Have you given much thought to Fukushima?

I did the math a while ago on how many picocuries per liter of I-131 showed up in the Boise rain water. By my math the 16 days that radiation was present exposed people to as much as 27k years of radioactivity.

242pci/l officially recorded By the EPA and at 3pci/l we get one years worth of Mrems, that’s by day. the lifespan of the radioactivity of I-131 is 18 days 2 days give or take to get here from japan via the jet stream, giving us 16 days of exposure.

Here’s the equation, the EPA suggests a maximum exposure of 4 mrems per year, Iodine 131 emits 4 mrems at 3 pci/l, per hour x 16 days.(note the 4 Mrem a year could possibly be an hourly rate making Fukushimas fallout exposure less worrying but overall long term effects of inhaled beta rad particles can be quite serious. Beta radiation doesn’t penetrate the skin but it can penetrate wounds and be inhaled.)

Its not an immediate threat but its worth considering, Earthquakes and volcanoes are spouting off like never before so before a plant meltdown hits critical mass wouldn’t it be wise to have a safe place to chill those 16 days?

We can build it and design it or let you design your own, from metal tank shelters to connex shelters, we have the boxes, tanks and steel needed for any project. Emergency shelter sales grew 1000% this year due to concerns over the middle east and natural disasters like the quake that hit Fukushima. While we agree that paranoia is ridiculous, peace of mind is priceless.

We wont say anything to add to the conspiracy theorists monologue But if you dig a hole, put a connex box in it, cover it with a steel reinforced concrete lid, make some stairs and cover it with 2 ft of earth, and have a secure entry; you have a root cellar, convenient underground storage for yard tools, a cool place to hang out when its hot, a shelter for electronic equipment from the potentially damaging effects of coronal mass ejections and more.

The federal government has spent a lot of time putting ads on the television telling people to have an emergency preparedness kit, well a simple shelter as mentioned above is one heck of an emergency preparedness kit.

A few years ago a man did exactly that with a connex box for around 16 thousand dollars; for all its uses I would call it money well spent. He turned his into a very nice wine cellar. The uses of a secure underground shelter are numerous and extremely handy, and dont have to cost you a fortune.

we can provide water storage with totes or tanks for your shelter. Totes have a poly bladder that is about 1/4 inch thick that has an industry standard sized valve that could be easy to plumb in to your shelter and from 275 gallon to 330 gallon its steel caged modular design could be the perfect water redundancy addition if you need the feeling of security that comes with an emergency shelter.

A well built cellar may add value to your home aside from safety security and out of sight storage. Another cool thing you can do is air duct from the storage to the house with solar powered fans and lower summer cooling costs. If you go beneath your area’s fostline the air will be above freezing in the winter, and possibly useful for other areas.

I am a recent college graduate and I am forever on the lookout for good gift ideas for my friends in the armed forces. On one hand, these soldiers are brave and noble. On the other hand, they are also in their 20’s, just like me i.e., not used to not having the comforts of home or the thrill of a good time. I wish to let you know my own gift idead for my friends in the troops. I hope you will be able to utilize these ideas to assemble a good gift basket for military overseas .

Gifts for the troops ideally fit into three categories: useful, fun, and good for bartering. Try to include at least two of these three categories in any box you send; a box full of nothing but “toys” is great, but doesn’t help keep a soldier’s feet warm; similarly, a box full of practical items might be appreciated, but it’s no fun to share with one’s buddies in the platoon.

Good useful items to include might be personal hygiene products such as dental floss, soap with soothing ingredients such as coconut oil, aloe or lotion. A favourite deoderant or toothpaste would be highly appreciated as would some soft wash clothing items. From a practical point of view; new underwear, socks, undershirts, bug repellant and air freshener would be good and welcome things to include. Do remember however; it would not be such a good idea to send food.

Our troops love fun things, too! For fun gift ideas to send to our troops , small electronic devices like iPods (load it with music before you send it!) and inexpensive digital cameras (with extra memory!) are a great idea. Platoons often have a lucky guy whose family sent a portable DVD player; movies and television series are great diversions. Also, don’t forget “real toys” like baseballs and frisbees.

You can express your thoughtfulness to your favorite soldier by sending them items that can be bartered. For example, tobacco, used by my own grandfather in World War II, is still a great bargaining chip for soldiers who are looking for somebody to take over a shift or share rations with. Discreetly packaged men’s magazines will also be welcome. However, remember that you cannot ship certain items: liquor, drugs, and ammunition should not be mailed, especially internationally.

Do you have any good ideas that a service member such as a lieutenant, sergeant or a captain would appreciate? Create and send them a gift basket and boost their morale. Sending letters and photographs are always welcome and tells them someone back home is thinking of them. Whatever you decide to send, check the regulations for what is allowed to be sent to them.

You should have all of your home appliances running through a surge protector of some kind. It’s an easy form of protection against the crippling effects of power surges and is the number one line of defense for safe guarding electronic devices and the sensitive components within them. You can provide protection for your entire home by installing a whole house surge protector at the breaker box, but internal surges can rise and still hurt your equipment beyond the protection of a whole house system.

It is better to install both types, external protection, as mentioned above; and point-of-use protection, which is a single surge protector that plugs into an outlet. In the event of a lightning storm, your external protection can’t stop a direct blast of lightning as the surge will be too much for it to absorb. But the surge can filter out throughout your home and the threat can be lessened at an individual appliance where single surge protection is used.

As for your external protection, it may be destroyed by a lighting blast and in that case, will need to be replaced. However, if the strike was at a distance and a surge is caused by affected underground lines, then you will have nothing to worry about as that is exactly what external surge protection is made for. It will protect your home at the point of entry, either at the power meter or on the internal line side of your breaker box.

While that is a lot of information to absorb there is still the matter of choosing the right protection for your appliances. If you look through any surge protector reviews you will see countless types of surge protectors for every kind of appliance. The first and foremost rule on choosing the right protection is to know the difference between a 6 outlet surge protector and a power strip. And the answer you are looking for is simple: a power strip does not protect you from power surges.

A power cord will only provide you a way to plug a lot of appliances into your wall outlet and expose them to surges in electricity. While the two can look the same, only one will benefit you. This will be the one with a Joules rating on the package. This will be the surge protection device that will save your electronics and still allow you to plug a lot of appliances into your wall outlet.

Joules is simply the measure of power that can be absorbed by an appliance surge protector.

A wood burning stove is a variant of a fireplace that is made of metal for the intent of burning wood and other similar biomass products. The history of wood burning stoves dates back to 1642 at a foundry in Lynn, Massachusetts. The first stove was made of cast iron plates. In 1744, a revolutionary patriot by the name Benjamin Franklin took on the original idea to develop his own cast iron stove. His stove out shined the efficiency of previous inventions and is still a commonly used stove to date. In the next two centuries, the concept of a closed firebox with a controllable air intake was the most common design. During this time pot-belly, convoluted Alsatian cylinder pattern stoves emerged.

The Rumford fireplace was constructed around 1796 and it was the pioneer stove to angle the hearth of the fireplace with bricks, and also control the choke of the chimney so as to draw smoke upward faster. By reducing the width of the chimney the updraft was increased, thereby eliminating the feeling of smoke that floated in and around the fire place causing air pollution. In 1900, an American and British spy called Benjamin Thompson invented the first metal wood burning stove that was suitable for use in castle kitchens.

The oil crisis in 1970 saw wood burning stoves adapted for use in the kitchen and the stoves evolved to meet new efficiency standards. In 1988 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued regulations that triggered innovative designs which incorporated long burn times and low air pollution levels. Modern versions of these stoves feature airtight construction which utilizes aluminum, cast iron and steel parts. The stoves also have firebrick linings to prevent heat loss and catalytic converters for burning waste fumes. Modern stoves are mostly rectangular boxes or chambers with a thick door. They contain adjustable grates which can prevent, or allow air flow for controlled burning. These stoves have a chimney at the top. The part of the chimney that links it to the base is wider than its neck to prevent blockage. This design makes the stoves very efficient and more environmental friendly.

There are 3 types of modern stoves that use wood or wood biomass products for fuel which include airtight stoves, pellet stoves and metal box wood stoves. Box wood stoves contain the fire in a metal box and have a loose door designs. They are the cheapest stoves and are not as airtight as the other types. The second type is the airtight wood burning stove. These are an improvement over the box stoves and have a completely closed fire box, and a door that is made from materials that make it totally airtight. These stoves have an automatic or manual method of increasing or reducing airflow to the stove to regulate the heat output of the fire.

The third type is the pellet stove. These stoves burn compressed wood or biomass pellets to provide heat for residential or industrial spaces. Fuel is fed from a storage container into a burn-pot area to create a constant flame that requires minimal or no manual adjustments. Fuel is regulated by an electronic timer and sensor. The first miniaturized pellet stove emerged from Washington State in the 1980’s. These stoves can be either stand alone units or fireplace additions vented into an already existing chimney. They are made from large conductive steel or cast iron pieces with stainless steel to enclose circuitry and exhaust areas. In most states pellet fuel us exempted from sales tax. Wood burning stoves are highly efficient and have very low pollution levels.

The purchase price of most wood burning stoves or pellet stoves will allow the buyer to claim a tax credit on US income tax returns.

Circuit Breakers are electrical components designed to protect us against the risks of electric shock and our homes against fire and other types of damage that can be caused by electrical faults. Each circuit breaker in your electrical switchboard usually protects one or more related circuits against overload, short circuit and earth leakage.

In order to understand what causes a circuit breaker to burst (or more commonly known as trip), we first need to understand what a circuit is and what the terms overload, short circuit and earth leakage mean.

What Are Circuits?

The electrical installations in our homes are divided into electrically separated segments known as circuits. Each circuit provides electricity to equipment in a very well defined and specific group. All the light fittings and light switches are found on one circuit known as the lighting circuit. Air-conditioners, heating and ventilation equipment are grouped on another circuit known as the HVAC circuit. And last but not least, socket outlets are grouped on a circuit known as the power circuit.

Each circuit is made up of cables, switches, connections and other electrical equipment designed to carry only the maximum electrical current specified by the manufacturer. When exposed to current exceeding this maximum, the electrical component may break down, melt or catch on fire. Circuit breakers were introduced to ensure this does not happen by disconnecting the electricity supply when the electrical current that flows exceeds the maximum capacity that the circuit components can handle.

Overloaded Circuits – The Main Reason a Circuit Breaker Trips

Have a look around your house at all the socket outlets. How many appliances are plugged into each socket outlet? Chances are you’ve got more than the circuit is designed for. Our increasing use of electrical and electronic devices puts more pressure on our electrical installations every day – sometimes to the point where the amount of electricity we use exceeds the amount that the circuit can safely give us without overheating or getting damaged. When this occurs, the circuit breaker in your switchboard will disconnect the circuit from the electrical supply.

Short Circuits – When Things Go Really Wrong

Whether you’re digging in the garden for the great new flower box, or drilling a hole in the wall to put up that lovely family picture, each time you make changes to the house you run the risk of damaging electrical cables concealed behind walls or in the soil. When you drill a hole through a cable or cut it with a spade, direct contact occurs between the individual wires in the cable. This is known as a short circuit. Electrical cables aren’t designed to withstand the current flowing in such a short circuit situation. In cases such as this, the short-circuit protection mechanism in the circuit breaker disconnects the electricity supply to ensure that the cable does not melt or catch fire.

Earth Leakage Currents

Sometimes known as ground fault current or residual current, this is electricity that flows from the electrical installation to the ground or other conductive materials of the house. Electrical systems are designed to pass current between the live conductors of the installation. When appliances like kettles, refrigerators and washing machines become faulty, they can allow current to flow through their metal parts into your body and down to the ground. This is a dangerous situation known as an earth leakage. Certain types of circuit breakers known as Residual Current Devices or Ground Fault Current Interrupters trip when they detect this current flowing to the ground to protect you from electric shock.

In summary, there are only 3 very simple reasons why circuit breakers trip:

1.) A circuit is overloaded, i.e. there are more devices connected to it than the circuit can actually accommodate.

2.) A short-circuit is present. Although less likely than an overload, a cable or other part of the fixed wiring may be damaged. You’ll need a qualified electrician to repair this fault and make your home safe again.

3.) An appliance is causing an earth leakage current to flow. Of all the scenarios, this is by far the most likely cause. Appliances become faulty all the time, and the result is a circuit breaker that keeps tripping.

What should you do if your circuit breaker keeps tripping?

Contact your local electrician to help you find out what the cause is. If you’re from Perth, Western Australia, contact a Perth electrician or one of the Perth electrical contractors.

Electricity has become an absolutely essential part of modern life. It is used to power the largest industries down to the smallest household convenience. In your home, electricity is used to power appliances, furnaces, light fixtures, and many other items. Have you ever wondered how exactly your home’s electrical system works?

Components

Your home’s electrical system is comprised of many different parts, including incoming power lines or conduit, an electric meter, service panels and subpanels, household wiring, electrical outlets, switches, and the appliances that use this power. These items can be separated into two distinct categories: rough-in components and finish components. Rough-in components are the electrical elements in your home that are installed during the beginning phases of construction, such as wires, cables, and electrical boxes. On the other hand, finish components are the elements that are added to your home’s structure towards the end of construction, such as outlets, switches, and light fixtures.

How it Works

Electricity is sent to your house from the utility company through overhead power lines and/or underground conduits. This power is delivered most commonly through three main lines, called three-wire service. This is the type of energy delivery system that most households have. There are two “hot” wires, which each deliver 120-volts of electricity, and one neutral wire. Most household lights and appliances use 120-volts, only requiring the use of one hot wire. However, larger appliances and electrical devices, such as air conditioners, electric ovens, furnaces, etc. require both hot wires, using 240-volts of electricity. All electrical circuits require the presence of the neutral line.

An electric meter is located at the point where the electricity arrives at the house. This device tracks the amount of energy delivered and consumed by the household. From here, the power is channeled to the main service panel, commonly referred to as a “breaker box”. The main panel is the central distribution point for the entire building’s power supply. To understand how this works, one must understand how an electrical circuit works.

In order for electricity to flow, it must be provided with a stable, continuous closed path from beginning to end, with contact never being broken. Like a circle, the power will travel from the power source to the device, and then return back to the power source.

This is why the main service panel is commonly called the “circuit breaker box”. It provides a way of purposely breaking the circuit, in order to perform service or repair, or to guard against safety hazards. From the main panel, electricity is diverted to individual circuits which provide power to separate areas and aspects of the home. Sometimes, power is sent to sub-panels in other areas of the home and then on to the electrical circuits which run throughout the house. These circuits provide power to the many power outlets, or receptacles, and light fixtures in your home, allowing you to operate all your household electronic appliances and lights.

From the study of Physical Chemistry (which includes Quantum Mechanics) we know that the structure of matter and the periodic table that results is a consequence of the only the electromagnetic force and nothing else, unless gravity is very strong-so strong that it dominates other forces. Such conditions do not exist on Earth.

Of course gravity pulls atoms down to Earth, but it does not affect the electronic structure…However the question does not ask about the pull of gravity on particles, but rather about the orbits of electrons around an atom, and if gravity plays a role.

Let us consider one H atom. The mass of a proton is 1.67262158 × 10-27 kilograms and the electron rest mass is 1800 times lighter 9.10938188 × 10-31 kilograms. The Coulomb attractive force between these two charged particles is many orders of magnitude larger than gravity between them.

More specifically we can compare the gravitational attraction between an electron and a proton, to that of their electrostatic attraction. Using Newton’s Law and Coulomb’s law and plugging in the fundamental electron charge, and for gravity, the above masses, and known constants, shows that the Coulomb force is a whopping 1040 times stronger than gravity in the Hydrogen atom.

That is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0… (40 zeros) times stronger!!!

Electronic Structure of Matter

Understanding of Physical Chemistry also explains that electronic structure of matter is governed solely by Coulomb’s law: the attraction and repulsion between charged particles: But read on.

We only know of four forces: gravity (range: infinite), electromagnetic (range infinite), weak nuclear force (leads to beta decay) (range only within a nucleus); the strong nuclear force (range only within a nucleus). That’s it folks.

The nuclear forces are much stronger than the electromagnetic force over the same distance. The energy released in nuclear reactors is many orders of magnitude greater than chemical energy because E=mc2.

Gravity and Black Holes

Having said all that, I want to think a bit more about the question outside the box. What is a neutron star? a black hole? A neutron star has a mass so great that it overcomes the electromagnetic force and pushes the electrons down onto the nucleus.

Proton+ + Electron- ->Neutron

I have put a plus charge on the proton and a minus charge on the electron to emphasize that they repel each other. So to push an electron out of its orbit and down to the surface of the proton must overcome the electrostatic repulsion between them.

The gravitational field needed to do this is more than 1040 times stronger than on Earth!! That star is basically made up of neutrons. Recall that Ernest Rutherford found that an atom has a very dense nucleus. Imagine the gravitational field of a star made up of nuclei rather than atoms! Under such strong gravitational fields, the electronic structure does depend upon gravity.

Same for black holes. Gravity is so strong that nothing can escape it, and it appears to dominate all other forces.

Finally, physicists seek a unified theory to describe the mechanics of all forces. Of the four forces, three have been unified (using quantum mechanics (quantum field theory really)). Only gravity is not understood.

Whether we like it or not, mobile phones and other electronic gadgets became one of the needed perks in our life, statistically speaking almost all of the people in the world owned one or two mobile phones. iPhones and other high-end electronics also are increasingly becoming popular each day and many gadget fanatics are going crazy about them.

Pretty as they seem, these gadgets did not come cheap, the units are costly and its accessories and enhancements are often expensive too. There are also unavoidable headache and expensive repair cost to be considered if your unit got damaged due to deliberate or unavoidable circumstances such as phones being sunk in the water, sweat and humidity wetting the insides of the phone, or dust and dirt corroding the chips and eventually making the software fail.

Though brand new gadgets came with manufacturer’s warranty for a certain period; these warranties can be void if water, humidity or any other liquids and dirt get inside your phone, but sometimes our phones accidentally gets wet or dirty inside without us knowing it. Unfortunately sometimes the culprit of these iPhone Problems is not you; because most phones have headset slots not covered, humidity and sweat can easily go through it. For example, if you have sweaty palms holding or using your iPhone too much could make the sweat travel inside it through the open slots in the side. Several smart phones especially iPhone and iPad come with a sensor that detects liquid contact by turning red. When this sensor turns red your beloved gadget will eventually malfunction due to short circuits.

The open headset socket at the top or at the side of your gadget also invites dirt and dust causing some of the hardware to fail or short, and as much as you want to avoid it you did not buy a phone to keep it confined in the box forever.

It’s a good thing that nowadays several companies supply headphone jacks and support plugs that can be inserted to your smart phones to protect it from environment pollutants that could possibly damage your most valued gadget. Through these protecting devices common gadget enemies such as dirt, dust and water can be prevented from pestering your beloved electronics.

These headset plugs can be inserted into your iPhone’s headset jack to provide covers from fluff, sands, water, mist, and dust. They are also made to complement most mobile phone covers and come with different designs to suit your mood, style and preferences.

Some of these plugs can even be personalized by putting your company, brand or organization’s logo enabling you to create another path to promote, advertise or market your products and services.

Amazing changes in the retail marketplace over the last 15 years has created new, different obstacles to successfully launch a new product. Marketing romantics muse glowingly about the old days when there were supposedly multiple placement opportunities in every level of retail. True, there were. But on closer inspection, there are as many options now, if not more.

People and organizations are not usually open to change. Change is hard, requires a different thought process, imagination, flexibility. In the 1980’s there was a seemingly endless array of local, regional and national store chains, including department stores, drug, discount, food, hardware and mass merchandisers. Most are now gone. They did not change.

WT Grant, Montgomery Ward, Venture, Ayr-Way, Gold Circle, Hills, Super-X, Bambergers, B. Altman, Bonwit Teller and Wannamakers are only a tiny sampling of strong store brands that no longer exist. The new big box chains that have taken their place feature massive purchasing, merchandising and logistic assets. Certainly Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Macys, Walgreen and Kroger have earned their collective perches as dominating chains in their categories.

The question for small businesses and entrepreneurs is how to successfully place product in these retail behemoths. And if they can’t be penetrated what other options are available. The difficulties of selling a short line or a single item to Wal-Mart are daunting, but can be overcome.

To successfully sell the big boys, you have to adjust, change your terms and conditions to fit theirs. The key to the modern big box success is based on huge sales volumes, lowest price available and logistics that enable ever-faster deployment of inventory and resources. Software for shipping and receiving is as important as product features and benefits. You have to have the capacity to participate in these advanced control systems.

The inter-net and electronic media have created whole new sales opportunities that did not exist a generation ago. If eBay counted all of the independent contractors they serve as employees, they would be the world’s largest employer. Over 700,000 entities now sell product through this vast, democratic, web community. Many make a full-time living from eBay sales. This is an inter-net department store with an auction format. And there are dozens of other targeted web-based sites seeking inventory to sell as well.

Home Shopping Network, ANC, Shop at Home and QVC are simply electronic department stores and each has a huge appetite for new products. Every year these cable television retailers search locally and through on-air solicitations for fresh, creative, new products that can be demonstrated in this powerful sales venue. A product that sells successfully on HSN will soon be in demand on traditional retail shelves.

Years ago late night infomercials were the frequent butt of comic skits. Today major companies such as Proctor & Gamble, General Motors and Estee Lauder utilize this sales venue. Hundreds of products are launched in short format infomercials each year, and many succeed. These spots can be produced at amazingly affordable prices and test media buys mitigate financial risk. Most big box stores feature an area featuring the “As Seen on TV” logo. It is much easier to penetrate the bureaucratic maze of a national chain with a bit of proven success in hand.

Much as TV infomercials have revolutionized product marketing, an even less expensive strategy can be undertaken utilizing print media. Main stream newspapers, magazines and print supplements increasingly sell print

Advertorials. An Advertorial is an article that reads and appears to be non-commercial, but contains a specific product message. These have been extremely powerful guerrilla marketing tools, inexpensive, easy to monitor and strong revenue generators.

There are many other potential avenues to pursue in order to create sales traction for a product. Publicity campaigns (have the advantage of being free), specialty catalogs, remittance envelopes, commission sales coverage, and a customized web-site with an online pay-per-click program are just a few.

The old days and stores are gone. We only have the new days and a whole raft of new opportunities to utilize. Maybe Lowe’s is not the place to launch your product. Successful pursuit of a guerrilla option will enable a product to develop a sales base, sales, traction and growth. This will level the negotiating field when the big box presentation is made.