September 14th, 2009
On Biking in New York City:
It's totally not as daunting as I thought. People seem cautious to watch for cyclists and even understanding when they have to yield to them. It's easy as anywhere really. There's a lot of traffic but everyone driving knows that, so if they're on the road their eyes are open. Better than I can say for Tennessee drivers actually.
On Memory:
I often think mine is not that sharp. People quote me from time to time and I ask who they're quoting. It's nice to always have a new take on things, even if they're my things, but sometimes I think it makes me less sentimental, or at least slows down certain kinds of social learning, or learning about my own patterns.
So, if you're a friend of mine and you're reading this and thinking you've noticed a flaw in my that I haven't, I would ask that you present it to me (please be gentle if you can) because I might just not be picking up on something.
On Subconscious Learning:
I think it's my strength, but that only good for certain types of tasks. Non-fact work is my speciality.
On Vegetarianism:
Notable vegetarians include Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, Socrates, Confucius, Budda, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pythagoras, and Ghandi.
On Fluorescent Light Bulbs:
First off, fluorescent lights look horrible. Apparently you can search out CFLs with specific light temps, which emulate natural light better than others, but the overlooked fact is that color temperature is a poor indicator of the quality of light. A better one is the CRI - Color Rendering Index, which measures "the ability of a light source to reproduce the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source." (so says Wikipedia) If you look at a spectral analysis of Compact Fluorescent and Incandescent lamps. You will see that a very small part of the spectrum is actually delivered with CF lamps. This causes problems with illustrators, textiles, and any other business or hobby that requires good color rendition.
As far as the mercury part goes...As I understand it, waste from burning coal to produce power ends up as mercury. Someone more knowledgeable than I needs to do the math and figure out if the waste from an incandescent is less or greater than the 5 mg or less of mercury in CFLs.
The trouble is that neither kind of light bulb is sustainable. Both produce waste and absorb the resources faster than nature produces them. We build an un sustainable system in the first place, and until we 1.) Have some brilliant idea and 2.)want to (or are forced) to restructure our society from the ground up, we'll keep having to live with (or die by) inadequate stabs in the dark,
For the record I'm all about decreasing pollution for the general well-being of all organisms (including humans). Global warming may or may not be man-made or whatever. I don't care; I just don't see anything good about breathing, eating, and drinking carcinogens.
