There's a growing group of ranchers who raise grass fed beef. Try to find a smaller operation like a tractor farm or kid's 4H project. The downside of this is you have to buy beef 1/4 of a cow or more at a time. I think the meat tastes better (it certainly has a different flavor).
IIRC it takes about 3-8 lb of plant matter to add 1 lb to an animal. Fish and Pigs were more efficient, cows were pretty inefficient. Think about the weight of your daily food supply. Before we forget that not all of an animal is edible (no brain cheese jokes please), a bit less than half of a cow's hanging weight is carcass weight. Non-Atkins, of course, I figure in an average meal a person eats about 1/4-1/2 lb of meat, and about 1 lb of veggies/starches. To get that meat required 2-4 lbs of grain (2 if it's a quick growing fish 4 if it's beef). While your potato and salad required 1 lb of plant matter. So 70% doesn't sound too far from my educated guess.
I recall doing this shortly after the optics lab in a college physics class. In high school we gernerally studied kinetics, limited waves, and other intro stuff.
I'm not that old for a/.er, but I loved international relations as a younger buck. It's quite interesting to see how similar the complaints about India's outsourcing are to complaints about Japan's rise as a semiconductor (back when DRAM was the shiznit, Arabs would take that or gold for oil) and auto manufacturer. Look at where Japan is today, they certainly didn't get everything and really missed a whole bunch of the computer industry. However, there is one major difference, in the Japanese case, CEO's, upper management, and stockholders were effectivly being outsourced (as Japanese companies were started from the ground up and competed directly with American companies). However, in the Indian rise, they are working with our companies do some jobs remain here.
In the Japanese rise, there were plenty of businesses created out of nothing here that profited significantly from the growth of Japan. Done by people who took the time to learn what was important to the Japanese, not just throwing products over there. The same will be true in the rise of India. Since all of us are early to the game in realizing the magnitude of the change, we are well positioned to capitalize on any gains. Some idea's financial services (tools for newly wealthy to invest and managage their new wealth), items of cutural importance (Japanese demand for luxury goods, art, and expensive liquer) increased signficantly from 1970-2000, find a similar business exposed to India.
There is an example of it on one of the XBox modding pages the example cleaned the green off the an X-Box logo. Since it was visible it's a very nice job on a finished product. I'd link it but they just started blocking game pages on the firewall.
It came with Captain Crunch, and the frequency was 2600 Hz. Blue boxes could also generate this frequency and then had a telephone keypad for generating the tones need to tell the trunk to do something (like call Beruit).
Rover made a few (mostly for racing) 50s or 60s. Chrysler and Opel also participated in the market (Opel in 1928!). From this site, it was the cost of manufacture tha killed the idea, power to weight was much better than even a rotary. 300+ HP out of a 130 lb engine is great $40,000 is not so great, but it would make a sweet exotic.
There is a signficant school of thought that believes that degrees (or any certification for that matter) is a signal to potential employeers that you have the determination to achive something difficult and the training invested in you will not go to waste. The hypothsis is also used to explain why bank signs and facades are quite expensive to produce. Since a sign is emblazened with a company's name it will not carry much use if the bank were to go under. Since the management team was willing to spend so much on a sign, they are capitalized well enough to be around for a while and not go under with your deposits (this was pre FDIC insurance). I think this is the vast majority of the extra value of an prestigous degree (let's face it if you try you can learn plenty from any undergraduate institution). Almost anyone can be trained to do most jobs (engineering, medical, and a few other no mistake jobs excluded) competently. The important part is the expense undertaken by the employeer to train someone. The degree shows that you are willing to endure some discomfort and effort to achive a long term goal. As such they are very, very costly signals, but no one has found a better method of sorting people.
Algebra and Calculus underpin a whole lot of the current world, while calc isn't neccessary, understanding things like exponential growth, rates of change (and their relationship to position), and they make explination of how the worlds of business and finance work. Those two worlds will at a minimum tangentially affect most people's lives. Saving for retirement and a mortgage are just two examples. Sure, anyone could be taught to use an ammortization calculator, but the person with a calculus education can tell pretty quickly calculator is off, using tricks that make sense looking back at the problem (like the rule of 72).
Ironically, having computer skills is just a bit of rote training, the jobs that everyone was (is?) pushing so hard to get kids up to speed for require more of an understanding of how the computer system works which usually require a good measure of critical thinking, logic, and math skills, not basic training on how to use Windows and Office. Better to know how a spreadsheet works, and apply that knowledge to Office.
I'd agree that the computers are a symptom of the major problem, which is a general lack of influence of parents in kids lives, and an unwillingness to admit this and turn over any disciplinary control to the dominant influence, the schools. As a result, we end up with just enough students who get zero discipline and ruin school for everyone. Also, schools have become a place where bureaucracy has become the most important thing. I think the best solution would be to allow vouchers and choice, it seems to work pretty darn well at the college level.
I only drove it in a test drive. Long story short, my car was in limbo between getting totaled or being fixed and the insurance company decided to fix it. Are the MPG gauges very accurate? Presumably you measured consumption fill up to fill up, was the guide over any period of time? I've seen fuel consumption gauges in airplanes that measure gas flowing to the fuel pump, do they use those measurments?
We also have quite a few more part requirements (cat converter, bumper tests) and the like, in other countries (that weren't trying to prop up a failing manufacturing company) exhaust systems specify that you should meet an emissions standard. In the US even if your car exhausted 1/10th the clean air standards you would still have to include parts that weren't necessary. As a result most foreign cars weigh considerably less than their US conterparts. The Smart as an example isn't legally importable without changes. I don't think things like the 206/306 or Clio are legal here without a redesign either. We let pretty much everyone drive at 16, where as in other contries it's more something to earn, so we load our cars with safety features, to compensate for poor driving skills.
I think the certification is pollutants exhausted per mile drive in the EPA's tests. Replacing a Honda non hybrid with the Escort a gallon of gas burned shouldn't really change the pollution exhausted from a gallon of gas burned in the hybrid. I'm assuming the cylindar design and burn characteristics should be pretty similar between the hybrid's 1.5L engine and a Civic with a 1.6L engine.
I think something like 5% of our power comes from the Atom, 1-2% from Hydro (including the nearly insignficant solar, tidal, wind, and geothermal), and the rest from gas, coal, or oil. Gas is/was the quickest growing, and oil is in decline as a share of the national generation.
Without tremendous investment in either coal burning plants or nuclear (say it with Dubya kids, Nuc-U-Lar) power plants, we'll be cracking hydrocarbons for any national hydrogen infastructure. Don't be too hasty in telling off OPEC. H2 is much cleaner source of power in the small confines of a car, the pollution savings comes in huge cracking plants which produce less pollution than current combustion engines.
Take a highway trip, and set the cruise (at 65-70 no higher). If you are still way below the expected milage you might check your spark plugs, TPS (throttle position sensor), and O2 sensor. A general tune up might not be a bad idea. If your plugs are bad you aren't burning fuel efficently, and the computer defaults to a low efficency map if they get an out of spec reading from the o2 and TPS sensor. Neither is costly or difficult to replace (on most cars). Also when you drive in the city, don't do hard accelleration, and try to coast up to stops rather than accelerating up to the point you begin breaking. Also check your tire pressure, running out of spec shortens your tire life, and reduces fuel efficency.
Not counting any tax savings, the cheapest cars, are the econoboxes that get 45+ on EPA ratings and cost 10k-15k, but have nice long warrenties. If you are willing to drive for fuel efficency a hybrid might be the way to go, but you will have to change your driving habits and techniques.
There are two major problems with any sort of high gas taxes. First, the politicans who go for it have killed their careers as voters are too short sighted to reelect them. Second, because of the current infastructure, it would greatly impact the poor. They can't adjust as quickly in their car purchasing habits, and there isn't an effective mass transit service for them to fall back on, yet. After a decade of investments in better forms of mass transit though that would be a very good idea. If we don't the $0.75/gallon will simply go to the owners of current oil fields (most of whom are outside the country).
Back in the oil crisis there was a push by Detroit to quickly and cheaply become Diesel friendly as they were being slaughtered by the Japanese cars. This resulted in refitting their current gasoline engines for Diesel fuel rather than designing them from the ground up (took to much time and expense). As the saying goes fast, cheap, or good you only get two, these engines were of course terrible. The quality of those cars had two effects, first buyers hoping for fuel savings found that they broke down more, smoked like crazy, ran poorly, and were generally of low quality. So we never really developed a retail infastructure for repair and fueling a large fleet of Diesel powered automobiles. Now that Europe is leading a resurgence in Diesel technology that doesn't suck perhaps a new generation can try again. I believe the Honda Diesel was traded in a swap with one of the big three's European division for one of Honda's gasoline engines (but I don't recall which engine they gave or got).
Like your brother you have to learn how to drive the hybrids to really boost efficency. I recall an article about some of the first buyers who were reliably getting 70-100 MPG (over a tank of gas). One of the coolest features I've ever seen was on an old BMW, it was a little gage that measured fuel economy. It dropped to below 2 MPG in a modestly quick (not even a launch) start from a stop sign and this was in the old 318ti (small, light car). If you pull away from every stop quickly you will burn a whole lot more fuel than if you ease your car back into motion.
In one generation they went from being a joke, to a solid also ran, to being considered the main challenger to Sony in the next generation. Not that it will happen for sure, but I don't think many of us would have belived that MS would be seriously considered to outsell Sony with their second gen XBox. There is now serious consideration, and MS is being taken seriously by development firms.
I picked up the tetris clone war bundle out of a bargain bin the other day, and I like it mostly because it's a nice game to play for 10 minutes. It's also easy to learn for little kids and people who don't play games much. A friend brought kids over who of course wanted to play KotoR which had a pretty steep learning curve for them. No it doesn't stress the hardware, but they can be fun. My favorite timewaster is the same game. I don't put it on my hardware anymore it is not a game it is an addiction.
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There's a growing group of ranchers who raise grass fed beef. Try to find a smaller operation like a tractor farm or kid's 4H project. The downside of this is you have to buy beef 1/4 of a cow or more at a time. I think the meat tastes better (it certainly has a different flavor).
Did they ever put Gerry's Game before a movie? That is one of my favorite Pixar shorts.
IIRC it takes about 3-8 lb of plant matter to add 1 lb to an animal. Fish and Pigs were more efficient, cows were pretty inefficient. Think about the weight of your daily food supply. Before we forget that not all of an animal is edible (no brain cheese jokes please), a bit less than half of a cow's hanging weight is carcass weight. Non-Atkins, of course, I figure in an average meal a person eats about 1/4-1/2 lb of meat, and about 1 lb of veggies/starches. To get that meat required 2-4 lbs of grain (2 if it's a quick growing fish 4 if it's beef). While your potato and salad required 1 lb of plant matter. So 70% doesn't sound too far from my educated guess.
I recall doing this shortly after the optics lab in a college physics class. In high school we gernerally studied kinetics, limited waves, and other intro stuff.
I'm not that old for a /.er, but I loved international relations as a younger buck. It's quite interesting to see how similar the complaints about India's outsourcing are to complaints about Japan's rise as a semiconductor (back when DRAM was the shiznit, Arabs would take that or gold for oil) and auto manufacturer. Look at where Japan is today, they certainly didn't get everything and really missed a whole bunch of the computer industry. However, there is one major difference, in the Japanese case, CEO's, upper management, and stockholders were effectivly being outsourced (as Japanese companies were started from the ground up and competed directly with American companies). However, in the Indian rise, they are working with our companies do some jobs remain here.
In the Japanese rise, there were plenty of businesses created out of nothing here that profited significantly from the growth of Japan. Done by people who took the time to learn what was important to the Japanese, not just throwing products over there. The same will be true in the rise of India. Since all of us are early to the game in realizing the magnitude of the change, we are well positioned to capitalize on any gains. Some idea's financial services (tools for newly wealthy to invest and managage their new wealth), items of cutural importance (Japanese demand for luxury goods, art, and expensive liquer) increased signficantly from 1970-2000, find a similar business exposed to India.
There is an example of it on one of the XBox modding pages the example cleaned the green off the an X-Box logo. Since it was visible it's a very nice job on a finished product. I'd link it but they just started blocking game pages on the firewall.
Toothpaste (the cheap plain stuff works well) polishes out the scratches quite well.
It came with Captain Crunch, and the frequency was 2600 Hz. Blue boxes could also generate this frequency and then had a telephone keypad for generating the tones need to tell the trunk to do something (like call Beruit).
All the more reason to love my Model M keyboard, until someone figures out the same process with the springs in that.
Rover made a few (mostly for racing) 50s or 60s. Chrysler and Opel also participated in the market (Opel in 1928!). From this site, it was the cost of manufacture tha killed the idea, power to weight was much better than even a rotary. 300+ HP out of a 130 lb engine is great $40,000 is not so great, but it would make a sweet exotic.
There is a signficant school of thought that believes that degrees (or any certification for that matter) is a signal to potential employeers that you have the determination to achive something difficult and the training invested in you will not go to waste. The hypothsis is also used to explain why bank signs and facades are quite expensive to produce. Since a sign is emblazened with a company's name it will not carry much use if the bank were to go under. Since the management team was willing to spend so much on a sign, they are capitalized well enough to be around for a while and not go under with your deposits (this was pre FDIC insurance). I think this is the vast majority of the extra value of an prestigous degree (let's face it if you try you can learn plenty from any undergraduate institution). Almost anyone can be trained to do most jobs (engineering, medical, and a few other no mistake jobs excluded) competently. The important part is the expense undertaken by the employeer to train someone. The degree shows that you are willing to endure some discomfort and effort to achive a long term goal. As such they are very, very costly signals, but no one has found a better method of sorting people.
Algebra and Calculus underpin a whole lot of the current world, while calc isn't neccessary, understanding things like exponential growth, rates of change (and their relationship to position), and they make explination of how the worlds of business and finance work. Those two worlds will at a minimum tangentially affect most people's lives. Saving for retirement and a mortgage are just two examples. Sure, anyone could be taught to use an ammortization calculator, but the person with a calculus education can tell pretty quickly calculator is off, using tricks that make sense looking back at the problem (like the rule of 72).
Ironically, having computer skills is just a bit of rote training, the jobs that everyone was (is?) pushing so hard to get kids up to speed for require more of an understanding of how the computer system works which usually require a good measure of critical thinking, logic, and math skills, not basic training on how to use Windows and Office. Better to know how a spreadsheet works, and apply that knowledge to Office.
I'd agree that the computers are a symptom of the major problem, which is a general lack of influence of parents in kids lives, and an unwillingness to admit this and turn over any disciplinary control to the dominant influence, the schools. As a result, we end up with just enough students who get zero discipline and ruin school for everyone. Also, schools have become a place where bureaucracy has become the most important thing. I think the best solution would be to allow vouchers and choice, it seems to work pretty darn well at the college level.
I only drove it in a test drive. Long story short, my car was in limbo between getting totaled or being fixed and the insurance company decided to fix it. Are the MPG gauges very accurate? Presumably you measured consumption fill up to fill up, was the guide over any period of time? I've seen fuel consumption gauges in airplanes that measure gas flowing to the fuel pump, do they use those measurments?
We also have quite a few more part requirements (cat converter, bumper tests) and the like, in other countries (that weren't trying to prop up a failing manufacturing company) exhaust systems specify that you should meet an emissions standard. In the US even if your car exhausted 1/10th the clean air standards you would still have to include parts that weren't necessary. As a result most foreign cars weigh considerably less than their US conterparts. The Smart as an example isn't legally importable without changes. I don't think things like the 206/306 or Clio are legal here without a redesign either. We let pretty much everyone drive at 16, where as in other contries it's more something to earn, so we load our cars with safety features, to compensate for poor driving skills.
I think the certification is pollutants exhausted per mile drive in the EPA's tests. Replacing a Honda non hybrid with the Escort a gallon of gas burned shouldn't really change the pollution exhausted from a gallon of gas burned in the hybrid. I'm assuming the cylindar design and burn characteristics should be pretty similar between the hybrid's 1.5L engine and a Civic with a 1.6L engine.
I think something like 5% of our power comes from the Atom, 1-2% from Hydro (including the nearly insignficant solar, tidal, wind, and geothermal), and the rest from gas, coal, or oil. Gas is/was the quickest growing, and oil is in decline as a share of the national generation.
Without tremendous investment in either coal burning plants or nuclear (say it with Dubya kids, Nuc-U-Lar) power plants, we'll be cracking hydrocarbons for any national hydrogen infastructure. Don't be too hasty in telling off OPEC. H2 is much cleaner source of power in the small confines of a car, the pollution savings comes in huge cracking plants which produce less pollution than current combustion engines.
We had an old Camero that used to get 30 MPG at 75-80 vs 27 MPG at 65. I think the (5th) overdrive gear was set a bit too low (65 was ~1500 RPM).
Take a highway trip, and set the cruise (at 65-70 no higher). If you are still way below the expected milage you might check your spark plugs, TPS (throttle position sensor), and O2 sensor. A general tune up might not be a bad idea. If your plugs are bad you aren't burning fuel efficently, and the computer defaults to a low efficency map if they get an out of spec reading from the o2 and TPS sensor. Neither is costly or difficult to replace (on most cars). Also when you drive in the city, don't do hard accelleration, and try to coast up to stops rather than accelerating up to the point you begin breaking. Also check your tire pressure, running out of spec shortens your tire life, and reduces fuel efficency.
Not counting any tax savings, the cheapest cars, are the econoboxes that get 45+ on EPA ratings and cost 10k-15k, but have nice long warrenties. If you are willing to drive for fuel efficency a hybrid might be the way to go, but you will have to change your driving habits and techniques.
There are two major problems with any sort of high gas taxes. First, the politicans who go for it have killed their careers as voters are too short sighted to reelect them. Second, because of the current infastructure, it would greatly impact the poor. They can't adjust as quickly in their car purchasing habits, and there isn't an effective mass transit service for them to fall back on, yet. After a decade of investments in better forms of mass transit though that would be a very good idea. If we don't the $0.75/gallon will simply go to the owners of current oil fields (most of whom are outside the country).
Back in the oil crisis there was a push by Detroit to quickly and cheaply become Diesel friendly as they were being slaughtered by the Japanese cars. This resulted in refitting their current gasoline engines for Diesel fuel rather than designing them from the ground up (took to much time and expense). As the saying goes fast, cheap, or good you only get two, these engines were of course terrible. The quality of those cars had two effects, first buyers hoping for fuel savings found that they broke down more, smoked like crazy, ran poorly, and were generally of low quality. So we never really developed a retail infastructure for repair and fueling a large fleet of Diesel powered automobiles.
Now that Europe is leading a resurgence in Diesel technology that doesn't suck perhaps a new generation can try again. I believe the Honda Diesel was traded in a swap with one of the big three's European division for one of Honda's gasoline engines (but I don't recall which engine they gave or got).
Like your brother you have to learn how to drive the hybrids to really boost efficency. I recall an article about some of the first buyers who were reliably getting 70-100 MPG (over a tank of gas). One of the coolest features I've ever seen was on an old BMW, it was a little gage that measured fuel economy. It dropped to below 2 MPG in a modestly quick (not even a launch) start from a stop sign and this was in the old 318ti (small, light car). If you pull away from every stop quickly you will burn a whole lot more fuel than if you ease your car back into motion.
In one generation they went from being a joke, to a solid also ran, to being considered the main challenger to Sony in the next generation. Not that it will happen for sure, but I don't think many of us would have belived that MS would be seriously considered to outsell Sony with their second gen XBox. There is now serious consideration, and MS is being taken seriously by development firms.
I picked up the tetris clone war bundle out of a bargain bin the other day, and I like it mostly because it's a nice game to play for 10 minutes. It's also easy to learn for little kids and people who don't play games much. A friend brought kids over who of course wanted to play KotoR which had a pretty steep learning curve for them. No it doesn't stress the hardware, but they can be fun. My favorite timewaster is the same game. I don't put it on my hardware anymore it is not a game it is an addiction.