Here are my power settings on Windows Vista or Windows 7. I find the default setting annoying or inadequate, especially the Start menu power button triggering sleep.
With the default Vista power settings, pressing the Start menu power button will put the computer into a sleep mode. After newly installing Windows Vista, opening the Start menu will show the power button in amber yellow. This means clicking the power button will put the PC into the power-saving sleep mode instead of turning it off completely. The sleep mode saves the current state of the computer in memory, turns down the fans and keeps the PC quiet until you press a key or move a mouse.
But don't you find it annoying? I do. I want the PC turned off completely when I click the Power button. The following steps show you how to change Vista power settings so that clicking the Power button will turn off the PC:
Under the Hawaii Renewable Portfolio Standards law, Hawaiian Electric Co. is required to supply up to 20% of all electricity for Oahu from renewable sources by 2020. HECO has come up with nine proposals for renewable energy projects that are subject to PUC approval. Now HECO is proceeding with 110-megawatt biomass power plan in Campbell Industrial Park. Among the proposals under consideration are solar, wind and ocean thermal energy.
All this progress toward renewable energy is welcome in environmental perspective. Increasing renewable energy production in Hawaii will reduce its dependence on oil and will be beneficial for Hawaii's economy in the long run.
However, all this transition toward renewable energy doesn't necessarily guarantee cheaper energy cost. I think we'll see high price for renewable energy to cover the start-up cost for the foreseeable future.
In the oligopolistic or monopolistic market of energy, expecting cheap price for electricity may be wishful thinking. Barrier to entry into renewable energy market is so high with requirements of large capital and technological expertise. However, the future of energy market will be promising with the Hawaii government's push for renewable energy.
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As the price of oil has risen so high, Hawaii is seeking alternative ways to replace fossil fuel and generate electricity.
As for replacement of fossil fuel, Hawaii government is moving ahead with a plan to build ethanol plants in Oahu. This plan has some people worried that the use of corn for ethanol production may cause a global famine. Corn is supposed to be imported from Mexico and used to produce ethanol. Ethanol is favored by many people because it burns cleaner with less carbon emission than other fuel.
However, Hawaii doesn't plan to replace gasoline completely with ethanol yet. Ethanol will only be used as additive oxygenator to form ethanol-blended fuel. Mixing Ethanol with gasoline will produce so-called gasohol or E-10 Unleaded which contains 10% ethanol. The current Hawaii mandate requires all gasoline to contain 10% ethanol. We are already using ethanol-blended fuel whether we are aware or not.
Ethanol can be processed as E85 fuel which contains 85% ethanol. E85 can replace gasoline in a flexible-fuel vehicle but is very expensive to produce. Until a cheaper way to produce E85 is found, complete replacement of gasoline by ethanol won't be feasible in Hawaii yet.
I think biodiesel is better biofuel than ethanol. Ethanol is made from sugar cane or corn, but Hawaii has long since abandoned agriculture. Hence, Hawaii will import corn to produce ethanol, which doesn't guarantee cheap costs. Biodiesel can be made from soybean, Jatropha or algae. Especially, growing algae to produce Biodiesel in Hawaii is a very intriguing idea. Tropical plant Jatropha can also be used in biodiesel production but may face opposition in Hawaii due to its poisonous, weather-resistant nature and potential adverse effects on the ecosystem.
Since the gasoline price has risen so much, many people have switched to diesel. Diesel is also used in many trucks, heavy-duty machinery, ships and airplanes, so biodiesel will have further reaching usages than ethanol fuel.
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I've been hearing news about subprime mortgage crisis and skyrocketing gas price. I knew critical events were happening when I heard Aloha airline going broke and people losing their jobs and homes. But honestly, it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I realized how serious the situation was. In the last few days, major financial institutions like Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual and AIG have hopelessly failed. Now, the government is rolling out a whopping $700 billion bailout plan to save the financial market.
Being a regular joe, it's not like I can fly to Washington and have a say about the $700B bailout plan. Maybe the bailout will save us from going further into economic crisis.
What's the cause of this financial bubble? Some say it's the subprime lending. Frankly, I don't see a problem with lending money to low-income people with credit problems. People should all get equal opportunities in buying new homes whether they have good credit or not.
I think the housing bubble began to surface when crude oil price started to rise. Rising gas price resulted in rise in food prices, too. Climbing costs of living was too much for people to handle, so they couldn't pay their mortgages any more. That's how this housing bubble started.
The more I think about it, the clearer things become. It was all about the oil, or more generally, the energy resources.
As the world population increases, the natural resources become more and more scarce. Among the most precious natural resources is the fossil fuel such as oil and natural gas. In fact, the world events are moving around the context of energy resources. The recent Russian-Georgian conflict, Iran standoff, Iraq war and Afghanistan war were all motivated by the need for control of energy resources.
Now, nations are beginning to weaponize their natural resources. Russia has long since seized oil and natural gas companies under government control. And the recent Russian conflict with Georgia was believed to be motivated by Russian interests in the underground natural gas pipeline through the conflict territory.
The soaring gas price across the globe may be the work of natural resource weaponization. OPEC kept tight control of oil supply and drove up the price of crude oil across the globe to the United States. The majority of OPEC members are Arab nations. Maybe the Arabs were so threatened by the establishment of Americanized liberal democratic nation in their midst that they covertly designed a counter attack of soaring oil price and delivered it to the US, thus dealing a fatal blow to the US economy.
The world is now entering a new era of cold war, and this war revolves around one goal. That goal is to capture the most of ever so scarce sources of energy.
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