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I am in no way an environmentalist. This may strike you as odd, considering how far left I generally lean. My general opinion on the subject, though, is that it is a morass of competing goals and that humans are terrible at doing anything preventative, especially for altruistic motives.  We might be able to solve our environmental crisis after the fact, but there is absolutely no way you’re going to get everyone on earth to drastically change their behaviors on the timescales required. (read: yesterday)

This is not to say that I’m in support of dumping my garbage in a river and clubbing baby seals. I just think that environmentalism, is, in general, a lost cause. We should be preparing for the eventualities rather than trying to prevent them. I’d rather invest my energy where it can actually do something productive.

For this reason, I’m a huge supporter of renewable energy, particularly in the form of solar and wind.  Both of these resources, are, for practical purposes, infinite and free. You’d think that would make them absurdly compelling, even if your only motive is greed. It is for this reason that I am continually amazed by the efforts the big energy industry to cast doubt on these technologies.

Yesterday, for example, I came across this article in Power & Energy Magazine on the advantages and disadvantages of wind power. The highlight was the following infographic. (Click to see original.)

Ah, yes. Nothing like the clean lines, good design and extensive use of green to aid you in your straw man argument. I don’t want to accuse the fine folks at Power & Energy Magazine of being industry stooges, but come now. Let’s look at some of their “disadvantages” of wind power, according to the article:

Unreliability

The main issue concerned with power from the wind, is that of its unreliability. Wind strength cannot be controlled and in some areas it is just not a viable source of power.

So, um, here’s a crazy idea: Maybe don’t put wind farms in places where they won’t work. Then you wouldn’t have that problem! Also: Don’t put a hydroelectric power plant in the desert.

Lower Electricity Output

Wind power generates significantly less electricity than its fossil fuel equivalent, meaning more turbines are required to generate the same amount of power. Wind turbines are also highly inefficient in terms of output capacity.

This would be a really good point, if it weren’t the fact that energy efficiency concerns kind of don’t matter when your fuel source is free and nearly infinite.

Costly to surrounding wildlife

With demand for renewable and cleaner energy sources growing it is likely that the need for land for wind farms will increase, which will potentially damage a high percentage of local wildlife In the process. It is also estimated that each wind turbine kills over 4 birds a year.

Really?  Really? Compare wind farms to say…coal mining. I’m just guessing here, but I’m guessing coal mining probably kills more than four birds a year. Hell, Thanksgiving kills a hell of a lot more birds than that.

Noise Pollution

The noise produced from a singular wind turbine is similar to that of a small jet engine and can be a cause of major concern for those living near a wind farm.

Again, let’s compare this to the relative concerns of living near a coal-fired power plant. Coal plants are known to expose people living near them to elevated levels of radiation, airborne toxins and smog. Granted, you probably wouldn’t want a wind turbine in your back yard, but I can’t imagine this is any different than living near an airport. Even so, airports tend to be in populated areas, whereas wind farms tend to be in very rural areas.

So it’s probably fair to say the “disadvantages” listed in this article don’t stand up to even casual scrutiny. Just to put things into perspective, I’ve prepared my own infographic for you, breaking down the advantages and disadvantages of another energy source: coal. Click for the larger version.

I spend my working life writing software and generally staring at computer screens. When I’m done with the computer for the day, I feel compelled to do something “real world”, like cook or build something. Cooking is easy, satisfying and relatively self-contained. Other types of projects require not only space, but an organized space where you can find the right tool or the right size bolt before you have to stop because it’s bed time.

Such has been the problem with my garage since I’ve had a garage. My tools have traditionally been stored in a pile next to the last thing I worked on. At best, they were all jumbled up in a toolbox. After seeing how Jaime Hyneman keeps his tools organized, I was kind of inspired. So long as everything has a place and you know where that place is, the amount of time you spend looking for something in particular can be greatly reduced, if not eliminated.

I started by declaring a number of functional areas for the space. I would have one bench for small projects, like electronics and another for larger stuff, like woodworking. Bike repair would have its own area. Tool storage would be centrally located.

I decided that I what I really wanted was a way to have my tools all out and accessible at all times, but not all jumbled up. I’ve seen this done effectively with peg boards, but those get pricey by the time you’ve got a hook for every tool. I also don’t love how much actual wall space pegboards take up. I decided I wanted something that would come out from the wall a bit that had a horizontal surface with holes in it. This could be used to store all manner of commonly used hand tools, like screwdrivers, hammers, pliers and so on. I was just about to make something when I saw this milk crate in the corner of the garage. It was an older one that had this heavy metal band around the top. I turned it upside down, bolted it to the wall and started putting tools in the holes in the bottom. If a tool wouldn’t fit, I cut some of the plastic bars to accomodate it. I probably fit two pegboards worth of tools in a quarter of the space. Here’s a picture of it:

For things that wouldn’t fit in the rack, I just put a finishing nail in the wall and hung it. Another thing I’m kind of proud of is this quick but useful drill bit holder I made:

It has hooks so it can hang on the wall but can also be moved where it needs to go.

Now that everything has a spot, I waste no time looking for stuff. I can spend the hour or two at a time I might have for projects actually working on projects instead of looking for my sh*t. Yay! Here’s more pictures of the finished reorganization.

Via Steve King of Fishbucket:

Pharrell did a nice little piece on Current a few days ago, talking about the inspiration behind artst.com (formerly known as Heywire.) The site has been blowing up this month, a huge flood of new members and artwork and always inspiring stuff to check out. If you haven’t yet, get in on that!