That Oil Was For Us

by Steven Garrity

While lamenting the state of the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, my wife pointed out that, as consumers of oil, we’re all a party to it. I seemed so obvious that I was embarrassed that it hadn’t occurred to me earlier. Most things in my life – the heat in my home and office, the gas in my car, and the plastics in so many of the good we consume – are all derived from petroleum products.

I don’t know if any of the oil I use (either directly or indirectly) comes from BP, or from the Gulf of Mexico. If anything, though, this lack of knowledge makes my role even worse.

Of course, if rules were broken (or the rules were inadequate), we should do our best to ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen again. Still, we can’t eschew our own role in creating the type of economic and regulatory environment where this type of of disaster can happen. They were drilling that oil for us.

 

You Don’t Explode in Space

by Steven Garrity

According to NASA, a human (or animal) exposed to the vacuum of space without any protection would not explode, or implode, or boil, or turn into a super-hero. Rather, you’d eventually die from the lack of oxygen. If you get back inside quick enough, you could survive unharmed.

Good to know.

 

The Debaters

by Steven Garrity

Fellow Zap Your PRAM’er, Patrick Ledwell, was featured on the May 8th episode of The Debaters on CBC Radio One.

When someone you know is on national radio with the intent of being funny, you can’t help but be a bit nervous for them. As my office mates can attest, being funny is hard.

After his opening line, there was no more need for nerves. In the recent parlance of our office, multiple-lolz.

 

GM’s $1,600/car Health Tax

by Steven Garrity

A recent episode of This American Life uses the story of NUMMI, a joint-venture auto plant between GM and Toyota in 1984, to help tell the larger story of why the American auto industry produced such poor quality cars for so many years.

Though it was peripheral to the main point of the story (how GM failed to learn from Toyota, despite amble opportunity), this quote stood out to me:

“Over the years General Motors negotiated contracts with the UAW with such generous health care coverage that by 2007 it amounted to more than $1,600 for each vehicle GM produced in North America.”

Emphasis mine.

 

Things I Didn’t Know: Liberal Arts

by Steven Garrity

Why is a “Liberal Arts degree” is called “Liberal”. I had wondered if and how it might be related to political liberalism. It turns out, it’s not.

According to the Wikipedia, the Liberal Arts are so called because:

In classical antiquity, the liberal arts denoted the education proper to a free man (Latin: liberus, “free”), unlike the education proper to a slave.

I did not know that.

 

Have You Heard?

by Steven Garrity

In order to hear a phone message, I get the following four prompts; Every time.

  • You have one unheard message.
  • Check unheard messages, press 1-1.
  • The following message has not been heard.
  • First unheard message.
 

Save the Day on This American Life

by Steven Garrity

In addition to enjoying a new album each month (March has been Postdata), I’ve also been listening to This American Life.

The first act of the most recent episode, entitled Save the Day, is a remarkable story, well told:

James Spring had hit his late 30s, and found his life utterly unremarkable. He needed to do something big. So James decided to try to rescue two kids who had been kidnapped by suspected murderers, and taken to Mexico.

 

Chile quake measured in Virginia well

by Steven Garrity

A well in Virginia (yeah, the one in the United States) measured a 2-foot drop during the Chilean earthquake in February. Apparently, the “regular sine-wave variations are due to the effect of lunar tides on the Earth’s crust”. I find that almost as intriguing as the quake effect.

Water level chart

See other peculiar side-effects of the massive earthquake.

 

Musical Updates

by Steven Garrity

A few music updates:

 

iPad Reactions

by Steven Garrity

Peter Rukavina on the iPad :

The power of the net for me has always rested in its utility as a vehicle for freely producing, sharing, mashing-up and distributing stuff, not in its utility for allowing me to watch re-runs of LOST more easily.

I agree completely.

Also, see Andrew Leonard on the iPad for Salon.com:

Apple’s deal has always been that in return for giving up some freedom, the company will provide a fabulous user experience.

I’m loathe to comment on a device I’ve yet to try, but based on my experience with a (now bricked) iPod Touch, I can imagine this being a great device. I just can’t get excited about a device that keeps the control over what you can do with it in the hands of a private company.

One positive aspect is that it does focus around a web experience, and the web itself remains open.