MS 150

This past weekend was the MS150 bike tour that I do every year. I want to once again thank everyone who contributed to my fundraising efforts. I raised about $730 this year while my biking parter, Bryan Pai, raised around $2,000 (go Bryan!). This year was particularly hard because neither of us had really trained for the ride as we'd done in years past. Also, the strong headwinds this year made going even downhill a challenge sometimes. As tough as it was, I'm once again glad I did it and, oddly enough, I'm not at all sore so I've got no complaints.

I hope some of you will ride with me next year or possibly volunteer at the event. It's time to Start to Finish MS. For more opportunities to work with the National MS Society, please visit. www.msandyou.org

Band stuff

So, last Wednesday we had our second gig at Artomatic. It was once again a blast and we got really positive feedback from the folks there. I thought I played a little sloppy, but I'm understanding that what's important is not playing each part perfectly, but putting on a show that people will enjoy. Mona made up for my few bad notes with lots of stage presense and ending our last song with "I won't buy you chips!" (inside joke, sorry)

Last night, we tried to record our songs two instruments at a time (first the bass & drums then the two guitars). Since my hardward can record two distinct tracks at a time, this will allow us to have our songs in Garage Band with each instrument as a separate track - allowing us to fiddle with level and effects and what-not. Unfortunately, we had problems with the sound board and more generally with our own incompetence. The whole night was pretty much a waste. The good news is that we think we've got it all figured out now and should be good to go to record next week.

audience for the music is one of the things that drives us to makeBeing in a band is a lot of work and it can be frustrating. We all know that there is next to no chance that we're gonna become rich and famous rock stars. So, why do it? Why not just get together and play when we feel like it? That's a hard question to answer. Having our music heard (at gigs or in a recording) is a way for us to share a part of ourselves with other people. Also, knowing that there is an eventual it good. It's more fun if there are stakes, you know? Anyway, I guess there's not a point to it really, it's just something that we all love to do.

Finally, our new MySpace page is up and running. Check it out every once in a while for band updates and to hear our latest tracks: www.myspace.com/colliderdc.

Also, Look how dorky Pat & Tom look in their matching shirts!

The Future Grid

My friend Navid just sent me this cool link to a video on the piezo effect (where you can generate electricity from vibration) that got me thinking about the energy grid of the future. (http://www.flixxy.com/piezo-effect.htm) It will be more complex and more fantastic than what most people can envision today. Our country will not run just on coal & gas but it won't run just on solar either. There is no magic bullet. The grid of the future will be everywhere. We will make power in ways we don't think of now. Some things we might expect:

- There will be an energy efficiency revolution. The cost of saving energy through efficiency improvements is currently about once cent per KWh. Compare that with 6-12 cents to buy it off the grid and this is already a smart idea. Common sense will catch up to us and we will see a major shift in the priority we place on building and product efficiency.
- Coal and gas will still be used, but more for evening out rough spots in the rest of the grid - like spackle on a wall. Clean coal technologies will dramatically reduce the pollution from these plants.
- Conventional renewables (like solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal) will come down radically in price (thanks largely to DOE's long-term, high-risk research) and we will see these sources everywhere - from large centralized power plants in rural areas (like wind tubrines on farm land and solar plants in the desert) to PV roof shingles on every home.
- Solar energy in particular will increase in efficiency and become pervasive and near invisible. Next generation PV house paints will turn any structure into a solar collector and even personal items like backpacks or jackets will serve to wirelessly recharge our personal devices.
- Next generation renewables (like wave & tidal power, cellulosic ethanol, enhanced geothermal, and radical new designs in wind generators) will radically expand our opportunities to capitolize on natural renewable resources like the forces of the sun and moon.
- We will recapture energy that we expend in amazing new ways. From today's "combined heat and power" approaches and regenerative braking found on today's hybrid cars we will discover new ways of recapturing our energy expenditures (see the piezo effect video above for an example). Much like the machines in the movie The Matrix, we will find ways to create power from everyday human behavior (think of how much energy your local gym could supply by turning every exercise bike into a generator!).
- The power system in every building will no longer be one-way. Plugs will have the ability to deliver power or receive it. Every building will be set up to take power from the grid or feed power onto the grid when it is generating a surplus.
- Other technological advances will pave the way for the grid I'm describing. High temperature superconductivity will allow us to generate electricity where it's abundant and deliver it anywhere in the country with almost zero loss due to resistance. Nanotechnology will allow us to greatly increase the efficiency of heat transfer, making power systems more efficient. New composite materials will allow us to build bigger, stronger, lighter planes and wind turbines. Battery storage advances will mean an end to dirty internal combustion engines and a birth to electric cars that can go further, faster, safer than cars of today. These technologies (plus dozens I don't know about) will change the way electric power moves about in our society.

All this is fantastic, but we cannot count on all of this to happen naturally (no matter how much the Bush administration tells you it will). Developing these technologies will require considerable additional funding for Federal and state research, development, and deployment programs. It will require an end to oil & gas subsidies and long-term market support for renewables. It will require public education to show people what role they can play in transforming our energy behavior. It will require an effort as broad as Amercia's resolve in the two World Wars. It will require an urgency and focus equivalent to the Manhattan or Apollo projects. It will require consistency and dedication. It does not require that we wreck our economy - on the contrary, by becoming a leader in energy technologies, America can benefit from the global shift that will take place in this sector.

I don't need to outline the consequences of doing nothing. If you've been paying attention, you already know. I gues you could say I am gravely concerned about our direction but extremely enthusiastic about our potential.

Nadia's Here!

I would like to extend my congratulations to my good friend Jonathan Bayat. Jonathan's wife, Yulia just gave birth to 5 pound, 8 ounce Nadia. Both mother and child are happy and healthy. The Bayat's are in Buenos Aires right now and Jon's going to take a month off of work to be with his family. After that, they're off to Turkmenistan I believe. I think Nadia will have an interesting life.

I'm sure Nadia will inherit her father's creativity and wit, her mother's beauty and kindess, and the intelligence and love of life that they both share. I can't wait to meet her. Congrats to the Bayats!

The best presentation I've ever seen

Hi there,

It was a great weekend. Kate and I ran a 10k on Sunday. Yes, my legs are sore today. Next weekend is my annual MS ride so I'll need to take it easy on my legs and let them recover.

One of the most impressive parts of Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth was the presentation itself. The power of information is greatly affected by how its presented. Anyone interested in presenting data should definitely watch this video of a presentation on global health trends. While this is not my area of expertise, this man's presentation makes it absolutely fascinating.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92

If you're curious, the software he uses to create the moving graphs is called Trendalyzer and was recently aquired by Google. Way cool. I hope I have an opportunity to utilize this at some point.

On AIM again

So, I just downloaded AIM for my work machine. If you're on that, drop me a line (I'm Laden1) or email me your screen name. Rockin.

In other news, on the ONE day I decide to not shave and wear a polo instead of a shirt and tie, my boss decides to pop in from Golden. He looked me up and down and said "are we having a casual day today?" UGH. Oh well, I he and his boss just both gave me big kudos for developing a new approach to strategic planning for EERE so I guess I had some good will stored up.

I hate the whole "let's be uncomfortable in the work place because that's PROFESSIONAL" thing. I wish the necktie had never been invented. I don't care so much in the winter, but when it gets warm out I'd just rather avoid the whole thing. One more incentive to figure out a way to start my own business I guess.

Random Picture Orgy

Hey there,

Some of my dumber friends tell me - I don't want to read things - put up more pictures. Well, I was just pimping out Collider's new MySpace page and trying to get smart on how to put graphics up. In my web journeys I came up with a few visual gems that I thought I'd share with y'all. So, for the illiterate crew, here is a remarkably random set of pics.

Lots of goings on

So, I took Friday off to make it a long weekend - the weather was PERFECT. Pai and I got up early for a bike ride and then played 18 holes of golf in the afternoon. We had a blast. The only hiccup was when I blew a tire about five miles past Vienna. Not having a spare, I had to wait around while Bryan went to go buy me a new one. Golf was made better by the fact that I wasn't keeping score. Also, check out this unfortunate lie on a hole that was under some construction. We decided that David would get relief and not have to play from underneath the tractor.

The rest of the weekend was fun too. Kate and I went to Pat & Terry's Cinco de Mayo party where I defeated a dragon (piniatta) and brought Sweet Tarts and Double Bubble to the land. Sunday night was Collider's first gig at Artomatic. It went really well and we were quite pleased with our sound. Also enjoying it were the eight people there listenning. Oh well, it's Artomatic, we knew there wouldn't be anyone there.

This morning at work I'm popular all of a sudden. A local television station asked me to come on one of their talk shows to discuss the PGE rate hike (I have NO idea why but I can't make it anyway). Also, Johnson Controls has asked me to speak on renewable energy at their annual energy forum in Washington DC. That'll be fun I think.