The TiVo patent win makes a short-term difference to the company’s prospects, but this is a troubled market already in the midst of a price war. The main players all depend on licensing revenue from equipment OEMs that have cut prices aggressively to win market share. After adding 72% on the patent news, I would not buy into TiVo at this price. Personal Archives Video and audio programs, in particular, will require vast amounts of storage. Two announcements this week point to dramatically expanded capacity in fixed and portable drives.

International Business Machines (IBM, Trade) this week revealed new magnetic coating technology referred to as “pixie dust” that could expand storage capacity for each square inch of disk space by a factor of five. That means a PC or PVR could have an affordable half-terabyte (500-gigabyte) drives in a few years. IBM also participated in the development of Iomega Corp.’s (IOM, Trade) Peerless storage system, a 10 GB to 20 GB portable drive shipped this week that succeeds Iomega’s Zip and Jaz drives as inexpensive removable storage for PCs. Iomega also promises to develop an interface for the Peerless system for a wide range of digital devices.

A Peerless system could let users easily trade movies or massive libraries of music by swapping disks. Both pixie dust and the Peerless system could change the economics of home storage; there are other potentially important technologies, such as rewriteable DVD RAM, that will play in this space. Broadening Appeal As Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said this week at his company’s CEO Summit, the lack of broadband connections to the home is the barrier to widespread consumer acceptance of truly pervasive computing. These high-capacity storage systems that can grab and store lots of data dribble over slower data networks or via broadcast television converted into digital formats by a PVR can provide an interim solution to the slow roll-out of broadband, supporting new kinds of applications and programming.

Iomega, a former high-flier, has disappointed investors deeply in the past. The Peerless system remains unproven, but could have a significant impact on Iomega’s financial performance if the company successfully integrates the technology with PVRs, home and car stereos and other devices. Looking for More Risk? Iomega is currently selling at 2.95, with a price/earnings ratio of 6.26. Peerless sales will be small at the outset, because there is not a demonstrable mass market demand for this much storage — how many of you reading this column have filled more than half of a 40 GB drive? Have you ever tried to send a five-gigabyte file to a friend? Not many people do this kind of thing — what’s needed is a connection to audio and video devices.

I am looking for some advice regarding 16mm film storage. I have three reels of Laurel and Hardy shorts on acetate, “safety” stock, which I am keeping in my home. Is there an appropriate place I should keep these films, such as in a refrigerator? The films are not in danger of rotting away in the near future, but I would like to do my best to protect my treasured investments. Any help would be appreciated. The main rule is “cool and dry”. A home refrigerator would probably be overkill, and too humid. If you have a cool, dark closet that would have fairly uniform temperature it’s probably ok, especially since these are black & white films, and not subject to color fading.

Your only potential problem is “vinegar syndrome” due to the base decomposing. This can be easily identified by a vinegar smell, and warping of the film. Richard is completely correct in what he says, and here are some extra tips from a fellow collector. Remember that ALL safety film gives off some amount of vinegar naturally. Unfortunately, vinegar is an acid, and its presence eats at the film, causing more vinegar to be released. Therefore, store your film in a well ventilated place so that it can air out well. Film cans are generally NOT a good idea because they trap the vinegar and accelerate the process. Additionally, metal reels can be good oxidizers and they can accelerate the process.

What I recommend is this: 1. Clean the film with good Kodak cleaner. 2. Store it in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place. 3. Mount it on cores or plastic reels. 4. Keep an open box of baking soda around it (good for absorbing vinegar) or use some of Kodak’s new contained vinegar absorbers for the same effect. Even this is probably overkill if your film doesn’t already stink a little bit. However, this will encourage your film to hang around for a long time. It also is good for that abysmal Eastman color stuff that Mr. May loves so much.

To some degree, these steps will help arrest problems with vinegar syndrome that is already progressing. I have had some luck STOPPING it if caught in early stages. Two don’ts: NEVER have your film treated to remove black lines, especially if it’s a color print. The treatment is acid-based and will absolutely kill the film in the long run. If you want to remove black lines, try using a wet gate on your projector. It will be better on your films.

There are several ways to safeguard your handguns from your children, such as storing them in a locked container, using a padlock (locking it behind the trigger)BUT make sure your youngsters don’t have access to the keys. and Oh BTW store your Ammo separately, preferably in a locked container. I’ll echo this sentiment. I got one of the two-gun boxes for my bedroom, bolted and epoxied the thing to my nightstand; to get the safe, a burglar will have to take the whole heavy table. For fastest response, open it at night when you retire. Make opening the safe part of your bedtime ritual, and lock it up again in the morning.

The piece will be instantly available at night, and it’s a matter of seconds to open the safe if you need it during the day. This allows you to keep the gun loaded at all times. The Gun Vault may be good, but no mechanical device keeps guns “totally safe from the kids.” For some sobering reading on this subject, check out Lyn Bates’ award winning article “Keeping the Piece,” Women & Guns magazine, June 1993. The full text of Lyn’s article is available in the FAQ (thanks Lyn). I quote from the end of her piece: “Eleven and 12 year old kids broke into every box we tested with simple tools .

These boys had a hammer and a baseball bat available, but chose screwdrivers and a pry bar, which worked wonderfully. Two kids working together can exert a lot more force than one, but probably anything 2 kids can do in 10 minutes 1 kid could do in a couple of hours. Just remember the final scores: empty-handed kids 0, boxes 5; kids with tools 5, boxes 0.” Problem: lack of maintenance to the piece so concealed. Especially in humid climes, I have seen it recommended that, unless prepared for long term storage and then so stored, guns should be cleaned and lubed at least once every three months. If it’s behind wallpaper or behind glass, this is highly unlikely to get done. Yes, the gun is “secure through obscurity” with the wallpaper, but if it’s rusted so badly that it won’t work, it might as well not even be there.

Gene has been working with renewable energy for a long time. I read one of his articles in a magazine a few days ago matter o’ fact. Knowledge breeds caution. I have seen automotive flywheel explosions literally rip a car in half when they exploded. That was a small flywheel at likely a mere 10,000rpm. We’re dealing with vastly lethal forces here that won’t tolerate any screw ups or lapses of attention. I’d like to go to Alternative Energy Engineering and buy my ACME brand flywheel that would last me 10 years and outperform my batteries. I don’t want to be worrying about it exploding and sending shrapnel chunks flying hundred of yards. I’ll take my chances with batteries first.

Do experiment, but really understand your project and especially listen to those who caution you as to the possible safety issues. You’ll retain more of your assets for the long run (such as toes, fingers, eyes…). Gene was passing on good info…flywheels do explode. I have looked into the flywheel equations and still feel that a cylinder is superior in terms of its energy storage ability. I have posted a reply to Kevin so that he can check my maths. If the cylinder does have larger ‘I’, which I believe it does, then you will have a physically smaller unit for the same ‘I’ and therefore can have smaller velocities at the outside edge.

I also think that a cylindrical flywheel will be physical stronger than a pipe. With a pipe you need ‘stays’ or ‘spokes’ to centre the pipe on the shaft. It sounds like this would be the weakest part, especially if you are attempting to keep spoke mass to a minimum. Also you need to centre the pipe on the shaft so that it is dynamically balanced. Thinking in terms of smaller flywheels, a cylinder could be turned on a lathe very easily and will overcome that problem. A fabricated pipe design would be more difficult. Incidentally, how fast are you hoping to run these units (in terms of rpm) and how big are they?

Storage of Emergency Water – Various sources recommend home storage of a two week supply of water. The amount often recommended is seven gallons per person for drinking and food preparation, and another seven gallons per person for other limited uses such as hand washing, teeth brushing and dish washing (total fourteen gallons per person for two weeks). Both glass and plastic containers are commonly used for water storage at home. Containers should be clean and sanitary.

Glass containers are breakable and somewhat heavy compared to plastic, but they are not permeable to vapors and gases, the amount of leaching (dissolving) of chemicals from glass into water is insignificant. Plastic containers are lightweight and substantially more resistant to breakage than glass. If plastic containers are used, care should be taken to assure that they are made of plastic approved for food contact by the Federal Food and Drug Administration. Polyethylene plastic is approved for food contact and is commonly used for containers of various sizes, including 55-gallon drums.

Certain types of plastic containers are not intended for food contact (such as vinyl plastic waterbeds, or trash containers) and may leach undesirable chemicals into stored water. Leaching of chemicals from approved plastics is negligible. For long-term storage, water should be sterilized or disinfected. Water stored in thoroughly cleaned plastic or glass containers can be chemically disinfected for long-term storage by treating each gallon with sixteen drops of liquid chlorine bleach (Clorox or Purex type bleaches, containing 4% to 6% sodium hypochlorite). One teaspoon of bleach disinfects five gallons of water. This level of treatment will prevent growth of microorganisms during storage.

Water stored in plastic containers should not be stored near gasoline, kerosene, pesticides or similar substances. Vapors from these substances could permeate the plastic and affect the water. Thick-walled polyethylene containers are significantly less permeable to vapors than are thin walled containers, Be certain, when selecting a storage container for water, that it has a tight fitting cap or lid to prevent entrance of contaminants and evaporation of water. Because sunlight has an adverse affect on plastic, water should be stored away from direct exposure to sunlight.

Approximately 800 predetermined (noted on a list) objects will be moved from the mezzanine floor and office storage areas to tables in a room on the first floor within the Department of the Interior, Main Interior Building. Objects are to be cleaned, inventoried, sorted, and packed to be shipped to one of three museums noted. A freight elevator will be available to move items from one floor to another.

Dates and Times for the move will be provided to the selected vendor at least 2 weeks in advance. As required by the Interior Service Center, Branch of Facilities Management the vendor and staff members of the vendor company must have completed the “Asbestos Awareness’ class, a 2-hour program of study presented in accordance with the provisions of the EPA Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act Regulations, 40 CFR 763.92, the OSHA Asbestos Construction Standard, 29 CFR 1926.1101(k)(8)(v), for class IV work, and the OSHA Asbestos General Industry Standard.

Valid completion certificates for each member of the staff are required to be attached to the bid. A combination of two-dimensional works of art and three-dimensional works of art will be moved, approximately 800 objects. Two- dimensional artwork is mostly framed, but may include some unframed artwork. Vendor will locate items (vendor will be provided a list with noted items that need to be located), surface cleaning/dusting of museum objects Inventory museum objects, light packing of items to be moved to the first floor location, Move museum objects to first floor location within the building, Divide objects into 3 groups, each group going to a different museum, Pack items for long distance transit and provide complete inventory lists and individual crate/container lists.