MySQLTunerThis is a clever little program that examines your MySQL databases and makes recommendations about how to improve your database's performance in light of the reality of your data. I'll be spending some quality time with this on a few of my websites. Wikipedia: Enclaved countriesThere are only three countries that are completely surrounded by …
Tag Archives: environment
Is it worth the risk to drill off Virginia’s coast?
This is a NASA satellite photo of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: As of this morning, the slick is 100 miles long and 45 miles wide. It’s twenty miles off the coast of Louisiana, and due to hit the shore this weekend. If this wasn’t enough of a disaster in the ocean, …
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Orange County has sued a couple who xeriscaped their lawn.
The L.A. Times reports on Orange County’s lawsuit against a couple who replaced their lawn with xeriscaping, dropping their household water usage by 80% by simply switching from grass to native ground cover. Under county law, at least 40% of a yard has to be covered in live plants. Never mind that the southwest is …
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Incentives for G.M., not a bailout.
Instead of letting G.M. go bankrupt, why not give them a bailout with strings? Say, $1B for every additional MPG/year in CAFE standards. If they agree to hit the 32 MPG mark in 2011, they get $1B. 33 MPG, they get $2B. 34 MPG in 2012, they get $2B. Etc.
Clever new milk packaging.
Call me a huge dork, but I’m really excited about this new milk jug design taken up by Wal-Mart and Costco. They’re rectangular, allowing them to be packed far more tightly in shipment, use less packaging, and have a greatly reduced overall environmental impact. This is precisely the sort of small manufacturing modification that big …
C’ville water forum on Tuesday.
I’ve helped put together a forum about the Charlottesville and Albemarle water situation for the evening of Tuesday the 10th. It’s Left of Center‘s monthly meeting, and we’ll have Charlottesville Tomorrow executive director Brian Wheeler, C’ville TJS&WCD representative Rich Collins, and Artisan Construction owner Doug Lowe (builder and owner of the area’s only LEED Platinum …