A Pilot Sob Story…I doubt it

The Daily Breeze interviewed a United pilot who claimed he had to live in a trailer in LAX Employee Lot E which he termed a “ghetto”…The article said he did long haul flights and couldn’t afford “hundreds of dollars” for a hotel room or apartment to stay in, presumably because he is based out of [...]

VC, your time is going to come (again)

I’m all for calling things as they are.  For example, it’s obvious Led Zeppelin’s first album is basically just a cover album [6 of 9 songs = cover album]. And I agree with Alexander Haslip Facebook is basically just an ad machine. At least our ‘best and brightest’ aren’t becoming quants on Wall Street. So [...]

New Patent Filing Rules

If you work for an engineering company you have no doubt been informed of the changes in the patent filing system. The USPTO will shift from evaluating patents on a “first to invent” timeline, to a more complicated so-called “first to file” timeleine. Fast Company of all places, has a good summary of the changes [...]

Commercial Applications of H2 from Zr

We all saw what happened in Japan last year.  One thing I wondered after the disaster, and I’m still wondering is why commercial-grade zirconium is not used to produce hydrogen from geothermal steam sources?  Iceland for example has a surplus of geothermal energy but the only way to export it is to smelt aluminum source. [...]

Software I use on Windows Machines

I’ve actually met people who love Windows. They are invariably in their early 20s, too young to remember the absolutely terrible programs Microsoft sold in the 1990s. Forget about BoB for a second. Windows 3.11 in particular was a terrible program. I had a job during college supporting a medical company which had probably 150 [...]

Advice when considering an offer from a startup

So, a hot startup calls you up.  They have cool technology and you like them.  You’d consider working for them, and they bring you in for an interview.  Let’s say the interview goes well.  What do you do?  Here’s some advice I’ve learned the hard way when dealing with startups.  It’s more than just the [...]

DeLonghi Electric Radiator

I had an old, unsafe heater in my house when I bought it last April.  I had the contractor rip it out and presumably, dispose of it properly (rather than toss it in an alley somewhere).  Anyway, I braved several weeks wearing sweaters and putting 3 comforters on the bed but as it got colder,  [...]

steak in Frankfurt

An appreciation of Borders

I went to the Borders liquidation sale.  It was busy, but not as busy as I expected.  I will miss the chain. Five things made the chain better than Barnes & Noble: they had better locations, the store look was consistent and high quality, their book selection was better, they had good author signings, and [...]

US Public Debt 1797-2010

This GAO page shows US public debt as a percentage of GNP/GDP. It’s interesting how the ratio of immigrants as a percentage of the population roughly correlates with the increases and decreases in US public debt, with about a 10 year lag.