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Videos (74) | Sift Talk (1) | Blogs (1) | Comments (173) |
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The Newsroom's Take On Global Warming-Fact Checked
"All of these things are predicted by the IPCC—I mean, not the permanent darkness thing, I don't think that's meant to be scientific. But yes, as we reported in May this year, Europe faces freshwater shortages; Asia can expect more severe flooding from extreme storms; North America will see increased heat waves and wildfires, which can cause death and damage to ecosystems and property. Especially in poor countries, diminished crop yields will likely lead to increased malnutrition, which already affects nearly 900 million people worldwide.
So, in all, well done Newsroom. Informative, accurate, if a little heavy-handed on the doom and gloom." /Mother Jones fact check
*Quality piece, Newsroom.
MacBook vs Yoga Dance-Off
Good metro apps are few and far in between, and the ones that do exist are usually gimped versions. It looks like it would be great with the tablet mode for general browsing, but really, without either iOS or Android's app ecosystem, the usefulness of a touchscreen is severely diminished. I don't believe it has Wacom-level precision for pen input (like Surface), which in itself would make it a great note taking device.
I don't like W8/8.1 on my desktop either, and regret upgrading from W7. For whatever reason I can't get access to user accounts settings (which has for some unknown reason been incorporated into Metro unlike virtually all other settings) because it crashes/hangs whenever I try to open it. So now I'm stuck with entering a password on my account each time I restart when I have absolutely no need to have one.
I had a couple of virtualised apps (I had a version of MS Office in an .exe file that I could run from a flash drive) but that no longer works probably due to compatibility issues.
My laptop's internet settings for some reason no longer remember passwords and I have to type it in each time. Meanwhile I see no tangible benefits. It loads slightly faster, maybe? But with an SSD the difference is marginal. W7's side-snap was genuinely a good idea. Meanwhile, W8 doesn't offer anything like that.
Metro apps are mostly useless to me. I'm glad that they're going to allow them to run natively in the desktop environment in W10 instead of co-existing through a finnicky side-screen mode but unless they actually offer improved functionality or ease of use over desktop (unlikely), I don't see me using them there either.
Colbert interviews Anita Sarkeesian
And you are right in that people do need to speak up when there is a problem, and Sarkeesian has every right to criticize video games or anything else for that matter. The solution to the problem should come from reasoned debate of the issues, not just playing yes man to feminist ideologues.
I do agree that more diversity in games and other forms of media can only benefit both the industry and the consumers. So I don't see any reason why women shouldn't go forth and make those games where the princess rescues the prince, or rescues herself, or whatever, and if it's a good game I'll buy it.
At work today I was reminded of the incredible diversity you can find in Manga, almost everyone reads them over in Japan and as a result they can cover a mind boggling array of topics. I read stuff like Shirow Miwa's 'Dogs', or anything by Masamune Shirow (Appleseed, Ghost In The Shell), and Tsutomu Nihei (Blame, Biomega, Knights Of Sidonia). Many people of course would think of all the hentai sex books out there, that's what gets most of the press after all, not stuff like 'With the Light' which was about the struggles of a mother raising an autistic child, ran from 2000 to 2010. It's probably not my bag but it's an example of where two wildly different things can exist in the same ecosystem.
The solution to these problems is not to lambast the people pointing them out. Nor is the solution to sit back and do nothing and hope it all works out for the best. One solution, as I've already stated, is to be openly critical of the messages contained in ALL media (including games). Another solution is to be vocal about the need for more realistic and diverse portrayals of people in ALL media (including games).
You can still have your Damsel/Dude in Distress trope, by the way. I have no doubt lazy developers will continue to use it as a substitute for meaningful story. Just don't expect people not to call out the utter absurdity of it, is all I'm saying.
Parade of Progressive Causes at the People's Climate March
Wow, you really can't read, can you?
From the title of the article you linked:
Then, from the article itself:
(both emphasis mine)
Climate change is not irreversible, but if we continue down this path, it may very well be.
And even if it was irreversible as of this point, we would still need to do something to mitigate the effects. Personally, I believe this is the most likely future scenario.
And your contrarian link has zero credibility. An article in the Daily Express talking about a TV weathermans opinion? What's next? A link to the Weekly World News interviewing Joe the Plumber?
@ChaosEngine @newtboy
Well, if Climate Change is now "irreversible," does that mean that the Climate Change believers will stop trying to use the government to try to reverse it? (I say it's one less thing to worry about! Alas, there will always be contrarians to this malarkey, as the U.N. pouts "Quit thinking about Climate Change, and act to empower us even further than we already are! What wealth still exists is shrinking, so we need to scramble harder for your last dollars!" You boys should donate if you care so much.)
Trancecoach (Member Profile)
I agree with a lot of this.
What I'd dispute is whether we know know for certain it is largely man-made. Again I would defer to NASA where it specifies it is "very likely due to human activities" that is the consensus. I study statistics and the hypothesis/ significance testing you could perform to test time periods before and after human activity would be very rigorous in determining a trend change, and there is certainly no lack of data.
As far predicting the benefit/harm and the most cost effective policy alternative if one is required, I agree it's debatable. There are organisations such as the Copenhagen Consensus that argue for technology based solutions such as stratospheric aerosol injection or carbon capture rather than pure taxes/reduced emissions.
My own (layman) take here is that mitigating a potentially large unknown is pragmatic. At the very least until such technologies are proven to be effective and feasible in reversing the trend. European colonists destroyed ecosystems through introducing but a handful of non-native species to a previously isolated habitats. I think it goes without saying we should not be naive about the unforeseen impacts of a global change like this and taking a conservative approach is warranted.
snip
Sen. Whitehouse debunks climate change myths
Hi Notarobot, your argument is unfortunately based on a very common misunderstanding of the chemistry of water and salt.
I can assure you that it is an established scientific fact that pure water has the highest heat capacity per unit of its mass compared to any water solutions. The less water there is in a water solution, the less heat capacity that solution has. This is because the temperature of pure water is more proportional to the amount of energy contained within it, which is due to the flexibility of its molecular structure. The more salt you add to water, the less structural flexibility (i.e. purity) there is to distribute and contain energy as the temperature increases. To put it another way, the salt molecules weigh down and restrict the water molecules from moving as freely, which is why salt water has a higher boiling point.
So in fact the more fresh water that is introduced to the oceans, the higher heat capacity and heat conduction there will be.
Furthermore, you grossly oversimplify the problem of climate change by assuming the only change that matters is immediately perceptible to "mammals like us". One of the biggest issues is that even slight variations in temperature can drastically change entire marine ecosystems. If enough ecosystems collapse, it will cause a chain reaction that will be very, very difficult to manage, let alone recover from. Also, even slight variations in salinity can drastically change ocean currents, which in turn affects not just marine ecosystems, but weather patterns throughout the world as well.
I can tell you're an intelligent person, so I hope you'll take me seriously when I say that it's very, very important for all intelligent people to be as diligent as possible when referring to the scientific causes and effects of climate change. Advocate whatever position you'd like as to how we should go about things, but please do your best to validate the information you're using to do so.
One of the results of a warming ocean is melting glaciers and ice caps. That is the addition of fresh water to a salt water system. There is more saltwater than freshwater in the world. One of the properties of salt water is that it conveys heat better than fresh water. The hot-water baseboard heater you use to heat your home would actually be more efficient if it used salt water. We don't use salt water in heaters because salt actually corrodes the metal pipes faster. What does this have to do with climate change? As you dilute the salt water that transfers heat from the warm equatorial waters of the world to the cooler waters in temperate zones, it gets less good at transferring that heat. This change happens very slowly to the perception of short lived mammals like us. In geologic terms, this is how we get to the next ice age.
starfish are dying on both coasts
That's pretty scary too but starfish are a keystone species, meaning when/if they go, the entire ecosystem changes...again. I've heard stories here in the west that the anemones are having trouble because the shellfish that the starfish ate are now taking over the tide waters and displacing them...I wonder what happens when the anemones go, surely something else needs them in order to live, and something needs that thing...and so on, and so on....talk about a slippery slope (pun intended).
We need a "we're all going to die" channel. :-)
just got back from Maine.... someone there who has lived their whole lives in Maine says the lobsters are leaving Maine waters, moving North. things are changing
The REAL Reason You're Circumcised
I've heard reports from several men who had sex before and after and said there was zero difference in sensation.
I circumcised my boys but not at all because of aesthetics, nor to "look like me", and especially not for any kind of religious reason.
We weren't dead-set against leaving them un-cut. In fact, we initially figured we'd just let them be natural.
One reason we decided to go ahead with it is we heard about lots of uncircumcised men have issues that require them to have it done later in life (e.g., phimosis, etc.), but the bigger reason was recent (at that time) studies showed strong evidence that circumcised men are at substantially lower risk for serious life-threatening diseases such as HIV and penile cancer (that results from HPV).
>> Yep, it's fucking barbaric. It is genital mutilation of children, period.
Talk about misinformation from a bunch of barbarians.
It's more barbaric to be completely close-minded, backward-thinking, and ignorant as to why there might possibly exist valid reasons to provide your children an almost 100% chance to avoid a plethora of penis-related problems and life-threatening diseases for their entire life in exchange for what's really a very minor procedure when done soon after birth.
The reasons against it? "It's fucking barbaric." Because... why again? "It just is," I'm sure is the best possible response.
The reasons in favor of it? Don't be so glib. Read the research.
Science Daily from Jan 2010:
American Cancer Society:
Facts like these are "the REAL reasons" my sons are circumcised.
Were you circumcised later in life so you are able to compare sex before and after? If not, then no, you can't say that.
Danish advertising at its best.
help, sales are down, please have more kids.
really, it's about the old people.
given that our plentiful supply of humans is outstripping the ecosystem far faster than it can be replenished, the trend in denmark is likely an intelligent one.
How Wolves Changed Yellowstone National Park
Does that mean that there is an acceptable rate of harmful sociopathic behavior within human systems? So introduce large groups of calculating murderers into populations where the growth of humanity endangers the ecosystem?
The world has this misguided ideology that nature is about love and peace between creatures.
Predators are killers and therefore bad.... we've made them villains in our stories and we've struggled to have compassion when they are killed off enmass. At best we think of them killing and eating other creatures stoically but not enjoying the murder of it.
It creates a certain dissonance with the public narrative to say... bring in the predators, let them kill, let them eat the herbavores, let them restore balance.
We don't like what it says about ourselves as a creature in nature.
How Wolves Changed Yellowstone National Park
Videos like that show ever so often the hubris of us humans to think that wih our limited understanding we can manage an ecosystem better than it has managed itself for billions of years.
The Natural Effect or How False Advertising Has Conned Us
@bcglorf
totally agree,
unless you wish to consider the massive rise of:diabetes,hypertension,heart disease,cancer,mental illness,obesity etc etc.
the connections linked to GMO's and its possible harmful effects to mammals and the environment,along with the surrounding ecosystems are beginning to surface.
turns out those company sponsored studies may not be as upfront and truthful as we were lead to believe and there might actually be a reason for concern.
Finally, the Perfect Romanian SUV for the Zombie Apocalypse
well done batman for tearing up delicate riverbanks and their fragile ecosystems
Cork Harvesting
Interesting. Removing bark from trees rarely kills the tree directly, by the way, since nutrient to the tree travels up the actual tree, while the tree actually provide fixated carbon to the soil downwards through the bark, and drives soil respiration. So, when you remove the bark, you are not actually damaging the tree directly, you are damaging the below-ground ecosystem, which in turn damages the trees.
EDIT: The above is true for trees in general and may or may not apply to the trees in the video.
Displacement from ship is causing damage
No, it's an environmental problem. You know, wildlife dying, an ecosystem being destroyed...
This seems like Rich People Problems.