Dealing With Negative People

We all know some negative people who walk this planet, and frequently we have to talk with them. Luckily we can now refer to a handy list to help ourselves from becoming a negative ninny – a how to guide for dealing with negative people.

3. Say, “Now tell me something positive.”
Right after they’ve finished telling you some tragic story, say to them, “now tell me a positive story”.
…
9. It’s not your fault
You may be feeling that you have to solve the problems of the energy drainer. You’re not responsible for the person’s life nor their negativity. You don’t have to feel guilty for them being unhappy.

Sorry, I Have Lightining on the Other Line…

Cellphones may soon be able to warn you of an impending lightning strike if some researchers from Nokia have their way.

Having a lighting warning system in your cellphone can help keep you safe when participating in outdoor activities (golf springs to mind). Cell phones can pick up frequency changes in the immediate environment by using the phone’s antenna.

Green Cabs Start to Appear in NYC

When news first broke about all those yellow cabs going green in New York City I was pretty excited. Now they are being rolled out and all the yellow cabs in NYC will have to be green by 2012! They taken a good initiative and made it better.

“There’s an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City obviously, so it makes a real big difference,” said Bloomberg. “These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes; this does a lot less. It’s a lot better for all of us.”

There are currently eight vehicles on the city’s “approved” list when it comes to hybrid vehicles to be used as yellow cabs: the Ford Escape Hybrid; the Honda Accord Hybrid and Civic Hybrid; the Lexus RX400h; the Saturn Vue Green Line; and the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Camry Hybrid and Prius. As more manufacturers roll out fuel efficient hybrids, the number of possible candidates is sure to increase. Vehicles like the Saturn Aura Green Line and rumored Ford Fusion hybrid are likely to join the list.

Solar in Seville

bright
The wonderful inhabitat has a post all about the solar generating that’s happening in Seville.

This tower, while not a new technology (see CESA-1), is part of a series of projects whose final aim is to provide enough green energy for 180,000 homes, or most of the population of Seville. The final project, able to produce over 300MW, will include a series of towers, two more of which are being built, and standard photovoltaic power plants, as well as a mixture of newer parabolic solar collectors which will be installed at a later stage. The entire power plant will be operational by 2013. And here’s the most impressive part. The entire development, once it’s operational, will generate zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Carbon Tracking Software for Cities

Not only has Clinton and comrades found $5 billion to spend to help cities green themselves, they have created software that tracks carbon outputs for entire cities!

The new software and Web applications are part of broader set of programs being introduced by the foundation led by former President Bill Clinton, who is speaking at the C40 climate summit this week for the mayors of the world’s largest cities.

The software tools aim to create a standardized way for cities all around world to measure their greenhouse gas emissions. With a common standard, cities would be able track the effectiveness of carbon-reduction programs