“It is not the world that is absurd, nor human thought: the absurd arises when the human need to understand meets the unreasonableness of the world, when “my appetite for the absolute and for unity” meets “the impossibility of reducing this world to a rational and reasonable principle.” -Albert Camus

My art (my work) has blended into my life. Or should I say my work is my life. I’m having trouble these days separating the two. And why should I? Why should I work just for money? Why should I live for the weekends? I have stayed independent through the years so that I can be free. That was a lot of work on my part. Why am I not using it to my advantage? What I’m dealing with these days is I no longer want to do work that isn’t ideal for my health (or the planet’s health, -same thing). I also want to get paid to do things I would be doing anyway. What I usually love to do. What I do is my ‘business‘, right? This has been challenging because I love several things (well, more than several) & I’m not sure what they have to do with each other. Or if they could generate money & become a business. Sometimes I think this matters & sometimes I don’t. At times I feel conflicted. In general I do feel that I live between two worlds. One physical & one spiritual. -But of course I should! I’m both! How silly of me to think otherwise! It’s only the thinking that makes this balance difficult. Day after day, what are we here for? To have fun, to make love, to make money? I hope not! Because even when I have all of these, it’s not enough. I hope for seeing & feeling right now more than anything. To feel & to really ’see’. I want to connect directly with all that I do & with all whom I meet. I want to do this in a meaningful, lasting way. In a way that serves our highest selves, forever. So basically this would be a physical connection that becomes spiritual (unchanging). Or vice versa. To work with the physical (the temporary) in a spiritual way. This is my current challenge. And I’m certain that I’m over thinking it and that the solution for me is not only simple, but is staring me directly in the face! But just like my friend Sisyphus rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, I will find my work when I find my rhythm. When I can be present to each step as if it is the destination. This I believe is an ongoing task. Truly BEing (myself) is why I’m here. Sharing that with others is my work. It’s what I love to do.

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.” -Miles Davis

“Be yourself. No one can ever tell you you’re doing it wrong.” -James Leo Herlihy

**Happy Holidays Everyone! Enjoy. Xo!**

They say turn around is fair play.  Kevin Hazard of the Planet recently took this literally.  No sooner had I finished interviewing him at the Cloud Expo in Santa Clara then he turned around and pointed his camera at me.  He got me talking about the cloud and what the heck Dell’s doing in it.

Some of the topics I tackle:

• What I do as Dell’s Cloud Evangelist.
• Where Dell plays in the cloud:
  • Cloud based services providing IT management as a service.
  • Building these capabilities through the acquisition of four companies over the last two years:  MessageOne, ASAP, Everdream and Silverback.
  • Creating custom servers as well as providing data center design and implementation for some of the world’s largest “hyper-scale” customers e.g. Microsoft’s Azure and three out of the top five search engines in the U.S.
• What’s next:  building on this experience to offer integrated cloud solutions for setting up private and public clouds.  Combining Dell hardware and services with best of breed software — all coming from/supported by Dell.

• My thoughts on Public vs. Private clouds and how we will end up with a mix of computing models.

Extra Credit Reading

• MSPmentor’s take on my interview

Pau for now…

The trees stand majestically, tall and proud. And the jungle feels like it’s growing with each footstep you put forward. The leaves of all the plant life feel as if they are exhaling their breath on your shoulders, whispering to you to keep walking into the depths of wonderment. You smell a faint floral perfume and musty wet dog scent accented with grassy/piney freshness all with one whiff.

There is a party going on and the conversation is rhythmic. Crickets contribute as the percussion, as the crashing waterfall provides a steady bass line. A myriad of birds of all breeds chirp and squawk their vocals. And mysterious slithery insects and reptiles hiss among the prominent raindrops which make their own music to polish off a Grammy award-winning soundtrack.

As you start to marvel at the beautiful hues of green glistening in the mist, your eyes fixate on the most exquisite and exotic blooms you’ve ever seen. The hypnotic flora will captivate you with salmon-pink scalloped edges, sunburst fire-orange and gold sprays of petals and gleaming white and magenta fringe.

And just as you are visually overwhelmed by the magical beauty you are imbibing with every dew drop of rain, humid breath and groovy jungle strum – it happens… THE BITE.

First it’s a pinch, then a sting, which progresses to the most progressive itch. Thirty-three bites later and two inches of blood-swelling puffer-fish appearing welts, you begin to understand the environment you were just in… someone else’s territory.

And you realize something profound: from a shark bite in the big blue ocean; a charging herd of cattle in the prairie, or yes, even 33 bites in the middle of the rainforest – you are a guest in Mother Nature’s home, which belongs to her children. And her children are skeptical of strangers entering their home.

It is here you are reminded just how small you really are. It is here you earn a newfound respect for the nature you take for granted and dare to trespass.
It is also here where you learn just how much we really do need to honor the gifts we have on this Earth before they are gone.

While many of you may balk at the crusaders for our planet – until you’ve personally experienced this or any other kind of magic that intoxicates you visually, audibly and yes, spiritually in a virtual 360, , do you comprehend what people are truly fighting for. They’re fighting for YOUR right to see, hear, smell, taste and feel this all for yourself… the euphoria of everything at once, along with the residual stinging and swelling as a result of the once-in-a-lifetime event. It will make you think differently and put things in a newfound perspective.

I’ve always had respect for the planet and grew up very green in a progressive household that was green back in the 70s with the first solar panels in the neighborhood. We recycled, we conserved. But this experience gave me a deeper appreciation for every bottle, can or paper I’ve recycled, every bit of water I’ve conserved, every piece of litter I’ve ever picked up, every energy-efficient light I’ve screwed in and so forth. And still somehow, it just doesn’t seem enough.
For this one opportunity to get bitten 33 times, I would say to see what I have seen, heard and what I have felt – was well worth it.

You can never underestimate the power of Mother Nature. And you can never underestimate the power that each of us have in unity to protect and preserve her and the planet.

Care for the planet, respect nature and don’t forget to grab the insect repellent.

© 2009 Queena Verbosity 100% Real Words
Media Monster Communications, Inc.
Stacey Kumagai

http://www.100percentrealwords.blogspot.com

http://hubpages.com/profile/mediamonster

http://www.braingasm.com

I have a couple of links on my blog (look on the left under Magazines) about global warming and CO2 written by a learned scientist. They are worth reading. I have never put any faith in the current thinking about global warming and our involvement in it. The Earth has gone through many heating and cooling cycles in it’s history, many ice ages and mini ice ages too. They were happening long before mankind appeared. Nature did this all by herself and without the aid of mankind. We may be responsible in contributing to the current rise in world temperature but if you read the articles in the links you mat be surprised to learn that CO2 is unlikely to be involved. Why? Because CO2 is quite a rare gas and according to the article only represents a fraction of 1% of the gasses in the atmosphere. Again, according to the article, whenever there has been an increase in temperature in the past the level of CO2 has been at a minimum and when there has been a reduction in temperatures CO2 has been at a maximum. Strange? It makes me wonder if all the talk about carbon footprints is a load of hogwash and then I think to myself, ‘Why are we paying the penalty’?
One other thing we are told is that we must recycle materials to ’save the planet’. Sounds good to me but in fact we are only saving the use of new materials and not energy which is what all the fuss is about. Energy is used in the manufacturing of materials into usable things but when we recycle just as much, if not more energy is used to effect the recycle. That’s before the recycled material is transformed into another usable article. Where is the energy being saved? I am confused and not convinced about global warming and all that.

Shirley Anne

By Kelly Mahan Jaramillo, Nov. 22nd, 2009

I am serious, I would like whomever is on this blog to watch the video below all the way through, and tell me how you felt after it.  Thanks.

This week I made the trek out of the Lone Star state and headed west to the Bay Area.  I spent the first day in San Francisco where I took our sales folks through my cloud presentation and then had meetings with a few members of the press.  Here is the outcome of a couple of those meetings:

• Dell Eyes Cloud Computing — Information Week
• Dell schools net ‘dolphins’ in ways of Microsoft ‘whale’ — The Register

Down on the Peninsula

From the city I headed down to Santa Clara and the Cloud Computing Expo.  I don’t think I saw a single customer at the event but I did run into a bunch of interesting companies in attendance.  With my trusty Flip Mino I even recorded a bunch of interviews that I will be rolling out in the days to come.  Here’s the list

• 3Tera — Barry Lynn, CEO
• Heroku — Oren Teich head of product
• Oracle VM — Adam Hawley, Director of Product management
• Gluster — Hitesh Cellani, CEO and Jack O’Brien head of marketing
• The Planet — Rob Walters, director of product management
• Stoneware — Rick German, CEO
• Cloud Camp — Dave Nielsen, co-founder

Stay tuned.

A Zoho billboard in the San Jose airport, right in the heart of Google country.

Pau for now…

What is sovereignty and does anyone still have any?

Jau trečius metus iš eilės itin įdomių filmų programą siūlantis festivalis Ad Hoc: Nepatogus Kinas šiemet žvilgsnį nukreips ne tik į žmogaus teisių, bet ir į ekologines problemas. Pradedant spalio 22 d. Vilniaus, Kauno ir Klaipėdos žiūrovai galės nemokamai pamatyti 45 filmus, iš kurių 5 priskirti “žaliajai programai”: The Age of Stupid (Kvailumo amžius), Crude (Žaliava), The Planet (Planeta), Earth Days (Žemės dienos) ir Everything is Cool (Viskas tvarkoj). Pilną programą ir išsamesnius filmų aprašymus galite rasti nepatoguskinas.lt

Iki susitikimo prie ekranų!

Today I’ve been thinking about the recent rash of electrical data center fires and failures, from The Planet’s explosion in Texas to the Fisher Plaza fire to the recent Omgeo fire in Boston (I ran across some more details about the Fisher Plaza fire). In this post I’ll be discussing how to deal with preexisting electrical infrastructure in your data center facility.

Unless you’re building a facility from scratch or doing a bare walls gut out of a building, chances are very good that you’ll be dealing with preexisting electrical facilities. This is especially true if you lease space in a building. So, how can you identify what can be safely reused and what should go on the junk pile?

Step one, throw away the aluminum. Aluminum wire and aluminum buss bars (such as the one that failed at Fisher Plaza) tend to have problems with loosening connectors as well as oxidation (if they’re not protected properly). These two problems can result in wasted energy (not what you want for a green data center), over heating, and even fires from electrical arcs, especially if the conductor is carrying thousands of amps of current). Copper conductors, on the other hand, while being more expensive, do not suffer from either of these problems.

If you are going to run any aluminum, inspect all connections before operating and establish a maintenance program to tighten all connections periodically.

Second, ditch any panels and over current protection devices made before the late 1960s. I’ve seen “fused neutral” panels from the early 1900s (a serious safety hazard) and circuit breakers from the late 1930s still in service in commercial buildings. When circuits breakers get very old, not only may they not trip but the lubrication inside the breaker may harden up, locking the breaker on. I’ve actually seen this happen, a Square D “992″ breaker failed to trip on fault and basically pumped a full 600A entrance into a 15A circuit. The result was the destruction of the panel buss bars and much smoke, as well as a service outage.

Third item is transformers. All oil cooled transformers belong outside the building, period. Transformer explosions and fires are not good anywhere but the last place you want them is anywhere near your data center equipment. Older dry type transformers should be inspected for signs of over heating. I’ve seen transformers in live operation that had temperatures of 150 deg F on the outside of the case. Transformers that have been abused this way are much more likely to have insulation breakdown. If it’s suspect, replace it before you end up with a service outage or worse.

Finally, replace obsolete wire types. Type R (rubber with a flammable canvas outer jacket), TW, and THW are all still commonly found in buildings. In additional to now being up to modern current carrying standards, any of these may exhibit degradation of the insulation. Once again, it’s just a catastrophe waiting to happen.

This isn’t an exhaustive list but if you follow the recommendations here, you’ll avoid the biggest electrical traps that have plagued data centers for the last few years.

Vern, SwiftWater Telecom

data center facilities engineering

For the last year bags of colour has been running on a very small scale and has managed to provide work for a local family, who have been helping me to run the project and for 3 other women.

It is now time to return to Sri Lanka to bring this idea into full blossom, and offer the opportunity to more women in poorer communities, and to hopefully create a solid foundation from which the project can then be extended to other developing countries.

Currently funds to develop the project are limited, but faith and determination is plentiful, so I will keep marching forward and trust that it will come together beautifully. However if you would like to donate to help this small project grow then we would be very grateful you can do so by following the link below. http://www.mrsite.co.uk/usersitesv12/bethshepherd.com/wwwroot/page16.htm

This evening I’ve been reading a blog article about The Planet running tower cases in their data centers. I can’t see for the life of me how this makes sense.

It’s certainly true that tower case setups offer flexibility. There’s space for pretty much whatever add in cards you could want and plenty of room for ridiculous amounts of drives. That there’s more room for air flow inside and it’s easier to get the heat out of them with lousy cooling is not in doubt.

On the other hand, with 1TB drives common and inexpensive, is there really a need for a dozen drive bays? Especially since the trend is well away from massive amounts of server attached storage in the data center? Not to mention the amount of power low utilized drives waste. Not very green at all.

Since even the most compact of 1U server configurations can be had with almost everything desirable for ports, controllers, and video, is there really the need for major amounts of slots anymore? It seems to me that most of the upgrades that would be put in such a system would be absolutely useless in a server (who needs a gamer video card in a co-located server?).

What is a point is that there is a massive difference in space consumed between towers and rackmount cases. The Planet seems to think that’s good, since low density means less heat and less power. Unfortunately, it also means less revenue for the facility. Operating inefficiently because we don’t want to bother with a good cooling design is a lousy tradeoff.

The biggest nail in the coffin to towers in the data center is, how do you control cooling air flow? Towers on open racks would be virtually impossible to separate the hot exhaust air from the cold intake air. It’s the nightmare of anyone who cares in the slightest about greening data centers.

There was some economic justification to doing this 10-15 years ago. It’s 2009, time to relegate long obsolete data center design to ancient history.

Vern, SwiftWater Telecom

data center, web hosting, Internet engineering

The planet is changing faster than expected. Temperatures are rising, ice caps melting, arid zones growing, species declining, and people are suffering from displacement, hunger, and war. The 2009 report of the U.S. Global Climate Panel estimates that global warming is already causing 300,000 deaths per year and that hunger, mass migration, and war will increase as people displaced by these changes seek refuge. While the pressures are keen to understand, mitigate, and adapt to these challenges, the desire to understand our human place in Earth’s story is not new.

I’ve founds some cool blogs that I wanted to share:

No Impact Man – This is definetly a blog I will be following, I’m touched and impressed by his effort to actually do something to change the planet. I really liked this article . To read more on the background to the blog and, what I would call, the movement, read here.

Matador Network – cool online travel magazine and network for us who love to travel. Lots of interesting articles and links to other blogs. It’s divided into different pages with different angles to traveling. My favorites are Spirit - Brave New Traveler (Exploring the inner journey through the outer world), and Change (Green travel, activism, be the change around the world). One interesting article I found was “10-volunteer opportunities for free travel”.

I’ve also added another blog to my blogroll Free Travel Go! although I still haven’t found a free way to travel, this site gives a few ideas on how to travel cheaper. It also led me to the other blogs I found and liked.

I hope you enjoy them!

This blog has featured Vital Choice Wild Seafood and Organics a couple of times. We’ve exposed the fact that this company promotes its products by attacking the competition. You know, the ‘ol “only eat wild, don’t eat farmed” rhetoric.

It’s obvious why – by attacking your largest competitor you can sell more of your product. Hey, it’s how politicians get elected and governments are formed!

But, someone the other day challenged us – do you have proof? So, we went looking…it didn’t take us long.

Here’s a quote from their website:

“Vital Choice contributes a portion of its net profits to the Weil Foundation, Raincoast Research Society, the Live Strong Foundation, The Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and other causes devoted to improving the health and well being of people and the planet that sustains us.”

So let us explain the significance of three of these “payouts” – and it ain’t because they improve the health of people and planet.

The Weil Foundation: Dr. Andrew Weil (Nutritionist for clients such as Oprah Winfrey) is paid to endorse Vital Choice products. Fair enough. Simply endorsing is one thing BUT this is the guy that appeared on Larry King Live in January of 2004 and pleaded for people to stay away from unhealthy foods which included pop, chips and…..farm-raised salmon. Come on Andrew, can you be any more obvious?

Raincoast Research Society: This Society is being paid by commercial fishing interest groups to attack farm-raised salmon. The latest study produced by this Society claimed up to 95% (the low number in the range was 9%, but no one uses that number!) of out-migrating juvenile salmon were perishing from farm produced sea lice (sea lice are found naturally on wild juvenile salmon by the way). The study was ripped apart by no less than twenty of the world’s leading fisheries scientists as a completely unfounded claim.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium: Ok, these guys produce the Seafood Watch pamphlets. So, MBA gives wild salmon a “green light” (the main product for Vital Choice) while it’s main competitor, farm-raised salmon, gets a “red light”. Vital Choice smiles and hands over the dough. A match made in heaven.

WARNING! All this back scratching is going to leave a mark.

But he’s just having fun: by contrast, I mean it.

Thanks to Samizdata for flagging.

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Global warming has been debated as anywhere from being  a false/flawed science to pending “end of the world” if we don’t do something to save the environment. Though I’m not an environmental scientist or an expert on environmental management. I do know I was raised not to waste the resources God has given us.

I found an article by Brian Merchant a writer for planetgreen.discovery.com titled “5 Super Cheap Green Items Everyone should own.” He calls the list below the “Green Starter Kit.” I think it makes sense, for our environmental health, so I am passing it on to you.

1. Thermos/Mug/Water Bottle: Having a trusty water bottle, thermos, or mug that you can carry around and fill up with water or coffee at various establishments will cut down on phenomenal amounts of waste over the years.
2. Tote bag: Put and end to the paper or plastic eco-conundrum once and for all – get yourself a reusable tote bag and don’t let the plastic or paper pile up in our landfills.
3. Clothesline: Our culture dictates that convenience and expedience comes first – hence the clothes drier being a staple of the American home.  But, it shouldn’t be – why pay for and suck down electricity ( or fork over a bunch of quarters at the Laundromat ), when you can dry your clothes for free?  Sure, it might take a bit longer, but using a clothesline is cheaper and greener.
4. Smart Strip: These handy surge protectors will stave off the effects of vampire power – how appliance’s which are plugged-in drain electricity even when turned off.  Smart strips vary in affordability, with some models priced as low as $14.95 — and the savings in electricity will more than make up for the cost. These are a must for any green home.
5. Water Filter: Combine this with numero uno, and you  will never have to buy bottled water again. This is one of the most important items every environmentally conscious soul should own–it turns your tap into an endless fountain of fresh tasting water, and cuts the waste of your water.

If all Americans just start with these 5 things, it will be a step towards eliminating waste of our valuable resources, and a great cost savings for them.  If you’re not already doing these things, give them a try– it’s pretty painless and will result in energy and cost savings, for you and our planet.

Are you a hard worker, yet underpaid? Are you interested in earning some extra money, or wanting to say good-bye to your 9-5 job? Want to start up your own Home Based Business? Why not learn from one of the best in the buisness, and learn all the tip, tricks and secrets to operating your own Guaranteed Money Making Business, that you could start operating as early as today?  Go Here and learn how to start making an automotive income, TODAY!

IT REALLY DOES BLOW YOUR MIND..REALLY!

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE WILL BLOW YOUR MIND! YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE YOUR EYES!

LAUGHTER WILL FILL THAT VOID PLACE KNOWN AS TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEAT FOR THE TACKY TUESDAY FUNNIES!

MONKEY MONSTER DILDO

WHEN YOUR PLAYMATE IS NOT UP TO IT!

OH BABY! OH BABY! I AM GONNA CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCUM!

EVERY DOG HAS IT’S DAY

WHY PUPPIES LIKE TO WATCH US!

MOMMIE, WHAT IS HE DOING ????????????

THE PETTING ZOO DOWN UNDER

HEY KID, I DO NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THAT FOOD IN YOUR HAND AT THE MOMENT!

WHAT A TIGHT BUTT BABY.........

WHO NEEDS A DONG WHEN YOU HAVE A TRUNK.

ELEPHANTS DOING THERE PART TO RECYCLE THE FOOD AT THE LOCAL ZOO!

HERE IS YOUR 18TH BIRTHDAY GIFT!!!

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT CAN’T GET ANY WORSE!

YOUR MOM HANDS YOU THE VCR TAPE OF “THE MAKING OF YOU” AS AN 18TH BIRTHDAY GIFT!

Vad är det jag har gjort? Jo, jag har tagit några ljud- och videoklipp från dokumentärfilmen The Planet och satt ihop dem till en 3 minuter lång, hm.. uppmaning kanske? Nej, jag vet inte, däremot är det nyttigt att påminna sig själv och andra om att tänka på klimatet och vad man kan göra åt ett av världens största problem.

Alltså oljepumpar (om de nu heter så). De är verkligen som en symbol för mycket, både rikedom och ett modernt industrisamhälle, men också krig, makt och framförallt, miljöproblem. Man undrar hur världen hade sett ut idag om vi inte hade upptäckt oljan.

We must be getting old, here at Routing By Rumor world headquarters, because we’re not spotting deceptive consumer practices as quickly as we used to.  If you’re a regular visitor to these parts, you’ve heard us complaining about manufacturers who downsize their products, and about manufacturer’s practices we’ve termed “deception engineering“.

Case in point…  When last month’s “Costco Connection” advertising and propaganda publication  arrived (they call it a “lifestyle magazine” -  believe that, and we have an “infomercial” we want you to watch), we found great news on page 52  (View the April edition of Costco Connection here).  Costco announced, in a two-page article, that while other brands of tuna fish were shrinking their cans from six ounces to five ounces, Costco was increasing the size of their  “Kirkland Signature” house brand of tuna fish, from six ounces to seven ounces.  You don’t read good news like that every day.  Sounds like they’re making an already good value even better.  Break out the mayonnaise and strike up the band.  Happy days are here again!

Or are they?

It turns out that it’s good news for Costco, but bad news for Costco members (and, we suspect, for those cute little tuna fishies).  While it’s true that they have increased the size of their Kirkland Signature tuna fish by 16.6%, to seven ounces, consumers are not getting more tuna for their money.  The article in their Costco Connection magazine somehow forgot to mention the fact that the price per can actually increased even more than the size of the can!  Bottom line: You get more tuna per can, but the price per ounce has increased.

Silly us.  We thought we might be getting more tuna fish for the same price.  In actuality, while the size of the cans was increased a whopping 16.6%, the price per can has increased an even more whopping 20%.  Packs of eight 6-ounce cans  had sold for $9.99 in area Costco Wholesale warehouses.  Now that they have introduced packs of eight 7-ounce cans, Costco has raised the selling price to $11.99, a 20% increase.  By the way, didja ever notice how most grocery items at Costco seem to be sized so that the average price per package is around $10 or $12 ?  Throw 9 or ten items in your cart, and you just spent at least $100.  But we guess that’s the whole idea of shopping in a “warehouse” club.   And why does the price of everything have to end in “.99″, ie: $9.99, $11.99, $14.99 ?  We realize that Costco didn’t invent that pricing strategy, but if you’re shopping in a place like Costco, which says it caps  it’s margin** (see below) at 14%, it seems like a suspicious practice to cynical little us.  Like maybe if their normal markup dictates a selling price of $12.35, it gets rounded UP to $12.99, just because someone at Costco likes the number 99, and rounding it up to an even $13.00 might seem, well, excessive.  Yes, we know that 13 is not an even number, but you get the point.  Besides, 1300 IS an even number, which is sort of odd, when you stop and think about it.  Then again, maybe we’re paranoid, and when they have an item that should sell for $12.35, they decide to give their members a break, and round the price down to $11.99.  Yeah, right.  All we know is that if you look at your receipt the next time you shop at Costco, just about everything except random-weight packages of meat, poulty, fish, etc., will end in “.99″.  But even those random-weight items will have a unit price ending in “.99″, such as $5.99 per pound.

But then, there are a lot of odd things at Costco, like the fact that they will accept any credit card in your wallet, as long as it is from American Express.  And the fact that they don’t offer grocery bags, so you end up throwing 500 loose items into your car in the parking lot.  And the fact that they won’t accept any manufacturer’s cents-off  coupons, unless they are distributed by Costco themselves.  And the fact that they have pretty limited hours of operation, especially for the lowest-cost membership holders. And the fact (according to this New York Times article), that Costco refuses to accept food stamps (now issued as debit cards) for purchases.  And the fact that you’ll find horrifically environment-unfriendly packaging of many small items (especially electronic items) at Costco, which doesn’t seem to be getting Costco members too upset.  We’re talking huge plastic blister packs (which can’t be recycled, at least where we live), or combination plastic and cardboard blister packs, so that these small items are less likely to be stolen.  In our opinion,  some of the terribly excessive packaging at Costco and other warehouse-type retailers qualifies as a crime against the planet, even if it doesn’t happen to be illegal.

Now, we’ll admit that we aren’t going to stop buying Costco tuna fish.  It’s actually excellent quality tuna.  It is quite possibly the best quality tuna we have ever found, at any price.  But those good folks in Seattle must think their customers are idiots.  To be sure, the price per ounce has increased only slightly, and it’s still a good value.  But shamelessly hyping the increased size of their cans of tuna fish, and not mentioning that it’s now more expensive and was actually a better value before they increased the size of the cans isn’t what we would consider good news or being straightforward with their customers .  In our opinion, it borders on deceptive advertising.  Of course, you can’t  expect that manufacturers will go out of their way to let you know when they raise prices, downsize a product, or substitute cheaper ingredients, either.  What we don’t like is the fact that, in our mind at least, Costco’s announcement paints a picture that it’s now a better value, when the opposite is actually true.

Since when is raising the price (per ounce, per pound, per gallon, etc.) of a product, while at the same time, forcing you to buy more of it at once, a good thing for consumers ?  What ever happened to the warehouse club concept that as package size increases, so does value ?

For us, the appeal of shopping at Costco isn’t so much about price, as it is about quality.  After all, shopping at Costco means an extra shopping trip,  an annual membership fee, not getting your groceries bagged, often waiting in long lines at the checkout, limited shopping hours and very limited product selection.  Indeed,we can buy many identical items for less at the local supermarket, especially when they’re on sale or if we use manufacturer’s coupons.  What we like most about Costco is that the quality of their private-labeled items, such as their tuna fish, is generally superior to not only the national brands, but any brand at any price.  Even Jimmy Kimmel shops at Costco.  Watch Jimmy shopping at Costco on youtube.  We never knew a trip to Costco could be so much fun.

An article entitled “Costco’s Artful Discounts” (Business Week, October 9, 2008), says this of Costco CEO James D. Sinegal… “he’s constantly pushing his buyers to find creative ways to lower prices and add value while getting his managers to crank up their efficiency efforts”.  It seems to us that Costco’s new 7-ounce cans of tuna have failed to deliver the lower prices or added value which Mr. Sinegal is so fond of.  What they do seem to have provided is a lot of hype for Costco’s marketing efforts, and very likely a higher profit margin because a product’s shipping and packaging costs (especially for canned items) decrease (on a percentage basis), as container size increases.  There is very little difference in the cost of manufacturing a 7-ounce tin can, compared to a 6-ounce tin can.  In fact, in the case of Costco tuna fish, the old and new cans use exactly the same size lid; but the walls of the can are slightly taller.  Costco is also very good at finding ways to minimize shipping costs, for instance, by having their vendors redesign packages so that more of them can fit onto a standard shipping pallet.  We wouldn’t be surprised if Costco’s next “improvement” to their Kirkland signature tuna will be to offer it in new and improved square cans.  Think of all the space that will save in the pantry, and the fact that you won’t have to worry about your can of tuna fish rolling away, should you drop it.  That’s always been a big problem for households that live in hilly areas.  Now, if the United States mint would only start issuing square pennies !

1919 Australian Kooka Square Penny

So, what have we learned today, class?  We’ve learned that you get less for your money when manufacturers shrink the size of their products,  and sometimes, you get less for your money when manufacturers increase the size of their products.  Heads, you lose.  Tails, you lose.

Dear Costco… May we please have our old 6-ounce cans of Kirkland Signature tuna fish back again?  They were a better value.

Then again, maybe we should just pay our money, eat our tuna fish (mercury content and torpedoes be damned), and keep our mouth shut.  Mother always said you shouldn’t speak with your mouth full, and now it’s 16.6% more full.

- Routing By Rumor

**  “Margin” is not the same as “markup”.  For instance, if you buy an item for $1.00, and sell it for $2.00,  your markup is 100%, but your margin (the percentage of the selling price that represents your profit) is only 50%.   We’ve always felt that putting things in terms of profit margin instead of markup, especially as markups become greater, has the effect of making a seller’s prices seem more reasonable.

Make Everyday Earth Day.

I  think their are a number of things we all can do to “Go Green.”

 Plant Trees.

Learn  about the problems facing the planet.

And additionally, support green business and products.

I have a website which markets green products.

So, check-it-out:  www.GlennIsGreen.com

You can also find green resources and more…

Thanks for Shopping Buy!

Make Everyday Earth Day.

-G 

P.S. Thank you for helping my business to grow.

A pretty damn good photographer named John Bradley recently posted his pictures from visiting a crater from when the Soviet’s were drilling for natural gas in the Middle East desert and the machine fell into the Earth.  Crazy.  Here’s the official, better, description:

In the heart of the Karakum desert of Turkmenistan the Darvaza Gas Crater or The Burning Gates give off a glow that can be seen from miles away during the dark night. The large crater is a result of a Soviet gas exploration accident in the 1950’s. It was created when a Soviet drilling rig was drilling for natural gas fell into an underground cavern resulting in a crater which today measures roughly 60 meters in diameter and 20 meters deep. The huge crater was set alight shortly after being discovered and has been burning ever sinse. The smell of burning sulfur can be detected from a distance and becomes quite strong as you near the hot edge of the crater.

LINK: Turkmenistan – Darvaza – Burning Gas Craters: 7/7/2007 – 7/8/2007.

-Sonny

This is my first post and will add some more posts shortly. Here is an interesting snippet: