Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

You’re old enough to babysit. That’s what I did when I was your age. You could also recycle soda cans or something. Or try dog walking or pet sitting. See if any of your neighbors would be willing to pay you to do odd jobs around their house. I know my grandparents sometimes pay neighborhood kids to cut their lawn or trim their hedges.

But I think you might have to face the fact that going out west might not be in the cards this year. If money is that tight for your family, then it sounds like there are better uses for it than spending it on a trip. Instead, focus on building up the family’s savings and paying down debt. And you should start thinking about putting money away toward your college education. Nothing would help your family more than you getting a great education and then getting a well-paying job so that you can then take all the trips out west that you’d like.

The Expert answers:

Running Windows 7 defragmenting isnt necessary. Defragmentation is a leftover from the XP days, Windows 7 (since Vista) defrags weekly by default unless you changed the settings. Pre Win Vista bits and pieces of leftover files were strewn all over the drive, that doesnt happen in 7. It is not the way Win 7 distributes information over the drive, defragmenting simply moves most used programs to the front of the drive (To put it simply) and as stated does so weekly by default.

The best way to speed up your computer is by cleaning it up. You could go out and buy a 30 or 40 dollar program like System Mechanic, but there is a program available (Several actually) that have a better price (FREE) and do a better job. The one that I install on most users and students PC’s, is Wise Care 365. You can use the Freeware version, or if you choose for the added functionality, pay the 10 bucks and upgrade to Pro.

Download Wise Care 365 FREE version. This IS NOT a time limited or disabled function program. This is a full up utility that will definitely speed things up and the 10 bucks (Should you decide to upgrade) is for added functionality that will help, but is not necessary.

After downloading and installing click the Check Up button. Based on only your question I would suspect you will see you are running at a health level of 3 or less out of 10. Afterwards, click on “Clean now”. Windows and Application created junk files will be removed, privacy risks will be fixed, invalid shortcuts, memory dump, error report and system log files and a lot of other useless files that slow you down will be removed. Your health should go back to 10 or close to it.

Next click on the System Cleaner tab and run the Registry Cleaner, damaged registry or useless registry keys will slow down a PC faster than anything else, do this followed by the common cleaner and advanced cleaner, go through the cleaning process, it is one button click for each and only takes a few seconds. Click system slimming and check every box. The Winows Installer Baseline Cache will be a huge file, you do not need all the other languages unless you use your computer to send messages in foriegn languages and unless you are changing out Windows default desktops you do not need those either, get rid of them.

Click on System Tuneup at the top, Optimization at this point will already be complete. Disregard Defragmentation unless you just want to see how much is fragmented, should be nore more than 2% and does not need defragmentation. Go down and click on “Startup Manager”. It will come up on the “Startup” tab, scroll through and turn off anything you do not need to launch on system startup. This is another thing that slows down your computer, by default a lot of programs launch on boot and run in the background until you need them. You dont need them running in the background and they will work just fine when you click on them when you need them. Next click on “Services”, go through and turn off anything that is labeled as “Disable” that is not already off. Dont worry about “Records” since all that tells you is what you just did.

On the left of that same screen you will see “Registry Defrag”. Click on that, and follow the instructions. The computer will have to auto reboot to defrag the registry. Do it.

When complete, run the PC Checkup one more time, click “Check up again” and if needed click clean. And your done.

You SHOULD see a massive improvement.

Ram speedup utilities do not work with Windows 7. Windows 7 has built in RAM optimization. In fact, RAM speed up utilities have never worked, since they came on the scene with Win 3.11 they have been useless junk.

2.86 GB of RAM with 3 GB installed is normal. Part of the 3GB is allocated to other necessary functions or your computer wouldn’t work. You have 3GB of addressable memory, your BIOS, your Chipset, PCI Cards, APG, I/O, everything has a piece of RAM allocated. Without it, you wouldn’t even get to the BIOS. Your biggest performance improvement based on your specs would be a RAM upgrade, since RAM is cheap these days and you mentioned you couldn’t afford it at the moment I would suspect you cannot afford a new HD, SSD, MB or Processor at the moment either,, your only option is to clean it up and maintain it. The biggest problem with poor performance (Spec wise) on any mnachine is the failure of the user to properly ckeep clean and maintain.

Experience:

32 years in the Computer Industry beginning with VAX and Unix machines. Technical Operations Manager and Area Engineer for the worlds largest Broadband Provider (Managed 4 cities), Web Manager for the worlds largest Automotive Online Auction. Cisco and MCSE certified, former owner of 3 Computer repair businesses, one Computer Instruction Business, one Web Development Business. Subcontractor for Dell In Home Warranty Services, WAN and LAN Engineer and manager. And a few other

The Expert answers:

Use gm and chrysler’s bail out money to finance research by private firms with promising ideas that may someday replace the internal combustion engine

build more nuclear power plants
build solar fields
regulate ALL businesses.. Not just manufacturing ones.. Make it a requirement for all companies to have 1/2 as many recycling bins as trash cans. Dock police officers’ pay for leaving their cars on for their entire shift.. Or make them pay for 1/3 of their fuel. This one pisses me off.. I see these guys in a dennys for 3 hours and i go outside to leave and their cars are all running. Phase out coal plants. Adopt california emissions controls including smog checks, not just looking at the check engine lights. Make laws that all televisions sold in america include adjustable sleep timers.. Don’t give FHA loans or modifications on homes unless they pass energy efficiency checks. Carpool lane is a great idea.. Bring it to all states and actually enforce it. Stop letting the free market decide when green is OK. It’s more expensive but the transition will produce plenty of jobs, but in the meantime, only those that can afford to eat and drive and compute and heat their homes greenly cast economic votes in favor of it, keeping it on the fringe of mainstream and keeping it expensive.

*edit: responding to everyone saying we need nuclear power – i completely agree. But would like to add that we can easily re-enrich uranium as a ‘spent’ fuel rod is only ~5% less pure than a fresh one is. Uranium is a VERY rare element here on earth.. And even if we committed ourselves to depleting our weapons stash and using that uranium, we’d eventually find ourselves in the same situation as we are in with the oil. Not to mention the fact that we are not in a perfect world and we know that there are terrorist spies and operatives in our own country.. I don’t personally see a nuclear future happening, but we need to push doing SOMETHING other than burning fossil fuels. We take baby steps or moonwalk and say that it is progress. Seems like the entire world is planning on civilization ending in 2012.. Everyone’s so fucking near sighted
also, overpopulation wouldn’t be as much of an issue if we could limit each person’s impact on the environment and demand for natural resources. Since we wont take steps to curb the birth rate such as sterilizing people with low IQ’s or making laws as to how many kids a person can have because birth is how our economy functions, limiting each person’s impact on the world is the only way our species can survive in the long term.

The Expert answers:

Here is a link,

http://www.rokkorfiles.com/Wedding101-page1.html

I’m afraid you will need more than just a good camera and flash. The most important ingredient is the photographer. Even skilled and experienced amateurs have been know to flub their first wedding shoot. I am assuming your brother knows your experience level and has seen your work. Make sure his bride is fully in on the plan, too. Unless you have been shadowing a pro wedding photographer for several weddings and also have a very good set of skills of your own, it is highly unlikely that you will produce professional looking photos. For one thing, weddings move at a pretty rapid pace and there’s not time for a lot of fiddling and trial and error. For many wedding happenings you have one shot and it has to be right. So taking a series and hoping for right exposure is out of the question.

I highly suggest you visit the venue at the same time of day as the wedding and do some test shots. Take a model with you, in fact, take two . Dress one person in white and one in black. Try some exposures with and without flash and see what you’ve got. You don’t say what lenses you have. If the venue is dark, the kit lens will not be fast enough. During the ceremony there will most likely be no flash allowed. And you may be restricted on your movement as well. In low light, a tripod is essential for the ceremony. I set it up in the back or the balcony.

My usual plan is to shoot the processional from the front with a flash. When the bride (and escort/s) reach the front the photographer often moves to the back of the church or a balcony. Occasionally you can shoot from the front. If I have a second shooter I do the front and my assistant goes for the long shots. Usually no flash is allowed throughout the ceremony. Besides being distracting, many people, especially the clergy, believe flashing disturbs the sanctity of the vows and will not allow it. I use a tripod for the ceremony shots, and either a f/1.4 or f/1.8 prime or a f/2.8 zoom, depending on how far away I am. As the ceremony draws to a close I ease my way back toward the front for the kiss. Then flash again for the recessional.

By all means you will need a good flash. The SB600 will do a good job. Nikon has an excellent iTTL flash system. Unless you are comfortable with manual flash, let the system work for you. If you can bounce or use a bouncer of diffuser you will get much more pleasing light with less specular highlights and softer shadows. But beware of underexposure while using a diffuser. Usually you have to compensate the flash output, which means you will use more battery power. I highly suggest using lithium batteries in a SB600. They hold a full charge better, but you will have to keep in mind the recycle time. Some popular diffusers are the Gary Fong Lightsphere (I use the clear) the Demb diffuser, Stofen, and betterbouncecard, I have a new one called Lightscoop that I like very well.

Here is another link especially for using flash.

Http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

Practice a lot between now and the wedding. Get a backup camera of some sort, just in case. Have lots of fresh batteries and memory. If you are not completely comfortable shooting on manual, use the program mode and check the results using the histogram. Purists will hate the idea of the P mode in a wedding, but in truth P will get the amateur in the ballpark 80% of the time. Don’t be afraid to use higher ISO. True, ISO 100 will get you much less noise, but I would rather have sharp images with some noise than clean but blurred. The D40 should be acceptable at ISO 800 if needed, of course 400 would be better. Try to get some good portraits outdoors of the B&G. Watch the highlights on the dress to avoid blowing them and having a featureless white blob of a bride. Look at some wedding sites for the “must-have” shots. Make a list and discuss them with the B&G. Have someone in charge of rounding up the people in the formals. When shooting the group formals, be the only one at the front. Command attention and get your shots first. Then let the guests snap. If you don’t take control, you will have the wedding party looking in all different directions. When you are shooting, they look at you only. Always turn people’s bodies at an angle to the lens. Don’t shoot from below. Portraits made looking up someone’s nostrils are never flattering. If you are on the short side, take a small step stool for portraits. You will be seriously amazed at the difference a foot in height can make. Pay attention to the details. Hold bouquets low in the group shots, most girls want to hold them too high. I don’t like the guys to clasp their hands in front. Hands in pockets is fine. Don’t chop off limbs at a joint. Get closeups and full length. In the full length shots, do not chop feet off. A little tilt goes a long way and tilt does not suit every image. In particular the ceremony and group portraits should be level.

Also remember that as the photographer, you will not be able to be the sister. It is a very important day for your brother and the family. But you, as the event photographer, will be shooting, planning to shoot, checking the shots, setting up shots, capturing emotions, getting details, etc etc etc. You will not have time to join the festivities or participate in the emotions of the day. You can’t chat with cousins you haven’t seen in years or visit with grandparents. You will be busy. You will probably have some difficulty with family members who don’t get it that you are working. Be kind, but firm. You are responsible for the day’s memories.

Be very sure about this. Bad feelings can happen when things go wrong. Even with the best of intentions on both sides, sometimes emotions get out of control, especially if the product isn’t as good as hoped or envisioned. Sometimes the B&G don’t realize how important good photography is until they are disappointed. So make sure everyone can handle it gracefully no matter what the outcome is. I don’t say this to overly discourage you. After all, I know nothing about your skill. You may be one of the rare newbies who can deliver great wedding images. I hope so, and also that everything will go great. Best wishes and good luck!

*EDIT*

I meant to mention, the day is about the bride, baby! Your side of the family is groom. I’m sure you know them better and are more comfortable around folks you know well. Of course, you want to document him on his day as well. But the day is 90% about the bride. As a wedding photographer, rather than the family photographer, you will have to lean your coverage toward the bride. If you forget that, most likely you will never *forget*, or hear the end of it, probably. So go for the girls!

The Expert answers:

Hey, guy, I’m sorry to hear it. I have been playing and composing (and listening, of course!) for a long time. Didn’t actually hear a lot of loud rock at concerts (maybe about 50 in my life I’d guess) so can’t explain it, but in the last 5 or 6 years my hearing has gotten worse and it distorsts sometimes and I have trouble with mainly the speech area around 1000 cycles (herz), which is a typical symptom of just “regular” hearing loss (in me the loss is about 15% left, 17% right). My ear pressure was checked recently and found to be “normal” by an audiologist who says it is nerve damage so no hearing aids would help (none, that is, except those $50,000 surgically implanted inner/middle ear ones), but I am not so sure and will explain why shortly.

Some orchestral stuff sounds pretty much the same as it always did, but some sounds (and this is going to sound nuts) either like the composer is an idiot for combining “gauche” sounds together (and believe me I like Stravinsky and other moderns, etc.); it’s almost (not quite) like the French composer Gabriel Faure who was said to have had hearing in the later years of his life that made bass notes sound a third lower and treble ones a third higher – I have at times heard high guitar riffs sound about 1/2 step higher than the key itself but this is not a consistent phenomenon; or at other times it sounds like someone is “EQ”ing certain notes to make them stand out too much, which in a way is interesting because I have to admit sometimes it lets me see something new (despite the fact I have perfect pitch and used to get A+s in Music Theory). Mostly piano sounds normal. Sometimes loud stuff kills my left ear and sometimes I even have to plug it if people talk too loud, especially if they start talking to a friend on their cellphone and are passing right by me! Kids shrieking in public restrooms sometimes hurts me so much I have to ask their father to make them be quiet until I leave (and of course papa could care less that I’m in pain and says that’s how little kids are going to be, refuses to discipline the kid who is just acting normal and then the dad acts like he wants to challenge me to a duel or something). How crazy is that!

I don’t know if I have Meniere’s or not because I also have high blood pressure (with some slight dizziness if I wait too long to take the meds, but have also had unexplained infrequent dizziness that’s not the result of a heart problem, etc.) and had some damage done to my left eardrum at a recycling center when someone dropped a lot of glass. I also had a job where I used equipment without proper audio protection and lost about 2 dB’s from my right ear as well, and I also suffer from occasional tinnitus. So it could be a combination of stuff in my case. In my case it is particularly ironic because I used to make money in the industry years ago – mainly arranging (although let’s face it that is not a reality for anyone anymore). I find the study of music history and musicians’ biograhies to be a way to stay in the game, and find some reassurance in other art foms as well as reading in a lot of fields. You have my sympathy and don’t hesitate to keep in touch thru my profile. You do not have to be alone in this.

By the way uyutrtrcjygvk: you’re an ignorant fool. Meniere’s disease is not caused by abuse to the ears at all. Go check it out.

The Expert answers:

Hey Brian, interesting question, and one that gets to the heart of many renewable energy myths today. Your explanation might have a couple apples vs oranges. The sun produces much more power than 120,000 terawatts, or terawatts per year, but I’m not sure if TW/Y represents either of those. Total electrical energy use on our globe is about 15 terawatts continuously, or 132,000 TW hours each year. Since solar panels are about 12 to 14 % efficient today, it would take an area of 192 square miles to produce that much power. Problem is, you would need it to work 24/7, and most places on our globe are dark at night. Accomodating for night time, and twilight hours in the morning and evening when the panels would be operating below peak power, the number jumps to about 890 square miles, or about 39,000,000 acres. That sounds huge, but consider that Rhode Island takes up over 1500 square miles, and is one of the smallest states in the US, really that scenario is feasible. The fact is we are never going to do that. The cost, the enourmous demand for silicone, wiring, grids, and so on make it totally impractical. There is also the fact that Rhode Island is pretty cloudy.

Now enter the Germans, they have a fantastic plan to mine solar power from the Sahara Desert. It doesn’t involve solar panels, instead they are going to use solar thermal collectors that will heat oil to several hundred degrees, which will be circulated back into huge insulated tanks, then the hot oil will be used to boil water into steam ,which will turn a steam turbine. This idea has several advantages. First, since we can use both the light of the sun, and its resultant heat as opposed to a silicone panel, which uses only the incoming photons, the efficiency jumps to about 60%. Second, since oil does not boil until around 550 degrees, we can use the stored hot oil well into the night until it cools substantially. Now we have access to solar power at night. And the concentrators and oil(which gets continuously recycled each day) cost much less per unit power than any panel in production today. Since the efficiency is much higher, they will only need 30 to 40 square miles to power all of Europe. If you want to check it out, google, “North African Solar Project,” and read some of the resulting websites. If the system works as well as they plan, it will run most of Western Europe, and then we will probably have one in our desert southwest a few years later. This concentrator will not offset any wildlife, beyond a few scorpions and rattlesnakes living in the far out areas of the desert, and since they will be using sea water to boil into steam, the byproduct of the electrical production will be fresh water. That fresh water will be used for irrigation to farm small quantities of sunlight intensive farm stock in what is now a completely dry desert. Adding small amounts of plant life to the northwest corner of the desert where none exists now will not alter the climate, but does offer another opportunity for carbon to be converted to oxygen, reducing the CO2 content of the atmosphere slightly. There will be jobs there, installation, technicians, maintenance and operations, and as long as the sun shines in the desert, we won’t run out of fuel.

We’ve been powering our home for 11 years now on wind and solar power. I’ve learned many things during that time. One item is that there are two things in large supply in solar power, the sun, and missinformation. Lots of people have been posting interesting “facts” here about solar and wind power, having never laid a hand on a panel or wind turbine. Wind turbines do not kill as many birds each year as living room windows do, powering homes with solar panels does not require massive amounts of space, silicone panels do not need massive amounts of toxic chemicals to manufacture them, and people do not get cancer from spinning wind turbines. These are just a few of my favorites, there are many more. If you want to learn more about this technology, check out some sources below. Take care Brian, Rudydoo

The Expert answers:

Why not just accept the fact that this is not a ONE day project!
Start by getting a large garbage pail. Start in one corner & just work your way through, making sure you have plenty of plastic boxes for sorting things out…put all pencils & pens and paperclips & small office equip in one box. Magazines in the garbage! Recycle newspapers, art work into a box to be sorted later, same with “found” mail. Get rid of all food containers opened or unopened! Get a file cabinet & file things in appropriate labeled folders. Its a big job just remember not everything can be accomplished in one day.

The Expert answers:

Despite being an attractive technological option for waste management, combustion-based processes for municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment are a subject of intense debate around the world. In the absence of effective controls, harmful pollutants may be emitted into the air, land and water which may influence human health and environment. Although incineration of municipal waste coupled with energy recovery can form an essential part of an integrated waste management system, yet strict controls are required to prevent its negative impacts on human health and environment.
Incineration technology is the controlled combustion of waste with the recovery of heat to producesteam that in turn produces power through steam turbines. MSW after pretreatment is fed to the boiler of suitable choice wherein high pressure steam is used to produce power through a steam turbine. Pyrolysis is extensively used in the petrochemical industry and can be applied to municipal waste treatment where organic waste is transformed into combustible gas and residues. Gasification is anotheralternative which normally operates at a higher temperature than pyrolysis in limited quantity of air. While both pyrolysis and gasification are feasible technologies to handle municipal waste, commercial applications of either technology have been limited.
Incineration-based technologies have been a subject of intense debate in the environmental, social and political circles. This article evaluates incineration on the basis of three parameters – environmental, human health and economic impact – and proposes an integrated mechanism to maintain a fine balance between energy recovery and environmental concerns.
Environmental Issues
The incineration process produces two types of ash. Bottom ash comes from the furnace and is mixed with slag, while fly ash comes from the stack and contains components that are more hazardous. In municipal waste incinerators, bottom ash is approximately 10% by volume and approximately 20 to 35% by weight of the solid waste input. Fly ash quantities are much lower, generally only a few percent of input. Emissions from incinerators can include heavy metals, dioxins and furans, which may be present inthe waste gases, water or ash. Plastic and metals are the major source of the calorific value of the waste. The combustion of plastics, like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gives rise to these highly toxic pollutants.
Toxics are created at various stages of such thermal technologies, and not only at the end of the stack. These can be created during the process, in the stack pipes, as residues in ash, scrubber water and filters, and in fact even in air plumeswhich leave the stack. There are no safe ways of avoiding their production or destroying them, and at best they can be trapped at extreme cost in sophisticated filters or in the ash. The ultimate release isunavoidable, and if trapped in ash or filters, these become hazardous wastes themselves.
The pollutants which are created, even if trapped, reside in filters and ash, which need special landfills for disposal. In case energy recovery is attempted, it requires heat exchangers which operate at temperatures which maximize dioxin production. If the gases are quenched, it goes against energy recovery. Such projects disperse incinerator ash throughout the environment which subsequently enter our food chain.
Incinerator technological intervention in the waste stream distorts waste management. Such systems rely on minimum guaranteed waste flows. It indirectly promotes continued waste generation while hindering waste prevention, reuse, composting, recycling, and recycling-based community economic development. It costs cities and municipalities more and provides fewer jobs than comprehensive recycling and composting and also hinders the development of local recycling-based businesses.
Human Health Concerns
Waste incineration systems producea wide variety of pollutants which are detrimental to human health. Such systems are expensive and does not eliminate or adequately control the toxic emissions from chemically complex MSW. Even new incinerators release toxic metals, dioxins, and acid gases. Far from eliminating the need for a landfill, waste incinerator systems produce toxic ash and other residues.
The waste-to-energy program to maximize energy recovery is technologically incompatible with reducing dioxins emissions. Dioxins are the most lethal Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which have irreparable environmental health consequences. The affected populace includes those living near the incinerator as well as those living in the broader region. People are exposed to toxics compounds in several ways:
* By breathing the air which affects both workers in the plant and people who live nearby;
* By eating locally produced foods or water that have been contaminated by air pollutants fromthe incinerator; and
* By eating fish or wildlife that havebeen contaminated by the air emissions

The Expert answers:

Well to answer the question.
You just Answered your own question.

The money for tax breaks pretty much extended the bush tax breaks.
The money for Projects is just getting around to being used for roads and stuff. (Takes a wile to come up with plans)

And the money for states, is spent by the states.

In my home town, they just finished a Landfill / Methane power plant / recycling center. [All rolled into one.] Made about 300 jobs.

And yes some of the money is being wasted. I would point out that Obama doesn’t see every project that the money goes to, he hands it down to others, so some were in there of cores some of it is going to something it doesn’t need to.

And for the guy above.
True 9%+ Unemployment is bad.
But it was 10% at the start of the year, first reduction sense the crash. Get your facts strait.

I agree the stimulus was a little badly handed, but doing nothing was a worst option.