EPKPhoto’s Tidbits

I requested my absentee ballot for the Virginia 2008 presidential primary on February 5th and received it yesterday (the 8th). I filled it out with a witness present, sealed the multiple envelopes, attached more than enough postage (old stamps from my roommate), and sent it on its way back down south this morning. If the jolly old USPS does their job right, the ballot should make it back home by the 12th to be counted among that day's votes. Yay for doing my civil duty. I hope you other states enjoyed your Super Tuesday.

I could not resist posting a link to a humorous tidbit about today's Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses. Take a look at what many Virginians did today to get a laugh. It turns out that some people in the good old Commonwealth missed the message that the Virginia primaries are happening on February 12th…not today. I tell ya', we Virginians sure are a mighty smart crowd!

Get ready for another one of my ethanol discussions. It seems Brazil is moving forward to have the World Trade Organization investigate the United States' outrageous farm subsidies. The part that made me happy is the special mention of ethanol and corn subsidies. For those of you who are not well versed in my archive of posts about ethanol, let's just say that corn-based ethanol production is certainly not on my list of things our government should be supporting. The research Brazil and Canada have done to further ethanol production from raw material other than corn is quite impressive. We really need to send a message to our government to stop supporting the inefficient, wasteful, environmentally unfriendly process of corn-based ethanol production that is stifling progress in other forms of alternative energy. Ethanol may help reduce our dependency on Middle East oil, but it WILL NOT be a long term solution. I'm all for using ethanol derived from sugar cane, switch grass, and other biomass until battery and/or hydrogen power displaces it, but if we continue investing in corn, our country will regret the investment down the road. Be sure to read the AP's article on the topic.

I always find it interesting when someone reveals that a certain organization is running Windows, Linux, or whatever on their web server. That kind of information is quite easy to find out just by looking at the headers a server sends back to your web browser. Well, I recently ran across a survey of the various announced candidates for the 2008 US presidential election. It details the operating system and web server used to power those candidates' official websites. Go take a look at the report for an interesting perspective on the elections.

Happy Independence Day! This past weekend we drove up to Virginia's northern neck to see my aunt, uncle, cousins, and their new pug puppy. When we stopped for gas before the trip, I had to snap a shot of a sign on the pump, "Contains up to 10% ethanol." Originally, I thought this was to feed off of recent somewhat positive media exposure, but it seems more is involved. If you want a good read, follow my link to this PDF from the Virginia Petroleum, Convenience and Grocery Association. By the way, my Treo 700p's camera seems to work quite nicely outside. Read on for more info and another photo.

Before I start, let me warn you this is a longer post, but please read it all. There has been a lot of mention of alternative fuels in the news lately due to the ever sky-rocketing fuel prices. Always included in the discussion is ethanol, the grain alcohol often made from corn that is currently being mixed with gasoline across the country generally in proportions of less than five percent. If any of you knew me in my senior year of high school and heard my senior speech, you may remember that I am quite opinionated on the topic of using ethanol. Not much has changed since I gave that speech, but I think it worth a little rant to bring everyone reading this site to the same level. First, read this article by Popular Mechanics and this article by U.S. News & World Report. Then make sure you come back and read the rest of what I have to say.