] Experts cite three big roadblocks to a hydrogen economy:
] manufacturing hydrogen cleanly and at low cost, finding a
] way to ship it and store it on the vehicles that use it,
] and reducing the astronomical price of fuel cells.

This is an excerpt from a NYTimes article about hyperheating water to achieve a higher degree of efficiency in electrolysis for conversion to pure hydrogen. A great idea, and one that I plan to test myself.

The reason why I except this statement is because it is bullshit and is one of the reasons why the 'hydrogen economy' is not making meaningful progress other than through rhetoric and press and anemic academic research.

Firstly, manufacturing hydrogen cleanly and at low cost is ridiculous. Today's technology is already cleaner and at lower cost than the current fossil fuel system. I'm producing it today and my total investment (minus time) is about $200. There's no way in hell that I could've produced and refined fossil fuels on my own for an equivalent price. The only thing that has not been attempted is to manufacture hydrogen at scale. So until someone is willing to pony up the investment to do that, shut the hell up, because the numbers prove that it is superior in comparison to current and most importantly previous fossil fuel acquisition systems.

Secondly, finding a way to ship it and store it on vehicles is like whining in June about it snowing in January. Fucking fix the system first and then worry about this. You figured out a way to securely transport fossil fuels on vehicles so that my 74 year old grandmother doesn't kill anyone while driving, so I'm sure we can figure this out when it's appropriate.

Finally, reducing the astronomical price of fuel cells is a joke. You have a fuel cell right now and it's ridiculously cheap. It's called a battery. The same technology that went into batteries and reduced their cost to literally pennies, can be applied to fuel cells. It's supply and demand. Yes, fuel cells are more complicated, and utilize materials that are scarce and difficult to prepare, but guess what? so do microprocessors, and they're virtually ubiquitous. The idea that we're complaining about scarce materials which are difficult to refine and prepare for consumption when we're talking about supplanting fossil fuels, which are FINITE, COSTLY, and DIFFICULT to refine and prepare is so stupid it makes my head hurt. Think about it: it's taken nearly 100 years to have an infrastructure system in place where fuel comes up from the ground, gets refined and transported, and put in a place where even a moron can refuel her vehicle in the most remote parts of the planet. I think we can do better even in 1/4 the time. Sheesh.

Hydrogen Production Method Could Bolster Fuel Supplies

We tried so hard.

Sorry Everybody

The world gives us a hug.

Apologies Accepted - the world's answer to sorryeverybody.com

] I had a press interview today with InformationWeek where
] they asked what I thought were some of the important
] trends for the future of software tools. It's an
] interesting question, with many facets, so I was not sure
] how to respond. After some thought, here are the five
] areas I chose to highlight from my context of design and
] construction tool strategy.

developerWorks

] Let%u2019s talk about those values for a fucking minute.
] You and your Southern values can bite my ass because the
] blue states got the values over you fucking Real
] Americans every day of the goddamn week. Which state do
] you think has the lowest divorce rate you marriage-hyping
] dickwads? Well? Can you guess? It%u2019s fucking
] Massachusetts, the fucking center of the gay marriage
] universe.

great rant.

Fuck the South

] Is America as divided as many pundits would have it? On the
] contrary, I believe millions
] of Americans on both sides of the great Red-Blue gulf are
] hungry for information about their inferiors on the
] opposite shore, whether they are effete metrosexual
] AltWeekly Emo pussies or violent fork-toothed inbred
] Nascar gun trash.

iowahawk: Your Personal Sherpa to the Red-Blue Divide

] But instead of becoming a yellow blob trapped in a
] low-resolution two-dimensional maze, "Human Pacman" can
] roam freely through real environments.

chomp chomp

Pacman breaks out of the arcade

] Private equity firms, which hold $100 billion in
] uninvested funds, are coming into the improving economy
] with an appetite for large deals. In some cases, they are
] forging alliances to come up with enough equity to
] compete for promising opportunities, according to
] speakers on a panel titled, "Financial sponsors: Finding
] value in a competitive market."

Low Rates, Mixed Valuations: Searching for Growth in an Uncertain Economy - Knowledge@Wharton

] Gore is a strikingly contradictory company: a place where
] nerds can be mavericks; a place that's impatient with the
] standard way of working, but more than patient with
] nurturing ideas and giving them time to flourish; a place
] that's humble in its origins, yet ravenous for
] breakthrough ideas and, ultimately, growth. Gore's
] uniqueness comes from being as innovative in its
] operating principles as it is in its diverse product
] lines. This is a company that has kicked over the rules
] that most other organizations live by. It is tucked away
] in the mid-Atlantic countryside, 3,000 miles from Silicon
] Valley and even further (in its mind-set) from Wall
] Street. And in its quietly revolutionary way, it is doing
] something almost magical: fostering ongoing, consistent,
] breakthrough creativity.

Someday. Hopefully. I'll make/work at a place like this.

The Fabric of Creativity

] Families can now easily shell out more than $100 a month
] for local and long distance phone plans, subscription TV,
] pay-per-view, Internet and cellular phone service. New
] demands in the form of Internet media--music downloads,
] interactive games, satellite radio and video-on-demand
] services--promise to push costs, and bundling
] opportunities, to even greater heights.

yep. and it's finally working. through lack of competition and slow roll out of services, the bill has crept up, and bundling will be the tool to get you to shell out $200/month for those services by nickel and diming you to death. that's been the holy grail since 1993.

DSL wars come down to a battle of the bundles