Novel Times, Novel Measures

The virtual home of Lawrence S. Grodeska

September 28, 2005 • 1:30 am Comments Off

“…that would be helpful.”

Ladies and gentleman, please let me introduce Mr. George Bush with the understatement of the year, possibly of the decade (in reference to energy conservation, from www.nytimes.com):

“We can all pitch in,” Mr. Bush said. “People just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption,” he added, and that if Americans are able to avoid going “on a trip that’s not essential, that would be helpful.”

Yep. He finally said it: Americans must [gasp] CONSUME LESS! That’s an admission of defeat if I’ve ever heard one. The endless cycle of consumption has been recognized as untenable by the very culture that has tirelessly promoted fiscal and energy irresponsibility. Another of the supreme irony of politics: the “Conservatives” are those that are so reckless and cavalier with money and natural resources.

Does this mean that the U.S. is gearing up for a radical transformation of its’ energy economy? I’m not holding my breath. Aside from this story not getting the coverage it deserves as a watershed moment in U.S. energy policy and perception, so far the only advice the White House has offered to help citizens reduce oil consumption is to “take the bus.”

The coming energy crisis will affect a lot more than just our transportation. Unless sweeping changes are enacted across the board — in manufacturing, agriculture, distribution — along with monies allocated immediately for the development and implementation of alternative energy technologies, expect eventual widespread disruption in the availability of nearly all goods and services. One need only think of how reliant conventional agriculture is upon petroleum products to begin to see the far-reaching implications of the coming oil crisis.

Friends, I hate to sound like an alarmist, but the age of cheap energy is drawing to a close. To avoid heavy fallout from this transition, we had all better start doing more with less. From my perspective, this is nothing to fear. As an aesthetic, minimalism can be rather pleasing; as a lifestyle, rewarding. What I do fear is that we have no other choice but to embrace just that.

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Filed under: The Future

September 26, 2005 • 3:43 pm Comments Off

Satellite 685

And again I move! Tomorrow I will sign the lease and write the deposit check for my very own cottage straddling the Oakland-Berkeley border and tucked away in a nest of quietude. The address is officially Oakland — 685 66th St. Oakland, to be exact — but it lacks the intense urban that both the street and the city might imply. Rather, it is a cute and cozy 4-room single residence tucked behind another house closer to the street. After I sign the lease tomorrow I will post some photos that will explain all.

For now, I’ve captured some satellite photos from maps.google.com:

east_bay.jpgMy new East Bay environs

the_ hood.jpgMy new ‘hood

I must note the advance of technology that has elapsed in the last 10 months since I posted satellite snapshots of my (then) new apartment on Grove St. Those photos were generated with software from Keyhole, which, at the time, was a pay-for-use service. Of course, Google gobbled up Keyhole and, in less than a year, has made that technology available for free at maps.google.com, along with some amazing enhancements. I don’t know if this is an endorsement for Google or merely professed wonder at the tireless trudge of technology. Either way, I’m keeping my head up eyes peeled for what’s next. But I digress…

Finding this place was an exercise in absolute ease and total flow. I made the final decision to move within the last few weeks and was preparing myself — and my roommates — for a November 1st departure. The reasons are many and varied, but they can be condensed into two: lessen my commute and have my own space. At first I figured that I should take my time looking, and that I would need to in order to find the right place. But soon after the decision was made, I started to feel antsy and ready to get it over with. This despite having no clear idea of which neighborhood I wanted to live in in the East Bay.

While I had begun to visit places, I was mostly getting the feel of a few neighborhoods, doing some necessary strolling and enjoyable eyeballing. Well, yesterday, sort of on a whim, I decided to do exactly that in Berkeley, and included a visit to the cottage. Long story short, everything fit. Groovy pad, laidback landlords and excellent locale — 3 blocks from Ashby BART and 6 or 7 from one of the great health food stores of all time, Berkeley Bowl. So, what does one do when presented with near ideal situation? One goes with it. More to come, soon.

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Filed under: At Home

September 15, 2005 • 3:25 am Comments Off

Ergo Urges

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. Plenty happening in the interim, but at the same time, nothing of tremendous import. Funny, that. I have been making strides with the new machine, though, and, in large part, the switch from PC to Mac is nearly complete.

I’m now using Entourage for mail/calendar/contacts — although I’m not totally sold — and have started doing some design work on the powerbook. I still rely on my PC for web design work, but that is mostly because my design files are still on the PC. That and my personal finances. Soon enough they will all be playing with Team Mac.

The big question still remaining, though, is what keyboard to use. I know, not the most exciting topic. In fact, a seemingly irrelevant topic to some. A keyboard is a keyboard, right? Well, not really, at least not for me. Some time ago I jumped on the ergo bandwagon and my hands and WPM have been thanking me ever since. With the advent of Mac in my life, however, the need for a new ‘board became dire.

After some prerequisite research powered by my personal secretary, Google, I recently bought a new ergo board with a really crazy key layout, the Smartboard:

smartboard

After nearly two weeks of use, I have two major complaints. First of, the key are clickity-clack LOUD, and lacking that nice, soft resistance that I like so much. That just won’t do. Second, and more importantly, the layout of the keys is just too different from a normal keyboard. The Smartboard was designed for more natural finger movements, so not only are the keys differentially sized according to distance from the typing start position, they are also in a straight grid instead of the normal staggered rows of keys. I’d be totally game for reconditioning myself to rock this keyboard but for the unavoidable presence of “normal” keyboards elsewhere in my life, everywhere from the PowerBook keyboard to the Microsoft Natural keyboard at work.

So, not to be outdone — or without a functioning ergo ‘board — I think I’ve decided upon a keyboard that will work. I’ve read nothing but good things about the Kinesis Maxim:

kb maxim

It is a bit pricier, but hey, at what cost do we sacrifice our hands? I love my hands and would hate to get holed up with Carpel Tunnel or something of the like. As minor — and geeky — as my search for the perfect keyboard may be, it is, at the root, a noble quest for the health of my digits. After all, if I developed repetitive stress syndrome, postings to this blog would become even more infrequent than they already are! Just be thankful I didn’t go out and buy something like this:

AKG datastealth

So there you have the Mac update. I think I’ll wrap up this vignette of posts about the new machine and get on to bigger and better things real soon. Important issues like the effects of summer fog on one’s mental stability and the secret connections between Buckminster Fuller and H.P. Lovecraft. Y’all come back now, ya here?

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Filed under: Uncategorized

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