DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

I saw a glowing review of the new 2004 Prius in the weekend paper. The car is a hybrid, so it gets excellent gas mileage (estimated: 55 mpg), and Toyota’s MSRP is the same as for the previous model year despite numerous improvements, a new aerodynamic body design, and a US-market-centric interior design.

Just for fun I thought I’d write up a comparison between the Prius and a typical gas-hog SUV, the Ford Excursion. I compared the cost of the vehicles in two ways: the operational cost per mile — a simple calculation of the price of a gallon of gas divided by the vehicle’s estimated gas mileage; and the cost per cupholder, calculated by dividing MSRP by the number of places provided for storing your beverage.

As expected, the Prius has a much lower cost per mile to operate, because it will drive approximately 4.6 times farther on a single gallon of fuel. In a typical year of driving, the Prius would consume $469 worth of gas, whereas the Excursion would consume $2150.

But if like many SUV fans your main criteria for selecting a vehicle is the number of cupholders, then the Excursion is a much better deal. Featuring six cupholders, the Excursion is sure to provide a place for your entire family to hold their beverages, all at once. And get this — for $38,800-$43,200, you can upgrade to an XLT, Eddie Bauer, or Limited edition with eight cupholders. Whoo-hoo!

I have to admit that my analysis is flawed. I’ve assumed gas costs $2.15 per gallon, which is not true. According to a 1998 report from the International Center for Technology Assessment, the the real price of gas is significantly higher:

This report … identifies and quantifies the many external costs of using motor vehicles and the internal combustion engine that are not reflected in the retail price Americans pay for gasoline. These are costs that consumers pay indirectly by way of increased taxes, insurance costs, and retail prices in other sectors.

The report divides the external costs of gasoline usage into five primary areas: (1) Tax Subsidization of the Oil Industry; (2) Government Program Subsidies; (3) Protection Costs Involved in Oil Shipment and Motor Vehicle Services; (4) Environmental, Health, and Social Costs of Gasoline Usage; and (5) Other Important Externalities of Motor Vehicle Use. Together, these external costs total $558.7 billion to $1.69 trillion per year, which, when added to the retail price of gasoline, result in a per gallon price of $5.60 to $15.14.

Let’s take a fresh look at those operational costs, using a “real” cost of $15/gallon:

OK, so the Ford Excursion is a big fat loser when it comes to fuel economy and toxic pollution. Everybody already knew that. At least it’s a safer vehicle, right?

Um. There are no published crash test results for the 2004 models, but in general, SUVs kill more people than mid-sized sedans.

I was able to find one somewhat relevant test: “Head Restraint” ratings from the IIHS. They use a four-item scale: Good / Acceptable / Marginal / Poor.

For the 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 model years, the Prius has earned the highest possible rating, “Good.”

For the 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 model years, the Ford Excursion has earned the lowest possible rating, “Poor”.

Frequent correspondent Jacque Harper points out reports that some Prius owners get much worse mileage than the vehicle’s EPA estimates would indicate. There’s a whole story here, worthy of investigation and analysis at a future date. But for the purposes of my SUV vs. hybrid shootout, I don’t find it particularly relevant. Whether the Prius gets 55 mpg or 42 mpg or 31 mpg, Prius owners are taking a stand: they are voting with their dollars for small, aerodynamic, fuel-efficient vehicles. They are attempting to do less damage to the environment than they could. They are setting a good example to others. They’re making a viable market for low-emission vehicles.

Are hybrids a perfect solution? Of course not. I’d rather drive an electric, and charge it from my PV array. But in the absense of viable ZEV options, hybrids are maybe the next-best thing.

[Update: I test-drove a Prius for a day and measured 53.9 MPG.]

The Chronicle reports on the status of the Streisand vs. CaliforniaCoastline.org lawsuit (about which I’ve written before):

Singer Barbra Streisand has been ordered to pay the legal fees of an amateur photographer who defeated a $10 million lawsuit she filed over a picture of her Malibu mansion posted on his Web site.

Streisand actually lost the suit back in December — I’d missed the news. But I’m gratified it went this way; I disagreed with her claim.

I do understand the desire for privacy; that’s one of the reasons I moved out into the sticks. If I had $10M to buy a chunk of coastline, I’d probably do it. I like to think I wouldn’t sue californiacoastline.org if they took an aerial picture of it, but maybe the cost of having $10M to blow on a house is losing touch with reality.

Anyway, in sympathy for and solidarity with Barbra, I’ll post an aerial photo of my own home. I’m somewhere in the middle; see the red arrow. Barbra — if you’d like to commiserate, call me this weekend. You have the new number, right?

(Bim took this aerial photo. He has a really tall tripod. The questionable color correction is my own doing.)

I stumbled across MusicPlasma [update 2007-03-28: now called LivePlasma] — “the music visual search engine.” Type in a band name and it draws nifty diagrams of related bands. The graphs are navigable, sort of. (My experience indicates that the company hasn’t worked out all the kinks yet.)

Physical proximity within a map indicates musical “closeness.” Also, bands are clustered by genre and epoch: a search for REO Speedwagon lists every band I heard on the radio when I was in grade school. (I once saw Supertramp in concert. And Styx! That was my favorite band in 1977.)

Next I entered “Camel,” a band I’ve been digging for 20 years. The resulting diagram contains nearly every band I listen to regularly, and several I should be. It contains every major progressive rock band I can think of.

Some of the bands are surprising — the “Beatles?” Who are they?

These charts remind me of the Family Tree diagrams drawn by Pete Frame in the 1980s. The one I remember best is from the 20th Anniversary Box Set for Jethro Tull. Here it is, in glorious grayscale mid-fidelity complete with JPEG artifacting: Pete Frame’s Family Tree for Jethro Tull, 1968-1988.

Frame’s family trees are dense with the chronology of rock history; the charts show the incestuous development of the best bands of the 1970s and 1980s. The first book, Rock Family Trees, traces Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Genesis, The Police, King Crimson, Fleetwood Mac, the Yardbirds, and many more. If you’ve ever pored over liner notes while the record was playing, you need to see this book.

The second volume, More Rock Family Trees, contains Jeff Beck, Black Sabbath, CSN&Y, The Cult, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Pink Floyd, Santana, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Smiths, Spirit, The Velvet Underground, and about a thousand more. Cool, cool, cool.

The Chronicle reports on new laws about GMail: Bill puts limit on ads in e-mail:

In an effort to protect user privacy, the state Senate voted Thursday to place limits on Google’s new e-mail service and its controversial advertising policies.

Seems like an overreaction, doesn’t it? I mean, Google’s offering a feature-rich web-based email service for free… who cares if they show some ads alongside the messages?

But maybe Google is not so innocent after all. The print version of the Chronicle article claims:

Google … had originally planned to save deleted messages indefinitely and collect information about individual users to create databases of their preferences for marketing purposes.

The above passage does not appear in the online version of the article. The online version has apparently been revised:

Because of the wording of Gmail’s terms of service, some privacy groups were concerned that Google would save deleted messages indefinitely and collect information about individual users to create datatbases of user preferences for marketing purposes. Google denies any such plans.

Well, never mind then!

I needed to get a fresh nylon cord for my QLink. There’s a bead store downtown that although on previous visits seemed awash in negative energy — in fact my departing thought my first time there was “I’m never coming back in here!” — would certainly have a supply of suitable cord.

Sure enough, the store had a spool of precisely the material I wanted.

“How much is this?” I asked, motioning at the specific spool.

“It’s a dollar per yard,” replied the clerk.

“I don’t need a yard,” I said. “I just need enough to hang this thing around my neck.” I was thinking that about 24 inches would do fine.

“We usually sell it by the yard,” said the clerk in a tone suggesting the customer is never right.

So, chastised, I cut off one yard of material, slightly annoyed that before the end of the day one-third of it would be sitting in a trash can. I fished a dollar bill out of my wallet and laid it on the counter. The clerk poked at her register and said, “That will be $1.08.”

And I thought, I didn’t need a whole yard. I didn’t want a whole yard. I very nearly cut off twelve inches’ worth of cord and asked her to refund me 33¢, rather than break a dollar to pay the tax.

But no, I’m far too kind and patient with people in general, especially retail salespeople, especially retail salespeople already burdened with a lack of common sense, not to mention business sense, not to mention fashion sense, not to mention a dead-end job in a bead store. I noticed a little dish of coins on the counter and began reaching for it. I sensed an immediate defensiveness, an aura of palpable tension encasing the dish of coins like a force-field. I paused.

“Can I dip into your penny jar for the 8¢ tax?”

“No, that’s our change.”

Well, of course it is. That’s how penny jars work.

She made me break a second dollar, though. I left with too much nylon cord and 92¢ change in my pocket. My departing thought? “I’m never coming back in here!”