this book. Unless you’re living off the grid, then you should read this book.

The Challenges

  1. “Remaining reserves of oil in the world are just enough to last us for another thirty-six to forty-five years.”
  2. “The global demand for electricity is projected to grow by 75% in the next 12 years.”
  3. Americans threw over 95 billion barrels of oil in the garbage last year by not recycling plastic bottles.
  4. Burning fossil fuels pushes tons of greenhouse gases and other things – mercury, oxides of sulphur, and oxides of nitrogen into the air we breathe.


The Opportunities

  1. “It is possible to significantly cut the bottom line of your electricity bill by switching to a renewable power source.”
  2. Switching to renewable and sustainable energy systems will enhance or national security, our economy, the environment, and our international competitiveness.

A Secure Energy Future, they say, is a function of Renewable Energy, Conservation, and New Technology.

If “assets = liabilities + equity” is the canonical equation of accounting, then the next fundamental equation is:

A Secure Energy Future = Renewable Energy + Conservation + New Technology.

Continue reading →

OldPhones.com – source for phone-line powered phones

Anyone who’s done any household emergency planning has come across the advice to keep in the house at least one telephone which doesn’t have extra features which require additional current, usually (perhaps always) through a black or gray AC to DC adapter – one of the cubes or boxes that have forced us all to buy power strips. Trouble is, they’re hard to find – and those that are currently

NOAA: El Nino Southern Oscillation

Via the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, El Niño returns in July 2009

NOAA announced on July 9, 2009 that the climate phenomenon called El Niño has returned. The El Niño Southern Oscillation is characterized by low ocean surface winds along the Equatorial Pacific, generating warmer than average ocean temperatures. These warmer temperatures are visible in sea surface temperature anomaly data, such as is shown in this animation.

See link for animation.  El Niño returns in July 2009

Silicon Solar’s Portable Solar Power Systems

Silicon Solar has a wider selection of Portable Solar Power Systems than we’d recalled, including some, like the flexible (in fact, rollable) panels pictured below, which are presumably fairly robust. We’re not sure which models/systems can be daisy-chained – one of the principal virtues of the Solar Stik system. We hope to be able to manage, in the near future, a comparison either of the respective specifications – or perhaps even a field test.

Global P3 Flexible Solar Panel - 30 Watt output - weight: 1 lb. from Silicon Solar

Global P3 Flexible Solar Panel - 30 Watt output - weight: 1 lb. from Silicon Solar

The Global P3  – at right – at full capture/output generates 30 watts of energy, sells for a bit over $500 – and weighs, according to Silicon Solar – one pound. For those of you on the Standard Metric system – that slightly less than one kilogram.

We hope that government purchases and other economies of scale push prices down further. However, without having data at hand, we think it safe to say that the weight to yield ratios of solar PV systems has been improving.

Alternative Energy Info: Nanosolar's thin-film cells

Alternative Energy Info reports that the thin-film cells, originally announced in 2008, appear to be in production, and that the Nanosolar has been adding employees. From Alternative Energy Info, based on reporting by Earth2Tech:

Earth2Tech has noted that there hasn’t been much news from the thin film company Nanosolar lately.    I haven’t seen much from them either – they’re one of the companies I try to keep a close watch on.   So Reuters decided to check it out and try to find out what was happening in the Nanosolar world.   What they found is that there is some activity going on behind the scenes – Nanosolar has been hiring, and there’s a number of new job and internships opening with the company.   Nanosolar’s CEO, Martin Roscheisen told Reuters that the company is “purposely keeping quiet and plans to start talking again in September.”    But based on the job openings, it looks like Nanosolar has been busy ramping up production.  Nanosolar said last year they had developed a new tool that would allow them to crank out up to 1 gigawatt of their thin film CIGS  solar cells each year, but since Nanosolar didn’t say how many cells they were actually making, it’s always been hard to tell what they’ve actually been doing.  Perhaps September will see some hard numbers.

Nanosolar: No news is good news at Alternative Energy Info .

Via Blogopolis Blueprint .

A Self-Powered Sentinel | Creative Synthesis Blog | Shae Davidson

of the Creative Synthesis Collaborative posted this on June 2nd:

Massachusetts-based Voltree Power is currently developing a network of sensor nodes that will monitor forest conditions and immediately alert users to wildfires. The system, the Early Wildfire Alert Network (EWAN), resembles other efforts to create decentralized monitoring networks. The network tracks humidity, air temperature, and other factors, sending the data via wireless transceivers to centralized processing centers or sending up red flags when wildfires appear, and has been designed to integrate seamlessly into the Department of the Interior’s Remote Automated Weather Stations system. EWAN’s power source, however, makes the project unique. Rather than relying on battery-operated sensors and transceivers, Voltree is working to perfect a method of harvesting energy from the trees themselves.

EWAN uses the small (usually 50-200 mV) current created by a pH imbalance between the tree and surrounding soil to power the system. The converter that powers each unit is fairly small (”about the size of a pack of gum”) and allows each sensor to operate for the lifetime of its arboreal host.

While Voltree’s pilot project focuses on wildfire monitoring and prevention, the company hopes to find broader uses for this type of self-powered, decentralized monitoring network. Researchers could easily use the system to monitor fragile ecosystems or gauge agricultural conditions, and Voltree has started exploring applications that would incoroprate [sic

] similar monitoring networks into border security.

Creative

Synthesis Blog

On The Media: A King's Farewell

Bob Greenfield points out things which were less important than Michael Jackson’s funeral: wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the roughing-up  of ethnic minorities in the People’s Republic of China, and legislative attempts to address health-care and energy policy. Hats off to Greenfield and his colleagues at WNYC’s On the Media

On The Media: Transcript of “A King’s Farewell ” (July 10, 2009).

Nurse to Patient Ratios and Hospital-Acquired Infections

In response to Paul O’Neill’s opinion piece “Health Care’s Infectious Losses,” in the Times of July 6th, one letter stands out, which we here reprint in its entirety:

To the Editor:

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill leaves out a significant factor in his formula for reducing hospital-acquired infections and medical costs: making sure there are enough nurses taking care of patients.

For example, central venous catheter-associated bloodstream infections cost millions each year. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that this infection is more likely to occur when there are fewer nurses in the intensive-care unit, regardless of other infection control measures.

Infections are prevented by careful, constant monitoring and assessment of patients by the nurses in attendance. This cannot happen when nurses are assigned too many patients. Infection control is not just making rules — it’s about having the right number of professional nurses to carry them out.

Deborah Elliott,Deputy Executive Officer

New York State Nurses Association
Latham, N.Y., July 6, 2009

Medical care is by its nature labor-intensive. Nurses and other skilled staff act as force multipliers for physicians – and often make the difference between the mediocre medical care and excellent medical care. With respect to hospital-acquired infections, excellence and cost control are not in conflict.

Increase the ratio of nurses to patients – medical outcomes will improve – and what’s more, we’ll lose fewer nurses to burnout.

Letters | Cutting Hospital Infections to Cut Costs.

Disclosure: my wife is an R.N. and member of the New York State Nurses Association.

CAFE Standards – Not Meaningless, But Trivial

Pres Obama has raised the CAFE standards from 27.5 mpg to 35.5 mpg, by 2016.  Raising the CAFE standards to 35.5 mpg in 7 (or 26) years is not the change we need. It is very little, and very late. The standard for cars has been 27.5 mpg since 1990 (DieselNet).  However, at least we are starting to move forward. Union of Concerned Scientists provides a good summary.

CAFE standards were effective in increasing new car and truck fuel economy by 70 percent between 1975 and 1988. In 2000 alone, CAFE standards saved American consumers $92 billion, reduced oil use by 60 billion gallons of gasoline, and kept 720 million tons of global warming pollution out of our atmosphere.

Dependence on Foreign Oil. American cars, trucks and SUVs account for approximately 40 percent of all U.S. oil consumption. Much of this oil is imported and our foreign oil reliance continues to grow. U.S. consumers currently spend $1 billion every day to import oil and other petroleum products. Achieving 35 mpg by 2020 as directed by the recently passed energy bill will save 1.1 million barrels of oil per day in 2020—over half the oil the U.S. currently imports from the Persian Gulf.

Environment. For every gallon of gasoline that is consumed, approximately 24 pounds of global warming pollution are released into the air. Drilling, refining, and distributing gasoline account for about 5 pounds of global warming pollution per gallon of gasoline, and burning gasoline during vehicle operation produces another 19 pounds of global warming pollution per gallon. Increasing fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020 can cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 206 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020.

Economy. A fleet of cars and light trucks that reaches 35 mpg will cost about $1,000 to $2,000 extra per vehicle. This additional cost will be more than offset by the fuel savings consumers will enjoy over the life of the vehicle. Consumer fuel savings along with automaker investment to produce a 35 mpg fleet by 2020 will help spur the creation of more than 170,800 new jobs in the year 2020.”

“It’s important to note that all companies will be required to make more efficient and cleaner cars,” said an unnamed EPA official quoted on the “Personal Money Store“. “We do that by proposing individual standards for each class size of vehicle and then a fleet average for each company. This has the effect of preserving consumer choice – you can continue to buy whatever size car you like, all cars get cleaner.”

The Hummer, the Escalade, seat 5 and get 8 miles to the gallon.  Even if you double the milage, or triple the mileage, you’re talking 16 to 24 mpg. That’s terrible. There are no logical and compelling reasons to buy, drive, or build these vehicles – which is part of the reason for GM’s decent into bankruptcy.

Aside from the environmental problems; we buy petroleum from Iran, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Veneuzeula, and soon, Iraq. There are profound national security problems associated with this, with petroleum, with a dependence on foreign powers for a resource on which our whole economy is based.
We have the technology. The Toyota Prius gets 50 mpg, and has been available since 2001. The new Honda Insight gets 40 mpg. Bright Automotive has announced a cargo van that will get 100 miles to the gallon, and which will be on the road in 2010.

100 mpg vehicles are the change we need.

The next step would be a Plug-In Hybrid that runs on Bio-Deisel.

One problem is that we all are stuck between the rock of the environmental and national security challenges associated with obtaining a resource from potentially or occasionally hostile foreign powers and the hard place of people like the Heritage Foundation, which has been fighting against the CAFE standards since 1991. Back then they said small cars are unsafe, American car manufacturers don’t know how to build small cars so CAFE would cost jobs, and big cars are our birthright. Today they say government standards don’t work, it will cost more to retool auto plants to build cars people need so we should just keep churning out vehicles that people don’t need and can’t afford, and we have the right to drive trucks (2009). A Heritage Foundation post from 2001 claimed that a) small cars are unsafe, and b) because oil imports have risen the CAFE standards have failed. Oil imports have risen because demand is inelastic and domestic wells have run dry. The Heritage Foundation doesn’t believe in “peak oil” it says the taxpayers should subsidize oil shale. As a taxpayer, I’d rather subsidize solar and wind than oil shale, especially since the subsidies will be lower.

But the fact of the matter is that there are no Jed Clampetts in Louisiana, Oklahoma, or Texas shooting at varmints and hitting gushers. The new “Texas Tea” will be brewed in a solar tea kettle. Or it will be air temperature – and pretty hot.

Training Thoughts

My friend Jon recently honored me by asking if I would occasionally contribute to this forum.  I have never blogged before, so as I peck away I feel a bit like the Moliere character who was pleased to learn that he was speaking prose.

For my maiden entry, I offer up some thoughts on training, based upon 25 years of active duty military service–things that I have seen, heard, read, or done.  It occurs to me that, with some modification, what follows might be applicable to training in many other fields as well.   This hardly represents  the last word on the subject and I don’t necessarily expect everyone to agree with everything here, but I hope people might think about this and even attempt to capture their own thoughts on the subject.

1. The best form of welfare for the troops is first class training–Rommel

2. All training must be assessment-based.

3.  It thus follows that evaluation is a critical step in training management.  Unevaluated or poorly evaluated training is worthless–a waste of time at best and positively harmful at worst if it reinforces bad habits.

4. Hard work and enthusiasm don’t automatically equal great training.  They are necessary but not sufficient conditions.  Trainers must know their stuff.

5.  Leader training should be an organization’s top training priority.  Good leaders can carry less than well-trained organizations; weak leaders will bring down the best units.

6.  Senior leaders must be prepared to underwrite mistakes in order to encourage prudent risk taking; however, never send unprepared leaders out to practice on live subordinates.  Rule of thumb–four days of trainer prep and one day of good training is better than five days of lousy training where unprepared trainers flounder.

7.  In other words, quality over quantity.

8. Good after action reviews/critiques are essential.  However, no organization ever improved simply because it conducted a good critique.  Go back and do it over.

9. Practice doesn’t make perfect.  Perfect practice makes perfect.

10.  Build progressivity into training: Crawl, Walk, Run.  No football team scrimmages on the first day of practice.

11.  Safety and realistic training are not antithetical.  There is nothing safe about going into combat untrained.  Train realistically and safely.

12.  Most soldiers/students/people forget what they hear, remember what they see, and know what they do.  Try to make your training “hands-on.”