With the oil disaster in the Gulf, “green energy” and energy conservation efforts have received some much overdue attention.  For families, helpful tips like how to save money heating and cooling and your home and how to save money on utilities with emerging technology.  However, there hasn’t been a whole lot of information for the local government and business environment.  Well, the EPA recently addressed the need to “go green” by releasing the “Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit for Local Governments”.

Yes, it’s long on title, but it’s also filled with useful information local governments can use to research and implement energy saving measures into new local building projects.  Good for the environment and energy conservation, “sustainable design” is also another means to address long term savings in local budgets.

According to a news release posted by the EPA, “The Toolkit is designed to assist local governments in identifying and removing permitting barriers to sustainable design and green building practices. It provides a resource for communities interested in conducting their own internal evaluation of how local codes/ordinances either facilitate or impede a sustainable built environment, including the design, construction, renovation, and operation and maintenance of a building and its immediate site.”

You can download the Toolkit directly from the EPA at: www.epa.gov/region4/recycle/green-building-toolkit.pdf

We started covering the “Zombie Satellite” back in May.  If you don’t recall, the Galaxy 15 satellite was hit by a solar storm and lost communications with Earth.  It’s currently broken orbit and appears to be meandering around on its own.  Hence, the “zombie satellite” nickname.

Anyhow, after the near miss in May that may have cut off feeds for several cable TV providers, including the “Lost” series finale, the satellite has been rather quiet.  Well, that recently changed when the Galaxy 15 missed smashing into a couple sister satellites only after the sisters performed evasive maneuvers!

According to Peter B. de Selding of Space.com, Intelsat successfully maneuvered Galaxy 13 away from the out of control Galaxy 15 in what will likely be “at least four such maneuvers before the so-called “zombie satellite” shuts down on its own in August.”

I’m sure there’s much more to it than I imagine, but it sounds like someone at Intelsat has a real life video game on his hands.

Stay tuned.    I’ll be sure to bring up any potential cable TV service interruptions as I hear of them.  However, Galaxy 15 is set to shut down on its own in mid August.  I wonder if it will follow instructions . . .

There seems to be a lot of discussion around DSL Xtreme.  Or is it DSL Extreme?  And is there even a difference between the two?

Well, with such similar names, there is discussion around both (online anyway) and there is most certainly a difference between the two.

DSL Xtreme is AT&T’s name for super-fast high speed DSL Internet service.   DSL Extreme is a Los Angeles based DSL provider.  However, if you search for one, you will no doubt find the other.  Now that we know there is a difference between the two, our focus will  be on the AT&T product.

AT&T’s FastAccess® DSL Xtreme and FastAccess® DSL Xtreme 6.0 are the high end of AT&T’s available DSL products with FastAccess® DSL Ultra and FastAccess® DSL Lite bringing up the rear.  Aimed squarely at online gamers and streaming video aficionados (and honestly, who doesn’t watch some form of video online these days?) , FastAccess® DSL Xtreme offers 3-6 Mbps download speeds based on which product you choose.  Traditional FastAccess® DSL tops out around 1.5 Mbps which fast, but pales in comparison.

To see if DSL high speed Internet is available at your house, just enter your address in the “Savings Widget”.  We’ll show you what’s available.

There seems to have been a lot of bad news floating around cable TV news channels.  So here’s a spot of good news I didn’t see on any of the morning news shows.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced last week that it’s providing $30 million in funding to develop clean energy technologies through small businesses.  This funding has the potential to truly drive progress in several fields: smart grid technology, fuel cell development, green building, solar energy, wind power, nuclear energy and fossil fuel recovery.

Not only does the $30 million funding drive much needed progress in the areas of electric utilities, natural gas providers and oil dependence, it also puts much needed capital behind small businesses.  You can read the specifics over at the DOE.

When it comes to cable TV, high speed Internet services and local phone service, the marketplace is fueled by heavy advertising and fierce competition and it doesn’t go unnoticed.    Along with several other providers, Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner Cable consistently find themselves in the Top 10 as listed in the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s  Top 25 Multichannel Video Programming Distributors list.

So how do  Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner Cable rank in the Top 10?  Subrscribers.

The NCTA uses “basic video subscribers” to determine who tops the list in the industry.  Basically, the more subscribers you have, the higher you rank.  And as of March 2010, Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner Cable ranked #1, #8, and #4, respectively.  To see how your local cbale comany stacks up against the rest, check out the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s  Top 25 Multichannel Video Programming Distributors list.

Finding DSL high speed Internet providers “in my area” can be as simple as calling up your local phone company.  Of course, how do you know the phone company is offering exactly what you need?  You compare DSL plans and prices before you get connected.

Using your current Internet service, you can find DSL high speed Internet providers “in my area” by entering your address in the “Savings Widget” at the top of the page.  Your address will determine which DSL providers actually run lines to your house.  From there, you can compare plans and prices, or even new providers, to decide which plan would fit best with your home and family.

If you do not currently have Internet service, you can always call 1-866-224-5506 to discuss your options with one of our trained Home Services Consultants.  Their job is to help you make an informed decision on all of your home services.

In other news . . .

George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, passed away on July 13th.  Often lampooned for his propensity for firing and rehiring, Steinbrenner was many things to many people.  And while he was often portrayed as abrasive, Steinbrenner, as illustrated through his SNL appearances, had his comedic side as well.   It’s only fitting that one of his more famed comedic roles, even if not played by Steinbrenner himself (He was actually portrayed by Lee Bear and voiced by Larry David), will be used to remember him.

Starting today, TBS, one of the current cable TV superstar networks, will be paying tribute to Steinbrenner by rerunning Seinfeld episodes featuring the “George Steinbrenner” caricature.  Even if only seen from behind, the episodes are an all too appropriate way to remember Costanza’s boss, “George Steinbrenner”

Will 3DTV ever be as widely adopted as High Definition television service (HDTV)?  If the 2010 MLB All-Star week was any  indicator, it just might.

In article written for Broadcasting & Cable, Glen Dickson reports that as “the last major U.S. professional league to experiment with the 3D format, MLB’s All-Star Week created a flurry of activity, with two regular- season games, the State Farm Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game all broadcast in 3D in a span of four days. And while no further 3D broadcasts are scheduled, the early verdict from network executives is that baseball in 3D is nothing short of a home run.”

Apparently, some were unsure of how 3D would translate with a game like baseball and I can see how this perception could be made.  Current MLB broadcasts don’t really bring viewers into the game.  While many shots are close up, they still feel fairly sterile.  A major step forward in the 3D broadcast was the plethora of “low shots”  By all accounts, bringing the viewer down onto the filed was the pinnacle of baseball in 3D.

Speaking about the home plate angle, Jerry Steinberg, senior VP of field operations for Fox Sports, says, “It was the money shot.”  He goes on to say, “When A-Rod [Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez] got brushed back, you felt the speed. And when a ball would skip in the dirt and come right to the camera, you were ducking away from the ball.”

And “ducking away from the ball” is the kind of response 3D should bring.  That’s the draw of 3DTV in your home.  you can maximize your “experience” from the comfort of your very own couch.  The big question is more about the acceptance of 3DTV.  Sure, sporting events and movies may translate well to home 3D, but what about your average shows?  Will police shows look good on your home 3DTV?  Maybe.  What about the evening news?  Probably not.  In time, content will likely be the true test for the success of 3DTV.

There’s also the cost.  To take advantage of 3D TV, you need a television capable of displaying 3D.  Many of us have just made the move to HDTV.  Do the limited 3D broadcasts warrant  a new TV?  I guess we’ll find out in the months and years to come.  I’ll be interested to see sales figures from the holiday shopping season.

In the mean time, for those of us who haven’t yet made the upgrade, you can see what high definition television services are available in your area by entering your address above.

Are you one of the many folks wondering, “Can I get AT&T U-Verse in my area?”  It looks like there may be good news for you and your neighbors.

According to an article by Todd Spangler from Multichannel News, AT&T is using “line bonding” to increase the availability of its U-Verse DSL high speed Internet and entertainment packages.  By pairing two copper wires together U-verse’s reach can extend anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000 feet into your neighborhood.   Those extra feet define your service area, because, according to Spangler, the DSL only “has a useful range of around 3,000 feet from the video-ready access devices (VRADs) that are the fiber-fed nodes in the U-verse network.”

The combination of line bonding and new U-verse buildouts should help AT&T pass the 30 million mark for homes using the U-Verse DSL high speed Internet service by the end of 2011.  If you were out of reach in years past, by the end of 2011 you may very well able to turn that question into a statement – “I can get AT&T U-Verse in my area!”

It’s summer.  Heat waves are wreaking havoc around the country and folks want cheap electricity to power those overused air conditioners. Answering the call, electric companies have been making progress in renewable energy and emerging technology, but can our power grid continue to operate without a serious upgrade?

A recent Reuter’s article on the current heatwave zapping the East coast isn’t inspiring.  Reporting on recent July outages,  Reuter’s says Con Ed of New York had “restored power to about 18,700 customers in the metropolitan area over the past 24 hours, but still had 6,300 homes and businesses suffering in the triple-digit heat without service.”  Could you deal with this heat without your A/C?

According to Reuter’s, workarounds and rationing have been used with some minor success.  Still, “authorities were taking precautions to prevent any disruptions to service.

The state-owned New York Power Authority on Wednesday again activated its demand response program, which pays large business and government customers, such as Citibank and New York City, to cut back on energy usage.

Con Edison asked businesses and government offices in New York to conserve energy by shutting nonessential lights and discretionary equipment, such as extra elevators or escalators, turning off pumps for ornamental fountains, limiting the cooling of buildings, and using emergency generators to offset some of the electricity they take from the power grid.

[Last] Tuesday night, Con Ed imposed a voltage reduction, or brown out, of up to 8 percent in parts of Brooklyn and Queens to allow workers to fix overheated cables supplying power to several neighborhoods.”

Fixing existing issues is a necessity, but there is certainly a larger problem to address.