In what amounted to a scrimmage, the Bucks handled Bowling Green. The only surprise to me was that Pittman didn’t get his 100 yards (65) and that we didn’t see a play in special teams or defense put points on the board. Figures that this is the first game in ages the Bucks didn’t cover the spread simply because it was referenced all over the place. The injuries were also concerning with David Patterson, Kirk Barton, and Troy Smith all leaving the game at one time or another. Information from the team leads us to believe that none of the injuries are serious.

Next up, a “cornered dog” game with the Michigan State Spartans. It’s on the road, I always worry more about road games than home games against a team with talent who’s season has gone from promising to disaster in 3 weeks. If the team doesn’t go up there with the right focus and attitude, it will be more difficult than it should be to pull out the W. Sparty is a “cornered dog” in that it needs a win in the worst way and has absolutely nothing to lose. And who could forget 1998 when they upset OSU 28-24 costing a shot at the national championship. Hate to see a replay of that next Saturday…..

On the national scene yesterday, it was a busy and unpredictable slate. Georgia, Oregon, Wake Forest, and Auburn all fell from the ranks of the unbeaten. Wake Forest at least made a game of it into the 4th quarter. The others were blowouts. Makes me wonder about all that “SEC is the toughest conference” talk heard every year (Georgia, Auburn, and LSU’s performances that is.) Love to see Cal get a crack at Tennessee now……USC looks very ordinary and came within a mismanaged clock sequence of getting beaten at home, by Washington. If I had to guess about the national championship game today, I’d say the winners of the WVU/Louisville and OSU/Michigan game will be playing.

Back to non-sports topics for the next few entries.

Ohio State’s 2006 record: 6-0 Next up: @Michigan State 10/14
Tune: Running to stand still by U2
Technorati Tags: Ohio State | Bowling Green | Football | Mike Harding Blog

Stopped by Kevin Chu’s blog today and saw this YouTube video:



Imagine what fun Rube Goldberg would have had with this! Amazing. Next generation design system, you bet.

Ohio State’s 2006 record: 5-0 Next up: Bowling Green 10/7
Tune: What I got by Sublime
Technorati Tags: Design | MIT | Smart Board | Mike Harding Blog

Well, the BGSU Falcons are sure to have their hands full this weekend. In what has become a transition year for their program, they have to make a trip to the Horseshoe to face the #1 team in the land. Vegas doesn’t give them much of a chance having installed the Falcons as a 35 point underdog in the contest. (It’s worth noting that Ohio State has covered the last 11 games…..)

That said, I don’t see Tressel’s style as one to run up scores, so that’s a pretty big expected point differential.

• BGSU’s Defense is giving up an average of 30 points per game
• BGSU’s Offense is putting up an average of 23.8 points per game
• OSU’s Defense is giving up an average of 9.8 points per game
• OSU’s Offense is putting up an average of 32.4 points per game
• OSU’s offense is outscoring opponent’s defensive average by 13.7 points
• OSU’s defense is holding opponent’s offense to -18.5 points of their average

It never works out this way, but for arguments sake, let’s say the teams play “average” using the trends above. We’d expect a 45-7 (43.7-5.3) type score in this game. Well, we’ll see what happens when they actually play. The weather, turnovers, mental preparations, let downs after a big game, can all play into the performance on Saturday. Not to mention new turf that neither team has ever played on (The Shoe got a face lift after the poor field conditions experienced with Penn State.)

Ohio State’s 2006 record: 5-0 Next up: Bowling Green 10/7
Tune: So Long, So Wrong by Alison Krauss
Technorati Tags: Ohio State | Bowling Green | Football | Mike Harding Blog

Do you think, over the next 10 years, that US electricity consumption will increase or decrease?

An interesting question, there are constant conservation programs and there is ever improving technology (like Sun’s Ultra T1 processor,) but do you think that’s enough to offset any increase in demand?

Sometimes a historical look can be illuminating when attempting to answer these sorts of questions. The chart below shows in Petawatt hours (a petawatt is 1,000,000,000,000,000 watts) how electricity production has grown since 1992 in the US. For our international readers, I apologize, I’m not taking a global position on this, only a US-centric position. Well, frankly, because I live here and it’s big enough to be undigestable with the US alone. Notice that there is an aggregate increase of nearly a petawatt hour in the amount of electricity consumed over the past 13 years.


Data based on Electric Power Monthly Report

A percentage view of electricity consumption over time shows the growth is assuredly not linear. From 1992 to 2005 the aggregate growth in electricity consumption is 32.4%. There does seem to be a correlation between electricity consumption and the overall health of the economy. Note the relatively high growth rate in 1999 (Dotcom bubble) and the negative growth rate in 2001 (post bubble, 9/11) – both of these years vary considerably from the average annual growth rate of 2.2%. It is also interesting to note that the growth rate in 2005 is 3.1%, the fourth highest percentage in the measurement period. Which begs the question, are we in the midst of another bubble?


Data based on Electric Power Monthly Report

Returning to the questions above, will demand for electricity increase or decrease and what, if any impact with conservation and technology have on the trend? I believe we’ll continue to see an increase in demand. Even a fraction of a % of growth in demand spurs the need for more energy generation. And that’s interesting.

Meatspace coordinates: N37.324 W122.309
Ohio State’s 2006 record: 5-0 Next up: Bowling Green 10/7
Tune: Blues Power (Live) by Albert King
Technorati Tags: Electricity | Consumption | Energy | Mike Harding Blog

“Those who cast the vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.” — Joseph Stalin

Reports from the 2004 election are less than encouraging, in particular, the Conyer’s report. Here’s an article that discusses the shenanigan’s in detail from the Washington Spectator.

Let’s keep our eyes on the counters this time around.

Meatspace coordinates: N37.324 W122.309
Ohio State’s 2006 record: 5-0 Next up: Bowling Green 10/7
Tune: What on earth, will you do, for Heaven’s sake? by Johnny Cash
Technorati Tags: Election | Fraud | Democracy | Mike Harding Blog