James A. Rising

Duct Tape wallets are cool, thin and light, and personalizable. The instructions below describe my design, which I think is elegant, and you can modify to your heart’s content.

Step 1.

Measure out the length of the two longest strips of duct tape:

Line four bills up, just touching along their long edges. Rip two
small strips of duct tape to measure an additional width to the left
and right of the four bills, or use credit cards, as shown below.

Step 2.

Measure out one strips of duct tape this length and lay it sticky-side-up.
Then measure a second strip and lay it stick-side-up with just
enough overlap to form a secure connection.

Step 3.

Fold the strips into the basic wallet frame, by first folding them
in half, with the sticky-side out. Then continue folding in an
accordian fashion, only allowing the faces with the same letter
shown below to stick together. Make sure that these adhering faces
are smooth an even.

The first fold, in half, with a bill to measure the second fold.

After the second fold.

After the third fold and flipping over.

After the rest of the backbone folds.

Step 4.

Measure out a length of duct tape a little larger than twice the
width of the wallet and wrap it around the outside, with the
sticky-side covering the remaining stick-side of the wallet frame.

That’s it!  Enjoy your new wallet!

Sometimes a diagram helps me find order in chaos, and sometimes it’s just a way to stroke my ego. I was recently trying to make sense of my graduate school classes, even as they’re becoming a less and less important share of my gradschool learning. So, I added to a diagram I’d made ten years ago for college.  In the end, I’m not sure which purpose it serves more.

The diagram is arrayed by discipline and year. The disciplines are arranged like a color wheel (and classes colored accordingly), from theoretical math, through progressively more applied sciences, through engineering and out the other end into applied humanities (like music), and finally back to theoretical philosophy. Arrows give a sense of thematic and prerequisite relationships.

Economics, a core of the Sustainable Development program, probably sits around the back-side of the spectrum, between philosophy and math. I squeezed it in on the left, more as a reflection of how I’ve approached it than what it tried to teach.

This is also missing everything I’ve learned from classes I’ve taught. I wish there were a place for Progressive Alternatives from two years ago, or Complexity Science from last year. I guess I need another diagram.

Next Thursday I’ll be in DC for one of the briefings on a big report I’ve been helping write. The event is at Resources for the Future– feel free to join in.

A Discussion of the Independent Risk Assessment for Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States

How much economic risk does the nation face from the impacts of climate change? The Risky Business initiative—a project of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Office of Hank Paulson, and Next Generation—works to answer that question. Using the best information available, the initiative outlines the range of climate futures that the United States might expect in major economic sectors and by geographic region. It also examines the likelihood of these futures and the potential economic consequences for American businesses and households. The initiative does not advocate any particular policy, industry, or personal response to climate change but instead seeks to provide government, finance, business, and household decisionmakers with the information necessary to make their own risk management decisions.

At this RFF seminar, Trevor Houser, lead author of the independent risk assessment supporting the Risky Business initiative, and his colleagues will present an overview of the methods, data, original research, and key findings in the assessment. A panel of experts will then offer additional perspectives.