Monday, September 9, 2002

This is *very* tacky, but funny. Norm sent the link and, because I'm a vegetarian, I feel I can get away with it. I really do like animals - just not on the dinner plate. http://wtv-zone.com/JBond/chowmein.swf 2:34:15 PM     There has been an enormous amount of auroral activity over the past few days indicating that the solar cycle is still hot. Of course I missed it and am wincing as some of you are emailing wonderful images. If you are looking for predictions, give this link a try.. http://aurora.n1bug.net/ 8:38:42 AM     Emailchemy is a java based utility that reads emails from a variety of email applications (including some very old forgotten ones) and coverts to the RFC-822 "one true format" which any modern email program can handle. I haven't used it, but it might be useful to gain control over old archives. http://www.weirdkid.com/products/emailchemy/index.html 6:06:54 AM     Here is a cute periodic table that offers quick answers to questions like "what is iridium used for"... http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/default.htm The price given for cobalt 60 seemed quite low, so a bit of searching is in order. While I didn't find direct prices, there was a very interesting article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists from five years ago. http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/1997/mj97/mj97lee.html It seems that quite of bit of smuggling associated with very dangerous materials is amateurish. Of course one must worry about non-amateurs. 5:40:21 AM     Bart points out a great banner ad site... recommended! They take stabs at everyone. http://www.valleyofthegeeks.com/Banners.html 5:39:52 AM     For whatever reason Tom Swifties came to mind on last night's walk.. I'm sure you can do better. "I can't believe I ate the whole pineapple" Tom said dolefully. "That's the last time I'll pet the shark" Tom said offhandedly. (groan) "OK, I'll send the telegram one more time" Tom said remorsefully. 5:39:37 AM     Now that a silly mood has been established, how about a few very silly vehicles? Recumbent unicycles perhaps? Not wild enough - how about a 13 wheeled unicycle? http://www.geocities.com/rcgilmore3/ExtremeBikes.htm People are still playing around with motorcars too ... small can be appealing, but getting a clean engine is a real trick. It is possible to build small two and three wheel commuters that exceed 100 miles per gallon and qualify as ultra low pollution vehicles. The problem is that consumers probably won't buy them given the current market and incentives. What would you do to encourage these? Have another gas crisis? Making most of the good parking spots available to cars less than ten feet long? (I personally like the idea of letting people have 10 feet of parking "free" and the rest is limited and available as part of a free market. People who don't drive could sell their spaces). Use gps to know when a car is in a metropolitan area and tax it appropriately as a function of its efficiency and pollution characteristics? Claim that vehicle efficiency is part of homeland security to make us much less reliant on foreign oil - er I guess that won't fly for at least two years... It seems clear that something will probably have to happen in the next decade. Corbin makes a very strange little EV that you see occasionally (there is one in Sommerset, NJ).. Dave would probably like their Merlin roadster. It isn't as classy as a postwar Messerschmitt Kabinenroller, but has a certain charm. http://www.corbin.com/corbinmotors/ With high fuel prices and tax laws that favor two and three wheel vehicles, BMW has an active program (in addition to their motorcycles). A friend lost his life on a motorcycle a few years ago and I have lost any interest in them. BMW has a new two wheeler in Europe that promises to be much safer... http://www.bmwworld.com/models/concepts/c1.htm A more impressive vehicle is the "Clever" which is aimed at European urban areas. This might make real sense as a commuter or short range vehicle. http://www.bmwworld.com/models/concepts/clever.htm BMW clearly has the heritage... http://www.bmwworld.com/models/vintage/isetta.htm 5:39:13 AM

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