The Professor's Notes

The US News and World Report has written today that Obama has come out against another energy plan.  Big surprise here, eh?

In an appearance in the battleground state of Nevada yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama mocked Sen. John McCain’s energy policies, particularly his call for more nuclear plants. The AP reports that Obama said in Las Vegas “that he would not take nuclear power ‘off the table’ as a possible energy option, but blasted John McCain’s proposal to build dozens of new reactors in the U.S.” Obama “said he supports increased research into nuclear waste storage and recycling, but could not endorse construction of new reactors until those concerns are resolved.” The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that an underlying theme of Obama’s attacks on McCain were the status of the federal government’s Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility, which is opposed by Obama and most of Nevada’s leaders, but backed by McCain.

I have been hearing now for weeks about all the “gimmicks” that McCain is proposing.  The gas tax holiday is a gimmick, since it only saves the average American $30 (see my previous posts here and here for why that analysis is flawed.)  In addition, any proposal for increasing domestic production is met not only with cries that it is harmful to the environment, but that it is not a near term solution–that “do (sic) not provide immediate relief.”  And yet, this same solution is chastised for not being a long term solution either!

In addition, Obama’s attacks McCain’s proposal to offer a $300M prize for battery development

“to improve battery technology for full commercial development of plug-in hybrid and fully electric automobiles” to leapfrog currently available batteries and would have to build “more than one” advanced battery at 30 percent of current costs.

(In fact, in that same article Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, is quoted as saying “We don’t need a game show,” which, while making a great sound bite, seems to ignore the tremendous innovation currently seen through the use of prizes even at government expense, such as the X-Prize.  See here, here, here, and here.)

In several other stories we see the McCain has proposed immediate, near, mid and long term solutions.  Generally speaking, what Obama is calling gimmicks, we call a strategy.  He is working to alleviate (or at least reduce) the immediate pain at the pump, while seeking to ameliorate the overall energy situation through investing, and rewarding, innovation.

Obama’s plan?  Well, he really doesn’t seem to have a targeted one.  He supports a second round of stimulus tax rebates.  He also supports taxing “big oil” for making their record profits (which, by the way, are a far lower percentage of revenue than the much beloved Apple Inc.  If you don’t trust me, just challenge me.  I did the math…)  He also has called for higher fuel efficiency standards to double fuel economy by 2027!  (is that a near term solution?) And he supports alternative sources, such as solar, wind, and biofuels.

So does this add up to a coherent strategic plan that addresses the immediate needs, as well as the mid- to long-term needs?  What does Obama himself have to say about this:

Obama admitted that his own plan will not immediately affect gas prices but said his proposal for a second stimulus package will offer overall financial relief. “I wish I could wave a magic wand and make gas prices go down, but I can’t,” he said. “What I can do – and what I will do – is push for a second stimulus package that will send out another round of rebate checks to the American people.”

So, what is Obama’s plan for today?  He and McCain seem to agree on the long-term.  And the need for change.  But Senator Obama, do we really have 10 to 20 years to wait?

So, readers, I ask this.  If you were putting together a comprehensive strategy, what would be your:

• immediate term solution for lowering the price at the pumps today
• near/mid term solution for keeping costs down
• long term solution for weaning Americans off a dependence not just on foreign oil, but oil.

Okay, I admit it.  I was briefly tempted to get a Mac.  The Mac has this really cool software, called “Delicious Library” that takes advantage of the webcam in the computer to read ISBN codes, and build a database of your personal library.  Thankfully, that temptation is gone.

Hello, Gurulib.com! 

At Gurulib you can enter books from a web interface, which moves you away from a specific OS, and allows for that whole “open community sharing” idea.  This free site not only lets you enter books into the online database by scanning the ISBN (or entering by hand, or searching on the title, or… you get the hint.)  It also allows you to share, if you wish, your library with others.  Both virtually (a “hey, check out what I like to read” sort of sharing) or literally, by allowing others to request to borrow a book, and allowing for a real exchange.  This is another great way to have some “social networks” that connects people with like interests, and enables you to share those interests.

But that’s not all.  How about entering other things.  Videos.  Games.  Software packages. Yup, you can do that too!  You can even put the items on different shelves.  Some actually create virtual shelves that mimic their real ones making physical search and retrieval possible.  Others create “different” linkages that make sense for their arrangement.

As I mentioned, it works right off their website.  If you have a webcam that can be focused to within a few inches, it will use a flash plugin to read your ISBN/UPC codes right from the page.  Heck, you can even send a photo of an ISBN using a cellphone, and it will scan that and include it in your “Wishlist.”  Imagine that, you are at a library or a bookstore, and see a few books you are interested in.  You snap a shot, send it to the site, and when you get home you can read reviews and order from Amazon.com directly (most likely saving a significant amount of money as well!)

So what sort of other magic does this site do?  Well, once you enter the book ISBN (or title) the site then uses that to pull down all the information available (usually from Amazon) for that item, and includes that.  This means that you have access to reviews, summaries, and even current “used prices” for these items.  Hey–it even will tell you what your library was worth new, and used!  Care to learn how much money you have spent on DVDs, or how much you could get in that “get rich quick” liquidation?

I could go on forever, but let me just mention one other “cool” feature.  You can build a wishlist right there on the site, and your friends and family can work off of there for those big “gift giving” events.  (You know the ones.. that come around every year… and you always have to ask for a list…)  Just put those items right into the wishlist and there you have it. In fact, you can order right from the wishlist using Amazon.com (I suspect that is the way http://gurulib.com is able to remain a free resource–they make money by providing us with this great way to purchase more cool things–similiar to my amazon ads here on this blog.)

I have loaded many, many items already.  I love the site.  Go check it out–and find my library.

I went there… I want to help… get that world record, but it seems they messed up. First off, you can’t get on the site, and when we do, all we see is this:

And, lest you think it is just a graphics problem, the download filename is:

UPDATE:

It seems to (inconsistently) show the right links. To download directly, go to:

http://mozilla.ussg.indiana.edu/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.0/win32/en-US/Firefox%20Setup%203.0.exe

By now everyone has heard Obama’s plan

“I’ll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we’ll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills,” the Illinois senator said.

He of course hasn’t stated at what point profits become “windfall profits.” So off to the definer place I went (you know, a dictionary!) According to The Free Dictionary, windfall profits is: “profit that occurs unexpectedly as a consequence of some event not controlled by those who profit from it”

This has me wondering what (or who else) has profited unexpectedly and therefore should be taxed on th eir “windfall.” I have a few thoughts: Read the rest of this entry »

I would say I feel vindicated. I mean, after all I had been ranting that the iPhone was overpriced.  But then, as you may recall, I blogged about “temporal price discrimination” and how dropping the price on the “Jesus phone” made sense.  Take all the money away from those who are so readily willing to part with it (Scott Bourne, Leo Laporte, and gang) and then lower the price to draw in those who felt that $600 for an 8 gb iPhone was a bit much.

So today, Apple announces the advent of the much awaited “Jesus Phone 2.0″ sporting 3G and GPS.  And–the new iPhone is $199 for an 8 gb model.  Quite the drop in price AND an improvement in feature sets.  I like what the Wall Street Journal had to say about the new phone, relative to price

The moves are an acknowledgement by the Cupertino, Calif., company that the original iPhone was too pricey for the mass audience, especially in a weakening economy…  Mr. Jobs told the audience that Apple surveyed people who hadn’t bought iPhones and more than half of them said their decision was based on the price of the device. “We need to make iPhone more affordable,” Mr. Jobs said.

So does this mean I am “negative” on the iPhone?  Not at all.  I have two in the family!  My son and my wife both have iPhones, and love them.  I get jealous when driving down the road, looking over and watching them surf the web, and commenting on blogs.  Some day, I will have to get me some of that iPhone for myself.

And that day may just be soon.