Converting Solar Energy to Electricity

Here is a brief and straightforward explanation of how the sun's energy can be converted into electricity using photovoltaic panels:



(If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.)

How to position your wireless router

Here's a handy set of tips about where to place your wireless router, and where not to:

• Find a place that's closest to the middle of all of your networked devices.
• Keep it high and away from walls, furniture, cabinets and shelving.
• Don't compete with appliances that emit interfering radio signals.
• Avoid reflective surfaces that may cause wireless signals to bounce off.

In other words, don't do what I have been doing until very recently: wondering why I got a weak or patchy signal on my laptop while I was positioned a room away from the router (which was on the floor under a desk), with a large mirror on one side of the wall between me and it, and a packed bookshelf on the other side of that wall.

I now see that the poor signal was the fault of neither the router nor my laptop's Centrino innards. Instead it was more like operator error. Sigh. (At least I didn't have it near any 'competing appliances' emitting errant radio signals!)

[Tips Source: Dell Small Business Edge]

Vog in Hawaii: Information and Resources

This page is a collection of resources about vog (volcanic smog) in Hawaii. Vog, a kind of air pollution, is a product of emissions from Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.

The volcano emits smoke, ash and gases in amounts that vary constantly. Weather factors, especially the direction and speed of the wind, determine whether the emissions from Kilauea are blown out to sea, or over the coasts and interior of the Big Island. A combination of increased emissions, coupled with winds from the south or southwest, sometimes will carry the vog plume hundreds of miles up the island chain, affecting all of the Hawaiian Islands.

We rely on a partnership among Federal, State, and County agencies to monitor levels of volcanic emissions, and to warn us of potentially hazardous conditions. The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency has made available an online brochure in a printable ('pdf') format, updated in April 2008, which explains the hazards and summarizes measures that residents can take to protect themselves, their livestock, and their crops. The brochure is a good starting point for understanding how to cope with vog. Here is the link: Emissions from Kilauea Volcano

Sulfur Dioxide

Sulfur dioxide (SO2), one of the gases emitted by Kilauea volcano, is considered to be a potential health hazard. The agencies that monitor concentrations of SO2 in the ambient air use a color code system, illustrated at right, to inform the public of SO2 hazard status.

The new Hawaii County Civil Defense brochure mentioned above says, "It is expected that any area down wind of the vent site of Halema‘uma‘u can expect SO2 levels to be higher than in previous years." Remember: which areas are construed as 'down wind' varies, based on the wind speed and direction.

Health and Environmental Effects of SO2

Sulfur dioxide is irritating to the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract. Short-term exposure to elevated levels of SO2 may cause inflammation and irritation, resulting in burning of the eyes, coughing, difficulty in breathing and a feeling of chest tightness. Prolonged or repeated exposure to higher levels of SO2 may be dangerous to children and to people with any pre-existing respiratory or heart conditions.

SO2 also contributes to the formation of acid rain, which can damage trees, gardens, landscaping, and crops. Acid rain can make the soil acidic.

Hawaii County Civil Defense says that in the event that SO2 reaches the red or purple level, information will be given to the public utilizing all means available, including radio stations and field units. Here is the link to the Hawaii County Civil Defense web page, where such notices are posted: Hawaii County Civil Defense Messages.

Vog Haze

According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), SO2 reacts with other chemicals in the air to form tiny sulfate particles. Haze occurs when light is scattered or absorbed by particles and gases in the air, reducing visibility. In the case of vog, it is important to note that the SO2 component usually diminishes with distance from the volcano. Even if the vog haze looks heavy, it does not necessarily mean there is a high concentration of SO2 in the haze. Conversely, SO2 levels can be high even though the vog haze is light. Heavy vog haze does mean higher levels of particulate matter and smoke.

Hawaii Civil Defense lists these symptoms that can arise from exposure to vog haze: headaches; breathing difficulties; increased susceptibility to respiratory ailments; watery eyes; sore throat. The EPA notes that when particles are breathed in, they gather in the lungs and are associated with increased respiratory symptoms and disease, difficulty in breathing, and premature death.

Ash Fall Hazards

Volcanic ash is composed of tiny rock particles emitted during eruption. The particles can range in size from grit to a very fine powder. Ash particles can be inhaled, causing chest discomfort, wheezing, and coughing. Other symptoms of ash inhalation: runny nose; sore throat; difficulty breathing; and worsening of pre-existing respiratory conditions.

More online resources:

• Kilauea Status Reports - daily info from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, including current emissions rates


• Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Current Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Conditions - National Park Service report on current conditions, with map showing the direction of the gas plumes from Kilauea vents


• Air Quality in the Hawaiian Islands - Maps showing air quality data from the Hawaii State Department of Health (Note: Java scripts - may take awhile to load)


• What Is Vog? - information page prepared by the KonaWeb online community


• How Sulfur Dioxide Affects the Way We Live - EPA information on health and environmental impact


• Air Quality Guide for Particle Pollution - Key Facts from the EPA


• Volcanic Ash - Effects on Water Supply and Mitigation Strategies - information from the USGS


• Kilauea Eruption Update - information from the County of Hawaii, including FAQs


• Halema'uma'u Web Cam - live panorama shot of Kilauea summit


• Pu'u O'o Web Cam - live panorama shot of the east rift zone of Kilauea


• New Activity on Kilauea - regularly updated satellite photos of the Hawaiian Islands and the vog plume, from NASA


• Kilauea SO2 Graphic - chart that maps the location of the SO2 plume from Kilauea volcano for the current date, and three preceding dates, from NOAA Satellite and Information Service

Please use the comments section at the end of this post to let me know of resources you may know about that haven't been included here. I will add more items to the list as I find them.

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Note: I have been blogging about Kilauea volcano and the vog since March of 2008. To read more of what I have written on these subjects, click here.

Finding Charles Darwin's Papers Online

When I was in graduate school, studying emotion and the biological basis of behavior, I had a wise professor who insisted that serious students should learn not just current theory and research, but also should understand their intellectual heritage. That is, students should have an understanding of whose thinking influenced that of their teachers, and whose thinking influenced their teachers' teachers, and so on.

As a student, I was tasked with tracing this intellectual heritage by investigating whose work the current theorists I was studying had cited and built upon, and then whose work those people had cited and built upon, and so forth. It was a bit like performing a genealogical study, except that instead of tracing a family tree composed of kinfolk, I was tracing who was related to whom in an intellectual sense. This task entailed not just identifying who were the influential thinkers in 'my' lineage, but also reading their major works in their original form. The idea was to read what the important theorists had to say in their own words, instead of relying on derivative descriptions, summaries, or reviews by those who followed.

This was a very enlightening exercise, and I would recommend it to graduate students in any discipline. In my case, it seemed that all paths ultimately led back to Charles Darwin. In my field, Darwin's works, and particularly On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), were the foundation upon which all successive theories of emotion and behavioral biology were built. I read these seminal works in their original form, albeit as reprints owned by my university's library. In the process, I became interested not just in Darwin's theories, per se, but also in the life course of this man and his thinking.

I have just learned that Darwin's papers -- manuscripts, publications, notes, drawings -- were made freely available online last week. The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online claims to be "the largest publication of Darwin's papers in history." Here is a brief descriptive excerpt from the press release that announced the new online collection:

For decades available only to scholars at Cambridge University Library, the private papers of Charles Darwin, one of the most influential scientists in history, can now be seen by anyone online and free of charge. This is the largest ever publication of Darwin papers and manuscripts, totalling about 20,000 items in nearly 90,000 electronic images.

This vast and varied collection of papers includes the first draft of his theory of evolution, notes from the voyage of the Beagle and Emma Darwin's recipe book.

I'm much more interested in having a look at Charles Darwin's notes from the voyage of the Beagle than his wife's recipe book, but the point is that these documents, in Darwin's own hand, have not been available on line until now. In addition to the publications, notes, and manuscripts, the website also claims to have "the largest Darwin bibliography and manuscript catalogue ever published."

This website will rank as one of the top treasures of the internet, I am sure. The only problem I see, after where to begin, is finding the time to pore through the thousands of items offered.

[Photo Source]

Good news for Blogspot bloggers

Here's some good news for bloggers who use the Blogger/Blogspot platform. According to a post on the Google Operating System blog, a 'Scheduled Posts' feature is in the works for blogs hosted on Blogspot.

This new feature (which has been available to Wordpress users for some time) would allow a blogger to put a future date/time on a post, using the "Post Options" function on the Blogger user interface, then click on "Publish" -- but instead of publishing immediately (as is presently the case), the post will be queued to publish at the date and time entered.

This is a very welcome feature for those of us who travel, or whose commitments sometimes intervene to make it difficult to publish posts to our blogs at specific times. When this new feature is deployed, we will be able to compose one or more posts ahead of time, and schedule the time of their publication. Publication at the pre-selected date and time will be automatic.

No word on exactly when the new scheduled posts feature will be deployed, but you can try it out by logging on to your Blogger account via Blogger in Draft.

Want to see read what bloggers think of the scheduled posts feature? I started a discussion about it on Blog Catalog. Go and have a look.

UPDATE: This post was published using the scheduled post feature on Blogger in Draft. I wrote the post last night about 12 hours before it actually published, and scheduled it for publication at 08:00 AM on February 16, 2008. As you can see, it worked. Thanks you for this useful feature, Blogger.

Website design tool: Browsershots

So, you're designing a new website or blog template -- or you're tweaking one you already have. One thing you're wondering is how it will render in various browsers.

Here's a handy website you may want to consult. It's called Browsershots. Here's what it does:

Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.

Give it a try.