RSS

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A correspondent poses an interesting question about the usability of RSS feeds for non-geeks. I love RSS, but the way I use it is completely geeky, so I’m probably a bad test case. If you’re reading this blog via an RSS feed, how are you doing it? What sort of software interface are you using, and how easy is it to use?

Elasticity

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Despite a not insignificant investment of brain cells, I admit to continued ignorance of the ways of economics. Perhaps some of the smart people who read this blog can help me understand this:

Gasoline demand for the four weeks ending May 26 averaged over 9.3 million barrels per day, an increase over last year, despite average retail prices in May being 75 cents per gallon higher than they were a year ago.

Traditional economics would suggest that when the price of something rises, we buy less of it, right? I don’t get it.

Depending on Gmail

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I made the switch to Gmail nearly two years ago. I’d look it up and tell you the exact date, but I can’t because I can’t access my Gmail account. All day long, the same message:

We’re currently performing some unexpected maintenance on your account. While we can’t predict exactly how long it will take, we’re working as quickly as we can to restore access to your email–apologies for the inconvenience.

I apparently am not alone.

The Googlemailbot, in response to an inquiry, helpfully added:

Your Gmail account has been disabled due to a technical issue. Our engineers are working diligently to find a solution so that you can regain access to your account.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and we thank you for your patience during our limited test of Gmail. (emphasis added)

I know, I know, it’s “beta”. It’s free. What do I expect? It is what it is. Sucks nonetheless.

The thing is, Google made mail work so well for me that it’s become indispensable. All the mail from my work (abqjournal) and home (inkstain) ends up in the same bucket, searchable forever. It’s a weird feeling, like part of my brain is missing or something.

Drought in Northern China II

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Various stories on the wire today discuss the Chinese government’s attempts to control expanding deserts. What I found interesting was this bit from the Indepedent:

A persistent drought in northern parts of China has only added to the problem, sucking moisture from the soil and making it more easily picked up by the wind, officials have said.

This plays into one of the fallacies of drought – that it is an aberration, something outside of normal. In fact, what’s being called “drought” here is merely the dry end of the normal range of variability in northern China.

Daybook

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IMG_0059

Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck.

  • ride: The picture’s from a pedestrian bridge over the interstate near my house. This is how we do a lot of our rivers here in the western U.S. – all concrete, but with very little water in them. In this case, it’s a bit of a puzzle that there’s any water at all, seeing as how it’s not rained in a month. This morning I rode early and easy, wandering up through the heights trying to figure out where the water’s coming from. No answers.

  • music: Scored yesterday in the Very Cheap Rack at Natural Sound, The Best of Dick Dale and his Del-Tones. The highlight? The King of the Surf Guitar does Hava Nagila.

  • book: Blink. The latest Blinkish epiphany came on the bike ride yesterday. I’ve always ridden with a heart monitor. Yesterday I left it home. Steve, who is extremely wise and timed his attack perfectly on our last little climb (I went too early), told me a story about a friend whose running had become stodgy and stalled. The guy stuck his watch in a drawer. Worked wonders.

  • word of the day: peewit (a bird)