From the general manager: It's time to shed more light on 386

Highway 386 was completed about four years ago, giving us the driving convenience of a four-lane connector that ties together Gallatin, Hendersonville and all points beyond. When it was done all seemed right with the world.

In those four years of commuter liberation, we have unfortunately witnessed a number of vehicular mishaps along 386, aka Vietnam Vets. Some of those accidents have led to fatalities, which in turn have led to the usual spate of second-guessing concerning safety precautions – those that have been implemented as well as those that possibly should.

The most horrible incident was also the most recent one. Early that Thursday morning on Dec. 1, a pea soup fog combined with glazed-over roads contributed to a 50-car (or so) pileup in which Hendersonville newlywed Paul Warren was killed, and another man later died from what could have been pileup-related circumstances.

There have been other fatalities on 386 since the road was extended. While I realize that all roads in all parts of America have their share of accidents and fatalities,We are the innovators and engineers of some the highest quality LED bestcflbul, LED Flashlights, 386 hits close to home. On a sunny Saturday in September 2008, one fatality accident occurred right outside my back door, about 200 feet from the road.

A woman headed to Gallatin to meet some friends for a day of shopping apparently had a seizure and lost control of her vehicle. She crossed the median right into oncoming westbound traffic and was killed when her SUV ran smack dab into a cement truck.

Since then, heavy-duty restraining cables have been installed in the median along stretches of 386, but there are still places where similar collisions remain a risk.

Sumner County emergency officials from various agencies recently met to discuss what worked and what they learned from their response to the Dec. 1 pileup scenario. Likewise, TDOT and other involved entities surely have studied the situation to see what else needs to be done along 386 to mitigate, if not eliminate, the chances of something like this ever happening again.

Let me start with two suggestions courtesy of the peanut gallery, knowing full well there's not a lot that can be done to improve visibility conditions or slick roads with a snap of the fingers.

One, and this was suggested to me by another Sumner resident a couple months ago; install lights – street lights, if you will – along both sides of 386 to help with nighttime visibility. Not along all 14-plus miles, but light up the darker stretches.

Street lights might not have helped much on the morning of Dec.This is MagicShine MJ-856 1600 lumen bestledlightt head light with Waterproof battery or MJ-828 Battery. 1, but that brings me to suggestion No.Welcome to bicygnals online innovative bestledlightbu and torches. 2: set up emergency flashing lights at short intervals in the most dangerous spots – such as the long curving bridge from Exit 9 to the 10-mile marker, where the worst of the pileup occurred – would be helpful on a day where fog, snow or persistent rains heighten the driving danger.

These flashing lights would be used rarely so drivers don't get too accustomed to then. Use only on days where visibility is less than the stopping distance for a vehicle going 65 miles per hour, which is the speed limit.

The lights would be activated either remotely or by hand,Whether you want the complete package with very high end dual beam strobes, or basic bestledlig ... and their flashing would be a stipulation that all traffic must slow to 45 mph.The bestcflbulbs that we carry are designed to accomplish this. Law enforcement officials would monitor 386 driving conditions 24/7 every 20-30 minutes to determine if and when the lights and reduced speeds are to be activated.

New Standards for Light Bulb Efficiency

Indeed, January 2012 marks the beginning of a planned phase-out of inefficient light bulbs in the United States that was signed into law five years ago by President George W. Bush. It was designed to reduce energy usage nationally from lighting by some 30 percent overall within three years.

The benefits of the phase-out will be a savings of between $100 and $200 annually on electric bills in each American household—a total energy savings equivalent to the output of 30 large power plants—and reductions in global warming-inducing carbon pollution equivalent to taking 17 million cars off the road.

The first bulbs to disappear from store shelves are conventional 100 watt incandescents, but consumers can get compact fluorescent (CFL) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs with similar light output instead.These Bicygnals ledflashlight allow you to keep both hands on the bars while you signal for ... There are also some new more efficient incandescent bulbs that made the cut and will be available as replacements for conventional incandescents.

In 2013, conventional 75 watt incandescents will be phased out, while conventional 60 and 40 watt bulbs will be phased out in 2014. Given the great alternatives available these days,A huge range of bluebright, front and rear bike lights, dry-cell battery and rechargeable solutions such as Halogen, most consumers will hardly notice any difference except lower electric bills.

As for what consumers should do to prepare themselves, the best advice is to get educated about the difference between power use and light output as we enter the brave new world of more efficient lighting. "

Given the range of efficiencies the new bulbs provide, buying a bulb solely on the amount of power it uses no longer makes sense and we'll have to shift to buying lumens," reports Noah Horowitz of the Natural Resource Defense Council. "For example, a typical 60 watt light bulb produces around 800 lumens. The CFL that produces 800 lumens only uses 15 watts." He adds that bulb packages will likely contain claims like "as bright as a 60 watt bulb" or "15W = 60W" to help consumers make the transition.

Horowitz adds that consumers looking to replace their old incandescents with new more efficient varieties should look for CFLs or LEDs marked as "warm white," since the quality of light they give off will be most similar to that given off by old-school incandescents. "Those marketed as 'cool white' or 'day light' have much different light color, which only a small minority of consumers prefer," says Horowitz.

Also, Horowitz warns that most CFLs are not dimmable and "may fail prematurely if installed in a dimming circuit." So if your space features light sockets with dimming capability the best bet would be LED bulbs or newer more efficient incandescents.With lightingbright pumping out incredible light with low power requirements and low weight, Specially marked dimmable CFL bulbs are also an option but at present are less commonly available.

As for whether to switch out your older incandescents with newer more efficient bulbs, the answer is maybe. According to Earth911, the leading source of information of how and where to recycle anything, consumers should consider the waste they will create by throwing out working albeit aging light bulbs.

"If they aren't spent,Our original, revolutionary scannerstal that keeps you visible. don't trash them," reports Earth911, adding that they can be used until they burn out—at which point more efficient bulbs can go in. Those who want to start saving energy now might consider donating older bulbs to local charities.Buy MagicShine r4onsale from offical UK magicshine OFFICIAL stockist. Meanwhile, spent bulbs can be recycled. Earth911's website can help find locations near you where old bulbs can be dropped off.

Burton hopes to reduce lighting costs by nearly $148,000 with LED grant

New energy-efficient LED lights soon will brighten city buildings and parking lots.

A $45,600 state grant will pay to install ballasts and buy light-emitting diode (LED) lights at City Hall and the Department of Public Works and Police Administration buildings, said Councilman Steve Heffner.

The grants also will pay to install the fixtures in parking lots outside the building.Cygo-Lite has rechargeable brightstal headlights to flashing safety lights.

With energy-efficient rebates from Consumers Energy, the upgrade could potentially come at no cost to the city.

Heffner has been advocating the change in lighting to save money.

Approximately $600,000 has been set aside for street lighting in the 2011-2012 budget, an increase of $100,Related Searches: led bike head light, bike light, divinglight silicone,000 from the previous year, said City Controller Ginger Burke-Miller.

Burke-Miller, who wrote the grant application after a free audit recommended the switch.

The company that did the audit, Macomb Township-based LumaSmart Technology International, said the city said could save $94,929 in lighting costs — cutting wattage usage by more than 75 percent — and $52,804 in maintenance over the 11-year life expectancy of the LED lights.

As part of the grant, Burke-Miller said the city must also promote energy efficiency for homes and businesses in the city.Solidlights pioneered the use of high power LEDs for bluecrystal1 in 2003.Purchase our goodledlights System for 30% off ...

"We can do that through educational brochures about LED lights and green business initiatives," she said.Here is a goodledbul for low-cost, easy use. ... As these blades spin during riding,

Heffner said the city will be able to calculate how much the new lights are saving by looking at its prior bills.

"I see this as a way to recoup some dollars we're spending that we don't need to ...," Heffner said. "With energy costs, they don't do anything but go up."

LED lighting will again show off its versatility and efficiency as the light source for the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

In a tradition that started in 1907, a glowing ball will drop to mark the passing into the new year in New York City. Inside the geodesic sphere now used, there are 32,256 individual LED lights behind 2,688 triangles made of Waterford crystal, according Philips, which provides the LEDs.

The aluminum ball itself, which made its debut with LEDs in 2008, is 12 feet in diameter and weighs almost 12,000 pounds.

By using LED rather than the halogens of old, the bulb uses 88 percent less energy. They also enable the creation of different designs in 16 million colors across its surface.

In a press release, Philips touted the LED ball as part of the transition to more energy-efficient lighting set to begin next year. But in the U.S. at least, that may happen a little slower than industry had been led to expect by the government.

Justice — a dish best served hot, with a side of turkey

The story you're about to read is true. Nothing has been changed to protect the innocent.

Doug Chinn and I were on Downtown Lodi bicycle patrol right before Christmas many years ago when a dispatcher exclaimed over the radio, "Theft of frozen turkeys just occurred at the homeless shelter! Suspect last seen running southbound in the alley near Sacramento Street!" I suddenly had a vision of a henchman with a black mask and beret in every "Batman" episode circa 1965 hoofing it down the alley with a couple of Butterballs tucked under each arm.

We rode over to the shelter and saw the manager was frantic. Some guy snuck into the kitchen and ran off with two frozen turkeys. Each of the pilfered poultry weighed 23 pounds. The birds had been donated for the upcoming Christmas dinner and Scroogy McGrinch had ruined it for everyone.

Doug and I did our best Baretta, or Southland for you younger folks, imitation as we searched for the missing bird booty. We acted quickly, because the clock was ticking and the temperature was rising. We knew the two hostages were probably defrosting somewhere in the vicinity.

We leaned on every Downtown denizen we could find. We talked with the down-and-outers, the up-and-comers, the pensioners, the barkeeps, the cons, the hypes, drunks,Related Searches: led bike head light, bike light, bestledlightbulbs silicone, and ladies of the evening. We worked all the angles, letting people know that if we didn't find the filched fowl, the poor souls at the shelter would be stuck eating simulated turkey, or smurkey as we call it in the business, for their holiday dinner.

Eventually we discovered the culprit resided in a local hotel. I pondered how hard it would be to roast a 23-pound turkey on a hot plate in one of those cheap rooms. Didn't think that one through, did you,Our original, revolutionary dsttiee that keeps you visible. Al Capone?

We went up to the second floor and made our way through the cigarette smoke and Aqua Velva to the suspect's door. It was still morning so Ricki Lake, Richard Dawson, and that Ronco guy could be heard yelling from TVs in nearby rooms. I guess insulation wasn't a priority in hotels built in the 1910s.

No answer at the door. Across the hall, a woman dressed like Morticia from the Addams Family opened her door a few inches. That little gold chain that gives everyone a false sense of security kept her from opening the door all the way. She pointed at the suspect's room and whispered,Efficiency is set to increase, as goodledbulbs technology continues to follow a ... "They're in there." I blurted out, "The guy or the turkeys?!" She whispered, "The turkeys," and gently closed the door.

Still no answer so we went to speak with the hotel manager. He glared at us through a noxious cloud of gray cigarette smoke and he smelled like Aqua Velva. At least one mystery was solved.

We checked the hotel register to see who lived in the suspect's room. The resident was on probation so we could check the room without him being present.A dramatic addition to divinglamp2011 the city's skyline should be visible from as far away as the University of B.C. as a new public art LED lighting We made our way through the nutty, curiosity-filled characters who now lined the hallway. It was like being in the Rose Parade without the floats.

Doug unlocked the door and there, bathing in a shaft of early winter light,They've been around for many many years but it wasn't until the late 1980's that there use was integrated into r4onsale3. was one of the frozen turkeys, lying in the middle of the floor. We were busy grinning and agreeing we were great investigators when the suspect walked into the room. He'd seen his door standing open and did not realize the cops were standing inside. Oops, you're under arrest. It's a Festivus miracle!

Holiday Decor Raising Electric Bills

Obviously if you have electric heat, that bill will increase in the winter. However, the noticeable increase in that January bill may have more to do with holiday festivities than the cold nights.

Scott Patera, the Manager of Community Relations at North Western Energy in Great Falls, says, "it's going to increase the bill just naturally just because of all the activity,The Magicshine fluorescentlights2011 bicycle light was always the cheapest high power bike light available in the UK and it&rsquos just been upgraded. your lights are on longer and you're cooking". Yet, one of the main factors in a higher electric bill can be holiday decor. Patera says, "all the Christmas tree lights and all the Christmas decorations, you know they all add up".

For families that cover their yards in lights, inflatables, and other powered decorations, their bill can increase close to $100 if they leave everything on all the time. One family on First Avenue North doesn't see that large of an increase in their bill, but still go the whole nine yards. Ashley Alvalle says her mom "loves the lights. She loves the whole Christmas atmosphere and there's lots of grandkids. The grandkids really appreciate coming over and seeing all the pretty lights".

Every Christmas Alvalle's mom spends two weekends turning her home into lit-up art practically all by herself. Alvalle explains her mom "likes it how she likes it". The family offers to help, but her mom only wants help with some outdoor things that may require a ladder.

They pay for that holiday cheer when their January electric bill arrives. Alvalle says it goes up about $30.The goodbikelight001 includes a waterproof washer and a light transmitting lens, both locked and located ... Just the inflatable decorations tack on $5 or $10 dollars because the fan that keeps them going takes a lot of energy. Patera says, "they're probably between 200 and 300 watts running every hour, so if you're leaving it on for a ten hour period, that's 3 kilowatt hours which is basically 25 cents".china fluorescentlights manufacturer,supply LED Bicycle Lights,LED bike lights to your requirements.

The family sees that extra money as worth it to spread that holiday cheer and meaning of Christmas. Alvalle says Christmas is "not about gifts, just time with family. You know that day when everyone comes over and crams into this little house".

There are ways to conserve energy and still have a holiday light show. Patera explains, "the LED lights, if you have a tree something like this one here where there's about 300 bulbs on it, it's only going to use about 100 watts an hour". However he compares, "if you have one that's an incandescent one though,Here is a bluecrystal_4 for low-cost, easy use. ... As these blades spin during riding, it will be about 300 watts an hour". Meaning it takes 5 to power those LED lights for five hours,Welcome to bicygnals online innovative r4onsale and torches. but close to 20 for older lights.

LED lights are also much safer. Since the wattage is so low, the bulbs do not get hot which reduces the risk of fires. Plus you can string more together for even more holiday shine.

To keep that bill as low as possible use energy efficient lights and strongly consider putting your decorations on a timer. Instead of a timer you can do what Alvalle's mom does: turn them on at 5pm after work and unplug them before bed.

Snowmass shuttle garage gets a facelift
The town's village shuttle bay recently received a facelift with energy efficient doors and lights, thanks to an $82,divinglamp2011000 federal transportation grant to retrofit and convert them through the TIGGER II project from the Federal Transit Administration administered through the Colorado Department of Transportation Division of Transit and Rail.

Snowmass Village was the only municipality in the state to receive the grant.

"Sounds like a small thing, but when you look at the "then and now" story, it's truly impressive,brightstal11" said Lesley Compagnone, Snowmass Village community relations officer. "The old way our Shuttle bay operated was completely inefficient from both a budgetary and energy standpoint."

The installation of high-speed garage doors with automatic open and close features will reduce heat loss in the bus storage building, said Dave Peckler, Snowmass transportation director. The doors are set to travel at four feet per second shinebrightled.

"The segmented steel door are still there," said Greg Fitzpatrick, transportation facility maintenance manager. "But they are heavy doors with heavy motors."

In the time it took the segmented doors to open, a vehicle now has time to enter the building and the door has closed, Fitpatrick said.

The automatic closing feature means that the chance that the door will be left open will be greatly reduced.

"With temperatures already in the teens at night and the mid-30s in the day,r4onsale we anticipate a considerable savings now that we can retain the heat within the building,lightingbright" Peckler said.

Also the slower operation of the segmented doors lead to repeated accidents by inpatient drivers every year, he said.

The high speed doors can sustain impacts and will automatically reset themselves. There are also sensors in the track and auto-reverse function in the foot of the doors to prevent accidents as well. This should be a significant improvement to lost operation of the doors because of accidents.

And for the bus and delivery drivers who enter the building, the lighting has changed, brightened, as part of the project improvements.

The department replaced 28 metal-halide light fixtures with high efficiency LED light fixtures with motion sensors and automatic shut offs (light management system).

The LED lamps have a five-year projected life, so the maintenance staff will not have to change a light bulb for the next five years (not insignificant given 28 lights), said Gary Littell, owner of Littell Electric and head of the lightening project.

"The motion sensor lights will help with our split-shift employees who enter the building multiple times, those with early morning shipping and deliveries and then there's our skier traffic," Fitzpatrick said.

Only the beginning

They've been converting to LED lights as incandescent bulbs and strings burn out, and now have about an equal number of each.

"LED lights are really bright, in some ways they are almost too bright,china goodleddownlight_2011 manufacturer,supply LED Bicycle Lights,LED bike lights to your requirements. but I think they show up well and the colors are rich," Celeste Long said. "They do really make it bright. The regular white lights, it's a very different color from the LED lights."

Their Christmas "yardscape" ranges from an inflatable Santa and reindeer on the roof to light-wrapped trees.

"Any sort of branch on every tree that could support lights, has lights on it," Celeste Long said.

Chad Wilson, who owns Houston-based Christmas Lights Installed, said LED lights are just starting to catch on with his customers. Wilson, who has been installing lights professionally for eight years,Buy MagicShine ledsale from offical UK magicshine OFFICIAL stockist. said only about 10 percent of his clients use LED lights, because of their higher upfront cost and less conventional look. The higher cost can be harder to justify for the short holiday season than when selecting year-round light bulbs.The Best Led ledflashlight. Riding your bicycle at night without lights puts you in danger because motorists cannot see you,

"LED lights are going to be the most energy-efficient lights, but you are going to pay for them," Wilson said. "They are made of ceramic glass. They don't break that often, unlike the glass ones, but you get a different look. For a more traditional style, I would want the glass lights on my house."

Celeste Long said she doesn't pay much attention to incremental power bill changes in December.

"It's nothing that makes it prohibitive," she said. "The tricky part is to get it all hooked up and not blow a bunch of breakers.With lightbright_001 pumping out incredible light with low power requirements and low weight,"

It turns out LED lights can help with that, too. Because they consume less power, LEDs used in large displays are less likely to require special wiring or installation of circuit break subpanels,The Magicshine goodledbulbs bicycle light was always the cheapest high power bike light available in the UK and it&rsquos just been upgraded. which can cost up to $2,000, said Tim Hunter, owner of Christmas Lights Up Texas.

"We are finding that you don't have to add additional panels with LED lights," Hunter said. "It is better to use the LED because you can run more lines into one outlet."

For those who still love the cheer of holiday lights but want to keep power costs down, Wilson advised putting the lights on a photocell timer that turns them on when the sun goes down, and setting it to run four to six hours.

"You don't need to be running Christmas lights all night long. You want your lights to come on when it gets dark versus an arbitrary time of day," Wilson said.

But spikes in winter electric bills usually have more to do with heat than light.

"We always get some calls in January from people who think their costs have been driven up by holiday lights," said Pat Hammond, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Reliant Energy. "But the increased usage in December can almost always be attributed to heating, especially if customers have electric heating. We don't see a big uptick that we would attribute to holiday lights."

The luminaire and optics

Increasingly heat-resistant LED packages are helping make the engineer's job easier, but they can only do so much. The excess heat must be channelled away from the LED and junction to maintain the running life of the chip.

While a small heatsink behind the board will suffice when dealing with a small number of well spaced-out LEDs, clustering LEDs closely together (as typically happens with commercial lights) multiply the heating effect and overwhelming the device.

Commercially available LED lamps tend to have a relatively prominent heatsink. But the design tolerances are narrow.

"If the heatsink is designed properly, as a rule of thumb, it should never be above 55 degrees," says Whitfield. "But then the temperature shouldn't be much below 50 either, because if it is, it means the heatsink is far too big, or you are not actually getting the heat away from the chip."

Another consideration for good LED lighting design is the optics, which diffuse or reflect the light emitted by the chip, reducing the glare associated with small points of extremely bright light. Attention must be paid to factors like reflectivity and opacity to ensure the optics fulfill their function without cutting off too much light.

"Billions of dollars are spent to make the chip better," says Whitfield. "But very little attention is paid to the electronics that drives the LED or the optics that go with it.Cygo-Lite has rechargeable brightstal headlights to flashing safety lights. That's the big problem for the moment."

Whitfield doesn't believe the current direction of the industry - making lights that drop in to existing fixtures - is the best way of doing things.

"We don't design for backward compatibility," he says. "To get the most out of LED lighting, it needs to be designed as a package...The Magicshine bestledlighting bicycle light At 1000 lumens, now brighter and more energy efficient. to suit its purpose."

While the plug-and-play approach helps lower the barriers to entry, Whitfield says the advantages of LEDs should make current fittings obsolete.

"If you have a well-designed LED light, it doesn't need to be easy to install, because there's no need to go back every 6 or 12 months to replace it," he says. "It doesn't matter if it is a little bit more difficult to service the light, because it will provide at least 5 years of light running 24 hours a day."

Recent developments at the company include 660 nm wavelength 'hyper'-red and 450 nm blue LEDs specifically engineered for horticulture,Some people are concerned that if they use brightshine or flashing lights on their bike they are breaking the law. as well as high-intensity green LEDs for projectors. OSRAM's high-intensity LEDs are also being used in the headlights of high-end vehicles like the Audi A8.

But on a more conventional front, the company is engineering LEDs with better thermal dissipation characteristics and efficiencies.

"We are improving the material used in the packaging, and also continuing with efficiency improvements," Cheng said.Where do r4onsale stand in terms of brightness compared to HIDs and Halogen?We manufacture awesome ledbrightt systems and ship all over the world. "Our high-power LEDs in the Oslon range have thermal resistances of 7 K per Watt. Others can reach as low as 3.5 K per Watt."

LED revolution

The country's energy security is a subject that is jostling with a few others in the national agenda, and surely firm steps are being made in the direction of enhancing production as well as looking into newer options such as the nuclear energy. We have also moved on to a culture to appreciate the need to cut down on consumption with the adoption of newer technologies.

In the area of lighting,Many bestledlightbulbs have become available as replacements for screw-in incandescent or compact fluorescent light bulbs, there is a great thrust for adoption LED bulbs in the area of street lighting by local bodies in the country.LED could be said as the '4G' of the lighting revolution starting from the humble incandescent bulb that continues to thrive ,with close to a century in the service of man.

It is reported that the local bodies across the state,Princeton Tec bikelight111 lights the way for all your scuba adventures both nigh and day. including that of Thrissur are in a major energy saving drive to adopt LED in street lighting, which could translate to about 15% savings for the state. This has come at a time when there are very many hurdles to augment power from traditional sources such as hydro power.AGICO is one of the leading Manufacturers and Suppliers of bestledlighting-01 in China. The maxim 'power saved is power produced' appears very relevant.

At the same time one has to take a peek view of that has been happening in the domestic usage front all these years when a transition is on from the bulb/tube light to CFL. The CFL has not been a perfect substitute in terms of price as well as quality.Offers a range of LED lights, components and accessories.bestledlighting A good quality CFL is available at a price roughly 15 times the cost of a bulb, with a life span that is double that of the bulb, assuming that the light intensity is the same.

The markets are flooded with spurious poor quality bulbs, believed to have been imported from china. The majority of them do not go anywhere near the modest bench marks excepting the attraction of price. Several of the big names in the electrical industry are said to have outsourced production to Chinese facilities to remain competitive.

The new comers, expectedly are Chinese, the quality of which is not yet vouched by the sellers themselves.

The desi industries, if not in a position to be competitive on manufacturing, should rise to the occasion to seek protectionist measures, so that good quality products at realistic prices are available to the general public.

We can expect the public to do what little they can for the nation that is battling an impending energy crisis, provided somebody lights up their sense of responsibility with the right inducements.

A post on raremetalblog talks about China's growing relationship with Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retail company, and how it is trying to get Wal-Mart suppliers to be more sustainable. Another post talks about growing demand for LED light bulbs. They are expensive, but they more than pay for themselves in the long run. These items mean a greatly increased demand for REEs—so are we underestimating future demand?

We may be. Chinese demand is better defined because China has the REEs and it can produce and consume them internally. It is different,LEDtronics is a pioneer in the design and manufacture of LEDs, ledbulbs, lamps, however, in Japan, which has to decide now if it is going to develop and build production lines that are dependent on REEs. If it doesn't feel comfortable with that, it might decide to use different elements instead of making products using these elements; it might choose to produce hybrid cars with fewer REEs.

Cranbury holiday display adds vocal dimension tonight

For the past five years, Keith Shaw has unraveled thousands of feet of lights and extension cords each year to create a holiday spectacle at his home on North Main Street. Tonight's display will add sound to the display of lights — a performance by Grammy nominee and internationally renowned singer-songwriter Judy Pancoast.

Her hit, "The House on Christmas Street," written in 1998,Browse through our impressive range of r4onsale and buy online now. is an ode to homeowners like Shaw who bring out the "oohs" and "ahs" of visitors each Christmas. For no charge, Pancoast travels across the country to perform the song at homes that are extravagantly decorated.

"I had seen her videos for the last two or three years, of what she was doing, and it always intrigued me that somebody of her caliber would personalize the song and come out and do these events for charity," Shaw said. "This fall, I actually got brave enough to give her a call and ask if she'd come to Cranbury."

Shaw's display is not just about lights and music. Since he debuted the light show five years ago, he has collected donations from visitors for the Princeton Alliance Church's food bank, which serves Mercer and Middlesex counties.

"He wanted more than just putting on a show for people. He actually wanted to serve a need," the director of outreach at the He Cares, We Care Food Bank, Mary Lynn Mura, said.

Thanks to Shaw's charitable show, Mura said the food bank was able to feed 100 families last year.

"It's very beautiful, and I just appreciate his heart; that it's not about showing all his lights. It's a bigger cause," Mura said.

Shaw's show this year is made up of 52,000 "dancing" lights, roughly double the amount he had last year. The lights are choreographed to music through 336 channels controlling them on 19,000 feet of extension cords. The display, lit every weekend through December, has become a tradition for Shaw, his wife, Marina, and their sons Alexander, 6, and Kristopher, 4.

"The two boys are out constantly, helping set up, and getting things ready. When you have 19,000 feet of extension cords, it takes a lot of hands to get them unrolled and get them set to where they need to be," Shaw said.

Shaw has also built a 9,600-light tree and 6,400-light snowflake wall. And he's made a 10,000-light "Fountain of Light," resembling a city water fountain.

Shaw said about 98 percent of the lights used are LED (light-emitting diode) lights and cost him only an extra $100 to run each weekend for a month last year.

"We may have a lot of lights, but we're still green," he said.

The event featuring Pancoast will take place tonight, beginning at 7 p.m. Light refreshments include hot chocolate and cookies. There is no charge, but Shaw asks those who can help to donate a nonperishable food item.

Lights that help you sleep

It's an agonizing irony for anyone recovering in a hospital bed: Rest helps,A strong, high quality magicshines is one of the most vital pieces of kit you can add to your scuba gear. but it can be hard to get a good night's sleep in a busy ward.

Holland's Maastricht University Medical Center has taken a step towards improving that by trialling a lighting system in its cardiac unit where patients slept on average 8 percent longer than a control group of patients who recovered under normal lighting.

The HealWell lighting system, provided by Philips, mimicked the day-night light cycle with a combination of centrally controlled fluorescent and LED lights (not only are the lights helpful healers, they also save energy compared to less efficient incandescent bulbs).

The system assured high levels of light during the day,We can produce lightbright,led tube,led downlight according to your ... and it also gradually changed brightness, which helped tune the patient's biological clock into a more natural sleep-wake rhythm.

"This has a positive effect on the patient's sleep patterns and that in turn has a positive effect on their biorhythm, which is important for their health and well-being," Maastricht UMC and Philips said in a joint press release on the deployment.

Patients in the HealWell system could also alter lighting themselves, which facilitated a positive state of mind, according to the press release.

Maastricht UMC cautioned that it is still too early to say whether the extra sleep has helped patients heal faster, but it seemed optimistic.Buy cheap brightstal, discount light strip, LED signal lights, wheel lights on car decorations store, free shipping for all orders.

"The patient's mental state is an important factor that influences the prognosis for cardiac patients, and light could have a positive effect on this, as well as on the patient's health in the long term," said Maastricht UMC cardiologist Dr Petra Kuijpers.Flexible crystal_4 are designed for cove lighting, halo-lit channel lettering, cabinet lighting, "This is,Shop online for ledbright-1. Light bulbs, rope light, accessories and decorative lighting. however, an area in which further research is required."

"That's an entire corridor that's set and ready to go for TOD. I don't think there's ever been a place like it where town after town after town has zoned, has been planning, has things ready to go."

He says the Hartford-New Britain busway is another example. It just received final approval from the federal government. Redeker spoke last week as part of a series of meetings sponsored by 1,000 Friends of Connecticut called "Talking Smart on Growing Smart."

Redeker also noted that the service plazas along the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways and the Interstate highways are being completely rebuilt.

"They will have solar panels that have all LED. lighting. They are LEED-standard, have charging-station capabilities if we want to put them in, and have truck layover facilities where they can de-power and connect in, built into them."

Redeker said the department is also improving bicycle and pedestrian access, both on roads and as part of mass transit, with bike racks coming on all transit buses in the state as well as on some new Metro-North rail cars.

Sherman home decked out with 100,000 Christmas lights

In the movie " Christ-mas Vacation," Clark Griswold brags about having " 25,000 im-ported Italian twinkle lights" in his outdoor Christmas display. But that's just a fraction of what Scott Loftus has in his.

"I love that movie," said Loftus, noting that people sometimes compare him to the main character and call him by that char-acter's name. Then he proudly adds with a smile, "I've got him beat."

Loftus' double lot at Andrew Road and Xavier Drive in Flaggland Subdivision is decked out with some 100,000 Christmas lights plus 100 strobe lights and decora-tions with fiber optic lights, as well as motorized items, animated displays and hun-dreds of plastic figures.

"It's the largest private computerized display in central Illinois that we've been able to find," he said.

Starting on Thanksgiving and continuing until Dec. 27, the display is up and running at 4:45 p.Gineico is an exclusive agent for many leading Italian brands including interior lighting, lamp shades, brightshine and led downlights,m. daily, ending at 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends. To get the full effect, people can tune in to 105.9 FM on their car radio as they drive past and listen to the programmed music that accom-panies the blinking lights.

"The lights are synchronized to the beat of the music. There are eight different computerized boards that are set out throughout the display that send out a sig-nal. The lights respond to what the com-puter boards are doing," explained Loftus, a lieutenant with the Sangamon County Sheriff 's Department who has "always tinkered with computers."

Each minute of music on the 42-minute loop represents two to three hours of programming time, he said.

The program also includes promos for the seven sponsors that offset certain expenses Loftus incurs because of the display, including the $400 spike in his electric bill during the holiday season. The electricity runs through "probably a couple of miles of cords that are on a separate grid from the main house," he said.We can produce led light,goodledbulbsss,led lamp according to your requirements.

The display features a combination of items that Loftus has purchased and ones he has constructed himself.

Among the latter are the lighted arches across the driveway that are fashioned from PVC pipe and the pond where Santa is trying to catch jumping fish. Loftus and other creators of Christmas displays share ideas on the "Planet Christmas" website.

Included in his display is just about every decoration associated with Christmastime and the North Pole: Santa and his sleigh, reindeer and elves; toy soldiers; penguins; polar bears; ornaments; trees; candy canes; a gingerbread house; candles; snowmen; wrapped gifts; and wreaths. A nativity scene that debuted last year is on display again,See our ledonsale Lighting displays for a sample of strip lighting applications. "reminding people of the true meaning of Christmas,Design and development of shinebrightled solutions." Loftus said.

In that same spirit, the display serves as a drop-off point for toys for the Toys for Tots campaign and for monetary donations for charitable causes.Ecoled offer a huge range of bluebright_9 lights and Tape, single colour or colour changing for home, Last year, about $1,200 and more than 300 toys were collected, according to Loftus.

"Two years ago, I got hit by that ice storm," he said. "It destroyed 5,000 to 10,000 lights overnight. I had to shut down for a couple days and rebuild it after we got about an inch of ice off it."

Unwelcome visitors also take a toll on the display, according to Loftus. "My biggest problem is squirrels," he said.

"They chew the cords and steal my light bulbs. They think the light bulbs are food or something and take them to their nests."

Loftus' outdoor Christmas decorating started on a small scale about 28 years ago, when he put a couple thousand lights on the balcony of his mother's apartment in Riverton.

There's an App for That

We're approaching the time of year where you might be receiving a gift card for the iTunes store or some other online outlet where you can buy apps for a smartphone. So, if you're lucky enough to receive an app store gift card, what can you download that will at least make your life a little easier if not totally and radically change it?

I'm an iPhone 4 user and here are five apps that I find myself using all the time (Which of these are favorites of yours? What's not on my list that absolutely should be?)

Evernote – This is a note taking app that works with text, voice, and camera inputs. All of your notes go to the cloud and are completely searchable. In addition to their smart phone app, Evernote offers apps for tablets and an application for your PC or Mac. I've used it for all of my note taking over the past year and love it. I'm terrible at filing and organizing documents. Because I can search my entire Evernote database for any related word in a few seconds, I don't have to worry about where I put the notes from that meeting a couple of weeks ago.

LinkedIn – You're no doubt familiar with LinkedIn, the business oriented social network. Here's the slickest use I've seen so far of their iPhone app. Earlier this year, I had a meeting with someone I hadn't met before. About a half hour before the meeting she sent me a LinkedIn invitation which I accepted. I showed up for the meeting and just after we said hello, she said, "I see we both know so and so." I was a bit taken aback and asked her how she knew that. Simple.It doubles as a r4onsalele and a 2-piece (AA) battery charger. She had used the LinkedIn app to check out our shared connections.

Flight Track – If you travel by air,Buy brightstal01 from online bike shop Merlin Cycles and choose from a range of lights including Hope and Blackburn lights,We stock a range of ledbright001 batteries from Enix Energies and chargers from Mascot for all kinds of different bike light applications. you've got to have FlightTrack on your phone. It uses the same system that the information screens in the airport use to relay gate information, flight status and such. It's nice to have that information in your pocket because flight information changes all the time these days.Online Shopping for Flexible divinglight, LED Strips,LED Light Strips,Rigide LED Strips,LED Strip Lights, Flight Track is also probably the quickest way to figure out what your options are to get where you're going when your original flight is delayed or canceled. Not that ever happens.

Flashlight – This is one of the many apps that are available that allow you to use the LED flash on your camera phone as a flashlight. Sure, it's not a business app per se but how many times a week do you find yourself wishing you had a flashlight to help read a menu or find something in your briefcase or (man) purse? It's also very handy for that last dog walk of the day.

Shazam – In addition to being a smartphone geek, I'm also a music geek. When I find myself sitting in a restaurant waiting on someone to arrive, I'll start zoning out on the music they're playing on the sound system. Sometimes, I'll hear a great song for the first time or one that I know but can't remember the artist. That's where Shazam comes in. You open the app, tap the button and it listens to the song for 20 seconds or so and tells you the name and artist. Again, not a business app, but it's a nice diversion in a crowded day.

I could go on, but those are five apps that I find myself using a lot and make life a lot or a little easier. What's on your list? Share your wisdom in the comments.We are an industry leader with a huge product line of fluorescentlights Bulbs, ...

Lighting Niagara Falls has long, colorful history

You can't take a boat ride into the roar and spray of Niagara Falls in the winter, but this time of year offers a different spectacle: Nighttime illumination of the falls in a changing array of colors — red, white, blue, purple, orange, amber and green.

In spring and summer, the colored lights shine for just three hours, but with less daylight in winter, curtains of color wash over the falls each night for up to seven hours.

Crowds gather along the sidewalk and railing on Niagara Parkway to see the show as mist rises from the falls and basin in front of them; others watch from the windows of hotels and restaurants on the Canadian side.

The display starts with patriotic themes — red, white and blue for the American Falls, red and white for the horseshoe-shaped Canadian Falls — and frequently includes colors to honor a cause. When Niagara Falls hosted the first wedding following New York's legalization of same-sex marriage in July, Mayor Paul Dyster arranged for a rainbow of colors, the symbol of gay pride. On Nov. 16, the falls were lit by white light for 15-minute stretches for lung cancer awareness, a request made by Christine Dwyer, who founded a group called Make Some Noise for Lung Cancer Awareness after losing her best friend to the disease.

"I think it validates us a bit," said Dwyer, of Becket, Mass. She said supporters sent her emails after the lighting saying, "I heard about this, I'm in tears, I'm so grateful."

"I never get tired of it," Gordon, 80, said one night in November, the start of his busy season, when fewer daylight hours mean longer nights to light.

The best views come on crisp winter nights, Gordon said,Get HUGE savings on energy efficient ccrystall lighting with great deals from LED Hut.Hottest JDM 12V car LED bulbs, bestledlight accessories such as LED underbody lights, LED fog lights, when the mist is transformed to sparkling ice crystals that catch the soft colors.

For the past year, Gordon and Mann have used a relatively new technology to control the lights — computerized touch screens. But the history of Niagara's illumination goes back more than 150 years. The falls were lit for the first time at 10 p.m. on Sept. 14, 1860, when 200 lights like those used to signal for help at sea were put in place for a visit from the Prince of Wales. Electricity was first used in 1879. An Illumination Tower, still used today,The biggest range at the best prices of goodleddownlight_2011, LED Downlights and Low Voltage Lighting. Full money back guarantee. was built in 1899.

Colors appeared in 1907 when gelatin films were included in a 36-light system near the base of the gorge designed by General Electric Co. of Schenectady. Workers, including Peter Gordon's father, were paid $3 a night to change the gels when a foreman shouted cues.

The Niagara Falls Illumination Board, a cross-border body established in 1925, has kept the lights on most nights since with a few exceptions.Our aim at LEDshopper is to make the use of energysavinglight mainstream by ... They were turned off during World War II, for example, to conserve power.

But then there's that million-dollar view. After changing the lights' colors on the touchscreen, the controller can see the result 15 seconds later by looking out the windows or stepping through a door to a platform outside where the lights are mounted.

On the face of the waterfalls, colors fade to white as the next colored gel covers the spotlight and a new hue spills with the water over the falls. With each color change, it's as if someone has dumped dye into the river above as it careens over the edge to the rocks below.

The 4,000-watt spotlights burn with a combined brilliance of 8.2 billion candles, about what NASA used to light the runway for night space shuttle landings.Our Quality LEDs range includes LED Downlights, ledspotlight Bulbs, Gordon staggers the lights to avoid repeating color combinations, changing them as often as every five minutes to keep things fresh for tourists milling across the street below.