A trip across Canada in 30 days for less than $10 in total power cost (watt-hours) is explained by Justin Lemire-Elmore in the following video. He gives four reasons for his summer 2008 journey:
Meet electric bike enthusiasts dispersed across Canada
Examine feasibility of touring by electric motor
Develop products such as LED lights, 100-140 km range battery, and on-the-fly recharge
Prove to the world the low-cost efficiency of electric bicycles
That $10 is actually donated from random 120V stops along the way.
Every building had outlets on the side
He was intercepted just once and asked to pay a dollar, which he declined because his battery only draws $0.06 for a recharge. He spends just $0.86 for the ride from Vancouver to Lake Louise, with a target of 12 watt/hr per km. There is quite a bit of classic hacker behavior such as trip segments starting at 2am and breakfast as the only meal of the day. Fresh fruit stands also are often mentioned, as recharge stops for the rider.
Also notable is the discussion of engineering feats such as odd hand-built bicycles and even tunnels in the Rockies that stand above the road in summertime — built to prevent impact of avalanches.
Every so often I am reminded about the need for safe water. A site called GOOD has put forth a list of disasters related to water in American history. They start with the latest one, a tragic story that has directly impacted the health of soldiers at home:
For years, U.S. health officials have claimed that although the drinking water at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune is contaminated, it poses no danger to Marines or their families. This April, the government reversed itself, saying that its assessment of the water contained “omissions” and “inaccuracies,” and adding that a million people over the course of three decades may have been exposed to the carcinogen benzene in their water. Fifteen hundred former Lejeune Marines, some of whom are now afflicted with rare lymphomas, have filed lawsuits seeking more than $33 billion. Sadly, Lejeune is just one of the many recent poisoned-water cover-ups in American history. There are others going on all the time. Here are some more of the worst.
A phrase like “some of the worst” is a research cop-out. Inquiring minds want to know what are the worst? Where is the baseline for “worst”. Number of people affected? Area? Length of time? Where is the comprehensive list of disasters? I don’t ask just to be facetious but also because I think it will help put cybersecurity in perspective, especially with regard to SCADA systems.
