Archive for the ‘CT News’ Category

While the winter may have been slow in getting here, after the first true snowfall of the season, it’s hard not to notice that the temperature has been steadily dropping outside. One of the best ways to combat Jack Frost and thrive during a New England Winter is by having your home properly insulated. If you struggle with heating costs during the winter or are just tired of living in a drafty home then you should check out EcoLogic Energy Solutions. They’re a client of ours who offers homeowners a way to dramatically reduce their energy consumption with spray foam insulation. Recently, they added the following three pages to their site which you should really visit if you struggle heating your home.

Process and Safety of installing spray foam
Savings and Efficiency from installing spray foam
Spray foam FAQ

Google +1 integration is pretty straightforward, although these can often be complicated by the fact that most businesses don’t directly manage their own web content or rely on a trusted, efficient vendor to update their website in a timely fashion.
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Thought I’d share as I had to do a double take! I mis-typed gmail.com and got this wonderful offer, complete with google-colors and derivative footer design. I almost proceeded until I saw the URL I’d been forwarded to:

http://mail-giveaway.com/?sov=138360

Good stuff! They bought gmial.com and have it set to forward to their phishing site. Users answer questions and provide their info and Lord knows what happens then. I’m not sticking around to find out!

If you live in New Haven, Connecticut, chances are you may be getting this circular in the mail. Connecticut is one of the states that offer rebates for home energy audits and energy-efficiency retrofitting such as improved insulation, leak-proofing and water-saving measures. The Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, in a partnership with United Illuminating, has contracted Competitive Resources, Inc. – a local home energy-efficiency company – to bring these services to the wider public. Under the terms of the partnership, CRI has begun canvassing neighborhoods in order to bring their services closer to New Haven residents and make signing up more convenient and pain-free.
You can sign up by talking to any CRI field technician that you see in your neighborhood, and also by calling toll free 1-888-403-3500.

I got curious about this in a discussion about a project and tried using their help. After wasting a few minutes trying to get a specific answer from their automated chat system, and after reviewing their help documentation, I gave them a call.

I was told that I’d have to speak to someone else, and that the policy people would have to answer this.

By being logged in, and then choosing “my listing was removed”, and initiating a chat, I’d get around their automated chat and be in touch with their listing policy people.

I did as instructed and got on a chat with nancy.

So no live animals. I figured I’d ask the next question that would be pertinent to the project.

So there you go, you can get (animals) laid on eBay!

The FDA has come a long way in making foods and drugs safer for America. A big part of their success has been the prevalence of the labeling of a goods contents. Some are proposing the FDA take their labeling a step further and start providing warning labels on foods that use the following dyes. It’s also interesting of note that these same dyes are banned in Europe.

Its all because there have been claims that these dyes can cause ADHD in some kids. Check out the story on CBSNews.com for more information and to see what types of food these dyes are used in.

Hint: a lot.

Malloy is out to get what Florida left on the table… good for him! I’m all for reducing the deficit but this type of infrastructure is worthwhile spending on hard assets that will help to build Connecticut’s transportation future!

Read More on CBSLocal

The City of New Haven, CT is looking for ways to scrounge money.

Public Works Director John Prokop told the New Haven Advocate that the city is considering a pilot program to ditch its fleet of municipal vehicles and start using ZipCars for official business. The city currently owns 25 Chevrolet sedans, many of which are well into the six digits on the odometer. The cars are expensive to maintain and fuel, and some of them hold together with spit and baling wire.

By switching to ZipCar, the city expects to score savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars; similar programs have launched in a number of cities nationwide, without obvious negative results. Connecticut auto transport companies will miss hauling inoperative government vehicles back to the parking lot, but applaud any responsible way for the city to save the long-abused taxpayer a few bucks.

Energy conservation is a topic that has become part of the nation’s consciousness in recent years, and with very good reason. And like most things, energy conservation starts in the home, which is the philosophy behind Competitive Resources Inc.

Competitive Resources Inc. or CRI, got it’s start in Connecticut twenty years ago and now they help over 8,000 CT homeowners save money on their energy costs each year. They do this by performing residential energy audits, where they inspect different areas of the home for inefficiency. They’ll search for air leaks in windows, doors and air ducts and will even provide more energy efficient light bulbs when needed. Read the rest of this entry »

Increasing public awareness of overfishing and population collapse among a number of important commercial seafood species is driving efforts by sushi restaurants to source their ingredients sustainably, and often, punishing businesses that fail to adapt to the new environmental reality.

As an example of the latter, Portland’s Sinju restaurant found itself in turbulent waters last July when a customer complained that they stocked the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna on their menu. Instead of addressing the complaint, the restaurant ended up banning the customer. After a month of being lambasted on blogs following this incident, the Atlantic bluefin was off the menu.

On the other hand, New Haven’s own Miya’s Sushi has been at the tip of the spear when it comes to sustainably-sourced food. Miya’s has gained international fame for a number of distinctions, from the world’s most extensive vegetarian sushi menu (for a list of the most healthy and nutritious veggies, it’s always good to go back to the famous 11 vegetable nutrition table) to wildly creative fusion sushi dishes that may include ingredients such as grits, dried apricots, blue cheese and potato skins. Arguably, though, the principal claim to fame of Miya’s has been the owner, chef Bun Lai’s fanatical devotion to sustainable sourcing.

The restaurant only serves fish that is plentiful and not in danger of overfishing, but Bun Lai has taken it further – he is also a pioneer of urban foraging, even offering foraging tours to adventurous gastronomes who want to discover edibles in unexpected places. He has also taken the unique step of building a good number of his dishes around invasive species. This has the effect of bringing people new, interesting flavors while also providing what Bun Lai himself calls a “weeding service”.

You’re asking, what’s the connection with web development? None, other than the fact that the hard-working employees of 3PRIME, your friendly local CT Web company are fans of both good sushi and environmentally-friendly food, and commend the owner’s efforts to combine both.