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Note to Toyota Prius owners: Now, you’re right
Last year, I wrote a column based on an Edmunds.com study that showed that the premium Prius and other hybrid owners paid over sticker price for their new technology was not worth it. Gas prices and tax deductions at the time simply didn't support the extra cost over the cars' non-hybrid counterparts for the average driver. I heard from a lot of Prius owners. Some accepted the analysis, but said they bought their cars for other reasons like helping the environment or driving extra-long commutes. Others accused me of selling out to Detroit. In April, Consumer Reports came out with a similar analysis that argued that the fuel savings didn't offset the additional price of hybrids - cars that operate on both gasoline and electricity - over similar conventional models.
NASA Cassini Image: Seeing the Difference
With Saturn's terminator as a backdrop, this view of the unlit face of the rings makes it easy to distinguish between areas that are actual gaps, where light passes through essentially unimpeded, and areas where the rings block or scatter light. The gaps are regions in which the brightness varies strongly from left to right as the background goes from bright to dark. Parts of the image are saturated at left. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 24, 2006 at a distance of approximately 577,000 kilometers (359,000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 101 degrees. Image scale is 31 kilometers (19 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
Put "the Hidden Web" to Work for Your Business
(ARA) - The Internet has changed the way that businesses obtain and share data. And if you've mastered the art of searching engines like Yahoo or Google, you probably figure that you can find just about anything you're looking for on the Web. But unless you've mastered the "Invisible Web," chances are you're missing out on valuable information."Good research gives a business a competitive edge," says Sam Richter, president of the James J. Hill Reference Library in St. Paul, Minn. www.jjhill.org/standard. "In order to look ahead and create a new and informed path into the future, business people need relevant information, derived through efficient and targeted research."While the explosion of information on the Internet gives the illusion that with just a few keystrokes, you can find the answer to any question, in reality, it is not that easy.
ONLINE CALENDAR Balboa Park, ongoing events, workshops and more ...
CENTRO CULTURAL DE LA RAZA, 2125 Park Blvd., Balboa Park, 619-235-6135. Through Sept. 17: Poetas y Pintores: Artists Conversing with Verse, an exhibition spotlighting 12 poets and 12 artists. (www.centroraza.com) HOUSE OF PACIFIC RELATIONS International Cottages, 2125 Park Blvd., 619-234-0739. From 2-3 p.m. every Sunday, enjoy an ethnic food fair featuring food, drink and entertainment from all national groups represented. (www.sdhpr.org) MINGEI INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619-239-0003. Through Oct. 15: Sam Maloof, Dean of American Furniture Makers, A 90th Birthday Retrospective, and Martha Longenecker: A Retrospective Exhibition of Her Pottery and Symbols of Identity: Jewelry from Five Continents. Through Sept. 3: !Carnaval!. (www.mingei.org) *MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM, 1649 El Prado, 619-696-0199.
All anglers get big thrill when landing the big one
You can fish for a long time and never lose the feeling of excitement and joy when you land the "big one." Allen Drobner, who's the lake keeper at Washington Lake in Newburgh, caught a bass recently that tipped the scales at 8 pounds, 11 ounces. According to his friend, Tom Connelly, this was Drobner's second big bass this summer at Washington Lake. I've never met Drobner nor was I there the day he caught his big bass. What I can say is that it was certainly an exciting moment for him. Just goes to show that you never know when a big fish will pop up in our area. Crossbow hunting Well-known outdoors writer Bill Hilts Sr., a longtime supporter of allowing crossbow use in New York state, has created a new association for crossbow enthusiasts, the New York Crossbow Hunters Association.
WARNING: Internet scams on the rise
Internet scams that leave victims with little or no recourse are on the rise again in Montgomery County. While you may not end up in a credit protection commercial with a raspy voice-over talking about all the ridiculous things you purchased with someone else's credit card, here in the real world, identity theft is a serious threat.
Police warn citizens to beware of e-mail notices they won a lottery, a new car or other prizes, or that a company needs personal information.
Crawfordsville Police Officer Neil Barclay learned of three incidents of attempted fraud this week. Someone whose e-mail originated in Canada recently emptied a Fountain County man's bank account, police said.
"It comes down to the old saying," Barclay said. "If it looks too good to be true, it is."
Earlier this year, Montgomery County citizens lost an estimated $100,000 in a sophisticated scam that plays on emotions and exploits good will.
Trichet signals that ECB rate will rise on October 5th; Eurozone ...
At a press conference in Frankfurt today, following the decision of the European Central Bank to keep its key interest rate on hold at 3%, the ECB President said that the information that has become available since the meeting on August 3rd, has further underpinned the reasoning behind its decision to increase interest rates earlier this month. It has also confirmed that strong vigilance remains of the essence so as to ensure that upside risks to price stability are contained. "Strong vigilance" has been code in the past for an upcoming rate rise and at the meeting in Paris on October 5th, the Governing Council will almost certainly raise its key rate to 3.25%. Trichet said that if assumptions and the baseline scenario continue to be confirmed, "a progressive withdrawal of monetary accommodation will remain warranted." The ECB revised upward its forecast of real GDP growth in 2006 to a range of 2.2%-2.8% and in 2007 a range of 1.6% -2.6%.
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