six degrees, Mosquito lure, PGP, Vista, carma, , Fish Oil, Sainsbury Palm Oil, Blog Backup

six degrees

One scientific paper investigating “kill mechanisms” during the end-Permian suggests that methane hydrate explosions “could destroy terrestrial life almost entirely”. Acting much like today’s fuel-air explosives (or “vacuum bombs”), major oceanic methane eruptions could release energy equivalent to 10,000 times the world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Whatever happened back then to wipe out 95% of life on Earth must have been pretty serious. And while it would be wrong to imagine that history will ever straightforwardly repeat itself, we should certainly try and learn the lessons of the distant past. If they tell us one thing above all, it is this: that we mess with the climatic thermostat of this planet at our extreme – and growing – peril.

marklynas
marklynas
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Mosquito lure
I thought up this idea years ago... a little heat, a little octanol, a little CO2, a membrane over poison, and voila! death to mosquitos...

the most common way of fighting diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and West Nile today is to try to wipe out the mosquitoes ..Now there's an alternative on the horizon ..The technology is hidden in an artificial flower designed to attract mosquitoes and treat them with pathogen-killing drugs that allow the insects to live and continue to perform important functions such as pollinating flowers and serving as food for animals and other insects. ... MIT Holding, Inc...PROVECTOR "flower" reduced the number of viruses that cause dengue and parasites that cause malaria in mosquitoes in lab settings. ... ..the product is designed to use visual, olfactory and chemical signals to entice mosquitoes to ingest antimalarial and antiviral treatments that inhibit the development of the pathogens. ..the flower portion of the PROVECTOR is covered by a membrane that protects people, bees and other animals that touch it but is thin enough to be penetrated by a mosquito's long, pointy proboscis... PROVECTOR'S drug—which is still being developed—will function similar to doxycycline, an antibiotic that slows or kills parasites in the blood

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PGP
wired

There are several whole-disk encryption products on the market. I use PGP Disk's Whole Disk Encryption tool for two reasons. It's easy, and I trust both the company and the developers to write it securely. (Disclosure: I'm also on PGP Corp.'s Technical Advisory Board.)
pgp Encrypt anything you don't need access to regularly -- archived documents, old e-mail, whatever -- separately, with a different password. I like to use PGP Disk's encrypted zip files, because it also makes secure backup easier (and lets you secure those files before you burn them on a DVD and mail them across the country), but you can also use the program's virtual-encrypted-disk feature to create a separately encrypted volume.

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Vista
Vista is dangerous. I bought a HP NoteBook in Hong Kong, tried to "Install" vista. nb. there is no CD/DVD, merely a compressed/encrypted? "vista" on the NB harddrive(HD), which is moved/installed to another part of the HD. This is outrageous. Why the F dont HP just distribute the NB with the OS??
Worse: If the power is cut during the (long) installation, then Vista goes into a hard-loop, cannot be fixed AND the partial install cannot be removed from the HD (maybe a Linux install could reformat those HD sectors.) I had to buy a blackmarket Vista, and install it, which lost me all the HP/Compaq features. The (Indian?) help centre woman told me in a hostile voice that I had voided my warranty, so would not get no help from HP. HP in Australia has pathetic service, no help.

Remaining problems: I needed a driver for the LCD screen, which I found.

I needed a Vodec to play DVDs, which I got on the black market

Worst of all: the DVD burner software doesnt work... HP email suggested a $130 product which does work, then they signed off saying they were glad my situation was "resolved" - well it is NOT resolved...

To Sum up: avoid Vista. If you must have it, ensure its installed before you pay $one, and see a DVD burned and viewed in the shop before you pay.
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carma
CARMA
CARMA watches those pesky CO2 emitting power stations (I hate that americanism "plant", they're stations, not plants)

this station spoils the beach view on Lamma__________________________________________________
castlefinearts
hiroshiga __________________________________________________

space station__________________________________________________
Mice with young skin

NF-kappa-B as “master regulator” of aging-associated gene activation programs in humans and mice. In effect, the gene promotes the activity of an array of other genes implicated in aging. Chang’s team engineered a mouse with a gene that could counteract NF-kappa-B, but which was inactive by default. This blocking gene could be activated in the skin, though, by applying a special cream.

abc__________________________________________________
Fish Oil prevents madness

1.5 grams of fish oil per day, similar to the range which can be reached with a very fish-heavy diet.
a group of 81 people, all between 15 and 25 years,
....there was a marked difference between the group taking fish oil, and the group that was not, in terms of developing the signs of schizophrenia.
"When we followed the people up a year later we saw that about 5 per cent in the omega-3 group developed psychosis, and there were 28 per cent in the placebo group,"

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Peter Garrett is to be the Australian Labor Govt Environment minister.
But he has said he is in favour of the Gun's Chip mill in Tasmania. He didnt insist on halting old tree chipping. - 85 metre regnans trees, the worlds tallest flowering plants, to be chipped for Japanese toilet paper...
So he sold out for nada.
Bob Brown remains staunch
abc
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Sainsbury Palm Oil
Booming demand for palm oil has fuelled concerns over the felling of huge sections of rainforest in countries such as Indonesia to make way for plantations.
Sainsbury's says it intends to accept palm oil only from certified sustainable sources, starting with plantations in Colombia.
scenta
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Soyuz TMA-11
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Blog Backup
I want to backup my blog, because my links often die
sometimes jpgs link for a while, then the owners complain (why?)
BUT there is a dearth of blog backup software

asprise
big jar, doesnt work
blogbackuponline
backs up post title addresses - what the f good is that
blogbak
this worked , but is not available in english anymore
doesnt do incremental, ie only the entire blog, but DOES grab jpegs
levels can be set?

Sadly, I accept that jpgs and entire links will fade away, and I cant be bothered saving them.

Blogging begins to seem like that old stereotype of the weirdo collecting newspaper clippings in his solitary room.