libertus

Comments welcomed on the subject.

Warning!

Anyone offended by freedom of expression is advised to avoid viewing or participating in this discussion. However, all are welcome and freedom of expression is encouraged.

You may feel strange by what you read and say here. It is your responsibility to know your limits. Avoid participating beyond them. The most stimulating discussions happen when one feels safe and comfortable and fun.

As a guide, express your opinion as freely as you would express your love in public.

For reference material on the subject see the parent thread to this post.

Cue Prokofiev’s “Troika“!

Sigh. 30°C and sunny in Kuala Lumpur.

Update 8^th Feb 2007

While posting pictures of 2007 snow, I remembered a picture I took of 2005 snow.

And left woefully ignorant of how.

Well, no, actually, the BBC didn’t say that. I just made that up. They couldn’t, but this programme sequence I’m watching might as well have that in BBC News headline format along the bottom. The do say you have to learn how to shop. What a work of genius.

“Learning Zone”, BBC2, 2am-4am. No-one is watching.

Almost perfect. Almost. Unfortunately, I was watching. Oops!

This is the message from the BBC. Tell everyone you know. “Treat yourself. Stop spending.” Shop with your mind, not with your heart. Do not enslave yourself to debt. Shops and banks are not trying to help you achieve your dreams. They are deliberately manipulating you to consume more than you need. You can have everything you want for cheaper if you put a little more effort into it and you can have more fun doing it.

Nowadays, you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home! Why shop at the mall if you can shop while having sex? What could be more perverse?
Continue reading ‘BBC admits “You Are All Conditioned For Consumption”’ »

More fun conversing with Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” searches. Or is it? Liberta, I respectfluffly challenge you to determine whether a computer or a human supplied these links in answer to these questions. Is this just technology or is it behaviour? It made me laugh.

“how the speed of light is measured” yields Measure The Speed of Light With Chocolate and A Microwave

“no really I want to know how the speed of light is measured” yields The Speed of Light which has the audacity to say that light always travels at a speed of 299,792,458 meters per second, no matter how its speed is measured.

What, even if I measure it with chocolate and a microwave?
Continue reading ‘How Did We Measure The Speed of Light?’ »

Recalling a newspaper article I read while travelling.
Recalling certain laws of physics I learned while becoming a divemaster. Understanding that gas pressure gradients seek equilibrium over inverse proportional time.
Accepting that carbon dioxide exists at a certain partial pressure in the atmosphere.
Accepting that carbon dioxide exists at a certain partial pressure in the oceans.
Assuming that partial pressure of carbon dioxide in atmosphere and oceans is not equal.
Asserting that gradient exists between partial pressures of carbon dioxide in atmosphere and oceans.
Deducing that atmosphere and oceans exchange carbon dioxide according to laws of physics.
Concluding that system adapts according to design.
Verification complete.
Continue reading ‘The Oceans Absorb Carbon Dioxide’ »

Sherlock Holmes asking Dr. Watson to have a glass bottle checked for fingerprints. ROFL!

Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” searches:

“history of sherlock holmes” yields Sherlock Holmes
“history of fingerprints” yields The History of Fingerprints
“fingerprints are not unique” yeilds The Myth of Fingerprints

Hmmmm…

Despite how one felt about the Iraq war, it was prudent when discussing the subject to carefully avoid criticising the troops stationed there. And for good reason: troops go where they are told, not by choice.

Same goes for the CSA. It is astonishing to hear the leader of the Government, the person ultimately responsible for the structure and operation of Government, criticise an agency of the Government as being “not properly suited to carry out [its] task”. I bet that destroyed the already shaky morale of the fine people who do their best trying to make the agency work.
Continue reading ‘In Support of the CSA. The Powers of the CSA.’ »

Not my usual approach but by goodness does it get results! I’m a convert.

It must happen to other people regularly. I didn’t expect it to happen to me but it has. World events have made me re-evaluate the way I think about how I do things, what I believe and what my future holds. I realise now that I can decide for myself. Yes, I’m going to uninstall Microsoft Office XP!
Continue reading ‘Losing My Religion, Clearing My Conscience, Saving My Money’ »

A real-life scenario. A user has a laptop running Windows XP SP2. It has no anti-virus software and no anti-spyware software. The laptop is in daily use, constantly connected to the internet through a variety of different networks. After two months, how many viruses and/or spyware programs would you expect to find on it?

The answer is none.

I just installed AVG and Spybot to check for malware after more than two months of running my laptop unprotected. Nothing to report, so I have uninstalled them. Seems incredible, doesn’t it?

Not really. I don’t use Internet Explorer and I don’t use Outlook or Outlook Express. I download plenty of files and execute them but I am careful only to do so from sources I can ostensibly trust.

AV resident software hurts the performance of your machine and is, unfortunately, completely unnecessary. Your best protection against computer attack is good behaviour and not paying money for a convenient but false sense of security. The virus threat is exaggerated.