This from the original owner's manual of the EV1
Later forced out of the hands leasers who offered to buy EV1
Crushed, ground down and even removed from museums
Deliberately wiped out of existence
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/

Production	1996-1999 (1,117 units) 1997 Model Year: 660 units 1999 Model Year: 457 units

Many many things. Not meditating enough. Another I will mention is the economic system itself. It's entirely based on the future. For example, when we go into debt it's based upon a future projection that we will pay it off and that we will have the means to pay it off (the classic debt many have is the mortgage). Then as is so painfully clear these days, that can be far from reality. Worried about paying the bills? Will you have a job to go to in the future? Same with the stock market. Is our retirement riding on whether or not the stocks will go up or down?

Depending how deeply we are in debt, how much time out of our life do we spend working to pay that debt off that could be used to meditate instead?

The United States fails on most measures of health care quality, with Americans waiting longer to see doctors and more likely to die of preventable or treatable illnesses than people in other industrialized countries, a report released on Thursday said.

Americans squander money on wasteful administrative costs, illnesses caused by medical error and inefficient use of time, the report from the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund concluded.

"We lead the world in spending. We should be expecting much more in return," Commonwealth Fund senior vice president Cathy Schoen told reporters.

The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation, created a 100-point scorecard using 37 indicators such as health outcomes, quality, access and efficiency.

They compare the U.S. average on these to the best performing states, counties or hospitals, and to other countries. The United States scored 65 -- two points lower than in 2006.

One key measure is prevention of premature deaths from easily treated conditions such as asthma and heart attacks.

The United States fell from 15th to last among 19 industrialized nations on this measure from 2006 to 2008. The report estimated the U.S. health care system could save 100,000 lives if it matched Japan or France, the top performers.

Infant mortality remains high in the United States, with a rate of 7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 2.8 per 1,000 in Japan and 3.1 in Sweden.

WASTEFUL CARE

Efficiency received a score of 53 "in part because of widespread delivery of inappropriate and wasteful care throughout the United States, including potentially avoidable hospital admissions, minimal use of information technology, and high insurance administrative costs," the report added.

The United States spent 7.5 percent of national health expenditures on insurance administration in 2005, compared to 6.9 percent in France, the next highest spending nation, 2.3 percent in Japan and 1.9 percent in Finland.

While 98 percent of doctors in the Netherlands and 89 percent in Britain use electronic medical records, only 28 percent do in the United States.

Some 47 million Americans have no health insurance and another 28 million are underinsured.

On the plus side, control of high blood pressure increased from 31 percent in 2000 to 41 percent of patients in 2004.

The researchers, who used data and recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and elsewhere, said U.S. adults are significantly less likely than patients in five other countries surveyed to get an appointment with a doctor the same or the next day.

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

Learning to take responsibility for your actions and the results of those actions. Learning to bear the pain while being positive. Letting go of old outmoded aspects of life that are dead ends and starting fresh with new ways of living and seeing oneself, and of course, others.

In Victorian times, houses were very narrow, multi-storied, and had a small "footprint" on the land. This left more land for private gardening, and commons, among other things. Then came the 1960s, and "ranch style" homes, with half-acre grass covered lots. By the 1970's anyone with a vegetable garden in a suburban or city back yard were "hippies," "weird," or "old fashioned."

The 1990's saw the boom of Mega-Mansions on postage stamp sized lots, weekly lawn-care crew visits, and still little vegetable gardening on a respectable scale, regardless of whether one lives in the city or the suburbs. Now we have an oil crisis overlain with a salmonella crisis: both of which the US Federal government seems incapable of dealing with. Vertical gardening might help change that.

...the system is designed to grow vegetables and other foods much more efficiently and with greater food value than in agricultural field conditions. The HDVG system demonstrates the following characteristics:

* Produces approximately 20 times the normal production volume for field crops

* Requires 5% of the normal water requirements for field crops

* Can be built on non arable lands and close to major city markets

* Can work in a variety of environments: urban, suburban, countryside, desert etc.

* Does not use herbicides or pesticides

* Will have very significant operating and capital cost savings over field agriculture

* Will drastically reduce transportation costs to market resulting in further savings, higher quality and fresher foods on delivery, and less transportation pollution

* Will be easily scalable from small to very large food production situations

See also the following coverage of other forms of vertical garden.

Student Designs Rainwater Harvesting Vertical Garden

Madrid Gets a Vertical Garden Too

Joost Bakker's Vertical Garden

Vertical (Diagonal?) Farm from Work AC in NYC

A Natural Space in the Garden

A Really Green Building: Quai Branley Office Wing

Put that garden under the sky-light sun...you won't have to drive down Highway 41.

Via::valcent products inc,

Electric Cars: You Want 'Em? We've Got 'Em!

Over the past 3 years, we've written about many electric cars here on
TreeHugger. We think it's time to look in the rearview mirror, so here's an overview. If you see anything you like, just follow the links to see the original articles.

Electric Roadster by Tesla Motors

The electric car that made a lot of people do a double-take (in a good way). Yes, it's expensive, and yes, it's only a two-seater, but it can make people want it like few other green cars, and someone has to pay the early-adopter 'tax'. Our first post about it was in two years ago. Since then, we've written about the opening of the first Tesla Motors store in California, about what happens to a Tesla battery pack at the end of its life, and recently about Tesla's hiring of a new VP of Engineering and Manufacturing. Update: The Tesla electric Roadster has just started shipping to customers.

Model S by Tesla Motors

We don't really know much about Tesla's second car yet, so no picture. It used to be known as the 'Whitestar' but is now the 'Model S'. A 5-seat, 4-door sporty sedan in the vein of the BMW 5. Should sell for about $60,000 and manage 225 miles on a charge.

E6 Electric Car by BYD

BYD is China's biggest battery maker, and that gives them an edge over most automakers when when it comes to electric cars (the battery's always the big challenge). The E6 electric car was introduced at the 2008 Beijing International Auto Show. We don't know yet when the company will start selling it, but its F6DM plug-in hybrid is scheduled for 2010 (probably to be followed by the F3DM plug-in hybrid). Range for the E6 should be 300 km (186 miles).

XS500 Electric Car by Miles

When we first wrote about the XS500 by Miles, it generated quite a bit of excitement because of its relatively low price tag for a highway-capable electric car: $30,000. We then got more information about the XS500 and confirmation that the target price was now "$30,000 to $35,000" for the 2009 XS500 in the US. The XS500 should have an all-electric range of about 120 miles.

i MiEV Electric Car by Mitsubishi

We've written a lot about the cute little i MiEV electric car by Mitsubishi. It seems relatively close to commercialization. Mitsubishi even announced that it was 1 year ahead of schedule, and it has plans to sell it globally. For more, you can see photos of the i MiEV at the New York Auto Show and three Japanese commercials.

R1e Electric Car by Subaru

The R1e by Subaru is kind of a cross between the i MiEV above and Toyota's iQ urban car (spy shots of the Toyota iQ here). For more, you can see photos of the Subaru R1e driving around New York City, and more info about the two R1e electric cars that will be tested by the New York power authority. Our guess is that the R1e won't be commercialized - it's probably a learning platform for Subaru - and the Subaru G4e electric car has more chances of making it to market.

Electric Supercar by Hybrid Technologies

This one is still a concept, and who knows if it will ever be sold, but we're told that a prototype should be on the road next Autumn. It was designed by Hybrid Technologies and doesn't seem to have a name yet. They have planned two version: All-electric, and plug-in hybrid. The latter will try to compete in the Automotive X Prize.

Electric Minis by PML and BMW

This is actually two different electric cars. The first one is a normal Mini that was modified by PML (pictured above). They added electric motors in the wheels and it could apparently do 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds! The second version of the electric Mini has been announced by BMW, but unfortunately they're only going to sell them in California, and they're only going to make 500.

EV1 Electric Car by General Motors (RIP)

Next we have the now defunct EV1 electric car that was manufactured by General Motors between 1996 and 1999, and leased in California and Arizona. A good way to get more background info on it is to watch the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?. Some people have questioned how good it actually was, but even if it had big flaws, that's a little beside the point. It was a first, and should have opened the floodgates for more. Instead, the cars were crushed and even removed from museums.

Electric Car by Mercedes (2010)

We don't yet know what this one will look like (pictured above is the F700 concept), but Mercedes has announced ambitious plans to eliminate fossil fuels from its car lineup by 2015, and that includes an electric car in 2010. We'll have to wait and see.

Electric Car by Nissan (2010-2012)

Similarly to Mercedes, Nissan has announced an electric car to be introduced in 2010 and mass-produced in 2012. We don't know yet what it will look like or what it will be called. Pictured above is Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in front of a test-car (not electric).

REVA Electric Car

When we dig a bit deeper in the archives, we find the REVA electric car. It's not exactly going to set the mainstream car market afire, but it has the benefit over many other electric cars to be available now. In fact, you can probably see some driving around London.

ZENN Low Speed Electric Car by Feel Good Cars

According to the makers of the ZENN electric car, the name is actually an acronym for "Zero Emissions, No Noise". It is a "low speed neighborhood vehicle" with a top speed of 25 mph and a range of 40 miles.

Tango Electric Car

Mostly known as "That small electric car that George Clooney drives!", the electric Tango is faster than you might think: With a 0 to 60 time of 4 seconds, it can smoke quite a few sports cars. Bonus: You can park 3-4 of them side by side in a regular parking spot.

Eliica Electric Car by KEIO University

A few years ago, this 8-wheel electric monster got segments on evening news all around the world. Even Japan's then prime minister went to have a look. The Eliica electric car is a true speed demon. In the right conditions, it can do 400kph (250mph), and 0 to 100km/h (0 to 60 mph) in 4 seconds. It is powered by li-ion batteries, and the only thing is can't do is go back to the future.

Wrightspeed X1 Electric Car

The fastest electric cars mentioned above can do 0 to 60 mph in about 4 seconds. That's fast, really fast! But that's not enough, apparently: The X1 can do 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, leaving the competition in the dust. There's even a popular video of the electric car beating a Ferrari and a Porsche.

Saturn SP1 Electric Car Conversion by Students of Napoleon High School

It's no the prettiest of most high-tech electric car featured here, but we've got to give some kudos to teachers and students of Napoleon High School in Jackson, Michigan. This 1995 Saturn SP1 was converted to run on electricity as part of a school project for the automotive-technology students. Now that's the kind of homework we wish we had in high-school!

If you liked this article, you might also be interested in: The 7 Best Electric Scooters: From Prototypes to Production Models

http://www.psychosync.info/audio/studio/smallbeg_single.mp3




1972 ~ Peter Banks / Guitarist (formerly with Yes)
              Tony Kaye / Keyboards (formerly with Yes)

Beatles 45 RPMs



If you haven't heard a good analog system, you don't know what you're missing : - )

Labels up volume on vinyl releases to meet demand

It may have seemed like a fad at first, but the resurgence of vinyl is now turning into a nice niche business for the major labels. With EMI's announcement that it would reissue eight classic albums in the format, all four majors are now onboard the vinyl bandwagon.

EMI will release two Coldplay albums, four Radiohead titles and Steve Miller's "Greatest Hits" on August 19. Universal Music Enterprises will release 20 albums on vinyl this month and an additional 20 at the end of August, while Warner Music Group will issue 24 to 30 albums from its catalog and 10 to 12 new releases from September through the end of the year, according to executives at those companies.

In the independent camp, RED labels will have several hundred vinyl titles by the end of the year, half of which are new releases, RED vice president of indie sales/marketing Doug Wiley said. One of RED's labels, Metal Blade, is reissuing its classic Slayer catalog in deluxe versions, all on colored vinyl with hand-designed blood splatterings on it, Wiley said.

Indie retail started the party, but now some of the chains are carrying vinyl too. In addition to Fred Meyer and Borders, Best Buy has said publicly that it will experiment with carrying LPs.

EMI Music Catalog vice president of A&R and creative Jane Ventom said that the company has always been into vinyl, "but we are getting more into it." She said the move is in response to consumer demand from the iPod generation, baby boomers and audiophiles.

"Music is becoming a social action again," Ventom said. "The kids are now listening to music with their mates instead of on headphones." She added that vinyl allows them to "hear music in its true form."

"People are going back to reliving the way they used to listen to music and they realize that they missed the (album cover) artwork and what a pleasurable listening experience it is," Ventom said.

SOUND MATTERS

One of the most important elements to issuing vinyl is sound quality, especially in the MP3 age. That's why Warner Bros. will relaunch its 

http://www.becausesoundmatters.com/frontpage




Web site, which touts and sells vinyl and may start offering high-resolution MP3s, according to Warner Bros./Reprise Records executive VP Tom Biery, who heads the label's radio promotion team and oversees its vinyl initiative.

Warner Bros. reissued the first two Metallica albums -- "Kill 'Em All" and "Ride the Lighting" -- on vinyl, and both have passed the 4,000-unit sales mark, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On July 15, the company released "Master of Puppets" on vinyl in two versions.

In September, the label plans to issue a 50th anniversary archive series of vinyl releases, including James Taylor's "Mud Slide Slim," a Rickie Lee Jones album, a Marty Paich album and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Blood Sugar Sex Magik." Most of the albums that are issued on vinyl also come with an enclosed CD, Biery said.

The increased interest in vinyl is putting a strain on the handful of pressing plants still left from the format's heyday. "Our vinyl is always late because it gets bumped," Redeye co-owner Tor Hansen said.

"I still have eight machines, and I am currently running at about 75 percent capacity," said plant manager Dave Jump of Nashville's United Records.

The limited pressing network often makes it hard to get vinyl out on the same release date as the CD, but when the stars align, sales can be significant. Warner Bros. offered vinyl and CD on the same day when issuing the Raconteurs' "Consolers of the Lonely" in March; the album sold 42,000 units in its first week, and 3 percent of sales came from the vinyl version.

Looking forward, executives said they want to be aggressive and practical with their vinyl campaigns.

"Everything shouldn't be released on vinyl," WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) vice president of catalog sales Steve Corbin said. "We want to be selective and smart about what we put out. (But) it's interesting that the consumer sees the value and is willing to pay for vinyl."

Reuters/Billboard

By Ed Christman





ANALOG RESOURCES:

http://www.analogueproductions.com/index.cfm

http://www.musicdirect.com/

http://store.acousticsounds.com/

http://www.elusivedisc.com/

http://www.needledoctor.com/

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/tas/

http://www.stereophile.com/




http://www.mofi.com/productcart/pc/home.asp


http://www.stereophile.com/records2die4/



Comments on remastered analog vinyl version of FRAGILE;

Yes - Fragile

"...Fragile's sound is far above the average rock recording of the time and Analogue Productions has done a magnificent job in recreating the original release...Unlike other rock reissues that I've heard, there's even some macro and microdynamics. Despite a touch of congestion at louder levels, the recording's atmosphere comes through nicely. A must-have." - Myles Astor, Positive-Feedback Online, Issue 34, http://www.positivefeedback.com/ Propelled by the timeless hit "Roundabout," Yes' fourth album, Fragile, became an instant classic and is undoubtedly one of prog-rock's finest moments. It was the first Yes record to feature Rick Wakeman on keyboards and the first to display the inimitable artwork of Roger Dean. And it's now been remastered by the incomparable team of Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at AcousTech Mastering. Typical of Kevin and Steve's work, this version of Fragile is warmer, richer and airier than the 1971 original. Rediscover a classic. By far the most successful and enduring progressive rock group ever, Yes have been navigating the sonic stratosphere for more than three decades. Weathering myriad personnel changes and as many musical trends, their popularity has endured like granite. As Q Magazine put it, Yes are "the long haired dads of Radiohead." "...If you've only heard this as a CD or god forbid as an MP3 file, this reissue will be a revelation...Gray and Hoffman avoided the trap of excessively boosting the bottom end in a vain attempt to add what's not there, and they also avoided lifting the top to also try and add what's not there. Instead, they concentrated in the middle, where they finessed the rich textures that were on the tape. So when you hear the opening 'pling' of 'Roundabout,' you'll hear it with a velvety-richness missing on the original...Combine the midband richness, improved overall transparency and eerily black backgrounds and one has to declare this reissue a complete success." Music = 8/11; Sound = 8/11 - Michael Fremer, http://www.musicangle.com/

PLUG-IN PRIUS

Today Toyota joined almost every other major car company who had already unveiled plans for producing cars that run on energy supplied by the electric grid. Announcing the official plug-in Prius based on the most popular hybrid vehicle to date, Toyota said it would test the fuel-saving vehicle on public roads -- an industry first and as Collin notes the cause of much hubub in our Forums. While renegades such as Cal Cars have been retrofiting out-of-box Priuses with plug-in technology for some time and Google recently took up the PHEV cause using the Prius as a guinea pig, we have to say that while it's been fun, we heartily welcome Toyota finally hitching its official vision and guidance to this enterprise. However, the world's biggest automaker said the car, called the Toyota Plug-in HV, was not fit for commercialisation since it uses low-energy nickel-metal hydride batteries instead of lithium-ion batteries believed to be a better fit for rechargeable plug-in cars. More deets and a THTV webisode from the waining days of the renegade, DIY plug-in Prius when you Knievel the jump.

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) shift pollution from a tailpipe to a power-plant. Even charging off the national grid, which is about 50% coal, the renegade plug-in Prius is known to produce under half the net pollution. Electricity use was calculated to be under $1/gallon, with the expectation that as the grid gets cleaner, so do the emissions of the vehicles.

Today's Toyota Plug-in HV runs on the same nickel metal hydride battery as the Prius and has a cruising range of 8 miles on electricity. General Motors is the only company with a specific target date for a plug-in hybrid. It has set 2010 as a target for production of the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in series hybrid. Toyota remains cautious about assigning a date for production of a plug-in Prius. From Reuters:

Unlike earlier gasoline-electric hybrids, which run on a parallel system twinning battery power and a combustion engine, plug-in cars are designed to enable short trips powered entirely by the electric motor, using a battery that can be charged through an electric socket at home.

Many environmental advocates see them as the best available technology to reduce gasoline consumption and global-warming greenhouse gas emissions, but engineers say battery technology is still insufficient to store enough energy for long-distance travel.

"It's difficult to say when plug-in hybrids could be commercialised, since it would depend largely on advances in battery technology," said Executive Vice President Masatami Takimoto, in charge of Toyota's powertrain technology, told a news conference.

While you're waiting for the battery technology, THTV and CalCars show you how to get 100 miles per gallon from your current Prius just by making a few tweaks under the hood.

SOLAR POWERED PRIUS

Japan's business news source, Nikkei (subscription only), has reported that Toyota is planning a Prius with solar panels manufactured by Kyocera Corp. Toyota has not confirmed the reports. If Toyota achieves the rumored timing, it will be the first major manufacturer to bring a car with integrated solar panels to the mass market.

Toyota has not unveiled any design plans for the solar panels: pictured above is an artist's conception of how the Solar Prius might look. The solar panels will power the air conditioning on the world's most popular hybrid car. The last major revamp of the Prius power system was an upgrade of the hybrid synergy drive in 2003. The third generation Prius is due to be unveiled in 2009 for the 2010 model year.

The rumor mill has immediately added speculations that solar panel plans may be in the works for additional hybrid car models. The Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid is also eagerly anticipated after recent announcements. The plug-in Prius is expected to benefit from an upgrade of the NiMH batteries to Lithium-ion batteries.

The Solar Prius topic is already heating up in the TreeHugger Forums, so pop on over and make your voice heard!