Unsought Input

I recently stumbled on this site that tells you the average pay rates for jobs depending on where you live. Useful, right? Unfortunately for those who are taking the internet seriously, this site has been rendered useless. You might be asking your self how this is possible, the internet is infallible. I know, it’s a shock to us all. Let me just give you some average job salaries.

customer service in Ohio

$31,000

pizza delivery professional in Ohio

$33,000

pizza boy in Ohio

$86,000

First off, I don’t know anyone working at the local big box retail store that makes 31,000 a year. And second, let’s look the difference in title. Obviously that means a lot to your employers. I mean, if you are a pizza delivery professional you only make 33,000 a year but if you just shorten it to pizza boy you make more than twice that much. It must be sex appeal. You definitely sound sexier as a pizza boy.

Let’s keep going:

dracula in Ohio

$84,000

frankenstein in Ohio

$97,000 (more…)

I have to laugh at Brendan I. Koerner’s recent article over on Slate arguing that manually shifted transmissions are better for the environment than automatic transmissions. While in a sense, he answered the question correctly (though not completely, as Martin Schwoerer argues over at The Truth About Cars: Koerner completely disregarded the fuel efficiency of a spate of new transmission technologies - CVTs, DSGs and automatic clutches among them - that have cropped up in new cars over the last several years), he missed the entire point.

Sure, buying a manual trans car may be better for the environment, but what’s best for the environment is not buying a car at all, and if you do have to buy a car, it’s still best not to buy a new car. Regardless, Koerner’s suggestions seem to come back to buying a brand-new car. Only once does he seem to say otherwise:

This calculation, however, doesn’t include some less obvious benefits of manual transmissions. The brake pads on stick-shift cars, for example, tend to wear out less rapidly than those on automatics. And manual transmissions are relatively cheap to fix and replace, so you can wait longer to buy a new vehicle. Manufacturing auto parts is energy-intensive, so anything that can be done to curb their production has to be a plus.

Bingo. Study after study shows that just as many pollutants go into the atmosphere during the manufacture of a vehicle as during the vehicle’s lifespan once it leaves the factory. But at no point do we hear Koerner or any of the greenies advocate buying a used car. Instead, in marketing-fueled America, the message is to buy green - whether it’s Toyota’s emphasis on hybrids, Chevrolet’s emphasis on E85-powered cars or any number of consumer products (shrink-wrapped in plastic and entirely non-biodegradeable) that claim to be better for the environment.

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So, what would you do if you were put into one of those classic situations where you find money that isn’t yours? I will give you three different scenarios.

Scenario 1: You find twenty dollars on the sidewalk. No one is around.

-Basically the answer to this seems pretty easy. It is impossible to determine who the $20 belongs to, so the money is now yours. If you feel guilty about it, then feel free to donate it to the Children’s Hospital or the Humane Society or whatever your choice of charity would happen to be. If no guilty, spend it on a special whatever for yourself for being so lucky. I guarantee that the person who lost it will be kicking themselves but oh well, that’s just how things go I’m told.

So, that was easy, let’s move on to scenario 2: You find a wallet. It has money in it, also some cards and a state ID. So, this time you still found money, but now you know to whom the money belongs. So, basically you have three options. A: take the money, leave the wallet where you found it, maybe the person who lost it will come back and find it and anyway, it’s finders keepers, right? B: Try to contact the person to give the wallet back unmolested by your filthy money grubbing hands or give it over to the proper authorities and hope they do the right thing as well. C: Take the entire wallet and do what you will with it. (more…)

Did you know that all over the country, nay the world, people are being persecuted for their belief and intelligence? Did you know that a small, powerful elite controls everything that children are exposed to in school for their own devious, Darwinistic ends? Did you know that only a complete outsider, a rebel with nothing but guts and a heart of steel, can expose the truth?

You might not know these things because none of them are true. But the makers of the movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” and star Ben Stein will try to shovel that particular pile of poop in theaters this February. Thanks to Pharyngula, an excellent blog by an actual scientist, for the tip.

From the movie’s home page:

Ben realizes that he has been “Expelled,” and that educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure and even fired – for the “crime” of merely believing that there might be evidence of “design” in nature, and that perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance.

The movie Expelled, in a sense, is nothing new. It follows the established tactics of the creationist / intelligent design crowd, trying to fight the “materialistic” “darwinists” in the court of public opinion rather than in the labs or peer-reviewed journals. It’s yet another attack on science.

“And what’s so wrong with that,” you might ask, “this is a democracy after all.”

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Here’s my unsought input for you today. I live on a street with a lot of duplexes. It’s a nice neighborhood, the houses are in good shape, and generally speaking it looks like the sort of place you would like to live.

But not all the houses are owner-occupied like ours, and some owners are out-of-state investors who maybe care a little less about upkeep. Some of the residents are elderly and have a hard time with gardening and yard work. And with the huge subprime mortgage problem looming over the country, houses here and there are going into default and sitting neglected.

You’ve probably seen all the dramatic headlines about the Dow decline today, in part because of the weak housing market. Well, I’ve got an idea that will get the market up and running again. Okay, probably not, because I’m not a financial genius and I know relatively little about real estate. Still, I have an idea and thought I would share.

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We’ve written before about why schools continue the practice of favoring legacy admissions - accepting the sons and daughters of wealthy alumni.

Now there is some empirical evidence of the economics that drive this practice. Slate Magazine recently ran an article about the puzzle of charitable giving in economics - if markets are driven by individuals rationally pursuing their own best interest, where does charity come from?

A new study by Jonathan Meer of Stanford and Harvey S. Rosen of Princeton shows that when it comes to donations to one’s alma mater, charity isn’t altruism. Alumni with kids are 13 percent more likely to donate, and they are more and more likely to donate as their kid reaches age 14. At that point there’s a big split - for those parents who’s kids go on to apply to the school, donations continue to increase. The parents whose kids do not apply to the alma mater drop off giving.

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As a lefty liberal, I like Michael Moore. As a journalist (I have more creds than just a blog, I swear), not so much. Lucky for me he’s making movies for the masses and not writing for The Washington Post. Otherwise, he’d have been shut down years ago. Instead, we can enjoy his films for what they are - films that while maybe not full of “truthiness” will make people talk and think.

As Moore state in the film, SiCKO is not actually about people who don’t have health care in America. It’s more about people who DO have health insurance and get screwed by it. People who pay the premiums and deductibles and still get denied care. In America, we like to get what we pay for, but when it comes to insurance it doesn’t seem to work that way.

He tells the stories of an older couple who have gone bankrupt paying for medical treatment for heart attacks and cancer, even though they have good jobs with good insurance. The middle-aged woman who’s brain tumor was considered not a medical emergency and died. The young woman who’s surgery was paid for by her insurance and then payment was revoked when it was revealed that she had not disclosed a previous yeast infection when applying for insurance.

Moore reports in the movie that he received over 2500 emails from people with stories about the horrors of health insurance - many of them from people who work in the insurance industry. The most stand-out story was that of Linda Peno, a former medical reviewer (the person in charge of deciding who gets what care) for the Humana HMO. Ms. Peno stated in a congressional review:

I wish to begin by making a public confession. In the spring of 1987, I caused the death of a man. Although this was known to many people, I have not been taken before any court of law or called to account for this in any professional or public forum. In fact, just the opposite occurred. I was rewarded for this. It brought me an improved reputation in my job and contributed to my advancement afterwards. Not only did I demonstrate that I could do what was asked, expected of me, I exemplified the good company employee. I saved a half a million dollars.

It may be no secret that insurance companies are for-profit businesses and saving money is their game. After all, we’re a capitalist society. But is this the right way to go? Moore points out our socialized fire and police protection. Our free schools. Free libraries. Why not free, government-controlled health care? (more…)

Does sorting bottles and cans really save the earth? You may have heard the rumor that the whole thing is a big sham - either a misguided to make ourselves feel better about our wasteful lifestyles, or worse a conspiracy of crystal-wearing, tree-hugging hippies.

You may have noticed a number of geeky environment-related posts on Unsought Input. Some of our writers like to think of themselves as environmentalists. Now, before you click your back button, I should explain: no one here will ever tell you to stop driving and live in a cave! We are positive, progressive environmentalists who come to our green views through a love of innovation, efficiency, scientific progress, and yes, even market economics.

So, is recycling a bunch of bullshit designed to make us all feel better about ourselves? Does putting glass and plastic in a green bin actually damage the environment more than help?

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If you have missed the first two articles on this topic you can read them here and here. In this grand finale, if I may call it that, I will show you the best of the best (in my opinion) of the concept cars recently reported on on yahoo.com. These I thought were either really cool looking and futuristic or had really cool ideas or that I just kind of liked more than the others. Anyway, without further ado, let’s start the “Hey, that’s cool” category.

In third place we have the Toyota Volta:

This car looks like it could go very very fast. It also looks like the maximum height you could possibly be to drive in this vehicle is 5′5″ and that is pushing the limit. I don’t know if this is the fastest electric hybrid on the market but with dual electric engines (one for each front tire) this car boasts that it has a 408 horsepower hybrid engine, the safety of all-wheel drive and can do 0-60 in just four seconds. Look at those desert dunes. This car is ready to climb them, but I am a little worried that the hills are too steep and those don’t really look like tires that get the best traction. So, maybe it’s not good to drive in the desert, but since no one really off roads their vehicles like they do in the commercials, I think this car might be OK. (more…)

So yesterday our cars of the future article was on “Didn’t they do this already”. I think today’s category is “Wouldn’t be Caught Dead in This”. You can try to persuade me that people buy cars based on power and performance all you want but I am pretty sure that the look and style of the car is pretty important, too. Just like no one will ever want to be seen in the environmentally friendly Hummer, I can imagine the same will be said of most of these vehicles.

In third place we have the Ford Mercury Meta One.

You may argue that this car isn’t necessarily the ugliest car you have ever seen, in fact it’s okay. Work with me here for a minute, if you please. Think back to that movie about the cars that try to kill people. You know the one, the really bad Stephen King movie, Maximum Overdrive? This car will eat you. And your children. And then your neighbors and their families until it runs out of gas, which will take a little longer than a normal SUV since this runs on nice and clean ” hybrid transmission with a twin-turbocharged V-6 diesel engine calibrated to run on a bio-diesel blend”. You can see how I feel this is potentially hazardous to everyone, right? Just look into those headlight “eyes”. Those are the headlights of a killer. (more…)

So a recent article on yahoo.com’s main page is all about green concept cars. It has some of the main players and a lot of pretty pictures. Here are the cars listed with a brief description as to alleviate you having to go to another site to read all about them. I am saving you time, thus saving you money as well so you can save it up to buy one of these awesome cars when the time is right.

I am going to break these down into three categories: Drivable/hey that’s cool, Wouldn’t be caught dead in this, and Didn’t we already do this?

Um, Alex, I would like to start with Didn’t We Already Do This for 200 please.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you the 2010 VW Microbus, um I mean Chameleon. So, yeah, apparently the late 60’s are back and we are all going to be peace loving pot smoking patchouli smelling hippies. At least we have the perfect vehicle for it, I mean this “new” vehicle is all electricity powered with 10 count them 10 30v batteries in the floor to power the vehicle. Oh, the surf boards are thrown in free of charge, they are fitted with solar panels for recharging the batteries. This is the vehicle for those fifty somethings to relive their youth in a perfectly environmentally friendly manner. (more…)

As I write this, Google has a market cap of about $148 billion, compared to Verizon at $124 billion and AOL parent Time Warner at $82 billion. Google might rule the Web search market, but Verizon’s $88 billion and Time Warner’s $44 billion in revenue last year dwarf Google’s $10 billion.

Why would a smaller company that makes less money be worth more to investors than larger competitors? Are they just being irrational? Maybe so, but I think there is at least one good reason why Google has been so successful: it has focused on providing services, rather than content or infrastructure.

Why is this important? Think about it this way: whenever you do anything on the Internet, chances are you can break it down into three layers:

1) Infrastructure - your connection to the Internet, whether it’s Cable, DSL, dial-up, FIOS, etc.
2) Service - the application you use to get what you want done, for example the search engine you use to find things or the mail client you use to read you email.
3) Content - the stuff you read, watch, listen to, or create yourself for others to see.

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In the past we’ve talked about some things that you can do to make your house more energy efficient. Some things are easy, like putting in Compact Florescent light bulbs, while others are on their way in the near future, like your own personal wind turbine.

There’s only so much you can do at home, though, and many of us live in large, air-conditioned office buildings. How could a glass-covered skyscraper possibly use less power for cooling in the summer? If you live in Toronto, it’s easy - just tie into the Deep Lake Water Cooling System.

The system, by Enwave, draws water from Lake Ontario, deep below the surface where it’s always a chilly 4 degrees Celsius. The water runs through huge heat exchangers before making its way into the city’s normal water supply. A separate cooling loop transports water chilled by the incoming lake water to various buildings in the financial district where it is used in the air conditioning system. Here’s a diagram of the system at work.

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Lee A. Iacocca’s recent book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?, has received a good amount of press this past week, all centered around one specific passage:

Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, “Stay the course.”

Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I’ll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you?

I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and willing to have.

Makes me want to read the book.

Though, of course, all the blogs I’ve read covering said passage have just left it at that. They might make some sort of comment about Iacocca’s personality, or what he said about the current crop of domestic auto executives, but they don’t really go in and dissect what he said.

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Recently it has come to my attention that all of the nations bees are seriously threatened. I know, it’s hard to believe that it would be a big deal, and in fact, no one has really made a big stink about it yet. But it’s important. Why, you might ask? Well, even if you didn’t ask, you should probably read on since this topic definitely affects everyone, even if you don’t like honey or bees.

Most people know that bees are responsible for honey and bee stings but what you may not know is that they are a much more important member of the agricultural community. Bees, especially honey bees, are responsible for the pollination of flowers (you might be saying duh, here but follow me on this one, please), and said pollination causes plants to actually bear fruits as the method of their reproduction. And said fruits are important for not only human nutrition, but also for that of most of the animals we raise as pets and most of the animals that we eat.

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