Hold the cheering

Mets opt for volatility in hiring Collins
Noble: Mets opt for volatility in hiring Collins

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Elkins Park School students interview local veterans, Holocaust survivor (VIDEO)
Elkins Park School students celebrated Veterans Day with living history.

Read more on Times Chronicle & Glenside News & The Globe

/CORRECTED REPEAT*/ETHIOPIA: First Carbon Finance Spreads Green Over Highland
Source: IPS It has been decades since the people of the Humbo Woreda have been self-sufficient in food. A Clean Development Mechanism project – Ethiopia’s first – is restoring the environment and sustaining livelihoods along with it.

Read more on AlertNet

Holiday DUI emphasis patrols begin Thursday
With the kick-off to the holiday season Thursday, law enforcement officers across the state are laun

Read more on Tri-City Herald

Hold the cheering
Just like in Poland, there are no tarsiers nor coconut trees in Japan. And there is probably a very good reason for that, apart from the cold weather.

Read more on Manila Standard Today

Recycling taking hold in Myrtle Beach area

Roads shut after recycling fire
Fire crews continue to work at the scene in the aftermath of dramatic blaze at a recycling plant in Flintshire.

Read more on BBC News

Vail column: Where do all the leaves go?
Error on line 12 position 2: Connection failure Copyright 2010 Vail Daily. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Vail Daily Vail column: Where do all the leaves go? September, 27 2010 12:00 am MST

Read more on The Vail Trail

Help raise funds by donating preloved items
SUBANG JAYA: If you are spring cleaning your house and planning to throw away unwanted items, why not donate them to Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled instead?

Read more on New Straits Times

Garnet Nuggets
Where did the summer go, we all ask. How can our life be slipping away so fast?

Read more on Garnet Valley Press

Recycling taking hold in Myrtle Beach area
Like Kermit the Frog once said, it ain’t easy being green.

Read more on The Myrtle Beach Sun News

Message on Hold: Eight Ways to Go Green

     Message on hold is one of the most cost effective methods of communicating a company’s marketing message to its customers and prospective customers, and it works.  But messages on hold can also be one of the most environmentally friendly forms of advertising there is.  So if a company is considering ways to reduce its carbon footprint, here is a list of eight important features to look for when selecting an on hold messaging system or service:

1)  Internet web based on hold player – The ideal on hold messaging system is a hands free Internet web based player.  On hold players that are managed over the Internet require less time and attention to manage and service and are simpler to operate for both the service provider and the end user.  Web based players are particularly important for companies with multiple locations.

2)  No removable media – Internet based players do not require the use of removable media.  The use of Internet based systems is important, as removable media has a number of drawbacks.  For example:

            a) Removable media usually must be delivered by mail.  The cost of postage comes from transportation and handling costs, which represent consumed resources and associated emissions.  Delivery of updates to large numbers of remote locations can be costly and wasteful.

            b) Deployment of on hold message updates at multiple locations often requires someone to drive from location to location to load audio content onto each player.  This equates to significant man-hours as well as drive time.

3)  No disposable media – Another disadvantage of removable media such as cassettes or CDs is it is often single-use and disposable.  Disposable media are difficult to recycle and therefore usually end up in landfills.

4)  Paperless process – On hold messaging is an electronic audio medium that allows an advertiser to get their message across without paper.  Support services, such as script development and invoicing should be paperless as well.

5)  No batteries –Message on hold players should use non-volatile “flash” memory to store audio programming.  Insist on a system that does not require the use of batteries to maintain memory in the event of a power failure.

6)  Energy efficiency – On hold messaging players should have low power consumption.  A good solid-state player should use about 1/50th the energy of a standard light bulb.

7)  Made from recycled and recyclable materials – Try to select a player that is made from recycled or recyclable materials.

8)  Use your on hold airtime to promote business as well as environmental issues – Businesses have a captive audience in their inbound calls.  On hold airtime is an ideal time to tell callers about your businesses’ conservation efforts and to promote green causes.  A good copywriter can script messages that will communicate a company’s business message while promoting environmental consciousness.

Making Alternative Hydrogen Fuel – How To Get Hold Of Hydrogen For Fuel

Probably the single most promising alternative fuel we have to date is also one of the most abundant elements on the planet: plain old hydrogen. Hydrogen can be made cheaply and easily on site anywhere there is a ready source of water and electricity. That means no more American dependence on foreign oil for our energy needs, and lower fuel costs while cleaning up smog and other pollution.

How a Hydrogen Plant Works

Hydrogen is not found in any significant quantity as a free gas on Earth. As the lightest of all the elements, what free hydrogen there once was has long since boiled away into space. All that remain now are minute quantities of free hydrogen in the upper atmosphere. Most of Earths hydrogen is locked away in the form of water.

A hydrogen plant, therefore, makes hydrogen on site by a simple process known as electrolysis. What this boils down to is simply this: when you pass an electric current through water, it breaks apart into hydrogen and oxygen gases. The gases are collected, separated, and compressed into liquid form. And that’s all there is to it!

Hydrogen Storage and Transport

The single biggest problem is that hydrogen is dangerous to store and transport. Since it liquifies at extremely low temperatures and high pressures, the safety concerns are considerable. For this reason alone, we will probably never see liquid hydrogen powering our personal vehicles. Rather, hydrogen can be used to generate electricity at central power stations which is then used to charge an electric vehicle. But it cannot be said with any certainty that this is the only way it will work. There are some promising developments in cell storage, where the liquid hydrogen is stored in an aerogel foam that is immune to catastrophic failure due to heating or ruptures. The hydrogen gas is allowed to bubble up out of the foam for the fuel cell or hydrogen combustion engine.

The Benefits of Hydrogen

Hydrogen as a fuel, whether used in fuel cells or simply burned in a combustion engine, are manifold. There are absolutely no emissions other than water vapor, which returns to the ground as rain, ready to be reformed into hydrogen gas for burning again. Contrast this to the limited petroleum resources we have available, in non-renewable deposits, and all the harmful byproducts of petrochemical combustion. It certainly seems that hydrogen will someday be powering our cities, vehicles, and maybe even our electronics with miniaturized fuel cells producing electricity. A greener world is not as far off as you may think!

Toyota puts Lexus LS sales on hold during recall

New cab company thinks green
Madison may soon have a new cab company. Schmidt’s Towing is starting Green Cab of Madison, which will use hybrid Toyota Prius cars and purports to be cheaper than any other cab company here.

Read more on Isthmus

GM takes Volt on the road to win hybrid drivers’ hearts and minds
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The strong-selling Toyota Prius made it clear, and tougher federal gas mileage standards made it even clearer: Environmentally friendly cars can’t be just “a hobby” for General Motors. Speaking Wednesday during a publicity-tour stop at the University of Maryland, Keith Cole, GM’s legislative and regulatory affairs director, promised that the automaker’s latest effort will be …

Read more on The Wenatchee World

On the Move
CHAIRMAN LEVEL: Nikolas Kamarados, a certified financial planner in the Prudential Western Pennsylvania Agency, with an office at 929 Main St., Follansbee, has been named a chairman level member of the Prudential Investments Leaders Circle.

Read more on The Steubenville Herald-Star

Hooked on ideas
An enthusiastic proponent of creative thinking, Datuk Ghazi Sheikh Ramli talks about importance of thinking out of the box.

Read more on The Star

Toyota puts Lexus LS sales on hold during recall
Toyota has stopped selling its flagship Lexus, the plush LS sedan, while it waits for parts to reach dealers so the recalled cars can be fixed.

Read more on USA Today

In the short term, high oil prices are bad for the economy – however does this hold true for the long run?

In the long run it may force US consumers to purchase more fuel efficient automobiles, or invent entirely new forms of alternative transportation (electric, hydrogen, fuel cells, etc, etc)

What do you think?

RC Cars hold design for efficient vehicles.

Rare Scottish wildcat ‘swam’ to Hebridean island
A rare Scottish wildcat spotted on a Scottish island could have swum there, according to animals experts.

Read more on Times Online

Mystery journey
Did this rare wildcat swim to a Scottish island?

Read more on BBC News

Britons turning back on car ownership as cost of motoring soars
Britons are turning back on car ownership because of the soaring cost of motoring, according to new Government figures.

Read more on Daily Telegraph

Li-ion Motors Corp. (OTCBB: LMCO) Plays Its Part in the Future of Advanced Transportation
MOORSEVILLE, N.C.—-Li-ion Motors Corp. www.Li-ionMotors.com, 21st Century Design & Engineering of emission-free automotive propulsion systems using the latest lithium-ion battery technology, is pleased to announce its participation in a one week shakedown event of technical inspections, safety inspections, durability testing and efficiency runs at the Michigan …

Read more on Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance

RC Cars hold design for efficient vehicles.
Engineering students use hydrogen fuel cells and solar power to drive environmentally friendly cars.

Read more on University Daily Kansan

What is an eco friendly glue for art use that will need to hold strong. Also, an eco sealant to protect it?

I am working on masonite board and will need to glue down sand and some light stone but I need it to be eco friendly. Also, I need an eco friendly product to apply after to make sure it is sealed and protected.