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| gromit |
 Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:06 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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I sent my mother the Edison v. Tesla rap video.
She teaches her 5th grade students about the two men. My hometown is where Edison started off and is named for him (Menlo Park is now one section of Edison, NJ), and we visited Tesla's birthplace and accompanying museum in Croatia a few years back.
She thought the rap vid was rather weird, but decided to show it to her class. The kids loved it, thought it was a blast. Probably the highlight of the year. Not even the young tattooed teachers are whipping out youtube rap videos as teaching aids. Score one for granny teachers! |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:27 pm |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1245
Location: St. Louis
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Whatever gets kids interested in science. I haven't tried any of the others, like "Gandhi v. MLK," but the TAE/NK one is great. Looks like the elephant is replaced with a dog. Either way, Edison was not PETA material.
Here's a really handy new feature on Google...
http://www.google.com/landing/nose/index.html |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 11:36 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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| I tried the new feature on "Rachel Weisz." Apparently, she has a delicate fragrance of warm plastic and dust. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 11:55 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: I tried the new feature on "Rachel Weisz." Apparently, she has a delicate fragrance of warm plastic and dust.
Seriously, how do you do this? I would assume it was just an April Fool's Day joke except for the fact that Google already got itself into hot water for threatening to dislodge youtube and I would think one April Fool deal was enough for one year. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:03 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Quote: To bring U.S. gasoline prices way down requires improvements in the pipeline, barge, and truck network that connects the fields of North Dakota with refineries on the Gulf and East Coasts. Progress is being made; already more barrels of North Dakota crude are being carried by train from the Bakken Shale thanks to several newly completed rail terminals near East Coast refineries. Two refineries are also being built in North Dakota.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-28/why-abundant-oil-hasnt-cut-gasoline-prices
Don't agree with all of that.
But the shale/natural gas boom seems like an ideal time to ditch the misguided ethanol edict. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:44 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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billyweeds wrote: bartist wrote: I tried the new feature on "Rachel Weisz." Apparently, she has a delicate fragrance of warm plastic and dust.
Seriously, how do you do this? I would assume it was just an April Fool's Day joke except for the fact that Google already got itself into hot water for threatening to dislodge youtube and I would think one April Fool deal was enough for one year.
I missed the youtube joke. I'm pretty sure that "Google Nose" was a joke. If you click on the video on the linked page, it's clear that it's offering something still a bit beyond our current technology. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 10:18 am |
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"But the shale/natural gas boom seems like an ideal time to ditch the misguided ethanol edict."
Gromit, I agree wholeheartedly with the 'misguided ethanol' statement. What a stupid idea that was. We don't have ethanol in Canada as far as I know. None in Manitoba. A similar dumb idea is the CFL bulb nonsense. It turned out to be far worse than the bulbs we have always used. The Canadian government passed a law that would get rid of the usual bulbs but then found out a bunch of problems with the CFL bulbs (having lead that would be a bad thing for the environment just one of the problems), so they struck down the law. When I'm on the road in the US, every motel where I stay has CFL bulbs now and virtually every one I've stayed at has some CFL bulbs that don't work. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 10:49 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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Gary, even worse is that CFL bulbs contain mercury and you practically need a HazMat team if you drop and break one in your home. Nonsense, indeed. Regarding....
Quote: We don't have ethanol in Canada as far as I know. None in Manitoba.
My god, what do you people do after a hard day?
Seriously, yeah, corn-derived ethanol is idiotic. It has the same problem, in essence, that tar sand bitumen has - takes so much energy and environmental harm to get that gallon of fuel that it's not worth it. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:39 am |
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| Yeah, bart, I made a mistake. It was mercury not lead. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:44 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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marantzo wrote:
Gromit, I agree wholeheartedly with the 'misguided ethanol' statement. What a stupid idea that was.
I don't think it was a stupid idea at all.
It was an interesting concept with a fair amount of promise, but just hasn't worked out for a number of reasons. The problem is they haven't been able to kill it, or make it a completely market-based program, due to entrenched interests in a few corn-growing states.
Reportedly the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol program has been very successful. Created a whole industry, ramped up agriculture and agri-technology, and produced fuel domestically. And who knows, maybe algae-based programs or from sewage or plant waste material might become viable some day.
As for light bulbs, incandescent bulbs aren't banned in the US and CFL aren't mandatory. The law requires that light bulbs sold must meet a minimum efficiency standard.
And Canada seems to be heading the same way.
In the Winter, I like the extra heat that my incandescent bulbs (and computer) provide. |
Last edited by gromit on Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:29 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12889
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I've been using CFL bulbs for many years. I did manage to break one once, so I'm doomed. Outside of that, I recycle them over at Home Depot.
The great light hope is LEDs. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:30 pm |
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| The process of turning corn into a solution that can be added to gasoline is just as bad for the environment as gasoline is. Sugar cane is another story. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:47 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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| Well, ethanol wasn't just about the environment. It was also intended to reduce reliance on foreign oil, and as a boost to agriculture. But at this point, it hasn't been successful and has just been a boon to a few large concerns. Hopefully they can kill the gov't mandate and let ethanol become a market player. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 1:51 pm |
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| The way the US is enlarging its oil production, though some of the initiatives are still under review, they won't have to rely on foreign oil except from Canada, which has been their largest supplier for many years. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 3:11 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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