Every year Philly’s BarCarmp gets better. Last year I met great people and learned new tactics from my peers. This year I enjoyed a number of roundtable discussions where we taught each other and had my core paradigms challenged. (of couse still met great people, but that is implied) The day opened last night with a fantastic hosted party @indyhall. It had a vibe that reminded me of my college days where the future was bright and everyone you talked to has excitement around what they were doing. I loved being surprised by people. Even the kids from Phillymagic had more going on then I would have thought. First off the magician was a Rensselar student and I was saddened to learn the bars I institutionalized as a student were no longer in vogue. More importantly he was not just flipping cards for pay, he is building out an online hub for magicians to fill a market need that he noticed. I’m barely through my first tequila and completely impressed by this fellows accomplishments in building a passive income stream is a business he loves. ...

After spending a day immersed in the utopian community of http://www.barcampphilly.org/ I came home to dystopian reality of dog owners in my local park. Basically Cianfrani park is a nice little community park that has been overrun by rude dog owners recently. I love dogs, having raised three. My dogs didn’t need a leash and I walked them daily off-leash, so I understand these people. The contrast in the community is striking. At barcamp I was surrounded by people that see the web as a way for people to collaborate and communicate. These dog owners put up a site to champion their cause rather then conduct a dialog on the ‘official’ site. On the site some poster says that ‘unjust laws call for civil disobedience’. Most of the dog owners are very nice and considerate. It only takes a few bad apples to ruin a reputation. This injustice I understand since I ride a motorcycle and automatically get associated with obnoxious load harley’s and kids that recklessly weave through traffic. ...

A friendly PPA agent gave me some unpleasant news today. I was respectfully loading my bike and moving it from its unobtrusive parking spot on 20th and Market when he walked by. I’ve notices some motorcycle shaped parking spots on that corner and knew this news was coming. Turns out that if you charge 50% for motorcycle parking but put 4 bikes in a car slot you can still earn 2x in parking fees. ...

I went researching to Chevy Volt to find some facts to offset my calculator below. I did get lots of feedback about people thinking that price is not the only factor here. So when I went to chevy to look at ‘affordability’ I found this. Check the URL [caption id=“attachment_229” align=“aligncenter” width=“441” caption=“GM Working on affordability”][/caption]

I’ve been car shopping lately and thinking about what mileage I need in the new vehicle. The cars that I like and are more fun to drive hover just under 30mpg while the 35+ models tend to be a bit mushy on the gas (or tiny) Today I came across this: http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20090811/US.GM.Volt.Mileage/ GM is unveiling a car that get 230MPG in the city! I thought that was awesome until I came across 3 facts ...