The Iron Yuppie

TiVo planning banner ads for when you fast-forward via Engadget and /.

Oh Tivo, why do you hate me? Man, talk about penny-wise/pound-foolish. TV stations are just going to have to get used to the fact that users will not sit for commercials any more. Hey, I have an idea, get off your ass and figure out a new business model! Or pull television shows because you cannot afford them! Let the market decide instead of trying to staple on old methods on the new implementation. Ugh.

What Happens Once the Oil Runs Out? via John Robb's Weblog

What a really interesting article about oil production. Mr. Deffeyes (who knows more about oil production than nearly anyone) predicts Hubbert's peak around late 2006. Even drilling in ANWR (which is predicted to be half the size of the Prudhoe Bay field) will not stop the decline, especially in that even if they start drilling today, it will not pay off for another four years. My primary question is not around what we will drive when oil becomes too expensive to power cars; I feel like the auto industry is already on a path to develop non petroleum-based vehicles, and the increase in the price of oil will only speed that process. The data I do not have is how much oil substitution can occur for non-vehicle uses and what the state of those industries will be. We use plastic for everything, and I am not sure there's a great replacement for oil in its production.

According to this article at the Cato Institute:

Energy Disinformation: "Transportation accounts for 67 percent of petroleum use, but only 27 percent of total energy use. The other third of each barrel of petroleum goes to produce plastics, synthetic fibers, pesticides and fertilizer, fueling farm machinery, generating some electricity and heating some homes. "

They did not list a source, so let's just assume that ~50% of oil is for transportation and ~50% for other uses. Even if we dropped oil for transportation usage to zero instantly, that only doubles the amount of time we have left with oil... it does not extend it forever. I hope the oil industries are smart enough to keep investing in research for when the day comes that the tap runs dry.

The Top 100 Gadgets of All Time via Engadget

Ah the trip down geek memory lane. I was most surprised to come across this little gem...

84. RONCO INSIDE-THE-SHELL EGG SCRAMBLER, 1978 Sick of dirtying forks just to make scrambled eggs? Tired of having to clean out your scramblin' bowl? Get the Ronco Inside-the-Shell Egg Scrambler.

WHY WAS I NOT MADE AWARE OF THIS SOONER! Just think, all those countless countless hours spent cracking shells and mixing eggs. DAMN YOU TECHNOLOGY!

One of the things I'd really like this blog to become is a broad source for all kinds of information. For example, maybe I'll expand into job listings.

Entertainment President at Major Network via Defamer

Opportunity:

Fox Broadcasting Company is searching for a multi-talented, creative and dynamic executive to fill the post of entertainment president.

Responsibilities:

- Provide tepid support for quality shows (i.e. “Arrested Development”), cancel them when marketing says there’s no audience (i.e. “Family Guy”), and then fill the newly open time slot with complete and utter crap (i.e. “Life on a Stick”).
- Figure out a way to air “American Idol” every day of the week, continue administering S&M-style horse whippings to Simon Cowell, and hide corpses of homeless people that Paula Abdul runs over.
- Keep minorities off of “The O.C.”
- Produce string of “Who’s Your Daddy?” follow-ups: “Who’s Your Husband’s Mistress?” “Who’s Your Hijacker?” and “Who’s Your Child’s Molestor?”
- Convince “Mad TV” scribes that audience really thinks they’re funny

Qualifications:
- GED or trade school certification (DeVry or equivalent only please).
- At least ten years experience as a network executive, or demonstrated
ability to wipe own ass.
- Has sacrificed at least one virgin for every year of adulthood.
- References from former superiors that you have slept with, in order to verify
quality of said lay.
- Proven track record of driving assistants to suicide, stabbing friends in back, and
starting every sentence with “I would kill my mother for...”

Interested applicants should apply directly through our jobs web site at http://www.foxcareers.com/

What will I charge for this service? Nothing, of course, it's serving the public that is the ultimate reward.

It's a real shame that the individuals in this case like this have been caught up in the middle of what has become an enormous lightning rod. My feelings (not that they matter to you) is that if someone is in a persistent vegitative state, that's it, wrap it up and go home. You can keep them alive if you want, but that's only for you and not for them. Just so it's in writing, if I'm ever in a state like that (no higher brain function whatsoever), I want my body chopped up and used for gardening. If you want to do something for me, cut off my head and drop it in some liquid nitrogen for some future date when they can bring the dead back to life. But keeping me wrapped up in a hospital does no one any good. This is just me of course, there are a number of choice writings in the 'sphere that have more well-reasoned views which you may enjoy:

Respectful of otters (pt. 1) (subscribed!)
Respectful of otters (pt. 2)
Obsidian Wings (subscribed!)
and Slate

But my favorite, which wraps up many of my feelings about how politicians have been reacting to the case rather than the details of the case itself comes from Scalzi

A reader has asked me what I think of the Terry Schiavo case. Well, naturally, I think that I think it's wonderful that we live in a country where the heads of the House, Senate and the Executive branch feel perfectly at ease using the immense power of the national government to micromanage the medical decisions of a single individual, because of course it's not like there's anything else it needs to be doing at the time.

Mmmm mmm! Chock full of sarcastic biting goodness! Read on for more delicious wit! (Also, subscribed!)

D

Google has no secret plan via slashdot

I really like posts like this. They take a lot of rumor and speculation and distill it down to the common elements that actually make sense. I feel like he's JUST a bit on the conservative side, but basically his premise is this: Google is going to focus on search first and for the most part ignore things that do not directly help in the forwarding of that goal. I think that they will try other markets, but until they figure out a way to charge other than Web Ads, I think they will be pretty limited (I assume subscriptions will be the next step for this; whether or not that's good enough to beat a lot of folks who work on the stuff they're likely to compete with as their primary business (MS Office, MS Windows Sharing, SAP, Oracle, Quicken, etc etc etc) is TBD).

Are people for or against the Bush plan? via Instapundit and Qando

For being such a widely read and well read fellow, Mr. Reynolds seems to be missing what the polled appear to understand (I never thought I'd write THAT sentence). There are two issues with Social Security:

1. Should the government allow individuals to invest in private accounts?
2. Should the government change the structure of Social Security to prevent a short fall in 2018 (or thereabouts) and incomplete coverage in 2042 (or thereabouts)

Note, the two are totally independent of each other! Wait, that’s not ENTIRELY true. What we do with the first MAY affect what we do in the second, but only because it is likely that doing the first will increase the debt load significantly thereby making more difficult our ability to fund Social Security overall and may shorten the amount of time available to do the second. I do not think that anyone in the administration has ever said that private accounts will help avoid the shortfall, and if they have, they are playing fast and loose with the truth. Interestingly, because Mr. Bush appears to be so successful selling the idea that SS is in crisis, and so ineffective at selling the idea that private accounts are the solution, he’s actually hurting himself more than helping himself with his touring about it.

Clock that plays hide and seek via WMMNA (among others)

The alarm clock insanity continues. This one goes off then finds a hiding place. I like how the basic purpose of the alarm clock appears to becoming to annoy you and put itself sufficiently out of reach to force you to track it down. They invented this thing a hojillian years ago... it's called your younger sibling. (Note: Just kidding bro/sis! [Ed: No he's not]). I'm not buying this one however; I'm waiting for the human sized alarm clock which comes up and punches you in the face until you either go into a coma or heave it out the window. I think every morning should begin with some life or death combat, no?

Wow, my brother has a blog and it's good! Go there and see what a true sports fan has to say about stuff, instead of listening to my meaningless ramblings. Now!

D

ESPN Bracket Pages

Well there you go. Is there any thing sweeter to hear than March Madness is here? I may be 'coming down with something’, or 'getting ready to work offsite', or 'not be present', or ‘falsify company sick notices', or 'lie about working on days when I'm actually sitting in front of the TV on my fat ass watching 32 straight games of basketball on CBS uno through ocho thereby stealing from the company which has graciously decided to employ me' (Note: just kidding! [No he's not. -Ed])

Anyhow, I haven't been watching AT ALL this season, which is a distinct change from my life of a few years ago when you could be sure I'd be planted right in front of the tube for Big Monday, Super Tuesday, etc on ESPN. I barely have enough time for the TV I already watch! What do they want from me? My question is do I get to “follow” my perennial team Duke who I have been following for at least 18 years, despite my lack of passionate following in this or any recent season. My brother (smart, funny and generally very nice guy) has long said that as long as you feel the pain of a team’s loss when they lose, they get to be your team. Ok, but what if you don’t feel their pain during the regular season because you haven’t been keeping up?

In addition to these weighty matters, my brother and I got into a discussion about the odds of picking every team. The odds work out as follows:

• Every game = 1 in 9 quintillion (2^63)
• Every game except the 1-16 match ups which you feel are 1-100 shots = 1 in 600 quadrillion (99^4 / (2^59 * 100^4))
• Same as above except you now say that 2-15 and 3-14 match ups are 85% locks = 1 in 8 quadrillion ((99^4 * 85^8 ) / (2^51 * 100^8))
• CA Lottery = 1 in 41 million

Jeez, winning the lottery seems like a piece of cake (comparatively). You’d think that the bookies would take advantage of this. You could offer $1 gets you $1 billion odds on this and make out like a bandit! If it increased betting by an order of magnitude, who cares if you increased the payout by a few orders? No one's going to win it anyway!

There is a mental process which I always go through when picking that always makes me feel weird. I go through and agonize over every pick, whether or not St. Mary’s is going to pull the upset over So. Illinois or which 5 seed is going to lose the 12 seed (it’s always one and usually more). But then the games are played and I make many mistakes and I look at my selections and say “ACK, I was going to pick them, I cannot believe I was so stupid!” But the mind plays around with memory… I bet I was actually not going to pick them. In fact, I bet I was probably super confident of my choice. If this sounds like you, try a little experiment for me. On a separate sheet of paper from your picks, write why you decided to pick each one in a way that allows you to reveal these picks as the games are played, one at a time. You have ~48 hours to do so; that’s plenty of time to write down 63 sentences. Think of it as a little time capsule to yourself in the future. Try and capture what you were thinking, how secure you were in your pick and anything else you’d like to tell the “you” of 48 hours/96 hours/one fortnight more wisdom than you have right now. Then, as each game’s outcome is revealed, uncover the information you wrote to yourself about that game. I guarantee you find the process enlightening.

D