No, really!
The FSF is still relevant
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So you’re diggin’ on Che
Via Google News, a right-wing organization if I’ve ever heard of one, this: Che Guevara Exposed: The Killer on the Lefties’ T-Shirts
At least one part of the data is bad, too.
If you know me, you probably know that I’m a global warming skeptic. Not a denier, per se; but I’m concerned that stories like the following seem to keep appearing:
Those, dear friends, are the clumsy fingerprints of someone messing with the data Egyptian style … they are indisputable evidence that the “homogenized” data has been changed to fit someone’s preconceptions about whether the earth is warming.
Anthony Watts has put together a great discussion revolving around the temperature data from Darwin, Australia, and how it seems to have been manipulated. Read more at Watts Up With That?.
For reference, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies published its surface temperature analysis earlier this year. Now, I don’t claim this as anything other than idle pondering, but: I wonder what the GWS/m² (Global Warming Skeptic per square meter) density is in Scandinavia…
UPDATE: From WSJ.com, The Tip of the Climategate Iceberg. Open access to the data is a two-edged sword, but it’s the best way to get to the truth.
How the GPL self-limits to irrelevance
Via TuxRadar, “OpenSolaris vs Linux“:
Linux has no ZFS support in the kernel because the Free Software Foundation doesn’t consider it free enough to be bundled with GPL software,[…]
ZFS is one of the more interesting developments in the *NIX world in this first decade of the 21st century. While efforts like the Linux ext4fs filesystem directly address very practical problems with its predecessors, ZFS instead tries to build an entirely new – and better – way of organizing storage. It’s hard to imagine any incentive for volunteers to invest the resources required to build something like ZFS from the ground up. Instead, continuing the previous thought,
… in Linux you have to mount the ZFS filesystem with Fuse as a filesystem in userland.
This sort of also-ran treatment of such a significant new technology seems to be representative of the status quo for Linux; that is, to see innovation and emulate, rather than to actually innovate. This will need to change at a fundamental level before Linux can be taken seriously.
Improper manipulation of data? Of course not
In his paper “CO2: The Greatest Scientific Scandal of Our Time,” Dr. Zbigniew Jaworowski explains why the current accepted truth about atmospheric CO2 is “fatally flawed.”
On a personal note: isn’t this exactly what otherwise reasonable scientists do on a shockingly regular basis – throw out a preponderance of outliers because they don’t fit the model, rather than questioning the validity of the model itself?
The Politics of Change
The real politics of change would start something like this:
My friends, I am lying to you.
I will tell you whatever it is that you want to hear that will get me elected to office.
I will lie about my opponents, I will lie about Iraq, I will lie about taxes, I will lie about the budget and the economy. In short, I will lie about anything that you let me lie about. And I will do it with your blessing, for my opponents are evil, stupid, unqualified, no different than what we have, and otherwise unfit for the position.
I’m sorry; I don’t mean to do this. You must understand that I’m walking a tightrope here. One misstep and I’m sunk. I don’t have time to really explain my positions, so I have to resort to canned phrases and responses to get my message across. It’s hard enough by itself, but it’s even worse when someone picks up on how these things don’t add up. And then there’s the distraction of trying to reconcile the constant yammering of my party and my advisors. Please forgive my foibles. I’m only human. I can only promise that I can and that I will do better.
… or something like that.
To our friends, the Brits
If there is any truth to what Mohammed and Omar have posted regarding your deal with Moqtada al-Sadr, I have only one thing to say to you: I agree with them. Please, either get busy and fix the mess you’ve made in Basra, or get out or Iraq.
Ideology
Who are you to tell me
The world is a beautiful place?
Who are you to tell me
The world isn’t cruel and unkind?
Does saying the glass is half full
Mean that it can’t be half empty?
Does saying we’re not all like that
Somehow excuse who you are?
Who are you to tell me
The world is a beautiful place?
Who are you tell tell me
That it just isn’t fair?
Who are you to tell me
What is right? … what is wrong?
Does saying that you’d help if you could
Somehow excuse your failure?
Does your “world peace” make sense
If you hate those who disagree?
Who are you to tell me
That it just isn’t fair?
Who are you to tell me
That it’s all my fault?
Who are you to tell me
It’s not your philosophy to blame?
Does crying “the sky is falling”
Really mean it’s coming down?
Does crying “it’s a vast conspiracy”
Mean you’ve washed your hands of guilt?
Who are you to tell me
That it’s all my fault?
I am here to tell you
The world isn’t always so beautiful.
I am trying to tell you
The world sometimes is cruel and unkind
I am saying that we’re not always like that
But sometimes, we are
I am saying that I will help, when I can
But please, forgive me when I’m weak
I am here to tell you
That it just isn’t fair.
I’m sorry.
A conspiracy, I tell you
I can’t stop giggling: 4/29 Truth now!
Oh for crying out loud, use a dictionary already
ARGH!
Let me start by saying that I am not fanatically devoted to the idea that people, in general, ought to be good (much less perfect) spellers. Nor do I believe that correct grammar is required to lead a wildly successful life.
Am I wrong in expecting that the news media should set the bar a little higher for themselves?
This is something that has long been a source of annoyance for me. It calls into question the very trustworthiness of the news media, especially when it not only quotes, but repeats without question that which they’ve been told. As it relates to the present, the thing that’s attracted my ire is the blind repetition of the term “carabineer” by media outlets in connection with the tragic incident at Lifest 2007. This is not so different than the phrase “bungee ride” that I had previously complained about.
I’m not a climber, and I’m certainly not a reporter, but let’s face it: “carabineer” is an unusual word. Even if it does pass an automated spelling check, one would think that it should at least trigger a quick peek into a favorite dictionary. Online versions are readily available if one is ever caught without a printed copy.
This isn’t the only inaccuracy I’ve seen in reports on the subject. You can lay a fair amount of blame on the Department of Commerce report, which is of course the source of the spelling error above. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s incumbent on reporters to check spelling and grammar just as well as they check the facts.
PS – Google is not a dictionary. I simply adore many things that Google has done, but beware of using standard screwdrivers to turn Torx™ heads.