Building Green Solutions

Why are building green solutions so important and why is it such a special opportunity for us. Yes, I said us.

Amazing things have happened on planet earth in the past couple hundred years, especially for industrialized society. There are great challenges for the many people of the third world but for most of us,

We live and work in air conditioned spaces, use transportation that turns hours into minutes, enjoy comforts, food choices, merchandize and services that were previously available only to the very wealthy.

We are at an interesting crossroads at this time however. We have exhausted some of the resources that make this life possible. Most of our current energy resources have side effects that are dangerous for coming generations. Some of the boundless opportunity that appeared in our nation’s youth has been replaced with difficult choices and job insecurity. We are ushering in a generation that for the first time will probably see a decrease in their standard of living.

What does building green solutions have to do with all these ostensibly, unrelated issues? In the pitch of the Great Depression one attempt to feed the economy was provided with a jobs program, road works that provided jobs in the short run. Government ‘created’ jobs to stimulate the economy and some believe this had a measure of success. This was job creation at it’s most direct level, not exactly supply and demand.

There is a consensus that ‘stimulating’ the economy in the form of lower interest rates and greater government spending is a proven way to revive a struggling economy. This too has really nothing to do with the fundamentals of capitalism, supply and demand.

Now we have a call on multiple fronts to find solutions, solutions that speak to many issues, find energy solutions that are economical yet do not create hazardous waste, solutions that are affordable and accessible to most of the population.

Building green solutions addresses all these issues while also creating new technology, new expertise, a whole new area of employment that simply did not exist before. It is exactly, supply and demand. Our greatest sense of creativity, our greatest sense of invention does indeed respond to need and respond to special circumstances requiring special solutions.

It is not a government program design to ‘create’ work but rather a response to a need whose specialty will create jobs in research, production, and implementation. The United States is challenged to compete in factory production with third world countries. Our high standard of living has also made it difficult to compete in large production and agriculture with countries whose labor cost is a mere fraction. Yet we still lead in technology and the technology of living green is in high demand all over the world.

What else is special about ‘green technology’ and green solutions?

Everybody wins. Resources that are kinder to our environment reduce the impact of our lifestyle and begin to reverse global warming. Countries such as China with fast growing economies and faster growing populations now more than ever need solutions to provide their people energy consuming amenities without destroying their environment.

What else will building green solutions provide? This could be the fun part. We don’t know.

We have witnessed a digital revolution in the past decade, an information revolution that has changed life all over the world. It brought with it new energy, new research, new products, new possibilities, and new jobs. Who would have thought they would be sending a picture from the Zoo as they are talking to their friend across the country? Who would have thought they would be carrying more data on their key chain than all the banks in New York in our last century?

We have every reason to believe this same innovation and same new invention will accompany our ‘green revolution’. New ideas are rarely stale and very rarely solutions unto themselves. Rather they open up new pathways, new ways of thinking, new solution that open even more possibility.

Should our government subsidize this research, subsidize this possibility for self-reliance and true economic growth? Of course it should but the green revolution is here and with or without the assistance from our government, energy solutions for the planet will define the 21st Century.

T Boone Pickens has cited ‘the greatest transfer of wealth’ in mankind. It is difficult to imagine the relief for our deficit and the savings we would appreciate if our cars did not require fossil fuel. This same shift away from global warming and pollution makes you wonder why this hasn’t already happened.

It would be wonderful if the United States became a leader in renewable energy, creating new industry, new income, and great employment opportunity. It would be wonderful to see our economic recovery reach America beyond the first few blocks of Wall Street.

This is an industry that will touch every other whether it is better insulated housing or more fuel efficient automobiles. We have reevaluated our lifestyle and the assumptions and extra costs of fifty years of ‘suburbia’. More energy efficient lifestyle villages are common now, offering most of what any family needs within blocks instead of miles. This in turn will significantly reduce driving time, fuel consumption and the pollution it creates.

As we begin to implement greener living, the common cause for all nations will begin to surface. Green solutions belong to lifestyle not geography and can be implemented and enjoyed anywhere. This ‘common cause’ can easily foster cooperation versus conflict which will reduce the enormous expenditure on defense and security systems.

Think globally, act locally.

Would you like to participate? There are literally hundreds of resources and links to how you can learn more, access more, and do more from your home, in your lifestyle decisions. From issues as diverse as green roofs to space heaters, solar lamps to rainwater harvesting, you may be surprised just how easy it can be to make your contribution.

One of our favorite resources on how individuals can learn and do more is the ‘Green Guide’ provide by the National Geographic, www.thegreenguide.com.

Bon Appetit.

Vivienne Westwood - From Punk to Premiere

Vivienne Westwood has certainly established quite a strong foundation in her own right. But this has not been easy for her at all. For decades and decades, Westwood has done so much to garner this strong reputation for herself. For starters, she co-founded the punk style in the international arena of fashion. She has also managed to work with a lot of big names in the industry over the years, too. What’s more, she has also bagged a number of awards for Best Designer of the Year.

A short glance at her credentials would clearly show you the reason why she remains at the top of the list of fashion designers, in spite of her age, having hit the prime of 66 already.

Vivienne Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in Glossopdale, Derbyshire, way back in April 8, 1941. Her father hailed from generations and generations of shoemakers, while her mother had a weaving job in the cotton mills that was located locally. Growing up exposed to the basics of fashion can certainly be credited as attributes to Westwood’s firm grasp of fashion sense.

It was in the 1950s when Westwood starting making her own design, as a teenager. She actually customized her uniform for school to come up with her very own design of a pencil skirt. Since then, Westwood started conceptualizing her own designs for her clothes. But 1965 saw a pivotal point in Westwood’s life. It was during this time that Westwood met Malcolm McLaren, and both immediately formed a partnership that was going to be dubbed as one of the most creative collaborations in the industry of fashion ever. That partnership lasted for roughly 13 years, from 1970 all the way through 1983, and this saw the launching of Punk. This particular style was epitomized by The Sex Pistols, one of the prominent punk rock bands to have formed in the music industry ever. At the time, punk clothes did not come as cheap clothes at all. But the collaboration of Westwood and McLaren brought forth more punk clothes that could be bought at relatively lower prices.

At present, Vivienne Westwood has turned her attention to a more toned-down look, which includes cufflinks and  premiere  silk ties. Nonetheless, Westwood’s charm and wit are still very much visible in her silk ties. How many times have you stained the blade of your tie with coffee and such over dinner? And how many times have you said, “Oops!” when this happened? This is actually one of the many trademark designs of Vivienne Westwood’s ties, with what appears to be beverage stains at the tips of her ties.

Computer Memory - A Useful Guide

Random Access Memory referred as RAM is a very useful component of a computer. Often regarded as computer memory, RAM plays a very crucial role to boost your computer’s performance. Don’t know whether you need to buy more memory for your computer or not? Or whether the memory on your computer is sufficient or not? Well, in this article we will discuss about all these important things. To install RAM, or for any other Windows help you can consult a remote computer support provider.

How will you know whether your computer requires more memory or not? There are certain situations that indicate that your computer requires more RAM. If you are upgrading your operating system then you need to install more RAM. Besides, while installing resource hungry applications, multimedia cards, or at the time of adding more computer peripherals, your computer requires more RAM. If you experience your computer is performing very sluggishly then too you can fix the issue by adding more computer memory.

Let’s have a look at while upgrading the operating system why more RAM is required. For instance, if there is windows XP operating system on your computer and you want to install Windows 7, then you need to install more RAM. This is because, Windows XP runs excellently with 512 MB RAM but Windows 7 requires 1GB of RAM. So, if you don’t install more RAM you will never be able to enjoy faster computing.

At the time of installing new applications such as Microsoft Office, Adobe   Premiere   Pro  you also need to have sufficient RAM on your computer. These applications are resource hungry and to perform at their best they need to have more computer memory. There are also a number of and games that will refuse to run if they find your memory lacking.

While installing multimedia cards too you may need to install more RAM. There are two types of cards such as video cards and sound cards. Although video cards have a built-in memory but there should be adequate main system RAM. If there is not sufficient memory, you can never reap the best from the video cards. The same is applicable for cases if you would like to add any computer peripherals like a printer or scanner to your system. Printers and scanners eat up a lot of memory when handling large image files.

Now the question is how much computer memory is sufficient for your computer. The requirements are changing everyday as more and more resource hungry applications are hitting the market. However, typically, 2GB DDR3 RAM is considered as normal requirement for running most of the applications while to run resource hungry games you should have more than 4GB memory.

Green Screen on TV - Talk Soup

‘E!’ is an entertainment television channel or a satellite TV network. ‘The Soup’ was a weekly series that was broadcasted on the network. Previously the show was called the ‘Talk Soup’ which was later remodeled and renovated to form “E!’s The Soup”.

The series shows recaps and highlights of different other televisions shows and pop culture video scenes and selects the best ones to ‘moments of the week’. The host cares to take care of the videos and clips with unique and absurd commentary and uninterrupted sarcasm. The popular comedian Joel McHale hosts the show. The show began its journey on the fourth of July in 2004 with the name “What the…? Awards” which was eventually changed to the very famous talk show The Soup.

E!’s The Soup had a green colored set with a screen at the right hand side of the host. There are various themes in the different segments of the show. At first the host introduces all the videos and clips to the viewers and the audience. Then each of the clips is played individually where he tends to comment the clips before moving on with the other videos.

The live audience is a huge support for him as it consists of the family members, friends and relatives of the video holder or the clip owner in a very small scale. The audience is truly supportive and involved in the show.

E!’s The Soup has revenant characters which consists of the dancing maxi pad, the most famous Manikin who is a bikini suit wearing man, two very unattractive person or nerds as they can be mentioned as who are dressed in Star Wars costumes.A house person or a graduate student who is often shot by the host McHale with special sound effects of a gunshot played in the synthesizer or sometimes with other instruments or sometimes just with vocal sounds.

Chewbacca’s lawyer Jewbacca, the ‘Spaghetti Cat’ who always prefer eating spaghetti with ‘The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet’ and Tom McNamara who is a new release!

E!’s The Soup has quite a few number of levels or segments like ‘Chew Stew’ which shows the clip from other talk shows with voice over by Kelly Andrews, the producer, ‘Chicks Man’ which centers on the news of female celebrities, ‘Reality Show Clip Time’, ‘Let’s take some E!’ and lastly sleeps with ‘Clip of the week’ until the same day, same channel and the same time.

Who Needs Sinus Irrigation? And Why?

If you have heard about sinus irrigation and your medical professional has recommended this course of treatment for you, you may have concerns regarding it. Understanding who needs sinus irrigation and why, can go a long way to easing your concerns. This process can be helpful in many ways, if you are a sinus sufferer this is generally a condition that is with you every single day and if you can feel better on a daily basis, this helps.

Sinus irrigation has been used for many centuries; it is by no means a new treatment method. In terms of ancient Indian wisdom and the practice of yoga, sinus irrigation was carried out by means of a “neti pot” (jala neti), and was used as a form of yogic meditation.

The neti pot is now used widely for this process which is also sometimes referred to as nasal lavage. The neti pot is used to introduce salt water into the nasal cavity and irrigate the sinuses. Small syringes, water picks and hydro pulse devices are also used for this procedure.

ENT doctors recommend this form of irrigation for people as a sinus cure. When the sinus cavities are working correctly the cilia (tiny hairs) in these cavities move back and forward naturally. If the sinuses become congested these cilia are no longer able to function at the same frequency and this causes problems. Mucus is supposed to drain out of the sinus cavities and into the stomach where it is dealt with efficiently by digestive acids.

These cilia become temporarily or even permanently damaged and are unable to remove the mucus which forms in the nasal cavities. This mucus dries and causes a blockage which can become infected; the nasal irrigation is able to remove this blockage, lessen the chance of infection and in many instances help to the cilia to recover and do their proper job. Over the counter and other medications if taken for extended periods of time can also be responsible for causing permanent damage to these nasal cilia. Follow the links below to learn more on this topic.

Video Marketing - Equipment You Need to Get Started

So you’re going to be a video star, are you? Whether training videos or marketing videos you’ve selected a media that is as close to live as you can get. A media that is both flexible and powerful. But what equipment do you need to get started?

The answer will depend on what type of videos you want to make. There are two basic types for you to choose from. And chances are you’ll have need of both types. In this article I’m going to concentrate on the traditional video.

Think movie. Not the big production or your father’s attempts at the home movie. Think YouTube, television and educational television. These videos can be anything from a single person carrying around a Flip camera to several people in a studio. For the beginner starting small is a great idea and can be done for under $1,000. In fact, you can even do it for $100 or less!

The first thing you need is a place to make videos. You don’t need anything complex. One guru I know likes filming in his car. Actually thinking about it several seem to. But really that’s a dangerous thing to do. Much better to pick a park or beach or other secluded area.

All you require is three things. First that it be accessible to you. Picking a park in Toronto isn’t a great idea for winter filming (it is for the rest of the year though)! Second it needs to be reasonably quiet. A local airport is probably not the best place to film regularly — although it might be great for some marketing videos! Third, you need to be able to film there without being disturbed. The entrance to a secret military base is probably not the wisest place to choose.

Next you need a camera. All you really need is a half decent camera. Prices for these have dropped radically lately. I’ve seen them for as low as $37! But given the relative prices an HD camera — for example the Flip — is a good investment. These can be obtained for around the $100-$150 range if you are careful.

The Flip style pocket camcorder has the advantage of being able to be used by the same person who is being filmed. However, you should consider buying a good tripod to make filming without an assistant easier. These go for as low as $10 if you are a careful (and cheap) buyer.

Although a camera is more flexible and a better choice there is another alternative. The good old fashioned webcam. While you can work with a medium quality webcam (which can be had for $20) you are probably better off with a good quality one. A good quality one will not require the perfect lighting that a poor one often does. A good quality webcam can run you roughly the same price as a pocket camcorder. While the dollar reason has more or less disappeared it is a viable option that needs to be mentioned. Especially if you have a webcam already.

Which leads us to the next piece of equipment you will need. A computer.

Once you have the video you still need to fix your mistakes and upload it to YouTube or your website or other site. To do that you need a computer. Even the cheapest computer nowadays can copy, edit and transfer videos. However, you are best to select a midrange computer in order to be sure that the power to edit videos is available going into the future.

In addition to the basic software you will need video editing software. Microsoft makes a product called Windows Movie Maker which is free and will create a basic movie fairly easily. Nero also has a number of similar tools. Jahshaka is a free open source editor with professional level editing facilities. Adobe Premier Pro CS4 is a powerful (and expensive) alternative. But to start all you need is a camera, a computer and Windows Movie Maker.

Video Marketing: Risk Free Ways To Go From Start To Profit - Faster

“A Video Marketing Plan

Can Help Build Your Brand,

It’s a Quick Way To Get

From Start To Profit

And Eliminate The Middleman.”

Video marketing is one of the top ways to grab a prospects attention, add interest and build credibility in your message.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth ten thousand. Especially if you want to boost sales. That’s one reason more savvy small business owners are turning to video to market their business, product or service.

Because if a prospect can see it – they’re more likely to believe it… as opposed to just reading about it. Giving something visual to look at while hearing a message will outsell a printed version every time.

Most people would rather sit back, relax and watch a video of a product or service demonstration – than just read about it. Wouldn’t you?

One of the biggest mistakes come from those who do it once and expect miracle results by slapping it on YouTube. Like anything involving marketing, doing it once (including video marketing) will usually result in disappointment.

The small businesses who find video marketing success include it as a routine part of their business. They never see it as a one time or “once-in-a-while” event. For example, they use it on their website, emails, squeeze pages, to their customer list and more.

Having a video continues to grow more important… even expected from today’s consumer. Much like a business card did in the past.

But You Don’t Have To Go It Alone

A growing number of video marketing companies can provide the knowledge, technology and connections to help you. In fact, most can help you do it better, easier and cheaper than doing it all by yourself.

For example, they don’t just tell you how to create a video, you can do that by reading a Wiki article. They shine by helping you create a “video marketing plan” – tailored to your specific needs and budget (or lack of one). Plus, they provide the tools and technology to help make your plan successful.

They’re the secret weapon that’s quietly helping small “start-from-scratch” businesses get big results.

Guide To Choosing A Reputable and Affordable Video Marketing Company?

There’s a growing number of companies, just Google it. But beware! Most are fly-by-night or overpriced. But still a handful of top-flight, dependable and affordable companies exist. Just make sure you use the free checklist I’ve included below. It will help you avoid losing time, money and… hair!

Top 10 Must-Haves To Seek In A Video Marketing Company – Checklist:

Note: The more of these qualities the company has the better your chance of success – and the less frustration you’ll experience.

1. Video Recording – that allows you to record basic screen or webcam videos – that get you online in seconds. Quick and simple.

2. Allows You To Add Controls – For example, “Buy Now”buttons, “opt-in forms” and other call-to-action features you can add directly in your videos. They’ll make it easier for your prospects to respond to your offers.

3. Has Video Analytics (Real Time Stats) – You’ll need to know who’s viewing, how many, for how long, where did they click off, what were their favorite parts, etc. That’s all vital information showing you how and where you can improve. Without them you’re just guessing and hoping – like most small business owners.

4. Allows Split Testing – Lets you create vital split tests (on-the-fly), plus set performance goals and track real time results. Helps you go from “I think to… I know”.

5. Allows You To Easily Create Your Own Customer Video Pages – Make sure they have drag and drop features – for ease of use and faster results.

6. Video Conversion – Provides one click, web-based and mobile ready converter. Gets you up and running easily and quickly.

7. Timed Events Feature – Helps you create time events around your videos and give you a better chance at captivating your audience. Helps your videos stand out from the crowd.

8. URL Security (Very Important) – Helps protect your videos from being hijacked. Secure video url and embed code to protect from unauthorized use. Many hackers and online thieves make a good living off newbies, amatures and even pros who overlook this.

9. 24/7 Consultation – This is where many companies drop the ball. They get you signed up then make it hard for you to contact them or give slow responses. A slow response can cost you sales or cause you to waste time or money.

10. Offers Free Trial – If you see any video marketing company who doesn’t offer a free trial – don’t just walk away… Run! Because most legitimate companies offer at least a 7 to 30 day free trial. So, you risk nothing.

Now use this checklist when investigating video marketing companies. It will help save you tons of time, money and frustration. Resist the temptation to take short-cuts. When it comes to this step, success is in the details.