Brilliant letter to edit happy sub-editors July 25, 2008
Posted by Al in : clever , add a commentIf you’re a writer then what you write is your product, and you take as much pride in it as you can. The last thing you want to see is someone else changing your carefully crafted product, especially when the change appears to be for no apparent reason, so you would then feel the need to express your displeasure with such edits in a clear and concise manner. I feel that this letter from Giles Coren does just that, in a neat, if expletive filled, way.
No evidence that CO2 caused global warming
Posted by Al in : nature,politics , 1 comment so farI’ve previously blogged articles that show that global warming is actually in reverse, and that in a short period of time we may actually be heading back into an ice age. Following on from that is this article which argues that not only is global warming a thing of the recent past, but that there was never any actual evidence that CO2 was in any way responsible for the warming that did occur. Instead, it seems that governments and corporations have used this idea as another way to leverage our guilt and get us to spend more on unnecessary environmental upgrades to our lives.
Spain’s troubles mean European recession July 22, 2008
Posted by Al in : educational,politics , add a commentEurope is struggling financially at the moment, with large drops in industrial and manufacturing production for the last 6 months for the majority of member states. Even Germany’s rock solid economy is suffering, with a predicted 1.5% contraction before the end of the year. However, it is Spain that has a lot of people worried, because Spain’s economy has been built on construction for the last few years, with nearly 10% of its entire GDP coming from house building. As mortgages become scarcer and people start to bail out of new purchases then this industry is predicted to crash, leaving Spain’s economy to collapse in its wake.
Unemployment in Spain is approaching 10%, with further increases expected as building firms start to go under. Even worse, there is now a glut of housing with 700,000 new homes currently on the market without any buyers. This will lead to tumbling property prices and is already starting to expand into other markets such as car sales. This collapsing economy of one of the main European member states may well have a knock on effect with Spain’s neighbours, such as France and Italy, who are already struggling with difficulties of their own. Whether the European Union can fend off large scale recession remains to be seen, but Spain’s example doesn’t bode well.
50GB of online storage for free
Posted by Al in : interesting,website , add a commentStorage and bandwidth just keep getting cheaper, which means that more people keep offering online services for free. The latest that I’ve become aware of is this offering from Adrive.com, who offer 50GB of storage for free, with a more secure setup running at $6.95 a month and up to 1TB of storage available, but at a price. If you want basic online, offsite storage then the free option might suit you nicely.
Lasse Gjertsen vs angry German kid
Posted by Al in : clever,video,weird , add a commentThis is really rather clever:
Attacking Iran could be very costly July 19, 2008
Posted by Al in : educational,politics , add a commentFor months, if not years, America has been hinting at an invasion or attack of Iran. Fortunately this has not happened yet, and I’d like to think that it will not happen any time soon. However, America’s best ally in the area (if you can call a state so subsidised by America an ally rather than a servant) Israel is potentially lining up to do just that. This could be a horrible mistake and could lead to a drastic Peak Oil scenario being brought 10 years closer than needs be. Let’s hope that this doesn’t happen, because there are some very good reasons why attacking Iran would be a bad idea.
Best God joke ever – and some more
Posted by Al in : funny , add a commentEmo Philips is a strange character, but often rather funny; and in this particular joke he excels himself with a simple idea taken to another level. If you’ve never heard this joke before then you should laugh, and if you have heard it before it should still raise a smile. Read, laugh, enjoy.
Nature articles by Cracked.com
Posted by Al in : educational,funny,nature , add a commentI like Cracked.com, as it amuses me on a regular basis. However, I’m not sure whether I’ve ever blogged any of their stuff before, so I thought I’d make up for it by blogging 3 nature based articles that are worth a read. Firstly there’s this article on how man shouldn’t attempt to tackle nature, then an article on insects you wouldn’t want to meet on a regular basis, and finally a piece on cute animals that are far more dangerous than they look. Enjoy.
Peak Oil part 2: situation confirmed July 17, 2008
Posted by Al in : educational,future,interesting,politics,scary,science , 3 commentsIt appears that I’m not the only one to be worried about the whole Peak Oil scenario, not that I ever thought I was. Dave Cohen, from Energy Bulletin, has read the same report as me, and using additional information he has, has come to the same conclusion: Peak Oil is here now, or in the next few years. With OPEC sources finally topping out production, and so unable to meet the expected increased demand, and with non-OPEC sources having dramatically revised targets, it would appear that Peak Oil is just about on us. This is not news as the Oil Drum carried a similar story in March and May, but this recent data add extra credence to their report.
There is, however, a lot that we can do to try to avert this situation. It is scary to think that California’s oil consumption (for transport, at least) is more than that of China – so 3,700,000 people use more oil than 1,3000,000,000 people, which is absurd if you think about it. Part of the problem, in the US at least, is that car manufacturers have failed to make any noticeable improvements to their products recently, whilst Japanese and European manufacturers have worked hard on fuel efficiency for at least 30 years. This has lead to General Motors, one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world, to be significantly at risk of bankruptcy at the moment. Car sales worldwide have slowed recently, with car usage also showing significant drops as people take to foot, bike or bus to beat the rising cost or fuel. Over the next few years, as oil prices remain volatile and generally head upward, it is likely that only those manufacturers who can provide viable alternative energy sources for their vehicles will be able to ride out the coming storm.
As I have mentioned previously, the entire Peak Oil aftermath can be avoided if we can provide alternative methods for producing energy and for transport. Hydrogen fuel cells are a good option, and appear far more likely than cold fusion, but hydrogen fuel cells are usually only invoked for transport solutions, and electricity supply is possibly far more important than transport. It really is time to ask your government representative when the nuclear option is going to re-evaluated and increased, and it needs those NIMBYs who have tried to prevent nuclear power stations from being built to shut up and face facts. If a nuclear power station is built on your doorstep then there is a small chance that it will fail and cause terrible problems for you (remembering that if you take 2 weeks holiday a year then that’s 4% of the time you won’t even be in the vicinity); however, a lack of nuclear power stations at this time, when there is still no real viable alternative to oil for power generation, is certain to lead to some very drastic doomsday scenarios once Peak Oil is reached – which won’t be long.
Hong Kong neon July 15, 2008
Posted by Al in : travel , add a commentI’m only blogging this because it reminds me of Hong Kong. I still recommend everybody to go there at least once, and if possible do so during Chinese New Year. Even if yo can’t get there during New Year, go there anyway just to see sites like this.