Tips To Improve Fuel Mileage

With gas prices at all-time high, motorists are looking for ways to improve gas mileage. Here are a few things to remember:

• Warming up your vehicle in the driveway wastes gas. Drive slowly for the first few blocks instead to bring your engine to optimal driving temperature.
• Smooth, gradual acceleration increases fuel mileage; rapid starts waste gas. Try to maintain a steady rate of speed and take advantage of timed traffic lights.
• Watch your speed. For every mile per hour over 50, mileage decreases roughly one percent. When traveling at a steady speed, most vehicles get their best fuel economy between 35 and 45 mph.
• Proper tire inflation and wheel alignment decrease road resistance and increase mileage. Check tire pressure monthly and rotate tires using your vehicles specific maintenance schedule.
• A well-maintained vehicle will run properly and use fuel more efficiently.
• Use your air conditioning wisely. With the air on, your engine uses more fuel.
• Drive less by planning ahead. Try to do all your errands in one trip and plan the most efficient route.
• Don't vent your anger behind the wheel. Aggressive acceleration wastes gas and can be dangerous as well.
• When you see a red light or stop sign ahead, take your foot off the accelerator and let your vehicle coast in gear. This lets momentum get you to the intersection.
• Shift properly. If you have a manual transmission, shifting into high gear as soon as possible without straining the engine reduces drag and uses less fuel.

Problems Caused By Electronic Waste

Electronic waste, if treated properly, is a valuable source for secondary raw materials. However if not treated properly it is a major source of toxins and carcinogens. Rapid technology change, low initial cost and even planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast growing problem around the globe. Technical solutions are available but in most cases a legal framework, a collection system, logistics and other services need to be implemented before a technical solution can be applied. Electronic waste represents 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste.
Due to lower environmental standards and working conditions in China, India, Kenya, and elsewhere, electronic waste is being sent to these countries for processing – in most cases illegally. Guiyu in Shantou region of China, and Delhi and Bangalore in India, all have electronic waste processing areas. Uncontrolled burning, disassembly, and disposal are causing environmental and health problems, including occupational safety and health effects among those directly involved, due to the methods of processing the waste. The Basel Convention controls trade in electronic waste.

Electronic waste is of concern largely due to the toxicity and carcinogenicity of some of the substances if processed improperly. Toxic substances in electronic waste may include lead, mercury, and cadmium. Carcinogenic substances in electronic waste may include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A typical computer monitor may contain more than 6% lead by weight, much of which is in the lead glass of the CRT. Capacitors, transformers, PVC insulated wires, PVC coated components that were manufactured before 1977 often contain dangerous amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls. Up to thirty-eight separate chemical elements are incorporated into electronic waste items. The unsustainability of discarding electronics and computer technology is another reason for the need to recycle – or perhaps more practically, reuse – electronic waste.

Electronic waste processing systems have matured in recent years following increased regulatory, public, and commercial scrutiny, and a commensurate increase in entrepreneurial interest. Part of this evolution has involved greater diversion of electronic waste from energy intensive, down-cycling processes (e.g. conventional recycling) where equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This diversion is achieved through reuse and refurbishing. The environmental and social benefits of reuse are several: diminished demand for new products and their commensurate requirement for virgin raw materials (with their own environmental externalities not factored into the cost of the raw materials) and larger quantities of pure water and electricity for associated manufacturing, less packaging per unit, availability of technology to wider swaths of society due to greater affordability of products, and diminished use of landfills.
Challenges remain, when materials cannot or will not be reused, conventional recycling or disposal via landfill often follow. Standards for both approaches vary widely by jurisdiction, whether in developed or developing countries. The complexity of the various items to be disposed of, cost of environmentally sound recycling systems, and the need for concerned and concerted action to collect and systematically process equipment are the resources most lacked -- though this is changing. Many of the plastics used in electronic equipment contain flame-retardants. These are generally halogens added to the plastic resin, making the plastics difficult to recycle.

2007 Pulitzer Prize Category Definitions

The Pulitzer Prize, pronounced Pull-it-ser, is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. It is administered by Columbia University in New York City. Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of these, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash reward. The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal, which always goes to a newspaper, although an individual may be named in the citation.

The Pulitzer Prize category definitions in the 2007 competition, in the order they are awarded, are:

• Public Service—for a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper through the use of its journalistic resources, which may include editorials, cartoons, and photographs, as well as reporting. Often thought of as the grand prize, the Public Service award is given to the newspaper, not to individuals, though individuals are often mentioned for their contributions.
• Breaking News Reporting—for a distinguished example of local reporting of breaking news.
• Investigative Reporting—for a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series.
• Explanatory Reporting—for a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing, and clear presentation.
• Local Reporting—for a distinguished example of local reporting that illuminates significant issues or concerns. National Reporting—for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs.
• International Reporting—for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence.
• Feature Writing—for a distinguished example of feature writing giving prime consideration to high literary quality and originality.
• Commentary—for distinguished commentary.
• Criticism—for distinguished criticism.
• Editorial Writing—for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clarity of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning, and power to influence public opinion in what the writer conceives to be the right direction.
• Editorial Cartooning—for a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing, and pictorial effect.

Microsoft's new tool for Virtualization- Hyper-V Server 2008

Virtualization is an efficient way to run multiple operating systems on a single piece of hardware the two primary uses, which it serves, are server virtualization and desktop virtualization. Hyper-V Server 2008 is a stand-alone product that enables organizations to incerase the utilization of the server and thereby reduces the operating costs by allowing them to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server. It can easily plug into customers' existing IT environments helping them manage their existing patching, provisioning, management and support tools, and processes.

Customers should use Windows Server 2008 for better robust virtualization features when compared to other servers. Doing so provides business continuity, greater scalability, disaster recovery for unifying large workloads, and flexible and cost-effective virtualization rights. You are also entitled to certain free perks from Microsoft when you purchase a Windows Server 2008 for instance one free virtual instance for Standard Edition, four free virtual instances for Enterprise Editions, and unlimited virtual instances for Data center Edition with the purchase of a license of Windows Server 2008.

FDA’s Food And Dietary Supplements

The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is the branch of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), which is responsible for ensuring the safety and accurate labeling of nearly all food products in the United States. One exception is products derived from traditional domesticated animals, such as cattle and chickens, which fall under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service. FDA regulates products, which contain minimal amounts of meat, and the exact boundaries are listed in a memorandum of understanding between the two agencies. However, FDA regulates medicines and other products given to all domesticated animals through a different branch, the Center for Veterinary Medicine. Other consumables, which are not regulated by the FDA, include beverages containing more than 7% alcohol, and non-bottled drinking water.

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 mandated that the FDA regulate dietary supplements as foods, rather than as drugs. Therefore, dietary supplements are not subject to safety and efficacy testing and there are no approval requirements. FDA can take action against dietary supplements only after they are proven to be unsafe. Manufacturers of dietary supplements are permitted to make specific claims of health benefits, referred to as "structure or function claims" on the labels of these products. They may not claim to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent disease and must include a disclaimer on the label.The FDA regulates bottled water in America. State governments also regulate bottled water. State and local regulations, as well as the United States EPA regulate tap water. FDA regulations of bottled water generally follow the guidelines established by the EPA, and new EPA rules automatically apply to bottled water if the FDA does not release an explicit new rule. Water bottlers in the US are subject to inspection similar to other food firms, but quality controls for the bottled water industry are not nearly as stringent as those for municipal water supplies.