apple juice

Congress Actually Ends Taxpayer Funding Of Ethanol Subsidies

Yay!

I would support subsidies for actual “green” energy sources, however, ethanol is not one of those sources. Not only is it a net-energy loss (takes more energy to produce than what you get out) but…

“Using corn is the least productive way to make ethanol, at roughly 300 gallons per acre of feedstock. The Brazilian ethanol industry gets twice as many gallons per acre using sugar cane, and other feedstocks like switchgrass have been projected to produce up to 1,200 gallons per acre.”

So now, where is the investment in switchgrass ethanol?

Or perhaps we put a 50 cents / gallon tax on petroleum based road fuels?

(Via Green Car Reports.)

1. the hobbit
2. prometheus
3. the dark knight rises

I used to loathe going to the apple store. I feel as though I know one or two things about technology, and I felt the apple store employees were unwilling to acknowledge that and treat me like an advanced user.

Recently I’ve noticed a change, the last few experiences were very pleasant. I’m not sure if new training occurred for the employees, but the employees I have worked with are quick to assess my skill level and respond appropriately.

Over the past month, my iPhone’s home button stopped responding consistently. This morning, I made a genius bar appointment (via the Apple Store app), came in, was promptly helped, she quickly verified the problem, and I walked out with a new / (refurbished?) iPhone within 10 minutes.

To make the whole process even smoother, after syncing my phone, it’s as if nothing ever changed. It’s set up exactly as it was before. (I did have to enter numerous passwords for all of the cloud-synced services)

This article on TechDirt gives the best overview I’ve found yet about the problems with the language in SOPA and PIPA.

Advertising giant GroupM recently asked its entertainment industry customers to compile a list of “sites dedicated to infringement,” not unlike what’s found under PROTECT IP. Universal Music, Warner Bros. and Paramount were three key providers to that list, which ended up covering a large number of perfectly legitimate sites including the famed Internet Archive (widely recognized as the library for the internet). It also included numerous innovative startups that are frequently used by content creators to get their works out, such as SoundCloud and Vimeo. Even more worrisome, it included a variety of publications and blogs, including Vibe Magazine, the quintessential hip hop and R&B magazine founded by Quincy Jones, as well as Complex, a popular lifestyle magazine recently recognized as one of the most valuable startups in New York.

This is my favorite example in the article:

Even worse, it appears that Universal Music also included the personal website of one of its own top artists, 50Cent. The hiphop star has a personal website as well as a website owned by Universal Music. The personal website is much more popular… and it appeared on the infringement list.

I really hope that there is a side effect of this bill: creative people will realize that they don’t need their publishers to get their work out there. (Or if they already realize it, they will act!) What Louis C.K. recently did on his own site serves as a model for any person looking to sell their work – you don’t need the middle man! I think you’ll increasingly see artists of all types reject the existing structure and go directly to the people via the internet. Radiohead, in 2007 did this as well with the album In Rainbows:

In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download self-released, that customers could order for whatever price they saw fit, followed by a standard CD release in most countries during the last week of 2007

larry lessig was being introduced by jon stewart on the daily show a few nights ago, and I declared out of nowhere to my wife that he’s one of my heroes. I don’t think I’ve ever declared that I had a hero, but here we go, mr. lessig, you’re my first!

his 2007 ted talk on laws that stifle creativity will give you the appropriate background on where we are today with SOPA, PIPA and the crazy place we are with copyright.

 

and here is his post on why he is not out front and center on the soap / pipa fight

The Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) is a foundational block upon which the Internet has been built and upon which its continued functioning critically depends; it is among a handful of protocols upon which almost every other protocol, and countless Internet applications, rely to operate smoothly.

Read more here: don’t break the internet – stanford law review

I wonder how many congress-people could explain how DNS works in less than a minute. This was mentioned in another blog post I linked to, but the willful anti-intellectualism displayed by our representatives is astounding.

I’m also seriously bothered that Senator Franken is a co-sponsor of PIPA. Unbelievable. Did he come out a little too strong on the side of net-neutrality, and now all of big media is breathing down his neck?

I just spoke to Senator Franken’s office – you can contact them here

The OpenCongress page will give you an idea of the supporters of this bill.

If you want to read more about this issue, the “Protect Innovation” website will give you a rundown.

emi: “dad, this swiper is not for little kids, because it is a choke-able.”