Make No Little Plans

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.

- Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1846-1912)

Stop SOPA

That will be a reality soon, all over the net, unless you act now to stop it.

If you neglect to speak up, allowing apathy to stay your hand, I will tell you to shut the hell up when you start complaining about the repercussions of your inaction. Just sayin’.

If you haven’t been paying attention, you may have missed the national debate on the so-called Stop Online Piracy Act, H.R. 3261. This overly-broad bill will serve only to harm individuals, small businesses, and IT industry innovation, by attempting to legislate an artificial scarcity. Piracy will not be stopped by this method. The problems are far broader and require a deep understanding of the matters at hand. What we are faced with is an opportunity for new business models, new distribution methods, new ways of relating between producer and consumer.

The old ways are obsolete. Those that try to maintain them will become increasingly irrelevant, until they die off. I really wish the big media companies would realize this, and instead of holding on to the past would embrace the future. They have the financial wherewithal to do great things, but alas, they are proving to be fools, and will perish on the sword of innovation wielded by new players in the game.

Trust me, I care about piracy–I slave away to create music, films, and software. It’s hard work, often years of hard work. But I know that the approach in SOPA is dead wrong. Congress is clueless, because they don’t live in the tech world. It’s our responsibility to educate them, and demand they do the right thing.

Look a this Infographic! Everyone loves them.

Track your elected reps: SOPA Tracker

Read a good Forbes.com article

I would post some more links to relevant articles, but they are coming in so fast from every side it’d be futile. Get the freshest information, follow #SOPA on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23SOPA

Educate yourself. Contact your congresscritters. It’s simple to do – do something, and do it now:  http://goo.gl/wFvkp

Costs of Natural Gas vs. Electric Heat

Today, I did some calculations to find out the cost differences between natural gas and electricity for home heating. A few friends and I were debating the details, to figure out which was cheaper. Here are my results:

In a nutshell, natural gas is from 2 to 4 times less expensive than electric per unit energy, based on December 2010 rates in Buffalo, NY. The data also make it simple to find out how much it costs to run a lightbulb or other appliance. For example, running a server that draws 3 amps, or about 360 watts, 24×7, would cost over $30 a month! Good things to know.

You can view the full Google Spreadsheet here.

What’s with all the Sucralose?

Sucralose - glucose with three evil green chlorine atoms!

Why does it seem that sucralose, an artificial sweetener made by chlorinating glucose, is appearing in more and more products where it doesn’t make sense? I don’t understand why beverages that are already full of sugars (typically, high-fructose corn syrup, nasty stuff that makes us fat) need to also include sucralose. These products are not marketed as low-calorie or low-carb. High-fructose corn syrup is already inexpensive and readily available, so I don’t see a cost benefit. What’s the deal? Is it some Giant Evil Conspiracy™ to poison people? Some economic benefit that I don’t know about? High-pressure marketing from the sucralose manufacturers?

I don’t want this crap in my food, drink, body, or environment. Stop putting it in everything! And, if anyone knows why this stuff is appearing with ever-increasing prevalence, please enlighten me!

Magento: Beginner’s Guide – Book Review

I must be doing more Magento work than I realized, as Packt Publishing has asked me to review their new book Magento: Beginner’s Guide for them.
I’ve just received my review copy and I’ll be delving into it in the coming days as I have time.

My first impression is of a good quality softcover book. It’s an on-demand printing, and obviously they are doing it correctly. The book itself is targeted at the store’s operator, and not a theme designer or Magento coder. If you want to set up your own Magento store, having a book like this to explain exactly what everything does, even just in the Admin panel, is a great help.

Stay tuned for the full review!

The Illusionist

The smallest shift in our own attitudes will have an impact on our lives. Seeing your life from a new perspective can show us doors that have been open for years, but we thought were closed. This new self-assessment often yields a fresh confidence, and burst of energy, which we can harness to achieve our own greatness.

What are you doing to achieve your dreams, something which should be everyone’s goal? Whatever it is, it’s difficult, and it requires a leap of faith, a belief in yourself, the confidence and chutzpah to chase after what you want and never, ever give up. I give my mother a lot of credit for digging about inside herself, and finding her strength to be who she really is. It’s hard work. It’s the most rewarding kind, however. Try it yourself, and once you’ve achieved even a little bit of your dream, you’ll never go back.