sauna

oh boy!



care should be taken...

yahoo! green

bandwagon alert?

Seriously, Yahoo! Green looks like a good try at a portal for information and activity related to green endeavors. Its going to be interesting to see if this effort by Yahoo! gains momentum.

carp

Visited Great Meadow again yesterday; noticed some very busy fish - Carp. Buried in this article "Management at the Concord Impoundments,2000-2007" is a discussion of the carp issue.

the smiths

There are some people who know me well who are tired of hearing me explain my feelings about The Smiths - and my insistence that they were not only the best band of the 80s, but probably of any other decade as well.

Here is a cultural reference from 3Quarks Daily, which also includes a link to this fascinating site.

while we're at it: Shift Happens

via Speculist, Shift Happens

Thomas Barnett speaks

Speaking of videos and the future, Thomas Barnett speaks at Pop!Tech, and his speech is available on the web here.

In my opinion, this is worth viewing if you want a useful interpretation and analysis of what the next century might look like from a political/military viewpoint. And Thomas is an engaging speaker.

Ray Kurzweil speaks

I had occasion recently to see Ray Kurzweil speak, at RSA2007. I was impressed by his analysis and excited by many of his predictions. Now, the TED conference is putting videos online, and one is of Mr. Kurzweil.

You can see the video here. This is a variant of the speech I originally saw. I think Mr. Kurzweil has a very large slide deck, and probably doesn't use all of his material in any one speech.

One may or may not agree with all of Ray's predictions, but I think a key point is that not only is technological change continuing, its pace is increasing. And the ramifications for societal and cultural change will only become more pervasive. It seems to me that if it is true that the pace of change is increasing, and societal and cultural changes will continue to manifest, then we are in for an interesting and challenging next 20-30 years.

One extremely simple example. I can now watch Ray's video anytime I want, and link to it with this blog, and watch other similar videos quite easily. Just sitting here at my dining room table, using broadband cable and a decent recent vintage notebook PC, I have the opportunity to learn so much from so many.

Here is www.kurzweilai.net where more information is available, and it has an RSS feed.

remiss, climate, oil

I have been remiss in blogging. Getting back in the saddle again with a few climate related stories.

In particular:

UN security council holds climate debate.

Pentagon study says oil reliance strains military.

I think a significant point to keep in mind that climate change and oil consumption, which go hand in hand to some extent, can have important global and national security ramifications.

Stricter emission limits get a boost.

To a large extent, some political actors seem to see the entire topic of environmentalism, whether it means addressing climate change, or even using compact fluorescent light bulbs (read further!), as some hare-brained socialist scheme to take down capitalism, the free market, and probably motherhood and apple pie. My opinion is that tackling environmental issues head-on with attention to both science and economics will protect capitalism, free markets, motherhood, and apple pie. In fact, our market-based economy is best suited to address not just the problems resulting from environmental issues, but also their root causes. And, in many cases, this can be done by providing consumers with information they can use to make informed choices.

And our market-based economy is sensing the opportunity in alternative fuels, per this report.

Arctic melt-off: ahead of schedule.

This last points out that recent research findings continue to support the thesis that the IPCC report was too conservative in terms of reflecting the impact of melting ice at the poles.

On the other hand, I've heard of a backlash against compact fluorescent light bulbs, due to the issues with cleaning up and disposing of the mercury that would spill in case a bulb breaks. Energy Star has this to say about CFLBs and their disposal. I know our transfer station offers fluorescent bulb recycling and safe disposal.

one year

I started this blog in April 2006, so this is the one year anniversary of this blog.

Blogging is interesting in a few ways. When I started this blog, I envisioned it as a place to try my hand at blogging, to learn what it is like, and to offer a portal into some of my interests for friends and family. I have fallen into several common blogging traps, including in no small measure the "cat blog" trap.

Blogging is a useful practice for gathering thoughts on a subject, and finding a way to articulate those thoughts in a personal voice. One blogging trap I try to avoid is to become an "echo chamber".

In this next year, I plan to continue to this blog, and will probably continue to emphasize some photo blogging from my personal life coupled with other observations into areas that interest me as an amateur.

latest IPCC update

So the IPCC issued its latest report (PDF) on climate change impacts, adaption, and vulnerability - summary for policymakers.

I believe the overall work of the IPCC has contributed to a better global understanding of the reality of climate change, and of the need to address it. Even last fall, the Christian Science Monitor published an article "New combatant against global warming: insurance industry" that showed insurance giants giving due consideration to the risks of climate change.

Additionally, in a split decision this week, the Supreme Court of the United States determined that the Environmental Protection Agency can regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as described in this article in USA Today.

It seems to me that the challenge of climate change and global warming is a fantastic opportunity for industry, here in the states and elsewhere, to develop significant new revenue streams and profit centers in all sorts of markets, including greener power generation, more efficient vehicles, smart houses, and so on.

Even top-tier VCs are beginning to look in this direction.