Light bulbs refer primarily to Incandescent lamps that were introduced in the early 1900’s to replace Gas and Carbon Arc lighting. Incandescent “Bulbs” were used to light homes, commercial businesses, industrial businesses and street lamps. Incandescent bulbs became very inexpensive when produced in high quantities but were inefficient in terms of a short life and produced low lumens per watt. They had to be replaced fairly quickly in commercial and industrial applications and it took a lot of lamps to provide sufficient lighting.

Incandescent bulbs were the mainstay of the lighting industry until the need to improve light quality and efficiency was met with the introduction of the more energy efficient Mercury Vapor bulbs, the first High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamp. Mercury Vapor lamps replaced Incandescent bulbs in street lighting, commercial, and other light fixtures because of higher lumens per watt (33-65 LPW) and a 24,000 hour rated life, but Incandescent light bulbs remained the primary residential lighting source because of their soft light and high color rendering index (CRI) of 100. Mercury lamps had a CRI of 25-40 which made it difficult to distinguish colors and had a low visual acuity.

I will admit I was a bit skeptical of 'Provoked: A True Story' before I actually viewed the film. The reasoning behind that was I knew that the film involved the topic of domestic violence and I felt that it would a movie better fit for Lifetime than the Silver Screen. I was wrong.

The movie draws you in from the minute you sit down. At first the events seem shocking, but soon you come to realize the mindset of Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai). Her physical abuse at the hands of abusive husband Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews) are just too much to take and she takes matters into her own hands. The opening scene is provocative and shocking, and the quest to find out answers on why the event occurred is well done.

In 2005, Lian Murray, co-founder of Hurley International, struck out on her own to create a premium, designer surf style range of apparel and accessories - Aqua VI. Brands like Billabong and Hurley have long been catering to the teen surf and skate cultures with unique and hip clothing, but for those making the transition out of their teens there weren't many other more "mature" surf style options. This is where Aqua VI comes into play.

Co-founder of Aqua VI along with Lian Murray is Ziggy Williams, who also brings a range of experience to the company, having worked previously with Billabong and Hurley. Williams and Murray have known eachother since they were children.

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Specializing in acoustic guitar- and piano-led pop that brings to mind Ben Folds and Ben Kweller, this New York outfit produces professional-grade videos to accompany such stellar tracks as the sweepingly aching “These Are the Nights” and the Collective Soul-meets-Guster confessional that is “I Wrote This Song.” Making April has already gotten song placement in MTV’s “Laguna Beach” reality series, and singer/pianist Sean has the chops in the songwriting department to give all the above-mentioned acts a run for their money. Maybe a little TOO inoffensive at times, but something you certainly wouldn’t mind hearing on the radio.

Scooters are no longer a peculiar European foible.
Even in Australia, trendy two-wheelers provide ‘in’ transport for urban dwellers who love the freedom these little bikes offer.

But freedom in Queensland means a super relaxed lifestyle, complete with
sunshine, singlets, sandals and riding bare-armed with the breeze.

Fashionable women, intent on zipping away to their nearest coffee shop, detest the idea of climbing in and out of bulky protective gear.

But experts like educator Dave Fuller insist that scooter riders who don’t cover their skin, risk losing it. “Wear it or wear lifelong scars,” he warns.

It made the front page of NY Times, so I am assuming that everyone has heard of the international disaster that is the UK's Celebrity Big Brother.

Even if it is all purposedly conspired by profit-hungry producers, the program is curious on a whole range of different levels. First and foremost, it reveals the crackly surface of UK's society.

But something else, much more fricolous, caught my attention the other day. The Indian Bollywood superstar, Shiulpa, was covering her face is a thick white cream - cheeks, jaw-line and even the tip of her nose.

It was soon revealed that the cream was a skin-whitening lotion. Skin-whitener. In India, light-coloured skin is prized by the opposite sex. But, you are wrong in thhinking that only dark-skinned people are doing it. Its a trend, and I didn't know about it.

To many, Hong Kong is where you can buy an original Rolex for $50 at the Mong Kok street market. To most, Hong Kong is no more than an island of cement towers, empty of monuments or other historical artifacts.

But a closer look revelas a unique place in the world, where along a single avenue you'll find a mosque, a church, a synagogue and a temple.

A visit to any residential building in the Pok Fu Lam district, for example, is like visiting the UN building - each apartment housing a family from a different nation. Each one living according to their own ways and culture.

Hong Kong's international schools teach children together from the UK, Ethiopia, France, India and Nicaragua.

2007 will be the year of the "Green". Its everywhere. TV Documentaries, magazine articles and blogs have suddenly gone green. In the US, Howard Dean mentioned it often in his campaign before the "yeehah!" scene that left him hanging outside with the socks. Daryl Hannah tied herself up to some trees in California as the CNN helicopter flashed the images around the world. Al Gore did a documentary that placed him right under the spotlight. And now, we're all talking green.

But so many people are still asking themselves why? Why bother when the world's biggest poluter continues to polute to its heart's delight? The US is responsible for 25% of all CO2 emissions and uses 50 million tons of paper per year. The US has 4% of the population. What the US spends in solar-power or alternative-energy investigation in a year, the equivalent sum is spent in gas-pumps in a single hour.

This week I read a story out of the US about a mum who drove her daughter to a bust-up with another kid. It reminded me of a whole bunch of other recent stories, namely one of a "gang" of young teens who raped a thirty-something year-old woman at King's Cross station in London. And of another gang of kids who beat up another child with a hammer. Or the Spanish kids who set fire to a homeless woman as she slept in a bench-park.

What is missing here in our education system? Who are these people who are responsible for the education given to our kids at school? Or is it a domestic problem? Is it the parents? These young teens running wild are children of the so-called baby-boomers from the 80s. They're my age - mid to late 30's.

This week I read a story out of the US about a mum who drove her daughter to a bust-up with another kid. It reminded me of a whole bunch of other recent stories, namely one of a "gang" of young teens who raped a thirty-something year-old woman at King's Cross station in London. And of another gang of kids who beat up another child with a hammer. Or the Spanish kids who set fire to a homeless woman as she slept in a bench-park.

What is missing here in our education system? Who are these people who are responsible for the education given to our kids at school? Or is it a domestic problem? Is it the parents? These young teens running wild are children of the so-called baby-boomers from the 80s. They're my age - mid to late 30's.