Tag Archives: internet

Reforming Gasoline

I came across an article on a mechanism that can extract hydrogen from normal gasoline, a process that could greatly increase the potential for fuel cell-based electric cars. The item, called a reformer, would allow for twice the efficiency of existing gasoline-based engines, produce half as much carbon dioxide, and would go a long way toward solving the fuel distribution problem. Current reformers are too large to feasibly be used in existing electric vehicles, and there is a 15-minute delay between refueling and producing enough hydrogen.

Stop the Deception!

Once again the Bush administration has backed an unscrupulous measure that will open the door to non-organic being sold under the term “organic”, this time through the USDA (who looks out for the agriculture businesses, not consumer health).Why? Items that are labelled with term “organic” are generally perceived to be more natural and pure and usually are sold at a higher price. The higher price is usually due to the fact that crop yields aren’t as good when pesticides and herbicides aren’t used. The reduced quantity is the trade-off for increased quality.Personally, I think this is bound to backfire. It could potentially dilute the term “organic”, thereby a higher premium will be difficult to charge. Judging by the crowds I see shopping at Whole Foods, the primary purchasers of organic food are also the successful, upper middle class and above that would potentially gain financially from the decision. They will have to choose between looking out for their own health or make an extra unscrupulous dollar.I doubt Whole Foods will back the legislation. Being America’s first national “Certified Organic” grocer, the one thing they have that makes them stand out from the rest of the grocery stores is the trust that its customers have in it to not sell them “unnatural” food. If Whole Foods loses that trust, it will have a hard time staying afloat.Considering all of the “business-friendly” reversals of existing policy that the Bush Administration has put into place, I wouldn’t be surprised if they pass a bill making drug dealing legal. I bet if the drug smugglers, dealers, and lords complained loud enough that the current law is hurting their business, the Bush Administration would open that market right up.

Broadcasting Locally

During my daily early-morning web crawl, I came across a link to Soople, basically a dashboard to Google‘s many search options. Personally, I think the interface is a little busy but it might come in handy for specific search types.Feeling a little curious, I entered brahm.windeler.net into the “Look who’s linking to your site” search. To my surprise, I found yesterday’s blog entry was linked from several pages on a site called localFeeds, including Sunnyvale. Apparently, they use the GeoURL site to get the location of web sites that are registered with the system, then extract the RSS feed if the site has one.Doing a little more research, I found two location plug-ins for Moveable Type that I may look at using on this site.