Farewell Before Christmas December 29, 2005
Posted by Resident Egoist in : Misc , comments closedIt’s the holidays, and life is very uncomfortable in New York right now due to the ongoing transit strike. This is very likely to be my last post till next year, so here’s me wishing a merry Christmas and a great new year to all who happen to drop by. It’s been a very eventful year — may the next be one of hapiness for all the good folk.
Once again, happy holidays!
Technorati Tags: Christmas, Holidays, New Year, 2006
.On Sustainability December 19, 2005
Posted by Resident Egoist in : Ecology , comments closedInteresting article at the recently revamped Tech Central Station on the concept of “sustainability” as it is used by ecologists:
There are two main shortcomings I see with ‘sustainability’ arguments. First, for a truly irreplaceable resource (lets say petroleum) for which there is only a finite supply, any rate of use will be unsustainable. Eventually, we will run out. Similarly, if indeed global warming turns out to be a real problem, no rate of increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases is sustainable. Second, the sustainability argument neglects the proven role of technological advances that, historically, make sustainability a moot point.
A few facts on that last point from the same article:
[Q]uite often, worries over sustainability end up being unfounded. At the turn of the twentieth century, the United States had a major pollution problem in its cities — horse manure. An estimated 175,000 horses in New York City caused such a stinking mess (especially in summer) and threat to human health that even the daily removal and disposal of hundreds of tons of manure could not fix the problem. I’m sure that, if the government had funded research into the horse manure problem back then, environmental researchers would have predicted that by the year 1930, New York City streets would be covered to a depth of six feet in manure on a daily basis. For a very real problem that citizens actually experienced on a daily basis, this must have seemed like an inescapable fate for society. Yet, the automobile came along, solving the horse manure problem.
Fifty years ago we had enough known petroleum reserves to last about another thirty years. I remember in the early 1970’s there was widespread concern, made worse by the oil embargo, that the world was running out of oil. Yet, fifty years later, we still have thirty years supply left. How can this be? The reason, of course, is that it costs money to discover new oil, and there is no economic incentive for the petroleum industry to find more than is necessary …
Technorati Tags: Sustainability, Precautionary Principle, Environmentalism, Ecology, Anti-Indsustrial Revolution
Spam Fury December 18, 2005
Posted by Resident Egoist in : Meta , comments closedI’ve been getting a lot more comment spam than I can handle lately. b2evolution is great but it really sucks at thwarting spammers. Instead of having to resort to the draconian measure of completely disabling comments and trackbacks, I’m thinking of changing blogware — and Wordpress is looking very good right now.
A Mistaken Way of Advocating ‘Individual Rights’ December 12, 2005
Posted by Resident Egoist in : Politics , comments closedDELAND, Fla., December 8, 2005—Stetson University has announced that parody, “derogatory” or “demeaning” comments, and even jokes from The Tonight Show are out of bounds for its students. Stetson’s chilling declarations came after the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) protested the private Florida university’s censorship of a student magazine.
Well, so much for Individual Rights when those who claim to fight for them apparently have no clue that the words “private” and “censorship” are mutually exclusive.
Technorati Tags: Individual Rights, F.I.R.E, Censorship, Stetson University
Microsoft Live December 12, 2005
Posted by Resident Egoist in : Sci-Tech , comments closedMicrosoft seems to be engaging in a lot of “live” stuff lately. The latest addition to its stock is Microsoft Office Live — which is in beta testing. Business owners might want to check it out: besides the ability to use the Microsoft Office suite and the various tools that come with it online, all approved beta testers will get a free domain name, a website freely hosted by Microsoft, company email, and more.
As to the residential Windows users, first of all, I would tell you to throw that thing away and get a Linux box B). If you are unwilling to do that, then check out Windows One Care Live (Beta), and Microsoft Antispyware (Beta). I’ve had both of these installed on my desktop for quite a while, and they seem to be pretty good — although that is a computer that I use only if I absolutely must.
Technorati Tags: Micosoft, Microsoft Live, Windows One Care, Linux