A blog in the NY Times speculates about the possibility that Apple may be working on a small “notebook” computer.
Gizmodo shows a photo of a what such a notebook might look like:
It looks an awful lot like my beloved Radio Shack Model 100, the original notebook, circa 1983!
It’s still working. It appears that the Model 100 form and function can hardly be improved. Not to mention it’s hearty 32k memory!
Blog comment pertaining to ground source heat pump as mentioned on Ira’s Wisconsin Public Radio appearance of 27October:
One can deliver to their house 3-4 times the heat energy with a heat pump than with electric resistance heaters. But that doesn’t make the technology Green, especially if it is powered by electricity made by burning coal as is typical here in western Wisconsin.
A friend here is excited that he can heat is house for a year on something around $400 of off-peak electricity. That works out to approximately 8,000 kWh or nominally 8,000 pounds of coal burned by the power plant to heat his house.
Our house requires around 600 gallons of propane for a year, or 2,640 pounds of propane which last year cost $1,000. The houses are reasonably similar in square feet of living area.
So which is more green? Spending $400 and burning 8,000 pounds of coal or spending $1,000 and 2,640 pounds of propane? It’s pretty obvious which one is cheaper.
The expensive to purchase heat pump + its large CO2 footprint is why there won’t be a ground source heat pump at this house but there will instead be solar hot water panels on the house, in addition to those on i just installed on the shop. The present propane heat at the house will become the backup for the solar panels.
Pete in Wisconsin