No Limits!

This is pretty cool and in my opinion it's difficult to do anything truly original these days. However, Sam Benson in the UK is going to being the coolest original I've heard of in a long time. He is planning to skateboard across five European countries in 10 weeks.

Starting in July, 2007 Sam Benson will begin the journey in Barnstaple and travel along the South coast of England to Folkestone than using the Channel Tunnel to get to Calais, before skating to Paris where he will be joined by Adam Colten; a Professional Longboarder from Los Angeles, CA.

From Paris they will skate to Geneva, Switzerland, before making the journey across the Alps to reach Turin, Italy, and then back over the Alps to Marseille, France. From Marseille, they will skate across the Pyrenees into Barcelona, Spain, before they travel through Valencia and Madrid, where they will make the final leg of their journey to Santander, on the 15th of September.

The ride is to raise money and awareness for three select children’s charities. Link Community Development, which establishes nationwide education in Africa. The Lowe Syndrome Trust, which is a family run organization working to help children worldwide suffering from the incurable Lowe Syndrome; and Sailability Australia, who teach disabled children worldwide how to sail off the coast of Australia.

Sam Benson’s team includes his friends Tom Fletcher, Chris Morris and Tom Walker, whose tasks will include driving the support car, filming the event and mapping the route. Several companies worldwide are sponsoring him with equipment for the trip, ranging from Longboards and shoes, to headwear and sunglasses which allows him to concentrate on the physical training, where he has been sponsored by GB’s Gymnasium.

So that the ride can continue to raise money and awareness after the end the journey has been completed, BeatsWalkinEurope will create DVD of the journey. In addition, the DVD will have a ghost writer, Owen Platt, who is preparing to write and publish the travel adventures of the BWE team as a book. The profits from both these ventures will be donated in full to the said charities.

BeatsWalkinEurope is an affiliate of Boardfree, a program that promotes skateboarding to youngsters of all ages and encourages a ‘no-limits’ attitude to the lives of people everywhere. Founder Dave Cornthwaite inspired Sam by skating across Australia in 2006 for the same charities as Sam is skating for.

Read more and follow the trip at BeatsWalkinEurope, and how you can help. Also, you can help with donations by visiting Just Giving / BeatsWalkin

What Can I Do To Save Money?

4bucks - Drink less expensive coffee. Make your own gourmet coffees. Cutting out one latte a week can save three to five dollars a week.

Breakfast - Always eat something in the morning before you leave. It will help you not buy the $4 McBreakfast meal that will only leave you hungry again at noon.

Bulk - Bulky is better If you have a family, buy in bulk. Bulk savings can be as much as $20 a month.

Cable Vampire - Cancel cable, buy a DVD player and read books. Watching television is one of the most expensive monthly habits. I wait until quality shows go on DVD and than rent them from Block Buster. You can easily save over a hundred dollars.

Computers - Turn your computer off every night. Not only does this save money on your electricity bill, but also rumor says that it prevents personal information from being stolen from your pc while inactive.

Deflating Money - Once a month make sure all of your car tires have the correct amount of air. Tires with less air than they should have costs more gas.

Fast Food - Prepare your own “fast food.” Check out these two links for ideas

• Homemade Fast Food
• Fast Food Fix, Cookbook of the Day
  

Free Fun - Find fun / interesting / relaxing projects that doesn't burn money. Volunteering for entertainment organizations is a great way to experience the event from a completely different view. You gain a much more in-depth of appreciation for everything that goes into the planning. Plus you get to see the entertainment for free.

Freebies - Most large cities have free events. They're not always highly advertised because the organizers are trying to save money as well as attract a more appreciating crowd. Go online and look for free events, you'll be surprised at what you find.

Grocery Stores - Before getting in line to pay, do a scan of everything in your cart and use the ten-second rule - do you really need it?

Grow Vegetables - A great hobby that could save a few dollars is to try growing your own vegetables. If you live in an apartment, try growing tomatoes in a big terracotta pot.

Library Love - Does the library have it? Remember those places your grade school walked you to? They still exist and often they have the book you want to read for free. Public Library Locator

List Writer - Keep a list of what you spend. Keep a small notebook inside my jacket along with a pen, and whenever I spend money on anything, I write it down. I have done this in the past and I always feel guilty or stupid (sometimes both) when I go over my list and see all the little things I bought that I didn't really need.

No Pop - Bypass sodas and designer waters. Keep a water bottle full at your side and take a big drink every time you feel hungry or thirsty. Buy a water filter, fill up and add flavor:

• Slice of lemon, orange or cucumbers and lemons
• Add powered drink mix
• Mix a pitcher of water with mint leaves
• Cut a nice slice off off ginger and put in hot water for a great tea

Pause - Use the ten-second rule. The ten-second rule basically states that you should pause for ten seconds before making a purchase and spend that time asking yourself if you really need what you’re buying.

Stay Healthy - Every time I go to the doctor I spend fifteen dollars on a co pay alone. Since I've been going to the gym (forty a month) I have been sick a lot less, use less over the counter medicines and have more energy to do things I love.

Stone Soup - Also known as potluck dinners. A great way to spend time with friends and have a big meal for a fourth of the price.

Thrift Stores - A great treasure hunting hobby. I find the most entertaining things at thrift stores. It constantly amuses me to see what people have bought and than donated. Often I find brand new clothes that still have the tags attached. I've also found furniture and home accessories that were donated by stores because they didn't sell. Thrift store shopping is a modern day treasure hunt.

Green Geek

In December of 2006, Congress passed a law requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to put together a report regarding power consumption in information technology data centers by mid 2007. The goal of the report was to outline potential incentives and voluntary programs that would promote energy-efficient computer servers and data centers. In other words, Congress wants corporations to go Green with environmentally friendly technology.

In July 2007, the government will launch the upgraded Energy Star 4.0 standards, which is a tougher rating system that will help users measure their computer’s energy efficiency. The Environmental Protection Agency says the upgrade will prevent the same amount of ozone-depleting greenhouse gases that is annually released by 2.7 million cars. In addition, Energy Star 4.0 will also help companies lower their electric bills-by enough to light 730 million square feet of U.S. commercial building space each year, according to the EPA.

Energy Star who has been labeled as Uncle Sam's green seal of approval for computers and is currently working on Green technology. Project leaders says that it’s a very real possibility that companies may soon face environmental legislation that would essentially tax data-center costs. That could be bad news for companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google that have recently built massive new data centers to meet demand for web-based software and services.


One of the motivations in promoting Green technology is the money that can be saved by reducing electric bills. But meeting the new standard won't be easy. Only one in four current computers will measure up to the upcoming 4.0. The current 3.0 rating requires machines to use 15 watts or less while in ’Sleep’ mode. Under the new version, computers must not consume more than 4 watts of power in ‘Sleep’ mode. The new grade also takes into consideration how much power a computer uses when it's in active use.

While the new standards may seem annoying, the information highway’s fast-growing power consumption has already been forcing companies to adopt green energy practices. Technology experts say the power consumption of data centers doubles every five years or so, making them one of the fastest-growing leeches of energy in the U.S.

"The IT industry is where the automotive industry was 20 years ago," says Rakesh Kumar, research vice-president at consulting firm Gartner (IT). "We are so backwards when it comes to using alternative-energy and energy-efficient technologies."

Green light for Green technology

On May 10, 2007 IBM took the LED spotlight with their plans to invest $1 billion a year in products and services that will help reduce IT power consumption in data centers while doubling the computing capacity of its data centers. A hefty goal that other IT companies such as HP is also committing to.

Soaring electric bills for power-hungry data centers has companies creating energy-efficient products such as chips, desktop computers and servers. Last year, an industry consortium of IT companies called the Green Grid was formed to address the growing problem of power consumption in data centers.

"We're seeing a growing crisis in the amount of power consumption taking place with the natural growth of computing power it takes to run our daily lives," says Bruce Shaw, a board member of the Green Grid and director of worldwide commercial and enterprise marketing at AMD.

In mid-May of 2007 85% of the surveyed executives conducted by Forrester Research, showed that environmental concerns were deemed ‘important’. However, only about one-fourth of the companies said they had a policy for considering green criteria when it comes to making purchases. Corporate buyers place money savings as the top priority versus environmental friendliness. Conversely, the new IT products will help save both energy and money.

Green technology can mean anything from the way vendors design and manufacture products to how efficiently those products operate to the ease of recycling them.


One small data center in Romoland, Calif., has figured out how to run on only alternative energy. "We use no electricity from the power grid," says Phil Nail, chief technology officer of Web hosting company AISO.net. The company operates its 2,000-square-foot data center with solar energy captured via ground-mounted solar panels. But right now alternative energy is not a viable option in most cases… not yet.



Green PCs


Hewlett-Packard
HP Compaq dc7700 Convertible Minitower PC
Watts in Sleep Mode: 2.34


Hewlett-Packard
HP Compaq dc5700 Microtower PC
Watts in Sleep Mode: 2.60


Dell
Dell OptiPlex Model #745 Mini Tower
Watts in Sleep Mode: 2.66


Tech Networks of Boston
Earth-PC
Watts in Sleep Mode: 2.66

ClientPro 434
Watts in Sleep Mode: 2.70