Solar Site Design

June 25th, 2010

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Designing with the moon

If you want to design a building or a site for optimum solar placement, or want to install a solar power system, you need to know if the sun will be shaded out by surrounding structures or trees in the winter months. In the winter you can simply look at the sun's position to see how high it is above the horizon. But what do you do if you are designing the site or want to install some panels in the summer. Will they still get the sun later in the year? There is a little quirk about the sun's and the full moon's path which, per chance, is the same six months apart. When you look at the full moon, you will see where the sun will be in six months. Before you ask, I don't know if this applies to the southern hemisphere, though I think it probably does. In any case, it only applies to the full moon.

There is more information on finding the sun's position by the moon for other times, albeit a little more complex, in this article under section 11. The emphasis in the article is on the phase of the moon, but does mention the path relative to the sun.

The above widget shows the moon phases live, so do check back whenever you want to check them. If you have your own website you can get the code for the moon phases by clicking on the link at the bottom of the above widget. Please note, the full moon for June is on the 25th to 26th of June, like NOW, which will give you a chance to see where the sun will be at its lowest in December.

Read the rest of the Solar design article by clicking here....

More Bits of News

February 27th, 2010

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Binding ideas for the foraging guide

If you have bought the foraging guide, or are planning to, and wonder how to bind it, here are some ideas which can help organise your guide.

From top right, clockwise:

karabiner - this one was part of a little pocket knife, and has a screw post closure
elastic strap with velcro
fabric covered hair elastic
locking binder ring (inside elastic)
cable tie
Bulldog clip
binder clip

The Bulldog clip may be a little too bulky, and the protrusions could get snagged in a pocket and drag the clip off the guide. For home use it may be a quick and easy solution.

The binder clip may be the best of these solutions. It is easy to obtain, cheap, comes in many different sizes, even colours, holds the pages very securely, and the folding handles can be removed so they don't get in the way. It is best to print out the guide and cut the pages to see how thick it is before buying the binder clips to ensure best fit.

Another solution would be to use a small two-ring binder, or cut down a larger one to fit. This may be a little bulky for outdoor use. You could also try making a DCMC binder from milk cartons and cereal box, or simply put the loose pages in a pouch. There are wallets for index cards which may fit your guide.

New website for small businesses

One of the projects I have been working on recently is a blog-come-forum for small businesses with a green slant, The Green Marketing Coach - for marketing which doesn't cost the earth. The word green has a bit of an identity crisis and there is some confusion over what it really means, so why not go on over there and find out what it means in this context, and if it might be for you.

You will find a growing number of useful articles, resources and tutorials on various aspects of running a small online, as well off-line business with an online presence. It is combined with a forum where you can meet and connect with others. As a new forum it is not very busy yet, but the advantage is that there is a little more of me to go around. I have immersed myself into internet marketing (IM) for the last few years to study the various methods used and observed many of the big names in IM, and am clued in as to who are the good and bad guys and what methods are kosher. I also recently finished the acclaimed online course Teaching Sells. Together with my experience and a bit of technical know-how, I can help in many areas. I am not an expert by any means, but there is plenty I do know, and everyone else on the forum has their own set of skills and experience. Each of us also have their own gaps of knowledge (me included), so between us, we should be able to close them.

Standard membership is free, though there is a modest charge for premium membership. The Welcome section of the forum has more detailed information, but if you have any questions, please drop me a line. Hope to see you there.

Bits of News

January 29th, 2010

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Discount for the foraging guide has ended, and the advantages of subscribing

Sorry if you missed the deadline for the discount on the foraging guide, but it is not too late to subscribe to get other discounts when I have a promotion, and you will be the first to get the news of new product, some of which will be limited in number. Subscribers will have the first chance at getting in on the deal. I am planning on offering several courses, as well as start a membership site where early birds will get a very sweet deal.

You will also get news of any updates to the website. If you don't find anything else of interest in the newsletter and would rather not get the emails, you can simply go to the bottom of the email and unsubscribe. And I promise, I don't share your details with anyone.

What's else has been happening?

I have been a very busy little bee behind the scene with learning, thinking, planning, experimenting, writing and producing. Hopefully the outcome of all this will soon make it's way onto the world wide web for you to enjoy or use.

One of the things you will notice at judyofthewoods is a complete website overhaul. The changes are not just cosmetic. There are a number of them under the bonnet, so to speak, which should make navigation easier, and reduce load time. I am still in the process of reorganising the content, so it may be a little messy in places.

I have also joined Twitter. I tend not to use it much for chatting. I may make the occasional remark, but the main purpose for joining is to make quick announcements and share things which don't warrant a blog post. If you like to get these announcements, then please do follow, but I don't automatically follow back, no offence.

I also included a new section in the sidebar with useful links to enhance your surfing experience. A very useful one is the Printer Friendly Service link, which helps you remove all the stuff you don't want to print, if you do print web pages. It can also be used to create simplified pdf files of interesting web pages to store on your computer. Yes, you could simply save a web page as is, but it is easier to read pages without all the extraneous stuff like adverts, banners and anything else not of interest. When you sign up with the service, you can place a link in your bookmarks which allows you to directly call up the widget in your browser with one click. If you have a blog, please consider placing a link on it to save trees. I will be adding other useful links when I find them.

On the subject of surfing, a little tip for those of you who know another language. If your search results are somewhat limited, try to extend them with your other language. You may come across some gems you wouldn't have found otherwise.

You may be pleased to see that I removed Google adverts. Firstly, they are commercially useless, but more importantly, I didn't have enough control over what is shown, and although they are supposed to be topic related, they would often advertise products I do not believe in, from concrete garages on the building page to disposable nappies (don't ask how). It works by looking at words on the page, and then brings up ads which match closely, or of related things. I may actually be slamming something in a post, but Google just picks up the word/name, and hey presto, it pops up as an ad. Well, I don't like to compromise my integrity. I try to only advertise things which have a neutral environmental impact or things which may have an overall beneficial impact. A book on building may still be a product made of dead trees, but if the method of building reduces overall resource use, then I am happy to promote it.

In line with my advertising policy, I am very happy to promote organic non-hybrid seeds (affiliate link). Not only is organic better for the environment, but by getting non-hybrid seeds you are not locking yourself into repeat purchases, as you can save the seeds of the plants for the next year. For real self-reliance, it is the only way to go. You would also support independent seed producers, which are being squeezed by the drive of big corporations to ban all non-standard seeds, read: "locked into Monsanto et al".

As I've touched on before, I have been learning, and in particular, I am getting to the end of a five month course called Teaching Sells. Amongst my illustrious fellow students, are four ladies who have websites which may be of interest to you.

For the gardeners, or would-be-gardeners amongst you, here are a few sites you may like to explore. The first two are Rachel's websites on garden design, origingardendesign.co.uk, and successfulgardendesign.com. She also runs a garden design course, which is currently closed, but will open again before long. The course is on design principles and would apply to an ornamental as well as edible landscape garden. Her free videos are of an impressive quality, and give you a glimpse of the the type of content to expect.

And for anyone who has a garden, no matter what size and condition, please consider giving back to nature. Carole, a very dedicated lady from ecosystemgardening can teach you how.

Do you suffer from the winter blues, or SAD? Check out Marsha's website winterbluescoach.com. Marsha has suffered from SAD and shares her discoveries about what you can do to get better. It is not just about light boxes, as I've discovered.

If you have a small busines, on or off-line, and feel your brand design/website could do with a little image makeover which doesn't brake the bank, then look no further than Pamela Wilson's Big Brand System. Pamela has many years of design experience working for corporations and small businesses. Under her expert guidance, you can transform your brand with tried and tested design principles. And once you know how to do it you can apply that knowledge to any design or whenever you fancy a new makeover.

Apart from the fact that Teaching Sells gives them the tools for effective teaching, I have seen these ladies in action on the forum. They are all very helpful and knowledgeable and I am very happy to recommend following them on their websites. You will learn a lot from them, even if you never buy a product. And no, those are not affiliate links. Just happy to share. I did not include a link to Teaching Sells, because the program is currently closed for new students, so not much point. In due course I will let you know when it opens again, because I will be an enthusiastic promoter. The sites are fairly new sites, and don't have masses of material, but they are growing, and what is there is of quality and backed by experience.

The slip method book has taken a partial backseat for the moment. Not because I lost interest, far from it. It has grown into something a lot more exciting, even if I say so myself. I will split off the basic nuts and bolts section, with a little on how to use it to organise your schedule, but the rest will go into a full-blown course. Yes, there is more than enough material for a course, though having said that, the course will not actually be about the slip method as such, but utilises slips, because they are just perfect for the purpose. In fact, this new baby will have an entire website dedicated to it, and you don't even have to be a slip method or productivity fan to benefit from it, so stay tuned. In the meantime check out a few bits I added to the slip holder page.

If you have already read the post on the ergonomic mouse before, there is a recent comment with a great software solution to the X-Y axis problem. Please check the comments. There will be a further update soon on making a trackball mouse with a cheap optical mouse. Stay tuned, or subscribed.

There is much more to share, but I thought I'd brake the silence with a few bits of news and useful information for now. In parting just a few more links of some delightfully eccentric creative websites. There is jarkman.co.uk with lots of diverse creations, including this fabulous straighjacket bag, emblazoned with a Windows style logo (allegedly). Don't you just wish you'd thought of it? And there is his friend's website codesmiths.com where you can see the Deadline Pressure Clock. Great gift idea for the masochist in your life. And for the DIY enthusiast look no further than thereifixedit.com to marvel at other people's ingenuity. Warning, don't drink whilst at the keyboard when going to this site. Enjoy!