When I moved to New Mexico, I steeled myself for what it would mean to not live within (reasonable) driving distance of an IKEA. What I wasn’t prepared for was the total absence of Target in the eastern part of the state. In 2003, I wrote a lighthearted post on my old blog, Absolutely Vile, lamenting the lack of a Target in New York City. At the time, Gawker was a brand new, little website that covered goings-on around the city, and they wrote a snarky, amazingly shortsighted post about my post, thus earning me my very own tag on Gawker, which, more than 13 years later, does not contain more than that single entry. I guess they’ve done alright with out me…or maybe not. The first time I stepped foot in a Target store was in the summer of 1994. I was living in Los Angeles during my summer break before my sophomore year of college. We didn’t have Target on the east coast back then, and I thought it was just a fictional department store from Career Opportunities—kind of like how I thought Circle K was just a fictional convenience store from

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. You learn important cultural things like this when you travel! I’m not sure how many times I went to the Target on Balboa Boulevard that summer, but it was a lot. I would walk there (yes, I spent two summers in LA as a non-driver) in the blazing heat, dressed head-to-toe in black, and then wander the aisles for an hour or two, just taking in the sights and basking in the air conditioned, fluorescent lights. I rarely bought anything—it was more about the promise of it all. Target felt so American to me. Anyway, moving from Portales to Albuquerque carried a huge amount of excitement in part because it meant access to not one, not two, but THREE Target stores. Once again I’m able to wander those aisles of plastic storage bins and rustic baskets and cute slogan t-shirts made for pre-teen girls. I can freely pick up every item in the Dollar Spot at the front of the store and contemplate how much cuter it will make my office. Also, POPCORN: I cannot leave Target without a bag of popcorn from their food counter.

It’s so salty it makes my lips shrivel up by the time I’m halfway through. Best Steam Mop With Detachable SteamerSo here’s some cool stuff I’m digging at Target right now. How To Change Headlight Bulb Chrysler PacificaBecause I’m slow on the uptake and I hadn’t really been paying attention for the past ten months or so, most of it has been around for a while now—to the point that a lot of it is on clearance! Somali Cat For Sale UsaHooray for not knowing better. (BTW, I never blogged about Target’s Marimekko collection because I was kind of disappointed by it…and then I felt disappointed in myself for being disappointed. It was a bad cycle of emotions to be having about housewares, so I decided to move on with my life.

But hey, that’s all on clearance now, too!) 1. Hanging Concrete Planter 2. Ceramic Crackle Two-Tone Pot 3. Large Ceramic Pitcher 5. Ziba Sheet Set 6. Flatweave Striped Area Rug 7. Wood Task Lamp 8. Striped Earthenware Vase 9. Earthenware Pillar Candle Holder 10. Wooden Planter Stands with Pots (small, medium, large) 11. Textured Bath Mat 12. Cork and Ceramic Coasters Set Somewhat embarrassingly, this post was NOT sponsored by Target. They have no idea who the hell I am. The post Cool stuff at Target. appeared first on Door Sixteen.French wind power capacity grew in H1 but lags target -industry group PARIS, July 12 (Reuters) - France added 568 megawatts (MW) of wind power in the first half of the year, lagging its objective to add 1.5 gigawatts (GW) annually from 2016, an industry group said on Tuesday.The increase was, however, 45 MW more than in the same period a year ago.Growth in installed French wind power capacity in the period was boosted among others by German wind turbine maker Enercon, which installed 210 MW and Denmark's Vestas, which added 198 MW, France Energie Eolienne said in a statement.

It added that even though wind power capacity was growing at a stable rate of about 1,000 MW annually, it was below France's objective outlined in its 2015 energy bill.France, which relies on its 58 nuclear reactor parks for over 70 percent of its energy needs, plans to develop cleaner energies with power from wind reaching 15 gigawatts (GW) in 2018 from 10 GW currently, and 24 GW by 2023.New wind turbine installations in France had been slowed for years by a law that required all wind farms to have a least five turbines and strong local control over wind farm zoning.The rule has been scrapped and the permit procedure simplified to boost investments in the sector. (Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by David Evans) Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.iRobot has a new cleaning robot. The Bedford, Mass.-based company, which has sold millions of its disc-shaped Roomba vacuums, is expanding its family of cleaning automatons. The new robot is the Braava jet, a small, shiny white robotic mop designed to clean hard floors, especially in bathrooms and kitchens.

And did we say it’s square? But perhaps the biggest surprise about the Braava jet is not its shape; it’s the price: US $200. This is iRobot’s most affordable cleaning bot ever. Compare that with Roomba ($375 to $900, depending on the model), Scooba ($600), or the original Braava, a larger robot mop ($300). To use the Braava jet, you just need to add water to a reservoir on top of the robot, attach a cleaning pad, and press the “CLEAN” button. The robot cleans by spraying water in front of itself and mopping the wet spot with the pad. iRobot has always paid a lot of attention to simplicity and usability, and while robots like Roomba and Scooba are easy to operate, users still have to do some maintenance to keep them in good shape. I have to imagine that when iRobot does focus groups with customers, at least some of them complain of spending too much time “cleaning my cleaning robot.” With the Braava jet, the company decidedly aimed at making a robot that is as easy to use and maintain as possible.

For instance, although you can use three different types of cleaning pads (wet, damp, or dry), the robot automatically recognizes which one you just attached to it (it does that by detecting tiny square cuts patterned on the back of the pads). And when the cleaning is done, you don’t even have to touch the dirty pad—just press a button and it drops right into the trash. The robot uses a removable lithium-ion battery and comes with a wall charger, so there are no power cords to fuss with. And unlike the Scooba, the Braava jet doesn’t have a dirty water reservoir or removable parts that need to be cleaned by the user. Here’s a description of the three cleaning modes and a picture of the different pads [right]: iRobot says the Braava jet may look quite simple, but the company has crammed a lot of smart engineering into it to make sure cleaning and navigation work effectively. The mopping head to which you attach the pad not only sweeps the floor but also vibrates to help loosen dirt and stains.

When a conventional spray nozzle didn’t perform reliably in tests, iRobot used a design found in luxury cars. In damp mode, the robot sprays about half the amount of water as in wet mode. To navigate, the little Braava doesn’t rely on the NorthStar external module used by the bigger Braava. And it doesn’t use a random driving pattern either, as most Roomba models do. Instead, it drives in straight lines and uses its bumper, wheel odometers, and gyro to progressively create a map of its surroundings (it can cover up to 200 ft2/18.5 m2 in damp/dry mode and 150 ft2/13.9 m2 in wet mode). To keep it from entering unwanted areas, instead of a separate “virtual wall” infrared module, you position the robot with its back facing the area where you don’t want it to go; the robot will set a “virtual wall” on its map and won’t cross it while navigating. With the new robot, which like the Roomba will be sold at Target and other popular retailers, iRobot is clearly targeting the masses of consumers that might be ready for their first cleaning robot, as well as loyal Roomba owners who would like to add more robotic cleaning to their homes.