Getting Tired of Facebook

Besides the fact that staying in one's own echo chamber has done a wonderful job of dividing our country, the fact that the albums I create on Facebook keep getting randomly deleted is really annoying. I created a THIRD version of my "Album Covers" album today. Those are photos I've taken that *feel* like they should be on an album cover.

It's so easy to post photos on Facebook. Click on image from phone, upload. Not so easy to update my Blogs (maybe I should see if they have an iPhone app... oh look, I just figured out how to do this on the mobile site!)

Ok, great! Here are 4 I just shot of the colors on my wall, from the interactions of Christmas Tree lights and tree/ornament shadows. Obviously, I’ll use these for my LDB mashup 😀

(Not So) Effective Altruism

A month or so ago, I got to see Australian moral philosopher, Peter Singer give a speech on effective altruism.

I've finally put my thoughts about his speech down.  Here goes:

The speech the Peter gave was interesting. He was very logical, and so I will talk about him in same terms. His logic was flawed.

His equation was essentially this:
If all human life is equal, and if it is easier to measure reduction of suffering than it is to measure happiness, then everyone should give as much money as possible to reduce suffering in others where one's money goes farthest.By his calculations this would mean giving your donations exclusively to third world country charities, as our buying power there is much greater and simple solutions there would go a longer way than more complex solutions in the US.  Example product  (not mentioned in his talk): Money Maker Pumps

He then went on to say that there are some high wage earning people (CEOs, stock traders, etc), who donate most of their money to charities.  Compared to someone else in that position who would hold onto their money for themselves, that this is an incredibly effective way to do good. Take the high wage job, and give most of it away rather than work at a volunteer organization.


He then went on to say that donating to the arts and domestic programs was a essentially bad thing to do, as that money could be used more powerfully elsewhere.

And this is the main flaw in his logic:

There are people who in the past donated nothing to charity at all, but after a family member contracted cancer, they begin to donate to cancer research.  When you factor in the variable of time and compare what we've done in the past to what we can do in the present, domestic donations are a totally valid way to give to charity.Finally, he cannot factor in all variables, such as how domestic donations to cancer research may have an larger effect than just helping out people in first world countries. 

What he says may work really well for a lot of people, but he is so adamant that his way is the *only* right way to help people, that I take serious issue with his philosophy.There are many people, myself included, who want to do good in the world, but also do so from a stance of altruistic self interest. I want to help the whole world, but I especially want to help the areas that also effect my life and the lives of those around me. This may be somewhat selfish, but I do so without apology.

I currently donate artwork to Make a Wish's annual auction, and my Lodge serves breakfast bi weekly at a homeless shelter.

A Head of it's Time

I just read the wiki about a TV show in the 60's that only aired one episode "Turn On".

Is it just me, or does this sound similar to a fast paced Monty Python mixed with MTV to you?

Anyone know where to find a copy of the actual episode?

Cheers,
Troy

Digital Converter Box Bad Day

This was my day today:

We went to Target to get a TV Converter Box.  As I've been hearing, our old Tube TV won't be able to receive a digital signal in mid February, as we don't have cable TV.  I had finally found the $40 off coupon that I ordered from the government a long while back.  I wasn't planning to use it until a few weeks before the switchover anyway, so I wasn't too concerned.

However, when we got there, I realized I left the coupon at home.  So we went all the way back home, I grabbed the coupon & headed back on my own.  Once I got the the cashier, she scanned my card, and then told me that it had expired.  In October of last year.  I asked if the manager could come by & approve it.  She looked at it, came up with a canned & very dry apology saying she could not.

When I read the paperwork of the coupon, it said that it is only valid for 90 days.  My bad.

So, I drove home with no converter box, and then applied for a new coupon.  And as I had feared, the government has run out of funding for the coupons.  So much for me getting my coupon early to avoid the rush!

Anyway, if you haven't gotten your $40 off coupon, you can sign up on the waiting list here: TV Converter Box Program

If nothing else, the government employee who designed the website and did all the graphic design on the coupon itself did a very nice job.  

Anyone know the MPG average for new cars since they were created?

Survivor Left Blogistan: Gas Mileage: Back To The Past

So, I was watching some Donald Duck cartoons from my Christmas gift: The Chronological Donald Vol. 4, 1951-1961, and there was a bit where Donald won a car that got 25 miles to the gallon (in 1951).  Not knowing if it was an exaggeration, I did some research, and found that some cars of that era got that mileage!  

Check out the above Blog for scans of old ads of the time.

I've found one graph that showed gas milage from the early 1970's to the present, but I'd really love a graph that showed milage since the inception of the automobile!  It would be great if it had the highest & lowest milage for each class for new models of each year.

I'm also interested in if any additions to cars have helped or hurt overall mileage (catalytic converters, types of engines, etc)

If there was a big gain or dip in any given year, I'd like to know the root cause.

So, if you have heard of any such graph, please let me know where I can find it!

Random thoughts from this Christmas Break

(view from parent's back porch on Dec 23rd)

Here's some thoughts I had while staying at my parent's place over Christmas Break:

• Daily exercise (in this case shoveling snow & helping remove downed trees) makes me feel healthier, happier, and improves digestion.
• Sledding is *much* better when the powdery snow has been compacted by the front loader of a tractor for the sole purpose of a home made toboggan run.
• The internet and computers are a) addictive and b) have changed the way I think (made me dumb in a smart way!?! Maybe we need a word for them... if the TV is the idiot box, is the computer the ADD box?) I notice these changes in my thought patterns only when I am removed from the source of the change for a few days.
• It has been said that 'technology isolates people from each other' The implication is that this is a bad thing. Not always. Surfing the web enables people to get some alone time without leaving the house. So does taking a shower by yourself. I found shoveling the snow & walking to the end of the road to check weather & downed power line conditions was a suitable replacement, but I really, really wanted to be connected to the web.
• After the 3rd day of my bad guitar playing after the sun went down, I think the rest of the family would agree that I need to learn a few more songs. Particularly since the only commercial one I know by heart is "Stairway".
• I don't like the excess of Christmas gifts anymore. I've noticed that the more items one gets at any one point in their life, the less value they have, even months later. There are books from Christmas 2007 that I haven't gotten around to reading yet! They're like a to-do list. I'd rather get things throughout the year, so I can pay proper attention to them all. (Crocodile tears, I know. Most people should be so lucky.) My family is getting more consolidated gifts, so this year was much better than last.

Ever stop to think about the comforts we have compared to our ancestors? Compare your life to that of a King in Medieval times. Obviously we don't have the same control over others (try telling a bunch of people to wage war in your name) But besides that, here's a vastly incomplete list of what we have. Everyone's mileage will vary but you get the gist:

• Heated homes
• Sanitary running water
• Showers and baths
• A life expectancy over 2.5 times a king of yore
• The ability to be able to afford to see live music over four times a year
• A much wider spectrum of music
• The means to buy recordings of music that can be played again & again with no quality loss
• Much better medical facilities
• A nearly complete lack of leeches used in our modern medical system
• A wider variety of food from around the globe
• better potential for a healthier diet
• Affordable books
• Public libraries
• Pubic School (yes it could be much better. But if you can read this, then you're more educated than the majority of our forefathers)
• Electronic Entertainment

OK, I went off the deep end on that tangent.

Let's call it a night.

My Vacation in Colton so Far

Here's my inspirational photo for the day:




By the time I got to the end of the walkway, the beginning was already snowed over.

How NOT to make a Blog Banner

Just saying that it might have been cool in 1992.... if it was for a techno album.

Otherwise, it sucks.

Your Childhood for Only $19.95!

I was at Costco yesterday, and noticed a strange pattern. In the book & DVD section, everything there that I was interested was just repackaged & complete/extended/special edition of things from my childhood. Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert, All the Peanuts , Ruldolph & Frosty Christmas specials. Every MASH episode & the original movie, Get Smart (so not just my childhood, my parent's early adulthood too). If Grandpa was still alive, he could finally understand every possible reason behind the war that he survived.

This stuff is all on my Amazon wishlist, but I think there's something inherently insidious and distracting about all of it. Will my path to greater understanding and potential enlightenment be derailed by the continual consumerization of my past?

Do any of these products enable me to relive my past? And even if it did, doesn't that mean I'm no longer living in the present? No longer connected to my family and my daughter's development? And speaking of her, what will she be nostalgic for when she gets older? Her first iPhone?

Frank Zappa once said that the world will end not from any war, but from nostalgia. People will take two steps, miss the first one and be immobilized until they die.