No Longer in the Center

So the commercials for the new Nissan Leaf got me thinking about how far away we are from large scale conversion to electric cars (or some version of electric-motor-drive car, such as the hydrogen fuel cell cars we keep hearing about). The arguments in favor are simple. While the internal combustion engine is relatively efficient it cannot be as efficient as large-scale energy generation just because of scale. Although, the power has to come from somewhere, plugging a car into your home outlet would be significantly more efficient (and therefore less polluting) in the long run than running a small-scale power station under your hood. Designing a car around a small (non-explosive) and quieter electric motor also provides infinite possibilities for improvement in safety, aesthetic and spacious design. Contrarians that suggest the technology can't be advanced to the level of internal combustion engines (in terms of distances per charge, torque etc.) are obviously ignorant of the ...

I haven't posted here recently because I've been overwhelmed with a head cold and trying to get our new office website up and running. I am getting over the head cold, finally, and the new website is up and running, and now I have to figure out how I get back into my routine. Having spent most of my waking hours over the last two weeks working on the new website, in order to get it out into the world as quickly as possible, I now have to figure out how to calm down. Filling your time with work for two weeks straight changes the way you look at the world, and makes it difficult to relax. When the website finally went live and was debugged (for the most part) by Saturday afternoon, I had to forcibly stop myself from reaching for the computer every ten minutes to do more work. Although, it's great that, as humans, we're able to adapt to different conditions so quickly, it's also dangerous it you value balance. What's worse is that I can't figure out if my...