Archive for January, 2010
iTunes Analyzer
Love it or hate it, iTunes has become the de facto king of music library managers. (Thanks, Steve!) One of the neat things about iTunes is that it keeps some very detailed records of what you listen to. This data is stored in the iTunes library files and is used for things like smart playlists and Genius recommendations.
Some clever coders over at Nosleep Software produced an iTunes analyzer that lets you peer into your own music habits. Super Analyzer is a java app (Win + Mac friendly) that does some neat things with your data.
Here’s an overview of my listening habits over the past five years:
Here’s the real answer to the question “what are your favorite bands?”
This chart proves that the 1980s were a dry spell in music:
Very cool. Go check it out!
Filed under Music, hack : Comments (2) : Jan 16th, 2010
Mac Hack Attack
I have a 24″ iMac for home and a 13″ MacBook Pro for work. I love the small form-factor of the MacBook, but the limitations on screen real estate is sometimes a drag. The iMac has a gorgeous screen, but no video input to let me hook up my MacBook. What to do?
Mac Hack Attack!
The Mac platform supports a feature called Target Disk Mode. If you reboot a Mac while holding the T key, you can access the hard drive over Firewire from another computer. So for my setup, I boot my MacBook in Target Disk Mode, then plug it into my iMac using FW800. I then restart the iMac and tell it to boot from the MacBook’s hard drive.
End result: 24″ of screen real estate with no cross-contamination between the two systems. Reason No. 5967810 why I love the Mac platform. It just works.
Filed under hack, technology : Comments (3) : Jan 12th, 2010
Minnesota takes aim at North Dakota
Minnesota (my beloved home state) has just fired a shot across their western border towards North Dakota. From Scientific American:
To encourage the switch to clean renewable energy Minnesota plans to add a carbon fee of between $4 and $34 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions to the cost of coal-fired electricity, to begin in 2012, to discourage the use of coal power; the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
To provide some context, North Dakota is a state with dwindling population and abundant cheap coal. There are a number of coal-fired power plants that export electricity across their borders to the more populated (and less coal-rich) Minnesota.
Continuing the article,
State officials in North Dakota are mounting a legal battle against Minnesota. State officials argue that this would unfairly discourage coal-powered electricity sales in favor of renewably powered electricity.
Really, North Dakota. No shit.
Fortunately for their state, North Dakota is also blessed with an abundance of wind resources. The same high voltage lines that carry dirty coal electricity could be used to export wind power instead.
There’s two ways they can play this:
1) Use the tariff as a direct financial incentive to agressively build wind farms and increase local employment
Or
2) Spend millions of tax dollars fighting the tariff in court and continue down the dead-end of coal power plants.
I wonder which path North Dakota will take?
Filed under climate change, economics, energy, environment, politics : Comments (1) : Jan 6th, 2010
Reusable bags get a leg up in D.C. [Updated!]
The local government of Washington D.C. has levied a tax of 5 cents per plastic bag for supermarket customers. This means that there is a small but direct financial incentive to use resumable bags. Nice!
I’ve been trying hard for the past few years to minimize the number of plastic bags I use. I have cloth bags for groceries and will decline a bag entirely if I’m buying only a few items. (Side note : why does every Walgreens employee think I need a bag to hold one tube of toothpaste and one stick of deodorant?!)
I’m sure there will be haters of this new policy who can’t be bothered by the perceived inconvenience of supplying your own bags, but I suspect in a few months we’ll all adapt and be better off for it.
I guess this is one of those perks in living in a very small independent city-state hybrid like the District of Colombia. We get to pass laws that would likely not pass a larger state legislature. Go local government!
(Then again, the District doesn’t get any representation in the U.S. Senate. So that’s a bummer.)
Update!
I just went to the local grocery store and discovered they’re giving away reusable bags for free this week to help their customers adopt. Three cheers to Giant for doing the right thing!
Filed under Washington DC, environment, politics : Comments (5) : Jan 4th, 2010
Zipcar : initial thoughts
I’ve relocated to Washington D.C. which means I can take advantage of a really nice mass transit system and sell my car. The Metro can get me most places I need to go within Washington and the first-ring suburbs. For those trips when I do need a car, I joined the Zipcar car-share service.
I tried a similar car-share program when I lived in Madison, WI but found that it couldn’t meet my needs. There were too few cars spaced too far apart to be convenient.
The Zipcar scene in Washington is much, much better. With hundreds of cars to choose from, many in close proximity to a Metro station, getting to and from a car is a breeze. Reservations have been plentiful as well, with multiple cars available at any given time when I want one.
The Zipcar process is pretty slick: you pay a one-time fee to join the service (for me, $25) then rent cars by the hour. The price depends on the model you want (they have everything from a Smart Car or Prius to pickup trucks and BMWs) in the range of $6.50 – $13. The casual Zipcar user also pays an annual fee (currently $50) that is waived for more frequent users who commit to a minimum monthly spend. I know I will be using Zipcar for work travel at least a few times a month so I signed up for the $75/month plan.
Reservations are done online or using a very slick iPhone app when you’re on the go. Once you arrive at the car during your reservation time, your Zipcar card unlocks the vehicle and away you go. I’ve rented a car for three trips so far and each time it’s worked perfectly.
Most of us aren’t used to paying for a car by the hour so that fee may seem high. When you factor in all that you’re getting, however, it starts to look like a real bargain. There’s the obvious stuff like the capital cost of the car itself and all maintenance/repairs. You’re covered for insurance (with a $500 deductible if you’re at fault) and the cost of parking the Zipcar. Add in the fuel costs (each car comes with a fuel card if you need to refill) and it starts too look like a real bargain.
The secret behind Zipcar is raising the capital utilization rate for their fleet of cars. Most car owners use their car for maybe 10% of the day, while it sits idle for the other 90%. The typical car ownership costs in the U.S. are $400-600 per month. You’d have to use that car for 12 hours a day to come close to the hourly rate Zipcar charges.
Of course, the Zipcar scheme won’t work for every city or every driver. It relies on a critical mass of users and is buoyed by an available mass transit system. But for urban dwellers with infrequent car needs, it can’t be beat. I’m thrilled to be giving up car ownership and relying on the Metro, Zipcar, and my feet for my transportation needs.
And finally, the sales pitch : if you are interested in trying Zipcar, use the link below. You’ll get $25 in free driving credits and I’ll get $25 for the referral.
Join Zipcar and get $25 in free driving!
Filed under Washington DC, economics, frugal, technology : Comments (0) : Jan 3rd, 2010
