Being in Austin, water is in the news at least once a year. Like other Colorado River communities, the water supply issue is a big concern. Couple drought with a massive influx of new residents, and it's not hard to see trouble on the way.
In all the discussion about rationing, conserving, etc., I've noticed that there's one little tidbit about water that hasn't been discussed-the efficiency of the water transmission infrastructure. Generally it's bad to awful for most communities-if a city gets 80% of the input water through the system, it's high-fives and backslaps all the way around. Getting 60-70% out is considered acceptable, 50% efficiency is time to worry.
Among other things, the water is lost because of old water pipelines. Water pipelines corrode, they get holes, water leaks out. In some cases, the original pipe corrodes away-there are some places where water is transmitted by the "fossilized" remains of the pipe, the actual pipe having been corroded away years ago. I know of a couple of cases where a utility found out that a pipe they've used for a hundred years turned out to be a section of stove pipe, and at least once case where the pipe turned out to be a log!
Granted, 100% efficiency is more a theoretical ideal than anything. There will always be some loss, that's an inescapable reality. But how nice would it be to squeeze an extra 10% out of a city's water supply? What if we made 80% efficiency acceptable and saved the kudos for 90% efficiency? It's an expensive proposition to replace all that dead infrastructure in every town and city along the Colorado, but it seems to me that it isn't enough to ask the consumers to conserve and be efficient. We should be asking the suppliers to do the same.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Unintended Consequences
I think I'm going to get my neighbour evicted, whether I meant to or not.
The story thus far: the house I'm renting now is by no stretch of the imagination a palace. It's an inexpensive older place that's quiet and (mostly) doesn't leak, so good enough for right now. As any of my fellow renters out there will know, your top priority in renting is to make sure you're not on the hook for any damage that isn't your fault. Your second priority is to make sure you're not on the hook for any damage that is your fault, but that's a story for another day. :)
Anyway, the fence between the place I rent and my neighbour's backyard was rickety from the first day I moved in, but the neighbour's dogs are helping it die all that much sooner. If I'm in my backyard, the dogs act like every other dog in the universe-they bark their heads off at the stranger and they push and claw and jump at the fence. Fast forward a year or so, and the dogs have managed to make a few holes in the fence and pull the pickets out in a couple of places.
Remembering the Renter's Top Priority, I let my landlords know about the fence-don't know if the fence is theirs, don't really care if they fix it or not, just want to be on the record as saying that I didn't break the fence. Just to ensure I'm not hit with a massive bill for damages when I try to move-like I said, longterm renters will know what I'm talking about. It's all about getting that damage deposit back and/or not getting a surprise bill in the mail.
The landlords ask for photos. No problem, I figure-just more "on the record" evidence to make sure I'm ok when I move.
The landlords note that I said "the dogs next door," and ask how many dogs are actually over there. Now I'm a little concerned, but it's not like I can't say anything now, so I let them know I think it's two.
You can probably see where I'm going with this. The neighbour house is also a rental, so I suspect that the landlords own that place as well (they own several houses on that block), and the tenant(s) didn't mention that they had two dogs. I think my neighbours are probably going to get evicted and/or hit with a big bill because of me.
I hope this doesn't happen, because it's not at all what I set out to do. I suppose the way to look at things is that if I didn't mention the fence, I might have been stuck with paying for what amounts to their responsibility, and that it's really their own fault if things pan out that way. I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, I'm trying to stay out of trouble. Still, I can't help but feel bad about the whole situation.
The story thus far: the house I'm renting now is by no stretch of the imagination a palace. It's an inexpensive older place that's quiet and (mostly) doesn't leak, so good enough for right now. As any of my fellow renters out there will know, your top priority in renting is to make sure you're not on the hook for any damage that isn't your fault. Your second priority is to make sure you're not on the hook for any damage that is your fault, but that's a story for another day. :)
Anyway, the fence between the place I rent and my neighbour's backyard was rickety from the first day I moved in, but the neighbour's dogs are helping it die all that much sooner. If I'm in my backyard, the dogs act like every other dog in the universe-they bark their heads off at the stranger and they push and claw and jump at the fence. Fast forward a year or so, and the dogs have managed to make a few holes in the fence and pull the pickets out in a couple of places.
Remembering the Renter's Top Priority, I let my landlords know about the fence-don't know if the fence is theirs, don't really care if they fix it or not, just want to be on the record as saying that I didn't break the fence. Just to ensure I'm not hit with a massive bill for damages when I try to move-like I said, longterm renters will know what I'm talking about. It's all about getting that damage deposit back and/or not getting a surprise bill in the mail.
The landlords ask for photos. No problem, I figure-just more "on the record" evidence to make sure I'm ok when I move.
The landlords note that I said "the dogs next door," and ask how many dogs are actually over there. Now I'm a little concerned, but it's not like I can't say anything now, so I let them know I think it's two.
You can probably see where I'm going with this. The neighbour house is also a rental, so I suspect that the landlords own that place as well (they own several houses on that block), and the tenant(s) didn't mention that they had two dogs. I think my neighbours are probably going to get evicted and/or hit with a big bill because of me.
I hope this doesn't happen, because it's not at all what I set out to do. I suppose the way to look at things is that if I didn't mention the fence, I might have been stuck with paying for what amounts to their responsibility, and that it's really their own fault if things pan out that way. I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, I'm trying to stay out of trouble. Still, I can't help but feel bad about the whole situation.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Important Proposal Tips
If you're about to write a proposal for funding from the Feds or elsewhere, it is absolutely essential that you get the buzzwords and background right, particularly if you're writing a scientific or technical proposal. No proposal is complete without the following buzzwords:
But the second someone comes back and says, "Brilliant idea! Just think of all the entropy that goes to waste every year!" you need to run away from them very quickly. :)
- nanotube
- real time
- power scavenging
- condition-based
But the second someone comes back and says, "Brilliant idea! Just think of all the entropy that goes to waste every year!" you need to run away from them very quickly. :)
Friday, February 09, 2007
Voq How-Tos
Note: more for my own edification than anything, although if you can make use of it feel free to help yourself and/or offer your own tips. I'll update this posting as required.
- Hard reset, courtesy Mobile Gadget News: with the Voq turned off, open the QWERTY keyboard and hold down both the space bar and the on button. You should see a blue screen "Factory Reset" and "Erasing Flash" messages. Wait a minute or two for the process to finish, and your Voq's fresh as a daisy.
- Cingular GPRS Data Settings, courtesy Voq: create new GPRS Connection with the following settings. Access Point => WAP.CINGULAR, Username => WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM, Password => CINGULAR1 . Note-these are the MEdia settings, any other GPRS data account may vary.
- Cingular SMTP, courtesy Voq: CWMX.com.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Code Igniter = Great!
I'm not much of a PHP coder-like a lot of people out there, I can hack something together given sufficient time and coffee. This week I was asked to take a stab at returning a formatted report based on a database query, and the thought of jumping into something like that was a little daunting. I could probably half-ass it, but I'd rather make it at least appear halfway decent. :)
Enter Code Igniter. CI's a fantastic PHP framework that really took the sting out of the whole process. It takes care of most/all the nitty gritty details and leaves me to think about the higher level stuff. There are a lot of other frameworks available for PHP, but CI stood out for me for a couple of reasons.
Enter Code Igniter. CI's a fantastic PHP framework that really took the sting out of the whole process. It takes care of most/all the nitty gritty details and leaves me to think about the higher level stuff. There are a lot of other frameworks available for PHP, but CI stood out for me for a couple of reasons.
- It works with PHP 4 and 5. I know I should be using 5, but not every web host makes it available. And not knowing much about our internal server config (secretive IT and all that), I couldn't chance it.
- Easy installation. Extract one zip file, edit two files. Bingo bango, Bob's your uncle.
- Absolutely fantastic user's manual. Probably the best I've ever seen for a web framework.
- Your code just looks clean. There's really not much to it, and it's very easy to follow. Moreover CI makes it easy to follow the MVC Pattern, in fact CI finally made this famous pattern clear as day to me.
Wii WiFi Resolution
As posted earlier, I've been having problems with keeping a network connection with the Wii. Google + Nintendo suggest that switching from dynamic to static IP might help, and it's looking to be the case for mine at any rate. If you're going to do the same, I'd suggest setting your Wii's IP to be the last allowable by your WiFi router. In my case, that's 192.168.0.49, yours might be different of course.
From that same post...I wonder if Spartan: Total Warrior might give me a "close enough" fix so I don't have to get a PS2 just for GoW2. :)
From that same post...I wonder if Spartan: Total Warrior might give me a "close enough" fix so I don't have to get a PS2 just for GoW2. :)
Thursday, February 01, 2007
I'm A Nerd
You know you're white and nerdy when you're watching the video, and something just doesn't seem right about that equation. Then you take the time to look it up on Wikipedia.
And it turns out, you're right. And so you blog it. :)
And it turns out, you're right. And so you blog it. :)
DIY Projector HDTV
Slate has a good article up on building a high definition entertainment system around a projector. It runs down some results on six "low" cost ($1000 or less) projectors, based on how well they did with DVDs, HDTV broadcasts, and so on. If nothing else, it's a good reference to what you'll be buying if you decide to go HD.
Bear in mind though that if you just want HD, have some room available, and don't require 82 inches and up for your viewing pleasure, you can get an actual TV for around the same price. Check out CNET's review of the Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42" plasma, for example.
For me, I'm tempted to go projector simply because InFocus has the terrific habit of running big rebates every few months-I need to spend $1000 on a TV about as much as I need an 82" screen, which is to say not at all. As the article mentions, you can pick one up now for $599 with a screen after a $300 rebate. Keep an eye on Woot! too, they tend to feature it every once in a while at a pretty good price.
Bear in mind though that if you just want HD, have some room available, and don't require 82 inches and up for your viewing pleasure, you can get an actual TV for around the same price. Check out CNET's review of the Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42" plasma, for example.
For me, I'm tempted to go projector simply because InFocus has the terrific habit of running big rebates every few months-I need to spend $1000 on a TV about as much as I need an 82" screen, which is to say not at all. As the article mentions, you can pick one up now for $599 with a screen after a $300 rebate. Keep an eye on Woot! too, they tend to feature it every once in a while at a pretty good price.
Wii, 2 Weeks Later
It's been about 2 weeks since I got my Wii, so it's about time I checked in with an update. Rather than take the time to produce a thoughtful and concise writeup, I'll just present my thoughts in point form. They teach us in the workforce that bullets help to bring across a point faster anyway. :)
- I'm surprised how much I like Madden 2007. This is a great example of how intuitive Wii controls can make a game-there's just something about flicking your wrist for a pass rather than mashing a bunch of buttons. The rumble is just about useless though, and drains the batteries like you wouldn't believe. Thank goodness you can shut it off.
- Call Of Duty 3 has been getting rated as average to bad (GameSpot's review is one of the more favourable) but I think it's actually pretty good. Wrestling a rifle from an enemy soldier got really bad marks, but I didn't have any problem with it and I am by no means a proficient, skilled player.
- The wireless connection seems a bit wonky. So far I seem to have to make some minor change on my router to re-enable an otherwise lost connection (best seems to be to toggle MAC address filtering). Nintendo suggests that it's a low signal problem, but my router is about 3 feet from my Wii. I'm wondering if it's because the router lets IP addresses expire and the Wii's not compensating. More research required.
- In most of the Wii Sports games, I tend to use motions similar to those in real life. The exception is golf-I seem to get better results by using smaller motions. A golf swing doesn't work for me, but moving my wrist like I'm trying to skip a rock across a lake does.
- Favourite Wii Sports game: baseball, without a doubt. Followed up by bowling, golf, tennis, and with boxing bringing up the rear.
- No Wii-related injuries to report as of yet, although I did notice that Wii Sports + my weight training on same day = general bad feeling in shoulders and arms. One or the other, not both on the same day.
- GameCube Wavebird wireless controller works great, as do GameCube games in general. Not being familiar with the Wavebird, it looked pretty bulky to me but it turns out to be very comfortable. I'd recommend one of these over the Wii Classic Controller...at least for now. If Wii games begin to support it in the future, it'll be a tougher call.
- Good luck getting a hockey game! Nothing for Wii or GameCube for 2007; NHL 2006 was made for GameCube but you'll never find it brand new. I settled for NHL 2005.
- Speaking of GameCube games, you can't save 'em to Wii main memory or SD cards. You have to shell out for GameCube memory. It's pretty pricey too, so I wouldn't just pick it up on a whim unless you plan on using GameCube games.
- Polling my friendly neighbourhood Walmart, last weekend was the first weekend that they had Wii peripherals in stock. Picked up a second Wii remote, and the aforementioned pricey GameCube memory. Initializing the second remote was dead simple. Why can't everything be this easy?
Basecamp and ITAR
Here's something to consider if you're thinking of using Basecamp as an online project management tool: ITAR. If you're doing anything with export-controlled data, you have to ensure that only U.S. persons--U.S. citizens and permanent residents, within the U.S.--have access to said data. That means that foreign persons--everybody else, including U.S. persons outside the U.S. (I think)--can't have access.
Basecamp uses Rackspace's network, which includes data centres in the U.K. By itself that means that you can't use Basecamp with export-controlled information, but consider also that even if all the data centres were in the U.S. you can't be certain that only U.S. persons would have access to your data.
I don't mean to pick on Basecamp, I think they offer an excellent service and for 99.9% of users this would never be a problem. If you're in that 0.1% group though, you should seriously consider hosting your own service to make sure your ITAR-compliant. Suggestions for this kind of functionality would include phpCollab and activeCollab. You might also want to take a closer look at any other web services and/or applications your company may be considering. Better safe than sorry!
Basecamp uses Rackspace's network, which includes data centres in the U.K. By itself that means that you can't use Basecamp with export-controlled information, but consider also that even if all the data centres were in the U.S. you can't be certain that only U.S. persons would have access to your data.
I don't mean to pick on Basecamp, I think they offer an excellent service and for 99.9% of users this would never be a problem. If you're in that 0.1% group though, you should seriously consider hosting your own service to make sure your ITAR-compliant. Suggestions for this kind of functionality would include phpCollab and activeCollab. You might also want to take a closer look at any other web services and/or applications your company may be considering. Better safe than sorry!
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