Denying is not always anti-green

OK, I'll briefly weigh in on Climategate, as it is now coined. And my best point of reference is George Monbiot's blog in the Guardian.

Poor George, he found himself in a bind. But at least he recognized it, unlike most of his followers who could only chastise him for "making things even worse". Good science is what is needed, not clever fabrications now revealed by hacked e-mails. Climate science has demonstrated itself to be far from good science, as I have often claimed. As a PhD scientist myself I am deeply saddened by some of the comments made in the e-mails - it sort of becomes a "buyer beware" mentality which pure science should never bow to.

Coming just before the 100% political Copenhagen climate change summit, this may be good news for us "deniers". Of course, we never were deniers, that was just a moniker applied by those with more faith than science, who now find themselves in a similar situation.

The conference itself will prove to be an interesting exercise in politicized science. Meantime, let the show begin!

Don't do this with your average point and shoot. . .

Waterproof and shockproof, it says on the label. Well, it is certainly waterproof, having been dipped in the Rieve Heric for a close up of the stream bed! The Pentax Optio W80 may not be the best point and shoot but it does do some things rather well.

The other French Apple Store

At the Odysseum, Montpellier. Very impressive.

I Duz Windoze (7)

Yes, I do. Courtesy of Parallels 5.0 and the installation was relatively easy once I had worked out which version of Windows I really needed (hint, read the box and decide what you will never use). The Coherence Mode is interesting in that you can literally switch from Snow Leopard to Windows 7 with a click of the mouse.

Why bother with Windoze? Well, there are those programs that Microsoft has chosen not to port to OS X, such as Project. And there are still software designers out there who honestly think that the Mac OS isn't important. Example? IKEA - but at least they are honest enough to admit the shortfall.

A new camera!

During the summer my Canon SD1000 failed me. Apparently this is a common feature with small Canons that have a mechanically protruding lens. One speck of dust and the mechanism fails. Whole websites are dedicated to the problem but Canon refuses to accept any responsibility.

So I decided that a more reliable camera should replace it and a waterproof, shockproof camera seemed to be the best solution. There are a number of them out there but the one that suited me best was the Pentax Optio W80. This was partly because I would be able to use my existing SD memory card. The W80 has formidable specs but it remains a point and shoot camera, so it is always interesting to see what happens when it is pushed to the limits. The photo below was taken at the telephoto limit (5x) of a jack up rig some 24 kilometers off shore from Pointe Noire, Congo. The fishing boats in the foreground are much closer. Conditions were not ideal for good photography, so the result really isn't bad at all. If you click on the photo you will see a maximum quality jpeg which is 9MB large.

Steve Jobs, CEO of the Decade

The man who saved four industries? Well, there's a lot of truth in that. But for a retrospective, here is a link to Jobs' 2005 Stanford Graduation Address. Says more about the man than all the eulogies, mainly because the man is saying it himself!

Back by Popular Demand!

Four and a half months, but the time has really flown. Lots of other priorities came along and in many ways it was good to say au revoir to the internet for a while. While "gone" I did renew my Flickr membership, thereby retaining the 4000 plus images. It has been interesting to see that the photostream still gets lots of visitors.

I think I am going to revamp and simplify focalplane.com but I will not start on it just yet.

And now I have made 1,000 posts to this blog!

Blogged out

This the 999th post on this blog.

Namibia Wildlife

Last week I had a brief opportunity between the completion of business meetings and catching the plane back to Europe to visit Okapuka Game Reserve, 30 minutes north of Windhoek. What a pleasure!

I had carried my Nikkor 300mm f4 lens with me "just in case" and it proved to have been worthwhile (even if it did garner the attention of security personnel at Frankfurt Airport).

Here is a link to the Flickr Slide Show of 29 photos.

Should I throw in the towel?

A quick look at Blogger statistics reveals that I have posted 996 times to this blog since 2003.

I thought I would be looking forward to reaching a major milestone but in fact I am not. I might just be getting bored with the whole internet thing. Twitter doesn't interest me at all, and maybe the entire social thing is not what I need. Flickr has been a great influence on my life but even there I am finding it difficult to stay tuned and involved.

I am trying new avenues and for a short while now the member-only trainorders.com has kept me informed on what is going on in North American train circles. But I again feel no compulsion to get involved in a big, lasting way. A useful resource for things I want to do but not something I want to devote a lot of my time to in "giving back". That last sentence sounds very selfish to me.

I have a number of features running in parallel at the moment. Too many, perhaps.

I am seriously thinking about dropping out of Flickr when the membership renewal comes up.

I am seriously thinking about dropping, or at least mothballing, this blog.

The focalplane pages I maintain have not been receiving enough care and attention and there is a backlog of material I don't have time to add. There is no reason for them to disappear altogether.

I would like to expand on my "Snaps and Crackles with Pops" blog, dedicated to the grandkids.

So, should I throw in the towel?

Book recommendations to put on your expenses

I have been following, at a distance, the Daily Telegraph's campaign that has exposed the ugly side of the "Mother of all Parliaments", also known as the Palace of Westminster. It would seem that the MP's Expenses exposé has awakened a sleeping giant otherwise known as the electorate.

Some essential reading for these troubled times:

Animal Farm, by George Orwell

1984, also by George Orwell

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

These tomes (well, Animal Farm is actually a very short read) all dwell on the premise that power corrupts. Furthermore, those in power will also do almost anything to maintain their status quo, including passing laws that keep them in power to the detriment of the people they are supposed to represent and serve.

As Yogi Berra might say "It's like déjà vu all over again."

National Train Day

This link includes a slide show of hundreds of photos taken at and near Portland Station, Oregon the other weekend. Southern Pacific GS-4 "Daylight" No. 4449 figures prominently; it was the star attraction.

I was going to fly with this pilot

Glad they caught him before he "took off".

Moral Guilt

I have been looking for a simple phrase to sum up what I see happening in the political world of climate change.

Climate change activists are on a mission. Not to save the world, though that is their mantra. No, it is to elevate themselves up the political structure of our society, to become recognized and then to control.

This they have done with incredible success, largely supported by politicians clutching at straws. And the way it has been achieved is through the manufacture of Moral Guilt.

Where is John Galt when he's needed?

I have been following the UK Budget from a distance and it appears that the Government has really got things in a mess. Sure, the banks started the ball running down hill but you have to ask where was the Government when all this was going on? I mean, bankers making huge bonuses just for moving money around (and not necessarily in the right direction most of the time) should surely have triggered a few alarm bells?

Well, they obviously didn't. One of the things I've noted about governments these days is that the peoples' representatives mostly come from a legal background, have only worked in service industries, and rarely have much inkling about how ordinary people make a living. They are consummate politicians, being capable of lying and then not apologizing when things go awry. They are not the peoples' representatives at all.

So I wonder if there will be a revolution in the UK. Probably not, the British stiff upper lip will prevent such a calamity.

Ayn Rand's question "Who is John Galt" seems more and more appropriate to the situation.

Remembering St. George

Poor St. George. All he did was slay a dragon and save a maiden in distress. And today is his day, not that you'd actually know it. Reports that the Government is spending all of £116 on raising a flag adds up to the sum total of its interest. Cousins Andrew and David, never mind Patrick, all get huge celebrations. Even if green beer is hardly celebratory.

The irony is that the English Flag of St. George, a red cross on a white background, is more associated with soccer (and by inference hooliganism) than it is with patriotism.

We bought a St. George's flag in Houston many years ago. Over the counter, just like that. I should try to find it and fly it.

But this brief post is my contribution for St. George in 2009. Happy St. George's Day!

(PS, it is also the day William Shakespeare was born (possibly) and the day he died)

Global Confusion

I understand that today has been named Earth Day. For the rest of us, every day is Earth Day. It's where we live, after all.

But the recent reports on what is happening to the planet are anything if confusing. That's the trouble with trying to analyze something that is so complicated with too many variables.

Today we learn, for example, that pollution is slowing down global warming!

I for one don't believe most of what is purported to be a scientific "finding" if it has anything to do with climate change. The climate will change, that's the only given we can work with. Meantime the scientists and politicians continue to speculate what will happen ten, twenty, maybe a hundred years from now, and, unfortunately the politicians are using this speculation to adversely affect our quality of life and ability to get through a recession. That's a risk they should not be allowed to take.

Obama's People in Birmingham

This just in - a photographic exhibition at the BMAG, on until August. Tip of the hat to Ash10.

Secret Papers

Yet another example of showing secret papers to the public (via photographers, naturally) has emerged today. It will be interesting to see if a resignation follows. As a Minister of the Realm, I will place safe money on the outcome - Hazel Blears will not resign (though she can prove me wrong if she wants to!)

When on a long distance flight there is always the concern that bringing out work will compromise any secrecy that may be necessary (I sign confidentiality agreements all the time). The first thought is "I wonder what he/she sitting next to me does for a living - could he/she work for a competitor?"

That's why some of us use shredding machines, file folders, etc. etc.

Carbon Dioxide, the dangerous pollutant?

You know, it really bothers me that the EPA has come to heel with the environmentalist lobby and pandering Obama administration and made the declaration that carbon dioxide (CO2) is now to be considered a dangerous pollutant and major cause for global warming.

This is such tosh that it makes my scientifically trained brain positively hurt.

Don't any of these people know basic botany, biology and meteorology?

Botany: photosynthesis needs carbon dioxide to work.

Biology: without photosynthesis we would run out of oxygen, essential to life as we know it on Planet Earth.

Meteorology: water vapor is the major "pollutant" in the atmosphere when it comes to controlling the atmospheric temperature. Carbon dioxide is only a minor constituent.

So, why doesn't the EPA and everyone else declare water vapor a dangerous pollutant? Humans make an awful lot of water vapor. After all, the "smoke" escaping from thermal power station cooling towers is actually water vapor even though the environmentalists will have you believe it's the product of combustion.

Coming back to Earth, for a moment, water vapor in the atmosphere has always been around - think clouds!