An eclectic collection of discoveries:
It’s not easy being green. The race to adopt wind energy systems is being slowed by a shortage of wind turbines. And green-minded homeowners who install solar panels and other unaesthetic-but-eco-friendly features are getting flak from neighbors, homeowners associations and historic-preservation boards. — The Wall Street Journal (9 July 2007 and 12 July 2007, subscription required)
Citizens of Eastern Europe have acquired (or reacquired) a taste for brands, rock bands and television programs of the Communist period. The craze is known by the German word Ostalgie (“nostalgia for the East”). — The Chronicle of Higher Education (15 June 2007, subscription required)
A new majority (60%) of working moms in the U.S. would be happiest in part-time jobs, with fewer seeing full-time work as an ideal.— Pew Research Center / The Washington Post (12 July 2007, registration required)
McDonald’s Corp., in an energy-saving initiative, plans to use a new power-line networking system to more efficiently monitor and control fryers, grills, milk-shake machines, air conditioners and lights. The network, which uses the restaurant’s electrical wiring as a communications pathway, allows the devices to be programmed via the Internet to reduce energy usage during lulls in demand. — press reports / Echelon Corp.
