Finally a new post

It's been a while since I've last said anything on here. Consider my absence a result of playing Starcraft 2. Today's post is again about the environment and it focuses on two things: plastic bags and a company named Practecol (get it, practical).

First, plastic bags. They're everywhere, they're the poster child for why humans are bad for the earth, they're easy to use, and hard to reuse. Some cities have placed bans on them whereas others have opted for taxation. I like either method. My one curiosity with the bans is that they haven't become more popular. Obviously progressive cities in Europe and California (San Fransisco) have moved to phase out dispensable shopping bags, but I don't understand why this hasn't been a bigger national trend. I thought when I first heard of cities taking action against the bag that I would soon be charged a little extra as well for my visits to Kroger and Walmart. Oddly enough though there has been resistance to what is maybe one of the easiest ways to improve the environment, generate government revenue, and encourage responsible shopping habits.

Second on today's agenda is promoting Practecol - a very interesting green company. With a target audience of people who want to help the environment without necessarily being inconvenienced, Practecol makes products that are easy to use, generate revenue for the customer, and cut back on energy usage all at once. While I was shopping in Lowe's recently, I noticed a few of their products and was even compelled to buy two of them. The first is simply a 5 Minute Shower Timer. Hop into the shower, press the button, and hop out by the time the red light shows up. It's a neat way to cut back on water usage and save on the water bill. The second item I bought was the Perfect Flush Toilet Tank Displacement Bag. Again, the simplicity of the product is what stands out the most. Fill the bag with water, place in your toilet tank, and voila. I'm now saving upwards of 6000 gallons of water a year just by placing a bag in my toilet tank.

Could I have made these products at home instead of spending the $15 or so on them? Sure, but by the time I had found a timer lying around the house that was waterproof and a bag that I knew wouldn't burst, the cost savings would have been minimal. Besides, I'm all about supporting green companies, so that's always a bonus for me. The next step? Try and get the parents to join LGE's Demand Conservation program (which pays users $20 annually) and subsequently join the Green Energy Program which provides investment in local renewable projects.

Edit: tree bombs.

Windows programs you must have

I've long been a computer guru (as far as my family goes at least). I understand how computers work and can usually diagnose problems relatively quickly. Most of this comes from a combination of past experience and a mastery of how to use Google. Below are some of the programs I've found personally helpful and know you will too.

1. CCleaner
The C stands for Crap and boy does it get rid of it. CCleaner is one of the easiest programs you'll ever use and also one of the most efficient. If Piriform ever started charging for it, I would gladly give up the money. The program is broken down into four sections: Cleaner, Registry, Tools, and Options. Tools is essentially an Add/Remove programs function, and I rarely touch options. Cleaner, though, is the whole reason for the program. Here you scan your computer for tons of random files that you will never need. The first time you use the scan it will generally yield well over 1 GB of random trash that's floating around on your computer. (Two notes: Unless you uncheck the options, Ccleaner will clear your browser histories and usernames. Also, the scanning will permanently delete the files it finds). The second section, Registry, is also powerful and useful. Rarely would I recommend messing around with your computer's registry, but CCleaner is light enough to not cause any major harm and heavy enough to be useful. If you're like me and you're constantly adding and deleting files (video games for example) then there's going to be a lot of data left behind that you don't necessarily need anymore. The registry, combined with the scan, will help to remove all of that. Ccleaner is a must.

2. Mozy
About once every two years you'll turn on your computer and find that it's not working -- that's normally when the minor heart attack sets in. What will happen to all of your files? What will you do without your 3 years of photos that you've been saving on your hard drive? With Mozy, you can bypass these questions and go back to watching LOLcat videos. Your computer might be trashed but the files you want are safely stored on a server far far away from your now defunct HD. There's a few reasons why I like Mozy. For one, it's unintrusive. It only asks you a few questions here and there to start, and it really doesn't need too much supervision otherwise. Another great feature is that it's free, well, at least for the first 2 GBs, but you get the free space for as long as you like and if you refer friends, you can get 500MB more space per friend! I've been using Mozy for over 3 years now, and though I've only had to rely on the file restoration one time, it's been great knowing in the back of my mind that if my computer ever decided to go kaput (like it almost did a week ago) I would have been fine. If you need more space (unlikely), it'll cost $5.99/month.

3. VLC Media Player
Never worry about not being able to open a video/music file again. Ever.

4. Windirstat
A great program with great visualization, Windirstat will look at all the files on your computer and let you know what's taking up the most space. It provides a helpful, interactive graph on one half of the program and your actual files on the other half. Want to know what's taking up so much space on your hard drive? Windirstat will help you out. There's been a few times when I've found old movies, seasons of TV shows, and even video games that I forgot to uninstall. Windirstat helps you free up space on your computer, plain and simple.

5. System Restore
This one comes already loaded on your computer but nobody I know uses it, and that kills me. If you use System Restore and you happen to get a virus, no matter how bad the virus is, you can return your computer to a healthy state in minutes. Essentially, you set your computer to automatically set restore points -- snapshots in time of how your computer was doing at that current moment -- and anytime you get a virus, you simply restore back to a healthier computer. Example, you set restore points every week. If you get a virus on May 16th, you just restore your computer to the week before (May 9th) and voila. Your computer is healthy again. BONUS: Any documents you've saved since the 16th? They're all saved for you. How is that possible? I don't know, but it's awesome. I've worked on about 5 computers over the past year and if any of them had System Restore the job would have been over in a few minutes. Start using this, and tell your friends to. You can find it under Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.

One final note, you can find most of these programs and more on File Hippo, one of my favorite sites to download useful programs ranging in topics from video playing to virus protection.

Edit: tree bombs.

Genius Bar

Apple is one of my favorite company's - mainly because I like buying products that work. But last night while playing some Age of Empire's III my computer suddenly froze. No biggie, that's happened before. What was odd though was this flashing folder icon with a question mark on it that appeared when I restarted the computer... uhoh.

I took the computer into Apple's Genius Bar today to see what they could do. After a short consult, they said my hard drive had crashed and I needed a new one. What? How does a 2 year old laptop burn its hard drive? The genius in me wasn't convinced. Still, I let them have my precious piece of aluminum (Apple computers are among the greenest) and they went to work. Since I had the Apple Care Protection (or whatever I forked over $190 for when I bought the computer), I was covered. Woohoo! While waiting for my computer to be worked on, I got a call saying that it wasn't my hard drive, but rather a cable connecting my hard drive which had failed. Aww.

Now I remain computerless while they order the part, but regardless I'm still in love with this company. Why am I writing this post? To commend Apple? Eh... sort of. Their product broke, but they were awesome about fixing it. I guess I just like when things go right. I've been using Mozy to backup my 2 most important gigs of information, so that was covered. Add the protection plan to that and this fatal accident will cost me no important files but also $0.00. Time to go add Mozy to my family's computers. Here's to being prepared.

Tree Bombs.

Kiva.org

Just made my first ever Kiva "donation". Kiva is the middle man between you and someone around the world who needs a small loan. You can donate as little as $25, or as much as you'd like. Either way, you're helping someone you will probably never meet become a little richer as they use the money you lend (not really a donation since you get it back) to build up a business. As their business gets stronger, they eventually make payments back to you.

Want to help the woman in the picture? Her name is Lhagvasuren Togtokh and she lives in Mongolia where she sells firewood. Her donation page and info is here. Only $300 left until she gets sent the money she needs!

One of my favorite quotes ever is, "It is in giving that you receive." With Kiva's online statements, the proof is in the pudding. Pay $25 now, help someone out, receive $25 later. Awesome.

And for more on the concept of microfinancing, check out Vandy grad Muhammad Yunus.

Tree bombs.

EDIT: Holy crap. Only a few hours after I donated, Lhagvasuren is now completely funded and will be receiving her microfinance loan immediately. Over the next 20 months I'll be receiving reimbursement. Hello $2/month income!