Pod Polution

I listen to public radio a lot. In our area public radio is on 88.1 which is the first station on the dial. This also happens to be the default channel for those FM transmitters that people use to broadcast stuff from their iPods to their car stereos. So I often get treated to what other drivers are listening too while sitting at traffic lights. I’ve heard all kinds of things, religious music, hip hop, books on tape, etc. The best was a self help seminar. So the next time you use your iTrip remember that someone else might be listening.

Kill Your Television

We watched Fahrenheit 451recently. It has always been one of my favorite books. If you have not read or seen the movie, it takes place in a future where all books are banned and fireman burn books instead of put out fires. It is thought that books cause people distress and people need to be placated and happy so they don’t question their leaders. Though we have not reached that point it is alarming how true it is becoming. You don’t need to ban books to achieve the same effect. TV is having a similar effect, we sit in front of the tube for hours letting it entertain us and keep us from doing other things. We watch TV instead of reading or interacting with others (or protesting the way things are going). People wonder why in this country people aren’t rioting in the streets about what our leaders are doing like in other countries recently. I think to a large extent it is because of the prevalence of television in our lifestyle and the apathy it breeds. Check out http://www.turnoffyourtv.com for more.
I’m not saying all TV is bad, there are many things I like and I think are good on TV. It is bad when it becomes a replacement for human interaction. When all you do is come home and sit in front of the tube, and sink hours into watching then it is a problem. For my part I will try to cut down my television viewing and devote more time to other activities.

Power to the People

With the growing threats of global warming, will we be able to meet our energy needs in the future without destroying our atmosphere? I read a book recently that offers some compelling alternatives to the traditional alternative of Solar and wind power.“The Scientist, the Madman, the Thief and their Lightbulb”, talks about the unknown history of “fuel-less” energy, the strange worlds of cold fusion, magnetic energy, and zero-point energy. Was cold fusion really a scam or was it prematurely dismissed without enough investigation. Evidence suggest that maybe we should take a second look. Or what about zero-point energy, if you’ve ever seen an episode of Stargate you will be familiar with the ZPM (zero point module). The basic idea is that empty space is not really empty at all, it is a seething cauldron of energy and quantum particles that if tapped could offer an almost endless supply of energy. Is this science fiction or as the book claims, science fact. Have these possible new sources of cheep, clean energy been suppressed by “main-stream” science and other interests, what Arthur C. Clarke calls this “The biggest scandal in the history of science”. I’m pretty skeptical about these things, especially when they seem to violate the laws of conservation of energy and thermodynamics but it is an intriguing read and who knows, the answer to the energy crisis could be here. If you want to borrow the book let me know.

Government 2.0

I’ve had this idea for a while, would it be possible to have a government that is really “by the people and for the people”. Would it be possible to structure government like an Open-Source software project? If you are not familiar with open source software it is software developed by a community of developers who make contributions to the project. The community uses the software and if they see an issue or a feature that they would like they write the code and give it back to the community. Is it possible to apply this to government? Instead of congress citizens would propose and debate legislation. I’m not really sure how it would all work but i think that is part of the process. you start with a core of principles and we all work to improve it, to make sure it provides the rights, service and freedoms required by all citizens. I did some searching and found someone else with the same idea I had, The minimal compact: An open-source constitution for post-national states. It is an interesting idea, one that might become the basis for the government of Utopia.

Life in Utopia

I just wanted to take a moment and explain why i chose to call my blog “Life in Utopia”. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of utopia, from society of Atlantis to the communes of the 60’s I’ve always been interested in the perfection of society. Ok I know society can’t be perfect as long as humans are human but we can try. Many of my posting have to do with the components of this better world I dream of. I hope that this blog can be a place where we can all share our ideas on building a better world. I don’t want it to just be my voice so if you have ideas let me know by post a comment. Thanks for reading.