Month: July 2007

speed kills, airborne edition

So we all know that air travel is a huge factor in greenhouse gas emissions:

For a long trip, like a transatlantic flight on an average-size plane, each passenger is responsible for sending .39 pounds of CO2 per mile into the atmosphere, according to the World Resources Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative. By that measure, flying direct from Denver to London and back puts about 3,600 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere, equivalent to driving a Toyota Prius hybrid 10,000 miles.

But what are the alternatives?

Continue reading “speed kills, airborne edition”

small victories, or don’t let ’em get away with it

Bought some stuff on eBay (a parts iPod mini) and when it arrived, I soon realized it was just all the leftover parts from several broken ones lashed together to look complete.

I was unable to work a resolution with the seller. They offered a partial refund but that may have worked against them, since it could be seen as admission that the goods were not worth price paid. And the rest of the payment could be written off as a disposal fee. So I filed a claim, posted up all the information that I had, and this is the result:

We have concluded our investigation into your case and have decided in your favor.

We were able to recover $25.99 USD and this amount has been credited to
you. Please allow five business days for this adjustment to be posted.

So take my advice and don’t let anyone abuse the trust marketplace that eBay is based on. You’re only as reliable as your last transaction, to borrow a phrase.

in case you haven’t seen Generation Chickenhawk

Enjoy.

Alternate treatment of this idea:
Look through the markers for young men about the same age as those at the CR meeting, and introduce the CRs to those young men and their stories with voiceover of the conversation as the marker stays on screen. Ask them why that boy should have fought and died when so many who support the war refuse to take up the fight.

Continue reading “in case you haven’t seen Generation Chickenhawk”

links for 2007-07-19

bah, I should have known better (was: a useful trick)

I wanted to get the URL for a location in the iTunes music store. I got through an email link and forgot that the UR would be there, so I tried different combinations of keys and found that Command-Option and dragging the button in the little breadcrumb/navbar area got me this.
Theworks

Drag the selection to the desktop or wherever. You end up with a webloc file that will open iTunes to the page specified.
Usually, you can just option-click an album cover or name and get URL but that doesn’t work on this navbar items.


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<key>URL</key>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<string>itms://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewRoom?fcId=258600708&id=1&v0=classicalus0707&ign-mscache=1</string>
</dict>
</plist>

quote of the day

AlterNet: Neocons on a Cruise: What Conservatives Say When They Think We Aren’t Listening:

“The civilised countries should invade all the oil-owning places in the Middle East and run them properly. We won’t take the money ourselves, but we’ll manage it so the money isn’t going to terrorists.”

I’m sure they’ll trust you all to do just that 😉 Interesting how only nations friendly to the US of these peoples’ fevered imaginations can be called “civilized.”

Seriously, these folks would be scary if they weren’t such bed-wetting cowards. They sound like something from a bad between the wars novel, all moaning the loss of an empire they didn’t build.

Entitlement + Exceptionalism + Eliminationism, all in one place.

And I doubt Johann Hari will be welcomed back if these folks ever get wind if this piece.

links for 2007-07-18