Differences Between Free and Five Cents
January 26, 2012
There’s a big difference between free of charge and any charge, no matter how small. That’s on observation often made about e-business. When it comes to the web, part of the difference arises from difficulties with micropayments. Another part arises from the way we think about costs; this part applies to even to the most tangible and familiar of objects.
Consider, for example, the plastic or paper bags given away by many stores, including supermarkets. They are no longer given away for free in Montgomery County, Maryland, where I live.
Montgomery County passed legislation… that places a five-cent charge on each paper or plastic carryout bag provided by retail establishments in the County to customers…
Montgomery County’s legislation, similar to Washington DC’s Bag Law, is designed to create an incentive for the public to reduce use of disposable bags by bringing reusable bags.
Will it work? I have evidence that it does. And by evidence, I mean anecdote: stories of my own behavior, and conversations at cash registers. I have gone back into the house to get shopping bags as I am about to drive to the store, then remembered that I’ll be charged if I get new bags. I am trying to keep a stock of bags in the car for the inevitable occasions on which I forget to grab bags from the house.
This effect isn’t due to the size of the difference: the five-cent difference between free and a nickel is bigger than five cents. Moreover, the directions of the five-cent difference matters. The local Giant supermarkets used to give five cents back for every bag a customer brought in. But the gain of five cents per bag wasn’t enough to make me bring bags to the store.
So there are two five-cent differences involved here. The loss of five cents per bag used affects my behavior, while a gain of five cents per bag rarely did. Those familiar with the concept of loss aversion shouldn’t be surprised. That said, I’ve been familiar with the concept for years, and I am surprised at how effective the five-cent penalty seems to be.
Tale of Two Springs
April 26, 2011
We took a trip up to Boston for a few days, returning on Easter Sunday. The picture is appropriate, not only seasonally, but because we had a party at the indoor playground with this mural outside (Kids’ Fun Stop in West Roxbury, highly recommended, and not just because the owner is a good friend).
We drove past our old house in Roslindale, which made Maddie (now 7) nostalgic, but which Max (4) doesn’t really remember. We also drove past Fallon Field playground, where we spent many an hour, and the arboretum, in which we would have taken a walk had the weather been kinder.
We took the kids’ winter coats to Boston, and the weather justified our decision. Then we got back to the DC area, and were soon digging out their summer sandals. We also had to get out the allergy medication: Max started sneezing while we were still on the plan descending toward BWI airport.
This is a great part of the world, especially if you can stand the pollen, the heat to come, the traffic, and a few other things. I still miss Boston, though.
2011 and Other Cubs
January 1, 2011
Happy new year!
I took the kids to the National Zoo today. We hoped to see the lion cubs, and all seven of them did indeed venture outside (although only three of them, plus the two mothers, are in this photo). They are 3+ months old now, and immensely cute and playful.
I hope that 2011, young as it is, has already started to be a good year for you.
Sanity, Signs, and So On
October 30, 2010
We were at today’s rally in DC. I didn’t see, and barely heard, anyone on stage, but I can catch up with the show via video later.
I did see a lot of signs, including these.
The Guardian reports that there were over quarter of a million people there. I can believe it, especially since most of them seemed to be on the same Red Line trains as we were. That said, I’m glad that we went.
WordCamp Mid-Atlantic
September 13, 2010
I spent Saturday at WordCamp Mid-Atlantic in Baltimore. It was my first WordCamp, the one in Boston having taken place just after I moved down to Maryland.
I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to make it to the event, was on the waitlist, but managed to leapfrog the list by responding to a call for volunteers. I spent some time at reception (but most of the checking-in was done by others), directed people to sources of coffee, listened to complaints about the directions, etc., but was mainly free to roam.
Most of the online discussion of the event is to be found at Twitter (#wcma), rather than on WordPress blogs. A micro-sign of the times, perhaps.
It won’t be my last WordCamp. I hope to be at (and have offered to help with) WCMA next year.
Planning a PTA Website
September 7, 2010
I just got back from the first PTA meeting of the school year at Highland Elementary School, where my daughter Maddie has just started first grade (and where my son Max is likely to start kindergarten next year). I wasn’t able to make any PTA meetings last school year.
One of priorities for the Highland PTA is getting more parents involved. I see a website as a means toward this end, in that it would be available all the time, while real-world PTA meetings can never be. The site would also make involvement easier for some parents able to be involved anyway, but who might want to get or provide updates between meetings.
Were I to set up the site right now, my priorities would be as follows.
- Provide updates on PTA activity. Some updates might be meeting-based (reminder of meeting, here’s what was discussed, etc.), some between meetings (we’re weeks away from the next meeting, but what do you think of this?).
- Solicit input, especially from parents and teachers who are not able to attend meetings at the school. No time is good for everyone: this morning’s 9am meeting was well attended, but still must have excluded many families.
- Be multilingual, or at least bilingual. The Highland community speaks many languages, with Spanish and English being particularly prominent.
I’ve done some searches on terms such as PTA website. There’s a lot of stuff out there, including:
- PTA sites at the national (US) and state (MD) level.
- A PTA website builder site. First reaction: the nonprofit side of my brain says that it seems expensive; the for-profit side sees an opportunity in the PTA website builder business, if my pro-bono efforts at Highland go well.
Now,to solicit input on PTA websites. I’ll send out a few emails. But if you, dear reader, have thoughts on PTA sites, please share them here, especially if they include links to successful PTA sites.
Appreciating Electricity
July 28, 2010
Like a couple of thousand other people in Montgomery County, Maryland, we lost power on Sunday afternoon, following thunderstorms with winds exceeding 60 miles-per-hour (to quote Pepco, the power company). Our power came back at about midnight Tuesday/Wednesday.
For most of those 50-plus hours, we didn’t have dialtone on our landline. On Monday morning, I was getting no cellphone signal from T-Mobile, and no web access on my Android.
In fact, we had no web access at all during the power outage, even for a laptop running on battery power. We have FiOS, but only when we have electricity.
I think I missed the web more than I missed air conditioning, and that’s saying something in July in Maryland. It’s good to be back online.
Corporations are people too
March 25, 2010
If corporations have rights, such as free speech, where do these rights stop? Can a corporation, for example, run for congress? My fellow Silver Spring resident Murray Hill wants to find out. Murray Hill is a PR firm, rather than a person. Or is a firm a person?
So, Murray Hill Inc. for Congress, as we say on Facebook: and Reddit, and NPR. And Youtube as well, but I’ll embed the video here to save you the trip.
Month in Montgomery County, MD
January 3, 2010
It was one month ago today that we closed on the house in Silver Spring, or, to be more specific, Wheaton. It’s been a good month, because we all like the house, those of us with jobs or schools like them, and there’s a lot of fun to be had locally.
For example, we’ve enjoyed Wheaton Regional Park. The conservatories have been provided particularly welcome refuge from the cold, and the model train exhibit has made the conservatories even more fun, especially for Max, our 3yo. By the way, both the train exhibit and the Garden of Lights have been extended until Jan 10 to make up for the days lost in the snowstorm.
There seem to be a lot of places to eat cheaply and well round here. Yelp has led us to several of them, most recently to New Kam Fong, where we had dim sum yesterday lunchtime.
I see that there are several interesting-looking local blogs, including Good Eatin’ in Wheaton (overdue for a visit to NKF) and Just Up the Pike. Dan Reed, author of the latter, provided a review of 2009 round here, which I read although/because I wasn’t here for most of the year.
To celebrate my birthday my new state gave to me…
December 22, 2009
… five driving years… or rather, a Maryland driving license that expires on Dec 22, 2014, on which day I will turn … five years old than I am today. That means I’ve stopped aging, because infinty + 5 = infinity, right? I had to get the license today, since my Massachusetts license expired today, and I haven’t had time before, with all the moving and the living.
So my present from my new state of residence was a new license. My present from my new county, Montgomery, was the company of my daughter Maddie, since schools were closed again. The Tuesday closing seemed rather silly, since the snow stopped falling early Sunday morning. But it did set the stage for the closing tomorrow, Wednesday, which would have been the last day before winter break.
Much though I love my daughter, I wasn’t delighted to have her almost-6-yo company as well as her brother’s 3yo company on the license errand. But I set off with them and a backpack full of documents for the nearest MVA location that does Out-of-State License Exchanges.
I’ll spare you most of the details of the day. Suffice it to say that: not one, but two, proofs of MD residence are required; a letter from Verizon thanking you for your business does not serve as such proof, although a bill from the same company would (I think) serve; a bill from a plumbing company does not serve, although an agreement for ongoing service would.
As you know from the opening paragraph, mission was accomplished, and the new license obtained. The kids weren’t bad. I’d like to think that’s due to the good behavior genes they get from me, but it might have more to do with chocolate and other purchases from Trader Joe’s. So thank you, Joe, and thank you, Maryland.
More thanks to Montgomery County. The trash was collected today – a day late is understandable given the weather, and much better than no collection this week.
And yet more: the street was also plowed. In fact, when we were almost home, and about to turn into our street, we were confronted with a large digger truck, followed by a smaller truck with a plow on front, coming toward us. I decided to yield to them, even though I was going the legal way down our one-way street.
Did I celebrate my new drivers license, and my birthday, by going round the block, ignoring the No Entry sign, and returning home the wrong way along the street? (The alternative was to tell my kids that they had to spend yet more time in the car.) I’m not saying, and I’m not sure whether to invoke forgetfulness, senility, or constitutional protection against compulsory self-incrimination.
