Ubuntu Smiley

One of the developers in the Novell Cambridge office decided to have some fun with obsolete disks.

Biodegradable Poop Bags

• Non-biodegradable plastic bags – $$ – These will sit in a landfill forever. Well, not forever, but a very, very long time (500-1,000 years)
• Transport to toilet – $ – The greenest and best way to dispose of doggie waste. It ends up being processed the same as human waste.
• Transport to compost pile – $$ – Very green, but more expensive than toilet-disposal since you have to have a composting system
• Transport to garbage/other – $ – Inexpensive, but not as green as you think, since pet waste is one of the top pollutants in our waterways
• Biodegradable bags (non-ASTM D-6400) – $$$ – These bags bio-degrade over time, given the right conditions (light, heat, moisture, etc.) There is some suspicion that non-conforming bags are actually the same as the non-biodegradable plastic bags, but misleadingly labeled biodegradable. However, most landfills are designed to prevent decomposition, so it is likely that these will just sit in the landfill for a very long time. On the bright side, these will not release methane or CO2 until they decompose.
• Biodegradable bags (ASTM D-6400 conforming) – $$$$ – In order to conform to the standard, the bags should decompose at the rate of an apple. They release methane and other gases that can be harvested, but very few landfills are equipped for methane recapture.

I thought about flaming poop in a bag as a disposal methodology, but it did not make the cut.

Since we live in a 3rd floor apartment, we’ve decided on the non-ASTM D-6400 conforming bags to the garbage for now. It makes us feel good about ourselves, and we hope that our landfill allows for degradation and is equipped for methane recapture. We plan on a composting system when we purchase a home.

Oil Soaked Wave

I saw a picture of a wave saturated with oil that you have to see to believe.

Maddow Oil Spill Video

I found this to be an interesting video highlighting the “deja vu” aspects of the oil spill.

How Big Is The Spill?

There seems to be a lot of debate on how big the oil spill is. The original estimate, which was used by the news organizations, suggested that the spill was about 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day. The NY Times is now reporting that the BP maximum estimate is up to 60,000 barrels (2,520,000 gallons) a day. Slashdot has a story from the Examiner that estimates it up to 350,000 barrels (14,700,000 gallons) per day.

“BP officials have repeatedly said there is no way to measure the rate of flow from the broken pipe. – link“

Given the fact that NOAA underreported the numbers in the first place and BP has no incentive to report actual numbers, I am inclined to believe the numbers carried on the Examiner. This is really scary:

If this thing blew, it could be like the Yellowstone Caldera, except from below a mile of sea, with a 1/4-mile opening, with up to 150,000 psi of oil and natural gas behind it.

That would be an extinction event.

It is not likely to happen, but it is within the realm of possibilities.

How do you estimate this?

Although the real number will never be known, scientists and others will create more specific estimates over time. I am pretty certain that the chain of events that lead to this catastrophe will also be dissected. However, I am not so certain that the punishment and/or deterrents needed to prevent a future accident similar to this one will be implemented.

Novell Map (pre-2004)

While in the Novell Bracknell (UK) office this week, I noticed that they had a map of the world in the entryway.

1. The prominent status given to Svalbard, a small archipelego of islands (smaller than Iceland) that is owned by Norway. You can see it in the map floating to the east of Greenland and north of Norway.
2. The lines indicate the Novell network (I believe). If you follow the lines, it makes Provo Utah seem like the center of the Novell networking universe.

I think that this map was installed before year 2000, and I am certain that it is pre-2004, since that is when Novell moved its headquarters to Waltham, MA.

MWRA Fail

Everyone knows that there is a boil water order for the Greater Boston area. That doesn’t stop the the MWRA from celebrating National Drinking Water week. Of course they cannot reschedule that, but this is possibly the best comedic and worst PR timing for the MWRA.

Up There Film

This film was sponsored by Stella Artois and created by an ad agency. Despite that, it is really darn cool.

Trololo Cat

If you have not seen the original Trololo video, you do not deserve to live.

Quincy Ek Review

So my first beer was a good experiment, but I did make some mistakes.

The taste of the beer was somewhat cidery and with a strong green apple note. I have been reading How to Brew by John Palmer, and that indicates that I had excess Acetaldehyde. I believe that the reason for this is because the yeast that came with the kit might have been old, since I did follow the 2-2-2 rule for this beer. One reason I believe this is because there was little or no Krausen in the fermenter. Looking into the fermenter for my new batch, I can see that there is a thick layer of Krausen already.

Because of the weak yeast, the sugar I added to the bottles to carbonate my brew wasn’t converted into carbon dioxide. I did not put enough sugar in to begin with, but had I put more in, I believe that it would have just exaggerated the sugary, cidery taste.

In order to correct this in my next batch, I will make sure to re-hydrate the yeast (and perhaps make a yeast starter.) Also, I found a calculator when it comes to bottling, so that I can add the correct amount of sugar to the bottles.