Show Me the Money

Crass commercialism entered my thoughts as I pondered the title for this blog post.
The above line from the 1996 film Jerry Maguire, is one that seemed to fit.

I heard a story on the radio this morning that stuck in my head.
In Haiti, over a year has elapsed since the devastating earthquake and the process of rebuilding seems to be barely inching along.  People live in sometimes squalid conditions and technology seems very distant.  And yet, in the country which used to be the poorest in the Western hemisphere before the earthquake (one can only imagine how much further they receded due to the earthquake), the very modern concept of electronic money, or the use of cell phones as debit cards, seems to be gaining ever widening adoption.

Perhaps it represents the ever accelerating pace of new technology becoming available, or simple economics and convenience -- only a small fraction of the population in Haiti have bank accounts and it costs less to use this service than others currently available on the market -- or the fear of disease agents, such as cholera, which might be transferred with paper money.  Perhaps it is all three of these conditions (and more) combined.

Another related article had caught my eye a few days ago.  It was titled "The End of Credit Cards is Coming" and it had explained how cell phones are about to take-on the additional role of credit cards (which are a close relative to debit cards mentioned in the Haiti article I made reference to).

Now re-imagine the phrase "Show Me the Money" and think of the image at right (feel free to substitute the image of an iPhone or Android device if you like).  Imagine using your cell phone as your virtual wallet and not having to handle paper money and coins again.

In order to complete this little near-future glimpse into the topic of money (and in case you would like one more thing to worry about), I will leave you with one last point.  The incredible amount of information stored in our smart-phones and the unparalleled access these little devices could wield in the future is outlined in an article titled: "Your most dangerous possession?"

Snow Days

How do you know when it is winter in Pittsburgh?
"When it is cold and everything is white" is one answer.
The first major snowfall of 2011 is upon us.

It started yesterday at noon, as I was walking through the woods -- it was clear at first, but it was really cold and you could "smell" the coming snow.  Then it started as tiny iceballs which bounced-off the ground, soon to be followed by larger flakes which were falling densely after about 10 minutes. 

By the time my walk in the woods was finished, it was snowing hard.

By the afternoon, there were 3-4 inches (5-8 cm) on the ground and it was still snowing hard.  All the roads were slippery and traffic was moving very slowly, as the snow plows/salt trucks valiantly tried to clear the major roadways faster than the snow could collect.  Once I arrived at my house, I shoveled the driveway, although it continued to snow hard (less snow to shovel in the morning, I figured).

This morning I woke-up early, grabbed the snow shovel and cleared the driveway and sidewalk again - it was around 20F (-7C) and the snow continued to fall, while the wind whipped at any exposed skin.  The wind chill was around 10F (-12C).  I cleared the snow off the cars and went inside to warm-up and get ready for work.  In less than an hour I was ready to leave, however my car needed to be cleaned again, as the snow was collecting at a fast pace.

Less than an hour after I cleaned it of the overnight snow, my car needed to be cleaned again before I could drive.

The schools had a two-hour delay, but a "snow-day" was not declared for our school district.
I slowly ventured out of my neighborhood and was promptly stuck in various traffic jams as cars moved slowly and people tried to get to their jobs.

A Long line of vehicles inches forward more than a mile away from the highway ramp.

Winter in Pittsburgh could also be called snow days.
FYI, the film Snow Day could also be discussed here, however I'll leave that as a subject for another post.