If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential -- for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints; possibility never.

          Søren Kierkegaard

Commergy Technologies is an Ireland-based company that its main objective has been power supplies that are energy efficient and compact in architecture. Texas Instruments, large diversification of electronic components used in thousands of devices everyday looking to broaden its energy efficiency will add now the features behind the specialization on Commergy Technologies designs. The acquisition enhances Texas Instruments portfolio of analog products allowing for quick adaptation on new designs for a fast to market capability.

Industry-Leading Power Management Portfolio

TI is focused on meeting the power design needs of its customers through innovative products, easy-to-use design tools and local technical support. TI uses its application knowledge and high-performance analog manufacturing capabilities to provide discrete and integrated power management solutions for any portable or line-powered power design challenge – from cell phones and portable medical equipment to telecom, industrial and computing applications. For more information about TI's complete power management portfolio, visit http://power.ti.com.

Resources:

http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/press/company/2008/c08028.shtml?DCMP=commergy&HQS=Other+IL+commergy

Slowly, however, I've started to feel better. This is largely because another terrific person I work with, Laura, now works mere feet away from my desk. Her sparkling presence has essentially meant the difference, for me, between "life" and "death." We have developed a series of pictures, she and I, which we silently send to each other as our need requires, with no further comment.

This is our most commonly used picture:

This is our second most commonly used picture:

[Laura has a real antipathy for squids and whales, so she uses this picture far more frequently than I.]

"Come look at this piece of hilariousness from my personal life!" we also say, sometimes, and then we do. Last week I was summoned to her desk to view the following e-mail, verbatim:

"I know! We'll get into more, but he called from a random number--said he moved back to Cleveland, but he was at a neighbor's house because he doesn't have POWER!!! And I heard what sounded like a pinball machine in the background."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

***

I had intended to discuss the experience I had yesterday, hair modeling, but I know now that I'm too close to what happened, and I need to engage in a little more mental parsing before I can do it justice. For now, I'll just say that the haircut I was given makes me both happy and terrified. This haircut has to be lived up to. People with this haircut rappel down Mt. Everest while playing the electric guitar.  Do I have to learn how to play the electric guitar? Perhaps.

So next week. Plus, by then, there'll be pictures of me posing in a parking lot!

I'll take this time, instead, to mention my addition of what they call a "blogroll" and what I call "I don't want to call it a blogroll" and would rather call "Things I Like And Want to Call Attention To". Doubtless I shall add to this as time marches on; for now, herewith:

1. Poetry Foundation: I lay in you like a canoe on a great big sea.

2. Cortland Review: so, so much good.

3. Poetry Center of Chicago: the Poetry Center of Chicago.

4. Peter McCready: the Large Hadron Collider. Pictures. Sound.

5. 52 Teeth: my friend Abraham. He makes music. He writes about it. It's so great it makes my head fall off.

6. 10 Ways: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

So there you have it!

This week's blog has been real disjointed, I know. I'm sorry.

I just haven't been waking up on the thematic side of the bed.

Hamlen Brook

At the alder-darkened brink
Where the stream slows to a lucid jet
I lean to the water, dinting its top with sweat,
And see, before I can drink,

A startled inchling trout
Of spotted near-transparency,
Trawling a shadow soldier than he.
He swerves now, darting out

To where, in a flicked slew
Of sparks and glittering silt, he weaves
Through stream-bed rocks, disturbing foundered leaves,
And butts then out of view

Beneath a sliding glass
Crazed by the skimming of a brace
Of burnished dragon-flies across its face,
In which deep cloudlets pass

And a white precipice
Of mirrored birch-trees plunges down
Towards where the azures of the zenith drown.
How shall I drink all this?

Joy's trick is to supply
Dry lips with what can cool and slake,
Leaving them dumbstruck also with an ache
Nothing can satisfy.

Richard Wilbur
 

The way he puts it and it makes sense to this former psych student is: if you look at all of humankind as a 'case study' we (that's the royal we, thank you) suffer from chronic paranoid delusions, pathological propensity to commit murder, extreme violence and cruelty against 'perceived' enemies and generally we act criminally insane with a 'few brief lucid intervals' - hmmm, well put, Mr. Tolle and that's a scary psychological profile, no?

Dave Mathews Band, 'Mother Father Please Explain...how this world has come to be' video for you...

Yes, & then I read this paragraph below and thought: oh S**T...NOooooo...

I'll quote the man now, 'Fear, greed and the desire for power are the psychological motivating forces behind warfare and violence between nations, tribes, religions, and ideologies, but also the cause of incessant conflict in personal relationships.'

I stopped there and thought, wahhahaha, have I been doing any of THAT stuff at in my personal relationships??? What would I have to fear? Am I greedy? for anything? Do I have a desire for power? Am I driven by any of these 'psychological motivating factors'??

I tend to think of myself as fear free (well, relative to others anyway), being pretty Zen regarding most matters of accumulating obvious signs of wealth (Zen with stuff nonetheless), and what would I do with a lot of power in any single personal relationship anyway...? I truly believe that in healthy relationships the flow of 'power' goes back and forth as needed...

(oh yeah, and just shut up if you're even thinking of commenting on my recent history with my 'personal relationships') tee hee...

Am I just a fear based, greedy, power and ego driven 'humankind case study' and I don't realize it...?!

Are you??!

Mother, father, Dave Mathews, please explain...!!

        You need help drawing the attention to what you have to offer and you need it now.  Never before have things been so out of whack trying to get your business, cause, blog, or opportunities the attention they deserve, so that you can be highly productive.  It is time to pull out all of the stops and get heard, long enough for people to realize what you have to offer.  Your customers or clients are overwhelmed and don't know where to look.  It is up to you, to figure out how to get your fair share of their time and attention.

         Baby Boomers are in a unique position these days.  They are trying to put their kids through college, take care of their parents, and pay their bills; all the while, they are trying to figure out whether they will be able to retire, EVER, in this lifetime!  Figuring out how to meet all of their needs and at the same time, make an impact on the world in a way that satisfys their soul is no small feat.  Competing with the younger generation; who is more technically savy, focussed on their goals and making great strides in surpassing anyone who is unfortunate enough to stand in their way, isn't easy !  :)   Don't let those things stop you...experience ...has alot to offer. 

         A smart entrenpreneur, administrator of a non- profit organization, or educator understands the value of combining experience with new ideas and technology along with a vision and a system for building your product or service to a level of excellence; this is what it takes to rise to the top!

       Ken McArthur has just written a book dedicated to making an Impact.  You can't make an Impact if you can't keep people's attention long enough to show them what you've got!  I am recommending his book to you so that you can get what you deserve...which is the opportunity to compete with all those people out there who make enough "noise" to get noticed.  Check it out here:  http://theimpactfactor.net/?id=35  What have you got to lose...sign up for free to the website for tons of free audios and videos to help you break out of the rut you are in.  Ken put those audios and videos up on this website to help you to accomplish your dreams and goals...they were created by experts in their area of expertise.  It is all free for you to use at your leisure.

         Then, buy Ken's book...you won't regret it.  Ken McArthur is a business man and an author who knows about making an impact.  He is successful in many areas.  What he has learned, and the way that he teaches people to apply that information, has helped many people get ahead in this world and feel good about themselves while they do it.  He is a man of integrity and he inspires many people with this book to leave the world a better place!  http://theimpactfactor.net/?id=35  I am proud to say that i know he leads by example!

People find that therapeutic massage can help with a wide range of medical conditions including:

• Allergies
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Arthritis - osteoarthritis & rhematoid arthritis
• Asthma
• Bronchitis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Chronic and temporary pain
• Circulatory problems
• Depression
• Digestive disorders
• Spastic colon
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Headache
• Insomnia
• Myofacial pain
• Reduced range of motion
• Sinusitis
• Sports injuries
• TMJ (temporomandbiular joint dysfunction)

Even though massage therapy does not increase muscule strength, it can stimulate weak and inactive muscles. 

Research regarding massage shows the following interesting facts:

• Office workers massaged regularly were more alert, performance was better and were less stressed
• Massage decreases the effects of anxiety, tension, depression and pain
• Autistic children showed less erratic behavior

Stay tuned for more information on the power of massage!

Damn, I wish my lawyer or someone had explained these things to me, would have made life a lot easier and less expensive.

1.     Your opinion doesn’t matter.  Nope.  It’s better if you don’t have one.  Just bend over and grab your ankles, think warm thoughts.  You think I am being sarcastic don’t you?

2.     Whatever job; you have – quit – take the job as the fry-girl at MacDonald’s.   Seriously – making $9 an hour is really going to help you.

3.     Whatever she tells the court and the judge, they are going to believe.  You were a cross-dressing, transvestite, and vampire.  This is bad for the children.  They won’t believe you when you tell them she is soul-sucking bitch – nope – ain’t gonna happen.

4.     Sell off everything; take that trip to Thailand before the courts rule.  As a matter of fact, think of moving to Thailand.  You will be stripped of everything including your dignity, manhood, pride, ego, personality, sense of self, character, self-image, self-esteem, confidence, self-assurance, poise, self-belief, self-reliance, and anything else they can think of.

5.     Get used to beans in a can and Kraft Dinner.  This will be haute cuisine.  You idea of a great time will be taking out a frozen hotdog, warming it up in your armpit, and watching the neighbor’s television from your shopping cart in the alley.

6.     The fact that she stuck your dick in the toaster and set it to fry will matter not.  The fact that she stalked you for weeks and eventually pulled a “boiled rabbit” in your apartment matters not.  The fact that she convinced everyone in your office you have herpes matters not in court.  The court system is setup to protect her not you.

7.     Okay new concept here.  You will pay child support and in doing so pay what is called hidden spousal support.  The government, the courts and her lawyer and going to tell her to make as little money as possible so they can tap-dance all over your ass for it. 

8.     You may think because you walked out its done – forget that thought.  She has you by the balls.  She owns your ass. 

9.     Burn and shred everything, I mean everything.  I thought I did (shred everything) and missed her box of cards.  She kept everything I sent her which at first I thought because she liked mementos but in the end it was used against me.  I remember standing there thinking should I shred this?  I thought to myself, naw, too brutal.  On hindsight, I should have.  I kicked myself in court later when she brought the evidence forward.  Think of burning down the house – hmmm, maybe not that might come up in court.

10.                        Your standard of living is about to drop perniciously.  Your charter of rights is about to get a serious stomping.  You will be a second class citizen.  Better you hear it now and get used to the idea.

My list is a bit over the top but the feeling is there.  Its difficult to imagine in the beginning when you think you have rights and the law will protect to you to the eventual thoughts that this is not the case.  It is one of the rudest awakenings I can think of.  Good luck my friend, you will need 100lbs of horseshoes to make it through this.

The group outlined several recommendations which it said could bring relief to consumers reeling from high power costs. Among the proposals were a government audit of Meralco, the removal of the value added tax on power rates and the scrapping of the systems losses charge of distribution utilities.

In a statement, Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said that from the joint congressional power commission hearing, one could see that Meralco, Napocor and the Energy Regulatory Commission had their share of the blame for why power rates were high.

“At the end of the day, it is still government’s responsibility to protect consumers. This can only be done through government intervention in and regulation of the power sector,” Reyes said in a statement.

Bayan said the abolition of the value added tax on electricity and the removal of the systems loss charges should apply not just to Meralco but to all distribution utilities.

“The removal of the VAT on electricity and the systems loss charge will save consumers a combined P1.42/kWh. Those consuming 200 kWh a month can easily save P284 a month. We would like to see government address these issues immediately.”

The group also wanted Meralco subjected to an audit by the Commission on Audit based on a 2006 order issued by the Supreme Court in connection with a case filed by Bayan against Meralco regarding the itemization of its charges.

While upholding the unbundling of charges and rate adjustment of Meralco in 2003, the Supreme Court also ordered the ERC to seek the help of the COA in auditing Meralco to determine if its rates were reasonable. Reyes noted that the ERC and COA have yet to release results of any such audit.

“The COA audit of Meralco may help us better understand how companies with interlocking interests from generation and distribution really work. This can shed light on the corporate practices of Meralco and its affiliates that are now being questioned by lawmakers. Consumers are entitled to know more on how rates are fixed and what contributes to rising prices,” Reyes said.

Bayan also proposed the rejection of the P14 billion Napocor-Meralco settlement that aims to pass on bad debts to consumers. The petition, according to the group, has been pending before the ERC for four years now.

Bayan also asked for the rejection of the Napocor-PSALM petition to allow the recovery of P9 billion in generation charges that resulted from “market power abuse” in the WESM from August to November 2006. This petition is currently pending before the ERC.
There should also be stricter regulation and monitoring of Napocor fuel procurement to prevent overpriced emergency coal purchases which raise generation rates, Bayan said, adding that the possibility of long-term contracts should be considered to protect consumers from rising coal prices.

There should also be a review of all Independent Power Producer contracts of Napocor and other distribution utilities, with take-or-pay provisions disallowed because they are usually disadvantageous to consumers.

Finally, Bayan proposed the scrapping of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act and an immediate stop to the deregulation and privatization of the power sector in favor of a more regulated environment where rates can be thoroughly scrutinized.

(PDI)

The term Cultural Anarchlysm is a hybrid of 'cultural analysis' and 'anarchism', a reference to its roots in post-war British Cultural Studies and the British Anarchism of Colin Ward (2004). The term was coined to help isolate a collection of emerging techniques aimed at evaluating texts, derived from a set of intentions and principles specified in the Muslim Anarchist Charter. The evaluative criteria of Cultural Anarchlysm vary according to the particular textual field, but the intentions and principles informing the evaluative process remain stable. The primary intention is to “establish a peaceful and loving relationship with the one through acting upon knowledge of revelation, reason and god’s signs within creation and also the human heart.” The principles informing this intention are, broadly speaking: a consensual, non-hierarchical and anti-elitist approach to learning as central to the realisation of the cultural anarchlystic purpose; an active pursuit of political, social, economic and environmental justice; and a conceptualisation of Islam as integral to a pluralist Judeo-Christian-Muslim culture.

Despite it’s radical anti-hierarchical and anti-elitist stance, Cultural Anarchlysm is neither liberal nor libertarian. It views liberalism as an ideology of capitalism, whereby subjects are controlled through a process of uncritical self-construction derived from immersion in liberal-capitalist knowledge systems (Rose, 1999). By contrast, the ethical perspective of Cultural Anarchlysm is proto-Aristotelian, envisaging a society in which all knowledge systems function to facilitate the reflexive virtuous citizen. It’s thus seeks to realign enlightenment knowledge systems as tools of a broad Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition, in a way not dissimilar to how Ashari kalam transformed Mu’tazilism into the tool of Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaah. The pursuit of political, social, economic and environmental justice aims to facilitate the development of a society where all citizens have the opportunity to pursue such an ethical life unhindered by oppression and similarly, its anti-authoritarian position aims to ensure that such opportunities are available to all human beings, not just those defined as normatively religious by theological elites.

Despite its sympathies for the heterodox, Cultural Anarchlysm is thus deeply respectful deep of Sunni, Shi’a and Salafi interpretations of Islam, but in a way that implores them to properly acknowledge human diversity: cognitive, sexual, and gendered, and also within their own histories and diverse cultural expressions. ‘The One’, for example, refers to the concept of tawhid, arguably the central religious concept within traditional Islamic discourses. Differing interpretations of tawhid define an evident contrast in ethos and even architecture between contemporary Muslim communities (Geaves, 2005), and my own emphasis errs the cultural anarchlystic intention towards an understanding of tawhid accentuative of God’s immanence, a sensibility common to Sufi strands of Islam, although my exploration of Muslim writings, past and present, has not been restricted to texts on tasawwuf.

In seeking to realign the enlightenment tradition, Cultural Anarchlysm admits a wide provenance of pertinent knowledge, potentially incorporating the whole of the Muslim tradition as well as the living legacies of learning within Christianity and Judaism, plus contemporary academic disciplines, including social theory. In part, this broad provenance reflects a non-compliant but not necessarily antithetical relationship to authority rooted in autistic experience (Williams, 1996), where the balking at direct authority is almost visceral, but this insight itself reflects the anthropological interrogative implicit to the cultural anarchlystic purpose, whereby the intent is to generate action from learning. Hence questions about islam are equally questions about the human (social) actor. It is here I perceive my own personal interstice between contemporary orthodoxies and human diversity, inextricably linked to my experience as a loner and a carer of a disabled child, such that Cultural Anarchlysm is proposed as a neurological atypical or anti-neurelist (Foster, 2008) hermeneutic. How is the Muslim tradition to be read from the perspective of the psycho-emotional needs of the loner and the embattled carer and advocate? What muslim scholar -- almost all of whom are men -- can possible understand what life is like caring for an autistic child (Younis, 2005)?

However, there are clearly contemporary political implications surrounding the provenance of knowledge within Muslim discourse and the use of hermeneutics as a tool for developing innovative Muslim discourses (Mahmood, 2007). Now is a difficult time to chaff against Muslim tradition, when USA and allied administrations are engaged in organised propaganda wars aimed at making muslims blameworthy and docile before their heinous foreign policy adventures. This imperial onslaught, arguably aided by Media islamophobia (Poole, 2002), has been formative in inculcating in me an identity politics located in a third space between Islam and the Imperium (Bhabha, 1994), as well as between traditions and creativity, making common cause with diverse groups of anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist muslims and non-muslims united by the polyvalent politics of one no, many yeses (Kingsnorth, 2003).

The testimony that there is no god but God and Muhammad (aws) is God’s prophet and messenger remains central to a life dominated by the demands of care, my perplexity in the face of an excluding society and my outrage in the face of a world in hoc to the ideologies of neoconservatism and neoliberalism: ideologies that maintain a global imbalance of power such that an unavoidable death occurs every three seconds, increasingly from decadent middle-class life-styles as well as from grim poverty. The impetus for Cultural anarchlysm is my response to these realities. It is my principles of engagement, my explorer’s map, by political manifesto, my jihad -- sharpening my mind as it seeks to bring about transformation of both myself and the world. Oh Lord! Increase me in [virtuous] knowledge. Forgive me. Guide me.

References
Bhabha, H. (1994) The Location of Culture (London: Routledge)
Foster, M. (2008) The Ideology of Neurelitism, http://www.neurelitism.com/ accessed 08/05/08
Geaves, R. (2005) Aspects of Islam (London: DLT)
Kingsnorth, P. (2003) One No, Many Yeses (London: Free Press)
Mahmood, S. (2006) Secularism, hermeneutics and empire: the politics of islamic reformation, in Public Culture 18(2) p.323-347
National Autistic Society (2007) Statistics: how many people have autistic spectrum disorders? http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=235&a=3527 accessed 08/05/08
Poole, E. (2002) Reporting Islam (London: I B Tauris)
Rose, N. (1999) Governing the Soul: 2nd Edition (London: Free Association Books)
Ward, C. (2004) Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
Williams, D. (1996) Autism: An Inside-out Approach (London: Jessica Kingsley)
Younis, I. (2005) My son the mystic, in s. Abdul-Ghafur [Ed.] Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak (Boston: Beacon Press)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114513939/N-T_C.rar

Sleeping Sun (1999)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514025/N-S_S1.rar

Over the Hills and Far Away (2001)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514223/N-O_T_H_A_F_A.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114513967/N-O_T_H_A_F_A.part2.rar

Bless the Child (2002)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514161/N-B_T_C.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514125/N-B_T_C.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114513871/N-B_T_C.part3.rar

End Of All Hope (2003)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514152/N-E_O_A_H.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114513957/N-E_O_A_H.part2.rar

Nemo (2004)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514123/N-N.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514086/N-N.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114513694/N-N.part3.rar

Nightwish - Wish I Had An Angel (2004) (Alone in the Dark Version)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514071/N-W_I_H_A.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514039/N-W_I_H_A.part2.rar

Sleeping Sun (2005)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514057/N-S_S.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514147/N-S_S.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114513659/N-S_S.part3.rar

While Your Lips Are Still Red (2007)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514096/N-W_Y_L_A_S_R.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514160/N-W_Y_L_A_S_R.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114513668/N-W_Y_L_A_S_R.part3.rar

Amaranth (2007)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514169/N-A.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514103/N-A.part2.rar

Bye Bye Beautiful (2007)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514097/N-B_B_B.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/114514034/N-B_B_B.part2.rar

Pass: newagevn.com

So I will start first blog on Power.  Power consumption in both developing as well as developed country is going up at such a high rate  thanks due to the widespread  use of communicating devices all over. Setting up new power plants to cater to these ever increasing demand is one partial answers to this crisis. Also technology is not helping to reduce the cost of power production based on the traditional methods such as nuclear, hydroelectric, gas,coal etc. Granted  some of the cost increase is due  to the overall rise in expense but technology has  not been able to compensate for this rise by making it more efficient. That brings to the  topic of this blog which discusses conservation  by designing/using the devices efficiently.

 Today roughly in US 50% of the PC sales are laptops. LAPTOPS use  lot technique that conserves  the power. Typical household has at least one laptop and one desktop. I do not see the same principles being applied to the desktop design. It should default like laptop power mode. People generally do not change default modes unless they have need to do. Running background in dark can  give not only striking contrast but save your energy also. A simple Power meter software ( Will require hardware support) with $consumed on  the electricity when the computer  will go long way to convince user of turning on/off  the feature they need at time. What you see makes a impact. I am sure when people see a $power meter they will think it carefully. 

In addition to the PCs, look at the entertainment/communication devices inside the home for ex:  Multi Handset  phones, PDAs, 2/3 Mobile Phones, MP3 players,PSPs, hair dryers,shavers and the list goes on. Chargers designed for these equipments typically are plugged in the socket. The power  consumed by these devices when not in use or fully charged condition is called quiescent power is just a waste of energy. When they actually charge not all of them are efficient.(Most of them use linear regulator)  There is not currently any benchmark for measuring these chargers from power efficiency. High quality componants  can make them smaller and more efficient. Look at the no of transformers used in converting AC to DC. Typical devices as mentioned earlier can range to around 20. So you will have 20 transformers generating DC voltages from 5V -12V with currents from 100ma to 1A depending upon devices requirment.

So what is the solution to this mess?

Couple of solutions: For devices which require less than 500ma or less do not bundle any  chargers let everybody rely on USB port from PC.  

Other solution is one Smart universal Charger which can support 10/12 different types of input connectors  and associated voltage/current requirements for all these devices or better mandate a common connectors for all these devices based on the current rating. 

Happy Reading and comments most welcome.

All of the energy supply companies in the UK are in the same position as British Gas. Electricity and gas are still cheap for consumers in the UK. Heating oil is now around 60p a litre, which in kWh terms must be the most expensive ever.

If one of the few energy suppliers feels that it needs to increase its margins to stay in business instead of cutting them to gain a market share then it is almost certain that conditions are such that price increases will be applied by all the energy companies soon. And again.

I am not sure just how much (if anything) can be saved by switching suppliers because the timing of price increases varies as do the various tariffs available to consumers. Natural gas, uranium oil and coal are all sources of fuel which provide heat and power for homes. All of these are now being used in increasing amounts across the world with the developing nations looking set to use more and more fuel as they become wealthier.

I cannot therefore see much hope of prices stabilising. In simple terms if China’s Gross Domestic Product rises by 10% each year then its demand on fuel will rise by at least that amount for China itself. The same applies to India, Pakistan and Brazil. Together these nations have over three billions of energy hungry souls – increasingly wanting electricity to power their new appliances and heat and cooling to provide them with the same standards of comfort that energy greedy developed nations have enjoyed for decades.

Furthermore, the world’s growth in fuel demand is compound – not simple. If world fuel demand grows at 10% a year (that figure is a guess not a researched based estimate) then assuming that mining and exploration costs stay flat fuel prices will double in real terms every seven years.

But it gets much worse than that. The sources of fuel are finite. We cannot rely on gas and oil exploration companies suddenly finding huge new deposits of fuel. I have no doubt that they have already picked all the low hanging fruits in the fuel orchards. If you factor in the increasing scarcity as well as the increasing demand you might well come up with impossibly high fuel prices which in turn create impossibly hard energy prices.

The four and a half million people who live in the United Kingdom today in fuel poverty (double the figure of just three years ago) would be joined by millions more. In such a scenario they would suffer more in winter and have difficulty in maintaining standards of hygiene and comfort and worse of all winter deaths would spiral.

Particularly at risk are those who are now in their forties. They not only have to save for their pensions and their old age care but now it looks as though they will have to pay significantly more of their income, just when they cease to earn it, on their energy costs.

We have a law that requires the UK to eradicate fuel poverty amongst vulnerable households by 2010 and in all households by 2016. These laws are meaningless as fuel poverty will increase, not be eradicated, and it rather shows the foolishness of legislating by targets without understanding the real world impact on the problem that you are trying to solve.

We can adopt the optimism of Mr Micawber who said “have no doubt I shall, please Heaven, begin to be more beforehand with the world, and to live in a perfectly new manner, if -if, in short, anything turns up”.

Something may turn up. One of the frequent questions in the numerous calls for evidence and consultations and in governmental inquiries that keeps cropping up is whether there is likely to be technological advances that would make renewable energy cheaper and more viable in future? Although something may turn up human experience shows that you cannot buck the laws of physics when it comes to energy and there is not such thing as a free lunch.

We have to understand and plan for very expensive energy on the basis that nothing will turn up. If something turns up we will have lost nothing in the meantime.

The only present viable plan is to install as many renewable sources of energy as we can especially microgeneration where we will not need significant supplies of energy to provide the heat and power that we crave. My feeling is that the Government regards microgeneration as too expensive. They commit almost immeasurably small amounts of our gross national product to it. They spend more on a few MP’s pensions each year. There is no Plan A - that leaves only Plan B – Mr Micawber’s optimism.

If you think that I have over egged the pudding when it comes to predicting energy prices, look at the problem as though I have over estimated the energy prices rises by 50% or 75%. There is still a great deal of hardship that will be caused by fuel prices.

As frightening and as dangerous as fuel poverty is, what I find more frightening and more dangerous is the effect on emissions that increased fossil fuel burning will have. Of course, China, Pakistan, India and Brazil are effectively outside the Kyoto framework. Fossil fuel burning on a world wide scale increasing at 10% or more very year will create tremendous environmental problems.

The irony is that our Government seeks to control our emissions by the same mechanism that has failed so badly in the case of fuel poverty – one of statutory targets, which is a beast without teeth and without limbs.

When he introduced the Climate Change Bill Mr Gordon Brown boasted that the UK was the first country to put carbon emissions reduction targets into law. It is not surprising that other nations have not bothered to legislate in these terms.

The Climate Change Bill is very much like the fuel poverty legislation which in turn reminds me of King Canute’s courtiers. The king knew the limits of his power and when his courtiers told him he could send back the tides he made them carry him on his throne to the sea and stay while he ordered the tides to retreat. He thus demonstrated the folly of believing that because you command it, it happens.

            According to calculations, daily business in the sector could grow to Rs 2 crore in just Gurgaon and Faridabad. So seeing this upcoming business in the future these units are seeking such direct deals at the behest of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam.

            The fees charged will also be very nominal for this. Apart from the industrial units and factories, apartments and societies can also avail this facility of power consumption directly form the plant. But for this their power consumption should be more than 1 MW. Any power plant with surplus electricity can be directly tapped by societies and RWA’s.

They do it with Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics (XCPV) by concentrating the Sun's light close to 2,000 times (!) into extremely efficient solar photovoltaic cells. Part of Sunrgi's patent-pending technology has to do with the cooling of the solar cells, dual-axis sun tracking, and the way the whole system is optimized for mass-production.

Not only are Sunrgi's solar power systems more efficient compared to regular PV, but they also take much less surface area for the same power output.

- from http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/05/sunrgi-concentrated-solar-power-inexpensive.php

A Winner makes commitments;
A Loser makes promises.

A Winner never quits;
Loser always quits.

A Winners have dreams;
Loser have schemes.

Winners say,"I must do something";
Losers say,"Something must be done."

Winners are a part of the team;
Losers are apart from the team.

Winners see the gain;
Losers see the pain.

Winners see possibilities;
Losers see problems.

Winners hardly get mad;
Losers always upset.

Winners never whine;
Losers always bitching.

Winners are not pretender;
Losers wannabe know it all.

Winners believe in win/win;
Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.

Winners see the potential;
Losers see the past.

Winners are like a thermostat;
Losers are like thermometers.

Winners choose what they say;
Losers say what they choose.

Winners use hard arguments but soft words;
Losers use soft arguments but hard words.

The Winner says, "I will do it";
The Loser says, "Let me see what I can do";

The Winner is always part of the answer;
The Loser is always part of the problem.

The Winner is always has a plan;
The Loser always has an excuse.

The Winner says,"Let me do it for you;
The Loser says;" That is not my job."

The Winner sees an answer for every problem;
The Loser sees a problem for every answer.

The Winner says," It may be difficult but it is possible";
The Loser says,"It may be possible but it is too difficult."

When a Winner makes a mistake, he says,"I was wrong";
When a Loser makes a mistake, he says," It wasn't my fault."

Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things;
Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.

Winners follow the philosophy of empathy: "Don't do to others what you would, not want them to do to you";
Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to others before they do it to you."

Winners make it happen;
Losers let it happen.

Thanks for Ebonk for informing me this quot.
Taken from: http://www.ex-designz.net/articleread.asp?aid=425

The Ontario government has approved a California company's plan to build North America's largest photovoltaic solar farm, the provincial energy ministry announced Thursday.

OptiSolar Farms Canada Inc. of Arthur, Ont. — a subsidiary of California-based OptiSolar Inc. — will install more than one million solar panels at four farms outside Sarnia, Ont., providing the province with 40 megawatts of power by 2010. Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said that's enough to power 6,000 homes.

The reason for this, and many other pending solar facilities in Ontario is that the Ontario government has agreed to pay 42 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar, which is about 7 times the rate of non-green energy. Some critics have stated that while this is a good incentive for green energy in Ontario, it is a fundamentally unsustainable cost for energy and will inevitably have to be rescinded if it becomes too popular.

Power Point Creatividad

It turns out that my battery was susceptible to failure by a known issue affecting some ThinkPad batteries. On Tuesday night I emailed Lenovo support, on Wednesday I received a response, and two days later there was a brand-new battery sitting on my doorstep.

Thanks, Lenovo.

Noruega, que es el segundo país europeo con más línea de costa, por detrás de Grecia, quiere aprovechar esta ventaja geográfica y aprovechar sus fuertes y constantes vientos procedentes del Atlántico y del Mar del Norte para generar cada día más energía verde procedente de estos gigantes.

El último proyecto viene de la compañía SWAY y la petrolera StatOilHydro que están desarrollando un aerogenerador offshore flotante de 5 MW que se instalaría en alta mar sin perjuicio para la flora ni fauna marítima, y que mediante cables eléctricos conducir la electricidad generada a tierra firme. El mástil emergido rondaría los 80 metros y bajo el mar llegaría hasta profundidades de 120 metros con una embergadura de aspas de 107 metros.

Aunque a día de hoy los costes de este tipo de energía sigue siendo mayor que el d elos combustibles fósiles tradicionales, está claro que cada día este tipo de fuentes se comerán un trozo de la tarta eólica, como lo demuestra el estudio anual que la Agencia de la Energía Eólica, Global Wind Energy Council, en su estudio sobre el año 2007 [Global Wind Report 2007, PDF] y sus espectativas hasta el año 2012 donde muestra claramente el crecimiento de estas fuentes de energía, por ahora, de la mano de subvenciones de distintos gobiernos.

Vía: [digg]. Fuentes de Información: [globeandmail.com]&[green tech gazzete].

+ info

• Vídeo documental de National Geographic Channel: «Bahrain World Trade Center», primer edificio del mundo con aerogeneradores eólicos
• [mini-post #020] Timelapse del montaje de un aerogenerador
• Proyecto Hywind, aerogeneradores flotantes marinos

Technorati Tags:ingenieria, wind, power, floating, sway, noruega, aerogeneradores, eolicos, offshore

"We based our decision on a number of factors, including the fact that the purchase of these shares by the government runs contrary to our policy of privatizing government stakes in corporations and letting the private sector run commercial enterprises," Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said after a meeting of the PNOC board.

PNOC, which holds a 40 stake in Petron after the latter's privatization in 1994, also opted not to transfer the right to buy the Aramco block to a third party.

Reyes said last week that Morgan Stanley had approached PNOC with an offer to buy the stake.

Last week, JG Summit Petrochemical Corp., owned by the Gokongwei family, said it was offering about P24.5 billion ($575 million) for PNOC's stake in Petron.

PNOC officials said no decision had yet been taken.

PNOC said the decision not to exercise its right followed a recommendation made by its financial advisors, Development Bank of the Philippines and ING.

"We were also aware that exercising the right of first offer and the subsequent tender offer could cost Philippine taxpayers some $825 million at a time when the government has many other priorities including the further development of our agriculture sector to support food security and investment in modern infrastructure to ensure the competitiveness of our economy," he said.

Reynaldo David, DBP president, said Ashmore will be an acceptable partner as it has expressed intention to grow Petron's business on all fronts, both strategic and financial.

David said Aramco has offered a supply agreement to Ashmore that guarantees a one-year oil supply for Petron.

Upon Aramco's entry into Petron, it signed a 10-year supply contract covering 90 percent of the latter's requirement.

The contract, which was scheduled to run until 2014, would be terminated upon the sale of Aramco's stake to Ashmore.

David said DBP looked into the offer of Morgan Stanley as well as those of the Thai firm PTT Ltd. and the Gaisano family of Cebu.

Petron has assets amounting to P104.5 billion, with borrowings of P46.6 billion. It supplies 40 percent of country's refined oil product requirement, with a refinery rated at a capacity of 180,000 barrel per day.

The Ashmore Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has assets $36.5 billion.

Sen. Mar Roxas said PNOC should make public the deliberations which led to its decision.

Roxas, chairman of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, questioned why PNOC deliberated on the deal only on the last day of the two-month period within which to decide.

"The government knew that this sale was forthcoming yet there was no clear design on how to seize this as an opportunity to advance the national interest particularly at this time of sky-high oil prices," he said.

Roxas raised the issue before the announcement to waive was made.

Roxas said the sale of the 40 percent stake of Aramco in Petron "is not just a simple commercial transaction" as it involves the public interest at a time when the price of crude oil is going off the roof.

"This pertains to a strategically crucial product, oil, and to a company that owns 40 percent market share in the domestic trade of oil products," he said.

"They may have very good reasons not to exercise this option, but to date we don't know what these are. And if these 'good reasons' don't exist, we ought to instead exercise this right so we can place this key asset in friendly hands," he said.

(Malaya)

MANILA Electric Co. officials yesterday told the Joint Congressional Power Commission that it is charging its customers nearly half a billion pesos a year for electricity which Meralco itself uses.

The officials said the 72 million kilowatt-hours of power that Meralco consumes is included in the "system loss" charge imposed on consumers.

System loss is that portion of electricity which is pilfered or is lost during transmission. Meralco's 9.5 percent system loss has been partly blamed for high electricity rates.

Meralco's free use of power and passing on the cost to consumers surfaced during questioning by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile on the utility's business dealings with other companies owned by the Lopez family.

Meralco senior executive vice president Ireneo Acuna said that at a pass-on rate of P5.7 per kilowatt-hour, Meralco's consumption is worth P427.5 million yearly.

Meralco president Oscar Francisco justified the practice.

"This is administrative and operational usages and it is passed on to consumers," he said.

He said inclusion of the Meralco consumption in the system loss charge has the approval of the Energy Regulatory Board.

"It is a cost allowed by the ERC to pass on to consumers," he said.

Winston Garcia, GSIS president and general manager, said the 72 million kWh should be shouldered by Meralco as a cost of doing business and that it should be priced at P8 per kWh.

Estrella Elamparo, GSIS spokesman, said: "From Meralco's admission, we see Meralco not only not paying for 72 million kWh it uses as Meralco, but profiting from those 72 million kWh by charging the cost of the same to its customer."

"It's what we call in Tagalog na ginigisa tayo sa sarili nating mantika," she added. "The problem is that the majority of Meralco customers are poor. Thus, it's unconscionable for Meralco to saddle them with paying for electricity Meralco itself uses."

The GSIS, which holds four of 11 seats in the Meralco board on the strength of its 33 percent holdings, has also questioned Meralco's passing on of systems loss.

Francisco said that aside from the National Power Corp., Meralco buys power from independent power producers owned by the Lopezes and from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Lopez-owned IPPs include the First Gas Sta. Rita and First Gas San Lorenzo with a combined capacity of 1,500 megawatts.

Francisco said the supply mix is 50 percent IPPs, 40 percent Napocor and 10 percent WESM.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, co-chair of Powercom, said that aside from Meralco, also to be blamed for high power rates are Napocor and the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Napocor is the prime generator, Meralco is the distributor, and ERC is the regulator of the power industry.

"Consumers are paying for the high annual salaries of the Meralco chief executive officer and seven other senior executive officers which in 2008 will total some P97 million. The officers and directors as a group will get some P170 million. This appears to be management abuse," Santiago said.

"These apparent management abuses and lax regulation are the reasons why the Philippines has one of the highest power rates in the world, second only to Japan in Asia," Santiago said.

Santiago listed "apparent abuses" by the three agencies as follows:

. Meralco is buying electricity from NPC and WESM during peak periods, when prices are high, resulting in high pass-through generation charges to its consumers.

. Meralco and NPC entered into an agreement to ask ERC to allow Meralco to pass on to its consumers its unpaid obligations to NPC.

. Power rates are higher in Luzon than in the Visayas and Mindanao.

. NPC apparently manipulates its rates based on Time-Of-Use (TOU) which are very high on peak demand, and which are passed on to consumers.

. NPC apparently gives preferential rates to economic zone consumers, but passes on the cost of the discounts to its other consumers.

. NPC charges its consumers for its revenue requirements, which apparently include its P7 billion bad debts.

. NPC buys its power from IPPs but at higher rates than marginal cost and then passes on the higher rates to the consumers

. ERC has neglected its duty to set new caps on recoverable systems loss and has adopted questionable "performance-based regulation," valuation of assets, and benchmarking methodology.

Garcia said the GSIS is not interested in taking over Meralco, but is seeking reform in management.

He said that being a major shareholder of Meralco, the GSIS has a right to participate in the power utility's management.

"(We are) talking with the Lopez group. I believe that as a major shareholder our concerns should be heard. We can come up with common ground. We are not anti-Lopez, we are against how management of Meralco is being done right now," he said.

"No, (we are) not interested in taking over (Meralco). I don't believe GSIS should be the one to manage. What I want is we hire a more competent, more professional management team in Meralco," he said.

Garcia said there are more supervisors than rank-and-file employees in Meralco.

Santiago said the possible penalties for management abuse can be legislative, corporate, and criminal action.

Since Meralco operates under a franchise, Santiago said, the remedy provided by the Constitution is for Congress to either amend or repeal its franchise "as required by the common good."

The corporate remedy is to penalize Meralco managers by voting them out in the next stockholders' meeting, which is scheduled this month.

Santiago also said the criminal remedy is to file cases in court against the Meralco and NPC officials for "combination in restraint of trade," which refers to any conspiracy "for the purpose of making transactions prejudicial to lawful commerce, or of increasing the market prices."

Santiago ordered the three agencies to submit replies to her long list of technical questions.

She said that all replies and documents will be the basis of the report and recommendation that Powercom will submit to Congress.

Santiago also ordered that a set of replies and documents be given to a team of UP professors who were present during the hearing to prepare a paper to be titled Anatomy of Power Rates in the Philippines.

"The Powercom report will have to analyze technical, financial and regulatory factors that contribute to the present high power rates. It is complex, labyrinthine, and often subterranean," she said.

Santiago also questioned the "sinister" deal between Meralco and NPC on the P27 billion slapped on the distribution utility for ditching a 10-year power contract two years ahead of its expiration in 2004.

Santiago said that the public should not be made to bear the brunt of whatever debts are incurred by the state-owned power firm and the Lopez-controlled Meralco.

"We have ordered the ERC which supervises over the Meralco, Transco (National Transmission Corp.) and Napocor, not to grant the petition.because they were the ones who incurred the debts and public does not have any role in it. We should follow the principle that when the consumers are not made part of the decision-making, they should not be exacted any fees. That's called the 'just and reasonable principle,'" she said.

"Under that principle, we have ordered the ERC to dismiss the petition, we have ordered the ERC to dismiss the petition of Meralco supported by the Napocor to pass on the costs of their mutual debts to the consumer," she added.

(Malaya) ]]> http://kate16.wordpress.com/?p=51 Mon, 12 May 2008 21:41:50 +0000 Kate http://kate16.wordpress.com/?p=51

Power
 
Living in the earth-deposits of our history
 
Today a backhoe divulged out of a crumbling flank of earth
one bottle amber perfect a hundred-year-old
cure for fever or melancholy a tonic
for living on this earth in the winters of this climate.
 
Today I was reading about Marie Curie:
she must have known she suffered from radiation sickness
her body bombarded for years by the element
she had purified
It seems she denied to the end
the source of the cataracts on her eyes
the cracked and suppurating skin of her finger-ends
till she could no longer hold a test-tube or a pencil
 
She died a famous woman denying
her wounds
denying
her wounds came from the same source as her power.

In this poem, I feel like the author is trying to open readers' eyes to the corruption of the human race. No one likes to admit their flaws, which is why she explains how Marie Curie denied her wounds. Marie did not want to admit that her wounds were a result of her power. Being part of humanity, we are able to create and learn and develop new things. In this case, radiation was a result of one of our most powerful creations. By ignoring the signs and symptoms, though, we deny our wrongs, and try to only envision the power we hold. With this power, however, Adrienne reveals that downfalls come with it and we are not as close to Godly as we wish to be. We deny the weaknesses we possess because we would rather be associated with a God like being rather than a beast like being. In reality, most are in the middle, with neither extreme behaviors. This poem exemplifies the human race's strive to be divine.

http://theimpactfactor.net/?id=35

Right! They all need to reach an large audience.

David Shenk, in his book "Data Smog: Surviving the Information
Glut," states that in 1971 we were exposed to an average of 560
advertising messages per day. By 1997 that number had grown to
over 3,000.

Today conservative estimates put it at over ten thousand!

That's each and every day!

Think about it: Every time you flip through a newspaper or
magazine, you encounter hundreds of ads. Add to that everything
from TV and radio ads to product placements, billboards, direct
mail and postcards, ads on the Internet from every direction
(an hour of surfing on the web can easily yield more than a
thousand ads), ads on the sides of trucks, vans, signs hung on
telephone poles, telemarketing ads, door-to-door salesman, the
list goes on.

You can easily see how they add up quickly!

Everywhere we turn we're being bombarded with ads from any and
every direction.

And that's a BIG problem.

It's one of the reasons why businesses that always found it
easy to turn a profit are starting to see their customer base
dry up.

They're finding it increasingly difficult to maintain
their growth, even seeing income they once took for granted
shrivel up and die.

And forget it if you're a newcomer to the entrepreneurial
world.

The odds are stacked higher against you than they ever were in
the history of mankind!

But more importantly, they need to cut through all that clutter
out there and get their message delivered, and more importantly
acted on!

Ken McArthur, just spent a solid year researching and mastering
the problem of how to get your ideas, products and services
noticed, and make sure that people spread your message to the
masses so that you can have a personal impact in a world that
doesn't always want to pay attention.

Ken is about to share exactly what he discovered in his new
book, Impact: How to Get Noticed, Motivate Millions and Make a
Difference in a Noisy World.

In fact, there are only 6 days until Ken's massive book launch
and the launch of Ken's totally unique Impact Mentoring System.

Ken surveyed THOUSANDS of people to set up his system through
the MBS Internet Research Center.

On launch day Ken is handing out thousands of dollars worth of
bonuses and even zero cost tickets to live events to people
who order his book, but even if you DON'T want Ken's book, you
can still make out like a bandit and invest NOTHING.

Ken is handing out some amazing tips and resources, with audios
and videos from some impact building experts which you can
download INSTANTLY right now.

http://theimpactfactor.net/?id=35

Ken will be unveiling a bunch of new surprises and some great
prizes with some amazing TOP-LEVEL guests answering all your
questions about creating impact and reaching a mass audience
in a great marathon "pick their brains" session.

* Glenn Dietzel will be there.
* Frank Sousa will be there.
* Michael Angier will be there.
* Brendon Burchard will be there.
* Dave Lakhani will be there.
* Ben Mack will be there
* John Di Lemme will be there.
* Stuart Tan will be there.
* David Hancock will be there.
* Scott Paton will be there.
* Warren Whitlock will be there.
* Jim Donovan will be there.
* Jason Henderson will be there.
* JP Maroney will be there.
* Randy Gilbert will be there.
* Donna Fox will be there.
* Willie Crawford will be there.

And that's just a few of the amazing people.

YOU SHOULD BE THERE TOO!

Register right now, because there are only 200 slots maximum
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There is NO way to lose on this one, unless you wait.

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