tingilinde

which cf bulb to buy

they aren't the same - a Popular Mechanics test

commute times and gas prices

Does driving in LA become easy if gas goes to $10 a gallon? It appears to be slightly better now.

and data for those who are curious about heavy California traffic

group behavior

from the old candid camera

os x fun

OK - I know you can always do stuff from the command line, but I was using find (clover F)

the normal window comes up

if you click on "kind" and select other, you get a wide range of choices ... want to search on the focal length of the lens used in your photos? and there is even more obscure fun. highly recommended.

gas pains

The current state by state averages for gas prices from the AAA.

This one is prettier, but the raw listings are useful too.

So Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York and West Virginia are now into $4 territory.

silent keys

China's moment of silence for the earthquake dead Google China's search log - among other things clocks are synchronized

older and wiser

what was that again?

double nickels

I've been involved in a few discussions about moving the speed limit back to 55 mph - or at least having people drive at that speed on freeways if they want to conserve. A correspondent noted a semi-recent article in the SF Gate.

There are many factors involved in the mileage a car gets. Some of them are have no linkage to speed, some have a linear dependance, some vary with the square and some the third power. The power required to overcome wind resistance goes roughly as the third power of the air speed once you are at highway speeds (a headwind can destroy your mileage) and, when you are at very high speeds, can dominate the power needed.

Gas and diesel engines have relatively narrow regions where they are efficient and transmissions are required to give cars and trucks a reasonably wide speed range as well as to to use fuel more efficiently. A well-shifted six speed transmission will get better mileage than a well shifted four speed. But most cars are designed to have optimal efficiency in the 45 to 60 mph range.

So with those caveats some general statements can be made. The vast majority of cars will get better mileage at 55 mph than 75 mph. Most will do better at 55 than 60. If you are looking at the fleet of cars, lowering the speed limit to 55 makes sense. Of course you get into arguments about the effective use of time and proper traffic flow, but the bottom line is less oil is burned across the fleet. The Union of Concerned Scientists study is reasonably robust and a twenty to thirty percent difference between 75 mph and 55 mph is consistent with many other studies.

Perhaps the psychologically motivating way of looking at this is to consider the accelerator a device that changes the price of gas. If you have four dollar a gallon gas in your tank at 55 mph, increasing your speed to 75 is the equivalent of paying five dollars or more a gallon.

At the same time it has been argued that dropping town speed limits from 35 or 40 mph to 25 to make bicycles and microvehicles more practical will burn more gas. This is probably true, but the distances are shorter and the amount of gas burned at these speeds is less. For people who use hybrids, electrics or human power, the rewards are great. But another area where there will probably not be any progress any time soon.

But I doubt there will be any serious change in the near future - there is no political will and, while people bitch about fuel prices, oil company profits, and the shift of national treasure to other countries, there is little will to do anything about personal saving.

coalishes goodness

the big elephant in the room

It is great when bigots are directly confronted - the John and Ellen show.

(thanks for the link Sara)

a sensible electric assist bike from germany

Fanz points to this review of the Kalkhoff Agattu and a distributer in the UK (with many other electric bikes)

At about fifty pounds it is on the heavy side for a commuting bike, but the electric feature should give you something where you can balance exercise and not getting too sweaty for work if your commute has hills. The 250 watt motor looks like a good balance. The price is even reasonable for this sort of transportation, but no indication of US distribution

What is the baseline price of oil and d(price of oil)/dt that will encourage this sort of thing in the US?

parking lots for women

The safety net in the Bush era ... Hoovervilles 2.0

don't ask about health coverage

(thanks for the link Paul)

suv bike

Looking for something that might really replace the car for local errands? Mostly bike-like without going to a pure cargo bike.

Pedaling gets easier as gas prices get higher.

electro-bike conversion kit

Turn your bike into something with electric assist and back to a normal bike in about a minute. These guys are evaluating the market.

I suspect high gas prices will generate a stream of designs (this one looks interesting), but we'll be lucky to get much above the current 0.4 percent bike commuting rate in the US for trips under 5 miles.

stairs

Climbing stairs is a good thing

• Stair climbing burns almost seven times the number of calories as standing on an elevator.

• Just two minutes of stair-climbing each day burns enough calories to eliminate the one pound an average adult gains each year.

• Men who climbed at least 20 floors a week (about 3 floors a day) had a 20 percent lower risk of stroke or death from all causes, in one study.

• Stair-climbing has been shown to raise good cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health

avoiding Muzak isn't bad either

perhaps science isn't being taught in your local school

Even though there are courses that claim to be science ... from PLoS Biology: Evolution and Creationism in America's Classrooms: A National Portrait

not terribly surprising though

an amazing photostream - the loc

The Library of Congress photostream at Flickr.

wait until you have serious time

Their blog is another feature that requires serious time

green appendages

A prosthetic for those on their way to something. Perhaps an apostate branch of the Church of the FSM?

(sort of a tip of the hat to Tim)

iphone booster antenna

Coupled antenna elements are nothing new and can improve signal strength - here is one for the iPhone

perhaps more interesting is their support page on getting into the iPhone's "field test mode"

have fun!

go buy that suv:-)

A US govt agency estimates the current oil price as the highest it will be up through 2030. So if you believe these guys, it is clear sailing ahead.

I should note that the historical data from the EIA is high quality and extremely useful. I'm guessing projections are a bit on the political side. In fairness, they keep track of their projection accuracy.

good automotive battery information

Axsen, Jonn, Andrew F. Burke, Kenneth S. Kurani (2008) Batteries for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs): Goals and the State of Technology circa 2008. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-08-14 (pdf)

Abstract

This report discusses the development of advanced batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) applications. We discuss the basic design concepts of PHEVs, compare three sets of influential technical goals, and explain the inherent trade-offs in PHEV battery design. We then discuss the current state of several battery chemistries, including nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium-ion (Li-Ion), comparing their abilities to meet PHEV goals, and potential trajectories for further improvement. Four important conclusions are highlighted. First, PHEV battery “goals” vary according to differing assumptions of PHEV design, performance, use patterns and consumer demand. Second, battery development is constrained by inherent tradeoffs among five main battery attributes: power, energy, longevity, safety and cost. Third, Li-Ion battery designs are better suited to meet the demands of more aggressive PHEV goals than the NiMH batteries currently used for HEVs. Fourth, the flexible nature of Li-Ion technology, as well as concerns over safety, has prompted several alternate paths of continued technological development. Due to the differences among these development paths, the attributes of one type of Li-Ion battery cannot necessarily be generalized to other types. This paper is not intended to be a definitive analysis of technologies; instead, it is more of a primer for battery non-experts, providing the perspective and tools to help understand and critically review research on PHEV batteries.

A very nice piece for those of us who are not battery chemistry experts to get up to speed in current developments. Batteries are far from optimal and this is a great place to start if you want to sort out current progress.

on not caring about the health of kids

Yet another article on childhood obesity in the US. It isn't exactly healthy.

One has to wonder if this could be turned around with things like making it safe to use a bicycle, moving crop subsidies from commodity crops and fuel to healthier food like vegetables and fruit and $200 plus oil? The last one is probably coming, the second is probably impossible with the farm and energy lobbies.

Perhaps we need a return to the concept of victory gardens - this time with a focus on health and economic survival. Maybe a X Prize for people who can make this simple and attractive.