Monday, August 29, 2005

Like Candy From a Baby

My wife, Michele, is co-starring in an upcoming play; a performance which benefits Pittsburgh Action Against Rape. The show, "Voices Carry," will premiere at the Mt. Lebanon High School Fine Arts Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7pm.

The play and the music were written by two good friends of my wife, who also reside in Mt. Lebanon. The script contains themes of sexual abuse and is not appropriate for children. Tickets are $10 at the door, or $8 in advance by calling 412-805-1563. The entirety of the proceeds, after costs, will go to PAAR. But I'm not here to help boost the proceeds part (though that certainly would be nice!) - I'm here to complain about the costs part.

You see, this play, which is being put on entirely for charity, will cost $450, payable to our fair township & school district. I think. No one seems to be entirely sure which shadowy taxing authority is imposing this fee, but the point stands: to use the stage, $450.

I might add - this is just the cost for the 4 hour block they will need to perform the show. If they wanted access to the stage, say for minor details - building a set, running light and audio cues, maybe something crazy, a rehearsal - they'd need to fork over an additional $450 per 4 hours.

Did I mention this production benefits a charity? As such, the company is rehearsing in living rooms and other available space, and is going to wing something for the crew setup.

This fee was thrust upon the production company after initial agreements were made to reserve the stage. Originally, the ballpark figure bandied about was on the order of $100-150, with an understanding that that covered things like preparation and rehearsal time. However, perhaps due to, hmm, a need to recoup some substantial losses, the deal has been "altered."

So please, I hope you'll attend - to help raise awareness for abused women, to help raise awareness for these insidious fees, and to help ensure that PAAR actually ends up with some proceeds to receive.

Oh, and by the way - do you know of any space that would host Brownie Troop 1093's meetings? Lincoln School is still trying to charge them $10 a pop. (That's a considerable amount of cookies.)

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Hybrid Engine's Mass Appeal

Hybrid cars should appeal to every side of the landscape.

Conservatives can feel good about hybrids because they decrease the United States dependence on foreign oil to run our economy. A large portion of our oil comes from nations which are often at odds with our interests, any significant drop in our foreign oil dependence serves to improve the global position and security of the United States.

Environmentalists should be behind hybrids because they reduce the rate of harmful emissions into the atmosphere caused by burning gasoline. This primarily includes toxic materials, such as CO, and greenhouse gases. Furthermore, hybrids are available now, whereas other technologies which might lower gasoline consumption are much further from market availability.

Pragmatists should be behind hybrids because, with gas prices at $2.50 a gallon, they pay for themselves after a year or two in lower fuel costs. Additionally, hybrids are already a proven success. The industry is passing the “Early Adopter” phase as the word comes in that these cars really are of good quality.

Airlines, railroads and truck companies should be behind it because a large portion of their costs are from fuel. Several airlines currently list fuel as their #1 cost, over labor, with gas prices at their current level. Although there may not be large opportunities for improving the efficiency of jets and large diesel trucks, a decrease in the overall demand of gasoline spurred on by the adoption of hybrids would lower the market cost for all fuel types.

Auto makers stand to fall behind by not developing more efficient vehicles. Hybrid cars are being sold as fast as than they can be made. There are wait periods up to six months for some models. SUV sales, while still very high, have leveled off. Developing hybrid SUVs and hybrid domestic cars is going to become a necessity in the future.

Every industry in the US stands do gain from decreased gas prices. Cheaper costs for transporting goods and increased consumer disposable income would increase sales, profits and the availability of investment money.

Large oil companies are probably the ones to lose the most in this deal. But its not as bad as you might think. There are many costs that go into the price of gasoline, few of which impact the oil companies’ profits. Its not like with oil prices being at $60 a barrel that the oil companies are generating twice the revenue as if oil prices were $30 a barrel. They can make about as much money if gas sells for $2.50 as they do if it sells for $1.50, as long as the market competition allows for them to take a reasonable cut.

The energy bill passed two weeks ago has incentives for buying fuel efficient vehicles. This is a good first step, and I would really like to see a more aggressive approach to these sort of incentives in the future. Everybody wins.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Hardware Trends

Over the past three years or so the traditional benchmark for computer power – Processing speed -- has become less and less meaningful. Processing power just isn’t as important as it used to be. Consumers no longer need to buy a computer every three or four years just to keep up. The result is that hardware is now improving in more diverse ways than before. Consumers now look for much more than processing power, and in order to stay competitive, hardware companies have taken notice.

The biggest trend in hardware is in mobility and portability. About the same time desktop sales started dipping because processing power no longer forced them to buy a new computer every three years, laptops started improving dramatically. Laptops today are just so much more appealing than they were a few years back. They’ve closed the gap bigtime with desktops – and its not because of processing.

Its almost a blessing that battery technology has stalled for so long, because hardware companies have been forced to think up new and clever ways for miniaturizing technology and decreasing power consumption while maximizing performance. This has given us low-electricity consumption processors that still run competitively fast, affordable high quality LCD flat-panel monitors, USB, quality aesthetics, and the growth of wireless. All in an effort to promote laptops.

The mobility just adds a whole new dimension to their appeal. I like that I can sit on my couch and write this article. I like that I can watch a DVD while I’m on the trolley going to work. I like that I can take my laptop over to Matt’s house and we can collaboratively work on projects. I like that I can “work from home”, but really, be anywhere with Wi-Fi. With a laptop, Wi-Fi and a cell phone, -- I’m completely connected and my physical location is totally irrelevant. (More on this later)

This wave of hardware development is just going to keep increasing the diversity of applications as hardware companies think about ways to make people want to buy new computers. I can’t wait.

Friday, August 12, 2005

I wonder if The News is in town too...

On my way home from work I was surprised to find out that they're filming a movie just up the street. I couldn't find a thing about it on IMDB, but according to the Pittsburgh Film Office, The Graduation is filming in the area.

They had the block on Morrison blocked off between Overlook and North Meadowcroft, but when I went up there to look around all I saw were a bunch of trucks and trailers and some guys standing around doing apparently nothing. You know, just like PennDOT, minus the orange vests and helmets.

I didn't even get to see a famous movie star/rock legend like... Huey Lewis. Bummer.

Bandwidth is good for you

One thing has me totally geared up lately. In two weeks, the Verizon dude will be wheeling up to my house to hook me up with sweet, sweet bandwidth. Yes, I'm getting FIOS.

I used to really loathe Verizon, with that special kind of loathing reserved for other ruthless, monolithic, we're-a-monopoly-so-we-can-screw-you corporations (like oh, say, Adelphia). But their customer service has turned around dramatically over the past year or two. And now with FIOS on the way, they're going to start expanding to provide TV as well. I love that they're going to send the cable companies cowering.

Instead of subscribing to phone and cable separately, now you're going to have just one information service company. And that means one bill, and fewer bills is good, right? At least there will be some much needed competition. The big difference though will be in distinguishing bandwidth (as a utility) from content (as a service). More on that in future posts.

Hey everyone

Hey everyone.

Jake said it - last night's get together was a blast. Going not as bloggers but as "comment groupies" made no difference. We had a great time talking with everyone. And, yes, we also finally got the stern smacking around we needed to get started on our own. (My arm still hurts...)

So, let's get started.

Inauguration

The Pittsburgh Blogfest III tonight was a smashing success. The event was well attended and the people surprised me by how fun and motivating they were. Even the post-gazette sent a reporter and a photographer. I enjoyed talking with everyone there.

The direct effect of Pgh Blogfest III is that Matt and I are shoving our blog out the door tonight. We've been spurred on by the call to action from Cynthia over at MyBrilliantMistakes . No more bothering with all the startup overhead details. Who needs a well thought out name, a URL, or a formal theme? You can save the pre-release details for the People Who Never Actually Get a Project Off Of The Ground. (More on this in an future).

What we really have going for us is a wealth of opinions and an drive to see more coverage of things which interest us. The bottom line is, we’re stepping up to the plate and contribute to the community out there because we’re tired of just being readers. We’re not worried about what 'the community’ means at this point. Whoever takes interest in what we have to say is good enough for me.