A local news station recently did a piece on how much power new TVs use. I don’t know if you’ve heard this one or not, but apparently inefficient plasma TVs can consume more power when turned off, then a refrigerator running all day. While I can believe that… I think that it is the exception. New TVs are much more energy efficient than their early iterations, and Plasma TVs require significantly more power than other HDTVs like LCD or projection.

The part that seems incredulous is that they pull any power when they are turned off. But really a lot of electronics now don’t really turn off. You have probably seen a DVD player or something that has a “Standby” light when you press the power button. At the very least, enough circuitry is kept active so that the remote can turn the TV back on . As devices become more complex, more stays active even when the device is not being used.*

I recently had an idea that would make it simple to save that extra juice when you know you won’t be needing it. Most of us have a power strip connected to all of our gadgets in the entertainment center. If you place the power strip so it is easily accessible, then you can just flip the switch on the power strip and turn all of your gadgets “off off”. Maybe every night when you head off to bed, or at least when you will be gone for a few days, you can pull all the power, without having to literally pull the plugs. And when you get back, its a simple switch to get everything back up and running.

In some cases, manufacturers are making some efforts to improve the situation. For example I have a Magnavox TV that has two “off” modes. If you turn the TV off with a remote, the power button stays lit, and the remote can turn it back on. If you get up and press the button, there is no LED at all, and the remote can’t turn the TV back on. I have to drag my lazy bucket to the TV and physically press the power button. Now there’s a waste of energy

* for example newer AV  sources like cable boxes, DVD players and recievers send information back and forth between the displays so that the signal doesn’t need to be reconfigured each time you switch inputs.  Xbox 360s keep an active 2.4 GHz signal up to detect controller iniatated power-ups.  DVRs and VCRs can schedule recordings when the box is “off”

So I recently decided, it’s not so much that I want HDDVD to win, but I want Sony to lose.  Sony consistently insists on releasing proprietary technology and it is frustrating.  Rather than contributing to the overall progress of the industries, they dig in their heels and bray long and loud hoping that someone will listen. 

I’m amazed also at the seemingly bottomless fund they keep dipping into to supply their marketing efforts with ammunition.  They must be throwing an unbelievable amount of money at the movie studios to ensure exclusivity, and they are still piling ads on thicker and deeper for blu-ray movies and the PS3.  All of course at the expense of the consumer.  Their players are still, I think, prohibitively priced and the media is expensive.

I was really dissapointed when Netflix turned this week.

I really enjoyed getting HDDVDs from them.  It might be enough to get me to switch over to Blockbuster online.   The more I think about it though, the more I realize that if the price was equal, or comparable, I would be much more indifferent.  HDDVD was reaching really hard for the under $100 player.  Blu-ray is still in the $400 range which is way out there.   The actual format superiority I still think is arguable,  Blu-ray does have about 10 more gigs per layer, but HDDVD’s more powerful menus etc I think still gave it a fighting chance.  And since they actually are making some dual format readers, it would be nice if they could have eventually converged and let the producers/consumers decide disc by disc.  Maybe release the directors cut on HD with lots of features, and the extended cut on Blu-Ray with the rootkit extra capacity.   Ah well.  Sadly it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

I once knew a man who was paralyzed form the neck down.  Bedridden, emaciated, and a burden to his wife and family.  Yet he was always positive, amicable and happy.  Once his wife said incredulously that he didn’t want to die.  He yelled at the top of his frail, high-pitched voice “Amo a Vida” (I love life!)

Every once in a while I think of him… I complain too much.  I couldn’t as for much more out of my life.  I have an amazing wife (she’ll argue–don’t listen), beautiful kids, I work at a great job with excellent coworkers.  I’m proud of the way I was raised, and everything I want I eventually get.

I wonder why we feel such a need to vent our frustrations.  ..the first response to come to mind is that it’s better than bottling them up.  But why do we hang on to them at all?  We either swallow the canker, or we spread it around.  I want to come home from work and say, “Today was a rough day.  But guess what!  I finally got my inbox cleaned out, we made a really big sale, and our meeting went well”

Our days are as bright as we make them.

In a Physical Science class we were talking about Conservation today – the conservation of mass and the conservation of energy, and the issue of global warming came up (energy released burning wood being converted to CO2)

I used to get really interested in the global warming debate.  But I never got really … involved.  The last few times it has come up in classes etc.  it’s surprising to me how people get all wrung up about it… on both sides. 

In general I feel that the statistics I have seen designed to ”prove” global warming, seem to be more alarmist than informist.  (Admittedly however, I haven’t read enough research to make an informed decision.)  From what I have seen, I would accept that a warming trend is happening, but I wonder how much effect humans have had compared to natural processes.  Are we spitting in the ocean, or are we pouring gallons into a glass?  I actually think it is a glass half empty vs half full issue.  Two people can look at the same data, and see the complete opposite results.

What I think I realized tonight, is that for me at least, it doesn’t really matter.  Even if the world was in a global cooling trend, I still think it is important to recycle, carpool. and use more eco-friendly products and habits.  (Maybe with the exception of the too-rich Texan oil tycoon from the Simpsons) most people want to conserve, and leave a better world for the next generation.

 Buy more produce than pre-packaged food;  and when possible by local produce.  Take advantage of natural light.  Plant a little garden, grow some herbs or a favorite fruit or vegetable.  Landscape your yard with native plants that are used to the climate and natural rainfall.  I have heard these as “green” tips, but I think that there could be a dozen different arguments for each of them as well.  For instance, natural light–I knew a researcher that said they found that a major cause of insomnia was based on not seeing the sky in the morning (note I am writing this post way past my bedtime).  Apparently the early morning sky light causes chemical reactions in our brains and bodies that help us correctly assign wakefulness and sleepiness.  Local produce–Taste local produce! Amazing. Next time you drive by a farmer’s market, stop in.  I can almost guarantee you won’t regret it.   and on and on.

Basically, I think I will stop worrying about the convenience of the truth, or the environmental skepticism.  And put that energy towards things I can do to make my world better.

Wouldn’t it be cool if instead of debating global warming, a class just broke out into a brainstorm on how to save Venice?

“Silly wabbit, kicks are for ribs!”

-Homer while battling the bunny referee of the Springfield Easter egg hunt.

The only difference between running away from something, or running toward something…

… is if you look back.

One of the side effects of parenting a toddler is that you end up watching a lot of cartoons.  On our last long car trip, my daughter was watching Disney’s Aladdin.  While I couldn’t see the screen, I listened as we drove.  I caught myself analyzing the characters, specifically the details of the mind and background of the villain Jafar.

 Jafar is obviously power hungry.  That’s no surprise, but I don’t think he was always that way. 

History

Jafar was always ambitious, that is part of his character, but the addiction to power, the Machiavellian drive came later in his life.  If we assume that the sultan was, as he declares “An excellent judge of character” It would make sense that Jafar was a promising, aspiring scholar.  He quickly became a trusted counselor.  However, as he continued to learn more, he began to feel that he was a smarter, more capable, and more qualified leader than the sultan himself. (Parentage is a weak claim to leadership)

Each time his council was followed, it fueled his delusions, each time his council was ignored, his ego retaliated.    He became bitter and began to give into his darker side.  He began studying magic, mysticism and regional lore looking for a ways to usurp power and prove his superiority.  He learned to control subordinates and deceive supervisors.  He eventually placed himself at the proverbial right hand of the sultan and began slowly to manipulate him.

Puppetry was not enough for his ambition however, total control of the sultan wouldn’t satiate him, for he wanted now more than control and power.  He wanted, he needed, prestige, recognition, adoration.  People still looked to the sultan for leadership, and it offended Jafar.  People still didn’t know Jafar, and that enraged him, but he was at a standstill.  The laws, and the traditions of the people would not allow for him to replace the sultan.  While Jafar could manipulate a few, he couldn’t command a rebel army, nor could he create an alliance with foreign kingdom.  When all possibilties disappeared, he turned to the impossible.

He consumed himself with the search for some way to bend reality.  To supersede all laws and traditions.  He eventually came upon the story of the lamp, the genie, and the tale that Disney unfolds.

Two words

Two words in the dialogue I think prove that Jafar is not just ambitions, but evil.  Jafar learns that he needs Aladdin to obtain the magic lamp.  Aladdin is found and captured with the runaway princess Jasmine.  When the princess demands to know the whereabouts of our young hero, Jafar tells her that he has been convicted of kidnapping the princess and immediately punished.  When jasmine fearfully inquires as to the punishment, Jafar replies “Death.  By beheading” (emphasis added)  Jafar’s obsession with the sultanship has brought him to take whatever measures necessary to accomplish his goals.  Lying about the fate of Aladdin was just such a measure.  Our sheltered heroine not only lost her new-found (and only non-feline) friend, but she would have felt personally responsible for his death, a repercussion of the lie.  But when Jafar added the words “By beheading” he created an horrific, haunting image that would serve no purpose in forwarding his plan, but would trouble and disturb Jasmine for the rest of her life.  Jafar’s sneer and the tone of his voice showed obvious pleasure as he destroyed her innocence.  She of course was too lost in her thoughts and emotions to notice him relishing in her pain, but we, the all seeing audience can clearly observe his true manifestation.

 This of course, as the power-lust previously discussed would not have been present in Jafar’s early career.  Yielding to evil came with (and probably in result of) his obsessive clamor for power and recognition, after thousands of moral compromises, and ultimately becomes the vulnerability exploited in his demise.

The Moral

What conclusion do we get from all this?      I watch too many cartoons.

(if you don’t know, Utah is voting on a bill that would provide “vouchers” — tax breaks to parents who move their children to private schools)

I have seen a bunch of commercials about this, pushing both sides, but you know how commercials are… Neither side gave any information.  I bounced around on the internet reading bits and pieces till I found a site had a PDF of the actual bill and I read through it.  (not super carefully, and I didn’t cross reference anything so I may have missed some details)

So far, based on what I’ve seen, I don’t agree.  Fundamentally I think that the state shouldn’t pay private schools. 

The “pro” referendum 1 commercials always talk about how the vouchers only make up a part of the state allocated money for each student, and that the schools keep the rest.  But that is only a temporary solution, the schools only get the money for 5 years.  And still, why is the state paying anything to private schools?

I agree that teachers deserve to be paid more, that smaller class sizes are better, and I think that private schools have an important role, but I don’t think that this is a solution.

I have also heard that the vouchers encourage “capitalistic” education.  They seem to suggest that the good teachers, and the good students will move to private schools, which will have more funding.  Public education will be left with–the leftovers, and in a few years, underfunded again.  Competition (capitalism) exists now.  Referendum 1 will take money, good teachers and goods students out of public schools, that sounds like killing the competition.  I think it is naive to assume that the only recourse the state will have will be to improve public education.  They might not.  We risk ruining it for the (significant) portion of families who can’t afford private schools, with or without vouchers.

I think that we need to address the actual problems.  Increase wages for teachers, increase accountability for public schools, make it easier possible to get rid of teachers that are not pulling their weight, and build more schools to reduce class sizes.

 That’s where I want you to put my money.

I wish my computer wouldn’t tell me that I have 20 minutes of battery, then not give me 20 minutes of battery. 

 Now I’m pounding away on the desktop while my laptop makes an expensive arm rest.  ah well.

I just bought some parts to run a gigabit network in my house.  I’m really excited.  The problem is crawling through fiberglass insulation in the attic trying to shove a network cable down a wall without a fish tape.  (*guess you had to be there)  We’ll see how it turns out.

So, I finally set up my own domain.  I couldn’t find the good old theme, I don’t love the one I’m in now… so don’t be surprised if I change outfits a few times till I find a comfy fit.

 Anyway, if you’ve been getting here from my wordpress hosted blog, go ahead and update your feed, or bookmark, or muscle memory or however you got here.

 If you’re a search visitor, welcome!  You found me anyway.