Tales of Interest

[Napoleon]

. . . about 30% of American . . .

The percentage is 27% and the technical term developed on the intertubes for it is the "Crazification Factor".

[cameraman]

It's a whole lot higher than 27% in Utah.

[SurfaceUnits]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/504226/20130906/world-s-biggest-voclano-confirmed-scientists-tamu.htm

Scientists discover world's largest volcano -- underwater...
Tamu Massif: Volcano the Size of British Isles is Biggest in the World

A volcano the size of the British Isles is the biggest ever to be discovered on Earth, scientists have confirmed.

The Tamu Massif volcano is located around 1,000 miles east of Japan and is the largest feature of the Shatsky Rise, an underwater mountain range that formed around 140 million years ago by the eruption of several underwater volcanoes.

It covers an area roughly the size of the state of New Mexico and is nearly as big as the giant volcanoes of Mars, meaning it is one of the largest in the solar system.

Researchers at the University of Houston began studying the volcano two decades ago but it was always unclear whether Tamu Massif was a composite of many eruption points or a single volcano.

The team have now confirmed it is one huge volcano that erupts from a single source near its centre.

http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2013/09/06/405712.jpg

[SurfaceUnits]

SYDNEY (AP) — The ruling Labor Party's probable collapse in Australia's next election is largely the consequence of its qualified success in the last one three years ago. To form the coalition she needed to stay in power, then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard reneged on a promise and agreed to place a carbon tax on major polluters.

On Saturday, the bill for that bargain comes due. Voters have never stopped hating the tax and its effect on their electric bills. Longtime Labor Party supporters — even people who have helped cut pollution by installing solar panels at home — have flocked to the opposition.

"Whoever gets rid of it will get my vote," said Mark Keene, a 54-year-old maintenance worker from Sydney who, for the first time in his life, won't be voting for Labor.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott has declared the election a "referendum on the carbon tax" — a sure sign of confidence that most voters remain staunchly against it, with many believing that companies forced to pay the tax are simply passing the cost onto consumers.

Its unpopularity has already produced the downfall of Gillard, who lost her job to Kevin Rudd in a June vote of party lawmakers desperate to avoid a crushing election loss that could send them into the political wilderness for a decade. But Labor candidates for Parliament continue to trail badly in opinion polls.

The tax on big polluters such as power plants and factories has been in place since July 2012. It started at 23 Australian dollars ($21) per metric ton of carbon dioxide produced and has since risen to AU$24.15 per metric ton.

The government estimated the tax would cost the average person less than AU$10 per week, but three months after it took effect, most Australians surveyed by policy think-tank Per Capita said it was costing them more than twice that much.

[TravelGal]

BBC news. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24000133
Australia's opposition has crushed the governing Labor party in a general election that has returned the Liberal-National coalition to power for the first time in six years.

The coalition was on course to win 88 seats, compared with 57 for Labor.

Do check out the link and the picture of the Aussies voting. :)

[SurfaceUnits]

BBC news. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24000133
Australia's opposition has crushed the governing Labor party in a general election that has returned the Liberal-National coalition to power for the first time in six years.

The coalition was on course to win 88 seats, compared with 57 for Labor.

Do check out the link and the picture of the Aussies voting. :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23999805

I'm surprised to learn those Aussie wankers hate the earth

[cameraman]

Yeah well global climate change is happening but that doesn't mean carbon taxes aren't stupid.

[emjaya]

Not a suprise result given the last six years.

A lot of bigots and racists running this time. :irked:

[SurfaceUnits]

Another day, another global climate conspiracy by pier revued scientists

And now it's global COOLING! Record return of Arctic ice cap as it grows by 60% in a year

Almost a million more square miles of ocean covered with ice than in 2012
BBC reported in 2007 global warming would leave Arctic ice-free in summer by 2013
Publication of UN climate change report suggesting global warming caused by humans pushed back to later this month


Global warming? No, actually we're cooling, claim scientists
A cold Arctic summer has led to a record increase in the ice cap, leading experts to predict a period of global cooling.

A leaked report to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) seen by the Mail on Sunday, has led some scientists to claim that the world is heading for a period of cooling that will not end until the middle of this century.

If correct, it would contradict computer forecasts of imminent catastrophic warming. The news comes several years after the BBC predicted that the arctic would be ice-free by 2013.

Despite the original forecasts, major climate research centres now accept that there has been a “pause” in global warming since 1997.

The original predictions led to billions being invested in green measures to combat the effects of climate change.

The change in the predictions has led to UN's climate change's body holding a crisis meeting, and the the IPCC was due to report on the situation in October. A pre-summit meeting will be held later this month.

But leaked documents show that governments who fund the IPCC are demanding 1,500 changes to the Fifth Assessment Report - a three-volume study issued every six or seven years – as they claim its current draft does not properly explain the pause.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/10294082/Global-warming-No-actually-were-cooling-claim-scientists.html


Ono it's a crisis when the Earth isn't warming, ono what lies can Maurice Strong and Al Gore come up with now to make billion$ more

[SurfaceUnits]

https://flipboard.com/section/mad-scientist-bUrxP2

[datachicane]

Hey, look, a response to that same article:
Arctic sea ice delusions strike the Mail on Sunday and Telegraph

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/sep/09/climate-change-arctic-sea-ice-delusions (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/sep/09/climate-change-arctic-sea-ice-delusions)

534

:laugh:

[datachicane]

535

[SurfaceUnits]

I will take technically true over politically derived

[datachicane]

That's pretty much my point.

[indyfan31]

"...rapid long-term Arctic sea ice death spiral"

And they're genuinely surprised when people call them Alarmists. :shakehead:

[SurfaceUnits]

Technical correctness removes all possibility of bias as opposed to selective correctness. Any scientist would know that.

[datachicane]

536

[indyfan31]

536

Really? You thought everyone would automatically agree with you from the start, and now you're disappointed?

[cameraman]

Technical correctness removes all possibility of bias as opposed to selective correctness. Any scientist would know that.

And any scientist knows that cherry picking your technically correct results invalidates any conclusion you choose to make from them. The data in those newspaper articles are preselected to prove their politically-inspired hypothesis. Looking at single year variations is no better than looking out the window on a cool day and concluding that the glaciers are returning.

But I will give you that the "Arctic sea ice death spiral" line is too hyperbolic for my tastes.


http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/ArcticEscalator450.gif

This covers it quite well. The majority of the arctic scientists expect that this year will produce a rather short red line on this graph. The year to year bumps are to be expected. If it ever gets so bad that we see nothing but downward data over about a decade then we will really be screwed.

[datachicane]

Really? You thought everyone would automatically agree with you from the start, and now you're disappointed?

Not at all, just recognizing the futility of the exercise together with the fact that, well, he likes it.

[SurfaceUnits]

I'm sure your cave dwelling ancestors were equally concerned by the melting icecap 20,000 years ago

The record high temp for my location, in one of the nation's national parks, was set 88 years ago. T

[nrc]

535

And you wonder why some folks believe that climate alarmists are being deliberately deceptive. That graphic lumps every study that either doesn't find evidence of human caused global warming or doesn't take a position on the cause in as part of the 97%.

But this propaganda poster didn't claim to be much more than an informal count. A more recent study trying to prove this same point shows the book cooking process in more detail (http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024024/article). Unfortunately the flawed methodology and bias caught the attention of some folks who can't just be dismissed as "deniers" (http://richardtol.blogspot.co.uk/) and now it's another email/data cooking/refusal to share mess.

[SteveH]

then there is this....

537

And now it's global COOLING! Record return of Arctic ice cap as it grows by 60% in a year

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/Global-cooling-Arctic-ice-caps-grows-60-global-warming-predictions.html#ixzz2eV16ukc3
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[KLang]

IMO the fluctuations of the ice sheet aren't remarkable. The problem, shown in the graphic, is the predictions that the ice was going to disappear by this summer. Hard to take seriously all these gloom and doom predictions when they never pan out.

[cameraman]

then there is this....

537

And now it's global COOLING! Record return of Arctic ice cap as it grows by 60% in a year

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/Global-cooling-Arctic-ice-caps-grows-60-global-warming-predictions.html#ixzz2eV16ukc3
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

That stuff is so bad that the fine folks at Slate took it upon themselves to tear it apart saving me the effort:D



By Phil Plait

When I heard that the Mail on Sunday ran a climate change article over the weekend, I knew it would be bad. But when I clicked the link and saw it was written by David Rose, I braced myself for the worst.

Man, sometimes I hate being right.

Rose is a guy who denies climate change in the way creationists deny evolution, and flat-Earthers deny the Earth is, well, not flat. That is to say, with claims so ridiculously wrong it’s charitable to call them "ridiculously wrong."

The article in the Mail bears this out. In it, Rose makes a lot of jaw-dropping statements. To pick three, he says the world is cooling, Arctic sea ice increased 60 percent over last year at this time, and the International Panel on Climate Change is under so much attack they had to hold a "crisis" meeting.

These claims are at best misleading. The first and third are just wrong, and the second hugely cherry-picked. I’ll debunk these briefly here, but I’ll note you can get the grim details at the Guardian in a great article by Dana Nuccitelli and John Abraham and at Discover magazine. Hot Whopper has a dissection as well.

Rose’s first claim is that the world is cooling. This is simply wrong. There’s long been a claim that global warming has stopped, but this too is wrong. Surface temperatures haven’t increased as much as they did a decade or so ago, but we now understand that the extra heat from global warming is getting stored in the oceans. Surface temperatures are a piece of the puzzle, but like their name implies, they don’t probe the depths of the problem. Remember too that nine of the 10 hottest years since 1880 have been in the past decade.

The rest of the story. (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/09/10/climate_change_sea_ice_global_cooling_and_other_no nsense.html)

The Hot Whopper version (http://blog.hotwhopper.com/2013/09/david-rose-and-his-tabloid-reporting-of.html) which is a far more angry evisceration of David Rose's article.

And the Discover Magazine blog, With Climate Journalism Like This, Who Needs Fiction? (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2013/09/09/with-climate-journalism-like-this-who-needs-fiction/#.Ui_QWLxeDKK) No less damning but more polite than Hot Whopper.

[Andrew Longman]

Can I suggest a separate climate change thread so we don't pollute this otherwise outstanding and highly prized thread?

[cameraman]

Can I suggest a separate climate change thread so we don't pollute this otherwise outstanding and highly prized thread?

Good idea.

[mapguy]

Can I suggest a separate climate change thread so we don't pollute this otherwise outstanding and highly prized thread?

Got my vote. :thumbup:

[Napoleon]

drug smugglers set fire to a ship carrying 50 million pounds of hash when an Italian customs boat caught up with them (http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/09/daily-show-lights-italys-hash-boat/69282/)

[Andrew Longman]

drug smugglers set fire to a ship carrying 50 million pounds of hash when an Italian customs boat caught up with them (http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/09/daily-show-lights-italys-hash-boat/69282/)now that's more like it. The Daily Show had some excellent reporting on that last night

[nrc]

Can I suggest a separate climate change thread so we don't pollute this otherwise outstanding and highly prized thread?

Done.

[cameraman]

If your curiosity runs towards all thing Sarin, like how it works and how you might treat it, there is a very good OA piece in the Nature Medicine blog, spoonful of medicine (http://blogs.nature.com/spoonful/2013/09/in-wake-of-syrian-chemical-attacks-scientists-seek-to-improve-sarin-antidotes.html)


In wake of Syrian chemical attacks, scientists seek to improve sarin antidotes

In the early hours of 21 August, doctors in Damascus area hospitals scrambled—often in vain—to save the lives of Syrian civilians brought to the hospital with foaming mouths and convulsions. Today, a report released by a United Nations inspection team confirms, as many have suspected, that the chemical weapon used in the attack was the deadly nerve gas sarin.

There are medical countermeasures proven to help counteract the poisoning of sarin and other organophosphate-based nerve agents such as soman and VX—some of which were available last month to Syrian victims. But “they have their limitations,” notes David Jett, director of the Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) program at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Certain drug therapies don’t enter the brain well and none offers protection from the long-term effects of sarin exposure. So scientists have ratcheted up their efforts to improve the arsenal of antidotes against this particular chemical weapon and its lasting impact on the nervous system...

[Elmo T]

If your curiosity runs towards all thing Sarin, like how it works and how you might treat it, there is a very good OA piece in the Nature Medicine blog

Great info.

Nerve agents (pesticides for people) are nasty nasty weapons - and they were made to be nasty and tough to treat. If everyone who was exposed could pop an aspirin, they wouldn't be very effective as weapons. The acronym we use for the symptoms of a nerve agent exposure is SLUDGEM: salivation, lacrimation, urination, defecation, gastrointestinal upset, emesis, miosis. And with strong agents it could be all at once. :yuck::thumbdown:

The detection capabilities are vastly improved. Many emergency response agencies are carrying the Mark I kits with the auto injectors. But effective and widespread treatment of affected civilians? :shakehead:

[Elmo T]

A twist on the "found a bunch of old cars" story:

Foss Lake: Bodies Found In Submerged Cars (http://news.sky.com/story/1143161/foss-lake-bodies-found-in-submerged-cars)


The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the cars had been found in Foss Lake, near Elk City, during a training session with a new sonar device.

The first was an early 1950s model Chevrolet car that had three bodies inside....

The second car pulled from the lake had three bodies inside, believed to be teenagers reported missing from the Sayre area in 1970.

They could be that of 16-year-old Jimmy Allen Williams, 18-year-old Leah Gail Johnson and 18-year-old Thomas Michael Rios.

The teenagers were reported missing on November 27, 1970, and were last seen riding around Sayre in Jimmy Williams' 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.

[dando]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/508930/20130925/pakistan-earthquake-baluchistan-new-island.htm

New island formed after massive quake in Pakistan.

[SurfaceUnits]

Dead Drops for the Rest of Us

http://deaddrops.com/


Dead Drops is an idea thought of in 2010 by German media artist Aram Bartholl while in NYC. In a nutshell, you find a wall, chisel out some mortar, drop in a USB stick seal it up and then submit the location to their map database. At that point, anyone can look up the location of these 'drops' and share files at any location, whenever they like.

It's sort of like a USB version of SneakerNet - with a slight bit of public property defacing thrown in.

Currently there are over 1200 Dead Drops worldwide with over 6 GB of data storage, making it perhaps the largest anonymous network on the planet. That is quite impressive on its own, but it makes you wonder what people are actually sharing. I can think of a few neat ideas; Photography, Art, Jokes, Etc. However, this sort of system is inherently unsecure and anonymous which makes imagining the dark side of what could be loaded on these USB sticks pretty scary.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/story/dead_drops_for_the_rest_of_us.html

[Napoleon]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/508930/20130925/pakistan-earthquake-baluchistan-new-island.htm

New island formed after massive quake in Pakistan.



You heard it hear first, I hearby claim it as my own and declare it The Kingdom of Nappyland.

[TravelGal]

I didn't want to start an Olympics thread this early in the game (ugh, pun, sorry) but I just read some comments from the incoming president (elected two weeks ago, I'm a bit behind) that he is exploring the possibility of an Olympics network. Since I don't work for NBC, this seems like a great idea to me. What do you guys think?

[cameraman]

Dead Drops for the Rest of Us

http://deaddrops.com/


Dead Drops is an idea thought of in 2010 by German media artist Aram Bartholl while in NYC. In a nutshell, you find a wall, chisel out some mortar, drop in a USB stick seal it up and then submit the location to their map database. At that point, anyone can look up the location of these 'drops' and share files at any location, whenever they like.

It's sort of like a USB version of SneakerNet - with a slight bit of public property defacing thrown in.

Currently there are over 1200 Dead Drops worldwide with over 6 GB of data storage, making it perhaps the largest anonymous network on the planet. That is quite impressive on its own, but it makes you wonder what people are actually sharing. I can think of a few neat ideas; Photography, Art, Jokes, Etc. However, this sort of system is inherently unsecure and anonymous which makes imagining the dark side of what could be loaded on these USB sticks pretty scary.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/story/dead_drops_for_the_rest_of_us.html

Speaking as a property owner I would not respond kindly to some ****wit chiseling a hole in my building since I don't foresee people spending the time and money to do the install/repair like that guy did. He even color-matched the paint:eek: But since iPhones & iPads don't support standard USB sticks I can't see it going too far anyway:gomer:

Also he needs to slightly angle the USB stick downwards or water will collect, freeze & destroy it.

[cameraman]

I didn't want to start an Olympics thread this early in the game (ugh, pun, sorry) but I just read some comments from the incoming president (elected two weeks ago, I'm a bit behind) that he is exploring the possibility of an Olympics network. Since I don't work for NBC, this seems like a great idea to me. What do you guys think?

Problem is the Olympics requires at least 4 to 6 channels to provide all that coverage. Neither Dish nor DirecTV have that many unused channels just laying about on their satellites and it would be problematic with many cable systems.

[SurfaceUnits]

Speaking as a property owner I would not respond kindly to some ****wit chiseling a hole in my building since I don't foresee people spending the time and money to do the install/repair like that guy did. He even color-matched the paint:eek: But since iPhones & iPads don't support standard USB sticks I can't see it going too far anyway:gomer:

Also he needs to slightly angle the USB stick downwards or water will collect, freeze & destroy it.

You just need my Apple Dead Drop Kit
1) Apple 30-pin to USB Cable and 1) USB extender cable and you're all set

[cameraman]

You just need my Apple Dead Drop Kit
1) Apple 30-pin to USB Cable and 1) USB extender cable and you're all set

And a jailbroken iPhone/Pad.

[dando]

I didn't want to start an Olympics thread this early in the game (ugh, pun, sorry) but I just read some comments from the incoming president (elected two weeks ago, I'm a bit behind) that he is exploring the possibility of an Olympics network. Since I don't work for NBC, this seems like a great idea to me. What do you guys think?

NBC already tried something like that and it was an epic fail. Not sure if you remember the red, green and blue channels for the '96 Olympics. NBC is also on the hook until 2020 for the US rights.

[TravelGal]

NBC already tried something like that and it was an epic fail. Not sure if you remember the red, green and blue channels for the '96 Olympics. NBC is also on the hook until 2020 for the US rights.

Oh, I remember that. That was last century's technology though. Hadn't thought of all the channels within the channel but I bet they have. As you point out, they've got some time to figure it out. Even the thought of it could raise the negotiating stakes.

[G.]

Get your geek on.

http://www.sixtysymbols.com/index.html

Short, sometimes quirky videos explaining high-level physics, sometimes with Cadbury eggs.

There are other categories besides physics as well.

:thumbup:

[Andrew Longman]

Problem is the Olympics requires at least 4 to 6 channels to provide all that coverage. Neither Dish nor DirecTV have that many unused channels just laying about on their satellites and it would be problematic with many cable systems.They might need to drop a few of the wonderbra/untimate ladder/magic bullet/better sex-less stress/adult sex toy channels.

[SurfaceUnits]

http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20131001-road-food-italy?OCID=xfeat&utm_content=buffer54738&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

Highway grill like they have all across Ohio

[chop456]

http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20131001-road-food-italy?OCID=xfeat&utm_content=buffer54738&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

Highway grill like they have all across Ohio

I will vouch for the quality of Autogrill. :thumbup:

It ain't KFC. :tony:

[nrc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czW495NMFPw

Tesla hits something in the road, the batteries catch fire and destroy the car. Fortunately the fire seems to have remained outside the passenger compartment and the driver escaped unharmed.

Part of the way Tesla achieves their range is by using commodity laptop-style batteries ganged together. Other manufacturers spec larger, application specific batteries. This is the same kind of lithium battery fire we've seen on laptops and Dreamliners. Well, technically I don't think the Dreamliner ever had this kind of open flame - that was prevented by the battery box they use.

[SurfaceUnits]

in a list of the 10 suckiest states for women Utah sucks more than Indiana

Utah
> Wage gap: 70 cents per dollar (tied for 3rd lowest)
> Poverty rate, women and girls: 13.60% (tied for 12th lowest)
> Pct. in state legislature: 16.3% (6th lowest)
> Infant mortality rate: 4.9 per 1,000 births (10th lowest)

Utah is represented in Congress exclusively by men. This is also the case for all of Utah’s elected officials in its executive branch, which includes positions such as the governor, labor commissioner, attorney general and state treasurer. In 2012, women did not fare much better in the private sector, holding just over 30% of management jobs in the state, the third lowest rate nationally. Since management positions tend to have higher wages, the low rate at which females occupy these jobs in the state may be widening the pay gap between men and women. On average, a woman, regardless of race, only made about 70 cents for every $1.00 a man made in Utah in 2012. This was the third worst gap in the country.

Indiana
> Wage gap: 73 cents per dollar (6th lowest)
> Poverty rate, women and girls: 16.8% (25th highest)
> Pct. in state legislature: 20.7% (17th lowest)
> Infant mortality rate: 7.6 per 1,000 births (6th highest)

As of 2012, women in Indiana earned only about three-quarters of what men made. Despite the pay disparity, the percentage of women serving in public office was slightly better in Indiana than in more than half of all states. But more women in leadership roles does not necessarily translate to state programs supporting women. Indiana is among the states that does not offer pre-kindergarten programs for children under five. This means there is more unpaid labor raising children in the state, and in the United States, this work still tends to be disproportionately carried out by women. The state received a low grade for women’s health issues. As of 2010, Indiana had one of the worst rates of infant mortality in the country.

http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/10/03/the-10-worst-states-for-women/?utm_source=247WallStDailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Oct032013A&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter

[cameraman]

in a list of the 10 suckiest states for women Utah sucks more than Indiana

Utah
> Wage gap: 70 cents per dollar (tied for 3rd lowest)
> Poverty rate, women and girls: 13.60% (tied for 12th lowest)
> Pct. in state legislature: 16.3% (6th lowest)
> Infant mortality rate: 4.9 per 1,000 births (10th lowest)

Utah is represented in Congress exclusively by men. This is also the case for all of Utah’s elected officials in its executive branch, which includes positions such as the governor, labor commissioner, attorney general and state treasurer. In 2012, women did not fare much better in the private sector, holding just over 30% of management jobs in the state, the third lowest rate nationally. Since management positions tend to have higher wages, the low rate at which females occupy these jobs in the state may be widening the pay gap between men and women. On average, a woman, regardless of race, only made about 70 cents for every $1.00 a man made in Utah in 2012. This was the third worst gap in the country.

It is a poor report as Utah is a bit strange as states go. There is a very large segment of the population that can be classified as "good LDS". By that it means married women who have dropped out of the workforce to raise their kids. That is what really matters to a large percentage of them. Or they work part time if they absolutely have to. That really skews the numbers and it has a huge effect on the female management numbers. You won't find as many working women in an LDS population and it has nothing to do with the job market.

And tenth lowest infant mortality rate and 12th lowest poverty rates are good things.

[G.]

I thought the 70 % wage gap was a fallacy??

[nrc]

They're generally just comparing average salaries so it's a nonsense number because it doesn't compare men and women in the same jobs with the same experience.

[TravelGal]

They're generally just comparing average salaries so it's a nonsense number because it doesn't compare men and women in the same jobs with the same experience.

Describe to me where men and women are in the same jobs *with the same experience.* This means women have been promoted and valued wherever they are on the ladder all the way to the top.

[nrc]

Describe to me where men and women are in the same jobs *with the same experience.* This means women have been promoted and valued wherever they are on the ladder all the way to the top.

That's true and in my career I've seen that become more common. I'm not saying that gender discrimination no longer exists but the 70% figure has as much to do with career and life choices as discrimination.

Here's are a couple of stories that try to break it down.

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/08/gender_pay_gap_the_familiar_line_that_women_make_7 7_cents_to_every_man_s.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/09/17/male-female-pay-gap-hasnt-moved-much-in-years/

When you take out most of the clear non-gender differences the gap comes down to around 10 cents on the dollar in most studies.

[Gnam]

Can I suggest we move the "Equal Pay for Equal Work" discussion to its own thread?

[nrc]

Can I suggest we move the "Equal Pay for Equal Work" discussion to its own thread?

Yes, you can. But I'll wait and see if the topic goes on. Usually topics come up in this thread, are discussed for a bit and then die off. I don't want to start moving everything that gets a few responses into another thread.

[G.]

Warning: 95 pages of PDF boredom!

Dept of Labor report, 2009. (done by a contractor, so the webpage is still there - for now.)

http://www.consad.com/content/reports/Gender%20Wage%20Gap%20Final%20Report.pdf

They put all the good conclusion-y stuff up top, for people like me. Oh look! Squirrel!

There is about 5-7% gap that cannot be explained easily, and that may be due to discriminatory practices.

[Elmo T]

Very cool photos from the Boneyard:

Air Force boneyards (http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-the-air-force-boneyard-2013-1?op=1)

[Gnam]

Very cool photos from the Boneyard:

Air Force boneyards (http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-the-air-force-boneyard-2013-1?op=1)
The boneyard is adjacent to Davis Monthan AFB near Tucson, AZ.

I wonder if they'll speed up the salvage operations. Near San Francisco is the naval equivalent of a boneyard, called the Mothball Fleet. After sitting for decades, the ships were scrapped at an increased pace and it is almost completely gone.

[cameraman]

The boneyard is adjacent to Davis Monthan AFB near Tucson, AZ.

I wonder if they'll speed up the salvage operations. Near San Francisco is the naval equivalent of a boneyard, called the Mothball Fleet. After sitting for decades, the ships were scrapped at an increased pace and it is almost completely gone.

They sped up getting rid of the mothball fleet because some were in danger of sinking and all were leaching all manner of lead into the bay. The planes are not doing real damage just sitting there.

[emjaya]

New Zealand forgot to name its main islands

Eight hundred years after the Maori first arrived in New Zealand, and 370 years after Europeans spied its shores, the South Pacific nation's major land masses will finally get official names.

For generations, the two main islands have been called the North Island and the South Island. They have also appeared that way on maps and charts. But in recent years, officials discovered an oversight: the islands had never been formally assigned the monikers.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/10/new-zealand-forgot-name-islands


No word on the "West island" yet, Rusty?

:)

[SurfaceUnits]

People witch day iFones and big screen TV's an internet about to riot all up in here because day EBT don't be working at walmart an ****

Just came back from Walmart and people EBT cards not working. They looking sick. #EBT
—
Kwes (@kwes_jsu)

EBT is shut down world wide—
*Se~Se* (@SweetKisses_86)

Lol these ppl on connected are really freaking out because thier ebt doesn't work.—
Ana Hernandez (@Annuh93)

Mom saw a bunch of women crying bc their EBT cards dont work & now they cant feed their kids. Breaks my heart. #governmentshutdown—
emily otero (@emilyymeoww)

my friend posted on FB that we now can't use our EBT Card. Are they going to starve us now? Please help us.—
Ms_Realitygirl (@MsHairChic)

Im hearing food stamps has stop nationwide. Ok.This is scary. Its about to go down across the map. Riot! And walmart ebt is down to. oh ****—
Latoya (@LCNEALY)

Folks bout to riot about this EBT lmao my roommate probably gonna try and off herself 😩😂—
Brittaney Denise (@brittaneydenise)

They tryna be funny cutting EBT food stamps in Cleveland, OH. Well, A hungry enough man will KILL. Government Shutdown 13'—
Mr. Lee (@JohnLee216)

[cameraman]

People witch day iFones and big screen TV's an internet about to riot all up in here because day EBT don't be working at walmart an ****

Just came back from Walmart and people EBT cards not working. They looking sick. #EBT
—
Kwes (@kwes_jsu)

EBT is shut down world wide—
*Se~Se* (@SweetKisses_86)

Lol these ppl on connected are really freaking out because thier ebt doesn't work.—
Ana Hernandez (@Annuh93)

Mom saw a bunch of women crying bc their EBT cards dont work & now they cant feed their kids. Breaks my heart. #governmentshutdown—
emily otero (@emilyymeoww)

my friend posted on FB that we now can't use our EBT Card. Are they going to starve us now? Please help us.—
Ms_Realitygirl (@MsHairChic)

Im hearing food stamps has stop nationwide. Ok.This is scary. Its about to go down across the map. Riot! And walmart ebt is down to. oh ****—
Latoya (@LCNEALY)

Folks bout to riot about this EBT lmao my roommate probably gonna try and off herself —
Brittaney Denise (@brittaneydenise)

They tryna be funny cutting EBT food stamps in Cleveland, OH. Well, A hungry enough man will KILL. Government Shutdown 13'—
Mr. Lee (@JohnLee216)

Or it could be a Xerox networking screwup
“While the electronic benefits system is now up and running, beneficiaries in the 17 affected states continue to experience connectivity issues to access their benefits. Technical staff is addressing the issue and expect the system to be restored soon,” Wasmer said. “Beneficiaries requiring access to their benefits can work with their local retailers who can activate an emergency voucher system where available. We appreciate our clients’ patience while we work through this outage as quickly as possible.” but the truth isn't nearly so much fun.

[SurfaceUnits]

No sympathy

Think for a moment one computer Glitch and your out of the loop. What is your back up plan?

Reply
Tina Delgado AlexxelA
• 8 minutes ago

Getting a job

[SurfaceUnits]

John McAfee predicts hackers will empty Obamacare enrollees' bank accounts http://bit.ly/185F8Mn via @DCExaminer

[cameraman]

McAfee is a murderer and he is more than a little insane. With that article you can now add troll.
You go to https://www.healthcare.gov/
Simple as that. No place else.

[nrc]

I can't think of many things that qualify less as a "Tale of Interest" than health care coverage. Not even crazy John McAfee can make this a tale of interest.

[datachicane]

It's no longer 'Tales of Interest', it's now SU beating his political drum for all its worth, all day, every day.
A handful might be fine, but good grief, man, enough is enough. You've made clear where your lines are drawn, for good or ill.

[nrc]

Well my patience is wearing thin. I'm going to start moderating anything that doesn't qualify for this thread without further comment. Because I'm an expert on what's interesting.

[Andrew Longman]

Well my patience is wearing thin. I'm going to start moderating anything that doesn't qualify for this thread without further comment. Because I'm an expert on what's interesting.You've been very consistent about what's allowable and what isn't. A clever tongue in cheek comment is reasonable among the reasonably minded. Everything else is verboten. And this thread in particular is epic and needs special respect. Moderate away.

I will say I thought of SU's post when my boys told me about the explosion at LAX 9 minutes after it happened because they saw it on Twitter. And they were deriding CNN because they still didn't have anything on it (it turns out because there actually was very little to report and responsible news agencies confirm before they report -- not that CNN is always very responsible ;) )

Every big event, such as the Boston Marathon bombing (or 17 cars getting broken into in a single night in my sleepy little town) points out the unique ability os social media to gather and distribute data and information fast but also how completely useless it is as a responsible and effective journalism tool to properly inform the public with reasoned and accurate interpretation of the facts and their importance. Unfortunately, 24 cable news may actually be worse in many respects but that's been the standard many people have held journalism to since the OJ trial and/or the first Gulf War.

[Elmo T]

Social media in emergency management is a rapidly growing concept. Emergency Managers are learning to monitor social media as the real-time boots on the ground reports can be vital. Or crapola.

I was testing a service called Geofeedia (http://corp.geofeedia.com/). Pulls up geo-tagging social media posts in locations that I can plot on a map OR by name. Very cool. Extremely creepy. Checked out my neighborhood and got the urge to call a few neighbors to tell them to tell their daughters to stop with the self-pics. The system lets me see the post AND the exact location originating. Played around some more (cough cough) - I mean tested - and found a dude who posted pics of his new bong and another posting photos on Twitter of his growing pot plants with #weed #maryjane #mybabiesaregrowing. :rofl: He should be locked up just for being dumb.

[stroker]

Social media in emergency management is a rapidly growing concept. Emergency Managers are learning to monitor social media as the real-time boots on the ground reports can be vital. Or crapola.

I was testing a service called Geofeedia (http://corp.geofeedia.com/). Pulls up geo-tagging social media posts in locations that I can plot on a map OR by name. Very cool. Extremely creepy. Checked out my neighborhood and got the urge to call a few neighbors to tell them to tell their daughters to stop with the self-pics. The system lets me see the post AND the exact location originating. Played around some more (cough cough) - I mean tested - and found a dude who posted pics of his new bong and another posting photos on Twitter of his growing pot plants with #weed #maryjane #mybabiesaregrowing. :rofl: He should be locked up just for being dumb.

Well, at least we know that if the guy we're drinking beer with suddenly turns into a zombie and we note it on Twitter or FB somebody will be able to respond quickly. :\

[Gnam]

The system lets me see the post AND the exact location originating.
That is creepy to me, but social media has never been about privacy. Some people leave the curtains open, some post pictures of themselves on the internet.

In one of Issac Asimov's stories about the future, there was a clear distinction between 'viewing' someone on a monitor screen and 'seeing' them in person in the flesh. The etiquette for the two interactions was completely different. For example, the mens room was still a no-eye-contact zone, but people felt comfortable answering the video phone naked, even when speaking to a stranger.

[TKGAngel]

That is creepy to me, but social media has never been about privacy. Some people leave the curtains open, some post pictures of themselves on the internet.

Has anyone else noticed that those that complain the most about social media privacy settings are those that share every little detail on FB/Twitter?

Ad targeting based on location, profile content and website visits is another thing that straddles the cool/creepy line.

[dando]

Social media in emergency management is a rapidly growing concept. Emergency Managers are learning to monitor social media as the real-time boots on the ground reports can be vital. Or crapola.

I was testing a service called Geofeedia (http://corp.geofeedia.com/). Pulls up geo-tagging social media posts in locations that I can plot on a map OR by name. Very cool. Extremely creepy. Checked out my neighborhood and got the urge to call a few neighbors to tell them to tell their daughters to stop with the self-pics. The system lets me see the post AND the exact location originating. Played around some more (cough cough) - I mean tested - and found a dude who posted pics of his new bong and another posting photos on Twitter of his growing pot plants with #weed #maryjane #mybabiesaregrowing. :rofl: He should be locked up just for being dumb.

Dude. No worries. The NSA has this covered, too. :saywhat:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/10/14/nsa-email-instant-messaging-contact-lists/2984055/

[cameraman]

People who use twitter and facebook logins to access anything except facebook and twitter are daft. I use both sites but I don't use those logins for anything else. And I don't use Google for anything but an internet search. They still know way more about me than they should but I can at least make it mildly difficult for them.

[dando]

Meet the Oarfish.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2013/10/monster-oarfish-18-feet-long-called-discovery-of-a-lifetime/

[cameraman]

Meet the Oarfish.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2013/10/monster-oarfish-18-feet-long-called-discovery-of-a-lifetime/

That's a baby. They get to 50+ feet

[SurfaceUnits]

what a sushi bar

[Gnam]

That's loud...

qch-pIEgf44
They found a chunk of that meteorite in a lake.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Giant-chunk-of-Russian-meteorite-found-in-lake-4900178.php#photo-5328230

[dando]

Heckuva contrail. :gomer: ;)

[SteveH]

Social media in emergency management is a rapidly growing concept. Emergency Managers are learning to monitor social media as the real-time boots on the ground reports can be vital. Or crapola.

I was testing a service called Geofeedia (http://corp.geofeedia.com/). Pulls up geo-tagging social media posts in locations that I can plot on a map OR by name. Very cool. Extremely creepy. Checked out my neighborhood and got the urge to call a few neighbors to tell them to tell their daughters to stop with the self-pics. The system lets me see the post AND the exact location originating. Played around some more (cough cough) - I mean tested - and found a dude who posted pics of his new bong and another posting photos on Twitter of his growing pot plants with #weed #maryjane #mybabiesaregrowing. :rofl: He should be locked up just for being dumb.

http://www.hyscience.com/1984-was-not-supposed-to-be-an-instruction-manual.jpg

I just tripped across this elsewhere. Perfect.

560

[Elmo T]

Left to Languish, Costly Fire Trucks Present a Reminder of Thai Dysfunction (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/world/asia/left-to-languish-costly-fire-trucks-present-a-reminder-of-thai-dysfunction.html?smid=tw-share&_r=2&)


SAI NOI, Thailand — In a weed-covered parking lot on the outskirts of Bangkok, tens of millions of dollars of never-used firefighting equipment sits decaying, punished by bouts of searing heat, monsoon rains and a flood that swamped the area two years ago.

:shakehead:

[Gnam]

from the article:

While the case dragged on, Bangkok decided it could not use its expensive new equipment because it feared that putting the trucks into service would legitimize the purchase and possibly affect the outcome of investigations.
That seems like a poor decision. Whether they used the trucks or not, the money was already gone. Any rebate or repayment based on a finding of fraud would be a separate issue.

[SurfaceUnits]

NASCAR sponsor spying on people in their bedrooms

Rent-To-Own dealer settles consumer spying allegations
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 10/24/2013 03:32 PM

Rent-to-own dealer Aaron's, Inc. has reached a settlement with the FTC for allegedly using software installed on its computers to spy on consumers; the allegations include the capturing of intimate moments, keystrokes, passwords and financial information.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, in some instances, the company captured images of customers engaged in what the FTC called "intimate activities."

The Atlanta company, which operates about 1,800 U.S. stores including dozens in California, agreed to stop the monitoring in a settlement with the FTC.

Under terms of the settlement, Aaron's and its franchisees will be be prohibited from using monitoring technology that captures keystrokes or screen shots and will not activate the webcam and microphone on a customer’s computer, except to provide technical support requested by customers.

"Consumers have a right to rent computers free of cyberspying and to know when and how they are being tracked by a company,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau. "By enabling their franchisees to use this invasive software, Aaron’s facilitated a violation of many consumers’ privacy."

The settlement also requires Aaron's to give clear notice and obtain consent from consumers in order to install technology that allows location tracking of a rented product.

Aaron's declined to comment.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-aarons-rent-to-own-computers-spyware-software-customers-20131022,0,5091216.story#axzz2ifJPUBla

[cameraman]

A little background on that Aaron's story. Nice way to run a business:rolleyes:


According to the complaint filed on Tuesday, Aaron's has been using a product called "PC Rental Agent" on its rent-to-own machines since at least 2007 in order to "surreptitiously access, monitor, intercept, and/or transmit electronic communications" made by Aaron's customers. Created by a company called DesignerWare, PC Rental Agent is advertised as a way to keep track of rent-to-own computers and lock out customers who fail to pay. According to the lawsuit, the product was sold to Aaron's under the guise that it was undetectable by users, and Aaron's apparently conceals the fact that it has the ability to monitor customers' activity when marketing its services.

Crystal and Brian Byrd found this out the hard way in 2010 when they rented a Dell Inspiron laptop from Aaron's, which they paid off in full in October of 2010—one month ahead of schedule. Aaron's didn't record the last payment correctly, however, leading an Aaron's store manager to show up at the Byrd home in December in order to repossess the computer. The store manager then produced a photo of Brian Byrd using the machine, taken with the Inspiron's webcam, as apparent "proof" that the Byrds were still using the computer.

ars technica (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/05/lawsuit-computer-rental-store-aarons-spied-on-users-at-home/)

[TravelGal]

^^^Cripes and I thought it was bad that travel agency owners read the emails their computer users send and receive. Presumably they are at least dressed when they are at work. :eek:

[SurfaceUnits]

http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/file/1767_oops.jpg

[Andrew Longman]

^^^Cripes and I thought it was bad that travel agency owners read the emails their computer users send and receive. Presumably they are at least dressed when they are at work. :eek:Is it just me or is this an old story. I seem to remember hearing about this a few years ago and their excuse was they needed to track where the computer is in case someone stops paying? Sort of like LoJack for the PC. Maybe I just had a stroke and thought I remembered this.

oops. Cameraman covered it.

[dando]

Canonball!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/new-york-los-angeles-cannonball-speed-record/index.html?hpt=hp_c2


From New York to LA in less than 29 hours
With an average speed of 98 mph in a tricked-out Mercedes Benz, the trio beat the old record by more than two hours.

:eek:

[KLang]

Canonball!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/new-york-los-angeles-cannonball-speed-record/index.html?hpt=hp_c2



:eek:

With all the attention this is getting, I wonder how many are going to attempt to beat this record now. Somebody is going to get hurt.

[SurfaceUnits]

The longest stretch I've driven without rest stop is Albany, NY to Memphis, TN and Cleveland to Columbus was an effing mess, as I recall

[dando]

With all the attention this is getting, I wonder how many are going to attempt to beat this record now. Somebody is going to get hurt.

I also think there is going to be a couple of knocks on the front door. Back in my youth, I did 130mph in my 300Z on I-70. :gomer: When I grew a brain, I stopped doing anything more 10mph over the speed limit...except in the PA section on I-76 near Harrisburg when I might have hit 90 passing the local junkyard. :D

[KLang]

I also think there is going to be a couple of knocks on the front door. Back in my youth, I did 130mph in my 300Z on I-70. :gomer: When I grew a brain, I stopped doing anything more 10mph over the speed limit...except in the PA section on I-76 near Harrisburg when I might have hit 90 passing the local junkyard. :D

You would think there has to be a bunch of traffic cameras across the country with images of this guy blazing through traffic.

We have one stretch of back road on the way to work where my wife and can open up our vehicles to triple digits for a short time. :D

[cameraman]

It does not get any cooler than this:eek:

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYJ1HW-CIAI0Q9F.jpg:large

Today's solar eclipse from the ISS

Except for the minor issue of it being fake....

[TravelGal]

It does not get any cooler than this:eek:

Today's solar eclipse from the ISS

Except for the minor issue of it being fake....

:laugh: A friend of mine does mostly solar eclipse tours. All of them. All over the world. Apparently this one was pretty cool from portions of Kenya where you could see the outline of the sun.

[SurfaceUnits]

Riverside reprazentun yo

Stolen Chic-fil-A cow suits send California man out to pasture
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 11/06/2013 10:37 AM

A Riverside, CA., man was arrested after trying to sell two cow suits on the internet; the 7 foot cow costumes were reported stolen during separate robberies and are valued at $2800 a piece.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/xindex.php,qct=news,aaction=file,aid=1891.pagespee d.ic.VwREwesCmf.jpg

KPIC reports that Police in Southern California busted the cattle costume rustler after he tried to sell the stolen suits online.

An undercover officer arranged to buy the bovine attire in time for Halloween. When the seller produced the black-and-white outfits, he was arrested.Forty-three-year-old Robert Michael Trytten, of Riverside, is being held for suspicion of possession of stolen property on $275,000 bail.

Police also recovered a pop-up canopy stolen from the restaurant. All the property was returned to Chick-fil-A.

[Elmo T]

We have some history buffs here - cool opportunity:

Smithsonian Digital Volunteers (https://transcription.si.edu/)


We're looking for digital volunteers to help us transcribe our records & unlock their stories.

You can transcribe historic Civil War-era documents, field books and even 100-yr-old botany specimen labels.

[chop456]

is being held for suspicion of possession of stolen property on $275,000 bail.

SRSLY? :rolleyes: