Via Montara Energy Ventures:

Good for the Congress, they managed to do something and something important. While we can poke many holes in the legislation, it does include 15% national renewable portfolio standard and shifts some $16B toward renewable energy and conservation programs. This was an important step and Congress should be commended for getting it done, a little late, but better than never.

A mainstream press account of the event is available here.

It has been a LONG offseason, hasn’t it? The taste from the Disaster in the Desert (or the Fiasco in Phoenix if you prefer) has faded somewhat. Now it’s time to rinse the palate and get ready for the new season. I’ve missed football so much, I could even watch an NFL game (though I’m sure the advertising content would quickly have me revert to my prior position that the NFL product is simply unwatchable…)

I’m more of a college football fan myself and specifically, an Ohio State Buckeye fan. This is going to be a great season even though the Buckeyes will likely take a step back (you don’t lose your starting quarterback, tailback, top receivers, and 3/4 of your defensive line and improve right away – some experience will be necessary to help that transition along.)

Taking a step back to the big picture, the teams with high expectations this year include USC (most pundits have them pegged as the #1 preseason team,) LSU, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, and West Virginia all are considered contenders to reach the championship game this year. In a way too early prediction, I’ll say that Michigan, West Virginia, and Virginia Tech won’t live up to their expectations, that LSU and Oklahoma have at least 1 loss each, and that USC will lose a game no one predicts (UCLA last year anyone?)

In short, I’ll be surprised if anyone runs the table this year in college football. But, I’ve been surprised before and the season hasn’t even started, so what the heck do I know?

As for my beloved Buckeyes, their schedule is generally friendly to a team trying to find its identity after losing so much star power. This season will see them take on: Youngstown State, Akron, Washington*, Northwestern, Minnesota*, Purdue*, Kent State, Michigan State, Penn State*, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan* (* denotes away game.) The Bucks stand a fair chance to be 8-0 when rolling into Happy Valley to play the Nittany Lions. I’m not going to predict blow out victories in those early games, but you’d have to believe that OSU will be the favorite in each contest.

No, the season boils down to the last 4 games (yes, I’m including Illinois in that because a) they’re improving and b) OSU always seems to struggle with them between big games.) I believe, now in preseason, that OSU will do well to split those games and end the season 10-2 likely just outside BCS game territory. That being said, it wouldn’t completely shock me if early in the season OSU stumbles at Washington or Purdue and then finishes the 4 game stretch at the end of the season 3-1. The net is, I believe we’re in for a 10-2 season. Neither 9-3 nor 11-1 would shock me. 8-4 or 12-0 would be surprising, one obviously much more pleasantly surprising than the other.

Over the next few weeks I’ll post a series of preseason entries breaking down the offense, defense, special teams, schedule, and the Big 10 overall. Let’s get ready, it’s almost football time! Please feel free to participate, what do you think? Have I gotten it right? Wrong? Sniffing glue? Where will your favorite team end the season? Comments and discussion will make this more fun!

I’ve been blogging since 2004 (internal to Sun then) and externally since September, 2005. It’s been an interesting way to share among a community (most of whom I don’t personally know.)

This blog has had stints of innovation, business, Ohio State football, politics, religion, humor, renewable energy, and rants – people seem to like the blog and keep coming back. But one thing this blog hasn’t done is crystalized in anyway where it’s monetizable.

My hypothesis as to why it’s not monetizable is that there is no real prevailing topic, there are time periods where one topic may emerge for some period of time, but then the focus shifts to something new. While there has been some commentary and discussion posted, many of you choose to continue to interact directly with me via email (that’s OK, but I’d love to see more comments.) I like sharing different topics and statistics indicate that you like reading what I produce (this site gets around 2k visits per day, with just under 1k of them unique.) That means there is on the order of 60,000 visits per month – but, not many people comment, click links, or visit for long. That tells me there’s something wrong at the core – lots of visits, little “stickiness,” little community interaction.

So, I’m now considering what I want to do with this platform. Should I consolidate topics here and publish more frequently? Should I segregate topics into discrete sites that only focus on say, Ohio State football? (I’m about to start posting on that topic frequently again as the season is about to start…) Do you, the people who visit this blog have any suggestions for what you’d like to read more of, less of, different than, format, etc? What would make you visit more often? What would cause you to share links with others? What might prompt you to link to this site? What would prompt you to reference material from this site?

Should I blogsolidate (consolidate content into this single site with more frequent updates?) Should I blogversify (separate the topics into discreet blog sites like I’ve already done for rewnewable energy?) Should I bloggregate (separate the topics into discreet sites and also aggregate the content on this site from the satillites?) Is there a different approach I’m not considering that I should consider using?

Change is in the wind, and I’m asking what you’d like to see – that could help me out as I decide what to do here. The status quo won’t stand for long…let me know your thoughts.

Surprise! Is Right: Elmo is contaminated with lead.



Fisher Price has recalled nearly 1 million toys produced by a Chinese manufacturer, for what? High levels of lead in the paint. Lead at low levels is a serious threat to the central nervous systems of infants and children. Learn more about lead poisoning here.

This follows closely on the heels of the Thomas the Train recall, the pet food contamination fiasco, and news that China commissions at least one new coal-fired power plant each week…

Maybe offshoring (outsourcing) from China isn’t so cheap after all? I have to wonder what the real cost of doing business this way is? What do you think?

In the spirit of former X Prizes, this one also serves to inspire. From the press release:

SANTA MONICA, CA–(Marketwire – August 1, 2007) – The Automotive X PRIZE (AXP), a competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles to help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change, announced today that over 30 teams have signed a letter of intent to compete once the prize is officially funded and launched.

The international competition, in which qualified teams will compete head to head, aims to dramatically increase consumer access to ultra-efficient, clean, affordable and desirable vehicles. The 30 plus teams include diverse groups from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland. More than 300 additional teams have inquired about joining and are actively considering entry.

“We are thrilled with the wide variety of teams and technologies from around the world that have expressed an interest in joining the competition,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, CEO and Chairman, X PRIZE Foundation. “We are confident that the Automotive X PRIZE will motivate and bring visibility to a range of non-traditional solutions from both traditional and non-traditional players. The time for incremental change is over. We need radical breakthroughs to stem the consumption of fossil fuels. An X PRIZE can help make this happen.”

Read more…