Ethanol's Growing List of Enemies

Ethanol's Growing List of Enemies

Ethanol is not going to work. Let me count the ways.

1. Distribution problems.
2. Given (1), it must be transported via truck which is more expensive.
3. We need more cost effective feed stock sources than corn.
4. It works in Brazil but can't work in the US because ethanol production can't scale - they have far fewer people, far fewer cars, and Brazil fuel distribution (range in miles) is microscopic compared to the United States.

Per a former Brazilian agriculture secretary:
"It is very easy to replace all gasoline when you would only need 8 billion gallons per year and you have a generous plant that thrives rain-fed under tropical conditions," he said, adding that it can be done in Brazil on a relatively small amount of total arable land. "However, this cannot be extrapolated for USA's conditions, neither for corn, not even for sugar cane in southern states."

Strider Search Ranger

Strider Search Ranger: "Strider Search Ranger"

Strider started out as a tool that traced URL's to check for existing typo's which may be exploiting legitimate production domains for SPAM purposes.

This week, Microsoft Research published a paper that documented that 68% of the blog spam were produced by just three advertising groups (syndicators). Most of the companies involved have acted to shut down the offending sites/services, but it's a huge win for Microsoft R&D.

The original Strider project has been re-named Strider Search Ranger with a broader scope.

John W. Backus, 82, Fortran Developer, Dies - New York Times

John W. Backus, 82, Fortran Developer, Dies - New York Times

This is a very nice tribute to an overlooked contributor to computer science. The first two computer books I bought were around 1971 or 1972. McCracken's "A Guide to FORTRAN Programming" was one of the first computer books I purchased (mail order, with a check my parents wrote for me, directly from the publisher in New York). I was on the Wiley and other mailing lists for years because they thought I was a business, not a 15 year old.

At Georgia Tech in 1974-75, our freshman programming course used Cooper & Smith's "Standard FORTRAN: A Problem-Solving Approach". They have a whole chapter on punch cards...

I started working at Raytheon in the early 1990's and consulted with the rocket scientists (well, the IT guys who supported the rocket scientists) in corporate regarding report tools. FORTRAN was one of the top 5 tools used to generate reports within Raytheon.

I haven't done much programming in the past ten years, but Backus was born the same year as my father, and I wonder if the current generation can appreciate his contributions to the current state of computer technology.

Why aren't the Bush daughters in Iraq? - Los Angeles Times

Why aren't the Bush daughters in Iraq? - Los Angeles Times

They don't have to be in combat positions, but none of the President's extended family has even done any volunteer work related to the Iraq war, wounded troops, or in any support capacity in the United States or abroad.

I particularly liked the comment about Jenna Bush "...is writing a book on her all-expenses-paid trip to Panama, where she worked for a few weeks as an intern for UNICEF."

The Pew Charitable Trusts: Supporting Civic Life: Civic initiatives

The Pew Charitable Trusts: Supporting Civic Life: Civic initiatives

Pew released a report evaluates Philadelphia’s strengths and weaknesses relative to six comparable (US) cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh.

It's an interesting read and having lived in the greater Philadelphia area for most of my life, I feel that Philadelphia has never lived up to it's potential. In many aspects, Philadelphia is a place holder between Boston, NYC, and Washington/Baltimore regions. Look at the current mayoral race. It's a joke. The majority of the candidates don't even have college degrees, yet the position requires management skills that are the equivalent of a Fortune 1000 company.

I would like to see a mayor with either a government policy background or regional business experience. We shall see what happens in the Fall.

The Rise and Disappearance of Southeast Lousiana

NOLA.com: Times-Picayune Graphics

This is a Flash presentation which documents the historic development and post-Katrina reality of southeast Louisiana.

Most people think that New Orleans is on the Gulf of Mexico. It is not! Although the entire region is marsh land, New Orleans is about fifty miles (yes, that's miles) inland.

Part 5 of the Flash presentation documents the huge land loss as one of the less documented effects of Katrina. This is land that will NEVER return and it is the primary reason that New Orleans will never be able to survive another major storm, much less a direct hit like Katrina.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Stardust Memory"

The Free Press -- Independent News Media - Harvey Wasserman

Earlier this week, I made a list of Vonnegut books and was checking off ones I had read planning to go to the library tomorrow with my daughters.

Kurt Vonnegut is a brilliant author and very interesting human being. He smokes like a chimney and every interview I have read with him is amazing. He is opinionated, funny, and he doesn't give a lick about what anyone things.

This article is about a speech at Ohio State. I *wish* I was there. My favorite quotes are below.

“I just want to say that George W. Bush is the syphilis president.”

“The only difference between Bush and Hitler, is that Hitler was elected.”

“We have no Democratic Party. It’s financed by the same millionaires and billionaires as the Republicans."

“You’re all perfectly safe, by the way. I took off my shoes at the airport. The terrorists hate the smell of feet. "

“I’m going to sue the cigarette companies because they haven’t killed me.”