Every time I see these stories, it reminds me of how they'd say not to do drugs in school, then show us exactly how not to do them...
And here's a link of exactly what you should NEVER do because it is illegal!
The article was not written as a HOWTO. The article exposes methods that criminals are already using to steal credit card info today. A drug-related analogy (since you mentioned "just say no") would be an anti-drug video shown to parents that provides details on how to cook and inject drugs. The purpose of the video is not to instruct adults on how to use drugs. The purpose of the video is to make parents aware of the process so that they can recognize a spoon that has been blackened by a drug user in their home as a sign that something bad is going-on.
My company is moving operations into Florida this year, with this and the hurricanes we might want to order larger capacity UPS units for our MDFs and IDFs.
Why order larger UPSes? The UPSes are supposed to carry your gear only until the generator comes up to speed.
The chemical reactions in the brain thagt cause depression are pretty well known. It's chemical issue.
Uh, no. There is no definite proof that chemical reactions in the brain cause depression. Scientists *theorize* that a neurotransmitter called serotonin plays a part in depression but they are not *sure* that's the cause.
There are drugs like Depakote and Neurontin that help people with "mood disorders". Do doctors/scientists know why Depakote or Neurontin help people feel better? Nope. They aren't 100% sure what those drugs are doing to the brain's chemistry.
If a doctor tells you that "We know that a lack of serotonin causes depression and giving you this SSRI will raise your serotonin level which will make you feel better", run the other direction.
That was of course until I started taking steroids [webmd.com], no not the shoot 'em in your ass and get big kind, the prescription kind.
Prednisone is not that uncommon. As you mentioned, it is used to treat asthma. Your dosage of 120mg was pretty stiff. If I had taken that much Prednisone, I'd be working 20-hour days, going to the gym for two hours a day and feeling great while I get by on two hours sleep. Yes, Prednisone makes you feel great. I believe it does something with your blood sugar. The warning about "not stopping suddenly" is for people who have taken Prednisone for a long time (not just five days). After a long, long time on Prednisone, you have to taper-off slowly to give your body time to adjust. Hopefully an MD will post to this story and provide more details on the mechanism that Prednisone affects. The most I've taken in the past is 60mg per day. And that was enough to make my heart pound and make me feel like I was drinking a twelve-pack of Mountain Dew every day.
it just runs the dehumidifier to lower the relative humidity of the incoming cold air (Chicago suburbs).
You are removing the humidity from cold outside air and *then* that air is heated to room temperature (which lowers the relative humidity even more) by the heat coming from the servers. What is the humidity in your datacenter, 10%?
t is a bad idea to travel with lots of cash, especially through any kind of checkpoint. While a small amount of cash, say from the ATM machine, won't draw any attention, thousands of dollars in cash will. They will assume you are into drug dealing, money laundering, or some other criminal activity. Plus, there is a good chance they will seize that cash, and if they do, you may not get it back. It has happened before.
Do you have a reputable source for these claims (such as working for the TSA or law enforcement) or are you just making this shit up? What about people who are flying to Vegas or Atlantic city for a little "recreation"? What about someone who is flying to a another city to purchase a vehicle they found via eBay? Are those people classified as "drug dealers or money launderers"? I'm sure there are plenty of other good reasons for people to have a pretty good handful of cash in their pocket when they are travelling; those were the first two that popped into my head.
You could have just robbed a bank or worse, you could be a counterfeiter.
Are you serious? People with brand new US twenty dollar bills in their wallets are now suspected of recently robbing a bank or being a counterfeiter? How do you think new bills get into circulation? The new bills are dispensed by banks, credit unions and their ATMs.
I Am Not A Counterfeiter (no silly acronym needed today) but I have heard/read that counterfeiters use different techniques to "age" the brand new bills before the bills are used in public. Therefore it's quite unlikely that a counterfeiter would be carrying brand new currency in never-circulated condition in his billfold.
Is your real name Scott? Are you related to Ann Reynolds? Because she has a brother named Scott, and I used to date her briefly in college.
Sigh...I tried to go for the easy "+1, Funny" this morning with the old "Phil McKraken" joke but it was all for naught. I guess "Al Coholic", "Oliver Clothesoff", and "Seymour Butz" wouldn't be funny either.
P.S. Why don't I carry cash on plane you ask? Because most money (unless it is brand new which would throw up red flags at the security checkpoint anyway)...
WTF are you talking about? How would brand new US currency throw up red flags at an airport security checkpoint? Approximately 25% of the times that I withdraw money from an ATM, the bills dispensed by the ATM are brand new US currency. Is the TSA going to detain me for visiting my credit union's ATM the night before a trip?
Angus McKraken brings us a Washington Post story about...
Story submitter, are you related to Phil McKraken? I used to work with a guy named Phil McKraken. Well, I didn't really work *with* Phil but I heard him being paged on the overhead PA system quite often. He was paged at least once a day so I think he must have been fairly important.
I wouldn't work at a university. I wouldn't go to one either.
Heyyyyyy, that's great. I can totally see your point. Would it be okay if you didn't bang the trash cans against the side of your truck when you empty them? The noise wakes-up my wife early on trash day and that makes her cranky. I promise to do a better job bundling my newspapers in the future. Did you notice that we rinse-out the soup cans before we put them in the recycle bin? You take care now...
It looks like you are taking a shot at those "sports heroes" with the big salaries. But those athletes with $50M/year salaries are actually a good thing. What do nearly all sports heroes do with their salary? They spend it! Big-name athletes drive expensive cars, they live in huuuuuuge mansions, they eat in expensive restaurants, and they buy lots of "bling". Those expensive cars pay the salaries of the salespeople at the car dealership as well as the mechanics who change the oil. The huuuuge houses provide wages for carpenters, electricians, house keepers, etc. Every $500 dinner tab at a fancy-schmany restaurant pays the wages of wait-staff, cooks, etc. What better way to stimulate the economy and get money into the hands of people who work for a living than to give it to a pro athlete? When was the last time you heard a story about a pro athlete who had millions in the bank? It's very rare. Nearly all of them spend it as fast as it comes in (or faster).
Giving an athlete $50M/year is like giving hay and water to a cow. The cow doesn't hoard the hay and water in its body. After the cow ingests the hay and water, a number of "calves" can all take a turn at one of the teats. (How's *that* for a Slashdot analogy?)
and a metre is about as far as you can comfortably hold your hands apart
I don't think I'm following you. Isn't a meter approximately three feet? I can hold my hands more than three feet from each other. I am almost six feet tall and when I stretch my arms out perpendicular to my body, my right hand is almost six feet (two meters) from my left hand. What part of your definition of a meter am I not understanding correctly?
To contrast, in Canada were access to doctors is free people live longer then in the US where it is not free.
I've seen this comment before on/. as well as similar comments about the infant mortality rate being higher in the US than any other country (which means the US healthcare system is teh suck). When these figures are quoted, are you people including the people who live in the ghet-to in large US cities? People who don't see a doctor on a regular basis and use the hospital E.R. when they have a backache? Are you also including all of the children under 18 who are accidentally shot in drive-by shootings? If so, yes, the US healthcare system looks pretty bad. We have a lot of people who don't survive infancy or don't live to see age 21. But that's not due to our healthcare system. It's due to crappy inner-city living conditions and too many gang-bangers who have no respect for other people's lives.
Our healthcare system in the US works quite well if you have a job and insurance (that's one hell of an incentive to get out of bed in the morning and drag your ass to work!). I have personally witnessed "no expense spared" treatments which saved the lives of friends or their children. I work in healthcare and I get to see firsthand the technology the doctors have at their disposal to diagnose and treat health issues.
We have the healthcare infrastructure and the talent to work miracles. But the stats will always be skewed by the people who don't have insurance, people who don't see a doctor until the situation is out-of-control or especially by people who live in the "not so nice" parts of the large cities. Yes, if you are born to a single mom in a bad part of town, the odds are stacked against you.
If healthcare was "free" like in Michael Moore's movie, would that solve all of these problems? No. I don't think it would. We would still have bad neighborhoods where little kids are accidentally hit by bullets intended for a gang member. The other thing to keep in mind is that quite a few people do have access to "free" healthcare in the US. People who can't pay their medical bills stil receive treatment. The hospital writes-off those uncollectable debts and charges the people with insurance a little bit more to make up the difference (hence the $50 aspirin). Large drug companies have plans to get medications in the hands of people who can't afford the drugs. If you are barely scraping-by, the drug companies will help you get the drugs you need. These programs are not advertised (or everyone would have their hand out) but if you make your "situation" known, there is assistance available. We have "free healthcare" for a certain slice of society and yet we still have many, many people dying way too young.
t's rather sad that, given an opportunity to drive the same car using more environmentally-friendly fuel, you, and people like you, of whom there are MANY (I'd say the vast majority perhaps?) will choose instead to simply choose to use more fuel, thus entirely counteracting any positive effect that the technology could have on the world around you.
Bryan, would it be easier to gather support for researching alternative energy sources by focusing on reducing our dependence on foreign energy sources than by focusing on "global warming"? I am one of the people who still has a hard time believing that we are altering the temperature of the earth with our "greenhouse gases". Is the temperature of the earth different than it was one thousand years ago? Yes, that's very likely. Are humans and their automobiles responsible for that change? I don't know. No one has convinced me that driving is ruining the earth because of "greenhouse gases".
I think if you focused on things that people can *see* and *feel*, you would be able to rally more support for alternative energy sources. The temp was -11 degree F twice this week when I got up for work (Wisconsin). When a person risks frostbite by being outside for a long time on days like that, it's hard to believe in global warming. But show me a news report that shows the US fighting a war in Iraq and I will back you 1000% when you say that we need to develop alternative energy sources so we don't have to send any more sons and daughters to places like Iraq.
In my little corner of the state of Wisconsin, we have "ozone action days" in the summer because the air quality gets to a certain point where it's bad for people with certain health problems to be outside. I am one of the people who is affected by that bad air. I can *feel* the effects of the bad air on those days. But I can't convince people to stop mowing their lawns or to not fill-up their vehicle with gas on those days. The healthy people hear "today is an Ozone Action Day" on the radio and then go mow their lawn anyway. I think the same principle holds for global warming versus not being held hostage by foreign countries for our energy needs. If you asked anyone in the supermarket if they would switch to a new fuel (which may cost more per mile traveled) because the new fuel would benefit the environment, most people would say "No thanks.". If you were in the same supermarket and asked the same people "Would you switch to a new fuel that is made here in the US of A and will reduce our dependency on OPEC?", most people would say "Yeah, I'm all for fuel produced here in the US. Don't send any more sons and daughters to die in Iraq."
Occasionally when I am in the checkout line at the supermarket, the person bagging my groceries will ask "Paper or plastic?" I always choose paper (yeah, I know I should be carrying those reusable cloth shopping bags). Then I follow that with "Osama really likes it when you use all of those little plastic bags." Most checkers are younger, high-school age kids and they get a laugh out of that. They know what I'm implying. If people knew that their actions could have an effect on the amount of oil that we have to buy from other countries, they would change their behavior. Maybe the bagger should ask "Would you like your groceries in a bag made from trees from northern Wisconsin or a bag made from oil that we bought from Iraq?"
I think you are on the right track with getting people to think about alternative energy sources. But I think you will attract more "flies" if you use honey instead of vinegar.
You say you love your daughter, but every time you start your car you are saying "Fuck it, I'm too stupid and lazy to change anything that might ensure my daughter has a future.". Your attitude is that of defeat, your inaction is just exacerbating the inevitable. When your daughter grows up, she will ask you "Daddy, what did you do to stop it?" and you will punch yourself in the face.
ArcherB has shared with us that he drives a four-cylinder automobile instead of six-cylinder or eight-cylinder model.
>>Bingo! That is why I choose drive a four banger. But again, that is my choice. No one forced to buy that car.
He chose that model instead of one that would consume more fuel to cover the same distance. Your post makes it sound like ArcherB has taken *no* steps to minimize his family's energy consumption. I see no proof of those claims in any of his messages. Yet your "punch yourself in the face" comment makes it seem like you know that he is leaving his thermostat set to 70 degrees at night, idling his car engine for long periods of time, leaving lights on, etc. I would ask that you at least give ArcherB a chance to list the areas where he has made a decision to consume less energy before you criticize him for not acting.
What I see in ArcherB's posts is a feeling of frustration that alternative energy sources are not being pursued. He mentioned nuclear, wind and hydro. He also expressed frustration that the people crying "Wolf!" the loudest are the people living in the huge houses as well as driving the Hummers and SUVs. The message I took away from his posts was that if people really think the energy situation is so critical, those same people should be leading by example. Let's see the people who are always talking about "the environment" move into a smaller home, put solar panels on their roof and switch to a more energy efficient mode of transportation.
because it just means you will have wasted your time in writing it.
I disagree. ArcherB did not waste his time writing his post. I read his entire post (and found it quite interesting). It's clear that ArcherB is passionate about the things he wrote about. That's a good thing. Sometimes strong language has its place in a discussion when the writer is trying to convey how strongly he/she feels about a topic. If I had mod points today, I would have modded ArcherB's post with a "+1 Interesting". I don't think that your post was wrong and I don't think that ArcherB's post was wrong. Both are presenting opposing viewpoints. I don't think either of you (Bryan or ArcherB) "wasted your time in writing it."
Seems to me that the Metropolitan Sewer District already uses bacteria on organic matter, without getting any ethanol.
It could have something to do with the fact that MMSD is aiming to produce hard, dry pellets instead of ethanol. For example, this week I cracked four eggs. Two of the eggs turned into breakfast (sunny side up with two strips of bacon) while the other two eggs turned into a chocolate cake.
For those curious about the MMSD program that turns human waste into lawn/garden fertilizer, go here: http://www.milorganite.com/about/
I use Milorganite in place of "synthetic" fertilizers (Scott's) that have components made from natural gas. I'd rather see that natural gas used for something more important (like heating or cooking) than making my lawn green.
You are soooo full-of-shit. Your "vis a vis" and "C-level project managers" buzzword fountain reveals that you don't know jack. You are a Grade A poseur. If you are going to pretend to be someone important, here's a vital tip: Spell-check your posts and review your use of punctuation. You say that you and your D&D-playing friend charge "well over $100/hr" but yet you put an apostrophe in "Point's of Presence". I would have to guess in real life that you are in your early 20s and you've taken one or two networking classes at the local vocational school. You probably know how to configure a Linksys WRT54G but can't go much beyond that. I am surprised that your post did not include a list of "certs" that you hold (including A+).
I'm sorry that my post is not more positive. But your post was so full of bullshit that I had to call you on it.
Slashdot Mirror
Every time I see these stories, it reminds me of how they'd say not to do drugs in school, then show us exactly how not to do them...
And here's a link of exactly what you should NEVER do because it is illegal!
The article was not written as a HOWTO. The article exposes methods that criminals are already using to steal credit card info today. A drug-related analogy (since you mentioned "just say no") would be an anti-drug video shown to parents that provides details on how to cook and inject drugs. The purpose of the video is not to instruct adults on how to use drugs. The purpose of the video is to make parents aware of the process so that they can recognize a spoon that has been blackened by a drug user in their home as a sign that something bad is going-on.
My company is moving operations into Florida this year, with this and the hurricanes we might want to order larger capacity UPS units for our MDFs and IDFs.
Why order larger UPSes? The UPSes are supposed to carry your gear only until the generator comes up to speed.
and he told me that a massive transmission cable went down by aligator alley
The real story is that a bunch of electrons were pulled-over by a cop in Waldo for going c in a 25mph zone.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/florida/5365-moved-waldo-florida-speed-trap.html
The chemical reactions in the brain thagt cause depression are pretty well known. It's chemical issue.
Uh, no. There is no definite proof that chemical reactions in the brain cause depression. Scientists *theorize* that a neurotransmitter called serotonin plays a part in depression but they are not *sure* that's the cause.
There are drugs like Depakote and Neurontin that help people with "mood disorders". Do doctors/scientists know why Depakote or Neurontin help people feel better? Nope. They aren't 100% sure what those drugs are doing to the brain's chemistry.
If a doctor tells you that "We know that a lack of serotonin causes depression and giving you this SSRI will raise your serotonin level which will make you feel better", run the other direction.
That was of course until I started taking steroids [webmd.com], no not the shoot 'em in your ass and get big kind, the prescription kind.
Prednisone is not that uncommon. As you mentioned, it is used to treat asthma. Your dosage of 120mg was pretty stiff. If I had taken that much Prednisone, I'd be working 20-hour days, going to the gym for two hours a day and feeling great while I get by on two hours sleep. Yes, Prednisone makes you feel great. I believe it does something with your blood sugar. The warning about "not stopping suddenly" is for people who have taken Prednisone for a long time (not just five days). After a long, long time on Prednisone, you have to taper-off slowly to give your body time to adjust. Hopefully an MD will post to this story and provide more details on the mechanism that Prednisone affects. The most I've taken in the past is 60mg per day. And that was enough to make my heart pound and make me feel like I was drinking a twelve-pack of Mountain Dew every day.
My friend and I recently posited that a single nuclear sub could pretty much take out most of the life on the planet.
Did you include the influence of lipizzaner stallions in your nuclear war-related calculations?
it just runs the dehumidifier to lower the relative humidity of the incoming cold air (Chicago suburbs).
You are removing the humidity from cold outside air and *then* that air is heated to room temperature (which lowers the relative humidity even more) by the heat coming from the servers. What is the humidity in your datacenter, 10%?
t is a bad idea to travel with lots of cash, especially through any kind of checkpoint. While a small amount of cash, say from the ATM machine, won't draw any attention, thousands of dollars in cash will. They will assume you are into drug dealing, money laundering, or some other criminal activity. Plus, there is a good chance they will seize that cash, and if they do, you may not get it back. It has happened before.
Do you have a reputable source for these claims (such as working for the TSA or law enforcement) or are you just making this shit up? What about people who are flying to Vegas or Atlantic city for a little "recreation"? What about someone who is flying to a another city to purchase a vehicle they found via eBay? Are those people classified as "drug dealers or money launderers"? I'm sure there are plenty of other good reasons for people to have a pretty good handful of cash in their pocket when they are travelling; those were the first two that popped into my head.
You could have just robbed a bank or worse, you could be a counterfeiter.
Are you serious? People with brand new US twenty dollar bills in their wallets are now suspected of recently robbing a bank or being a counterfeiter? How do you think new bills get into circulation? The new bills are dispensed by banks, credit unions and their ATMs.
I Am Not A Counterfeiter (no silly acronym needed today) but I have heard/read that counterfeiters use different techniques to "age" the brand new bills before the bills are used in public. Therefore it's quite unlikely that a counterfeiter would be carrying brand new currency in never-circulated condition in his billfold.
Is your real name Scott? Are you related to Ann Reynolds? Because she has a brother named Scott, and I used to date her briefly in college.
Sigh...I tried to go for the easy "+1, Funny" this morning with the old "Phil McKraken" joke but it was all for naught. I guess "Al Coholic", "Oliver Clothesoff", and "Seymour Butz" wouldn't be funny either.
P.S. Why don't I carry cash on plane you ask? Because most money (unless it is brand new which would throw up red flags at the security checkpoint anyway)...
WTF are you talking about? How would brand new US currency throw up red flags at an airport security checkpoint? Approximately 25% of the times that I withdraw money from an ATM, the bills dispensed by the ATM are brand new US currency. Is the TSA going to detain me for visiting my credit union's ATM the night before a trip?
Angus McKraken brings us a Washington Post story about...
Story submitter, are you related to Phil McKraken? I used to work with a guy named Phil McKraken. Well, I didn't really work *with* Phil but I heard him being paged on the overhead PA system quite often. He was paged at least once a day so I think he must have been fairly important.
I for one welcome our new star-swallowing overlords...
Ain't that sweet? I appreciate your hospitality.
-Divine Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Brown_(sex_worker)
I wouldn't work at a university. I wouldn't go to one either.
Heyyyyyy, that's great. I can totally see your point. Would it be okay if you didn't bang the trash cans against the side of your truck when you empty them? The noise wakes-up my wife early on trash day and that makes her cranky. I promise to do a better job bundling my newspapers in the future. Did you notice that we rinse-out the soup cans before we put them in the recycle bin? You take care now...
In the US there are a million DVCs (deer-vehicle crashes) per year, costing thousands of lives and billions of dollars of damage:
I have a much cheaper solution that, when applied to the deer, will greatly reduce the number of car-deer accidents:
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/ExpFCAR.jpg
as long as we have sports heroes who make $50m/yr
It looks like you are taking a shot at those "sports heroes" with the big salaries. But those athletes with $50M/year salaries are actually a good thing. What do nearly all sports heroes do with their salary? They spend it! Big-name athletes drive expensive cars, they live in huuuuuuge mansions, they eat in expensive restaurants, and they buy lots of "bling". Those expensive cars pay the salaries of the salespeople at the car dealership as well as the mechanics who change the oil. The huuuuge houses provide wages for carpenters, electricians, house keepers, etc. Every $500 dinner tab at a fancy-schmany restaurant pays the wages of wait-staff, cooks, etc. What better way to stimulate the economy and get money into the hands of people who work for a living than to give it to a pro athlete? When was the last time you heard a story about a pro athlete who had millions in the bank? It's very rare. Nearly all of them spend it as fast as it comes in (or faster).
Giving an athlete $50M/year is like giving hay and water to a cow. The cow doesn't hoard the hay and water in its body. After the cow ingests the hay and water, a number of "calves" can all take a turn at one of the teats. (How's *that* for a Slashdot analogy?)
and a metre is about as far as you can comfortably hold your hands apart
I don't think I'm following you. Isn't a meter approximately three feet? I can hold my hands more than three feet from each other. I am almost six feet tall and when I stretch my arms out perpendicular to my body, my right hand is almost six feet (two meters) from my left hand. What part of your definition of a meter am I not understanding correctly?
To contrast, in Canada were access to doctors is free people live longer then in the US where it is not free.
/. as well as similar comments about the infant mortality rate being higher in the US than any other country (which means the US healthcare system is teh suck). When these figures are quoted, are you people including the people who live in the ghet-to in large US cities? People who don't see a doctor on a regular basis and use the hospital E.R. when they have a backache? Are you also including all of the children under 18 who are accidentally shot in drive-by shootings? If so, yes, the US healthcare system looks pretty bad. We have a lot of people who don't survive infancy or don't live to see age 21. But that's not due to our healthcare system. It's due to crappy inner-city living conditions and too many gang-bangers who have no respect for other people's lives.
I've seen this comment before on
Our healthcare system in the US works quite well if you have a job and insurance (that's one hell of an incentive to get out of bed in the morning and drag your ass to work!). I have personally witnessed "no expense spared" treatments which saved the lives of friends or their children. I work in healthcare and I get to see firsthand the technology the doctors have at their disposal to diagnose and treat health issues.
We have the healthcare infrastructure and the talent to work miracles. But the stats will always be skewed by the people who don't have insurance, people who don't see a doctor until the situation is out-of-control or especially by people who live in the "not so nice" parts of the large cities. Yes, if you are born to a single mom in a bad part of town, the odds are stacked against you.
If healthcare was "free" like in Michael Moore's movie, would that solve all of these problems? No. I don't think it would. We would still have bad neighborhoods where little kids are accidentally hit by bullets intended for a gang member. The other thing to keep in mind is that quite a few people do have access to "free" healthcare in the US. People who can't pay their medical bills stil receive treatment. The hospital writes-off those uncollectable debts and charges the people with insurance a little bit more to make up the difference (hence the $50 aspirin). Large drug companies have plans to get medications in the hands of people who can't afford the drugs. If you are barely scraping-by, the drug companies will help you get the drugs you need. These programs are not advertised (or everyone would have their hand out) but if you make your "situation" known, there is assistance available. We have "free healthcare" for a certain slice of society and yet we still have many, many people dying way too young.
I'm going to write in Gravel, in any case.
What a coincidence: I'm going to write my name in Snow when I get home tonight.
You must be new here. You can count on Slashdot discussions to contain gems of wisdom like:
- That story about the guy who ate other people's shit
- The story about the old farmhand who played with the "pecker" of the young farmhand
- The plague of Minicity links
- Every story is tagged "whatcouldpossiblygowrong" by third-graders who visit
/. while their teacher isn't looking
- The GNAA posts
- The angry atheist comments (http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/atheist-atheism.php)
Sometimes it's really hard to find the wheat amongst the chaff.t's rather sad that, given an opportunity to drive the same car using more environmentally-friendly fuel, you, and people like you, of whom there are MANY (I'd say the vast majority perhaps?) will choose instead to simply choose to use more fuel, thus entirely counteracting any positive effect that the technology could have on the world around you.
Bryan, would it be easier to gather support for researching alternative energy sources by focusing on reducing our dependence on foreign energy sources than by focusing on "global warming"? I am one of the people who still has a hard time believing that we are altering the temperature of the earth with our "greenhouse gases". Is the temperature of the earth different than it was one thousand years ago? Yes, that's very likely. Are humans and their automobiles responsible for that change? I don't know. No one has convinced me that driving is ruining the earth because of "greenhouse gases".
I think if you focused on things that people can *see* and *feel*, you would be able to rally more support for alternative energy sources. The temp was -11 degree F twice this week when I got up for work (Wisconsin). When a person risks frostbite by being outside for a long time on days like that, it's hard to believe in global warming. But show me a news report that shows the US fighting a war in Iraq and I will back you 1000% when you say that we need to develop alternative energy sources so we don't have to send any more sons and daughters to places like Iraq.
In my little corner of the state of Wisconsin, we have "ozone action days" in the summer because the air quality gets to a certain point where it's bad for people with certain health problems to be outside. I am one of the people who is affected by that bad air. I can *feel* the effects of the bad air on those days. But I can't convince people to stop mowing their lawns or to not fill-up their vehicle with gas on those days. The healthy people hear "today is an Ozone Action Day" on the radio and then go mow their lawn anyway. I think the same principle holds for global warming versus not being held hostage by foreign countries for our energy needs. If you asked anyone in the supermarket if they would switch to a new fuel (which may cost more per mile traveled) because the new fuel would benefit the environment, most people would say "No thanks.". If you were in the same supermarket and asked the same people "Would you switch to a new fuel that is made here in the US of A and will reduce our dependency on OPEC?", most people would say "Yeah, I'm all for fuel produced here in the US. Don't send any more sons and daughters to die in Iraq."
Occasionally when I am in the checkout line at the supermarket, the person bagging my groceries will ask "Paper or plastic?" I always choose paper (yeah, I know I should be carrying those reusable cloth shopping bags). Then I follow that with "Osama really likes it when you use all of those little plastic bags." Most checkers are younger, high-school age kids and they get a laugh out of that. They know what I'm implying. If people knew that their actions could have an effect on the amount of oil that we have to buy from other countries, they would change their behavior. Maybe the bagger should ask "Would you like your groceries in a bag made from trees from northern Wisconsin or a bag made from oil that we bought from Iraq?"
I think you are on the right track with getting people to think about alternative energy sources. But I think you will attract more "flies" if you use honey instead of vinegar.
You say you love your daughter, but every time you start your car you are saying "Fuck it, I'm too stupid and lazy to change anything that might ensure my daughter has a future.". Your attitude is that of defeat, your inaction is just exacerbating the inevitable. When your daughter grows up, she will ask you "Daddy, what did you do to stop it?" and you will punch yourself in the face.
ArcherB has shared with us that he drives a four-cylinder automobile instead of six-cylinder or eight-cylinder model.
>>Bingo! That is why I choose drive a four banger. But again, that is my choice. No one forced to buy that car.
He chose that model instead of one that would consume more fuel to cover the same distance. Your post makes it sound like ArcherB has taken *no* steps to minimize his family's energy consumption. I see no proof of those claims in any of his messages. Yet your "punch yourself in the face" comment makes it seem like you know that he is leaving his thermostat set to 70 degrees at night, idling his car engine for long periods of time, leaving lights on, etc. I would ask that you at least give ArcherB a chance to list the areas where he has made a decision to consume less energy before you criticize him for not acting.
What I see in ArcherB's posts is a feeling of frustration that alternative energy sources are not being pursued. He mentioned nuclear, wind and hydro. He also expressed frustration that the people crying "Wolf!" the loudest are the people living in the huge houses as well as driving the Hummers and SUVs. The message I took away from his posts was that if people really think the energy situation is so critical, those same people should be leading by example. Let's see the people who are always talking about "the environment" move into a smaller home, put solar panels on their roof and switch to a more energy efficient mode of transportation.
because it just means you will have wasted your time in writing it.
I disagree. ArcherB did not waste his time writing his post. I read his entire post (and found it quite interesting). It's clear that ArcherB is passionate about the things he wrote about. That's a good thing. Sometimes strong language has its place in a discussion when the writer is trying to convey how strongly he/she feels about a topic. If I had mod points today, I would have modded ArcherB's post with a "+1 Interesting". I don't think that your post was wrong and I don't think that ArcherB's post was wrong. Both are presenting opposing viewpoints. I don't think either of you (Bryan or ArcherB) "wasted your time in writing it."
Seems to me that the Metropolitan Sewer District already uses bacteria on organic matter, without getting any ethanol.
It could have something to do with the fact that MMSD is aiming to produce hard, dry pellets instead of ethanol. For example, this week I cracked four eggs. Two of the eggs turned into breakfast (sunny side up with two strips of bacon) while the other two eggs turned into a chocolate cake.
For those curious about the MMSD program that turns human waste into lawn/garden fertilizer, go here:
http://www.milorganite.com/about/
I use Milorganite in place of "synthetic" fertilizers (Scott's) that have components made from natural gas. I'd rather see that natural gas used for something more important (like heating or cooking) than making my lawn green.
You are soooo full-of-shit. Your "vis a vis" and "C-level project managers" buzzword fountain reveals that you don't know jack. You are a Grade A poseur. If you are going to pretend to be someone important, here's a vital tip: Spell-check your posts and review your use of punctuation. You say that you and your D&D-playing friend charge "well over $100/hr" but yet you put an apostrophe in "Point's of Presence". I would have to guess in real life that you are in your early 20s and you've taken one or two networking classes at the local vocational school. You probably know how to configure a Linksys WRT54G but can't go much beyond that. I am surprised that your post did not include a list of "certs" that you hold (including A+).
I'm sorry that my post is not more positive. But your post was so full of bullshit that I had to call you on it.