Ideas

Food Pyramid
SBP Editor
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
This is a chain of reasoning that I've been thinking about... see if you agree.

Recently I've seen several studies confirming what we all intuitively know anyway: that when it comes to feeling full after a meal, we have multiple satiation points for different foods. How many times for example have you felt like absolutely not another bite of the main course, but still somehow had room for dessert? That's because feeling full isn't a simple on-off switch, it's more like a set of switches, each targeted to a specific food group.
Amtrack Rebranding
SBP Editor
Monday, August 4, 2008

I love trains. I have such fond memories of riding sleeper cars on Amtrak, feeling cozy and secure tucked in bed watching the lights whiz by.

But Amtrak seems to lose money every year amid declining ridership, and they're always being bailed out by congress. It pains me to see them struggling year after year, especially when I see a perfectly bright future for them once they truly use their unique asset in the right way. Because I'm not the only one who enjoys the experience of a train ride. Everyone would if it were done right.

Bag Deposit Program
SBP Editor
Monday, July 28, 2008
The number of plastic bags wasted is sickening. Every time you shop, it all gets not just bagged, but double bagged. Even when you buy a soda, they put it in a bag. I've seen people buy a soda, accept the bag, walk 5 feet to a garbage can, then remove the soda and throw away the bag. Please get in the habit of saying "I don't need a bag" when you don't need a bag! Or if it's too late, just remove your soda from the bag right there at the counter instead of walking 5 feet to throw it out!
Hitchhike Registry
SBP Editor
Monday, July 14, 2008
At a time when we're all looking for ways to conserve energy and reduce transportation costs, it's too bad that the easiest, oldest, and most natural way to carpool, called hitchhiking, is actually illegal!

I guess it's illegal because it's considered unsafe. But why is getting into a taxi with a stranger any safer? Because taxi drivers are licensed, so they can be tracked and held accountable.
Real Court TV
SBP Editor
Monday, June 30, 2008
Jury trials are sooo inefficient... working citizens have to take time from their lives to sit in a jury box and watch the slow machinations of a court proceeding. Approaching the bench, swearing in the witness, walking to and from the stand, breaks for lunch, waiting for late arrivals, etc.
Bad Posture Avoids Sunburn
SBP Editor
Monday, June 9, 2008
We're having a helluva heat wave. Here's a trick I figured out to avoid sunburn if you're pigmentally-challenged like me.

Obviously the traditional advice is stay out of the sun, wear a hat and long sleeves, stay in the shade, use sunblock, etc. Duh, of course! But what happens when you happen to be having a nice time in the sun and you don't feel like going home to smear that disgusting cream all over your skin?
NYC Transportation Ideas
SBP Editor
Monday, June 2, 2008
Here are 3 transportation ideas I'd like Mayor Bloomberg to consider:

1. String up a network of gondolas between office towers crisscrossing the city, as per my previous Zip Line post. It would really be convenient on certain East-West routes for which there currently aren't any great options.
The Ultimate Free Trade Agreement
SBP Editor
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Economists love singing the praises of free trade, how the competition and specialization benefit everyone.

So how about this: If goods can move freely across borders, how about letting people do the same? Governments should compete for citizens just the way economies compete for capital and customers.
Zip Line NYC
SBP Editor
Thursday, May 8, 2008
I've heard about these awesome "zip line" tours in Costa Rica, where they have these cables strung between trees, and you ride this harness along the cables from tree to tree. It's apparently a really fun way to tour the rain forest there.

So I'm thinking, why don't we do the same thing here in NYC: string some cables between our skyscrapers and set up sky tours of New York? Fun!
Right to Self-Medicate
SBP Editor
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Well one obvious problem causing high health care costs is legal liability, which forces doctors and hospitals to take all sorts of expensive tests and other precautions on the off chance that you might sue for something ridiculous and unusual.

And the bonus system of kickbacks from the labs for doctors who order lots of tests is also pretty much pure evil.

As far as I know of the three leading candidates, John McCain is the only one addressing these two problems.
Bottled Water Economics
SBP Editor
Saturday, December 1, 2007
I guess the basic problem with getting rid of bottled water is that merchants make money by selling water instead of giving it for free, so there's no incentive for them to offer tap water. I wonder what the retailer's profit margin is on a bottle of water? Maybe he could just charge that price for a cup of tap water?
The Presidency, A Family Affair
SBP Editor
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Here is how Hilary can win the election: make a new campaign pledge to defer every single decision to her husband, and to not make one decision on her own -- sort of the way Bush and Cheney operate right now.

That's the only way she'd get my vote, and I think she might actually win with that platform.
Owners, Workers, and Other Pinko Thoughts
SBP Editor
Thursday, October 25, 2007
I've been working on this idea for a new sort of company.

It occured to me that companies today are run like dictatorships, in that hiring and firing come from the top down, as opposed to a democracy, where hiring and firing come from the bottom up.
A Special Oath of Office
SBP Editor
Sunday, October 14, 2007
In surveying the destruction across our land that has predictably enough resulted from Mr. Bush's tenure, it seems as though he's been more than simply neglectful or incompetent, but his policies have actively hurt the country. As much as he vacations already, we would have been better served if he'd simply spent his entire presidency cutting wood at the ranch in Crawford. Seems like I could pretty much count on this fact, that whatever the issue of the day was, Bush would be there to not only fail to provide a good solution, but to actively promote a bad one.
Energy Saving Tips
SBP Editor
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Well on the topic of energy conservation, geez, I feel like we haven't even started to think about it seriously. Everyone immediately turns to improved car mileage as the answer. Sure that helps, but there are so many easy changes we could implement right now with no new technology. (Actually even cars could be way more efficient without new technology -- why the hell don't we use diesel already?)

For starters, Mayor Bloomberg needs a new "stop air conditioning the world" policy... any store caught leaving its doors open when the AC or the heat is on gets fined.
Dark Letters On White Backgrounds
SBP Editor
Saturday, October 13, 2007
It seems like such a random fluke that all my desktop applications (Firefox, MS Word, etc) all use white as the background. I guess it's simply because we got used to black ink on whitish paper, just because the original materials paper was made from were lighter in color. I suppose if papyrus reeds happened to be dark then we'd have needed a light colored ink, perhaps pigeon shit instead of squid secretions.
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