Here’s an interesting tidbit. A Car & Driver study wanted to see just how bad texting was for your reaction time in a real car (not a simulator). It turns out… pretty damn bad.

While younger drivers (who are presumably more skilled texters) fared better than us middle-aged folks, all drivers were significantly worse off texting than drinking. Even when driving well past the legal intoxication limit.

So maybe the DJ from last week who was sort of encouraging folks to have another for the road and drive home was on to something after all. If you’ve had a drink or two, most people will sit up extra straight in the seat and glue their eyes to the road for fear of getting a DWI. No danger of texting there. But who among us hasn’t at least tried to read a quick incoming text while driving home from work stone sober? It seems we’d be safer stopping off for a couple of pops on the way. Hmmmm…

Sometimes nature is just amazing. Physicists at the University of Oxford have been studying bird navigation and have discovered that the system seems to exploit quantum entanglement. It has been postulated for some time that quantum entanglement also played a role in photosynthesis, but no one really understands that either.

Quantum entanglement is an annoying implication of the Laws of Quantum Mechanics. So annoying in fact, that Einstein was famously quoted as saying that he expected future mathematicians to show that quantum entanglement was the wrong conclusion, and further, that if quantum entanglement turned out to be correct that he would rather be a cobbler than a physicist.

Einstein also coined the phrase associated with quantum entanglement, “spooky action at a distance”. That’s not a bad description. Entanglement involves two (or more) particles that have have a relationship, often caused by the splitting of another particle. These entangled particles then act as a system, regardless of their distance apart. That is, if the charge or spin on one particle is altered, the entangled particle’s properties will be changed as well, regardless of the distance between the particles. The mechanism for this instantaneous communication is a mystery. But it has been scientifically observed, so it does seem to be real.

In principle, it’s possible that exploiting this principle could enable rapid communication across vast distances. Even to distant stars. Although, if that turns out to be true it would revolutionize our understanding of relativity. And by that I mean stand it on its ear. Which brings us back to Einstein’s Shoe Emporium.

Not to fear, we are a long long way from even understanding what’s really going on here, much less exploiting it. However, the discovery that the principle is used in nature takes it from being an oddball mathematical construct or a weirdness in a particle accelerator, and brings it into a light where we might actually be able to study it.

Very cool. It also means that someday, being called a bird brain would be a very high compliment indeed.

Larry Magid was a teacher before becoming a technology columnist. His latest column over at CNet illuminates a scary fact and poses an interesting question.

The scary fact is that based on a survey, 35% of kids with cell phones at school admit to using them for cheating. Over half of the kids have used the Internet to cheat. And perhaps most alarming, about a quarter of them don’t really consider it cheating.

Magid doesn’t remotely defend this cheating, but does offer that technology makes school a different place than it used to be. On that we agree. In it’s simplest form, cheating is breaking the rules. If the rules say you can’t use a calculator, then using one is cheating. But I think every teen struggles with doing what is right and doing what they won’t get caught at. I suspect most of this group of unapologetic cheaters have simply not matured yet to being able to do what’s right even when it’s not in their own selfish interest. Which is not at all to suggest the cheating should be overlooked. If it is, they’ll never develop that delightfully guilty conscience that usefully plagues (most) adults.

The more interesting question is how does technology change the school experience. Magid is right in that most of us live in a world now with a stupid amount of information at our fingertips. The skill is not so much about how much you know anymore, but about what you can locate and how you can process it. Should school change to be more focused on leveraging the technology and information available?

On the one hand, yes. Tools are an extension of self. In the same way that shop class teaches you to effectively use modern woodworking tools, social studies class should teach you to take advantage of modern information tools. Teaching woodworking by having students learn to craft stone axes and fell trees would be silly. In the same way, teaching history by forcing students to memorize dates and facts from books is equally outdated. If I want to know when the Civil war started and ended I can find that fact in a matter of seconds from my desk or even my pocket.

Yet on the other hand, information without the ability to validate, rationalize, and synthesize the information is more than a little dangerous. And while the Internet is full of lots of great data, it’s also full of a lot of crap, and many things that are just plain wrong. Here is where I think some of the old school training is still valuable. Some level of basic knowledge and skill is required.

I don’t know exactly when the Civil War started and ended. I do know it was in the 1860′s somewhere. Should I find an online reference citing a start date of 1861, I’d probably second source it anyway, but I’d be inclined to accept it. If something came back with a date 1837 it would set off a red flag. I’d be suspicious and do more research before accepting such as answer. But without at least some basic understanding of history, I wouldn’t be able to make that judgment.

In a similar vein, I needed to solve an equation the other week which I knew required the quadratic equation. I couldn’t recall the specific formula, but it was easy to look up, and I still had the math skill to use it once I found it. But again, without that basic training, I’d still be sitting here starting at those squared variables wondering what to do next.

In the end, while I do support that kids need to learn to exploit technology and information in ways most of my generation were never schooled in, I do not believe this is useful unless kids are still schooled in the fundamentals. There needs to be a balance. Wisdom and knowledge cannot usefully exist in the absence of one another.

Don’t tell Time Warner, but lots of businesses are salivating at the prospect of effectively infinite bandwidth at very low cost. Network applications continue to exploit the fact that an increasing number of devices are always connected. The article sites Japanese Coke machines that are are notifying bottlers when they are low on product and beginning to report consumption trends in real time. Many people already enjoy connected DVRs that allow you to program or even watch television programs on your cell phone. There are also digital photo frames to which you can push images from remote locations. And this is just the beginning.

Now that analog television is finally dead, the airwaves will start to be used to provide next generation wireless connectivity for your phone, your car, your home and everything in it. As that happens, increasing numbers of everyday devices will connect wirelessly. We may not know just yet what they’ll talk about, but once that infrastructure is in place, innovative people will come up with all kinds of useful (as well as many frivolous) scenarios.

The bottom line is that the clear trend is toward more and more devices being connected, and those devices talking more and more. Digital innovation and network bandwidth are now moving in lockstep. Networks that facilitate high bandwidth net neutral communications will thrive. Those that seek to limit bandwidth, for profit or any other motive, will be left in the digital dust.

Thus, it would appear that Time Warner and Comcast should start stocking up on Pledge.

It’s not that corporations are reluctant to exploit the desire for love. From the likes of eHarmony to the producers of The Bachelor, to the guy on the corner selling roses, people have been finding ways to turn romance (or some reasonable facsimile) into a profit for decades.

Along comes an Internet flash in the pan about a young boy trying to give a yellow rose to actress Megan Fox. She blows right by him, but did later publicly apologize for the snub. The sensation was perhaps not so much about the snub as the priceless look of anxious hope on the boy’s face that was captured in the photo.

Enter Eastman Kodak, who is desperately seeking the boy’s identity so that they can right this horrible wrong. Kodak has offered a $5000 bounty on this kid’s identity so that they can fly him and his family to a second chance meeting with Fox. No word on whether or not Kodak will provide a back-up rose.

Okay, I suppose it’s kinda cute, and it is a good way for Kodak to emphasize that pictures still stir an emotional response. I’m sure that should they root the kid out there will be lots of Kodak-centric publicity making it a good marketing ploy by the company. Also, it does tie into their big push into online social media as that’s the community that thrust this picture into the spotlight in the first place.

Still, I can’t help thinking that this hormone laden lad has gone home and rethought his boyhood crush by now and fixated on some other young starlet. He is probably soooo over Megan Fox. On the other hand, I suspect $5k and a free plane trip might just reignite his passion. You know how fickle teen boys can be.

At the risk of jinxing the whole she-bang, the long long saga of repairing my boat is finally done. It’s ALIVE!! It roared to life in the driveway last night and by all indications seems to be performing to spec. It ought to be since by the time I was done I had basically replaced the entire electrical system.

Still, it was way cheaper than a new boat, and much less than paying someone else to swear at it. However, I did learn a thing or two. One: marine parts are damned expensive. Two: I don’t want to be a boat mechanic.

The proof will be this weekend when it gets dunked in the lake. I’m gonna be one damned ornery puppy if it runs for 10 minutes and dies. It ran for the first 21 years without any trouble at all. All I’m expecting is another 21 now that this is done. Yeah right. But I’d settle for a good summer or two.

While out having a ridiculously good time this past Saturday night at a local watering hole, I was more than a little surprised by the DJ’s announcement. Several times, while queuing up the next karaoke star’s music, the girl at the sound board announced to the bar that whatever you do, do not leave your car in the parking lot overnight. Dire warnings of large towing fees and such followed.

While she didn’t state it quite so bluntly, the message seemed to be, we don’t care how wasted you are (and some of the patrons were clearly over that line), drive your damn car home. This seemed in rather stark contrast to other places I’ve been where they are promoting getting a cab or catching a ride with your friend who was not doing shots of Jagermeister all night. I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t really know for sure, but it seems there might even be some potential liability for the bar because they basically encouraged everyone to drive.

Either way, next time I’m making it a point to leave there well before closing time when the lot clears out.

Is it possible we can use education as a role model for how health care should work in this country? The big debate at present is whether or not to offer a public insurance plan (e.g. Medicare for everyone) as part of the health reform plan. Critics are worried that public plans will restrict access to care, lower the overall standard of care, create extraordinary public debt, and drive private insurers out of business as they can’t compete with a not-for-profit model. Those in favor are claiming that unless there is some public option to drive competition costs will never decrease, and without public funding of health care millions will continue to go uninsured. The annoying part is that both sides are mostly correct.

It strikes me that we’ve sort of solved this problem once before, in the field of education. Everyone is provided a basic K-12 education at public expense, regardless of income, need, or any other criteria. If you are motivated and can afford it, you can send your kids to private schools. That’s your choice, but it doesn’t get you out of paying your share of taxes that fund public education. At the college level, most (all?) states provide some subsidized university programs that require students to fund part of the coverage as well. And there are lots of private schools out there that for a hefty sum will educate you at your own expense. While it’s hard to make generalities, it is pretty well accepted that in aggregate the private schools are providing a better education than the public schools. But for the vast majority, public schools are just fine.

Applying this model to health care, every citizen would be entitled to basic health care. This may not cover all the latest treatments, elective procedures, or extraordinary care, but it would be a solid basic coverage that would provide a desperately needed security blanket to the uninsured and those fearing unemployment because of its attendant loss of coverage. Then private insurance could be used to subsidize that basic coverage. Employers might still offer “umbrella coverage” as an employment benefit. States could offer subsidized umbrella plans to their citizens if they chose to do so.

In this way, those of us getting excellent care today would continue to get that care through a pair of complementary plans. Those without care today would get basic coverage they desperately need. Costs for basic care should be well contained, and capitalism is still alive and well. The only down side I see to this is that insurance companies’ business models will change dramatically, but I’m hard pressed to work up a lot of sympathy for them. It may be hard to get this past their lobbyists though.

And yes, this will raise your taxes, but it should also lower your expenses and/or raise your salary. Also, if the costs go down as anticipated, it may be a net gain for us in the end. It seems worth a shot. We certainly need to try something significant. Simply tweaking the existing system is clearly not going to get us where we need to go.

Maybe there’s something in the water in these municipalities, but these cities have taken the need to protect the populace to a new level.

First up is Bozeman, Montana. A sleepy little nondescript town who now requires all applicants for city jobs to release all login names and passwords for social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo!, or Google. Give me a break. Ostensibly this is only to ascertain if the prospective employee is engaged in any illegal activities. However, it’s one thing to search for prospective employees on the Internet to get a sense of what their public face is. It is completely another to gain access to their private world. What they do on their own or with their friends should be their business. This would be akin to requiring that all job applicants submit to a complete search of their homes prior to getting an employment offer. It takes invasion of privacy to a whole new level. It’s bad enough that the NSA is likely still reading your email and eavesdropping on your calls. Now your employer wants in as well?

On an equally perplexing, yet more comical note, comes Brooksville, Florida. I’m not sure what’s been going on it Brooksville that required them to pass such legislation, but the city council there has passed a new dress code to improve their public image. From now on, all city employees must adhere to the following rules:

• underwear is now required;
• employees must use deodorant;
• no halter tops or Spandex at work;
• no skirts worn “below the waistline”;
• no other clothing that may be “distracting, offensive or revealing”;
• only ears may be visibly pierced; and, perhaps most disturbingly,
• all cuts or wounds must now be covered.

Now many of these are similar to decency standards enforced by most companies and schools. No trouble there. I do find it curious that they felt the need to require that all cuts or wounds must be covered. Did the Band-Aid lobby get in there? Or did they have a problem with people sporting open oozing festering sores in the workplace?

But I’m most intrigued by the rule against going commando at work. Exactly how are they planning to check on that? And what constitutes underwear anyway? Are you okay if you just put a Band-Aid on your butt? The mind boggles…

I don’t care who your dad is, I’m pretty sure he didn’t want this from you…

Finally, a church that caters to dads. St. Stephen’s church in Barbourne, Worcester England will be serving free beer, bacon rolls and chocolate bars in honor of the fathers in attendance. Said a local bishop:

“Jesus created a lot more wine at a point in the party when some thought that there had already been enough drinking. He was all in favor of partying.”

“We give wine away every Sunday, so giving away beer could be said to going downmarket a bit, but it’s an attempt to speak of God’s generosity.”

Here here!!

Joseph Carnevale, a North Carolina State student, carved up and painted three of those orange and white construction barrels to create what is arguably a pretty cool piece of street art. I’d commission him to make me a copy to place on the shore at the cottage, but Kim has just about reached her tolerance level for my taste in art. Still, my boys would love it.

Anyway, it turns out he didn’t exactly have permission to use the barrels. He just sorta copped them from a local construction site in a fit of creative insanity. And now the kid’s been arrested. Strangely, even the company he swiped the barrels from doesn’t want him charged. In fact, they have asked him to build another barrel monster for them to keep, since the police dismantled the original and hauled it away for evidence.

The local cops are having none of it. For some reason, they need to make an example of this kid, and intend to prosecute.

Now there’s no arguing that what Carnevale did was somehow legal. And the construction company would certainly be within their rights to demand damages (in this case, about $300 for the barrels), or even Carnevale’s arrest. However, the victim of this crime is feeling amused, not abused. I could certainly even see the public interest of nipping a young criminal in the bud, but this is hardly the work of an up and coming serial thief or vandal. He took art supplies without permission. Technically theft and destruction of property I suppose, but it seems there are enough mitigating circumstances here to warrant a slightly different remediation plan.

Did I mention how cool it was?

Now they even have anaglyphic frogs!

Not long ago I learned that sleep increases your creativity. Now I learn that David Dixon, an eighth grader who apparently gets more sleep than any kid I know, has created a street legal solar powered quadracycle, replete with iPod dock, GPS, and a seat for his dog.

My kids definitely have to start spending less time with the Playstation and more time in the shop

No I’m not talking about Lauren, although her prowess at texting is formidable, and she might one day be a contender for this competition.

Rather, 15-year old Kate Moore is the Texting Queen. A title earned in a competition similar to the old typing contests where speed and accuracy count. With a twist, apparently they throw distractions at you. Like a guy dressed as en emoticon talking trash, or one part where you had to text blindfolded. There were 250,000 people (and I’m guessing 249, 963 were girls) entered in this competition. Said typical teen Kate afterward when recalling the ordeal, “OMG, I thought I was gonna die!!”

Of course she did. On the plus side, there was a $50,000 prize for first, which I guess could be considered a “texting scholarship” of sorts. So keep up the hard work Lauren!