by Gerald Ryan

Background

As an engineer, certified sign maker, and now LED lighting company owner, I have done more than just research over the last 2 1/2 years.  I design, build and install large LED lighting systems for commercial applications and I work directly with this new technology.  After spending many thousands of dollars on LED lights that were just junk, working with the major manufacturers both in the US and China and deploying hundreds of installations and I have a lot of experience.    I’ve developed intellectual capital, best practices and a very qualified opinion of Lighting Systems.  I believe LED lighting can help not only our homes and businesses, but our country as a whole.  

 By way of disclaimer, please note that my business is a distributor for what we feel is, right now, the best all-around LED manufacturer in the country, EarthLED.

Ten Pretty Good Reasons Why You’ll Want LED Lights

1. LED lighting is 75% – 80% more efficient than incandescent bulbs
2. LED bulbs have a useful lifetime in excess of 50,000 hours.
3. LED lights have no toxic components and are more than 90 percent recyclable.
4. There are more than 800 different types of LED lighting products.  LED products are available to replace incandescent, HID, Halogen, and Fluorescent tube lamps.
5. LED Lighting does not emit UV (A)  or UV (B) radiation – This means that they do not attract bugs.
6. The actual temperature of the surface of an LED bulb is normally around 95 degrees.  An incandescent bulb is typically 140 degrees or more, which often presents a fire hazard for some environments.
7. Although cheaper “up front”, an incandescent bulb of equal lumens, (light emission output) will need to be replaced 12-15 times over one LED lifetime.  Combined with the extra energy costs, this represents  a very high cost of operation over time.
8. Many lights are located at hazardous heights, dangerous environments, or require complex setup to replace.  LED bulbs have an extraordinarily long life, and can operate in adverse environments – voltages from 90 volts – 277 volts and temperatures from -40 to +140 degrees.  The cost of replacing short life bulbs can very quickly recoup the initial cost of LED bulbs, simply by elimination of frequent regeneration of failed bulbs.
9. Fluorescent tubes, Canned and Indoor Sodium/Mercury Vapor light systems create a tremendous amount of heat.  In the summer months when you are trying to cool your home or business you’re air conditioning load is greatly increase by these lights.  LED’s generate very little heat, which results in significant secondary savings.
10. LED’s produce a much better quality of light, variable degrees of warmth, virtually infinite colors, and they do not have 60 Hz flicker.  Fluorescent and Incandescent bulbs flicker with the frequency of the electrical source – a serious potential health risk for seizure prone individuals.

Drastically Reduced Operational Costs

In my field work and on production jobs, I have found that an average LED lamp, equivalent to a 65 watt incandescent bulb, uses only 7 watts.  Over the course of a year in Michigan, this amounts to $4.65 a year of energy to operate.

LED vs.  Incandescent (assume continuous operation)

Over a period of 10 years a very high lumen, (high light output) LED bulb that retails for $70 will use $110.00 worth of electricity at the current Michigan energy rates.  An equivalent incandescent bulb will use $340.00 over the same 10 year period.  Though after one year of operation it will have paid for itself in electricity consumption alone, it is likely that the comparable incandescent will have been replaced 12 to 15 times generating yet more savings.

In A Nutshell

• LED lamps are very long lasting, energy efficient, and versatile. 
• Though cheaper, to manufacture and purchase , incandescent bulbs are inefficient, expensive to operate, and typically have a high rate of failure.
• CFL’s are just nasty, ugly lamps, which produce unfavorable light and typically don’t meet rated/expected lifetimes.  CFL’s have numerous limitations and shortcomings.  Disposal and breakage of CFL’s creates an acute environmental concern  - There is enough mercury in just one 13 watt CFL to contaminate 1,400 gallons of water to higher levels than allowed by law.

Safe environmental practices and energy conservation can make practical sense for consumers. LED’s can truly be a product to which helps us all live better.   LED’s are already competing and winning in the open market, and it’s likely this will overcome any need to create or deploy government mandate.  As people become educated about these revolutionary lighting products and the variety of choices, it’s likely that CFL’s and incandescent bulbs will simply go the way of the buggy whip, the Beta Video Tape and the transistor vacuum tube.

If you are reading this message near Noon on Wednesday, 2/2/2011, someone needs your help RIGHT NOW. 

I am compelled to digress from my usual tech topics

so that I can use my influence to urge the strong among us all to go out and help dig your friends, family and neighbors out of this snow.  Whether they need help, want help or would just appreciate the gesture, I assure you that this is the right thing to do in your world. 

Millions of people have an unmanageable situation.

Most of the large number of folks with whom I regularly communicate are buried in snow right now.  Across the midsection of our country, many, many people are unable to handle this problem for one reason or another, be it shut in, poor health, or other good reason why they shouldn’t be trying to move a foot of snow.  To their credit, the road crews are out, doing a great job, and even the National Guard has been called out in some areas.  Even so, this snow is just overwhelming for some.  It’s a simple thing for many of us, and you never know what good can come as people pay it forward.

This is a time for the strong to be strong. 

There are moments when a strong, healthy person can be of immeasurable value for those in need.   This is the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, and our house could use a bit of help with a little emergency right now.

Don’t even ask.

Just do it.  You know who I’m talking to, and you know it’s the right thing to do.  Get out and do it RIGHT NOW, before your opportunity to be a blessing passes you by.  Many hands make the work light.

Business management is a constant learning process.

New techniques, methods and ideas are constantly being created around us.  It seems when you plug in to one new idea, you soon find yourself linked to 10 more.

We have been slowly building a stable of products and services who, in our opinion, are the best providers that we can find.  Our little network of referable entities get us what we need, and our customer satisfaction level keeps us coming back.

Almost by accident,

we’ve discovered that most of the companies with whom we do business have “Affiliate Programs”.  When managed well, these programs can be quite profitable.   Most have a qualification process.  Just about all of the programs I’ve seen require a website with a set level of traffic, and most expect a blog.

We’re too busy to wrestle with all of

the countless companies offering commissions for referrals.  To keep it simple, we’ve developed a new habit – Whenever we make a purchase or interface with a company we like, we check to see if they have affiliate programs.  If they have one, we sign up and then get the creative ad code to post on our websites.  Where we once used to just buy sell or trade with various companies, we now seek opportunities to partner up with them.

The relationships are slowly beginning to pay off.

One of the best partnerships we have so far is my personal favorite source of training materials,  Lynda.com (see ad to the right).  Lynda.com is an absolutely outstanding source of affordable technology training courses and materials.  They have free, monthly and annual and other subscription plans to meet your needs.  It’s a great partnership because their affiliate program pays an excellent commission – we’ve already begun to earn by referring them through the ads on my pages.

Each affiliate we connect to our websites

becomes a small additional income stream.  The more popular the site becomes, the higher the likelihood that visitors will click to the product links.

We are not ready to entrust all our future finances to

this revenue generation source, but until I get permanent employment, every little bit helps.  If you see a product or service on my site that interests you, please check them out.

If you have questions

or would like more information about how to get your own affiliate system going, please feel free to contact me via the web form on my home page.

As a card carrying member of the “techno-geek” army (Navy?) I am often asked the question “How did you ____”. 

At the risk of appearing to write shameless ad-copy, I am now going to reveal one of my Terry-Tech.com “secret weapons” for my friends and readers. 

A friend asked me about this last night.  In answering him, I thought it would be good to take a minute to also recognize/promote what has become a great business partner to Terry-Tech.com – the web hosting company who makes it all possible, HostMonster.com. 

A Tough and Expensive Road To Knowledge

My path to omnipotent web-knowledge has been daunting.  I spend countless hours doing research, looking for better methods and learning how things are done.  When it came to web servers, on the proverbial “scale of one to ten” my skill and knowledge was initially off the low end of the chart.  I had desire to have an internet presence, but no knowledge or coding skills.  Worse yet, I had no people in my circle of acquaintances from whom to seek advice.   At the mercy of Google, forums and host company spam-ad campaigns, I was easily fooled. 

Trial and Error

Over those first several years, I plunged into commitments with some of the more notable hosting companies, leading with my chin and following with my wallet.  Time and again, I was disappointed by issues – lack of correct server software, poor uptime, bad service at the helpdesk, high monthly costs, etc. 

After yet another disastrous situation, brand-x left all of my domains in peril.  On the rebound, I found HostMonster.com – queue: ethereal sound of heavenly angelic chorus.  (Frankly, their low price pulled me in).  Once logged in, I was immediately delighted with my new control panel and the amazing amount of cool new web stuff I could do.  I transferred my domains in, and have never looked back.

Feature Rich, Reliable, High Performance and Priced Right

Over my last 3 and a half years with them, HostMonster.com has provided me with exceptionally good results.  They’ve enabled marvelous tools on my control panel, their server software is the latest versions of everything – fully up to date, and they have a prompt, friendly helpdesk accessible by phone, chat or email.  They also have easy to use training available for quick acclimation to the tools and features.  In 3.5 years with HostMonster.comthere have never been outages or server initiated issues on my websites. 

Needless To Say, I Highly Recommend HostMonster.com 

If you have an idea or interest that could be realized through the web, HostMonster.com is a great place to begin.  Starting at around seven dollars per month, they have shared server hosting packages designed to meet needs from rank ‘newbie’ to advanced professional web businesses.  I love these guys, and am proud to be affiliated with them.  They even pay a finders fee to us affiliates! 

You could have your own feature rich website up and running before the end of this very day!  If my post helped you find and signup, please be sure to use this link, HostMonster.com, so they will know that I referred you. 

Take my recommendation.  You’ll thank me later.

 -TT 

There is a great interest in eReaders this year, and many consumers want to know if they have a place in our respective technology toolkits.  We don’t all want to buy one just to figure out which is best for us.  Most people can’t go around buying stuff just to figure out which one they really want.  I had a chance to test drive the Barnes & Noble Nook, and found out some things that the marketing won’t tell you. 

My primary objective in this review is to help you decide if an eReader is for you, if you want to buy one for somebody you know, or if it’s going to become a “re-gift”.

We ALL Have Way Too Much Electronic Stuff

Excellent Nook and eReader reviews, including video and tech-spec reviews are already done for you.  (I have some solid review sites, and would be happy to recommend – use my contact form to request).  I’m not going to duplicate these excellent resources.  My intent is much more focused.  Through user experience, I want to answer the question “Will the Nook become just another decaying piece of plastic on my shelf?”

First of All, Are you a “READER”?

Before looking at an eReader, I think one should rank ones propensity toward reading.  Hordes of eager people flock to vendors who offer promises of self-improvement.  We impulse on virtually anything that pledges to make us smarter.  EReaders practically sell themselves, so many are ready for the “fleecing” that comes with ignorance. 

Before you throw in with the fad and buy something, set obvious questions like ‘what material/media is available and ‘what functions does the device have’ aside for a moment.  Contemplatively ask yourself “Am I a reader?”.   It may seem like a dumb question, but ask it anyway.  Think in terms of “Am I a pianist?” or “Am I a candlestick maker?” or “Am I a jogger”.  Lot’s of people know how to do those things, but far fewer define themselves as such.  

So ask.  You’ll thank me later.

If you just saw a light bulb that needs replacing, you probably should forget the Nook, and go do something else right now. 

For those still reading this – you might be a reader, though not necessarily an eReader reader.  Lets quantify expectations.  My “Expectation Scale” should help you graphically get your mind around the whole “Am I a Reader” concept:

Armed With New Self Awareness…

Now, manage your expectations.  This shiny new knowledge device will not likely change a lifetime of engrained behavior.  In short, don’t buy an eReader to become a reader.  A high percentage of those who purchase an eReader hoping to solve this life-problem aren’t likely to use it, and are vulnerable to buyers remorse.   

On To The Nook Basics

At this point I need to point out that, although I have done a lot of research on tablets and readers, I have only actually held and carefully examined the Nook.  Up to now, this review is pretty generic, applying to eReaders in general.  The following is just my experience with the Barnes & Noble Nook. 

The intention is to give you rapid access to untold thousands of pages written materials.  Note that your choice will primarily be defined by availability via Barnes & Noble Bookstore.  To get to the bookstore, the device gives you the option of a proprietary cellular phone network, or a WIFI internet connection (as in your home wireless network).  You may also use the USB connection on your personal computer to transfer readable media to the unit.

In addition to Barnes & Noble Books, the Nook is configured to allow you to read PDF files and access certain image, audio and proprietary book file formats.  As of this writing, you cannot read typical word processing formats such as MS Word, and a plethora of other information and textual data content files.

Getting To eMedia Takes Practice

Old school reading veterans would:

1. travel to the library of choice
2. get desired physical media
3. open to desired page
4. read 

For the eReader

1. using the phalange (finger, thumb or toe) of choice, navigate to the Virtual Bookstore
2. use filter or sort and search commands to locate the desired e-media
3. BUY media and DOWNLOAD it to the device,
4. wait several seconds
5. navigate to the new title you BOUGHT
6. load it (wait several seconds)
7. flip to the desired page
8. read

If any of the words highlighted in bold above are unfamiliar to you, plan accordingly.  For instance, your Nook purchase is just the start of the costs associated with the device.  Building your library will be a new expense for you to contend with.  Additionally, don’t forget to comprehend your own personal “learning curve” when you think of traveling with your newfound library.  You will need to know how to sort, filter, search and store & retrieve files.  It’s also very important to know how to contend with not finding your desired title in the Virtual Store. (Several books I wanted to read were not available.  Having to go back to paper was an A-Ha experience for me.)

Finally, You Have Something to Read

Once you get a book or document, things get simple.  Page turning on the Nook is easy. Pressure sensitive points on the left and right side of the display frame allow you to use either hand, to flip pages either forward or back. 

Note:  I found page flipping a bit slow.  This may be an issue for those people who speed read, moving rapidly from page to page in physical media.

The eInk on a Nook is designed to look and feel like a real book.  This means that  when you are in low ambient light environments, you will need a reading light (as you would with physical media). In bright sun, the book is easy to read.  This is a definite plus to eReaders.  Since bright sunlight is the enemy of backlit screens, you just can’t comfortably read an LCD screen if driving or relaxing in the sun.  This is point to consider when evaluating Ipad, standard laptop or smart-phone displays as an alternative to eReaders. 

I had one remaining question: “Why would I get a device that can’t surf the web as well as give me something to read?”. 

Remember, the singular purpose of this device is to read a document or book.  Personally, I tend to be a bit drifty and easily distracted, so this is a major uptick selling point for me – it gets me to stop surfing and start reading.  If you enjoy multi-tasking, web-surfing or answering email while you read, you should probably consider an IPad or other device which provides a more connected experience. 

Overall

The Nook is a good quality and capable device.  The screen is exceptionally clear and easy to read, the unit is light and comfortable and feels good in the hand.  For people who are familiar with menu-driven navigation, the controls are intuitive and easy to use. 

At $149, the basic Nook is a great value, falling in the lower range of price. (IPad at $550 generally in the high end).  If you’re “jonesing” for an eReader, in my opinion, the Nook is an excellent choice.  It should be a great add to your portfolio of technology. 

Has this review helped you?  Got more questions?  Comment below or contact me for more information.

TT

I experienced some Microsoft 2010 product revelations that might be useful for others who learn by trying to do stuff.

A Bit of Background

Call me what you will, but I just can’t control my insatiable curiosity for computer hardware and software.  I often combine whatever kit I have laying around to setup, test and try stuff or just to see what happens.  (Usually, when I should be sleeping or doing other more gainful projects).  I have been using Open Source software for many years, including hundreds of Joomla installs using Xampp as my local server.

Like many system builders, I typically throw out most of the stuff Microsoft adds to Windows.  I use, promote and teach about the essentials in Windows, and just file the rest in “who knows, who cares” until someone asks about it.  Everything they have costs big money, so I just get the free stuff when I need it for something.  (And I donate once in a while – I know the open code folks can use it and the vote of confidence does them good.)

Over the last few months, I guess I have to say that my paradigm has been shifted a bit, and I have decided not to overlook the products that Microsoft is bringing to the party these days.

Clash of the Titans

In the past, most of Microsoft’s web product strategy seems to have been to design tools for large scale business use.  Any company with easy access to genius level resources can make light work of website projects and actually make a site look and function like the proverbial “picture on the box”.  Microsoft has really begun to acknowledge (target?) the value of Open Code web products – specifically turning their collective heads and dropping their jaws in awe of the meteoric rise of WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and other Content Management Systems (CMS).

The concept of CMS is it’s own study, which I will visit later.  These tools seem to be making web developers of all of us these days.  For this discussion, suffice it to say that CMS is easy to learn, inexpensive and accessible – especially to those who don’t have expensive systems like Visual Studio, SharePoint, and other Microsoft coding/web products.

Okay, I Was Wrong and a Little Slow

There I was, doing updates on what seemed like my 10,000th Windows build, when I took note of a something I hadn’t seen before.  I was trying to hook up a blog for one of my clients, when in the process of getting the Windows Live stuff installed, I first noticed that Windows Live Writer could edit WordPress.  That was cool, so I kept pulling the thread…  I did a web search for “Joomla and Microsoft”.  A new Microsoft thing called “Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0” came up.  Ignoring the 2.0 (which means it has probably been there for years), I thought to myself, “this looks promising”, and I kept chipping away at this new rock.

Now shaking with curiosity, I eagerly ignored instructions, downloaded files, installed stuff (without the first clue what all this would do to my pc), hooked things together, made user id’s, put passwords in, held my tongue in just the right position, ate cookies, drank diet soda and worked through error messages.  First thing I know, I have the whole thing working and my first fully functional installation of Windows Joomla, deployed as the default site in Internet Information Services (IIS). I held my breath and went to my localhost website and there it was:   “Welcome To the Frontpage” in the JA_Purity template!

Wheeeee!!!!

I’m now a techno geek with a new 127.0.0.1!  The fun has just begun baby!  Now I get to really see what this little beauty can do.  Over the next several days, I will add to this blog, steps for those of us on the outside, details of how it went for me, and what I did to work around some problems.

Getting a lot of nice blog results using the Windows Live Writer integrated with WordPress.  This is a nice solution for users who need a simple way to get their blogs up and running quickly.  It’s amazing how little this costs and how much Microsoft has to offer.  I think this is an all-around good way to get clients up and running fast, and I would be happy to help folks who are interested in get this going on their sites.