christopher heiser <christopher AT heiser DOT net>
July 9th, 2008 Last Update: Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:26:11 -0400
home
archive
rss feed
heiserlink

nürburgring
for dummies
about me
public key

Leona Helmsley Leaves $5 Billion To Dogs.

I am not making this up.

by Christopher Heiser on July 2 12:26

Ringwars: Honda vs. Toyota

For years Toyota have been circulating LF-A prototypes around the Nurburgring, and in doing so treating us to one of the best-sounding cars in the world. Well, in the past few weeks Honda have trotted out their NSX replacement--which is apparently doing 7:37 laps--and I have to say that the exhaust note leaves quite a bit to be desired compared to the LF-A.

First, the Honda:

And now, the Toyota:

Let's see if Honda ups their game.

by Christopher Heiser on June 30 12:30

Alternative Strategies

A recent survey suggests that consumers aren't that price sensitive to electric vehicles. The majority of 'green' consumers are willing to pay 30% more for a 'zero-emissions' vehicle, but they aren't willing to compromise of features or performance.

But predicting the death of the internal combustion engine is a bit premature. There are many new strategies to develop environmentally conscious fuel for combustion. One such process--diesel derived from algae that breaks down plant matter--took an important step towards prime time.

It's important to remember that pure electric strategies really work best when you can use manufacturing techniques to significantly reduce the weight and shape of the vehicle. In the case of commercial and industrial vehicles, this is very challenging. So finding new sources of diesel fuel is critical to ensuring the viable operation of our infrastructure.

by Christopher Heiser on June 28 12:39

Krugman on Oil Speculation

I was arguing to a friend recently that I found it persuasive that the high price of oil must be due in part to some market manipulation. When I looked at the behavior of consumers--U.S. drivers have cut their mileage by 30 billion miles since a similar period last year--I felt that the demand was not very elastic. People seem to be willing to change their usage due to prices, which should relieve some of the supply/demand pressure.

Yet prices continue to rise. But wait, Paul Krugman makes some strong arguments that speculation isn't to blame. His most persuasive angle is to point out that dramatic price inflation exists in markets where speculation isn't technically possible. I'm not sure I'm sold--for instance, I don't know what the supply looks like in these other markets--but it's an article that gives us conspiracy folks pause.

by Christopher Heiser on June 28 12:11

Image Flugurator

A clever concept that takes advantage of the relative speed of a camera flash and the shutter, the Flugurator exploits this lag to project an arbitrary image onto the subject of the photograph.

by Christopher Heiser on June 28 12:32

Long Tail Not The Answer?

A few years ago it was very chic in the digital services world to talk about the 'long tail' effect, which essentially said that digital distribution would favor making more total money by offering a much broader inventory (from 'infinite' shelf space) while at the same time selling less of each item.

A very interesting article in the Harvard Business Review takes the opposite viewpoint, arguing that it's still a hit-driven business, and possibly even more so when you have a huge number of titles.

For product marketers, this is good news: you probably won't be replaced by a algorithm any time soon.

by Christopher Heiser on June 27 23:52

Full-Frame DSLR Getting Cheaper

I've stayed away from digital SLRs (which used to mean single-lens reflex camera, but now just signifies that it's a camera body that can accept standard SLR lenses) because only the most expensive--over $5,000--shoot in 'full-frame', meaning a 35x24mm sensor. Because most DSLRs used a smaller sensor (usually 24x16mm) it meant that the lenses you bought were only useful with DSLRs. Also, it meant many of the plentiful second-hand lenses were not particularly useful.

But full-frame technology is coming down market, and Nikon is leading the way. Rumors of a new D700 are hot right now, which is the more expensive D3 FX (full-frame) sensor in a prosumer D300 body. The camera won't exactly be cheap, but it shows that full-frame is the future and will soon be within the grasp of the general consumer.

by Christopher Heiser on June 26 01:40

Hypermiler

For those of us who drive, a few tips on increasing gas mileage could be nice.

by Christopher Heiser on June 18 01:41

Heiser.net Back Up

A power outage hit the site where heiser.net is hosted; as a result, the website and my email has been down for about a day. My apologies. Thanks to Richard and team who worked to get things back up.

by Christopher Heiser on June 16 16:29

Cosmologists: We're Hosed, Thanks

Despite major discoveries that promise to change the way we observe the universe, cosmologists are in a state of despair over the apparently lack of any decent theory to explain such exotic phenomena such as dark matter and the anti-gravitational dark energy. I'm one of the romantics that just believes we're seeing things wrong and the pieces will start to drop into place once we gain the right perspective. But the article makes a very good point: the major breakthroughs of the 20th century (relativity and quantum mechanics) were theory-driven, not observation-driven. So we need some more thought, apparently.

by Christopher Heiser on June 4 03:54

Red Wine Adding Life?

Scientists are studying resveratrol, an ingredient in some red wines, as a possible anti-aging drug that shows great promise. Unfortunately, it occurs naturally in such small amounts that you'd need to drink dozens of bottles of wine a day to benefit. There goes my drink-my-way-to-health plan...

by Christopher Heiser on June 4 03:51

Main Core

What is Main Core? Perhaps just a conspiracy theory. Perhaps not.

Thanks to Nathan for the nightmares.

by Christopher Heiser on May 26 14:34

Surprise: USDA Defends Biofuels

In a press release that raised exactly zero eyebrows, the USDA came out against multiple reports that biofuel production is a significant driver of rising food prices. That pits the USDA against, well, just about every economist in the world.

by Christopher Heiser on May 26 14:26

Acidified Seawater

This is an ecological problem I hadn't heard about before. The carbon sinking that the oceans perform is raising the acidity of the seawater much faster than expected. These changes have the potential to significantly impact marine life, possibly in devastating ways. The key points from the article are:

  1. The process is happening much faster than predicted, with acidic water only four miles off the Northern California coast.
  2. The water is already acidic enough to dissolve shells, corals, tiny animals, and fish eggs
  3. What we're seeing now is a result of things that happened about 50 years ago--which is to say that the problem is likely to get far worse even if we immediately shut down human carbon release

If accurate, this is a horrifying discovery.

Thanks to Nathan for the link.

by Christopher Heiser on May 26 14:22

More R/C Video, This Time With Glasses

On the heels of the video from last week, here's a new system that uses a set of video goggles and a gyro to allow the viewer to pan the camera by simply moving their head. Excellent!

by Christopher Heiser on May 26 14:13
Twitpics
Flickr

My iTunes is off

Latest Track: "P'ra Machucar Meu Coracao (The Day We Said Goodbye)" by Susannah McCorkle from the album Most Requested Songs

Recent articles
Un-Terminated
Is The Fix In?
Online Advertising
Brand Tags
Biofuel Comparison
Food Prices
Nissan Flip-Flop
VC Predictions
Australian Sign Prankster
Wireless Video on R/C Vehicles
'Loosing' Fat
James Woods at Speed
Yet Another Object To Crave
Mainline Vitamins
Relative Uptime
IPhone Naysayers: Pay Attention
CNET Powned By Someone Paying Attention
Because It Was Bound To Happen Anyway
Death Knell for the Music Industry?
Tissue Regrowth from...Pixie Dust?
 
© Copyright 1992-2008, Christopher Heiser. All rights reserved. Powered by Chlogger!