It's live!

JoshCanHelp.com is up and running!

Please take a few minutes to check it out and let me know what you think in my comments. "Official Release" going out soon.

My Favorites

For your reading/reminiscing pleasure, a few of my favorite posts from the recent past:

• What contributes to MPG?
  
• What is talent?
  
• If dreams were pennies
  
• What does it all mean?
  
• Future and present of science
  
• Antiquated mindset
  

Bike-sharing

BTW, this I LOVE! From Inhabitat:


(photo credit)

...the super-smart Velib Bike program is taking to the streets of London! 15,000 bikes, 1,000 stations and more than 7.5 million miles of combined biking later have already been implemented in London, and the new scheme will contribute £75 million and 6,000 shared bikes to the mass biking scheme.

The program will begin with 6,000 bikes, distributed across the city in and around London. The so-called ‘granny bikes’ are super sturdy, and have been designed and assembled for high-traffic use, and for low theft appeal. They may not be the sexiest of cycles, but that’s sort of the point...

Very, very cool... I was just thinking about a bike the other day..

Honda FCX... my take

A friend of mine asked me the other day, 'what's the deal with this Honda fuel cell car?" She read that it was coming to market soon, to which I replied, 'yup, it's on its way!"

This was surprising to her and it was surprising to the first person I told, a gentlemen I volunteered with at the alternative fuel expo here in San Diego (a fairly unfortunate but well-intentioned display). Neither one of them could believe that this car was on its way after years of hype and yet, it was.

I read about the impending release last year on the Car Lounge, a car forum site that I frequent (thought less frequently these days because it is HIGHLY addictive). Then I started seeing articles on Google News. I even wrote about it, seen here. It was coming, I knew it was coming, and it was about time.

It may not make sense to some people why this car would be released. There are very few stations in the US, under 100 (probably well under) and most of them are located in California. Also, there is still no "magic bullet" way to store the hydrogen (yet) nor a great way to create the hydrogen in a way that is energy efficient (yet). So why the heck is it happening?

I, for one, love it. If you've read this blog enough you know that I'm a pretty big hydrogen support. I'm also, however, a trained chemist and understand thermodynamics (for the most part). I don't agree with chasing after technology that isn't going to work (like ethanol from current sources) and I'm not going to just love hydrogen because that was the first alternative fuel I learned about and it holds a place in my heart. Please, give me some credit here.

The reason why I love this news has more to do with the scientific side of me than the green side. I want to see how these hold up in the real world. I want to know what the REAL efficiency is when real people use the cars. I want to see how safe (or un-safe) these stations are when knuckleheads like you and I try to use them. Are these cars livable? Are they maintainable? Do they work how they should? Would I want one?

It really ends up coming back to the chicken and egg logic: what comes first, the car or the stations?

Want to read more? Get it straight from the source at Honda.com.

In other news...

Please make sure you check out my lens at Squidoo, www.squidoo.com.joshisjosh. I'm about ->| |<- that close to launching this little business idea and I could use all the digital friends I can get. As soon as my web presence for JoshCanHelp is built and running smoothly (again, very soon), I'm going to move my green presence over there as well and write a few enviro-lenses. I really miss staying as up-to-date on sustainable transportation news as I have done in the past but it is still a massive part of who I am. Whether I end up an entrepreneur, a chemist, or an author, it will always, ALWAYS relate it back to sustainability. Even my JoshCanHelp Digital Coaching will revolve around getting more out of what you have instead of always throwing money at the problem (new computer at home not withstanding.

Thanks to everyone for your support and please spread the word!

I agree

I've read good and bad things about Walt Disney but, if there's one thing I remember from it all, it's that he could never be called a slouch by any definition of the word. I found a great quote at YoungEntrepreneurBlog:

“When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do. And one thing it takes to accomplish something is courage.

Somehow I can’t believe there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C’s. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.

I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.

When we consider a project, we really study it–not just the surface idea, but everything about it. And when we go into that new project, we believe in it all the way. We have confidence in our ability to do it right. And we work hard to do the best possible job.

Biggest problem? Well, I’d say it’s been my biggest problem all my life. MONEY. It takes a lot of money to make these dreams come true. From the very start it was a problem. Getting the money to open Disneyland. About seventeen million it took. And we had everything mortgaged including my personal insurance.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Love it...

Both sides of the story...

It's REALLY hard to take a stand when everything is so CONFLICTED. From The New American (a publication I know nothing about):

We have more than 22,000 scientist signers of our global-warming petition who’ve looked at the issue and concluded essentially the opposite of these United Nations people. This says nothing about the science. Science does not depend on polling. Just because we have 22,000, and the UN may have 600, does not matter. The only thing our petition demonstrates is that there is no consensus among scientists in support of the UN claims.

Scientific questions are never settled in this way. Science is about natural truth. The truth doesn’t require any advocate. It stands by itself.

In science, a scientist may discover the truth about something. Then he develops a hypothesis, and the hypothesis is tested by various means. So long as the hypothesis passes experimental tests, it becomes stronger and is further relied upon — unless it fails an experimental test. If it is a very fine hypothesis with wide utility, it may spread throughout the entire scientific community and become part of the basis of scientific knowledge. The process by which this is done is not what is important. The truth is important. Scientific truth is not determined by polling or by convening meetings.

If you like truly understanding the environment, make sure you read that article. I can't stress how important it is to get the entire picture. If you blindly follow a cause that is supposed to be based in reality/science, you better make damn sure you're always questioning your stand. That's the scientific method.

I'm always trying to get the most accurate picture of what is going on around me. True, I blog about sustainable transportation and environmental impacts but I'm always willing to see both sides of the issue. Burning oil to power our cars has more than just climate impact and that's, clearly, still being debated.

QUESTION EVERYTHING or you have NOTHING.