I am jaded enough to think there are lawyers happy to see studies like this. I know some people who worked with asbestos a long time did get legitimately ill, but it was sad to see how false and exaggerated claims of illness were used to make money and ruin businesses. The extent of ploy might be suggested in the tort reform that took place in Texas:
"Why Doctors Are Heading for Texas"
"In sum, these reforms have worked wonders. There are about 85,000 asbestos plaintiffs in Texas. Under the old system, each would be advancing in the courts. But in the four years since the creation of MDLs, only 300 plaintiffs' cases have been certified ready for trial. And in each case the plaintiff is almost certainly sick with mesothelioma or cancer.
No one else claiming "asbestosis" has yet filed a pulmonology report showing diminished lung capacity. This means that only one-third of 1% of all those people who have filed suit claiming they were sick with asbestosis have actually had a qualified and impartial doctor agree that they have an asbestos-caused illness."
I read articles that make them sound like "rats of the sea" but they do eat them in China so maybe they are good eating (trying to be hopeful).
"The fact they will climb over dams, go on shore into people's swimming pools, burrow into banks, we sure as hell don't need them here," Gabrielson said. "I really believe there's not a damn thing in the world we can do about it."
First - I don't see where access to online gambling and the protection of intellectual property rights are comparable. Gambling is still illegal for minors and others in lots of places. If certain obscene materials became legal on some island in the Pacific that wouldn't mean they should have access to other countries.
Second - a lot of corporations in entertainment that protest intellectual property rights abuses using US political pressures are not even US corporations in full. Vivendi-Universal (French), Sony BMG (Japanese/German), EMI/Virgin (UK) etc. aren't strictly US corporations at all. These multi-nationals sell a lot of rubbish and pressure a lot of people for their own reasons. A lot of the money behind US property rights concerns comes from abroad.
A lorry/truck driver in UK went to court against the government concerning schools using Gores' movie in schools - and he won.
"Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" was greeted in the USA with enthusiasm and belief. In England, the government decided this great documentary should be shown at high schools because of its scientific relevance.
Fortunately a truck driver and father of two young sons, Stewart Dimmock, took exception and said, "I care about the environment as much as the next man, however, I am determined to prevent my children from being subjected to political spin in the classroom." He further alleged it was politically biased and scientifically inaccurate (Daily Mail, October 3).
He won the case in the English High Court against the government and its "team of experts," so now the so-called documentary can only be shown at schools with a warning of the bias and inaccuracies.
The convenient lies determined by the High Court were:
The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The government's expert was forced to concede this is not correct.
The film suggests evidence from ice cores proves that rising carbon dioxide causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The court found the film was misleading: over that period the rises in carbon dioxide lagged behind the temperature rises by 800 to 2,000 years.
The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests this was caused by global warming. The government's expert had to accept it was "not possible" to attribute events to global warming.
The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims this was caused by global warming. The government's expert had to accept that this was not the case.
The film claims a study showed polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out Gore had misread the study. In fact, four polar bears drowned and this was because of a particularly violent storm.
The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream, throwing Europe into an ice age. The claimant's evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility.
The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The government could not find any evidence to support this claim.
The film suggests the Greenland ice covering could melt, causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia.
The film suggests the Antarctic ice covering is melting. The evidence was that it is in fact increasing.
The film suggests sea levels could rise by 7 meters, causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40 centimeters over the next hundred years and there is no such threat of massive migration.
The film claims rising sea levels have caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The government was unable to substantiate this and the court observed this appears to be a false claim.
One has to be concerned these errors have not been emphasized in the U.S.
With the team of experts working with Al Gore, it is unfortunate these errors were not identified. Had the result of the "Inconvenient Truth" been to spotlight the problems of pollution as a whole, it would have still been beneficial. The actual result has, however, vilified coal and focused attention on carbon footprints and alternative costly energy systems that will probably make many obvious players tens of millions of dollars but not address the real critical issues.
Should Al Gore and his team return the Oscar and the Nobel Prize? It is disappointing to think such a revered committee as the Nobel Academy could make such an award without checking the scientific facts first.
This inaccurate "science" and politics unfortunately continues with the Department of Energy canceling its support of the FutureGen thermal power plant.
The only time many of the politicians, lobbyists and contractors seem to work together is to make as much money off China as they can while pretending to be concerned about security. Who can be surprised about all the Chinese spys when mysterious money men with Chinese connections always seem to turn up in campaigns? I just got done reading about China having penetrated US and Australian (UK too I think) databases:
"China has penetrated U.S. databases: 'They are already in and we have to find them'
It all seems sort of psychotic to spend to have national security and then let the the lobbyists, politicians and contractors sell them off out the backdoor to anyone ready to pay. So many things are broken (FDA, borders, transportation, US cities declaring "independence" from the government etc) but these issues hardly even get into the media when it focuses on the election.
There is a contradiction in this article. It encourages parents to "educate" their kids about the Internet while stating the kids know more about the Internet than they do:
"Prof. Lemish believes that one problem is that parents are not as media-literate as they could be. They don't have a handle on using popular online software and chat programs, and tend to have no clue about what is really happening online"
Having been a moderator in large teen forum, I know its a kid's friends and close peers that will do them more harm than the bogeymen trying to talk dirty. A bigger problem is girls getting drunk and then being taken advantage of by people they thought were friends. That was a weekly issue. Meanwhile the parents might have home tweaking the Internet filters.
Fact is many parents are lazy these days and like to seem engaged more than they are. They dont like to be upset and will ignore a kids school environment and friends (the "friends" do more damage than anybody) while feeling "super vigilant" about phantoms they will likely never encounter - its a compensation. A lot of these parents have pretty lame friends and relationships themselves and kids know it.
Another problem is an effort to redefine what pervy is. Schools and groups on Internet will teach kids S&M is ok if and they shouldn't be narrow minded about it. Parents coast right along with this sort of thing. But tell them someone "older" thinks their kid is attractive (and keep in mind a lot of the "older" people being busted with MySpace kids are like 19yr olds with 16 yr old high school juniors) even if their is no intention to follow through and the parents often want to freak out.
ATI/AMD's drivers can make you cry. But their Crossfire already scales much better than Nvidia's SLI which is a comparative disaster. Most games use Nvidia's cards/drivers for development so Nvidia cards hit the ground running more often. As manky as ATI drivers can be, when they say they will be getting better they tell the truth. ATI drivers tend to show substantial improvements after a cards release.
I think the manufactures like the names that don't signify much. I think they know the knowledgable enthusiast will be able to tell the quality cpus no matter what its called. The general public on the other hand can be allowed to think they are buying the best when they are not. A lot of people bought computers they thought were "dual core" when they were actually "Pentium Dual Core" - an inferior cpu to dual core.
One of the best computers I owned is my Gateway 500s from 2002. I still have it and only replaced the power suppy despite heavy use. It was a Consumer Reports "Best Buy" in 2002. The service used to be pretty decent like you write. I was helped quite a bit when I put a video card into a computer with integrated video. The rep must have spent a couple hours with me over 4 calls or so. Just two years latter I found the first few minutes speaking with a rep had become about him asking questions looking for a way to dump me. If I had a new hard drive not bought from Gateway they would say "tough luck". I am sorry to see another old American computer company get taken up like salavge.
I think its time to scrap those vehicles before NASA has the next "event". NASA doesn't exactly come across as a "crack" outfit anymore and I wouldn't want them watching my back as I hurdle through space on aging junk. I would need those special diapers. NASA looks to me like an outfit that will keep launching these "beaters" until they HAVE to stop (after the next accident anyone can see is coming).
Seriously. The grids are falling apart now and service is lost more and more frequently - but they want to start plugging in cars to them? This is psychosis.
I can't go to "special effects" movies anymore. With the advance of digital technology it seems there is no gimmick that gets left out of a movie. "Whiz Bang" movies today reminds me of a 13 year old girl starting to using make-up and who just packs all sorts of junk on her face. It was Michelangeo who said its not what gets put into a work of art that makes it great but what gets left out. Too many movies pack on layers of audio visual junk that cause the sum of the film to be less than its parts. The more "real" they try to make things look the phonier they look too me. The gimmicks stand out on their own as if in relief, and they dont even blend into scene or movie quite often. So much money gets spent making scenes with these gimmicks that I think people get reluctant to leave them out and they just over-inflate the films run times. Scenes of secondary import to the story become too long because there is some special effect. The worst for me are the sound effects. I never heard so much excessive, synthetic noise pollution in my life. I don't know how people can spend money at theaters anymore all things considered. First a patron gets pelted with 20 minutes of ads and trailers and then (if its a FX movie) get assaulted with over-cooked AV. Thank God for DVDs with a remote.
I love the "EGR" designation. Of course there are some people where extra grace is called for and when the site can provide that (within reason) it speaks well for the site. Of course some members become psychic vampires and just drain resources to no good end. I usually watch how people respond to the extra graces. If they just get more spoiled (after a week or two of trying to do a softshoe to look contrite) then that's a bad sign. Thanks
I modded at a 10,000 person forum. It's true a small group most often answers questions/posts. However this group can be genuinely informative/insightful or playing out roles that often flirt with being abusive. If the bullies, know-it-alls etc. aren't kept in check now and then, they gather little cliques that soon put pressures on groups and administration. A weak administration and a forum increasingly beset with stife and compulsive provacateurs soon sees its best relpiers dwindle down. The people who would normally ask the best questions also diminish. The informative "give and take" of good threads compresses into superficial expression. Too often forum webmasters think their forum has to serve "everyone" no matter how debilitating some members are. I have seen good forums flip, and the group of insightful posters get displaced by smaller more malignant group. This is usually due to weakness (being too nice) of administration.
I hear a lot of people taking credit for the demise of the immigration bill, and many people and groups did take issue with it over one provison or another. However I think the main reason it went down was because many people sharply realised the government is broken and not only NOT looking out for their interests but it has outright contempt for them. People have been dismayed that after the WTC attack and the Iraq war, border security remains relaxed in the extreme. Republican and Democrat voters were both against this bill, and when the vast majority of people were told their concerns were "secondary" if not selfish it became clear special interests were leading the government and not the people. A key element was that nobody believed the government would actually enforce any of the provisions included in the bill since they have such a miserable record of it in the past (and now its clear the governement can't even process passport requests or protect people from contaminated foods and they even hope to do a good job of that). With illegal immigration its been clear the powers that be don't want to stop it at all, and that the will of the people was seen seen as a hindrance that needs to be bulldozered if it can't be deceived. The main factor in the defeat of the bill was that many voters finally had the realisation that their government has kicked them to the curb. Lying and empty promises won't work anymore.
I was always under the impression a person needed a college (.edu) email addy to get on Facebook. I think after seeing MySpace sell for millions they might have become more agro for members.
Ah yeah - I bought an Asus P5W DH motherboard last August after reading tremendous reviews all over about how well the worked with the new Conroe cpu's. Then it turned out they couldn't boot with retail Conroes because they had only been tested with engineering sample cpu's. Asus told people to buy a $50 Celerons to boot and then change Bios to accept retail cpu's - sort of a "let them eat cake" attitude . People went nuts, and then Asus said it would mail people a new Bios chip for $25. People went nuts again, even the Register covered that story and Asus said it would mail the Bios chips for free.
Slashdot Mirror
I am jaded enough to think there are lawyers happy to see studies like this. I know some people who worked with asbestos a long time did get legitimately ill, but it was sad to see how false and exaggerated claims of illness were used to make money and ruin businesses. The extent of ploy might be suggested in the tort reform that took place in Texas:
"Why Doctors Are Heading for Texas"
"In sum, these reforms have worked wonders. There are about 85,000 asbestos plaintiffs in Texas. Under the old system, each would be advancing in the courts. But in the four years since the creation of MDLs, only 300 plaintiffs' cases have been certified ready for trial. And in each case the plaintiff is almost certainly sick with mesothelioma or cancer.
No one else claiming "asbestosis" has yet filed a pulmonology report showing diminished lung capacity. This means that only one-third of 1% of all those people who have filed suit claiming they were sick with asbestosis have actually had a qualified and impartial doctor agree that they have an asbestos-caused illness."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121097874071799863.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
It's wise to be careful with nanotube technology of course - and also to be careful with studies that give the legal types excuses to plunder.
People started finding Chinese Mitten crabs in the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay and balast discharge was mentioned:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/35888.html
I read articles that make them sound like "rats of the sea" but they do eat them in China so maybe they are good eating (trying to be hopeful).
"The fact they will climb over dams, go on shore into people's swimming pools, burrow into banks, we sure as hell don't need them here," Gabrielson said. "I really believe there's not a damn thing in the world we can do about it."
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070615/NEWS/706150327
First - I don't see where access to online gambling and the protection of intellectual property rights are comparable. Gambling is still illegal for minors and others in lots of places. If certain obscene materials became legal on some island in the Pacific that wouldn't mean they should have access to other countries.
Second - a lot of corporations in entertainment that protest intellectual property rights abuses using US political pressures are not even US corporations in full. Vivendi-Universal (French), Sony BMG (Japanese/German), EMI/Virgin (UK) etc. aren't strictly US corporations at all. These multi-nationals sell a lot of rubbish and pressure a lot of people for their own reasons. A lot of the money behind US property rights concerns comes from abroad.
A lorry/truck driver in UK went to court against the government concerning schools using Gores' movie in schools - and he won.
"Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" was greeted in the USA with enthusiasm and belief. In England, the government decided this great documentary should be shown at high schools because of its scientific relevance.
Fortunately a truck driver and father of two young sons, Stewart Dimmock, took exception and said, "I care about the environment as much as the next man, however, I am determined to prevent my children from being subjected to political spin in the classroom." He further alleged it was politically biased and scientifically inaccurate (Daily Mail, October 3).
He won the case in the English High Court against the government and its "team of experts," so now the so-called documentary can only be shown at schools with a warning of the bias and inaccuracies.
The convenient lies determined by the High Court were:
The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The government's expert was forced to concede this is not correct.
The film suggests evidence from ice cores proves that rising carbon dioxide causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The court found the film was misleading: over that period the rises in carbon dioxide lagged behind the temperature rises by 800 to 2,000 years.
The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests this was caused by global warming. The government's expert had to accept it was "not possible" to attribute events to global warming.
The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims this was caused by global warming. The government's expert had to accept that this was not the case.
The film claims a study showed polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out Gore had misread the study. In fact, four polar bears drowned and this was because of a particularly violent storm.
The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream, throwing Europe into an ice age. The claimant's evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility.
The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The government could not find any evidence to support this claim.
The film suggests the Greenland ice covering could melt, causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia.
The film suggests the Antarctic ice covering is melting. The evidence was that it is in fact increasing.
The film suggests sea levels could rise by 7 meters, causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40 centimeters over the next hundred years and there is no such threat of massive migration.
The film claims rising sea levels have caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The government was unable to substantiate this and the court observed this appears to be a false claim.
One has to be concerned these errors have not been emphasized in the U.S.
With the team of experts working with Al Gore, it is unfortunate these errors were not identified. Had the result of the "Inconvenient Truth" been to spotlight the problems of pollution as a whole, it would have still been beneficial. The actual result has, however, vilified coal and focused attention on carbon footprints and alternative costly energy systems that will probably make many obvious players tens of millions of dollars but not address the real critical issues.
Should Al Gore and his team return the Oscar and the Nobel Prize? It is disappointing to think such a revered committee as the Nobel Academy could make such an award without checking the scientific facts first.
This inaccurate "science" and politics unfortunately continues with the Department of Energy canceling its support of the FutureGen thermal power plant.
Let's be honest. In the U.S. economy, the $1.8 bi
The only time many of the politicians, lobbyists and contractors seem to work together is to make as much money off China as they can while pretending to be concerned about security. Who can be surprised about all the Chinese spys when mysterious money men with Chinese connections always seem to turn up in campaigns? I just got done reading about China having penetrated US and Australian (UK too I think) databases:
"China has penetrated U.S. databases: 'They are already in and we have to find them'
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/ea_china_02_08.asp
There was also the Chinese purchase of 3Com (maintains firewalls to the Pentagon) to a Chinese concern
"Congress members cite 'growing apprehension,' security risks in 3Com sale to Bain, China firm"
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/01/business/NA-FIN-US-3Com-Congressional-Review.php
It all seems sort of psychotic to spend to have national security and then let the the lobbyists, politicians and contractors sell them off out the backdoor to anyone ready to pay. So many things are broken (FDA, borders, transportation, US cities declaring "independence" from the government etc) but these issues hardly even get into the media when it focuses on the election.
As soon as I saw it was a review on Tom's I just couln't even be bothered reading.
There is a contradiction in this article. It encourages parents to "educate" their kids about the Internet while stating the kids know more about the Internet than they do: "Prof. Lemish believes that one problem is that parents are not as media-literate as they could be. They don't have a handle on using popular online software and chat programs, and tend to have no clue about what is really happening online" Having been a moderator in large teen forum, I know its a kid's friends and close peers that will do them more harm than the bogeymen trying to talk dirty. A bigger problem is girls getting drunk and then being taken advantage of by people they thought were friends. That was a weekly issue. Meanwhile the parents might have home tweaking the Internet filters. Fact is many parents are lazy these days and like to seem engaged more than they are. They dont like to be upset and will ignore a kids school environment and friends (the "friends" do more damage than anybody) while feeling "super vigilant" about phantoms they will likely never encounter - its a compensation. A lot of these parents have pretty lame friends and relationships themselves and kids know it. Another problem is an effort to redefine what pervy is. Schools and groups on Internet will teach kids S&M is ok if and they shouldn't be narrow minded about it. Parents coast right along with this sort of thing. But tell them someone "older" thinks their kid is attractive (and keep in mind a lot of the "older" people being busted with MySpace kids are like 19yr olds with 16 yr old high school juniors) even if their is no intention to follow through and the parents often want to freak out.
ATI/AMD's drivers can make you cry. But their Crossfire already scales much better than Nvidia's SLI which is a comparative disaster. Most games use Nvidia's cards/drivers for development so Nvidia cards hit the ground running more often. As manky as ATI drivers can be, when they say they will be getting better they tell the truth. ATI drivers tend to show substantial improvements after a cards release.
Here is a great drive bay panel that lets you plug in drives easily: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811997006
I tried GIMP and didn't like it. I just use Jasc Paint Shop Pro. It covers most of my needs and is easy to use.
I think the manufactures like the names that don't signify much. I think they know the knowledgable enthusiast will be able to tell the quality cpus no matter what its called. The general public on the other hand can be allowed to think they are buying the best when they are not. A lot of people bought computers they thought were "dual core" when they were actually "Pentium Dual Core" - an inferior cpu to dual core.
I thought Forrest Gump invented the smiley face?
I didn't see MySpace on the list
One of the best computers I owned is my Gateway 500s from 2002. I still have it and only replaced the power suppy despite heavy use. It was a Consumer Reports "Best Buy" in 2002. The service used to be pretty decent like you write. I was helped quite a bit when I put a video card into a computer with integrated video. The rep must have spent a couple hours with me over 4 calls or so. Just two years latter I found the first few minutes speaking with a rep had become about him asking questions looking for a way to dump me. If I had a new hard drive not bought from Gateway they would say "tough luck". I am sorry to see another old American computer company get taken up like salavge.
"I for one welcome our hydrogen-peroxide breathing overlords" You live in LA?
I think its time to scrap those vehicles before NASA has the next "event". NASA doesn't exactly come across as a "crack" outfit anymore and I wouldn't want them watching my back as I hurdle through space on aging junk. I would need those special diapers. NASA looks to me like an outfit that will keep launching these "beaters" until they HAVE to stop (after the next accident anyone can see is coming).
Maybe Betamax and Cavaricci's can be next.
Seriously. The grids are falling apart now and service is lost more and more frequently - but they want to start plugging in cars to them? This is psychosis.
I can't go to "special effects" movies anymore. With the advance of digital technology it seems there is no gimmick that gets left out of a movie. "Whiz Bang" movies today reminds me of a 13 year old girl starting to using make-up and who just packs all sorts of junk on her face. It was Michelangeo who said its not what gets put into a work of art that makes it great but what gets left out. Too many movies pack on layers of audio visual junk that cause the sum of the film to be less than its parts. The more "real" they try to make things look the phonier they look too me. The gimmicks stand out on their own as if in relief, and they dont even blend into scene or movie quite often. So much money gets spent making scenes with these gimmicks that I think people get reluctant to leave them out and they just over-inflate the films run times. Scenes of secondary import to the story become too long because there is some special effect. The worst for me are the sound effects. I never heard so much excessive, synthetic noise pollution in my life. I don't know how people can spend money at theaters anymore all things considered. First a patron gets pelted with 20 minutes of ads and trailers and then (if its a FX movie) get assaulted with over-cooked AV. Thank God for DVDs with a remote.
I love the "EGR" designation. Of course there are some people where extra grace is called for and when the site can provide that (within reason) it speaks well for the site. Of course some members become psychic vampires and just drain resources to no good end. I usually watch how people respond to the extra graces. If they just get more spoiled (after a week or two of trying to do a softshoe to look contrite) then that's a bad sign. Thanks
I modded at a 10,000 person forum. It's true a small group most often answers questions/posts. However this group can be genuinely informative/insightful or playing out roles that often flirt with being abusive. If the bullies, know-it-alls etc. aren't kept in check now and then, they gather little cliques that soon put pressures on groups and administration. A weak administration and a forum increasingly beset with stife and compulsive provacateurs soon sees its best relpiers dwindle down. The people who would normally ask the best questions also diminish. The informative "give and take" of good threads compresses into superficial expression. Too often forum webmasters think their forum has to serve "everyone" no matter how debilitating some members are. I have seen good forums flip, and the group of insightful posters get displaced by smaller more malignant group. This is usually due to weakness (being too nice) of administration.
I hear a lot of people taking credit for the demise of the immigration bill, and many people and groups did take issue with it over one provison or another. However I think the main reason it went down was because many people sharply realised the government is broken and not only NOT looking out for their interests but it has outright contempt for them. People have been dismayed that after the WTC attack and the Iraq war, border security remains relaxed in the extreme. Republican and Democrat voters were both against this bill, and when the vast majority of people were told their concerns were "secondary" if not selfish it became clear special interests were leading the government and not the people. A key element was that nobody believed the government would actually enforce any of the provisions included in the bill since they have such a miserable record of it in the past (and now its clear the governement can't even process passport requests or protect people from contaminated foods and they even hope to do a good job of that). With illegal immigration its been clear the powers that be don't want to stop it at all, and that the will of the people was seen seen as a hindrance that needs to be bulldozered if it can't be deceived. The main factor in the defeat of the bill was that many voters finally had the realisation that their government has kicked them to the curb. Lying and empty promises won't work anymore.
I was always under the impression a person needed a college (.edu) email addy to get on Facebook. I think after seeing MySpace sell for millions they might have become more agro for members.
QFT. It's been along time since I read something that over-the-top.
Ah yeah - I bought an Asus P5W DH motherboard last August after reading tremendous reviews all over about how well the worked with the new Conroe cpu's. Then it turned out they couldn't boot with retail Conroes because they had only been tested with engineering sample cpu's. Asus told people to buy a $50 Celerons to boot and then change Bios to accept retail cpu's - sort of a "let them eat cake" attitude . People went nuts, and then Asus said it would mail people a new Bios chip for $25. People went nuts again, even the Register covered that story and Asus said it would mail the Bios chips for free.