Brokekid.net

(via treehugger.com)

Last year Spain reached a record level of wind power installations. Many people now cite Spain’s use of wind power as proof that wind is a viable energy source. Corin Millais, CEO of the European Wind Energy Association says: “To dismiss wind energy as an expensive, niche green luxury, as many do, is to ignore what has happened in Spain, the world’s number one wind market”. Last year there was an additional 2,065 MW installed, a 33 percent increase on 2003, taking the total to 8,263 MW. Germany is still the leader overall, with about 16,000 MW of wind power installed. :: Renewable Energy Access

(via treehugger.com)

At the end of last month we wrote about the Alternative Energy store, a place where you can buy everything from solar panels to micro-wind turbines, energy efficient appliances and composting toilets. Now, to be fair to “the industry” (aren’t we magnanimous?) and to give more resources to our readers, we would like to point out the Affordable Solar store. They carry solar panels and all the electronic gizmos you need to get the juice flowing (including batteries), many models of wind-turbines, energy efficient appliances (including models that run on 12 and 24 volts DC) and more. If any of our readers have ordered from them, please share your experience in the comments.

::Affordable Solar store

(via stabroeknews.com)

Guyanese Youth Network+(GYN) recently conducted a three-week vacation school programme involving over 80 children between ages 5-16 years from Laing Avenue and the West Ruimveldt Front Road areas.

The programme was held from July 25 to August 17 at St. Pius Primary School and aimed at helping the children to acquire new academic and social skills.

A press release from GYN+ stated that children learned through open space, art, craft, music, painting, workshops and discussions. The knowledge and skills of social workers were also utilized. And other professionals were invited to conduct sessions on topics such as child abuse, nutrition, hygiene and drug awareness.

The children were also exposed to topical issues such as self-esteem and self-confidence, sexually transmitted infections, personal hygiene, domestic violence, drug abuse, Mathematics, English and Social Studies.

A diagnostic evaluation in the Laing Avenue/West Ruimveldt Front Road areas was done before the vacation school programme commenced, the release said.

The aim of the evaluation was to determine the welfare situation of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and to prepare a profile of the economic conditions and coping abilities of the OVCs’ caregivers.

The data has since been used to plan activities for OVCs and caregivers of the community, such as the vacation school programme.

This was held under the educational component of GYN+’s Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programme.

GYN+ is a legal PLWHA (Persons living with HIV/AIDS) youth and child development network registered in 2003 under the Guyana Friendly Societies Act and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

The release noted that GYN+ is youth driven and youth managed and promotes care and understanding for children and young people aged 0-30 years, living with and affected by HIV and AIDS and those involved in substance abuse in Guyana.

The recent programme ended with a tour of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL).

GYN+ is located at 96 Thomas Street, Kitty.

(via slashdot.org)

xzap writes “ZDNet is running an article about TrustedSource.org which is a new portal that provides reputation information for IP addresses. It can be used to configure your spam filters or when deciding whether to add an unknown host to your blacklist. Dmitri Alperovitch, a research engineer at CipherTrust said “Often companies don’t realize that they have zombie machines on their network that have been sending e-mail. It may be more helpful for organizations to identify which systems on their networks are sending e-mail.” Users can drill down to find more information on each domain. The portal is an initiative of CipherTrust who have previously been covered on Slashdot.”

(via slashdot.org)

An anonymous reader writes “Space Daily reports that University of Toronto researchers are working on a project that could replace conventional satellites with a miniature version no larger than a milk carton. From the article: “At only 3.5 kilograms, the Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 2 (CanX-2) will test small, low-power devices that could lay the groundwork for flying formations of small satellites that could eventually replace larger, more expensive satellites.”

Craig’s List in an effort to find information about family and friends from New Orleans and also as a means to reach out to victims with offers of help. If you know of people from the area stranded elsewhere who are in need of assistance, please pass along this information. Of course, as with all such things, one should proceed with caution.

Thanks, John!

[posted by Eszter]

(via gothamist.com)

The NY Civil Liberties Union released their report of problems during the Republican National Convention yesterday and you can read it in its 65-page PDF glory here. The NYCLU has many recommendations, from starting an independent agency to oversee the planning and management of protests to not detaining arrestees (of minor offenses) for long periods of time. Basically, treat protests and demonstrations more like street fairs and outdoor concerts, because protesting the government is akin to jamming during a Dave Matthews concert! It’s definitely an important document because it outlines the issues of the convention, but it will be a cold day in hell when the NYPD actually takes it seriously: Police Commissioner Ray Kelly pooh-poohed the report, saying the NYPD was “a model of expert planning, professionalism and restraint” and the report is “a collection of old, untrue assertions and uncorroborated, self-serving statements by individuals who were arrested in the course of the convention.” The other awesome revelation from the NYPD was that “police tapes of demonstrations typically are destroyed within a year unless they are needed in criminal cases.” Oy, because it’s not like tapes have been helpful to revealing the truth or anything.

(via gothamist.com)

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani told a crowd at the Forbes Global CEO Conference that he’s going to decide on running for President in 2008 next year. Sigh, this will make Gothamist crazy for the next year, the inclusion of Giuliani as a potential GOP candidate, because we really doubt he’ll run at this point yet we’ll still have to deal with the stories about him “thinking” about a run. While Giuliani did show unflappable calm and manage to steer the city during September 11, as well as help reduce crime and improve the economy, he was also incredibly divisive. Oh, wait, that does work for some politicians. But having to hear “9/11! 9/11!” during a campaign might be the thing to drive us from television. The other thing is Giuliani’s public separation with then wife Donna Hanover – telling your wife you’re separating during a press conference is harsh!

Gothamist would pick Giuliani over Pataki, though. Giuliani spoke to the Republican party at the Republican National Convention last year. And, somehow, he was in London during the the July 7 bombings.