Continue reading »]]> Powerhouse Adobe just installed 20 wind turbines at their San Jose headquarters! Pretty awesome… I love that giants like Adobe, Google, Dell and Intel are taking huge steps in the green movement. Green is good. Green is great. Green is also sexy. Okay, maybe I can’t pull off that last one without a giggle and smirk…

Anyway, since Adobe headquarters isn’t exactly located in an open field, there was a bit of improvisation. You know those gigantic, white, pinwheel wind turbines? Adobe didn’t install those. Rather, the company installed vertical generators called Windspires. These turbines feature a propeller-free design, which, in turn, allow easier integration amongst tight areas (such as metropolises). Although wind may be difficult to harvest in the city — with all the tall buildings and what not, Adobe installed these turbines on the 6th floor rooftop garden to take advantage of a wind tunnel that was created after a third tower was added to their San Jose campus.

According to NBC Bay Area, the Windspires at Adobe are only enough to power 10 average-sized homes. That’s nowhere near the amount of power needed for Adobe headquarters, but it’s a great start. Some of the energy generated by the turbines will even be powering the electric cars in the basement!

More information about Windspire can be found on their company website, http://www.mariahpower.com. Ha, I know… Mariah Power; it’s a rockin’ name. The company takes their name from the song, “They Call the Wind Mariah.” Mariah Carey was also named after that song — it’s from the Paint Your Wagon musical. Fancy how I know that, eh?

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Continue reading »]]> It’s always the little things that count. Isn’t that what they say? Everything is more exciting when you can make it your own. The same rings true with your computer. It’s why we change the wallpaper on our desktop to reflect our personality or interests. It’s why Windows Media Player and Winamp have skins to customize the look of media player. It’s why Amazon shows a list of recommended products when you sign into your account.

So when I  curiously clicked the right bottom corner of the new tab I just opened, why didn’t I realize it was a way to make this Google Chrome browser my own? I saw the videos. I read the blogs, browsed the comic. I just never really put any thought into personalizing my web browser. Chrome makes it fairly easy though. Access themes from your settings menu or the site. There aren’t a heap of options to pick from but there are plenty of quality themes at the Google Theme site. My only gripe is the non-ability to toggle from theme to theme after downloading multiple options. At least, there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to do this…

From designers [Kate Spade, Marc Ecko, Kid Robot, Charlotte Ronson, Todd Oldham, etc.] to musicians, writers and artists [Mariah Carey, Gossip, Dale Chihuly, Wes Craven, etc.], the themes available for Chrome are top-notch. Each of them seemingly sleek and fairly easy on the eyes. Google also has a number of themes that are more low key. I settled on the Mariah theme (yes, I proudly admit that I’m a huge Mariah fan), but here are also a few other favorites…

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