The Frustrated Bunny

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Personal / Politics / Technology

Gasoline prices redux

Back in June 2007, I wrote a blog post about gas prices. At the time, gas was $3.15/gallon. Gas is a little more expensive now (about $3.70-3.80 here in north Texas), but more or less everything I wrote then still holds true, with the possible exception of my really bad jokes. Nonetheless, I’m not planning on writing another post about gas prices until there’s something truly new and different about how everyone is reacting to it, but I felt that in light of the same old panic about $5/gallon gas and a decrease in demand for gas from the same...

Random

How to: Protect yourself in severe weather

Following a series of severe storms that tracked across the southern U.S. earlier this week, many of the comments on my Twitter feed by friends affected by the weather led me to a somewhat surprising realization: many people living in areas where severe weather is common aren’t really sure what actions are necessary or they aren’t sure which actions are best to take in their specific situation. In this post, I will discuss several basic things about severe weather (specifically spring and summer thunderstorms), how to prepare, and how to react. Most of the advice I give will be fairly...

Random

Disaster relief donations: Stretching your donation dollar

Donations toward disaster relief following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are much lower so far than they have been for recent, comparable catastrophes like the earthquake in Haiti and Hurricane Katrina. According to CNN, four-day donation totals for Japanese relief are approximately $25 million, compared to $150 million for Haiti and $108 for Hurricane Katrina. Several explanations have been offered for this, including so-called “disaster fatigue,” where people who would ordinarily give feel tapped out from all of the major disasters that have happened around the world in the last few years. The CNN article also provides other hypotheses...

Personal / Politics

Atlantic Station’s hit-and-miss with Georgia Tech, Midtown

I woke up this morning as I usually do–rolling over, picking up my phone, and reading my Twitter feed before I get out of bed. About halfway through, I came across an article posted by the AJC that had me out of bed, ranting to my boyfriend before I could even finish reading it: New owners, new direction Residents of Atlantic Station want simple things: Better security. More locally owned shops. Improved home prices. Peace of mind. Potential visitors and shoppers want something too, and for many it isn’t what Atlantic Station is offering now. Many who live intown drive right...

Technology

My new netbook – Asus Eee PC 1215T: Initial impressions

I’ve been in the market for a new laptop for a little under a year, looking for a replacement for my growingly fragile Gateway laptop that I got in 2006. The Gateway served (and continues to serve) me well, but a fatal flaw in the design of the power jack and how it attaches (and tends to detach) from the motherboard, combined with a failing battery further drove my need for a replacement. Spec-wise, my Gateway is actually quite competitive with some of the higher-powered netbooks and subnotebooks on the market right now. It handles my occasional multitasking abuse very...