all-in-one cooker, energy generator and fridge

An all-in-one cooker, energy generator and fridge could soon be improving quality of life in developing countries, thanks to an international project launched this week.

The £2m Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity (SCORE) project aims to work with rural communities in Africa and Asia, where access to power is limited, to develop a versatile domestic appliance powered by biomass that will significantly improve health and welfare.

The team hopes that the device will also promote economic growth and reduce poverty by enabling communities to take ownership of its development and establish businesses from its manufacture, repair and application.
link

May 1st

First day of May. Its celebration probably originated in the spring fertility festivals of India and Egypt. The festival of the Roman goddess of spring, Flora, was celebrated from Apr. 28 to May 3. In medieval England the chief feature of the celebration of May Day was the Maypole; this was decorated with flowers and streamers, the loose ends of which were held by dancers, who encircled the pole, weaving intricate patterns as they passed each other in the dance. These dances are still performed for exhibition purposes in England and the United States. The Second Socialist International in 1889 designated May Day as the holiday for labor, and since that time it has been the occasion for demonstrations, parades, and speeches among socialists and communists.
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/MayDay
*My mother's birthday was May 1st. She loved all things "May": her birthday, emeralds, lilly of the valley, and being a maypole girl. Happy Birthday Mom, wishing you everything May.

About Vermeer

His manner of seeing is the basic excellence of Vermeer's art - the thing that sets it apart from the work of other men. Where others had a genius for drawing or for colouration, he had a genius for vision. One arrives, while studying his work carefully, at a feeling that he looked at things harder than others have looked at them. . . His almost perfect rendering was the outcome of perfect understanding.

The Pocket Book of Old Masters, edited by Herman J. Wechsler, p. 100 Vermeer, by Philip L. Hale