Many people I have spoken with since smart meters have been installed in our area ask me if I have noticed an increase in the cost of electricity. My answer from my own experience is yes, but not enough to really know if the meter is to blame or if my usage has actually increased. I have two small kids, so it is possible that my usage has gone up.

The article in the associated press identifies another concern, security.

Computer-security researchers say new "smart" meters that are designed to help deliver electricity more efficiently also have flaws that could let hackers tamper with the power grid in previously impossible ways.

At the very least, the vulnerabilities open the door for attackers to jack up strangers' power bills. These flaws also could get hackers a key step closer to exploiting one of the most dangerous capabilities of the new technology, which is the ability to remotely turn someone else's power on and off.

... an attacker could sit near a home or business and wirelessly hack the meter from a laptop, according to Joshua Wright, a senior security analyst with InGuardians Inc. The firm was hired by three utilities to study their smart meters' resistance to attack.

But many security researchers say the technology is being deployed without enough security probing.

Wright said his firm found "egregious" errors, such as flaws in the meters and the technologies that utilities use to manage data from meters. "Even though these protocols were designed recently, they exhibit security failures we've known about for the past 10 years," Wright said.

As long as we are connected to the power grid, we are subject to the choices the utility company makes. These are the growing pains of those choices. Lets all keep an eye on the situation.

To read the full AP article, follow the related link.

What can or should you do during earth hour? I don't know exactly either, but here are some suggestions:

- Have a candle light dinner

- Play games

- Tell stories

- Get some friends together for a game night

- Look at photo albums (non-electronic)

- Go outside for some stargazing

Spot the Space Station
Make a Star Finder

The following segment is cut from the attached PDF:

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J. Hansen, R. Ruedy, M. Sato, and K. Lo
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USA

Abstract. We update the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) analysis of global surface temperature change. --- We conclude that global temperature continued to rise rapidly in the past decade, despite large year-to-year fluctuations associated with the El Nino-La Nina cycle of tropical ocean temperature.
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Note that the 34 page PDF has not yet been peer reviewed, but submission is expected to scientific journals soon.

You can download the PDF here.

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"Climate trends can be clearly seen if we take the 60-month (five year) and 132-month (11 year) running means." The five year mean minimizes El Niño variability, while the 11-year mean minimizes solar-cycle variability. Solomon could not be immediately reached late Saturday night.

The warming trend was visible, Hansen said in an email, even in this year's bitter Northern Hemisphere winter, which blanketed Britain and the East Coast in snow and had some Republicans claiming that the Snowmageddon proved global warming as a hoax.

Winter weather will always be highly variable, Hansen said. Areas cold enough to have snow can expect more from a carbon-rich atmosphere containing more water vapor. But while the Arctic Oscillation over the past three months was remarkable, the cold temperatures were relatively benign compared to the late 1970s.

Supporters say that filtering of such "noise" makes long-term temperature trends visible. It also allows the NASA team to predict that 2010 will emerge as the hottest year on record. At first blush, it doesn't seem likely: The sun is near the bottom of deepest solar minimum in a century; this year's El Niño, while strong, is nowhere near as powerful as the 1998 cycle that drove temperatures higher across much of the globe. But the trend, Hansen and colleagues conclude, is up. "This new record temperature will be particularly meaningful," they wrote, "because it occurs when the recent minimum of solar irradiance is having its maximum cooling effect."
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Just to reiterate: Climate change is real, Global Warming is real, Global Cooling is false.

We need to continue our every effort to protect the environment and cut down our carbon footprint.

For more information follow the related link below.

This design sounds promising and seems to make sense. The following information is from the website regarding the hydraulic car design:

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1. Fuel consumption & emissions
-- 170 mpg - instead of 27 mpg - and more than a comparable reduction in emissions.

2. Safety
-- Active bumpers at the front, rear and both sides absorb the entire crash from a 25 mph impact. The forces the passenger is exposed to are significantly reduced and damage to the car body is basically eliminated.
Individual control of power of each wheel improves the road holding characteristic.

3. Driving comfort
-- The active suspension absorbs most of the road bumps and basically eliminates banking. The lower center of gravity improves the handling.

4. Performance
-- The high power of the wheelmotors provide outstanding acceleration. 0-60 mph in 5 sec.

5. Cost
-- The operating costs are significantly reduced. In long terms, the production costs of the new car will not exceed those of conventional cars.
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You can download a short video presentation about the vehicle by clicking here.

Follow the related link below for more information.

I have written before about our project here to reduce the amount of paper we use, store and distribute. That project I'm happy to say has had an impact on our paper use. However, I can not say whether or not the receiver of the data is printing at their end. I'm fairly certain in most cases that only the required sections of documents are being reproduced.

Hopefully we are part of a significant trend. I just read an article on CNN that covers this topic. A snip from the article follows:

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There are plenty of motivating factors that would push managers to adopt the idea of a paperless office. Cost saving is one. Paperless-office advocates say they save the cost of paper, envelopes, postage, couriers, printers, copiers and, of course, filing cabinets.

The idea of helping the environment also might push a change in behavior, Shane said.

That's the motivation behind Gutsche's paperless office, his second such system after going through the shift with his previous employer, Capital One.

Three major factors will drive the paperless office movement, says Gutsche: ecological, technological and generational.
"The world's getting more obsessed with eco," said Gutsche, in this case the idea of saving paper and conserving trees. "Eventually it's going to get to a point where it's going to seem awkward when you see someone having something printed."
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Hopefully, we will see a lot more of this transition to a paperless or greatly reduced paper use system.

To read the whole article, follow the related link below.