So this may be a bit of a diversion from photography, but it’s such a great find i had to share.  I’ve been really impressed with some of the products Costco has been bringing into the Vancouver store recently.  I tell my friends “before you ask me where it’s from,  fill in ‘Costco’ and if it fits, that’s your answer”   If I could change my Facebook status to ‘in a relationship with Costco’, that would also work.

So on my last weekly visit i came across this gem,  100% recycled paper that IS NOT bleached.

It’s almost too good to be true, made with renewable energy,  no trees cut,  no Chlorine bleach (one of the most caustic cycles in recycled paper) and 100% recycled.

The one negative would be that the paper is not as pure a white as the traditional office papers which are bleached and do come from trees,  but in this ‘green’ age, beige could be the new white!

I ran a test on the inkjet between the two papers and you might think the ink would blend more on a ’softer’ recycled mix, but the printed text actually looked slightly sharper on this paper… Wow!

Every now and then something comes across your desk that changes the way you work; the brick phone,  dial up internet,  facebook,  angry birds, etc.    I’m gonna put this app in that group… it feels like the edge of change!  Right now the current version is about three bucks at the app store (their competitors are charging $30!!).   The nice thing is it’s universal for PC’s and Mac’s alike… and even android users.   I have to say however that my Mac experience linking it to the Ipad and Iphone was seamless.

After you download the software online and install onto your device, there is one more download to the computer you want to sync to.  You are able to sync to as many computers (Mac and PC) as you like and access them all through this interface.

The nice thing about the computer install program, is that they also include an uninstall script.  This program is downloaded from their website.

Click on the computer you wish to access ( I only have one set up at the moment), and you are taken to this window asking for your access code which you set up on you computer.   This can be auto filled or entered each time you access, but I highly suggest manually entering an intricate password  each time… it is the internet after all.

Voila!  you are now remotely controlling your computer (this take your system out of sleep/screensaver mode… keep this in mind as your system is now unlocked wherever it is)  What I find amazing is that you can operate any of your programs as if you were there… even ram hogs like photoshop and lightroom on your ipad(android, iphone, etc)

This is the window that shows up with a three finger tap.  My screen is set to native resolution which displays my entire (home) monitor, and can be switched between monitors (I have 2).   You can also choose  between ipad resolution and a fixed resolution.   The desktop can be scaled and moved between two fingers so you don’t need a magnifying glass.

So why do this anyway?    If you have ever had to help your parents or anyone over the phone  for ‘tech’ help?  Now they can watch live (and there is live voice too) while you navigate around the computer from another location.   Personally, I think back to my last trip to Mexico when I had a magazine call for some images and  could not get to my raid array to send them.   Now it’s as easy as signing in, accessing my files and remotely sending them from my home email.

So far Wifi has worked very well.  Now i need to experiment with my phone on the G3 network.   It would also be worthwhile to have a mouse with the ipad which would make this program so much more functional, but currently that is only available through a jailbreak.

Downsides:

• I am not able to activate my screen saver and lock the computer remotely (takes 15 min to fall in to sleep mode) because the screen does not let me put it all the way into the corner to activate the hot button… it may work in other screen resolutions.
• It’s challenging to get use to tapping instead of ‘clicking’… prefer a mouse option!

Upsides:

• everything else!

You can read more at http://www.splashtop.com/

For the month of November,  BC hydro is offering a $15 immediate rebate off LED bulbs at Home Depot in BC.  I was amazed to learn that changing out just the four – 60 watt overhead incandescent bulbs in my kitchen amounts to $456 in energy savings over the life of the bulbs.    Well so far, I’ve changed out about 35 bulbs of varying wattage reducing  1200 watts of energy usage… That is close to the equivalent of a space heater or or  hair dryer.

So according to the rated energy savings of these new LED’s over using incandescent bulbs,  that equates to appprox $2830 over the lifetime of the bulbs (rated between 25,000  and 30,000 hours ea.).  The cost of purchasing these lights so far has been $550.

Compact fluorescents contain mercury and produce ‘dirty electricity’ that can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome, which is characterized by muscle aches, weakness and fatigue, and may also may cause headaches, depression, aches and pains, dizziness, memory loss or confusion; and impaired sleep… this has been one of the main reasons i have switched back to incandescent (from fluorescent) and now to LED technology.

In the past I have used a combination of daylight, and cool fluorescents mixed with tungsten bulbs to get as close as possible to ‘daylight’ – 6500 kelvin’ light temperature in the makeup room and print media room.   You may be saying ‘you can get daylight fluorescents’, but they produce excessive UV and are missing noticeable parts of the spectrum.   I was very pleased to find a 40 watt Philips LED that produces 5000 kelvin which is a very acceptable color temperature for my makeup artist to work under*.    My digital camera is  balanced to 6500 kelvin as ‘daylight’ (•as is yours),  and my flash equipment is daylight balanced so it makes sense to create an environment for the makeup artist  that mimics daylight as close as possible.

Some additional advantages:

Instant ‘on’ light  •  Dimmable  •  Mercury and lead free  •  quiet (no hum) operation •  Emits virtually no heat and will not fade fabrics or furnishings  •  Color temperature stays consistent as you dim (tungsten goes noticeably orange)

While LED’s are still relatively expensive to make the jump, especially when the payback is over years,  you have to ask the questions about your health, overall carbon footprint, and practical uses to determine if they are right for you.

*refers to the the calibration of your digital camera – Daylight = 6500K,  not what you have it set on  i.e.  shade, cloudy, flash etc.

*Philips Lumileds’ patented conformal coating process addresses the issue of varying phosphor thickness, giving the white LEDs a more homogeneous white light – WO 2008104936