Bucko's World

Sunday Silliness - Government :o)

2012-01-29T04:29:00.000-05:00

Friends!

2012-01-28T03:56:00.008-05:00

"Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving,

make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!"

- Amanda Bradley

Japanese Giant Hornets - Nasty MoFo's

2012-01-27T03:07:00.006-05:00

The Japanese Giant Hornet. Watch a nest of honey bees make their last stand against just 30 of these vicious intruders. This is amazing stuff.

Honestly?

2012-01-26T03:03:00.008-05:00

People want you to be honest with them, even if you're a leader and honesty means exposing yourself as a little intimidated, or shy, or unsure. That kind of vulnerability doesn't alienate; it attracts. It makes us approachable. It allows people to identify with us, to trust us, and to follow us.

Are You Wise?

2012-01-25T03:15:00.000-05:00

"The wisest men follow their own direction."

- Euripides

Happiness Lament...

2012-01-24T03:34:00.000-05:00

"Happiness is the only sanction in life; where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment."

- George Santayana

Nuclear Science Week

2012-01-23T04:04:00.000-05:00

It’s here… 2012 National Nuclear Science Week is January 23-27. National Nuclear Science Week is a national, broadly observed week-long celebration to focus local, regional and national interest on all aspects of nuclear science.

Each day will provide a chance to learn about the contributions, innovations and opportunities that can be found by exploring nuclear science. Key daily focus areas for the week include:

Monday: Education—Get to Know Nuclear
Tuesday: Careers in Nuclear
Wednesday: Energy Generation
Thursday: Nuclear Safety
Friday: Nuclear Medicine

Tools and ideas to encourage activities are provided at no charge online as well as other materials for distribution, education and celebration. To get your inspiration for participation, visit www.nuclearscienceweek.org.

It Is Beer Day!

2012-01-22T04:35:00.000-05:00

Sunday Silliness - Goals :o)

2012-01-22T04:28:00.000-05:00

Tear Down That Wall!

2012-01-21T02:46:00.000-05:00

"If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

- Michael Jordan

Skallops & Kickstarter

2012-01-20T03:04:00.018-05:00

About this project

Skallops are the best way to build big!
They’re a construction toy that uses clever laser cut clips—Skallops—and regular playing cards to let you make anything that you can imagine. We’ve perfected the design so that it’s easy to connect playing cards in countless ways. The Skallops themselves are cut out of the highest-quality, sanded and finished birch plywood.

Skallops Community

Once the Skallops have shipped, we'll be setting up a community website where anyone can post their designs and instructions for building awesome things with Skallops. We’ll be asking you, our amazing backers, to seed the gallery with your favorite creations. And we’ll be there too, posting instructions for the designs you see here.

Click Here to go to this KickStarter Product.

What is Kickstarter?

One of a new set of fundraising platforms dubbed "crowdfunding",^[3] Kickstarter facilitates gathering monetary resources from the general public, a model which circumvents many traditional avenues of investment.^[4] People must apply to Kickstarter in order to have a project posted on the site, and Kickstarter provides guidelines^[5] on what types of projects will be accepted. Project owners choose a deadline and a target minimum of funds to raise. If the chosen target is not gathered by the deadline, no funds are collected (this is known as a provision point mechanism).^[6] Money pledged by donors is collected using Amazon Payments,^[7] and initiating projects requires a U.S. bank account.

Kickstarter takes 5% of the funds raised; Amazon charges an additional 3-5%.^[8] Unlike many forums for fundraising or investment, Kickstarter claims no ownership over the projects and the work they produce. However, projects launched on the site are permanently archived and accessible to the public. After funding is completed, projects and uploaded media cannot be edited or removed from the site.^[9]

I have helped fund two products so far, I love the concept.

Time for Time?

2012-01-19T03:23:00.004-05:00

François Mitterrand used to say. "Give time for time." The notion being that you need to make time in order to appreciate the ultimate gift we have been given: time on this earth. Every day, we make conscious and less conscious choices on time allocation.

Most of us will spend more than one-third of our lives and more than half of our waking adult hours in our workplaces. A natural concern, and one worthy of a New Year's reflection and resolution, is how can we be better, more honest and more efficient with that time. Here are five gut-check questions to see if you are making the greatest impact with your work time:

1. Are you working towards a purpose?

2. Are you running hard, but not getting ahead?

3. Have you done a calendar audit lately? Do you have a real sense of where you spend your time?

4. Are you booking sufficient think time? For most meetings there is at least a 1:2 ratio of prep time to meeting time, and it can go upwards of 20:1. If a meeting is an hour you probably need 30 minutes to prepare. For critical meetings you may need 20 hours of preparation for each hour.

5. Are you multi-tasking your way to lower productivity? Focus on the task at hand when you have scheduled the time to do so.

Source

Infographic: What's your state good at? | MNN - Mother Nature Network

2012-01-18T20:27:00.000-05:00

Infographic: What's your state good at? | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Lowest Common Denominator

2012-01-18T03:06:00.002-05:00

"If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement."

- Jimmy Carter

Mathew Brady, Photographer Extraordinaire!

2012-01-17T02:46:00.020-05:00

It was interesting reading the Man of The Year issue of Time Magazine and contemplating the technology that made every aspect of the protests and conflicts front and center; Twitter, Facebook, Network TV, Blogs, On-Line News, Cable. The Arab Spring was riveting, making it hard to tear your eyes away.

While we were on vacation in November, we had the chance to go to Occupy Wall Street and see things for ourselves. Again, there were cell phones, computers, generators, many modern conveniences considering that this was a "camp".

I only mention this because I was recently reading an issue of National Parks, and one of the feature articles was about photographer Mathew Brady. Mr. Brady was the original "field correspondent", filming battlefields during the civil war. It was fascinating how his first experience was in the heart of a battle, and after that, he only went in after the fact (which was a challenge with the bloated bodies, the insects, and the elements). In the later part of the war, his team started photographing dead bodies - and it was a shocker to the public to be exposed [pun intended] to the horror of the war.

I hope I have set the hook and you will click through to the source link below, I know I thoroughly enjoyed the article.

Source

We must Demand Equal Rights for All. This is not a Dream...

2012-01-16T04:01:00.007-05:00

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15. The floating holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, though the act predated the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by 15 years.

Sunday Silliness - Give Up :o)

2012-01-15T04:26:00.000-05:00

Good Bye 2011 College Football Season

2012-01-14T05:58:00.005-05:00

First weekend without college football, sigh...

Maybe this play will tide us over for a while.

Recycle Machine!

2012-01-13T04:04:00.001-05:00

We all know that batteries and CFL light bulbs don't belong in the trash, but recycling locations are not always convenient. What if your local retail stores just had a vending machine where you could drop these items? Well, that convenient option could be coming to us soon.

A company called reVend Recycling Ltd. has begun installing recycling vending machines for light bulbs and batteries in the U.K. that not only sort the items, but offer immediate rewards.

The first pilot machine was installed at an IKEA in London with great success. At that location, recyclers were offered store credit to IKEA based on the amount they were recycling or the choice to donate to one of four charities -- the World Wildlife Fund, Woodland Trust, UNICEF and Save the Children.

The machines accept incandescents, CFLs and LEDs as well as any domestic batteries. The machines are able to track the bulbs and batteries by type, manufacturer and volume so that each can end up in the appropriate recycling facilities.

The company has signed an agreement with IKEA to install their machines throughout the U.K., Germany and Denmark. They plan to expand their reach to more parts of Europe as well as into the U.S. very soon.

Can We Learn From Political Campaigns?

2012-01-12T04:55:00.005-05:00

Here are five lessons from political campaigns that every business can learn from.

Find the New Voter/Consumer. Focus on new demographics, new passion, new trends.

Use new Disruptive Technology. First TV, now social networks. What will be next?

Make it a Choice, not a referendum on you. There is always an alternative, so find your opponent's weakness and go on the offensive.

Correct misperceptions. Communicating the facts. When the numbers come back that people are buying the opposition story, it is invariably time to set the record straight hard and fast.

Tell people what you're going to do and keep your promise.

Source

Got Love?

2012-01-11T02:12:00.003-05:00

"A man without ambition is dead.

A man with ambition but no love is dead."

- Pearl Bailey

Luckily, I have both :o)

Honesty In The Workplace

2012-01-10T02:40:00.010-05:00

Honestly, you'd like to beat the other person over the head with your briefcase.

Possibly, you walk out with a sliver of dignity, promising yourself you will never put up with that sort of abuse again.

Actually, you force a smile, avoid eye contact and tell the client, through gritted teeth, that you look forward to getting their feedback.

Ideally, you detach for a moment, taking in the measure of the man, smile graciously, extending your hand and saying you'll be interested to see how things progress. You walk out feeling that you have demonstrated grace under pressure, maintaining your dignity and your status.

Source

Hold the Mayo!

2012-01-09T03:16:00.007-05:00

The Two-Year Sandwich via BBC

The military’s M.R.E.--the Meal Ready to Eat, or those air-sealed packages full of gummy pastes and freeze-dried dreck that soldiers carry into the field--is getting a much-needed upgrade. But it’s not in the form of better tasting dehydrated foods or better freeze-drying technology. Rather, the U.S. Army has developed the world’s most cutting edge sandwich, the BBC reports, one that can be served fresh after sitting on the shelf for a full two years.

When food breaks down--when it rots--it does so as a result of various chemical and biological processes. Some of these are inherent in the ingredients themselves, others are caused by bacteria. But almost universally, these processes require water and/or oxygen to transpire. So the Army didn’t need to reinvent the sandwich or its ingredients to create its long-duration lunch items. But they did need to figure out how to make a sandwich that eliminates water and oxygen from the equation.

Perhaps more difficult is keeping oxygen away from the sandwich. To do so, each one is packed in an air-sealed package with an oxygen scavenger--a small packet of iron filings that pulls oxygen from the ambient air and locks it up in a layer of rust. This keeps oxygen away from things like bread, where it could feed a reaction resulting in mold and decay.

Devoid of oxygen and water, a sandwich can last a long time--two years in this case. And, if the BBC video report is to be believed, the grunts seem to like the two-year sandwich.

Sunday Silliness - Get To Work :o)

2012-01-08T04:25:00.000-05:00

Solar Paint & ND, Perhaps a new local industry?

2012-01-07T02:42:00.001-05:00

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have developed a 'solar paint' that could be slapped on the outside of a house to help generate power for the devices inside.

The 'Sun-Believable' paint uses semiconducting nanoparticles to produce energy - and while it's nowhere near as efficient as the current standard, it's inexpensive and easy to produce in large quantities.

"We want to do something transformative, to move beyond current silicon-based solar technology," says professor Prashant Kamat, who led the research.

"By incorporating power-producing nanoparticles, called quantum dots, into a spreadable compound, we've made a one-coat solar paint that can be applied to any conductive surface without special equipment."

The team achieved this using nano-sized particles of titanium dioxide, which were coated with either cadmium sulfide or cadmium selenide. The particles were then suspended in a mixture ofwater and alcohol to create a paste.

When the paste was brushed onto a transparent conducting material and exposed to light, it generated electricity.

"The best light-to-energy conversion efficiency we've reached so far is one percent, which is well behind the usual 10 to 15 percent efficiency of commercial silicon solar cells," explains Kamat.

"But this paint can be made cheaply and in large quantities. If we can improve the efficiency somewhat, we may be able to make a real difference in meeting energy needs in the future."

Kamat and his team also plan to study ways to improve the stability of the new material.

Source

Coaching Checklist

2012-01-06T02:41:00.002-05:00

Here’s a quick checklist for you to use to ensure you “cover all the bases” in your coaching sessions, after all, it is that performance review time of year.

As the coach, have you clearly stated the objectives of the initial coaching session and checked understanding by both parties?
Has the employee participated in defining the nature of the problem or an opportunity for growth?
Has the employee’s perception about the performance problem or opportunities for improvement received full consideration?
Is the employee involved in researching his or her own options for how to take advantage of an opportunity or solve the problem?
Has the employee helped to determine his or her own learning goals and the appropriate activities to support the achievement of those goals?
Has a clear process been set up to carry out the coaching activities and to measure progress along the way?
As a coach, have you asked for feedback regarding the effectiveness of the coaching process?

Let the Nuclear Renaissance Begin

2012-01-05T02:34:00.007-05:00

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday, 12/21/11, approved the amended design for the Westinghouse AP1000, a reactor that several power companies intend to use for building the first new U.S. nuclear plants in decades.

“The design provides enhanced safety margins through use of simplified, inherent, passive, or other innovative safety and security functions, and also has been assessed to ensure it could withstand damage from an aircraft impact without significant release of radioactive materials,” NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said in a statement.

Snake Charmer Secret!

2012-01-04T02:31:00.004-05:00

Snake Charmer John Downer/Getty Images

Can you charm a snake with music?

No. The charm has nothing to do with the music and everything to do with the charmer waving a pungi, a reed instrument carved out of a gourd, in the snake's face. Snakes don't have external ears and can perceive little more than low-frequency rumbles. But when they see something threatening, they rise up in a defensive pose. "The movement of the snake is completely keyed in on the guy playing the toodley thing," says Robert Drewes, chairman of the department of herpetology (the study of amphibians and reptiles) at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. "He sways, the snake sways."

Motivate Your Team!

2012-01-03T03:24:00.000-05:00

1. Be generous with praise. Everyone wants it and it’s one of the easiest things to give. Praise every improvement that you see your team members make. Once you’re comfortable delivering praise one-on-one to an employee, try praising them in front of others.

2. Flatten the Team. Removing levels of reporting and/or team leads and empowering your staff to work together as a team rather then everyone reporting to multiple individuals can do wonders. Think about it. What’s worse than letting your supervisor down? Letting your team down!

3. Make your ideas theirs. People hate being told what to do. Instead of telling people what you want done; ask them in a way that will make them feel like they came up with the idea. “I’d like you to do it this way” turns into “Do you think it’s a good idea if we do it this way?”

4. Never criticize or correct. No one, and I mean no one, wants to hear that they did something wrong. If you’re looking for a de-motivator, this is it. Try an indirect approach to get people to improve, learn from their mistakes, and fix them. Ask, “Was that the best way to approach the problem? Why not? Have any ideas on what you could have done differently?” Then you’re having a conversation and talking through solutions, not pointing a finger.

5. Make everyone a leader. Highlight your top performers’ strengths and let them know that because of their excellence, you want them to be the example for others. You’ll set the bar high and they’ll be motivated to live up to their reputation as a leader.

6. Take an employee to lunch once a week. Surprise them. Don’t make an announcement that you’re establishing a new policy. Literally walk up to one of your employees, and invite them to lunch with you. It’s an easy way to remind them that you notice and appreciate their work.

7. Give recognition and small rewards. These two things come in many forms: Give a shout out to someone in a company meeting for what they have accomplished. Run contests or internal games and keep track of the results on a whiteboard that everyone can see.

8. Throw team parties. Doing things as a group can go a long way. Have a picnic. Organize birthday parties. Hold a happy hour. Don’t just wait until the holidays to do an activity; organize events throughout the year to remind your team that you’re all in it together.

9. Share the rewards—and the pain. When your team does well, celebrate. This is the best time to let everyone know that you’re thankful for their hard work. Go out of your way to show how far you will go when people help your team succeed. If there are disappointments, share those too. If you expect high performance, your team deserves to know where the company stands. Be honest and transparent.

Lets start the new year off right!

Waste Not Want Not!

2012-01-02T03:08:00.000-05:00

Most communities in the U.S. treat their wastewater just enough to legally dump it, but not reuse it. Pasteurization Technology Group has developed an inexpensive treatment system that yields water clean enough to be returned to aquifers. Instead of using chlorine, the system pasteurizes wastewater by heating it to 180ºF. The warmth comes from the waste heat of a nearby electricity generator running on either natural gas or biogas produced by an associated sewage digester. A PTG water plant opening next year in California expects to make a $160,000 annual profit by selling its extra biogas-generated electricity. Even if the turbine is fueled with natural gas, the pasteurization is energy-efficient enough to be about half the cost of chlorine treatment.

Source

New Year's Resolution

2012-01-01T12:27:00.002-05:00

I have three wishes for all during these tumultuous times: that you can find Wonder, Inspiration and Hope in the world around you.

Sunday Silliness - Futility :o)

2012-01-01T04:23:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

2011-12-30T05:08:00.011-05:00

Researchers at Fermilab just broke ground on a new research and industrialization facility called the Illinois Accelerator Research Center.

When it’s finished sometime in 2013, scientists and private businesses will use the new 42,000-square-foot building to develop new accelerator technology that can be used for industry, medicine and national security purposes. In addition to a new building, the project will use space once dedicated to the now-silent Tevatron.

Scientists from Fermilab and the Argonne National Laboratory will use the facility for research, but Fermilab says a major focus will be developing partnerships with private industry. Although we usually think of the Tevatron and the Large Hadron Collider, there are something like 30,000 other accelerators around the world, working on projects from paleontology and biology to food packaging. Accelerator-related industries are worth an estimated $500 billion a year, Fermilab says.

“However, the nation lacks enough training centers for accelerator scientists to feed this growing segment of the economy,” as Fermilab Today points out. And the country’s accelerator leadership is under fire. The new research center will address this problem. The facility will have space for test accelerators, cryogenics infrastructure, temperature-controlled workspaces, high-capacity electrical power systems and more.

Meanwhile, the scientists at Fermilab are still planning major new facilities and new experiments to follow on the heels of the storied Tevatron. A proposed new high-intensity proton accelerator, awesomely called Project X, would spark the development of new accelerator tech, which could also feed into the IARC. A new neutrino project called LBNE would use the world’s highest-intensity neutrino beam to determine why matter prevails over antimatter in the universe, and a new muon experiment called Mu2e will study whether muons can change into electrons, the way quarks and neutrinos can switch teams.

Source

Unconditioned Happiness

2011-12-29T02:47:00.026-05:00

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life."

~ John Lennon

Typically we are happy when things are going well and unhappy when they aren't. Usually, "going well" means we are getting what we want, the way we want it.

That's conditioned happiness. Unconditioned happiness is an intrinsic sense of well being that is not based on the way things are around us.

Unconditioned happiness has a deep quality of satisfaction while conditioned happiness is more on the surface, more like a flaming fire as opposed to one that is generating deep warmth without the flames.

When happiness relies on external conditions it is limited. Unhappiness is caused by wanting things to be different from the way they can be. Based on this wanting we run after things, pushing others out of the way to get them, or we get possessive and in our attempt to protect what is ours we are willing to cause harm to others or isolate ourselves.

Happiness comes from living a life in which one makes the effort to do no harm and to do positive things as much as possible. Positive things are things that help others.

I wish you true happiness!

Source: 2011 Pitagorsky Consulting

Dread the Shred!

2011-12-28T03:21:00.000-05:00

9,000 teams registered for the shot at $50,000, but it took one three-man team just 33 days to solve DARPA’s Shredder Challenge, a contest to read destroyed documents. San Francisco-based “All Your Shreds Are Belong to U.S.” took the prize two days before the close of the competition, exhibiting the ability to blend computer vision algorithms and human know-how to reconstruct five different documents that had been run through a paper shredder and converted to more than 10,000 total pieces of paper.

Source

Wine Racks

2011-12-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterdays project was reorganizing our wine room, built four more racks (each rack holds four cases). We now have room for 60 cases with 40 on hand. We are currently drinking our 2005's. Most of what you see at the far ends are 2008-2010. Our walkout basement keeps this room at a perfect wine storage temperature.

Sheeba Digitized :o)

2011-12-27T11:11:00.000-05:00

As a follow-up to my earlier post today, below is our Sheeba!

Is Your Pet a Superhero?

2011-12-27T03:06:00.002-05:00

We all like to anthropomorphize our pets. Now you can make kitty or doggie a superhero! Illustrator Chris Piasic and Aaron Cohen of Unlikely Words have partnered to bring you Pets are Superheros. You can have your cat/dog drawn as your favorite superhero. For just $25 you’ll get a high resolution digital file, and for $40 you’ll get the digital file plus a 5″ x 7″ print. All you have to do is send a photo of your cat and his or her name. Get all the details here.

Santa Claus Effect

2011-12-26T04:50:00.006-05:00

Rewards may be effective in motivating the neighborhood kids to find your missing dog, but when it comes to motivating your employees, they fail miserably. In fact, most traditional reward and recognition programs lead to an overall decrease in employee morale and productivity, with “Employee of the Month” programs serving as the poster child of bad ideas. There are at least 20 reasons why such programs fail, based on 40 years of research.

The Santa Claus Effect. Ever notice how kids shape right up when they are reminded that Santa is coming to town and only gives toys to good boys and girls, while bad children get coal in their stocking? This is just another one of those “dangling carrot” programs that lead to temporary changes in behavior.
Programs fail because they are programs. Diets only work as long as you’re on them. After the carrot is given, behavior returns to baseline. If the carrot is not given, the behavior actually dips below baseline. You’ll notice how less effective dangling the Santa carrot routine is the day after Christmas.

Now imagine this: Only the very best kids get a present; every other kid gets stuck holding an empty stocking. In truth, lots of these kids tried really hard, but in the less than magical place called the workplace, effort doesn’t necessarily count. You win or you don’t. And, guess what? As your programs continue to reward only your top performers, you end up demotivating your average performers who do put forth extra effort but don’t get recognized.

Santa’s approach is different. He’s created a culture where employees want to perform their best every day. Why? Because he’s got a very clear and inspiring mission and vision that his workforce can get behind. His team members value the work that they do and see how it supports the goals of the organization. Not only do they respect the work that they do, they also respect Santa and their fellow team members, and they feel respected. His elves aren’t being driven by some motivational program.

So, for the New Year, put your reward and recognition programs on the shelf and focus on creating a culture where your team members respect the work that they do and feel respected. By the way, Santa doesn’t only pay attention to his star players. If you really want to make a difference in your organization this year, find the overlooked Rudolph's with great potential and help them to shine.

Source

Sunday Silliness - Freedom :o)

2011-12-25T04:21:00.000-05:00

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:59:00.001-05:00

Holiday Coping

2011-12-24T13:46:00.000-05:00

While a lot of us rejoice in this season, celebrating our traditions, beliefs, family and friends, it is not like that for everyone. So if you know someone who struggles this time of year, below are some tips to help them cope.

Keep expectations for the holiday season manageable.
Try to set realistic goals for yourself.
Pace yourself.
Organize your time.
Make a list and prioritize the important activities.
Be realistic about what you can and cannot do.
Do not put entire focus on just one day (i.e., Christmas Day) remember it is a season of holiday sentiment and activities can be spread out (time-wise) to lessen stress and increase enjoyment.
Remember the holiday season does not banish reasons for feeling sad or lonely; there is room for these feelings to be present, even if the person chooses not to express them.
Leave “yesteryear” in the past and look toward the future. Life brings changes. Each season is different
and can be enjoyed in its own way. Don’t set yourself up in comparing today with the “good ol’ days.”
Do something for someone else.
Try volunteering some time to help others.
Enjoy activities that are free, such as driving around to look at holiday decorations; going window shopping without buying; making a snowperson with children.

The holiday season is a time full of joy, cheer, parties, and family gatherings. However, for many people, it is a time of self-evaluation, loneliness, reflection on past failures, and anxiety about an uncertain future. Many factors can cause the “holiday blues”: stress, fatigue, unrealistic expectations, over commercialization, financial constraints, and the inability to be with one’s family and friends.

The demands of shopping, parties, family reunions, and house guests also contribute to feelings of tension. People who do not become depressed may develop other stress responses, such as headaches, excessive drinking, over-eating, and difficulty sleeping.

Even more people experience post-holiday let down after January 1. This can result from disappointments during the preceding months compounded with the excess fatigue and stress. Studies show that some people suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) which results from fewer hours of sunlight as the days grow shorter during the winter months.

Phototherapy, a treatment involving a few hours of exposure to intense light, is effective in relieving depressive symptoms in patients with SAD.

Other coping mechanisms:

Try something new.
Celebrate the holidays in a new way.
Spend time with supportive and caring people.
Reach out and make new friends or contact someone you have not heard from for awhile.
Save time for yourself! Recharge your batteries! Let others share responsibility of activities.

Nothing Says Merry Christmas Like Gwadzwilla :o)

2011-12-23T21:01:00.000-05:00

Sweet...

2011-12-23T08:15:00.002-05:00

Change For A Dollar

2011-12-23T02:48:00.001-05:00

Please take the time to watch this and then please share...

RoboGuard

2011-12-22T02:57:00.008-05:00

Robot guards are coming to a South Korean jail next spring, according to the Yonhap news agency. The guards are 5 feet tall and equipped with four wheels, a friendly face and who knows what sorts of pain rays and other implements. They are designed to look friendly to inmates, according to the designers.

The machines will monitor inmates for abnormal behavior, according to the BBC. They'll be able to detect prisoner violence and even notice attempts at suicide, which researchers say will help reduce human guards' workload. The robots will mostly work at night, patrolling correctional facilities and helping prisoners connect with officers, according to Yonhap. They come equipped with a "remote conversation function," via the cameras mounted on their torsos.

Three prototype guard ‘bots will spend a month in a jail in the city of Pohang. The Asian Forum for Corrections, a South Korean research group, developed the robots in concert with Kyonggi University. The project will cost about $864,000.

Robots are already a mainstay in factories, surgical bays and disaster areas, so it's reasonable to see them in prisons, too. But what happens when the prisoners take them over?

Source

Success!

2011-12-21T02:37:00.003-05:00

"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom."

- George S. Patton

Animal Quake

2011-12-20T02:33:00.002-05:00

Can pond-dwelling animals pick up pre-earthquake signals?

Animals may sense chemical changes in groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike.

This, scientists say, could be the cause of bizarre earthquake-associated animal behaviour.

Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in L'Aquila, Italy, in 2009 - days before a quake.

They suggest that animal behaviour could be incorporated into earthquake forecasting.

“Start Quote

When you think of all of the many things that are happening to these rocks, it would be weird if the animals weren't affected in some way”

Rachel GrantThe Open University

The team's findings are published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. In this paper, they describe a mechanism whereby stressed rocks in the Earth's crust release charged particles that react with the groundwater.

Animals that live in or near groundwater are highly sensitive to any changes in its chemistry, so they might sense this days before the rocks finally "slip" and cause a quake.

The team, led by Friedemann Freund from Nasa and Rachel Grant from the UK's Open University hope their hypothesis will inspire biologists and geologists to work together, to find out exactly how animals might help us recognise some of the elusive signs of an imminent earthquake.

Source

Space Laundry?

2011-12-19T03:24:00.007-05:00

Astronauts and cosmonauts are generally chosen based on a balanced blend of desirable traits: mental acuity and psychological stability (it’s isolated up there), physical fitness, physiological durability, willingness to be strapped to a massive controlled explosion and hurled into an environment that is extremely hostile toward life, etc. But it’s no secret: Right Stuff or no Right Stuff, astronauts stink. There’s simply no good way to stay clean in space.

After well more than a decade in orbit, NASA is finally trying to change that. The agency has commissioned Oregon-based UMPQUA to build a prototype low-power, low-water washing machine that would allow ISS residents to do their laundry. This would probably beat the usual protocol, which mandates that astronauts wear the same undergarments until they can’t stand it and then pack them into a used Progress capsule to be incinerated in the atmosphere (though that’s probably a legitimate fate for underwear that’s been worn to the olfactory breaking point).

But in zero gravity, liquid water is still problematic (especially with all the sensitive electronic equipment and instruments aboard the ISS). The machine proposed by UMPQUA Resarch would use a mix of vapor, air, and microwave rays to clean clothing. The company says achieves a greater softness than previously-tried low-water vacuum pressing systems, and that it could also be useful closer to home at isolated locales or aboard maritime vessels.

Source

Sunday Silliness - Flattery :o)

2011-12-18T03:50:00.000-05:00

Change Shaper

2011-12-17T03:13:00.020-05:00

Five Questions That Should Shape Any Change Program

1) Where do we want to go? Sounds simple, but answering this question for both performance and health means setting an aspiration at the intersection of where opportunities exist, what capabilities you have, and where you are passionate about making a difference.

2) How ready are we to get started? Leaders of most failed change programs we've seen moved straight from aspiration to action. But you can't know what actions to take if you don't have a clear view of the capabilities and mindsets you'll need to develop to make the change stick.

3. What practical steps do we need to take? We've found that leaders need to be as clear about what the company won't do anymore as about what it will do to improve both performance and health.

4. How do we manage the journey? Implementing a portfolio of performance initiatives can take different forms — everything from running pilots to 'big bang' roll outs. But too often leaders underestimate the amount of energy that is needed to roll out large scale change.

5. How do we keep moving forward? Those few leaders who actually reach their performance goal too often see it as the end of the road, and don't plan a transition to a period of continuous improvement. This creates a risk that you won't be able to sustain the impact it's achieved.

Source

Silence

2011-12-16T02:46:00.000-05:00

"No person is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow."

- Alice Walker

I Are One :o)

2011-12-15T02:15:00.001-05:00

Natural Gas from the Sun

2011-12-14T03:04:00.000-05:00

They recently filed a patent, so this may be a new technology, but they are on the over-the-counter market at less than $0.25, so there is a ways to go. I love new solutions!

SANTA BARBARA, CA – November 29, 2011 – HyperSolar, Inc. (OTCBB: HYSR), the developer of a breakthrough technology to make renewable natural gas using sunlight, today described how being green is the key to its low production cost. The company’s breakthrough two-step process cleans waste streams and uses captured CO2 to produce cost-effective renewable natural gas.

Instead of using pure water, a very expensive starting point, HyperSolar is optimizing its technology to work with wastewater containing organic molecules of all kinds, such as municipal and industrial wastewater. By photo-oxidizing (detoxifying) wastewater, the company’s invention simultaneously produces hydrogen and clean water. In another configuration, waste steams containing acids, such as hydrogen bromide and hydrogen chloride from industrial facilities, can be processed to produce pure bromine and chlorine, which are valuable and marketable byproducts.

The first step of HyperSolar’s process is a novel solar-powered nanoparticle system that mimics photosynthesis to separate hydrogen from wastewater. The free hydrogen is then reacted with captured CO2, a negative value stream, to produce pipeline ready methane in the second step.

Tim Young, HyperSolar’s CEO, commented, “Most approaches to alternative energy are expensive and require subsidies to compete in the marketplace. Our approach is unusual in that by being green we actually reduce the costs associated with making renewable natural gas. Our two-step process not only dramatically reduces our production costs, but positions us as one of the greenest energy solutions in the world.”

About HyperSolar, Inc.

HyperSolar is developing a breakthrough technology to make renewable natural gas using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. This renewable natural gas is a clean, carbon neutral methane gas that can be used as a direct replacement for traditional natural gas to power the world, without drilling or fracking, while mitigating CO2 emissions. Inspired by the photosynthetic processes that plants use to effortlessly harness the power of the Sun to create energy molecules, we are developing a novel solar-powered nanoparticle system that mimics photosynthesis to separate hydrogen from water. The free hydrogen can then be reacted with carbon dioxide to produce methane. From sunrise to sunset, our proprietary nanoparticles will work in a water based solution to produce clean and environmentally friendly renewable natural gas that can be collected for use in power plants, industrial plants and vehicles – anywhere and anytime. To learn more about HyperSolar, please visit our website at http://www.HyperSolar.com.

Compassion At Work

2011-12-13T03:00:00.008-05:00

Some people believe that compassion and especially compassion in the workplace is a form of weakness. Perhaps they think that survival of the fittest in the corporate jungle leaves no room for something like concern for other people and their feelings. March ahead, take no prisoners!

Yet report after report shows us that those who have a high degree of emotional intelligence come out ahead at work. Empathy is an important part of emotional intelligence. To relate to others you need to be able to see things from their perspective. That means acknowledging that some of your actions could be causing them distress.

Consider active listening for a minute. To have successful communications with others we work to employ active listening. This involves really understanding what the other person is telling you, again trying to put yourself in their shoes.

It is difficult to successfully show empathy and active listening without the caring component; you know the part where you truly care about what this other person is experiencing?

Of course compassion is more than just understanding or acknowledging the feelings of others, it is going beyond and wishing to alleviate their suffering. If you continue to interact with others and as a leader or influencer do not try to improve their situation (where possible and appropriate) then you are not doing your job!

It is easy to bury your head in the sand and ignore when others are having a difficult time; it is easy to make their difficulties their fault, to feel anger at them, to blame them for bringing difficulty upon themselves. It takes much more courage to step in and take action, to actively work to improve their situations.

Compassion in the workplace takes strength and courage.

Source

The Key Is That Your Compassion Must Be Genuine!

Wellspring of Power :o)

2011-12-12T02:54:00.000-05:00

"Plan your progress carefully; hour-by-hour, day-by-day, month-by-month. Organize activity and maintained enthusiasm are the wellsprings of your power."

- Paul J. Meyer

Sunday Silliness - Fear :o)

2011-12-11T03:47:00.002-05:00

Go Irish!

2011-12-10T16:33:00.000-05:00

We are off for a bite to eat and then to the ND Hockey Game :o)

Gardening & Project Management

2011-12-10T08:43:00.001-05:00

Since we are into the winter season, I would rather be outside playing in the yard, I thought I could at least put up a post and picture about it :o)

Keeping on top of a garden requires endless weeding, pruning and tidying. They are all small jobs individually but if left for any length of time at all the garden rapidly becomes overgrown and each one becomes a big job in its own right.

As a Project Manager, there is a similar range of tasks needing constant attention – reports, plans, issues list, defect queue, documents to review. As with a garden, these are all small jobs individually but if they are left for any length of time each one becomes a big job in its own right.

Both garden and project need to be kept under constant review; a repeated quick survey of both is needed to see if any single task is becoming urgent.

Both gardening and project management require constant vigilance, keeping a step ahead to provide some spare capacity to cope with the unexpected. Both assume a degree of planning to make sure everything gets done at the right time. Finally both need flexibility to respond to changing events at no notice.

Source

Listen...

2011-12-09T02:18:00.000-05:00

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen."

- Ernest Hemingway

Strategy

2011-12-08T03:08:00.002-05:00

Strategy is a way of thinking, not a procedural exercise or a set of frameworks. To stimulate that thinking and the dialog that goes along with it, it is essential to design metrics based on sound and practical parameters, and follow a set of action oriented steps aimed at helping assess the strength of your strategy.

It is imperative to design steps focused on testing the strategy itself (in other words, the output of the strategy-development process), rather than the frameworks, tools, and approaches that generate strategies, for two reasons.

First, companies develop strategy in many different ways, often idiosyncratic to their organizations, people, and markets.

Second, many strategies emerge over time rather than from a process of deliberate formulation.

Go Green!

2011-12-07T02:50:00.008-05:00

Cryomation Cryomator Cryomation

The greenest way to go

A person's carbon footprint keeps growing after death. Burial uses arable land, and cremation releases a body's carbon into the atmosphere. The Cryomator instead chills the body with liquid nitrogen until it breaks apart and then freeze-dries the remains to remove water and kill microbes. The powder retains the body's carbon, making the entire carbon impact of the process about 75 percent less than that of cremation. The company is currently building its first commercial unit, which should be in operation before the end of 2012.

Source

Adversity

2011-12-06T02:59:00.003-05:00

"You'll never find a better sparring partner than adversity."

-Golda Meir

Communikation

2011-12-05T01:59:00.001-05:00

Here are some tips to encourage concise and effective communication:

Be clear about what you need. Don’t expect your team to guess.

Teach your team how to communicate. While you can’t control every word that comes out of your team members’ mouths, you can establish standards of what is appropriate.

Have frequent in-person updates. No, you shouldn’t do your team’s work for them, you should get regular (and of course, succinct!) updates.

Use your negatives sparingly. If you frequently start each communication with negatives, your team will come to see you as a knucklehead, and they’ll start to ignore your message altogether.

Look in the mirror. The golden rule definitely applies to leadership and business. It’s always a good idea to treat your team as grown-ups and make them partners in whatever you’re doing.

Source

Sunday Silliness - Failure :o)

2011-12-04T03:46:00.001-05:00

Fukishima Update

2011-12-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

Early on Wednesday morning, the Dow Jones News Wire first reported the following from Japan, before the rest of the mainstream media got hold of the story:

The melted nuclear fuel within the No. 1 unit at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant was of such intensity that it eroded through 2 meters of the 2.6 meter (8.5 feet) concrete base, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said in a report issued on Wednesday.

What's been reported is a very conservative mathematical analysis that has yet to be physically confirmed. In other words, this is a worst case scenario. And as we've seen in our industry, even in the worst case scenario, there is still a very significant safety margin.

A quick read ofthe article could give one the impression that the melted core was a little more than half a meter -- about 2 feet -- from reaching the external environment. I think it’s important to note that according to the TEPCO analysis only .7 meters (a little more than two feet) of concrete was actually eroded. In addition, plants have multiple redundant safety systems in place to protect the public, and that's exactly the case with Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1.

In addition to the 2.6 meters (about 8.5 feet) of steel reinforced concrete inside the containment vessel, underneath the steel shell of the containment vessel lies another 7.6 meters (about 25 feet) of basemat reinforced concrete and steel. Altogether, that means there was 10.2 meters (about 33.5 feet) of reinforced concrete and steel standing between the reactor core and the outside of the plant before the accident.

Even if 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) of that structure has been eroded, another 8.2 meters (almost 27 feet) of reinforced steel and concrete lies between the melted fuel and the external environment.

It’s also important to note that according to tests of air samples from inside containment, it appears that the process of erosion – called coriuminteraction – has essentially ceased and no further damage is occurring at this time. If that process is still continuing, it is doing so at such a slow rate that TEPCO has more than enough time to develop a mitigation strategy.

Almost lighter than Air!

2011-12-03T01:47:00.000-05:00

Micro-Lattice on Dandelion Dan Little © HRL Laboratories, LLC

A collaboration of researchers from HRL, CalTech, and UC Irvine have created the new world's lightest material--some 100 times lighter than styrofoam. It's even lighter than aerogel, one of our favorite ultralight materials.

The material is a micro-lattice in structure, with the 0.01 percent of the material that's solid consisting of hollow tubes that are only 100 nanometers thick. It's rated at a density of 0.9 mg/cc, lighter than even the lightest aerogels, which have only achieved 1.1 mg/cc. It's also extraordinarily strong and shock-absorbent, thanks to all that air: it can compress by 50 percent and completely recover its shape, highly unusual for a material that is essentially metallic. It was actually inspired by architectural structures rather than other ultralight materials--the team looked to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Eiffel Tower to see how those structures are so light and yet so strong.

The project was undertaken for, who else, DARPA, which says it could be used for products ranging from battery electrodes to energy damping in addition to insulation, the main use for prior lightweight champ aerogel.

What Would You Do for A Permafrost?

2011-12-02T02:16:00.000-05:00

Naled A sheet of naled ice in Mongolia. That black dot is a person. Nswanson

This month, Mongolia will launch a project creating a huge manmade ice block to combat the sweltering summer in the capital city of Ulan Bator. As the ice melts, it will cool the city and provide fresh drinking water.

The $750,000 geoengineering project, one of the world’s largest ice-making experiments, seeks to artificially make “naleds,” ice sheets that form along frozen streams and rivers. In Mongolian river beds, layers build up as new water flows onto the surface and freezes, forming ice caps that can build up to more than seven meters thick.

Anglo-Mongolian engineering firm ECOS & EMI will drill holes in the Tuul river as soon as ice forms, so that fresh water will bubble up and freeze, then repeat this process to create a naled so thick it will take months to melt. The hope is that the project will serve as a model for other northern cities to save energy, repair permafrost and combat rising temperatures.

Source

Pie?

2011-12-01T02:49:00.001-05:00

Inspiration

2011-11-30T03:02:00.021-05:00

In a culture obsessed with measuring talent and ability, we often overlook the important role of inspiration. Inspiration awakens us to new possibilities by allowing us to transcend our ordinary experiences and limitations. Inspiration propels a person from apathy to possibility, and transforms the way we perceive our own capabilities. Inspiration may sometimes be overlooked because of its elusive nature. Its history of being treated as supernatural or divine hasn't helped the situation. But as recent research shows, inspiration can be activated, captured, and manipulated, and it has a major effect on important life outcomes.

Inspiration has three main qualities. evocation, transcendence, and approach motivation.

First, inspiration is evoked spontaneously without intention. Inspiration is also transcendent of our more animalistic and self-serving concerns and limitations. Such transcendence often involves a moment of clarity and awareness of new possibilities. "The heights of human motivation spring from the beauty and goodness that precede us and awaken us to better possibilities." This moment of clarity is often vivid, and can take the form of a grand vision, or a "seeing" of something one has not seen before (but that was probably always there). Finally, inspiration involves approach motivation, in which the individual strives to transmit, express, or actualize a new idea or vision.

Inspiration is the springboard for creativity.

Inspiration facilitates progress toward goals.

How can you create the proper environment?

1. Using strategic vision to motivate and inspire
2. Empowering employees at all levels
3. Accumulating and sharing internal knowledge
4. Gathering and integrating external information
5. Challenging the status quo and enabling creativity

To become personally inspired, the best you can do is set up the optimal circumstances for inspiration. As a society, the best we can do is assist in setting up these important circumstances for everyone.

Source

Do Right!

2011-11-29T02:09:00.005-05:00

"A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality."

- John F. Kennedy

Truth

2011-11-28T02:55:00.003-05:00

"The truth always turns out to be simpler than you thought."

-Richard Feynman

Sunday Silliness - Excuses :o)

2011-11-27T03:44:00.001-05:00

Blue Beats Brown?

2011-11-26T02:05:00.010-05:00

This week's step forward in conforming to the beauty standard at any cost is a laser that can turn brown eyes into blue ones. The treatment, developed by Stroma Medical's Dr. Gregg Homer, takes only 20 seconds to perform, but is irreversible. Aside from giving you the piercing stare of an Arctic wolf, the procedure could also impair your sight, experts warn. Brown eye pigment helps to prevent problems such as glare and double vision. Removing it could leave the eye with no way to control the light getting in.

Homer assures the BBC that the laser only affects pigment on the eye's surface and that the frequencies used are absorbed by the dark pigment on the iris, so there is no danger of eye damage. After testing on cadavers, he has moved his operation to Mexico, where he says there has been no evidence of injury thus far. His seventeen short-sighted patients have been offered lens transplants in return for taking part in the procedure.

You won't be able to have your eyes burnt blue in America for another three years, due to a longer wait time for regulatory approval. A survey by Stroma Medical suggests that 17 percent of Americans would want the treatment, if they knew it was completely safe. For now, though, we recommend contacts.

A reason to ensure we do not cut back on our regulations, this does not seem like it can end well. If it sounds to good to be true...

Source

Perfectionist Feedback

2011-11-25T02:51:00.000-05:00

Giving feedback to perfectionists is tricky business. Here are some ways to approach it:

Be clear about your goals and expectations for their work. When left to their own devices, perfectionists may fall into the trap of setting unrealistic expectations for themselves.

Encourage a perfectionist to share a work-in-progress with you. Perfectionists are notorious for wanting to show only end products, fearing that a work-in-progress might be seen as the best they can do.

Perfectionists can be obsessed with not wanting to make mistakes. An unhealthy perfectionist can lose sight of the difference between a minor mistake (finding every spelling error in a 20-page, in house report) versus a major error (misspelling the name of a client in a one page marketing ad). As a manager, underscoring the value of focusing on weaknesses as an opportunity to improve performance can be critical in keeping them on track. Also, help to soften or deflect a perfectionist's excessive self-criticism by highlighting what you like about the work he or she is sharing with you and engage in some brainstorming about ways to address what is still missing.

Sometimes perfectionists get stuck because they use the same strategies over and over again, even when they stop working or aren't working in a particular context. In this case, acknowledge the individual's effort (i.e., how hard he or she is working), but encourage a shift in strategy. More is not always better. If more isn't paying off, it is time to try something different.

Source

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T02:18:00.000-05:00

Deep Fry Turkey, Oh My!

2011-11-23T17:59:00.000-05:00

Oil and water don't mix: it's an old saying, but it's never more true than when you're talking about a pot of hot cooking oil and the moisture condensed on the surface of a frozen turkey. it's pretty incredible the amount of fire that simple combination can create.

Cooking oil is flammable, but it doesn't catch fire in a deep fryer because it never approaches the approximately 800°F required. Even if you drop a match in the fryer, the heat is conducted away from the flame and dissipates into the oil, and the fire goes out.

But oil dispersed into fine droplets is another beast entirely. individual droplets heat up very quickly, and the burning of one drop creates enough heat to ignite the one next to it, and so on, making a cloud of oil droplets extremely flammable. Where might a cloud of oil droplets come from? From that big, frozen bird.

The recommended oil temperature for a deep fryer is 350°, well above the boiling point of water. When you drop food in, you immediately see bubbles; that is the water in the food boiling off. Put too much moisture in by lowering in a frozen turkey, and the vaporization of the water throws oil droplets into the air. a few of the droplets hit the burner under the pot and catch on fire, beginning a chain reaction that ignites a large cloud of droplets. The result is the smell of a county fair-and a towering inferno that can ignite everything around it.

Boldness

2011-11-23T02:30:00.000-05:00

"Put a grain of boldness into everything you do."

-Baltasar Gracian

Persistent Optimism

2011-11-22T02:33:00.000-05:00

Pervasive, persistent optimism is one of those uniquely human traits/flaws - we tend to believe things are better than they really are, or that negative consequences won't befall us, even if they befall others. It stands to reason that people would adjust their expectations when confronted with harsh reality, yet they don't.

Wasted?

2011-11-21T02:35:00.000-05:00

"A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."

-Muhammad Ali

Sunday Silliness - Elitism :o)

2011-11-20T03:41:00.000-05:00

Drone...

2011-11-19T02:17:00.001-05:00

The Navy’s ultimate stealth fighter drone has achieved a new milestone — it flew in cruise configuration for the first time, stowing its landing gear for a streamlined flight.

The jet-powered, autonomous X-47B is designed for aerodynamic flight — it doesn’t even have a tail — partly to improve its stealth capabilities. But until now, its flight tests hadn’t retracted the landing gear, making it difficult to test its aerodynamic attributes. Further tests will help engineers prove the aircraft’s performance under a wide range of altitude, speed and fuel conditions.

Northrop Grumman is developing the X-4B on behalf of the U.S. Navy, which plans to use them on aircraft carriers. The drone is designed as a robotic strike aircraft, capable of taking on a multitude of missions at much higher speeds than its prop-powered kin, the Predator and Reaper.

It will be the first unmanned aircraft to take off and land on an aircraft carrier deck. As such, the Navy is also studying drone intelligence, so each X-47B will not need to pester the tower when the pattern is full.

Look, No Wheels: Northrop Grumman

Apology Accepted

2011-11-18T02:14:00.000-05:00

Apologizing does not always mean you're wrong, and they're right. It means you value your relationship more than your ego.

Don't you wish there was more of this?

TEAM!

2011-11-17T03:10:00.001-05:00

Who Knew?

Electric Plane

2011-11-16T03:57:00.006-05:00

Source

Pipistrel's Taurus G4 NASA HQ Photo

NASA has awarded the single largest prize handed down in aviation history to Team Pipistrel-USA.com for designing and demonstrating its Taurus G4 electric aircraft. Per the rules of the NASA- and Google-sponsored CAFE Green Flight Challenge, Pipistrel’s Taurus G4 covered 200 miles in less than 2 hours and did so on the electricity equivalent of less than one gallon of fuel per passenger, scoring $1.35 million for the effort.

But the cash, substantial though it may be, is only part of the story here. The CAFE (that’s Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency) Challenge was created to push aircraft engineers toward new, more efficient airplane designs that would perhaps usher in a new era of ultra-efficient flight, based on either electric engines or extremely efficient fuel-burning engines.

So while you can argue the day belongs to Pipistrel--and we certainly don’t mean to diminish that achievement--the CAFE Foundation and NASA are the real winners here. Consider: The challenge asked teams to average 100 miles per hour over two hours, and to do so on the equivalent of one gallon of gas. Not only did Pipistrel manage this, but so did California-based e-Genius with its electric-powered plane (for which it netted a second place prize of $120,000).

The kicker: both teams did so on just a little more than a half-gallon of fuel equivalent. That means both Pipistrel and e-Genius did twice as well as NASA and CAFE asked them to do (and Pipistrel slightly better than e-Genius, hence the distribution of prizes).

That’s pretty amazing, considering that just a few years ago engineers were still trying to figure out how to get an all-electric powered plane into the air for any considerable length of time, much less at sustained triple-digit speeds and while using very little energy.

Big Mark from Omaha

2011-11-15T02:58:00.000-05:00

It was so great to hook up again with my friend Mark, originally from Detroit, but now a resident of Omaha. We talked and got caught up on Saturday night while watching the Fighting Irish kick some butt, had a great workout on Sunday, and watched the first half of Da Bears on Sunday. I am glad we left at halftime, because he may have put a hurt on me during the second half :o) Just a couple of small guys having a big time. Love and Rockets!

Sunday Silliness - Effort :o)

2011-11-13T03:38:00.001-05:00

Omaha Bound

2011-11-09T10:48:00.000-05:00

Off to Omaha for a Project Management regional meeting, and to visit Big Mark.

Be back on Tuesday.

Emergency Alert System Test on Wednesday.

2011-11-08T03:05:00.005-05:00

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on Wednesday, November 9 at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern) and may last up to three and a half minutes. On November 9, the public will hear a message indicating that "This is a test." The audio message will be the same for both radio and television. A Nationwide EAS Test will help the federal agencies and EAS participants determine the reliability of the system and its effectiveness in notifying the public of emergencies and potential dangers nationally and regionally.

The public is used to hearing these tests on radio and television, but not for the expected three and a half minutes. This message is to be broadcast additionally on cable and satellite television as well as satellite radio, which in the past, have not fully participated. This message will be on every channel and every station that some one could be expected to be listening to. The EAS participants will then report back to FEMA on the outcome of forwarding this message through their respective systems.

This notice is being sent, as will other public service announcements to come from the Federal government, to inform you of this test and to pass this information on to your employees and/or citizens where possible. Our main concern is people not being aware of this test and flooding 911 centers with questions about a national emergency. This test could be postponed if conditions warrant, such as a real emergency or severe weather conditions so as not to confuse the public.

Sunday Silliness - Economics :o)

2011-11-06T03:35:00.000-05:00

Have You Hugged a Project Manager Today?

2011-11-03T03:33:00.005-04:00

Go Here

Last Travel Vacation This Year.

2011-11-01T10:39:00.002-04:00

We are off for out last travel vacation
this year. First off is to head to Philadelphia, meet a long time online friend, then to visit Eastern State Penitentiary.

After our Philly visit, it is off to Manhattan and the Big Apple where we will be visiting another long time friend and visiting Ground Zero.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T01:16:00.001-04:00

Don't Quit!

2011-10-30T02:21:00.000-04:00

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."

-Richard M. Nixon

Leadership Watch

2011-10-29T03:43:00.001-04:00

Leaders are being watched all the time. They must set the tone for excellence and appropriate business behavior in everything they do. These behaviors must be continuous and genuine, not situation-specific and contrived.

Brine

2011-10-28T03:49:00.002-04:00

A start-up company will announce on Wednesday that it is beginning commercial operations at a factory in Southern California to capture lithium from existing geothermal energy plants, a technology it says has the potential to turn the United States into a major lithium exporter.

The plant, built by Simbol Materials near the Salton Sea in the Imperial Valley, will also capture manganese and zinc. None of the materials that Simbol plans to produce are so-called rare earths, but a study by the American Physical Society in February identified lithium and zinc as likely to be very important in the new energy economy of the future. The society considers them “energy critical elements.”

Lithium is a crucial element for batteries that power electric cars, and manganese is used in batteries and in specialty metal production. The United States imports much of its lithium and does not produce any manganese at all.

The company, based in Pleasanton, Calif., will piggyback on an existing geothermal plant that makes electricity by pumping hot water from deep underground and using its heat to make steam to drive a turbine. Then it re-injects the water into the ground. The “water” is actually a very strong brine, composed of about 30 percent dissolved salts, according to Luka Erceg, Simbol’s co-founder and chief executive.

Simbol officials say they have developed a proprietary filtering process that takes minutes and will be located on piping that is a minor detour for brine that the geothermal energy company is pumping anyway. Costs are low enough to compete in the world market, company officials say, and environmental impacts are small since the geothermal plant is already in operation.

The plant will process 5,000 to 6,000 gallons of water a minute, and in the same period will produce 10 to 20 gallons of salts that include the marketable metals. Since last October, Simbol has been running a modest pilot plant that filters about 20 gallons a minute, Professor Jaffe said. The brine from the Salton Sea contains lithium in a concentration of 200 to 400 parts per million, and the extraction technology is about 93 percent efficient, he said.

Mind Set

2011-10-27T03:06:00.020-04:00

Describe the core concept for us behind “Mindset”?

People have different beliefs about their talents and abilities. Some people hold a “fixed mindset”: They believe that their talents and abilities are fixed traits; you have only a certain amount and that’s that. This is a mindset that turns people away from risks or challenges that may reveal deficiencies and, in this way, can work against innovation and growth.

But other people hold a “growth mindset”: They believe that their talents and abilities can be developed over time through learning, dedication and mentorship. They don’t necessarily believe that everyone’s the same or that anyone can be anything, but they believe that everyone can grow their abilities. This is a mindset that leads people to stretch out of their comfort zone to try new things. They are less interested in proving how smart they are than in getting smarter.

Can someone change their own mindset? How?
Yes, it’s never too late. In a fixed mindset, challenges are threatening, criticism is threatening, and the success of others is threatening. But in a growth mindset, all of these offer opportunities to learn.

Learn to listen to the fixed-mindset voice in your head that tells you you have to look smart at all times and that tells you that challenges, criticism and the success of others are indictments of your ability. Answer it back with a growth-mindset voice, as you take on these challenges, listen to criticism, and learn from the success of others.

I believe that mindset is a critical thing in how you approach life, whether at work or in your personal life. Certain cliches apply; "Is your glass half-full, or half-empty" or "Don't burn your bridges". So how do you approach life? I say continue to "live and learn" and to embrace change.

Source

Fail?

2011-10-26T03:34:00.003-04:00

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."

-Beverly Sills

Big Dog!

2011-10-25T03:27:00.002-04:00

BigDog uses a system of hyper-responsive hydraulic joints, sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes to keep it on its four legs. Boston Dynamics says the creature can run at 4 mph, climb slopes up to 35 degrees, walk across a wide range of terrain, and carry 340 pounds.

This is pretty impressive. For more, click here or here.

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