The Oil We Eat (Harpers.org) Richard Manning proposes that staples such as wheat, corn and rice are plants that thrive in the type of barren flooded landscape the were the result of the catastrophic melting following the last ice age. Farming, he proposes, is the ‘nuking’ of the landscape, the clearing of the forest. “Farming is the process of ripping that niche open again and again. It is an annual artificial catastrophe, and it requires the equivalent of three or four tons of TNT per acre for a modern American farm. Iowa’s fields require the energy of 4,000 Nagasaki bombs every year.” Interesting article, however, the opening points which state that all our energy comes from plants capturing solar energy, ignore geothermal, gravitational and atmosperic energy. As can be demonstrated by the fact that we could theoretically grow plants underground under electric lights powered by the tidal energy from the…
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The guys behind Blox were the Oddpost guys, and they pretty much created ajax. Blox was an online spreadsheet app and it was great but before its time. With the release of Google Calendar, Excel is the only reason I have to go near a PC or any Microsoft products. I’ve got nothing against Microsoft as a big corp, I just think their products are like badly made, vintage toys So please, I want Blox back. Google Calendar
Interesting trends – the split between Catholic and Protestant looks like Northern Ireland. Jewish and Muslim populations are largely co-incident. Money and religion are somewhat mutually exclusive. Oregon is nice and godless.link » tags: [religion] posted via Wists: permamark
Valleywag: Gizmodo talks to YouTube: “Q: Facebook just turned down a $750 million offer, saying they were seeking $2 billion. Do consider yourself a million-dollar-kind-of guy or a billion-dollar-kind-of guy? A: What we’re really committed to is providing the best experience, and we’re not really thinking about what we’re worth. We’re just viewing this as solving a really hard problem and that’s how to distribute video in an entertaining way. So as we move forward, we’re just going to stay committed to that” or… ‘Look we’re a one show (America’s Best Home Videos) product with clips we didn’t secure the rights for. We can’t talk money till we make sure we’re not just a free version of Akamai.’ But hey, users are everything, right? Yes if you are Google, and Overture’s business model rains greenbacks out of the sky like an endless ticker parade. No if you are Napster and…
Apparently Starbucks is suing because someone is using their trademark ‘double shot’. From now on I will refuse to use Starbucks trademarked terminology when ordering coffee just to mess with them (I could always just not buy Starbucks coffee, but that would be adult and mature and inconvenient): I will ask for Small, Medium or Large instead of the stupid: Tall; Grande; Venti, Party Bucket and Swimming Pool or whatever. I will ask for Skimmed milk in California and Non- Fat milk in New York (this apparently seems to confuse them). I will remind them I wasn’t invited every time I am referred to as a “guest”. When asked for my name, it will be: “freecoffeeforeveryone” or “Hugh Janus” or something equally hilarious. And I will ask for a “doubleshoto (sic) expresso” from now on. I’m sure Starbucks are trembling at the thought, but its probably just too much coffee.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Saturn’s moon ‘best bet for life’ “If the magma were to cool, he said, it would become more viscous, increasing friction from tidal churning and so producing more heat. But if temperatures veered higher, the magma would flow more easily, and tidal heat production would reduce accordingly.”
Victor, Parisian student, protesting the job contract that could have been in France: “It means that when I do get a job I will basically have to work as hard as I can to keep it.” Now that the French government has capitulated, I guess he won’t have to work hard any more. Lets get this in perspective, this was a law that suggested, after compromise, that you could be fired within your first year on your first job, providing there was a reason. – That’s all. This is not 19th century style worker exploitation, but stopping the contract will lead to it, because in a globalised economy the fact is that French jobs will now go somewhere where there is genuine exploitation. It was an attempt to help poor people get a start. And think how ridiculous this all sounds if you use being in a band as an…
Lubos Motl (a must read blogger) points out that climate change, is the new religion. First things first – climate change is very real and very worrying, if you look at the empirical data and spread of opinion amongst people studying it. It appears to be more truth than fiction – an idea bolstered by the amusing fact that the poster child (the inadmirable Crichton) of the ‘its fiction’ camp, is indeed noted for his science fiction. The problem is not that the truth is winning, its that its winning too easily and data is being amplified and distorted as it moves into the mainstream culture, and this does not help in the long term. What are the reasons for this? 1. Darwinism, is being distorted and muted by the negative feedback loop of people who want religious certainty and human primacy instead of evolutionary gradualism and primate-acy. Climate change…
This is Yum Brand's (owner of KFC's) satement on bird flu. Even if cooked chicken is safe, the coming chicken cull is going to make Zinger sandwiches cost more. Yum's share price has been pretty stable – time to short before bird migration.link » tags: [news] posted via Wists: permamark
The Food Timeline: food history reference & research service “Ever wonder what foods the Vikings ate when they set off to explore the new world? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream? What the pioneers cooked along the Oregon Trail? Who invented the potato chip…and why? Welcome to the Food Timeline.”