Cruise control Nov 15, 2006
I'm such a huge fan of cruise control.  Every time I drive a different car, whether it's a rental car or a friend's car, one of the first things I figure out is where the cruise control buttons/knobs are and how to use them.  This usually happens before I figure out how to use the steering wheel ("Turning the wheel clockwise makes the car turn right?  Whaaa?") or the headlights.  Driving around this past weekend made me realize something:  My goal when driving on any road with a constant speed limit for a somewhat significant length of time is to set the cruise control when I get on and not touch it until I get off.  My ultimate goal is constant speed.  I don't know why; that's just how my little brain works.  And to make it fun, I treat it like a game:  As soon as I get on the highway, I accelerate to my standard speed and set the cruise control.  Inevitably, different people drive different speeds, so I pass some people and get out of other people's way.  Sometimes my passengers need to stop for Starbucks; other times I-295 in South Jersey randomly goes around tight turns where the speed limit changes from 65 to 35.  In these situations and others, my game is temporarily paused while I impatiently wait to resume.  I even take pride in my ability to do well in my game.  As I'm driving along, I sometimes encounter stupid people that realize too late that they're driving behind someone going slower than them, so they're forced to commit the all-time greatest cardinal sin of using their brakes on the highway.  I can usually see these people even before they see it themselves, so I easily pass them before they can cause me any problems.  Other times, the left (passing) lane gets clogged up because some idiot doesn't know what it's for, so they're going 60 in a 65.  In situations like this, I'll look for a more open lane (usually the right-most lane) and pass all those idiots waiting impatiently behind their idiot leader.  And I drive away in victory, the master of my own little game. #travel
School's 7 lessons Nov 15, 2006
The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher is a really interesting article written by an award-winning New York state school teacher.  In trying to sum it up, I'm at a loss for words.  Two of his major points were these:  "It is the great triumph of compulsory government monopoly mass-schooling that among even the best of my fellow teachers, and among the best of my students' parents, only a small number can imagine a different way to do things" and "Some form of free-market system in public schooling is the likeliest place to look for answers, a free market where family schools and small entrepreneurial schools and religious schools and crafts schools and farm schools exist in profusion to compete with government education ... one in which students volunteer for the kind of education that suits them".  Similar to some of my previous thoughts.  Very interesting stuff from an obvious hardcore libertarian.  (via Digg) #education