The community group

Plans for Sydney's light rail lines
Real estate agents are seizing the likelihood that suburbs along the mooted light rail lines in Sydney will benefit the surrounding housing market.

Randwick, which would be connected to the city via the south east light rail, has experienced added value from investors as as a result of the mooted tram link, said agent Theo Karangis from NG Farah Coogee.

“I could already see now a big of movement upwards, we’re achieving some really good results.Soli-lite provides the world with high-performance solar roadway and solar street lighting solutions. We’ve sold over 40 apartments this year alone and our open for inspections has definitely increased,” he said.

Some $423 million from the state budget has been set aside to allocated over four years to the 12km light rail connecting Circular, Central and George Street to the entertainment precincts of Randwick Racecourse, Moore Park’s sports grounds, and hubs University of NSW and Prince of Wales Hospital.How does a solar charger work and where would you use a solar charger?

The Randwick area, which has a significant student population who attend nearby universities, is currently serviced by buses and can experience traffic congestion to Sydney’s CBD during peak times.

Recently, more families of tertiary students have been buying into the area for their children to live in while they study at nearby universities and then using the property as an investment when their children graduate.

These investors could capitalise on the growing house prices, said Karangis.

“We’re achieving the higher end prices in Randwick. Before that,A solar bulb that charges up during the day and lights the night when the sun sets. those prices were just in Coogee,” he said.

The light rail could also bring in a new lifestyle to the suburbs they service.

Dulwich Hill, whose 5.6km extension to the inner west light rail extension is currently under construction, has seen urban gentrification with more retail opportunities and stores like Gleebooks and gourmet deli The Larder joining the suburb.

The new transport has quickened the pace of the lifestyle change, offering the cafe lifestyle to a more affordable part of the inner west, said agent Adrian Abrook from LJ Hooker Dulwich Hill.

“This just gives us another opportunity to get other buyers who may be looking at this market to explore it,” he said.

Dulwich Hill will be one of nine stops on the extension planned to open next year. Nine new stops will be added to the current services. $76 million over four years was allocated to the inner west line from the state budget.

However, some residents in Surry Hills lobbying against the proposed route of the South East Light Rail are concerned the tram link will have a negative impact on their properties.

The transport construction and long term effects of the light rail will impact on surrounding retail as well as the liveability of the suburb, said Venietta Slama-Powell, founder and convenor of community lobby group PUSH (People Unite Surry Hills).

“Properties directly on the route are at risk of being severely financially affected. Considerations to increase in noise,We have a great selection of blown glass backyard solar landscape lights and solar garden light. visual outlook, traffic congestion, safety, property access and importantly parking. We have been advised that loss of parking can reduce a property by 20%,” she said.

The light rail route is planned for Surry Hill’s Devonshire Street via Chalmers Street to reach the city centre.

The community group would like to work with the state government to ensure the tram line doesn’t impact upon residents and existing retails.

“PUSH and many community members support the concept of light rail, a Surry Hills route and stops. But our team and Engineering Panel believe the initial Government proposal can be greatly improved by the application of local input, as happened with the Eastern Distributor, and a solution that is more likely to have a positive impact on most, if not all property prices,” she said.The world's largest independent online retailer for solar lighting, street lights & outdoor lighting fixtures.

Read the full story at www.streetlights-solar.com!

I'd been there for about two weeks

My last committed attempt to observe the Perseid meteor shower, which star-gazers across the world are enjoying, was back in 2010. I was house-sitting in Spain at the time; my uncle in law used to live on the edge of a tiny village in the Spanish mountains. The village is several hundred metres above sea level, with hardly any street lighting and the most incredibly dark and clear skies – the kind you don't get in the UK outside of a national park.

I'd been there for about two weeks, and every day and night had been completely cloudless, with not even a hint of moisture in the air. Then, on the evening the Perseids were due to peak, everything changed. At dusk, a dense blanket of cloud started to roll across the mountains with a solemn inevitability. By 9pm, I might as well have been staring at a blank cinema screen. I think I manage to see one meteor before the last chink of starlight was extinguished.

The moral, of course, is that astronomy is a cruel and capricious mistress – something star-gazers have known for a very long time. Yet we keep going back. There's something very compelling about staring at the night sky. I'd say that it's innate to us. For most of human history, there can't have been a great deal to do at night. It's no great surprise that our ancestors spent a lot of time looking to the heavens, finding patterns and charting the movement of the planets.

They also weaved their stories into the night sky. As annual reports on the Perseids often fail to explain, the name of this meteor shower is derived from the constellation of Perseus, which is the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to come. Perseus, as you may know, was the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa and rescuer of Andromeda (whose constellation is home to our most famous galactic neighbour).Are you still hesitating about where to buy hid kits? The ancient Greeks saw the great myths of their civilisation written in the stars.

Today, I think we can all agree that we're infinitely smarter than the ancient Greeks. Most 10 year-olds understand that stars are just large nuclear furnaces converting hydrogen into helium, and that the patterns of the constellations are nothing more than tricks of our Earthbound perspective.

Yet our sense of wonder remains curiously undiminished. There's still something almost primordial in the pleasure we can derive from the simple act of looking up at the universe. And arguably, although our understanding of what's going on up there has been transformed, one aspect of our pleasure is not dissimilar from that of our ancestors. Gazing at the night sky still brings a sense of both awe and connectedness: awe because of the sheer, mind-boggling scope of the universe, and connectedness because of the nightly interaction between our planet and the wider cosmos.

This last point may explain, in particular, the enduring fascination with meteor showers in the modern age. Not only are they inherently spectacular the Perseid shower can produce a couple of shooting stars every minute at its peak – but they also remind us of the cyclical journey of our planet through the solar system.

Every year at around this time, the Earth's orbit crosses through a stream of comet debris, and for a few hours, this causes the night sky to light up with fireworks. This is one instance, I think, in which knowing the science behind what's going on up there actually helps to enhance our natural sense of wonder. It takes us beyond our Earthbound perspective in a way that would not have been possible a few centuries ago.

It's very easy to get caught up in the stresses and trivia of day-to-day life, but for me, one of the constant joys of the night sky is that it allows you to rise above all this,We have a great selection of blown glass backyard solar landscape lights and solar garden light. if only for a few hours.A solar bulb that charges up during the day and lights the night when the sun sets. That's why I'll be drinking lots of coffee and staying up past midnight for the Perseids. The forecast is for a clear night, so I'm quietly hopeful. When has the weather forecast ever been wrong?

Read the full story at www.soli-lite.com!

Make your own sushi night

Make your own sushi night where guests can wander around sampling tasty morsels and casually chatting. Perhaps try a curry night so everyone can pull up a chair and eat their dinner from a bowl on their lap. Cover your bed with a colourful top sheet and use it for extra seating. It's a great way to add a creative edge to regular get togethers with your friends.

If you have a balcony, open the doors and extend your living space. Use mirrors to create the illusion of space, both indoors and outdoors. Make sure your home is squeaky clean and free from clutter. Pack away any excess furniture or everyday items you won't be needing during the gathering, for example any exercise equipment or foldable tables. Move your furniture around to make more space to mingle.

Any surface can be used as an extra table such as a filing cabinet, TV unit or chest of drawers. Simply drape a table cloth over the top. Create a party like atmosphere with open spaces and small clusters of chairs for conversations. Use your bathroom for drinks storage by filling the bath or sink with ice and using it as a cooler. Clean as you go by putting bottles in a designated recycling box as the evening progresses.

Just make sure to keep your home as neat as possible because small apartments look even smaller when they're untidy.

Have spare bean bags and floor cushions handy for when you run out of chairs. If you're having a movie night, make sure there's plenty of cushions and blankets for your guests to snuggle in. Floor picnics are also a wonderful idea. Simply place a few picnic blankets right on top of your carpet and have a fabulous lounge room floor party. If you don't have carpet, pop a few yoga mats or a sleeping bag underneath the picnic rugs to make it a bit more comfortable.

There's lots of space between the top of your head and the ceiling of your apartment so make sure you use it. Buy electronic LED tea light candles (much safer than flame candles) and hang them in little glass holders from the ceiling. If your party has a theme, get some balloons to match. Hang bunting or fairy lights up high on a wall. Your floor space and surfaces are precious in a small home so reserve the hard to reach places for decorations.

The individual chips are closely arranged and all located under a conversion layer (chip-on-board), giving the impression of a homogeneous light-emitting surface and ensuring uniform colour and light appearance. For even better homogeneity, the chips are arranged in a circle under the conversion layer. This greatly simplifies the coupling of the LEDs into external, light-guiding optics. The light generated can be used with much lower optical loss, which in turn makes the LED lamps and luminaires more efficient. Typical LED benefits, such as energy efficiency, lamp life and minimal maintenance costs.

No surface-mount technology (SMT) soldering is necessary to mount the Soleriq S 13; glue, screws or a solder-less connector can do the job. Although the connecting wires can still be joined by simple manual soldering and then glued or screwed to the heat sink, the simpler option is to use a solder-less connector that takes care of both the electrical contact and the mechanical mounting. It eliminates the need for soldering; the connecting wires need only be inserted in the terminals provided.For more information, please visit www.streetlights-solar.com.

Conversations around the roundabout

I’d been thinking about construction of the final Caledon section of the connection between Highway 50 North of Bolton and Coleraine Drive forming a bypass of the village’s downtown. The Highway 50 connection will be a roundabout similar to one at the junction of Olde Baseline and Dixie Roads. I have no idea what has taken Ontario so long in adapting “roundabouts.” Anywhere we’ve encountered these ‘traffic circles,’ in Eastern Canada, the Caribbean or Europe, I’ve marveled at how efficiently they allow motorists to proceed in any one of several directions without the delay caused by traffic signals. Goodness knows Highway 50 has enough of those.

In any event, we were driving the highway connecting New Brunswick with the Confederation Bridge and Prince Edward Island. Halfway between the Trans-Canada Highway and the bridge, you’ll find a classic traffic circle with one leg leading into the small coastal town of Port Elgin. Quick as a wink, we made our way around the round-about and into town, stopping at a small, ramshackle grocery story hardly worthy of the name. There was nothing in the shelves we wanted until Lynda rounded the corner of an aisle and spotted two packages. Her eyes lit up like headlights. She scooped both packages in a flash. You see, back home, she’d run out of old-fashioned, “warm-light” 40 watt incandescent light bulbs. “You can’t get these in Bolton,” she said and, “I hate the light from those new bulbs.”

The roundabout at Port Elgin had taken us into the middle of a debate which will gain traction again this fall. One hundred and seventy-five watt incandescent bulbs have been banned from store shelves since the first of the year, the handiwork of John Baird when he was the Harper “we know better than you do” Government’s Environment Minister. Sixty and 40 watt bulbs will be banned as of Dec. 31 this year which explains why Lynda was loading up her supply.

There’s good reason for banning these energy inefficient bulbs over time. Half their energy is wasted as heat. In Germany, for example, using the new forms of light bulbs, CFL’s or LED’s, might save the equivalent of three nuclear power plants.

It’s the nanny state mentality in this country which drives critics to drink. Why would you ban good old fashioned, albeit inefficient light bulbs before you had a workable plan to dispose of the mercury used in CFL’s or before the genius of science completed its work of creating an super-efficient bulb offering the equivalent of an incandescent glow.

By definition, forcing Canadians to purchase much more expensive light bulbs containing a highly toxic chemical in the interests of appearing greener than green is nothing more than a hidden tax by another name.

That was the discussion returning to our campsite in New Brunswick by way of the Port Elgin round-about. It’s efficient as will be the traffic circle on Highway 50 where it joins Coleraine Drive within the next three years. The light bulb ban is another matter. By way of note, Lynda cleaned out the available stock at the Port Elgin grocery store. Another lady cleaned out the stock of a Home Hardware store in Chester, Nova Scotia to the tune of $500. More information about the program is available on the web site at streetlights-solar.