Balancing Act

Testing samsung

2012-01-08T14:00:00.001-05:00

PeoplePowerCo has Device with Open Source System and Language for Smart Grid

2010-10-09T01:27:00.006-04:00

This company has a device consumers can connect to their home and power meter so that they can interact and conserve power for the household or place of business. They will be able to set it up to be interactive over the internet. It's open source and uses TinyOS operating system and OSHAN language. They are a company to watch for maybe even invest. It will eventually allow developers to create applications for the consumer and the will help enable smart grid. They started a contest for programmers March 2010 and had submission deadline for September 15. So we may hear some news soon

What is well informed and how to choose a side!!!

2010-08-11T16:39:00.003-04:00

I have been watching how the "media" such as Fox News and even those on the opposite side handles manipulating the public. What I've noticed is that extremists like Glenn Beck will spew out a list of the enemies and say for instance Brave New Foundation has the following supporters and thinks that by inferring they are the enemy the viewers will buy it. I'm sure that even some of the statements are wrong but what's important here is that there is no intellectual content. No journalism. All there is is pure evangelical style ranting and this alone is suppose to be enough to convince viewers who are the enemy. This is a sign we should do away with Televisions if this is the kind of airtime is being made available.

More than ever it has become clear that the masses who try to survive are finding it impossible to care any more because the misinformation is so rampant and they have no energy left to actually research the truth. The truth does matter and your opinion counts.

more later...

Can Bush advisor republican strategist Romney be so misinformed?

2010-07-12T02:02:00.003-04:00

Romney's Worst Foreign Policy Mistake

More attempts to derail democrats are pretty divisive.

Rod Adams on Nuclear Energy's Energy Density

2010-03-31T22:03:00.005-04:00

Rod Adams's discusses his personal experience and gives an excellent example of how dense nuclear energy really is. We could be using nuclear fuel in much the same way he describes. Also read Kirk Sorensen's TEAC2 Talk on how inter-dependent reactors are the fastest route to 2020 energy independence.

Bill Gates on TED. Very important speech

2010-03-25T02:10:00.002-04:00

Watch Bill Gates amazingly good speech on TED about what challenges we face to save the environment.

In a nutshell. How can we prevent climate change and save billions of lives.

He does not use scare tactics he simply explains the best way to improve the quality of life. Nuclear advocates should be happy that he speaks so well and concisely about the benefits of Nuclear Energy also he mentions twice that "liquid" is a valid competing strategy.

Frightening GOP Behavior

2010-03-24T00:47:00.002-04:00

I want to call the Republicans hypocrites but that's not strong enough a word and evil is touch extreme but there is no doubt that divisiveness is a result of their tactics. The biggest criticisms that Republicans hurl at people remind me of the total lack of compassion among racially motivated disputes such as those between Jews and Palestinians. I've also seen it between Russians and non-Russians and of course White Americans and Black Americans. What I'm trying to say is that it is not so much that I am concerned with such small minded behavior but that it is so unanimously small minded. The really sad thing is that the actual policy differences are not that great between Republicans and Democrats. That's why I can't help wonder what else could be driving their unanimous vote. When cliches like "united we stand, divided we fall" have no other intelligence behind their decisions it reveals a serious character flaw. What is this Partisan crap. I say too many minds have been infected with the notion that there is strength in bringing down your opponent even at the cost of straying from your own values. Power for power's sake. Greed for greed's sake. Can this really be their motivation?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Nuclear Power for energy consumption and Nuclear Proliferation have nothing to do with each other!!

2010-01-09T00:43:00.003-05:00

DV82XL explains how Nuclear Power for energy consumption and Nuclear Proliferation have nothing to do with each other.

It’s the tendency the nuclear nerds have to want to share their knowledge that is the Nuclear Energy advocate’s Achilles heel. The best counter argument to any claims by anti nukers is to let the historical record demonstrate that no parallel has ever existed.

At the risk of offending some individuals, certainly not my aim, I’d like to give an analogy. Let’s assume you are a politician and tempted by a beautiful woman to pay her for sex but the woman turns out to be an undercover police woman. You are arrested for taking the bait so to speak. Well, kind of an extreme example but when an anti nuker raises the proliferation issue as a concern to nuclear energy investment or research, by responding at the technical level you are taking the anti-nuker’s bait and you look foolish in the eyes of the frightened masses.

So a jedi or samurai or zen master might suggest you take a breath and relate to the less technical minds rather than the 2% who might have some idea of what you are saying.
It’s the non-technical minds that need winning over.
Make it a history lesson not an esoteric science discussion.

Thorium Condensed

2009-11-25T11:02:00.003-05:00

Thorium as a nuclear fuel is proliferation safe and zero carbon footprint
Gordon McDougall has edited together various talks on Thorium Molten Salt Reactors
called LFTR's. They could be the answer to the world's energy needs and a carbon free source.

16 minute version
Link: http://thoriummsr.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/remix-of-tech-talks-on-thorium-down-to-16-minutes/

10 minute version
Link: http://www.archive.org/download/ThoriumRemix2009/Thorium-34-10MinVer-480x360-NoBookends.mp4

Those Who use Marketing vs. Those Who Market the Marketing Hype.

2009-04-19T22:19:00.004-04:00

I was noticing the trends of numerous websites and discovering the really opportunistic ways various organizations and marketing gurus and guru wanna-be's keep exploiting those who are legitimately trying to market their products on the internet. Many people are seduced by the promise of free secrets or free information or software and then find out that they eventually have to pay to actually get the knowledge or information to the marketing secret or angle. I'm one of those who has been solicited and conned. Now I am even more sympathetic to the ordinary businesses wanting to succeed on the internet. I want to add my two cents to the giant list of existing blogs and marketing hype and hopefully help some small business or individual to get a grasp on what kind of things are needed to get traffic to your websites and to attract visitors to buy.

Like it or not making money on the internet is not as simple as the marketers claim. The concept of search engine optimization and pay-per-click is unfortunately totally inadequate for the majority of products being sold on the internet. Also what has started happening in recent years is that the massive quantity of websites out there trying to do what you're doing has continually been reducing the effectiveness of any techniques you may have discovered.

Learn to recognize when you're being conned or seduced. Get away from the built-in deception of the apparent instant response,instant gratification that the browser seems to offer.

When guru wanna-be's package the obvious in new ways. You will find the following expressed in different ways to make obvious choices appear more scientific and clever.

1. Like make sure your product is sellable.

2. Do a campaign to announce your site launch

3. Capture as many visitors relevant information as possible.

4. Take advantage of word of mouth and the social marketing opportunities.

5. Learn the Search engine tricks.

6. Make money off of advertising

The primary goals are getting traffic and making sure that your product or service is really interesting to visitors.

.. Stay tuned this article will be finished soon.

Nuclear Physics 101 (in progress)

2009-03-12T01:19:00.025-04:00

Hydrogen Fuel
Biodiesel Fuel
Canada's Green Party
Batteries and Supercapacitors

Nuclear Physics 101
Nuclear Paradigm Shift
Can Auto Dealers Go Green
Wind and Other Energy Alternatives
The Obama team needs a primer on Nuclear Physics. And so do most people who care about the future and want to do something about the damage being done to our planet. The four generations of Nuclear Energy development and the latest rediscovered fertile to fissionable Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) design which for lack of a better word I'll refer to as THOR. I really mean Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR). But that's a mouthful and the catalyst is Thorium so lets call it THOR coming from the name for the God of lightning.

Since it is 60 years old in concept it's hard to think of it as fourth generation reactor design but it is being classified as such along side of the souped up Light Water Reactors (LWR) and upgrades of the traditional reactor designs that produce so much more dangerous nuclear waste.

The nuclear industry keeps boasting about it's safety record since Chernobyl and relatively harmless Three Mile Island incident. What is conveniently unspoken is that they still need to store significant amounts of radioactive fuel. So what else is new? Actually THOR or LFTR is what's new to most of us and very different from the traditional view of nuclear reactors.
It's the alchemists dream, turning iron into gold, living forever, an abundant energy source a dream at least in terms of nuclear energy.

Nuclear Physics 101
(without gluons, quarks, leptons, fermions, hadrons, bosons and antineutrinos.)

The only naturally occurring source of nuclear fuel is Uranium. Thorium is not a fuel, technically, but later I'll explain the Thorium Cycle which produces fuel. We'll come back to this. Uranium is found in trace amounts and needs processing to be as pure as possible. The ability to create man made Isotopes of radioactive elements is partly what is keeping the nuclear industry alive. And although very expensive to build Nuclear Reactors are still the most efficient electricity producers ever.

Nuclear energy is not new it's just new to humans. They started to understand it about 100 years ago. But nuclear energy was around when the first stars were born and the big bang occurred. In fact, have you ever wondered how the center of the earth stays hot and keeps molten lava flowing. It is the presence of thorium and uranium changing from one state to another perpetually releasing energy and heat that causes the melting rock.

Let's look at it's chemistry. Transuranic elements are the elements that are heavier than Uranium (element 93) and more unstable than the lighter elements and no longer exist naturally. Over the earths history they all decayed or converted to other substances then vanished. An unstable element is called "radioactive" however everything is radioactive to some degree. The elements that decay the fastest and have a significant level of decay are called "radioactive" and they have a short half-life and are often the most toxic.

Uranium is getting scarce and has been expensive to process. The industry has come up with some creative ways to produce fissile Uranium including breeder reactors and the dismantling of nuclear bombs to use the Uranium for fuel. Plutonium is very familiar to us and is generally man made by using nuclear fission. Because these elements are unstable they will convert to stable or unstable isotopes meaning they will have an atomic weight more or less near the natural weight plus or minus a few neutrons. For instance 238U is the normal atomic weight of Uranium but they have some 235U and 234U mixed with it. Just trace amounts can weaken Uranium's fissile ability so Uranium is processed by chemical means either into its useful concentrated 235U or into depleted Uranium-238 which is useless for energy but used in weapons ammunition. So a fissile element is able to convert to a new element and in the process releases energy. Note:E=mC2 the famous Einstein formula which explains where the energy comes from in a nuclear reaction. What happens when observing the binding forces in order of the smallest atomic weights to the largest the atoms actually reverses their ability to bind and these atoms are described as too large. So the ideal binding elements are, no surprise, iron and nickel. But really the study of the elements properties are the key. The elements instability are caused by their size.
It's actually the opposite in gravitational forces of large bodies. The larger the object the greater the density.

Radium (element 88) was the first synthetically recreated radioactive element back in 1936. Now various isotopes of Uranium and Plutonium are the most used in Nuclear Power plants. The atomic number indicates the number of protons in an element. Fission is dependent upon the unstable elements being able to absorb the uncharged unstable neutrons. Actinides (now called Actinoids) are all radioactive and are typically created during fission in nuclear reactions. Their order starts at a lower atomic weight (89-103) than Transuranics (93-118) however they also include some of the transuranics (93-103).
Thorium has 90 protons and is element 90. In it's natural state it has an equal number of
protons and electrons.

Neutrons are uncharged and unstable. This unstable state therefore can be harmful but also very useful. Here's where the clever idea came from to manipulate the isotopes.
If you think of the nucleus as a big ball of protons and neutrons and the forces that bind them together as having a limited range of say... the diameter of an iron or nickel atom... what happens when you have a really big atom like uranium where the protons at the north pole are beyond the attraction range of the protons at the south pole?
Now the electromagnetic forces with their long range can start to cancel out some of the overall binding energy since the protons hate each other electromagnetically.
Now imagine this ball like a drop of liquid, suspended in space. Then a neutron comes along and makes it wobble... wibble... and at some point, the nucleus elongates and you have enough protons outside that short range from each other. The strong nuclear force starts to isolate to binding these two future twins and the electromagnetic force between these two hemispheres is the only force remaining.... PING... fission. The smaller pieces added together require a lot less energy to stay together because more of the protons are in range of each other. The leftover energy is that ping that sent them flying away from each other. The kinetic energy (plus the lesser gamma and neutron energies) of the 2 fission fragments flying away from each other is equal to the "mass defect" between U-235 and FP1 + FP2 (Fission Product 1 + Fission Product 2). As it turns out, all the parts put together in the original uranium atom have a higher mass than the pieces after fission. The mass difference got turned into an energy of approximately 200 MeV (pronounced mega-electron volts). Of this energy, 168 MeV is the kinetic energy of the FP1 and FP2 running away from each other, an average of 2.43 neutrons are emitted with a kinetic energy of ~2 MeV each, and a ~30 MeV gamma.

This curve is one way of expressing how all the stuff of the world behaves according to the size of it's nucleus (Uranium at 235 is really proud of it's nucleus) and compares that nucleus size to how strong each nucleon (neutrons and protons) is glued together. When we fission a heavy nucleus, we are really just taking energy that was stored as mass from when some star went kablooey a kazillion years ago and pushed a bunch of elements together very tightly, all kinds of heavy stuff was made. Since the short range nuclear force can only hold such a big atom together, all we ever find is Uranium since it's pretty stable. Who knows, maybe that Uranium atom was something really big at first but decayed to where it is now. If it wasn't for the kablooey, we wouldn't see atoms much bigger than nickel or maybe cobalt.

The Thorium Cycle
This is a process which starts as Thorium then converts to Protactinium-233 and then decays after 27 days to become Uranium 233.
Molten salt melts at higher temperature than pressurized water and it is safer in reactors because it does not require high pressures that Light Water Reactors and CANDU reactors need so that the water remains in a liquid state. Fluoride salt has some very stable qualities. Fluoride is the salt of choice for THOR LFTR's (undecided but I'm tempted to use THOR instead of LFTR's but that might defeat our cause) ... ... to be continued

Nuclear Paradigm Shift While We Were Not Looking

2009-02-08T23:59:00.058-05:00

Hydrogen Fuel
Biodiesel Fuel
Canada's Green Party
Batteries and Supercapacitors

Nuclear Physics 101
Nuclear Paradigm Shift
Can Auto Dealers Go Green
Wind and Other Energy Alternatives

Thorium is the 90th element in the periodic table not far below Uranium and Plutonium. Its use in the form of a Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) specifically Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTR) has re-emerged in recent years as a surprisingly neglected alternative approach to creating nuclear energy. In fact I was amazed at what I did not know and had been kept secret for so many years. For instance. Why did the idea of a safer technology get shoved aside in favor of Light Water Reactors? Some say it was because the safer MSR was not able to produce Nuclear Weapons grade fuel. How different things could have been if the MSR's were developed instead of the water cooled
and more dangerous and expensive and toxic variety.

A quick list of advantages. Current Scientists and Engineers are saying that Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors:
1) eliminate the need for fuels that produce carbon emissions therefore removing one of the root causes of war. It's true we fight to defend what we need. And for too long we have needed energy in the form of fossil fuels. And that needs to change. Our military leaders know that and more than anything they want to change that basic story. That is why our message of thorium-based power enabling US energy independence resonates so strongly with them. It will also resonate well as a deterrent to allowing countries such as Russia from bullying other countries in need of their fossil fuels.
2) can consume waste nuclear fuel. LFTR's in the modern view are actually two Nuclear Plants in one. They can provide energy and burn up Nuclear Waste. Imagine where Pakistan, Iran and North Korea would be if this technology had been pursued back in the 1960's when it was first proposed.
3) safer and more stable since they don't reach high enough temperatures for meltdown
and therefore do not require expensive containment or high pressure water.
4) provide a means for third world countries to improve their economies by replacing
high carbon emission methods with far cleaner technology and cheaper than coal plants.
5) are much more difficult or nearly impossible to produce nuclear weapons
6) are less expensive than traditional reactors because the byproducts are far less toxic and do not require expensive containment.
7) Thorium is abundant and stockpiles are already stored so very little if any mining is required
8) Robert Hargraves makes a convincing argument that it will lower the worlds population.
energy=industry=jobs=education=birth control=population control
9) LFTR's can potentially assist in Hydrogen Production, heat buildings,
help in the desalination process.
10) will produce far more energy than wind or solar power ever could

The story stretches back to the days when Italian Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Enrico Fermi came to America during Mussolini's anti Jewish campaign. Fermi's wife was jewish. Eugene Tigener and Alvin Weinberg, both chemists, were also part of Fermi's team and worked together to create the first nuclear chain reaction. The team eventually split in different directions. Fermi went to Argonne National Laboratory and Tigener and Weinberg went to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The MSR was first concieved by Eugene Tigener when working with Fermi. Later when the idea of a nuclear powered plane was proposed the MSR took shape as a prototype for flight. It never was completed but the reactor plans lived on after 1960 as pet projects of Tigener and Alvin Weinberg. Called the "chemists reactor" Weinberg led the field of Nuclear Power and Molten Salt Reactors were a favorite design of both Tigener and Weinberg.

Why were they able to make them smaller?

Biggest fears about Nuclear Power no longer an issue with proposed MSR (Molten Salt Reactors) LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor)

Old Way: Radiation Leak or Meltdown New Way: Meltdown is not possible since it is already contained under no pressure in a molten state below dangerous temperatures

Old Way: Used to create Nuclear Weapons New Way: Thorium makes it very difficult to produce nuclear weapons

Old Way: Disposal is hazardous New Way: Not hazardous anymore. LFTR Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors can use waste Uranium and Plutonium to create energy so it will eliminate existing nuclear waste

Old Way: Too expensive New Way: Many engineers feel that low cost reactors are totally possible and they can be made cheaper than coal plants.

Read more about thorium at Kirk Sorenson's Forum energyfromthorium.com or Charles Bartons Blog NuclearGreen.blogspot.com

Hansen's letter to Obama had influence of Kirk Sorensen

The Aim High lecture and book by the same title by Robert Hargraves is also a fascinating look at the LFTR solution. Segment from Aim High Lecture

Get on the Bandwagon. Improve Business by Helping Consumers Fulfill Their Green Dreams.

2009-01-12T19:21:00.008-05:00

Hydrogen Fuel
Biodiesel Fuel
Canada's Green Party
Batteries and Supercapacitors

Nuclear Physics 101
Nuclear Paradigm Shift
Can Auto Dealers Go Green
Wind and Other Energy Alternatives
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein

The future that auto dealers face appears bleak if they choose to continue along the traditional path. Dealers need to look for new ideas in answering the big question:

"How far is the cooperation between car manufacturers and our nations growing need for energy independence going to go?"

And this begs the question: should auto dealers wait for the "Big 3" to provide the leadership to initiate change? The manufacturers are part of the problem since they have been slow to embrace change where it counts. Factors such as satisfying shareholders and keeping up with the pace to match the consumer wants and needs have been poorly implemented.

The relatively new model of the auto industry has moved toward service and zero percent financing. This trend has grown thin as viewed among those who have felt the credit crunch and wisened up about what is expected from a service contract. Is it a myth that Japanese vehicles outperform Ford, Chrysler and GM? Japanese car popularity is due to the belief that the cars outlast and surpass the traditional American and European cars. Three decades of consumer reports are testament to these "so-called" generalities. It could be argued that Japanese cars have become less reliable in more recent years. In other words the playing field has been leveling off. Investors would see this as a good thing. An idealist would be disappointed. The competition could be catching up. Let's hope.

Now with upstarts like ZENN Motor Company (ZMC) arriving on the market and if their ideas prove to be widely accepted then both Japan and the US and the whole capitalist system have to think twice before designing vehicles or anything that lasts. In traditional investment schemes "honesty" and "quality of life" have counted little as a motivating force behind profit making.

The producers of tomorrow need to ask whether they want to be a part of the revolution or continue to burden society with their half-hearted or deliberate production of low "shelf-life" products. Catherine Scrimgeour, Public Affairs Manager for ZMC said that partner EEStor is creating a "battery (supercapacitor) that outlives the vehicle."...and in addition "80% of the moving parts are no longer needed to run the vehicle." That seriously affects the traditional model of servicing.

ZMC also recognizes the need to provide car owners with a means to convert their existing vehicles. They are making retrofits a part of their business plan. With the next generation ZMC model to be introduced in 2010 (some are skeptical) the hope is that their plan to introduce the new supercapacitor model which has forecasts of 400 km per charge and can be recharged in 5 minutes and will travel at speeds over 100 km/hph, this kind of technology will revolutionize the auto industry and other industries. We're seeing the need for diverse thinking and a willingness to adapt to be the required mindset for success.

"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." - Henry Ford

Cars don't need built-in obsolescence just manufacturers think that profit requires it. It's like the Maytag serviceman ads where the serviceman has no work. So how about improving the planet? Even existing vehicles can be given more trouble free lives by retrofitting.

Even the fact that ZMC has gone public on the stock market the cynic in us has to ask whether a true long lasting product can be a wise strategy for investors.

With the right mindset there's no need to get left behind. We do have the shining example of the Toyota Prius which has had good publicity. A New York Times story covered how a Prius owner had prepared his home for a possible repeat of a blackout in 2003 and in doing so was prepared for the next blackout in 2006. He had placed a UPS (universal power supply) in his home to keep the basic electrical needs running including his furnace. The Prius was the energy source to keep the UPS charged which without a charge would have lasted only a few hours or possibly less. The recommended technology is an inverter to regulate the voltage and something like solar panels or batteries to supply a charge. In this case the Prius was the energy source whereas an equivalent in the past might have been a noisy diesel generator in the backyard.

Is retrofitting one solution to modernizing the dealership?

There is a huge following of the green movement with the help from such people as Barack Obama and Al Gore among many others. Not only will automobiles play a part in a cleaner environment by consuming alternative fuel but they will also start to be used in place of diesel generators and encourage a grid infrastructure whose influence to other industries will eventually catch on. An automobile being connected to the home power will help home owners save on their electric bill but also help the country lower its need for carbon dioxide producing electricity generation.

So yes, auto dealers have a place in restoring the economy and the ability of the consumer to have more control in contributing to the economic outlook as well as helping to save the planet.

So how about retrofitting? Turning repair shops and service centers into retrofitting centers is accepting reality. Many dealers have already started retrofits of various kinds. Careful consideration should be given before tooling a shop for all alternative fuel solutions. There are a number of different solutions out there. Biodiesel, hydrogen, fuel cell technology, compressed natural gas and perhaps less known compressed air vehicles have recently been suggested as the new saviours. Another exciting development is the supercapacitor which will no doubt be a huge part of the next generation of electric vehicles and the growing trend towards self sufficiency and the concept of shared power grids where private citizens become both consumer and energy provider.

"Hybrid" technology, a term used by Obama in his recent address when selecting his Energy team, has also become synonymous with the accepted direction for Japanese makers and now Chevrolet and other "big 3" and european designs. For example the Toyota Prius that rescued the home owner in a blackout did not come ready-made there was a small retrofit the owner made to enable the vehicle to supply his home with power. With climate change the challenges ahead like the recent power failure in Toronto's west end had people stranded without heat for 25 hours while crews had to dry out a flooded transformer. With temperatures below -20 Celsius incidents like these could become more and more frequent and automobiles can be retrofitted to provide power in these kinds of emergencies.

Diesel vehicles need small adjustments to make them run on vegetable oil. I've heard quotes from $0 to $2000. It depends on the kind and quality of the replacement fuel. It's called Biodiesel and Germany takes it very seriously. Eliminating the carbon footprint is the goal of marrying Biodiesel to diesel engines. No conversion is necessary if the fuel is created properly. Now the State mandates in the US are more interested in a B20 Diesel Mix which is 20% Biodiesel and 80% Petroleum Diesel which requires no retrofit. In the spirit of the inventor of the diesel it is worth noting that the first diesel back in 1900 was meant to run on non-polluting peanut oil. There are dozens of homegrown and new companies finding solutions to creating alternative fuel. With ethanol and other forms of biodiesel the versatile diesel engine has provided us with a means by which to standardize. The range is significant in the adaptable nature of diesel engines. I think we're going to find vehicles being offered that can choose from one of several alternative fuel and diesel mixtures at the same time. The vast size of the US and Canada with it's long roads and highways is, and has always been part of the need to pioneer new technologies. Hybrid vehicles and multi-fueled vehicles may be part of the solution. Consumers will buy more cars if they know they can travel anywhere and keep the car going.

Last but not least it does not hurt to be up on the latest gadgets. GPS systems and iPOD and audio and communication accesories are a big deal for consumers. The hands free cell phone is becoming a requirement by law. So these upgrades should all be doable and understood by service departments.

Now what about the sales staff? They need to become more than just sales people. They can be cut in to getting the potential retrofit client. It would only be fair. This means more specializing for sales staff.

The greening and the social networking are two paradigms of the 21st century. Social networking often referred to as web 2.0 has been kind of low on the dealers totem pole of priorities. That will be my next subject in an upcoming article.

Harold Pinter

2009-01-03T21:46:00.005-05:00

In 1958 Harold Pinter wrote the following:

"There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false."

I believe that these assertions still make sense and do still apply to the exploration of reality through art. So as a writer I stand by them but as a citizen I cannot. As a citizen I must ask: What is true? What is false?

This and much more are discussed in this interview with Charlie Rose.

Harold Pinters life recently came to my attention from the annoucements of his death. I had no knowledge of his illness or even if he was still alive. This interview is a good intro to discovering this amazing person.

Wind and Other Energy Alternatives

2009-01-03T09:57:00.003-05:00

Hydrogen Fuel
Biodiesel Fuel
Canada's Green Party
Batteries and Supercapacitors

Nuclear Physics 101
Nuclear Paradigm Shift
Can Auto Dealers Go Green
Wind and Other Energy Alternatives

What are the chances of Iran choosing alternative energy over Nuclear.
Many believe that Iran's energy policy regarding Nuclear energy is a disguise to create Nuclear weapons. They do have a progressive approach to energy already. They already use 75% natural gas for creating electricity.
Facts from Wikipedia:
US is 9,826,630 km2 (3,794,066 sq mi) with 306 million people. 104 Nuclear Power Plants produce 20% of electricity.

Iran’s land area is 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi)
with 71 Million People with a rapid urban growth rate and 7million in Tehran the largest city.

Electricity consumption: 33,000 megawatts. Of that amount, about 75% was based on natural gas, 18% on oil, and 7% on hydroelectric power. In 2004, Iran opened its first wind-powered and geothermal plants, and the first solar thermal plant is to come online in 2009.

Netherlands 41,526 km2 includes Holland (16,033 sq mi) with a population of 16 Million can get a lot out of wind energy but the truth is that the Netherlands get 90% of their electricity from thermal power plants using oil and coal as fuel.

Dutch Wind farm:
The construction of the Egmond aan Zee Offshore Wind Farm is an exemplary project in many ways. The construction work was executed safely and was completed on time and within budget. The wind farm comprises 36 turbines with a 108 megawatt design capacity, and the volume of electricity generated by these turbines corresponds to the average annual consumption of more than 100,000 Dutch households. The project involved an investment of more than EUR 200 million

Although the Dutch were known for windmills they have only recently made some significant breakthroughs.

Religulous

2009-01-03T00:48:00.004-05:00

I saw Bill Maher's Religulous and enjoyed it. I find Bill Maher clever and witty as well as very funny at times. He has the ability, like many comedians, to relate to our common experiences. A more meaningful part of the film, to me, was when he said he actually went through a period where he questioned gods existence after breaking up with his girlfriend. He said that he was even looking into Numerology as a way of explaining things in his quest for answers.

I'd say the film is worth seeing. He makes some good points and helps us see how much of the world, part of which has authority over many people, are capable of living with large contradictions and will find ways of justifying their beliefs in order to match their belief system. Maher says that many of them are intelligent but when it comes to religion they make exceptions where rational thought and critical thinking are less important.

But isn't it true that we always break with rational thinking when we accept our family members no matter how crazy or nasty they may behave.

But then sometimes you just have to say that there is comfort derived from stories in the bible no matter how much you take literally. Here's a tear-jerker.

On Suicide

2009-01-03T00:37:00.005-05:00

To suicidal people: Life is always testing us. Choosing life is passing the test.

Here's a quote from Einstein that helps explain how to beat depression and suicidal behaviour.

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

I like the Einstein quote. Reminds me of one of the messages in the film "What the Bleep Do We Know?". The idea that patterns of behaviour are programmed into our brains and to stop or change them is a literal reprogramming. Any change is not fast. Most of the time our outlook is the product of years. Fast or slow, change requires constant self monitoring.

Dick Cavett (Cavett's New York Times Blog) has first hand experience with depression and Cavett discussing it here He makes an interesting comment about his inability to think about himself.

Why Hydrogen Fuel is not yet a good solution.

2009-01-02T23:10:00.010-05:00

Hydrogen Fuel
Biodiesel Fuel
Canada's Green Party
Batteries and Supercapacitors

Nuclear Physics 101
Nuclear Paradigm Shift
Can Auto Dealers Go Green
Wind and Other Energy Alternatives

The Great Hydrogen Fuel Myth
February 2008

This article explains why Hydrogen costs more to create than gasoline and other problems.

This article suggests a breakthrough technique of extracting Hydrogen from water that is much more efficient using Nuclear Energy from abundant Uranium.

Some dicussion about Nuclear Power to create Hydrogen Fuel

Another article discusses improved fuel cell performance due to properties of platinum micro-cubes.

Using an inexpensive polymer Carbon Nitride to make Hydrogen Fuel

Gaza & West Bank Important Background

2009-01-02T20:12:00.003-05:00

I did some minor edits to clarify the authors intent.

Palestine and Israel: A History
The Palestinian Israeli Conflict

© Joel Wittnebel

Feb 4, 2008

The Palestinian Israeli conflict is one which has been occurring for years [decades], and must be understood by our world today.

The terms, Gaza Strip and the West Bank may seem familiar to some people and this article can bring about better understanding of these topics.

The violence and attacks which occur today in these areas are a result of a historical claim for land. Looking at the history behind this topic will allow a better understanding of what is occurring today.

Near the end of the 1800s a political movement, which came to be known as Zionism, attempted to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which included all of present day Israel. The Israelis feel they have rights to this land because it is their, "biblical promised land". But, at this time the British Empire had a mandate over Palestine, and in 1916 during World War I they convinced Arab leaders to aid them in the war and in return they would support the establishment of an independent state in this region.

Through this and the years following Israel did not see the formation of a Jewish state.But, after World War II the United Nations recommended dividing Palestine into two states. From this deal the minority Jewish people received the majority of the land. Following this deal on May 14, 1948 United States president Harry Truman through pressures from the Zionist movement allowed the formation of the state of Israel.

This ignited serious conflict in the area as armies from: Syria, Lebanon, Trans-Jordan, Saudi-Arabia, Yemen, and Egypt attacked the new formed state but were defeated by Israel.

In the same year the Palestinians were driven out of the newly formed Israel and into refugee camps in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and other areas.

Israel again gained more land in 1967 in the Six Days War where they took strategic lands such as: the Gaza strip, a section of land located along the coast of the Mediteranean Sea, and the West Bank, a landlocked territory on the west bank of the Jordan River. In response to this in 1973 Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur in an attempt to regain lost land but failed.

After 27 years of occupation the Israelis withdrew from the Gaza strip in 1994. Withdrawal from the West Bank came with more difficulty. The Wye River Memorandum was passed in October 1998 outlining the Israeli withdrawal. But, this was suspended in 1999 due to problems with its implcations. Also, the Camp David summit attempt to plan a withdrawal but also failed.

This violent history over land has led to the issues seen today. Which include continued attacks from Palestinians living in the military occupied West Bank causing the construction of a large security fence around the area.

In recent years the frustration as mounted as Palestinians find themselves with less and less pristine land to live, and as violence continues an end seems far off.

The continuing violence occuring between Palestinians and Israelis makes it a problem in need of urgent attention. As the solutions never seem to work, steps toward an end seem difficult but understanding can be seen as the first step toward a solution.

Biodiesel

2008-12-28T21:13:00.005-05:00

Hydrogen Fuel
Biodiesel Fuel
Canada's Green Party
Batteries and Supercapacitors

Nuclear Physics 101
Nuclear Paradigm Shift
Can Auto Dealers Go Green
Wind and Other Energy Alternatives

What is Biodiesel Fuel?

A quick answer. It runs on your converted diesel engine so you need a diesel engine to start.

It's inventor back in 1900, Rudolf Diesel, chose peanut oil as the main fuel. So you can see the idea is not so new.

Carbon emissions are next to zero depending on the purity. B5 is 5 percent biodiesel with 95 percent petroleum, B20 is 20 percent biodiesel with 80 percent petroleum, or B100 is 100 percent biodiesel, no petroleum.

Commercial biodiesel that meets ASTM D6751 is legally registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as a legal motor fuel for sale and distribution.

How much to convert?

Bio diesel conversion kits are priced from $650 to $1500. Be sure to have the car checked over thoroughly before installing.

Pros:

It's cheaper and a lot cleaner than diesel depending on where you get your fuel. In some cases a Chinese restaurant or a diner restaurant will give their used oil away. The more self reliant individuals don't mind getting a filter to remove any pieces of food such as french fries still in the oil.

Cons:

It needs thinning or heating in cold weather and that's the reason for the various mixtures. I read on another blog that paint thinner works well.

Interesting Facts:

Germany expects to replace 3% of their diesel with fuel produced by refining vegetable oil by 2010. Petrobras plans to use 256 million liters of vegetable oils in the production of H-Bio fuel in 2007. ConocoPhilips is processing 42,000 gallons per day. Neste Oil completed their first NExBTL plant in the summer 2007 and the second one will be completed in 2009. The annual production capacity of each these two plants will be 170,000 tons.

The most used method of making biodiesel is known as transesterification. It involves mixing vegetable oil, alcohol, and sodium hydroxide. This is simple enough that many people do it at home. But refined biodiesel is actually chemically identical to regular diesel and can be tweaked to outperform regular diesel. And works in cold weather.

Madoff Made Off with 50 Billion What Dreams are Made Of (Not)

2008-12-20T13:21:00.006-05:00

You know what I was thinking. I have a theory.

Why the Fed Keeps Recklessly Printing Money.

Since so much of the rest of the world's economies are affected by US trade and banking that the US has more power to dominate worldwide by printing money.

Against economic theory they think they stand a chance of surviving because the rest of the economies in other countries will try to avoid going down with them and that is kind of a safety in numbers mentality. It's as if they want to make sure they stay ahead. They are playing a dangerous game where everyone stands to lose. Why else would they keep printing money? They are not so stupid as the old German economists and the hyperinflation of 1923. Are they? [update: when I posed this to Canadian John Turmel "The Engineer" he simply responded saying it's not the same as 1923 because the general population does not have the cash only the banks have it. The public can't get their hands on any of it.]

GREAT article on how US govt is even a greater PONZI schemer than Madoff...

Article

Green Party in Canada

2008-09-21T19:19:00.004-04:00

Hydrogen Fuel
Biodiesel Fuel
Canada's Green Party
Batteries and Supercapacitors

Nuclear Physics 101
Nuclear Paradigm Shift
Can Auto Dealers Go Green
Wind and Other Energy Alternatives

Here's Kelly Wyatt's response

Dear Rick,

Thank you for your interest in the Green Party. We are very concerned with the new legislation you have mentioned, Bill C-51 and Bill C-61.

We wholeheartedly believe that this draconian legislation (Bill C-51) is a danger to Canada and to Canadians' freedom of choice. Please view our recent press release regarding C-51 for more details.
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/releases/12.05.2008
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/releases/12.06.2008

12.05.2008
C-51 threatens natural products industry and Canadian health, say Greens

OTTAWA – The Green Party is calling on Members of Parliament to vote down Bill C-51, a government bill designed to restrict the use and sale of natural health products. Bill C-51 would amend key terminology in the Food and Drugs Act to impose a licensing requirement on natural health products, drastically restricting their legality and availability.

"Bill C-51 radically alters the Food and Drugs Act in ways that would allow government to control and restrict natural products, including herbs, vitamins and even foods like blueberries," said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. "Many Canadians are shunning pharmaceuticals in favour of effective natural health foods and products, but Mr. Harper seems bent on helping the pharmaceutical industry stifle competition from natural products."

Ms. May said that the Bill expands the federal government's power to reject natural products, imposes extreme fines on those who violate the proposed new rules and criminalizes natural health practitioners by providing Health Canada with alarming enforcement powers. She added that limiting natural products may force Canadians to turn to pharmaceuticals instead.

"The text of Bill C-51 is rife with Orwellian doublespeak. It is worded to confuse and is promoted by the Conservatives as legislation designed to protect Canadians' health. But clearly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper cares only about protecting profits for Big Pharma."

Green Party acting Health Promotion critic Jake Cole added that the Bill would prevent parliamentary scrutiny before synchronizing Canadian Food and Drug laws with those of foreign countries. The government could simply introduce new regulations without proposing legislation and seeking parliamentary approval.

"Mr. Harper is threatening the health of every Canadian with this draconian legislation," said Mr. Cole. "Those who use natural health products to obtain relief from medical conditions are doomed to suffer. The Green Party opposes any move to force pharmaceuticals on Canadians who prefer natural products."

As for C-61, It is imperative that reforms of the copyright act respect the balance of granting privilege to the creators of intellectual works with the needs of the public to interact with, critique and enjoy these works. The Green Party recognizes that these interests are not always antagonistic: creators of intellectual property can, and have, benefited from controlled and well articulated levels of fluency with the public domain. Copyright legislation needs to be progressive in embracing technological evolution and permitting consumers to continue to exercise their fair dealing rights. We believe that Bill C-61 is not an effective way to protect and stimulate our cultural institutions.

Copyright legislation must evolve with the culture it is protecting, and the rapid evolution in technology has made it pertinent to revisit today. Tantamount to reforming copyright legislation is protecting the interests of Canadian producers and consumers of intellectual property. Responsible and reciprocal treatment of our international partners will follow from clearly defining our domestic interests.

In order to achieve these objectives the Green Party of Canada will:

Establish a copyright registry that will facilitate tracking and protecting of copyrights where registration is optional for the original author, but mandatory upon the transfer of ownership or death of the author;

Remove the Levy on Blank Audio Recording Media and replace it with private copying exemptions;

Introduce a formal notice-and-notice mechanism for dealing with copyright infringement online, thereby affirming common carrier status for Internet Service Providers (ISPs);

Renounce the Crown Copyright applied to all government produced documents, thereby immediately releasing them into the public domain;

Hold consultations with music and movie industry artists, producers and distributors along with citizen's assemblies to address the issues of online peer-to-peer networks.

Unfit to stand so close to presidency

2008-09-11T02:58:00.002-04:00

Dan Payne of the Boston Globe Makes some interestintg and revealing facts about Palin.
An his analysis is hard to ignore.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/09/11/unfit_to_stand_so_close_to_presidency/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2

New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Cellphone

2008-05-08T23:46:00.002-04:00

Software will let phones read encoded data on everyday objects to call up videos, pictures or text from the Internet.Some say the GPS or voice recognition will be the next big thing. Finland has enabled purchases from vending machines where the charge goes on your phone bill. But what the problem? Why won't it take off in other countries? Bar code reading means far more than getting product information. Read the article. Very exciting possibillities.This link eplains why it won't be soon that the cellphone replaces your wallet.http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=184429675Greed? Doesn't it always come down to greed.

read more | digg story

Who is John Turmel?

2007-12-20T20:29:00.001-05:00

John Turmel has achieved a lot in a few specific areas. But it not easy to start talking about a man who is notorious for losing. Losing what you may ask. He holds a Guiness Book of Records for the most elections contested and most elections lost.
But what has he achieved? He has annoyed a lot of local politicians in Ontario, Canada but what has he accomplished? He has helped the path toward legalization of Marijuana in Canada and some think that is important. But what else? He wrote an article proving that inflation is not cured by higher interest rates as many economists suggest.
(see http://www.cyberclass.net/turmel/bankmath.htm)

But most of all I'd say it's spreading the word about the problems with Usury. What most of us call loans that have an interest charge. Some of his most effective moments are his performances at the debates of these local Members of Parliament public meetings. He entertains and wakes people up to a certain reality. At least to those who see how fake and how poorly qualified each candidate often is. When he starts interjecting and ranting he actually is saying some important stuff. He'll say "Abolish interest rates" which is so fundamentally intelligent yet ludicrous that it usually gets a laugh.

I could not leave this story without commenting on two areas that he has had significant contributions. One is the legalization of gambling in Ontario and the other is the LETS system for which he is a good spokesman for which I hope to elaborate on more fully in a future article.

Wired Science . Video: World War 2.0 | PBS

2007-12-01T15:02:00.002-05:00

This is an excellent documentary showing the May 2007 cyber attack by the Russians on the whole country of Estonia. The attack was the result of the moving of a Russian statue erected to celebrate the Russian occupation of Estonia replacing the German occupation. The attack crippled the Banks, Radio stations etc.

read more | digg story

No Kid Gloves from John Perkins

2007-11-15T03:37:00.002-05:00

John Perkins the author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman has an important message. It's a dark message that paints a dark picture about the US government. His book released in 2004 reads like a spy thriller but is an apparently true account of real events. He is a slow talker and speaks in "monotone." This probably explains why he has not got the press he should. I'm sure to many it's a little like watching a reformed criminal trying to make amends.

But on Tuesday he spoke to students at Ohio University and somehow managed to get his message across. He recieved a standing ovation and drew positive comments from students afterward.

In fact he revealed the important facts and pointed out the relevancy of his actions and others like him and it's continuing relevance in Iraq and Iran. The "Hit men" as they're labeled succeeded in making a deal with the Arabs to only sell their oil for American currency. Some believe this has helped stablize the American dollar. Also some speculate that the threat of Iran choosing to accept the Euro for oil may be the real source of the power elite's outrage pushing the government to intervene with a military invasion.

Using "corporatocracy" to explain the cause and force behind much of the worlds problems is an understatement. Perkins is saying that it has been and still is the blind drive for profit that motivates US regimes to behave so badly. In many cases it's the shareholders that are the bottom line and the ways and means of keeping the shareholders happy can even drive a government to war. But now something new has emerged here that needs more clarification. Is the concern for a stable dollar what's really the motivating factor in US military aggression?

Perkins was inciting the students to realize their own power to change things. Maybe we could all use some of that advice. Digg This

The closest I've come to Road Rage

2007-11-13T13:05:00.001-05:00

I was dowtown Toronto at the corner of Carlton and Church before 4:00 pm and stopped to consider making a left turn. Someone in a van behind me sits on their horn for what seemed like a minute but was probably 5 or 6 seconds. In what seemed like an innocent attempt to figure out if I was making a legal turn I was being bullied into hurrying through the intersection. I responded by driving straight instead of making the illegal turn. I decided to punish the driver by stopping in my streetcar lane abruptly. Of course he probably thought I was considering a U Turn. The best I could do was at the next intersection Beep back at the man. I have very few emotional encounters while driving. But I was wondering if this erratic behaviour of mine was partly triggerred by having taken for the first time a pill containing St. Johns wort. It's supposed to keep you in a good state of mind. The strange thing is I had just had thee pretty productive hours and shouldn't have become so easily agitated. I'm glad that I did not resort to the middle finger. That to me is just joining the rat race.

On fuel cells, paper battery and Nobel prizes

2007-11-13T12:42:00.002-05:00

Hydrogen Fuel
Biodiesel Fuel
Canada's Green Party
Batteries and Supercapacitors

Nuclear Physics 101
Nuclear Paradigm Shift
Can Auto Dealers Go Green
Wind and Other Energy Alternatives

The stuff of science fiction. Nano seconds and quantum sized computing and supercapacitors. This technology will change our lives drastically within a few years.

read more | digg story

Suddenly, Impeachment Hearings Are Looking Like a Strong Possibility

2007-11-12T13:15:00.002-05:00

After an appalling lack of news coverage it now looks like there is hope for a Cheney impeachment. Despite an attempt to block the impeachment process by Pelosi there were last minute legitimate vote changes that by normal legal practices should give Cheney reason to worry.

read more | digg story

NEW Wiki MusicDocz.com

2007-11-11T03:37:00.001-05:00

I have created a Musicians and Music lovers resource for Lists of Songs by the greats.

Check it out

MusicDocz.com/wiki

The Way of the Philosopher

2007-11-01T19:44:00.002-04:00

In these difficult times we've seen some polarization occur that have brought about change for the worse. We're seeing extremes of religious zealots at one end of the scale, like the Creationists, Evangelicals and the Theocons, to the immoral pornographic and sexual perversions such as the two recent cases of Canadians in Thailand accused of abusing young boys between 10 and 14 years of age. All internet users know about the proliferation of pornography. And there have been some steps made to limit exposure, especially the work of the search engines with their filters. Although some could argue that the search engines are helping to perpetuate pornography's existence. Forget about porn just look at the idle time spent on blogs and chats motivated by sexually distracted individuals.

The ever increasing amount of news about fundamentalist Muslims and other fundamentalists of various kinds has chipped away at our phsyches. The pace of living has increased with the cost of living. The fragmenting of our focus and the little energy that's left after a days work all adds up to a loss of useful and much needed time for ourselves just to think. Maybe that's why belief systems are able to flourish. It makes things tidy and easier to manage for those wanting power. Sometimes I am shocked to learn that there are people out there who take the ancient Holy Bible as fact. People who say they don't believe in evolution.

What am I getting at: We would do well to develop our own analytical thinking. Jaspers spoke of the Axial Age as a 600 year period where a surprising overlap of philosophies emerged in totally remote areas where contact with each other didn't exist. Conclusions could be made that we are all capable of thinking and developing a belief system of our own based on our own investigation. Instead of reading all of the Harry Potter books for instance. How about an investigation of Bhuddism or study some writings by Blake or Milton. There is much to say about keeping an open mind. It could also be said that one should earn the right to have an opinion. In a time when ignorance and poor education is behind most of the conflicts we see it's the right moment to consider the way of the philosopher.

Here's
Krishnamurti on Fragmentation a symptom to our problems. Fragmentation, Negation and Wholeness

The specialist cannot perceive the whole; his heaven is what he specializes in but his heaven is a petty affair of the brain, the heaven of religion or of the technician. Capacity, gift, is obviously detrimental, for it strengthens self-centredness; it is fragmentary and so breeds conflict. Capacity has significance only in the total perception of life which is in the field of the mind and not of the brain. Capacity and its function is within the limits of the brain and so becomes ruthless, indifferent to the total process of life. Capacity breeds pride, envy, and its fulfilment becomes all important and so it brings about confusion, enmity and sorrow; it has its meaning only in the total awareness of life. Life is not merely at one fragmentary level, bread, sex, prosperity, ambition; life is not fragmentary; when it’s made to be, it becomes utterly a matter of despair and endless misery. Brain functions in specialization of the fragment, in self-isolating activities and within the limited field of time. It is incapable of seeing the whole of life; the brain is a part, however educated it be; it is not the whole. Mind alone sees the whole and within the field of the mind is the brain; the brain cannot contain the mind, do what it will.

To see wholly, the brain has to be in a state of negation. Negation is not the opposite of the positive; all opposites are related within the fold of each other. Negation has no opposite. The brain has to be in a state of negation for total seeing; it must not interfere, with its evaluations and justifications, with its condemnations and defences. It has to be still, not made still by compulsion of any kind, for then it is a dead brain, merely imitating and conforming. When it is in a state of negation, it is choicelessly still. Only then is there total seeing. In this total seeing which is the quality of the mind, there is no seer, no observer, no experiencer; there’s only seeing. The mind then is completely awake. In this fully wakened state, there is no observer and the observed; there is only light, clarity. The contradiction and conflict between the thinker and thought ceases.

Opinion: Should Colbert Be an Independent

2007-10-30T18:53:00.001-04:00

What if Colbert was serious? What if he looked out at the presidential candidates and realized that the parties have too much money behind them to trust any candidate. The argument being that there must be some corrupting influences behind all that support. Historically independent candidates do very poorly. But if he's already parting with tradition and if Colbert has any valuable lesson for us it should be that voting for the winners has been getting us into trouble for too long. The notion that Nader helped to split the vote causing Kerry to lose. This kind of thinking doesn't apply to Colbert. He is in a unique position to send a powerful message to those that will listen. Voting for a leader that we trust the most makes more sense than voting for the leader that has the best chance of winning and belongs to the same old party that your family usually votes for. Apathy has proven to be quite prevalent among young voters. Reading comments on the blogs has shown that a surprising number are showing interest in voting for the first time to show their support or in many cases to show their contempt for the existing choices. We're missing revolt. The tendency to believe that our individual vote means so little is stronger over the past eight years than ever. But now I'd like to see Colbert go independent and help wake up some of the people on the fence to take action.
You can comment at Support Colbert

My new musicians/arrangers service.

2007-10-29T15:30:00.000-04:00

Musicians! Check out my Leadsheetz.com website. Looking for existing songs or want to have arrangements done or transcriptions made from recordings ceheck it out. You can also inquire by emailing me now.

rick@leadsheetz.com

(clicking here opens your email program)

The Flash work I did for Artsnetwork.tv has finally paid off. My latest offering is a service for new recording artists who don't have the budget for a new video but want some kind of motion grahics/animation with samples of their music. You can request that images, album art, song selections etc be added to your pages.

I've also have a new affiliate that allows me to offer a huge range of sheet music See browse by ... website that saves me the copyright hassles for the time being while my site is growing.

MS Rotterdam Cruiseship Friends Photos

2006-10-30T15:23:00.001-05:00

Here's a link for my MS Rotterdam friends. Photos from 2005 travels. rickmaltese.com

Balancing Act

2006-06-04T03:50:00.001-04:00

We all walk the tightrope daily. Little decisions, big decisions, all important to keeping our sanity, add up to controlling our own destinies. Persue what you enjoy and that for which you have a talent and your spirits will remain high. Harness the power of coincidence and learn how to sieze the moment.

Welcome to Balancing Act

2006-01-21T12:34:00.001-05:00

I feel that most people these days are performing a balancing act to survive. I'm constantly looking for time to start my long list of projects I would like to complete.
Here's my first blog. With all the hype about blogs I am relieved.