techimoto

Luv iMM173 Features Advanced User Interface, Dual Dock Capabilities, jAura Sound Technology and Full Apple “Works With iPhone” Certification

PORT WASHINGTON, NY – (August 26, 2008) - iLuv, the leader in innovative audio solutions, announces the iMM173, Hi-Fi Dual Dock Alarm Clock for your iPhone / iPod. The iMM173 will be available Worldwide in early September 2008 for an MSRP of $129.99 at J&R, Micro Center and Amazon.com and www.i-luv.com.

This Apple certified Dual Dock Alarm Clock for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2G includes a multitude of features and functions. Read the rest »

Coal power plants, by utilizing the same turbines used by coal to generate electricity,  can utilize solar to produce 15%-60% of the electricity. Mirrors, called fresnal reflectors capture the sun’s rays and heat water in a large tube. Steam lines deliver the solar energy to the adjacent coal power plant to turn the turbines. 

“There’s a real dilemma facing operators of coal powered plants,” said John O’Donnell, Ausra’s Executive Vice President. “The price of coal has exploded recently and it continues to rise rapidly. Long-term coal contracts are coming in at 4 times the price of the last iteration of the contract.”

Australia recently ratified the Kyoto Protocol and will begin trading carbon in about a year. Carbon is likely to trade for $30-$60 per ton, according to John O’Donnell. Ausra’s solar thermal retrofits are cost effective around $30 a ton.

“$30 a ton is $.03 a kilowatt hour [for electricity generated from coal],” said John O’Donnell. “For some of the older coal power plants, you are looking at a 30, 40, or 50% increase in the electricity price [due to coal's carbon output] all at once and an ongoing uncertain future.”

To their credit, Bank of America, Chase, and Citigroup are now considering climate change and carbon emissions among the risks in lending to money for electric power plant projects, so borrowing money for such projects may cost more for power generation options that result in a large carbon footprint.  This provides added incentive for local and federal governments to look towards clean and renewable energy sources.

Prior to his current “mission”, Shai Agassi, age 38,worked for SAP, the world’s largest maker of enterprise software.  Agassi believes it just might be possible to get the entire world off oil. For good.  The problem, he decided, was oil-consuming, CO2-spewing cars. The solution was to get rid of them. Not just some, and not just by substituting hybrids or flex fuels. No half measures. The internal combustion engine had to be retired. The future was in electric cars, but then their is the sticky problem of batteries than can sustain an extended driving range.

Agassi reimagined the entire automotive ecosystem by proposing a new concept he called the Electric Recharge Grid Operator. It was an unorthodox mashup of the automotive and mobile phone industries. Instead of gas stations on every corner, the ERGO would blanket a country with a network of “smart” charge spots. Drivers could plug in anywhere, anytime, and would subscribe to a specific plan - unlimited miles, a maximum number of miles each month, or pay as you go - all for less than the equivalent cost for gas. They’d buy their car from the operator, who would offer steep discounts, perhaps even give the cars away. The profit would come from selling electricity - the minutes. 

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Jerome Corsi, who Swift-boated John Kerry as co-author of ‘Unfit to Command’ in 2004 and who is trying to do the same to Obama in his newly minted best seller, ‘The Obama Nation.’

About the same time his book came out (now a number one best seller), I received an email from a friend entitled “Not Exactly”, and the author not identified.  Here’s a few excerpts from this email:

1.) “Selma Got Me Born”  - NOT EXACTLY, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 - Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965. (Google ‘Obama Selma’ for his full March 4, 2007 speech and articles about its various untruths.)

36.) “My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad”  - NOT EXACTLY, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

The first one listed, as far as I’m concerned, is just plain “who cares”.  The second example, doesn’t prove anything one way or another.  The majority of the “points” in this email were similar in nature; either totally unimportant, or vague and misleading at best. 

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A recent article by CNN suggests that Big OIl is at it again, spending huge amounts of money to make sure their record breaking profits stay in tact.  In what may be surprising to some, the most recent figures from the Center for Responsive Politics show that the oil industry gives a relatively small sum to individual political campaigns - it’s 16th on a list of top 50 industries.  But when it comes to lobbying - and spending money that goes toward researching, writing and convincing lawmakers to vote its way - the industry ranks fifth. If the spending continues at the current pace, the industry is set to break last year’s $83 million record.  The amount spent on lobbying by the industry, along with lobbying money in general, has been setting records since 2005.

But so far, no major energy bills have been passed. Is it possible all this money has been spent to maintain the status quo?

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Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili announces Friday he signed a cease-fire agreement with Russia.

In Washington, President Bush chided Russia on Friday for Cold War-style behavior, saying, “bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century.”

Bush said the United States stands “with the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government.” He said the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity “must be respected.”

“We will not cast them aside,” he said.

Bush said Russia’s invasion of Georgia has “damaged its credibility.”

I’m reminded of an old saying, something about “the pot calling the kettle black”.  Excuse me, but if my memory serves me right, didn’t we recently do a preemptive attack on Iraq?  So Russia, in this case, is a “bully”, but we’re not?   Hmmmm.  I think we should at least consider the possibility that Russia was actually emboldened by the fact that we are over there raiding one country or another.  So, Mr. Bush, what gives us the sovereign right to invade a country, but other countries cannot?

I knew that Corporations were encroaching more and more on our so called ‘democracy’ (closer to  ”corporate-fascism” me thinks), what with the Bush Administration throwing them a bone at every opportunity.  But this is nuts: now the primary burdon of keeping our country fiscally operationally is on us, the “litte guy”.  Are you ready to shoulder that responsibility?  Because it’s here.  The report below is taken from the Congressional Quarterly:

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Most corporations, including the vast majority of foreign companies doing business in the United States, pay no income taxes, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday.

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)  Larry Horsley and David Kennington are fed up. They’re among a growing number of Americans who are refusing to wait for big-car manufacturers to deliver mainstream electric vehicles, called EVs. Not only have they rebelled against the status quo by ripping out their gas-guzzling engines and replacing them with zero-emission electric motors, they say just about anyone can do it. The average cost? around $12k. The truck can travel about 40 miles without damaging the lead-acid batteries before the vehicle needs recharging, Horsley said. But he said 40 miles is enough to get to and from work and run errands around town.

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A Kansas man drives a 1983 Lincoln Towncar - forever!  The odometer just turned over 1,300,000 miles. He loves his car, and who can blame him; it gets about 22 mpg on the highway, and it has never broken down.  That car doesn’t owe him a dime, thats for sure. 

Now, lets talk about “planned obsolecence“.  Hmmm.

How much gasoline could US citizens save by driving around in light-weight hybrid vehicles? Up to half what they currently use, say scientists at MIT.

The US consumes about 140 billion gallons of gasoline each year. A team of researchers led by John Heywood has completed a five-year assessment of what can be done to slash that and save fuel for the nation.

They looked at how gas and diesel engines, as well as hybrid electric cars and plug-in cars, are likely to evolve between now and 2035. They also assessed what can reasonably be expected from new fuels such as hydrogen and biofuels.

“Improvements” in cars in recent years have largely focused on increasing performance, driven by the demand for ever-larger and more powerful cars. As a result, no significant fuel consumption gains have been realised over the past 25 years, says the team. Read the rest »