Identity and the SUV
July 16, 2007
With the progress of the green movement it seems that gas guzzling SUV’s are demonized more and more. My goal of this post is not to take a stand on the relative evil of the SUV but to propose a theory of why this category of vehicle became so popular to begin with. The theory is simple, people bought SUV’s because they thought they needed a mini-van but wouldn’t be caught dead in one.
Brown-Eyed Susan
July 16, 2007
Yarrow
July 15, 2007
Green Tomato
July 14, 2007
Google Plays 700 UP
July 12, 2007
There is a new game being played that I call 700 UP. The move to digital television in the U.S. has freed up wireless spectrum in the 700 MHz range that will be auctioned off this year. The major wireless carriers will be bidding as expected but what is interesting is that Google is lobbying to influence the rules of the auction. On the Google Public Policy blog they have a post promoting a set of open platform rules. Read the rest of this entry »
Cone Flower Emerging
July 12, 2007
Magic Hour Canoe
July 11, 2007
Scruffles on a Watering Can
July 10, 2007
Ontario Opossum
July 7, 2007
Wow. I have just seen my first opossum. Apparently they are in southern Ontario now. This one was dead, bloated, and floating by in a lake. I guess first encounters are not always memorable.
Bono and African Aid
July 7, 2007
William Easterly has an article in the Los Angeles Times which describes progress in Africa while taking issue with Bono.
The real Africa needs increased trade from the West more than it needs more aid handouts. A respected Ugandan journalist, Andrew Mwenda, made this point at a recent African conference despite the fact that the world’s most famous celebrity activist — Bono — was attempting to shout him down. Mwenda was suffering from too much reality for Bono’s taste: “What man or nation has ever become rich by holding out a begging bowl?” asked Mwenda.
HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray
July 6, 2007
In the comments on the VHS vs. Betamax post, DasL asks:
so, what’s the main factor going to be that wins the hd dvd vs. bLue-ray battLe?
apparentLy bLockbuster is going to be supporting bLue-ray:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6762621.stm
I think this is a very different battle than the VHS vs. Betamax one. Technically HD-DVD and Blu-Ray offer equivalent features and user experience. Assuming neither has a cost advantage the choice comes down to…. well, its like Donkey in the movie Shrek jumping up and down saying “Pick Me! Pick Me!”. The HD-DVD and Blu-Ray donkeys are not nearly as loveable as the Shrek Donkey though.
I don’t think Blockbuster or NetFlix support matters. The studios or distributors can pick sides for now but when push comes to shove they are not going to forgo sales if one technology catches on (except for maybe Sony).
The Sony PS3 game console could have made a difference if it caught on since it includes a Blu-Ray drive but Nintendo made a Wii little obstacle in the way of Sony’s plan of world domination (good for Nintendo by the way).
So I’m guessing neither will “win” but the question becomes do one or both of the high def competitors “starve to death”. I think this battle is more like WMA vs. AAC in the music player space. Neither offers an advantage to the consumer just compatibility headaches.
Will download alternatives win? I dunno but I don’t think they will try to offer 15+ GB downloads to compete with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. The value proposition is very different for movie downloads.
Is there some other factor that would make you choose either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD?
Talk Talk Talk
July 5, 2007
Researchers at the University of Arizona determine that men and women are equally chatty.
In a series of studies conducted over six years, Mehl and the others recorded the conversations of nearly 400 U.S. and Mexican male and female university students.
To catch all of this chit-chat, they developed an electronically-activated recorder (with the fortuitous acronym EAR) that digitally, and unobtrusively, logged the daily conversations of those who wore the device.
The results: women in the study spoke a daily average of 16,215 words during their waking hours, versus an average of 15,669 words for men.
An average of 16,000 words per day???? Holy jumping, I must be a much bigger recluse than I thought. In a 16 hour day that works out to one word every 3.6 seconds. That is average.
“What’s a 500-word difference, compared to the 45,000-word difference between the most and the least talkative persons? Just to illustrate the magnitude of difference, among the three most talkative males in the study, one used 47,000 words. The least talkative male spoke just a little more than 500,” Mehl said.
Ack!!!! 47,000? Did he ever shut up? The study spanned 6 years… I’m assuming each person was tracked for quite some time. 47,000. The HORROR.
Sea & Sea DX-1G Underwater Camera
July 5, 2007
My off-by-one nerdish juices are flowing after reading the press release on Wetpixel about the Sea & Sea DX-1G underwater camera and housing. There is alot of interest on the Wetpixel forum regarding the system. Adorama has a post about the DX-1G and says it will have a $1000 price which includes a Sea & Sea branded Ricoh GX100 camera plus the housing. Adorama lists the price of the Ricoh GX100 at $600.
Who cares right? Well, I do and if you are into photography but never plan on shooting underwater you may still be interested in this topic as well. Read the rest of this entry »
