peak oil

it was fun while it lasted, but the hangover is really going to suck.

The issue is not one of "running out" so much as it is not having enough to keep our economy running. In this regard, the ramifications of Peak Oil for our civilization are similar to the ramifications of dehydration for the human body. The human body is 70 percent water. The body of a 200 pound man thus holds 140 pounds of water. Because water is so crucial to everything the human body does, the man doesn't need to lose all 140 pounds of water weight before collapsing due to dehydration. A loss of as little as 10-15 pounds of water may be enough to kill him.

read on, if you dare...

and here's a good idea.

oh well.

the flag around the office here will be flying at half mast all day. no money will change hands. horseplay and/or shenannigans will be strictly forbidden. this is a somber day, a day for breaking off gigantic gorilla fingers symbolic of the swearing in of this man for yet another term.

it is their country. this is their party. gross.

no love for sony

if anyone is thinking about buying a dvd burning drive, my advice is to steer clear of sony's dru-710a. i had one that stopped working after 3 months. the technical support left something to be desired, and the whole experience soured me a bit on the company. even though i've lived in japan and want desperately to support japanese companies, sony has lost me as a customer for the foreseeable future.

the good people at staples, a company i definitely plan to support in the future, hooked me up with a fine memorex dvd burner, saving me the trouble (time and money) of packaging and sending the defective sony drive to iowa. i told the manager of my 2 hour ordeal with the sony "support" team (90% of that time having been spent on hold) and she offered to exchange it for another drive instead of making me hassle with it.

so, this was my recent experience with market economics. sony dismissed me, staples embraced me. guess which one of these companies will get my business in the future.