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Blogging by Richard
May 25, 2007
Nitrogen in your tires? WTF?!
Topic: General
So I'm listening to NPR's Talk of the Nation. They are discussing ways to improve mileage. One guy calls and says he's heard that pumping your tires with nitrogen instead of air will improve your mileage. My brain starts thinking. Why is this wrong? I don't know exactly, only that it sounds fishy. Then it quickly dawns on me... oh yeah... air is what 72 or 80% Nitrogen to begin with! So I go to the only place where safe and reliable information abounds... the internet. I find this web site. Quote: | Originally Posted by Website linked above Here are a few other benefits of using Nitrogen in tires:
[1] Nitrogen is denser than Oxygen: This means the larger molecules escape less easily from tires resulting in a more gradual loss of pressure over time. According to the Michelin Tire Manual, a tire that is inflated with Nitrogen loses its pressure 3 times slower than if it were inflated with air.
[2] Nitrogen is moisture free: Pure Nitrogen inflated tires experience less steel belt and rubber degradation. Nitrogen use also reduces valve and wheel corrosion.
[3] Nitrogen provides longer tire life: Nitrogen inflated tire run cooler and require less maintenance according to the Goodyear application bulletin.
[4] Nitrogen is non-flammable: Nitrogen technology has been used in aircraft, military and race car technology for over thirty years. | Well, number 4 had to be the funniest damn thing I've ever read. Who exactly is worried about the air... you know the regular atmosphere that you are already pumping into your tires just combusting spontaneously? If you were really worried about that, Nitrogen may not be safe enough... might need to go with a Noble Gas. Some Krypton may work wonders! They put it in windows after all! Point 1 above would seem to be the only thing worth noting. However, I'm under the impression that typically air temperature has the largest affect on the pressure in your tires, because the warmer the air, the lower the density, ie the greater the volume a fixed amount of gas fills. I find the idea that reducing wheel corrosion is a benefit. Typically a tire is done when the tread is nearly gone, not when the tire has rusted away. This website is mentioning a lot of facts, but not a bunch of actual problems that Nitrogen filling would have on my tires. I'm starting to wonder whether the internet is 100% accurate after all! But the article continues, and to my greatest relief... Quote: | Originally Posted by same article (my emphasis) The other point to consider here is ‘selling Nitrogen’ is still science – and most people are not that comfortable with the whole science thing. And if you recall I mentioned that regular everyday air is 78% nitrogen anyway – so what would they be paying for?
Regular air is approximately 80% nitrogen anyway, are we to believe that an extra 20% makes all the difference… Ironically we now know that the answer is yes. | Honestly, two points. 1) How is that "ironic"? 2) It is just reassuring that the author says it does make a difference. Why bother telling the reading how BIG of a difference, when you can just say, well yeah... of course it does. Really starting to doubt the accuracy of the internet now. Just one more thing to make me lose it all. Quote: | Originally Posted by article - about the author JAMES BURCHILL is an experienced Internet Marketing & Business Development specialist providing strategic and tactical solutions to select clients seeking to architect their on and off line marketing success. | *Phew* I can trust this article after all. This guy has a PhD in Chemistry and works in the automobile industry and his accomp... oh wait... he's into marketing?! Fuck me... It appears that this article is being written by someone who is being paid to make Nitrogen sound as if it is the end all save all for cars and mileage. What an asshole! Luckily, I did find a place that was a little more honest about the reality of filling tires with only Nitrogen... ie... it's not anything that really makes a difference.
Richard thought this
at 6:02 PM EDT
Updated: August 25, 2007 6:04 PM EDT
November 9, 2006
11,000,000 bottles of acetaminophen recalled
Topic: General
The following is part AP News story as linked and part commentary on the drug acetaminophen. This isn't a humor submission. AP News Link WASHINGTON - A major manufacturer of store-brand acetaminophen recalled 11 million bottles of the pain-relieving pills Thursday after discovering some were contaminated with metal fragments, not because the drug is the leading cause of acute liver failure in America. There were no immediate reports of injuries or illness... from the metal fragments not the hexatoxicity of the drug. Acetaminophen is best known as the drug in products sold under the Tylenol brand and virtually unknown for the damage it can easily cause to the liver, due to it's relatively low Therapeudic Index, safe to toxic ratio. A study released in 2003, which got no press from us, noted that acetaminophen accounted for approximately 40% of acute liver failure in the United States. Tylenol became very popular when irrational fear of Reye's syndrome led people to abandon asprin for Tylenol to treat their children because using asprin to treat viral infections increased the risk of getting Reye's Syndrome. Tylenol was known for being safe for the stomach... not the rest of the body though. The recall does not affect Tylenol whose product is said that you need to follow the dosage instructions on the back of the bottle. Oddly enough, Tylenol's "Infant Drops" do not even offer prescrribed dosage amounts for children "Under the age of 2". To help muddy the waters more, the Infant Drops are about 3 times more concentrated with Acetaminophen than their Childrens medicine. The recall should not cause a shortage of acetaminophen, the FDA said. Which will allow heavy drinkers to continue to unsafely use the drug of which they are even more susceptible to acute liver failure from its use.
Richard thought this
at 4:54 PM EST
Updated: November 9, 2006 4:58 PM EST
August 26, 2004
My first blog entry
Mood:
 cool
Topic: General
Wow! The honor of being able to blog. I can't quite find the words to express such a feeling. I mean, to be one of the few to have a blog. Such honor, such honor... Of course, I think millions probably already blog now. In fact, blogging may not be cool anymore. Even worse, most blogs probably go unnoticed by the public. Maybe even like this blog! So why am I doing this, if no one is ever to notice? The heck that I know. I just can't deny the magnetism of "the blog." It draws you in and BOOM! You are mesmerized by it, by its blogness. And so, now a slave, atleast temporarily, to the blog, I must post to it. And this, being my first post, I am done.
Richard thought this
at 7:33 PM EDT
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