Month: March 2013

European ignorance kills

Here’s one for all the anti-nuclear nuts in Europe. Your irrational behavior is killing people.

Coal is gaining traction in part due to the actions of Germany, which ditched nuclear power in favor of coal in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

2019-11-08: Germany Expensive Energy

France’s nuclear energy spending was 60% of what Germany spent on renewables. France gets 400 Terawatt hour per year from nuclear but Germany gets 226 Terawatt-hours each year. 45 Terawatt-hours of Germany’s renewable power comes from burning biomass which generates air pollution.

China has a more recent buildup of nuclear energy. China has spent less than $150b from 2000 to 2019 to develop 300 Terawatt-hours per year of nuclear energy.

Germany’s solar farms will have to be rebuilt every 15-25 years. The wind farms will need to be rebuilt every 20-25 years. Nuclear plants can last 40-80+ years.

2020-01-04: Nuclear Energy Saves Lives

Germany’s closing of nuclear power stations after Fukishima cost billions of $ and killed 1000s of people due to more air pollution

Minecraft for education

This is pretty good actually.

Playing Minecraft can teach kids creative thinking, geometry and even a bit of geology, and research shows they can learn experimentation, teamwork and problem solving skills, as well. The Journal of Adolescent Research published a study comparing kids that played video games to those that didn’t. “Video game players, regardless of gender, reported higher levels of family closeness, activity involvement, attachment to school and positive mental health. Video game players also had less risky friendship networks and a more favorable self-concept.”

World visualized

This is pretty awesome as far as infographics go. presumably the usual warnings about infographics accuracy apply.

This is a self-initiated project based on the scenario – If the world were a village of 100 people. There are a few different versions of this text in circulation about the world’s statistics. I found the data very striking and neatly summarizes the world that we live in. So I used information graphics to retell the story in another creative way. I designed a set of 20 posters, which contain most of the information. I used simple vector graphics that related to a statistic in order to present the information in the simplest and most accessible way.

Outdoor baby storage

this is genius. it ensures babies get the fresh air and exercise they need.

This article of manufacture comprises a housing or cage, wherein the baby or young child together with proper toys may be placed. The baby is enabled to receive fresh air through the screen or wire fabric, and it will be noted that the baby has sufficient room or space for playing with toys. Furthermore suitable bed clothing may be arranged in the cage or housing, when suspended adjacent the window or the house or apartment, so that when it is time for the baby to take a nap, the bed clothing may be made up in one corner wherein the baby may sleep.

Changing your mind

this is great progress. just like the pope isn’t infallible, pretending that the president is creates entirely wrong incentives. it makes it very hard to back away from stupid ideas. i hope we evolve to a point where laws routinely come with sunset clauses and regular review to make sure they are not doing more harm than good.

how was it that Bill Clinton, the first President to champion gay rights, put his name on one of the most discriminatory anti-gay statutes in American history? The simple answer is that he got boxed in by his political opponents, and that his campaign positions on gay rights ran ahead of public opinion. But there was another important factor: a failure to imagine how quickly gay rights would evolve, and how difficult it would be to undo the damage that DOMA did.

45 Minute Startup

even so, techcrunch still wrote 3 articles about it in those 45 min.

FrendTrend, a new social media startup that branded itself as “a fun, intuitive way to connect and share with friends online,” celebrated its long-awaited launch at 9:00 this morning, shuttering its doors later this morning at 9:45

Amazon vs Walmart

both amazon and walmart squeeze margins (code for death to mom & pop stores) and lead to consumer surplus, but only one is relentlessly criticized: the one not delivering to the homes of the soy latte commentariat.