Follow Ups on Posts
In the last several days, I have come across several interesting articles or sites that relate to blog entries that I have recently made. Following are links to those items and some discussion of them.
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Over the last month or so, I have been posting about the need to be come less dependant on oil and the need to reverse global warming. I came across a Popular Science article listing " 10 Steps To End America’s Fossil-Fuel Addiction." The article can be found here.
If you are interested in this type of stuff, it has some surprising facts, "In 1991 a government wind-resources inventory concluded that three states—Kansas, North Dakota and Texas—had enough available, harnessable wind energy to meet the entire country’s electricity needs. Today that finding looks like an underestimate. The price of wind energy has dropped by 85 percent over the past 20 years—in large part due to increased turbine efficiency, a result of work by labs like the one in Colorado." This sounds really encouraging to me. Although, if we knew about this 15 years ago, why don't we have more wind power now? Maybe the cost was too high at the time and now is low enough to make it practical?
The same article talks about using turbines spinning at 15,000
feet above ground and having an electric cable running down to the ground (see picture to left). That's one long cable! The wind is supposed to be very steady and strong at that level. This scheme does not seem too practical to me. The article points out that maintaining this system at 15,000 feet is one problem. Anyway, it is an intersesting article.
I am not sure where I heard this, but I believe that Jets are a big consumer of fuel. I just read this article that talks about attempts to reduce the fuel usage. In fact , "Boeing says its new 787 jetliner, scheduled to enter service in 2008, promises to be as fuel-efficient per person as a hybrid car traveling with two passengers." Very encouraging. This article can be found here.
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In the past, I have also posted some items about Disney. Did you know that there are little known backstage tours of Disney parks? I always assumed that everything backstage was highly secret and very difficult to get into. The Washington Post sent a reporter to take several of the tours at Disneyworld in Florida. The article can be found here. I am not sure if these tours are available at Disneyland in California.
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A week or so ago, I posted an entry on a movie about North Korea. I recently came across a set of pictures taken by a Russian visiting North Korea. It gives an
interesting look at the country. The commentary with each picture is interesting as well. The pictures are on a message board that goes on for several pages. Some people also posted some pictures from South Korea to give a contrast. The picture on the left shows huge blocks of cement stationed by the side of the road in North Korea. They are meant to be pushed into the road in the case of tank attack. The message board can be found here.
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I can not remember whether I mentioned it in this blog or if I was just talking to some friends, however a few months ago I mentioned a web site that recommends movies. It asks you to rate movies, then it tells you which movie critics have similar tastes. I have seen other sites which will recommend movies depending on your ratings. For example, Netflix does this. I have not been to impressed with their recommendations. However, it would be interesting to see what critics have similar tastes to me and then follow thier reviews. The website can be found here.
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A few days ago, I was reading about a company that is going to sell bottled water in various flavors: Beef Tenderloin, Bacon Delight, Roasted Chicken and Roasted Turkey. I thought this was pretty strange, I can not imagine anyone buying this water. I have no desire to drink Roasted Turkey flavored water. Then I found out that this water is being marketed for dogs and cats. The company's website can be found here. Sigh, I sure hope they are kidding.
---------------------------------
Over the last month or so, I have been posting about the need to be come less dependant on oil and the need to reverse global warming. I came across a Popular Science article listing " 10 Steps To End America’s Fossil-Fuel Addiction." The article can be found here.
If you are interested in this type of stuff, it has some surprising facts, "In 1991 a government wind-resources inventory concluded that three states—Kansas, North Dakota and Texas—had enough available, harnessable wind energy to meet the entire country’s electricity needs. Today that finding looks like an underestimate. The price of wind energy has dropped by 85 percent over the past 20 years—in large part due to increased turbine efficiency, a result of work by labs like the one in Colorado." This sounds really encouraging to me. Although, if we knew about this 15 years ago, why don't we have more wind power now? Maybe the cost was too high at the time and now is low enough to make it practical?
The same article talks about using turbines spinning at 15,000
feet above ground and having an electric cable running down to the ground (see picture to left). That's one long cable! The wind is supposed to be very steady and strong at that level. This scheme does not seem too practical to me. The article points out that maintaining this system at 15,000 feet is one problem. Anyway, it is an intersesting article.I am not sure where I heard this, but I believe that Jets are a big consumer of fuel. I just read this article that talks about attempts to reduce the fuel usage. In fact , "Boeing says its new 787 jetliner, scheduled to enter service in 2008, promises to be as fuel-efficient per person as a hybrid car traveling with two passengers." Very encouraging. This article can be found here.
------------------------------
In the past, I have also posted some items about Disney. Did you know that there are little known backstage tours of Disney parks? I always assumed that everything backstage was highly secret and very difficult to get into. The Washington Post sent a reporter to take several of the tours at Disneyworld in Florida. The article can be found here. I am not sure if these tours are available at Disneyland in California.
-------------------------------
A week or so ago, I posted an entry on a movie about North Korea. I recently came across a set of pictures taken by a Russian visiting North Korea. It gives an
interesting look at the country. The commentary with each picture is interesting as well. The pictures are on a message board that goes on for several pages. Some people also posted some pictures from South Korea to give a contrast. The picture on the left shows huge blocks of cement stationed by the side of the road in North Korea. They are meant to be pushed into the road in the case of tank attack. The message board can be found here.--------------------------------
I can not remember whether I mentioned it in this blog or if I was just talking to some friends, however a few months ago I mentioned a web site that recommends movies. It asks you to rate movies, then it tells you which movie critics have similar tastes. I have seen other sites which will recommend movies depending on your ratings. For example, Netflix does this. I have not been to impressed with their recommendations. However, it would be interesting to see what critics have similar tastes to me and then follow thier reviews. The website can be found here.
---------------------------------
A few days ago, I was reading about a company that is going to sell bottled water in various flavors: Beef Tenderloin, Bacon Delight, Roasted Chicken and Roasted Turkey. I thought this was pretty strange, I can not imagine anyone buying this water. I have no desire to drink Roasted Turkey flavored water. Then I found out that this water is being marketed for dogs and cats. The company's website can be found here. Sigh, I sure hope they are kidding.
posted by Steve @ 6:31 AM
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