Category Archives: Uncategorized

Adding an electric car cut the payback point of our solar panel investment in half

Kevin C. Tofel's avatarGigaom

When we discussed our home solar panel project in mid-2011 with friends, one of the first questions everyone asked was, “What’s the payback period before you break-even?” The second question was unsurprisingly, “How much is it costing you?” but the focus always ended up on the payback. After all, if you’re going to invest in green technology, you’re hoping that at some point in the near future, you get ahead of the game. It turns out that something we didn’t plan for — our Chevrolet Volt(s gm) — is actually helping us boost the ROI and cut our payback time in half.

Details of the solar panel investment

Solar panel framingI shared details on both the solar panel project and the car before, but let me step back and recap a bit. In October 2011, we added 41 solar panels to our southern-facing roof in southeastern Pennsylvania. Each panel is rated…

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Google Glass will soon be invisible – and the new normal

It depends on the openness and adaptability of the technology, but I digress…

Guest Column's avatarGigaom

“There are three sides to every story: Your side, my side, and the truth. And no one is lying.” – Robert Evans (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”)

I recently met up with my friend and one-time business partner, Steve Lee, who is product director on the Google Glass project, and before that, ran product management on Google Maps for Mobile. Other than a quick tour of the device, Steve basically let me dive in, so as to experience Glass with a beginner’s mind. I won’t bother reviewing the basic capabilities and specs, which have been covered exhaustively already. Instead I want to focus on some of the points that are in debate, and whether I believe that Glass is destined to succeed.

Glass is translucent; designed to be invisible

In “Waves of Power,” David Moschella shows how new disruptive industries begin as verticals, since the complete product solution requires…

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Organizing the First Middle Georgia State College Drag Show on Campus (+VIDEO)

This has been an extremely long day for me. It goes in 2 parts.

Part 1: Waking up at 7:30 am, I started it out by working on my final paper for COMM 3010 in preparation of a presentation for the class at 2 pm. Then I drove to The Ink Spot, found out that the requested GSA t-shirts weren’t ready yet, drove to the Macon campus, met Tenshi in the lunchroom, came to class to present, did well in it, helped someone from off-campus ask about who to contact to set up a future concert on campus, drove with Chanda to WR to the Ink Spot to pick up the t-shirts, drove to The Rainbow Center, met many of the denizens and operators, picked up Ravion and Tiana Starr, drove back to Macon campus.

Part 2: We started setting up, and many of the attendees of the 1st-Ever MGSC Drag Show! arrived to take their seats. I ran around the halls of the H/SS building and theatre like a mad chicken, making calls, talking to the guests, only to find out that we had NO sound or lighting technicians. So Drs. Keith, Trayers, Monk, and Sherry helped with finding out everything that we could possibly do for the show, the audience getting restless as the 7:00 hour came and slowly, painfully went. I was on the verge of tears, screaming rage, self-pity and other feelings at many points during this long ordeal. Doors were locked, buttons were complicated, CDs didn’t work in computers, etc., I honestly don’t know how they found the switch for the stage lights. But without the aforementioned teachers, plus Chanda, Chrissonia, and many others, we would not have gotten the show started at all, despite having basically started at 8:30 pm. But we did it.

Our 1st-ever drag show on Macon campus, at MGSC, did get started, and the performers – Ravion, Tangerine, Tiana, Paula, Trinity – did their work in front of the many who stuck it out despite my self-claimed incompetence and naivete as a one-time theater manager. They brought us to our feet, they elicited questions afterward, and I felt like I was a bit richer for having stayed on with this project. We sold t-shirts and rubber duckies, distributed materials. Our event practically ended at 9:50 pm. After dropping off Ravion and Tiana, Chanda and I went to Steak and Shake off Riverside for a long decompression from at least 9 hours of non-stop activity. I got gas, dropped her off, and drove in the silence of the wee hours back to WR.

Video will be online soon, photos will likely be online sooner. I hope to work on it either Tuesday or Wednesday.

But now I need rest. I will be busy in the afternoon, and getting this historic event to the people on campus is something that I will say made this semester all the more worthwhile. But damn, it hurts!

So Obama’s former campaign is relaunching (again) as Organizing for Action. And they’re specifically launching as a 501(c)4 “social welfare” group and public policy advocacy, meaning that the new OFA can lobby and participate in campaigns, as long as the OFA focuses on social welfare. Of course, that’s where the money is: 501(c)4 orgs spend more on political ads than Super PACS. But most 501(c)4 orgs operate “in conjunction” with either parallel 527 committees or parallel (Super) PACS in order to either expressly advocate for candidates or spend money on getting out the vote. So I don’t think OFA will stay one organization for long, and an OFA Voter Fund will probably be created under 527 org rules in the future.
If you’re interested in old films, there is a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for restoring the historic 1919 film “Different from the Others”, the very first film to deal with homosexuality positively and criticize social stigma against gays. Only a single, old reel survived the Nazi rule, and Outfest and UCLA need the public’s help in funding the restoration of the 40-minute film. If you’re interested in preserving and teaching history, please pledge. Thanks!

As much as I may rail against theistic religion of the hell-believing type, I find it mildly interesting when disaffected or shunned groups make an earnest attempt to retool their own religious upbringings for themselves.

For instance, last night, I was reading what may be the first and few pro-gay sacred texts ever composed: “Hidden Treasures and Promises”, distributed as a compilation of “continuing revelation” to the prophets of the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, a gay-friendly offshoot of the LDS Church.

This weekend took 64 from Hendersonville to Cleveland TN on way back to Macon. There were lots and lots of signs on peoples lawns for only man-woman marriage in Carolina. Problem with voting on issues like that, it is the majority telling the minority what their rights are, and how they can/cannot live within those “gifted” rights. The marriage issue includes a lot of emancipation from family needs, the ability of two people to give power over their bodies and assets to each other in both life and death. Hetereos dont talk about this side of the marriage issue but gays do have to discuss these legal issues even though they dont like to. The legal issues are the most important parts of the marriage issue.

The impact of digital technology and the internet on modern societies

Re-posted from NMAC 3145-01:

The impact of digital technology and the Internet upon modern societies is most evinced in the rapidity of communication between any two or more individuals. Such rapidity has amplified the emotional ramifications attached to such communications, but has also helped in the often-remote coordination of common objectives (Howe).

Digital technology and the Internet have also impacted the nature of transactions of money or other resources (e-commerce, donations, etc.). The ability to peruse and pay through the same medium unifies methods of correpondence retail that previously existed, such as television shopping and catalog books which would be purchased by phone.

Finally, the internationalized nature of the Internet has prompted societies to obtain digital technology which is capable of accessing the Internet or other networks, namely to accomplish the two above objectives. The Internet has furthered the globalization of business and commerce (Kluver), strongly increasing the legitimacy of the service sector at the expense of the industrial sector, and has aided speakers of myriad languages to comment on or appropriate tropes and trends from myriad societies for their own benefit.

–Works cited–

Howe, Jeff. “The Rise of Crowdsourcing“. Wired. Condé Nast Digital. Jun 2006. Web.

Kluver, Randy. “Globalization, Informatization, and Intercultural Communication”. Oklahoma City University. Web.