Browsing all posts in Commentary.

200+ MPG

Its been too long since I’ve written. I’ve had a few posts rattling around in my head for weeks, but no time. Such is the life of a working student. My mind is still consumed by fuel efficiency and energy consumption. I’ve had a handful of great conversations with other engineers, there are definitely some [...]

Ethanol

So I’ve been blogging about gas prices and the state of American automakers lately. I haven’t yet addressed one of the solutions that GM has proposed. Ethanol, or E85. Chevy and GMC are labeling their trucks, and some cars as well, as flexible-fuel vehicles, meaning that they can run on either unleaded gasoline or E85. [...]

Are High Gas Prices Good?

Two years ago I wrote a couple of essays in which I argued that high gas prices would produce some positive changes for America, as people get tired of paying at the pump and begin to look for alternative solutions to our energy needs. Two years is enough time for changes to begin to occur, [...]

Change Your Mind

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a comment that Maurice Culley, one of Liz’ coaches, made during a race. “If you want to change the race, change your mind.” I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about this, and after coming at this from a number of angles, I’m convinced its true. I’m [...]

Ironmen

I’m now back from Tempe. I had a blast this weekend at Ironman Arizona, and it was inspiring, too. In addition to the challenge of swimming 2.4 miles, riding 112 miles and running 26.2 miles, the athletes endured wind and heat as well. When the race started at 7am it was beautiful. Sunny and calm. [...]

Dvorak

Have you heard of Dvorak keyboards? Its an alternative to the standard QWERTY keyboard layout, and is supposedly better for people that do a lot of typing because it minimizes the amount of finger motion required in typing. Its supposed to reduce the chances of a typing injury such as carpel tunnel syndrome. I’ve wanted [...]

This Is Why

Remember me saying that I didn’t want Rudy Giuliani as President? This campaign ad pretty much sums it up. He’s ridden the 9/11 horse so long it has no legs. He doesn’t have much else to offer and he’s dropping in the polls so what does he do? Revive 9/11 fears. Brilliant. Oh, wait, no. [...]

Christmas Giving

Everyone keeps asking what I’d like for Christmas. I always struggle with that because there isn’t much that I need. But, you’ll be proud of me, I figured it out early this year. I would like for Rudy Giuliani to not be president. That’s my wish. He was great in 2001, but that was six [...]

Burt Rutan Speech

In the process of doing some research for a project on campus, I came across this speech that Burt Rutan made back in Feb of 2006. Rutan has been a hero of mine for a long time. This speech is pretty encouraging, and exciting. I don’t agree with every single point that he makes, but [...]

Porn

I met some people with a pretty cool ministry and testimony last week. My buddy Justin serves Texas students through Campus Renewal Ministries by helping them find a place to worship that suits them. He also occasionally brings speakers with a relevant message to campus. Last week he brought Gene McConnell and Heather Veitch to [...]