"We are in fact seeing a flood of new launches... that are perfectly timed to coincide with the rise in demand for metal forming, surface preparation & finishing, grinding & cutting, machining & other allied engineering machinery and equipment to cater to the booming construction, infrastructure, rail, and manufacturing sectors," said Mr Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, Director-General of Expo Centre Sharjah .
"SteelFab has become the exhibition of choice for manufacturers and dealers... so much so that some of them delay their regional launches to have them displayed at SteelFab. This year, while several exhibitors have at least one new launch, there are some who have multiple new products, with one having almost six brand new products for the region," he added.
For instance, Rockwood International will launch six new products, including a tig brush, a unique temperature brush to conduct electrical energy combined with a mild solution to quickly remove weld discoloration and simultaneously passivate stainless steel surface.
"Our tig brush helps reduce workplace hazards and is economical to run in all kinds of environment," said Mr Basanth of Rockwood International, pointing out that Rockwood sees SteelFab 2013 as an excellent launch platform for their six new products.
Other launches include SafanDarley's electronic e-brake, Roccia Rundbiegen's revolutionary design of plate rolling machines, Trumpf's TruFiber fibre lasers, OMM's longitudinal welding of tapered tubular shafts, La Rosa's new sandwich panel manufacturing line and Gietart new paintsprayer, among others.
SafanDarley's new B-Shear and the Press Brake E-Brake B models will be presented at the stand of SIMCO Industrial Machinery Trading at SteelFab 2013. "The E-Press Brake & Shear removes the need for any oil in the machine. It significantly reduces operation time and electrical consumption by almost 50 per cent," said Mr Mohammed Abu Dakka, Steel Machinery Division Manager at SIMCO. "The absence of oil will be of great significance to the environment too," he said.
"Unfortunately, plate rolling machines starting from 1' capacity are often tall so they need to be installed in a pit. This is a big problem if the pit is to be dug in an existing building," said Mr Mauro Roccia of Roccia Rundbiegen. "Our revolutionary machines of up to 60 mm thickness are designed in such a way that they do not need a pit." This innovation will be on display at the stand of Kahrl & Wiemann.
Trumpf's TruFiber fibre lasers primary aim will be to popularize the technology in the region. "Fiber lasers have been introduced in industrial production for some years now. However they are yet to catch up here in the Middle East," said Jawad Khawaja, Managing Director of ATAD International, distributors for Trumpf machines. "We are showing a Trumpf fibre laser for the first time in the Middle East," he said.
OMM - Murgesi, the world patent holder for longitudinal welding of tapered tubular shafts, will have a big presence at the Comex International stand at SteelFab 2013. "For all highway construction projects, OMM can offer full know-how for turnkey supply of all required structures related to steel guardrails, steel poles, steel culverts and other internal and external services," said Mr Mostafa El-Hageen of Comex International.
Another launch at SteelFab, the Gietart paintsprayer will offer an efficient and quick way to paint freshly cleaned material. "The new system is not only faster, it is also cheaper and better for the environment because it saves paint and energy," said Mr Peter Michorius of Gietart.me. "In the past we have showed our shotblasting system, but this will be the first time that a paint spray system will be featured at SteelFab," said Mr Michorius.
2013年1月10日 星期四
2013年1月9日 星期三
Panasonic, in one-upmanship
Panasonic Corp, in a display of technological one-upmanship with its South Korean rivals, unveiled a prototype of the world's largest OLED screen on Tuesday.
The half-inch thick, 56-inch television, based on organic light-emitting diode technology, is a mere inch bigger than ones offered up by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics a year ago in Las Vegas. The technology in theory allows for thinner screens that consume less power.
Japan's Sony Corp, which is cooperating with Panasonic in OLED technology, on Monday unwrapped its own 56-inch ultra high-definition model. Sony on Monday also said it will widen its range of ultra high-definition LCD sets to three this year, as it stakes out its territory in next-generation TVs.
LG, which has started to take orders for its thin OLED screens, plans sales in the United States of a $12,000, 55-inch model beginning in March, making it the first company to commercialize the new technology.
Nonetheless, Kazuhiro Tsuga, the president of Panasonic, told industry executives and reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that "Many people think of Panasonic as a television manufacturing company. In fact, for nearly 100 years we have been making a vast range of products."
Tsuga said that Panasonic will focus on selling products like batteries for cars, in-flight entertainment systems, hydrogen cells, solar panels and LED lighting to businesses, while boosting its appliance unit and reducing its exposure to the hyper-competitive consumer electronics arena.
"Panasonic's future is being built on far more than a single product category," Tsuga said. Panasonic and Japan's two other big TV makers, Sony and Sharp Corp, have been hammered in conventional LCD screens by competition from Korean rivals led by Samsung.
Japan's share of the world's flat panel TV market this year likely contracted to 31 percent from 41 percent in 2010, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.
Tsuga has also vowed to deliver the details of a revival plan by the end of March. So far, he has said that businesses that fail to achieve a 5 percent operating margin within two years will be shuttered or sold. Sales of its weakest units may start next business year.
AFP meanwhile reported tha TV makers showing off their new wares at a huge trade fair will seek to dazzle consumers with bigger, bolder displays, and smarter technologies for consumers who want television to be a "multiscreen" experience.
Companies like Samsung, Sony, LG, Sharp and Panasonic showing at the International CES in Las Vegas this week are making a new push for so-called "ultra HD" high definition of 4K, which can provide stunning, lifelike images at a steep price.
Size is on the rise, with many consumers looking at screen measuring 60 inches (152 centimeters or bigger), especially in the United States, according to the industry.
"For US consumers, bigger is absolutely better," said John Herrington of the US division of Japan's Sharp, one of biggest sellers of jumbo TVs in the American market.
Sharp is selling TVs with displays up to 84 inches (213 cm) using its high-definition display technology called IGZO, using indium gallium zinc oxide. South Korea's Samsung meanwhile unveiled a new television that lets two people watch two different shows at the same time.
The F9500 television is the first in the world to offer this feature, dubbed "multi-view," using screen technology called "organic light-emitting diode" or OLED.
Viewers must wear special 3D glasses, which come with personal speakers built in to deliver the audio, in stereo, directly to them.
But "ultra HD" and other new televisions remain slow to capture the market because of their prices upwards of $10,000, according to a forecast released by the Consumer Electronic Association which showed the segment capturing just five percent of the US market by 2016.
The half-inch thick, 56-inch television, based on organic light-emitting diode technology, is a mere inch bigger than ones offered up by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics a year ago in Las Vegas. The technology in theory allows for thinner screens that consume less power.
Japan's Sony Corp, which is cooperating with Panasonic in OLED technology, on Monday unwrapped its own 56-inch ultra high-definition model. Sony on Monday also said it will widen its range of ultra high-definition LCD sets to three this year, as it stakes out its territory in next-generation TVs.
LG, which has started to take orders for its thin OLED screens, plans sales in the United States of a $12,000, 55-inch model beginning in March, making it the first company to commercialize the new technology.
Nonetheless, Kazuhiro Tsuga, the president of Panasonic, told industry executives and reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that "Many people think of Panasonic as a television manufacturing company. In fact, for nearly 100 years we have been making a vast range of products."
Tsuga said that Panasonic will focus on selling products like batteries for cars, in-flight entertainment systems, hydrogen cells, solar panels and LED lighting to businesses, while boosting its appliance unit and reducing its exposure to the hyper-competitive consumer electronics arena.
"Panasonic's future is being built on far more than a single product category," Tsuga said. Panasonic and Japan's two other big TV makers, Sony and Sharp Corp, have been hammered in conventional LCD screens by competition from Korean rivals led by Samsung.
Japan's share of the world's flat panel TV market this year likely contracted to 31 percent from 41 percent in 2010, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.
Tsuga has also vowed to deliver the details of a revival plan by the end of March. So far, he has said that businesses that fail to achieve a 5 percent operating margin within two years will be shuttered or sold. Sales of its weakest units may start next business year.
AFP meanwhile reported tha TV makers showing off their new wares at a huge trade fair will seek to dazzle consumers with bigger, bolder displays, and smarter technologies for consumers who want television to be a "multiscreen" experience.
Companies like Samsung, Sony, LG, Sharp and Panasonic showing at the International CES in Las Vegas this week are making a new push for so-called "ultra HD" high definition of 4K, which can provide stunning, lifelike images at a steep price.
Size is on the rise, with many consumers looking at screen measuring 60 inches (152 centimeters or bigger), especially in the United States, according to the industry.
"For US consumers, bigger is absolutely better," said John Herrington of the US division of Japan's Sharp, one of biggest sellers of jumbo TVs in the American market.
Sharp is selling TVs with displays up to 84 inches (213 cm) using its high-definition display technology called IGZO, using indium gallium zinc oxide. South Korea's Samsung meanwhile unveiled a new television that lets two people watch two different shows at the same time.
The F9500 television is the first in the world to offer this feature, dubbed "multi-view," using screen technology called "organic light-emitting diode" or OLED.
Viewers must wear special 3D glasses, which come with personal speakers built in to deliver the audio, in stereo, directly to them.
But "ultra HD" and other new televisions remain slow to capture the market because of their prices upwards of $10,000, according to a forecast released by the Consumer Electronic Association which showed the segment capturing just five percent of the US market by 2016.
2013年1月8日 星期二
PC MPP says province hid report on wind turbine health effects
A Progressive Conservative MPP is accusing the province of knowing about the adverse health effects of wind turbines as far back as 2009.
Through documents she obtained via a freedom of information request, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson says she’s learned of one homeowner who complained about excessive noise from nearby turbines making it difficult for them to sleep.
“It is 1 a.m. I can’t take much more of this. I don’t know what is going on but I have the worst headache in the world right now,” reads one of them. The ministry eventually closed the file, saying it couldn’t verify claims of excessive noise.
Another document shows that the ministry backed down from a turbine company after the company agreed to reduce overnight operations of 24 turbines due to complaints from neighbours.
Heather Johnston lives in Belwood, northeast of Fergus. She agrees with Thompson that wind turbines present health concerns and the Liberals hid reports saying so from the public.
“If you don't sleep, you’re not well, and they just don’t seem to care about the people that have to live near these things,” Johnston tells CTV.
“The [ministry] is being guided on how they go through these processes, and to tell you the truth, I’m a little dismayed that the ombudsman’s office hasn't done anything about this.”
Four new 500-foot-high turbines are slated to be built in Belwood in the near future. Another project comprised of 30 turbines has been taken off the table, but Johnston says she believes it’s only a temporary stop and the 30 turbines will be built eventually.
Environment Minister Jim Bradley didn’t respond to a request for comment from CTV, but a ministry statement says priority is placed on ensuring turbines are built in a way that protects human health and the environment.
Thompson says she wants more answers out of Bradley, but can’t get them while the legislature remains prorogued.
I’m not against wind if carefully sited to minimize bird and bat deaths, which hasn’t always been the case, but because wind is also “like burning $20 bills to generate electricity,” this is a case of deception by omission.
The wind tax credit was just extended for another year. First enacted by the Energy Policy Act twenty years ago, it has been extended four, make that five, times. Every honest estimate I’ve seen suggests that this credit costs taxpayers roughly a billion dollars a year, for a total of roughly $20 billion and counting.
$20 billion is roughly the price tag of three conventional nuclear power plants, capable of producing about a third of present wind capability just from the extra cost of building wind. 52/19 = 3/x, x = 1.1, (104 reactors, average of 2 reactors/power plant, 19% of electrical energy from nuclear, 3% from wind, $6.7 billion per nuclear power plant).
If wind is economically viable (cheaper than fossil fuels), why do proponents always insist that the industry will collapse if it loses that credit? And wind can only scale so far before it becomes prohibitively expensive to compensate for its intermittency. We need other low carbon sources of energy to compliment it, and nuclear should be one of them. It may be more expensive than fossil fuels in the short run, but obviously, so is the “wind-enhanced combined cycle natural gas power plant.”
Through documents she obtained via a freedom of information request, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson says she’s learned of one homeowner who complained about excessive noise from nearby turbines making it difficult for them to sleep.
“It is 1 a.m. I can’t take much more of this. I don’t know what is going on but I have the worst headache in the world right now,” reads one of them. The ministry eventually closed the file, saying it couldn’t verify claims of excessive noise.
Another document shows that the ministry backed down from a turbine company after the company agreed to reduce overnight operations of 24 turbines due to complaints from neighbours.
Heather Johnston lives in Belwood, northeast of Fergus. She agrees with Thompson that wind turbines present health concerns and the Liberals hid reports saying so from the public.
“If you don't sleep, you’re not well, and they just don’t seem to care about the people that have to live near these things,” Johnston tells CTV.
“The [ministry] is being guided on how they go through these processes, and to tell you the truth, I’m a little dismayed that the ombudsman’s office hasn't done anything about this.”
Four new 500-foot-high turbines are slated to be built in Belwood in the near future. Another project comprised of 30 turbines has been taken off the table, but Johnston says she believes it’s only a temporary stop and the 30 turbines will be built eventually.
Environment Minister Jim Bradley didn’t respond to a request for comment from CTV, but a ministry statement says priority is placed on ensuring turbines are built in a way that protects human health and the environment.
Thompson says she wants more answers out of Bradley, but can’t get them while the legislature remains prorogued.
I’m not against wind if carefully sited to minimize bird and bat deaths, which hasn’t always been the case, but because wind is also “like burning $20 bills to generate electricity,” this is a case of deception by omission.
The wind tax credit was just extended for another year. First enacted by the Energy Policy Act twenty years ago, it has been extended four, make that five, times. Every honest estimate I’ve seen suggests that this credit costs taxpayers roughly a billion dollars a year, for a total of roughly $20 billion and counting.
$20 billion is roughly the price tag of three conventional nuclear power plants, capable of producing about a third of present wind capability just from the extra cost of building wind. 52/19 = 3/x, x = 1.1, (104 reactors, average of 2 reactors/power plant, 19% of electrical energy from nuclear, 3% from wind, $6.7 billion per nuclear power plant).
If wind is economically viable (cheaper than fossil fuels), why do proponents always insist that the industry will collapse if it loses that credit? And wind can only scale so far before it becomes prohibitively expensive to compensate for its intermittency. We need other low carbon sources of energy to compliment it, and nuclear should be one of them. It may be more expensive than fossil fuels in the short run, but obviously, so is the “wind-enhanced combined cycle natural gas power plant.”
2013年1月7日 星期一
LED lights save Fort Smith
Citywide LED traffic light conversions are saving Fort Smith close to $7,000 per month since completion, according to Traffic Control Superintendent Steve Kelton - considerable savings, but less than originally reported.
Kelton verified on Monday that the latest electric bill was “about $5,000,” down from an estimated $12,000 per month in 2006 when the conversions began.
While the $7,000 per month cost savings estimate is less than The City Wire reported in July 2011, the latest energy bill is in line with estimates from that time. (It was initially stated that electricity costs prior to LED conversion were $15,000 per month.) As importantly for Kelton, the conversion has allowed traffic control personnel to work more efficiently.
“In prior years with the incandescents, we would change about 1,200 light bulbs per year. From July 2010 to July 2011, we changed 40 LEDs, and that was before we’d even completed our conversion,” Kelton said. “It has gotten us out of the street and the motoring public’s way. It’s safer for us and for them, since they (the lights) are brighter and easier to see. There’s just no downside to it other than the initial investment.”
That “initial investment” Kelton refers to was around $2,468 per intersection as of 2011. That amount covered the last remaining 64 traffic signals, which were funded by $158,000 in federal stimulus money.
Prior to those replacements, the city changed 85 traffic signals, which fluctuated in cost. Since the initial replacements occurred while LED lighting was still higher in cost, some ran the city as much as $7,000 with costs falling over time, Kelton said.
Assuming an average cost of $5,000 for the 85 signals completed without federal funding (a $425,000 total), the current rate of savings would replenish the city’s investment in approximately 5.5 years.
Replacement costs for an LED bulb are $75 to $80 per bulb but unlike incandescent bulbs, each LED has a “5- to 7-year warranty,” Kelton said, adding that the time savings allows the traffic control department to “do other tasks that we couldn’t do as regularly as we should have, because we were so busy changing light bulbs.”
“We’re more focused on preventive maintenance – cleaning lenses, tightening every screw or anchor bolt,” Kelton added.
The most commonly cited issues that arise with LED traffic lights include swaying signals attached to span wires and the lights freezing during harsh winter weather conditions. (LED lights do not grow hot enough to melt the ice.)
Kelton acknowledged that span wires can be a problem, but said “Fort Smith is now completely span wire-free.” Additionally, he said the snowstorm on Dec. 25 had no negative effects, nor have any such issues been reported since the conversions began in 2006.“It is a significant problem in northern parts of the country where they have big snows and lots of wind, though,” Kelton said.
That’s what the Endliss Smartcase, a new case for the iPhone 5, does, thanks to LED lights on the back of the case. Those multi-colored LED lights will flash and arrange themselves in different images as a way of notifying you of an incoming message. The smartcase works with Twitter, Facebook, texts, calls, and emails, so you can get a different LED pattern for each one of those alerts. The 8 x 16 LED light grid syncs up with your iPhone 5 via Bluetooth 4.0, and can also use that pairing to display the time using those LED lights.
You’d think this might be a tough sell, given that it sounds like a case that will put extra strain on the iPhone 5′s already limited battery life. Not so – the Endliss Smartcase is also equipped with a 1500 mAh battery, which powers the lights and manages to give your iPhone 5 a little extra juice in the process. Of course, that also means the case will add a lot of extra bulk to the iPhone 5′s very slim frame. If you like the idea of the Endliss Smartcase, but still want to slim down from time to time, you can slip the battery pack and LED light system off, revealing a plain black protective case underneath.
Kelton verified on Monday that the latest electric bill was “about $5,000,” down from an estimated $12,000 per month in 2006 when the conversions began.
While the $7,000 per month cost savings estimate is less than The City Wire reported in July 2011, the latest energy bill is in line with estimates from that time. (It was initially stated that electricity costs prior to LED conversion were $15,000 per month.) As importantly for Kelton, the conversion has allowed traffic control personnel to work more efficiently.
“In prior years with the incandescents, we would change about 1,200 light bulbs per year. From July 2010 to July 2011, we changed 40 LEDs, and that was before we’d even completed our conversion,” Kelton said. “It has gotten us out of the street and the motoring public’s way. It’s safer for us and for them, since they (the lights) are brighter and easier to see. There’s just no downside to it other than the initial investment.”
That “initial investment” Kelton refers to was around $2,468 per intersection as of 2011. That amount covered the last remaining 64 traffic signals, which were funded by $158,000 in federal stimulus money.
Prior to those replacements, the city changed 85 traffic signals, which fluctuated in cost. Since the initial replacements occurred while LED lighting was still higher in cost, some ran the city as much as $7,000 with costs falling over time, Kelton said.
Assuming an average cost of $5,000 for the 85 signals completed without federal funding (a $425,000 total), the current rate of savings would replenish the city’s investment in approximately 5.5 years.
Replacement costs for an LED bulb are $75 to $80 per bulb but unlike incandescent bulbs, each LED has a “5- to 7-year warranty,” Kelton said, adding that the time savings allows the traffic control department to “do other tasks that we couldn’t do as regularly as we should have, because we were so busy changing light bulbs.”
“We’re more focused on preventive maintenance – cleaning lenses, tightening every screw or anchor bolt,” Kelton added.
The most commonly cited issues that arise with LED traffic lights include swaying signals attached to span wires and the lights freezing during harsh winter weather conditions. (LED lights do not grow hot enough to melt the ice.)
Kelton acknowledged that span wires can be a problem, but said “Fort Smith is now completely span wire-free.” Additionally, he said the snowstorm on Dec. 25 had no negative effects, nor have any such issues been reported since the conversions began in 2006.“It is a significant problem in northern parts of the country where they have big snows and lots of wind, though,” Kelton said.
That’s what the Endliss Smartcase, a new case for the iPhone 5, does, thanks to LED lights on the back of the case. Those multi-colored LED lights will flash and arrange themselves in different images as a way of notifying you of an incoming message. The smartcase works with Twitter, Facebook, texts, calls, and emails, so you can get a different LED pattern for each one of those alerts. The 8 x 16 LED light grid syncs up with your iPhone 5 via Bluetooth 4.0, and can also use that pairing to display the time using those LED lights.
You’d think this might be a tough sell, given that it sounds like a case that will put extra strain on the iPhone 5′s already limited battery life. Not so – the Endliss Smartcase is also equipped with a 1500 mAh battery, which powers the lights and manages to give your iPhone 5 a little extra juice in the process. Of course, that also means the case will add a lot of extra bulk to the iPhone 5′s very slim frame. If you like the idea of the Endliss Smartcase, but still want to slim down from time to time, you can slip the battery pack and LED light system off, revealing a plain black protective case underneath.
Remembering Sunando
Sunando Sen probably did not realise what happened to him. One moment he was standing close to the edge of the platform looking at the oncoming subway. And the next moment a crazy woman, who carried hatred towards Hindus and Muslims since September 11, 2001, pushed him on the tracks. His death was gruesome, but hopefully it was quick. I would like to believe that he didn’t suffer too much. At 46, he was too young to die.
A friend called him “an Indian Gregory Peck”. He was supposedly working on a Ph.D. program at New York University and he had recently opened his own printing and photocopying business near Columbia University. In his 20 years in the US, he had tried to live the American dream and he was just beginning to realise it. Sen’s tragic death affected me deeply and not just because he was an Indian immigrant, living his life in New York.
He died at the 40th Street/ Lowery Street subway station in Sunnyside, Queens — six blocks from where I live. Sen died at the same spot where four years ago, 29 yearold Rajiv Reddy Malladi, an immigrant from Hyderabad, committed suicide by jumping on the train tracks.
For me that is way too many brown desis who have died one subway stop away from mine, too close to where I live. I can brush aside the two deaths as a mere coincidence, but I cannot forget such tragedies despite my otherwise busy life. Sen used to live in Sunnyside with a friend, before he moved into another apartment in Elmhurst.
I now look at his picture, wondering whether I had seen him, if we had travelled together in the same subway car on the number 7 train on our way to Manhattan back home in the evening. Sen was the second person to die on a subway track in December in New York City. The first was a Korean immigrant who was pushed on the track by another crazy person.
I do not want their deaths to become mere statistics. Last month, a television channel in New York interviewed the young daughter of the Korean man. Her one regret was that she could not say a final goodbye to her father or tell him that she loved him. According to newspaper reports, Sen did not have any family in the US. His funeral was attended by friends and acquaintances. I wish I had attended his funeral, but I was out of the country.
Too often we focus on the rich and the famous desi immigrants in the US — the successes of M Night Shyamalan and Jhumpa Lahiri, and the rise and the fall of Anand Jon and Rajat Gupta.
But very rarely do we think of other immigrants who often figure in our lives, touching us and making our day go smoother. I mourn Sen’s death, since he seems like a member of the extended family I have in Sunnyside, Queens. There is a Burmese man who runs a dry cleaning and laundromat establishment across from my building. He works long hours, seven days a week, and rarely takes time off.
He washes my clothes and always welcomes me, calling out my name with a slight lisp. Then there is a Bangladeshi woman who works the early morning shift at Dunkin Donuts at the corner of my apartment building.
Each time she sees me, she asks in her lovely Bengali accent “Sir, how are you this morning?” And then she rattles off my order — it has been the same for many years — “Small coffee, milk, no sugar!”
I read a piece on Huffington Post that Sen was an equally warm and caring immigrant. He had helped the writer of the piece restore old pictures of his parents.
The author wrote: “Sunando Sen was a real person. I knew him the way a lot of New Yorkers know each other. We passed through each others’ lives.” It is a touching tribute to a decent human being. Sen did not lead a glamourous life, but he deserves this eulogy and to be remembered.
A friend called him “an Indian Gregory Peck”. He was supposedly working on a Ph.D. program at New York University and he had recently opened his own printing and photocopying business near Columbia University. In his 20 years in the US, he had tried to live the American dream and he was just beginning to realise it. Sen’s tragic death affected me deeply and not just because he was an Indian immigrant, living his life in New York.
He died at the 40th Street/ Lowery Street subway station in Sunnyside, Queens — six blocks from where I live. Sen died at the same spot where four years ago, 29 yearold Rajiv Reddy Malladi, an immigrant from Hyderabad, committed suicide by jumping on the train tracks.
For me that is way too many brown desis who have died one subway stop away from mine, too close to where I live. I can brush aside the two deaths as a mere coincidence, but I cannot forget such tragedies despite my otherwise busy life. Sen used to live in Sunnyside with a friend, before he moved into another apartment in Elmhurst.
I now look at his picture, wondering whether I had seen him, if we had travelled together in the same subway car on the number 7 train on our way to Manhattan back home in the evening. Sen was the second person to die on a subway track in December in New York City. The first was a Korean immigrant who was pushed on the track by another crazy person.
I do not want their deaths to become mere statistics. Last month, a television channel in New York interviewed the young daughter of the Korean man. Her one regret was that she could not say a final goodbye to her father or tell him that she loved him. According to newspaper reports, Sen did not have any family in the US. His funeral was attended by friends and acquaintances. I wish I had attended his funeral, but I was out of the country.
Too often we focus on the rich and the famous desi immigrants in the US — the successes of M Night Shyamalan and Jhumpa Lahiri, and the rise and the fall of Anand Jon and Rajat Gupta.
But very rarely do we think of other immigrants who often figure in our lives, touching us and making our day go smoother. I mourn Sen’s death, since he seems like a member of the extended family I have in Sunnyside, Queens. There is a Burmese man who runs a dry cleaning and laundromat establishment across from my building. He works long hours, seven days a week, and rarely takes time off.
He washes my clothes and always welcomes me, calling out my name with a slight lisp. Then there is a Bangladeshi woman who works the early morning shift at Dunkin Donuts at the corner of my apartment building.
Each time she sees me, she asks in her lovely Bengali accent “Sir, how are you this morning?” And then she rattles off my order — it has been the same for many years — “Small coffee, milk, no sugar!”
I read a piece on Huffington Post that Sen was an equally warm and caring immigrant. He had helped the writer of the piece restore old pictures of his parents.
The author wrote: “Sunando Sen was a real person. I knew him the way a lot of New Yorkers know each other. We passed through each others’ lives.” It is a touching tribute to a decent human being. Sen did not lead a glamourous life, but he deserves this eulogy and to be remembered.
2013年1月5日 星期六
Wind Energy Production Grows in the Hawkeye State
You can hear the swift sound of movement as the turbine blades cut through the wind at this wind farm near Lake Park, Iowa. It's clean and efficient, and growing faster than any other energy source in the U.S.
"Iowa's 5100 installed megawatts are the equivalent to taking 13 million cars off the road," says Iowa Wind Energy Association Executive Director Harold Prior.
That's also equal to powering 85 million 60–watt light bulbs, and if you can believe it, the Iowa Wind Energy Association hopes to quadruple that 5100 megawatts by 2030.
If you're even considering a future in wind production, now is the time to get your turbines in a row.In 2012, producers received a 2.2 cent tax credit for every kilowatt hour produced.
But now, the federal government added new "in progress" language to the extension passed as part of the fiscal cliff deal, which basically gives wind producers a year to get their facilities in check.As long as they begin the construction before 2014, they'll still get that tax credit.
"It's going to open up another short term boom in the development of wind farm projects. There were a number of large projects and medium size projects that are already financed, they've done their power of purchase agreements, They've done all their permitting requirements. They just weren't sure they could get their product to the site and get the wind farm constructed before the end of December 2012. So they put those projects on hold," says Prior.
But now, Prior says, producers can get back on the bandwagon. It's the first step in the growth of the wind industry here in the Hawkeye State. But the Iowa Wind Energy Association is lobbying for a longer extension: they want it locked in for the next ten years.
And in half that time, the wind industry predicts it will be at the top of its game; functioning without the help of any subsidies. Prior says, there's a valid equity argument on the table.
"If other generators, like coal, oil or natural gas and nuclear are continuing to get tax subsidies through the tax code, or outside the tax code, then our argument is, look, let's have all the generators of electricity on a level playing field. So, if you're going to eliminate the subsidy for wind energy, than how about we eliminate the subsidy for all generators of electricity, and allow all of us to compete on a level playing field," he says.
He says that would also help reduce the federal deficit. Wind turbines currently generate roughly 20 percent of all the electricity produced in Iowa, enough to power more than 1.1 million homes.
Ecuador's Villonaco wind farm project, located in the province of Loja, is considered emblematic of the government of President Rafael Correa Delgado, himself a former economist. Morevoer, it is the world's highest such eolian structure, built some 2,720 metres above sea level.
On Wednesday January 2, 2013, President Correa refused to officially open the Villonaco wind farm, branding it incomplete because it does not have an access road.
The wind farm is made up of 11 generators with a total output capacity of 16.5 MW, a substation to step up power from 34.5 to 69 kilovolts, and a subtransmission line that links the Villonaco substation to its counterpart in Loja, which is on Ecuador's national power grid.
The system was set up by the Chinese company Xinjian Goldwind Science and Technology and will cut CO2 emissions by as much as 35.270 metric tons a year. It will also reduce diesel imports, the fuel needed to generate thermal electricity. As Correa points out on Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism website, "We would save almost USD 13 million per year in fuel costs alone."
Ecuador's electrical company CELEC is in charge of the infrastructure, with an investment of USD 36 million. The benefits are myriad, especially in terms of the environment insofar as the project will reduce toxic emissions in the atmosphere; in economic terms, it will satisfy 25% of the annual energy consumption of the province of Loja. The project will also cover 68,7% of the demand currently handled by the Empresea Eléctrica Regional Sur, the company that provides power to the provinces of Loja, Zamora, and sections of Morona Santiago.
"Iowa's 5100 installed megawatts are the equivalent to taking 13 million cars off the road," says Iowa Wind Energy Association Executive Director Harold Prior.
That's also equal to powering 85 million 60–watt light bulbs, and if you can believe it, the Iowa Wind Energy Association hopes to quadruple that 5100 megawatts by 2030.
If you're even considering a future in wind production, now is the time to get your turbines in a row.In 2012, producers received a 2.2 cent tax credit for every kilowatt hour produced.
But now, the federal government added new "in progress" language to the extension passed as part of the fiscal cliff deal, which basically gives wind producers a year to get their facilities in check.As long as they begin the construction before 2014, they'll still get that tax credit.
"It's going to open up another short term boom in the development of wind farm projects. There were a number of large projects and medium size projects that are already financed, they've done their power of purchase agreements, They've done all their permitting requirements. They just weren't sure they could get their product to the site and get the wind farm constructed before the end of December 2012. So they put those projects on hold," says Prior.
But now, Prior says, producers can get back on the bandwagon. It's the first step in the growth of the wind industry here in the Hawkeye State. But the Iowa Wind Energy Association is lobbying for a longer extension: they want it locked in for the next ten years.
And in half that time, the wind industry predicts it will be at the top of its game; functioning without the help of any subsidies. Prior says, there's a valid equity argument on the table.
"If other generators, like coal, oil or natural gas and nuclear are continuing to get tax subsidies through the tax code, or outside the tax code, then our argument is, look, let's have all the generators of electricity on a level playing field. So, if you're going to eliminate the subsidy for wind energy, than how about we eliminate the subsidy for all generators of electricity, and allow all of us to compete on a level playing field," he says.
He says that would also help reduce the federal deficit. Wind turbines currently generate roughly 20 percent of all the electricity produced in Iowa, enough to power more than 1.1 million homes.
Ecuador's Villonaco wind farm project, located in the province of Loja, is considered emblematic of the government of President Rafael Correa Delgado, himself a former economist. Morevoer, it is the world's highest such eolian structure, built some 2,720 metres above sea level.
On Wednesday January 2, 2013, President Correa refused to officially open the Villonaco wind farm, branding it incomplete because it does not have an access road.
The wind farm is made up of 11 generators with a total output capacity of 16.5 MW, a substation to step up power from 34.5 to 69 kilovolts, and a subtransmission line that links the Villonaco substation to its counterpart in Loja, which is on Ecuador's national power grid.
The system was set up by the Chinese company Xinjian Goldwind Science and Technology and will cut CO2 emissions by as much as 35.270 metric tons a year. It will also reduce diesel imports, the fuel needed to generate thermal electricity. As Correa points out on Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism website, "We would save almost USD 13 million per year in fuel costs alone."
Ecuador's electrical company CELEC is in charge of the infrastructure, with an investment of USD 36 million. The benefits are myriad, especially in terms of the environment insofar as the project will reduce toxic emissions in the atmosphere; in economic terms, it will satisfy 25% of the annual energy consumption of the province of Loja. The project will also cover 68,7% of the demand currently handled by the Empresea Eléctrica Regional Sur, the company that provides power to the provinces of Loja, Zamora, and sections of Morona Santiago.
2013年1月4日 星期五
MIT students develop oneTesla self-build
Educational electronics kits like the one from Minty Geek are a great introduction to the world of circuit building and electronic tinkering, but are perhaps a little too basic for more advanced hobbyists. Three MIT students are currently enjoying enormous success on the Kickstarter crowd-funding platform with a DIY Tesla coil kit called oneTesla that can make artificial lightning sing ... well, erm, play music from a MIDI source. Now where did I put that polyphonic version of This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us by Sparks?
The first version of oneTesla, which didn't play music, was created over the course of three days in February last year. The development team of full-time MIT students Bayley Wang, Heidi Baumgartner and Daniel Kramnik added a MIDI controller a little later, followed soon after by the hatching of plans to obtain some boards, build a few coils and offer a limited number of self-build kits on eBay to help recoup development costs. A user manual was written, revised, written again, and remains in a state of flux until the end of the current Kickstarter campaign.
The 10-inch (25.4-cm) tall musical Tesla coil was designed as an educational development kit for high voltage tinkerers with a steady soldering hand and a patient eye for precision. The creators say that building a Tesla coil will facilitate learning about wireless power transfer, high voltage electronics and radio frequency engineering. The team also advises that oneTesla is not for beginners, so those ordering a kit should have prior experience of electronics kits and troubleshooting. Although not essential, having an oscilloscope on hand for troubleshooting purposes is recommended.
Recipients of a oneTesla kit essentially get shipped some PCBs and a bag of parts that will need to be assembled and soldered together as per the supplied instructions. Each device is made up of a driver board that sits inside the laser cut acrylic main chassis and powers the whole Tesla coil. There's a MIDI input for connecting the device to a keyboard and playing live sparky music, or the supplied USB-to-MIDI adapter can be used to feed in pre-recorded MIDI files from a computer.
Although snaps/pulses from the streamer normally resonate at 220 kHz (way beyond the range of human hearing), the boffins at oneTesla have built a custom interrupter that modulates the electric arc, creating pressure waves that sound like musical notes. Sparks turned on and off at a frequency of about 262 Hz, for example, sound like a middle C. The interrupter board also serves to isolate the high voltage from connected electronics.
The primary coil features six turns of thick 14AWG wire, is directly connected to the main control board and sits at the base of the secondary coil. The secondary coil has 1,800 turns of fine 36AWG wire and is topped by a toroid topload, which together form a resonant circuit that can build up to high voltages. oneTesla reports that the coil is capable of producing lightning arcs nearly two feet long.
"The Tesla coil poses many hazards, and taking safety precautions are an absolute must," says oneTesla. "The hazards can be lessened by being a careful worker, keeping a workspace clear of clutter, wearing safety glasses when the board is energized, ensuring that the capacitors are discharged before attempting work on the board, keeping sensitive electronics and flammable objects away from the coil when it’s running, and generally being intimately aware of the operation and hazards of the Tesla coil."
Full build and operation instructions appear in the user manual, and those who undertake the project can expect to spend a full day putting oneTesla together. A quality soldering iron, a screwdriver, some wire cutter, diagonal cutter, needlenose pliers, a crimp tool/large pliers and a glue gun (or superglue) will also be needed.
The first version of oneTesla, which didn't play music, was created over the course of three days in February last year. The development team of full-time MIT students Bayley Wang, Heidi Baumgartner and Daniel Kramnik added a MIDI controller a little later, followed soon after by the hatching of plans to obtain some boards, build a few coils and offer a limited number of self-build kits on eBay to help recoup development costs. A user manual was written, revised, written again, and remains in a state of flux until the end of the current Kickstarter campaign.
The 10-inch (25.4-cm) tall musical Tesla coil was designed as an educational development kit for high voltage tinkerers with a steady soldering hand and a patient eye for precision. The creators say that building a Tesla coil will facilitate learning about wireless power transfer, high voltage electronics and radio frequency engineering. The team also advises that oneTesla is not for beginners, so those ordering a kit should have prior experience of electronics kits and troubleshooting. Although not essential, having an oscilloscope on hand for troubleshooting purposes is recommended.
Recipients of a oneTesla kit essentially get shipped some PCBs and a bag of parts that will need to be assembled and soldered together as per the supplied instructions. Each device is made up of a driver board that sits inside the laser cut acrylic main chassis and powers the whole Tesla coil. There's a MIDI input for connecting the device to a keyboard and playing live sparky music, or the supplied USB-to-MIDI adapter can be used to feed in pre-recorded MIDI files from a computer.
Although snaps/pulses from the streamer normally resonate at 220 kHz (way beyond the range of human hearing), the boffins at oneTesla have built a custom interrupter that modulates the electric arc, creating pressure waves that sound like musical notes. Sparks turned on and off at a frequency of about 262 Hz, for example, sound like a middle C. The interrupter board also serves to isolate the high voltage from connected electronics.
The primary coil features six turns of thick 14AWG wire, is directly connected to the main control board and sits at the base of the secondary coil. The secondary coil has 1,800 turns of fine 36AWG wire and is topped by a toroid topload, which together form a resonant circuit that can build up to high voltages. oneTesla reports that the coil is capable of producing lightning arcs nearly two feet long.
"The Tesla coil poses many hazards, and taking safety precautions are an absolute must," says oneTesla. "The hazards can be lessened by being a careful worker, keeping a workspace clear of clutter, wearing safety glasses when the board is energized, ensuring that the capacitors are discharged before attempting work on the board, keeping sensitive electronics and flammable objects away from the coil when it’s running, and generally being intimately aware of the operation and hazards of the Tesla coil."
Full build and operation instructions appear in the user manual, and those who undertake the project can expect to spend a full day putting oneTesla together. A quality soldering iron, a screwdriver, some wire cutter, diagonal cutter, needlenose pliers, a crimp tool/large pliers and a glue gun (or superglue) will also be needed.
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