Re:Sensationalist Journalism?
on
A Flu Pandemic?
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Absolutely sensationalist, just like SARS. The common cold/flu kills around 40,000 americans (that's the stat I saw, don't know about world-wide) each year, but SARS with a handful of deaths globally got BIG press. Now this practically non-existant bird flu gets everyone all worked up. I'll worry when there's a few thousand deaths. Until then, eat healthy food, exercise and keep that immune system running. If you're not one of the typical flu victims (elderly, very young or compromised immune system from other causes), you'll have an excellent chance to shrug it off, even if it does spread.
In other words, no, Wikipedia will not "crush" traditional repositories of knowledge "out of existence." That was an unbelievably arrogant and short-sighted statement.
Or, gee, maybe it was a joke? Try repeating it in Dr Evil's voice while holding your pinky to your mouth, then see if you think he meant it in a serious way...
Nice... I agree that people are responsible for themselves. I also agree with the grandparent, in that making drug use illegal is a major contributor to the "high costs of drug abuse" the government and media love to quote. Apparently, the lessons offered by Prohibition are too hard for politicians to absorb...
I've gotten a total of (approx) 10-20 spam messages in my 'regular' accounts, over the past 5 years.
I have a hotmail account which used to get that amount every month, but I don't use it anymore, so it doesn't worry me.
I did get a nice offer of a bunch of money from a nice man in Nigeria, but strangely, he didn't sent it to me. All I asked for was $419 to cover my banking fees...;)
I don't know why people get so much spam? Do they sign up for 'free pr0n in your mailbox' offers? Do they send messages to Usenet, with their email address visible?
I don't get it.. and I'm happy to continue my spamless existance, thanks all the same...
Well, was Desert Storm to preserve our freedom? If Saddam had continued to occupy Kuwait after we gave him the green light to take it, would anyone here in America have lost any freedom whatsoever? Well, we might have ended up paying higher prices for gas or -- oh the horror -- been forced to employ Americans to work here in America to pump up American oil.
Does anyone remember the economy in Texas when oil was a booming industry here? I do, and it was nice. Having jobs to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head...with enough left over to save up for the future or send your kids off to college, that sounds like freedom; and instead of keeping that here in America, we closed down entire towns and exported the jobs to the OPEC nations...the very nations that openly despise us.
The reason the oil jobs were "exported to the OPEC nations" was because the oil supplies in the US peaked in 1970, which is why there was a crisis in '73 when OPEC put the squeeze on the supply.
Now the US under "president" Bush has used the excuse of the "war on terror" to invade and take control of a country which has an estimated 25+ years until it's oil production will peak.
Anyone getting a patent, and who are a true member of the F/OSS community, should dedicate the patent to the public domain. This would ensure that the knowledge patented can be used by anyone without money-grubbing corporations extracting a found of flesh for the right to do so.
Crude oil prices are what they are because it's a traded commodity, not because it's hard to get or difficult to refine.
Not hard to get? It's a limited resource, and wars have and are being fought over the supply of it. Why do you think Iraq is being "liberated"? WMDs?
What people are willing to pay is what dictates the price, not the threat of running out.
So on the supply side of "Supply and Demand", you're saying that having a finite supply won't affect the price? Sounds like you've been smoking the same crack as this guy:
"Humans are the active agent, having ideas that they use to transform the environment for human purposes. . . . Resources are
not fixed and finite because they are not natural. They are a product of human ingenuity resulting from the creation of technology and science." -- resource economist Thomas DeGregori, quoted here (pdf), on p11.
When supply runs low, prices go up. It's a seller's market. Welcome to the future of the oil market.
...farms producing either vegetable or soy oil for use as fuel.
The main problem is that a large amount of fertilizer is used to grow the biodiesel source, and that fertilizer is derived from fossil fuels. Biodiesel is still a net energy sink, where more energy is expended to produce it than it provides. If it costs 2 barrels of oil to grow 1 barrel worth of biodiesel, then it doesn't make sense to pursue this as a fuel. Also, if everyone in America converted to biodiesel, and kept consuming that at the same rate as petroleum, then you would run out of fertile cropland.
The best thing about Independence Day was that I got some lip action with a girl I had a crush on at the time.. (relationship didn't work out, though.. oh, well..)
Having said that, it's America and the other developed countries that are raping the planet right now.
The problems we are causing are too numerous for me to list, but we need to stop! This website has the right idea, but I can't see many of us volunteering for it, at least not until a Peak Oil Depression sets in.
Get some students of the professor's course to type them into LaTeX.
Use the fairly user-friendly LyX to do the LaTeX-ing. Heck, get the academics themselves using it to prepare their notes in the first place! They might actually thank you for introducing them to this convenient and easy document processor.
If someone said Microsoft Office costs $499 would you correct them?
Hell, yes! Here is Australia, it's MUCH MORE than just $499. For example MS Office Pro 2003 (see Harris Technology, which many businesses buy from here in Sydney: Price Inc GST $829.00 That's about USD$750 (depending on exchange rates)
So, yeah, I'd correct whoever claims Office is only $499...
I'm not disagreeing with you, there is a vast difference between the USA and China. I find some of the differences interesting.
From the CIA World Fact Book:
USA: Area: 9,629,091 sq km Oil consumption: 19.65 million bbl/day (2001 est.) Population: 290,342,554 (July 2003 est.)
China: Area: 9,596,960 sq km Comparative Area: slightly smaller than the US Oil consumption: 4.975 million bbl/day (2001 est.) Population: 1,286,975,468 (July 2003 est.)
So their population is 1 billion higher, but in roughly the same total area as the US. They consume 1/4 of the oil the US does, but this is increasing rapidly.
The average daily oil consumption in the US is 0.06767 bbl/day. If we apply that number to the Chinese population, their consumption becomes a staggering 87,100,797 bbl/day!
We know there isn't enough oil available, as world production is around 75 million bbl/day, and there aren't any significantly large new fields being discovered (fig 4 on the page).
$2.50 is only fourty cents more then premium grade gasoline here in the states, well, in the states that I live in. Elsewhere it's not much cheaper. Maybe even more expensive some places.
I read somewhere (a book which I forget the title of) that the real cost of gasoline/petrol, if you take away all the hidden subsidies the government provides (tax breaks, actual subsidies, etc), gas (in USA) would cost in the order of USD25 per gallon. I'm sure the situation is the same here in Australia, even if there are signs in petrol stations complaining that 55% of the petrol price is taxes.
The answer isn't fucking the citizens of the US because we drive cars. A better answer is improved public transportation. More trains that go more places more often. More busses that aren't 25 years old. It won't be the cure, but a lot of people won't buy cars if they don't have to.
A major problem, and one that's growing. I think increasing gas/petrol prices might help with this issue, as governments would have to provide more efficient public transport to make sure the economy (which is petroleum-based, by the way. EVERYTHING we do depends on cheap oil or gas) keeps running. Still, there's no excuse for buying a big SUV just to drive along the freeway to work. Carpool, and/or get a small, fuel efficient car. You have some good-looking hybrids available in the US... wish we had them here Down Under....
They are already way expensive to buy and maintain, along with all the taxes, insurance, and gas.
Amen. My car just had an expensive service, then threw off the alternator fan-belt, so it's back in the shop now.. *sigh* I've only had a car (this is my first, and I'm turning 29 this year) for about three months, so I'm starting to regret it. Still, I catch the train to and from work, and only drive on the weekend, usually, so I'm not tied to it, as most other people appear to be.
It's not my fault that there's no IT jobs within ten miles of where I live.
No and yes. It's not your fault as an individual, but you have to share the blame (as do I) for our increasingly suburban lifestyle choices. A friend just returned from a year in China, and he loved being able to ride his bike everywhere, as everything was close to home, because the city wasn't designed around the automobile. Western cities are designed, for the most part, around the car, with larger and larger distances between work, home and shops/entertainment. It's stupid, but we keep doing it, and we'll keep on doing it until something forces us to change. Running out of cheap fuel will certainly do that.
Slashdot Mirror
Absolutely sensationalist, just like SARS.
w orld_stories.shtml#5 for an interesting take on the whole situation...
The common cold/flu kills around 40,000 americans (that's the stat I saw, don't know about world-wide) each year, but SARS with a handful of deaths globally got BIG press. Now this practically non-existant bird flu gets everyone all worked up.
I'll worry when there's a few thousand deaths. Until then, eat healthy food, exercise and keep that immune system running. If you're not one of the typical flu victims (elderly, very young or compromised immune system from other causes), you'll have an excellent chance to shrug it off, even if it does spread.
See http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/101805_
Dictionary.com agrees with you!!
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=virus
virus
n. pl. viruses
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=virii
No entry found for virii.
In other words, no, Wikipedia will not "crush" traditional repositories of knowledge "out of existence." That was an unbelievably arrogant and short-sighted statement.
Or, gee, maybe it was a joke? Try repeating it in Dr Evil's voice while holding your pinky to your mouth, then see if you think he meant it in a serious way...
Me too:
You got 10 out of 10 correct, or 100 %
Some pretty sneaky ones, but the link, as you say, is the giveaway...
Nice... I agree that people are responsible for themselves.
I also agree with the grandparent, in that making drug use illegal is a major contributor to the "high costs of drug abuse" the government and media love to quote.
Apparently, the lessons offered by Prohibition are too hard for politicians to absorb...
I suggest you read a good book about this.
I've gotten a total of (approx) 10-20 spam messages in my 'regular' accounts, over the past 5 years.
;)
I have a hotmail account which used to get that amount every month, but I don't use it anymore, so it doesn't worry me.
I did get a nice offer of a bunch of money from a nice man in Nigeria, but strangely, he didn't sent it to me. All I asked for was $419 to cover my banking fees...
I don't know why people get so much spam?
Do they sign up for 'free pr0n in your mailbox' offers?
Do they send messages to Usenet, with their email address visible?
I don't get it.. and I'm happy to continue my spamless existance, thanks all the same...
Damn, I didn't think statistics were that dangerous!!
The reason the oil jobs were "exported to the OPEC nations" was because the oil supplies in the US peaked in 1970 , which is why there was a crisis in '73 when OPEC put the squeeze on the supply.
Now the US under "president" Bush has used the excuse of the "war on terror" to invade and take control of a country which has an estimated 25+ years until it's oil production will peak.
Start by reading this book cover to cover.
Take a class on how to run a small business.
Start part-time, and hire people to help you as you grow (refer to the book a lot).
Provide exceptional service.
Good luck!
So let's use this http://freecache.org/http://flakey.info/plinth/ link instead!
Anyone getting a patent, and who are a true member of the F/OSS community, should dedicate the patent to the public domain.
This would ensure that the knowledge patented can be used by anyone without money-grubbing corporations extracting a found of flesh for the right to do so.
Not hard to get? It's a limited resource, and wars have and are being fought over the supply of it.
Why do you think Iraq is being "liberated"? WMDs?
What people are willing to pay is what dictates the price, not the threat of running out.
So on the supply side of "Supply and Demand", you're saying that having a finite supply won't affect the price?
Sounds like you've been smoking the same crack as this guy:
When supply runs low, prices go up. It's a seller's market.
Welcome to the future of the oil market.
...farms producing either vegetable or soy oil for use as fuel.
The main problem is that a large amount of fertilizer is used to grow the biodiesel source, and that fertilizer is derived from fossil fuels.
Biodiesel is still a net energy sink, where more energy is expended to produce it than it provides.
If it costs 2 barrels of oil to grow 1 barrel worth of biodiesel, then it doesn't make sense to pursue this as a fuel.
Also, if everyone in America converted to biodiesel, and kept consuming that at the same rate as petroleum, then you would run out of fertile cropland.
Penguins @ Antarctica
vs
Polar Bears @ Arctic
Man, they bear grudges over looooong distances!!
The best thing about Independence Day was that I got some lip action with a girl I had a crush on at the time..
(relationship didn't work out, though.. oh, well..)
It's a joke, I get it.
Having said that, it's America and the other developed countries that are raping the planet right now.
The problems we are causing are too numerous for me to list, but we need to stop!
This website has the right idea, but I can't see many of us volunteering for it, at least not until a Peak Oil Depression sets in.
Use the fairly user-friendly LyX to do the LaTeX-ing.
Heck, get the academics themselves using it to prepare their notes in the first place!
They might actually thank you for introducing them to this convenient and easy document processor.
As such Google tells me that 45 mph = 39.1039309 knots.
Pretty decent speed, that....
I think it is reasonable to ignore the GST.
;)
Yeah!! I say let's ignore taxes... if only I could ignore income tax.. *sigh*.. damn them for deducting from my pay before I get it...
$553
Still more than $499...
And I think you can do much better than buying from Harris
I agree. But businesses do buy from them, and theirs was the first website that came to me, so I used it as an example.
Still, I think paying $0 (excluding ISP charges, and the price of three blank CD-Rs) is a better price for an OS.
Hell, yes!
Here is Australia, it's MUCH MORE than just $499.
For example MS Office Pro 2003 (see Harris Technology, which many businesses buy from here in Sydney:
Price Inc GST $829.00
That's about USD$750 (depending on exchange rates)
So, yeah, I'd correct whoever claims Office is only $499...
I think Ingvar Kamprad looks like a nice enough guy to play poker with...??
Oh, did you mean the second richest guy? That Bill dude?
Here's the listing of Australian Members of Parliament:
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mplist.htm
Write a snailmail letter (don't email) to your local member and protest this junk!
I'm not disagreeing with you, there is a vast difference between the USA and China.
I find some of the differences interesting.
From the CIA World Fact Book:
USA:
Area: 9,629,091 sq km
Oil consumption: 19.65 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Population: 290,342,554 (July 2003 est.)
China:
Area: 9,596,960 sq km
Comparative Area: slightly smaller than the US
Oil consumption: 4.975 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Population: 1,286,975,468 (July 2003 est.)
So their population is 1 billion higher, but in roughly the same total area as the US.
They consume 1/4 of the oil the US does, but this is increasing rapidly.
The average daily oil consumption in the US is 0.06767 bbl/day.
If we apply that number to the Chinese population, their consumption becomes a staggering 87,100,797 bbl/day!
We know there isn't enough oil available, as world production is around 75 million bbl/day, and there aren't any significantly large new fields being discovered (fig 4 on the page).
Read http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
It will happen more often, and it will eventually become permanent, unless we get a renewable resource to replace fossil fuels.
I read somewhere (a book which I forget the title of) that the real cost of gasoline/petrol, if you take away all the hidden subsidies the government provides (tax breaks, actual subsidies, etc), gas (in USA) would cost in the order of USD25 per gallon. I'm sure the situation is the same here in Australia, even if there are signs in petrol stations complaining that 55% of the petrol price is taxes.
A major problem, and one that's growing.
I think increasing gas/petrol prices might help with this issue, as governments would have to provide more efficient public transport to make sure the economy (which is petroleum-based, by the way. EVERYTHING we do depends on cheap oil or gas) keeps running.
Still, there's no excuse for buying a big SUV just to drive along the freeway to work. Carpool, and/or get a small, fuel efficient car. You have some good-looking hybrids available in the US... wish we had them here Down Under....
Amen. My car just had an expensive service, then threw off the alternator fan-belt, so it's back in the shop now.. *sigh*
I've only had a car (this is my first, and I'm turning 29 this year) for about three months, so I'm starting to regret it. Still, I catch the train to and from work, and only drive on the weekend, usually, so I'm not tied to it, as most other people appear to be.
No and yes. It's not your fault as an individual, but you have to share the blame (as do I) for our increasingly suburban lifestyle choices. A friend just returned from a year in China, and he loved being able to ride his bike everywhere, as everything was close to home, because the city wasn't designed around the automobile.
Western cities are designed, for the most part, around the car, with larger and larger distances between work, home and shops/entertainment. It's stupid, but we keep doing it, and we'll keep on doing it until something forces us to change.
Running out of cheap fuel will certainly do that.