1/24    "Jimmy Carter's 1977 Unpleasant Energy Talk, No Longer Unpleasant"
        link:www.csua.org/u/128q (http://www.linkedin.com

8/2     http://www.csua.org/u/10v0 (news.yahoo.com)
        "A massive new study finds that aggressive acts like committing
        violent crimes and waging war become more likely with each added
        degree."
        \_ ah crap, I shouldn't have gotten my graduate degree.
        \_ racist!
           \_ Just in case, "degree" here refers to degree Fahrenheit. -- OP
              \_ Not degrees celsius? Phew, we are safe!

7/27    BOINC grid computing on Android phones!
        http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/about_us/viewNewsArticle.do?articleId=318
        Are they our of their minds? :-)
        \_ Doesn't seem that bad, considering (from the article) "By default,
           the app will only run calculations when the device is plugged in
           and charging (for example, overnight) and will only transmit data
           over WiFi (settings are configurable)." -ERic

1/28    "'Charities' Funnel Millions to Climate-Change Denial"
        http://www.csua.org/u/z2w (news.yahoo.com)
        And they're getting tax-deduction out of it!
        \_ Climate denialism should quality for the religious exemption.
        \_ Koch, yes, Koch and his ilk give "millions" to this kind of thing.
           How much is spent on the other side of the issue?

1/21    Amount of carbon tax per ton of CO2 required to limit global warming
        to 2 degree Celcius if we:
        - start in 2013: $30
        - start in 2020: $100
        - start in 2030: $infinity
        http://www.csua.org/u/z0a
        \_ Why should I care? I will be dead long before this is a real problem.

1/3     "Atoms Reach Record Temperature, Colder than Absolute Zero"
        http://www.csua.org/u/ysx
        Can they really call that negative temperature?

12/7    Even oil exporters like UAE and Saudi Arabia are embracing solar
        energy: http://www.csua.org/u/ylq
        We are so behind.

12/4    "Carbon pollution up to 2 million pounds a second"
        http://www.csua.org/u/yk6 (news.yahoo.com)
        Yes, that's *a second*.
        \_ yawn.
        \_ (12/14) "AP-GfK Poll: Science doubters say world is warming"
        \_ (12/14)
           "20-Year-Old Report Successfully Predicted Warming: Scientists"
           http://www.csua.org/u/yod
           "AP-GfK Poll: Science doubters say world is warming"
           http://www.csua.org/u/yo9

10/2    Ars takes a tour of SLAC:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/9z37spb [ars]

6/26    WW2 brought us antibiotics, syringe, production capacity,
        excessive petroleum, radar, television, atomic energy,
        rocketry (HEIL VON BRAUN), synthetic rubber, microwave,
        computers (GAY TURING), jets.
        What did the Iraq war bring us?
        \_ HMMWV -> Hummer H1 the gas guzzler.
        \_ HMMWV -> Hummer H1 the Gas Guzzler.
        \_ HMMWV -> Hummer H1 The Gas Guzzler and The Cure For The SPS.
        \_ Improved drone technology, ready-to-use tourniquets, language
           translation software, biometric identification, blast-proof
           trucks, improved prosthetics like smart limbs, new treatments
           for shock, and ground robotics. What did Vietnam give us?
           \_ uh, no. Language translation is mastered and refined
              by Google. Military's language translation device is a
              toy by comparison. Biometrics-- try Vegastech, they're
              the ones who really made it usable. If anything,
              Iraq War gave Democrats some control back.
           \_ Vietnam gave us ME LUV U LONG TIME! SUCKY SUCKY!
        \_ You're burying the lede: WW2 gave us the Marshal Plan, a
           strong economy, and preeminence on the world stage. The IW
           gave us a terrorist breeding ground, billions unaccounted
           for, and a dwindling ability to get taken seriously.
           \_ You're kidding me right? No one remembers a frigging
              loan/assistance program. We're talking about concrete
              things.
              \_ The Marshal Plan was a loan assistance program in
                 much the same way that your mom was just a cunt:
                 that's one part of the whole, but not the real
                 point.
        \_ http://tinyurl.com/87bbuut
           http://tinyurl.com/7usfgty
           MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

6/22    "Study: The U.S. could be powered by 80% green energy in 2050"
        http://www.csua.org/u/wtz  (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ How many Republicans does it take to make green energy?
           -150,000,000! Ding ding ding!
           \_ Because having control of the White House and both houses of
              Congress wasn't enough (ie, the do nothing and blame the
              Republicans period after the 2008 elections) ?  That's what it
              takes for the Democrats to get anything done?  A complete
              absence of any opposition at all?  Sure.
              \_ Never underestimate Dems ability to get nothing done if it
                 requires cooperation, but ignoring repeated threats of
                 filibuster on the part of the GOP and still blaming the
                 Dems for getting nothing done is perverse. -!op
              \_ Obama spent far too long trying to get the GOP to sign
                 off on some kind of health care reform, I agree. But even
                 with 60 Dems, he could not get anything significant done
                 on climate change because a few Democrats from coal states
                 were not on board.

5/9     "Science Reveals How Not to Spill Your Coffee When Walking"
        http://www.csua.org/u/wcr
        No wonder the UC is short in funding.  Just put a damn lid on!
        \_ Before you complain "Now that there are studies for everything,
           some day we'll hear about studiets on studies", please note that the
           Pentagon is always one step ahead of you:
           "This Is Not a Joke: Government Issues Study of a Study About
           Studies"  http://www.csua.org/u/we6 (news.yahoo.com)

5/4     "9-Month-Olds Show Racial Bias When Looking at Faces"
        http://www.csua.org/u/wac (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ RACIST!!!
           \_ 9-month-old racists, yeah.
        \_ I tell you, my daughters hated white ladies at that age.  (White
           Dad, asian Mom.)

3/19    "Solar power station in Spain works at night"
        http://www.csua.org/u/vtm (news.yahoo.com)

3/8     "Invisible Mercedes brings James Bond technology to life"
        http://www.csua.org/u/vpc (autos.yahoo.com)
        How many years and dollars have our military spent on trying to achieve
        the same thing and yet still haven't gotten any result!?  Now a
        civilian company has done it, and they did it even merely for
        publicity.

2/13    "Peak Everything -- Why Everything Costs More"
        http://finance.yahoo.com/news/in-demand.html
        \_ I am kind of disappointed that no conservative/libertarian types
           took the bait here.

1/12    "The Case for a 21-Hour Work Week"
        http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-case-for-a-21-hour-work-week.html
        Yeah, let's beat the Europeans on laziness.  If their purpose really
        is to save the planet, why not re-direct the "excess" consumption
        towards environmental causes?  I don't see how traveling, for example,
        in the extra free time is not a form of consumption.
        \_ Screw the planet; if you're not producing an arbitrary number of
           widgets, staffing a retail or customer service station, or doing
           some other kind of job that requires a constant presence and
           regular productivity, what's the point of having you in a physical
           location for 40 hours per week? And if you do work in one of those
           jobs, wouldn't it make sense to run studies to show how many hours
           you can actually work and remain efficient before you start
           inadvertently flaking?
        \_ Traveling could be a bicycle tour of the region near where you
           live, for example, it doesn't have to be luxurious. I basically
           agree with this, but no one in IT is going to let you work 20
           hrs/wk, so what I plan to do is retire 25 years after I graduate.
           So I keep my living expenses low and save a lot.

1/1     Happy New Year! Happy End of the World!
        \_ Why do people still watch the Pasadena Rose Parade? Is it
           suppose to be interesting?
           \_ The big float with the surfing dogs was pretty neat.
        \_ For one, I remember that Year 1993 was also supposed to be the end
           of the world.
           of the world.  It's amazing that the news media still runs reports
           on this whenever someone comes up with yet another new date.

10/31   "Skeptic finds he now agrees global warming is real"
        http://yhoo.it/w38J5l (m.yahoo.com)
        \_ Rush Limbaugh told me that global warming is a liberal lie.

2/13    Prototype based programming/delegation (not the pattern).  anyone
        use this at all in real world?  Does it really solve the problem of
        OOP brittleness?

2/9     "WikiLeaks: Saudis running out of oil"
        http://www.csua.org/u/sit (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ if you've been watching meat prices, the trend's pretty obvious

2/1     10 Industries in Which the U.S. Is No Longer No.1"
        http://www.csua.org/u/sgw (finance.yahoo.com)
        China betas us in 7 out of 10 categories, including high-tech exports
        category.
        \_ So, only 3 more to go until we declare war?
        \_ Some of those positions are simply determined by
           by demographics and geography. Why should anyone be surprised
           that Chinese produce more beer and more cars? I bet they
           are also number 1 in toothpaste production and other consumer
q          are also number 1 in toothpaste production and other consumer
           goods. Likewise, oil and coal production are primarily based
           on geographic determinants. Don't buy into the republican hype
           about offshore and alskan oil drilling bans stopping us from
           supplying all of our oil needs ourselves. Department of Energy
           thinks that undeveloped domestic oil sources won't conver
           even 10% of our needs in the coming years.
        \_ "It's not my biz, why do i care?"
           \_ Because eventually they will come for you and there will
              be nobody left to stand with you.
              \_ Libertarians need no one!  We have guns!

1/13    34,000-Year-Old Organisms Found Buried Alive!  (Still alive.)
        http://www.csua.org/u/saj (news.yahoo.com)         /
                                       The cake is a lie. /

12/1    "US: China rise a 'Sputnik moment' for clean energy"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101130/sc_afp/unclimatewarminguschina

9/5     "Report: Castro blasts Ahmadinejad as anti-Semitic" - Yahoo! News:
        http://www.csua.org/u/rji
        "HAVANA - Fidel Castro criticized Iranian President Mahmoud
        Ahmadinejad for what he called his anti-Semitic attitudes and
        questioned his own actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962
        during interviews with an American journalist he summoned to Havana to
        discuss fears of global nuclear war."
        What surprises!
        \_ we don't care. fuck off.
        \_ Another one: "Report: Castro says Cuban model doesn't work"
           http://www.csua.org/u/rjw
           \_ Better late than never.
           \_ Cuba to lay off 1/2M government workers:
              http://www.csua.org/u/rl4
        \_ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/22/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-iran-bomber-drone
           Ahmadinejad said the unmanned aerial vehicle ... had "a main
           message of peace and friendship" and in the next sentence he
           describes the long range bomber 'as "an ambassador of death"
           to Tehran's enemies.'

8/3     http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599200808100
        'Russia's largest circulation newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, ran a
        headline on July 31 that asked, "Is the Russian heat wave the result
        of the USA testing its climate weapon?" The daily's answer was "Yes,
        probably."'
        Yeah, let us use our climate weapon on the California climate so that
        we can get more rain!
        \_ We don't need any more rain and more rain would eliminate much of
           the appeal of living here. What we need to do is save more of
           the rain that we do get or construct an aqueduct from someplace
           which gets more than its fair share, like Oregon.
           \_ Interstate Water Wars!

5/18    did somebody say tar ball?
        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/17/tar-balls-key-west_n_579660.html
        anyone else wishing we could just gzip these?

4/20    "Spring comes 10 days earlier in changed U.S. climate"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100420/us_nm/us_climate_spring_usa

4/8     Animals Living Without Oxygen Discovered for First Time - Yahoo!:
        http://www.csua.org/u/qi3

4/7     "CERN creates 10 million mini-Big Bangs in one week"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100407/sc_nm/us_science_cern
        See?  I told you that this experiment won't create any black holes that
        get out of control and swallow the entire eart&$*(!~#@%& NO CARRIER

3/24    Global warming solves political dispute:
        http://www.csua.org/u/qcz
        Can't argue which country owns the island when it no longer exists.
        \_ Global warming is also responsible for human civilization.  It's the
           gift that keeps on giving.  Don't worry though, I'm sure some
           geo engineering will solve the pesky problem of western civ.

1/29    "Biofuel advance made in Bay Area, researchers say"
        http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_14288753?source=most_viewed
        \- hi if you are interested in this you may also be interested in:
           http://www.lbl.gov/Conferences/cc2

12/2    Freeway of the future, a 1958 Disney-ish film. "Speed, safety, and
        comfort are the future". Yeah. Wow, people back then were stupid.
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6pUMlPBMQA&feature=player_embedded
        \_ "640KB ought to be enough for anybody."
           \_ totally taken out of context. It's just an informal
              way of saying "it's enough for most casual PC users
              for at least a few years." As for the highway shit,
              that is just totally ridiculous considering the
              enormous energy requirements that is required for
              their vision. On the other hand, perhaps they thought
              black oil was unlimited, fueling such fooling optimism
              about the future.
        \_ Reminds me a bit of WALL-E.

11/26   "New climate targets may not change daily life much"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_climate_costs
        \_ Glenn Beck says that trying to meet these climate targets will
           lead to a worldwide socialist regime.

11/22   What no chatter about the Climate Hack?  MOTD, I'm so diappointed
        \_ What is impressive about breaking onto an academic server? I
           broke onto the Astronomy machines when I was a sophmore.
           \_ Way to miss the point. The hack itself was not impressive.
              The information that was exposed, however, make the above
              thread kind of moot.
              \_ No, it did not. Global warming is becoming more and more
                 obviously a real problem. There are still a few nutters
                 that claim that it isn't happening, but there are people
                 who don't believe in evolution either.
                 http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1125/p02s01-usgn.html
                 \_ Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.
                    I'm going to continue eating imported wagyu beef and
                    leaving my PC on 24/7. I'm thinking about buying an SUV
                    next year.
                    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/25/nigel_lawson
                    \_ You don't even have to be a scientist to see the obvious
                       effects of global warming anymore. Just look at the
                       rising sea levels, the shrinking polar ice caps, etc.
                       \_ Except that none of this is new. The poles
                          have been completely free of ice in the past,
                          for instance. I was reading an article about
                          icebergs as far north as New Zealand intended
                          to serve as a data point about global warming,
                          except that the article said that this last
                          happened in the 1920s. Was it global warming
                          then, too? I personally believe humans are
                          affecting the environment in a big way -
                          probably not a way that benefits us, but I am not
                          sure we can make that claim definitively as it's a
                          complicated system (maybe we are preventing the
                          Earth from cooling off too much). However, the
                          Earth has been warming and cooling for millions
                          of years and it's hard to separate the natural
                          effects from those we caused let alone predict the
                          consequences.
                          \_ Global warming is undeniable, and though there are
                             still many of people like you who try to deny
                             still many people like you who try to deny
                             the fact that the earth is warming, the
                             evidence is pretty overwhelming. It seems from
                             your statements above that you are backtracking
                             on your earlier insistence that those who see
                             this for what it is are blind zealots. The exact
                             causes are open for debate, though it seems
                             like human beings have at the very least some
                             impace on the climate.
                             impact on the climate.

11/11   Watch the History Channel today! It's got Oppenheimer and the atomic
        bomb history. Did you know at one time 10% of the entire electricity
        in the U.S. was used to refine U235 and weapon grade plutonium?
        Holy jesus! I wonder how much energy is used to get plutonium fuel
        that generates today's nuclear powered electric plant
        \_ it talks about the 2 different methods for getting U235. So
           I was curious and looked it up:
           http://www.physlink.com/Education/askexperts/ae576.cfm
           Basically, refine uranium into U235 (0.7%) and U238. But
           then it also talks about using U235 to bombarad U238 into
           U239, plutonium. How does that work?
           \_ Physics is hard.
              \_ why the hell did you even bother to answer if
                 your answer doesn't help
                 \_ you're new around here, aren't you?
                 \_ Here then: http://tinyurl.com/yfrepec

10/4    Home size vs. carbon footprint. Ex-urban homes rule!!!
        http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/11/05/with_tax_break_a_big_carbon_footprint

10/22   Time to bust out my I Partied With Nick Weaver T-Shirt:
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2009/10/hoisted-from-comments-nicholas-weaver-on-solar-vs-nuclear-myhrvold-dubner-and-levitt.html

10/22   State of Utah saved $4.1M in one year by switching to 4day-10hr work
        weeks: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ut_four_day_workweek (Not to mention
        the commute time saved.)
        Maybe the State of CA (a much bigger body) and our private employers
        can do the same.
        \_ We did this at work and maybe they saved money, but they also
           receive less for the money they spend. Lots of people were
           working 9 or 10 hours every day anyway. They still do, but now they
           just don't come in on Friday. Productivity seems way down. In
           fact, in order to meet a big deadline on a particular project
           that project's management made everyone on that task switch to
           a regular work week. What does that say? YMMV.
           \_ Do you work in a government office? I am guesing that most
              govt employees are not working 9-10 hours/day.
              \_ Actually, I do work for the government. However, I will
                 agree this is probably atypical for the government.
           \_ The article says that the biggest savings for Utah came not from
              energy saving or janitoral service reduction, but from overtime
              pay saving.  So it won't work for positions that don't pay
              overtime.
              \_ It assumes people were working paid overtime to begin with
                 and now they will not because the work day is so long.
                 However, I wouldn't argue that the productivity is the
                 same. The article says: "They're getting what they need
                 to get done in 10 hours and going home" with the
                 implication being that they used to be there more than
                 40 hours but got no more work done in that time. I doubt it.
                 I think money is being saved, but less work is being done
                 as a result. People are not suddenly using their time
                 more productively unless the whole overtime thing was a
                 fiasco to begin with where people stayed to get
                 time-and-a-half in which case they could have just as easily
                 said: "No more overtime" and stayed on 5/40. This is not
                 a benefit of the short work week per se.

10/13   "Analysis: Russia uses ambiguity to boost its power"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091013/ap_on_an/eu_clinton_russia_analysis
        Damn Russia, a two-headed snake.

8/10    James Kunstler is a genius.
        http://kunstler.com/blog/2009/08/the-fog-of-numbers.html
        \_  sarcasm?  or are you really an easily impressed dolt??
            \_ The latter I guess. I had not run across him before, and
               while I think he is hyperbolic, I think he is telling a
               very unpopular truth in a funny and attention getting way.
        \_ This sounds like it was written by a 14 year old.  You really
           aren't being sarcastic?
           \_ 14 year olds throw out phrases like "the greatest misallocation
              of resources in the history of the world"??? I want to meet
              your kids!
              \_ Umm.. yeah, 14 year-olds throw around retarded hyperbole all
                 the time.  What part of that phrase do you think is beyond
                 a reasonably well indoctrinated 14 year old?
                 \_ Nah, I was a pretty good writer for my age and in 9th
                    grade I was just starting to write three paragraph essays.
                    Go back and read some of your own work from the time, if
                    you still have it. Perhaps the phrase you are searching
                    for here is sophmoric.
                    \_ I'd expect a pretty good writer would know the
                       difference between a word and a phrase, and might
                       even know the spelling of "sophomoric."
                       \_ Touche!
        \_ We'll "grow" our way out of trillons of dollars in debt, even
           though soon our energy supply will be shrinking, not growing,
           as we pass peak oil; and we haven't figured out a way
           to grow the economy without also growing energy consumption
           (efficiency improvements have their limits).
           \_ We have unlimited energy if we want it. Not only with improving
              technologies like solar but also nuclear. Two things we will
              never run out out of, despite liberals' fears: energy and water.
              \_ We'll also never run out of environment, if most liberals would
                 GTFO off cali and travel they'd see that the only reason they
                 think the environment is going away is because thye live in a
                 effen brown desert. duh.
              \_ I agree with you on this, and I am a green liberal. However,
                 getting from our current fossil fuel dependent society to
                 one that runs on nuclear electricity is going to hurt,
                 especially if we keep putting off the changes we need to make.
                 \_ must be nice to be a trustafarian.
                    \_ trustafarian? What are you talking about? I grew up
                       in a trailer park.

7/23    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Whig_Party

7/21    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnq-2BJwatE
        Stephenson @google booktour. it's pretty cool they have these
        recordings.
        \_ when is http://google.edu coming?
           \_ isn't that what google knol is?
                \_ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/11/poor-google-knol-has-gone-from-a-wikipedia-killer-to-a-craigslist-wannabe
            \_ dead?
        \_ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah9PyZNb4F8
           (Salman Rushdie)
        \_ One thing I see with all these is just how arrogant and out
           touch the google employees are about life. I guess koresh's
           flock were out of touch as well as mansen's.

5/27    Paint your roofs white.
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090526/sc_afp/climatewarmingusbritainchu
        "Making roads and roofs a paler colour could have the equivalent
        effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years,
        Chu said."
        \_ Did that already.  Already noticed the house is much cooler.
           Have not needed cooling even though highs were 90F.  --PeterM
           \_ I've been telling my wife we should do this, and she thinks I'm
              crazy.  Now that the energy secretary agress with me, maybe I can
              finally do it.  What kind of paint do I need for painting roofs?
              Is it just the same kind of paints as for exterior walls?   -- OP
              \_ I actually didn't paint it--I changed roofing materials from
                 a dark one to a  light one.  --PeterM
        \_ I have a light grey roof and no A/C. With a large shade tree on
           the south side of my house I never need A/C. However, won't
           this make my house colder in winter. It gets damn cold and I
           run the heater constantly. Not sure it's a net win.
           \_ Actually, I think it might help even in the winter.  A light roof
              means you gain less heat from the sun, but you also radiate less
              heat away.  Even in California, the net heat flow through your
              roof in winter is probably outward.
              \_ Check your physics crystal ball again.  Color does not effect
                 transmission, only absorbtion. -mrauser
                 \_ Sorry, he's more correct than you are.  Color, or more properly
                    material properties, can modify
                    both transmission AND absorbtion.  Some, but not all,
                    white materials have low emissivity as well as high
                    reflectivity.  Some DO have high emissivity and will
                    radiate heat well.
                 \_ What is "transmission" in thermal radiation?  I know
                    absorbtion is "going in" and emission is "going out".
                    -- !PP
                \_ Why do you think it is called "black body" radiation?
                   Black is the most emittive as well as the most absorptive.
           \_ Where do you live?  Most Bay Area locations don't ever need A/C,
              and barely need heat.  But A/C is more energy expensive than
              heating AND it probably has more of an effect on hot days
              than on cold days.
              \_ Yeah, I was thinking that I need to heat my house, not cool
                 it. But it would still help with global warming to paint
                 my roof white.
        \- The computation was done on an ultra 80.
           \_ What?

5/18    Does the new federal vehicle fuel-efficiency requirement specify how
        efficiencies of plug-in hybrids will be calculated?  Some plug-in
        hybrids claims to have ridiculously high efficiency like 100mpg because
        they're not counting the energy input from the electric grid.  That's
        not a good indiction of their actual energy efficiency.

5/9     were any of you at defcon with me the day when the feds
        dragged away that guy who cracked adobe ebook encryption ? - danh
        \_ I didn't know you went to defcon. Are you going this year? -ausman
           \_ I went a few times.  I don't care anymore.  I only ask because
              I went to a talk at defcon but the Russian programmer who
              broke Adobe ebook encryption.  During the talk, the moderator
              stopped him and asked him if he knew where the nuclear
              vessels are in Alameda, and he responded "I do not understand,
              I do not know where the nuclear wessels are in Alameda" and
              the audience broke up laughing.

5/4     Next-generation stealth technology :-)
        http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/04/art-student-creates.html

4/20    Cold Fusion on 60 Minutes:
        http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4955212n

4/20    "Stephen Hawking hospitalized, reported very ill"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090420/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_hawking
        Hope he doesn't die until he solves the mystery of the universe(s) for
        all of us.
           \_ Update:
              http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30323352
        \_ This has all been taken out of context...he went in to get some
           26s put on his wheel chair and a couple of other mods and the the
           Technician said "It's gonna be ILL!"
        \_ Stephen Hawking is overrated
           \_ Really?  Then who is the forefront guy in the field now?  Thx.
              \_ Hawking isn't really the foremost scientist, but he's one
                 of the best at making the concepts accessible.
                 Filipenko is similar in that way.  -tom
                 \- i think that characterization short changes hawking.
                    picking a "market leader" may depends on your thoughts
                    about string theory.
        \_ Uh, he's been very ill for decades.
                    \_ It's nice we're so willing to spend $$ to support
                       string philosophy, but how about doing some science?
                       \- you can say string theory has affected the job
                          mkt but i dont think this is a reasonable crit ...
                          e.g. LHC is $$$. the waste of $$$ from a science
                          perspective is humans in space. and a lot of public
                          money is spent on medican research, if you consider
                          science beyond fundamental physics.
                          \_ I slam string philosophy because it is producing
                             no testable predictions.  Engineering
                             demonstrations such as trips to space have
                             their uses, and so does medical research, but
                             have any testable hypotheses come out of many
                             years of string philosophy?  Though perhaps
                             I should use the less perjorative term
                             string mathematics, because that is all that
                             can be said to have come of it.  Math is worth
                             pursuing for its own sake, but I think that
                             the physicists need to concentrated on producing
                             some testable hypotheses or look at alternatives.
                             \_ The LHC will test parts of string theory.
                                \_ My PhD physicist friend claims that these
                                   tests don't really distinguish string
                                   theory from other available theories.
                                   \_ wow, you have a PhD physicist friend,
                                      you must know what you're talking
                                      about!
                                      \_ You noticed I said "claims"?
                                         Are you too dim to pick up
                                         that this means I don't
                                         necessarily trust he is right?
                                         However, I do grant him some
                                         credibility.  What credibility
                                         do you have, asshole?
                                         \_ I have *two* PhD physicist
                                            friends!
                 \_ I'd put Filipenko in the same category as Neil DeGrasse:
                    amazingly good at evangelizing science.
                    \- that short changes Filipenko.
        \_ Being a string theorist is a great scam.  Its impossible to
           prove or disprove any of your data in your thought experiments
           while sitting at the cafe in downtown Palo Alto.
           \- while all the B School people are earning their bread for sure.

4/9     Is this a dress rehersal for when Obama shuts down the Internet
        and assumes dictatorial power?
        http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2225746/posts
        \_ You miscapitalized BLACK HELICOPTERS!
        \_ "A vandal cuts a line and thousands are without phone service.
            What would a nuclear device exploded in the atmosphere do?"
            I love you you pathetic little freepers.

3/29    "Leaving computers on overnight = $2.8 billion a year"
        http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/130078
        \_ Not good for hardware to power it up and down all the time. I
           always leave all my computers on all the time, except for
           laptops which I allow to sleep (but still be powered).
           \_ How is this the case for desktops but not laptops?  I don't see
              how turning something off at the end of the day would cause a
              problem.  Seems like less wear and tear.
              \_ It's more wear and tear to power cycle and lubricants get
                 cold. Your system will fail more quickly if you turn it
                 off every night in my experience.
                 How laptops are different:
                 1. Their h/w is better designed for low or no power.
                 2. They are much better about sleep/wakeup than desktops,
                    in part because of 1.
                 3. If a laptop dies it's not usually a big deal because
                    they are not expected up 100% of the time anyway.
                 \_ Here you go. Welcome to the 21st century.
                    http://tinyurl.com/dcur84
                    http://tinyurl.com/6egwdu
                    \_ From a link found in one of your links:
"[Temperature cycling] is a well-established failure mechanism and a
stress on components," McCredie pointed out. "What it really comes down to
is all these things -- chips soldered on modules, soldered on boards and
connectors -- that expand and contract when they heat and cool.... When
they all contract and expand at different rates, they can fail. That's
ultimately the bad thing with power cycling," he said.
--Brad McCredie, an IBM fellow for the Systems and Technology Group
                        You can say "Cycling power on a sick system is
                        going to bring attention to latent component
                        weaknesses that go unnoticed in operation" which
                        maximizes "server availability", but that's an odd
                        way of looking at it. If you don't power down the
                        system then you won't have the failure and your
                        availability will be greater. I have gone through
                        just a few dozen exercises where equipment in an
                        entire data center was powered down and equipment
                        always fails at a much higher rate when that
                        happens. Whether it's just highlighting a latent
                        sickness is semantics. If you don't power it off,
                        then it won't fail, even if the power off is not
                        the root cause.
                        \_ Well, if you want to cling onto any comment
                           as a way to rationalize your practices, that's
                           fine.
                                \_ why give this guy a pass?  Fuck that!
                                   this is our planet too.  --ecoterr'rst
                           The way I synthesize everything is if
                           you're not power-cycling a lot, you'll very
                           likely be fine for the useful life of the
                           product. It's a tradeoff between perceived
                           higher failure rates, which may go up "negligibly"
                           with occasional power cycling, versus the cost
                           to your pocketbook and the environment of running
                           hardware 24/7 even when it's not being used.
                           There are multiple comments that suggest that
                           turning off your equipment at night (or whenever
                           it won't be used for an extended period of time)
                           is the better tradeoff, but of course you
                           conveniently ignore those points.
                           P.S. A datacenter is a very different use case
                           than a typical home or work desktop. Although
                           powering down parts of a datacenter would still
                           appear to be much more a logistical problem than
                           a hardware failure problem.
                           \_ Different use case, but basically same
                              components. If they fail measurably (not
                              "negligibly") in that case then they will
                              fail at your home, too. Most people probably
                              do not notice because a 1/N failure rate
                              means you will likely be fine, but when the
                              number of machines is 1000N it's a noticeable
                              issue. I always count on a power outage to
                              result in dead hardware. You can make the
                              argument that a 5-10% chance of failure (say)
                              over the lifetime of the system is low, but
                              I'd rather just keep my system up. The key
                              point here is not that I am against powering
                              off equipment, but realize it comes with a
                              non-negligible risk of failure. Given my
                              experiences I just keep my equipment powered
                              on. As far as being environmentally aware,
                              maybe you should talk to the people in the 55
                              story buildings who leave the lights on all
                              night. Go anywhere in SF, LA, or NYC
                              to see that lots of lights are not on sensors.
                              Those "spectacular city views" are wasting a
                              lot of $$$.
                              \_ well, if you have control of the lights
                                 in the skyscrapers, by all means, turn
                                 them off when not in use.  If you don't,
                                 you should make wise choices about the
                                 things you do control.  -tom
                                 \_ I gave up on convincing him. Guy just
                                    doesn't want to do it.
                                    \_ I like my h/w to not fail. Maybe you
                                       don't mind if it does. You can
                                       pretend the h/w won't fail, the OS
                                       will always boot fine, and the s/w
                                       will start up fine every time if you
                                       want to but there is evidence to the
                                       contrary. It's not a case of comparing
                                       my $500 machine to the $8/month bill
                                       and saying that I can replace the
                                       machine with the savings over the life
                                       of the machine. Having my machine
                                       fail is *BAD* and causes me grief.
                                       If you turn yours off every day then
                                       more power to you. My experience has
                                       shown that IBM guy (who *you* ignore)
                                       is correct and power cycling systems
                                       results in failures. You know that
                                       server in the corner that no one knows
                                       what it does exactly but is VERY
                                       IMPORTANT and the guy who built the
                                       s/w that runs on it - and only on
                                       that very h/w - left 15 years ago?
                                       DON'T TURN IT OFF OR REBOOT IT.
                                       Now, if you understand why that is a
                                       bad idea extend it to your own system
                                       because the same physics are at work.
                                       Now if a h/w failure is meaningless to
                                       you because you have great backups and
                                       no need for quick recovery and can buy
                                       another machine and so on then go ahead
                                       and power down, but that's analyzing
                                       risk/reward which is not the same as
                                       saying there is no problem with
                                       powering your system down. There is.
                                       \_ You speak as if hardware won't fail
                                          if you don't turn it off. It will;
                                          it's just a matter of time. And if
                                          your plan for handling the failure
                                          of a VERY IMPORTANT system is to
                                          not have it fail in the first place
                                          by not turning it off, you're just
                                          stupid. Although I've seen people
                                          have just such "plans", but then,
                                          newsflash, there are stupid people
                                          out there.
                                          \_ It will fail more rapidly if you
                                             keep turning it on and off every
                                             day, whether that's because
                                             the components are stressed
                                             or just because latent failures
                                             materialize. I know HP said
                                             that the h/w won't, but I
                                             doubt they tested systems
                                             under real world situations
                                             like under a desk with a case
                                             full of dust bunnies. My own
                                             experience has shown that h/w
                                             will fail when powered down
                                             and I dread it whenever
                                             electrical work has to be done
                                             because it means something is
                                             going to die. Sure, sometimes
                                             h/w dies anyway but it's
                                             *guaranteed* something will
                                             die when everything has been
                                             powered off. I have seen this
                                             many times over 12 years now.

2/25    If only we had listened to ALGOR:
                                   \- must not destroy robot.
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/d6hgbt [new scientist]

2/24    Antarctic mountain range mapped:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/d3u3vc [new scientist]
        \_ Clearly this proves that Global Warming is not happening.
           \_ Seriously, was that the best you could come up with?

2/17    "Nuclear subs didn't know they'd hit each other"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090217/wl_afp/britainfrancenuclearweapons

2/16    George F. Will takes on science, loses credibility
        http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/02/george-f-will-takes-on-science-loses.html

2/15    How many watts does a typical desktop (not counting monitor)
        use when it is completely idling (top shows at most 1-2% CPU),
        assuming normal SATA HD, video card, 2-4G RAM?
        \_ Google did a published study where they determined that the
           largest consumer of energy in a computer is the power supply
           itself. Figure that if you have a 400W power supply you are
           using at least half that if not more even when idle.
           \_ that totally blows. Laptop #1!!!
              \_ Power supply manufacturers need an incentive to make more
                 efficient power supplies. It's probably not hard to do.
                 Google was talking about pushing manufacturers on that
                 issue, but one company is probably not enough.

2/12    Much better than nuclear waste:
        http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20090212/NEWS01/90212004

2/10    Meat causes global warming:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/d6ao4r [new scientist]
        \_ The IPCC has said this for a while.  More greenhouse gasses result
           from the meat industry than from all of the transportation industry.
        \_ bullshit (literally). Thats mostly recycling carbon that was on
           the surface anyway (same argument the biofuels folks can use that
           they are carbon neutral).  The real villain is all the carbon we
           are digging up from deep underground and releasing.
           \_ I see your point, but isn't methane a more potent global warming
              gas, per pound of carbon, than CO^2?
              \_ By about a factor of 25, yes
           \_ So you reject the IPCC?

2/6     Chu says global warming will turn CA into a desert.  Why can't I see
        any trend on Tahoe snowfall in the last 100 years?
        http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pj0h2MODqj3hvJSHq8lYoEA
        \_ Because you're an idiot.
           \_ Wait, there IS a trend there?  Can you point it out?
              \_ There does not appear to be a trend in that particular
                 set of data, taken out of context.  The fact that you think
                 that is significant is why you are an idiot.
                 \_ The context to me is that there has been warming over the
                    last century, but no trend in the snowpack.  Can you
                    explain why that's not significant?  -op
                    \_ Your graph is snowfall, not snowpack.  It's also picking
                       only one spot, when mountain conditions vary wildly from
                       one place to another.  And the effects of global warming
                       are not linear.  -tom
                       \_ Ah, thanks for pointing out my mistake of pack vs.
                          fall.  Far more useful than simply saying I'm an
                          idiot. -op
                          \_ That's not why you're an idiot.
                          \_ FYI, your an idiot b/c you have dared to doubt
                          \_ FYI, you're an idiot b/c you have dared to doubt
                             the revealed truth of the prophet Gore. How dare
                             you! Who are you to think unapproved thoughts!
                             \_ The one good thing about Global Warming is that
                                it might (might!) dry up some of that froth.

1/21    Since July, the CPI has dropped 4.4%
        \_ That's like getting a 4.4% raise!
        \_ How much of that is pure fuel price?
           \_ Fuel isn't part of CPI
           \_ Fuel isn't part of CPI -op
              \_ I am pretty sure the stat he is quoting includes fuel.
                 In fact, almost all of that slide is in fuel prices.
                 \_ It's not just fuel (though I stand corrected, it does
                    include fuel):
                    "Wholesale prices fall for 5th straight month"
                    http://tinyurl.com/7a8za3  [cnn.com]
                     -op
                    \_ Wholesale prices are not directly related to CPI.
                       http://tinyurl.com/cwss7d
                       "The core CPI, without volatile food and energy
                        prices, was unchanged from the prior month, the
                        government said."
        \_ Biggest slide since Nov 1932 - Apr 1933

1/17    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/16/9m_downadup_infections
        Did this actually do anything or is this Morris Warhol Worm?

12/20   Obama names "scientists" to key posts:
        http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/20/politics/main4679445.shtml
        \_ That evil science loving freak.
        \_ Versus "The world was created in seven days" theologians?

12/18   Using graphics chips to do generic data-crunching:
        "NVIDIA CUDA Technology Dramatically Advances The Pace of Scientific
        Research"
        http://www.imim.es/news/view.php?ID=37
        \_ Why are you posting marketing press releases here?
           There's nothing new here... they've done the folding @home thing
           on GPUs for a long time and on Playstations.
           Also, YMWTGF: OpenCL
           \_ What is interesting is the layer of abstraction involved.
              Folding @home had to write some seriously special case code.
              \_ The original one did, but they also use Nvidia's CUDA now,
                 but that is Nvidia-specific so it is still special case.
                 In any case the "using graphics chips to do generic data-
                 crunching" aspect is like 8+ years old.
                 It is definitely an interesting research area though.
                 (CSUA should invest in high-end gaming PCs for research...)
                 \_ No need. We already have some. For *cough* research...
                    --t

12/16   So UYG has hit $6 even sooner than I expected. That is a 10% gain
        in 3 days even if you came late to the party and didn't buy in
        until after we had a day of debate. It's almost 25% for me and
        anyone who bought at market open on Friday. Because I was
        criticized for not being specific last time, I am going to now
        sell 40% of my position and wait for $7, which will come within
        a year and probably much sooner, but not before a little seesaw.
        Truth be told, I am anticipating $8 before February, but I am an
        optimist. I will add to my positon if it falls below $5 and again
        if it falls below $4, but will consider selling out completely if it
        breaks the 52 week low.
        \_ There are a bunch of traders and I have no idea WHO you are.
           What is your alias? Can you designate your alias, like
           superawesomedaytrader or something?          -chicken trader
        \_ that's great.  but next time, *please* be more specific on exit
           points, and give us 24 hours to digest the tip.  yeah, I know it's
           free advice, but you don't get as much credit.
           \_ The above is the Reader's Digest version. There are other
              scenarios I would buy/sell in like on a steep pullback (buy)
              or quick gain (sell). The market moves fast, so 24
              hours notice is a little much unless you are wanting to
              buy-and-hold in which case my advice is to buy almost
              anything now and hold it for 10 years. Things to consider:
              1. Energy will be a great play once energy stocks digest
              recent (lowered) earnings and energy bulls realize oil is
              not below $100 for just a few months but for a year or even
              more. Energy stocks are still trading above 52 week lows
              even as oil has plummeted. Wait for them to break those lows.
              2.  All of this money will devalue the dollar and cause
              inflation. There will be currency plays and inflation plays
              (like TIPS) and (eventually, not yet) commodities plays.
              \_ all right, I'll take 8 or 12 hours notice.  I'm looking for
                 an entry and exit on any symbol, doesn't have to be UYG -pp
        \_ You have lost all your gains on UYG. Just pointing that out.
           \_ No I didn't.
              1. I sold 40% of it above 6. (see above)
              2. Even today it is trading 10% above where I bought it.
              I'm doing just fine, thanks. I'm now trying to figure out what
              to sell (and when) to pay for all these big gains I will have to
              pay taxes on in April.

12/11   LBL's Steven Chu chosen to head DOE:
    http://preview.tinyurl.com/63rj7h [wp]

12/4    This is pretty cool: (oldest animal)
        http://tinyurl.com/6q39cf
        \_ "Despite his old age (176yr), locals say he still has the energy to
           regularly mate with the three younger females."
           Hugh Hefner is nothing, man.

11/28   Open note to Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 devs:  an open world game is much
        less enjoyable if the end of main quest is suicide.  Just because I
        might want to wander around the whole open world thingy.

11/4    Indiana is the battleground state this year. Dumb ass Ohio
        finally made up its mind.
        \_ Obama's gonna win and that's cool. However, I forgot to dump
           my oil/energy stocks. I should have done it earlier. Oh well.

11/3    Hey, did you know that about 50% of electricity in the US comes from
        coal?
        \_ "Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would
           necessarily skyrocket."
           http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/6016
           \_ cap and trade is silly.  Just plain-old carbon tax on it would
              be a lot more effective
        \_ Currently, most vehicles in the US don't use electricity from
           external sources.

                         ** ****** ****
                      ** ***     *****  **
                    ** **      *     ***  *
                    *    ** **   *   *  * **
                   *  ** * *PRES. MCCAIN*   *
                   *  *    *   WOULD     * * *
                  * * ** * CAUSE  THIS*****  *
                   *   * * **  ***     *  * *
                    *  *  * **********  *** *
                     *****   *     *   * * *
                             *   * *
                            *  * *  *
                           *  *  **  *
                           * **   * *
                             *  * *
                             * *  **
                            **     ****
                          ***  * *    ****
                ********** ** *   ** *   *********

Take off and nuke the site from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure.
           \_ Most houses do though.
        \_ YES.  and do you know that the percentage was a lot higher a
           couple years ago?   And you guys blame China for using coal
           and produce green-house gas.

11/1    Gundam Academy:
        http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5058011.ece

10/28   I'm reading NO ON PROP 7 web site that says Prop 7 will:
        increase elec bill by ~$300/year, force consumers to pay 10% more.
        Actually, I WANT everyone to pay more because electricity is still
        too cheap and people should cut down. I also love bills that is
        anti-growth (cheap energy, cheap food, etc). I really believe that
        anti-growth will leads to higher quality of living. Is there
        something wrong with me?
        \_ There are many things wrong with you, but this is not one of them.
        \_ I'm all for either a pollution tax or a higher gas tax.  Same
           reason.
        \_ But the radio commercial also says Prop 7 will eliminate small
           energy generators, which might not be good.
        \_ Yes, there's something wrong with you: you've bought into the idea
           that conservation is a model for living, not a stop-gap measure.
           The true goal must remain attaining infinite, perpetually renewable
           resources; once we attain this goal, we will no longer need to
           conserve, and we can make the _choice_ to live ascetically if we
           so desire. Forcing people to live ascetically in the face of a
           lack of limits is self-defeating.
           \_ Except there are no perpetual motion machines, so until we
              invent one, we will always be faced with limits.
              \_ Correct, and until then conservation is called for. However,
                 we must not allow the previous non-existence of such to
                 prevent our drive to create such. Conservation is a stop-
                 gap.
                 \_ Conservation is the most cost-effective and easiest
                    'stop gap'.
                    \_ In the words of Nils Bohr, you and I do not disagree
                       as much you seem to think.

10/28   Crap.  Solar Panel manufacture releases NF3, which is 17,000 times
        worse a greenhouse gas than CO2.  I want my solar panels!
        http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2229052/solar-panels-linked-powerful
        \_ Yes it sucks.  Yes it needs to be fixed.  However 17,000 times
           doesn't mean very much if the amount is minimal.  This is FUD,
           pure and simple.  Manufacturing makes greenhouse gases through
           a variety of ways.  Centralized production is a single point
           for improvement and regulation.  Flat panels have resonable
           regulation so that those gasses aren't just released.  Notice the
           whole "not more than two per cent of the NF3 used in industry
           escaped" quote.  If that's too much I'm sure than number could
           fairly cheaply be reduced by a level of magnitude or more.
        \_ We need to compare the amount of NF3 released during manufacturing
           vs. the amount of CO2 it reduced by producing clean energy during
           lifespan of the panel.  Personally I don't have any data on either.

10/9    Bush to roll over on North Korea:
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081009/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nuclear_nkorea_11

10/3    Wind changes, not global warming are cause of Greenland and West
        Antarctic ice sheet losses
        (Blog referencing two new articles in Science)
        http://tinyurl.com/4cs4fq
        \_ If you actually looked at the articles you'd see they are blaming
           the wind changes ON GLOBAL WARMING.  Look this isn't hard.  The
           environment is a chaotic system that settled into a local minmum.
           That's rarely stable.  All it takes is a little push and things
           go haywire.  Global warming is that push.

10/3    "Russia to deploy new nuclear missile"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081002/wl_nm/us_russia_forces
        \_ This is, paradoxically, the best news I've heard from Russia in
           a long while. Why did the USSR fail? Because it spent all of its
           money on military build-up. God, I hope this causes Putin to
           get ousted.