The gas crunch is here and all the signs seem to indicate it’ll be here for a while.

What can I say? We’re spoiled here. Travel by car is as much a part of the American culture as TV and fast food. There can be no question that America can not function “as usual” without affordable fossil fuels. So what’s the answer?

Artificially lowering the cost of fuel is a pipe-dream. It would require massive government intervention and the free-market crowd (who has a *lot* of power in Washington) just wouldn’t stand for it. Aside from that, I’m not even sure the government would be able to do much in reality. The cost of regulation, the bureaucracy, the inevitable foul play, I just don’t think it would work. Think prohibition. There are some powers greater than the government.

So if you can’t “make” gas affordable, the only other option is to change our culture. That is to say, we need an alternative to driving our cars. (Yes, I know. It’s the tree huggers’ dream come true and I hate it, but it’s true.)

Mass transit is great when you’ve got 8 million people living on top of each other in a tiny area, a la New York City. But if you live in a more “rural” setting like Amarillo, or Colorado Springs, or even in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, that’s just not a viable option. Yes there are buses and trains in a few parts of DFW, but where I live (North Richland Hills) and where I work (Grapevine) there’s nothing.

Yes, I can and do ride my bike. But I’m one of the blessed few who has that option. I live eight miles from work. (Some of my coworkers drive 100 miles a day.) I’m healthy. (I know lots of people who couldn’t ride two miles, much less eight.) I don’t have to carry anything to or from work. (Imagine riding a bike with a laptop bag hanging from your arm.) I don’t have to wear business clothes. (Riding a bike in a suit? Or worse, a pant suit and heals?! Riiight.) There are any number of reasons why biking won’t work for most people. And even I don’t ride as often as I should because of heat or wind or being a wuss.

Another possible culture shift is in the hands of our employers. The five day, forty hour work week is something we all take for granted. But some employers (including mine) are willing to change. Many companies are offering employees the option of working ten hours a day for four days. You still get your forty hours of work, but you save 20% of your commuting costs. Alt-N has made this arrangement with our customer and technical support folks. The call center will still be open five days a week, but every day some folks will stay home. For parents, this not only saves on gas. It saves on daycare and gives them an extra day to be with their kids, especially during the summer.

Also more companies are willing to let their employees telecommute. Alt-N has offered this for years, but now more folks are being encouraged to stay home and work remotely. This is the option I’m considering. The only thing holding me back is that I’m spoiled at work with two 20 inch flat screen monitors and a fast PC. Working from home means working on my own machine with my single 19 inch CRT. At least until I can convince the bosses to set me up with a hot rod laptop docked to a couple of flat panels. *wink*

So, faithful readers, what changes have you made? What are you considering? What are the lines you will not cross? I’ve set up a poll to gather some basics, but tell us more! The comment section awaits.

I’m cramming to get a project finished before several other projects start whining for attention. That means I’m writing code faster than I should and making some pretty stupid mistakes. Which leads to comments like todays white board quip.

Your code no longer doesn’t not fail.

May 22, 1999.

It may not mean much to you, but to me it was a day that changed my life much for the better. After two years of her chasing me across Texas and Colorado, I finally realized that Tammy Wallar was the best gift God had ever given me and so I married her.

After that, life was definitely not “happily ever after.” In fact, Tammy and I have been to Hell and back enough times that we know the best places to stop for lunch along the way. It’s been a difficult road, but each time that we find ourselves on the other side of a challenge, still together, holding hands, bruised but not broken, we love each other that much more.

God has been good to us in ways that you wouldn’t believe if I told you. We know that with each challenge we face, He will amaze us with His love before it’s over.

Thanks, Tammy, for chasing me down and catching me and even more for sticking with me. I love you.

Now that I’m all excited about my new camera, I’ve started thinking seriously about doing some cool portraiture. When we’re at the mall, I end up staring at the big model pictures hanging in stores and windows, not oggling the models, but studying the lighting and back grounds. At our company picnic last weekend, I took too many pictures of other peoples’ kids just to try and beef up my Flickr portfolio. So, yeah, I’m the creepy old guy with the camera now. Yikes.

So for this week’s white board quip…

Note to self: Stop being creepy.

I blame it on the non-conformist within me. I’ve never liked Starbucks. Their just too trendy. Too snobby. (Are “small”, “medium”, and “large” beneath your “grande” dignity?) Besides, I really do hate the taste and smell of coffee.

Still, I have to chuckle at the latest media scandal surrounding the burnt-bean-juice vendor. For the third time in the company’s 37 year history, they’re redesigning their logo. The original logo “gave the impression of an authentic 15th century European woodcut” and featured a “”twin-tailed siren” (according to wikipedia). In the original logo, the siren’s breast and navel were exposed, again, much like the European art on which it was based. Through the years their java girl has become increasingly modest. I think you you can guess where this is going.

The new Starbucks logo is a throwback to their original, except that the new version obscures the nipples. Still, the ink was barely dry before the boycotts began. Several groups are decrying the artwork as obscene.

“[The logo] has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute … The company might as well call themselves Slutbucks.”

(Heh heh… Slutbucks…) Seriously though. It’s a mermaid, people! Mermaids don’t even have legs and unless your only exposure to mermaids has been the Disney variety, you aught to know that mermaids prefer to air out their mommy parts. Besides we’re not talking about high definition boobage. It’s a woodcut for goodness sake. You can get more titillation from your favorite PG-13 stupid-teen move.

Is it any wonder that the world has a disparaging view of “puritanical” Christians? *sigh* Just drink your devil bean juice and shut up, okay?

Clicky for the news article with all the logo goodness, new and old.

I admit it. I am shamelessly clinging to the coat tails of a recently released, blockbuster movie in order to get more traffic. But seriously! There really is a news story about a real life iron man. Honest!

Rex Jameson (That’s a comic book hero name if I ever heard one!), engineer for Sarcos Inc., is sporting a new look. It’s not exactly the polished red and gold steel of his comic book counterpart, but when a scrawny geek can lift hundreds of pounds with his robotic suit, he doesn’t quibble about looks.

The robotic exoskeleton is still just a prototype limited to a 30 minute battery charge and it’s still a bit slow to respond to the driver’s movements, but it’s still wicked awesome. Jameson says, “It takes no special training, beyond learning to relax and trust the robot.” Trust the robot? Famous last words! Dude, have you read any science fiction?!

The picture of the suit in use reminds me more of Sigourney Weaver’s cargo loader in Aliens, which is likewise awesome. And of course, my mind races ahead to the (perhaps not so distant) future where soldiers tramp across giant battle fields firing lasers and missiles from their BattleMechs like I did when I used to play MechWarriors every night.

Combine this with “Fusion Man” making his first flight with his jet powered wing suit thingy and you’ve got a genuine fanboy geek-gasm. It’s a brave new world, kiddies. A brave new world.

Baby BattleMech article
Fusion man on YouTube

In doing some reading about smoking bans, trying to find some answers to my question about where to draw the line between government and freedom I found this week’s white board quip.

Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.

Danger Dave asks some poignant questions (and implies a lot of truth) on the media’s insistence that our economy is terrible despite the fact that is it still growing.

Clicky clicky.

I’ve always loved photography. I remember the day, when I was about 14, that my dad allowed me to play around with his old Canon 35mm SLR. This was before the internet, so yes, children, I had to go to the library to learn about f-stops and depth of field, aperture and shutter speed. But I was immediately smitten. The first thing I did was long exposure, night photography. And it worked!!

Living in Colorado I learned that a half-blind monkey with a $5 disposable can take incredible pictures there because everywhere you look is there’s something incredible to see. On a trip to Aspen, Tammy convinced me to shell out $400 for a Canon Rebel G 35mm. What a great investment. Keep in mind, this was before digital cameras, so I also spent piles of cash on film and development. I have literally hundreds of prints of streams, mountains, flowers, trees, and other things of beauty that don’t exist in Texas. (Oh, come on. It’s just a joke.)

When we bought our first digital, it was the death knell for the Rebel G. It’s been gathering dust in my closet for years. I’d see it on the shelf above my t-shirts and my heart would sag a little. But who’s going to pay to have film developed?! You have to wait a week to know if the picture even came out! Psh. Are you nuts?

When Canon came out with their first digital SLR, it cost around $2000. It was a dream to dream, but nothing more. I’ve waited for years for the cost to come down and, thanks to eBay, the market finally came to me. Last week I received my very own Rebel XTi. All my old Canon lenses and accessories work on it! And at 10.1 megapixels, it takes incredible pictures (See below).

Still, there’s a whole new set of things I have to learn with a dSLR. White balance, sharpness, and ISO settings are all new to this old 35mm boy. The best part is that this time, I can take thousands of experimental pictures for free and know instantly what works and what doesn’t. It’s a brave new world!!

P.S. If anyone’s interested, I have a really nice Canon Rebel G 35mm for sale. Seriously!

[Edit: Just to clarify, this is not about cell phones. This is about personal freedom. Comments should answer the more general question posed in paragraph two.]

I’m going to pose a question to my audience. It is a contentious, divisive question. It may well spawn some comment wars. In truth, I kind of hope it does. Not that I’m encouraging angry “flame wars.” But I would like to see some lively (yet courteous) debate. “Why?” you might ask. Because I’m undecided on the issue and I want to see the pros and cons offered. That’s what debate is all about, right?

So here’s the issue: Where do we draw the line between personal freedom and responsible governance?

A community here in the DFW metroplex has proposed an ordinance making it a ticketable offense to use a cell phone while driving in a school zone. Talk radio is all ablaze with the personal freedom crowd attacking the city. They call it a slippery slope. They equate it to smoking bans in liberal cities on both coasts. Some have brought up seat belt and helmet laws in the same context.

However, I dare say that 99% of those bawling about the cell phone ban are in favor of banning abortion and most would prefer our government close it’s iron fist around illegal immigrants.

The difference between a cell phone ban and abortion is, admittedly, elementary. But what I want to know is where is the line? If helmet laws invade our personal rights, what about speed limits? Driver’s licenses? Vehicle taxes? If anti-smoking laws are draconian, why not legalize pot? Cocaine? Meth?

Let’s hear it? After a few days, I’ll come revisit the issue, give my opinion, and try to sort out the best points from both sides.