The Low-Tech Times

Whether you believe in global warming or global cooling, I think conserving energy and natural resources is a sound idea when practical. However, I do not agree with Al Gore’s suggestion to buy a programmable thermostat.

Why buy a programmable thermostat when you can achieve the same savings by manually adjusting an old-fashioned thermostat? Simply turn up the temperature setting when you leave the house in the summer and set it back down when you return. You can also manually adjust the thermostat in winter to save on heating when you’re away; however, if you have a heat pump system, please note that it may be more efficient to simply leave the thermostat on a reasonable temperature. Check your specific manufacturer’s recommendations.

While Al Gore is asking Americans to send 100 million perfectly functional thermostats to landfills, The Low-Tech Times advises people to manually adjust their existing thermostats instead.

The Low-Tech Times has produced it’s first video. Despite a press release and television commercial, it appears that Apple’s MacBook Air is not the world’s thinnest notebook:

While black and white television is almost obsolete these days, black and white photography has remained popular over the years. O. Winston Link was one of America’s premier photographers, famous for capturing the last days of steam railroading in stunning, nighttime images.

In the 1950s, O. Winston Link spent five years traveling in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland photographing the Norfolk and Western Railway, which was the last major railroad in the country using steam locomotives. Using many flashbulbs, he took pictures at night and forever preserved magical black and white images of the trains, the railroad workers, and the communities along the tracks. Both lovers of art and train enthusiasts will greatly appreciate the work of O. Winston Link.

For those interested, prints and other items can be ordered from the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, Virginia. Additionally, Amazon.com offers a fine coffee table book featuring his photographs as well as prints: