It is inevitable that companies will make it easy for you to post information about yourself online, which they will then use to sell you things. It's been that way since Geocities, and it's still going on. Facebook and Google are both competing in this market.
If you care about the environment, science, and humanity in general, you will migrate from Facebook to Google, for the simple reason that when google makes money, humanity is better off. The same can not be said for Facebook.
Q: Why google+?
A: Google has invested 680 million dollars in alternative energy. Facebook has not.
If that's not enough, here's a few more reasons.
Self-Driving Cars
Google is currently working on self-driving cars, which are already on the way to becoming street legal in Nevada. Think of the fuel and time savings that this technology will bring with it. Self-Driving high(ish) speed buses zipping along the interstates is realistically the first step the US will take toward high speed mass transit, and google is helping make this happen.
Not every revolution needs to be in the street.
Alternative Energy
Self-Driving Cars
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Clean Coal
Clean Coal sounds wonderful. The name makes you think that somehow scientists have figured out how to make coal burn clean. You get a mental image of a power plant next to a field of grass on a sunny day, with a little girl playing in the flowers, and not a cloud in the sky.
Except it's not like that. What clean coal actually means is that the crap that would normally end up in the air is captured and stored where it won't cause any harm.
This has 2 big flaws.
Write a letter to your Senator and/or Congressman telling them why coal is terrible and that the mine or power plant should be shut down. Example:
If you work in a coal mine or a coal fired power plant (or similar)
We are using coal instead of solar power because it is cheap. Coal is cheap because of you, but you can do something about it. Be bad at your job. Work slowly. Accidentally delete files. Call in sick. Get a flat tire. The sooner we can get coal to cost more than solar, the sooner we will switch to solar.
If you work in a solar power plant (or solar panel factory, etc.)
Be really good at your job. If you're unwilling or unable to be good at your job, quit so that someone else can get in there. Maybe apply to the coal plant.
Everybody
Turn off some lights. Put a switch on your water heater so it's only on 30 mins before you take your shower in the morning. Don't turn on your TV as "background noise". Set your AC/Heat one degree less comfortable.
Not every revolution needs to be in the street.
Except it's not like that. What clean coal actually means is that the crap that would normally end up in the air is captured and stored where it won't cause any harm.
This has 2 big flaws.
- Not everything is captured, so really it's not "clean" coal. It's "slightly cleanish" coal at best.
- Clean Coal is a stupid plan. Eventually the storage will fail. Look how well that plan worked out for Fukushima.
Write a letter to your Senator and/or Congressman telling them why coal is terrible and that the mine or power plant should be shut down. Example:
Dear Senator ________
Coal is bad. Stop and think about it. We dig up crap from the ground and burn it. And along with the energy we need to heat our homes and run our factories, crap is released into the environment, poisoning our air and water. In the long term it will change our weather. This will kill our crops, and then we will all starve to death.
I know you need money to win elections, but please consider doing what you can to shut down the coal _________.
Your Name
Your Address.
If you work in a coal mine or a coal fired power plant (or similar)
We are using coal instead of solar power because it is cheap. Coal is cheap because of you, but you can do something about it. Be bad at your job. Work slowly. Accidentally delete files. Call in sick. Get a flat tire. The sooner we can get coal to cost more than solar, the sooner we will switch to solar.
If you work in a solar power plant (or solar panel factory, etc.)
Be really good at your job. If you're unwilling or unable to be good at your job, quit so that someone else can get in there. Maybe apply to the coal plant.
Everybody
Turn off some lights. Put a switch on your water heater so it's only on 30 mins before you take your shower in the morning. Don't turn on your TV as "background noise". Set your AC/Heat one degree less comfortable.
Not every revolution needs to be in the street.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Inspiration
The other day I saw a movie called Dirt, and in it a woman told a story that went something like this:
One day there was a huge fire in the forest. All the animals ran from the forest to the edge of the lake, where they helplessly watched the fire consume their homes. After a little while, a hummingbird takes off, picks up a drop of water from the lake in his beak, flies over to the fire and drops the water on it. He does this over and over, and the other animals ask him - "What are you doing? You are too small to make a difference". And the hummingbird answered - "I'm doing what I can".
One day there was a huge fire in the forest. All the animals ran from the forest to the edge of the lake, where they helplessly watched the fire consume their homes. After a little while, a hummingbird takes off, picks up a drop of water from the lake in his beak, flies over to the fire and drops the water on it. He does this over and over, and the other animals ask him - "What are you doing? You are too small to make a difference". And the hummingbird answered - "I'm doing what I can".
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