I just want to give you all a heads up if you happen to notice that env! is down for a bit, this is probably why.  Hostgator has been head and shoulders above my last host in keeping me informed as well as in general reliability.  I can’t recommend them highly enough!

Here’s the email I received:

***

Dear HostGator Client,

We will be performing scheduled maintenance on your server on November 24th @ 10:00 PM CST. During this time we will be upgrading our Apache web server to version 2.2.10 (from 1.3.4x). We will also be upgrading the operating system from CentOS 4.7 to CentOS 5.2.

This upgrade will allow us to provide you with a higher level of performance and security. During the upgrade we will also be installing a new set of mod_security rules which will add to the overall protection our clients websites. We will also be upgrading our firewall software which help deflect distributed denial of service attacks and ensure that your sites are kept functioning at optimal levels.

The server will stay online during this time however while the Apache service is recompiled your websites and your client websites will be unavailable for an estimated 30-45 minutes. During this time an unbranded, generic “Under Maintenance” page will be displayed instead of your normal content.

We have more information located on our forums here:

http://forums.hostgator.com/reseller-apache-2-migration-schedule-t41308.html?p=148175

Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you require assistance or further clarification please contact us via forums, live chat or a support ticket.

Thank you,

HostGator Support

***

Boring, I know, but I’m just happy to have received any notice at all that maintenance was going to be performed and that my site my be down temporarily because of it.  Moving to Hostgator = the best hosting choice I’ve ever made!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Need some help deciding who is greenest?  Check out this blog post: http://newsinitiative.org/story/2008/08/28/green_voters_guide_to_the

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

This post is coming a little late on Wednesday, (and is two or three weeks late since my last “Simple Ways Wednesdays” post).  I think you’ll be excited for a few weeks, though, because Simple Ways Wednesdays is starting a series-within-a-series…  for the next several weeks, Simple Ways Wednesdays will be helping you with meaningful holiday gift planning:

Make your own Holiday Gifts with Natural Ingredients!

The first recipe you get is: Avacado/Almond Neck Moisturizer

Ingredients:
1 Teaspoon Dried Chamomile (click link to buy it online - use the search field at the top right of the screen)
1 1/8 cup water
3 Tablespoons Avocado Oil (click link to buy it online - use the search field at the top right of the screen)
3 Tablespoons Almond Oil (click link to buy it online - use the search field at the top right of the screen)
2 Teaspoons Jojoba Oil (click link to buy it online - use the search field at the top right of the screen)
1 ounce beeswax beads (click link to buy it online - use the search field at the top right of the screen)
2 teaspoons glycerin
20 drops Organic Lemon Essential Oil (click link to buy it online)
2 large ceramic cups
Strainer
Double-boiler
Sterilized 6-oz glass or ceramic jar with tight-fitting lid

Directions:
1: Boil the water
2: Place the chamomile in a large, ceramic cup
3: Pour the water into the cup with the chamomile and let steep for 15 minutes
4: Strain the liquid into another cup
5: In the top of the double boiler (set over simmering water), warm the jojoba, avocado, and almond oils
6: Add the beeswax beads and stir until melted
7: Remove from heat, and stir in 2 tablespoons of the chamomile liquid drop by drop until the mixture thickens and cools
8: Mix in the glycerin and lemon essential oil thoroughly
9: Spoon the mixture into the sterilized glass or ceramic jar
10: Store in a cool, dark place

This recipe will make, for only a few dollars, what you might pay $15-$25 (or more!) at a beauty shop.  Additionally, you know exactly what is going into a recipe that you are making yourself.  Can’t beat that!

This mixture should be massaged into the neck from the neckline all the way to the chin.  The oils will keep skin soft and supple.

Get cracking on this recipe… only a handful of weeks until it is gift-giving time!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Raconteur Theatre Company opened it’s production of Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen (Translation by Lanford Wilson) on this past Thursday.  Sine I am the Technical Director for this show, I was required to be at the Tech and Dress Rehearsals for all of last week.  This caused me to miss Simple Ways Wednesdays last week!

By the way, if you anywhere near the Columbus, Ohio area, you should come to see the show - tickets are $12 online or $10-15 at the door.  See you there!

That’s all for now, but I will be back posting again now that the show has opened and life has slowed down again just slightly…

Thanks for reading, everyone - I should tell you all more often how much I appreciate each and every one of you!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Ever burned yourself on a light bulb? Ever think about where that heat comes from?

All that heat is energy that is used, but does not create light.  There is waste in just that realization.  But if you also think about how much energy you use (read: “money you spend”) to cool your home, you realize that you can save even more.  If your light bulbs don’t create so much waste heat, your cooling system will not have to work as hard, either.

So replace those incandescent bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs).  If each household in the US changed just ONE incandescent bulb to compact fluorescent, the US would save enough energy to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island combined. And because of that, CFLs save money that can be spent on other things.  The money saved could be spent on necessities (right now, with the credit crisis, this might be the most important point), or on other things that will increase your quality of life.

Congress agrees that this is important, as in December of last year they passed an energy bill which included a phase out of incandescent light bulbs.  In actuality, what the bill said is that all light bulbs sold after a time period phasing in between 2012 and 2014 must use 25% to 30% less energy than today’s products.  By 2020, all bulbs must use 70% less energy.  CFLs already meet the 70% requirement.

Between 2012 to 2030, consumers will save $40 billion in energy costs.  14 coal-fired power plants will avoid construction.  And 51 tons of carbon emissions will be avoided annually, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

But what about CFL’s mercury content?  Well - this is a concern; however, bear in mind that a compact fluorescent light bulb holds an amount of mercury about the size of the tip of a ball-point pen.  If you are considering avoiding CFLs based on this, take a look around at your mercury thermometer.  It holds MUCH more mercury than a houseful of CFLs.

But if this is a huge concern for you, there is another option: Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Bulbs!

Read a comparison of Incandescent Bulbs, versus CFLs, versus LED bulbs.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

The paperless world promised by computers sure does use a lot of paper.  If your office is anything like mine, you have people printing emails - often many emails - and then just leaving the paper on the printer, forgetting all about it.  Even though we have a digital copy of nearly every document ever sent to us, businesses and individuals just don’t feel quite right unless there is also a hard copy filed away somewhere.

And then there are magazines.  There are trade magazines which are often offered for free to anyone who works in a specific industry.  These magazines are very easy to subscribe to (and often hard to STOP subscribing to), which means that businesses generally receive many copies of the same issue, when only a couple would suffice.  We also all have our own personal subscriptions.  Trade magazines have begun to offer electronic versions, which, if used, cuts down significantly in trash generated by businesses, as well as virgin paper used to print the hard copy version of the magazine.

But what can be done about the personal magazine subscriptions that come to your home?  Enter Zinio.  Zinio offers a pretty substantial number of popular magazines in a digital format.  When you subscribe to a magazine, you have two options:

1. You can view the magazines through the Zinio website - instantly.  No waiting for the issue to be mailed to your house or to pick it up on the newsstand.  You will need to be connected to the internet to use this option.
2. Download and install the Zinio Reader - this option allows you to download the issues of the magazine onto your computer. They will be available anytime even if you are not connected to the Internet.

Zinio actually does have some trade magazines available as well: http://www.mercurymagazines.com/pr1/105/10501

Here are a few of the environmental magazines available through Zinio:

• Ode
• Good
• Yoga Journal
• Green Source

Additionally, here is a post on Sustainablog that includes a review of someone who sampled Zinio’s service and what she thought about it.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

While a few lawmakers push for more oil drilling off America’s protected coastlands, Congress is about to let tax credits for wind, solar and other alternative energies expire.

It’s a seriously bad move. If the credits are not renewed, wind and solar manufacturing will move overseas. We’ll lose thousands of good jobs - and reinforce our dependence on oil.

Take a moment to send a letter to Congress on this issue! Just go to:
http://ga0.org/campaign/energybill0908?rk=T7AyJ8s11Vf2W

Tell them that they should help jumpstart our flagging economy by committing to clean energy and good jobs.

Tax credits for wind, solar, and other energy innovation could create or save more than 100,000 jobs in the United States and also could position the US to become and sustain itself as the world leader in green energy technology.

Tell Congress you want a clean energy future including clean energy tax credits.

Wind and solar energy are already helping turn our economy around, but these industries are crumbling because Congress hasn’t extended the Production and Investment tax credits that built them.

116,000 good, high-paying jobs in the wind, solar, geothermal and biomass industries will be in jeopardy if these tax credits are allowed to expire.  A decade’s worth of progress could go to waste.

Tell Congress to extend the tax credits for wind and solar energy!

Tax credits certainly aren’t the whole answer – turning our country’s economy around will take a bold new plan, a “New Apollo Program” to invest in green technologies and the new jobs they’ll produce. But this legislation could give us a head start.

Once you’ve sent your letter, please be sure to tell your friends about this critical vote and ask them to help!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

We’ve all heard how plastic bags are bad for the environment - they are ingested by wildlife (specifically sea-life), and animals get entangled in them and are unable to protect themselves or hunt or even move.

But what do we do with the plastic bags we already have?  Reuse them, if they are reusable.  I use them over and over until they have holes in them and I can’t trust them to carry much weight anymore.  I then either use them as a trash bag for my smaller trashcans (one last use for the bag), or I recycle them when I go to the grocery next.

I also use reusable bags - canvas, mostly.  My wife got the below bag as a gift from my brother for X-Mas when we visited him in Hong Kong last year.

Okay, you say, but plastic bags are free, and I don’t want to pay for canvas bags - they can be expensive!

You’re absolutely right.  Here’s a solution:  make your own!  You can make reuseable bags with nothing but an old tee shirt, some thread, and a needle!  There are great directions at Not the Jet Set.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley