Archive for June, 2007
Thursday, June 14th, 2007
So Laura and I have decided that it would be a good idea to cut down even more on our garbage output. We thought that composting would be a great thing to do…and it is.
I started looking up different things online about composting, such as various composters, what I can compost and different composting blogs. The “How to Make Compost” link has a great table down towards the middle of the page that includes what to and what not to compost.
So far, we are just separating our garbage. Right now, we actually have more garbage to recycle than regular trash, so that’s good. The only thing is that we won’t really have much to compost and that’s a little disappointing. Oh well…
I thought that I might offer a few links about composting and gardening as a whole…I just took the list from the blog I mentioned above. I am fairly sure that the site owners won’t mind a few extra links to them.
Clean Air Gardening
Compost Guide Home
Composter Store
Practical Environmentalist
Dirt: Amy Stewart organic gardening blog
Compost Bin Blog
Onion Gardening
Garden Plant Care
Garden Tool Guide
Texas Gardening Tips
Urban Farmer
Veggie Gardening Tips
Calendula & Concrete
North Country Maturing Gardener
skippy’s vegetable garden
The Inadvertent Gardener
In My Kitchen Garden
Can You Dig It
Vegetables for Breakfast
Outdoor Furniture Guide
Clean Air Gardening blog
Italian Cooking Supply blog
I want to get one of those really cool tumbler type composters in the future, but I think it would be a good idea to wait until we actually have something to put in it. I don’t bag or rake up our grass clippings, because that would be taking all the Nitrogen right off the lawn…the very thing I want to keep in there.
If I pick up a composter in the future, you can count on some nice photos right here.
Related posts
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007
Ask.com’s “The Algorithm” Campaign Being Confused for Google Campaign
I am sure many of you have seen the commercials or the billboards for “The Algorithm” campaign. It turns out that many ordinary people are confusing the campaign to be a Google campaign, when in fact, it is an Ask.com campaign. How about you? I am very curious what Diggers think…
Build a House Without Heating or Cooling Equipment
A wooden house requires no heating or cooling and is powered by the sun. It can be constructed from a kit, so can be used virtually by anyone.
Judge suing dry cleaner cries over pants in court
A judge had to leave the courtroom with tears running down his face Tuesday after recalling the lost pair of trousers that led to his $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner.
Gizmodo: Digg Spam Sucks
A new Digg policy here, out of respect for the Digg community. -No badging of articles unless they have original content, new reporting, treatment, or photos. It’s not fair when we get the Digg for someone else’s work. Let’s keep the signal-to-noise ratio high, dudes.
Using Vegetable Oil in your car instead of gasoline? Prepare to be fined
His reward from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes. He’s been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government. And to legally use veggie oil, state officials told him, he would have to first post a $2,500 bond.
Related posts
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007
I stumbled across this really cool picture today and thought I would share it with you.
I always get intrigued when I hear about the 4th dimension. Apparently, there are people out there who research these types of things. One such group belongs to Professor George Smoot. I found a great description of what they do on their website, “Smoot Group – Astrophysics & Cosmology.” Here it is…
“Professor George Smoot’s group conducts research on the early Universe (cosmology) using the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) and other astrophysical sources. These investigations are directed towards realizing a variety of science goals regarding cosmology.”
Dr. Smoot has won the Nobel for Physics and is currently researching the dark sector, dark energy and dark matter as well as understanding of the structure of space-time, also known as “How many dimensions?”
Now, that is pretty cool. I really like the photo above because it allows you to grasp the concept a bit easier.
Related posts
- The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT (2)
- The Sun, Oil, Crystals, Hydrogen And Economics (0)
- Goats, Dolphins, Pet Products, Easter Bunnies And A Python (0)
- Saving Water, Electricity, Honda Civic, Solar and the Prius (2)
- Internet Population, Climate Change, Spaceflight, Pollution and Planets (0)
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007
I was just thinking of this…What are two of the best feelings in the world? No, not the typical ones like falling in love and doing something fun and all that.
Ok, here goes…
1. Finally finding your car keys
2. Getting something out of your eye
Genious, isn’t it? I know you have, at least once, looked all over the place for your car keys…especially when you were in a rush to get somewhere. Think back to the feeling you had when you looked under that stack of papers on your desk to see the silver and gold keys sitting there.
Now, need I describe the feeling of getting something out of your eye? I really don’t think so. You can take care of that one.
Related posts
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007
Hey, guess what? I just placed a few more links the “Contact,” “Help,” “Advertising Tips” and “Scam Alert” pages of my classified sites leading to the new Online Classifieds Knowledgebase.
Basically, after a few years of receiving very similar support emails asking generally similar questions, I thought that a central place to go to get help would be welcomed. I took all of the information that was on the pages I outlined above and placed it in the knowledgebase, as well as the questions and answers in the most recent support emails I received.
A nice feature of the knowledgebase I set up is the “Contact” link. A user can go to that page and fill in the required information and choose the category it applies to. The email will be recieved by me to answer. Once answered, I have the opportunity to automatically place that Q&A right in the knowledgebase for others to see.
Related posts
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007
I know, I know, I am getting frustrated too. All I am trying to do is to get a handle on what the heck we have growing in the front yard. I did some more research on another photo I took and may have the family the flower belongs to.
Here, take a look…
I found some photos on the web and the one we have in the front yard looks like either White Yarrow or Queen Anne’s Lace (Wild Carrot). I am not sure if everything is exact, but they all sure look alike.
Related posts
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007
I have so many things to learn…and one of them is to learn how to identify flowers.
I did a little research this morning on some photos that I took over the weekend. I have come to the conclusion that the photos I took are of the Gaura lindheimeri – Pink Wand Flower. There is only one problem. One of the descriptions that I read said that this flower has only four petals, and the flower I took the picture of has five. Otherwise, the look and description is perfect. Perhaps I have a unique hybrid.
Take a look and please tell me if I am wrong…
Related posts
Monday, June 11th, 2007
I receive a bunch of email from a bunch of politcal groups…they are all over the place. From conservative to liberal to just stupid. I like to see what people are pushing.
This morning, I received an especially interesting email from MoveOn.org, a liberal group. It deals with Liquid Coal, the current legislation in congress and that the bill should be stopped.
Here is what they said…
“The idea of turning coal into liquid to fill our gas tanks should just be a bad joke. But because the coal industry pours millions into lobbying Congress every year, this joke could turn into a real nightmare.1
The senate is about to vote on a big bill dealing with energy and the climate crisis. Massive subsidies for coal were defeated in committee. But we’re not out of the woods yet, since one of the coal-friendly senators could sneak them back in again as an amendment just before the final vote.
Liquid coal is a giant step backward in our fight against global warming—it produces twice as many greenhouse gases as conventional gasoline. Proposals to capture that pollution before it adds to global warming are still a pipe dream.2
We have to reduce the greenhouse gases already in our air to stave off the worst effects of climate change—disease, drought, rising seas—so you’d think a giant program to make liquid coal a cornerstone of our economy would be too outrageous to consider. But continued pressure from the coal industry means key legislators introduce it over and over again.
Even the Roanoke Times, in the heart of coal country, condemned government promotion of liquid coal:
Coal-to-liquid technology is expensive, harmful to the environment and inefficient. The federal government should take no part in subsidizing it…Liquefying coal is not the answer to either energy independence or a cleaner environment.3
Some senators are standing strong against this false promise—Jon Tester from coal-rich Montana has said there should be no liquid coal without proven ways to capture the greenhouse gases.4
But others are risking our future with dirty energy bills instead of supporting clean and affordable alternatives—like solar and wind.”
I thought this email was interesting because I never even heard of liquid coal, and I have heard of a lot of stuff.
Apparently, the jury is still out on this technology. Some people like it, such as these guys, but others don’t think that it can be produced without making a bigger mess than we are already in, such as…
- David Roberts – MoveOn fights liquid coal
- Stop Liquid Coal: Sign this Moveon.org Petition
- Liquid Coal is A Really Bad Idea
So what’s the deal with liquid coal? Is it a good idea, but just a bad process to create it? I heard a while ago that ethanol was a great idea, but actually uses more energy to make is than it can produce. I gave that one a pass because I think the creation process can be better in the future.
What’s your take?
Related posts
Monday, June 11th, 2007
Remember that post I wrote a while back about my theory on Global Warming and Al Gore. Well, take a quick look at this article, called “Taskforce to Cut Cyber Warming.”
Was I dead on or what? The article states, “Computers and other IT equipment have been blamed for causing as much global warming as the airline industry.” That’s pretty bad.
I have always felt guilty about running my computer so much and am pleased that my new one has a hibernate mode that actually works. After 20 minutes at idle, the hard drive, fans and the rest of the computer shut down, to be turned back on with a simple shake of the mouse. That is going to save a lot of electricity.
I tried to change this setting on Laura’s computer no no avail. She is still running XP and this might be some bug somewhere. I don’t know.
Related posts
Sunday, June 10th, 2007
If you are reading this post, you have probably seen Mount Beacon (Beacon Mountain). Maybe you didn’t even know you were looking at it. Just doing a Google Search surprised me…there are so many people interested in this mountain. Here are some interesting links…
- Beauty atop Mount Beacon
- Gateway to Mount Beacon Park
- Save the Mount Beacon Fire Tower
- Mount Beacon Amateur Radio Club
- Mt. Beacon Incline Railway
I always knew there were a bunch of radio towers up on the moutain, but I was not aware of how many people love this place. I once new a guy…yeah, I knew a guy who used to ride a quad up Mount Beacon. Boy, he told me it sure was a difficult ride. The bottom was easy to get up, but once he hit the old ski slopes, it was nothing but huge rocks. That is pretty hard terrain for a quad.
I have heard many stories about Mount Beacon, but I really don’t know what to believe. Here is what I do know…the mountain offers a view over the City of Beacon, NY. There are radio towers, among other towers at the top of the mountain. There are also some old fire towers up there too. It offers some really great ATV riding as well, but you didn’t hear that from me.
Here are the rumors that I heard, which may very well be true. You can see New York City on a clear day. There used to be an old ski lodge at the top of the mountain with ski slopes going down the face. There was a trolly type thing that used to get pulled up the mountain. Who knows…
One of the most interesting things to me is the reservoir at the top of the mountain. I have some photos of that below. Well, what am I waiting for? Let’s see the photos…
See, I told you there was a reservoir on the mountain. This old broken down sign tells us that the reservoir holds 125 million gallons of water.
This is a view across the reservoir to one of the old fire towers. This particular one is towards the back/side of the mountain and is not as well known as the one people generally talk about at the front of the mountain.
This is a photo of the Mt. Beacon reservoir dam. Yeah, this holds all the water back, so don’t jump on it.
This photo is a view from the top of Mt. Beacon. This view overlooks the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge and the Hudson River.
This is a photo taken from the same spot as the last one, but looking more North up the Hudson River, towards Kingston, NY.
Do you have any fables, myths or truths about this mountain? I would love to hear them.
Related posts
