Are online bill pay services eco-friendly? They at least save a stamp. I'll go ahead and assume that the marginal electricity usage involved in paying the bills online is negligible. Paying bills online saves the paper of an envelope and the load on the postal service to deliver that envelope (gas, time, wear & tear on vehicles). Furthermore, funds are transferred electronically...you save a check and all the handling of that check. Nobody has to process the check, stamp it and sort it, so you save ink and mechanical processes by not writing a check.
Just thinking about this, I may have to start paying more of my bills online. The only problem for me is that my checking accounts don't have an online bill pay option...I have to use my E*Trade account for that, and I don't keep enough cash on hand to deal with all my bills through E*Trade.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Automated Assessment
Go ahead and check yours by clicking the link!
I'm not sure how they determine the reading level. Maybe the algorithm searches for long sentences or weird punctuation or longer words. Anybody out there know how this works?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Donating My Body to Science
When I was younger, I wanted to be buried intact. I'm not sure why anymore. After I'm dead, I'm dead (hard to argue with logic like that). I became an organ donor through a sign-up project in college. I probably have a pretty good heart & lungs right now...hopefully it'll stay that way. Anyway, donating your body to science postmortem and being an organ donor are mutually exclusive.
Although it wasn't an explicit attempt to donate my body to science, I began to think about my participation in an FSU exercise physiology experiment as such. I pretty much just ran on a treadmill for these people while they monitored my exhaust gases and heart rate. My only sacrifice was time...and dietary control for a couple days. I think that this may be the best way for me to participate in the experimental (hard) science community unless\until I get my degree in chemistry.
It's too bad I'm ineligible to participate in economics experiments because they pay good money. I didn't get any monetary compensation for my participation in the exercise phys. study, but they did tell me what my VO2 max is, which made doing all the other work worthwhile.
I like the idea of contributing to the repertoire of knowledge through my personal efforts. I told the exercise phys. people that I am willing to participate in future experiments involving running or biking since I'm not fast enough for any of their swim studies (yet). It might also be fun to participate in a psych study or two since there's all these human subjects regulations to keep them from injecting me with crazy viruses or causing me permanent harm.
Although it wasn't an explicit attempt to donate my body to science, I began to think about my participation in an FSU exercise physiology experiment as such. I pretty much just ran on a treadmill for these people while they monitored my exhaust gases and heart rate. My only sacrifice was time...and dietary control for a couple days. I think that this may be the best way for me to participate in the experimental (hard) science community unless\until I get my degree in chemistry.
It's too bad I'm ineligible to participate in economics experiments because they pay good money. I didn't get any monetary compensation for my participation in the exercise phys. study, but they did tell me what my VO2 max is, which made doing all the other work worthwhile.
I like the idea of contributing to the repertoire of knowledge through my personal efforts. I told the exercise phys. people that I am willing to participate in future experiments involving running or biking since I'm not fast enough for any of their swim studies (yet). It might also be fun to participate in a psych study or two since there's all these human subjects regulations to keep them from injecting me with crazy viruses or causing me permanent harm.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
The Naptime Switcheroo
Ever notice how kindergarteners have nap time, yet they hate to take naps. Later in life, high schoolers don't have nap time, yet fall asleep in class. I say that the logical thing to do is move mandatory nap time from kindergarten to high school. The only feasible way to do this is to also move an equal amount of high school time to kindergarten. Since much of high school subject matter requires a foundation (can't do calculus if you don't know algebra), the subject you move would have to be an easy one without much of a foundation. I'm going to vote for economics. High school economics is pretty much a joke, and I think that teaching kids early on that they should forget about sunk costs and think at the margin would help them in the years between childhood and puberty.
The problem with this approach is that economics is only one semester in high school...high schoolers need at least 6 semesters of nap time...but there are only 2 semesters of nap time offered in kindergarten. I guess a reasonable compromise would be to pick some BS elective (pottery, leadership, basketball) and trade that out for a semester of nap time.
After this change, the students who are most likely to fall asleep will have nap time and those who won't fall asleep don't get to. This sounds like a Pareto improvement over the status quo.
The problem with this approach is that economics is only one semester in high school...high schoolers need at least 6 semesters of nap time...but there are only 2 semesters of nap time offered in kindergarten. I guess a reasonable compromise would be to pick some BS elective (pottery, leadership, basketball) and trade that out for a semester of nap time.
After this change, the students who are most likely to fall asleep will have nap time and those who won't fall asleep don't get to. This sounds like a Pareto improvement over the status quo.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Pick #53
Athenaeum - "No One" from Radiance
When I bought this album, I just listened to the first 2 songs (the singles). Then I took the CD on a road trip and ended up playing it through. It was so incredible that I burned copies of it for many of my friends. It was extremely hard to pick only one song from Athenaeum. I recommend a playthrough of the album. If you don't have a copy, you should go pick one up.
When I bought this album, I just listened to the first 2 songs (the singles). Then I took the CD on a road trip and ended up playing it through. It was so incredible that I burned copies of it for many of my friends. It was extremely hard to pick only one song from Athenaeum. I recommend a playthrough of the album. If you don't have a copy, you should go pick one up.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Double Entendre
A girl walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a double entendre...so he gives it to her!
best joke ever.
best joke ever.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Incredible Laptops
OLPC is a program with a mission to supply laptop computers to children in developing countries. The specs of their XO computer are pretty impressive. The computers are designed for kids in the developing world to use and therefore are extremely durable/weather resistant, consume very small amounts of power, have incredible batteries, and are versatile. The features combined with the price of this thing are incredible.
I wonder why we can't get something like this going on in the States for poor schools. For instance, one of my brother's classes in middle or high school (neither of them "poor" schools) tried to give a laptop to every student enrolled in that (I think it was science) class. I never saw it, but I'm pretty sure the program failed.
What is a laptop going to teach a kid about general science anyway? Maybe you could have interactive dissections where instead of cutting open a real frog or pig fetus, you move a blade across the screen. I know that I didn't understand electron hybrid orbitals until I saw an online cartoon of how they form. HOWEVER, our kids have access to computer labs everywhere. Developing country children have probably never seen a computer in their lives.
Imagine the amount of information that can be loaded on an XO laptop and shared with different classes. In a way, it's better than textbooks because of its size and weight. Also, the architects of the project are pretty sure that children will begin to reprogram much of the software that comes on the machines.
I hope that these computers will not be taken by adults who are in a quest for power to be perpetuated by either violence or suppression. I guess I'm mostly thinking of Africa...I don't see this as a problem in Peru. OK, last thought...one laptop per child is a little too dense. Maybe one laptop per pair of children would be feasible. I'm not sure how long these things are supposed to last before breaking or becoming obsolete, but I think a couple rounds (not generations) of children could use the same computer during its lifespan. These guys are on to something.
I wonder why we can't get something like this going on in the States for poor schools. For instance, one of my brother's classes in middle or high school (neither of them "poor" schools) tried to give a laptop to every student enrolled in that (I think it was science) class. I never saw it, but I'm pretty sure the program failed.
What is a laptop going to teach a kid about general science anyway? Maybe you could have interactive dissections where instead of cutting open a real frog or pig fetus, you move a blade across the screen. I know that I didn't understand electron hybrid orbitals until I saw an online cartoon of how they form. HOWEVER, our kids have access to computer labs everywhere. Developing country children have probably never seen a computer in their lives.
Imagine the amount of information that can be loaded on an XO laptop and shared with different classes. In a way, it's better than textbooks because of its size and weight. Also, the architects of the project are pretty sure that children will begin to reprogram much of the software that comes on the machines.
I hope that these computers will not be taken by adults who are in a quest for power to be perpetuated by either violence or suppression. I guess I'm mostly thinking of Africa...I don't see this as a problem in Peru. OK, last thought...one laptop per child is a little too dense. Maybe one laptop per pair of children would be feasible. I'm not sure how long these things are supposed to last before breaking or becoming obsolete, but I think a couple rounds (not generations) of children could use the same computer during its lifespan. These guys are on to something.
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