* Posts by Rune Moberg

147 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Jun 2007

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Facebook's request to the flash industry: 'Make the worst flash possible'

Rune Moberg

Re: Just to be clear

Some content is temporary in nature.

E.g. two weeks ago I posted a picture of a burger with a note that says "and this joint have wi-fi". I knew that a friend of mine would be travelling the same way a week later and my picture gave him a feel for what kind of food to expect and what other services were available. And sure enough, a week later he made a stop at that location. I had also tested a shortcut which I told him about and he subsequently followed.

So a week ago my silly burger picture had value, but now it has become largely irrelevant and a year from now possibly just garbage. For all I know, the burger joint that opened in 2012 could be closed by the end of this year or they could radically change their menu or discontinue their offer of free wi-fi. The shortcut that was good this year might be terrible road work infested territory next summer. (in that area of the country they don't mess about -- they completely remove the asphalt leaving only large pebbles around that threaten to punch holes through your car)

In short: What has value today might be worthless next month. Someone might find my hamburger post (w/comments) worth a peek five years down the road, but I agree it is doubtful. Maybe I'll drive through there again some day and look at my posts from around that time to refresh my memory? Either way, why not store it in a sensible fashion?

Gadgets are NOT the perfect gift for REAL men

Rune Moberg
Mushroom

Re: useful presents, eh? -Costly but worthless gifts facilitate courtship

Sigh. I bought my wife a pair of tickets for something called "P!nk" thinking she'd take one of her gfs along. Unfortunately, the designated victim fell ill at the last moment and I had to attend in her place.

Four hours of my life I will never get back. Grrr.

ARTICLES without comment boxes - Climate, CO2, Anything authored by L. Page...

Rune Moberg

Re: The inconsistent Mr Page

"How come he spends so much time denying global warming, but then trumpets a global change in foliage as a direct cause of rising CO2?"

Clearly two different topics.

"candle heat vanishes until CO2 blows away"

Fine. Now show us how heat is only trapped in a single direction. (and also how 250 vs 450 ppm makes much of a difference -- while keeping in mind that if we drop below 250 ppm we will have a very real problem growing enough crops)

There are enough things to worry about. While fighting CO2 (plant food and necessary for all life on this planet(, politicians conveniently forget NOx and SO2 gases that causes serious health problems. (In Norway, the idiot politicians promoted diesel as a fuel because it was believed to be more efficient and thus reduce CO2 emissions... A few years later and they finally realize, as most of us did a long time ago, that NOx and particle emissions are much more harmful)

Warming: 6°C unlikely, 2°C nearly certain

Rune Moberg
Flame

Re: Solution to global warming is easy

"your plan is to kill everyone?"

Yeah, that was exactly what he was saying.

A few ideas, from the top of my head:

1) hand out free condoms in continents where the population is dense and the standard of living is low

2) educate people (same places as above)

3) improved contraceptives

4) reduce government subsidies for child #2 (In Norway you get a hefty sum of money for each kid produced -- stop it!)

etc...

I don't know about you, but where I live the cities are crowded enough already. There is absolutely no need for bigger cities or more cities. None.

Besides, more people means more consumers and more impact on the environment. If CAGW is real (I personally disagree and have been praying for a warmer climate ever since my birth) then adding more humans to the mix surely cannot help (quite the opposite I'd imagine).

Rune Moberg

Re: “Waiting for certainty will fail as a strategy,"

"by enforced poverty and pretty much slavery"

Somehow I thought that there was much more slavery in the past.

In my country the standard of living has improved dramatically thanks to the industrial revolution. Is your country different?

You know how your energy bills are so much worse than they were?

Rune Moberg

man-made climate changes

Alpha Tony, I am inclined to believe that man can influence climate, but no evidence suggests that CO2 is 'it'. Past increases of CO2 _follows_ an increase in temperature, not the other way around. So whatever we are doing to improve the climate (warmer temperatures combined with an increase in CO2 means lots more green plants and will help fight desertification), CO2 isn't it.

Rune Moberg

What works...

"might nonetheless want to pass on the word in other ways that lying is no way to convince people to support green action."

Lying has worked well for these guys for a long time already. I fail to see more effective ways of making sure other people's wealth gets distributed into your own pockets. This was never about environmentalism, but selling a doomsday prophecy to the masses; Mission accomplished.

Multimillionaire Brit games dev wants your cash for Shroud of the Avatar

Rune Moberg
Thumb Up

Re: multimillionaire seeks funding?

"If you donate $25 and you're one of the first 5000 to do so, you get a free copy of the game, otherwise you get nothing."

Take another look at the kickstarter project. Since they have reached 5000 punters at the 25 dollar level, that pledge level is now closed off.

The next level is still open (391 left as of now). I.e. you're not betting on being one of the 5000 first. As long as your cash is accepted, you are already qualified.

It is almost as if someone has done this before.

Rune Moberg
WTF?

Re: multimillionaire seeks funding?

...so you are saying that a kickstarter project is no different from buying games in a regular store? I've certainly bought some bricks that way and when you take it back to the store they can't refund you your money "because you might have made copies!" (butbutbut it had this fantastic DRM system that is supposed to protect against such things but instead crapped all over my computer?).

I have put up money in two kickstarter projects. Part of the fun is seeing if anything will come of it. (LSL remake + SpaceVenture)

Era of the Pharaohs: Climate was hotter than now, without CO2

Rune Moberg
FAIL

Re: FFS!

"billions of tons of crap into the air"

The sad part is that all this focus on CO2 (food for the plants -- a required component for most, if not all, life on this planet) diverts attention away from the real pollution (NOx, SO2, particles, etc).

Case in point: Politicians in Norway favored diesel some years ago because diesel cars emit less CO2. The result is more serious respitory health issues in the larger cities.

Tesla vs Media again as Model S craps out on journo - on the highway

Rune Moberg

Re: Writer was intent on high risk of failure

In two of my cars, when it reaches 0, there is usually enough fuel vapors left to drive another 100+ km. (and then, at the petrol station, I fill 73 liters of fuel into a tank specified to hold 70. I guess some fuel hides in various pipes and tubes)

Besides... For long trips, I bring a 5 liter spare can "just in case". Once, in Greece, I was driving around at night. I had to deploy my emergency fuel tank and then barely managed to reach an open gas station (turned out the guy had just started the first shift moments earlier).

Either way; Yes, a normal car can run out of juice as well, but the result is not nearly as dramatic.

Climate shocker: Carry on as we are until 2050, planet will be fine

Rune Moberg

Re: Well.

NomNomNom -- you are obviously not from Norway, nor have you lived here.

Norwegian scientists are more often than not on one crusade or another. Political biases run rampant.

This report will not receive any attention in Norway, and if that fails they will make sure that they quote the one bit that does not rely on any scientific evidence.

Norway is one freaky nation as we talk the loudest concerning "climate change", yet do not reduce our oil production by a single barrel. Instead we are still searching out new fields.

Which makes complete sense for those of us that think the myths concerning CO2 are mostly designed to scare us into paying even more taxes.

The notion that a vital component for all green life on Earth is somehow poisonous should require a substantial amount of proof. Sadly, the green activists have long ago decided that proof is not necessary. (the anti-H2O petition amply demonstrates this)

'Leccy-starved Reg hack: 'How I survive on 1.5kW'

Rune Moberg
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Haines, The Next Generation

"They'll thank me one day for organising these family bonding exercises, I have no doubt."

I am probably stating the obvious when I point out that they are more likely to send for brochures from retirement homes as soon as they become of age. If you are lucky. ;)

That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed your story. My apartment in Sweden can't handle me running the washing machine and the dishwasher at the same time. Coming from electricity-rich Norway, that was something of a cultural shock to me. I would probably have freaked out had I been in your shoes (what size do you wear?).

Top-secret US spaceplane sets off on another classified mission

Rune Moberg

lifting people

petur, we do not have to lift "several billion people".

Only the hairdressers, account executives and telephone sanitizers will have to go.

UK climate expert warns of 3-5 degree warmer world by 2100

Rune Moberg

Re: I don't trust the CO2 graph coral reef dashed lines.

http://www.co2science.org/data/acidification/database.php

AFAICT, corals survive better but grow a little slower (unless you really ramp up the CO2 in which case some corals show tremendous growth).

From perusing that database earlier, my impression is that the vast majority of organisms greatly _benefit_ from an increase in CO2. A result which indeed fits nicely with the fact that CO2 levels used to be much higher in prehistoric times.

But no, since James Hansen is worried his beach side property will sink into the sea, we will all have to stop exhaling this instance! (I strongly urge any warmistas to do so immediately)

Boffins BREAK BREAD's genetic code: Miracle of the loaves

Rune Moberg

Re: Keep in mind genetic engineering is practiced by *two* groups worldwide

I had an interesting chat with a local farmer a few months ago.

He told me he is growing several different types of wheat. Most notably spelt, but also emmer. "It grows everywhere, do not require antifungal treatment, no pesticides and no fertilization". I.e. bad for the chemical companies, but excellent for food production. Especially the past summers that have been extremely wet up here.

He went on to say that some of his customers have reported back that they can finally eat wheat buns again. I later looked up the topic of gluten allergy on wikipedia, and they claim that most people who think they are allergic to gluten are actually allergic to wheat and can eat spelt without any problems.

I remain skeptical towards modern farming. If we have to resort to a huge arsenal of chemicals to grow enough food, then maybe we need to take a careful look at our population growth? In my country we pay parents money for every kid they get. I think that is a silly thing to do.

Rune Moberg

Re: Simpler way to feed the world:

The price of corn was near a record low recently. The farmers are simply trying to return to profitability before more farms close down. Think of ethanol as a stop-gap measure to keep farms going while waiting for demand for food to pick up.

If you want to feel genuinely outraged, look at how much food gets thrown away every day. How can there be a shortage of food if we throw most of it in the trash?

Not that giving our food away is a great solution either. How can third-world farmers compete when we keep dumping free food in their market place? Why should they work their land for nothing?

Boffins: Jurassic avians were more like Angry birds than modern ones

Rune Moberg

Religion

In all fairness, most of the crticism of Darwin's theory of evolution today originates from people who believe there is a bearded guy in the sky who constructed the whole universe with everbody in it 6000 years ago (based on absolutely no observations or proof whatsoever -- just blind faith).

It is sometimes problematic to separate valid criticism from the "bible says differen'" crowd. The noise to signal ratio is not good. People eventually tire of debating with lunatics.

IBM insider: How I caught my wife while bug-hunting on OS/2

Rune Moberg

To GDI or not to GDI (in the kernel)

I have never seen an OS that cannot be crashed by a device driver. ("kernel panic" anyone?)

NT 3.51 was very stable, yes, but you'll find many of the same bugcheck code there as with newer iterations of NT.

In version 4.0, MS moved the GDI into the kernel. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc750820.aspx seems to explain why. Previous versions of NT would struggle on multi-processor hardware running advanced graphical applications. Photoshop was said to run _slower_ if you threw more CPUs into the mix. NT 4.0 solved that, but also increased the amount of code running in the kernel.

The thinking was that since graphics drivers were already in the kernel, and the OS so tied in with the GUI (few users will enjoy working with an empty screen and few servers will push the GDI hard enough into unchartered waters to provoke a crash) there would be few downsides stabilitywise.

I do not recall NT 3.1, 3.5 or 3.51 as being particulary more stable than NT 4 or its descendants. But, the newer versions supported much more hardware, scaled better, added many new APIs and features. More complexity too of course...

Fast forward to today, and Windows 7 is an incredibly swift and nice OS. I remember the "GDI is bad, mmhok?" debate back in '96, but that particular move has never caused me any grief. Installing antivirus software OTOH has several times wreaked havoc on my system. Once I triggered a BSOD by inserting a diskette into drive A:. Norton (I think) did not like that and immediately threw a spanner into the works. I never did trust antivirus software after that and every time I am forced to install them it feels like my system is running with scissors. It certainly moots the whole question of GDI being put in the kernel or not.

Swedish boffins: An Ice Age is coming, only CO2 can save us

Rune Moberg
Stop

Re: Graph proves article accuracy

And the medieval warming period was also caused by human activity...

...pull the other one, it has bells on.

Businessweek: 'It's Global Warming, Stupid'

Rune Moberg

Re: It's the Norse gods I tell you

Well, some of them, Loki in particular, had a great sense of humor. E.g. the time when they dressed up Thor, the God of thunderstorms, as a bride (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Erymskvi%C3%B0a).

Clearly someone recently pulled another prank on Thor, hence the recent spat of bad weather.

US climate-change skeptics losing support

Rune Moberg

The arctic

Ah... Yes, it was warm up north this year and a lot of ice melted. But 'unprecedented'? Funny how that report only goes back to 1979, completely missing the reports from the 1930s or the 19th century (see The New York Times archive) of ice-free waters.

Indeed, if such events equals 20 years of our CO2 emissions, then the melting witnessed in the 30s would account for 20 years of warming according to the scientist quoted in the article.

http://rps3.com/Pages/Burt_Rutan_on_Climate_Change.htm claims CO2 values were as high as now a century ago.

To me, it doesn't look like we have had much of a warming the past 15 years. I would like a warmer climate with double the CO2 in the atmosphere, but so far nobody has delivered on that promise. I feel cheated.

Polar sea ice could set another record this year

Rune Moberg
Coat

Regional vs Global

Lewis, Lewis, Lewis...

When the ice thickens, it is due to LOCAL variations in temperature. When it melts, it is solely due to GLOBAL warming.

Shove off Prince Harry, now Norway's teen royal in fresh photo uproar

Rune Moberg

Re: Anders Breivik

The Baron, I suspect some of the reason for those numbers is that in Norway we put away more traffic offenders than the US (and possibly UK). Class A highways have a 100 kph speed limit and you do not have to go much above a more European speed limit before your ass ends up in jail.

As for the jail pictures in this thread, I do not think those are representative. http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/artikkel.php?artid=10060268 shows somewhat similar, but more spartan facilities. The idea, as I understand it, is that he will share the computer room and exercise equipment with other inmates that will eventually land themselves in this high-security facility. As you can see, each room has a very solid lock, so I guess he will be on a timed schedule.

IEEE admits its MS-DOS history revisionist is in Microsoft's pay

Rune Moberg

Segment size

I think he meant that the segment size was 16 bytes.

Segment * 16 + offset gives you the exact memory address. (or indeed, shift the segment register left by 4 bits before adding the offset)

That leads to (on the 80286, if not also the 80186?) a strange memory space just above 1MB (commonly referred to as "A20"): A 64KB segment addressable that you won't be able to reach with the 8086.

NASA picks the target for Curiosity's first road trip

Rune Moberg

Re: Grand Challenge

Plus the guy operating it normally drives a Prius.

Scientists find safer way to store hydrogen

Rune Moberg

Re: Methane and Global warming

OTOH, if you reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, plants will grow much less efficient (and also require more water). Or if you reduce the temperature just a little bit and we might end up starving because food plants won't grow very well.

Better then to figure out how to keep the temperature up when the gradual cooling sets in.

SHOCK: Poll shows Americans think TSA is highly effective

Rune Moberg
Childcatcher

Re: Many hacks have an agenda and small brain

But... Does that mean that *you* will happily take the "train, bus or a boat"? If TSA is all that stands between the terrorists and your flight, how come your "train, bus or a boat" does not go up in flames every week?

On the flip side of that particular coin: Would you suggest that TSA-grade security scans be instituted for other means of transport besides air-travel?

Is that even feasible?

Personally I do not enjoy being blown up (hehehe, very close to a raincoat icon there), be it on a plane, train or a bus. I do not see much difference. I would be just as dead on those fatal 9/11 flights as I would have on those 7/7 buses. Maybe there would be more pieces of my corpse left behind if I had been on an exploding bus rather than an exploding airplane, but I frankly could not care less at that point.

For the last couple of years I have preferred my own automobile. Not because I feel "safer" (statistically, well, you all know what they show), but because I just cannot be bothered with all the stress and hassle of air travel. I love to fly (despite learning from MS Flight Simulator that those things are NOT foolproof), but I do not like the intimacy on display at the security checkpoints. If that means (like last year) driving all the way from Sweden to Georgia (through some of the worst roads in Europe), then so be it.

...And that is what I would have written BEFORE the bastards took away our water, forcing us, in many places, to pay exhuberant prices for a tiny bottle of water to carry us through a dehydrating flight. Now airtravel has become a farce of epic proportions. I hope the bastards responsible will burn in hell.

Greenland ice sheet not going anywhere in a hurry, say boffins

Rune Moberg
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Re: I didn't bother reading it

Stan, that is exactly why I mentioned the conditions in my part of the world. While certain people in the US cries "GLOBAL WARMING!" because they happen to have a record hot summer (in their own mind), I'm happy to point out that the warming is hardly global at all.

I expect, hope and want next summer to be a warm one. Bring on the sun!

Rune Moberg

Re: I didn't bother reading it

Watts refers to his process as "online pre-peer review". I see nothing wrong with that.

For me, the bottom line is this: Any and all doomsday prophecies (inkan or otherwise) have the burden of proof.

Especially when one of the main ingredients in photosyntesis is suddenly portrayed as the gas from Hades. That, combined with what is basically a tax on the very air we breathe smells of very bad science (aka religion).

Meanwhile, in my part of Europe we are "enjoying" the coldest summer in my recollection. Global warming, where art thou? Heck, we'd love to see improved plant growth from all that CO2 we keep hearing about, and we'd love to sit outside in the summer without wearing wool underpants.

Yes, yes, the Olympics are near. But what'll happen to its IT afterwards?

Rune Moberg
Coat

Legacy

"When the competition is over, the equipment will be yanked out or repurposed, and the Olympic organisers' legacy team will decide who will get what."

Hold on. Surely this falls under sustainability, not legacy?

Why British TV drama is crap – and why this matters to tech firms

Rune Moberg
Thumb Up

Re: 2 pence - and what of comedy?

I am only a simple foreigner, but I quite enjoyed "The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff" which seems to have been cancelled after only one season.

As for the yanks, "The Big Bang Theory" (as you already mentioned) is a favorite of mine, but I'd rate "Modern Family" higher.

Facebook joins Google in warning DNSChanger victims

Rune Moberg

Re: Presumably

People who own/drive cars are expected to keep the tyres inflated, check the oil level (+ change it every 15000 km or yearly), keep enough gasoline in it to keep going -- all this while circumventing potholes the size of a moon crater and pesky pedestrians.

Certain precautions have to be taken when hooking up to the internet. That is unlikely to change. If I send your clients an e-mail with an executable attachment, they need to understand the risks involved in saving that attachment and play with its contents (no matter how many naked boobs I promised them in the e-mail).

Some tough love now might save all of us some major headache in the future.

Meanwhile... Last week I sent a colleague a link to dilbert.com. MSN blocked the URL until I prepended "www." to it... I fail to fathom what events must have taken place for someone to introduce such a moronic block. (a few years ago it blocked URLs containing "download.php" -- sigh).

Eugene Kaspersky frustrated by Apple’s iOS AV ban

Rune Moberg

Re: Methinks he doth protest too much...

If you are running an AV product, how do you know you don't have a virus right now?

My wife's PC got infected with a trojan. I was the one who found it and deactivated it. I renamed the executable and kept it around to see how long it would take before the AV agreed with my diagnosis. It took several weeks, if not months.

My machine at work has AV, but it never stops anything. Except it once choked on a text-file containing a URL that it felt was risky. Sigh. The AV product we are using (as well as the one we used prior to it) has caused us several concerns. E.g. we spent time diagnosing our software because it was so slow... Turns out our network overlords had activated the AV product's firewall, which included a http scanner. We lost hours on that one.

Looking back at the past 25 years, I can definitively state that AV-products have caused way more problems than they have solved for me.

550,000-strong army of Mac zombies spreads across world

Rune Moberg

Re: Oh the humanity!

I am very tempted to say "find a Mac in my area in less than 24 hours and I'll buy you a drink".

In my circles, there is about 1 Mac user for every 50 Windows user. True, it would not be hard for me to find an infected Windows machine, but it is because I know which particular user is most likely to have an infection at any given time. (OTOH maybe he has cleaned up his act by now, in that case I'd be hard pressed to find an infected Windows machine)

Rune Moberg

Re: Oh my....

And I have been a Windows NT user since 1993.

Number of malware so far (not counting that awful PowerDVD crapware that came with my burner): 0.

Most of that time I have surfed with Javascript disabled. That fended off quite a few threats in the early years.

I also avoid installing any antivirus products. They lead to a false sense of security. Case in point: I've helped people clear trojans that their AV software only managed to pick up on after quite some time (I kept a sample at work where we are forced to use AV software).

OSX has grown in popularity. Welcome to your worst nightmare.

With this ring, I thee frag

Rune Moberg
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Cute, but what will transpire down the road?

After a few years of marriage, I would not be surprised if Taryn asks them to include a dishwasher brush in the game because Derek can't be bothered to do the dishes. (no worries Derek, I don't touch the dishes either)

I bet he will soon refuse all in-game "gifts".

Election hacked, drunken robot elected to school board

Rune Moberg
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Re: Missing the point

First of all, I trust electronics more than I trust people. I don't know what happens to my paper vote after it gets placed in the magic box. I do know that some of these magic boxes are sometimes found after the election is over, containing a bunch of uncounted votes.

Secondly, by cutting costs (both on the counting side, as well as for me, the voter), maybe we can hold _more_ elections, letting me vote on issues rather than on some pretty face with a slick tongue.

Today I do not have to visit my local bank and fill up my wallet with cold cash. I use a credit card instead, and more importantly: I can pay bills using their Internet solution.

In my country of residence, I use the same electronic ID to access my bank as well as various state services (e.g. accessing the DMV records, paying my taxes or book an appointment with my doctor).

If there is a hole in that system, then my bank account would be empty now. Well, truth be told, it is nearly empty, but for different reasons not pertaining to security issues.

Rune Moberg
FAIL

Proof?

I would gladly vote for Bender in any election anywhere. He would be a great improvement over any currently elected leader out there.

How do we know that he did not win fair and square?

Court rejects Tesla’s latest libel spat with Top Gear

Rune Moberg

Re: Re: Re: Tesla is the future, old people....

Funny.

Most weeks I drive 720 km+ split over two days. Avg speed about 100 kph. (takes me 3:40 to cover 360 km, including a bit of traffic at the very end)

On the positive side of things: My car runs on E85 (Ethanol) which is the most environmentally friendly fuel known to man. It literally grows on trees, soaking up the sun's rays along the way.

Toy Story: Mystic Met needs swanky new kit, swoon MPs

Rune Moberg
FAIL

"consensus"

I recommend this instead: http://petitionproject.org/

I'm not sure science by voting is the way to go. I've yet to see anyone bother explaining the various hot periods (farming on Greenland during the viking-era e.g.) of the past.

IMO, we must address the issue of over-population first. Once we get a more balanced population, then we can look at our CO2 emissions (hopefully we will still emit enough to keep the plants growing).

Shakira attacked by sea lion who mistook BlackBerry for a 'fish'

Rune Moberg
Pint

Do not play with the food

Seals have surprisingly tender meat. When prepared correctly, a cut of beef from a seal will melt on the mouth. The taste takes a little bit getting used to, but is delicious and quite savory. It kind of reminds a bit of whale beef, but somehow 'stronger'.

Seal meat is very nutritious and contains plenty of omega-3 fatty acid. There is a decent fish restaurant in Kirkeveien near Frognerparken in Oslo. They know how to prepare seals the proper way.

So Shakira, next time don't take pictures of the food. Just whip out your knife'n'fork and get down to business. Yum!

An NT-powered Windows Phone? Not so fast...

Rune Moberg

NT and kernel mode printer drivers

Yes, it took a while before games really started using NT, but Adobe Photoshop was one of the apps that benefitted from moving the GDI into the kernel. A dual CPU system would run PS slower than a single CPU system prior to NT4. (and keep in mind that XP kept GDI in the kernel for obvious reasons)

As for the printer drivers, they were moved back again to user mode starting with Windows 2000. (http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2007/09/14/kernel-mode-print-drivers-gone-the-way-of-the-dinosaur.aspx)

I quite liked NT4 back in the day, but I have never been big on printing. :P

SpaceShipOne man, Nobel boffins: Don't panic on global warming

Rune Moberg

9029

Follow the link on the first line of my comment..?

"including 9,029 with PhDs" it says in big friendly letters.

Rune Moberg

I see your 255 and raise you 8774

http://www.petitionproject.org/

9029 PhDs in the US alone who seem to not buy into the CO2-hoax.

That a gas so vital to all life on this planet should be deemed public enemy #1 is so extraordinary that IMO it requires a lot of evidence and observations to back up such tomfoolery.

Whenever I see a "we are doomed" newspaper headline, I can't help but notice that they fail to provide links to the underlying research. We, the unwashed masses, are asked to accept a helluva lot on face value alone. Quite frankly annoying.

The Sons of Khan and the Pascal Spring

Rune Moberg
Devil

GC

Ahem...

A Garbage Collector is all fine and dandy, but if you do any IO, or use any sort of resource somewhere... You have to start fiddling about with IDisposable, the using-keyword and suddenly you have one set of objects that you treat differently from everyone else.

I find it much easier to use one way of dealing with all objects. Takes the guesswork out of discovering which bastards have unmanaged resources hiding behind them.

Arctic freshening not due to ice melt after all, says NASA

Rune Moberg
FAIL

Beach weather in Canada -- snow closer to equator

Well, not quite the equator, but my inlaws were surprised by snow in the end of November near the Georgian-Turkish border. They saw snow fall before Oslo, Norway.

So, warmer up here, colder down there.

On average, all good then.

Begs the question: To properly measure global warming (or cooling) -- where exactly do you measure? And do we blame an increase in CO2 emissions? ('No' says http://www.forskning.no/artikler/2011/desember/306493)

Microsoft revives flight sim by giving it away free

Rune Moberg
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the terrorists won

Didn't MS issue a patch to FS so that you no longer could fly into buildings?

Official: File-sharing is a religion... in Sweden

Rune Moberg

Atheism

As I understand it, the romans referred to Christians as "atheists", because the romans knew there were more than one God whereas the Christians had early on cleaned the bible of all scriptures that contained more than one God.

An agnostic hasn't commited to anything and is somewhat ambivalent.

The modern definition of atheism however is that the scientific approach must be followed. Occam's razor and all that. Given that no proof exists of the flying spaghetti monster, we disregard it as a kid's story. The same goes for the modern day version of Santa Clause. And the same goes for the Christian God. No proof, no dice.

You can make up any story you'd like, but unless you present any evidence, it will be just that: A story you made up.

And such kid stories should not be used as a tool to change laws or dictate how other people should live. It isn't OK to kill "witches", nor is it OK to taunt homosexuals (some good Christians even want to kill them). It is important that normal people stand up to those bible thumpers.

Rune Moberg
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Troll hunter

A similar question (can a troll smell the blood of a muslim?) was explored in the Norwegian movie "The Troll Hunter": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740707/

Highly recommended. :)

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