Carrot Raisin Bread

H2O 200 g
oil 16 g
salt 4 g (1 tsp)
sugar 30 g
plain flour 450 g
milk powder 10 g
lemon juice 5 g (1 tsp)
yeast 4 g (1 tsp)
grated carrot 80-100 g (one carrot)

add after beep:
raisin 50 g

Setting: 1 (basic), light crust color, total 3 hours
1st knead (2 min) -> 2nd knead (28 min) ->1st rise (20 min)
-> punch down (15 sec) -> 2nd rise (20 min) -> punch down (10 sec)
-> 3rd rise (50 min) -> bake (60 min)

The bread looks and tastes good.

Information from wiki:

Carrots can be eaten in a variety of ways. Only 3% of the β-carotene in raw carrots is released during digestion: this can be improved to 39% by pulping, cooking and adding cooking oil.

The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange colour from β-carotene, which is metabolised into vitamin A in humans when bile salts are present in the intestines. Carrots are also rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals.

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Australian specialty: Vegemite, Tim Tam?

We are going back Taiwan 4 weeks to visit our parents, family and friends. We are thinking to buy some Australian specialty as gift. We know that kangaroo and koala can represent Australia, but it is improper to bring live animal and most kangaroo- and koala-style souvenir are made-in-China. There is no reason to buy China's products to serve as Australian specialty. Then we think how about Vegemite and Tim Tam? We love Tim Tam and both Tim Tam and Vegemite originated and are possible still made in Australian. We bought Vegemite and Promite before, but we didn't finish them. We prefer Nutella for our bread because I am a chocoholic. We didn't dislike Vegemite and Promite, but they are too salty for us even we only spread very thin on bread.

The only problem is that it seems that only Australian and New Zealander love Vegemite and most people from other countries have no interest to Vegemite. We have asked some Australia friends how do they think about Vegemite and they all said they love it and eat it everyday. Is there anything else that we can buy?

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Bloom Energy went public

Bloom Energy finally went public. Can we keep our hope on its fuel cell? They said that their solid ceramic material is made from sand and their anode and cathode don't contain precious metal. But do they require any rare chemical or material?

Based on ES-5000 Energy Server on Bloom Energy website:
1. Produce power for 9 to 10 cents a kilowatt hour as opposed to the 14 or 15 cents typically charged in CA, US by utilities.
2. This ES-5000 Bloom Energy Server provides 100 kilowatts of power and is roughly the size of a parking space.
3. This ES-5000 is $700,000-800,000 USD currently. The company plans to make a smaller scale which costs ~$3000 for individual house.
4. It can use all kinds of biofuel or fossil fuel which can cut 40-100% CO2 emission as compared with the U.S. grid and eliminate all SOx, NOx, and other harmful smog forming particulate emissions.
5. The Bloom Box is a stack of 64 cells. Each cell (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells) contains 3 levels, a electrolyte (solid ceramic material), anode, and cathode. There is no precious metal.
Reaction: CH4 + H2O + 2O2 -> CO2 + 3H2O + e- + heat
http://www.bloomenergy.com/products/solid-oxide-fuel-cell-animation/

Feb 24, 2010 media：
Bloom Energy Launch at eBay (Eric Wesoff, Michael Kanellos, Greentech Media, Feb 24, 2010)

Bloom Debuts Clean Energy Power Box (By Antone Gonsalves, InformationWeek, February 24, 2010 03:20 PM)

Bloom Energy unveils fuel cell of the future (GLENN CHAPMAN, Sydney Morning Herald, February 25, 2010 - 8:50AM)

Bloom vs. Solar: Which One is Best? (MICHAEL KANELLOS, Greentech Media, Feb 24, 2010)
Corporate buyers and households will be asked to pick between fuel cells and solar. Here’s how they stack up.

Video: Q&A With Bloom Energy’s Founder, Next Gen Fuel Cells and More (MICHAEL KANELLOS, Greentech Media, Feb 25, 2010)


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Is Bloom Box the solution?

What is Bloom Energy? I checked some web pages. It seems that it is a fuel cell which generates electricity more efficiently, produce less CO2 emission and might be able to do it in individual home if they can shrink its size. This company will go public on Wednesday, i.e. Feb 24, 2010. It is being used by Google, Ebay, FedEx, Staples, and WalMart now. It can use biofuel, methane or natural gas and is 5 times more efficient than solar panels based on the company's information. The company plans to make it ~$3000 for individual house. If people can produce electricity at home, then we can save so much energy loss during transit.

What do you view about this? Is the Bloom Box a possible solution? Is there other emission beside CO2 because it still uses fuel? Are you going to buy one when the $3000 Bloom box is available?

Without detail information, it is hard to say if this Bloom Box is going to work. I do want to know what's its efficiency, i.e. how many kWa per liter or gallon of fuel; what's the emission of CO2 and other stuffs; what's the service and required maintenance; where the O2 comes from, air or O2 tank; what's the safety issue if we always need to store some "hydrocarbon" source at home for individual house owner.

What’s So Special About Bloom Energy? (MICHAEL KANELLOS, Greentech Media, Dec 09, 2009, 2:31 AM)

Video: The Bloom Box Lands, and the Unanswered Questions Are… (Michael Kanellos, Greentech Media, Feb 21, 2010)

Is Bloom Energy’s Secret Ingredient Zirconia? (Michael Kanellos, Greentech Media, Feb 22, 2010)
If Bloom takes off, it could be a disaster for the costume jewelry industry.

The Mystery of Bloom Energy (Hank Green, EcoGeek, Dec 29, 2006)

Bloom Energy: Should you Believe the Hype? (Hank Green, EcoGeek, Feb 22, 2010)

The Bloom Box (February 21, 2010 5:00 PM, CBS 60 minutes, Lesley Stahl reports)
Large corporations have been testing a new device that can generate power on the spot, without being connected to the electric grid. Will we have one in every home someday?

Watch CBS News Videos Online

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Ceiling Insulation

There are many news about the death and burned smoke event caused by ceiling insulation which is part of the Australian Home Insulation Program.

I did not look into this program when I heard it in last year. I thought that it is good to encourage home owner to install ceiling insulation to reduce energy usage via government's rebate program. Unfortunately the 4 deaths and 90 almost fired incidents suggest that the government might push this program too rush without proper policy and safety regulation which might ruin the goodness of this program.

Australian Energy Efficient Homes Package - Home Insulation Program.
The Minister has announced the discontinuation of the Home Insulation Program, effective from close of business on Friday 19 February 2010.

This is aimed at boosting safety for households and safety for the workers whose employment is funded by this important environmental program. Safety is the Australian Government’s number one priority.

160,000 homes could have inferior insulation (ABC news, Feb 19, 2010)

The Federal Environment Department says an audit into homes insulated under the Government's rebate scheme has found substandard insulation was installed in 16 per cent of cases, while 8 per cent of cases failed safety standards...

The scrapped insulation scheme was plagued with problems including the deaths of four tradesmen and nearly 90 house fires...

The new scheme is expected to be in place in a few months, but that will mean job losses and business uncertainty for installers while they wait for the new program...

Garrett to suspend insulation scheme (Yahoo!7, February 19, 2010, 1:11 pm)
The Federal Government's home insulation scheme and the solar hot water rebate scheme have been scrapped, Environment Minister Peter Garrett has announced.

Australia Scraps Controversial A$2.5 Billion Home Insulation Scheme (Feb 18, 2010)

CANBERRA -(Dow Jones)- In the latest blow to the environmental credentials of the administration of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the Australian government Friday scrapped a controversial home-insulation program that has led to four deaths and numerous house fires since its introduction last year.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the government will replace the A$2.5 billion home insulation program and a solar hot water rebate with a new household renewable energy bonus scheme.

Foil insulation deaths - legal action looming (Stefanie Balogh, Ben Packham and Sophie Elsworth, February 16, 2010 12:00am)
THE Federal Government faces legal action on multiple fronts over its bungled home insulation program as fresh details of repeated warnings of the dangers emerge....

The use of foil insulation has been suspended, and Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who is battling to keep his job, has ordered a safety check on 48,000 homes which could be potential death traps.

Four young tradespeople have lost their lives working on the program.

On October 16 Master Electricians chief executive Malcolm Richards warned Mr Garrett about serious and deadly dangers associated with his $2.45 billion insulation scheme...

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Another Bird's dropping

I am so unhappy about Australia. I just came here 1.5 years. Today is the 2nd time I was targeted by bird poo. Damn! It dropped onto my nose, hand, arm and shoulder. I just feel like a bird-poo person. What's wrong with Australian birds? Why do they like to poo on people's head? Birds in Taiwan and US have better behavior, at least they did not target my head.

The first time happened on Nov. 1, 2008.
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Coconut Raisin bread

H2O 280 g
oil 16 g
salt 4 g
sugar 30 g
plain flour 450 g
milk powder 10 g
lemon juice 5 g
yeast 5 g

add after beep:
raisin 50 g
coconut (fine desiccated) 20 g

Setting: 1 (basic), light crust color, total 3 hours
1st knead (2 min) -> 2nd knead (28 min) ->1st rise (20 min)
-> punch down (15 sec) -> 2nd rise (20 min) -> punch down (10 sec)
-> 3rd rise (50 min) -> bake (60 min)

The bread looks good, the coconut taste is very good.

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