As gas-electric hybrid vehicles are increasingly embraced by a society getting sick of rising fuel costs and the US government's apathy towards the environment, oil companies and government agencies are already churning their murky minds to circumvent the resulting loss of revenues. More miles to the gallon means less fuel sold. The oil companies lose, unless hybrid owners start driving more than before. Improved fuel efficiency also implies less income from the gas tax. The government loses.
The likes of Exxon-Mobil and Shell can easily re-calibrate their bottom lines by jacking up fuel costs. This they have done (as expected): after several months of artificial price-setting kept the cost per gallon of regular gas under $2.20 in my neighborhood, the end of the Congressional elections has seen a nearly 27 cent increase in double-quick time. How predictable, on so many levels!
So what can the government do about declining gas tax incomes? Tennessee lawmakers are showing the way by proposing a road use tax. Instead of paying a per-gallon tax at the pump, you get to pay for the miles you drive! In a trial of this latest swindle, a fleet of cars will be equipped with GPS units that track your driving distance between gas station visits. The units will communicate with the gas pump, deduct the gas tax from your bill, and tack on the use tax instead. These law-makers, whose salaries probably allow them to keep driving gas-guzzling behemoths without a second thought, are finding ways to annul the technological advances generated by foreign auto makers!
Here is a potential traffic impact from such a bizarre taxation policy. Currently, people largely choose routes based on perceived travel times, delays and facility-specific tolls. Traffic thus gets spread across multiple road facilities based on many days of driving experience and trade-offs between monetary tolls and travel time savings. If the taxes begin to depend on distance, people could start targetting the shortest distance (and not the shortest time) options. Distance is a concrete measure: there are no grey areas related to individual perceptions, and it certainly does not change from day to day. Together with fuel cost increases from the oil industry, the road use tax could make traffic worse!
Or maybe it won't. But I am sure that the possible side effects have not even been considered by Tennessee's rich law-makers.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Drive safe: watch out for the lunatics!
I have been commuting to work for nearly six months now, and have seen enough to rant about Boston's drivers (at least those who drive around me as I stumble to work on the dreaded Mass Pike, I-90, every weekday).
There is at least one accident almost daily on the short 15-mile stretch of highway. One can only ascribe these routine collisions to careless and reckless driving way past the speed limit, too fast to be sustained by heavy weekday traffic levels. Besides the obvious risks of personal injury and vehicle damage, such driving is inconsiderate, to say the least. The smallest perturbations tend to throw I-90 into a downward spiral that can grind traffic to a standstill lasting hours. My 40-minute commute, for example, has often degenerated into a one to two hour drag.
One of my pet peeves (and I have many of these) is drivers who cannot stand seeing traffic move fractionally faster in another lane than theirs. They constantly weave left and right, as though they have a mandate to use all lanes equally. I see several such lunatics daily, cutting across lanes with impunity. They will often start crossing over to the next lane to take advantage of a 1-2 mph speed increase, only to find a slow-moving truck ahead in the target lane. Otherwise, the current lane might temporarily speed up a bit. The selfish driver then arrests her lane changing process mid-way (with two wheels in each lane) to return to the lane she just began evacuating. All of this, of course, will be executed without the use of turn indicators. Sometimes, these people will be half way to the next lane before their conscience directs them to blink their indicator for a fraction of a second, more like an afterthought!
I believe that such aggressive behavior is largely encouraged by the ridiculous blame system associated with fender-benders: the rear-ender is always at fault. Drivers therefore take their chances. They cut too close in front of others, knowing that the poor victim has all the incentive to watch out for this weirdo and slow down. Safe drivers are especially vulnerable, since the distance they maintain from the vehicle in front is enough invitation for aggressive types to cut in. Turn signals are used as rights of passage: "Hey! My indicator is on, so watch out!" In case of an accident, the cautious driver always loses. How convenient and safe!
There is at least one accident almost daily on the short 15-mile stretch of highway. One can only ascribe these routine collisions to careless and reckless driving way past the speed limit, too fast to be sustained by heavy weekday traffic levels. Besides the obvious risks of personal injury and vehicle damage, such driving is inconsiderate, to say the least. The smallest perturbations tend to throw I-90 into a downward spiral that can grind traffic to a standstill lasting hours. My 40-minute commute, for example, has often degenerated into a one to two hour drag.
One of my pet peeves (and I have many of these) is drivers who cannot stand seeing traffic move fractionally faster in another lane than theirs. They constantly weave left and right, as though they have a mandate to use all lanes equally. I see several such lunatics daily, cutting across lanes with impunity. They will often start crossing over to the next lane to take advantage of a 1-2 mph speed increase, only to find a slow-moving truck ahead in the target lane. Otherwise, the current lane might temporarily speed up a bit. The selfish driver then arrests her lane changing process mid-way (with two wheels in each lane) to return to the lane she just began evacuating. All of this, of course, will be executed without the use of turn indicators. Sometimes, these people will be half way to the next lane before their conscience directs them to blink their indicator for a fraction of a second, more like an afterthought!
I believe that such aggressive behavior is largely encouraged by the ridiculous blame system associated with fender-benders: the rear-ender is always at fault. Drivers therefore take their chances. They cut too close in front of others, knowing that the poor victim has all the incentive to watch out for this weirdo and slow down. Safe drivers are especially vulnerable, since the distance they maintain from the vehicle in front is enough invitation for aggressive types to cut in. Turn signals are used as rights of passage: "Hey! My indicator is on, so watch out!" In case of an accident, the cautious driver always loses. How convenient and safe!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
The Swiss Alps
Let me start with a simple geography quiz.
Q: Which country does Geneva belong to?
A: Actually, it depends.
Now, I know this sounds completely wacky. Geography was one of my favorite subjects in high school. I liked looking at maps. I liked drawing/replicating map outlines, and I had no problems with studying for my geography exams. So why this sudden ambiguity about such a well-known city?
Personal experience taught me a bittter lesson. So here is a little geography tip that might be useful to first-time travelers to Geneva. Especially those who (a) plan on flying Air France to get there, and (b) do not have permission to visit France.
For, though Geneva belongs to Switzerland, France has taken a bite out of the city! In fact, a part of Geneva's airport is French territory!
It is as bizarre as it sounds. Here is a real-world account of what is in store for the unsuspecting traveler.
We recently booked tickets for a Boston-Geneva trip on Delta Airlines (through www.Travelocity.com), which conveniently tagged their flights as Air France through a code-sharing agreement. Our final destination: GVA (Geneva, Switzerland). As we were going to Switzerland, we applied for (and obtained) Swiss visas in advance, and were feeling pretty good about ourselves. We boarded our flight at Boston, landed in perennially messy Charles de Gaule airport in Paris, and even figured out the departure gate for the Paris-Geneva flight.
And then, the seemingly simple matter of an international transit turned into utter chaos. We were refused entry to the gate area! It turned out that Air France treated Paris-Geneva as a domestic flight, since they would be landing in the French sector of Geneva's airport. Essentially, we had to clear customs at Paris, for which we had no visa!
All that was required was a single line of warning on Travelocity's website: "Geneva airport is split in two; please ensure you have the required documents." Three agencies - Travelocity, Delta Airlines and Air France - failed to pass on this critical piece of information (freely available to them), and we paid the price. Literally, too, as we shall see in just a moment.
Air France personnel righted their second wrong (of letting us on the Boston flight without checking for Shengen visas) by re-routing us to Geneva on Swiss Air. Terribly nice of them. Until our checked bag got lost, and we had to join a long line of similarly disgruntled passengers at Geneva. Swiss Air, as the last carrier to get us to our final destination, was saddled with the burden of tracing and delivering our bag. They screamed in anguish (in a nice, calm, Swiss sort of way) about the incompetance of everyone involved. Apparently, the Paris fiasco was a regular occurrence!
We had to have Delta re-book our return tickets, which was done after we were forced to cut a day out of our trip and cough up an additional $440. Plus, Delta only flew out of Zurich! We ended up on Zurich-Atlanta-Boston return flights, which required another $220 in the form of train tickets (to get to Zurich). Delta maintains that they are not responsible for this ridiculous occurrence. Travelocity and Air France have ignored me so far. And I am left holding the bag.
Brilliant, all around. Kudos to the airline industry!
Q: Which country does Geneva belong to?
A: Actually, it depends.
Now, I know this sounds completely wacky. Geography was one of my favorite subjects in high school. I liked looking at maps. I liked drawing/replicating map outlines, and I had no problems with studying for my geography exams. So why this sudden ambiguity about such a well-known city?
Personal experience taught me a bittter lesson. So here is a little geography tip that might be useful to first-time travelers to Geneva. Especially those who (a) plan on flying Air France to get there, and (b) do not have permission to visit France.
For, though Geneva belongs to Switzerland, France has taken a bite out of the city! In fact, a part of Geneva's airport is French territory!
It is as bizarre as it sounds. Here is a real-world account of what is in store for the unsuspecting traveler.
We recently booked tickets for a Boston-Geneva trip on Delta Airlines (through www.Travelocity.com), which conveniently tagged their flights as Air France through a code-sharing agreement. Our final destination: GVA (Geneva, Switzerland). As we were going to Switzerland, we applied for (and obtained) Swiss visas in advance, and were feeling pretty good about ourselves. We boarded our flight at Boston, landed in perennially messy Charles de Gaule airport in Paris, and even figured out the departure gate for the Paris-Geneva flight.
And then, the seemingly simple matter of an international transit turned into utter chaos. We were refused entry to the gate area! It turned out that Air France treated Paris-Geneva as a domestic flight, since they would be landing in the French sector of Geneva's airport. Essentially, we had to clear customs at Paris, for which we had no visa!
All that was required was a single line of warning on Travelocity's website: "Geneva airport is split in two; please ensure you have the required documents." Three agencies - Travelocity, Delta Airlines and Air France - failed to pass on this critical piece of information (freely available to them), and we paid the price. Literally, too, as we shall see in just a moment.
Air France personnel righted their second wrong (of letting us on the Boston flight without checking for Shengen visas) by re-routing us to Geneva on Swiss Air. Terribly nice of them. Until our checked bag got lost, and we had to join a long line of similarly disgruntled passengers at Geneva. Swiss Air, as the last carrier to get us to our final destination, was saddled with the burden of tracing and delivering our bag. They screamed in anguish (in a nice, calm, Swiss sort of way) about the incompetance of everyone involved. Apparently, the Paris fiasco was a regular occurrence!
We had to have Delta re-book our return tickets, which was done after we were forced to cut a day out of our trip and cough up an additional $440. Plus, Delta only flew out of Zurich! We ended up on Zurich-Atlanta-Boston return flights, which required another $220 in the form of train tickets (to get to Zurich). Delta maintains that they are not responsible for this ridiculous occurrence. Travelocity and Air France have ignored me so far. And I am left holding the bag.
Brilliant, all around. Kudos to the airline industry!
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Let spellings bee!
Always remember: 'i' before 'e', except after 'c'.
The age-old maxim in English grammar instruction has now bitten the bullet. The language teems with words that blatantly flout this rule. I have relied on this rule almost all my life, but sometimes, the written word just feels wrong. Somehow.
I was typing out an e-mail last week, when I decided to use the word "liesurely". It just did not look correct, though it follows the 'c' rule to the 't'. So I checked a dictionary, and it indeed spelled trouble: in leisurely fashion.
What a truly weird language we have!
The age-old maxim in English grammar instruction has now bitten the bullet. The language teems with words that blatantly flout this rule. I have relied on this rule almost all my life, but sometimes, the written word just feels wrong. Somehow.
I was typing out an e-mail last week, when I decided to use the word "liesurely". It just did not look correct, though it follows the 'c' rule to the 't'. So I checked a dictionary, and it indeed spelled trouble: in leisurely fashion.
What a truly weird language we have!
Pie in the sky
I have been flying around a lot of late (and no, my arms are not really that tired!) However, my stomach has had much to complain about.
Take-offs and landings are never good for me. Despite more than seven years of "experience", food always defies gravity and tries to rise up the easophagus. It does not help that airline food is generally pathetic. Particularly for a vegetarian.
I have always tried to guarantee something edible on my flights, by choosing the "Asian Vegetarian" meal preference. I recently came to question this approach, however, after seeing meal after meal of make-believe Indian food consisting of dessicated spinach, dry salads and stale, yellow rice.
Fatefully, during my last couple of trips, I missed the important meal specification while booking my tickets. I was relegated to choosing from the common menu. They say that fishermen are the biggest liars on the face of the planet, but airline menus are by far the worst. The "large sub stuffed with vegetables" concocted images of a foot-long sandwich (a la Subway), but it turned out to be a flattened wrap roughly 4 inches long and an inch and a half wide.
Nevertheless, the menu experience was not bad at all. Infact, the pasta was soft and fresh, the puris were edible, and the desserts were eclectic. Something vegetarian on every flight. Nothing gourmet, yet decent.
And then, with the last meal of the final leg, everthing broke down. Roasted veal for the appetizer. No choice on this item, and not very appetizing. Main course: chicken or salmon. Over and out! Lunch degenerated into crackers and cheese, a bun with butter, a bowl of fruit, a couple of squares of chocolate and a cup of OJ.
I guess it is back to Asian Vegetarian from now on.
Take-offs and landings are never good for me. Despite more than seven years of "experience", food always defies gravity and tries to rise up the easophagus. It does not help that airline food is generally pathetic. Particularly for a vegetarian.
I have always tried to guarantee something edible on my flights, by choosing the "Asian Vegetarian" meal preference. I recently came to question this approach, however, after seeing meal after meal of make-believe Indian food consisting of dessicated spinach, dry salads and stale, yellow rice.
Fatefully, during my last couple of trips, I missed the important meal specification while booking my tickets. I was relegated to choosing from the common menu. They say that fishermen are the biggest liars on the face of the planet, but airline menus are by far the worst. The "large sub stuffed with vegetables" concocted images of a foot-long sandwich (a la Subway), but it turned out to be a flattened wrap roughly 4 inches long and an inch and a half wide.
Nevertheless, the menu experience was not bad at all. Infact, the pasta was soft and fresh, the puris were edible, and the desserts were eclectic. Something vegetarian on every flight. Nothing gourmet, yet decent.
And then, with the last meal of the final leg, everthing broke down. Roasted veal for the appetizer. No choice on this item, and not very appetizing. Main course: chicken or salmon. Over and out! Lunch degenerated into crackers and cheese, a bun with butter, a bowl of fruit, a couple of squares of chocolate and a cup of OJ.
I guess it is back to Asian Vegetarian from now on.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
The (w)art of reverse swing
In cricketing circles, reverse swing is an art. But only if you are able to produce it with a cricket ball, and you are not from the Indian subcontinent. If you happen to play for India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, it is a wart: a pestilence that must be stamped out by accusing the teams of cheating and ball-tampering.
Sour grapes!
Pakistan's fast bowlers have historically been targetted as cheats (partly because nobody else could perform this magic, and largely because other teams were clueless against it). When England managed to wrap rings around Australia in the last Ashes series, reverese swing graduated to the level of "accepted tactics". As long as you are not from the Indian sub-continent.
Simon Jones now defends all of England with this fine statement reported by Cricinfo:
"People who say reverse swing is not possible without ball-tampering obviously know nothing about cricket," he told The Western Mail. "I know what I did was legal. I would never do anything outside the laws of the game."
Let us not get into an argument about Jones' honesty and integrity. If he indeed shaped/conditioned the ball "legally" to aid reverse swing, let us take his word for it. Maybe he should release a list of "legal" ways of achieving reverse swing. The biased ICC can then allow only these actions, while rejecting anything else that comes from... well, you know where.
Or perhaps, the ICC can just get a spine and mandate regular checks on the ball by the match refereee. And not just when a team from the sub-continent is bowling. It is time the ICC got its act together, instead of bickering about purely financial matters such as ambush marketing and bat logo sizes.
Sour grapes!
Pakistan's fast bowlers have historically been targetted as cheats (partly because nobody else could perform this magic, and largely because other teams were clueless against it). When England managed to wrap rings around Australia in the last Ashes series, reverese swing graduated to the level of "accepted tactics". As long as you are not from the Indian sub-continent.
Simon Jones now defends all of England with this fine statement reported by Cricinfo:
"People who say reverse swing is not possible without ball-tampering obviously know nothing about cricket," he told The Western Mail. "I know what I did was legal. I would never do anything outside the laws of the game."
Let us not get into an argument about Jones' honesty and integrity. If he indeed shaped/conditioned the ball "legally" to aid reverse swing, let us take his word for it. Maybe he should release a list of "legal" ways of achieving reverse swing. The biased ICC can then allow only these actions, while rejecting anything else that comes from... well, you know where.
Or perhaps, the ICC can just get a spine and mandate regular checks on the ball by the match refereee. And not just when a team from the sub-continent is bowling. It is time the ICC got its act together, instead of bickering about purely financial matters such as ambush marketing and bat logo sizes.
Our hybrid
Without much hesitation, we decided to buy a hybrid car. Though the options are rapidly multiplying, the real choice was between the Toyota Prius and the Honda (Civic, Accord). We plumped for the Civic: the Prius's futuristic looks did not appeal to us, and the Accord hybrid's mileage was not impressive enough (thanks to a heavy V6 engine, mostly).
The 2006 Civic looks more like a regular car than the Prius. However, it has been revamped for a sporty, aerodynamic design that definitely contributes to the high mileage ratings (49 mpg on arterials, 51 mpg on freeways). After 3000+ miles, we are consistently clocking 45+ mpg. My work commute of roughly 22 miles each way (on slightly hilly terrain) essentially translates to an empty tank every 9-10 days, which is fantastic on the wallet!
The 2006 Civic Hybrid has regenerative braking, which charges the battery by recovering power during deceleration. A nice little dashboard indicator tells you if the battery is assisting the gas engine, or is being re-charged. The dashboard layout also has a huge digital speed display, which is not hindered by the steering wheel.
The reduced trunk space in the 2006 Civic Hybrid has been perhaps its most bandied drawback. However, it quite easily accommodated two large Samsonite hard-plastic suitcases (of the size typically lugged to and from India) in addition to a tennis raquet and a 24-pack case of Gatorade. Not bad for a small trunk!
The driving experience has been great. The engine is smooth, and the switch between gas and electric engines is imperceptible. With Honda's legendary reliability, we expect to be very pleased with this purchase in the short and long runs.
The 2006 Civic looks more like a regular car than the Prius. However, it has been revamped for a sporty, aerodynamic design that definitely contributes to the high mileage ratings (49 mpg on arterials, 51 mpg on freeways). After 3000+ miles, we are consistently clocking 45+ mpg. My work commute of roughly 22 miles each way (on slightly hilly terrain) essentially translates to an empty tank every 9-10 days, which is fantastic on the wallet!
The 2006 Civic Hybrid has regenerative braking, which charges the battery by recovering power during deceleration. A nice little dashboard indicator tells you if the battery is assisting the gas engine, or is being re-charged. The dashboard layout also has a huge digital speed display, which is not hindered by the steering wheel.
The reduced trunk space in the 2006 Civic Hybrid has been perhaps its most bandied drawback. However, it quite easily accommodated two large Samsonite hard-plastic suitcases (of the size typically lugged to and from India) in addition to a tennis raquet and a 24-pack case of Gatorade. Not bad for a small trunk!
The driving experience has been great. The engine is smooth, and the switch between gas and electric engines is imperceptible. With Honda's legendary reliability, we expect to be very pleased with this purchase in the short and long runs.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Life in the FastLane
I got EZPass! This is an Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) program: you install a small transponder device under your windshield, and an automatic sensor communicates with it as you drive through a toll plaza at reduced speed. The required tolls are then deducted from your account. One does not even need to keep track of the current balance: money is added through a credit card charge when the balance falls below a certain threshold.
So far, my subscription to EZPass has worked wonders on my commute. Having spent many a trip crawling towards the toll plaza that had already been sighted quite a while ago, it is a huge relief to bypass the long lines of cash-handling drivers and zip through the (nearly) empty ETC-only lanes.
Some times, though, congestion is so bad that the queues in the manual toll lanes back up all the way; the ETC lanes may thus be free, yet access could be blocked by the "manual" vehicles. This can be frustrating. Thankfully, I have encountered this only a few times (all before I got EZPass!)
The resident ETC program for Massachusetts is FastLane, but EZPass, a New York-New Jersey program, works just as well on this network.
So far, my subscription to EZPass has worked wonders on my commute. Having spent many a trip crawling towards the toll plaza that had already been sighted quite a while ago, it is a huge relief to bypass the long lines of cash-handling drivers and zip through the (nearly) empty ETC-only lanes.
Some times, though, congestion is so bad that the queues in the manual toll lanes back up all the way; the ETC lanes may thus be free, yet access could be blocked by the "manual" vehicles. This can be frustrating. Thankfully, I have encountered this only a few times (all before I got EZPass!)
The resident ETC program for Massachusetts is FastLane, but EZPass, a New York-New Jersey program, works just as well on this network.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Giving Windows the (re)boot
Microsoft Windows is an energy-sapper. The world's (supposedly) most popular PC operating system is riddled with increasing ways of making you tear your hair out by the roots. I am constantly amazed by people who proclaim their love for this program because it "looks better" than other options. To these people, I can only recommend that they install Linux and see for themselves.
My pet Microsoft peeve, for the moment at least, is the need for constant reboots after installing the smallest utilities. After seven (and some) years of maintaining Linux machines, I find it highly irritating that Windows still has not found a way around this. There has to be a way of updating the registry, etc. without having to shut down everything else you are doing.
The reboot headache is not one that you encounter once in several months either. Thanks to the various auto-update routines floating around, one is required to start from a clean slate on numerous occassions. However, I would at least expect to be given the chance to decide when to reboot the machine after a software update.
But sorry. No dice! Instead, I get a constant stream of "reminders" every few minutes that it is time to reboot. I can either drop whatever I am doing and bow to my Microsoft masters, or endure a vexing time clicking "Cancel" or "Remind me Later". Why not add a simple option to "Remind me When the Sun Explodes"?!!
Here is a potential marketing gimmick for Microsoft to consider: ship extra memory with every new Windows release, so that the reboots become faster. This will help maintain productivity at current levels, to compensate for the time we spend twiddling our thumbs while Windows recharges its creaking Registry. At least, we will not be running backwards every time a bug-riddled piece of code is installed and frequently updated.
My pet Microsoft peeve, for the moment at least, is the need for constant reboots after installing the smallest utilities. After seven (and some) years of maintaining Linux machines, I find it highly irritating that Windows still has not found a way around this. There has to be a way of updating the registry, etc. without having to shut down everything else you are doing.
The reboot headache is not one that you encounter once in several months either. Thanks to the various auto-update routines floating around, one is required to start from a clean slate on numerous occassions. However, I would at least expect to be given the chance to decide when to reboot the machine after a software update.
But sorry. No dice! Instead, I get a constant stream of "reminders" every few minutes that it is time to reboot. I can either drop whatever I am doing and bow to my Microsoft masters, or endure a vexing time clicking "Cancel" or "Remind me Later". Why not add a simple option to "Remind me When the Sun Explodes"?!!
Here is a potential marketing gimmick for Microsoft to consider: ship extra memory with every new Windows release, so that the reboots become faster. This will help maintain productivity at current levels, to compensate for the time we spend twiddling our thumbs while Windows recharges its creaking Registry. At least, we will not be running backwards every time a bug-riddled piece of code is installed and frequently updated.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
You hit, I mint!
The most lucrative business today must be the manufacture of baseballs. Watch the game for a while, and try to count the number of balls they use up before play ends. I have not tried this yet, but am convinced that the number will be quite staggering.
Let me attempt to list the more obvious sources of wastage. First, any ball that is hit once by the bat, has to be thrown away! There is no doubt about this. Pitcher hurls the ball, batter hits the ball cleanly, fielder pouches it in his bucket (that stupid glove they use. Come on now, be a man, and catch it bare-handed like in cricket!) Even if the ball never bounces into the dirt, the fielder chucks it into the crowd.
Let us now say that the pitcher loses his radar for a bit, and the ball bounces once before being held by the catcher (the guy who squats behind the batter). Does the ball get reused? It is not entirely clear, but it definitely does not enter the game immediately. Instead, the catcher passes it along to the umpire (who half-squats behind him). The umpire gives him a brand new ball to play with, while he either surreptitiously discards the old one, or inspects it with a microscope (also surreptitiously, since I have never seen him do this on television) to determine if it has not been spoiled in some way. Essentially, the bump ball is soiled until proven otherwise.
Only when the pitcher delivers the ball directly into the glove of the catcher, without being intercepted by anything solid on the way, does the ball come back into play immediately.
So, at a minimum, with 9 innings, 3 batters per inning and 3 pitches per batter (two fouls and a ball in play that gets an out), we are talking about 81 pitches. In reality, there are way more than 3 pitches per batter, so we must scale this number by at least 2. That yields 162 pitches. Now factor the other team in, and we double this estimate to 324.
A solitary Google hit, a web page from 2001, explains that a Major League game averages 250-300 pitches, and that the average life of a baseball is 6 pitches. That is 50-60 balls per game (according to my pitch calculation), without counting the possibility of endless extra innings (don't ask me... it is all too complicated. Maybe in another post). [Aside: extra-inning games are not that uncommon. They happen with sickening regularity, and they continue until a score difference is achieved.]
There are, of course, many assumptions in the above calculations. However, it does seem to be in the ballpark (hehe!).
On top of all the game balls, we need more of them for Spring training, game-day practice, warm-ups and for plain, old autographing. And all this for one game. Each team plays some 160 games a year, and some progress further and play a few more. There are 30 teams currently in the Major League fray. Of course, there are the lesser mortals too, who play in the Minor Leagues, in schools, playgrounds, ...
These are very, very good numbers indeed for the makers of baseballs!
Let me attempt to list the more obvious sources of wastage. First, any ball that is hit once by the bat, has to be thrown away! There is no doubt about this. Pitcher hurls the ball, batter hits the ball cleanly, fielder pouches it in his bucket (that stupid glove they use. Come on now, be a man, and catch it bare-handed like in cricket!) Even if the ball never bounces into the dirt, the fielder chucks it into the crowd.
Let us now say that the pitcher loses his radar for a bit, and the ball bounces once before being held by the catcher (the guy who squats behind the batter). Does the ball get reused? It is not entirely clear, but it definitely does not enter the game immediately. Instead, the catcher passes it along to the umpire (who half-squats behind him). The umpire gives him a brand new ball to play with, while he either surreptitiously discards the old one, or inspects it with a microscope (also surreptitiously, since I have never seen him do this on television) to determine if it has not been spoiled in some way. Essentially, the bump ball is soiled until proven otherwise.
Only when the pitcher delivers the ball directly into the glove of the catcher, without being intercepted by anything solid on the way, does the ball come back into play immediately.
So, at a minimum, with 9 innings, 3 batters per inning and 3 pitches per batter (two fouls and a ball in play that gets an out), we are talking about 81 pitches. In reality, there are way more than 3 pitches per batter, so we must scale this number by at least 2. That yields 162 pitches. Now factor the other team in, and we double this estimate to 324.
A solitary Google hit, a web page from 2001, explains that a Major League game averages 250-300 pitches, and that the average life of a baseball is 6 pitches. That is 50-60 balls per game (according to my pitch calculation), without counting the possibility of endless extra innings (don't ask me... it is all too complicated. Maybe in another post). [Aside: extra-inning games are not that uncommon. They happen with sickening regularity, and they continue until a score difference is achieved.]
There are, of course, many assumptions in the above calculations. However, it does seem to be in the ballpark (hehe!).
On top of all the game balls, we need more of them for Spring training, game-day practice, warm-ups and for plain, old autographing. And all this for one game. Each team plays some 160 games a year, and some progress further and play a few more. There are 30 teams currently in the Major League fray. Of course, there are the lesser mortals too, who play in the Minor Leagues, in schools, playgrounds, ...
These are very, very good numbers indeed for the makers of baseballs!
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Pinch the gas, not the wallet
The rising cost of oil has led to the expected spike in gas (petrol) prices all across the country. Stories abound of commuters switching to bicycles even for long distances, price-gouging by oil companies, and lawsuits against fuel re-sellers who are charging lower rates than their competitors in a bid to attract business (and also perhaps to put on a more driver-friendly image).
The best news story to date, though, was in today's online edition of the CNN news service. Drivers in California are resorting to a novel way of beating the clamp on their wallets: they simply allow their tanks to go dry, and stall up on the busy freeways and arterials of the state. Subsidized towing services ply the roads to rescue such victims, and greet the stranded vehicles with a free gallon of gas. That could be good for at least another 20-30 miles!
The frequency of such "requests" has apparently shot up in the past few days, and is expected to maintain an upward trend in the near future.
The best news story to date, though, was in today's online edition of the CNN news service. Drivers in California are resorting to a novel way of beating the clamp on their wallets: they simply allow their tanks to go dry, and stall up on the busy freeways and arterials of the state. Subsidized towing services ply the roads to rescue such victims, and greet the stranded vehicles with a free gallon of gas. That could be good for at least another 20-30 miles!
The frequency of such "requests" has apparently shot up in the past few days, and is expected to maintain an upward trend in the near future.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Ad-surfing
This is a brief rant about the amount of advertising on American television today. It is bad enough that nearly half the scheduled duration of a program is consumed by con-vertising: a deluge of inferior products (low on both concept and design), yet high on price, being sold as the best thing ever to happen to us. How did we (and our parents and grandparents) live without such nifty gadgets/diet supplements/electronics?
What is even more vexing is that the various broadcasting stations seem to have colluded to schedule their ads at exactly the same times! We no longer have the option of channel-surfing to escape these irritating bank-account-emptying schemes, as we encounter similar nonsense with every press of the button! The only way out seems to be to tune the TV out for the next five minutes. Go load the dishwasher, maybe. Or read a chapter of a novel, and still return to the TV show with plenty of time to spare.
Sometimes, the irritation is taken to the next level: almost every channel you visit is running the exact same ad! I wonder: do Bowflex and Magic Bullet make so much money swindling people, that they can afford to run so many paid ads on such a variety of channels?!
On a slight tangent, imagine several five-minute ad stretches within a half-hour program. The cast from the TV shows seems to be getting paid gobs of cash for "half-hour" episodes, when they essentially have to work only towards a fifteen-minute piece at best! Neat! Professional sport, here comes competition in the salary department!
What is even more vexing is that the various broadcasting stations seem to have colluded to schedule their ads at exactly the same times! We no longer have the option of channel-surfing to escape these irritating bank-account-emptying schemes, as we encounter similar nonsense with every press of the button! The only way out seems to be to tune the TV out for the next five minutes. Go load the dishwasher, maybe. Or read a chapter of a novel, and still return to the TV show with plenty of time to spare.
Sometimes, the irritation is taken to the next level: almost every channel you visit is running the exact same ad! I wonder: do Bowflex and Magic Bullet make so much money swindling people, that they can afford to run so many paid ads on such a variety of channels?!
On a slight tangent, imagine several five-minute ad stretches within a half-hour program. The cast from the TV shows seems to be getting paid gobs of cash for "half-hour" episodes, when they essentially have to work only towards a fifteen-minute piece at best! Neat! Professional sport, here comes competition in the salary department!
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Lights! Action! Now, cameras, please.
Exasperated with the duration of your commute to and from work each day? Had enough of waiting at numerous traffic lights each way? Well, help is on the way: just log on to eBay, and buy yourself an Opticon. Simply flash the device at red lights, and watch them turn green!
It is amazing that the technology directing traffic streams in busy cities and corridors has been left so exposed and unprotected. Imagine the possibilities...
So how did this "secret" product's existence come to light? An enterprising resident of Longmont, Colorado has finally been arrested for playing havoc with the traffic lights on his commute. The authorities had to resort to video surveillance, which paid off eventually: they noticed a white Ford pickup truck driving by the lights every time their timing went haywire. The owner of the truck, however, is gladly paying the $50 citation, content that the price he paid for the device has long been recovered in terms of precious minutes saved.
I have a few questions to pose, though. With the ease of video surveillance today, why did this guy use the same route every day? Maybe a little variety in terms of route selection could have prolonged his bliss! For that matter, even a less conspicuous vehicle may have slipped across the probing eyes for a little bit longer...
It is amazing that the technology directing traffic streams in busy cities and corridors has been left so exposed and unprotected. Imagine the possibilities...
So how did this "secret" product's existence come to light? An enterprising resident of Longmont, Colorado has finally been arrested for playing havoc with the traffic lights on his commute. The authorities had to resort to video surveillance, which paid off eventually: they noticed a white Ford pickup truck driving by the lights every time their timing went haywire. The owner of the truck, however, is gladly paying the $50 citation, content that the price he paid for the device has long been recovered in terms of precious minutes saved.
I have a few questions to pose, though. With the ease of video surveillance today, why did this guy use the same route every day? Maybe a little variety in terms of route selection could have prolonged his bliss! For that matter, even a less conspicuous vehicle may have slipped across the probing eyes for a little bit longer...
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Working on the Fly
Laptops are ubiquitous in airport terminals these days. Every way you look, people are studiously focussed on their LCD screens and MacDonald's burgers (with fries, of course), seemingly oblivious to the world outside a 2-foot radius. Sometimes, you will even see them laugh out loud after finding something hilarious in their official documents. Or maybe in the solitaire game they just won.
I thought I'd join the race, and try to get some work done while stuck in Terminal C at Dallas/Fort Worth recently. It probably serves me right for thinking I could get away with it: there was not one place for me to plug my power cord! The only source of electricity was in the middle of a narrow corridor leading to the restrooms.
I trawled the adjoining gates to no avail, and eventually gave up. Deciding to conserve my limited battery strength for later, I headed for the food court. I could at least copy the other activity that was gripping my co-passengers!
I thought I'd join the race, and try to get some work done while stuck in Terminal C at Dallas/Fort Worth recently. It probably serves me right for thinking I could get away with it: there was not one place for me to plug my power cord! The only source of electricity was in the middle of a narrow corridor leading to the restrooms.
I trawled the adjoining gates to no avail, and eventually gave up. Deciding to conserve my limited battery strength for later, I headed for the food court. I could at least copy the other activity that was gripping my co-passengers!
The Perfect Car
We must soon purchase a car. My predisposition to public transit notwithstanding, a car is increasingly becoming a requirement in the US. The choices are endless, but the tricky decision is a long-term one. Almost every single make and model manufactured in the wide world seems to be an option here. So how do we make a good decision? Suggestions and experiences are gladly invited.
As a first step, I started renting out a variety of cars when forced to hit the road (mostly to places that cannot be reached through a nice bus-train combination). Rental companies in the US seem to be fixated on handing out American vehicles. The assignment has always been the Chevrolet (Chevy) Cobalt. Now, "cobalt" conjures up the color blue in my mind. Remember the "cobalt blue" from your watercolor set? On both occassions, however, we were given flashy cars: a deep red, and a glaring orange!! Arrrgh! We were literally lighting up the road as we blazed away on the freeway!
Hue preferences aside, the Cobalt is simply inefficient. In a time when gas prices are skyrocketing to unprecendented highs, this car guzzles black gold. Granted that I was driving a lot, but I had to make fueling stops every day! There were other nagging design defects in this model. Even slight turns of the steering wheel would completely block off the speedometer. Worse, blocking out the sun from your eyes would also block the rear-view mirror! Talk about driving blind!
I have driven far too many other cars by now, thanks to my Zipcar membership (see www.zipcar.com. Hey! A free advertisement for this nice company!) The list includes the Scion xA, Scion xB, Prius (hybrid) and the Volkswagen Jetta.
I wrote a piece on the Prius some time ago. Here is some raving on the Jetta, which has been the best experience to date: it has a solid car body with an equally comforting weight behind the steering mechanism (the xA and xB were so light that even minor bumps on the road would jerk the wheel around). Amazingly smooth acceleration from the Jetta, even from rest. Very good views of the vehicles around you (the Prius' slick, aerodynamic design causes even pedestrians on crosswalks to be hidden, while the xB is so boxy that there is little to be seen even by twisting your neck backwards).
The Jetta, however, is a fairly small car. Leg room (especially in the rear seats) is not great. This has not been an issue so far, since I am the one doing the driving!
The hunt for a nice family car thus continues. Updated experiences will be posted from time to time. I may even attempt to describe the pros and cons for each model in detail.
As a first step, I started renting out a variety of cars when forced to hit the road (mostly to places that cannot be reached through a nice bus-train combination). Rental companies in the US seem to be fixated on handing out American vehicles. The assignment has always been the Chevrolet (Chevy) Cobalt. Now, "cobalt" conjures up the color blue in my mind. Remember the "cobalt blue" from your watercolor set? On both occassions, however, we were given flashy cars: a deep red, and a glaring orange!! Arrrgh! We were literally lighting up the road as we blazed away on the freeway!
Hue preferences aside, the Cobalt is simply inefficient. In a time when gas prices are skyrocketing to unprecendented highs, this car guzzles black gold. Granted that I was driving a lot, but I had to make fueling stops every day! There were other nagging design defects in this model. Even slight turns of the steering wheel would completely block off the speedometer. Worse, blocking out the sun from your eyes would also block the rear-view mirror! Talk about driving blind!
I have driven far too many other cars by now, thanks to my Zipcar membership (see www.zipcar.com. Hey! A free advertisement for this nice company!) The list includes the Scion xA, Scion xB, Prius (hybrid) and the Volkswagen Jetta.
I wrote a piece on the Prius some time ago. Here is some raving on the Jetta, which has been the best experience to date: it has a solid car body with an equally comforting weight behind the steering mechanism (the xA and xB were so light that even minor bumps on the road would jerk the wheel around). Amazingly smooth acceleration from the Jetta, even from rest. Very good views of the vehicles around you (the Prius' slick, aerodynamic design causes even pedestrians on crosswalks to be hidden, while the xB is so boxy that there is little to be seen even by twisting your neck backwards).
The Jetta, however, is a fairly small car. Leg room (especially in the rear seats) is not great. This has not been an issue so far, since I am the one doing the driving!
The hunt for a nice family car thus continues. Updated experiences will be posted from time to time. I may even attempt to describe the pros and cons for each model in detail.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Inbox clutter
E-mail spam is always a headache. In spite of great advances in filtering technologies that divert unsolicited mail to a special trashcan, junk increasingly escapes their clutches and ends up in my mailbox. The other day, I received one that was sent by "me" to myself! The spam filter caught this one, thankfully, though others from perfectly fictitious entities were being neatly delivered into my Inbox!
Childhood dreams
Here is a quote by Clarence Darrow, a lawyer from the late 80s and early 90s. Any reasons why this line is doing the e-rounds at this point?
Clarence Darrow (April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was the lawyer who defended Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murder and defended John T. Scopes in the so-called "Monkey Trial, opposing Fundamentalist prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. He remains famous for his wit, compassion, and agnosticism.
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'mA brief bio of Clarence Darrow, taken from http://www.brainyencyclopedia.com:
beginning to believe it.
Clarence Darrow (April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was the lawyer who defended Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murder and defended John T. Scopes in the so-called "Monkey Trial, opposing Fundamentalist prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. He remains famous for his wit, compassion, and agnosticism.
It is said that Clarence Darrow failed the bar exam six times, passing upon his seventh attempt. This feat is also shared by Judge Learned Hand, so fearful bar students can find solace in failing—they are in the company of the greats.
After beginning his career as a corporations lawyer in Illinois, he switched sides to represent the American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, in the Pullman Strike of 1894. Darrow had conscientiously resigned his lucrative corporate position to represent the working class, because he empathized with their plight. Unfortunatelly, Darrow had to compromise his principles when defending radical labor leaders such as Big Bill Haywood.
Darrow successfully defended Haywood, the leader of the Industrial Workers of the World and the Western Federation of Miners, on charges of murdering the former governor of Idaho in 1905. He was not so successful when called on to defend the MacNamara Brothers, who were charged with dynamiting the Los Angeles Times building during the bitter struggle over the open shop in Southern California: Darrow convinced them to plead guilty and barely escaped conviction himself for an alleged attempt to bribe a juror.
Whether guilty or not, Darrow left labor practice to devote himself to opposing the death penalty, which he felt to be in conflict with humanitarian progress. In more than 100 cases, Darrow only lost one murder case in Chicago. He became renowned for moving juries, even judges to tears with his eloquence. Despite scant education, Darrow had a keen intellect often shielded by his rumpled, unassuming appearance. Contrary to popular belief, he did not oppose religious principle, but the intolerance and ignorance preached by its more conservative practitioners, such as the Fundamentalists.
A story attributed to Darrow is his quip to a client, who, after winning, said, "How can I ever show my appreciation, Mr. Darrow?" Darrow replied, "Ever since the Phoenicians invented money, there has been only one answer to that question." However, Darrow's pursuit of wealth has been overstated by his detractors. Darrow often took on pro bono defendants who had no means to pay for their attorney.
During the 1924 Leopold-Loeb trial, when Darrow had supposedly accepted "a million-dollar defense," ordinary Americans were angered at their apparent betrayal. In truth, Darrow and his two co-counsels were given $100,000 to split three ways—after dunning the wealthy Loeb family for several months.
In 1925, he defended Ossian Sweet, a black doctor from Detroit, in the shooting death of a member of a white mob. The mob of at least a 1000 people had gathered outside Sweet's home to force him to move from the neighborhood. Darrow referred to the trial as one his best argued, closing with a legendary eight-hour impassioned closing argument which won acquittal for Dr. Sweet from the eleven-man jury, shocking the city.
After the 1925 Scopes Trial, Clarence Darrow largely retired from practice, emerging only occasionally to undertake cases, such as the 1934 Massey Murder Trial in Hawaii.
Darrow shared offices with Edgar Lee Masters, who achieved more fame for his poetry, in particular the Spoon River Anthology, than for his advocacy. Darrow also took Eugene V. Debs as a partner, following his release from prison.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Sidhuisms
Politics has not blunted Navjot Singh Sidhu's edge. Rather, it seems to have set his brain on fire! The latest backlash by the Amritsar babu against Pakistan's Moin Khan proves it:
"Mad dogs keep barking at the elephant, but the king elephant does not bother about them at all."
The context was, obviously, one of several mind-games played by brainless former players who cannot let go of the limelight. Moin asserted in his recent Rediff column, that Tendulkar is fading into history. When the latter smashed a pretty quick century in the last one-day game against Pakistan, Sidhu's fire was stoked to the full.
Of course, we lost the match inspite of a 300+ total, thanks to some brainless middle- and lower-order batting that saw the loss of 5 wickets for next to nothing in return (the dreaded Duckworth-Lewis method intervened to thwart India this time). So let the Tendulkar-bashing begin. Wasn't this century again in a "losing cause"? Frankly, the media seems to be adept at creating the worst cliches. What exactly is a "losing cause"?! Does anyone work towards losing? Is it really a cause?
"Mad dogs keep barking at the elephant, but the king elephant does not bother about them at all."
The context was, obviously, one of several mind-games played by brainless former players who cannot let go of the limelight. Moin asserted in his recent Rediff column, that Tendulkar is fading into history. When the latter smashed a pretty quick century in the last one-day game against Pakistan, Sidhu's fire was stoked to the full.
Of course, we lost the match inspite of a 300+ total, thanks to some brainless middle- and lower-order batting that saw the loss of 5 wickets for next to nothing in return (the dreaded Duckworth-Lewis method intervened to thwart India this time). So let the Tendulkar-bashing begin. Wasn't this century again in a "losing cause"? Frankly, the media seems to be adept at creating the worst cliches. What exactly is a "losing cause"?! Does anyone work towards losing? Is it really a cause?
Sunday, February 05, 2006
In-flight reading
My favorite pastime on flights (long or short) is reading the in-flight sales catalogs. Most flights I have been on have one called SkyMall. The wares portrayed in these publications are typically grossly over-priced, but most of the "ideas" will stun you with the "creativity" of their "inventors".
My liberal sprinkling of quotation marks above must surely reveal my leanings on this issue. On a recent trip to Washington, DC, SkyMall had me rolling in the aisles with their selection of "must-have" gadgets and gee-gaws (a term I first heard uttered by Captain Haddock in the Tintin comic 'The Castafiore Emerald'). For example, there was an indoor ramp to allow your pet dog to get onto your sofa more easily. A similar product aimed at assisting dogs into cars. And I have to mention the man's organizer: a plain tray with a few dividers, to "store" keys, a cell phone and some change. Wow! table-tops seem to have become extinct now!
The next time you are on a plane and are bored out of your skull, turn immediately to SkyMall. I guarantee that it will be enough to fill the longest flight.
My liberal sprinkling of quotation marks above must surely reveal my leanings on this issue. On a recent trip to Washington, DC, SkyMall had me rolling in the aisles with their selection of "must-have" gadgets and gee-gaws (a term I first heard uttered by Captain Haddock in the Tintin comic 'The Castafiore Emerald'). For example, there was an indoor ramp to allow your pet dog to get onto your sofa more easily. A similar product aimed at assisting dogs into cars. And I have to mention the man's organizer: a plain tray with a few dividers, to "store" keys, a cell phone and some change. Wow! table-tops seem to have become extinct now!
The next time you are on a plane and are bored out of your skull, turn immediately to SkyMall. I guarantee that it will be enough to fill the longest flight.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
HOV: High Octane Ventures
As a transportation engineer, my eyes seem to trap more news stories involving cars, trains and anything remotely related to this field. Here is an example: in a span of just a few days, I chanced upon two articles involving the misuse of HOV traffic lanes.
High Occupancy Vehicle lanes are specially marked highway lanes restricted to vehicles with at least two occupants. These lanes are usually identified by the series of diamond-shaped symbols painted along their length. The motivation for such an idea is simple: provide a lane with fewer vehicles (and thus less congestion), which could force more people to share cars to and from work. In essence, they can potentially reduce the number of cars on the road. Resulting benefits could be widespread, and include reductions in travel delays, fuel consumption, emissions and accidents.
One woman was recently arrested for driving all by herself in an HOV lane. When she was hauled to court, she defended her action by claiming that her yet-to-be-born child was the second occupant! The judge threw her case out, and forced her to cough up the fee.
In a second incident, a man in the HOV lane was caught by a patrolling police officer because he had a fully-clothed dummy in the seat next to him! The officer apparently observed this car over several days, and noticed the same guy (in the same clothes, too) riding along!
All of this reminds me of my friend's account of innovative sellers in Greece, who marketed a plain white T-shirt with a single black band going across it - to "simulate" a seat belt! The idea was to attract drivers who were averse to wearing them, but (obviously) did not want to get caught.
High Occupancy Vehicle lanes are specially marked highway lanes restricted to vehicles with at least two occupants. These lanes are usually identified by the series of diamond-shaped symbols painted along their length. The motivation for such an idea is simple: provide a lane with fewer vehicles (and thus less congestion), which could force more people to share cars to and from work. In essence, they can potentially reduce the number of cars on the road. Resulting benefits could be widespread, and include reductions in travel delays, fuel consumption, emissions and accidents.
One woman was recently arrested for driving all by herself in an HOV lane. When she was hauled to court, she defended her action by claiming that her yet-to-be-born child was the second occupant! The judge threw her case out, and forced her to cough up the fee.
In a second incident, a man in the HOV lane was caught by a patrolling police officer because he had a fully-clothed dummy in the seat next to him! The officer apparently observed this car over several days, and noticed the same guy (in the same clothes, too) riding along!
All of this reminds me of my friend's account of innovative sellers in Greece, who marketed a plain white T-shirt with a single black band going across it - to "simulate" a seat belt! The idea was to attract drivers who were averse to wearing them, but (obviously) did not want to get caught.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Zipping around in a Prius
I am a happy Zipster. One of the many urban dwellers who are Zipcar members (visit http://www.zipcar.com). For a very nominal fee, we get to reserve cars online and pay $8.50 and up per hour. The concept is simple: our reservation is transmitted to the car, which locks and unlocks with personal magnetic zipcards. The keys to the car are always inside the vehicle. There are no extra mileage fees for the first 125 miles per reservation. The best part, however, is that the hourly fee includes fuel and insurance. Not to mention the free parking spot at the end of the trip!
Due to a combination of circumstances, I reserved a Toyota Prius for a few hours the other day. This is a hybrid car: one that uses both gasoline (petrol) and electric engines to power the transmission system. The Zipcar website indicated that the car had several unique features, and I decided to see for myself. Better to fiddle with the new gadgets now than later, when you are in a tearing hurry.
The car itself looks sleek, with a curved dome that replaces the more traditional boxy types. For a low roof, head room was not an issue (although I am six feet tall). The curved top did pose one problem, though. It cut off my field of view to the left and right of the car. As a result, I ended up having to crane my body and neck back and forth at every single traffic light, to make sure I was not about to run over a person or pet in the crosswalk. The dome is steeper in the back, but still manages to cut down significantly on what you can see in the rear-view mirror.
Some crucial notes for the occassional driver:
The car is not really cheap: it costs upwards of about $20,000. Up until 2005, the accompanying tax break (for polluting the environment less than regular gas cars) is in the form of a deduction, so it does not translate into 1:1 dollar savings. The incentive apparently may morph into a tax credit for 2006, though the details are yet to be finalized. A more detailed analysis will be required (taking into account the proposed usage level) to see if this will be a worthwhile investment in the long run. I'd try out a few other models first.
A more detailed technical analysis of hybrid vehicle technology can be found at the HowStuffWorks website.
Due to a combination of circumstances, I reserved a Toyota Prius for a few hours the other day. This is a hybrid car: one that uses both gasoline (petrol) and electric engines to power the transmission system. The Zipcar website indicated that the car had several unique features, and I decided to see for myself. Better to fiddle with the new gadgets now than later, when you are in a tearing hurry.
The car itself looks sleek, with a curved dome that replaces the more traditional boxy types. For a low roof, head room was not an issue (although I am six feet tall). The curved top did pose one problem, though. It cut off my field of view to the left and right of the car. As a result, I ended up having to crane my body and neck back and forth at every single traffic light, to make sure I was not about to run over a person or pet in the crosswalk. The dome is steeper in the back, but still manages to cut down significantly on what you can see in the rear-view mirror.
Some crucial notes for the occassional driver:
- The gas pedal is practically invisible. I searched for about 5 minutes before blindly feeling for it with my foot. The brake pedal, on the other hand, is large and prominent. Safety first, perhaps?
- The ignition "key" is a small plastic device that you stick directly into a slot on the dashboard. Looks like the key you get with modern cars, the one with the standard buttons to lock and unlock the doors. There is a "power" button on the dashboard that springs the engine into rumbling action.
- The hand brake is akin to the ancient pedal on the left of the car. Again, when activated, the pedal is hard to find. They put in a footrest instead, which I foolishly pressed for 5-10 minutes to no avail. I had to pull over eventually and dig up the user manual from the glove compartment to figure out its location. After more feeling with my foot again, of course.
- When you stop at a red light, the engine "dies"! Disconcerting, but all you need to do is push the gas pedal and it roars back to life.
- All indicators are digital, including the transmission system and speedometer. There is a little joystick on the dashboard that allows you to select a mode (reverse, drive, neutral). When you release the joystick, it springs back to its original position. The dashboard, however, indicates what gear you chose.
- There is a funky touch-sensitive LCD display that constantly shows you "important" graphic details like energy usage: how much power the transmission system is directing to the various wheels. This keeps changing every few seconds, and was a constant source of distraction.
The car is not really cheap: it costs upwards of about $20,000. Up until 2005, the accompanying tax break (for polluting the environment less than regular gas cars) is in the form of a deduction, so it does not translate into 1:1 dollar savings. The incentive apparently may morph into a tax credit for 2006, though the details are yet to be finalized. A more detailed analysis will be required (taking into account the proposed usage level) to see if this will be a worthwhile investment in the long run. I'd try out a few other models first.
A more detailed technical analysis of hybrid vehicle technology can be found at the HowStuffWorks website.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Inertia
Newton's third law of motion states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Comedian Steven Wright re-states this well-known truth in the context of today's technology-driven world:
A bus station is where a bus stops.Every attempt at work probably has this equal (if not greater) inertia taunting you to procrastinate!
A train station is where a train stops.
On my desk, I have a workstation... go figure!
Flying with Wadsworth
The heights by great men reached and keptI came across the above quote only once, and ages ago, when I was merely some 6 or 7 years old. But human memory is a funny thing. I have written before about such clear recollections from my distant past, and had the urge to document this inspiring instance.
were not attained by sudden flight,
For they while their companions slept,
were toiling upward in the night.
The famous lines by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow conjure for me an image of a soaring eagle or arctic tern. Or an albatross. I remember going across our housing complex in Madurai, to bungalow #3, to check out this new wall mural of the bird in flight. The couplet bounced off the waves beneath. I think the artist was around too.
I am not much into poetry, usually preferring the humorous prose of P. G. Wodehouse or the fast-paced action of Dan Brown. But these short words from a renowned source make me want to dig deeper into Wadsworth's other contributions. Maybe I will, some day...
The day Ozzie Osborne spoke to me
I thought Ozzie Osborne was a TV serial.
I have known for a while that Ozzie was a "hit" TV series from decades long gone by. I even own a DVD with some of the episodes. I bought that item even after the checkout clerk at Microcenter gave me this incredulous look while he broadcast to the rest of the queue: "Are you really buying an Ozzie and Harriet DVD?!!!" I remember nodding vigorously, mumbling some excuse with averted eyes, and running out of the store (with the DVD) thinking about what monstrosity I was going to find on that disc. In my defense, I (a) had no clue about Ozzie back then, (b) paid less than $2 for it, and (c) am yet to even break it out of its shrink-wrap.
This morning, Google politely informed me that Ozzie (or Ozzy) Osborne is some sort of rock musician who looks like (s)he belongs in a horror movie.
My first phone call on a peaceful Saturday (today) is from my credit card company. Well, I believe it was a call center in India. There was no mistaking the accent of the caller, and the background noise as though he was calling me from some car assembly floor.
Patience! This is not another rant against jobs leaving the pristine shores of the US. Frankly, I have no problem with outsourcing. It is a by-product of capitalism. If the US wants to stick by its economic model, then it has to accept the cost-cutting basis that leads to outsourcing. And well, I'm Indian, too. But I got irritated when this Indian sitting far away in India actually said:
"Hello Mr. So-and-So. I am calling from XYZ Bank. You have a credit card account with us. My name is Ozzie Osborne."
I was immediately thrown off guard. Instead of paying attention to the insane "offer" he was about to force on me against my will, my mind wandered back to that unseen DVD and the secrets it still held. I was soon jerked back to reality when Ozzie started trying to verify my address and other details as confirmation of my participation in his scheme.
All attempts at getting out of the trap proved futile, but I put up a brave fight. Mr. Osborne eventually gave up. Quoting some "internal system error", he transferred me to his floor supervisor. Blank silence on the phone, when I was tempted to hang up. But there is still some goodness left in me inspite of more than six years of harrassment by the Ozzie-types. I held on, and was soon greeted by another Indian voice. More background shop-floor sound effects.
"Hi, my name is Mr. Mascarenhas."
This is when I finally hung up. Hadn't this joke gone too far? This is not the first time I have been faced with Indian sales agents giving out fake Anglicised names. If they lie about their identities, why should I believe their statements?
Maybe Americans do not want to call Dell Customer Service and be greeted with:
"Hi, welcome to Dell customer service. My name is Panchapakesan Venkatasubramanian Balakrishna Pillai. How may I help you?"
But there are Indian ways to shorten names. Why resort to Westernization? Could it also be possible that the jobs (such as Mr. Ozzie's) being outsourced are ones that nobody in America actually wants to have?
I have known for a while that Ozzie was a "hit" TV series from decades long gone by. I even own a DVD with some of the episodes. I bought that item even after the checkout clerk at Microcenter gave me this incredulous look while he broadcast to the rest of the queue: "Are you really buying an Ozzie and Harriet DVD?!!!" I remember nodding vigorously, mumbling some excuse with averted eyes, and running out of the store (with the DVD) thinking about what monstrosity I was going to find on that disc. In my defense, I (a) had no clue about Ozzie back then, (b) paid less than $2 for it, and (c) am yet to even break it out of its shrink-wrap.
This morning, Google politely informed me that Ozzie (or Ozzy) Osborne is some sort of rock musician who looks like (s)he belongs in a horror movie.
My first phone call on a peaceful Saturday (today) is from my credit card company. Well, I believe it was a call center in India. There was no mistaking the accent of the caller, and the background noise as though he was calling me from some car assembly floor.
Patience! This is not another rant against jobs leaving the pristine shores of the US. Frankly, I have no problem with outsourcing. It is a by-product of capitalism. If the US wants to stick by its economic model, then it has to accept the cost-cutting basis that leads to outsourcing. And well, I'm Indian, too. But I got irritated when this Indian sitting far away in India actually said:
"Hello Mr. So-and-So. I am calling from XYZ Bank. You have a credit card account with us. My name is Ozzie Osborne."
I was immediately thrown off guard. Instead of paying attention to the insane "offer" he was about to force on me against my will, my mind wandered back to that unseen DVD and the secrets it still held. I was soon jerked back to reality when Ozzie started trying to verify my address and other details as confirmation of my participation in his scheme.
All attempts at getting out of the trap proved futile, but I put up a brave fight. Mr. Osborne eventually gave up. Quoting some "internal system error", he transferred me to his floor supervisor. Blank silence on the phone, when I was tempted to hang up. But there is still some goodness left in me inspite of more than six years of harrassment by the Ozzie-types. I held on, and was soon greeted by another Indian voice. More background shop-floor sound effects.
"Hi, my name is Mr. Mascarenhas."
This is when I finally hung up. Hadn't this joke gone too far? This is not the first time I have been faced with Indian sales agents giving out fake Anglicised names. If they lie about their identities, why should I believe their statements?
Maybe Americans do not want to call Dell Customer Service and be greeted with:
"Hi, welcome to Dell customer service. My name is Panchapakesan Venkatasubramanian Balakrishna Pillai. How may I help you?"
But there are Indian ways to shorten names. Why resort to Westernization? Could it also be possible that the jobs (such as Mr. Ozzie's) being outsourced are ones that nobody in America actually wants to have?
It's a bugged life!
The US is caught up in the "warrantless wiretapping" debate at the moment. There are other topics in the boiling pot, but this one seems to be on top with a select few, such as the Judge Alito confirmation saga and Democrat senator John Kerry's promise to go for the filibuster that would block Alito. E-bugs, however, are not the only newsworthy insects today.
According to a CNN report, that ubiquitous food info label stating "added colors" is not as innocuous as it reads (I trust CNN to bring me the latest scandals and tripe that no self-respecting news channel would touch with the proverbial ten-foot pole). The red coloring that goes into a variety of everyday products (such as yoghurt, lipstick, ice cream and strawberry milk shake) probably comes from crushed bugs! The barely visible silver lining (at least according to the reporter) seems to be that the pigment and its source are as ancient as the Aztecs who discovered the dye.
The Food and Drug Administration is apprently going to require that such products include the terms "cochineal extract" and "carmine", which would indicate that you are just about to pay good money to smear bug-parts all over your face. Why not call a spade a spade, and label it with something more intuitive, like "may contain hairly insect legs and/or crushed beetles"?
So there goes my appetite for anything strawberry-flavored. Maybe I'll revert to making my own shakes at home now. Thankfully, I don't use any lipstick.
According to a CNN report, that ubiquitous food info label stating "added colors" is not as innocuous as it reads (I trust CNN to bring me the latest scandals and tripe that no self-respecting news channel would touch with the proverbial ten-foot pole). The red coloring that goes into a variety of everyday products (such as yoghurt, lipstick, ice cream and strawberry milk shake) probably comes from crushed bugs! The barely visible silver lining (at least according to the reporter) seems to be that the pigment and its source are as ancient as the Aztecs who discovered the dye.
The Food and Drug Administration is apprently going to require that such products include the terms "cochineal extract" and "carmine", which would indicate that you are just about to pay good money to smear bug-parts all over your face. Why not call a spade a spade, and label it with something more intuitive, like "may contain hairly insect legs and/or crushed beetles"?
So there goes my appetite for anything strawberry-flavored. Maybe I'll revert to making my own shakes at home now. Thankfully, I don't use any lipstick.
Starting over...
This is not my first blog. Now before you go off thinking I have a whole blog-family of opinions sprouting around the web, let me clarify! I finally decided to post something on my (only) blog today, and found out I could not login anymore! Looks like my account "timed out" - the page is still accessible to the public, but I cannot get in and add stuff. Really vexing.
That's when I decided that a blog-brother would be in order. So here it is. I like the alliterative title I used for the old blog, and decided to use the same here for want of a more catchy heading. If you are interested in my rants from the past few years, do click here and enjoy as long as Rediff will keep it alive!
That's when I decided that a blog-brother would be in order. So here it is. I like the alliterative title I used for the old blog, and decided to use the same here for want of a more catchy heading. If you are interested in my rants from the past few years, do click here and enjoy as long as Rediff will keep it alive!
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