Sunday, November 22, 2009

2009 Wenn's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten







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2009 Wenn's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten

2009 Ken's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten




See also:
1. 2008 Ken's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten
2. 2007 Ken's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten





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2009 Ken's Progress Report from Soka Kindergarten

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Smart power grid : Singapore to introduce intelligent energy management system

channelnewsasia.com :

Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA) is launching a 3-year pilot project aimed at helping households and businesses save more on electricity bills. The initiative comes on the back of higher consumption patterns and more diversified energy sources. Due to the current design of Singapore's electricity grid, users do not know how much electricity is used until the monthly power bill. The growing use of renewable/alternative energy like wind power and solar power will also create complications as power sources become intermittent and variable.

To address these challenges, EMA is rolling out the "Intelligent Energy System" project aimed at developing smart grid solutions. It includes deploying smart meters to more homes, which provide households with real-time information on their electricity usage, and help them shift demand away from peak periods. Having a smart electric grid will also ensure continued reliability in electricity supply, using renewable energy sources, and offer the ability to tap into electric cars as an energy storage system to feed power back to the grid during peak periods, also known as V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid). As technology takes off, there will be increasing demand for electricity charging by plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric cars.

- The Singapore government continues to execute on its long-term energy strategy. With the advent of Peak Oil, the era of cheap energy and certainly cheap electricity is over. The next best things to do, then, are to look into renewable/alternative energy sources, energy conservation, and certainly, energy management systems, such as grid tie solar systems, and intelligent electrical power distribution systems such as this "Intelligent Energy System".

The other notable point is the one about plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles acting as smart cars when plugged into the grid for recharging (or discharging, if that were the case) to act as a sort of distributed battery system. It would certainly be most interesting to see how this might work out seeing how it is quite likely that at night the cars would need recharging while the sun isn't shining. Which brings us back to the point that the peakoilers are making : "we need all of the above, and every bit helps" - to which the corollary might state : "but we still need reliable base-load power", though a smart power grid would certainly be useful to help even things out a bit.

See also :

1. Energy authority mulling over market for electricity futures
2. Singapore to trial EVS (Electricity Vending System) with 1000 users from Nov 2008
3. Singapore : Nuclear power not ruled out
4. Singapore electric vehicles : Government agencies EMA and LTA to study EV introduction
5. Singapore : First Zero Energy Building launched with largest solar power installation in Southeast Asia



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Smart power grid : Singapore to introduce intelligent energy management system

Friday, November 20, 2009

Anime Festival Asia 2009 (AFA09)

A fan of Japanese animations and pop culture? Wondering where to go this weekend for yourself or with kids? Check this out! The mega festival “Anime Festival Asia 2009 (AFA09)” is now on at Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre (Halls 403 and 404) from 21st to 22nd November and yes in Singapore! Featuring live concerts by [...]

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Anime Festival Asia 2009 (AFA09)

Family Tree

To what extent do you know about your family tree? Do your parents or grandparents share with you information about your ancestors? Friends that I asked around nowadays hardly know much about their ancestors who are beyond their great grandparents. So the same applies for me ..<with regrets>. I remember having dinner with some China visitors last year [...]

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Family Tree

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool, no registration needed..



While MSN-ing my niece today, i saw her avatar was so nicely done.. so, i asked her what software she used.. sigh.. i'm so out of touch.. this day and time who will install software?!? it's all done online, of cos.. meaning, no need to install any software.. u can just easily crop (cut) your photos.. just play around.. it's intuitive.. but for the fearful less savvy.. below is a quick step-by-step.. and remember, it's FREE..

1. go to http://www.picnik.com/




2. click on the below
Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool




3. click on the below
Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool



4. click on the "Create" tab
Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool



5. choose "Effect" and select an effect you want.. of cos, those tagged Premium, you need to sign up / pay a nominal fee..
Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool



6. click on the "Save & Share" tab and click "Apply" on the Apply Effect
Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool



7. give your photo a file name, move the slider to get the HIGHEST JPG Compression Quality, and "Save Photo"
Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool



8. There you are.. how cool is that? I love it! And remember, you heard it from me.. :D



        
        





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Free Online Easy Photo Editing tool, no registration needed..

Follow TFH on Twitter Contest

During the months of November and December 2009 one lucky TFH Twitter follower will win their choice of Dr. Axelrod s Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes or Dr. Burgess s Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes courtesy of T.F.H. Publications an up to $115 value! Here’s how to enter: 1. Sign up for a Twitter account (if you don t already have [...]

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Follow TFH on Twitter Contest