The Wizard of Articles

Benefit The Environment By Going Electric

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There are a lot of reasons why you would want to convert your current automobile into one that is powered by alternative fuel. The main reason is to preserve the planet from greenhouse gases. The next popular reason is not wanting to pay the climbing price of gasoline. There is now a way for you to convert your gasoline-powered auto into one that uses electricity. While it is not simple, there are conversion kits you can buy that will help you accomplish that.

Unless you possess some skills as a mechanic, as well as know-how, you will need to locate an experienced mechanic. For a car to become electric, there are elements of a gas-powered automobile that must be altered. That is, specific parts have to be changed into electric version. Again, this is not something that anyone can do alone. There are a number of advantages of converting your existing vehicle into an electrical one.

When your car is powered by electricity, the power for your vehicle comes from batteries. The batteries are what power the whole automobile with electric power. In the evenings, you will recharge your batteries so they will be ready to go the following day. When you use an electric car, since you have converted over, you will know that you are not anymore damaging the environment, because you are no longer putting detrimental toxins into the atmosphere. Pollution is eating up the ozone layer, adding to global warming, and 80% of the world’s pollution can be attributed to cars.

Once you have changed your automobile, and you now have an electric-powered auto, you will find that you did not have to give up much. In fact, you will probably gain more than give up. One concern, though, is that you can drive up to one hundred miles on one charge. But for the regular day, you will probably not be going 100 miles a day.

If you are not fully sold on the electric-powered car, you can choose a hybrid. The hybrid choice gives you the efficiency of an electric auto while adding the power of a gas powered car when you need it. If you travel frequently, this could be a better option than an all-electric vehicle. With the hybrid car, you don’t need to worry about power running out. There are many alternatives now, so you can make your car into whatever you want it to be.

Comments (0) Oct 06 2011

The store display of On Off Digital World is full of technological marvels, all the latest in consumer electronics today, though the one thing really keeping them in business is their photography department and all the specialized items they keep in stock there. Located in almost right in the middle of Manhattan, they get a lot of foot traffic from all the tourists who flock to The Big Apple day in/day out. This means that someone’s going to stop by and pick up film, lenses, and the like, and because they’re from out of town, well, it’s naturally easier to get them to pay a premium, especially for hard-to-find specialty items.

Comments (0) May 20 2011

What’s so interesting about On Off Digital World to me is that it brings back a certain period of old New York. Well, the eighties, anyway. Back then you still needed a token to use the subways, when pizza was a buck a slice and comic books just as cheap. It was a time before Neflix and video on demand, a time when, indeed, cable was still getting off the ground with regards to mass appeal. Back then was an innocent time, in a really — when family-owned and run operations like Montgomery Ward were it for electronics. Such is the nostalgic appeal of On Off Digital.

Comments (0) Apr 06 2011

The Mongolian yurt is no camping tent but a veritable mobile home – latch it to a few horses as the locals do and you might virtually call it an RV!
Yurts are much more complicated compared to Native teepee (also spelled “tipi” today) more acquainted to most Americans, but could be deployed in mere minutes: under ten, typically – causing them to be comparable to a camping tent in this consideration!
They are larger than teepees and house several pieces of full-sized furniture, yet with satisfactory manpower (generally a family of ten or so people) they are swiftly set up and can be just as quickly packed up.

The potency of the ancient Mongolian empires is usually attributed to their swift and hardy horses, and the people’s intimate relationship with them.
But a case can be made that their yurts were also a contributing factor, perhaps secondary in importance but deserving the recognition of a top-five placement nonetheless.
Far from being a thin camping tent, the yurt was a true home for these walking warriors of destiny, who followed treasure and adventure to create a history like no other in the world.

After all, though the ponies helped them ride for a while, it was the yurt that provided housing for their aid – wives, families, and non-fighters who brought them the necessary supplies.
Unlike the cities to which the Mongol warriors laid siege, their own homes were safely far behind, and the overall mobility the yurt provided became a great tactical in addition to strategic advantage.

The Mongols did not come by their empire because of fear and terror on it’s own, regardless of their historical status.
As much as their steeds and yurts helped them conquer, so too did a relatively enlightened hands-off policy help them maintain their holdings.
Subject towns, cities, and whole countries had but to acknowledge Mongol suzerainty, in effect having to pay a regular tribute, and were mostly left by itself to otherwise continue their matters in pretty much the same way as before.

Comments (0) Mar 24 2011

The ancient Mongols have been caricatured as a bunch of short swarthy people riding horses and living out of a camping tent while hacking their way all over the world, but the truth is rather different.
Far various, in fact; for one thing, the ancient Mongols were most proficient with the bow and crossbow, though of course they also knew how to work a sword and ax as with any other self-respecting marauder!

And that camping tent…isn’t.
They’re yurts, which are like Native American tipis, only more open and likely even hardier, tougher, able to withstand the strong wind-swept steppes of Eurasia.
Additionally, though they did not achieve the high degree of civilization for instance many of their Chinese, Arab, and Indian subjects did, they were not stereotypical barbarians, either, but fairly enlightened as conquerors went in those days, brutal only in war but reasonably easy-going as rulers.

In reality, ancient Mongol rulers easily traded their nomadic lifestyles for the settled living of their subject peoples.
From Persia and Babylonia to India and China, many Mongol rulers gave up the “camping tent” and lived the remainder of their lives in opulent palaces.
Such soft living may have precipitated the eventual breakup of their empire into a series of smaller successor-states.
Over not much time at all, Mongol conquerors adopted the culture of the natives and would then become a part of the locals’ own histories, such as the Mughal Empire still fondly recalled by Indian chroniclers or the Il Khanate still recalled in modern-day Iran.

Indeed, the Manchu elite of China may have had their Mongol relatives in mind when insisting on frequently scheduled hunts to keep their royals and nobles reminded of their hardy heritage!
For it was an imperial Manchu decree, no less, that institutionalized the standard hunt so that you can counteract the results of palace life – not to mention the soft culture of subject native peoples!

Comments (0) Mar 21 2011

Need to have a vacation? don’t we all! but we can admit it a getaway can be really expensive. It seems that in these difficult economic times many people do not have the spare funds sitting around to afford to pay for a vacation. But we should not overlook that a getaway won’t at all times need to be a significant expense. There are smaller sized getaways one can take to maintain their sanity while still enjoying themselves on a terrific vacation. One of the major travel sites to provide great bargains and discount rates is Travelocity. They have amazing deals and bargains and you can also find Travelocity Coupon Codes to make the expense even better. So next time you are about to pull your hair out, halt and think of taking a fantastic trip, even if the budget is limited.

Comments (0) Feb 03 2011

People pretty much don’t take the right amount of vacation trips. When we do take getaways, we often take along our work. This habitual pattern of carrying work with you leaves us in the mindset of work. The same exact mindset we are attemping to get away from. Trips present many benefits. For 1 it will help us avoid being overworked and burnt out. It also makes it possible for us to keep our stress grades lower. A vacation may also help bring the entire family closer together. In whatever way you want to look at it, trips perform the job. If you are concerned about the expense of a trip you will want to use one of the more popular travel internet websites for instance Travelocity. You should also find promotion codes for Travelocity to aid you in saving a pile of cash on your getaway. I am not sure about you but I am becoming better already.

Comments (0) Jan 09 2011

If you appreciate fishing, the same as I do, then simply you need to try Kayak Fishing. It is a entirely new encounter in fishing. In my experience I was fishing with a colleague of mine when he asked if I had ever gone Kayak Fishing, I stated no and he promptly pulled out the kayak which was kept away on his fishing boat. I launched from right there and got the time of my life. I sincerely recommend any and all other fishermen give it a shot. I believe that you will find it to be extremely entertaining and will want to go on telling your buddies about Kayak Fishing!

Comments (0) Nov 15 2010

A backpacking tent is a necessity even when you expect to do only a simple hike. I learned this lesson the hard way, personally, and it would’ve been at a great cost were I not lucky enough to have been rescued by volunteer forest rangers who dutifully responded to a midnight call.

My friends and I hadn’t taken any gear at all, never mind a backpacking tent. It was supposed to be nothing more than a quick enough romp up and down a straightforward mountain of modest height, some two thousand feet above ground level and the tallest point in all of the region. It was Mount Buck, near Lake George in upstate New York, the busiest tourist attraction around for miles. Yet as luck would have it, it turned out to be a cloudy, then rainy, day (note to self: check weather forecast day-of).

Nevertheless with no backpacking tent, we decided to proceed anyway. After all, we’d traveled up from New York City hundreds of miles, way over three hours by car; we really needed to stretch our legs! But soon it got dark – just like in the movies, fading to black in mere seconds – and we’d thought we were done for. It was literally black, and we made the decision to remain in place so that we do not worsen our predicament.

Luckily, that fateful choice proved to be the right one, as it was through remaining on the trail that volunteer forest rangers, hiking up the trail hours later, were able to fairly easily rescue us. But until that hopeful time, at one or two in the morning, we had to endure the cold – how cold it gets, and how rapidly, in a forest! And so in no way leave home without portable shelter: always take your tent along, no matter what.

Comments (0) Nov 08 2010

The NEMO Equipment tent is the main product category of NEMO Equipment, an outdoors company specializing in high-level design and engineering. The business was started by Cam Brensinger while still in school, and was moved after his graduation to its present location between New Hampshire’s gorgeous White Mountains and RISD and MIT, the Rhode Island School of Design and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

From the very beginning, the NEMO Equipment tent was destined to put the new business on the map, targeted as it was to bring significant innovation to the market. Early ideas researched the probability of creating an entire tent from one compound beam as opposed to sewing them together.

Once successfully developed, the company began hiring its first employees. Its expertise in the field even allowed it to provide consultation on human habitats for lunar and martian exploration! And so, with its credibility thus established, the organization branched out beyond the original NEMO Equipment tent to study other designs for an increasingly diverse market of outdoorsmen and women.

The spirit of extreme sports had by then taken hold of campers, hikers, climbers, and trekkers alike, and so the AST range of products designed for extreme conditions was unveiled. Industry accolades poured in right alongside increased sales, and no less than U.S. Navy Seals have endorsed NEMO products for real-world use that’s reliable like no other.

Most recently, NEMO Equipment has been exploring greener products, work that has resulted in the first-ever nearly hundred percent recycled tent, with poles made of bamboo. Product lines have expanded to offer tent accessories and even fan gear, in response to the company’s dedicated following!

Actually, the business is staffed with people whose pastimes generally incorporate company products. Being avid outdoorsmen and women themselves has surely lent the business invaluable marketing insight.

Comments (0) Oct 27 2010

Racing isn’t on the minds of most bicycle commuters, unless they happen to be messengers or deliverymen who, usually, ride to work! And in such instances, it would not be too surprising to find them employing what could pass for ad hoc racing strategies of the sort found in informal alleycat contests.

It may seem surprising that people who have to ride all day, every day, would also ride so fast, especially when not actually on the job but merely commuting there. Wouldn’t these kinds of individuals rather take a little break from any type of racing for a while? Wouldn’t it make much more sense to slowly ease oneself into one’s day rather than rushing, rushing, rushing all the time?

Most folks would agree. But for the speedsters, it is all about the speed. For such people, it is like how fish need to swim and birds need to fly. It’s not so much a conscious choice as an inborn need. If anything, it’s how they warm up for the day ahead.

Of course, the majority of individuals commuting by bicycle would like to get there as quick as possible, as well. But for them, what’s possible is a great deal more limited, in all likelihood, than for the racers who tend to make their living from bicycling all day.

Such individuals have so much practice, and they will have accumulated so much experience. They are virtually fearless – and though fear normally lend wings to feet, fear when bicycling, particularly in an urban environment, can be an impediment to speed.

Actually, habitually slow riders tend to be those with no confidence. They are afraid – and understandably so. But the fear slows them down – not that speed is an absolute necessity for them anyway. The point is that it isn’t a matter of some being fast so much as others being slow.

Comments (0) Oct 19 2010

Talk about rhinestones and folks of a certain age may well remember Elvis Presley and his crazy outfits. However the singer had always been a little outrageous in his gyrations, and for much of his career, even earlier on, his outfits have tended to push the envelope of establishment tastes. Rhinestones, then, were only the latest in flamboyancy for him, though, to be sure, his tastes did progress to a lot more extravagant designs.

Given such popular perceptions of him, tied as they are to his choice of dress, even when off the stage, it’s amusing to consider that once upon a time he was more square-cut than not. Rather than rhinestones and the like, the worst that could be said of his look was the lock of hair that fell over his forehead, out of place from the slicked back coif he wore at this time.

Then he was drafted into the Army, in 1958. Wisely, he decided, at least partly on a former manager’s advice, to serve his tour as a regular soldier rather than receiving preferential treatment by performing musical performances that would have kept him in touch with the public.

Wiser still, producers at RCA, his record label, made sure to keep him in the popular imagination through the ingenuous marketing of previously unreleased material, ten of which turned out to be Top Forty hits, and also the recompilation of old favorites across four albums.

All while on active duty with the Army in Germany! Far from hurting his career as he’d feared, Elvis became quite the Everyman for serving like everyone else. Contrary to some of his fellow musicians, Elvis was generally considered the most respectable, the most presentable, to mainstream/establishment sensibilities. Parents may still fret at his highly suggestive and deliberate pelvic gyrations, but at least that’s all they could object to about his public persona.

Comments (0) Oct 17 2010

It’s fascinating to watch old science fiction movies and compare the technology onscreen with current state-of-the-art technology in real life. For example, isn’t it funny that the world of interplanetary travel depicted in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” should not have thought of mobiles and invented them – though in fact, such devices were in reality just another five or so years away from commercial feasibility! And it’s funny how with all the cinematic attention focused on such grand ambitious technologies like extraterrestrial travel the wonders that really did take place, in the real world, should carry, arguably, a lot more weight, impacting as they do our lives in maybe much more important ways. Take, for instance, the sort of rides operated by serial entrepreneur Zalman Silber.

Zalman Silber is the founder of a number of tourist attractions in the United States and Australia. Some are really great, such as Skywalk and The Edge, while others are rather uninspired, such as the Skyride and Oztrek. These last two are billed as an immersive you-are-there experience for the whole family – blah blah blah – but they’re nothing more than travel movies the sort you can see on public TV, educational fare you’ve seen a million times over already in school, even. They are helicopter fly-overs of New York and Sydney, respectively, with the only concession to “multimedia” (a buzzword that’s been commonly used to ballyhoo them) being so-called motion seating providing kinetic feedback in sync with goings-on onscreen.

Nothing, as mentioned already, anyone hasn’t seen before.

Yet such things were to be found in many a science fiction film (albeit B-grade knock-offs, admittedly), someone’s vision of what hi-tech audio-visuals would be like one day! Obviously, that just speaks to the poverty of the imagination on the part of the writers more than anything else, but the point is that such contemplation makes for much amusement when screening the science fiction films of yesteryear.

Or take one of the earliest scenes from “Logan’s Run,” when the title character uses a kind of television-teleporter to find a date. Instead of going to a bar, the people of that world use this device to summon dates! It’s nothing short of a kind of 3-D Craig’s List!

These “everyday details” tend to show up in the more thoughtful and interesting movies, and on the whole make up one useful yardstick by which much of the best examples may be separated from the mundane. For most sci-fi flicks focus on laser guns and starships, but leave out what really makes science fiction interesting in the first place, the nexus between science and technology and the everyday lives of human beings.

See how the worldwide web has changed everything? And what is that but a network of computers connecting to one another, serving up information, ordinarily in a graphical (and truly multimedia) way? Nothing particularly incredible here; no “warp drive” or “plasma cannon” here – proving the old adage that life is stranger than fiction!

Comments (0) Oct 16 2010

The Australian film industry is famed worldwide for producing some of the most fascinating of cinema anywhere, as well as providing Hollywood with talent on both sides of the lens. Now we’re not talking Aussie entertainment of the sort that Zalman Silber provides with his Oztrek, mildly entertaining but nothing anyone’s not seen before. No, we’re talking stuff like the Skywalk in Sydney or The Edge in Melbourne – also Zalman Silber affairs – stuff that grabs you.

And so it is that not everything out of the Australian film business is a great piece of art or entertainment, but they are unique when they’re good. Take “Gallipoli” and “The Road Warrior,” or “Crocodile Dundee” or “Romper Stomper.” Now can you imagine stuff like this coming out of Hollywood? Or Bavaria? Or England? Or Hong Kong? Or Beijing? Or Bollywood? Or France or Italy…no.

No, these are Australian all the way through. Not simply because of the cultural sensibilities, but that those cultural sensibilities inform an imagination unlike that anywhere else in its details. On the face of things, with the benefit of hindsight, it seems obvious enough that post-apocalyptic car chases and gun fights should be an entertaining hit with moviegoers. What is it, after all, but the American Western, as transplanted to the Outback and updated for the new millennium? Yet it’s more than that, though an action film through and through with no aspirations toward art’s redeeming values.

Something like “Romper Stomper” is almost pure Australian. While Hollywood and Europe have produced its share of serious films, this entry is an art house flick like no other. To be fair, “Gallipoli” does somewhat seem like rather common European art house literary fare, but within the context of Australian cinema at the time it was thought “non-commercial.” (It took three years to find funding for the film as a result, though upon release it was enthusiastically received at home and abroad, resulting in a financial success that helped elevate the reputation of Aussie cinema.)

After such successes, successes which defined the Australian New Wave (also known as the Australian Film Revival), the film industry on the island continent today is experiencing the most robust period of growth in several decades. Government largess continues, while private companies such as Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Brothers have created state-of-the-art facilities that rival any in the United States. Coupled with much lower production costs relative to Hollywood, it’s no surprise that blockbusters such as “The Matrix” and some of the “Star Wars” installments were made in Sydney. Unfortunately, on the other hand, Tinsel Town’s big bucks continue to poach the most successful Australian talent, on both sides of the lens, creating a perpetual void for the Australian film industry that is depleted almost as soon as it is filled up!

Comments (0) Oct 12 2010

Unless you’ve got one of them portable Coleman Roadtrip grills, camping food will most likely mean something like an MRE, or Meal, Ready-to-Eat. Originally designed for the U.S. military, MREs are self-contained lightweight rations available in a wide range of flavors. They are also produced by other countries for their own militaries, with all of the familiar flavors a local would expect!

As an example, MREs for South Korean troops feature such regional delicacies as kimchi, while Italians enjoy beef tortellini; Swedes and Norwegians get cod stew with sour cream and potato, and Poles make do with bogracz (beef goulash). And though soldiers in the field can’t use camping grills for obvious security reasons, thanks to the marvels of modern science MREs now provide hot meals flamelessly!

Today’s MREs contain a Flameless Ration Heater, or FRH, that will increase the temperature of an eight-ounce entree by a hundred degrees Fahrenheit in no more than twelve minutes. FRHs use a simple chemical reaction to provide heat sufficient to warm up the precooked contents of an MRE.

The concept is to use the natural oxidation of a metal to produce heat. MREs now reach boiling point within seconds, steaming and bubbling! In ten minutes or so, dinner is ready. As may be imagined, they are not anywhere near the power of your least expensive Coleman Roadtrip grills, but they ain’t anybody spending the night outdoors.

No, combat cuisine does not compare to camping fare, but it’s not actually that bad, and, frankly, isn’t roughing it part of the overall experience, whether in the military or living out of doors?

Of course, you could just opt to go completely authentic and hunt game and roast it over a campfire spit! But an MRE is a nice compromise between that and a Coleman grill.

Comments (0) Oct 10 2010

Green energy. You hear about it all the time these days. The U.S. needs it. China is getting ever more involved with it. Green energy. But what does it all mean? Our newspapers tell us that it is the wave of the future, the only way forward. Yet nothing is happening in this nation, where most eco-friendly technologies have been invented, and it’s China that seems poised to dominate this industry of the 21st Century.

So what makes for green energy, and why is it so important? The term is more accurately referred to, technically speaking, as sustainable energy, energy that meets present needs with out compromising the surroundings upon which future generations will also depend.

To be regarded as sustainable usually means to be renewable in such a way as wind, solar, and water-generated power is. Conventional fission power, or nuclear, energy is technically a eco-friendly form of energy though numerous environmentalists believe that its potential hazard far outweighs the benefits to be derived.

Moreover, disposable of spent nuclear fuel rods is a major challenge, with a high likelihood of leagage in most scenarios. Now how has China gotten into the issue? Well, it’s not only the world’s fastest-growing economy, but also its fastest-growing polluter, rivaling the United States.

It also happens to be the largest market for eco-friendly technologies and, as the “workshop of the world” also the single largest manufacturer of all the hardware involved. And so any conversation on anything eco-friendly must, in the end, focus on the role of China.

But what is China’s position in all of this? As it’s generally been: driven by necessity. With the world’s largest population living only on a mere fraction of its arable land, the country is extremely sensitive to all kinds of issues related to the environment, energy policy, and economic growth. Going green, China’s leaders recognize, is the best chance they’ve got to not only survive in the post-industrial world but also to prosper.

Comments (0) Oct 03 2010

Here’s a novel thing to do in New York as a tourist: personal training. Forget the tourist traps like Zalman Silber’s Skyride; if you want true heart-thumping excitement, how about hiring one of the many attractive personal fitness trainers available for a jog, swim, stretch, or bike-ride around town? Seriously, there’s no better way to take in the sights than in the same way a native might.

Thousands – no, hundreds of thousands – of New Yorkers exercise each day, whether specifically working out or otherwise enjoying a physically rigorous leisure activity. Why not you? It can be a lot cheaper than the above mentioned Zalman Silber affair. Instead of helicopter flyovers on film (which is all that his Skyride is – and not even “all” at that, but only “some,” to be exact), why not jog past the West Side heliport near the downtown nabe of Chelsea? Or just take a bicycle ride past the USS Intrepid a mile uptown, along the same waterfront, with its fighter jets and other military aircraft permanently parked above deck.

You want excitement? There’s no thrill more visceral than working out with an attractive able-bodied trainer when new in town! Not only will you enjoy the company of someone that’s good-looking, but you’ll also be able to stay healthy. Even if you’re not exercising at all, picking it up for the first time (or after a long while) when in a new unfamiliar environment can be really fun. In fact, it can be so exhilarating that you need to be mindful of checking your own enthusiasm so as to not get hurt, especially as a beginner!

Indeed, organizations like the 50 States Marathon Club were founded to serve people who already have, all on their own, combined fitness and traveling into one unbeatable vacation package. And for many who are retirees, exercise and travel go hand-in-hand every day! It’s a great idea with which almost anyone can participate along.

Obviously, many people have long traveled just to do certain things at, specifically, certain places. Climbing and hiking come to mind immediately; they are maybe the pastimes most associated with travel. But there are many sports and otherwise physically challenging activities that can be intimately tied to a certain place. Bicyclists and kayakers are as similarly enamored of particular places as climbers. Surfers and hangliders, too, as these sports depend on conditions that are often most dependable at specific spots.

And so when in New York one may bike, swim, run, kayak, and of course simply walk all over the place. Indeed, it is one of the most versatile cities in the world in this regard, with very free open space in most cases: row or paddle where you will; run or pedal as long as you can. This isn’t news for natives, to be sure, but tourists may be surprised that New York definitely has it all, including outdoors life!

Comments (0) Oct 02 2010