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http://nextcity.org/sharedcity/entry/where-the-census-bureau-thinks-you-should-live

The Census Bureau Made An App That Can Tell You Where to Live

11/27/2013 Nancy Scola | Next City

Noted app-maker the U.S. Census Bureau is out with its latest creation, called dwellr, a mobile tool for helping people figure out the best place in America’s vastness for them to live.

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The dwellr app rests on the premise that users have a rough understanding of the sort of environment that suits them, and simply need helping sorting through the data. Tap quickly through eleven screens — Are you male or female? Do you like small towns or big cities? What’s the educational level of the people with whom you tend to run? — and it comes up with the best places for you. (A small-scale user test: I got New York City; I live, happily, in Brooklyn.)

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There’s also the acknowledged fact that dwellr is proof of concept, and a way of building out the open-data-driven digital government push that the Obama administration has talked about making a priority. The census’ demography survey has, not without controversy, been around in some form for more than 150 years. But "what good are data," writes the bureau, "if nobody but the experts can easily access them?" And on that front, they want help:

Imagine if an app matched your preferences with restaurant reviews, places with museums or most visited parks. With the Census Bureau’s application programming interface, developers can take the same statistics found in dwellr and apply them to any app they can imagine. We are eager to see new applications of these American Community Survey statistics that help people learn more about their communities using the same information businesses use to plan investments and services.

Diving a bit more deeply on that point, the app is also an exploration of the belief whose popular origins can be traced to Nudge, the book co-authored by former Obama administration official Cass Sunstein that suggests that people can be gently, well, nudged toward making better decisions. It’s a concept that the White House has talked about as "Smart Disclosure" (that, that gets capitalized) and also informs projects like the new Location Affordability Portal, a joint venture of the U.S. Department of Transportation and HUD.

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http://cleantechnica.com/2013/11/25/energy-storage-barriers-fall-with-ferc-order-792/

Renewable Energy Barriers Fall With New Ferc Order

Energy storage fans are rejoicing all across the country on the heels of a new ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which opens the floodgates to connecting more solar arrays and wind farms to the power grid. FERC adopted the new ruling, Order 792, in order to bring its existing rules for small generators up to speed with new developments in the energy storage field.

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In a nutshell, Rule 792 adds energy storage as a power source that is eligible to connect to the grid. It effectively puts energy storage in the same category as the existing Small Generator Interconnection Procedures and makes it eligible for the existing Fast Track process.

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The implications for renewable energy, namely wind and solar, are clear when you take a look back at Order 784, which FERC adopted just last July.

Order 784 opened up the ancillary services market to renewable energy storage sources, by requiring utilities to consider speed and precision when deciding on which source to buy (ancillary services refers to power sources that utility companies can tap into on an as-needed basis).

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Can Energy Storage Beat Gas And Coal?

Here’s where the rubber hits the road. Between Order 792 and Order 784, energy storage gets its own “box to check” when utilities are considering proposals for ancillary services. That puts it in a head-to-head matchup against gas and coal power plants, which utilities typically rely on for ancillary services.

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http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-house-shatters-christmas-lights-record-20131125-2y4nj.html

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David Richards says he and his wife Janean and their three kids installed the 502,165 multicoloured streamers, icicles, candy canes, reindeer and other candescent decorations - some more exotic, some less - to raise funds for SIDS & Kids ACT.

"The charity is very close to our heart. We lost a child and SIDS looked after us many years ago," he said.

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But SIDS and Kids is the main reason he does the time-consuming task, to raise money for the work they do.

"It was very important for us," he said.

"Anyone who has been through that sort of loss will probably tell you the worst thing that can happen to you is losing a young child."

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