by Ethan Johnson
November 22, 2008

The older I get, the more intellectual kinship I feel with people like Dave Rogers, who says "technology doesn't change what we do, just how we do it." Actually, I am finding that the older I get, and more to the point, the busier I am with other concerns, the less interest I have in whatever purports to be "world-changing". I suppose this is why a blog post titled 5 Ways Social Media Will Change Recorded History caught my eye and inspired me to respond publicly.

by Ethan Johnson
September 8, 2008

If nothing else came out of this year's Republican National Convention, it was the chant of "drill baby, drill!" Because nothing solves an energy crisis like drilling for a finite resource. Incredibly, a writer for The Economist agrees:

by Ethan Johnson
August 9, 2008

It's time for the "silly season" in US politics, which means this year the candidates are spewing sound bytes and similar bumper sticker-ese in hopes of swaying the voters. An example of this is direct from a recent bumper sticker sighting around town: "Drill here, drill now, pay less." Sure, maybe in 10 years, assuming that the oil/gas market mirrors current conditions, rather than being a last-ditch effort to placate "demand" with "supply". This is apparently a new Republican meme. On the "eco" side of things, which tends to skew left, a common refrain is "[whatever] will save the planet." Cut/paste/replace with any of the following: CFL bulbs, "green" grocery bags, wind power, solar power, geothermal power, SIGG™ water bottles, etc etc ad infinitum. I don't disagree with the assertions that many (and more) of these things can be good decisions, and yield positive benefits, but "save the planet"? What is this, Marvel Comics?

by Ethan Johnson
July 21, 2008

I have been clinging to part of the July 6 edition of the Dallas Morning News as it was chock full of Power Plus-related material, most notably a story about wind power in Texas. For the purposes of this installment, I am going to zero in on a sidebar item from the wind power story about the "grid" and peak demand.

by Ethan Johnson
July 12, 2008

"Power Plus" is an open-ended series of articles, intended to cover matters pertaining to energy production, consumption, and conservation. Admittedly, this can come off as a depressing or maddening topic, especially when I harp on conservation and consumption. Sadly, I can't promise to stop beating those topics into the ground, but now is a good time to talk a bit about advancements in the power "space" (I said that to get a rise out of the office types) and how we all might benefit from them.

by Ethan Johnson
July 11, 2008

Some years ago, I started to notice that HGTV was quietly removing ceiling fans whenever a total room makeover was being performed. I wondered if running the ceiling fans in our house was something of a sucker's bet, as the AC might actually cool the room more efficiently, and who knows what the electrical draw of each fan is, anyway?

by Ethan Johnson
July 6, 2008

The New York Times went two-for-two this weekend with stories about high US gas prices and what is being done now to cope with them, and what could have been done to minimize their impact. Fair warning: NYT online articles tend to require free registration.

by Ethan Johnson
June 29, 2008

[Updated 6/30/2008 - see end of article]

I have been engrossed in the pursuit of learning about energy production and consumption. And as I have mulled about these topics, I have been observing that a good percentage of the energy we US denizens consume seems to be based on the concept of "doing it because we can." Simply put, if you had to generate the necessary electricity to power all of your electric doo-dads "off the grid", you'd be a Luddite inside of a week.