Technology – Page 3

Kaysville City Conservation Charge

February 7, 2011 by rickety 2 Comments

History

Over eight months ago I wrote about the city conservation charge for electricity that was not detailed on resident’s utilities service bills. At the invitation of Mayor Steve Hiatt I brought this to the attention of Kaysville City Council five days later.

From Kaysville City minutes of 1 June 2010:

Richard Willoughby stated that he has a concern with how the City bills for electricity. He explained that billing is on a tier system. If the bill goes over 1,000 kwh in a month the customer pays an additional amount, which is about 20.6%. That is not explained on the bill. To make it more clear, a software change should be made so that there is a better explanation on the bill. (Public Hearing Minutes)

Finance Director Dean Storey said at the meeting, if I recall correctly, that this change was already being planned before I brought up the issue. From the same minutes:

Dean Storey explained that he is looking at revising the utility bill to include additional information and historical usage. He explained that residential meters are on a two tier system where people pay more after 1,000 kwh to promote conservation. It also costs the City more to buy additional resources.

At the meeting it was also stated that the utility bill was being redesigned and would make it clear at what rate(s) electricity was being paid.

Questions

Eight months ago the change was already in progress. Is this update more complicated than it first appeared?
The redesigned bill of January 2011 (see image below) has no reference to the conservation charge. Is another redesign planned?
Is there an estimate available for the implementation of the planned software change? Note that the calculations are already in place, they are just not printed on the bill.

January 2011 bill with document revision date and usage circled (click to enlarge)

Answers

If you have any answers to the questions above, or just want to add to the discussion, please comment and I will insert a summary of any answers here.
I will also be glad to correct any part of this post that is in error.

Conclusions

Understandably, this is not a high priority. However, it would be helpful for residents to have Kaysville City remind them that there is a conservation charge being levied. This is best accomplished at the time of billing, as is the practice of other power companies.

I am appreciative of the hard working Kaysville City employees and understand that not every request by residents can be implemented, but…

Trying to incentivize residents with a hidden conservation charge has little chance of success.

Sources and Notes

Consolidated Fee Schedule 2010 (PDF), see page 10 for electricity rates. If no longer available, try this link.
Public Hearing Minutes 1 June 2010.
Comic created using Strip Generator.

Updates

10 March 2011 — A question arose about the new utilities service bill. On the January and February 2011 bills there is an “Energy Use Tax” that has a dollar amount of “.00” as the second entry in the “Description of Current Services.” Is this the conservation charge or some other fee/tax to come later? The conservation charge is still currently hidden within the “Electric” entry.

For example, looking at my electric bill of $96.29 (excluding sales tax of $3.66):

(1,000 kwh X .09 = $90.00) + (58 kwh X .1085 = $6.29) = $96.29

So the new bill is worse than the old in that it can give the impression that there is no energy surcharge for exceeding 1,000 kwh whereas there is an additional markup of 20.6%.

Paul Straightens Out His Jeep

January 29, 2011 by rickety 5 Comments

This little Jeep tale is best told in photos and video.

Paul slid on some ice on a mountain trail two weeks ago

Today Paul straightened out his Jeep. Daniel removes the grill

This contraption will pull the bumper free that is tangled in the body

A chain is attached to the bumper

A floor jack is attached to our tree

Video: Freeing The Bumper

Video: Removing The Bumper

Once the bumper is removed the body can be pulled clear of the wheel

The chain is attached to the body

Video: Freeing The Wheel

Jeep Wreck

Now don’t you weep
Over your Jeep.
In just a day or two
It will be good as new.
Beep, beep. Beep beep!

15 Military Action Photographs

January 27, 2011 by rickety 2 Comments

The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of the United States of America.

Largest Employer

The Department of Defense is America’s oldest and largest government agency. With over 1.4 million men and women on active duty, and 718,000 civilian personnel, the Department of Defense is the nation’s largest employer. Another 1.1 million serve in the National Guard and Reserve forces.

The Pentagon

Headquarters of the Department of Defense, the Pentagon is one of the world’s largest office buildings. It is twice the size of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, and has three times the floor space of the Empire State Building in New York.

Built during the early years of World War II, it is still thought of as one of the most efficient office buildings in the world. Despite 17.5 miles of corridors it takes only seven minutes to walk between any two points in the building.

The Department’s physical plant is huge, consisting of more than several hundred thousand individual buildings and structures located at more than 5,000 different locations or sites. When all sites are added together, the Department of Defense utilizes over 30 million acres of land.

Fifteen Photographs

The following photographs show the United States military in action while training and in combat. The only criteria for selection was that a photograph showed weaponry in use and that I liked the image.

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew Rigsby and Air Force Staff Sgts. Devlin Long and Scott Underdoll detonate a controlled disposal of an improvised explosive device near Espandi, Afghanistan, Jan. 10, 2011. Rigsby, Long and Underoll, all explosive ordnance disposal technicians, are assigned to Forward Operating Base Ghazni.

U.S. Marines, Reconnaissance and Explosive Ordnance Disposal, take cover from a blast during the Dynamic Entry course on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Oct. 29, 2008. The 10-day course is held semi-annually, by the III Marine Expeditionary Forces Special Operations Training Group to teach Marines how to breach buildings, through various techniques.

U.S. Army Pfc. Mark Ayers stands ready to dispose of spent brass during a artillery live fire qualification range on Memorial Range, Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, May 21, 2010. Ayers is assigned to Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery. The soldiers are required to conduct range qualification to keep the fire team’s accuracy and timing at its best.

A U.S. Marine with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment provides support by fire during Operation Cobra’s Anger in Now Zad, Afghanistan, on Dec. 5, 2009. The Marines are clearing buildings occupied by insurgents.

The U.S. Navy launches two modified Standard Missile-2 Block IV interceptors from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie during a Missile Defense Agency test to intercept a short-range ballistic missile target, June 5, 2008. The missiles intercepted the target approximately 12 miles above the Pacific Ocean 100 miles west of Kauai, Hawaii, on the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ryan Pettit (left) and Cpl. Matthew Miller with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment fire their service rifles during an operation in the Helmand province of Afghanistan on July 3, 2009. The Marines are part of the ground combat element of Regiment Combat Team 3, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher fires its MK-45 5-inch/54-caliber lightweight gun during a gun exercise in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 22, 2011. Mitscher is conducting a composite training unit exercise as part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group to prepare for an upcoming combat deployment.

U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery train on firing points with an M119 Howitzer outside Camp Liberty in Iraq on Dec. 23, 2005.

U.S. Army Pvt. Adam Eggers shoots his M4 rifle at a live-fire range on Camp Blessing in Kunar province, Afghanistan, July 27, 2009. Eggers is assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade.

Marine Lance Cpl. Gary R. Nichols fires an AT-4 light anti-armor weapon at an old tank during fire and maneuver training near Camp Bucca, Iraq, on July 18, 2005. Nichols and his fellow Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) are operating out of Camp Bucca to conduct various force protection missions.

A ground-based interceptor lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Dec. 5, 2008. The launch is a test of the Ballistic Missile Defense System, which successfully intercepted a long-range target launched from Kodiak, Alaska.

U.S. soldiers fire 120mm mortars from their Stryker MCV-B during crew certification at Fort Lewis, Wash., May 30, 2008. The soldiers are assigned to 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.

U.S. Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment deploy an MK-154 Mine Clearing Line Charge system during assault training at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., Jan. 18, 2009.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Kyle Page, right, and an Estonian Defense Forces member make their way over rubble as a controlled detonation explodes behind them during a clearing operation in Northern Now Zad, Afghanistan, Oct. 26, 2008. Page is a team leader with 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, attached to Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.

Smoke spews from the muzzle of an M-198 howitzer as a projectile is launched down Artillery Firing Area 8 at Camp Pendleton, Calif, July 7, 2005. With the reality of guerrilla warfare in Iraq, Marines from Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, broke in the new firing base tailored to what they’ll face in Iraq.

Sources

Photographs and descriptions: U.S. Department of Defense.

The Falling Populations of Europe

January 8, 2011 by rickety 2 Comments

Living in England in the sixties and seventies, I recall that there was great consternation among the scientists that overpopulation would doom Europe to starvation. It didn’t turn out that way.

Today no European country has a replacement total fertility rate of 2.1 and over half are below 1.5. Indeed the World total fertility rate has been falling for 60 years and will continue to do so.

Peak Population

In 2009 I highlighted the falling fertility of Europe. To see the real effect of falling fertility one can look at when populations will peak.

For Europeans, over a third of their countries have already passed their peak population. By 2050 over 75% of European countries will be peaked populations.

Of the twelve countries still to peak after 2050, only Turkey and the United Kingdom, it is estimated, will be growing at over 30,000 a year. In contrast, there will be nine countries that will be losing over 30,000 a year of their populations.

By 2050 European countries will be shedding 2.2 million people a year.

The Future of Europe

The future of European economies does not look promising as their populations fall. A declining population due to low fertility rates is accompanied by population aging. The young will have to increase per-capita output in order to support an infrastructure with costly, intensive care for the oldest among their population.

Many industrial economies have mortgaged the future by way of debt and retirement transfer payments that originally assumed rising tax revenues from a continually expanding population. As there would be fewer taxpayers in a declining population, this can contribute to a lower standard of living.

Because of labor shortages, labor-intensive sectors of the economy may be hurt if the shortage is severe enough. On the positive side, such a shortage increases the demand for labor, which can potentially result in a reduced unemployment rate as well as higher wages.

European Population Prospects

Click ONCE on column headers to sort.

Country¹	Peak Year	Peak	2010	2050	TFR	Year Δ
Hungary	1980	10,707,000	9,973,000	8,934,000	1.34	-26,000
Bulgaria	1985	8,960,000	7,497,000	5,392,000	1.40	-52,000
Armenia	1990	3,545,000	3,090,000	3,018,000	1.35	-12,000
Bosnia & Herzegovina	1990	4,308,000	3,760,000	3,008,000	1.24	-28,000
Estonia	1990	1,567,000	1,339,000	1,233,000	1.42	-3,000
Georgia	1990	5,460,000	4,219,000	3,267,000	1.44	-28,000
Latvia	1990	2,663,000	2,240,000	1,854,000	1.29	-8,000
Lithuania	1990	3,698,000	3,255,000	2,579,000	1.22	-16,000
Romania	1990	23,207,000	21,190,000	17,279,000	1.38	-120,000
Ukraine	1990	51,583,000	45,433,000	35,026,000	1.25	-237,000
Belarus	1995	10,270,000	9,588,000	7,275,000	1.23	-67,000
Croatia	1995	4,669,000	4,410,000	3,825,000	1.41	-18,000
Moldova²	1995	4,432,603	4,317,483	3,635,357	1.26	-27,066
Poland	1995	38,595,000	38,038,000	32,013,000	1.27	-222,000
Russia	1995	148,497,000	140,367,000	116,097,000	1.40	-600,000
Serbia	1995	10,204,000	9,856,000	9,193,000	1.69	-28,000
Germany	2005	82,409,000	82,057,000	70,504,000	1.41	-400,000
Italy	2015	60,604,000	60,098,000	57,066,000	1.30	-162,000
Portugal	2015	10,787,000	10,732,000	10,015,000	1.49	-40,000
Greece	2020	11,284,000	11,183,000	10,939,000	1.36	-21,000
Slovakia	2020	5,442,000	5,412,000	4,917,000	1.34	-24,000
Slovenia	2020	2,053,000	2,025,000	1,954,000	1.27	-4,000
Andorra²	2025	85,112	84,525	74,765	1.32	-715
Czech Republic	2025	10,573,000	10,411,000	10,294,000	1.23	-8,000
Macedonia²	2025	2,119,511	2,072,086	1,990,728	1.58	-8,497
Albania	2030	3,416,000	3,169,000	3,303,000	2.02	-10,000
Finland	2030	5,544,000	5,346,000	5,445,000	1.73	-5,000
Liechtenstein²	2030	37,933	35,002	35,911	1.51	-37
Malta	2030	427,000	410,000	413,000	1.51	-1,000
Montenegro	2030	634,000	626,000	618,000	1.83	-1,000
Austria	2035	8,639,000	8,387,000	8,515,000	1.38	-11,000
Denmark	2035	5,621,000	5,481,000	5,551,000	1.74	-6,000
Monaco²	2035	32,550	30,586	29,810	1.75	-281
Netherlands	2035	17,572,000	16,653,000	17,399,000	1.66	-18,000
San Marino²	2040	36,311	31,477	35,178	1.35	-150
Azerbaijan	2045	10,614,000	8,934,000	10,579,000	2.05	-7,000
Iceland	2050	407,000	329,000	407,000	1.91	0
Belgium	After 2050	After 2050	10,698,000	11,493,000	1.65	4,000
Cyprus	After 2050	After 2050	880,000	1,175,000	1.79	6,000
France	After 2050	After 2050	62,637,000	67,668,000	1.98	1,000
Ireland	After 2050	After 2050	4,589,000	6,295,000	1.85	30,000
Kazakhstan	After 2050	After 2050	15,753,000	17,848,000	1.88	9,000
Luxembourg	After 2050	After 2050	492,000	733,000	1.78	6,000
Norway	After 2050	After 2050	4,855,000	5,947,000	1.78	18,000
Spain	After 2050	After 2050	45,317,000	51,260,000	1.30	27,000
Sweden	After 2050	After 2050	9,293,000	10,571,000	1.67	26,000
Switzerland	After 2050	After 2050	7,595,000	8,514,000	1.44	18,000
Turkey	After 2050	After 2050	75,705,000	97,389,000	1.87	191,000
United Kingdom	After 2050	After 2050	61,899,000	72,365,000	1.66	211,000

Table³ last updated January 8, 2011

Notes

1. The meaning of the column headers:

Country — All European countries except the Vatican.
Peak Year — The estimated population peak year, to a resolution of 5 years.
Peak — The estimated population peak.
2010 — Essentially the current population.
2050 — The estimated population in 2050.
TFR — The Total Fertility Rate is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime.
Year Δ — The estimated yearly change in population from 2045 to 2050.

2. International Data Base, all others World Population Prospects.
3. The more conservative medium fertility variant was used for most countries. Fertility is assumed to converge eventually toward a level of 1.85 children per woman. However, not all countries reach this level by 2045-2050. Projection procedures differ slightly depending on whether a country had a total fertility above or below 1.85 children per woman in 2005-2010.

Sources

Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision, accessed January 8, 2011.
U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base, accessed January 8, 2011.
Wikipedia, Economic Consequences of Population Decline, accessed January 8, 2011.

External Articles

This list is updated occasionally, with newer additions listed first.

The Shrinking North — Europe’s population will peak in the early 2020’s.
Seven billion strong — Expansion of the planet’s most precious resource: human ingenuity.
Census shows population decline — Greece’s population has shrunk by more than 1 percent.
Lithuanian census shows steep fall in population — Lost 700,000 people in 20 years.
12 Countries Most Likely to Go Belly-Up — Includes 11 European countries.
Why the US outstrips Europe for population growth — Europe is less attractive to newcomers.
Thomas Malthus: Wrong Yesterday, Right Today? — Population is not the problem.
Could Demographic Trends Cripple Europe by 2050? — Demography is destiny.
Baby Gap: Germany’s Birth Rate Hits Historic Low — German birth rate drops to 1946 level.

The Ten Most Popular Posts of 2010

January 6, 2011 by rickety 2 Comments

Merged photographs from #1, #3, and #9 listed posts

Around the blogosphere I have noticed that a few bloggers have published their top ten posts of 2010. For example, consider the Harvard Business Review, Parents as Teachers, and the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. I decided my top ten list could be just as interesting — or boring.

In 2010 Rickety received 56,309 visits from 168 countries, generating 99,368 pageviews. Of my 248 posts published in 2010, these were the ten most popular:

12 Beautiful Mongolian Landscape Photographs
United States Total Fertility Rate Increases (#1 in 2009)
World Total Fertility Rate Declines
Bank Rewards Checking (#4 in 2009)
Ten Artists Paint Old Testament Women
Mongolia (#2 in 2009)
Build an Arc Welder from Microwave Ovens (#7 in 2009)
Defense Spending by Country (#5 in 2009)
Updated LDS Church Membership Statistics
Build an Arc Welder from Microwave Ovens: Part 2

Judging by the above list you would think my blog was about Mongolia, fertility, and arc welders with a little finance and religion thrown in. Well it is — with the addition of posts about my family and a pinch of politics.

Follow the link for more Rickety statistics.

Rick Needs

January 4, 2011 by rickety 12 Comments

Rick Needs

I last tried this in 2008 and it never fails to amuse me. It seems to work for almost any name. The idea is to search on Google with the words Rick needs, but substituting in your name. Then examine the first ten hits and extract the essence of the results and compile a list of what you supposedly need.
Here are the first ten Rick needs that Google listed when I searched tonight:

What Rick needs. [This is my 2008 post.]
Rick needs a massage.
Rick needs a sparring pal.
Rick needs to get his own show on Oprah.
Rick needs numbers. [Rick went swimming with his phone and needs to rebuild his phone list.]
Rick needs chord inversions.
Rick needs an expert weapon smith.
Rick needs moral support. [After rotator cuff surgery.]
Rick needs more babies in Connecticut.
Rick needs solid breath.

Interestingly, one of the commenters on the original 2008 post made a prediction that did indeed come about:

Over time, the browser will shift and new needs will appear…perhaps listing the rick’s needs sets about filling needs? (Galveston Wizard Comment)

Comparing the August 2008 results with today’s it looks like the only thing I still need from 2008 is a massage.

Try your name and see what you need. Then share the results.

People of India

November 17, 2010 by rickety 12 Comments

The Republic of India is the seventh-largest country by geographical area with the most populous democracy in the world. According to Wikipedia, India is home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires.

Four of the world’s major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism—originated in India, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arrived in the first millennium.

Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early eighteenth century and colonised by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became an independent nation in 1947.

India, a pluralistic, multilingual and multiethnic society, is the second-most populous country with over 1.18 billion people. Traditional Indian family values are highly respected, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm, although nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas.

An overwhelming majority of Indians have their marriages arranged by their parents and other respected family members, with the consent of the bride and groom. Marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low.

All women are respected in India and visitors should keep this strictly in mind. (Kake)

India is the world’s fourth largest economy (PPP). Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1991, India has become one of the fastest growing major economies in the world.

It is the world’s sixth de facto nuclear weapons state and has the third-largest standing armed force in the world.

Eleven Photographs

The Eleven photographs here were selected for variety and because I liked them. They may or may not be representative of India and her people but I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I did finding them.

Children walk home from school past tea fields in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

Photo Credit: Daniel Peckham

In ancient India, the beard was considered a symbol of dignity and wisdom

Photo Credit: Steve Evans

Children doing homework in Manek Chowk slum

Photo Credit: Meena Kadri

Miss India

Photo Credit: sokole oko

The Guardian of the Tomb, Taj Mahal

Photo Credit: Trey Ratcliff

Punjabi bride and groom

Photo Credit: Deepak Sharma

Family ride along the Tank Bund Road, Hyderabad, India

Photo Credit: Janet and Phil

Tool trader at the Ravivar Bazaar in Ahmedabad, India

Photo Credit: Meena Kadri

Ready for harvest, Northern India

Photo Credit: Andries3

Girl clearing rubble at Kochrab caused by the 2006 monsoon flooding

Photo Credit: Meena Kadri

Camel ride in Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

A guide gives tourists a camel ride in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

Photo Credit: swamyski

These photographs carry a Creative Commons license that permits copying, distribution, and transmission provided that they are not used commercially and attribution is given. Other restrictions may apply, follow the photo credit links for details.

History

Questions

Answers

Conclusions

Sources and Notes

Updates

Video: Freeing The Bumper

Video: Removing The Bumper

Video: Freeing The Wheel

Jeep Wreck

Largest Employer

The Pentagon

Fifteen Photographs

Sources

Peak Population

The Future of Europe

European Population Prospects

Notes

Sources

External Articles

Rick Needs

Sunset

Balloon

Beach

Mountains

Battleship

Monument

Lake

Rocket

Jetty

Temple

Jeep

Falls

Eleven Photographs