Perpetual Innovation

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  • Issuu – bbiinternational – Ethanol Producer Magazine … Biomass… Etc.

    Issuu – bbiinternational – Documents:

    Check out issues of Ethanol Producer Magazine… And other Biomass, biodiesel, biomass, biofuel rags. (Reading these online is surprising smooth once you get the swing of it.)

    Great info in this month’s edition of Ethanol Producer. Because of the trade-off between burning our food (corn) and eating it, the use of corn-ethanol as a fuel is critical. It’s especially critical during times of drought. It takes a lot of water to grow corn, and it takes a lot of water to process ethanol.

    Ethanol is down, corn-based ethanol is down, exports are down, etc.

    But what’s interesting is the field tests (pun intended) of new corn crops that are more drought tolerant.

    If you haven’t yet ventured off into this genre of magazines, you will find it very interesting and surprisingly relevant. Relevant, if you drive, if you eat food, if you have interests in the economy. . .

    Make no doubt about it, the drought is gonna impact us all in food, fuel and more, for at least the next couple years. What we have just learned this year about droughts will be useful for the rest of the world, too, in seasons to come.

    Hang on for the bumpy ride.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Apple-Samsung Case Muddies Future of Innovation – NYTimes.com

    Apple-Samsung Case Muddies Future of Innovation – NYTimes.com:

    Oh boy, this is gonna get ugly. Especially if you are in the habit of ripping off other companies technology.

    Samsung, just got smacked down hard. A $1B verdict is just the beginning. Apple will of course, try to get treble damages for “willful” infringement of Apple’s technology. But the $1B is only the beginning. On September 20, the hearing (resumes) related to an injunction of the sales of Samsung’s offending products.

    One would assume that the new Samsung line (Galaxy) does not infringe, but that too may soon become subject to tighter scrutiny.

    Faced with injunctions or licensing Apples technology, that is the issue that will be confronting players in the market, including Google.

    The war chests of patents are: Apple; Samsung (kinda); Google (now with Motorola wireless that they seem to have bought primarily for the patent portfolio); and Microsoft (now with a boat load — $1B worth actually — of patents from AOL).

    Who else is there. RIMM? Palm’s technology that went to HP is dwindling fast.

    Of course, Samsung is appealing. But it’s outlook is not, well, appealing. And this loss in the US, is going to seriously shape the face of the screen in there rest of the world.

    Samsung is down 7% in Asian trading on Monday Aug. 27, 2012. Expect Apple to open up big on Hurricane Isaac Monday.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Dirty little Coal secrets… shhh …. Talking Tr-Ash…

    Sustainability eMagazine

    If you have never done so, you want to visit the EarthJustice site about coal ash: http://earthjustice.org/our_work/campaigns/coal-ash-contaminates-our-lives

    And what you want to do, is visit this site every time you see one of these sweet and pretty ads about “Clean Coal”.

    Admittedly, the EarthJustice takes the other side of this far, very far-from-clean, source of energy. However, coal produces half of the electric power in the US. Well, all right, now only about 34%. But that “cheap” energy has a lot to do with the high quality of life that we all enjoy. It also does not get credit for the hidden costs it presents to the environment and to personal health.

    Back to the dirty little secret of Coal Ash. Remember the Ash trashing by TVA in 2008. The damage is into the billions of dollars and climbing. And it has not been cleaned up. All those heavy metals in the ash down a couple rivers. Sadly, that’s a gift that keeps on giving.

    Heavy metals include lead, mercury, arsenic and more. Sulfur, lots of sulfur. They can have traces of radiation. We, in the US, tend to want to clean most of these by-products from this soot from the smoke. Other countries like India and China, not so much so.

    And we have these ash build-ups all over the world…. And the mountains are growing.

    Here’s just one source on the running costs and litigation at ABC News.

    Of course is the worst fossil fuel, by far, in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

    We don’t need to burn that dirty coal, better simply to ship it to China and India and let them burn it there. No harm done in that.

  • Hain up about 20% on great earnings?

    Hain Celestial (HAIN) was way up today on great earnings… That’s right, the high end and heathy food company. Shouldn’t they be getting crushed on the high prices from the great drought of 2012?

    Healthy eating is “not a fad, not a trend”, according to CEO Simon. Consumption of the category is up 14%, vs about 1% on the main stream food categories.

    Of course the super fast growth of Whole Foods doesn’t hurt, but HAIN is growing like mad in Walmart, Costco,and … wait for it … Amazon!
    Organic chips, Sleepy Time tea and a book, why not?

    97% are GMO free.

  • Happiness Happens Month… Diversity… Innovation..

    Happiness Happens Month
    This month is Happiness Happens Month.  http://sohp.com/society-celebrations/happiness-happens-month/

    Sponsored by the Secret Society of Happy People. www.SOHP.com

    The idea is that everybody complains about stuff, but we should have a day (Aug 8) and a month (August) where people don’t complain. Nobody talks about being sick or discriminated against or …

    Well, you get the picture.

    BUT, don’t tell anybody, it’s a secret.

    Oh, and another secret, It’s rumored that this society has partnered with the National Cannabis Day (April 20) folks, which could be a key ingredient in their perpetual happiness for an entire month each year.:-)

    Maybe they’ll expand it to the entire year! HHY.

    Shhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t tell anyone.

    ***
    If every cause has a day, and some causes even have a month and some special causes even have a year, then when are we going to have more than and EarthDay and a Water Day?
    Embrace diversity.