A New Year....

If you are seeing this message than we have moved to our new site. Dave and Thomas want to thank everyone who has followed us to our new site at Dave and Thomas Daily Timekillers. It is there that we are gathering volunteers for our Hobo Army to combat boredom, slow work days, zombies, and listlessness. There you can get the latest pop culture news, movie trailers, television happenings, and funny videos. So head on over and we'll see you soon!

GIS Gives United States Postal Service a Crime-Fighting Edge

Redlands, California—November 5, 2008—The United States Postal Service (USPS) Bank Service Act (BSA) Compliance Office is taking advantage of geographic information system (GIS) technology from ESRI to effectively detect suspicious activity, using sophisticated analysis and mapping to monitor millions of money order transactions across the United States. GIS maps show where suspicious activities may be occurring and link transactional data to reveal potential criminal patterns. Mapping and analysis also help USPS managers make sense of extensive transactional databases and millions of bits of data to ensure they comply with regulations. “There are a number of federal anti-money-laundering laws and regulations that directly impact the Postal Service as an issuer of money orders,” says Al Gillum, subject matter expert for the United States Postal Service BSA Compliance Office. “We have responsibilities to monitor transactions and identify potentially suspicious activity through postal money orders. We recognized GIS as a powerful tool to look at all our data. We can use it to bring data together, analyze it, and share it with others. We can then make decisions that are based on good intelligence.” ....more

GIS Pilot Template Updates

I have begun updating, as you may have noticed, the template for GIS Pilot. The states are done up to Louisiana. The remaining states will be done over the next few days and by next Monday all will be new so be sure to update the bookmarks. Thanks for visiting!

Is water becoming ‘the new oil’?

Public fountains are dry in Barcelona, Spain, a city so parched there’s a €9,000 ($13,000) fine if you’re caught watering your flowers. A tanker ship docked there this month carrying 5 million gallons of precious fresh water – and officials are scrambling to line up more such shipments to slake public thirst.

Barcelona is not alone. Cyprus will ferry water from Greece this summer. Australian cities are buying water from that nation’s farmers and building desalination plants. Thirsty China plans to divert Himalayan water. And 18 million southern Californians are bracing for their first water-rationing in years.

Water, Dow Chemical Chairman Andrew Liveris told the World Economic Forum in February, “is the oil of this century.” Developed nations have taken cheap, abundant fresh water largely for granted. Now global population growth, pollution, and climate change are shaping a new view of water as “blue gold.”

The World’s Fastest Growing Energy Source

The World’s Fastest Growing Energy Source

Quietly, wind farms spread footprint in U.S

At 265 feet tall, four gleaming white wind turbines tower over the tiny farm town of Rock Port, Missouri, like a landing of alien intruders.

But despite their imposing presence and the stark contrast with the rolling pastures and corn fields, the turbines have received a warm welcome here.

As Eric Chamberlain, who manages the wind farm for Wind Capital Group, eats lunch in a local restaurant, local people greet him with a "Hey Windy!" and many say they are happy to be using clean electricity.

"It doesn't pollute the environment, it provides tax revenue, creates jobs. I don't see a downside," said Chamberlain, who is something of a celebrity in this town of 1,400 people.

While growth in ethanol use as an alternative fuel has had a big impact on rural America, wind power has also been growing steadily for the past three years, with wind farms like this one springing up all over the windy expanse of the Great Plains and beyond.

While only 1 percent of U.S. electricity comes from wind, it is attracting so much support these days that many in the industry believe it is poised for a growth spurt. (...continue)

Fuel from Trash Will Power California Garbage Trucks

300 garbage collection trucks in California will soon be fueled by the same trash that they haul. Landfill gas will be purified and liquefied, producing up to 13,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) daily.

This facility at Waste Management’s Altamont Landfill in Livermore, California will begin operation in 2009. It comes with a price tag of $15.5 million, with grants providing $1.4 million.

Japans mysterious underwater Megaliths

Japans mysterious underwater Megaliths

Airlines slow down flights to save on fuel

Drivers have long known that slowing down on the highway means getting more miles to the gallon. Now airlines are trying it, too — adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on fuel.

Southwest Airlines started flying slower about two months ago, and projects it will save $42 million in fuel this year by extending each flight by one to three minutes.

Colossal Squid Revealed in First In-Depth Look

A colossal squid floats in a tank at a museum in New Zealand on April 30, giving scientists their first close look at the rare and elusive sea creature.

The giant was caught by a fishing boat off the coast of Antarctica in February 20007. At 26 feet (8 meters) long, it is believed to be the largest squid ever captured.

Experts froze the animal, a female, soon after its capture to preserve it for study.

New Plastic Bags Biodegrade in Four Months

On the heels of reporting about Canada's probable move to ban BPA plastics comes a story about researchers working at Missouri University of Science and Technology to develop hybrid plastics that would biodegrade in landfills within four months. As our editor Nicole Dyer pointed out in a comment to the BPA post, the larger and more important issue facing plastics is their propensity to stick around forever.

As we pointed out in our article about the waste gyre in the Pacific Ocean, plastics will eventually photodegrade into microscopic bits, but those polymer molecules will forever be inorganic toxins. The Missouri S&T scientists are working to change that by focusing their attention on a biodegradable polyester. (...more)

Food Riots and Waste

An apple a day gets thrown away. In fact, 4.4 million apples get thrown away in the UK every day, the majority of which are still perfectly edible. This is according to information released this week by the UK government funded Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

Between the farm gate and my plate, half of the food produced is wasted. Enough from the UK alone to meet half the import needs of the entire African continent. A while back Japan gave a big food donation to Africa including $3 million of food to Burundi. We throw away 40 times more than that in a year. According to the University of Michigan (PDF), it takes 7 times more energy to get food to the average American stomach than it gives you. How much fossil fuels does it cost to get all the other stuff we’re used to eating? (...more)

Space Debris Illustrated: The Problem in Pictures

Space junk, space debris, space waste — call it what you want, but just as junk and waste cause problems here on Earth, in space spent booster stages, nuts and bolts from ISS construction, various accidental discards such as spacesuit gloves and cameras, and fragments from exploded spacecraft could turn into a serious problem for the future of spaceflight if actions to mitigate the threat are not taken now.

Couple sues Google because their home is on Google Maps Street View

A couple in Pennsylvania has decided to try to cash in on Google's wealth and sue the California-based company for putting images of the couples house online at Google Maps Street View. Since the images were taken from a public road I'm not sure they even have a case but it will be interesting to see how it develops.

A Pittsburgh couple has sued Google because photos of their house are now on Google Maps Street View. They allege that ever since the photos have appeared on Street View, the value of their property has plummeted. Property records indicate that the domicile was purchased for a cool $163,000, which, I’m pretty sure, wouldn’t buy a garbage can in any livable city in this country.

They want some $25,000 in damages from The Google. (source)

View from the 140th Floor of the Burj Dubai

View from the 140th Floor of the Burj Dubai

Octopus escaping through a 1 inch hole

Octopus escaping through a 1 inch hole

On board view of a Space Shuttle launch sequence

On board view of a Space Shuttle launch sequence

Google Maps adds street view for 13 cities + 1 national park

Google Maps has added 13 cities and 1 National Park to the already crowded layer of Street Views.  Yosemite National Park in California gets the nod as the first 'non-city' element to be added to Street View.  Nearby Nashville, Tennessee, was added but as you all know I'm still waiting on my Knoxville addition since I've seen them here twice in the last 3 months.  

I'm hoping with the addition of National Parks to the mix we'll see the nearby Smoky Mountains added since it's the most visited park.

Google Maps Street View new cities:

• Albuquerque, NM
• Anchorage, AK
• Austin, TX
• Cleveland, OH
• Fairbanks, AK
• Little Rock, AR
• Madison, WI
• Nashville, TN
• Rockford, IL
• Richmond, VA
• Spokane, WA
• St. Petersburg, FL
• Tampa, FL
• and Yosemite National Park