Worth noting.
RealClimate � 11 �C warming, climate crisis in 10 years?
30 January 2005
Batteries vs. Fuel Cells
Just a I ws thinking that ful cells are the future up comes a piece like this that makes quite a strong case for batteries ....
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Batteries vs. Fuel Cells
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Batteries vs. Fuel Cells
$18bn profit -not the last
In case you saw this and thought it was interesting that it could just be windfall from the oil price increases earlier in the year I would urge you to think again. Now that we are reaching the point when the limited resource of oil is getting to the point where we will soon have extracted more than half of total reserves [that is an absolute total] and world demand is still rising, expect to see oil companies raking it in over the next 20 years,. In fact I imaging that their plans for peak oil are precisley to milk the dwindling supply [against demand] for all the profit they can. -All the more reason for us to push renewables, don't you think?
The Observer | Business | Shell to make history with $18bn profit
The Observer | Business | Shell to make history with $18bn profit
fast recycling
Nice little aretcle on an on-the-spot recycler for fast-food disposables.
Treehugger: Sondre Frost Urstad's Cupkin, a Recycling Unit for Fast Food Chains
29 January 2005
Destroy Rock n Roll
One of those serendipties: while browsing for a copy of Amelie on DVD the music in the store cought my attention: reminding me of Nightcrawlers using those electro-poppy sounds I love so much with a rhythm that brings joyous moevemnt to my limbs [but I controlled myself -this was just a shop!]. Anyway I have to say that I love the sound: remniscent of late 90's dance at it best. seriously clever sampling and mixing and rather witty at times too. I like the use of the rhythmic bursts of music on some track andthe way the whole thing is just so happy-making. Give it a go I doubt you'll be disappointed, unless, like my sons, you are pathologocally averse to dance music.
Amazon.co.uk: : Explore similar items
Quietly Christian mainstream rock
For the last few years I have been made aware [often by my kids] of how many mainstream rock and pop music artists claim a Christian affiliation, on the quiet. I've been wondering whether the fact that one of the few popular live music institutions that encourage and enable kids to perform music are churches. All the other kids just want to sing and be in a dance line-up where something technical provides a backing track. Nothing wrong with that except that it tends to reduce the amount of music performance in the population as a whole [wonder if there are any studies on that?]. Anyway if I were right you might expect that kids with a Christian background would have an advantage when it comes to producing music: experience and informal tuition/mentoring. Add to that the Greenbelt factor in British Christian culture [ie the encouragement to make mainstream music which reflects Christian perspectives on 'ordinary' things without preaching] and you have the potential for a whole load of quietly Christian artists amking it. That's my theory; I now await the devastating critique pointing our something obvious I've missed.
In the referred to article I was also intrigued by the following comment on the phenomenon from a mainstream critic.
"NME editor, Conor McNicholas, believes there is a simple reason why rock stars don't talk about their faith: 'The problem with religion is it's never cool. At the heart of all religions, there's a notion of control, and that's the opposite of rock'n'roll. It ends up being the least rock'n'roll thing you can think of. What people want from music is inspiration and escapism. Religion offers that in a very different way. Most people are looking to escape from that, it turns them off.'"
I want to ask whether his analysis is right. He clearly has his own ideological perspective but I'm not really sure that what he says is right. For him rock clearly is supposed to be about inspirition and escapism and not 'control'. But of course that's not the whole story and I wonder whether he really takes into account the way that listening to music functions in lots of people's life. Given that Rock seems to function 'religiously' in many people's lives I can't help but question the idea that religion is the least rock'nroll thing you could think of. Perhaps that's the issue; that of rival ideologies? But the music isn't the ideology; I'm not even convinced the form itself is inevitably connotative of the family of ideologies that the NME guy says it is. It seems like he may be the secular equivalent of those Christians who say that rock is of the devil/inherantly evil or immoral. Like extreme creationists and evolutionists they paint up the differences in order to create a simple 2 factor choice when actually it ain't really that simple.
The real issues is not rock'nroll ideology but the popular perceptions and the way that Christians are trying to duck out of the negative stereotyping we routinely suffer [sometimes understandably: there's nothing so awkward as those who fit the stereotype turning up]. There's a dialogic quality to it all: Christians are sensitive to being written off because they are Christians and so modify their behaviour in order to be able to do what they feel called to in a secular arena. It's not that what they are is somehow inimical to what they do [the implication of the NME guy's remark] but that many of the consumers of their product don't know enough not to be prejudiced about it. And yet, by performing well and being savvy about the way they conduct themselves with regard to faith matters in public they may be able to help educate their public so at least their prjudices are modified or challenged.
Guardian Unlimited | Arts news | A new breed of rock star: quietly Christian:
In the referred to article I was also intrigued by the following comment on the phenomenon from a mainstream critic.
"NME editor, Conor McNicholas, believes there is a simple reason why rock stars don't talk about their faith: 'The problem with religion is it's never cool. At the heart of all religions, there's a notion of control, and that's the opposite of rock'n'roll. It ends up being the least rock'n'roll thing you can think of. What people want from music is inspiration and escapism. Religion offers that in a very different way. Most people are looking to escape from that, it turns them off.'"
I want to ask whether his analysis is right. He clearly has his own ideological perspective but I'm not really sure that what he says is right. For him rock clearly is supposed to be about inspirition and escapism and not 'control'. But of course that's not the whole story and I wonder whether he really takes into account the way that listening to music functions in lots of people's life. Given that Rock seems to function 'religiously' in many people's lives I can't help but question the idea that religion is the least rock'nroll thing you could think of. Perhaps that's the issue; that of rival ideologies? But the music isn't the ideology; I'm not even convinced the form itself is inevitably connotative of the family of ideologies that the NME guy says it is. It seems like he may be the secular equivalent of those Christians who say that rock is of the devil/inherantly evil or immoral. Like extreme creationists and evolutionists they paint up the differences in order to create a simple 2 factor choice when actually it ain't really that simple.
The real issues is not rock'nroll ideology but the popular perceptions and the way that Christians are trying to duck out of the negative stereotyping we routinely suffer [sometimes understandably: there's nothing so awkward as those who fit the stereotype turning up]. There's a dialogic quality to it all: Christians are sensitive to being written off because they are Christians and so modify their behaviour in order to be able to do what they feel called to in a secular arena. It's not that what they are is somehow inimical to what they do [the implication of the NME guy's remark] but that many of the consumers of their product don't know enough not to be prejudiced about it. And yet, by performing well and being savvy about the way they conduct themselves with regard to faith matters in public they may be able to help educate their public so at least their prjudices are modified or challenged.
Guardian Unlimited | Arts news | A new breed of rock star: quietly Christian:
C of Environment
The General synod of the Church of England is to debate environmental matters somewhere between 14 and 17 February. The motion recommends not only that churches do more to reduce GW gas emissions but that the church as a whole presses for the contract and converge policy which seems the most positive of the things it might do. The problem is that it is a 'motherhood and apple pie' motion; ie most people will agree, pass it becasue it is so obviously wholesome and then do nothing more about it .... perhaps I'm cynical but a similar Bradford diocesan motion a couple of years or so back had just that effect: ie it's policy but no-one does anything about it really, very much.
[object HTMLFormElement]Write up of agenda at Bradford Diocesan website
[object HTMLFormElement]Write up of agenda at Bradford Diocesan website
Random Energy Sources
A brief review of some alternative energy sources which I think I've mostly blogged here but in case you missed them here they all are in one go.Treehugger: Top Five - Random Energy Sources
28 January 2005
Wooster Collective : Stickers / Posters / Graf / Culture Jamming
This is a fascinating image, sin't it?
Wooster Collective : Stickers / Posters / Graf / Culture Jamming
Wooster Collective : Stickers / Posters / Graf / Culture Jamming
27 January 2005
Terrorist win or freedom fighters gain objectives?
This is a sign of the real new world order we live in: "Putin, faced with the option of a decade of delay in Russian economic progress or Chechen independence, chose independence. A cease fire was called in October of 2005 to negotiated the referendum. It culminated in the document he was to sign today. Chechnya would be free. Global guerrillas had won." The point is that is financial squeezes that will count. In a world where perhaps national conflicts are rarer it will be non-state groups that are the issue and the vulnerabilities of centralised utilities. If this doesn't wake folk up to the importance of decentralising power production [read "renewables"] what will?
Global Guerrillas: SCENARIO: CHECHEN INDEPENDENCE (Part I)
Global Guerrillas: SCENARIO: CHECHEN INDEPENDENCE (Part I)
progessive and spiritual values
Here's a heart-waring article from Jim Wallis from his speaking tour on "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It" Clearly conservative views have become so allied with Christian faith and vice versa for a lot of AMericans that the possiblity that one can be progressive politically and Christian is news, and good news at that [this is the USA! Come on, just 'cos it'd wouldn't happen here shouldn't make us cynical!]. Anyway cop this quote:
"What became clear is how many people have never seen, heard, or imagined a progressive faith option, a Christian social conscience, or a connection between their spiritual hunger and their passion for social justice. People have come up to my family in restaurants, stopped me in train stations, or walked up to me on the street just to say 'Thank you,' or 'I feel like we have a voice now,' or 'I am young, religious, progressive, and you speak for me.' Often they say that they feel the possibility of faith again - or for the first time - and hope that we could make a difference."
I love that 'connection between their spiritual hunger and their passion for social justice'....
Sojourners : SojoMail : Back Issues:
"What became clear is how many people have never seen, heard, or imagined a progressive faith option, a Christian social conscience, or a connection between their spiritual hunger and their passion for social justice. People have come up to my family in restaurants, stopped me in train stations, or walked up to me on the street just to say 'Thank you,' or 'I feel like we have a voice now,' or 'I am young, religious, progressive, and you speak for me.' Often they say that they feel the possibility of faith again - or for the first time - and hope that we could make a difference."
I love that 'connection between their spiritual hunger and their passion for social justice'....
Sojourners : SojoMail : Back Issues:
Feminisation of HE
When I wento to university as an 18 year old, men/boys were in the majority in absolute terms of going to uni. Though the course I did it was the other way round. Now it is not so: in absolute terms women are in the majority at university. Now read this: "the National Union of Students' women's officer, Jo Salmon, said: 'It is encouraging to see that female students continue to enter higher education despite the fact that they take longer than their male peers to pay off their debts as a result of the gender pay gap and occupational segregation.' and ask what kind of society are we making? What are the implications for the workforce and for the birthrate, for the rearing of children and housing and spirituality? And this involves asking not only what is the impact of more graduate women but of proportionally less graduate men? While you're cogitating it might be worth adding in some incidentals like the binge-drinking culture that is bit in HE and in which women participate in increaing numbers, given that the likely long-term health risks are high -these ar ethe people I was hoping would pay my pension, instead I'm going to have to work longer to pay for the NHS's increased demand for liver transplants -if I've not had my genetically likely heart attack by then. Whoops sorry -a touch of the DTW snuck in then ['Disgusted -Tunbridge Wells']. Seriously, though: do we like the society we are inadvertantly building? Answer's probably both yes and no, but I'd be interested in anything that helps us to think it through ...
EducationGuardian.co.uk | Special Reports | University gender gap widens as women increase their lead:
"
EducationGuardian.co.uk | Special Reports | University gender gap widens as women increase their lead:
"
To boldly split infinitives -again.
Some of you who have monitered my blog output on a more than casual basis may recall my grumbling about prescriptivist gramarians on various occasions and recall that I generally beleive that peple should be allowed to use their own dialect without someone else chewing them up because some of its grammatical rules differ from theirs [generally the prescriptivist is a 'Queen's English' speaker looking down on people with regional dialects in their active usage]. Well whilst I am strongly in favour of tolerance of dialectal difference; this should not be mistaken for saying that native speakers of a language never make syntactic mistakes. If you want to see how this is possible then read this article. If you've had enough already leave it, sit down and at least think: 'next time I hear/ read a differnt form of English I shall first try to work out what the actual grammatical rules it uses are rather than claiming or pretending that it has broken mine." Then the world will be fractionally happier and wiser place.
"Speakers will sometimes speak or write in a way that exhibits errors (errors that they themselves would agree, if asked later, were just slip-ups); and linguists will sometimes state correctness conditions in a way that incorporates errors in what is claimed about the language (errors that they themselves would agree, if asked later, were just mistaken hypotheses about the language). "
Language Log: "Everything is correct" versus "nothing is relevant":
"Speakers will sometimes speak or write in a way that exhibits errors (errors that they themselves would agree, if asked later, were just slip-ups); and linguists will sometimes state correctness conditions in a way that incorporates errors in what is claimed about the language (errors that they themselves would agree, if asked later, were just mistaken hypotheses about the language). "
Language Log: "Everything is correct" versus "nothing is relevant":
26 January 2005
Developing world births 'falling'
I think it's worth having a link to this story ...
BBC NEWS | World | Developing world births 'falling'
BBC NEWS | World | Developing world births 'falling'
European Eco-label for Footwear
Worth checking out. Participating compnies have to meet certain standards. See them outlines here.
Treehugger: European Eco-label for Footwear
Disturb us, Lord
I am inordinately surprised to discover a prayer by Francis Drake which firstly I hadn't come across before and secondly that is so pious [him having been a privateer and all], courtesy of Maggi Dawn. It goes like this.
Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little;
when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst for the Waters of Life;
having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity;
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly -
to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you push back the horizons of our hopes,
and to push us in the future with strength, courage, hope and love..."
I find myself warming to this prayer greatly encouraging and resonating with the life coaching bit of me: the recognition that we are probably capable of more than we dare to dream and that we choose safety over the risk of kin_dom living.
I find in it echoes of Jesus' words about losing life to gain it and the warning that if we try ot hold on to things, especially our own life/soul we run a dire risk of losing the very thing we try to grasp so tightly. In so doing this prayer makes us aware of one link between the teaching of Christ and life-coaching: daring more and disturbing the comfortable.
I like too the extended sea-faring metaphor which is both challenging and yet comforting: putting out out of sight of land yet ... there will be stars to guide; we need only trust and go.
It is a bold prayer to ask that the horizen of our hopes be pushed back; but often that's just what I/we need. We get so used to making do, being realistic, cutting our cloth ... that it becomes a habit and we lose sight of the possibilities that sometimes our dreams are of God and they are there to invite us to transcend the limitations.
Admittedly sometimes we need the wisdom and humility to make do, be 'realistic' and limit our ambitions but let's not confuse that with a law of the universe and think that always such self-limitation is the Christian way. Sometimes it is but sometimes the call of God is to adventure and to growth beyond those limits. Our task and the task of spiritual direction /soul friendship /spiritual-life coaching is to understand which is which.
There is a time for everything. Sometimes it is time to adventure for the Love of God. Sometimes it is time to mourn and stay put so that healing can take place and so that we do not set off in a frame of mind that will turn our adventure with God into dust and ashes, depression and despair. Sometimes adventuring can be running away from important 'housekeeping'. This then, is not a prayer for all seasons; but for some seasons it is THE prayer.
Certainly I am currently hearing this as a reinforcement of something that my mum said to me not long back which while not spot on linked strongly to something along these lines. Have I settled to comfortably; do I need to push the door a bit harder? Quite probably. It is certainly too, a reminder of the exciting and joyous things in our discipleship: dreaming of eternity the water of Life, a renewed creation and acting in the good of them.
maggi dawn: Disturb us, Lord:
Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little;
when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst for the Waters of Life;
having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity;
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly -
to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you push back the horizons of our hopes,
and to push us in the future with strength, courage, hope and love..."
I find myself warming to this prayer greatly encouraging and resonating with the life coaching bit of me: the recognition that we are probably capable of more than we dare to dream and that we choose safety over the risk of kin_dom living.
I find in it echoes of Jesus' words about losing life to gain it and the warning that if we try ot hold on to things, especially our own life/soul we run a dire risk of losing the very thing we try to grasp so tightly. In so doing this prayer makes us aware of one link between the teaching of Christ and life-coaching: daring more and disturbing the comfortable.
I like too the extended sea-faring metaphor which is both challenging and yet comforting: putting out out of sight of land yet ... there will be stars to guide; we need only trust and go.
It is a bold prayer to ask that the horizen of our hopes be pushed back; but often that's just what I/we need. We get so used to making do, being realistic, cutting our cloth ... that it becomes a habit and we lose sight of the possibilities that sometimes our dreams are of God and they are there to invite us to transcend the limitations.
Admittedly sometimes we need the wisdom and humility to make do, be 'realistic' and limit our ambitions but let's not confuse that with a law of the universe and think that always such self-limitation is the Christian way. Sometimes it is but sometimes the call of God is to adventure and to growth beyond those limits. Our task and the task of spiritual direction /soul friendship /spiritual-life coaching is to understand which is which.
There is a time for everything. Sometimes it is time to adventure for the Love of God. Sometimes it is time to mourn and stay put so that healing can take place and so that we do not set off in a frame of mind that will turn our adventure with God into dust and ashes, depression and despair. Sometimes adventuring can be running away from important 'housekeeping'. This then, is not a prayer for all seasons; but for some seasons it is THE prayer.
Certainly I am currently hearing this as a reinforcement of something that my mum said to me not long back which while not spot on linked strongly to something along these lines. Have I settled to comfortably; do I need to push the door a bit harder? Quite probably. It is certainly too, a reminder of the exciting and joyous things in our discipleship: dreaming of eternity the water of Life, a renewed creation and acting in the good of them.
maggi dawn: Disturb us, Lord:
If Bill hired Linus ...?
... would it end up like this? Intersting exploration of how open source and business models could work and the challenges to traditional minded business. Some nice asides too. 'Steve' is Steve Ballmer M$'s ceo -Bill stepped down from that role a while back.
Wired 13.02: The Microsoft Memo
Wired 13.02: The Microsoft Memo
Grumbletext,
A week or two back I was checking over my mobile phone bill and noticed that I was paying some £5 for text messages. Having a price plan that included more texts than I ever use [the cheapest plan too], I was suspicious. A call to Vodaphone and a spot of investigation and another text got me closer to the issue. A phone call to an 087 number failed to stop the message and then I was given a number to text 'STOP' to -different from the originating number 87107 [in case you have similar difficulties you may need to get another number]. So, that friendly message that I assumed was a bit of promotional fun was costing a fair bit.
Anyway, the Grumbletext site seems a really excelent site and they are clearly putting the work in as a consumer advocacy group in these matters. Respect!
Grumbletext, UK consumer complaints - post online and via SMS text message!
Anyway, the Grumbletext site seems a really excelent site and they are clearly putting the work in as a consumer advocacy group in these matters. Respect!
Grumbletext, UK consumer complaints - post online and via SMS text message!
25 January 2005
Future of the web?
Could this page show the future of the web -every word you point to brings up a menu to follow if you wish to get more information. It's part of a proposal to soup up the web and make it more wiki-like
CNN.com
CNN.com
Wind-Up Charger
I recently acquired one of these as a birthday present and we've used it to charge both my son's and my mobile phone. Admitedly the winding handle could do with an extension to make it easier to hold but it does work. However you'd need to wind a fair bit to give a full charge, nevertheless they reckon than 3 minutes winding is worth a couple of hours standby and a few minutes talk. So it may be just the thing when going away somewhere like Greenbelt -or any camping or 'middle of nowhere' thing really.
the cluetrain manifesto - 95 theses
Reflecting on the effects of coinnectedness and found recently this site. There are some gems among its 95 theses. I've quoted these mainly because they seem to me to apply to church and Christians in relation to a world awaiting the gospel. Also bearing in mind my own experiences in the last 18 months with some of the less benign aspects of churchianity [though not deliberately unbenign just missing priorities in favour of 'the plan'].
7 Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy.
11. People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products [my comment: a develpoment agency is already using this trick in Brasil - I just don't remember where I saw that...]
12 What's happening to markets is also happening among employees [priests?]. A metaphysical construct called "The Company" [the Church?] is the only thing standing between the two
30 Brand loyalty is the corporate version of going steady, but the breakup is inevitable—and coming fast. Because they are networked, smart markets are able to renegotiate relationships with blinding speed.
44 Companies typically install intranets top-down to distribute HR policies and other corporate information that workers are doing their best to ignore
61 Sadly, the part of the company a networked market wants to talk to is usually hidden behind a smokescreen of hucksterism, of language that rings false—and often is. [and the church corporate seems to be trying to emulate this -just as it's about to fail as a model for action]
78 You want us to pay? We want you to pay attention.
85 When we have questions we turn to each other for answers. If you didn't have such a tight rein on "your people" maybe they'd be among the people we'd turn to. [Ouch! but there's a manifesto for mission in that; as I've written elsewhere on various occasions: spiritual direction coaching as mission]
the cluetrain manifesto - 95 theses: "Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy."
7 Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy.
11. People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products [my comment: a develpoment agency is already using this trick in Brasil - I just don't remember where I saw that...]
12 What's happening to markets is also happening among employees [priests?]. A metaphysical construct called "The Company" [the Church?] is the only thing standing between the two
30 Brand loyalty is the corporate version of going steady, but the breakup is inevitable—and coming fast. Because they are networked, smart markets are able to renegotiate relationships with blinding speed.
44 Companies typically install intranets top-down to distribute HR policies and other corporate information that workers are doing their best to ignore
61 Sadly, the part of the company a networked market wants to talk to is usually hidden behind a smokescreen of hucksterism, of language that rings false—and often is. [and the church corporate seems to be trying to emulate this -just as it's about to fail as a model for action]
78 You want us to pay? We want you to pay attention.
85 When we have questions we turn to each other for answers. If you didn't have such a tight rein on "your people" maybe they'd be among the people we'd turn to. [Ouch! but there's a manifesto for mission in that; as I've written elsewhere on various occasions: spiritual direction coaching as mission]
the cluetrain manifesto - 95 theses: "Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy."
Macintosh Devotion as Implicit Religion
Like many academic papers this title hides the wider implications behind the specifics of the study. However, lots of good insightful summaries here even for those who don't go for tech, operating systems or sociology ... Sociology of Religion: May the Force of the Operating System be with You: Macintosh Devotion as Implicit Religion: "May the Force of the Operating System be with You: Macintosh Devotion as Implicit Religion"
Wrath, You Can't Ignore
Apparently there are neurological reasons why it is hard to ignore raised voices. If you think about it there's survival value in it. Anyway it got me thinking about what other behaviours we find hard to ignore for reasons of neurological 'hardwiring' [to use a metaphor that I'm suspicious of]. Moving images -well sudden movement anywhere in the field of vision; unidentified sounds. It certainly gives people who are prepared to mouth off an advantage in terms of attention getting. The issue then becomes how we deal with it and calm things down without rewarding it.
Wired News: You Can't Ignore My Wrath
Wired News: You Can't Ignore My Wrath
Billions more more EU PC's -or not
"Microsoft argues that Windows without Media Player is 'degraded' and will damage both consumers and software manufacturers. The company's backers suggest that Europeans will be forced to pay billions more for PCs"
Not if we start to adopt Linux we won't...
Guardian Unlimited | Online | Microsoft drops appeal against EU sanctions:
Not if we start to adopt Linux we won't...
Guardian Unlimited | Online | Microsoft drops appeal against EU sanctions:
Tech-Blog.org: Technology News
Just as I become really profficient at qwerty, someone brings out something that should have been around ages ago. Get these specs
"The keys are arranged alphabetically so there is no learning curve for hunt and peck typists as well as senior citizens who have never had a computer because they are challenged by the difficult basic keyboard. The keyboard can be learned at a glance, and differs from other manufacturers attempts at alphabetical-based designs because it is also efficient for high speed typing.
The advantages include: the alignment of the keys with natural movements of fingers to insure proper posture while typing; alphabetical letters can be easily found and keys are color-coded; all keys can be easily reached from the home position; shift keys are centralized and shift characters can be easily typed one-handed; editing keys are integrated; the keyboard has a smaller footprint, which allows the mouse to be placed right next to the typing keys; and there are only half as many keys to learn. "
While I think that the qwerty arrangement is well-embedded and hard to shift, I suspect that this could just work ... Otherwise I would use Dvorak which at least is ergonomically designed in terms of letter configuration and can be sorted by simple tweaks of software and putting labels on your existing keys. But this new kb is a thing of beauty.
Topman
I can't work out why I like this: but I do. I think some of it is because of the culture jam aspect ... but I sense there is more to it for me. That's what I like about art: exploring the feelings and faint associations that it evokes. Well; one of the things.
Global warming deniers' own goal?
“I am appalled that environmentalists are trying to ride on the backs of 160,000 dead people to push their global-warming agenda without any factual basis”, Pat Michaels told Muckraker in the week following the tsunami disaster
Of course the truth is that no environmentalist has made any such claim but appraently that hasn't stopped the rumour spreading being reported as fact. Environmentalists know that GW is not a cause of earthquakes and any consequent tsunamis. However, clearly denialists don't seem to realise this: presumably too transfixed by their own stereotyping and hatred of environmentalists to check the facts. I suspect that this is what has been going on in their heads.
"An environmental disaster? We all know what happens when there's an environmental disaster: we get the envrionment lobby jumping up and down and claiming its global warming ... well let's haed 'em off at the pass and get our counter calims in first ..."
The irony is that it shows that these folk really don't understand the issues whereas the environmentalists do. Revealed for what they are: knee-jerk reactionaries more interested in scoring points than the facts.
Right-wingers accuse environmentalists of exploiting tsunami
Of course the truth is that no environmentalist has made any such claim but appraently that hasn't stopped the rumour spreading being reported as fact. Environmentalists know that GW is not a cause of earthquakes and any consequent tsunamis. However, clearly denialists don't seem to realise this: presumably too transfixed by their own stereotyping and hatred of environmentalists to check the facts. I suspect that this is what has been going on in their heads.
"An environmental disaster? We all know what happens when there's an environmental disaster: we get the envrionment lobby jumping up and down and claiming its global warming ... well let's haed 'em off at the pass and get our counter calims in first ..."
The irony is that it shows that these folk really don't understand the issues whereas the environmentalists do. Revealed for what they are: knee-jerk reactionaries more interested in scoring points than the facts.
Right-wingers accuse environmentalists of exploiting tsunami
NGOs = greater trust
Part of the distrust of institutions thing combined with distrust of power in our society means this: "Pressure groups and charities have overtaken governments, media and big businesses to become the world's most trusted institutions". I actually think that we should recognise this in the political process. In the UK, currently, we are reforming the House of Lords curtailing the heriditary element in favour of more democratic scrutineering of legislation and parliamentary processes. The problem, to my mind, is that the proposals are for more of the same: political parties and politicians. One of the useful things about the Lords is/was that you had a lot of independent-ish people who had a variety of expertises to bring to bear on the process of scruitinising government legislation. I fear that aspect will be lost under current proposals.
What I would like to see would be a completely different approach. Let's recognise that for many people the current political process is a turn -off. Where there is some energy relating to politics in the borader sense is in NGO's and in voluntary groups often focussing on single issues and with a great deal of expertise. So why not give these groups representation in a renewed House of Lords? For every, say, 50,000 members/supporters they would be entitled to a representative in the new upper chamber. At a stroke this would create a close to government voice for churches, mosque groupings, environmental pressure groups, etc etc. The thing to be careful of is how supporters and or members are defined and to make sure that the groups themselves are democratic. These groups already have a measure of popular support; let's bring that into government.
FT.com / World / Brussels briefing - NGOs win greater trust than media and big businesses:
What I would like to see would be a completely different approach. Let's recognise that for many people the current political process is a turn -off. Where there is some energy relating to politics in the borader sense is in NGO's and in voluntary groups often focussing on single issues and with a great deal of expertise. So why not give these groups representation in a renewed House of Lords? For every, say, 50,000 members/supporters they would be entitled to a representative in the new upper chamber. At a stroke this would create a close to government voice for churches, mosque groupings, environmental pressure groups, etc etc. The thing to be careful of is how supporters and or members are defined and to make sure that the groups themselves are democratic. These groups already have a measure of popular support; let's bring that into government.
FT.com / World / Brussels briefing - NGOs win greater trust than media and big businesses:
What did I tell you?
"Speculation the US is planning to attack Iran has grown amid concerns the Iranians are building nuclear weapons."
A few months ago I said that the next target for US military intervention might be Iran. There's a better reason -a nuke weapon capability within about five years and breach of UN treaties. However, North Korea is left alone and no-one seems to be concerned about Pakistan, India or Israel with regard to illegal nuclear weapons [technically any nukes are illegal, I believe]. So it begins to look like a put-up job.
I really hope that things don't develop along the lines of what happened in Iraq: there is every chance that an already partly democratic Iran may become more so over time given the feeelings of its younger population. An invasion would turn that around right quick. The main hope is that the USA doesnt actually have enough troops to do it. Hence the diplomatic solution looks the better option [not to mention cheaper, heck a massive budget deficit has to concentrate minds sometime].
BBC NEWS | Politics | US 'committed to Iran diplomacy':
A few months ago I said that the next target for US military intervention might be Iran. There's a better reason -a nuke weapon capability within about five years and breach of UN treaties. However, North Korea is left alone and no-one seems to be concerned about Pakistan, India or Israel with regard to illegal nuclear weapons [technically any nukes are illegal, I believe]. So it begins to look like a put-up job.
I really hope that things don't develop along the lines of what happened in Iraq: there is every chance that an already partly democratic Iran may become more so over time given the feeelings of its younger population. An invasion would turn that around right quick. The main hope is that the USA doesnt actually have enough troops to do it. Hence the diplomatic solution looks the better option [not to mention cheaper, heck a massive budget deficit has to concentrate minds sometime].
BBC NEWS | Politics | US 'committed to Iran diplomacy':
24 January 2005
Will Life Be Worth Living In 2,000AD?
SOme interesting stuff here in this picture copy of a magazine from 1961 predicitng life in 2000 AD. It's interesting to me because with the return of my childhood comic book and TV favourites in film [Thunderbirds, Spiderman] and the release of others on DVD [Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 etc] I have cause to reflect on what they and we thought 200o would be like: you have to remember that to a child growing up in the 60's the year 2000 seemed ages away and with what seemed to be the rate of technological progress, well almost anything seemed possible.
So what of these predictions? Soem have turned out clearly to be vapourware. TAblets instead of food? Not so appetising or fun to consume and what about the roughage -that's dietary fibre, to you Madam. As to driving helicopters or hovercraft; forgot about oil being a non-renewable resource and the sheer cost of powering them [likewise the idea I recall of commuting to work with jet packs].
I love the line about scientists looking into the future and telling us what life we would be living: the naive optimism of it seems a world away, doesn't it? Untainted by the onset of post-modernism.
Still some of the ideas have come to pass given a few adjustments an electronic control room has become the PC and if the TV hasn't grown as much as this article predicted it is at least quite close to being global. The garbage processing is a lovely idea but the technology to do something like it has only recently come about [see this article Or this and follow up the links]
Some seem like a laugh: Dad will work a 24-hour week: sensibilities that were never dreamed of then are offended as well as the ironic smile we give as we think about the increases in the length of the working week ... The view of trnasportation would have been possible but somehow never came to pass: perhaps the car got in the way? And that's a sobering reflection in itself. And the 'if only' on the medical front: no common cold? Cancer gone? If only ...
There is an interesting note however, the last line "If there's any world left". I guess they were thinkng of nuclear destruction back in 1961; Rachel Carson was yet to publish Silent Spring and kick-Start the environmental movement which eventually brought to light another scenario for the end of the world as we know it ... Isn't hindsight wonderful?!
So what of these predictions? Soem have turned out clearly to be vapourware. TAblets instead of food? Not so appetising or fun to consume and what about the roughage -that's dietary fibre, to you Madam. As to driving helicopters or hovercraft; forgot about oil being a non-renewable resource and the sheer cost of powering them [likewise the idea I recall of commuting to work with jet packs].
I love the line about scientists looking into the future and telling us what life we would be living: the naive optimism of it seems a world away, doesn't it? Untainted by the onset of post-modernism.
Still some of the ideas have come to pass given a few adjustments an electronic control room has become the PC and if the TV hasn't grown as much as this article predicted it is at least quite close to being global. The garbage processing is a lovely idea but the technology to do something like it has only recently come about [see this article Or this and follow up the links]
Some seem like a laugh: Dad will work a 24-hour week: sensibilities that were never dreamed of then are offended as well as the ironic smile we give as we think about the increases in the length of the working week ... The view of trnasportation would have been possible but somehow never came to pass: perhaps the car got in the way? And that's a sobering reflection in itself. And the 'if only' on the medical front: no common cold? Cancer gone? If only ...
There is an interesting note however, the last line "If there's any world left". I guess they were thinkng of nuclear destruction back in 1961; Rachel Carson was yet to publish Silent Spring and kick-Start the environmental movement which eventually brought to light another scenario for the end of the world as we know it ... Isn't hindsight wonderful?!
How to make LOTR shorter
I feel obliged to mention that those of a nervous disposition when it comes to the odd four-letter word should not follow this link. The rest of you enjoy this plot-subversion.
LOTRse.gif (GIF Image, 480x202 pixels)
LOTRse.gif (GIF Image, 480x202 pixels)
Xanadu
A while back I took a course on information technology as part of culturl studies. In it I learnt about Xanadu and Ted Nelson's vision which kind of was realised with hypertext and the internet. Except that it wasn't. Ted Nelson's vision was more than what we now have enabled by hypertext. His links were to be direct and embedded not taking one off to other pages. I kind of dynamic two-way embedded quoting. Project Xanadu proposes to fulfill the vision and has come up with technologies and legalities to help do so and really open up the power of the net. Of course it'll never happen: like the QWERTY keyboard, it may be that sopmething better is possible but we're locked in now. Or are we?
PROJECT XANADU
See also Ted Nelson pages.
Slow sand filters
I've been thinking about alternative sewage treatment [walking past a sewage works several times a week leads ones thought so] and this seems to be very promising for domestic use.
"slow sand filters work through the formation of a gelatinous layer called the hypogeal layer or 'Schmutzedecke' on top of a layer of fine sand. This layer consists of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, rotifera and a range of aquatic insect larvae. As a Schmutzedecke ages more algae tend to develop and larger aquatic organisms may be present including some Endoprocta, Snails and Annelid worms.
The Schmutzedecke is the layer that provides the purification for water treatment -- the underlying sand provides the support medium for this biological layer. As water passes through the Schmutzedecke, particles of foreign matter are trapped in the mucilaginous matrix and dissolved organic material is adsorbed and absorbed and metabolised by the bacteria fungi and protozoa.
The water draining from a well managed slow sand filter can be of exceptionally good quality with no detectable bacterial content."
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: This Week in Green Design, 1/23: See also a site of a company that makes 'em.
"slow sand filters work through the formation of a gelatinous layer called the hypogeal layer or 'Schmutzedecke' on top of a layer of fine sand. This layer consists of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, rotifera and a range of aquatic insect larvae. As a Schmutzedecke ages more algae tend to develop and larger aquatic organisms may be present including some Endoprocta, Snails and Annelid worms.
The Schmutzedecke is the layer that provides the purification for water treatment -- the underlying sand provides the support medium for this biological layer. As water passes through the Schmutzedecke, particles of foreign matter are trapped in the mucilaginous matrix and dissolved organic material is adsorbed and absorbed and metabolised by the bacteria fungi and protozoa.
The water draining from a well managed slow sand filter can be of exceptionally good quality with no detectable bacterial content."
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: This Week in Green Design, 1/23: See also a site of a company that makes 'em.
Megacity Leapfrogging
This got my attention, a quote from Cleveland City "Increasingly, the fate of the planet depends on the future of cities. Cities are where most people live, where most resources and energy are consumed, and where most wastes are produced. To avert further destruction of the earth's life-support systems, cities must be transformed into places where people can live healthier lives while reducing their ecological impacts"
Gives a bit of a vision for what the challenge is: the article is a good outline of what is needed and nonours the complexities; there's no simple fix, rather "we're talking not about one process, but a thousand simultaneous and unique undertakings. Each city has its own possibilities, possibilities which can usually only be seen by those deeply enmeshed in the life of that city. Even where a tool is universally useful, its actual use will be always and everywhere particular to place. If redesigning the city is seen as pursuing some Modernist dream of ideal perfection, we've failed before we started."
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Urban Sustainability, Megacity Leapfrogging:
Gives a bit of a vision for what the challenge is: the article is a good outline of what is needed and nonours the complexities; there's no simple fix, rather "we're talking not about one process, but a thousand simultaneous and unique undertakings. Each city has its own possibilities, possibilities which can usually only be seen by those deeply enmeshed in the life of that city. Even where a tool is universally useful, its actual use will be always and everywhere particular to place. If redesigning the city is seen as pursuing some Modernist dream of ideal perfection, we've failed before we started."
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Urban Sustainability, Megacity Leapfrogging:
Wild Things Are on the Beach
Fascinating: forget AI try AL [artificial life]; this Dutch artist/scientist doing some fabulous work ... and it seems well engineered.
Wired News: Wild Things Are on the Beach
Fried Snow
The linguist in me was delighted the other day to discover this blog on matters of language and not from the grumpy disgusted-of-Tunbridge-Wells corner. Such delicacies as this reference to the myth of huge numbers of words for snow in Eskimo languages ... Hurrah! Some sanity in a mad world of hype and urban legend.Language Log: Fried Snow
Yesterday in Edinburgh
Yesterday I went to Edinburgh with a friend and my daughter. It was cold but -as the photo should show- there were sunny intervals. I was reflecting how strange it is that I should have reached this age and this was the first time I had ever visited Edinburgh: I've been to several cities in the USA and in Europe but not a majoe one that is in my own country. I loved it; it's a really interesting city; I like the architecture and I was surprised to see how monumental the buildings are considering the population size. There were also signs of a vibrant cafe culture [or something like] and I felt that I would be quite happy to return.I love the way too that it is built on several levels due to the hilliness and the way that quite spectacular rock and hill formations are in easy view and the mountains and glens seem so close. All in all a lovely day out and one in which most of my 10,000 steps a day were used up!
22 January 2005
on not knowing
Loved this, it diagrammises something I increasingly recognise as important, I think ...
The paradox that we often need to know something in order to recognise what it is we don't know. That's the 'space' where research takes place. Learning is often bringing us to the point of at least knowing what it is we don't [yet] know. The struggle is often to have the humility to admit that what you know is so little ...
gapingvoid: china net
The paradox that we often need to know something in order to recognise what it is we don't know. That's the 'space' where research takes place. Learning is often bringing us to the point of at least knowing what it is we don't [yet] know. The struggle is often to have the humility to admit that what you know is so little ...
gapingvoid: china net
waste in, fuel out
Well these miracle machines saeem to be coming thick and fast. There must be downsides, wonder what they are....
Treehugger: The Startech Plasma Converter: More Waste-to-Fuel Rocket Science
your relationship with certainty vapourises
I thought that this was so well expressed: "For most of us who live in the affluent western world, the future is predicated on some sense of certainty - but after cancer your relationship with certainty vaporises". I've not had cancer but I have been diagnosed with elevated cholesterol levels and seen my mother nearly die from a heart attack from the same cause which has, quietly, been a sobering thing especially as after 45 years of age the risks are increased. I would say that my relationship with certainty is vapourising. Especially as we're seeing a lot of death that touches us personally. This morning we had the news that my wife's nan just died, just over a year ago a friend of ours who was about my age died of a cerebral haemorrhage ... Yep, I've definitly reached that age when intimations of mortality turn up the volume just as the first signs of physical deafness seem to be hinting at their existence [got my dad's genetic heritage to thank for that one, I suspect].
And this article is pretty helpful; you don't need to have gone through quite such a dramatic health scare to begin to realise at a gut-level that mortality is a fact not a tale told of far away places you will never visit. For some people it is unavoidable; the insecurities of living in poverty, areas of warfare or famine or with AIDS .... that is the everyday reality for millions. Perhaps we should pay more attention to the psychology and spirituality of living near death in international relations ...
Certainly we clearly need to learn how to better respond to those living plausibly closer to G Reaper Esq than we ourselves. The article points out all those bad habits borne of embarrasment and unwillingness to accompany the suffering and dying in their journey through the valley of the shadow of death. So what are the words we should say, the questions we should ask? What difference should it make to our lives?
""En el mundo del Destine, no hay statistica" - In the world of destiny, there are no statistics (attributed to Martin Alberto Filches and quoted in Stuart Archer Cohen's The Stone Angels" That's certainly true; the stats can't tell you which category in the stats you're going to be in; when the existential moments come the fact that you're more likely to be this, that or the other makes no diference: Schrodinger's cat is either dead or alive you or I are one thing or the other and the stats won't change that: they simply assimilate you in one category or another, but we have to live it.
It is here that a life kept hidden in God for eternity becomes something of a comfort; it's here that the living One who who died, walking with us, makes a kind of sense, it is here that resurrection bwecomes more than a cipher for simple immortality but rather a strength to face the processes of mortality ...
I also found this reflection helpful:
" I read obituaries and always look at the dates of birth. Those of my vintage have often died "after a long battle with cancer". People with cancer have enough to deal with without feeling that every day of their lives must be a battle with the disease. People with bad hearts aren't assumed to be at war with their bypasses. You don't see "X died after a long battle with heart disease" - why should people with cancer be expected to take up arms? It is better to see cancer as a journey. Everyone says that being positive helps you to come through, and being positive during a journey seems easier to me than being positive during a war in which the enemy is all around you.". I'm interested in the metaphors we use when they have a military air: often they expose a reliance on the myth of redemptive violence, which in a case like this may be fair enough [at least no other people are harmed in the playing-out of the metaphor]. However, there is a serious point here: given that we live by metaphors [yes I'm pretty convinced by Lakoff and Johnson] which ones help us to face [there's another one] the trials [and another] of illness and impending mortality? Perhaps journeying is less stressful than a battlefield ... and therefore more helpful to recovery? Can we be helped to heal by the metaphors we live by?
And the final reflection is also ponderful: " wondering how this interesting journey has changed me so far. I think I'm not as mean as I used to be, as quick to relish blame and find fault, as inclined to jump on board the mean ship schadenfreude. I've got a life and I'm going to keep it " ...
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Melanie McFadyean: 21 things I would never have known if I'd never had cancer:
And this article is pretty helpful; you don't need to have gone through quite such a dramatic health scare to begin to realise at a gut-level that mortality is a fact not a tale told of far away places you will never visit. For some people it is unavoidable; the insecurities of living in poverty, areas of warfare or famine or with AIDS .... that is the everyday reality for millions. Perhaps we should pay more attention to the psychology and spirituality of living near death in international relations ...
Certainly we clearly need to learn how to better respond to those living plausibly closer to G Reaper Esq than we ourselves. The article points out all those bad habits borne of embarrasment and unwillingness to accompany the suffering and dying in their journey through the valley of the shadow of death. So what are the words we should say, the questions we should ask? What difference should it make to our lives?
""En el mundo del Destine, no hay statistica" - In the world of destiny, there are no statistics (attributed to Martin Alberto Filches and quoted in Stuart Archer Cohen's The Stone Angels" That's certainly true; the stats can't tell you which category in the stats you're going to be in; when the existential moments come the fact that you're more likely to be this, that or the other makes no diference: Schrodinger's cat is either dead or alive you or I are one thing or the other and the stats won't change that: they simply assimilate you in one category or another, but we have to live it.
It is here that a life kept hidden in God for eternity becomes something of a comfort; it's here that the living One who who died, walking with us, makes a kind of sense, it is here that resurrection bwecomes more than a cipher for simple immortality but rather a strength to face the processes of mortality ...
I also found this reflection helpful:
" I read obituaries and always look at the dates of birth. Those of my vintage have often died "after a long battle with cancer". People with cancer have enough to deal with without feeling that every day of their lives must be a battle with the disease. People with bad hearts aren't assumed to be at war with their bypasses. You don't see "X died after a long battle with heart disease" - why should people with cancer be expected to take up arms? It is better to see cancer as a journey. Everyone says that being positive helps you to come through, and being positive during a journey seems easier to me than being positive during a war in which the enemy is all around you.". I'm interested in the metaphors we use when they have a military air: often they expose a reliance on the myth of redemptive violence, which in a case like this may be fair enough [at least no other people are harmed in the playing-out of the metaphor]. However, there is a serious point here: given that we live by metaphors [yes I'm pretty convinced by Lakoff and Johnson] which ones help us to face [there's another one] the trials [and another] of illness and impending mortality? Perhaps journeying is less stressful than a battlefield ... and therefore more helpful to recovery? Can we be helped to heal by the metaphors we live by?
And the final reflection is also ponderful: " wondering how this interesting journey has changed me so far. I think I'm not as mean as I used to be, as quick to relish blame and find fault, as inclined to jump on board the mean ship schadenfreude. I've got a life and I'm going to keep it " ...
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Melanie McFadyean: 21 things I would never have known if I'd never had cancer:
21 January 2005
Oxford Green power under threat
I didn't know that Oxford Uni was a green leccy buyer. But apparently they are looking to dump the green supplier. Various other uni's are gree buyers [Bradford was and a couple of others are mentioned in the article].
Oxford Student: 20th January 2005: Green power under threat
Oxford Student: 20th January 2005: Green power under threat
Ethical Tea Partnership
If you want to check out the ETP here's their site. It all looks okay but I wonder why they don't want to 'buy into' the FT package? What is their problem with it? That's the suspicious thing
Ethical Tea Partnership
Wake up and smell the coffee's FT?
Do you remember in the 90's everyone seemed to be offering green this and environmental that and a big chunk of the stuff turned out to be spurious or dubious? Well it's a sign of the success of Fair Trade that there are signs of the big producers jumping onto the bandwagon with ethical trading substitutes that they are in control of [watch out for the 'for two years we'll pay them more than FT' -what happens after two years?] Let's hope that this guy is right: "'Consumers are not idiots. They will see the big brands exploiting the market and these companies will come off worse in the end as consumers see them as conmen.'"
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Are you smelling the right coffee?
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Are you smelling the right coffee?
air powered car
How cool is this?
I may have to bite the bullet and learn to drive so I'm looking at the more eco-friendly possibilities for cars that are beginning to appear; and despite the fact that this idea [running a car on compressed air] sounds a bit like using an elastic band it actually looks pretty impressive -10 hour driving!
Treehugger: MiniCat - air powered car
I may have to bite the bullet and learn to drive so I'm looking at the more eco-friendly possibilities for cars that are beginning to appear; and despite the fact that this idea [running a car on compressed air] sounds a bit like using an elastic band it actually looks pretty impressive -10 hour driving!
Treehugger: MiniCat - air powered car
Why software patents are a problem
"If Haydn had patented 'a symphony, characterised by that sound is produced [ in extended sonata form ]', Mozart would have been in trouble.
Unlike copyright, patents can block independent creations. Software patents can render software copyright useless"
One of the clearest explanations I've read about why we should be concerned that some EU ministers seem keen to push the issue of patenting software 'inventions'.
FFII: Logic Patents in Europe:
Unlike copyright, patents can block independent creations. Software patents can render software copyright useless"
One of the clearest explanations I've read about why we should be concerned that some EU ministers seem keen to push the issue of patenting software 'inventions'.
FFII: Logic Patents in Europe:
'I don't like Monday 24 January'
Reason not to get out of bed this coming Monday; it's been calculated that it would be the worst day of the year. Personally I'm a fairly equable kind of person and don't usuallly suffer Monday blues or overmuch with seasonal affective disorder; my depressions are mild and reactive to life events. However, for some people, it's important to know that they do have reasons to feel uncheerful that are about less 'tangible' conditions of life. What would Jesus do? I think it's particularly interesting to note the link with failed new year's resolutions .... Me; I tend to wait for Lent to try out lifestyle changes.
BBC NEWS | UK | 'I don't like Monday 24 January'
20 January 2005
Making plastic from oranges
Well if sequestering carbon dioxide is to be done it seems to me that making it into useful materials may be better than burying it ...
Cornell News: Making plastic from oranges
Cornell News: Making plastic from oranges
How a British science adviser faces down GW denialists
"these lobbyists stand up after I've given an hour's talk and say, 'There are scientists who disagree with you',' Sir David said.
'I always say, 'Which bit of the science that I've just presented to you are you challenging'? I don't get the answer.'"
British science adviser harassed by industry lobbyists | Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist Magazine:
'I always say, 'Which bit of the science that I've just presented to you are you challenging'? I don't get the answer.'"
British science adviser harassed by industry lobbyists | Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist Magazine:
Wind Power for New World Trade Center
A few more factoids about the wind farm for the centre. There are likely to be huge savings of grid-borne leccy [even if only 20% of the building's needs it's still going to save 2.6 million KWh per year which is about a thousand homes' worth].
Treehugger: Freedom Tower - Wind Power for New World Trade Center
Spammed man sued by alleged spammer
My heart goes out to this guy because he's being sued by the spammers he helped to finger: he "claims the reason he's been sued by Atriks is because, after complaining to his ISP about the alleged spam, the company saw its accounts closed down by the service providers. 'They apparently are angry that spamming has become difficult for them and blame me,' he said. 'If I can be sued simply for complaining about spammers, then anyone can be."
I really hope that he wins and they lose otherwise it's a bad day for the internet.
Spammed man sued by alleged spammer wants cash - silicon.com:
I really hope that he wins and they lose otherwise it's a bad day for the internet.
Spammed man sued by alleged spammer wants cash - silicon.com:
Water-powered calculator
Is this for real? Apparently it is but no-one seems to know how it's done.
Just add water and the thing works. There's a little boy inside me saying "I want one." Should I listen to him?
Treehugger: Water-powered calculator
Just add water and the thing works. There's a little boy inside me saying "I want one." Should I listen to him?
Treehugger: Water-powered calculator
Britons plan to cut credit card use
I'm trying to work out what this means, it may mean what this guy says: "'We are continually urging consumers to be more conscientious about their finances and their choice of credit, and our quarterly credit card index into consumer trends shows they are beginning to listen."
But a cynical part of me thinks it may be a reflection that people feel that harder times are ahead [oil price rises recently etc] and are anticipating the effects [ironically producing the effect by lowering aggregate demand in the economy] ....
Guardian Unlimited Money | Credit and debt | Britons plan to cut credit card use:
But a cynical part of me thinks it may be a reflection that people feel that harder times are ahead [oil price rises recently etc] and are anticipating the effects [ironically producing the effect by lowering aggregate demand in the economy] ....
Guardian Unlimited Money | Credit and debt | Britons plan to cut credit card use:
17 January 2005
pico hydro and composting loos
I'm blogging this because I want a link back to these. SOme useful info in the article and its links about both the feasbility of small scale hydro-electric and self-composting loos
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: The Week in Sustainable Products
Fiber Futures
Looks like these people may be a good resource in finding out about non-wood alternatives.
Fiber Futures
Church ends taboo on mercy killings
Really? Actually this article tells you more about the Guyardian's wishful thinking on the matter. What it actually says is: "Canon Professor Robin Gill, a chief adviser to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said people should not be prosecuted for helping dying relatives who are in pain end their lives. Last week Gill was sent by Williams to give evidence to a parliamentary committee investigating euthanasia."
In other words this is a viewpoint by one person close to the ABofC. The headline seems to indicate a change of policy by the CofE. In reality it is one [influential] member thinking out loud. It's nowhere near General Synod or discussion by dioceses. This looks more like an attempt to get the church to have the debate in public.
I think it is something that we need to think about; I'm not sonvinced that the traditional arguments for an against are all they are cracked up to be and modern tech makes the issues all the more pointed. Gill may have a point but it is far from policy, it will need probably years of debate to get anywhere.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Church ends taboo on mercy killings:
In other words this is a viewpoint by one person close to the ABofC. The headline seems to indicate a change of policy by the CofE. In reality it is one [influential] member thinking out loud. It's nowhere near General Synod or discussion by dioceses. This looks more like an attempt to get the church to have the debate in public.
I think it is something that we need to think about; I'm not sonvinced that the traditional arguments for an against are all they are cracked up to be and modern tech makes the issues all the more pointed. Gill may have a point but it is far from policy, it will need probably years of debate to get anywhere.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Church ends taboo on mercy killings:
Reality. Issue 33: A Churchless Faith, by Alan Jamieson
I few years and a few months ago I read Jamieson's books and found them very stimulating. It seemed to me that it was describing groups of people with whom I had a great sense of rapport in various ways and a sense of 'it could be me' at some points. Anyway to whet your appetite here's what Jamieson writes:
"One of the surprising results of the research for me was coming to see that for the majority of leavers (65% of those interviewed) this was not a solo journey but one which involved them in groups of people in similar faith transitions. I found that there are a considerable and growing number of such post-church groups which meet to discuss, question and reformulate and understand their faith. Some of these groups also meet to pray and worship together in ways that appear to have more immediacy and relevance to their whole lives ... Many of the leavers I interviewed and others I met ... are part of these new groups which are experimenting with ways of being church - ways that may prove to be more appropriate in our rapidly changing society."
I have to say, personally, that I also felt a sense of desire to minister among such people -there was a sense of fit and a sense too, in the light of that last phrase in the quote, that this is missional work; such people are a gift of the Holy Spirit to the rest of the church. Whoever has ears ...
Reality. Issue 33: A Churchless Faith, by Alan Jamieson
< href="http://www.reality.org.nz/articles/34/34-jamieson.html"> Next article in the series
16 January 2005
10 Gmail Invitations going to a good home ...
Ijust noticed th eother day that I've got ten gmails invitations. email a temporary address of mine andii.3345386@bloglines.com if you get to me before the first spam hits the account and gets it delated then you can have one!
Gmail - Inbox
Gmail - Inbox
The CIA's crystal-ball
Apparently this report is the CIA's official futuring exercise. I've not read it yet but no doubt there could be some important insights into USA gov's future priorities, fears and anxieties ...
Source: Slashdot on 'in the year 2020'
Chav
FUnny how this word is so of the moment in GB at the mo. My kids brought it to my attention about 18 months ago [more?] in the form 'Charva' meaning tracksuit bottom & bling-wearing burberryists usually with dubious morals and antisocial attitudes. Charva seems to originate as the Romany for a 'prostitute', whereas Chav seems to be a cleaned up alternative meaning 'child'. Funny how words come and go ...
Topical Words: Chav
Topical Words: Chav
Debt relief back on the agenda.
I think that this is worth a few cheers. Anyone fancy writing a letter of congratulations to the British Chancellor? We're fast enough to complain when something wrong is done ... "Britain has promised to pay 10% of the foreign debt bill of the entire developing world under what Mr Brown has dubbed a 'new Marshall plan'.
Under the plan, which will cost Britain £1bn, developing countries must promise to spend the money they save on education, health and welfare."
BBC NEWS | Politics | Brown wipes £80m Mozambique debt:
Under the plan, which will cost Britain £1bn, developing countries must promise to spend the money they save on education, health and welfare."
BBC NEWS | Politics | Brown wipes £80m Mozambique debt:
Fat to fit: how Finland did it.
Since I'm trying to evolve healthy habits in order to ward off a genetic disposition to heart disease this story is of interest. Apprently Finland has turned itself from heart attack centre of the world to fittest nation on earth. "'In the 1970s, we held the world record for heart disease, 'says Pekka Puska, director of the National Institute of Public Health in Helsinki. The dubious honour was the inevitable consequence of a Finnish culture that embraced just about every risk factor for heart disease there is. 'The idea then was that a good life was a sedentary life. Everybody was smoking and eating a lot of fat. Finnish men used to say vegetables were for rabbits, not real men, so people simply did not eat vegetables. The staples were butter on bread, full-fat milk and fatty meat, '"
It's intersting also because it's a story of intentional cultural change....
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Fat to fit: how Finland did it:
It's intersting also because it's a story of intentional cultural change....
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Fat to fit: how Finland did it:
14 January 2005
Bill Gates, Communists and DRM
In which Bill gates
clarifies his remark on creative commons communism and talks about DRM [listen up o ye musicians].
Gizmodo : Gates Interview Part Four: Communists and DRM
clarifies his remark on creative commons communism and talks about DRM [listen up o ye musicians].
Gizmodo : Gates Interview Part Four: Communists and DRM
Shazam - just hit 2580 on your mobile phone and identify music - why tag it?
It's happened to me too many times: I'm sat there and I notice the background music. "That's nice" I remark to myself or companions. "What is it?" All too often there's no way to find out. Except that now there is ... I can see me using this service to stock up my listening.
Shazam - just hit 2580 on your mobile phone and identify music - why tag it?
Keep it Collared
This is actually produced for clergy but I suspect many other self-employed type people might find it useful; it's a way to track your use of time. I have doen a manuyal version of this from time to time in the past to get an idea of what's happening in my time use. This spreadsheet comes all ready to add together the kinds of time spent and let you see the big picture without having to do all the maths yourself.
Holy Cow Multimedia - Software
Global Dimming, Global Warming, and Bad Reporting
We need to note this because there will doubtless be a lot of ill-informed and worng conclusions drwan from a report just released that particulates in the air may offset global warming by reducing the heat that reaches the planet and getting trapped by global warming gases. The truth of the matter is that in the short term this is likely to be true: reducing partiuclates will increase wwarming initially. However in the long term this doesn;t mean we can say 'well let's not bother with all this CO2 reduction -it may make things worse...'. The fallacy lies in that this is not a zero-sum thing: the particulate reflection doesn't match the warming effect and the particulate effect is pretty immediate whereas the warming effect is a slow build. What this means is that if we left particulates as they are we would still be seeing global warming And furthermore, we would be making the matter worse because to maintain particulate levels would mean even more greenhouse gases. If we reduce particulates [which is a necessary concomitant of reducing greenhouse gases under present conditions] there will be a short-term rise is warming which would even out longer-term. The message, as this article points out is: not that efforts to reduce fossil fuel use are pointless, but that we need to redouble our efforts to mitigate greenhouse effects. These efforts take three key paths: methane (CH4) emission reduction, to slow shorter-term (3-10 year) greenhouse effects; carbon sequestration to reduce the amount of atmospheric CO2 in the short-to-medium-term; and CO2 emission reduction, to slow and stop medium-term (50-100 year) warming. You'll see plenty of commentary over the next few days arguing that we should abandon efforts to move away from fossil fuels; such self-appointed pundits are wrong. We need to move faster, not slower.
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Global Dimming, Global Warming, and Bad Reporting
Lamb of God in your stars?
Quite rightly this site is being used by many in reflecting on the lectionary readings. The latest I found really interesting, not leat, in Epiphanytide, for the link to the Magi and a link with the gospel of MAtthew thereby that goes beyond sharing an honour/shame cultural background. "if we want to understand the significance of the term 'Lamb of God,' we too need to look to the night sky.
Specifically, we look to the constellation we (following the Romans) call Aries, which Jews of the Second Temple period (i.e., of Jesus' time) as well as Greeks saw as a male lamb. And across numerous traditions in the ancient world, it was a pretty kickass (can I say 'kickass' in a biblical blog?) lamb at that. Ancient descriptions of Aries mirror that of the first-century astronomer Nigidius Figulus, who called Aries 'the leader and prince of the constellations' (Malina and Rohrbaugh, pg. 51). Aries the divine Lamb was the ruler of the other constellations, and the starting point from which all other constellations were mapped."
One of the reasons this appeals in apologetic; it gives us another tool to engage the newagey trends of our society, don't you think? REad the article and you'll get plenty of ideas how as well as an answer to the question of whether this astrological angle is biblical or not.
Specifically, we look to the constellation we (following the Romans) call Aries, which Jews of the Second Temple period (i.e., of Jesus' time) as well as Greeks saw as a male lamb. And across numerous traditions in the ancient world, it was a pretty kickass (can I say 'kickass' in a biblical blog?) lamb at that. Ancient descriptions of Aries mirror that of the first-century astronomer Nigidius Figulus, who called Aries 'the leader and prince of the constellations' (Malina and Rohrbaugh, pg. 51). Aries the divine Lamb was the ruler of the other constellations, and the starting point from which all other constellations were mapped."
One of the reasons this appeals in apologetic; it gives us another tool to engage the newagey trends of our society, don't you think? REad the article and you'll get plenty of ideas how as well as an answer to the question of whether this astrological angle is biblical or not.
More wanted debt advice before Christmas
YEsterday I saw a news report about the slow sales figures for retail in the UK before Christmas, the worst Christmas for shops in years apparently [more online sales activity though]. So as we hear the laments for a slower economy and the pity-me voices of the retail trade forced to start Christmas sales before Christmas, let's remember this: "The number of people seeking help for spiralling debts soared by 77% before Christmas, compared with December 2003, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) said"Guardian Unlimited Money | Credit and debt | Increase in people seeking debt help:
Walk the walk: 10,000 steps
AS you may know, since moving to Durham I have been in the habit of walking into the city from where we live, a distance of 2 miles or more [it takes me 35 monutes walking briskly =so probably about 2.5 miles]. Recently I got a pedometer because I was curious and it was cheap [my! how they've come down in price in the last couple of months!]. Anyway I clearly need to do some work on getting the right position for accuracy because according to this:
"30 minutes moderately paced walking = approximately 4,000 steps
45 minutes moderately paced walking = approximately 7,500 steps
60 minutes briskly paced walking = approximately 10,000 steps"
my walk into Durham yesterday should have clocked up somewhere between 4k and 7k steps. Instead I got a reading of something like 3.6k going in and about 3k coming back [and I walked back by the same route!]. Something is clearly awry. Perhaps athe clue is at the end of the article here "The most common placement is directly above and in line with your knee. However, you may have to experiment to find the best placement for your body type. If your tummy protrudes over your waistband or belt, it may cause the pedometer to tilt and not work properly. If this is the case try wearing the pedometer more to the side of your body." -that could be it; having a bit of a tum [that's why I'm doing this, in part], which does tend to push my waistband down .... I'll try moving it round a bit when I go into Durham today.
Walk the walk: 10,000 steps
"30 minutes moderately paced walking = approximately 4,000 steps
45 minutes moderately paced walking = approximately 7,500 steps
60 minutes briskly paced walking = approximately 10,000 steps"
my walk into Durham yesterday should have clocked up somewhere between 4k and 7k steps. Instead I got a reading of something like 3.6k going in and about 3k coming back [and I walked back by the same route!]. Something is clearly awry. Perhaps athe clue is at the end of the article here "The most common placement is directly above and in line with your knee. However, you may have to experiment to find the best placement for your body type. If your tummy protrudes over your waistband or belt, it may cause the pedometer to tilt and not work properly. If this is the case try wearing the pedometer more to the side of your body." -that could be it; having a bit of a tum [that's why I'm doing this, in part], which does tend to push my waistband down .... I'll try moving it round a bit when I go into Durham today.
Walk the walk: 10,000 steps
13 January 2005
Domestic exercise and energy
You know, yesterday it occured to me that there is a craziness in modern life I had never seen before. In the red corner we have loads of people buying gadgets to exercise with many of which use power to maintain them. In the blue corner we have a need for energy production which doesn't use fossil fuels and is renewable. We also have pretty good technologies for turning motion into electrical power. So why is it that no-one has put together, first of all, self- powering exercise machines [perhaps they have?]. And then going on from there are any exercise gyms making extra cash by either using their equipment to generate power to offset their own usage or even to sell the extra to the grid? And then going on from there, it is just becoming possible for us to do similar things domestically; so who will come along and offer us a domestic electricity generator that uses human muscle power that both gives you exercise and helps to power your home, thus giving rebates on your fuel bills? If we have to do 10,000 steps per day why not give the incentive to cut your fuel bills? Link up between Health agencies and power concerns?
Making Waste Valuable
Interesting inventions that look like they have the potential to literally revolutionise waste management and energy production. I had doubts about the energy expended to the energy recouped ration but the fact that they're commercial processes suggests that it works. Here's what Treehugger says.
...imagine this: If this thing works, most toxic waste problems would disappear—and so would imported oil. According to its manufacturers, if the U.S. were to convert its agricultural waste alone into oil and gas, according to Discover magazine, it would yield the energy equivalent of 4 billion barrels of oil annually. Four billion barrels! That’s nearly as much as we import each year.
And yet this idea is not so much new, as it is simply sped up. The Earth already makes oil and gas from hydrocarbon-based waste, of course, it just takes a long time (like millions of years) for stuff to decompose and turn into petroleum, whereas TDP machines turbocharge the process by using and controlling heat and pressure to levels that break the feedstock's long molecular bonds.
And links in the article to further details
BoingBoing article
Vortex dehydration -"windhexe"
Oil from waste
Treehugger: Two Machines, One Concept: Making Waste Valuable
12 January 2005
swearing
Maybe you recall on the fourth of the Alien films -the one set on the penal colony full of wierd fundamentalist Christians- the convicts although professing a religious faith swore quite a lot and this was explicitly okayed on the basis that it was not blaspheming. I was brought up in a household where swearing was disaproved of and to this day the only time I swear is when it is an expressing of the most extreme anger or distress [so about twice a year on average!]. Now I see this as a personal/cultural thing because, as a linguist I had long arrived at the point where I saw things like at 'BadChristian':
"Their vulgarity is completely a cultural construct. These words don't derogate any group of people. Most often they refer to fecal matter or sexual function. I don't believe that limiting my vocabulary to words deemed culturally acceptable makes me any more holy".
I actually agree, though associating swearwords with potential holiness is a piece of mental flexibility I have yet to attain at a gut-level. For this reason I wasn't all that shook up about the language on the Jerry Springer-the Opera programme. I've been in circles where that kind of language is normal and I can't really condemn people for speaking in the idiom and style to which they have become accostumed and are known in. In fact in terms of what seems to lie in the heads and hearts of the speaker it seems to me that far more unrighteousness is possible behind mild words such as "Get lost" than might be behind "F**k you!" [See: I can't even bring myself to write it!]. Echoes of Jesus' words about murder in the heart and 'it's not what what goes into of your mouth .... unclean' might be as easily in our culture 'it's not what comes out of your mouth...'
Where I draw the line is speech that is contemptuous or belittling of others [including much so-called humour] and of God. For the rest I would say that it is better not to swear because it offends some, perhaps many people and it is better to cultivate habits that mean you are less likely to unnecessarily offend others... On the other hand perhaps they need to lighten up ... In my clergy role I constantly deal with people who apologise for their use of 'bad' language. I'm still trying to find the best reply to convey that I'm not offended and that I suffer no great distress from hearing them use those words.
On a more discursive note: I think that a lot of it has to do with culture. On the other hand it is interesting to note how fashions in swearing change. Quite clearly at the turn of the 20th century words like 'damn' were pretty heavy duty -which surprised me a a child because quite clearly they were just a bunch of phonemes to express crossness with something. Words that were considered heavy duty swearing when I was young [eg 'bloody' and 'shit' -this is in the UK] now seem to have a similar status to 'blimey' and 'blast' [both of which were probably 'racy' in their day] and we're finding new [to me] words like 'motherfuck~' and cognates [apologies] to carry force. Now this ongoing evolution seems to point to a factor that is worth thinking about: power to shock; once usage wears it out they start being relatively acceptable and more 'respectable' people use them and so shocking enough words have to be coined to 'exclude' [?is that what's happening?] 'classier' people ...
It's interesting to note that linguistic minority languages, allegedly, often use the swearwords from the 'dominant' language: in Basque the swearwords are Spanish for example; it may have been that the Saxons used Norman French swearwords. perhaps. Though that implies a convoluted history to be using Anglo-Saxon words to swear with now -I guess once the elite started using a Normanised Anglo-Saxon /proto-English then the words most redolant of 'common-ness' would be most likely candidates.
Cross culturally there are interesting issues to be looked at: I am told that Russian, at least in the Soviet era, used 'hell' [khui] as one of the worst swearwords; atheist regime and all. Swedish is reputed to use words connected ith the devil to swear with ...
It seems to come down to what counts as shocking to the 'respectable' in English that is the key factor. And 'not /respectable' is a pretty culturally shaped concept.
a badchristian blog... - the swearing thing:
"Their vulgarity is completely a cultural construct. These words don't derogate any group of people. Most often they refer to fecal matter or sexual function. I don't believe that limiting my vocabulary to words deemed culturally acceptable makes me any more holy".
I actually agree, though associating swearwords with potential holiness is a piece of mental flexibility I have yet to attain at a gut-level. For this reason I wasn't all that shook up about the language on the Jerry Springer-the Opera programme. I've been in circles where that kind of language is normal and I can't really condemn people for speaking in the idiom and style to which they have become accostumed and are known in. In fact in terms of what seems to lie in the heads and hearts of the speaker it seems to me that far more unrighteousness is possible behind mild words such as "Get lost" than might be behind "F**k you!" [See: I can't even bring myself to write it!]. Echoes of Jesus' words about murder in the heart and 'it's not what what goes into of your mouth .... unclean' might be as easily in our culture 'it's not what comes out of your mouth...'
Where I draw the line is speech that is contemptuous or belittling of others [including much so-called humour] and of God. For the rest I would say that it is better not to swear because it offends some, perhaps many people and it is better to cultivate habits that mean you are less likely to unnecessarily offend others... On the other hand perhaps they need to lighten up ... In my clergy role I constantly deal with people who apologise for their use of 'bad' language. I'm still trying to find the best reply to convey that I'm not offended and that I suffer no great distress from hearing them use those words.
On a more discursive note: I think that a lot of it has to do with culture. On the other hand it is interesting to note how fashions in swearing change. Quite clearly at the turn of the 20th century words like 'damn' were pretty heavy duty -which surprised me a a child because quite clearly they were just a bunch of phonemes to express crossness with something. Words that were considered heavy duty swearing when I was young [eg 'bloody' and 'shit' -this is in the UK] now seem to have a similar status to 'blimey' and 'blast' [both of which were probably 'racy' in their day] and we're finding new [to me] words like 'motherfuck~' and cognates [apologies] to carry force. Now this ongoing evolution seems to point to a factor that is worth thinking about: power to shock; once usage wears it out they start being relatively acceptable and more 'respectable' people use them and so shocking enough words have to be coined to 'exclude' [?is that what's happening?] 'classier' people ...
It's interesting to note that linguistic minority languages, allegedly, often use the swearwords from the 'dominant' language: in Basque the swearwords are Spanish for example; it may have been that the Saxons used Norman French swearwords. perhaps. Though that implies a convoluted history to be using Anglo-Saxon words to swear with now -I guess once the elite started using a Normanised Anglo-Saxon /proto-English then the words most redolant of 'common-ness' would be most likely candidates.
Cross culturally there are interesting issues to be looked at: I am told that Russian, at least in the Soviet era, used 'hell' [khui] as one of the worst swearwords; atheist regime and all. Swedish is reputed to use words connected ith the devil to swear with ...
It seems to come down to what counts as shocking to the 'respectable' in English that is the key factor. And 'not /respectable' is a pretty culturally shaped concept.
a badchristian blog... - the swearing thing:
Greer walks out of 'bullying' Big Brother
I think that bullying is pretty bad and concerned that it is often either excused [usually by trivialising its impact] or even not identified as such because that's just the way that 'we exercise power round here'. As a former victim, an occasional bully myself [I hope all in the past and properly repented of -I'm ashamed of those times when I have bullied] and observer of the effects on my own children once in a while and in parishioners I have to say that this is very intersting and possibly important.
"She said that Big Brother had behaved like a 'child rather than a parent: It was demonstrating the role of taunting in the playground and there are so many children whose lives have been ruined by taunting in the playground. I was worried about the object lesson in bullying I have participated in.'"
I hope her stance may serve to bring the issues of bullying in non-child situations more to the fore.
MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | Greer walks out of 'bullying' Big Brother:
"She said that Big Brother had behaved like a 'child rather than a parent: It was demonstrating the role of taunting in the playground and there are so many children whose lives have been ruined by taunting in the playground. I was worried about the object lesson in bullying I have participated in.'"
I hope her stance may serve to bring the issues of bullying in non-child situations more to the fore.
MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | Greer walks out of 'bullying' Big Brother:
Blink and The Wisdom of Crowds
Avid followers of this blog [are there any?] may have noticed that "The Wisdom of Crowds appeared in my reading list for a week or so. No surprise, then, that this article caught my eye. It's a good introduction to the ideas of the books concerned [I've not read 'Blink' but I feel I know it already throught this!]. Both have interesting ramifications for how we make decisions and both critique the 'one person expert' as decision-maker supreme. I'm fairly convinced that we need to create appropriate conditions for unlocking the wisdom of the crowd and also for identifying when our snap judgements are liekly to be right ... I'm thinking at the moment of how this affects church decision-making and decision-making in voluntary groups [as a member of a couple or more national executive committees] ...
Blink and The Wisdom of Crowds - How to improve the decision-making environment. By Malcolm Gladwell and James Surowiecki
Blink and The Wisdom of Crowds - How to improve the decision-making environment. By Malcolm Gladwell and James Surowiecki
How to fight AIDS in Africa
I haven't thought much about this yet but it's an interesting piece of research:
"One of the implications of her findings is that lowering transmission rates by targeting STDs is more cost effective than trying to reduce HIV prevalence using expensive antiretrovirals or education programs aimed at changing behavior"
Marginal Revolution: How to fight AIDS in Africa:
"One of the implications of her findings is that lowering transmission rates by targeting STDs is more cost effective than trying to reduce HIV prevalence using expensive antiretrovirals or education programs aimed at changing behavior"
Marginal Revolution: How to fight AIDS in Africa:
disasters alter political history
Here's a brief list of volcanic and earthquake-realted political effects.
• An earthquake in 464 BC that destroyed much of the city of Sparta, and a slave revolt soon afterward ("social upheavals often follow geological ones," says Zeilinga de Boer) significantly weakened the militaristic city-state in its rivalry with Athens. The quake "triggered Sparta's decline," he argues.
• An earthquake and tidal wave that killed 40,000 people in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon in 1755 - the most catastrophic in European history - prompted the French philosopher Voltaire and others to question the dominant philosophy of optimism on which the ancien régime was founded. The earthquake contributed to the intellectual ferment that produced the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
• The manner in which Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza - along with his relatives and cronies - stole much of the international aid sent to rebuild the shattered capital, Managua, after a 1972 earthquake, fueled the sputtering Sandinista revolution that triumphed in 1979.
• In 1902, it was almost certain that the Central American canal linking the Atlantic with the Pacific would be built in Nicaragua. Work had already begun.
But that year, the Montagne Pelée volcano erupted on the Caribbean island of Martinique, killing 30,000 people. Panamanian lobbyists immediately sent each member of the US Congress one of the recently issued Nicaraguan postage stamps depicting the country's scenic volcanoes.
Congress voted for a Panamanian route for the canal.
One wonders what the potential effects of the recent earthquake-Tsunami might be ...
From Sparta to Nicaragua, disasters alter political history | csmonitor.com>
• An earthquake in 464 BC that destroyed much of the city of Sparta, and a slave revolt soon afterward ("social upheavals often follow geological ones," says Zeilinga de Boer) significantly weakened the militaristic city-state in its rivalry with Athens. The quake "triggered Sparta's decline," he argues.
• An earthquake and tidal wave that killed 40,000 people in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon in 1755 - the most catastrophic in European history - prompted the French philosopher Voltaire and others to question the dominant philosophy of optimism on which the ancien régime was founded. The earthquake contributed to the intellectual ferment that produced the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
• The manner in which Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza - along with his relatives and cronies - stole much of the international aid sent to rebuild the shattered capital, Managua, after a 1972 earthquake, fueled the sputtering Sandinista revolution that triumphed in 1979.
• In 1902, it was almost certain that the Central American canal linking the Atlantic with the Pacific would be built in Nicaragua. Work had already begun.
But that year, the Montagne Pelée volcano erupted on the Caribbean island of Martinique, killing 30,000 people. Panamanian lobbyists immediately sent each member of the US Congress one of the recently issued Nicaraguan postage stamps depicting the country's scenic volcanoes.
Congress voted for a Panamanian route for the canal.
One wonders what the potential effects of the recent earthquake-Tsunami might be ...
From Sparta to Nicaragua, disasters alter political history | csmonitor.com>
From Sparta to Nicaragua, disasters alter political history | csmonitor.com
Here's a brief list of volcanic and earthquake-realted political effects.
• An earthquake in 464 BC that destroyed much of the city of Sparta, and a slave revolt soon afterward ("social upheavals often follow geological ones," says Zeilinga de Boer) significantly weakened the militaristic city-state in its rivalry with Athens. The quake "triggered Sparta's decline," he argues.
• An earthquake and tidal wave that killed 40,000 people in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon in 1755 - the most catastrophic in European history - prompted the French philosopher Voltaire and others to question the dominant philosophy of optimism on which the ancien régime was founded. The earthquake contributed to the intellectual ferment that produced the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
• The manner in which Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza - along with his relatives and cronies - stole much of the international aid sent to rebuild the shattered capital, Managua, after a 1972 earthquake, fueled the sputtering Sandinista revolution that triumphed in 1979.
• In 1902, it was almost certain that the Central American canal linking the Atlantic with the Pacific would be built in Nicaragua. Work had already begun.
But that year, the Montagne Pelée volcano erupted on the Caribbean island of Martinique, killing 30,000 people. Panamanian lobbyists immediately sent each member of the US Congress one of the recently issued Nicaraguan postage stamps depicting the country's scenic volcanoes.
Congress voted for a Panamanian route for the canal.
One wonders what the potential effects of the recent earthquake-Tsunami might be ...
From Sparta to Nicaragua, disasters alter political history | csmonitor.com
• An earthquake in 464 BC that destroyed much of the city of Sparta, and a slave revolt soon afterward ("social upheavals often follow geological ones," says Zeilinga de Boer) significantly weakened the militaristic city-state in its rivalry with Athens. The quake "triggered Sparta's decline," he argues.
• An earthquake and tidal wave that killed 40,000 people in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon in 1755 - the most catastrophic in European history - prompted the French philosopher Voltaire and others to question the dominant philosophy of optimism on which the ancien régime was founded. The earthquake contributed to the intellectual ferment that produced the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
• The manner in which Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza - along with his relatives and cronies - stole much of the international aid sent to rebuild the shattered capital, Managua, after a 1972 earthquake, fueled the sputtering Sandinista revolution that triumphed in 1979.
• In 1902, it was almost certain that the Central American canal linking the Atlantic with the Pacific would be built in Nicaragua. Work had already begun.
But that year, the Montagne Pelée volcano erupted on the Caribbean island of Martinique, killing 30,000 people. Panamanian lobbyists immediately sent each member of the US Congress one of the recently issued Nicaraguan postage stamps depicting the country's scenic volcanoes.
Congress voted for a Panamanian route for the canal.
One wonders what the potential effects of the recent earthquake-Tsunami might be ...
From Sparta to Nicaragua, disasters alter political history | csmonitor.com
Green Olympics, or Green Future?
Interesting article pointing up how China is hoping to green rooftops in order to green Beijing ready for the olympics.
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: China: Green Olympics, or Green Future?
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: China: Green Olympics, or Green Future?
11 January 2005
Da VInci Code -again!
Just had pointed out to me another goodish page to keep by for interested enquirers -this one's a quick overview of the issues in a style that gives credit where it's due. For as the author, Mark Greene, says: "by the time you’ve taken in an assortment of quite uncontroversial and accurate facts the reader may well find themselves in quite a trusting frame of mind to hear and accept what Brown has to say about the life of Christ and the heart of the Gospel."Christianity Magazine: Archive
artrageous!
well, I like this witty piece of street art
Wooster Collective : Stickers / Posters / Graf / Culture Jamming
Wooster Collective : Stickers / Posters / Graf / Culture Jamming
History has to repeat itself -no-one listens
I mentioned about reasons for collapse of civilisation in a previous post, Feral Cities, well here's a quick guide to the conditions from a historical point of view. It makes sobering reading.
Wired 13.01: PLAY
Wired 13.01: PLAY
Life, Reinvented
I think that I'd just like to place on record that this is probably something that Christians need to be thinking about now not in 5 years times when it becomes an issue ... any first thoughts?
Wired 13.01: Life, Reinvented
Wired 13.01: Life, Reinvented
RL no Joystick
I think that this may be taken as evidence of the Pauline contention that what we fill our minds with begins to control our actions in the world. It probably links, too, with the ideas in the book Philosophy in the Flesh which makes the link between the fact that we are bodied souls and our ways of thinking very strong and dependent ... certainly compatible with an incarnational and matter affirming faith like classic Christianity.
Wired News: Real World Doesn't Use a Joystick
Wired News: Real World Doesn't Use a Joystick
Smart Growth, Smart Places
We are now developing the technologies that could make co-operative ownership more likely and practical. "When objects know where they are, where you are, and when your schedules are likely to coincide, it becomes much easier to share hard goods with others, which is both cheaper and more sustainable than buying that Prius or vacuuming robot yourself."WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Smart Growth, Smart Places and Bright Green Cities:
The war on copyright communists
Andrew Brown -who also does religious journalism, assuming it's the same guy- has a nice write-up of the issues of software patents following Bill Gates' recent foot-in-mouth incident accusing us Creative coomons-ists of communism. In a nice analogy he identifies the problem:
"It is as if the Sheriff of Nottingham were to announce that it's enormously important that your property was protected from criminals - so he'll take everything you have that might be stolen and lock it up for safety in his castle."
Copyright isn't the issue, though; Gates is after patenting stuff. And again Mr Brown has a pithy way of putting the issue: "Software builds on other people's ideas. Claiming royalties on certain fundamental ideas looks like an easy road to endless riches: BT attempted to patent the clicking on hyperlinks in the world wide web. Microsoft has applied for 1,500 patents, some of them nearly as ridiculous. If these were granted, or enforceable, it would stifle innovation and work against the beneficial effects of copyright. Copyrighting allows people to benefit from their labours, but software patents allow the companies with the largest legal departments to benefit from everyone else's work"
Guardian Unlimited | Online | The war on copyright communists:
Feral Cities
Here's a posible future, I tdon't just think that it a fevered sci-fi scenario it is a foreseeable consequence of a combination of factors many of which are already at work in our world, just add in peak oil issues and stand back. "'Imagine a great metropolis covering hundreds of square miles. Once a vital component in a national economy, this sprawling urban environment is now a vast collection of blighted buildings, an immense petri dish of both ancient and new diseases, a territory where the rule of law has long been replaced by near anarchy in which the only security available is that which is attained through brute power"
The thing that arises for me, as a Christian, is how we respond to that. The Augustinian appraoch to the nearest comparable historical event [the collapse of the Roman empire -unless anyone else has some other analogues] was to encourage Christians to use state power and so get into the violence 'game' with the hope that it could be wielded for good and there are some arguable successes for that approach: King Alfred of Wessex might count. Though the latter is flawed in my view by being too readily available to justify [as I have heard the Israeli ambassodor on TV say] repressive governance in Israel Palestine ... DO we have a way forward which is perhaps more in keeping with the anabaptist spirit on this which I feel has more gospel about it ...?
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Feral Cities:
10 January 2005
Rules of life
I can't decide whether it's about me picking up stuff more, coincidence or there really is more stuff around of late on rules of life and network 'orders' of common life? Anyone any ideas? If so, what lies behind it? What is the Holy Spirit saying to the churches?
Emergent Village: Belong: Order
EcoPower Auto-Sensor Tap
Now this is a good example of energy conservation: in effect using the water pressure to generate electricity.
"this is the first sensor faucet to use a power source that is completely self-sufficient--a hydro-powered turbine that charges the power supply during usage, eliminating the need to replace batteries or use external electricity"Treehugger: Toto's EcoPower Auto-Sensor Faucet:
"this is the first sensor faucet to use a power source that is completely self-sufficient--a hydro-powered turbine that charges the power supply during usage, eliminating the need to replace batteries or use external electricity"Treehugger: Toto's EcoPower Auto-Sensor Faucet:
New plastic can better convert solar energy
A bit more info on the last entry: "the advance would not only wipe away that inefficiency, but also resolve the hassle of recharging our countless gadgets and pave the way to a true wireless world.
'We now have our cellphones and our BlackBerries and we're walking around without the need to plug in, in order to get our data,'' he said.
'But we seem trapped at the moment in needing to plug in to get our power. That's because we charge these things up electrically, from the outlet. But there's actually huge amounts of power all around us coming from the sun.''
Presumably if it's using IR, then it could also recycle body heat and room heating into electricity ... ?
The film has the ability to be sprayed or woven into shirts so that our cuffs or collars could recharge our IPods, Sargent said."
CTV.ca | New plastic can better convert solar energy:
'We now have our cellphones and our BlackBerries and we're walking around without the need to plug in, in order to get our data,'' he said.
'But we seem trapped at the moment in needing to plug in to get our power. That's because we charge these things up electrically, from the outlet. But there's actually huge amounts of power all around us coming from the sun.''
Presumably if it's using IR, then it could also recycle body heat and room heating into electricity ... ?
The film has the ability to be sprayed or woven into shirts so that our cuffs or collars could recharge our IPods, Sargent said."
CTV.ca | New plastic can better convert solar energy:
PV up to 30% efficiency
Greater PV efficiency spray-on
100 things we didn't know this time last year
As I'm a bit of a triva picker-up myself this appealed. I particularly liked 3. 9, 23, 27, 34, 47, 50, 73, and 76 [anti-wind power folk note],
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | 100 things we didn't know this time last year
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | 100 things we didn't know this time last year
Earthbag building
I'm intersted in the idea of building my own eco-house sometime -how and when is very much up in the air but such pages as this are very helpful reources and quite inspiring. I particularly like th bag-end idea as hobbit-holes have always fascinated me. I wonder whether they envisage a turf roof on that?
Green Home Building: Natural Building Techniques: Earthbag
Thinking About Sustainable Business
I think that this article is probably right in saying "business is hampered by analytical methodologies that fail to accurately capture and value the full spectrum of costs and benefits. Boundaries of consideration are typically drawn too narrowly, whether to exclude factors that are considered 'someone else's problem,' or because it's simply easier to do it that way. Multiple benefits and synergistic impacts are commonly ignored, because familiar financial analysis tools commonly ignore them." It's all about finding mechanisms to internalise externalities and to encourage long-term cost management. It seems to me that if we can do that many issues will resolve themselves.
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Thinking About Sustainable Business:
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Thinking About Sustainable Business:
Self Cleaning Clothes
It's hard to take in but simple scalable things like this could make a huge difference to resource use [though washing machine manufacurers may start wanting to examine their business plans]. SOunds too good to be true, I guess tha tdownside could be the nanotech involved though it is biomimicry ...
Treehugger: Self Cleaning Clothes
Eco-Laundry
Useful tips on how to save energy on laundry. Much common sense stuff here. Some surprises, eg: "we know about washballs or laundry disks that are detergent alternatives but most lab reports suggest they are ineffective, at best. Some even require the use of hot water to work, negating any supposed benefits." And sensible once you think about it things such as "Buy powdered detergents. Don’t pay for someone to ship the added water, in liquid detergent, around the country. Why use a greenhouse-gas-emitting 18 wheeler, when you’ve already got water plumbed into the washing machine! And make sure your deteregent is phosphate free - our waterways and wetlands have enough to contend with, without high nutrients loads setting off algal blooms."
And this latter tip comes with personal recommendation since it's my normal practice and it works -I am honestly *not* known for being smelly as my fiercest critics [my teenagers] will tell you. "Wear clothes more than once before washing them. Easily practical with pants, skirts, jackets and sweaters. But also possible with shirts and blouses, especially if you choose darker colours, less prone to showing marks. And select natural fabrics less likely to cause you to perspire."
Treehugger: How To: Eco-Laundry
Carrier Bags - Paper or Plastic?
Not as easy o answer as you might think at first...
Treehugger: Q&A: Retail Carry Bags - Paper or Plastic?
Pico Hydro - Small Scale Hydro-Electric Energy
I didn't know that you could do hydro this small. Bodes well for my thoughts on using Durham's river ...
Alternative Energy Blog - - - Alt-Energy.org: Alternative Energy Vietnam: Pico Hydro - Small Scale Hydro-Electric Energy
Alternative Energy Blog - - - Alt-Energy.org: Alternative Energy Vietnam: Pico Hydro - Small Scale Hydro-Electric Energy
09 January 2005
F*** you, says BBC as 50,000 rage at Spr*ng*r
I did watch the thing last night with my theatre-professional wife. I did find myself wondering in concert with "Tory deputy leader Michael Ancram" about whether this was all just a publicity thing really; I'm pretty certain that some publicists have got into a jerking the strings of certain Christian groups for free publicity. Anyway this is one of the few times that yo'll find me agreeing with a Tory, I suspect, so relish it well. Aparently Mr Ancram "brought the row over the screening of the opera into the political arena yesterday, when he told Radio Four audiences of the Any Questions? show the BBC was deliberately luring more viewers by broadcasting a piece of entertainment that was bound to cause an upset."
Anyhow, that was one of the more trivial aspects of the issue. So how did I react? Well, I thought that the objections were hyped. Yes there was a lot of bad language [and I dislike that, but recognise that it is a personal reaction to a great degree]. However, given that the main point seemed to be to satirise and question the motivations behind the production and popularity of shows like the Jerry Springer show I feel that the bad language is justified: if you doubt me make sure you watch a few airings of the show. The most disturbing aspects were the portrayal of Jesus and the Father, I guess; but again the context was the dying Springer's vision of hell and the perspective was that of hell. Incidently Jesus was not in a nappy [diaper for USA'ers] but in a loincloth such as used on crucifixes but worn in a way to suggest the nappy worn by the same actor in the first half of the show [yes, there was a kind of Wizard of Oz-ness to the second half].
For me the whole thing worked well as a kind of exposee of the religious/philosophical issues of contemporary society with regard to the nature of good and evil, right and wrong and also a demonstaration of how out of touch much Christian language and portrayal of ultimate reality is with 'normal' people. I was also left with a strong impression that the author was seeking to lay bare the contempt that lies behind a lot of popular culture; and succeeding quite well, I think.
I found it interesting that the show ends with an endorsement of the idea that there is no right and wrong and yet the very next sentence is commend people to love one another and look after one another -if there is no right and wrong why should we? Lip service to relativism, but a recognition that there actually is an underlying goodness to creation which makes it almost self-evident that pleasure is better than pain love than contempt. That's where a lot of popular culture is: caught between affirming relativism and denying it when it gets too hairy.
Part of the disturbing nature of the portrayal of God and Satan is the demotion of good an evil to 'local' categories; sides in a dualistic battle where neither is more ultimate than the other. Disturbing too is the failure to note that the point is that good really is more ultimate and that ultimacy of the truly Good is what Christians are talking about when God and the message of the cross are on the table. Of course the tragedy is that this show is simply picking up how the Christian message has been picked up in western popular culture for a long-time now.
This show demonstrates to us Christians how much work there is to be done to share the inner logic of Christian faith in ways that naturally resonates and makes 'plain' the connections between goodness and sin and atonement. This play, for me, is a protest against the arbitrary-seeming nature of Christian messages. Let's not shoot the messenger, rather hear the message, take out the beam in our own eyes ....
MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | F*** you, says BBC as 50,000 rage at Spr*ng*r:
Anyhow, that was one of the more trivial aspects of the issue. So how did I react? Well, I thought that the objections were hyped. Yes there was a lot of bad language [and I dislike that, but recognise that it is a personal reaction to a great degree]. However, given that the main point seemed to be to satirise and question the motivations behind the production and popularity of shows like the Jerry Springer show I feel that the bad language is justified: if you doubt me make sure you watch a few airings of the show. The most disturbing aspects were the portrayal of Jesus and the Father, I guess; but again the context was the dying Springer's vision of hell and the perspective was that of hell. Incidently Jesus was not in a nappy [diaper for USA'ers] but in a loincloth such as used on crucifixes but worn in a way to suggest the nappy worn by the same actor in the first half of the show [yes, there was a kind of Wizard of Oz-ness to the second half].
For me the whole thing worked well as a kind of exposee of the religious/philosophical issues of contemporary society with regard to the nature of good and evil, right and wrong and also a demonstaration of how out of touch much Christian language and portrayal of ultimate reality is with 'normal' people. I was also left with a strong impression that the author was seeking to lay bare the contempt that lies behind a lot of popular culture; and succeeding quite well, I think.
I found it interesting that the show ends with an endorsement of the idea that there is no right and wrong and yet the very next sentence is commend people to love one another and look after one another -if there is no right and wrong why should we? Lip service to relativism, but a recognition that there actually is an underlying goodness to creation which makes it almost self-evident that pleasure is better than pain love than contempt. That's where a lot of popular culture is: caught between affirming relativism and denying it when it gets too hairy.
Part of the disturbing nature of the portrayal of God and Satan is the demotion of good an evil to 'local' categories; sides in a dualistic battle where neither is more ultimate than the other. Disturbing too is the failure to note that the point is that good really is more ultimate and that ultimacy of the truly Good is what Christians are talking about when God and the message of the cross are on the table. Of course the tragedy is that this show is simply picking up how the Christian message has been picked up in western popular culture for a long-time now.
This show demonstrates to us Christians how much work there is to be done to share the inner logic of Christian faith in ways that naturally resonates and makes 'plain' the connections between goodness and sin and atonement. This play, for me, is a protest against the arbitrary-seeming nature of Christian messages. Let's not shoot the messenger, rather hear the message, take out the beam in our own eyes ....
MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | F*** you, says BBC as 50,000 rage at Spr*ng*r:
geopolitics of global warming
Only having just got used to the idea that the arctic ocean could soon be somewhat navigable and that the tundra is defrosting we now find that a land-grab is undeway on the shores of said ocean. DEnmark are hoping to prove that Greenland's continental shelf [so to speak] extends quite a way into the arctic to bolster their claims on the are. And the reason? Torquil Meedon, a senior official at Denmark's ministry of science and technology, said: "Climate changes indicate that ice in the Polar Sea may disappear within 50 to 100 years. That will open up the north-west passage as a new and valuable shipping route. It will also be open to fishing, and the oil and gas reserves which may prove significant. Who knows how valuable the rights to the North Pole could be 100 years from now?"
The New Zealand Herald
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"Spend and tax" not "tax and spend"
I got a response from my MP which got me kind of mad. You'll see why as I reproduce it here. Apologies for the strange changes in types...
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"'Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell yo...
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I'm not sure people have believed me when I've said that there have been discovered uncaffeinated coffee beans. Well, here's one...