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I may have mentioned in my article last week that hydro power was always one of the things that fascinated me as a child. I grew up right on the Connecticut River in Massachusetts, right next to an old mill town complete with a dam and canals. For the most part, the mills were non-operational during my time there, though the dam was sending water through two giant turbines to create electricity. You could actually visit it in May and June to watch the fish swimming up the river on the fish elevator. There was this deep hum and buzzing vibration that seemed to permeate every single surface in the turbine room.

That hydroelectric operation was pretty small potatoes though. With its two turbines, it has a capacity of 31 megawatts. The canal system beyond the main dam consists of 11 smaller generating stations with the additional combined capacity of 15 megawatts. They’re also what’s called a run-of-the-river station and are not allowed to store any water or block it from flowing downstream. This whole thing is located in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It’s pretty obvious since it’s a giant dam on the river.

There are plenty of these kinds of small hydroelectric projects on local rivers throughout New England. Turners Falls, MA and Bellows Falls, VT have similar operations to the one in Holyoke. As the 19th century mills fell out of use, small hydroelectric projects often replaced them. They don’t create too much power and it tends to stay relatively local. However, there is something much bigger, much more important and much less noticeable about 80 miles northeast of Holyoke in the small town of Ayer, Massachusetts.

You wouldn’t even notice it if you didn’t know what to look for, but in Ayer, there is a road called Radisson Road that leads to what looks like any other electric substation. Sure, it may be a bit larger, and seem to be slightly more complex, but surely it’s just another substation, right? Actually, the station in Ayer represents the southern terminus of a truly massive hydroelectric project that starts over 1,100 kilometers north in “**Radisson, Quebec, Canada**”:https://www.google.com/maps/place/53%C2%B047’02.8%22N+77%C2%B027’24.1%22W/@53.784096,-77.4588977,695m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d53.784096!4d-77.456709. The project in Quebec that creates the power that ultimately ends up as far south as Ayer is known as the James Bay Project.

Consisting of eight major generating stations on the La Grande River, the project has a capacity of over ??16,000?? megawatts (enough to send 13 DeLoreans back to 1985). However, the actual generation location is located far north of any densely populated areas where the power can be used. The power needs to be transmitted south to southern Quebec, and to the northeast US. Because the power isn’t really being used along the way, instead of being transmitted as alternating current, as with most power transmission, they actually use a high voltage direct current (HVDC) line. In fact, it’s one of only two multi-terminal HVDC lines in the whole world (the other is in Italy). This allows for fewer transmission losses, but requires complex equipment to convert the power back to grid-level AC, which is what the station at Ayer does. There are terminals in Nicolet, QC and in Des Cantons, QC just outside of Windsor, QC as well that allow power to be used in highly populated areas of southern Quebec including Montreal.

If you live in Vermont or northern New Hampshire, you might’ve seen people talking about the “Northern Pass Project”. This is basically what they are talking about. Before getting to Ayer, the power is transmitted across the US-Canadian border near Norton, Vermont. It then travels south to the Frank D. Comerford Dam located on the Connecticut River between Barnet, VT and Monroe, NH. The Northern Pass Project is essentially a request to build out another line in northern New Hampshire that could feed the grid in New Hampshire, as well as providing additional power to sites further south.

This whole system is just amazing to me, as I hope it is to you. Many of the components of this system are just sitting out there, visible for anyone to see, but most people have no idea what they are. I’ve been to Comerford Station in Barnet, VT. I’ve driven under the transmission lines on route 114 in Norton, VT. The journey that this power takes, all the way from northern Quebec, is incredible. When you see those lines, or that converting station, the whole complexity of the system is hidden from view. I hope this article creates a bit of appreciation of these large, critical systems. Without them most of the modern amenities we enjoy wouldn’t be possible.

Sadly, much of this system has come at a high environmental cost as well as a high cost to the native peoples of northern Quebec (mostly Cree). It’s so large, and the area inundated under the reservoirs so massive, it’s even affected the “**local climate**”:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bay_Project#Environmental_impacts. I’ve struggled to find good information about the project and how everything played out since most of it was built more than 30 years ago. One of the best books on the subject is ??Strangers Devour the Land?? (ISBN: 978-1603580045) by Boyce Richardson. I believe the book is out of print at this point, but I was able to find my copy from the publisher, Chelsea Green Publishing.

_Dear Friends,_

Sometimes I take technology for granted. With Grace off in Honduras volunteering at a hospital for a couple weeks, I thought it was unlikely I would hear from her very often. Ten or twenty years ago the only way to communicate would have been an expensive phone call or a letter. But now, I get daily texts, FaceTime chats, pictures and even a Skype call or two. When Hapy and I started Small Dog Electronics our mission was to encourage the use of technology to build and communicate, to bridge cultural divides and not to set us apart and destroy.

In the balance, I believe that technology has enhanced communication and understanding. I know that I have met friends all over the world aided by the ability to instantly communicate. My good friend, Simon is a young man that I met online in China. What started out as friendly communications late at night about the NBA led to discussions of just about everything, a business relationship that continues to this day and a friendship of two people on opposite sides of the world.

I want to applaud Apple for taking a stand, not only against the Muslim ban but today against the reversal of protections for transgender students. “Apple believes everyone deserves a chance to thrive in an environment free from stigma and discrimination,” Apple said. “We support efforts toward greater acceptance, not less, and we strongly believe that transgender students should be treated as equals. We disagree with any effort to limit or rescind their rights and protections.” We echo those sentiments and praise Apple for stepping up!

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive features the new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar in either Space Gray or Silver bundled with the AppleCare Protection Plan. This new MacBook Pro has the 2.6GHz i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD drive. AppleCare extends the normal 1-year Apple warranty to 3 years and the 90 days of free technical support also to three years. For Kibbles & Bytes readers this bundle is “**$100 off at $2649!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002597

Sojourner Truth was one of the most famous nineteenth-century black American women. She was an uneducated former slave who actively opposed slavery. Though she never learned to read or write, she became a moving speaker for black freedom and women’s rights. While many of her fellow black abolitionists spoke only to blacks, Truth spoke primarily to whites. While they spoke of violent uprisings, she spoke of reason and religious understanding.

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree around 1797 on an estate owned by Dutch settlers in upstate New York. She was the second youngest in a slave family of the ten or twelve children of James Baumfree and his wife Elizabeth. When her owner died in 1806, Isabella was put up for auction. Over the next few years, she had several owners who treated her poorly. John Dumont purchased her when she was thirteen, and she worked for him for the next seventeen years.

In 1817 the state of New York passed a law granting freedom to slaves born before July 4, 1799. However, this law declared that those slaves could not be freed until July 4, 1827. While waiting ten years for her freedom, Isabella married a fellow slave named Thomas, with whom she had five children. As the date of her release approached, she realized that Dumont was plotting to keep her enslaved. In 1826 she ran away, leaving her husband and her children behind.

Important events took place in Isabella’s life over the next two years. She found refuge with Maria and Isaac Van Wagenen, who had bought her from Dumont and gave her freedom. She then underwent a religious experience, claiming from that point on she could talk directly to God. Lastly, she sued to retrieve her son Peter, who had been sold illegally to a plantation owner in Alabama. In 1828, with the help of a lawyer, Isabella became the first black woman to take a white man to court and win.

Soon thereafter, Isabella moved with Peter to New York City and began following Elijah Pierson, who claimed to be a prophet. He was soon joined by another religious figure known as Matthias, who claimed to be the Messiah. They formed a cult known as the “Kingdom” and moved to Sing Sing in southeast New York in 1833. Isabella grew apart from them and stayed away from their activities. But when Matthias was arrested for murdering Pierson, she was accused of being an accomplice. A white couple in the cult, the Folgers, also claimed that Isabella had tried to poison them. For the second time, she went to court. She was found innocent in the Matthias case, and decided to file a slander suit against the Folgers. In 1835 she won, becoming the first black person to win such a suit against a white person.

For the next eight years, Isabella worked as a household servant in New York City. In 1843, deciding her mission was to preach the word of God, Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth and left the city. Truth traveled throughout New England, attending and holding prayer sessions. She supported herself with odd jobs and often slept outside. At the end of the year, she joined the Northampton Association, a Massachusetts community founded on the ideas of freedom and equality. It is through the Northampton group that Truth met other social reformers and abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, who introduced her to their movement.

During the 1850s, the issue of slavery heated up in the United States. In 1850 Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law, which allowed runaway slaves to be arrested and jailed without a jury trial. In 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Dred Scott that slaves had no rights as citizens and that the government could not outlaw slavery in new territories.

The results of the Scott case and the unsettling times did not deter Truth away from her mission. Her life story, Narrative of Sojourner Truth, cowritten with Olive Gilbert, was published in 1850. She then headed west and made stops in town after town to speak about her experiences as a slave and her eventual freedom. Her colorful and down-to-earth style often soothed the hostile crowds she faced. While on her travels, Truth noted that while women could be leaders in the abolitionist movement, they could neither vote nor hold public office. Realizing she was discriminated against on two fronts, Truth became an outspoken supporter of women’s rights.

By the mid-1850s, Truth had earned enough money from sales of her popular autobiography to buy land and a house in Battle Creek, Michigan. She continued her lectures, traveling throughout the Midwest. When the Civil War began in 1861, she visited black troops stationed near Detroit, Michigan, offering them encouragement. Shortly after meeting U.S. president Abraham Lincoln in October 1864, she decided to stay in the Washington area to work at a hospital and counsel freed slaves.

Following the end of the Civil War, Truth continued to work with freed slaves. After her arm had been dislocated by a streetcar conductor who had refused to let her ride, she fought for and won the right for blacks to share Washington streetcars with whites. For several years she led a campaign to have land in the West set aside for freed blacks, many of whom were poor and homeless after the war. She carried on her lectures for the rights of blacks and women throughout the 1870s. Failing health, however, soon forced Truth to return to her Battle Creek home. She died there on November 26, 1883.

Her most famous speech, given extemporaneously was entitled “Ain’t I a Woman” and while it was not recorded it was a powerful message of human rights.

??That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman???

In 2014, Truth was included in Smithsonian magazine’s list of the “100 Most Significant Americans of All Time”.

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Too many times when I am helping customers I get a blank stare when I ask for their Apple ID. Some quickly look through scraps of paper while others just start guessing. You Apple ID is the personal account you use to access Apple services like the App Store, iTunes Store, iCloud, iMessage, the Apple Online Store, FaceTime, and more. It includes the email address and password you use to sign in, as well as all the contact, payment, and security details that you’ll use across Apple services. So, yes it is important and you should remember it.

**Setting up an Apple ID**

Okay, so you are new to the Mac and want to take advantage of all that iCloud stuff, FaceTime and buy stuff at the App store. You need to set up your Apple ID. Before you run off to create a new Apple ID, consider whether it might be better to continue using one you already have. Remember that you might not be able to move data or purchases from an old Apple ID to a new one.

If you aren’t sure if you already have an Apple ID, Apple can help you find it. If your email address has changed, you can change the address you use for your current Apple ID to continue using it.

You can create your Apple ID when you set up a new device or sign in to iTunes or iCloud for the first time. You can also go to the Apple ID site (https://appleid.apple.com/account#!&page=create) and select Create Your Apple ID.

Here’s what you need:
* A valid email address to use as your Apple ID username.
* A strong password.
* Your date of birth.
* Three security questions and answers to verify your identity and a rescue email address. You can also use this information to reset your password.

It really doesn’t work well to have multiple Apple IDs and they cannot be combined after the fact so be careful to only set up one that you will use for a long time.

**Managing your Apple ID**

Things change. You may have to change your email address, you may want to change your password or payment method. You can do all this at the Apple ID Account page (https://appleid.apple.com/#!&page=signin). Here you can:

* Update your Apple ID email address to make sure it’s an address that you use frequently.
* Change your password to help maintain the security of your account.
* Manage your payment information to keep your payment method or billing address up to date.
* Add additional email addresses to help people find and communicate with you on Apple services like FaceTime, iMessage, Game Center, and Find My Friends.
* See and manage the devices that you’re signed in to with your Apple ID.

*Setting up an Apple ID without a Credit Card*

If you already have an Apple ID and want to remove your payment method it is easy. You can choose to remove the payment method for your existing Apple ID after you have signed in to the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store. You won’t be asked for a payment method again until you make a purchase.

If you are just setting up an Apple ID you can do so without a payment method. On a iPhone, iPad or iPod touch follow these steps:

* Open the App Store app, iTunes Store app, or iBooks app.
* Choose any free app, song, video, or book.
* Tap iOS Get button next to the item, then tap again to get it.
* When you’re asked to sign in with an Apple ID, tap Create New Apple ID.
* Follow the onscreen instructions. When you’re asked for payment information, choose None.
* After you enter your information, you’re asked to verify your Apple ID by email. You must verify your Apple ID before you can begin using it.

It is a little bit different if you are setting it up on your Mac.

* Open iTunes, then go to the iTunes Store.
* Scroll down and find the country or region flag in the lower-right corner of the window. If it’s not the flag of the country or region where you live, click it and choose your country or region.
* From the menu in the upper-left corner, choose Music,TV Shows,bApps, or Books.
* Download a free song, TV episode, app, or book. To find free items, look under Quick Links on the right side of the iTunes Store window for any link that includes the word “free.” When you find a free item, click Get beneath its icon.
* When you’re asked to sign in with an Apple ID, click Create Apple ID.
* Follow the onscreen instructions. When you’re asked for payment information, choose None as the payment type.
* After you enter your information, you’re asked to verify your Apple ID by email. You must verify your Apple ID before you can begin using it.

*Protecting your Apple ID*

* Make a strong password, use uppercase and lowercase, numbers and letters and not your dog’s name
* Reset your security questions to make sure they’re easy for you to remember but hard for others to guess.
* Add a rescue email address. If you forget your password or the answers to your security questions, your rescue email address will help you regain access to your account.
* If you haven’t already, set up two-step verification or two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to your account.

**Sharing your Apple ID**

DON’T.

Your Apple ID should not be shared with anyone else. It provides access to personal information including contacts, photos, device backups, and more. Sharing your Apple ID with someone else means you are giving them access to all your personal content and may lead to confusion over who actually owns the account. To share iTunes & App Store purchases, photos, a calendar, and more with someone else, try Family Sharing, iCloud Photo Sharing, or other easy-to-use sharing features.