The cumulative effect

Small actions and choices have the power to destroy or save the planet

This is my post for Blog Action Day 2009 (http://www.blogactionday.org) regarding the topic of climate change. When I think of climate change, I think of energy utilisation and waste production, especially in my own household, as this is my direct contribution to climate change. As a thought experiment, I mutiplied this by the approximate amount of people on this planet that live similar or better lifestyles, and the sudden realisation of our effect on this planet had me reaching for the floor to pick up my jaw and return it to it's rightful position. Consumerism, you see, has seen such rampant growth lately that small actions by many individuals has resulted in large-scale damage to our environment. 

I call this the cumulative effect, and while it is obvious to many, the real problem is that these small actions by themselves seem perfectly acceptable and reasonable. Take for instance garbage.  I average about 2 black bin bags full of garbage a week. If that can be taken as an average for say 15 million households across South Africa, that's 30 million bags of garbage a week! What happens to all that garbage, and how much energy is used to move it around? What happens to 120 million bags of garbage every month? What's the total for the world? It's staggering!

Recently, I've been reading a book called Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. One particular conversation stood out for me. To paraphrase the book, one character defines evil in a novel way: by observing the world and the universe, and it's evolution from the big bang to what we have today, we can state that the universe is growing in complexity. In this way, it is heading towards a state we might think of as the Ultimate Complexity. Anything that hinders this progress towards this Ultimate Complexity could be considered evil. So the way to judge an act as evil or not, is to ask: if *everyone* did this action, would it help move us towards the Ultimate Complexity, or hinder it? If the latter, then the action is evil. So, for instance, killing is evil, as we would end up wiping each other and all life out. What I like about this definition of evil, is that it applies the cumulative effect without ambiguity and answers the question: is what I am doing evil or not?

Ask this question in your daily life. Is leaving a light on that doesn't need to be on evil? Is using a heater in a room when there is warm sunshine outside evil? Is buying packaged fruit when there is perfectly fresh unpackaged fruit available evil? Yes, yes, yes! The small actions that you do, or the choices that you make that even in the smallest way has a negative impact on our environment (whether directly or indirectly), are infact evil, because everyone else is making the same choices and performing the same actions. It is no longer alright to worry only about what comes into your life, and then stop worrying once it leaves - you need to concern yourself with how it got to you in the first place, and what happens to it once it leaves. The companies that bring the stuff to you, or take it away, do not necessarily concern themselves with the effect they have on the environment.

One of the truths that come from applying the cumulative effect is that you realise that you are either saving the planet, or destroying it. You cannot be neutral. It is the unfortunate truth that living the consumerist lifestyle means you are helping to destroy the planet. Even the food we eat is helping to destroy the planet. Meat consumption, for instance, has lead to large-scale farming to such an extent that even the methane gas emissions from the animals are having an effect on our climate. Let alone the way those animals are treated.

While I applaud the efforts of those who have forsaken meat for the cause, I believe in a more phased approach. For instance, have one vegetarian meal a day to reduce consumption of meat. The nice thing about the cumulative effect is that it can be made to work for the planet. If we all reduced our average garbage output to one bin bag or less per week, then we may well be reducing the country's average garbage output by 60 million bags per month. If we all replaced one 100watt light blub with a 11watt CFL blub, we'd be saving over 8000MWh (mega-watt hours) of electricity consumption (based on 6 hours a day usage for 15 million households). That is a LOT of energy that we don't need to be leeching off our planet. How many 50watt downlights (yes, those innocent looking 12V lifestyle items) do you have in your house? Evil.

In a way, I was quite glad about the positive side-effects of the global recession, load shedding,  and the electricity price hikes. People have started to take interest in energy consumption, as it now directly affects their pockets. I still believe that electricity is too cheap: I worked out that to leave my pool pump on for 3 hours a day, every day, only costs me R30 per month at the current rates. That's too little to bother anyone. In 3 years' time, that will cost around R90, if Eskom have their way. That might be enough to switch off a few 50watt downlights!

Ultimately, I believe that it needs to start making business sense to save this planet, in order for the planet to survive. Maybe this means heavy taxes for companies contributing to climate change, or maybe it means a lifestyle attitude change to create high demand for companies producing environmentally friendly technologies (like efficient solar panels). Perhaps we could even on-sell excess capacity from our own solar projects back into the grid (like in some countries) to help us to make a living out of  saving this planet. It all starts with everyone being aware of the fact that ignorance is not an excuse, that a 1000watts is a lot of power to be using, that every item thrown into the garbage bin is an item contributing to the demise of this planet. Then, maybe, there will come a time when consumerism and the cumulative effect will actually help save this planet, instead of helping to destroy it. Till then, we need causes like Blog Action Day to beat the reality into everyone's minds until it is glaringly obvious.

Misnumbers

Kind of like a misnomer, but with numbers.

There are a bunch of numbers that people base decisions on (primarily purchasing decisions) that are misleading. Marketing people love these numbers, and engineers hate them, because they fool people into spending more money than they ought to. I call these numbers misleading numbers, or misnumbers.

My favourite misnumber is that of audio power ratings. You will see a hifi or amplifier rated at 80 watts per channel, another at 100W per channel, and yet a third for 120W per channel. There is usually at least a few thousand rand difference between them. Which should you buy, if you can afford all of them? The sales and marketing guy will tell you the 120W, but the engineer knows better. Much better. Without going into any technical detail, the difference in sound volume between them (assuming the same efficiency speakers) is almost imperceptible! The reason for this is that it takes double the power to get the sound to be "one notch" louder, and ten times the power to make it twice as loud. And what about those tiny computer speakers rated at 1000W? Complete marketing bull manure! The engineer looks for RMS rating, and knows that speaker efficiency is more important than amplifier power output rating. The engineer is a good friend to have, when shopping for tech!

What about car performance rating? Almost every car enthusiast I know bases their entire opinion of a car based purely on one number: how many kilowatts of power the engine puts out. In practise, I know that this number is highly overrated, and almost completely irrelevant on it's own. As an example, a Lotus Elise/Exige uses a Toyota RunX RSi engine, but significantly outperforms it. The reason is mainly because of it's lighter weight, but also because of it's better aerodynamics and suspension. My 17 year old Nissan 200SX with "only" 127kW can keep up with, if not outperform many of the "hot hatches" with significantly more power on a track or a drag strip because of a combination of several factors including weight, aerodynamics, engine power delivery, power distribution to the wheels, suspension, etc.

Another favourite car performance misnumber is top speed - practically, it is insignificant once it gets over 200km/h as even on many race tracks it's difficult to hit the top speed. The 0 to 100km/h time (or quarter mile time) is also a misnumber in that removes handling from the equation (a modified Uno beating a Ferrarri on a drag strip is not uncommon), but of all the automotive misnumbers, this is the least evil of them all. What does the engineer recommend for measuring car performance? A combination of 0 to 100km/h time and a lap time around a standard short track (like the Top Gear Test Track). 

What is more important though, is that the performance differential out in the real world on a real road is almost negligible, because of speed limits, traffic, driver ability, driver sensibility, etc. If a modified sports car capable of producing 200kW opened full throttle in front of a similar unmodified 130kW car which responded in kind, the car in front would pull away at a rate significantly slower than what you would expect. Infact, for all practical purposes, up to the speed limit, any car with sufficient performance (e.g. a hot hatch or better) would be as fast as any other car on the road (including super cars). My advice is to forget trying to be faster than someone else - you are wasting your money. Instead focus on getting the most enjoyment out of your purchase. If the performance of the car you like puts a smile on your face when you test drive it, then that is all you need to know - forget the misnumbers!

I could go on and on about other misnumbers. I could talk about resolution, contrast ratio and response time of LCD TV's, gigabyte rating of MP3 players, or one of my other favourites - megahertz rating of computer processor chips. However, I want to touch on the greatest misnumber of them all - price, or more specifically, money!

Try this quick thought experiment: imagine a time when you had no idea how much houses cost, but you know you need to buy one. If you were asked how much you would pay for a 3 bedroom house in The Reeds in Centurion, what would you answer? R10,000? R100,000? R10? What if it was an auction with no reserve and no starting bid? What would your maximum bid be? No idea? So you do some research: look at the local classifieds, speak to estate agents, etc. Then you get an idea of what houses cost in different sizes and in different areas. At this point you have been conditioned into accepting the value of houses (as set by who? Estate agents? The market? The builders?) You then find something you can afford, negotiate a little, and buy. You have accepted the misnumber they call price. Why is this a misnumber? The idea that a house can have the same value to all people is rediculous - a family of four will value a bigger house more than a retired couple. "Fine", you say, "let the retired couple buy elsewhere!". Well, let's extend the thought experiment a little - imagine that money was taken out of the equation and everyone worked on a barter system. Your circumstances changed and you now have a bigger family and you want to move closer to work and schools. Similarily, a couple near the CBD have retired and want to move out into quieter, safer suburbs. So the two parties decide to swop houses, because they both value the other's property more than their own. Having taken money out of the equeation, the misnumber is gone, and both parties win.

It gets worse though. What money is doing is getting people to trade objects (or services) for an intermediate trading object (currency), then trade that into another object (or service). That would not be so bad, except that the intermediate trading object changes it's intrinsic value over time as well! Just how bad the monetary system is, is a topic for another blog post, but I'd like to mention Zeitgeist The Movie (and it's Addendum) as must-watch free movies, and there are some good online resources for learning about the monetary system, such as this crash course: http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse

Recognising misnumbers is a truly empowering experience, as it fights that consumerism urge that is programmed into us from the day we are born. It helps to have technical knowledge in order to recognise some of these misnumbers, but in these days a Google search can be just as empowering.

Changed my routine, changed my life

It's amazing what far-reaching implications a subtle change in my routine can have on my life...

I'm a routine-oriented guy. Any of my friends will attest to that. I like to have a set time for everything that needs to happen on a daily basis, such as meals, commuting to and from work, gym, shower, etc. I'm a follower of Zen Habits and the like, which encourages a routine to simplify life. Lately though, I've found that my routine has taken a toll on me, so I've decided to change it...

The thinking behind my previous routine was that I needed to avoid traffic. This meant getting up early in the morning (5h30), so that I could be at the office by around 6h15. I could then work my 8 hours and have a bit of web surfing time, leave the office at 15h00, get home by 15h30, and have most of the afternoon and evening for personal time (which includes gymming at home). Even this was tweaked over time as traffic patterns changed - I initially left home at about 6h45, and left the office at 16h00. Having found a good balance between commuting time, work hours, and personal time, I happily adopted this routine for the last 5 years.

Recently I realised that, despite the healthy amount of personal time in the work day, I felt like I had very little of what I like to call Personal Productivity Time (PPT). This is time I can use to do tasks that usually require me to be alone or have low SAF (Spouse Acceptance Factor), for example: read a book, practise guitar, play some heavy metal loudly on my hifi, meditate, etc. Having spent most of my single years living alone and hence having an abundance of PPT, changing to a routine that had almost no PPT was a pretty big problem for me, causing me stress that spilled through into my marriage.

Another big problem was that this routine is very inflexible - the times are fixed and cannot be changed, unless I fancied sitting in my car pumping the clutch pedal for an hour and a half non-stop. I *had* to leave work at 15h00, even if production servers were falling over. I *had* to be in bed by 21h30 or else getting up at 5h30 would be a problem. I *had* to leave home by 6h00 for fear of another marathon clutch-pumping session. My life was ruled by the clock.

It took me a really long time to realise this, but it was time for a change - something I am thankfully not resistant to. I found the solution in a simple yet profound change to my routine: work a later shift. Amazingly enough, the solution was found quite by accident: one day I got up a bit later and decided that I'd like to get up later every day. In order to facilitate traffic avoidance, I decided to get to work much later, and leave work much later. I hadn't considered this option before, due to it's low SAF, but since it became necessary for mental and marital health, SAF was vastly improved.

The consequences are quite unexpected. Suddenly I am far more flexible with time. If I get to work late because of traffic, I just work a bit later. If a meeting runs late, no problem - I have to wait for peak traffic to end anyway before I can go home. I have some PPT in the morning since I have to wait till after peak traffic to leave home. This also gives me a few hours of PPT after work, albeit not at home. This is a good thing, as it forces me to discover new things to do (such as joining a gym), and allows me to do things that I don't need to be at home for, such as writing this blog at Mugg & Bean over a bottomless coffee. So I still sleep for 8 hours, work for 8 hours, mostly avoid traffic, and yet I have a lot more PPT!

There are downsides to this, of course. Most obviously, I have less time at home, and less time with the wife (although this time is now better spent). I don't get to cook with my wife as I'm not home at that time. I also end up getting stuck in bad traffic more often than previously, as traffic is highly unpredictable and varies a lot on a daily basis. Luckily, MTN's JamCams help with monitoring traffic on the highways, and I can always throw in an early shift like before when I feel the need.

Change is often good, and sometimes it's worth just trying something different when you feel that things are boring, routine, or frustrating. Even the smallest of changes can have the biggest impact on your life. I am sure my new routine won't keep me happy forever, so the best I can do is to recognise when it stops working, and then try something different. For now though, I am enjoying the freedom from the shackles of the clock that I have endured for too long!

Switched on to digital TV

South Africa officially switched on its digital TV signal on November 1 2008. Wanting to be a part of the revolution, I acquired a digital TV tuner so that I could play …

Read more at TechLeader

Netbooks have lost the plot

First came the promise of the OLPC, then came the Asus Eee PC, and life got good. Now that Pandora’s box has been opened, a hell spawn of so-called netbooks are flooding the market creating confusion, and completely eroding the good work done by the original Eee PC.

Read more at Techleader.

Privacy in social networks

They are in your Facebook, mining your data...

Read my take on privacy in social networks in my article on techleader.co.za

I am a productivity hobbyist and life hacker

Joining the new geek subculture of getting things done and getting the most out of life

For the longest time, I've been obsessed with being productive in my spare time. By productive, I mean that whatever I did in my spare time should in some way contribute to making my life, or someone else's, better. This meant that things like reading novels or watching movies was unproductive. However, things like writing freeware software (like my own IRC client), designing and building circuits (like audio amplifiers and home automation kit), improving my guitar playing technique, gymming, or reading self-help books (on things like finance and meditation), was productive. There had to be some form of rolled-up progress. If the garden needed to be tended to every week just to maintain it in it's current state, then that was not productive. However, if I could paint one wall of the house once a month, then eventually my whole house would be repainted. Highly productive!

Over time I discovered that this obsession left me with a lot of productive "projects" to complete. The more projects I had, the less motivation I had to do any single one of them, because I couldn't decide which one to focus my energy on. This resulted in me wasting away my spare time with useless things like watching TV series or playing computer games.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon the GTD phenomenon. GTD is an abbreviation for "getting things done", which is a reference to the book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. I was instantly hooked as I read about GTD, because as a geek, this appeals to my nature of hacking things to make them work better, or in ways they weren't intended to. Here was a book describing how to organise and focus your mind so that you can be productive, even when you feel like you have way to much to do, and way too little time. Even more profound was that it explained why I always felt stressed instead of motivated, when I thought about my projects. I went around telling everyone how busy I was and how little time I had for anything, even when I wasn't actually doing anything useful, simply because of the energy it took to organise my thoughts.

One of the first things I learned with GTD was to get things out of my head and into some written form. They suggest a pen and pocketable writing pad (in a form they call Hipster PDA). Imagine that! Suddenly geeks are excited about dumping their unwieldy electronic PDA's for a pen and piece of paper! We've known all along that despite the uber-coolness of an electronic diary/PDA, they are pretty useless when you need to jot down thoughts as you have them, wherever you may be. You tell yourself to remember to enter it in your PDA when you get a chance, then you forget, and then you feel stressed and can't figure out why. One of the best things about GTD is that you no longer rely on yourself or anyone else to remember anything. It gets written down, processed into a to-do list, and the GTD process makes sure you know about it when you need to.

Having a to-do list is all good an well, but completely useless and a waste of time if it is not organised correctly and used in a process that keeps it visible and manageable. I won't go into details here, as it's all explained very well in the book (and there's a nice summary here). I find that it is all too easy to ignore the to-do list (especially if it has too many items in it) and go back to the unfocussed, demotivated state, so I've made it a part of my routine, like with gymming. It's not easy to get myself into the gym when I don't really feel like it, but once I'm there, I enjoy it and start giving it my best (without fail). When I get myself started on a task in my to-do list, the satisfaction of having completed it motivates me to keep going, and soon I'm ticking off tasks like there's no tomorrow. Now that's rolled-up progress!

What works well for me is to use my cellphone to gather my thoughts, to-do's and information. Since it has a full keyboard on it, it's easy to enter information, and I always have it with me. If I can't type, I do a voice recording. When I am at home, I enter that information into my to-do list. I use toodledo.com (although there are tons of other good sites, such as rememberthemilk.com) to manage my to-do list, as it is accessible from my cellphone, pocket PC, iPod touch, EeePC netbook, or any internet-connected PC.

While researching GTD, I stumbled upon lifehacker.com and zenhabits.net. I am fascinated by the various ways in which you can hack your life to get more out of it. Lifehacker.com aggregates articles from around the web on mostly tech tips and tricks but also some life hacks, be it tips and tricks on using Outlook, tools to implement GTD, or even how to hack conversations you have with people! Zenhabits.net has amazing self-help articles on improving your life by simplifying it. It includes topics about health, wealth, relationships, work, etc. This site can change your life for the better, if you are receptive to it.

Hacking my mind is currently one of my biggest fascinations. By applying Buddhist meditation techniques, it's possible to hack my mind and change the way I feel and think! Feeling anger? A bit of mindfulness and centering will sort that out. Feeling frustrated with someone? Nothing that some loving kindness meditation can't solve. Infact, I have now changed my mind about some tasks I used to think were unproductive: ironing my clothes, swordsmanship (yes! with a katana sword!), and washing my cars offers me a great opportunity to meditate while still doing something useful. Chores have changed from being unproductive and frustrating, to tasks that allow me to meditate, do some cardio, and complete the task at hand, all in one go.

Hack my mind, my body, and be productive, all at the same time. Now that is the ultimate life hack.