MaisonBisson

a bunch of stuff I would have emailed you about

Fuel Efficient Vehicles

People looking for oversized pickups, ridiculously large Russian Army trucks, even jet powered speedsters have it easy. But what about people who have some understanding of the Hubbert peak and don’t want SUVs? 50+ MPG cars have been available in Japan for 30 years now, and can be bought used in Canada for under$5000. But US law forbids importing them to the US! Heck, the Smart, the super-efficient line from DaimlerChrysler, has been available in Europe (and now Canada) for about ten years now, but it too can only be imported with a lot of restrictions. Don’t talk to me about Priuses, either. They’re selling on ebay for almost $30,000.

Face it, there just aren’t any affordable fuel efficient vehicles in the US.

Affordable Fuel Efficient Vehicles (Not In The US)

I’m a fan of the Smart, the fuel efficient European roadster that’s smaller than a Mini (see above). It’s coming to America, but indirectly and not without some complexity. Oddly, considering the current energy crisis and that buyers appear to be looking for more efficient vehicles now, there’s a lot of red tape involved with […] » about 200 words

Social Geography: Common Census

CommonCensus Map Project: The CommonCensus Map Project is redrawing the map of the United States based on your voting, to show how the country is organized culturally, as opposed to traditional political boundaries. It shows how the country is divided into ‘spheres of influence’ between different cities at the national, regional, and local levels. tags: […] » about 100 words

Movie Night: Save The Green Planet

I’m at a loss for words of my own to describe Save The Green Planet (IMDb page), so I’ll have to crib from others. Amazon’s description: A sensitive, blue collar sad sack hopped up on conspiracy theories and sci-fi is convinced that aliens have infiltrated human society and are planning to destroy the planet at […] » about 300 words

The Conservatives vs. Freakonomics

Conservatives hate Freakonomics, that book by economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner that takes on more than a few sticky issues that most people don’t normally consider to be within the purview of economics. (See also the Freakonomics blog). Publisher’s Weekly notes: There isn’t really a grand theory of everything here, except […] » about 400 words

Weird Travel

It started with The Plastics Museum and Museum of Bad Art, progressed with a visit to the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame and continued with a tour of Donut shops in Lowell, MA. Now I can report that the MaisonBisson Weird Travel Archives include the Thermometer Museum, the Edward Gorey House, and the […] » about 100 words

CubeSat Kickstarts New Space Race

CubeSat is Cal Poly’s plan to make space accessible to the rest of us. That is, they want to make it easy and cheap enough to launch satellites that even high schools can get a chance at it. Engadget says they call it “the Apple II of space exploration” (link added). Here, read this: The […] » about 300 words

Group Portrait at Pigeon Cove

An unconventional panorama in Rockport‘s Pigeon Cove. From left to right stand Will and Corey. Of course, it looks better bigger. Note: this was just a sideshow on our Weird Travel Tour. tags: corey, cove, group portrait, massachusetts, ocean, pano, panorama, pigeon cove, portrait, rockport, rockport ma, seaside, will » about 100 words

Getting A Passport

My old passport is expired and my wife has never had a passport, so I had to look this up. Fortunately, the US State Department has a pretty good website for it. There are rules of course, especially for first-timers or expired passport holders. You’ll have to fill out a DS11 application form and bring […] » about 200 words

Pepper Pad As Multipurpose VoIP Device

I’m quite taken with my new Bluetooth headset, despite the little hiccup I encountered. So, naturally, I’m thinking about how it would work with the VoIP softphone that’s promised for the Pepper Pad soon. I’ve become a super-fan of Gizmo Project on my PowerBook, but that loaner Pepper Pad was a capable enough and more […] » about 100 words

James Torio’s Blogging Thesis

James Torio has been working on his masters in marketing and took a strong look at blogs for his thesis.

I looked at how Blogs have impacted business and communication, how some Blogs create revenue, how some companies are using Blogs, how Blogs greatly boost the spread of information, how Blogs add richness to the media landscape, how Blogs work in the Long Tail, how some companies are tracking the Blogosphere and what the future of Blogging may be.

Via Blogging Pro

Pravda and McCarthyism

Don’t worry. I’m right on top of whatever happens in Pravda, the leading newspaper of the Russian Federation. Or, at least, I’m right on top of whatever they report in their English language version. The thing that had me choking on my onion and boursin cheese bagel this morning was the story headlined FBI arrests […] » about 300 words

Findability, The Google Economy, and Libraries

Peter Morville, author of Ambient Findability, stirred up the web4lib email list with a message about Authority and Findability. His message is about how services like Wikipedia and Google are changing our global information architecture and the meaning of “authority.” The reaction was quick, and largely critical, but good argument tests our thinking and weeds […] » about 400 words

What Bloggers Need To Know About Cahill v. Doe

Wendy Seltzer alerts us to the Delaware Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Cahill v. Doe, a case that tested our rights to anonymity online, as well as the standard for judging defamation.

As it turns out, the court decided against the plaintiff, a city councilman, and protected the identity of “Proud Citizen,” who the councilman accused of posting defamatory remarks in an online forum. Further, it also decided that the context of the remarks “a chatroom filled with invective and personal opinion” are “not a source of facts or data upon which a reasonable person would rely.”

In short, as Seltzer points out, the ruling hold readers responsible for seeing materials in the context they’re presented in:

The standard empowers a wide range of bloggers’ speech. Because readers can use context to help them differentiate opinions from statements of fact, bloggers are freer to publish their choice of opinionated gossip or citizen journalism. And thanks to courts like Cahill and Dendrite, they can do so using pseudonyms or their real names.

Bluetooth Headset Problems

I’m still excited about that Bluetooth headset I got last week, but I did encounter a little problem with it. Rather, I encountered a problem with Mac OS X and the Bluetooth headset. I don’t remember all the precipitating details, but the obvious threshold event was when Gizmo Project complained that it couldn’t find the […] » about 400 words

Priorities

So long as I’m talking about change I want to bring attention to some commentaries by Chris Farrell in Marketplace Money. On September 16th he noted that hurricane Katrina (Rita hadn’t hit yet) “ripped the veil off poverty in America” and wondered aloud weather the voting public would continue to support the Republican obsession with […] » about 400 words

ChangeThis

Worth looking at: ChangeThis, started by Seth Godin and “a sharp team of change agents.” The quote comes from Ben McConnell at Church of the Customer, who also reminds us of the ways that conservatives in every field favor traditional views and values and oppose change:

  • Stay the course
  • Don’t fix what isn’t broken
  • Ignore all critics
  • We don’t have time
  • Keep out anything foreign to us (actual or metaphorical)
  • Destroy anyone who opposes us or our way of thinking

Who cares that Godin and McConnell are marketers. Valuable change comes in seemingly small and insignificant ways, then all at once.