Flood Maps
Some guy set-up a Google Map showing which areas of the world would flood if sea levels rose 1 to 14 meters. It's quite interesting to look over.
Some things I noticed:
Seattle becomes an island at +9 meters
Around +12 meters, Yuba City becomes a coastal city
Nearly everything south of Baton Rogue is underwater at +11 meters
Parts of Richmond flood at just +1 meter
At +14 meters the Netherlands is left with three incongruous parts and two large islands
Uppsala starts to flood at +8 meters
Shanghai becomes an island at +4 meters
Bangladesh is screwed
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Monetary Unions
Wikipedia
The Euro is often touted as something unique in history, but its not the monetary union that makes it unique. Since 1945, two sizable monetary unions have existed in Africa. Even in Europe, such unions have not been unique. In 1865, the Latin Monetary Union was established. Since, at that time, most countries used gold and silver coinage, the union simply standardized the amount of gold and silver that could be used to make coins to make them interchangeable. This union included all of southern Europe and Venezuela. Even the US used the same standard, but never joined the union. The union eventually collapsed because the rising value of metals and WWI.
Following is a ranking of the all current monetary unions (official and de facto) in order of how many countries are involved. I am not including territories on this list.
Euro - 18
CFA Franc BCEAO - 8
US dollar - 7
CFA Franc BEAC - 6
East Caribbean dollar - 6
South African rand - 4
Australian dollar - 4
New Zealand dollar - 3
Swiss franc - 2
This means that among the 194 widely recognized countries, there are only 145 currencies. With the continued expansion of the Euro and other monetary unions, the number of currencies will drop to 119 in the near future.
The Euro is often touted as something unique in history, but its not the monetary union that makes it unique. Since 1945, two sizable monetary unions have existed in Africa. Even in Europe, such unions have not been unique. In 1865, the Latin Monetary Union was established. Since, at that time, most countries used gold and silver coinage, the union simply standardized the amount of gold and silver that could be used to make coins to make them interchangeable. This union included all of southern Europe and Venezuela. Even the US used the same standard, but never joined the union. The union eventually collapsed because the rising value of metals and WWI.
Following is a ranking of the all current monetary unions (official and de facto) in order of how many countries are involved. I am not including territories on this list.
Euro - 18
CFA Franc BCEAO - 8
US dollar - 7
CFA Franc BEAC - 6
East Caribbean dollar - 6
South African rand - 4
Australian dollar - 4
New Zealand dollar - 3
Swiss franc - 2
This means that among the 194 widely recognized countries, there are only 145 currencies. With the continued expansion of the Euro and other monetary unions, the number of currencies will drop to 119 in the near future.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Presidential Decoy
Washington Post
While doing research for my previous post, I found this article about how 3rd party candidates influence our votes that I thought was interesting.
While doing research for my previous post, I found this article about how 3rd party candidates influence our votes that I thought was interesting.
Was Perot A Spoiler Candidate?
Since I have little better to do, I've been trying to figure out if Perot actually cost Bush Sr. the 1992 election. So first things first, if Perot had dropped out of the election, how many of his voters would have to vote for Bush to give him the win? Doing some quick math, I found that 66% of Perot voters would have to vote for Bush to allow him to win. So now I have to find if more or less than 66% of Perot voters preferred Bush to Clinton.
To determine this next step, I compared the 1992 and 1996 election. Assuming that there were no changes in preferences, what affect did the decline in votes for Perot have? To get the 1996 result, 67% of Perot voters would have to have voted for Clinton. Closer inspection of this number showed some flaws though. In several states, Dole received fewer votes than Bush despite the 33% of former Perot votes he should have gained, meaning that Clinton gained former Bush voters. Also, such a split would have given Clinton an implausible lead in the 1992 election if Perot had dropped out.
My next idea was to do some complicated and questionable mathematics to determine the split in Perot's lost votes that best fit the 1996 election result. This showed that only 47% of former Perot voters chose Clinton in 1996. Still, that's enough in favor for Clinton to have kept Bush from winning in 1992. However, this split only explains the 1996 election. Perot voters may have split differently in 1992.
Trying to find other studies of the 1992 election, I found two things: First, polls asking for Perot voters second preference generally showed them evenly split between Bush and Clinton. Second, polls before the election generally showed large changes in support for Clinton and Perot, but Bush support remained fairly constant.
So my conclusion, it is unlikely that Perot acted as a spoiler candidate. He probably cost Bush a few states, but not enough to change the result.
To determine this next step, I compared the 1992 and 1996 election. Assuming that there were no changes in preferences, what affect did the decline in votes for Perot have? To get the 1996 result, 67% of Perot voters would have to have voted for Clinton. Closer inspection of this number showed some flaws though. In several states, Dole received fewer votes than Bush despite the 33% of former Perot votes he should have gained, meaning that Clinton gained former Bush voters. Also, such a split would have given Clinton an implausible lead in the 1992 election if Perot had dropped out.
My next idea was to do some complicated and questionable mathematics to determine the split in Perot's lost votes that best fit the 1996 election result. This showed that only 47% of former Perot voters chose Clinton in 1996. Still, that's enough in favor for Clinton to have kept Bush from winning in 1992. However, this split only explains the 1996 election. Perot voters may have split differently in 1992.
Trying to find other studies of the 1992 election, I found two things: First, polls asking for Perot voters second preference generally showed them evenly split between Bush and Clinton. Second, polls before the election generally showed large changes in support for Clinton and Perot, but Bush support remained fairly constant.
So my conclusion, it is unlikely that Perot acted as a spoiler candidate. He probably cost Bush a few states, but not enough to change the result.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Mp3 Sparks Can Read My Mind
Mp3 Sparks
So I've been upset ever since AllofMp3 went offline. The University of Richmond signed up with Ruckus, but it was a poor substitute. Thanks once again to the BBC though, I found Mp3 Sparks. During the time AllofMp3 was offline, the owners set up another site, Mp3 Sparks, which is basically the same thing. I was planning to wait for AllofMp3 to go back online, but the first time I visited Mp3 Sparks, they had an ad for the New Pornographers album, the second time I visited, they had an ad for the new Josh Ritter album. Both are albums I really wanted, so I went ahead and signed up. As I was downloading them, I saw an ad for the new Rilo Kiley album that I didn't even know was out yet.
So what makes Mp3 Sparks and AllofMp3 so good?
1) Songs only cost a few cents
2) Price is based on the length of the album, no more overpaying for short albums
3) What to save money? You can download lower quality song files
4) You can download songs in a wide variety of formats
What was terrible about Ruckus?
1) Entire secure apparently based on the idea that everyone had Windows Media 12
2) I was able to find a way to get around the security, because I don't Windows Media 12, in only a few minutes. Good for me, but bad for them
3) Only students are supposed to be able to get the free tracks, but all that's needed to get a student account is a .edu e-mail account. So even though I'm no longer a student, I can still use it and even sign up a friend as I have two .edu accounts
4) Couldn't download tracks that had an apostrophe in the title
5) To download tracks, I had to download some terrible, ad-filled program that could not be fully minimized
6) Even if I downloaded the whole album, the tracks would be listed alphabetically and not how they appeared on the album. Not a problem for most albums, but matters for a few
7) If the download was interrupted, the track had to be deleted and redownloaded
Kind of makes me wonder how a business of questionable legality can perform much better, both for itself and its customers, than a fully legal one.
So I've been upset ever since AllofMp3 went offline. The University of Richmond signed up with Ruckus, but it was a poor substitute. Thanks once again to the BBC though, I found Mp3 Sparks. During the time AllofMp3 was offline, the owners set up another site, Mp3 Sparks, which is basically the same thing. I was planning to wait for AllofMp3 to go back online, but the first time I visited Mp3 Sparks, they had an ad for the New Pornographers album, the second time I visited, they had an ad for the new Josh Ritter album. Both are albums I really wanted, so I went ahead and signed up. As I was downloading them, I saw an ad for the new Rilo Kiley album that I didn't even know was out yet.
So what makes Mp3 Sparks and AllofMp3 so good?
1) Songs only cost a few cents
2) Price is based on the length of the album, no more overpaying for short albums
3) What to save money? You can download lower quality song files
4) You can download songs in a wide variety of formats
What was terrible about Ruckus?
1) Entire secure apparently based on the idea that everyone had Windows Media 12
2) I was able to find a way to get around the security, because I don't Windows Media 12, in only a few minutes. Good for me, but bad for them
3) Only students are supposed to be able to get the free tracks, but all that's needed to get a student account is a .edu e-mail account. So even though I'm no longer a student, I can still use it and even sign up a friend as I have two .edu accounts
4) Couldn't download tracks that had an apostrophe in the title
5) To download tracks, I had to download some terrible, ad-filled program that could not be fully minimized
6) Even if I downloaded the whole album, the tracks would be listed alphabetically and not how they appeared on the album. Not a problem for most albums, but matters for a few
7) If the download was interrupted, the track had to be deleted and redownloaded
Kind of makes me wonder how a business of questionable legality can perform much better, both for itself and its customers, than a fully legal one.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Mountains of Olives
I Like Olives
My sister has a blog now. Actually she's had it for awhile and I completely forgot about it until she told me to read her post about Trivial Pursuit Pop-Tarts. So yes, if you read this blog, you should read it to. Unfortunately, I think the only person that reads this is my sister, so I doubt I'll be increasing traffic to her blog.
My sister has a blog now. Actually she's had it for awhile and I completely forgot about it until she told me to read her post about Trivial Pursuit Pop-Tarts. So yes, if you read this blog, you should read it to. Unfortunately, I think the only person that reads this is my sister, so I doubt I'll be increasing traffic to her blog.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Good News Everyone!
TV Squad
It appears the final word has been spoken on the new Futurama. It will be released November 27th on DVD as well as appearing on Comedy Central. So will it be a movie or a new season? Apparently both. Four DVD movies of Futurama will be released which will be cut up into 16 episodes to be shown on Comedy Central.
It appears the final word has been spoken on the new Futurama. It will be released November 27th on DVD as well as appearing on Comedy Central. So will it be a movie or a new season? Apparently both. Four DVD movies of Futurama will be released which will be cut up into 16 episodes to be shown on Comedy Central.
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