Nine Shift

Our homes waste energy Part I

A typical Japanese house uses only half the energy of an American house.
Can the world afford homes that waste so much energy?

From a great story on Jan 5 in The New York Times by Martin Fackler, some of the ways Japanese homes conserve energy:

1. No central heating.
That's right, they only heat a room when it is being used.

2. Fuel cell.
Not available in the U.S. yet, but home fuel cells convert gas into hydrogen, which the fuel cell then uses to generate electricity.

3. Energy efficient appliances.
A frig that beeps when it is left open, a compact dishwasher.

4. Reuse water.
More than one person uses the same water for baths, then they wash clothes with the still warm water.

5. Tax breaks.
The government provides tax breaks for buying energy efficient appliances.

6. Smaller residences.
The average home is about 1,100 square feet, compared to 2,800 sq. feet for U.S. homes.

Parking rage

Oh goodness, another new horror on the road.

"Parking rage" is raging in San Francisco, where motorists are verbally and sometimes physically attacking meter maids for giving them parking tickets.  In a related parking rage, a person was killed trying to defend a parking space from another motorist.

Anger management speaker George Anderson says he won't do seminars in SF anymore because "they'd be angry when they walked in," according to the Jan 5 story in The New York Times by Jesse McKinley.

Anderson added, "If you're driving on a highway you're already stressed to the max."
Time for trains, huh?  Tell us your parking or driving story: : :

Why kids don't drive

It's hard for our son Willie to get a ride. None of his friends want a car.
We tried to give Willie a car.  He declined.

In another 21st century development perplexing to adults, more kids don't like driving. We first reported this here, but now there are statistics out showing this is a big trend. 

So last week I asked Willie why kids don't like driving.  His three point answer:
1. "Hassle" (his word).   Parking, upkeep, and so on.
2. Cost. Insurance, gas, repairs, and so on.
3. "Annoying" (his word). This is about the actual driving part. 

The downside:  hard to find a friend who can drive, and is willing to drive.
Upside: Bus is cheap, bike is cheaper and fast, trains are great, planes good too.

Education: The move to "who they are"

I never would have guessed - - transgender kids.  The latest move to treating children (and adults) "who they are."

To recap the 'war' on all fronts:  boys learn differently than girls;  autistic children need special attention, and often dogs in class;  deaf students are debating the future of deaf education; and Michael J. Fox beat Rush Limbaugh on the treatment of people with diseases.

What's happening: we are moving from education (and work) being a factory where "everyone is treated the same"  (as one high school princ ipal said after being sued by a boy for gender discrimination).
And we are moving to treating students and adults as individuals.

Now the story.  "Doctors from the top pediatric hospitals are advising families to let children who want to act like the opposite sex to let these children be "who they are" to foster a sense of security and self esteem," according to the New York Times story by Patricia Leigh Brown this week.

The word "normal" is definitely in trouble in the 21st century. Even better, abnormal is also in trouble.

Education: Testing in the 21st century

Tests will be the primary, maybe sole, way of grading students in the 21st century.

This is why FairTest is such an important organization in helping to build the new education system of the Information Age. 

Here's how it will work:
* Testing, unlike other forms of grading, is the best, most objective, most controlled measure of what someone has learned.
* Students will have a whole series of tests.  They will take one test a week, on average.  Although they will only take a test when they are ready. 
* Tests will be tailored to the student's ethnicity, gender, income level and disabilities in order to accurately measure what she or he has learned.  This is where FairTest comes in.
* Tests will be pass-fail.  Once you pass a test, you move on to the next level. 

That's it. What do you think?

The Age of Empire

Is the U.S. today like the British Empire of 100 years ago?

Both ruled the world.  Both had military superiority.  Both were involved in the new technology of the new century.

Yet both:
* Felt threatened by outside sources, including newly emerging powerful economic nations.
* Experienced a fall in real wages for the average citizen.
* Engaged in both a sense of complacency and arrogance towards the new century.

On this national complacency/arrogance, a quote from The Age of Empire, which Julie and I bought when in England this year, "The world neither progressed nor was it supposed to progress. In any case old wisdom and old ways were best, and progress implied that the young could teach the old."

What do you think? Is America in decline, or will America remain #1 in the world?

Education: Schools depend on drop outs

There's not one school or college in America that can run one single day without the aid of a boy drop out.

The irony of it. Every school and college depends on a boy drop out to run every day.  No school can operate without the contributions of at least one of the following college drop outs:

Bill Gates - Microsft Windows
Steve Jobs - Apple, iPod
Michael Dell - Dell computer
Larry Ellison - Oracle software
Mike Lazaridis - Blackberry
Shawn Fanning - creator of Napster, and thus music downloads
And it is no coincidence all of these college drop outs are boys.
(photo of Bascom Hall at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, my alma mater.)

For more famous college drop outs, see Wikipedia under "famous college dropouts." 
Know of other inventors who are college drop outs? Add to our list: : :

Are car sales down?

Are horseless carriage - - I mean car - -  sales declining, and why?

England - Car sales in 2006 were down 4%, to under 2.4 million.
Japan - Car sales were down.  Minicar sales were up.
U.S. - - December car sales were down 6.2% over Dec. 2005, BUT HERE'S THE REAL NEWS:

"CSM Worldwide is predicting another lackluster year of auto sales in the United States. The sales forecasting group at the global automotive forecasting and advisory firm is projecting sales to descend to a nine-year low of 16.2 million units in 2007."   Here's the story.

100 years ago, buggy and carriage sales declined 10% between 1900 and 1910.
Is history repeating itself?  Is this the start of the decline of the car? 
Or is this just a another blip, due to gas prices, or higher car prices, or the end of rebates....
What do you think?  And do you have, or plan to have, more - same - fewer cars in 5 years?

Protesting the Year 2007

Hundreds of French people protested New Year's, with just say "No" to 2007.

Our son Willie was home over the holidays and alerted us to the protest. He supports the protest.
Time, progress, the need to measure progress by time - - are all part of the problem, not the solution.

Julie's take-on-this is that Willie, along with millions of other 21st century folks, sees "progress" not as progress but as an extension of the 20th century. And right now what was normal for the 20th century is killing civilization, if not the planet.  A minute into the new year, the French protesters began chanting "Non to 2008." 

Quick news update

News Item #1.
A survey of 1,400 chief financial officers said offering telecommuting as an option is the second-best way to attract top job talent. The best way is offering more money. Here's the story.

News Item #2.
Kansas City, a nice place to live, good city - - but not cutting edge - - has joined the edge.
Citizens have overwhelmingly voted for light rail, despite opposition from the Chamber of Commerce.
Go KC!  Here's the story.

Got any news to add? Post it here.