Slashdot Mirror

At the same time we hear of the NSA building its data center in Utah, where summer temperatures sit around 105. Is "intelligence" the right word for these services?

This is just the latest in a series of published work finding that weakening ocean and land temperature contrasts between high and mid northern latitudes is having a profound effect on the Jet Stream. Search for jet stream and arctic on Google Scholar and they'll pop up. They all show that the poles live and die by the circumpolar winds that 'lock' the cold air in those high latitudes (Antarctica included by the way!). If those circumpolar winds diminish, then the cold can effectively 'escape'. In the Northern Hemisphere, it results in the jet stream becoming extremely contorted, sets up 'blocking' and we get these long periods of abnormal weather (extra cold in late winter/early spring, extra heat in late summer/early fall?) The weather channel has a great rundown of the jet stream *today*. Illustrates it perfectly. http://www.weather.com/video/forecast-for-your-spring-35814 Lets just thank our lucky stars that Antarctica is a continent surrounded by ocean, and not an ocean surrounded by continents, like the Arctic. This fundamental difference means the southern circumpolar winds have a huge contrast to work from with the gigantic ice fields of the continent versus the far away lands of Southern America, Oceania, and Africa. Ironically, the ozone hole actually makes the Antarctic colder and the circumpolar winds stronger... so as it fixes itself as human CFC emissions dimish, those winds will start to weaken and warming will be able to creep in there as well. But at least that buys us time. Were the Arctic and Antarctic equal, global warming would have likely been much more immediate. Though who knows, maybe that would have spurred us to action before today (which is still never?) The world and science that attempts to explain it is wonderful and terrifying all at the same time. Lets hope we can get our acts together and change our course before we cause so much change to our atmosphere and oceans that we are unable to avoid the clear and present dangers now on tap.

That would be the same 2012 that continues the trend in the IPCC AR5 report, which shows temperatures lower than predicted by any of the models. That ought to make people happy,, don't you think?

That would the the same 2012 with a drought that joins many others from the past 80 years. Guess what, droughts happen periodically, and this one was very much a local phenomenon within central North America.

We just survived the end of the Mayan calendar cycle. Whew. Quick, let's panic about something else!

This may set a record for the national average, but it has been cooler and milder than last summer here in Oklahoma.

Our avg. July temp. is 91-94 F, but the past 3 or so summers it has been 7-10+F over avg.

Here is an example :this July.
And here is Aug. this year(so far...note the diff between avg. and observed)

Glad to share! ;-)

This may set a record for the national average, but it has been cooler and milder than last summer here in Oklahoma.

Our avg. July temp. is 91-94 F, but the past 3 or so summers it has been 7-10+F over avg.

Here is an example :this July.
And here is Aug. this year(so far...note the diff between avg. and observed)

Glad to share! ;-)

Coincidentally today weather.com has a slideshow of the northern lights from a more terrestrial view.

Move to the Pacific Northwest. That's what my wife and I did.

http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/graph/USOR0275

No concern of heat or dry or hurricane or earthquake or tornado ...

http://news.discovery.com/earth/megaquake-schedule-pacific-northwest.html

You may not have any concern, but you should. The Megaquake is coming; it's only a matter of when, not if.

The PNW also has to worry about fire and flood, depending on where you situate.

If you don't have a "all infrastructure will be down for the next 6 months" emergency plan and live in the PNW, it's going to really suck when something bad happens. Just hope that it's not in your lifetime.

Move to the Pacific Northwest. That's what my wife and I did.

http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/graph/USOR0275

No concern of heat or dry or hurricane or earthquake or tornado ...

Or just shut the water off while you're on vacation.

If you're in a freezing climate, turning off water may not be advisable... in fact, I remember last time I was in such a situation, they recommended to keep water dripping [1] so the pipes didn't freeze (and burst).

[1] http://www.weather.com/activities/homeandgarden/home/hometips/severeweather/pipefreeze_prevent.html

Here is what confuses me. Both http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/coldandflu/nationalreports/ and http://www.google.org/flutrends/us/#10139621013962 seem to show different results. What's up with that? Which one is accurate?

It's not just the category or just the rain. Other factors include:

• * How fast it moves--Irene was very slow-moving for most of its life
• * Size (that's what she said . . .)

To chill's point, those things obviously have an impact on how much rain falls, but they also are important determiners of the storm surge height, wave heights and wind damage; if a couple 75mph gusts blow over your house, you might lose a lawn chair and a shutter or two. If the wind blows on your house at 75mph for four hours, you might lose a lot more.

For most people who aren't weather geeks, the Saffir-Simpson scale has very little value. Some of the NOAA/NHC forecasters and others have said as much in some of their interviews about Irene and other recent storms. But whatever factors you want to cough up to rank hurricanes, what really matters is the ultimate impact of the storm, not how it was classified in the record books or by breathless (and brainless) reporters on CNN. We can argue about relative impacts of storms, but by most measures Irene has been a devastating event that makes the warnings and preparations seem pretty appropriate. Here's one way of slicing up the data.

BTW, whoever is on board with the "Irene was a joke"/"boy who cried wolf" meme is being as silly as those reporters standing on the beach in their rainsuits shouting into their microphones while getting "lashed" (seriously guys, can we come up with at least one other verb?) by wind and rain. Irene could've been much more severe along any of these physical measures of hurricane strength had it taken even a slightly different course as it moved up the east coast . . .

So I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather be inconvenienced and deal with some extra economic impact as a result of safety measures than to risk hundreds of lives and chaos in the streets of NYC. I think most people would agree with that–ultimately, anyway.

While there's an important lesson in the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, so is there in the story of the Three Little Pigs.

It's not just a choice based on how it's manufactured... I'd dare to argue that we don't have as much area to grow sugar cane as brazil. It's a tropical plant. It needs somewhere north of 125cm/year of rainfall to grow, high humidity and lots of sun. Unfortunately most of our agriculture land does not support those conditions. Brazil is MADE for cane. Where we grow stuff, it's made for corn, and maybe switchgrass? Compare Iowa/nebraska, indiana, illinois, where corn is grown, to Louisiana, Florida and Hawaii, where we can grow cane. Add to that, hawaii is tiny, florida and Louisiana have a lot of unaccessable swamp, and that florida land prices are at a premium.

http://www.tangail.110mb.com/sugar.php production amounts
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USLA0231 - AVG rainfall/temp of US States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Brazil
http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Iowa/average-annual-temperatures.php - Iowa average Temp - high 50s, low 60s
http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Louisiana/average-annual-temperatures.php - Louisiana avg temp high 80s

Good point, I wonder if any Pakistani officials are sweating right now.

at this moment, it's 88. But later it's going to be 110. So if those Pakistani officials aren't sweating now, they're going to be!

we had summer last year, it happened on a Thursday

I'm glad someone is going for Funny on the weather, but in truth Buffalo is four-season territory.
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USNY0181?from=search

I used to live on the north side of the lake. Summers are /hot/. (How hot? My friends from equatorial Indonesia complained about the heat.) A Buffalo facility will get a break on the cooling bill for half the year, but it'll still need an expensive full-power system installed, maintained, and going balls-out for the month of August when the Grid is sending around notices to ask people to lay off on the air conditioners.

More likely Buffalo offers cheap hydro (Niagra), and state & city governments bending over backwards to attract industry. Plus there's pretty reasonable suburban living infrastructure for tech staff.

Unless (and this is where Slashdot geekiness should kick in) they're going to do something interesting like use the lake for cooling. The lake is deep, and cool beneath the surface. The steel mill I worked at out there drew in this water to feed a series of cooling ponds. Rust-belt economics may mean cheap shoreline industrial land perfect for one of these parking-lot sized additions.

Probably about 67F as of this post.

(Weather.com wouldn't give a result for Hell, MI, but it's only 3 miles from Pinckney, MI.)

They aren't going to be facing extreme cold in Alaska in July:

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/USAK0197

Oh yeah, he'll just get that rainstorm that knocked out his internet to give him a warning next time.

Done and done.

The other thing that bothers me about the marketshare numbers is that Microsoft is working the Bing advertising to a point where I can't avoid seeing it. I also notice that somehow Bing seems to be popping up in places that I didn't even think they could. Notice what's powering the map on that page?

Add in the $500 Bing agreement with Verizon.

Add in the fact that Bing is really doing well taking share from their partner.

To me, it boils down to this: I don't trust many people.

I hardly trust Google, but I have yet to see them engage in practices where they abuse their market share. Please correct me if I've missed something.

I know what Microsoft does when they dominate market share... And right now, this product is gaining market share because MS is pouring money into it at a pace that they can't intend on maintaining. I don't know what their plan is, but I have a feeling that this one's not following the "embrace" part of their normal business model. I can't wait to see what they do once Bing closes in on 30% (assuming it keeps gaining). My guess is that they'll find a way to blend it with the desktop OS, and "integrate" it with the desktop search. I'm also sure that desktop search will extend to the general web.

Weather channel.

For one thing, Wii has Forecast Channel powered by Weathernews, not the real Weather Channel, unless you've bookmarked weather.com in Internet Channel. In the summer of 2008, I noticed Forecast Channel wasn't nearly as accurate as The Weather Channel. For another, if you're playing the Wii on a TV that gets cable, you can always pause whatever Wii game you're playing, change the channel to The Weather Channel, and watch Local on the 8s.

I'd love to use Opera more, but every version (including 10) seems to suffer from rendering issues that are often readily apparent on major websites that don't seem to affect any other browser. I don't know whether its the browser or the website, but either way they dissuade me from continued use of Opera. Checkout the weekend view http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/USIL0225?from=36hr_topnav_undeclared for example.

thats why flu is always a cold month thing

so the thing to do is not worry now, worry later. the warm weather will mitigate the flu. then we should all keep a very wary eye come october, that's when the swine flu will prove if it is a superkiller or not

This got started in fairly warm Mexico City.

W

1) Ten seconds of googling will show that the jet stream changes dramatically from day to day

If the volcano explodes this Thursday, then the vast majority of the US will likely be spared the fate you are so certain they will suffer. One day earlier and it will be dumped all over the east coast; one day later and the west coast will suffer instead.

2) I find that most people who engage in ad hominems have low self esteem and use the attacks to boost their ego by creating the illusion of superiority. A well-adjusted human being respects others and knows that there are more effective ways to communicate.

Maybe you were you having a bad day? Normally my attempts at humor are transparent enough that others don't react so flippantly. But, hey, fight fire with fire. If you're already embracing arrogant behavior, then here's to tit-for-tat!

3) Actually, you said the stuff was going over "much of the US". But don't let minor inconsistencies like this knock you off your high horse; I wouldn't want you to bruise your ego when you landed.

4) I've got a lot of faith in nature; I don't think there's anything that humans could do that would completely destroy the planet. In the mean time, society should advance forward with inventions that improve life and expand knowledge.

May I suggest helping to nurture the green revolution? It could lead to investors who favor eco-friendly stocks over dividend-friendly stocks. In fact, you could start right now, by going out and purchasing stock from companies who you think do business the right way. Without your contribution, how can they stand up to the 3M's and the Wal-Mart's of the world?

1) Ten seconds of googling will show that the jet stream changes dramatically from day to day

If the volcano explodes this Thursday, then the vast majority of the US will likely be spared the fate you are so certain they will suffer. One day earlier and it will be dumped all over the east coast; one day later and the west coast will suffer instead.

2) I find that most people who engage in ad hominems have low self esteem and use the attacks to boost their ego by creating the illusion of superiority. A well-adjusted human being respects others and knows that there are more effective ways to communicate.

Maybe you were you having a bad day? Normally my attempts at humor are transparent enough that others don't react so flippantly. But, hey, fight fire with fire. If you're already embracing arrogant behavior, then here's to tit-for-tat!

3) Actually, you said the stuff was going over "much of the US". But don't let minor inconsistencies like this knock you off your high horse; I wouldn't want you to bruise your ego when you landed.

4) I've got a lot of faith in nature; I don't think there's anything that humans could do that would completely destroy the planet. In the mean time, society should advance forward with inventions that improve life and expand knowledge.

May I suggest helping to nurture the green revolution? It could lead to investors who favor eco-friendly stocks over dividend-friendly stocks. In fact, you could start right now, by going out and purchasing stock from companies who you think do business the right way. Without your contribution, how can they stand up to the 3M's and the Wal-Mart's of the world?

1) Ten seconds of googling will show that the jet stream changes dramatically from day to day

If the volcano explodes this Thursday, then the vast majority of the US will likely be spared the fate you are so certain they will suffer. One day earlier and it will be dumped all over the east coast; one day later and the west coast will suffer instead.

2) I find that most people who engage in ad hominems have low self esteem and use the attacks to boost their ego by creating the illusion of superiority. A well-adjusted human being respects others and knows that there are more effective ways to communicate.

Maybe you were you having a bad day? Normally my attempts at humor are transparent enough that others don't react so flippantly. But, hey, fight fire with fire. If you're already embracing arrogant behavior, then here's to tit-for-tat!

3) Actually, you said the stuff was going over "much of the US". But don't let minor inconsistencies like this knock you off your high horse; I wouldn't want you to bruise your ego when you landed.

4) I've got a lot of faith in nature; I don't think there's anything that humans could do that would completely destroy the planet. In the mean time, society should advance forward with inventions that improve life and expand knowledge.

May I suggest helping to nurture the green revolution? It could lead to investors who favor eco-friendly stocks over dividend-friendly stocks. In fact, you could start right now, by going out and purchasing stock from companies who you think do business the right way. Without your contribution, how can they stand up to the 3M's and the Wal-Mart's of the world?

No thanks.

Right, *when they arrive*.. I've had messages to/from my SO arrive as much as 2 days later. Not sure how that happens exactly, but it's been "better" since we switched to the same carrier.

By the way, Weather.com will send you text alerts for free. http://www.weather.com/mobile/customtextmessaging.html

Wait, when did the Red Cross become evil?

Any organization can be used for good or evil, of course its easier when good people don't stand up and do nothing to prevent the evil from occurring.

The majority of Americans (me too sometimes) are guilty of not standing up when we should today...protecting our freedoms is a prime example of many, many others....

Personally I don't believe the Red Cross is evil, but they have unfortunately been associated with questionable acts that many would classify as 'evil'. This is an example of one. (I would suggest that the good that the Red Cross does, far, far out weighs the bad! I also suggest that our history is our history and refuse to be ashamed of it. Besides the history of other countries and entities around the world is far, far worse by comparison. Facts are facts..)

I wish well meaning individuals who are weak and feel threatened would stop using negative labels against others that shake their foundations weather historical, political, sexual or religious...Please give it a rest and learn your own history and the facts surrounding an issue, most important remember that we are not all right 100% of the time, so graciously admit when you are wrong...as we all our from time to time...

...off my soapbox, now about this story that I know many will find interesting where you could label the Red Cross allowing themselves to be used by evil doers...

The weather channel recently ran a history on the great flood When weather changed history; the episode that I am referring too can be found: Full Version: Flood of 1927. I am not sure if this will take it straight to it or if you will have to select Full Version: Flood of 1927. Just one of many historical events here in the US, where while some shined and did the right thing, others acted in a way that many would describe as "evil".

A group of black share-croppers were 'not' rescued as the Plantation Owners were afraid that if they were rescued they would not return to the plantation once the flood waters subsided.

Instead of being rescued, the plantation owners used their influence at the US Government level to ensure that not only would the share croppers not be rescued, but that they, stuck on their strip of land surrounded by water (top of a portion of a levee), would become the primary distribution point for red cross relief to the area. The share croppers were not only forced to work for free, they were charged, by the plantation owners, for their Red Cross Relief (think company stores and you get the idea). So basically the share croppers were put further in debt in order to be controlled by their overlords (one could say the same was being done to all of us today with the many business and bank failures...)

The share croppers were also 'tagged' and their movement was restricted by national guard troops who patrolled the camp in armed groups. There were some white, albeit very poor, flood victims in the same camp, of course segregated. The white survivors were not restricted in their movement; were not forced to work for free distributing red cross supplies; were not charged for red cross supplies; and received better food rations then the share croppers.

Per the special, word of what was happening at the one Red Cross Camp circulated among other Red Cross Camps. So there was awareness of what was going on by many, including those in government and those in the Red Cross.

So while the Red Cross, IMO, is NOT evil and I do support them, even a great organization like them can be used in a more 'evil' way by those with their own agendas that many would call [them] evil.

BTW, I am white with no ax to grind one way or the other, however, I do not deny the facts of history as o

Wait, when did the Red Cross become evil?

Any organization can be used for good or evil, of course its easier when good people don't stand up and do nothing to prevent the evil from occurring.

The majority of Americans (me too sometimes) are guilty of not standing up when we should today...protecting our freedoms is a prime example of many, many others....

Personally I don't believe the Red Cross is evil, but they have unfortunately been associated with questionable acts that many would classify as 'evil'. This is an example of one. (I would suggest that the good that the Red Cross does, far, far out weighs the bad! I also suggest that our history is our history and refuse to be ashamed of it. Besides the history of other countries and entities around the world is far, far worse by comparison. Facts are facts..)

I wish well meaning individuals who are weak and feel threatened would stop using negative labels against others that shake their foundations weather historical, political, sexual or religious...Please give it a rest and learn your own history and the facts surrounding an issue, most important remember that we are not all right 100% of the time, so graciously admit when you are wrong...as we all our from time to time...

...off my soapbox, now about this story that I know many will find interesting where you could label the Red Cross allowing themselves to be used by evil doers...

The weather channel recently ran a history on the great flood When weather changed history; the episode that I am referring too can be found: Full Version: Flood of 1927. I am not sure if this will take it straight to it or if you will have to select Full Version: Flood of 1927. Just one of many historical events here in the US, where while some shined and did the right thing, others acted in a way that many would describe as "evil".

A group of black share-croppers were 'not' rescued as the Plantation Owners were afraid that if they were rescued they would not return to the plantation once the flood waters subsided.

Instead of being rescued, the plantation owners used their influence at the US Government level to ensure that not only would the share croppers not be rescued, but that they, stuck on their strip of land surrounded by water (top of a portion of a levee), would become the primary distribution point for red cross relief to the area. The share croppers were not only forced to work for free, they were charged, by the plantation owners, for their Red Cross Relief (think company stores and you get the idea). So basically the share croppers were put further in debt in order to be controlled by their overlords (one could say the same was being done to all of us today with the many business and bank failures...)

The share croppers were also 'tagged' and their movement was restricted by national guard troops who patrolled the camp in armed groups. There were some white, albeit very poor, flood victims in the same camp, of course segregated. The white survivors were not restricted in their movement; were not forced to work for free distributing red cross supplies; were not charged for red cross supplies; and received better food rations then the share croppers.

Per the special, word of what was happening at the one Red Cross Camp circulated among other Red Cross Camps. So there was awareness of what was going on by many, including those in government and those in the Red Cross.

So while the Red Cross, IMO, is NOT evil and I do support them, even a great organization like them can be used in a more 'evil' way by those with their own agendas that many would call [them] evil.

BTW, I am white with no ax to grind one way or the other, however, I do not deny the facts of history as o

I beg to differ on the whole 'climate' issue.

From Weather.com

Average weather in Washington DC
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USDC0001?from=search
Yearly spread - 61 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Chicago Illinois
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225?from=search
Yearly spread - 66 degrees farenheit

Average weather in KC Kansas
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USKS0298?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared
Yearly spread - 69 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Dallas Texas
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0327?from=search
Yearly spread - 60 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Paris, France
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/FRXX0076?from=36hr_bottomnav_business
Yearly spread - 41 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Berlin, Germany
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/GMXX0007?from=search
Yearly spread - 48 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Madrid, Spain
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/SPXX0050?from=search
Yearly spread - 58 degrees farenheit

(No average information available for London, UK)

ABIL

I beg to differ on the whole 'climate' issue.

From Weather.com

Average weather in Washington DC
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USDC0001?from=search
Yearly spread - 61 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Chicago Illinois
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225?from=search
Yearly spread - 66 degrees farenheit

Average weather in KC Kansas
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USKS0298?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared
Yearly spread - 69 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Dallas Texas
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0327?from=search
Yearly spread - 60 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Paris, France
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/FRXX0076?from=36hr_bottomnav_business
Yearly spread - 41 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Berlin, Germany
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/GMXX0007?from=search
Yearly spread - 48 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Madrid, Spain
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/SPXX0050?from=search
Yearly spread - 58 degrees farenheit

(No average information available for London, UK)

ABIL

I beg to differ on the whole 'climate' issue.

From Weather.com

Average weather in Washington DC
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USDC0001?from=search
Yearly spread - 61 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Chicago Illinois
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225?from=search
Yearly spread - 66 degrees farenheit

Average weather in KC Kansas
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USKS0298?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared
Yearly spread - 69 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Dallas Texas
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0327?from=search
Yearly spread - 60 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Paris, France
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/FRXX0076?from=36hr_bottomnav_business
Yearly spread - 41 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Berlin, Germany
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/GMXX0007?from=search
Yearly spread - 48 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Madrid, Spain
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/SPXX0050?from=search
Yearly spread - 58 degrees farenheit

(No average information available for London, UK)

ABIL

I beg to differ on the whole 'climate' issue.

From Weather.com

Average weather in Washington DC
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USDC0001?from=search
Yearly spread - 61 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Chicago Illinois
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225?from=search
Yearly spread - 66 degrees farenheit

Average weather in KC Kansas
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USKS0298?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared
Yearly spread - 69 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Dallas Texas
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0327?from=search
Yearly spread - 60 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Paris, France
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/FRXX0076?from=36hr_bottomnav_business
Yearly spread - 41 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Berlin, Germany
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/GMXX0007?from=search
Yearly spread - 48 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Madrid, Spain
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/SPXX0050?from=search
Yearly spread - 58 degrees farenheit

(No average information available for London, UK)

ABIL

I beg to differ on the whole 'climate' issue.

From Weather.com

Average weather in Washington DC
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USDC0001?from=search
Yearly spread - 61 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Chicago Illinois
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225?from=search
Yearly spread - 66 degrees farenheit

Average weather in KC Kansas
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USKS0298?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared
Yearly spread - 69 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Dallas Texas
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0327?from=search
Yearly spread - 60 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Paris, France
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/FRXX0076?from=36hr_bottomnav_business
Yearly spread - 41 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Berlin, Germany
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/GMXX0007?from=search
Yearly spread - 48 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Madrid, Spain
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/SPXX0050?from=search
Yearly spread - 58 degrees farenheit

(No average information available for London, UK)

ABIL

I beg to differ on the whole 'climate' issue.

From Weather.com

Average weather in Washington DC
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USDC0001?from=search
Yearly spread - 61 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Chicago Illinois
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225?from=search
Yearly spread - 66 degrees farenheit

Average weather in KC Kansas
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USKS0298?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared
Yearly spread - 69 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Dallas Texas
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0327?from=search
Yearly spread - 60 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Paris, France
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/FRXX0076?from=36hr_bottomnav_business
Yearly spread - 41 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Berlin, Germany
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/GMXX0007?from=search
Yearly spread - 48 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Madrid, Spain
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/SPXX0050?from=search
Yearly spread - 58 degrees farenheit

(No average information available for London, UK)

ABIL

I beg to differ on the whole 'climate' issue.

From Weather.com

Average weather in Washington DC
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USDC0001?from=search
Yearly spread - 61 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Chicago Illinois
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225?from=search
Yearly spread - 66 degrees farenheit

Average weather in KC Kansas
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USKS0298?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared
Yearly spread - 69 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Dallas Texas
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0327?from=search
Yearly spread - 60 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Paris, France
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/FRXX0076?from=36hr_bottomnav_business
Yearly spread - 41 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Berlin, Germany
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/GMXX0007?from=search
Yearly spread - 48 degrees farenheit

Average weather in Madrid, Spain
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/SPXX0050?from=search
Yearly spread - 58 degrees farenheit

(No average information available for London, UK)

ABIL

But that doesn't mean they're good. Diet monitoring? Try this, or any other free web service that does it *without* needing your medical history. Fitness Monitoring? Doesn't Wii Fit do this? How about a simple spreadsheet? Travel? Is it that hard to look at The Weather Channel before you leave?

Honestly, this just sounds like candy-coating a terrible idea so that people will buy into it. None of the ideas on that page are lacking a non-Google implementation assuming you're not too lazy to do some footwork.

Then again, if you are too lazy, maybe whatever ill effects you receive from using Google's service are deserved...

Where I live (Blacksburg, VA) there isn't a miniature golf place for probably 50 miles in any direction. I know that it is kind of a niche environment, but come on... someone open a puttputt.

Okay, let me lay this out for you:

You live in a college town. This means that a business like miniature golf with an arcade could perform well, assuming they could attract students. The big issue is, can they make enough money to cover the lull in business during the summer (no students) and winter (too cold)?

Unfortunately, you live in the mountains, where the average temperature is under 70 degrees during the months of October to April. The geography makes your summers pleasant and winters only marginally cold, but the downside is the only time of year good for mini-golfing is when all the students are gone.

You really need a nice day in the 70s-80s to go play a leisure outdoor game like mini-golf. If you think differently, well, quit whining and open your own.

Please don't confuse running out of light, sweet crude with running out of oil.

As for the article at hand, good riddance. The plant was initially to be making hydrogen, too, and the DOE has now said that they're only willing to cover capture and sequestration. Which is great, as hydrogen cars are a dumb idea.

I work for a company in Japan and information is one of our key assets. We have a fairly good relationship with google but what concerns quite a bit right now is the direct use (consolidation) of third party information that's slowly but surely encroaching on every single little possible market they can figure out how to intergrate into their enormous system. We are struggling now to post information on the web as all our information is short and digestable and likely to be swallowed up as a "useful features" on the side of one of these google maps searches. This isn't bad for people but, its gonna kill so many industries in the coming years. I just hope the "dont be evil" philosophy holds up 'cause I cant see this direction changing.

One of our neighbors in central Oregon built a double shell home with passive solar heat. We visited in Febuary and noticed they had a flowerpot in the woodstove. We asked about the flowers. They said they tried the woodstove earlier but it took 3 days to cool the house back down.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/a-home-t hat-heats-and-cools-itself/

Having a house that doesn't follow the outside temprature swings requiring heating and cooling is an energy saver.

They do have some nice temprature swings there. For example, today's range is 50-95 degrees F.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstrav eler/local/97756?lswe=97756&lwsa=Weather36HourBusi nessTravelerCommand&from=whatwhere

Although I think Woz was talking about end-to-end efficiency, it's not too much of a challenge to build an energy-efficient house in someplace where the average temp varies between 42 and 82 (nasty flash). How about a more challenging location with a wider range? How about someplace at altitude? Talk to me about energy efficiency when it's butt-cold in the winter, with no sun, and triple-glazed windows are the standard. When summertime is unbearable heat, oppressive humidity, intense solar UV, or giant brain-sucking mosquitos. It's easy to build a show home in paradise.

Although I think Woz was talking about end-to-end efficiency, it's not too much of a challenge to build an energy-efficient house in someplace where the average temp varies between 42 and 82 (nasty flash). How about a more challenging location with a wider range? How about someplace at altitude? Talk to me about energy efficiency when it's butt-cold in the winter, with no sun, and triple-glazed windows are the standard. When summertime is unbearable heat, oppressive humidity, intense solar UV, or giant brain-sucking mosquitos. It's easy to build a show home in paradise.

Although I think Woz was talking about end-to-end efficiency, it's not too much of a challenge to build an energy-efficient house in someplace where the average temp varies between 42 and 82 (nasty flash). How about a more challenging location with a wider range? How about someplace at altitude? Talk to me about energy efficiency when it's butt-cold in the winter, with no sun, and triple-glazed windows are the standard. When summertime is unbearable heat, oppressive humidity, intense solar UV, or giant brain-sucking mosquitos. It's easy to build a show home in paradise.

I find that the Weather Channel web page crashes Safari on my Mac. So whenever I want to check the weather, I use Firefox. Aside from that, Safari is very stable for me. I'm using the last version of Safari that was supported under 10.3.9, so that may be a difference too.

Plus shall we mention this is the first time this has been done in a game?

Far from it: Microsoft flight simulator

X-Plane

Weather Channel Golf

And there has been weather integration in Second Life as well...

Just to make my vague, general statements concrete, I picked three sites at random, each of which uses a different plugin:
The official US time clock (Java)
weatcher.com interactive map (Flash)
Panda Pang (Shockwave for Director)

With these three pages open Firefox 2.0.0.3 on Windows XP has a VM Size of 175 MB. Huge memory problem in Firefox? No, Opera 9.10 on Windows XP has a VM Size of 171 MB. After closing the tabs in Firefox, VM Size goes down to 46 MB. Doing the same in Opera, VM Size goes down to 59 MB. If anything, it looks like Opera may have a problem releasing unused memory. Keep in mind for a fair comparison that you must open only those sites after starting the browser, otherwise, you could see the built-up memory usage form hours or days of use in a browser that you've been visiting other pages in.

If you can come up with a series of steps that causes high memory usage in Firefox, and not high memory usage in other browsers, maybe you're on to something.

• I guess
• I'll be
• paying him
• for this

It's not google earth, rather MS Virtual Earth, but check out weather.com. They're overlaying live weather radar on virtual earth. It's really cool.

Fact: It's going to be 69 degrees in New York City before the second week in March. That's absurdly early for that kind of weather. And if I had the "scientific" mind of some of these critics, I'd look in the Almanac and see that the weather has spiked like this before in March. What I'd leave out is the FREQUENCY at which this is occurring. It's not isolated incidents or simple deviation from the average.

This is a mind-bogglingly ridiculous statement. A single forcast of a few warm days this week is evidence of global warming, and weather records showing that this has happened before are inadmissable? For the record, the warmest it's supposed to be this week is 64 degrees, which is 15 degrees above average. Saturday is expected to be 38, which is 12 degrees below the average. Last week it was much colder than that. Anecdotes of this sort are totally useless. Future weather forcasts are not fact. It's not before the second week of March, it's the end of the second week of March....