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Sunday, May 20, 2007
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 Sunday, May 20, 2007
started 5/20/2007; 11:05:41 AM - last post 5/23/2007; 1:18:06 AM
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Doc Searls - Sunday, May 20, 2007 
5/20/2007; 3:05:41 PM (reads: 4422, responses: 3)
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In case you're wondering 
That we're still asking
Shedding some dark
| | Glen Reid: I don't like fluorescent light. It's from the "cold" end of the spectrum, and I like "warm" light. Is that okay? I guess not. |
| | That's because The "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb Act" would ban the use of incandescent light bulbs by 2012. Instead, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) would become the norm for California residents. |
Bleeding in the Bay
8 turrets, mtn vu
| | Searles Castle is no ordinary mansion. It may not have been designed to keep enemies away from a royal family, but it has all the trappings to make it worthy of Sleeping Beauty. |
| | There isn't a moat, but the seven-floor castle has a dungeon that could be used for a friendlier purpose — a restaurant, perhaps, or an extensive wine cellar. |
| | Thirty-six fireplaces are scattered among more than 40 rooms, one of which once contained a pipe organ and served as a mini-concert hall. |
| | Marble is everywhere — rising in columns, carved as mantles and in slabs as flooring. |
| | Balconies and terraces overlook the property's sprawling 61 acres, which include a T-shaped lagoon, tennis courts and a garden temple guarded by two marble sphinx sculptures. |
| | And if the 60,000-square-foot castle seems too overwhelming, it's just a short walk from the front gate to a busy row of restaurants and shops. Think the tax bill is too high? Cross the street and file a complaint at Town Hall. |
| | Searls, Searles, Searle, Serle, Sarles, Sarls and many variants all have the same ancestral origin, apparently. (See here.) This castle was named for its interior decorator, by the way. |
| | Thanks to The Wizard Himself, Mike Jittlov, for the pointer. |
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Keith Dick - Re: Sunday, May 20, 2007
5/21/2007; 9:25:30 AM (reads: 895, responses: 2)
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Fluorescents more environmentally friendly? I wonder. Sure, they use less power, but ...
I read an article online somewhere around a month ago that told of bad mercury contamination in a home where someone dropped and broke one of those fluorescent lamps. They all contain some mercury, you know. The homeowner had to pay thousands of dollars for the cleanup. I don't know whether the environmental protection people who evaluated that incident and required the cleanup overreacted or not. To be honest, I've never heard of contamination problems from broken traditional long-tube fluorescents. Maybe problems with them were swept under the rug, or maybe the new compact fluorescents are built differently and are a bigger problem. I simply don't know.
And that was just one lamp. Imagine the effect of thousands of old fluorescent lamps being disposed of in a few years. I don't know whether they'll go into the landfill or whether some special disposal program will be set up (I haven't looked into the recent proposed legislation). Either way, it seems to be a problem we don't have with incandescent lamps.
It wouldn't surprise me that this is another case of short-sighted (or intentionally deceptive) legislators, going for the currently-fashionable, make-them-look-good action without regard to the long-term negative consequences. Of course, if there really is a disposal problem, they'll all have reaped the good publicity and have moved on to bigger and better (read: more destructive) things long before the nasty aspects become enough of a problem for the public to take notice. And the public probably won't remember who caused the problem (a few will, but most won't).
Sometimes I wonder whether there is any hope for us.
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rjh - Safe CFL Disposal
5/22/2007; 9:55:11 PM (reads: 982, responses: 1)
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The story was a classic example of mindless hysteria by an environmentalist twit. The official disposal information is available at:
http://www.nema.org/lamprecycle/epafactsheet-cfl.pdf
and many other locations.
Please note that the mercury not released into the environment by not burning coal (at the US rate, where 50% of electricy is from coal) exceeds the total mercury content of a CFL. So the long term mercury impact is a net decrease in emissions.
At present there is relatively little mercury recycling from flourescent lights because the mercury amounts are so small, but recycling disposal locations are becoming more common. The bulk of mercury recovery is from things like old thermostats (with their mercury switches) that contain far more mercury.
For some reason the mindless hysterical terror meme regarding mercury seems immortal. We deal with so many other poisons in our lives and manage those risks. But mercury is somehow different.
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Ed - Re: Safe CFL Disposal
5/23/2007; 5:18:06 AM (reads: 1077, responses: 0)
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Good gracious! Discussing the issue of bringing mercury into our homes is hysteria? Of all the mercury given off by power plants, very little ends up directly in my home. A broken CFL brings it directly into my home. I've broken a few light bulbs in my day - it's not difficult to slip and drop something.
The mercury in CFL's is a good point to discuss.
The real red-flag here is someone suggesting hysteria where there is none - and suggesting no further discussion is needed. "The debate is over" - I see this phrase as a universal red-flag.
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