Bikes and CO2 emission

No, bikes arehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif not absolutely pure. We are, after all, nothing but humans. But still, a biker is 10 times better than a car-driver when it comes to CO2. Add to that the noice, the NOx, the particles etc and it's clear that cars have to be fought.

For you knowing Swedish check out the Cykelsmart blog for a calculation.

Insikter på en högre nivå

Jag har sagt det förut och jag säger det igen - Affärsvärlden är världens bästa tidsskrift, alla kategorier. Och som vanligt är det deras makroekonomiska och politiska analyser som får mig att inse att det alltid finns en högre nivå av medvetande. :)

Vi börjar med den aktuella frågan om äldrevården som spårat ur i ett skyttegravskrig om privat vs offentlig verksamhet. Så patetiskt, vilket Johan Hakelius visar så väl i sin krönika AB Ättestupan (publ.). Han belyser det faktum att det är ekonomin som styr, även över politiken, och med en rent ekonomisk måttstock blir varje person som inte tjänar pengar en belastning. Vi måste hitta en alternativ måttstock! Jag kommer att återkomma om detta när jag läst på om lyckoindex, välståndsindex och vad det nu finns.

Jag anser att driftsformen är helt och hållet en religiös fråga - formen i sig är inte det viktiga (läs mer om ekonomin som gud i The market as god). Hakelius uttrycker sig lite annorlunda, men privat form är den rådande religiösa trenden, ekonomin är vår gud och då får vi den vård vi får. Att sedan politiken inte klarar av att lösa det beror på att politiken är bunden till samtiden. Jag vill inte hålla med honom på denna punkt, men måste nog. För var finns de visionära politikerna? Var finns de med lösningar, den jesusgestalt som ska frälsa oss från kapitalismens förtryck och ge makten åter till folket??? Inte fan har jag sett till någon sådan i min politiska gärning...

Johan Högberg är också inne på kapitalismens rovgirighet i sin krönika Ruttna morötter: "Felaktigt konstruerade incitamentsystem och ökad fokus på personlig profit underminerar inte bara den finansiella sektorn. Det förpestar hela samhället."

HEJA AFFÄRSVÄRLDEN!!! :) (Nej, jag är inte sponsrad...)

Kärnkraften adjö

Det är ju fullständigt otroligt att det fortfarande finns folk som vill ha kärnkraft. En del är teknikromantiker, men de flesta är nog bara rädda. De har köpt propagandan som säger att vi behöver kärnkraften och att allt skulle gå åt helvete om vi lade ner alla reaktorer. Detta är i mångt och mycket samma människor som (be)undrar min frivilliga sänkning av arbetstid (och lön) men som inte själva gör något för att förbättra sina egna liv. Nåja. Lite fakta:


Fria Tidningen har en temasektion om kärnkraft. Ny Teknik har publicerat en rad kärnkraftsskeptiska och framtidsoptimistiska artiklar, tex Sverige behöver ingen kärnkraft. Även Affärsvärlden inser att kärnkraften inte skulle ha en chans ifall den fick ta sina egna kostnader. Men det får den ju inte, hela försäkringskostnaden och mer därtill läggs på samhället. På oss skattebetalare. Hela risken får vi och våra barn ta. För att våra föräldrars villor ska stiga lite till i värde.

Environmental cleaning tips

I've been sick all week, and I won't outrule that the lousy shit on daytime tv has made it worse, but suddenly there was an interesting program! About cleaning! Who would have guessed... Anyway, the show was How clean is your house and it was exactly like any of these shows where you visit some people and gaze at the filth/bad economy/over-weight or whatever it is. But the nice thing is they had all kinds of tricks for environmental, efficient, healthy and cheap detergents!

This is a good introduction and this page has loads of more specific tricks & tips.

Like the classic soda/vinegar combo for cleaning the bathroom! Works wonderfully. A bit of toothpaste does wonders for the taps!

Treadmills are bad

I started running in my early teens, preferably in the woods and as varying as possible. Becoming one with the forrest and the track I followed. So, not much of a wonder I hated the treadmill from the very start! It's like running slightly downhill, with nothing changing at all. And the feeling of it is crap too.

The modern, idioticly shortsighted man, tough, seems to love going to a gym and "run" on treadmills. Nobody who loves free running does that, but still, I'm surprised there is so little talk about the bad aspects of artificial training. Then again, considering that most stuff in a gym is just that - artificial training equipment - it's not a big surprise.

But finally I found some backup! In the swedish fitness magazine iForm, number 5/2011, there is a small article stating the following:

- On the ground the behind and the hamstrings pull the foot backwards, which is compensated by the treadmill.
- You take more and shorter steps on the treadmill, which leads to stiff muscles of the hip, a bad posture and a weak behind.

There are new theories on free running, where you run on the front of your feet, take shorter steps and sort of constantly fall forwards. This is how you run spontaneously in really tough terrain, if you think about it. This style of running should be done barefoot or at least with a very thin sole of the shoes. I believe in this style of running, and the next pair of running shoes will be adapted to this. I just mention this to point out that shorter steps in itself, is not a bad thing, but treadmills are.

The valsalva maneuver

This is a totally new term for me - the valsalva maneuver. It's what you do when you are about to lift something really heavy - you breath in, hold your breath and tense up your whole body.

So, this action is perfectly normal but according to iForm, due to a misunderstanding in the 90:s people have learnt to not hold their breath. Apparently physio therapists taught people with back problems to exhale when they did sit-ups. This has then spread to healthy people, thinking they were clever... It's true that the blood pressure rises, but that is not in any way unhealthy for a healthy person. So, forget about it. :)

But what does this mean to martial arts? You never hear a boxer holding his breath. Could it be you should hold your breath in the very instant you hit, and then right afterwards breath out, in order not to stop breathing?

Hifi dreams

I have my beloved Sennheiser HD 650 (before the HD 800 came they were the reference headphone of Hifi & Musik). I have a Musical Fidelity X-CAN V3, that goes perfectly with the Sennheiser headphones. And since the successful buy of the lovely Bose headphones the other day, I have RCA connectors to the headphone amplifier as well. CD is so 90:s, and tape recorder so 80:s and huge ass amplifiers and loudspeakers are just so uncoath, so let's skip that and look into the future. :)

Since most of the music these days is stored digitally, but still enjoyed analog, a good DAC is a must. The Lead LA-100 was haled by Hifi & Musik and many agree that for the relatively small price tag, this is hard to beat. Then again, there are a lot more DAC:s, like the Style Audio Carat-Saphire, but it's quite ugly and might have some technical issues. A more tempting option is the Furutech GT-40, a very price-efficient solution with its built-in RIAA stage and headphone amplifier. This is probably the best solution for ripping LP:s, but then again... I don't like having many functions in one box, it limit's you. So, for now the Lead is the shit, and if I ever can afford the Rega P3 (or an LP12!) then I will deal with the RIAA at that stage.

Another thing I saw in Hifi & Musik was the DLS Flatbox Large loudspeakers. Again, much appreciated by Hifi & Musik, a really good option in my future surround sound system, for the back loudspeakers. But for the moment they would replace my shitty front speakers. Well, actually my only loudspeakers. I did say future surround sound system... ;)