The German start-up car maker Loremo says it is still on track with production in 2010 and they announced a couple of weeks ago that they will offer the Loremo in three flavors: Electric (EV), Gasoline (GT) and Diesel (LS).

While I understand the idea of adding diversity to their product lineup, I hope they won’t dilute their original principles of simplicity and economy. They have already beefed up the power of the Diesel engine, and turned the 140 mpg car into a 120 mpg car. What next? Add Bluetooth and double the price tag? Please keep  it simple and inexpensive!

Check out the Loremo YouTube Channel!

More details below the fold …

Read the rest of this entry »

After five years of civil war (2002 – 07) and a year of relative peace, it appears that Côte d’Ivoire is getting back on track to stability, democracy and eventually, relative prosperity. In the 80’s, the West African nation was still one of the continent’s successes. In those days, many of my Togolese friends dreamed of going to Abidjan to find work. The country’s economic success was attributed to the stability and relative freedom under the rule of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. He had run the country since independence from France, for 33 years, and maintained strong ties with France.

When Houphouët-Boigny died in 1993, he left a huge power vacuum in the country. Ivorians had to come to grips with a sudden transition to democracy. Also the new leadership began to politicize ethnicity, a trap Houphouët-Boigny had always managed to avoid. Ethnic tensions boiled over in a military rebellion in the North of the country, which split the country in two for five years.

Now the country appears to be emerging from this mess. The rebels have begun to disarm and the UN has programs to help re-integrate the decommissioned rebels into civilian life. The Ivorian blogger Yoro (FR, pop-ups) wrote a very interesting story in Afrique in Visu about two groups of decommissioned rebel soldiers (FR) grappling with civilian life.

In Dec. ’08 the Ivorian political parties agreed to hold elections in 2009.  There are efforts under way to resolve the citizenship issues and distribute ID cards. The international community has to help with these efforts, and the Ivorian leadership has to be disciplined and committed to the process. If the elections are fair and peaceful, I think Côte d’Ivoire will be well on its way to peace and prosperity.

SOTRA buses in Abidjan

Economically, things seem to be getting better. Despite the problems of the last years, the national transport company, SOTRA, has created an engineering arm, and begun building buses in Abidjan. The Ivoirian buses are built with parts from European supplier IVECO, and designd specifically to the requirements of being operated in an African city like Abidjan. According to SOTRA’s Mamadou Coulibali the buses are more rugged and have fewer electronic gadgets and fewer seats: “We just need robust buses because our roads are not very well done like in Europe. This is an African design for Africa.”

Obama Inauguration viewed from space

Geoeye published a great satelite photo (half-meter resolution) of the inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama. The image above links to a high resolution version. Geoeye provides the original high resolution image (3.5MB) that shows the entire National Mall.

Last Sunday was a bit chilly but nice, so I decided to go biking at Little River park. I biked the 10 miles to the park and hit the trails. About two thirds into the trail, on a downhill, my front tire lost grip on some wet leaf litter, the bike slid into the side of the hill, I hit a tree sideways and then went flying over the handlebar. Not my worst fall ever, except that the little finger of my left hand got stuck behind the brake handle and broke.

I got up, looked around to make sure no one saw me :) and got back on the bike. It was another 3 miles of single track back to the park entrance, and another 10 miles back home. Riding the trail with a broken finger was painful and I had to be careful not to fall again because I could not grip the handle very well. 50 Minutes later I was back at home, and took a bunch of pain killers and had a couple of beers. That definitely took the edge off the pain.

Thursday I finally made it to the doctor and got the hand x-rayed. Sure enough – a nice spiral brake on he bone closest to the hand. So they sent me over to Duke Sports Medicine today. Doc said “yup, it’s broken.”  Got to keep that buddy taped for a few weeks. That’ll put a damper on my sparring lessons – damnit!

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Presidential Oaths of Office

Inaugural Address below the fold …

Read the rest of this entry »

An inch of snow on the ground and, as usual, most of Durham shuts down. And since no one here owns a set of snow tires, I think it’s a pretty reasonable decision to stay at home. So we made some waffles and coffee and settled in to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the the United States.

Note to self : turn off theme before updating the blog software. After I installed the update nothing worked. Internal server error. So I deleted everything and rolled back to the old version, turned off my custom theme, updated again … and everything worked just fine. We’re now on WordPress 2.7.

This is very cool:

A US airline has completed the first test flight of a plane partly powered by biofuel derived from algae.

The 90-minute flight by a Continental Boeing 737-800 went better than expected, a spokesperson said.

One of its engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of biofuel and normal aircraft fuel.

Wednesday’s test is the latest in a series of demonstration flights by the aviation industry, which hopes to be using biofuels within five years.

BBC News, 8 January 2009

Virgin Air, Air New Zealand, and now Continental have all tested commercial equipment with biodiesel blends. In addition, Green Flight Int’l plans a 40 744 KM (25 317 miles) around-the-world biodiesel-powered jet flight next year.

So the airlines are finally ready to do something about their dependence on fossil fuels? Of course there is an environmental benefit in using biofuels, but I doubt that they care about that. But they do care about their business’ complete dependence on cost and availability of fossil fuels. For any transportation business it makes sense to encourage alternative fuel development, because alt. fuels will increase total fuel supply and keep the cost of fuel lower.

A close presidential election in Ghana has put the West African nation’s electoral system to the test, but in the end the opposition candidate John Atta Mills, 64, won by a very narrow margin. There were allegations of fraud on several sides, and the runoff election in the Tain region had to be re-done due to problems. But in the end, observers have given the poll a clean bill of health, and it appears that Ghana is headed for a peaceful transfer of power.

2008 was a disastrous year for democracy in Africa. But I am glad to see that Ghana has ended the year on a hopeful note, setting a positive example for governance in Africa, unlike the election disaster in Kenya, the rigged elections in Zimbabwe and the coup in Guinea. I was a bit worried that tensions over alleged election fraud would boil over in Ghana. But Ghanaian leaders appealed for calm and diffused tension. Sometimes they did so with typical Ghanaian creativity – with Fan Milk:

The electoral commission headquarters was besieged for much of Tuesday by thousands of NDC supporters demanding their candidate be declared the winner.

Armed police and soldiers backed by water cannon trucks and an armoured personnel carrier kept the protesters behind barricades and at one point fired warning shots

As tensions rose, party officials handed out ice cream and water to the crowds to calm them down.

BBC News, 12/30/2008 (my emphasis)

Handing out ice cream to protesters instead of shooting them, or arming them – that’s what I call real leadership. Bravo – and congratulations to Mr. Atta Mills and his supporters.

UPDATE: A personal account of violent intimidation of NPP supporters by the NDC shows that there was absolutely potential for violence (via Koreanteng’s Toli).

2008 was a pretty good year for us. We stayed healthy, sane (more or less) and employed. Jacob and Julia grew a lot. We had a great family vacation in the mountains of North Carolina and we did a couple of short trips to the beach. Both kids changed schools. Jacob and I started learning Karate. I entered my first mountain bike race, and competed in the Doughman race a few weeks later. Laura did a lot of trail running – especially during our mountain vacation. We settled into our new home – we bought a new hot tub, Laura built a fish pond, we did quite a bit of landscaping around the house. With the kids changing schools, our daily routine changed quite a bit last summer. Also, our friend Agbessi changed jobs and started working for another Duke research group. My dad and his wife Gabi visited us for two weeks in late Sept. We had a fun Halloween party on Nov. 1. I started a new blog, moved this blog to a new hosting service, bought a diesel generator, fixed a wine cooler, changed the oil in our cars myself, aged some fine beers and generally tried to enjoy life. And Laura and I did our best to help Jacob and Julia grow up well.

Election 08: All year long we followed the election circus, mostly via Comedy Central, Daily Kos and Alternet. On election night, when they could not call Indiana right away, we realized something big was happening. We were really thrilled to see Barack Obama and the Democrats not only win, but win decisively and indisputably. I think he has already demonstrated that his leadership will turn a new page in US politics. I don’t agree with everything he say or does, and I find the media’s celebrity treatment of the Obama family annoying and a bit embarrassing. But still, I am as hopeful and optimistic about the future of this country as it is possible at this point, considering the legacy of the Bushista regime. Can’t wait for Jan. 20 …

Vacation cabin on Roundtop mountain

Mountain Vacation: For us as a family, the week-long mountain vacation in western North Carolina last spring was the highlight of 2008. The US Dollar was not worth anything most of this year, and we had just bought a house, so there was no way we’d go on a vacation abroad. Laura found these cool rental cabins that sit on top of a little mountain (Round Top Mountain) at about 3000 feet (1000 Meters) on a ridge, facing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Right behind our cabin we had access to a logging road that winds along the mountain for several miles. Following that same logging road downhill, you end up in the valley right across from the access road to the Tsali Recreation Area with 40 miles (60 KM) of mountain bike single-track that ranks among the finest on the East Coast. We had a fantastic time that week, hiking with the kids, biking (me) and trail running (Laura). We saw all kinds of wildlife: wild turkeys, wild pigs, hawks, buzzards and many deer (they are huge up there) – some of it from our hot tub behind the cabin :-). During that vacation, Laura did a lot of trail running along the logging trail that runs right by the cabin. Toward the end of our stay, she ran two 8-mile runs down to the highway and back – that’s almost 1000-foot climb! The kids turned out to enjoy hiking quite a bit (most of the time) even when we occasionally got rained on. The weather did not seem to faze them much at all.

Cape Lookout

Beach Trips: In late June we went to Atlantic Beach and stayed at a friend’s beach house for a few days. Now that the kids are older, these trips are really easy. Pack a cooler with some food and some drinks, grab some beach towels and off we go. It’s a 4 hour drive – no sweat. There are a few fun things to do around there – a boat ride to Cape Lookout lighthouse, an afternoon at the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, or a visit to Fort Macon. In the Fall, I took Jacob (during his intersession), and my dad and his wife Gabi (visiting from Germany), for a few days to Atlantic Beach. I love going there off season, and we had a great time for the few days we were there.

A juvenile copperhead snake from our back yard

Wildlife: This spring our beloved pet chipmunk passed away after living with us for well over three years. He was a funny little rodent, and we do  miss him.

In April, we rescued a stray cat who started hanging out with our cats. We called him Tchakpa, because of his black, matted coat and his aroma. Sadly, he tested positive for feline leukemia, and we did not want to take the risk of having him live with our cats (although they are of course vaccinated). Also, he should really live indoors, and so we asked around and eventually we found him a loving home, where he can live indoors as an only cat, with a couple of dogs to boss around. We get updates regularly from his new family, and he is doing great.

In September, we caught a green snake in the woods in N. Durham County. We had gone for a little hike with the kids because Jacob was working on a project for school about Rattlesnakes, and I wanted to show him the only area in Central NC where rattlesnakes have been spotted in recent years. Instead, Julia spotted a juvenile green snake in the grass, and I caught it. We took it home, and Jacob changed his project. He now did a presentation about green snakes, and brought the one we caught to school. After a day in school, we let the little snake go. A few weeks later, in early October, Laura caught a copperhead snake in the back yard. It was also a juvenile – maybe 2 feet (60-70 cm) long. She managed to maneuver it into a bag, and then we moved it – very carefully – into a terrarium. A couple of days later, we took the snake to a wild area behind a friend’s house and let it go. With the kids in the house we did not want to keep a venomous snake as a pet.

At the Knobscorcher

Sports: Last winter I biked a lot. I rode to work frequently, sometimes twice a week. Riding my bike to work was fun, mostly, despite the traffic. But the logistics are a bit of a drag. I also regularly rode the trails at Little River Park, and often I rode my bike to the park and back home, which is a great workout. At Little River Park I had a weird accident in Feb. – a twig from a tree punched a hole in the eardrum of my right ear. After a few weeks it healed, and I had no problem with my right ear since.

Until this year, I had never been in a race, but in 2008 I entered two races. During our mountain vacation I spent a lot of time at Tsali mountain biking. Wednesday that week, I noticed that they were starting to set up for a race on Saturday. First, I was not so sure about this. I had just turned 40, and I had never been in a race. “No way” I thought. Maybe I should just watch the race.

On Thursday, I got caught in a huge thunderstorm on my way back up the mountain, and I decided to seek shelter from the lightning and a drenching downpour. Instead of heading up the logging road (which had turned into a river), I rode into the tiny hamlet of Almond, at the foot of the mountain. I got under a roof at a motel right across from where the paved road to our cabin climbs up the mountain and called Laura to let her know where I was. Waiting for the rain to abate, I got talking to one of the folks staying at the motel. Turns out he was there for the race, and so were several others. He had been at this race several years in a row, in the 40+ age class, and he said it was a lot of fun. Yeah – the pros are really competitive, but for the beginners it’s more about being there, giving it your best, and enjoying the camaraderie and sportsmanship. We chatted for a while, then the rain stopped and I rode up the moutain, back to our cabin.

That evening, I made up my mind to enter the race. Laura said I should go for it. What the heck, I thought, if I don’t do it, I’ll regret it. If I make a fool of myself, it’ll still make for a good story.

So on Friday I entered the race – the “Knobscorcher” – which is race 2 in the South Eastern Regional Championship Series. The first wave had 9 classes of riders, and our class was going to do 2 laps around a 10-mile, single-track course on the Tsali trails. I registered in the 200+ pound class with 8 other riders. Then I spent several hours cleaning my bike and fixing some problems and making sure the brakes work well. We had lunch at River’s End Restaurant and I visited the NOC next door and got the gnarliest tires they sell at their bike shop. I knew the trails were going to be soaked and muddy for the race.

On race day, I was glad I got those tires. We were among the first to start, and the trails were still really wet. But the rain had stopped, and the day turned out sunny and nice. When other rider’s tires just spun with no traction on the steep, muddy uphill stretches, I very rarely had to dismount – especially on the first lap. But I pushed myself too hard on the first lap, and the second half of the second lap was brutal. I was really glad when I saw that the finish was close. Laura took some pictures of me when I finally made it, and she said I looked like I was trying to breathe through my eyelids! Later that day, I found out that I came in 5th (out of nine riders) in my class. Not bad, I thought, as I celebrated with a glass of Seeing Double in the hot tub behind the cabin.

Another sports highlight for me came just a few weeks later: the Doughman race in May – a team relay quadrathlon, where you eat as fast as you can, then you bike or run your leg. I found out about the Doughman race just a couple of weeks before it took place. Still confident (and in pretty good shape) from my mountain biking vacation, I decided to get a team together. I found three runners (naturally I was going to do the biking part) and we registered. Besides the running/biking, the eating competition was a real challenge, and so we did a bit of research and training on that end as well. In the end, our team came in third out of a field of 14 teams. Among the three “medalists” we were the only team with a woman, and probably also the oldest (average age) team. The race was big success, and the Raleigh paper did a story about the Doughman.

Random Facts about 2008:

• a US 1-cent coin contains 2 cents worth in copper, due to the decreasing value of the US Dollar and the increase in metal prices
• The 2008 election was the most expensive election ever: Barack Obama’s campaign alone raised more than $1Billion and the total cost, including the primary contests, was probably well over $5Billion.
• Two activists sailed on a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles from California to Hawaii to draw attention to the pollution of the Pacific Ocean.

The biofuels landscape has changed quite a bit since I brewed my first batch of biodiesel in Aug. 2006. Demand for alternative fuels skyrocketed when the price for barrel of crude oil surged to almost $150 this summer. Yet, now the price for crude is back below $40 a barrel, while biodiesel feedstock cost remails high. Unsustainable production methods and a surge in demand for vegetable oils for food have sparked a heated debate over the viability of biofuels. Due to the increased feedstock prices, locally produced biodiesel has been hard to come by, and expensive (over $5).

This weekend I brewed my 30th 200-liter (50 gallons) batch of biodiesel, and so far all the upheaval in the fuel market has mostly passed me by. I don’t intent to gloat – this has the potential to have an impact on me, too. The competition for waste veggie from restaurants has intensified. The restaurants use less oil and re-use their fryer oil more, due to the high cost. Oil that spent more time in the fryer has a higher percentage of free fatty acids and needs more attention when I turn it into fuel. Despite all this, I still have access to suficient amounts of good quality used vegetable oil at several restaurants in town. The logistics of collecting the oil are fairly easy to manage, because I work in walking distance to most of the places, and I work in collaboration with other biodieselers.

So now I am up to about 6000 liters (1500 gallons) of homebrew – with no major problems, really. (Knock on wood!) Every batch separated nicely, and I only once had some emulsion issues, which resolved with careful washing and settling. This is not to say I had no challenges – just no major disasters. In fact, batch 30 was a bit of a challenge.

Read the rest of this entry »

… apparently is now the Hydroptère – and again, right after breaking the speed record, they broke the boat.

Alain Thébault now claims to have reached 61 knots (70 MPH/113KMH) with his 6-ton sailing hydrofoil yacht before it flipped upside down! No one on the team was seriously injured, but the boat looks like it’s in rough shape. Both Thébault and Paul Larsen are seriously pushing the limits of sailing – reaching incredible speeds, and occasionally paying the price for pushing too hard. I just hope that they are careful enough and no one gets seriously injured. So far they were lucky. But still, beyond the adventure, I see this as important research, in a way, because these are radically new designs for wind propelled boats. Either of these technologies has the potential not only to make these guys famous, but to fuel the resurgence of interest in wind-propelled ships, like Skysails’ kites and other innovative designs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Once again, the longest night of the year is upon us.

Winter Solstice: A time to let the longest night of the year seduce you into stillness. Time to silence inner voices, listen to the beating of your own heart. Time to breathe slowly, become the breath. Linger here. The night is long.

Too bad that this time of year is rather noisy, breathless and superficial. Instead of slowing down we drive ourselves crazy. Outside barren tree branches reach into a chilly, clear sky; rattling in the cold breeze. Time to light a fire and think about what we do.

Ping-pong balls are useful. Historic evidence:

A Japanese freighter had been torpedoed during WWII and it’s at the bottom of Tokyo Harbor with a large hole in her hull. A team of engineers was called together to solve the problem of raising the wounded vessel to the surface. One of the engineers tackling this puzzle said he remembered seeing a Donald Duck cartoon when he was a boy where there was a boat at the bottom of the ocean with a hole in its hull, and they injected it with ping-pong balls and it floated up. The skeptical group laughed but one of the experts was willing to give it a try. Of course, where in the world would you find twenty million ping-pong balls but in Tokyo? It turned out to be the perfect solution. The balls were injected into the hull and it floated to the surface, the engineer was elated. Moral solutions to problems are always found at an entirely different level; also, believe in yourself in the face of impossible odds.

Tom Waits, True Confessions

More evidence. Go figure …

Looks like the Australian Paul Larsen broke the 50-knots-per-hour speed sailing record, and then he broke his boat. So far only a couple of kite surfers broke 50 knots. Larsen claims that in his latest attempt at setting a new speed record his sailboat reached a peak speed of 52.22 knots (60.09 MpH – 96.71KMpH) … before it flipped! He was OK – and now he and his team are busy putting the boat back together.

Sailrocket design

The Vestas Sailrocket is a fascinating design. The 9 meter long main hull connects to a 7.5-meter crossbeam that carries the main rig at it’s end – leeward of the main hull. At low speeds the crossbeam is stabilized by a small float at the end, below the rig. At cruising speed, that float leaves the water and flies above the water. “The flying height of the float is stabilized passively by the aerodynamic ‘ground effect’ which acts like weak spring connecting the beam to the water surface.”

The effect of this design is “that there is virtually no overturning moment and no net vertical lift. When used correctly this concept results in a boat which no longer has obvious stability limits and in which the only significant response to gusts is a change in speed!”

Check out the video of the run and the crash – it’s quite spectacular:

Good luck to Paul and his team! This is a very cool and exciting accomplishment!

Miriam Makeba at the Cape Town Jazz Festival in 2006

One of Africa’s great voices was lost last night. Miriam Makeba died in Italy, shortly after a concert. Makeba gave a powerful voice to her people during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. The South African government revoked her citizenship in 1963, but in the following years she was given honorary citizenship by 10 countries.

More about her live:

Wikipedia page
AlJazeera has a nice video tribute
Official website for Miriam Makeba

There is a direct trajectory from Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speach 45 years ago to President (elect) Barack Obama’s victory speech in Chicago. Maybe this is Dr. King’s dream realized?

Obama’s campaign has already transformed this country. I have noticed how frequently the white middle class Obama supporters expressed their surprise at how much racism they confront when they discuss their support for Barack Obama. It’s a real eye opener for white Americans to face this reality. And this will have a lasting effect on society. Politically, the style and strategy of Obama’s campaign have been vindicated, and probably will be analyzed and discussed for many years.

Personally, my recent post about the Deployment of a US Army brigade in the US pretty much sums up where I was a few weeks ago. Hopeful, but waiting for the other shoe to drop. Now, I am HOPEFUL. The paranoid voice is still there – I still wonder what the Bushistas can/want to pull. I am certain that they are busy right now shoveling the bailout money into offshore accounts and removing all “O” keys from the keyboards in the Whitehouse.

The other dream President Obama carries on his shoulder is that very contemporary dream of a fundamental change in Washington politics. I don’t think it’ll happen in any major way in his first term. Right now Obama is busy assembling many experienced insiders for his administration. Not really “Team Change” as much as “Team Cleanup.” He will be the most powerful President in American history – thanks to the work of the Bushistas – plus he’ll have a Congress controlled by Democrats and a serious mandate. But cleaning up the mess left by Bush/Cheney will take a term – at least.

Perhaps most importantly, though, was what did not win on Nov. 4: fear.  Fear did not win. Hope was Obama’s message. Not miracles, just the opposite of fear. The McCain camp had become the party of fear and distrust. As the economy turned into a lump of coal, Americans, to their credit, turned to the guy who offered hope, not to the fearmongers. Obama appealed to the resillience of America and his appeal resounded among the voters. THAT gave me hope.

This map shows the US states sized proportional to their populations. Blue states voted for Obama, red states for McCain.

In some of the blue states Obama only got a few thousand votes more than McCain (like in NC) but all the electoral votes of those states go towards the candidate who carries the state.

UPDATE 11/10: If you like the new color scheme for the USA, check out this map by the NY Times. (Flash)

Obama edged out McCain in North Carolina

This is sweet! Today I am especially proud to be a Tar Heel! North Carolina turned blue for Obama. It looks like the Democrat won by a few thousand votes in NC. This is the first time since President Carter that a Democrat won this state. The map above shows results county by county and you can see that most rural counties went to McCain, except for the two clusters in the East, where the rural population is more heavily African American (30% – 70%). All the major population centers went for Obama: Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, and Winston-Salem. The Dem strongholds in NC (>70 percent for Obama) are Durham – which is 40 percent African American, 12 percent Hispanic and fairly urban – and Chapel Hill, where North Carolina’s largest University is located. The only other >70-percent-pro-Obama county is tiny (pop 23,500) Hertford county, at the VA border, which is over 60 percent African American. The three lone Obama counties in the mountains of Western NC are the two population centers, Boone and the famously liberal Asheville, plus Cullowhee, where Western Carolina University is located. (See U.S. Census.)

To see three former Confederate states – Florida, Virginia and North Carolina – help elect the first black President of the United States is simply amazing. Simply. Amazing.

NOTE – North Carolina officials are still counting provisional ballots, but those are mostly new voters, who broke overwhelmingly for Obama.

UPDATE – 11/6 – The AP has added North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes to Obama’s tally.