Yes, that's right - hackers! Those sick jerks who like to break into computers all over the place - are active through the University of Pittsburgh. What's at stake: Academic records - student e-mails and passwords [this is how I found out - somebody mentioned to me my latest password though I never told anyone that I had even changed it], addresses, and social security numbers - UPMC medical records - and now bank account information. They've recently made it mandatory for students to have direct deposit so that Pitt can automatically reimburse students when necessary. Hackers + your bank records = disaster!
I did not know it was even possible to hack in to the Pitt computers - especially since they are owners-operators of a state-of-the-art supercomputer. They employ numerous computer personnel to keep all sorts of security protocols in place. Well, it looks like that security has been severely compromised. I am not overly surprised by this turn of events - as I have mentioned before - the administration here at Pitt it so completely chaotic and disorganized that it is really quite pathetic. They employ top of the line professors - but the idiots in the administrative offices are clearly incompetent. There is absolutely no order or organization around here. They actually charged me for six credits last term - even though I only took three. Good thing I noticed the error and did something about it right away. But if this is happening to me - and I'm nobody important - it is a safe bet that it's happening campus wide and affects every student and possibly past graduates.
I read a newspaper article lately that Pitt is having some economic hardships. Why am I not surprised!!! Alumni are known to make nice big donations - but if there are hackers getting through -then money is seeping out the back door - and the morons at the top of the food chain around here are completely unaware of it. I guess they won't know what's really going on until it's too late. Just between you and me - I think and fully believe it's an inside job - you know - seemingly innocent computer lab techs who just happen to be hackers. It wouldn't surprise me a bit!! They did have one excellent security lab administrator here - but they fired him last term. I bet he found something out they didn't want known. But their illegal activity caught up with them fast anyway.
All this trouble definitely affects my research activities. But it will never stop me. I am already working on that Alps project and will just have to maneuver around this minor obstacle for the time being until it's cleared away. And I was looking forward to some really cool new geology classes being offered next fall. Hopefully, the problem will be fixed by then. If not, I do have countless other options. But for now - I have a lot of research to do. And off I go.....
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Monday, December 8, 2008
Latest Update with Goals in Mind
Just sat through the final class for Plate Tectonics. That was fun - I just love the whole continental collisions thing. Lots of neato stuff going on there. As for my near future plans, I will be taking a bit of time off to get things together and plan a course of action - maybe make some money, too. I will need it to fund my research - at least the field work part of it. I have already started printing out articles regarding the K-T transition along with material on the Deccans and the Cretaceous Normal Superchron. Yeah, I like to look at the really big picture. If I had remembered to bring the articles I have so far with me today I could have typed up the beginnings of the bibliography this evening - but I was more concerned with the class stuff to toss them into my backpack. That's alright, I have enough to get accomplished tonight anyway.
I did start that new newsletter style blog (gnewsletter.blogspot.com) - I am hoping to keep it a monthly thing only - but I can alter that plan if I wish - because it is mine to play with as I wish. Another thing I am hoping to do in the very near future is to do a freebie research project which I will post right here on this site. I want to do it to maximize what I have learned in the class I just took - and yes, it will be on my project topic - the Simplon Fault Zone. It will be much more detailed and extensive than my presentation was - just because I can continue with what I started. I get like this - I feel that my presentation was unfinished - that's me, my own worst critic. And for once, I'd just like to finish something I started to my own satisfaction. While it's on my mind, I will continue. Once I get into the reading and research of the K-T project - I'll want to focus all my study time on that topic - without the feeling of having unfinished business to deal with on a prior commitment.
As for the class project itself, I found the Powerpoint software that's currently available to be not as user friendly as it used to be. What is the point or purpose of having a blank slide? Why did they do away with the nicer backgrounds and the useful templates? I liked it better when you could choose various ways of placing images with captions. The latest version just does not do a damn thing for me. I do have an idea I want to try out to alleviate the problem. Put each slide together in Word then cut and paste it into Powerpoint. That way I can put the images and captions any way I want - before applying it all to the slides. Hopefully, it'll work.
As far as writing the research findings up with my own takes on various issues is concerned - I am quite good a research writing. As a matter of fact, the first time I ever took Introduction to Philosophy of Science, I got an A for the course. That was literally the first philosophy course I ever took. The instructor could tell that I was a scientist studying the geosciences due to my examples and my point of view was - as he called it, 'unique'. There are a few things I have never ever been accused of on any paper I have written for any college class - mostly because I would not do them because they are counterintuitive and counterproductive: cheating, plagiarism, and being off topic [the last I was accused of by one Peter Gildehuys, but he was the one off - since everyone I showed the paper to since his class said that it was absolutely on topic and that he must've been smoking something nasty to not realize it - so, I do not count anything he would ever say to be valid or of the real world - but he's an unethical and amoral ass, so no biggie there.]
One more little issue that I brought up in an earlier posting. I wanted to start posting my old papers online, possibly here on my blog. Well, I did find out something that I can do and I should be able to link them each to this site without any major problems. I have to look into them and see how to get them up and running and out there in cyberspace. As far as the Intelligent Design essays, I have every one of them saved and ready for uploading, as soon as I know what I am doing technology-wise. Each has a different title and they're each different since they were all from four different classes. But each earned an A - so they all go up. Stuff to do, stuff to do!
Hopefully, with a little luck, my next post will be something of an abstract for the Simplon Online Research Project. Hey, if artists can do freebies to get their stuff out there, then so can scientists! YES!!!
I did start that new newsletter style blog (gnewsletter.blogspot.com) - I am hoping to keep it a monthly thing only - but I can alter that plan if I wish - because it is mine to play with as I wish. Another thing I am hoping to do in the very near future is to do a freebie research project which I will post right here on this site. I want to do it to maximize what I have learned in the class I just took - and yes, it will be on my project topic - the Simplon Fault Zone. It will be much more detailed and extensive than my presentation was - just because I can continue with what I started. I get like this - I feel that my presentation was unfinished - that's me, my own worst critic. And for once, I'd just like to finish something I started to my own satisfaction. While it's on my mind, I will continue. Once I get into the reading and research of the K-T project - I'll want to focus all my study time on that topic - without the feeling of having unfinished business to deal with on a prior commitment.
As for the class project itself, I found the Powerpoint software that's currently available to be not as user friendly as it used to be. What is the point or purpose of having a blank slide? Why did they do away with the nicer backgrounds and the useful templates? I liked it better when you could choose various ways of placing images with captions. The latest version just does not do a damn thing for me. I do have an idea I want to try out to alleviate the problem. Put each slide together in Word then cut and paste it into Powerpoint. That way I can put the images and captions any way I want - before applying it all to the slides. Hopefully, it'll work.
As far as writing the research findings up with my own takes on various issues is concerned - I am quite good a research writing. As a matter of fact, the first time I ever took Introduction to Philosophy of Science, I got an A for the course. That was literally the first philosophy course I ever took. The instructor could tell that I was a scientist studying the geosciences due to my examples and my point of view was - as he called it, 'unique'. There are a few things I have never ever been accused of on any paper I have written for any college class - mostly because I would not do them because they are counterintuitive and counterproductive: cheating, plagiarism, and being off topic [the last I was accused of by one Peter Gildehuys, but he was the one off - since everyone I showed the paper to since his class said that it was absolutely on topic and that he must've been smoking something nasty to not realize it - so, I do not count anything he would ever say to be valid or of the real world - but he's an unethical and amoral ass, so no biggie there.]
One more little issue that I brought up in an earlier posting. I wanted to start posting my old papers online, possibly here on my blog. Well, I did find out something that I can do and I should be able to link them each to this site without any major problems. I have to look into them and see how to get them up and running and out there in cyberspace. As far as the Intelligent Design essays, I have every one of them saved and ready for uploading, as soon as I know what I am doing technology-wise. Each has a different title and they're each different since they were all from four different classes. But each earned an A - so they all go up. Stuff to do, stuff to do!
Hopefully, with a little luck, my next post will be something of an abstract for the Simplon Online Research Project. Hey, if artists can do freebies to get their stuff out there, then so can scientists! YES!!!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Ranting Prep Work
I am posting a quick bit here - just to get my juices rolling and flowing. I have that Simplon fault zone project due tomorrow and I just need to get into the right mindset to get myself on a roll. I did try to get some done Friday - but the only campus computing lab available - according to the sign on the doors of all the labs - was actually closed well before 5oopm. Whoever the idiot was that closed the lab early should have gotten someone to cover for him. It is not very efficient to have a lazy moron running things when we're coming up on finals around here - with projects due and all. I do hope it was reported to the appropriate authorities so that he, she, or they are made to pay the consequences for their inefficiency. I'd fire the ass if it were me - hey, tax dollars are paying for student's tuition around here - and if it gets out that the University of Pittsburgh is run by incompetent liars and layabouts - well, I guess they don't mind losing a few thousand students per year due to unethical practices and employee behaviors. Heck, the administration around here is abysmal - anyone can see that. Student records is not in touch with student accounts who in turn is not in touch with financial aid - if they communicated properly like they need to be doing - mistakes and mishaps would not occur. I am constantly wrestling with the idiots who run things around here. My advisor - actually believes he was to blame for an administrative failure. I don't believe he truly grasps how poorly this university is run. If a business was run so inefficiently, it would have no customers, no stock holders, and go out of business. Well, at least I know that the moron who was supposed to be here Friday won't ever make it in academia nor in the real world of work and business - he is a loser. Usually they have a few lab techs around to take care of things who know their business - apparently that is not the case anymore. Oh well, it's their loss.
As it is, I am feeling like taking a semester off from classes. Just to get back into the flow of things and figure a few things out - not to mention finish recovering from a very trying and devastating nightmare of a year - and I thought the year my mom died was the worst on record - between the field camp fiasco, 9-11, and ending in mom's unexpected death and under very suspicious circumstances. I still want the asses responsible brought to justice one way or another as soon as possible - if not, I will indeed make a public statement against the medical organization under whose care she did not come home from. I have a friend who is autistic - and she'd be able to run the show better than the jackasses who are in charge right now. So what's their excuse?
Well, as my dear aunt Michele mentions so often since I told her about the big red problem I've had this year, 'living well is the best revenge.' You know what? She's 1000% right. The problem turned out to be just a big loser who only now associates with other losers. Lost his job - as I said he would. Very stupid - infantile - immature - lacking integrity, decency, intelligence, reason, logic, honesty - no humanity whatsoever - not even an iota of self-respect. He was a very good actor, though, since he had everyone on campus fooled into believing he was a good decent sort. Minimum wage jobs are all he will ever have now - but hey, I guess that's what he wanted all along - as he said - it was just a game - he just happened to lose. I, on the other hand intend to win, big time - and he can just eat my dust, baby! Cry to his mommy and his loser friends for the rest of his life like the overgrown baby that he happens to be about how unfair life has been to him - let him lie on his bed at the end of his life looking back and regretting what he has done - but it was his actions to do - his decisions to make - of his own free will. Nobody told him to do what he did - the world just does not work that way - and this is not the dark ages - nobody put a gun to his head and told him to do this or else - actually an honorable man would prefer to die with his head held high with dignity and self-respect - but he does not even comprehend those terms and what they mean. One would think he's from a planet other than Earth or something. I feel sorry for his mother, having raised a son who turned out so lousy. Personally, if he were my kid I'd just up and disown his sorry ass - esp. if I went to all the trouble to raise him right and he turned out so wrong - treating people like that - I am sure his mother did not raise him to act in such a way - I met her years ago - and she is a decent good and intelligent woman - not a two-faced backstabbing thing like her son turned out to be. Ah well, it takes all kinds, I guess! I'm off to do battle... En Garde!!!
As it is, I am feeling like taking a semester off from classes. Just to get back into the flow of things and figure a few things out - not to mention finish recovering from a very trying and devastating nightmare of a year - and I thought the year my mom died was the worst on record - between the field camp fiasco, 9-11, and ending in mom's unexpected death and under very suspicious circumstances. I still want the asses responsible brought to justice one way or another as soon as possible - if not, I will indeed make a public statement against the medical organization under whose care she did not come home from. I have a friend who is autistic - and she'd be able to run the show better than the jackasses who are in charge right now. So what's their excuse?
Well, as my dear aunt Michele mentions so often since I told her about the big red problem I've had this year, 'living well is the best revenge.' You know what? She's 1000% right. The problem turned out to be just a big loser who only now associates with other losers. Lost his job - as I said he would. Very stupid - infantile - immature - lacking integrity, decency, intelligence, reason, logic, honesty - no humanity whatsoever - not even an iota of self-respect. He was a very good actor, though, since he had everyone on campus fooled into believing he was a good decent sort. Minimum wage jobs are all he will ever have now - but hey, I guess that's what he wanted all along - as he said - it was just a game - he just happened to lose. I, on the other hand intend to win, big time - and he can just eat my dust, baby! Cry to his mommy and his loser friends for the rest of his life like the overgrown baby that he happens to be about how unfair life has been to him - let him lie on his bed at the end of his life looking back and regretting what he has done - but it was his actions to do - his decisions to make - of his own free will. Nobody told him to do what he did - the world just does not work that way - and this is not the dark ages - nobody put a gun to his head and told him to do this or else - actually an honorable man would prefer to die with his head held high with dignity and self-respect - but he does not even comprehend those terms and what they mean. One would think he's from a planet other than Earth or something. I feel sorry for his mother, having raised a son who turned out so lousy. Personally, if he were my kid I'd just up and disown his sorry ass - esp. if I went to all the trouble to raise him right and he turned out so wrong - treating people like that - I am sure his mother did not raise him to act in such a way - I met her years ago - and she is a decent good and intelligent woman - not a two-faced backstabbing thing like her son turned out to be. Ah well, it takes all kinds, I guess! I'm off to do battle... En Garde!!!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Speculation on the Deccans and Creation
Alright, as usual, I'm a bit busy with class related work. I need to do a lot more research for my lecture on the Simplon fault zone. I was hoping for the Himalayas since it's near to my favorite volcanic province, the Deccans. I actually had a theory I wanted to follow on it - possibly relating slab rollback - a process theoretically possible in Plate Tectonics - in which a subducting oceanic crustal plate literally rolls back like a conveyor belt - underneath itself. The Deccans, being a likely hot spot volcano initially, may have changed late in the Cretaceous to a subduction related one. It would be relatively simple to determine by the type of rocks erupted from it - prior to and during the Cretaceous event. Basically, if the Deccans erupted outer core material initially - then changed chemical composition to erupting crustal slab material - then the hypothesis would be verified. There are just way too many things that happened at the end of the Cretaceous that it's difficult to determine if each major thing is related to the others or not. There's the famous collision - the Deccans - and the end of the Cretaceous Normal Superchron a very unusual polarity reversal - one of these could very likely have set off the other two. But what caused the polarity reversals to just stop altogether for such a very oddly long period of time before the CNS? And we aren't quite sure what actually causes the reversals in the first place.
As to other issues: The wild and crazy physicists have decided that it's time to see exactly how the entire Universe was created. they've got the CERN super accelerator up and running already. Looking for a new source of energy among other things. One problem with their project: nobody has yet determined how exactly the Big Bang actually took place - I am talking specifics here. There is the one itty bitty tiny issue they haven't quite applied to the theory yet - The Law of Conservation of Energy [LCE]- energy can NOT be created nor destroyed - it can only be changed from one form to another. They actually believe that the Big Bang means that the entire Universe - energy - matter [which just happens to be very concentrated packets of energy], etc. - came into being from nothing at all - basically a complete absence of matter, energy, etc. This completely defies or ignores the LCE entirely. And the brainy physicists decided to just recreate the Big Bang under Europe. Common sense just did not enter their minds at all, apparently. Here's a fun and jolly what if scenario - the only way a Big Bang could conceivably work and follow from the LCE is by means of a Black Hole/White Hole scenario. Now, that's just a worst case scenario. So how exactly do they intend to reverse the formation of a black hole after they create one? We can't save thousands of people from a hurricane in New Orleans, prevent terrorist nutbags from trying to annihilate everyone who says boo to them, or stop global warming [though we do have the technological capabilities to prevent these disasters, but we just don't use them] - but we'll just have a good ol' time recreating the creation of the Universe right here on our own home planet. And if something goes horribly wrong we'll, what - run to another planet and ruin it, too?! Pray to God to save us from our sins and close up the damn hole we just burrowed through space time? Yeah, some religious nuts will likely say that humanity deserves its fate for its sins and evilness.
Hey, to all the religious loobies out there, listen up: maybe the vast majority of humanity does not want to die according to your wishes - we did not create hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc. - it's part of the imperfect universe we happen to live in - if everything in the known universe was as perfect as you people seem to believe it should be - then life would be pretty boring - but then maybe you all like life boring - and you're all stupid to boot. Get with reality people - stop living in a fantasy world - it's your ideal fantasy world that is causing damage to a hell of a lot of people - we are sick and tired of it. And why the hell do you want to dumb down American society? Do not deny that you are behind all that intelligent design crap you are pushing down legislator's throats - that and lowering standardized test scores. Rewarding the nation's children for being stupid and lazy is not exactly what I'd call in our nation's or our world's best interests - not to mention our species. Remember folks, we are actually designed to be more intelligent than our cats. Just in case the religious nuts are watching...
As to other issues: The wild and crazy physicists have decided that it's time to see exactly how the entire Universe was created. they've got the CERN super accelerator up and running already. Looking for a new source of energy among other things. One problem with their project: nobody has yet determined how exactly the Big Bang actually took place - I am talking specifics here. There is the one itty bitty tiny issue they haven't quite applied to the theory yet - The Law of Conservation of Energy [LCE]- energy can NOT be created nor destroyed - it can only be changed from one form to another. They actually believe that the Big Bang means that the entire Universe - energy - matter [which just happens to be very concentrated packets of energy], etc. - came into being from nothing at all - basically a complete absence of matter, energy, etc. This completely defies or ignores the LCE entirely. And the brainy physicists decided to just recreate the Big Bang under Europe. Common sense just did not enter their minds at all, apparently. Here's a fun and jolly what if scenario - the only way a Big Bang could conceivably work and follow from the LCE is by means of a Black Hole/White Hole scenario. Now, that's just a worst case scenario. So how exactly do they intend to reverse the formation of a black hole after they create one? We can't save thousands of people from a hurricane in New Orleans, prevent terrorist nutbags from trying to annihilate everyone who says boo to them, or stop global warming [though we do have the technological capabilities to prevent these disasters, but we just don't use them] - but we'll just have a good ol' time recreating the creation of the Universe right here on our own home planet. And if something goes horribly wrong we'll, what - run to another planet and ruin it, too?! Pray to God to save us from our sins and close up the damn hole we just burrowed through space time? Yeah, some religious nuts will likely say that humanity deserves its fate for its sins and evilness.
Hey, to all the religious loobies out there, listen up: maybe the vast majority of humanity does not want to die according to your wishes - we did not create hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc. - it's part of the imperfect universe we happen to live in - if everything in the known universe was as perfect as you people seem to believe it should be - then life would be pretty boring - but then maybe you all like life boring - and you're all stupid to boot. Get with reality people - stop living in a fantasy world - it's your ideal fantasy world that is causing damage to a hell of a lot of people - we are sick and tired of it. And why the hell do you want to dumb down American society? Do not deny that you are behind all that intelligent design crap you are pushing down legislator's throats - that and lowering standardized test scores. Rewarding the nation's children for being stupid and lazy is not exactly what I'd call in our nation's or our world's best interests - not to mention our species. Remember folks, we are actually designed to be more intelligent than our cats. Just in case the religious nuts are watching...
Monday, September 29, 2008
Update on Science Work
I have been a bit busy with the Plate Tectonics class I am taking. I had to give a 1 1/2 hour lecture on continental transform faults last week. It started well but fizzled out at the end. I guess that's what happens when you work on a presentation while you are sick - making me need more sleep than normal. Also, I was putting it together like I would for a 5-7 minute presentation - one slide at a time. Unfortunately, that was a bad idea on my part - because finding decent images was a more time consuming part than usual - and PowerPoint is a lot more buggy than I am used to. I think I'll look into whether I can use an older version. The current layout choices are not very useful - and not good for decent design - especially for a creative type like me. I mean, what's the point of a blank slide with no picture or written content on it? That's kind of useless. Whatever happened to the old saying - if it ain't broke, don't fix it? It looks like they are working more bugs into the software instead of working the old bugs out. It's very frustrating for users like me.
I get to do the 1 1/2 hour presentation thing again later in the semester and so I am restrategizing for it. I am thinking about doing it by 'layers': first layer would be the written - or typed - content, followed by the sources in a footnote type fashion, then images with their footnotes and some added commentary. Hey, when you make mistakes, you're supposed to learn from them. That's exactly what I intend to do.
As for my other myriad list of personal research projects - I really need to get on the ball and get working on one officially. I was going to work on the Jericho project - just because it coincides with the class. But I think I'd rather focus on my oldest project and bring it up to date and improve it - adding the Deccan info to it. Yes, I am speaking about the KT Collision Event project. I am picking it because it will be the most exciting and interesting - and right now I need that as additional drive to get it moving along nicely. I think I might even add some info about the Cretaceous Normal Superchron - just to lay some groundwork about what things were happening back then when the collision occurred.
Another reason I am picking this project is because I still need to retake paleoclimates and some other classes that will be necessary for the Pleistocene project - and archaeology for the Jericho project. I already have a plan in place for approaching each project. First, do the research: reading articles and putting together an extensive research paper. Second, plan for data collecting - what data I need to show and back up my research findings - this would be through field work and lab work and calculations. Next, carrying out any of this data collecting - preferably as a team effort - to get more data collected. Finally, the conclusions and how the data supports or does not support the initial information.
Also, something I have been considering adding to the content here - I hope to post several of my past research papers - that earned A's - including all of the ones [there are four of them] on the Intelligent Design and Evolution debate. I just need to figure out how exactly to do this the way I want to. If I knew someone who was really tech savvy and could figure out how to do that... Also, I would like to do some serious critiquing of articles on scientific subjects - including the Intelligent Design topic of course. I get very opinionated when it comes to that topic - probably because I do not like stupid people and will not tolerate them any longer than necessary - and I certainly do not care for them getting involved and pushing for their half-witted and illogical ideology to be taught in schools. Education is supposed to make folks smarter - not dumber!
Lastly: apparently, folks were having a problem posting comments on this blog. I apologize to anyone for the inconvenience. I have since fixed the problem and you can now post away. Please keep it on topic and no spam.
Thank you!
I get to do the 1 1/2 hour presentation thing again later in the semester and so I am restrategizing for it. I am thinking about doing it by 'layers': first layer would be the written - or typed - content, followed by the sources in a footnote type fashion, then images with their footnotes and some added commentary. Hey, when you make mistakes, you're supposed to learn from them. That's exactly what I intend to do.
As for my other myriad list of personal research projects - I really need to get on the ball and get working on one officially. I was going to work on the Jericho project - just because it coincides with the class. But I think I'd rather focus on my oldest project and bring it up to date and improve it - adding the Deccan info to it. Yes, I am speaking about the KT Collision Event project. I am picking it because it will be the most exciting and interesting - and right now I need that as additional drive to get it moving along nicely. I think I might even add some info about the Cretaceous Normal Superchron - just to lay some groundwork about what things were happening back then when the collision occurred.
Another reason I am picking this project is because I still need to retake paleoclimates and some other classes that will be necessary for the Pleistocene project - and archaeology for the Jericho project. I already have a plan in place for approaching each project. First, do the research: reading articles and putting together an extensive research paper. Second, plan for data collecting - what data I need to show and back up my research findings - this would be through field work and lab work and calculations. Next, carrying out any of this data collecting - preferably as a team effort - to get more data collected. Finally, the conclusions and how the data supports or does not support the initial information.
Also, something I have been considering adding to the content here - I hope to post several of my past research papers - that earned A's - including all of the ones [there are four of them] on the Intelligent Design and Evolution debate. I just need to figure out how exactly to do this the way I want to. If I knew someone who was really tech savvy and could figure out how to do that... Also, I would like to do some serious critiquing of articles on scientific subjects - including the Intelligent Design topic of course. I get very opinionated when it comes to that topic - probably because I do not like stupid people and will not tolerate them any longer than necessary - and I certainly do not care for them getting involved and pushing for their half-witted and illogical ideology to be taught in schools. Education is supposed to make folks smarter - not dumber!
Lastly: apparently, folks were having a problem posting comments on this blog. I apologize to anyone for the inconvenience. I have since fixed the problem and you can now post away. Please keep it on topic and no spam.
Thank you!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Global Warming and Other Changes are NOT the End of the World
I am getting sick and tired of seeing all the foolish whining from folks who seem to believe the world is coming to an end due to global warming or the war on terror. What is wrong with people these days? They do not seem to be capable of thinking anymore. Use your brains folks - that's why Homo sapiens is supposed to be the most intelligent species on the planet. You are actually expected to be naturally smarter than your cat. I hate to say this but even my fellow Americans seem to fall short of this.
GLOBAL WARMING: Is it happening? YES! Will it affect our lives? You can bet on that and win. Will it affect the economy of our country - and the world? YES! Will people die because of it? YES! Is there anything we can do to stop it? NOT A CHANCE IN HELL! Are we the primary cause of global warming? Not exactly - the jury is still figuring out the cause. Actually, from what I did learn in the couple weeks I was in paleoclimatology class - we have contributed to it but are not likely the sole cause of it. To put it another way - it was going to happen anyway - we just acted as a catalyst and sped it up a bit.
Can we slow it down? Yes, but it's a bit too late for that at this point. The Northern Ice Cap is pretty much gone and nothing short of an ice age will bring it back. Can we reverse it? Very possible and likely if we work really really hard to do that - but maybe you want to think of the consequences of doing just that, first. Actually, maybe you all would prefer an ice age instead of global warming. Let's see...hmmm... Do you think we could invent a way to grow food on ice sheets in freezing temperatures? How about your house... Did you ever wonder what it would be like to live with a glacier in your yard? Or your house buried beneath one? Yeah, there would be more beaches to visit - albeit covered in ice. Basically, a full reversal of global warming would cover about half of the Earth with uninhabitable ice sheets. Maybe that's your idea of paradise - but it ain't mine. Did you ever hear the saying - when hell freezes over? I think you get the point.
Will all life on Earth, including all of humanity, cease to exist and die out in some cataclysmic mass extinction event from global warming? NO! Global sea level rise is not going to kill us off. Yeah, there will be a lot less islands and the coastlines will recede. So just get the hell off the island and don't own any beachfront property. Anyone who sticks around those locations is doomed - like the ninnies who stood and watched as the tsunami killed them. The animals had enough sense to get the hell out of dodge - but the humans were incapable for some unknown reason of following them. There was absolutely no excuse for that. Unless you want to argue the point that humans are just naturally more stupid than the other Earth creatures. Go ahead, go right ahead... be my guest.
Guess what's hiding under all that melting ice as global warming happens? LAND! Well, what do you know! Places to grow food and build houses and villages and cities. WOW! Imagine that! What rock have you idiots been hiding under that you are now just crawling out from? There is a lot of us Earthlings who actually knew that all that nice fertile land was under all that ice just waiting for the melting to finish up and the land to thaw out.
As for the beaches. Well, we'll have to move all the lighthouses as the coastlines recede. Yes, that will cost money. So, get off your lazy butts and make some big money so that we don't have a very bizarre remake of the Titanic tragedy - only this time the ship runs into a lighthouse submerged beneath the sea. Yoi! I think humanity can agree to save the lighthouses at the very least. To hell with the beachfront hotels - they can be rebuilt a lot easier than a lighthouse. As for the beaches themselves: Guess what! After they recede - they will naturally rebuild themselves . Yeah, beaches grow - and they even evolve - due to beachfront erosion. So, move inland far enough so that you will actually be owners of the new beachfront property. You all might want to start moving on that - you only got a couple years before...well...you know.
TERRORISM: Most likely, the crazy jihadi folks over in Iran will finish building one or two nukes and launch it at someone. The US or Israel! What do you really think the rest of the world will do when they do this? Worst case scenario - nuke Iran until it's a sheet of radioactive glass. And make sure the stupid bastards who built and launched the weapon(s) are trapped there when we hit them - preferably with every terrorist on Earth hanging with them partying to REM's It's the End of the World as We Know It. Hey, we already know that the terrorists are all suicidal - so all they have to do is say when and the world will oblige them and put them out of OUR misery. Actually, to tell the truth we here in the United States are indeed stalling on nuking anyone for the simple reason that we just don't like to do such a thing. Wiping out every living thing in an area is not a nice thing to do - but we will if absolutely necessary. We just don't have to like doing it. And we're giving the innocent bystanders a chance to get the hell out of there beforehand. Leave now or forever hold your peace!
POLARITY REVERSAL: Some liken this to the END OF TIME. If it is the end of time, it may just mean the years might start recounting - like when BC switched to AD. There will likely be some odd adjustments and a bit of inconvenience but not the end of all life on Earth, as some crazies like to think.
When the reversal happens we need to be prepared to deal with a lot of crazy things happening - like everything on Earth with a polarity ceasing to function. This includes the nuclear power plants of the world, as I mentioned once before. Anything that functions by battery or electric might also no longer work - this includes the cars and other vehicles - and yes, the computers. I am not saying that this is absolutely what will happen - but since we have not had a reversal since long before the technological revolution - it would be good to be prepared for the worst. Geomagnetic reversal is still too new of a concept for scientists to understand all the consequences to our technological world. Hey, scientists never claimed to be all knowing!
The field reversal - since it has to do with polarities - north south - positive negative - very likely will affect EVERYTHING else with a polarity. Try putting the batteries into anything upside down - it just will not work. What do we know runs by battery? The same for electricity - yes, electric currents have a polarity and when you reverse it - some things simply stop working and some explode. I do not know if the fact that we use Alternating Current as opposed to Direct Current will be any help. Hopefully it will. What exactly happens when AC is reversed or shut down completely? This is up to the physicists of the world to determine.
I once heard a saying: Assume the worst, and you'll end up pleasantly surprised. I may be a realist - but I am also an optimist. I do believe we can and will make the best of what's about to happen. Until next time... Or maybe better yet...maybe later this week. Ta ta!
GLOBAL WARMING: Is it happening? YES! Will it affect our lives? You can bet on that and win. Will it affect the economy of our country - and the world? YES! Will people die because of it? YES! Is there anything we can do to stop it? NOT A CHANCE IN HELL! Are we the primary cause of global warming? Not exactly - the jury is still figuring out the cause. Actually, from what I did learn in the couple weeks I was in paleoclimatology class - we have contributed to it but are not likely the sole cause of it. To put it another way - it was going to happen anyway - we just acted as a catalyst and sped it up a bit.
Can we slow it down? Yes, but it's a bit too late for that at this point. The Northern Ice Cap is pretty much gone and nothing short of an ice age will bring it back. Can we reverse it? Very possible and likely if we work really really hard to do that - but maybe you want to think of the consequences of doing just that, first. Actually, maybe you all would prefer an ice age instead of global warming. Let's see...hmmm... Do you think we could invent a way to grow food on ice sheets in freezing temperatures? How about your house... Did you ever wonder what it would be like to live with a glacier in your yard? Or your house buried beneath one? Yeah, there would be more beaches to visit - albeit covered in ice. Basically, a full reversal of global warming would cover about half of the Earth with uninhabitable ice sheets. Maybe that's your idea of paradise - but it ain't mine. Did you ever hear the saying - when hell freezes over? I think you get the point.
Will all life on Earth, including all of humanity, cease to exist and die out in some cataclysmic mass extinction event from global warming? NO! Global sea level rise is not going to kill us off. Yeah, there will be a lot less islands and the coastlines will recede. So just get the hell off the island and don't own any beachfront property. Anyone who sticks around those locations is doomed - like the ninnies who stood and watched as the tsunami killed them. The animals had enough sense to get the hell out of dodge - but the humans were incapable for some unknown reason of following them. There was absolutely no excuse for that. Unless you want to argue the point that humans are just naturally more stupid than the other Earth creatures. Go ahead, go right ahead... be my guest.
Guess what's hiding under all that melting ice as global warming happens? LAND! Well, what do you know! Places to grow food and build houses and villages and cities. WOW! Imagine that! What rock have you idiots been hiding under that you are now just crawling out from? There is a lot of us Earthlings who actually knew that all that nice fertile land was under all that ice just waiting for the melting to finish up and the land to thaw out.
As for the beaches. Well, we'll have to move all the lighthouses as the coastlines recede. Yes, that will cost money. So, get off your lazy butts and make some big money so that we don't have a very bizarre remake of the Titanic tragedy - only this time the ship runs into a lighthouse submerged beneath the sea. Yoi! I think humanity can agree to save the lighthouses at the very least. To hell with the beachfront hotels - they can be rebuilt a lot easier than a lighthouse. As for the beaches themselves: Guess what! After they recede - they will naturally rebuild themselves . Yeah, beaches grow - and they even evolve - due to beachfront erosion. So, move inland far enough so that you will actually be owners of the new beachfront property. You all might want to start moving on that - you only got a couple years before...well...you know.
TERRORISM: Most likely, the crazy jihadi folks over in Iran will finish building one or two nukes and launch it at someone. The US or Israel! What do you really think the rest of the world will do when they do this? Worst case scenario - nuke Iran until it's a sheet of radioactive glass. And make sure the stupid bastards who built and launched the weapon(s) are trapped there when we hit them - preferably with every terrorist on Earth hanging with them partying to REM's It's the End of the World as We Know It. Hey, we already know that the terrorists are all suicidal - so all they have to do is say when and the world will oblige them and put them out of OUR misery. Actually, to tell the truth we here in the United States are indeed stalling on nuking anyone for the simple reason that we just don't like to do such a thing. Wiping out every living thing in an area is not a nice thing to do - but we will if absolutely necessary. We just don't have to like doing it. And we're giving the innocent bystanders a chance to get the hell out of there beforehand. Leave now or forever hold your peace!
POLARITY REVERSAL: Some liken this to the END OF TIME. If it is the end of time, it may just mean the years might start recounting - like when BC switched to AD. There will likely be some odd adjustments and a bit of inconvenience but not the end of all life on Earth, as some crazies like to think.
When the reversal happens we need to be prepared to deal with a lot of crazy things happening - like everything on Earth with a polarity ceasing to function. This includes the nuclear power plants of the world, as I mentioned once before. Anything that functions by battery or electric might also no longer work - this includes the cars and other vehicles - and yes, the computers. I am not saying that this is absolutely what will happen - but since we have not had a reversal since long before the technological revolution - it would be good to be prepared for the worst. Geomagnetic reversal is still too new of a concept for scientists to understand all the consequences to our technological world. Hey, scientists never claimed to be all knowing!
The field reversal - since it has to do with polarities - north south - positive negative - very likely will affect EVERYTHING else with a polarity. Try putting the batteries into anything upside down - it just will not work. What do we know runs by battery? The same for electricity - yes, electric currents have a polarity and when you reverse it - some things simply stop working and some explode. I do not know if the fact that we use Alternating Current as opposed to Direct Current will be any help. Hopefully it will. What exactly happens when AC is reversed or shut down completely? This is up to the physicists of the world to determine.
I once heard a saying: Assume the worst, and you'll end up pleasantly surprised. I may be a realist - but I am also an optimist. I do believe we can and will make the best of what's about to happen. Until next time... Or maybe better yet...maybe later this week. Ta ta!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Update and Issues
I have been out of commission for a bit due to a couple personal issues. I have literally been lying low for a bit. Down but not out. But I have not been idle neither. The Paleoclomatology class got withdrawn from - taking one massive issue off of my shoulders. All that has happened to me over the past few months reminds me of a character from one of my favorite novels when the enemies knocked part of a building down on top of him. I mean, really. What happened to my luck? It certainly went south - and me unable to do a damn thing to stop any of it. Yoi!
I did finally register for the Plate Tectonics class here at Pitt and am waiting to hear back from the professor about when and where we are meeting for class. This will be the third graduate level class I have taken so far. I did pass the other two, albeit one without the best of outcomes and the other almost did not make it at all - but turned out ok in the end. Wish me luck.
I am a bit undecided about whether to register for the department's colloquium class. It's only one credit and I do need it. I just wish it were still like it was years ago in my old geology days when it was not mandatory to attend and you did not have to register for it. I believe they changed it so that the department gets enough money to get the speakers - who are typically all from other colleges and other organizations. I wonder how other science departments handle funding problems for their seminar series. There's got to be a better way.
It reminds me of the last class I needed to take for my B.A. in History and Philosophy of Science right here at Pitt. It was also one credit and a seminar type class. We also had to write two research essays on the class topic and readings - which happened to be on Descartes - with Dr. McGuire presiding. It was not a series of lectures by speakers from outside, however. I do recall both our HPS and our Philosophy departments having colloquium type seminars.
I have also been going through all my old research paperwork on the Intelligent Design situation - a la the Discovery Institute. So far, I have only reread and organized into a file folder three old articles from back in 2002 about the Columbus, Ohio scandal. I have plenty more where that came from. I still cannot understand how that Guildenhuys ass of a grad instructor was able to say I was off topic on the essay I wrote for my first attempt at Intro to Philosophy of Science. That is one mistake I have not gotten on any paper since maybe grade school. Well, he got his comeuppance - he ended up on academic probation - on an unrelated issue. Why am I not surprised! I think he might need to take a class on ethics and maybe one on morality - since the "man" did not have any at the time. And not much in the brains category, neither. And Logic is a mandatory class requirement for a Bachelors in our HPS department. He apparently slept through those classes.
Gotta get to class. Till later... Cha Ching!
I did finally register for the Plate Tectonics class here at Pitt and am waiting to hear back from the professor about when and where we are meeting for class. This will be the third graduate level class I have taken so far. I did pass the other two, albeit one without the best of outcomes and the other almost did not make it at all - but turned out ok in the end. Wish me luck.
I am a bit undecided about whether to register for the department's colloquium class. It's only one credit and I do need it. I just wish it were still like it was years ago in my old geology days when it was not mandatory to attend and you did not have to register for it. I believe they changed it so that the department gets enough money to get the speakers - who are typically all from other colleges and other organizations. I wonder how other science departments handle funding problems for their seminar series. There's got to be a better way.
It reminds me of the last class I needed to take for my B.A. in History and Philosophy of Science right here at Pitt. It was also one credit and a seminar type class. We also had to write two research essays on the class topic and readings - which happened to be on Descartes - with Dr. McGuire presiding. It was not a series of lectures by speakers from outside, however. I do recall both our HPS and our Philosophy departments having colloquium type seminars.
I have also been going through all my old research paperwork on the Intelligent Design situation - a la the Discovery Institute. So far, I have only reread and organized into a file folder three old articles from back in 2002 about the Columbus, Ohio scandal. I have plenty more where that came from. I still cannot understand how that Guildenhuys ass of a grad instructor was able to say I was off topic on the essay I wrote for my first attempt at Intro to Philosophy of Science. That is one mistake I have not gotten on any paper since maybe grade school. Well, he got his comeuppance - he ended up on academic probation - on an unrelated issue. Why am I not surprised! I think he might need to take a class on ethics and maybe one on morality - since the "man" did not have any at the time. And not much in the brains category, neither. And Logic is a mandatory class requirement for a Bachelors in our HPS department. He apparently slept through those classes.
Gotta get to class. Till later... Cha Ching!
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