Did you know that many scientists would like to discover light-catching materials in order to transform more of the sun’s power into carbon-free electrical power?

A new study described in the magazine Applied Physics Letters in August this year (released by the American Institute of Physics), explains how solar energy could potentially be collected by using oxide elements that include the element selenium. A team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, inserted selenium in zinc oxide, a relatively affordable substance that could make more effective use of the sun’s power.

The team discovered that even a relatively small quantity of selenium, just 9% of the mostly zinc-oxide base, significantly increased the material’s effectiveness in absorbing light.

The primary author of this study, Marie Mayer (a 4th-year College of California, Berkeley doctoral student) states that photo-electrochemical water splitting, that signifies employing power from the sun to cleave water into hydrogen and oxygen gases, could possibly be the most fascinating future application for her efforts. Utilizing this reaction is key to the eventual creation of zero-emission hydrogen powered automobiles, which hypothetically will run only on water and sunlight.

Journal Research: Marie A. Mayer et all. Applied Physics Letters, 2010

The conversion effectiveness of a PV cell is the percentage of sunlight energy that the photo voltaic cell converts to electricity. This is very important when discussing Photo voltaic products, because enhancing this efficiency is vital to making Photo voltaic power competitive with more conventional sources of energy (e.g., non-renewable fuels).

For comparison, the very first Photo voltaic products converted Read the rest of this entry

This year the California Family Winemakers  20th Anniversary Tasting event was held at the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion in San Francisco on August 22nd and 23rd.   The day was surprisingly a very hot sunny day, which is not typical for San Francisco.

As you may know, California wines are known worldwide for their outstanding taste and quality.  If you are planning to have a wine tasting party, you can’t go wrong choosing a California wine.

This is a two day wine tasting event with 342 wineries pouring some of the best  available anywhere.  On Sunday the public is welcome, but on Monday it is restricted to the “trades“  which includes restaurants, bars, and retail stores looking for new inventory to bring to their establishments.  Also included in the Monday event is the media.

My husband and I have volunteered to work this event for 5 years and we have never been disappointed in what the wine tasting event has to offer.  This year we were assigned to winery check in.  We got the opportunity to meet and talk with many of the winery personnel.  These  hard-working people are a really great group of individuals to get to know.

After our volunteer shift we were able to taste some of these great wines, which is one of the advantages of volunteering to work at this wine event.  We had to be very choosy with 342 wineries from which to taste.

The northern California wine tasting event this year was a success that was enjoyed by many.  Keep this event in mind if you live in the San Francisco area or are planning a trip there next year in August.  You will not be disappointed if you attend it.

On doing research into genealogy I discovered familiar terms that I glanced over with the idea that I understood the term.  Funny thing was that I really had no idea what they meant.  I mean, I thought I did.  But when I had to come up with a definition for my son I really had not a clue what some things meant.

So, I thought it might be interesting to tell of what I discovered.

First off I will assume that everyone is comfortable with their knowledge of what a father, mother, sister, brother is.  But I discovered some did not know the meaning of Aunt, Uncle, grandfather, great grandfather, second cousin and the oddest one of “once removed.”

So the following are definitions that will help when working with family trees.

Aunt- This is the person that is your mother or your fathers sister.

Uncle- This is the person that is your mother or fathers brother.

Cousin- This can also be known as first cousin and are the people in your family that are the children of your aunts and uncles.  They will have two of the same grandparents as you.  Cousins share a blood relationship.

Second Cousin-These people will have the same great grandparents as you but not the same grandparents.

Third, fourth and fifth cousins will respectively have the same great great, great great great and great great great great grandparents as you.

Grandfather- This person is the father of your mom and dad

Grandmother- This person is the mother of your mom and dad

Great Grandfather- This person is the father of your grandmother or grandfather

Great Grandmother-This person is the mother of your grandmother or grandfather.

Once removed or twice removed- This is a bit more difficult to understand.  But it simply means Read the rest of this entry

My husband and I love to travel; we consider traveling “the good life”. Last year we were lucky enough to be able to spend three weeks in Kauai and we had the time of our lives. When it comes to the important things in life it doesn’t get much better than that.

What makes this particular travel even more special is that we were able to share quality time with our daughter, son-in-law, and our two fantastic grandchildren who were 7 years and 5 years old at the time.

Some of the adventures we had included a tour of the island and a boat trip to the Fern Grotto.  We visited beautiful beaches, had picnics, swam, and boogey boarded.  We went kayaking and hiked to some of our favorite beaches including the Queen’s Bath and the Secret Beach.

In the evening we had tasty dinners, watched sunsets, were entertained with “shows” put on by our grandchildren, and played lots of Mexican Train dominos.  This is the good life and it doesn’t get much better than this.

Kauai, known as the “Garden Island”, in our opinion is the most beautiful of the Hawaiian Islands.  We like the Princeville area the best and that is where we stay when we visit.  Lucky for us we get enjoy the good life and are able to visit there every other year.

We drive to the south end of the island and visit Poipu Beach at least once during our visit, but we are always happy to return to the north end because you just can’t beat the Napali Coast. You can almost hear Bali Hai calling you.

This is just a reminder to all of you to take some time and “smell the roses” in your life and spend quality time with your loved ones.  Enjoy the good life.

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The evolution of paper has given me no choice but to provide readers with an Amazon Kindle review. The mediums which we use to read and write have evolved from stone walls, to papyrus and eventually to paper. In recent years this evolutionary process has stepped into the digital environment and the Amazon Kindle is at the forefront of this technological development. Critics have always reviewed books by only giving regard to the print while ignoring the paper. This will be a review of the modern version of paper by paying particular attention to Amazon’s Kindle.

What is the Amazon Kindle?

The Amazon Kindle is an ebook reader which allows the owner to read a digital version of magazines, newspapers or books. The Kindle was first released by Amazon in 2007 and there have been two major models released since the original. Each new Kindle has been altered and improved to make the reading experience more authentic and comfortable. The latest model is the Kindle DX and it offers a range of features which previous models did not offer.

How do I use the Kindle?

Books or newspapers are downloaded directly onto the Kindle through Amazon’s Whispernet network. The download is free of charge and the only cost involved is with regard to the book that you select to buy. When a text has been selected it is transferred onto the Kindle immediately. Amazon’s Kindle has made it possible to Read the rest of this entry

In today’s technological world we experience many conveniences that a short while ago were not available. Online banking is one of those conveniences that is not only time-saving but helps our budget. At our convenience we can choose to do our online banking, 24 hours a day whether it is day or night. No longer do financial institutions control when we do our banking. Now we can bank where ever we have access to the Internet whether it is from home or work.

The Convenience of Online Banking

At a touch of a button we know exactly where we stand with our finances. We can monitor our any of our account balances. Our statements can be viewed online and even downloaded which saves time. If you use a banking software program you can download your latest account activity when you want. It’s easy and secure to pay our bills online or make bank account transfers when necessary.

Online Alert Notifications

You can request that your financial institution send you specific alerts by email. These alerts Read the rest of this entry

Connie Talbot was 6 years old when she won Britain’s Got Talent in 2007.  What an amazing voice and remarkable talent in such a small package!  Take a few moments to enjoy.