As I type this, many of my compatriots and thousands of wild land forest fire fighters are scourging through the thick of the forest displacing the immense heat with axes and shovels. Their job is dangerous; people die every year fighting forest fires. The heat from a forest fire is so great that it can literally boil the soil days after the fire has burned through. The heat drives deep within the ground where it can stay burning hot for months. This type of heat is so hot that if you poured water on it, the water would only sit on top of it and evaporate, not affecting the heat at all. These pits of fire exist under the ground waiting for the right wind to blow, or the right root to run on, called root fires, and can easily re-ignite a forest fire.

Firefighters Go Where Machines Can Not

Send in wild land forest fires. After they dig a line around a fire it’s time to attack the “black”. The “black” is the name of the part of the fire that has already been burned over. Gridding the “Black” for hotspots is an extensive part of putting out a wildfire. The firefighters line up spread out every five yards, twenty people long, and start gridding the forest. Their job is to find any of these hot spots, and so far the methods of finding the heat are the same as firefighters starting fighting wild land fires a hundred years ago. They look for smoke(duh), smell for fire, look for bugs on the surface (some bugs are attracted to heat), but the main method of locating underground hot spots that can easily reignite a forest fire is by sticking the top of their hands into the ground every square foot in the woods. If their hand gets burned, then they know that there is heat there that needs to be dug up and displaced. The proper method of feeling the ground for heat is to use the topside of the hand, that way, when they get scolded by the heat and blistered, the working part of the hand is not blistered and they're still able to hold a shovel. Sounds archaic, it is. It’s high time we arm our firefighting army.

Thermal Imaging Technology

There is a chain of command that is like the military on a fire fighting crew. One of the higher up fire authorities, who is like a commander, walks around the “black” using an expensive thermal imaging system. With this machine he sees the hotspots burning within the ground. He then marks the hotspot with a ribbon tied on a branch of a nearby tree for the firefighter crews to find. If this commander happens to run into the firefighter crew in the vicinity he’ll point and give vague forest directions like, “that way about a hundred yards”. The crew’s then trek through the extremely dangerous forest looking for ribbons tied to trees. Nearby a pink ribbon tied to a tree, there will be a hotspot.

GPS and Fire Crews

Recently though by the motivation of those firefighters and backpackers who love to have the latest woodland gadgets, fire crews have guys armed with GPS satellite mapping and location devices. Now, instead of looking for pink ribbons in a burnt out smoking forest, the crew can receive exact coordinates of the hotspots overlaid pinpoint accurate topographical maps. The future of GPS technology could look like this; a passing satellite takes thermal readings of a forest fire and emails the crew bosses (sergeants) the map with the coordinates of the hotspots along with other imperative weather information. Or the commander’s thermal imaging gun can transmit the coordinates of the hotspots directly to the crew bosses GPS unit using Bluetooth technology. The crews can then easily locate the coordinates of the hotspots and put them out. Much less time spent sticking their hands in the forest floor blindly not knowing if a snake lies in wait in that hole or if super heated burning coals will scold and blister their hands. GPS systems also offers important fire information such as current elevation, weather updates, and other fire hazards like dangerous deadly tree and bee hives could be marked on the map. GPS will also let the Incident Commanders (president) know exactly where the crews are on the fire all the time and in real time. Some of the Unites States tragic deadly wild fires were incidents in which the Incident command did not know where the fire fighters were on the fire.

Forest fires put forest fire fighters in the back country and in perilous conditions; one change in wind direction can scramble a team. The fire fighters must be armed with the information, maps, and location technology to safely put out these ginormous threats to our society. Communication from the top of the command structure to the guys in the black must be concise, informative, and in real time; there is no room for error and no reason any forest fire fighter should be left unarmed and unaware.

Mark Stegman

I am a big fan of generator powered lights on my bicycle that generate power from the spinning back wheel, but I will be the first to admit, an old generator can slow your roll, especially pedaling up steep hills. The answer is the Owleye solar LED. This weather resistant sleek silver LED is about the size of an IPod (the 60 GB kind) and comes with three various mounting mechanisms so you can choose how and where you want it on your bike. The solar array mounted on the top of the light looks cool and requires only two hours of sun for three hours of constant light or six hours blinking. At first sight, I was concerned about the brightness of the one LED encased in clear plastic, but all my doubts have been put to rest, this bad boy puts out more light than my battery powered bike light (which we all know eats batteries like an energy monster). Set in blinking mode the Owleye Solar LED strobe light saves energy and is most definitely seen coming down a bike path.
Check out the Owleye Solar LED

Video streaming is a word that you have probably heard of by now or at least you should have. YouTube is a video streaming service; also, there are services that will host a video to stream to your website, say, a short infomercial or product demonstration, for a fee of course. What makes a stream so applicable is that the end user does not have to download the full video onto their computer; instead the video is hosted on a server and “streamed” to the end user through a variety of media players. Today, I want to discuss live video streams.

Home Entertainment, Big Screens, Surround Sound

Now that most households have big screen T.V’s and sharp surround sound stereo systems the idea of having a concert broadcast in your living room becomes a viable new attractive form of entertainment. Combine this with the leaps and bounds in video streaming capabilities and you see why even major corporations such as AT&T and Microsoft are investing and interpreting the video stream technology.

I was live at Bonaroo music festival in Tennessee thanks to AT&T’s Blueroom, I was live at Langeradoo music festival in Florida thanks to the Iclips Network, and continually see up and coming bands like “Your Mama’s big fat booty Band” perform live on a site called Synclive, without even leaving my garden in Montreal.

Be Live at Bonaroo From Portland, Oregon

Live video streaming is a future of music media. If you’re favorite band is not coming to your town, you don’t have to travel a jillion miles to check them out in concert. As more music aficionados are not able to travel around the country taking in their favorite concerts, now they can “do the tour” from their internet connected yurt. (Wink) Not able to find a sitter, or don’t like the crowds, whatever the reason, throw a party at your house and get down live knowing that you are experiencing the music in the moment.

Now, any band can stream their show onto the web using a site called Synclive, no matter who you are or what kind of music you make, (although the site only seems to have somewhat quality music-I am not sure of their filtration process) you can broadcast your show live around the globe. New Years Eve parties will forever be more exciting with concerts from all over the world being streamed into Anywhere, USA.

AT&T Blueroom

AT&T is one of the largest corporations investing in live video stream of music concerts and festivals with their AT&T Blueroom. They were live at Bonaroo in Tennessee and the Coachella music festival in California; although, it was painfully obvious they are concentrating on the technicalities and the technologies and not the production itself. The downtime in between music acts was a painful awkward silence showing silent video of people standing around, not to cool. It was a real waste of live video space where they could have had a live VJ entertaining people while hyping up the festival and the live broadcast. It’s free, so I won’t complain, but I have to ask “Where was Pauly Shore?!!!!”

IClips Network

“IClIps Network” made me a fan by broadcasting live at Langeradoo music festival in May; Langeradoo was the early summer show held in Florida that hosted a lineup of seemingly every good band out there. Iclips has good entertainment that they keep archived on their site so when they are not live you can check out a previously recorded concert or interview. Also, Iclip’s as well as Synclive offer real time commenting while the show is taking place allowing for fans to communicate about the experience like being at the real show live. They also seem to still be hammering out how to produce the shows they are broadcasting live from, but their full screen presentation of the venues and great camera work offer an entertaining presentation of the musicians and events. (Their on stage camera presence can distract or hype of musicians)

Synclive

Synclive is a unique live video feed site that allows anyone with a video camera, laptop, and internet access to broadcast a show live to the entire world. Their user interface is friendly and offers a real time chat to those who sign in enabling you to talk with other fans like being at the real thing. This site will surely present some of the up and comers to the world with it’s “do it yourself” appeal and relying on the up loader for quality content. They also offer their archived shows; I watched Public Enemy from NYC before watching a live performance of “Your Mamas Big Fat Booty Band” from a club in Atlanta, Georgia. The only down on Synclive is that they do not offer a true full screen, but how could they when they get their live feed from any video camera used by a roadie? I highly recommend this site for all you up and comers, D.J.’s, promoters, producers, the party goers and the party throwers.

Get It While The Getting Is Good

Have a party at your house in Oregon and project a band playing live at a club in Miami, cool party! It’s a fabulous live world at your finger tips. I suggest you take advantage of it while it’s free, because, I’m betting this type of technology and access will soon cost you at least the price of admission.

Right now, as I type, I am also watching and listening to the band Panjea broadcast live from the 10,000 Lakes music festival in Minnesota via Iclips. There is something cool about having a live feed of a festival happening hundreds of miles away to placate a rainy day here in Montreal.

Mark Stegman

http://www.iclips.net/
http://app.synclive.com/
http://www.attblueroom.com
YMBFBB= Your Mamas Big Fat Booty Band

DO you want to live in a clean and organized house and never have to clean? Or, would you rather have a disheveled dirty crowded house where you are constantly cleaning. I have personally lived in both and know what it takes to live in a clean house and never have those whole days spent cleaning up huge messes.

Put Things In Their Place

First, everything has a place; when you finish with something you return it to where it is stored. It takes the same amount of time to set something in the wrong place than it does the right place. Second, incorporate cleanup into the dinner or project, then the kitchen goes from clean, to used, and back to clean and ready for the next person. If you see something out of place, put it where it belongs. If you spill something, clean it up. When you use the shower, take a moment and shake the shower curtain quickening the drying process so the water doesn’t hang around enabling mildew.

With everything in its own place it's easy to pull out a vacuum cleaner, give the rug a quick spot check and be done with it, putting it back wrapped up. If you incorporate cleaning into your life style you avoid the buildup that forces you to, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, spend hours going from kitchen to the bathroom, to the living room sweating scrubbing cleaning, only to have it dirty right back up again.

The House Sets Up Strict Rules

So, to try to fix the mess, you get the housemates together and set up strict rules and signs, “If you use it, wash it!” and “Whose turn is it to clean the bathroom”. This authoritarian lifestyle is not a lot of fun and can be totally avoided by taking moments in your day to incorporate living clean and living in a constantly clean environment.

The Recycle Metaphor

Well folks, society and recycling take the same metaphor. If each of us incorporates the proper disposal of paper, plastic, and glass and other recyclable products into our use of those products we will avoid the big Saturday afternoon cleanup. We will avoid having to have strict laws or recycle taxes enacted to try to motivate us. We can keep our earth clean while we live in it by putting the things we use in their proper place. Lets incorporate a clean lifestyle in all ways, if it has a triangle with the number in the middle, it’s recyclable. If your local community doesn’t offer recycling service, then make them; that should be a community mandate. Saving the Earth begins by saving our own "living rooms" and incorporating the time and energy of clean up and proper disposal in the act of making the mess. At least put the waste were it belongs. Recycle.

By: Mark Stegman

If I told you there is something that you could do right now that could help end the war in Iraq, fix health care, prolong your life, give you a sexy slim figure, bring your family closer together, save yourself and the children from asthma and diabetes, save some air for your kids, maintain the natural beauty of your neighborhood, save you enough money to buy three new laptops a year; would you believe me? It is simpler than you think; it’s as easy as riding a bike.

Actually, it is riding a bike.

I shouldn’t have to plead a case here; the benefits of riding a bike are so great, that if all the folks fit to ride bikes utilized their pedal power, instantly, our America would experience an immediate and instant transformation towards health. Riding a bike daily gets your heart pumping and the blood flowing strong through your veins. Your breathing exhales toxins stored within your muscles. You work you ass and thighs, building the power source of your strength. You burn healthy calories instead of polluting petroleum; keeping the air in your community fresh and clean. If you want “health care” then get health care; get your kids and the wife and go for a bike ride, you’ll live longer.

The Healthy No Car Life Style

Biking in combination with the bus becomes more convenient especially when the weather is cold. I do my grocery store runs on a bike utilizing a backpacker's hiking pack; I load my groceries in my pack instead of plastic bags and ride home easily. For trips to other towns I sit back with my laptop and headphones on riding smoothly along on the train; when I get to my desired town, I use the town’s bus system, whose routes I easily accessed online, to get around quickly and on the cheap. The Amtrak Cascades on the West coast allows you to bring your bike aboard the train without any disassembly, as does the Amtrak's bus service. For me, bike riding to work allows me to mentally prepare my mind for the rigors of the workplace; at the end of the day it offers the time to process the day at work, riding out the accumulated tension fro the days labors, I am clear of the drama by the time I come home making sure I do not bring the stress of the workplace inside to my family.

Weekend Bus Service

Towns that do not have Sunday bus service border on criminal neglect of the people they are supposed to serve. Think of the elderly people who need to go somewhere, the non gas users, and the disabled; do they not count? In order for the healthy no car lifestyle to work it is imperative that all towns fix bike racks to the front of their buses and have seven day a weak bus service. Upon returning to the train station on Sunday after visiting a nearby city, there must be some bus service to avoid costly taxi cab rides. All economies could benefit from the people having access to downtown and the mobility to get out and spend their hard earned money. For many people Sunday is a workday like all others and need the service to get to and from work.

Reap the Benefits of Money Saved

As I write this article I am enjoying happy hour in a high rise restaurant having cocktails over looking the beautiful pacific valley while planning a trip to Thailand with the money I have saved from not buying oil, paying for insurance, and upkeep on a ton of metal. It really is a great trade; I get rid of a huge waste polluting machine, and in turn, I get in shape, healthy, tour the world, save some air for my kids, and feel better. It’s clear to me, I’ll see you all when I get back from Thailand.

"Health Care is a Way of Life"

Mark Stegman