Hodgepodge of thoughts, technical notes, and random observations

A new NPR collaboration between All Things Considered and This American Life sounds promising. Their first program looks at the root origins of the subprime mess. Something I wish I had acted on earlier because I was one of the ones in 2004-5 predicting a train wreck (from the sidelines).

They had a teaser version of the show during the ATC show and the full length show is today.

Really looking forward to a weeklong series starting today on NPR focusing on Debt.  I think along with energy, the issue of the amount of debt we have both as a nation, and as a nation of individuals is going to compound with the future of energy problems.

In the first episode there is an excellent interview with Tim Harford who brings up some very interesting things, including:

• The problem of people saving less is not that we are less virtuous, its that back when people saved more, there was less credit available.
• The brain is hardwired to make irrational decisions in the short term.  He talked of an economics experiment where people were offered a snack: Chocolate or Fruit.  People chose fruit if you told them the snack was for a week from today, or chocolate if it were immediate.  When the experimenter came back and offered that a person could change their mind, they would switch to chocolate.  I think the brain works this same way for many many things, and it gets in the way of “solutions” that depend on people “doing the right thing”.

There was also an interesting pitch to increase savings by letting people commit future raises to their 401K.

Worth checking out.

Lee Iacocca’s book in the 80’s was one of the first books of that genre (contemporary, memoir/commentary).  And while I don’t remember much of it, it remember it made a pretty big impression on me.  Turns out he is still writing and has interesting things to say.

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One of a bunch of cartoons about high gas prices someone sent, but this one had a creative design that needed highlighting;

I’m hearing more and more about people buying plastic cutlery based on corn and or potato starches.

The thinking is “Hey, these are plant based, and biodegrade”.  The problems?:

• It takes an awful lot of petro to grow, process the crops, the manufacture this stuff (maybe as much as just making them from oil directly).
• Most of these are just tossed in the regular trash, where they end up in a landfill, sealed up by more layers on top.  No Oxygen = No biodegredation.  If you are going to toss these, the best place would be with your yard waste if you have that picked up by the city.

There are actually several ratings for these kinds of plastics:

• Degradable
  • Biodegradable
    • Compostable

This is just one small example of how people are quick to think there is a way to get something for nothing in the eco sense.  There is no such thing as “good disposable”.

This morning as oil hit a new all time high, Shell’s chief strategist all but spelled out Peak Oil, albeit somewhat indirectly.

Referring to a ‘plateau of readily accessible conventional liquid oil’ or some other euphemism for: “we’re not going to have enough oil to meet demand”.  Those who know me, know that I’m a pretty staunch believer in the concept and reality of Peak Oil.  Severity and timing can be debated, but no longer is there much wiggle room about its eventuality.

I think it pretty dumb that in one breath the reporting is that there is no inflation, citing “core” inflation figures that exclude energy and food (if those aren’t core, what is?), while in the next breath touting that consumer spending is “up” (but not always noting that the spending increase is due to higher food and energy prices). Is someone trying to have it both ways?

Example 34,543,234 of why the details always matter

How can an iPhone screen be as large as a 42″ flatscreen, or a 13″ MacBook?

Picture of an iPhone, Macbook, and a 42″ LCD with approx the same scene from Lost lined up so that they “appear” the same size.  I’ll let someone with more time figure out the pixel arc view resolution differences, but basically each screen can provide a similar viewing experience.  The blurry iPhone screen?  Evidence that this is not a photoshop fake as the camera is focused on the distant screen (some 4 meters away).