There are still some of the roughest months to go in the year, and there have already been six abalone divers killed in California. Last year apparently the number was Seven. As someone who has spent a great deal of time free diving in Northern California this is almost enough to make me take up SCUBA full time. It might sound more complicated, but you have time. With free diving one little mistake, that would take you just three minutes to get out of, and that is it for you. SCUBA is far more safe because you have some time to handle any issue that should come up. Some of the people who have been killed were quite experienced too, here is a list that includes up to 2007.
I guess the only good thing to know is that divers who have spent as much time in the water as I have rarely get in trouble unless the conditions are really bad, or a Great White Shark comes around. I have not exactly been conservative about when to enter the water however, perhaps I should be.
On the plus side, it really looks like a great time to be a spearfisherman in California. Albacore are at or near record numbers, Lingcod have increased dramatically in population in the past five years, while most rockfish have yet to rebound, one of the most common varieties the Black Rockfish has staged a comeback, Halibut have not returned to their levels a hundred years ago but are doing far better than they were in the 70s, White sea bass are also present in far greater numbers than the 60s-80s. The last time I was in the water in CA, all rockfish populations were at record lows, and ling cod were in really bad shape. With the new marine reserves the situation is only going to be improving. So, I think its about time to escape upstate NY.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Random Facts
Here are some fun facts I found out this week.
The area of the bottom of the ocean is equal to approximately the surface area of two planets the size of mars, and two moons the size of ours. That fact combined with high commodity prices mean that bottom of the ocean mining is starting to look really attractive. The first example of metal mining on the bottom of the ocean is currently planned to begin in Paupa New Guinea in about two years.
You can likely fit a Nuclear Reactor the size of one in a major power plant in your bedroom. My Nuclear Engineering Professor drew a life size cross section of one on the blackboard. From what I could see dimensions of it are a cylinder of about ten feet diameter, and twelve feet in height. This volume is enough to hold 4.5 years worth of fuel! Compare that to the two coal trains a week that head to our local coal power plant. This is why the nuclear waste of several decades time has been able to be stored on site. It is quite low in volume compared to the waste of any other type of power plant.
The area of the bottom of the ocean is equal to approximately the surface area of two planets the size of mars, and two moons the size of ours. That fact combined with high commodity prices mean that bottom of the ocean mining is starting to look really attractive. The first example of metal mining on the bottom of the ocean is currently planned to begin in Paupa New Guinea in about two years.
You can likely fit a Nuclear Reactor the size of one in a major power plant in your bedroom. My Nuclear Engineering Professor drew a life size cross section of one on the blackboard. From what I could see dimensions of it are a cylinder of about ten feet diameter, and twelve feet in height. This volume is enough to hold 4.5 years worth of fuel! Compare that to the two coal trains a week that head to our local coal power plant. This is why the nuclear waste of several decades time has been able to be stored on site. It is quite low in volume compared to the waste of any other type of power plant.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
iphone applications
I tried to download iphone applications for the first time today only to find that I couldn't on my version of itunes. Even worse, the old hack I had used to install itunes on a computer with an XP-64 operating system didn't work(mostly because I couldn't download the newest version of itunes because apple blocks you from downloading the 64 bit version unless you have vista 64).
I doubt anyone I know will have this problem, but if you do, here is the newest work around for making itunes work on an xp 64 operating system.
As best as I can tell, it is a real pain in the and may take me another few hours to make it stop giving me dumb errors because of sloppy programming, and poor forethought from apple.
Edit: I spoke too soon. My iphone went into recovery mode, and won't come out. I will have to find someone with a 32 bit version of itunes, update my iphone, then it should work again. However that leaves me without a phone, I really have no clue how long it will be before it works again, I think my only option is to ride my bike to school and try to get my computer in the lab to make it work.
Edit: I have my phone back exactly where I started. As far as I can tell it is just not possible to make applications on the iphone work if you have an XP 64 operating system. Maybe I will just steal a friends XP 32 bit disks and go through the pain in the ass process of reformatting my hard drive. Knowing me ill just bitch about it though.
I doubt anyone I know will have this problem, but if you do, here is the newest work around for making itunes work on an xp 64 operating system.
As best as I can tell, it is a real pain in the and may take me another few hours to make it stop giving me dumb errors because of sloppy programming, and poor forethought from apple.
Edit: I spoke too soon. My iphone went into recovery mode, and won't come out. I will have to find someone with a 32 bit version of itunes, update my iphone, then it should work again. However that leaves me without a phone, I really have no clue how long it will be before it works again, I think my only option is to ride my bike to school and try to get my computer in the lab to make it work.
Edit: I have my phone back exactly where I started. As far as I can tell it is just not possible to make applications on the iphone work if you have an XP 64 operating system. Maybe I will just steal a friends XP 32 bit disks and go through the pain in the ass process of reformatting my hard drive. Knowing me ill just bitch about it though.
Bubbles!
Some of the ten year graphs on yahoo real estate are getting pretty impressive. The bubble has not only burst, but in many cities it is closer to the bottom, than the top. Expect the end of the bubble to equal the inflation adjusted start of the bubble in parts of the country where income did not change dramatically. Nothing changed that would cause people to willingly spend a greater percentage of their income on housing now that it has become clear that housing is not a good investment. The 2000 housing price is the best predictor of where houses will be in five years.
San Jose
Merced
Fresno
San Jose
Merced
Fresno
Friday, September 5, 2008
San Jose Housing
In April 2006 the median house price in San Jose was $739 000, and the 25th percentile home was $599 000. Today, the median price is down to $530 000, and the 25th percentile is at $375 000 and falling fast.Source
This means I would have roughly needed a $185 000 a year income to afford a median priced house in 2004, but today it only requires around $132 000. A 25th percentile home would require around $93000 a year today. Still more than I am likely to make, but not so unreasonable as to be unattainable would put me into the right range. I better start saving, I see every reason to think my income will rise fast enough to intersect with the price of a median price home within a decade. A wife making equal income to what I expect to make next semester would even push me over the edge now, although I somehow don't see that happening.
I suspect at least another year of falling prices, followed by at least a decade where people are going to be thinking of homes as a horrible investment keeping new bubbles from forming.
This means I would have roughly needed a $185 000 a year income to afford a median priced house in 2004, but today it only requires around $132 000. A 25th percentile home would require around $93000 a year today. Still more than I am likely to make, but not so unreasonable as to be unattainable would put me into the right range. I better start saving, I see every reason to think my income will rise fast enough to intersect with the price of a median price home within a decade. A wife making equal income to what I expect to make next semester would even push me over the edge now, although I somehow don't see that happening.
I suspect at least another year of falling prices, followed by at least a decade where people are going to be thinking of homes as a horrible investment keeping new bubbles from forming.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Nature and Nurture
It has been obvious to anyone who has watched the nature verses nurture battles of the last few centuries that the final answer would be that both are important. As time has passed measures have been getting better and better however about which is most important. Today the New York Times had an interesting article that I believe is about the cutting edge of the field. It is actually pretty shocking just how much actually is genetics.
Of course there will always be brilliant children born to dim parents, and dim children born to brilliant parents. But it is nice thinking that Makayla has the odds stacked in her favor.
Dr. Segal has found that identical twins were the most alike in their thinking, fraternal twins somewhat less so, and virtual twins strikingly different. When it comes to intelligence, for example, her research has found that only 25 percent of the differences between twins — virtual, fraternal or identical — can be accounted for by their environment, 75 percent by genetics.
Of course there will always be brilliant children born to dim parents, and dim children born to brilliant parents. But it is nice thinking that Makayla has the odds stacked in her favor.
Stupid cars
My car has been in the shop for a week as they try to work out exactly what is wrong with it. First it was an ignition coil. That was cheap enough to fix. Then they claimed it was a fuel injector which would be $175, a pain but whatever.
Then yesterday I call to see if my car is done. The mechanic didn't believe the Jaguar representative who said the fuel injector needed replaced, so he didn't replace it. But while digging around they found a huge problem, that I admit I didn't completely understand, that they said would be $2200 to fix. I sort of freaked out when I heard that, I was already paying more than $1000 for routine maintenance that needs done every hundred thousand miles. So I asked if there were any reasonable corners I could cut since the car is at 210 000 miles. I get put on hold. Five minutes later he comes back thinking he can do it for 600, as long as certain parts are in good enough shape. OK, a pain in the ass, but not the end of the world. I will probably get out of there under 2k in the hole.
Then I get a call this morning. Some bolt in the engine is too tight. They think they might be able to get it out, but it is at a high risk for breaking. If it does break the only option is to remove the engine and send it to a machine shop. There is a risk that they even cannot fix it though and I will need to replace the engine! However they are currently looking for ways to avoid this problem, so all I can do is wait around for more news. I am still really hoping this car holds out until I can buy a plug in hybrid, but it is starting to worry me.
Then yesterday I call to see if my car is done. The mechanic didn't believe the Jaguar representative who said the fuel injector needed replaced, so he didn't replace it. But while digging around they found a huge problem, that I admit I didn't completely understand, that they said would be $2200 to fix. I sort of freaked out when I heard that, I was already paying more than $1000 for routine maintenance that needs done every hundred thousand miles. So I asked if there were any reasonable corners I could cut since the car is at 210 000 miles. I get put on hold. Five minutes later he comes back thinking he can do it for 600, as long as certain parts are in good enough shape. OK, a pain in the ass, but not the end of the world. I will probably get out of there under 2k in the hole.
Then I get a call this morning. Some bolt in the engine is too tight. They think they might be able to get it out, but it is at a high risk for breaking. If it does break the only option is to remove the engine and send it to a machine shop. There is a risk that they even cannot fix it though and I will need to replace the engine! However they are currently looking for ways to avoid this problem, so all I can do is wait around for more news. I am still really hoping this car holds out until I can buy a plug in hybrid, but it is starting to worry me.
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