Ninety9problems's Blog

Gimme some heat

ninety9problems — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 05:05:31 +0000

Stuck within 200 yards of our apartment today, I thought of an article I read last week about traffic lights.

You might’ve noticed that your well-heeled cities have been switching to LED-cluster traffic lights as replacements for incandescent bulbs. These are much more energy efficient and resistant to glare than the incandescent bulbs, and seemed to be the ideal choice for the city purse.

Except, the LED bulbs run much cooler.

So they don’t melt snow. A real problem in strong snowstorms like this one.

Life education

ninety9problems — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:37:15 +0000

Over some really good beans and rice, this thought occurred to me last night while ruefully nursing a cold.

Sex education should be merged seamlessly with financial education in late elementary school on up. Americans demonstrably do more damage to their lives through ignorance of amortization, discount rates and depreciation than they do with incorrect use of contraception.

The titillation of genital anatomy would be perfectly tempered by the tedious math of net present value. Couched in the right terms, the two could be perfectly melded into a carno-capitalist melange. At once dulling and electrifying.

It’s all about living happy and successful adult lives, isn’t it? I don’t know why nobody’s suggested this before.

Pigeons of Ghent

ninety9problems — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:30:38 +0000

To set the tone, I’ll describe what I’m talking about through past examples.

Rock Doves (Columbo spp.) are large birds commonly known as pigeons. Evolved for cliff dwelling, they have taken to our built environment and are found in every city I have visited.

Problem : where they congregate is quickly spattered with corrosive droppings. Past remedies have included spike strips (they get around these), sloped roofs (they perch on anything), poisoning (kills every bird that eats the same things), fake owls (they can distinguish between a real and a fake) etc.

Solution: Ghent tried giving the pigeons what they wanted: great nesting sites. after establishing the best orrery sites in the city, researchers began replacing the pigeon egss with wood fakes. This cut the pigeon population in the city down by two thirds.

Give ‘em what they want, but manipulate the terms to meet you ends. If you hit ‘em with what they don’t want, they find a way to get around you to get what they want anyway. Make them come to you.

What this is all about

ninety9problems — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:43:58 +0000

This about solutions. Because of that, this blog will be open to ridicule, and will often be plain stupid and wrong. It is easy to identify and describe problems. We all know we have problems. All unsurmountable. Solutions are far fewer and easier to criticize. Suddenly, it is not the system or the president or the SUV-owners who did something wrong. It is me.

This is practice for growing a spine.

If you cut the Gordian knot, the person who tied the knot, the person who owned the knot, and the rope advocates will all yell at you.

Fuck ‘em.

Ahoy Ahoy

ninety9problems — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:46:32 +0000

Hello world!

ninety9problems — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:34:59 +0000

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