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My first visits to historic Williamsburg’s exhibits had me comparing today’s upper-middle class existence to the upper class of the 1700’s. Life might not have been that different in quality. Your circle of friends was closer. Entertainment was live. They had books, music, booze, parties, sex, and drugs. Medicine was more primitive but it wasn’t … Continue reading
Not a few bloody noses have apparently resulted for snide comments made about Global Warming in the presence of normally peace-loving environmentalists with cabin fever from the cold. Everybody is too cold to think all this through – let me give you my two cents. I’ve said elsewhere that I think the phrase “Global Warming” … Continue reading
We have space, materials, and tools here at our MOI Labs site. There are a lot of things we could do to make crafty items on a small-scale (hundred-lot) basis. We could then market them on the internet. This is similar to the idea of collecting craft items from the community and selling them, and … Continue reading
Here is a (half-baked) idea to stimulate the economy and help people move from lower class poverty to middle class. It addresses the barriers of intimidating red tape & authority, and the dis-incentive of letting go of disability, unemployment, and other forms of marginal income that people cling to. As things stand now, being a … Continue reading
The birth and development of the “computer game” has of course taken a completely different direction from the paper-based novel. “Readers” have such latitude – (burn the village or trade with the natives?) – that the author has very limited control over the course of events, and has to resort to heavy-handed deus-ex-machina to steer … Continue reading
Dr. Egon Spengler (Ghostbusters) says that print is dead. I would say that there is so much more that we can do than just a linear story line 100% controlled by the author, in the (non-participatory) story-telling tradition. As I kid, I was intrigued by the choose-your-path mystery books. At every critical junction, you had … Continue reading
This little brochure (in draft) about our Janitorial Services and Supply business should give you an idea what we’ve decided to throw our muscle behind as a first project. The plan is to get started with a few contracts, since this is a business Terry knows. Expand our formulation and mixing capabilities, come up with … Continue reading
This is the title of an article on SpecialChem’s website. The answer is — sometimes. The scientist in me wants to point out that many brominated flame retardants are NOT toxic, and nobody should be using the ones that are (mainly “decabrome”), any more. What is happening is that old electronics parts are getting into … Continue reading
In the bad old days, inventions sometimes died with their inventors, since innovation was a closely guarded secret. The US government recognized that to grow stronger industry, this loss had to be stopped. They hit on the idea of a quid-pro-quo — inventors who disclosed and taught their inventions to the world would get a … Continue reading
Here are the rules I spit out when Terry challenged me to write an educational game related to green technology entrepreneurship. In a nutshell, you try to build an industrial complex with Murphy’s Law knocking you in the shins all the way. This would need to be published as a card game, so it needs … Continue reading
The creative impulse to make things is very different from the hard-nosed mindset you need to sell them after they are done. A lot of artistic and crafty people end up selling their products the quickest way possible and for less than they are worth. The selling process itself is inefficient, one person sitting in … Continue reading
With the graying of the baby boomers, there are going to be a lot of people needing more help than they used to need. It is also hard to find reliable people to help you these days. I’m proposing a General Services business, where, whatever the need, from grocery shopping to finding a plumber, from … Continue reading
Our MOI Labs facility was set up to service W2Fuel, nominally a biodiesel company. We spent 2 years developing expertise, procedures, and getting ready for certification. With their abrupt cessation of support, due to their inability to make any money off biodiesel (long story), they are taking back custody of the capital investment (i.e., the … Continue reading
Why don’t we do this more? Anything that is cheaper in bulk, be it Mason Jars, Rice & Dried Beans, Cloth, Fertilizer, garden seeds, anything. Is the problem lack of starting capital? Lack of distribution point? Lack of trust? A lot of that can be gotten around by using the resources we have here at … Continue reading
Right now most old roofing shingles go to the landfill (people sometimes even pay a dumping fees). Then, more foreign oil is consumed making new asphalt shingles to replace them. What I’m thinking about is turning shingles into road paving materials — a way to use another “free” resource to reduce our foreign oil dependence. There … Continue reading
I must recommend to you the person whose own blogging activity inspired me to take up this thread. Over the course of 2 years she has written countless articles about the simplicity movement, local food sourcing, environmentalism, gardening, and a host of practical advise. She is a truly inspiring leader and has been involved with … Continue reading
I crank out new ideas for games the way some people play tennis – to deal with stress and frustration. Here is one that I put together not long ago, that would form the kernel of a web-based game. The tracking of populations and resources and such are way to complicated to do without a … Continue reading
During my work on oil sources for biodiesel production, and later attending the 2013 Algae Biomass Summit in Florida, I have learned a lot about Algae. I will repost some general information from my Facebook stream at the bottom of this note for those interested. There is a lot done with algae, but current limitations … Continue reading
Okay, today our Kickstarter effort expires, so at a minimum I owe our supporters there a full-context overview of our Lignin status. Lignin is the cell walls of the wood that is left over after they extract the cellulose fibers for paper making. 350 billion pounds a year are produced, and it’s burned up into … Continue reading
It’s only half a joke – all of us seem to be searching for what we “want to do when we grow up”. I think I just joined the ranks of the blessed ones who have found their muse, and their focus. First, some background info so I can explain. Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor … Continue reading
The Missing Octave Insights 