“…It was an unorthodox mashup of the automotive and mobile phone industries. Instead of gas stations on every corner, the ERGO would blanket a country with a network of “smart” charge spots. Drivers could plug in anywhere, anytime, and would subscribe to a specific plan—unlimited miles, a maximum number of miles each month, or pay as you go—all for less than the equivalent cost for gas. They’d buy their car from the operator, who would offer steep discounts, perhaps even give the cars away. The profit would come from selling electricity—the minutes.

There would be plugs in homes, offices, shopping malls. And when customers couldn’t wait to “fill up,” they’d go to battery exchange stations where they would pull into car-wash-like sheds, and in a few minutes, a hydraulic lift would swap the depleted battery with a fresh one. Drivers wouldn’t pay a penny extra: The ERGO would own the battery.”

This is a novel take on an old problem, how long it takes to recharge a battery.  It’s not going to work if you can’t get a reasonable range out of a 5 minute “fill up”.  I also love the idea of an operating system for your car that has some intelligence built into it, it makes tons of sense.  The potential of a location-aware vehicle alone is considerable, especially in traffic management.

It’s a fascinating read, I can’t wait to see if this is a success.  He really strongly believes he can change the world, and I have all of my fingers crossed that he does it.  Read it now.

Now, it seems that Germany is going to follow suit and ban them because:

The children’s committee of the German parliament fears children might mistake the toys contained in the eggs for food and swallow them.
“Children can’t differentiate between toys and nutritional items,” said Miriam Gruss, a member of the committee (also a huge fricking buzzkill and “nervous Nancy”). “It is a sad fact, but that means that Kinder Surprise eggs have to go.”

I’m sorry, but this is crazy.  First off, I’m pretty sure that even a three year old could probably tell the difference between chocolate and a jagged plastic penguin.  Chocolate; yummy, plastic penguin; nasty, chokey, and tasteless.  Secondly, I would like to meet the three year old who could actually get the toy out of the plastic sarcophagus they package it in.  I can barely, just barely, squeeze and pry the thing open before my vision darkens and I see spots swimming in front of my eyes.  Seriously, I have no idea why they have to be sealed into that plastic shell so tight I’m looking around for a set of cutters or a hammer.

All is not lost, however since this government “committee” (which makes it sound like an overly protective PTA meeting) also had another recommendation:

The same committee meeting proposed a law requiring the paper in school books to be lighter to reduce the health risk of heavy schoolbags.

Uhhh, sure.  Ok, we will get right on that.  Lighter paper?  You know, you may want to maybe focus on the low-hanging fruit for health risks, like um, eating fruit, or maybe serving breakfast in schools, or even more gym classes.  Lighter paper will get you a whopping 2 ounce difference in a knapsack, maybe.  Methinks if these pointdexters are leading the charge, maybe the Kinder people can rest easier…

Saw this stuff on Metafilter, just had to pass it along.

Even their mayor has violated his parole more than once. That’s how tough.

It’s almost comedic that this guy was the most charismatic, successful politician in the whole city, (he did win after all) and he currently has multiple (!) legal cases on the go.

Not that we can throw too many stones here in Ottawa however….

What is it about mayors these days? Who elects these guys?

“Mom, I don’t take the drive, I just take the fun.”

Now if that kid doesn’t have it figured out, I don’t know who does.

Puppies get a song before bed…

Moose playing in a sprinkler, albeit with an overly Disney soundtrack.

Pure sugar, in it’s most concentrated form.

This morning as I got a coffee to take back to my desk to sip at while I worked in air conditioned comfort, I was mildy annoyed to see that they were out of lids at the coffee shop.  I took a lid that didn’t fit and had to be careful not to spill all the way back to my desk.

This woman was out for a nice donkey ride with her niece, got attacked by a lion, and managed to fight it off with a machete without receiving any injury.  She got the strength to fight the lion out of concern for her niece.

Did you spot it?

I can only suggest you read xkcd if you are a geek since the content there is heavily skewed into the nerdy spectrum, but it’s brilliant.

Who can compete with that? Although she does look at tad unhinged there…

Here’s a couple is shots from the jam session.