Chris Abraham » math

Thank You Fresh Air Fund Camp Counselor Bloggers!

Chris Abraham — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:06:19 +0000

Fresh Air Fund not only needs host families, donations, and children every year, FAF also needs camp counselors to staff the summer camps every year. The Fresh Air Fund and Abraham Harrison LLC reached out and over 120 bloggers and Twitterers responded to the call. We thank you all very much and we appreciate all of your hard work on Fresh Air Fund’s behalf! Much obliged!

Fresh Air Fund Looking for Help via Three Rivers Episcopal
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via The Abraham & Harrison Blogger blog
Fresh Air Fund via All Said and Done
Fresh Air Fund via Reflective Ponderings
banner via Spectrum, Apex College
Now Hiring: Fresh Air Fund Summer Camp Staff via Assertagirl
Old-School Fun via Half the Sins of Mankind
Fresh Air Fund Looking for Summer ’09 Counselors via Best View in Brooklyn
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 via Ghana for a While
Fresh Air Fund, Non Profit, Now Accepting Applications from Gen Y for Summer Jobs via The Orrell Group
Fresh Air Fund Needs Counselors for Summer 2009! via Chris Abraham
The Fresh Air Fund via Brilliance or Madness
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via Chris Abraham Social Media PR & Blogging Expert
Hiring For Camp Counselor Jobs via Chris Abraham’s Weblog
The Fresh Air Fund! via Around the World in beautiful Shoes
the fresh air fund JOBS via Around the World in beautiful Shoes
Information via Because I’m Cool Like That…
Fresh Air Fund Now Accepting Applications for Counselors via Danny Fisher
Fresh Air Fund via Chen Chow
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via April 24th Blogging Basics
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer via My Blog
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via Chris Abraham
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer via Chris Abraham Ceci N’est Pas Un Blog
Help inner-city kids enjoy a summer vacation via Christifideles
Fresh Air Fund and saying no to buracracy via My Time in Cape Verde with Peace Corps
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via Official Colexica Blog
The Fresh Air Fund Needs Counselors for the Summer of ’09 via Make it Happen
Senator John Cornyn;Texas’ Embarrasment! via Dicky’s Doodles &Scribbles
Michael Steele; The Putney Swope Of The GOP via Dicky’s Doodles &Scribbles
From the Mailbag: Fresh Air Fund Needs Counselors for Summer 2009! via Epluribus Media
Rethinking Fresh Air via Rethinking Life
The Fresh Air Fund: Needs Counselors for the Summer of ’09! via Faithful Progressive
Your Money: The Fresh Air Fund via Cute, Cuddly, and Cannibalistic
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via Fresh Air Fund
Hiring Camp Counselors for the Summer via Fresh Air Fund Blog
Do Something Good: The Fresh Air Fund via Gingerbread Latte: The E! True Hollywood Story
2009: THE FRESH AIR FUND: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED via Tom Glover’s Hamilton Scrapbook
2/4/09 PRESS RELEASE: Fresh Air Fund via Greenwich Roundup: This Just In ……
From Ashton Kutcher to Soup: Super Bowl Giving via Have Fun Do Good
Fresh Air Fund via The Common Room
Fresh Air via The Hosanna Road
Link via Whole
Fresh Air Fund via Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 via In the Direction of my Daydreams
The Fresh Air Fund via About.com Internships
A Peal via Jakartass
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 via Happy at HFC
The Fresh Air Fund Needs Counselors via Jewels of My Heart
The Fresh Air Fund via Following My Heart
THE FRESH AIR FUND 2009 via Whykay’s Happenings
Fresh Air Fund via Keokuk Radio News Blog
Kill Jill Turns One! :D via Kill Jill Goes to College
Volunteering= Good for the Soul via La Petite Fashionista
The Fresh Air Fund Wants You! via I Say Hella
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via Memes.org
Looking For A Summer Job? Give Back! via Micah Jesse Blog
via Mind Warriors
Fresh Air Fund Needs Counselors for Summer 2009! via Blah Blah Babycakes
Fresh Air Fund via Money Amulet
Philanthropy: The Fresh Air Fund via Movable Hype
The Fresh Air Fund via Beyond the Clouds
Fresh Air via Neringa’s Corner
The Hot Club of San Francisco takes audience to a simpler time via Ocolly.com
Make a difference this summer: leave home via Our pdx Network
Monday Afternoon Dept of Failures & Such via Page One
Long overdue… via Fijate que…Life of an El Salvador RPCV
My Favorite Links via Peace Corps Diary: Botswana 2008
Link via Pine Ridge Reflections
Fresh Air Fund Needs Counselors: Summer’09 via Pro Equestrian World Edition
Fresh Air Fund Needs Counselors: Summer’09 via REVISTA PROEQUESTRIAN ROMANIA
Get a Job! The Fresh Air Fund via Punk Rock
Fresh Air Fund Looking for Counselors via Ned Resnikoff
Hot fun in the city… via RoadTurn: Reflections on Life
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via The Russell Pike Blog
Banner via Salamu Kenya!
FRESH AIR FUND COUNSELORS via Samotalis
Make a Difference – Support the Fresh Air Fund! via In The South, We’re Not Crazy…We’re Eccentric!
The Fresh Air Fund via Shamazing
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via SMNR Social Media News Room
Wanted: Counselors who enjoy Fresh Air via Star City Harbinger
FYI – summer camp counselors needed via Steph in Burkina Faso
Volunteer as a Fresh Air Fund Counselor via System 13
Banner via Tangocherie
Link via Livin’ la Vida Loca: Peace Corps DR!
Sure, I’ll Support Your Camp, As Long As It Isn’t Jesus Camp via The Political Blog For Cynical Millennials
“Fresh Air” for Children via The Buddha Diaries
LINK via Third Mom
Fresh Air Fund is looking for a few good counselors via Left of Centre
Tweet via Blog Business World
Who says there are no jobs? Get a summer one! With Fresh Air Fund. http://tinyurl.com/6qkwwp via Young Manhattanite
Tweet via Lindsey Pollak
Tweet via Thoughts from Meggie Poo
Tweet via Deb’s Search and Rescue Stories
Fresh Air Fund Job Opportunities via Volunteer Boston: Get On Your Feet
Fresh Air Fund via Winny & B
Fresh Air Fund Camp Counselor Opportunities via Boarding School Blog
The Fresh Air Fund via Novel Inspiration
Camp Out & Change Lives! via Bare Essentials
The Fresh Air Fund needs Summer Counselors via Blogging for Business
banner via Bloody Brilliant
Counselors for 09 Summer Camps Required via Cop Recruiter
Change a Young Life this Summer via Everyday Giving Blog
The Fresh Air up There via Laura in Botswana
HIRING CAMP COUNSELORS FOR THE SUMMER! via Peter Geisheker’s Small Business Marketing Blog
For the kids… via Golfgal
Banner via Gotham Unleashed
Fresh Air Fund Is Hiring Counselors via Granby 01033
banner via Jewish Donor Blog
Doesn’t Everyone Deserve a Breath of Fresh Air? via Mamanista
The Fresh Air Fund is Looking for Camp Counselors via Math Me Thinks
So…what are YOU doing this summer? Here’s an idea…that pays! via The Online Degree Dorm Room
Fresh Air Fund Needs Camp Counselors via Outskirts:Life and Times in Charlottesville
General Discussion Message Board via Ram Nation
THE FRESH AIR FUND IS SEEKING COUNSELORS FOR THE SUMMER OF ’09 via Republica Update
Summer jobs with Fresh Air Fund (now accepting applications) via Secrets of The Job Hunt
Fresh Air Fund Counsellors via Servant of Chaos
A Breath of Fresh Air via TMT
Fresh Air Fund Needs Camp Counselors via The Diva Network
The World Needs Camp Counselors via Thoughts from Meggie Poo
SUMMER OPPORTUNITY: FRESH AIR FUND via Writing on the Mall
Hiring Camp Counselors for This Summer! via The Xyience Diet Resource
Fresh Air Fund via Yoga and Judaism Center
Fresh Air Fund Needs Counselors for Summer 2009! via Young Manhattanite

Thank You Fresh Air Fund Holiday Bloggers!

Chris Abraham — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:46:30 +0000

In December, we at Abraham Harrison helped the Fresh Air Fund reach out to bloggers and folks online in order to remind the online Fresh Air Fund friends and family that they both need donations during this time of year as well as needing families to host children for the summer. Since the holidays, over ninety bloggers have responded to Fresh Air Fund’s call to action with the placement of banners, with tweets, and with blog posts. We are much obliged to you, Fresh Air Fund bloggers! (via Marketing Conversation)

American Eagle New American Music Union

Chris Abraham — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:35:38 +0000

I am a proud Homefry. CC Chapman is a visionary and a brilliant social media maven. He is also a friend of mine and a fine marketing professional. He actually made me jealous that I was not as SXSW and he makes the nicest Social Media News Releases in the business (none call it jealousy). Well, since I totally missed out the last time, at SXSW, I am keen to see whether I will be in the US — and close to Pittsburgh — so that I can make it to the American Eagle New American Music Union music festival. AE is the sexy-as-hell client of CC’s social media PR and marketing firm, The Advance Guard. Yes, I shouldn’t be pimping TAG, right, because they’re our competition, you might say, right? Well, that’s not how Social Media works! CC and I are not even frenemies, we’re mates. One’s responsibility is to be the guarantor of your friends’ success. Actually, August 8 and 9 might work for me because I need to be at a wedding in San Diego on August 16th, so I am sure I can come back early to make the The New American Music Union!

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Summer Music Festival Hosted by Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

New American Music Union™ Lineup Celebrates College Music by Featuring Legendary Artists
Bob Dylan and His Band, The Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley, The Roots, Spoon and the Black Keys
with 15 of the Country’s Most Promising College Bands.

Read the full press release

May 15, 2008

News Facts

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) today announced its plans for a two-day summer music festival in Pittsburgh, PA this August 8 and 9. The lineup includes some of today’s top artists on the main stage, as well as fifteen of the country’s best college bands on the second stage.
Tickets go on sale Friday, May 16 at 10 a.m. EST via Livenation and TicketMaster. Student tickets are an affordable $25. General admission tickets are $49.50. The New American Music Union is produced in partnership with Live Nation.
The college band performances will be judged by music industry influencers, journalists and fellow musicians. The winning college band will receive a full-day recording session in a top Los Angeles recording studio valued at $10,000. American Eagle will support the winning college band by promoting its recording on www.ae.com and in AE stores across the country.
The New American Music Union will take place in Pittsburgh’s historic SouthSide Works, which was home to glass factories, steel and iron mills in the 1800s. Today, the area features an eclectic mix of residential neighborhoods, restaurants, shops and businesses, including the headquarters of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. The Pittsburgh region is also home to more than 30 colleges and universities and more than 100,000 students.

View Larger Map

Main Stage Line-up

Bob Dylan and His Band site
The Raconteurs site
The Roots site
Gnarls Barkley site
Spoon site
The Black Keys site
Tiny Masters of Today site
NASA site
Black Mountain site
The Duke Spirit site
(plus more to come)

All acts subject to change

Second Stage Line-up

Bears – Kent State U – Kent, Ohio myspace
The Company Kang – Whitman College – Walla Walla, WA myspace
The Black Fortys – U of Southern Illinois – Carbondale, IL myspace
The Depreciation Guild – NYU – NYC myspace
The French Horn Rebellion – Northwestern U – Milwaukee, WI myspace
Magic Bullets – College of San Mateo– Berkeley, CA myspace
The Delicious – Indiana U – Bloomington, IN myspace
Elizabethan Report – BYU – Provo, UT myspace
Nothing Unexpected – Robert Morris U – Pitt, PA myspace
The Royal Bangs – U of Tennessee – Knoxville, TN myspace
The Steps – U of Texas – Austin, TX myspace
Gospel Gossip – Carleton College – Northfield, MN myspace
Math the Band – U of Mass Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA myspace
Flying Machines – The New School – New York City, NY myspace
My Dear Disco – U of Michigan – Ann Arbor, MI myspace

All acts subject to change

Quotes

Attributed to Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers:

“If you could go to any concert in the world, what would it be? My experience tells me that concerts can be life changing. That is how I approached putting this lineup together. The thrill of seeing Bob Dylan next to The Raconteurs next to Gnarls Barkley next to The Roots is reason for us all to celebrate. Music is still the most inspiring creative force that I know of and this seemed like a prime opportunity to let it shine. Add to this the fact of a generously low ticket price and that it all takes place in the streets of Pittsburgh and we have the most rocking block party of the summer.”

Attributed to Kathy Savitt, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, American Eagle Outfitters:

“Music is a defining influence in our customers’ lives. We’re excited to offer AE customers the opportunity to see today’s best musicians—both professionals and college acts—at a price that’s unheard of for a summer festival of this caliber.”

About American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters designs, markets and sells its own brand of laidback, current clothing targeting 15 to 25 year-olds, providing high-quality merchandise at affordable prices. The original collection includes standards like jeans and graphic Ts as well as essentials like accessories, outerwear, footwear, basics and swimwear. American Eagle currently operates 868 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and 75 AE stores in Canada. The American Eagle® brand also includes a Dormwear® collection, aerie™, which is available in 62 standalone stores, American Eagle stores and at aerie.com. 77E™, a new multi-channel entertainment platform, features original and user-generated content on ae.com, in AE stores, on television, and on Web sites such as Youtube, MySpace and Facebook. For more information, visit www.ae.com.

MARTIN + OSA™, a concept targeting 28 to 40 year-old women and men, offers Refined Casual™ clothing and accessories, designed to be valuable, irresistible, inspiring, authentic and adventurous. MARTIN + OSA currently operates 22 stores. For additional information and updates, visit www.martinandosa.com.

The company plans to launch a children’s apparel brand, 77kids by american eagle™, offering on-trend, high-quality clothing and accessories for kids age two to 10. The 77kids™ line will debut online at www.77kids.com during Fiscal 2008, with brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S. planned for 2010.

For more information about American Eagle Outfitters, please visit our website at www.ae.com

Multimedia

New American Music Union Flickr Set

American Eagle Outfitters’ Facebook Page

American Eagle Outfitters’ Myspace Page

http://del.icio.us/AEMusicFest

Contact Info

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.:

Contact:	Beth Barney
Phone	412-432-4500
Email	barney@ae.com
Website	http://www.ae.com

Suggested Technorati Tags

Music | Concert | Music Festival | American Eagle | Facebook

I Was a D&D Dungeon Master

Chris Abraham — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:36:21 +0000

OK, in honor of the passing of Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons & Dragons, I am coming out. I, Chris Abraham, played D&D from 6th grade until I was in 9th grade, although it might have been longer. I was a Dungeon Master, I held games at my house, I owned all the books and spent long evenings with graph paper and a pencil, designing pre-Internet virtual worlds. I owned many many multi-sided dice. The first BASIC program I made with my IBM AT was a program to roll characters and also roll dice. When we tired of D&D and joined JROTC, we moved on to a game called RECON, but it wasn’t the same. Nor was Wizardy or Adventure, two early attempts to replicate D&D on the computer and on early minicomputers and archaic networks. Why am I waxing nostalgic? Well, Gary Gygax passed away and I want to come out and be proud that I, Chris Abraham, am an alumnus of Dungeons and Dragons. Here’s an amazing remembrance from the LA Times:

Fond memories of the ‘Dungeon’
Remembering his days as a part of the game cult created by Gary Gygax.
March 7, 2008
Iwas so young when I started playing “Dungeons & Dragons” that I assumed Gary Gygax, the game’s creator, wasn’t real — just as I figured there’d never been a Walt Disney or burger chefs named McDonald. When I finally realized Gygax indeed lived in Lake Geneva, Wis., near the post office box address listed on every “D&D” book, I pictured him in a mansion filled with piles of gold and women in metal bikinis. More insane, I deeply believed these outfits would be practical for swimming.
But when Gygax, who conducted a weekly game up until the end, died on Tuesday, he was not rich, despite my best efforts from fourth through eighth grade. And in part, I realize, that is my fault. Because unlike the paunchy, white-ponytailed Gygax, who was not afraid to let his geek flag fly, I have spent the last 20 years avoiding “D&D” because I was ashamed. Gygax influenced my childhood more than any writer, filmmaker or teacher, and I turned my back on him. I am a traitor to my people. Luckily, they are among the few peoples I can beat up.
Sure, I talk about “D&D” a lot, but it’s with defensive self-mockery, as if my nerdishness was some larva stage that I had cocooned out of. Into a butterfly of “Shaft”-like smoothness. That’s what a few TV appearances will fool you into thinking.
But this week, I had my old “D&D” books sent to me, and proudly put them on my bookshelves. Paging through them, I realized they are the best books I own: detailed, weird, creative, smart, funny — encyclopedic lists of rules for spells, monsters, gods, weapons, trade and career advancement. “D&D” exceeded any single mythology; it embraced Camelot’s knights, Dante’s devils, dinosaurs and the Yeti. And I still think the line-drawing of the succubus is totally hot.
But reclaiming my “D&D” pride is not going to be an easy process.
As soon as I started reading Gygax’s fantastical compendiums as a kid, I realized how mundane non-gamers’ lives were. They lived in flat world, where all the dice had only six sides. We had imagination and a leader who never talked down to us, even if he did sound like Yoda. “This work is written as one Dungeon Master equal to another,” Gygax wrote in “The Dungeon Master’s Guide.” “Pronouncements there may be, but they are not from ‘on high’ as respects your game.” My “D&D” friends and I loved his hippie-geek insanity. We were mixing theater with math and debate and other after-school activities that didn’t involve helping people in the community. That was for nerds.
The game allowed you to navigate the mayhem of adolescence through fantasy — perhaps even including the kind that might lead a boy, just for a little while, to play a female character. “That’s cool, right? She’s like a half-elf, like a hot half-elf, just to mix it up. And she’s got spells. And a flagon of mead. In case anyone is interested in that.” Usually, though I was a magic-user. I was such a nerd that my nerd fantasy was simply to be an even bigger nerd.
But the true thrill of the game was that it made you feel smart. You constantly had to consult actuarial tables in the back of the dozens of “D&D” books to determine the results of a battle, convert currency or figure out how many kilograms your character could carry. Everything was documented in such detail that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, Gygax had left survivors a complete guide to replicate society. A society like a Renaissance Faire.
Gygax also expanded my vocabulary, though many of the words meant the same thing. Wench, courtesan, harlot, strumpet — all interesting townspeople a nice preteen Paladin could meet.
The thing is, I didn’t meet many townspeople. Like most “D&D” players, I read the books, learned the rules, created tons of characters, mapped out dungeons, even subscribed to Dragon magazine — but I almost never played the actual game. Because — as I was reminded in 2003 when I played it with Elijah Wood of “Lord of the Rings” — the game itself sucks. It’s slow and silly and entails an endless amount of prodding by the Dungeon Master to force players to step into the traps he spent all weekend devising — but that will, of course, not kill your favorite character because if it did you’d never play with him again.
“Wasn’t someone always saying, ‘No, seriously, guys’ the whole time? … And then someone would get mad,” said Matt Selman, who writes the Nerd World blog for time.com, when we started to reminisce.
Exactly. We didn’t spend our time playing as much as fantasizing about playing in a fantasy world. Which is why “Dungeons & Dragons” is the best game ever invented. I’m pretty sure Gygax knew that. And I bet he knew that someday I’d grow up enough to put his books back on my shelf.
jstein@latimescolumnists.com

Biodiesel is People, It’s People!

Chris Abraham — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:29:20 +0000

According to this morning’s NPR segment, Deep-Fried Fuel: A Biodiesel Kitchen Vision, Willie Nelson, Shooter Jennings, Leon Russell, Kinky Friedman, and Texas truckers are in love with biodiesel. (Listen via Real or Windows)

Willie Nelson has gone apeshit enough to brand a commercial version as “BioWillie” (very phallic) and collecting fry oil from fast food grease traps, filtering it, activating it, and running his truck on Maui on it.

I want to do that, too! I want to run out today and get myself an old diesel Land Cruiser or Land Rover (both rare) and start running on grease. I would feel smug and cool on so many levels: recycling, resourcefulness, treehugging, eco, sustainability, bragging rights, innovation, and because I would be a better American because I wouldn’t be putting money in the pockets of Middle Eastern kings, princes, and despots, right?

What is biodiesel? According to Wikipedia, “Biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources. Though derived from biological sources, it’s a processed fuel that can be readily used in diesel-engined vehicles, which distinguishes biodiesel from the straight vegetable oils (SVO) or waste vegetable oils (WVO) used as fuels in some modified diesel vehicles.”

The pros of pure biodiesel are many: burns clean, smells good, is a renewable resource, helps farmers, bypasses the Middle East, can be cheap, and if you reclaim and filter fast food fry grease, it can be free. Even better, biodiesel can put the bounce back in the step up America’s farmers. The premium on growing for fuel is much higher than growing for people. All those moldering mountains of nuts and seed these farmers can’t sell will sell very well indeed.

I mean, feeding people is amazingly unprofitable! Firstly, beans, nuts, and seed have become completely commoditized and are as cheap as dirt. Invest in agribusiness now, Wall Street, organics are for the birds! F-150s and 18-wheelers don’t care about pesticides! Besides, the margins of organics will be nothing compared to the margins on biodiesel! And processing won’t need to be for human consumption.

And people have always been willing to pay more money to clothe and feed their automobiles than they ever have been willing to feed their fellow man, right?

Well, they had better care more about their vehicles more than people, because of the con, according to Mark Harrison in Biodiesel is Food Not Fuel, “Worldwide, we are consuming around 85 million barrels of petroleum every day – that’s 13.5 billion liters per day. The entire human population only eats around 328 million liters of food oil a day. So, let’s compare: 13,500 million liters of fuel oil consumed every day vs. 328 million liters of food oil consumed every day. That’s 41 times more fuel oil than food oil consumed.”

Biodiesel is not a solution. It is politics, it is spin, it is agribusiness profits, it is a hobby.
By Mark Harrison
“Soy and canola and oil palm are food, they are not fuel. Do you really want humans to be competing with cars for their food source?
A human consumes on average 20 liters of edible oil a year. 20 liters – around five and a quarter gallons. Per year. How long does it take your car to consume five gallons of fuel? Half a day?
Worldwide, we are consuming around 85 million barrels of petroleum every day – that’s 13.5 billion liters per day. The entire human population only eats around 328 million liters of food oil a day. So, let’s compare: 13,500 million liters of fuel oil consumed every day vs. 328 million liters of food oil consumed every day. That’s 41 times more fuel oil than food oil consumed.
What makes biodiesel proponents think that biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum? How could we possibly increase food oil production by 41 times? Cut down the rest of the mangrove swamps for oil palm plantations? Raze the rest of the rain forest for soy bean fields? Just to run the world on B10 (10% biodiesel, 90% petroleum diesel – hardly an end to petroleum dependency) we’d have to increase plant oil production by a factor of four. That alone would require destroying the rest of our suffering ecosystem, and that type of food oil consumption would likely raise food prices to the point where the majority of the world’s population living on just a few dollars a day would starve to death – the world’s poor simply can’t compete with our cars.
So, the world running on 10% biodiesel = ecological disaster and mass starvation. Not an optimal solution. We’re still dependent on petroleum, but manage to bury the ecosystem and starve billions of people.
No, biodiesel is not a solution. It’s something for a small group of hobbyists. It is something for politicians to make hay off of. It is something for fools and people who can’t do simple math to fall for.
What is the solution – solar? Wind? Nukes? I can’t say, but it is certainly not dreaming that we can farm our way out of this, and the solution is certainly not in wasting our time and resources pursuing this dead end.”

I have a petrol-burning performance sedan I love. My second car will have a biodiesel conversion. Either a rare standard diesel Toyota Land Cruiser or Diesel Land Rover Discovery.

Don’t Mess With the F-150 Pickup, Ford!

Chris Abraham — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 07:57:08 +0000

To quote me, the Ford F-150 Supercab pickup is “one hell of a truck. That is one hell of a vehicle. Four doors, solid construction, plenty of room and lots of power. None of the plasticy squeakiness that American cars are known for.”

It is better than my e39 530i BMW, and that is the best series of sedan ever built. Likewise, the Ford F-150 is the best truck. Hell, Sam Walton owned a red 1979 Ford F-150 pickup and his daughter Alice owns a 2006 Ford F-150 King Ranch!

Biodiesel is Food Not Fuel by Mark Harrison

Chris Abraham — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 15:18:00 +0000

Mark sent this essay to me from the African bush, “Biodiesel is not a solution. It is politics, it is spin, it is agribusiness profits, it is a hobby.”

Biodiesel is not a solution. It is politics, it is spin, it is agribusiness profits, it is a hobby.
By Mark Harrison

Soy and canola and oil palm are food, they are not fuel. Do you really want humans to be competing with cars for their food source?

A human consumes on average 20 liters of edible oil a year. 20 liters – around five and a quarter gallons. Per year. How long does it take your car to consume five gallons of fuel? Half a day?

Worldwide, we are consuming around 85 million barrels of petroleum every day – that’s 13.5 billion liters per day. The entire human population only eats around 328 million liters of food oil a day. So, let’s compare: 13,500 million liters of fuel oil consumed every day vs. 328 million liters of food oil consumed every day. That’s 41 times more fuel oil than food oil consumed.

What makes biodiesel proponents think that biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum? How could we possibly increase food oil production by 41 times? Cut down the rest of the mangrove swamps for oil palm plantations? Raze the rest of the rain forest for soy bean fields? Just to run the world on B10 (10% biodiesel, 90% petroleum diesel – hardly an end to petroleum dependency) we’d have to increase plant oil production by a factor of four. That alone would require destroying the rest of our suffering ecosystem, and that type of food oil consumption would likely raise food prices to the point where the majority of the world’s population living on just a few dollars a day would starve to death – the world’s poor simply can’t compete with our cars.

So, the world running on 10% biodiesel = ecological disaster and mass starvation. Not an optimal solution. We’re still dependent on petroleum, but manage to bury the ecosystem and starve billions of people.

No, biodiesel is not a solution. It’s something for a small group of hobbyists. It is something for politicians to make hay off of. It is something for fools and people who can’t do simple math to fall for.

What is the solution – solar? Wind? Nukes? I can’t say, but it is certainly not dreaming that we can farm our way out of this, and the solution is certainly not in wasting our time and resources pursuing this dead end.

I Have 3,000 Hi-Fi Songs in my Car via Apple iPod

Chris Abraham — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:41:51 +0000

I can’t brag and crow enough about having my entire music collection in an old Apple iPod safely tucked in the trunk of my e39 5-Series BMW.

I control the iPod through the factory-installed radio and the steering wheel radio controls. Better yet, no tools required.

My previous articles:

Your e39 BMW and Your iPod Together Forever

Full Endorsement for USA SPEC iPod® Interface

Your e39 BMW and Your iPod Together Forever

Chris Abraham — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:32:07 +0000

As I said in long form before, If you have an e39 BMW and want to listen to your Apple iPod in your 5 Series BMW through your factory radio through wires then you need to order the USA SPEC iPod® Interface for the BMW OEM factory-installed radio.

The 2001 BMW 530i is the Highpoint of Automotive Design

Chris Abraham — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:39:25 +0000

I guess I should add “in my humble opinion” to the title but I am not going to.