Toolmonger spots good deals on Halligan tools

ProBar Halligan tool

From Toolmonger’s excellent post on Halligan tools, When You’re Outside And Need To Get Inside

When you absolutely positively need to be inside a building two minutes ago, you need a Mini Pro-Bar. Fire and rescue crews commonly reach for this Halligan-type tool

as a one-stop multi-tool for forcing entry into a building.

Whether you need to snap padlocks, rip down plaster, rip out recessed or flush cylinder locks, or pry open doors, the Mini Pro-Bar has you covered. Made from 4130 aircraft steel, the knurled shaft recesses into both the fork and adz/pike ends and is heat-pressed and welded. The adz and fork also double as nail pullers and gas shut-off tools.

Fire Hooks Unlimited sells the Min Pro-Bar in two versions: the 16? bar weighing 3-1/4 lbs and the 20? bar weighing 3-1/2 lbs.  Either Mini Pro-Bar will run you about $75 — getting caught with one in your trunk while wearing a black ski mask will probably cost you a bit more than that.

Toolmonger’s post has, as always, good pricing and  source information.

To engage in a small amount of local chauvinism, the Halligan tool is named for Hugh Halligan, its designer, First Deputy Chief, FDNY. As is the Kelly Tool ,  “named after its designer, Captain John F. Kelly of H&L Company 163 (FDNY). ” (Quoting Wikipedia article on Kelly Tool, accessed 16 June 2007).

The Kelly, Halligan, Denver Tool and K-Tool are all familiar to volunteer firefighters and other first responders – and part of the training, and usable and available tools of CERTs and other community-based groups. As we’ve seen in reports from Iowa, freeing a trapped person or animals from a flooded house has frustrated a number of people trying to rescue their own neighbors. We propose that perhaps these tools, and others, shouldn’t solely be in the province of professional responders.

R.I.P. for the S.U.V.

The New York Times

gets it right, but has trouble with math.

The Times’ editorial, “R.I.P. to the S.U.V.“, June 17, has the basics, but their numbers are wrong. Small cars like the Honda Civic emit about one quarter of the greenhouse gases per mile compared to trucks like the Ford F 150 and GM Hummer. GM doesn’t publish EPA milage estimates for the Hummer, but reports in the blogosphere peg them at 8 to 12 mpg. Assuming 10 mpg, driving 15,000 miles requires 1500 gallons of fuel. At $4 per gallon, that’s $6,000. The Times said $4,300 for the Hummer.

The EPA estimates that the Honda Civic EX gets 32 mpg city and 40 mpg highway. Taking the average of 36 mpg to drive 15,000 miles would require 417 gallons at a cost of $1,668 – about one quarter of the gas, and the costs to drive a Hummer. (The Times said $2,100 for the Civic.) This should be obvious – the Civic gets close to four times the mileage, therefore gas costs are close to one fourth those of the Hummer. Both vehicles would require the same number of oil changes, but with bigger engines that use more oil; these too cost more for the Hummer than for the Civic. And because the Hummer costs more to buy and to repair, insurance costs are higher.

The Prius, which gets 45 to 50 mpg, costs less to run than the Civic.   To drive those 15,000 miles at at 47.5 mpg would burn 316 gallons. At a cost of $4 per gallon, it would set you back $1,264.

Looked at another way, a 10 mile commute in a Hummer would cost 1 gallon, $4 each way, $8 per day, $40 per week.  In a CIVIC it will cost about $2.22 per day and $11 per week.  In a Prius, about $1.68 per day and $8.42 per week.

There is one area where the Hummer is better than the Civic – since it is so much bigger and heavier, its scrap metal value is higher.

Continue reading →

LiquidReflector – reflective paint

Liquid Reflector is a reflective paint – available in five colors and a clear version, and, according to the manufacturer, yields a fine surface and high reflectivity. (Note: the reflected light is white, regardless of the visible color on the surface). We’d like to test some of this – see how it holds up – and whether its reflectivity would be affected by polyurethane or other transparent protective sealants.

The elegance of reflective materials, of course, is that they’re not dependent on electricity, and, wherever placed, they work when/as needed.

Via Toolmonger.

Emerging Agricultural crisis in Uzbekistan

Once again, the Times demonstrates its outstanding roster of reporters who, when left to sort out a complex and opaque situation, can explain and illuminate.  Sabrina Tavernise’s piece in yesterday’s paper shows what happens when corruption and a failure to ignore the principles of crop rotation – anyone remember George Washington Carver? – combine to form, in effect, a region’s “agricultural policy.” Old Farming Habits Leave Uzbekistan a Legacy of Salt

Read that – think about the Midwestern floods – and wonder about near-to-medium term food prices.

NATO: Taliban prison attack, "isolated incident"

The BBC reports that NATO is calling the Taliban attack on a prison in Kandahar – releasing 900 inmates, under half of them members of the Taliban – is an “isolated incident.” One supposes that this probably is better for Taliban morale, and from their point of view, might be thought a “major tactical breakthrough” or a “show of strength.” More from the BBC report after the jump: Continue reading →

NY Times: Saudi oil production nearing all-time high

Cryptogonpoints out this piece in the Times which suggests that the Saudis are producing at exceptionally high capacity, trying to limit price increases. From  Plan Would Lift Saudi Oil Output

, from the June 14th times:

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is planning to increase its output next month by about a half-million barrels a day, according to analysts and oil traders who have been briefed by Saudi officials.

The increase could bring Saudi output to a production level of 10 million barrels a day, which, if sustained, would be the kingdom’s highest ever. The move was seen as a sign that the Saudis are becoming increasingly nervous about both the political and economic effect of high oil prices. In recent weeks, soaring fuel costs have incited demonstrations and protests from Italy to Indonesia.

Saudi Arabia is currently pumping 9.45 million barrels a day, which is an increase of about 300,000 barrels from last month.

While they are reaping record profits, the Saudis are concerned that today’s record prices might eventually damp economic growth and lead to lower oil demand, as is already happening in the United States and other developed countries. The current prices are also making alternative fuels more viable, threatening the long-term prospects of the oil-based economy.

Toyota promises plugin-hybrid by 2010

Toyota promises plugin-hybrid by 2010, according to Chuck Squatriglia on Wired’s Autopia:

It’s no secret Toyota’s been working on a plug-in hybrid to compete against the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt, but Wednesday’s announcement sets a firm deadline and makes it clear Toyota has no plans of ceding the green mantle to General Motors. It also underscores how quickly the race to build a viable mass-market electric car is heating up.

The company’s ambitious “low-carbon” agenda

includes cranking out 1 million hybrids a year and eventually offering hybrid versions of every model it sells. In the short-term, Toyota says it will produce more fuel efficient gasoline and diesel engines and push alternative fuels like cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel. It’s also pumping big money into lithium-ion batteries. With fuel prices going through the roof and auto sales going through the floor

because of it, Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe says the auto industry has no choice but to move beyond petroleum.

“Without focusing on measures to address global warming and energy issues, there can be no future for our auto business,” he told reporters in Tokyo, adding, “Our view is that oil production will peak in the near future. We need to develop power train(s) for alternative energy sources.”

Watanabe’s reference to peak oil echoes that of GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who in explaining the company’s decision to shut down four truck factories said rising fuel prices and mounting demand for efficient cars are “structural, not cyclical.” In other words, the two biggest automakers in the world realize petroleum’s days are numbered

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EmerGEO – discovered on OpenSourceCommons

Open Source Commons, a project of the Open Society Institute Information Program, is a resource for open-source and open-architecture (i.e. not necessariy free) tools. In answering the question “What Tools do Nonprofits Use?”, provides this answer:

Social Source Commons is a place to share lists of software tools that you already use, gain knowledge and support, and discover new tools. It’s a place to meet people with similar needs and interests and answer the question: what tools do they use?

Within a minute or two of looking at the sitek I found a listing for EmerGeo Solutions, which makes a number of relevant GIS solutions, and which we’d like to evaluate and test as part of a “best practices and tools” project we’re now planning with another group. (More about that shortly). Here’s a look at Emergeo Solutions’ product line, and we hope to have more for you on that soon. But in any case – it’s a safe bet that Open Source Commons will be invaluable. More from EmerGEO:

EmerGeo™ has been installed and exercised in the City of Vancouver Emergency Operation Centre since product launch in October 2003. The software has been installed in several emergency centres and disaster-tested during major events like the 2004 wild land fire event in B.C. The software is designed to streamline inter and intra-agency communications and improve coordination of planning/response/recovery activities among all responding agencies and organizations involved in an event.

EmerGeo™ is built with Interoperability in mind; therefore, we recognize that it is essential to integrate with other emergency planning and response software used by emergency managers, such as the WebEOC crisis management system, alerting and communication technologies and hazard risk vulnerability tools. EmerGeo Solutions is expanding the use of its emergency mapping engine through partnerships with value-added technology providers and emergency and security experts around the world.

From EmerGEO Solutions.

Recently Read: “Survive a Nuclear Blast” at Wired’s Wiki How-To

“How to Survive a Nuclear Blast”

, in the Wired How-To Wiki, is an excellent primer. For historical background, we strongly recommend Eugene P. Wigner’s Who Speaks for Civil Defense?, published in 1968, which provides an excellent start in explaining why the United States, notwithstanding its public commitments to the contrary, never bult adsequate blast or fallout shelters.

"The exact scenario … had actually been foreseen … years ahead of the event"

From the appellate court decision in Nash v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Port Authority had moved to set aside a jury verdict or, in the alternative, be granted a new trial. The litigation involved the 1993

truck-bombing, which killed six people and injured hundreds. The Appellate Division, First Department (New York’s intermediate appellate court) ruled against the Port Authority in a unanimous decision decided on April 29, 2008, with an opinion by Presiding Justice Jonathan Lippman:

the exact scenario followed by the 1993 World Trade Center bombers had not merely been foreseeable, but had actually been foreseen and brought to the attention of the Port Authority management by its internal and retained security consultants years in advance of the event.

The entire opinion is worth a read – and is so well-written that non-lawyers will likely be able to follow some of the nuances of the legal arguments.

MIT Professors, Grad students, develop nanotube detector for airborne toxins

From Nano TechWire, this excerpt from Super-sensitive and small: New MIT detector uses nanotubes to sense deadly gases
 

Using carbon nanotubes, MIT chemical engineers have built the most sensitive electronic detector yet for sensing deadly gases such as the nerve agent sarin.

The technology, which could also detect mustard gas, ammonia and VX nerve agents, has potential to be used as a low-cost, low-energy device that could be carried in a pocket or deployed inside a building to monitor hazardous chemicals.

“We think this could be applied to a variety of environmental and security applications,” said Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and senior author of a paper describing the work published this week in the online edition of Angewandte Chemie.

Read the rest at NanoTechWire.

Urgent Request to Sign Petition Objecting to FEMA decision – no ice in disasters

SIGN THIS PETITION:

FEMA has decided that it’s not going to deliver ice in disasters, except in narrowly defined “medical” or “life-threatening” circumstances. Ice, of course, is a staple in disasters. The Disaster Accountability Project has coverage of the FEMA decision here

.

And DAP has also organized a petition drive – sign the petition at this link .

Architect Sheila Kennedy: "It’s curtains"

Architect Sheila Kennedy has, with her colleagues (whose names we don’t know, hence no attribution) designed The Soft House; Jorge Chapa at Inhabitat has an excellent post on Kennedy’s prototype house whose solar-collecting curtains would produce 16KWH. We strongly recommend you read Chapa’s post – and that you check in regularly at Inhabitat.

Sheila Kennedy/KVArch

Given our concern with worst-case scenarios – and preventing them – this technological use could go far in prevention by producing more power cleanly and locally. But we want to see rugged and waterproof textile uses for tents and canopies and emergency shelters and sails – consider the possibility of transporting the equivalent of a circus tent to the site of a disaster or power failure – as contrasted to the transportation of heavy petroleum-consuming generators – or solid photovoltaic panels or turbines.

One last thought: Kennedy’s design, we suspect, likely does more than produce energy: it probably acts as a cooling mechanism, preventing or mitigating the effects of a heat emergency.

NanoTechWire has a short interview with Sheila Kennedy here.