Indeed, the history of science shows that "scientific consensus" inevitably gets turned on its head by upstart researchers and scientists who seek to find the real truth.
Can anyone identify any "scientific consensus" that has resisted any and all challenges for any appreciable amount of time?
And that consensus is then overturned by more upstarts? So, gravity is completely overturned (yes, it's superseded by GR, but its assumptions still hold good in most cases)? Is the theory of evolution being overturned by upstarts, now that it's the scientific consensus?
Though, lacking the ability to do a google search is hardly a recommendation of someone's ability to deal with the data and draw any meaningful conclusions anyway...
It's not a conspiracy theory. It's an orthogonality problem. If you have a Medieval Warming Period (MWP) -- then temperatures *aren't* unprecedented and become mathematically decoupled from CO2. Mann's "Hockeystick" graph erased the MWP -- problem is, the approach is worthless, and while Mann may believe it (again not conspiracy theory), it isn't true. Thus we still have the MWP (and the RWP, the Minoan, and the Holocene optimum) -- all of which were warmer than today and none of which had AGW contributions.
Well, yeah! The Medieval Warm Period, which was probably local, and restricted to Europe, but with a lower global average temperature... You could at least try to reada bit before spouting talking points...
A challenge to the geeks at slashdot -- read "HARRY_README.txt". If you believe a single thing that comes out of CRU after that, I've got a bridge to sell.
Though you haven't actually linked it, I'll try to answer.
First, let RealClimate speak (scroll down a little)...
HARRY_read_me.txt. This is a 4 year-long work log of Ian (Harry) Harris who was working to upgrade the documentation, metadata and databases associated with the legacy CRU TS 2.1 product, which is not the same as the HadCRUT data (see Mitchell and Jones, 2003 for details). The CSU TS 3.0 is available now (via ClimateExplorer for instance), and so presumably the database problems got fixed. Anyone who has ever worked on constructing a database from dozens of individual, sometimes contradictory and inconsistently formatted datasets will share his evident frustration with how tedious that can be.
Second, how is this any different from major, even mission critical code in so many other domains? Even in places which could cost thousands of lives (nuclear reactor safety systems, for example... Ever done a code audit on the software for those safety systems)?
Keep in mind that these people aren't professional coders; they're scientists using IDL and Fortran (90, I presume), and probably other languages like Matlab. The code is an implementation of their hypothesis. It's usually ugly, and the first one that works the way they want it. Maintainability? Hah! (note: here, I speak as one who has had to translate "scientist" code into "real" code).
Spouting talking points is hardly critical thinking, which is why you people are called "deniers" and not "skeptics".
It's really just selection bias; these are kids of parents who emigrated for studies and/or jobs. Which in turn means that they (the parents, that is) were among the top of those who try every year. Given an average proportion of reasonably concerned parents, it's no surprise that the kids of such parents turn out to be smart.
On the other hand, the rest who stay back in India are not generally so good, at least at overt arts like spelling. I for one am in India, and most of my peers' spelling and grammar is just atrocious!
I agree about having hardware buttons, but not about the Apple Bailout Key. It's a good feature to have, as long as it is in a decently off-limits area of the device.
Touch sensitive dedicated scroll areas does sound interesting, though!
The lock screen even on my HTC Tattoo (Android 1.6) shows the currently playing song, and song controls (notably, pause). When the screen turns off (I've set it to 15 seconds of inactivity), it takes no (display) power. When I turn the screen on again, it shows those widgets. I don't think it should be a problem
Assuming that you could make anything 100% perfect, which would presumably involve making it everything to everyone, so that nobody would ever need another of its type, why should you wait till you reach 100%?
It's a different market, but so many of the same assumptions apply. It just makes sense for them to start using an existing codebase for a new device. Apple did it!
It doesn't need to be perfect - just good enough (on both the tablet and phone) that people will want to buy it.
Also, look at other things that have languished in dev hell because they tried to go for perfection: Enlightenment, WinFS (actually, most of Longhorn), Plan 9,... Better to have something working today than something perfect next millennium.
I think you'll find that most of the mistrust people harbour about scientists, and science in general, comes from the fact that the media tends to 'definitively' interpret the results of non-definitive studies. Or over-report studies that, when peer-reviewed, fall apart like a... well, like a poorly-built motorcycle.
Slashdot Mirror
Indeed, the history of science shows that "scientific consensus" inevitably gets turned on its head by upstart researchers and scientists who seek to find the real truth.
Can anyone identify any "scientific consensus" that has resisted any and all challenges for any appreciable amount of time?
And that consensus is then overturned by more upstarts? So, gravity is completely overturned (yes, it's superseded by GR, but its assumptions still hold good in most cases)? Is the theory of evolution being overturned by upstarts, now that it's the scientific consensus?
If you want the data, go here.
Though, lacking the ability to do a google search is hardly a recommendation of someone's ability to deal with the data and draw any meaningful conclusions anyway...
It's not a conspiracy theory. It's an orthogonality problem. If you have a Medieval Warming Period (MWP) -- then temperatures *aren't* unprecedented and become mathematically decoupled from CO2. Mann's "Hockeystick" graph erased the MWP -- problem is, the approach is worthless, and while Mann may believe it (again not conspiracy theory), it isn't true. Thus we still have the MWP (and the RWP, the Minoan, and the Holocene optimum) -- all of which were warmer than today and none of which had AGW contributions.
Well, yeah! The Medieval Warm Period, which was probably local, and restricted to Europe, but with a lower global average temperature... You could at least try to read a bit before spouting talking points...
A challenge to the geeks at slashdot -- read "HARRY_README.txt". If you believe a single thing that comes out of CRU after that, I've got a bridge to sell.
Though you haven't actually linked it, I'll try to answer.
First, let RealClimate speak (scroll down a little)...
HARRY_read_me.txt. This is a 4 year-long work log of Ian (Harry) Harris who was working to upgrade the documentation, metadata and databases associated with the legacy CRU TS 2.1 product, which is not the same as the HadCRUT data (see Mitchell and Jones, 2003 for details). The CSU TS 3.0 is available now (via ClimateExplorer for instance), and so presumably the database problems got fixed. Anyone who has ever worked on constructing a database from dozens of individual, sometimes contradictory and inconsistently formatted datasets will share his evident frustration with how tedious that can be.
Second, how is this any different from major, even mission critical code in so many other domains? Even in places which could cost thousands of lives (nuclear reactor safety systems, for example... Ever done a code audit on the software for those safety systems)?
Keep in mind that these people aren't professional coders; they're scientists using IDL and Fortran (90, I presume), and probably other languages like Matlab. The code is an implementation of their hypothesis. It's usually ugly, and the first one that works the way they want it. Maintainability? Hah! (note: here, I speak as one who has had to translate "scientist" code into "real" code).
Spouting talking points is hardly critical thinking, which is why you people are called "deniers" and not "skeptics".
Read it again: It depends on similarity to a known language...
Once published, it's prior art...
If I'm reading him correctly, he's already got it incorporated into a real product. His profit's already there...
Unless the GP is talking about Hayreddin Barbarossa... ;-)
Considering the number of times we have to say RTFM to people, not much apparently...
Actually, that soundstage was on Mars.
Captain Kirk! Is that you?
Quite a few, it seems...
Rajan Anketell DIC CEng CSci FBCS CITP FIBC CMC FORS MIET FRSA
That's quite a collection you have there, Mr. Anketell...
How about replacing the 10 mpg SUV with a 50 mpg commuter?
It's really just selection bias; these are kids of parents who emigrated for studies and/or jobs. Which in turn means that they (the parents, that is) were among the top of those who try every year. Given an average proportion of reasonably concerned parents, it's no surprise that the kids of such parents turn out to be smart.
On the other hand, the rest who stay back in India are not generally so good, at least at overt arts like spelling. I for one am in India, and most of my peers' spelling and grammar is just atrocious!
Flouts is too strong a word. Indian law allows the government to license other manufacturers to produce any drugs deemed to be "life saving"...
If you have any vegetable oil, it can substitute Diesel fuel...
Is that an African sparrow or a European sparrow?
A wonderful example of a cure worse (or at least, with as many potentially unknown effects) as the disease!
National Socialists were not socialists
Actually, they were about as socialist as the German Democratic Republic and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea were/are democratic.
They were a command economy, though. Not all command economies are socialist, and not all socialism is a command economy.
I agree about having hardware buttons, but not about the Apple Bailout Key. It's a good feature to have, as long as it is in a decently off-limits area of the device.
Touch sensitive dedicated scroll areas does sound interesting, though!
The lock screen even on my HTC Tattoo (Android 1.6) shows the currently playing song, and song controls (notably, pause). When the screen turns off (I've set it to 15 seconds of inactivity), it takes no (display) power. When I turn the screen on again, it shows those widgets. I don't think it should be a problem
Why?
Assuming that you could make anything 100% perfect, which would presumably involve making it everything to everyone, so that nobody would ever need another of its type, why should you wait till you reach 100%?
It's a different market, but so many of the same assumptions apply. It just makes sense for them to start using an existing codebase for a new device. Apple did it!
It doesn't need to be perfect - just good enough (on both the tablet and phone) that people will want to buy it.
Also, look at other things that have languished in dev hell because they tried to go for perfection: Enlightenment, WinFS (actually, most of Longhorn), Plan 9,... Better to have something working today than something perfect next millennium.
ahem Insightful? Brain holiday for some editors?
It would be insightful if you listed anything that actually was "halfazz", instead of just making blanket statements with no provenance...
MS-PL and MS-RL are both quite OK with regard to the four freedoms. It's just that they're GPL-incompatible.
I think you'll find that most of the mistrust people harbour about scientists, and science in general, comes from the fact that the media tends to 'definitively' interpret the results of non-definitive studies. Or over-report studies that, when peer-reviewed, fall apart like a... well, like a poorly-built motorcycle.
As in, like this?
Where'd you get that? They're only talking about TM and copyright in the PDF... There's nothing in there about patents that I can see.
Not that games are actually copyrightable, at least in the US (which is where this was filed; DMCA and all)
Not available in the Indian market...