Appliances Under Your Smart Grid Christmas Tree - 12/18/09 05:53 AM
Appliances Under Your Smart Grid Christmas Tree
How about asking Santa to drop a smart washer/dryer combo down your chimney?  General Electric announced this week its plans to build millions of "smart" appliances, capable of measuring how much energy they're using and powering down in response to customer or utility commands.
They recently completed a pilot project with Louisville Gas & Electric, and plan to manufacture their line of smart clothes washers and dryers at the Louisville GE plant in 2012.  GE already makes a smart water heater and intends to start marketing appliances along with a home energy management device to help control them, … (1 comments)

Household Debt Drops By Record Amount - 12/10/09 01:54 PM
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announced that household debt had its biggest ever decline in the third quarter, down 2.5% with mortgage debt falling 3.5% and credit card debt falling 3.25%.

 
 
It was the fifth consecutive quarterly decline in U.S. household debt, the Fed notes. At the same time, the difference between assets and liabilities, households' net worth, rose 5% to $53.4 trillion, the second consecutive quarter of expansion.
It looks like some stabilization is finally taking hold.  The economic picture for 2010 is looking better all the time.
 
 
 
Terry Edwards     Russell & Jeffcoat Realtors
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The 2009 Geminid Meteor Shower Is Gonna Rock - 12/09/09 01:07 PM
The best meteor shower of 2009 is about to occur over North America
The Geminid meteor shower will peak on Sunday evening Dec. 13th and continue into Monday morning  
No moon in the night sky this year means a good deep, dark background that will allow us to see even the smaller, faint meteors

The above drawing is courtesy of Sky & Telescope
The activity should begin after 9 PM when the constellation Gemini rises over the horizon in the east.  Meteor counts for this shower have been increasing for decades so I'm hoping for a really good display.
Meteors are pieces … (6 comments)