Google Does Something Idiotic

Google has done away with the Saved Locations feature on Google Maps.  That's right.  You can no longer assign labels to addresses and save them in Google Maps.  Instead, they're pushing people toward using Web History to save their addresses, along with everything else they do online.

Who's the genius at Google responsible for this "feature" change?  Give yourself a pat on the back.  Congratulations on moving loyal users to competitor sites.

New Organic Restaurant in Arlington, VA

A new vegan-friendly, organic restaurant has opened in Arlington, VA.  Details here: http://vegtalk.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-organic-restaurant-in-arlington-va.html

Hopper Full of Pellets

Here's the pellet stove hopper full to the brim.  This is two bags of wood pellets (80 lbs), which will burn for 48 hours on my pellet stove's lowest setting.  The lowest setting is sufficient most of the time (unless it's extremely cold outside) and does a great job heating the entire main floor of the house.

Fired Up the Pellet Stove

I've already had to fire up the pellet stove a few times.  It looks pretty though, doesn't it?  This thing throws a lot of heat.  I keep it on the lowest setting and it heats the entire main floor of the house.

And, one of the rooms in my basement is dedicated to storing wood pellets:

Online Movie Ticketing Comes to PEI

Prince Edward Island continues to (slowly) join the modern world.  Empire Theatres, which operates one theatre in Charlottetown and one in Summerside, has introduced online ticketing.

City Cinema, Charlottetown's independent movie theatre, has offered an online ticketing service for quite a while.  (They charge 50 cents per ticket.)  However, this blog post refers to the island's mainstream movie theatres.

I decided to try out the service last night when I went to see Surrogates (good movie by the way).  I browsed to the movie showtimes for Charlottetown and clicked on the time I wanted to see the movie.  I was then prompted for my email address and payment information.

A six-digit booking reference number was then displayed on the screen and emailed to me.  I brought the printout to the theatre with me just in case.  When I arrived at the theatre, I went straight to an automated box office machine and clicked, "Pick Up Tickets."  I input the six-digit booking reference number and my ticket spit out almost instantly.

Verdict?  I really like the service.  It was much faster than waiting forever for the automated box office machine to approve my transaction or in a line at the ticket counter.  Best part?  The service is completely free.  Empire Theatres does not add a service fee at all.

Here's the link for those of you wanting to purchase movie tickets in Charlottetown: http://www.empiretheatres.com/theatre/showtimes/61

Heating with Wood Pellets

I had my pellet stove serviced the other day because the Canadian winter is quickly approaching.  I'm trying to be as prepared as possible for the deep freeze this year.

Last year my wife and I purchased a Flame FP-45 pellet stove (pictured to the left) at Home Hardware, our local hardware store.  It burns wood pellets and puts out a maximum of 45,000 BTUs.

I highly recommend a pellet stove for those of you who live in areas that have pretty cold winters.

My pellet stove has six heat settings.  I usually run it on the lowest setting, which burns just one 40lb bag of pellets a day (a bag costs about $6).  So, in the Canadian winter, I'm able to heat the main level of our home with just one bag of pellets a day.  The heat produced by the pellets feels really nice and does a great job warming up the house.  I do have to heat the basement with oil but the main level is taken care of by the pellet stove.

For those of you who have hot water baseboards in your house I highly recommend installing the product ThermGuard.  The device manually calls for water from your boiler every so often in order to prevent them from freezing.  You are able to set the interval (how often the device calls for water) and the duration (how long it circulates water for).  I set mine to run every 2 hrs for 5 min at a time.

Wood pellets burn clean and are a renewable heat source.  It's much more eco-friendly.  I highly recommend a pellet stove for those of you interested in using less fossil fuels.

Steps to Solving Climate Change

(Cross-posted at Vegan Talk: http://vegtalk.blogspot.com/2009/09/steps-to-solving-climate-change.html)

I'm sick and tired of government, politicians, and corporations dancing around the issue of climate change.  We're sacrificing our planet for economic reasons.  Don't you think that's crazy?  We've also become accustomed to our way of life and are reluctant to change.

We've been destroying the earth for far too long and we need to take action now.

Here's what we need to do to fix climate change:

1. Adopt a vegan diet
• Raising animals for food is an ecological disaster.  Eating animal products is the single worst thing you can do for the environment.  It takes far more resources to raise animals for food when we could be using less by eating lower on the food chain.  If you really care about the planet and want to make a change please go vegan.  Take action now: Read more about veganism and even get a free vegan starter kit at Vegan Outreach.
2. Farm organically only
   
• Conventional farming methods are not sustainable and the pesticides, herbicides, and many chemicals are killing us and our planet.  We need to stop subsidizing products that are killing us, ban chemicals, and farm organically only.  Take action now: Support organic farmers by purchasing only organic produce in your grocery store.  Better yet, visit your farmer market and find organic and local produce there.  You can also purchase clothing made with organic cotton.
  
3. Green the grid
• There's a disconnect between flipping on a light switch and understanding how the electricity got there.  Most of the grid is powered by fossil fuels (coal).  We need to switch to solar and wind power and stop using fossil fuels and nuclear power.  If we invest in renewable technology we'll create a sustainable system and many jobs in the process.  Take action now: Invest in solar and wind power or install the technology yourself.
  
4. Stop using oil
• At the same time we're greening the grid we should invest heavily in designing and manufacturing electric cars.  GM created an electric car with a decent range years ago but then pulled it before it went to market (watch the movie Who Killed the Electric Car? for more information).  The technology is there.  We just need to stop letting the oil companies control our policies and our planet.  Those that are smart will switch to renewable energy, those that aren't will die out.  This will also mean people will stop using oil to heat their homes.  Instead, people in colder climates can use electricity from the green grid or something like a pellet stove.  Take action now: Drive only when you need to and buy a fuel-efficient vehicle.
  
5. Ban incandescent bulbs
• We can't just green the grid and still consume the same amount of power.  We ultimately need to use less.  Australia has banned incandescent light bulbs.  Why can't we?  It's such a simple change and uses only 1/4 of the electricity.  Take action now: Switch out your light bulbs with CFLs.
  
6. Manufacture only products that meet Energy Star guidelines (where applicable)
• For the same reasons as above, we need to produce the most energy-efficient appliances.  Take action now: When you need a new appliance look for one that has the Energy Star certification.
  
7. Recycle everything
• I can't believe some areas still don't have decent recycling programs.  We need to be recycling everything we use.  On the same note, we should be manufacturing products with post-consumer material to reuse and cut down on the resources we need.  Take action now: Be diligent about making the most of your area's recycling program.  Recycle everything you can.
  

Do you have ideas?  Please add your comments.