tingilinde

where both parties would agree ...

José Mujica is obviously unfit for high office.  

How would he communicate with the 1% and govern?  

 

snip

 

... For democracy to function properly, he argues, elected leaders should be taken down a notch.

“We have done everything possible to make the presidency less venerated,” Mr. Mujica said in an interview one recent morning, after preparing a serving in his kitchen of mate, the herbal drink offered in a hollowed calabash gourd and commonly shared in dozens of sips through the same metal straw.

Passing around the gourd, he acknowledged that his laid-back presidential lifestyle might seem unusual. Still, he said it amounted to a conscious choice to forgo the trappings of power and wealth. Quoting the Roman court-philosopher Seneca, Mr. Mujica said, “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, who is poor.”

...

 

 

blaer bjarkadottir-rumarsdottir

a light breeze in Iceland and what's in a name...?   A 15 year old vs a dumb law.

 

From CBC's As it Happens

20 minutes of 10 kilowatt eating at denny's

this is just frightening...  


You can do better than that energy transfer rate for short periods by doing something like chugging a few cups of heavy cream or wolfing down a stick of butter or two, but yikes ...

 

exercise equipment

Many stores are pushing exercise equipment to lure the sort term demand created by New Years resolutions. Many people don't get regular exercise, but if f you are serious about such things a couple of recommendations.  

The most important advice is to decide if you have a chance of using any of it and what sort of program works for you.  Perhaps walking or running is best.  Some find activity monitors sufficient and others like health clubs and pools.  Investing a bit of time and money trying out things and consulting with a personal trainer makes a lot of sense.  For me it turned out a good approach is a high quality rowing machine in the basement.

The best time to buy new exercise equipment will be in about two months (at least in Northern climates) as the stores make way for warmer weather sporting gear.  But a better way may be to wait until April and May and watch local home sales as well as Craigslist.  People are beginning to clear out garages and basements and are looking to get rid of machines that were used a couple of times and abandoned.  We've managed to get a fair amount for the price of hauling it away.  One of the people we "helped" told us looking at the thing was a regular reminder of his failure to use it, so our taking it was a big favor.  

You do have to be beware as there is a lot of junk out there that isn't worth the effort required to haul it home and, of course, you have to want it and be willing to use it.  Motivation and realism are important.  I have a regular program and staying motivated is a big issue as it is time consuming and boring,  The trick for me has been to get it out of the way in the morning and to fill in the time by time shifting periods I would normally use for news and recreational radio listening with an iPod.  I'm currently auditing an excellent class on the history of  English and I've used the feedback and encouragement of a friend who has acted like a remote personal trainer.

Motivation is a curious thing...

and there is advice on exercise - and life in general - for teenage boys from the YMCA c.1919

girls weren't left out either -- from 1922

the cost of fashion c.1926

Jheri notes a piece of 1926 on the cost of being a well-dressed flapper.  

The $346.50 total is over $4350 in 2011 dollars...  that is comparable to many outfits from designers at the time of release, so some things don't change.

nuclear quackery

Tho-radia was a radim laced face cream  - many other patent medicines including radioactive toothpastes for that whiter smile and fresher breath were marketed.  Many of these were sold well past the point in time when the dangers were well recognized by science.

a broken arrow

fireworks looking backwards in time



hat tip to Jheri

9 > 3.2

Burning natural gas produces about half as much carbon dioxide than burning coal to produce equal amounts of thernal energy.  It seems to make sense to move to natural gas in the short term - after all, it still releases far too much carbon into the atmosphere, but any improvement is good.  But there is a rub..

Natural gas is largely methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.  If you relase any natural gas into the atmosphere there is a problem.  The breakeven is about 3.2% of natural gas production ...  release at the mine as well as pipelines and storage facilities is non-zero and hopefully below 3.2% otherwise, if lowering greenhouse gas release is your goal, moving to natural gas can be counterproductive.

Some highly disputed early studies suggest leakage in the 4% range.  Now the journal Nature is reporting a preliminary study that suggests a 9% release at a Colorado mine.  That would make natural gas from that facility much "dirtier" than coal...

It would seem reasonable to create a robust testing methodology and not allow mining if a figure of - say - 2% is released.  Likewise testing and trgets for the transportation and storage of the gas need to be created.

 

proxy shopping with your phone

I have heard about it in Japan, but didn't realize Tesco was doing it in South Korean subways.



(hat tip to Heinrick)

us consumers getting ripped off on internet access...

A few bits of Susan Crawford's book in Bloomberg

snip

...

The current 4 Mbps Internet access goal is unquestionably shortsighted. It allows the digital divide to survive, and ensures that the U.S. will stagnate.

A smarter goal would be to give most Americans access to reasonably priced 1 Gb symmetric fiber-to-the-home networks. This would mean 1,000 Mbps connections, speeds hundreds of times faster than what most Americans have today. Only fiber can meet the growing demand for data transmission.

Think of it this way: With a dialup connection, backing up 5 gigabytes of data (now the standard free plan offered by many storage companies) would take 20 days. Over a standard (3G) wireless connection, it would take two and a half days. Over a 4G connection it would be more than seven hours, and over a cable DOCSIS 3.0 connection, an hour and a half. With a gigabit fiber-to-the-home connection, it can be done in less than a minute.

If the U.S. had a fully fiber-based network, Hollywood blockbusters could be downloaded in 12 seconds, video conferencing would become routine, and every household could see 3D and Super HD images. Americans could be connected instantly to their co-workers, their families, their teachers and their health-care monitors.

To make this happen, though, the U.S. needs to move to a utility model, based on the assumption that all Americans require fiber-optic Internet access at reasonable prices.

How much would it cost to bring fiber to the homes of all Americans? Corning Inc. (GLW), the American glass manufacturer, and others have estimated that it would take between $50 billion and $90 billion.

The Internet has taken the place of the telephone as the world’s basic, general-purpose, two-way communication medium. All Americans need high-speed access, just as they need clean water, clean air and electricity. But they have allowed a naive belief in the power and beneficence of the free market to cloud their vision. As things stand, the U.S. has the worst of both worlds: no competition and no regulation.

...

 

Susan is a friend, but even if she wasn't I strongly reommend the book.   Required reading if you care about society and technology and its intersection with business and government.