Upgrading technology.

Yesterday, we replaced a dozen incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFL), which, presuming average use, should save a ton of C02 production a year. Now, most of the lights are ones we don't use that much, but it should make a difference. We also replaced one desk light that had 2 40W incandescents with a larger light that has 3 20W CFLs for a net reduction of about 20W and a net gain of, oh, a couple thousand lumens. Its bright enough we don't need the overhead anymore except on rare instances. The new lamp also has the option to turn on and off each bulb independently, so we can cut it down as much as we like. The reports say that if each household replaces one incandescent with one CFL, the energy demand for the country will be cut by some enormous amount. I guess we've helped counter-act a few less-enlightened households since we did 12.

I also got a new laptop that is really nice, replacing the old one that came from our friend Florence. It has the fingerprint swipe sensor, which as much as it seems like something from Mission Impossible, is convenient. You swipe your finger and it logs you on. You can also use it for websites, so you don't have to worry so much about keyboard captures from spyware if those make it onto the system. The only problem so far is it doesn't seem to hold the wireless connection at home very well. It seems like the wireless connection disables itself after a little while being idle. I'll try updating the drivers and see if that helps.

In other news, we're having a holiday party on Saturday, so if I missed sending an email, you know us, are local, and see this in time, drop by. If you're not local and happen to be in the area, drop by too.