Posts
Monday, April 18, 2005
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Common sense
A report in New Scientist states that at a cost of $24 million and with the help of 1300 scientists in 95 countries, they have published the first ever global inventory, the overwhelming conclusion of which is: we are living way beyond our means.
"According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), approximately 60 per cent of the planet's "ecosystem services" - natural products and processes that support life, such as water purification - are being degraded or used unsustainably. What is more, this degradation increases the risk of abrupt and drastic changes, such as climate shifts and the collapse of fisheries."
And they needed to spend all that money and employ the services of all those people to tell them that! Just look around and use a bit of commonsense and you come to the same conclusion for substantially less money. I think I should offer my services next time if they want to throw money away (which when you think about it only exacerbated the problem - more trees chopped down to make the notes, more deposits mined to mint the coins.)
On another note, I have withdrawn a short story that was previously accepted for an anthology. I didn't enjoy taking it out, but after what I felt was less than helpful co-operation by the editor, I decided to withdraw my submission.
"According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), approximately 60 per cent of the planet's "ecosystem services" - natural products and processes that support life, such as water purification - are being degraded or used unsustainably. What is more, this degradation increases the risk of abrupt and drastic changes, such as climate shifts and the collapse of fisheries."
And they needed to spend all that money and employ the services of all those people to tell them that! Just look around and use a bit of commonsense and you come to the same conclusion for substantially less money. I think I should offer my services next time if they want to throw money away (which when you think about it only exacerbated the problem - more trees chopped down to make the notes, more deposits mined to mint the coins.)
On another note, I have withdrawn a short story that was previously accepted for an anthology. I didn't enjoy taking it out, but after what I felt was less than helpful co-operation by the editor, I decided to withdraw my submission.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
The day my computer died
Well, for the last few days I've been incommunicado - a result of a broken computer. Not only had my power pack packed up, but the motherboard was fried as well. Because of this, I've been unable to write. The loss of the computer left me twiddling my thumbs, and I felt like a part of myself was missing. Am I becoming as one with my insentient machine? Is my interaction through the keyboard more than just a play of words? It's quite scary to see how dependant one becomes on technology. How would I or others like me cope with the loss of our gadgets. In this modern world we have become soft. It's a life of convenience, of frozen meals and machinery, of cars and aeroplanes. It would be an interesting scenario to see (at least for a short while) our modern age grind to a halt.
There was a program on not long ago where a man travelled to the Amazon to live with the indigenous people. One of the most surprising things about the program was when he revealed that they had forgotten how to light a fire without the use of matches or a lighter. To give something back, he showed them how to start a fire from scratch, reinstalling a forgotten art. How many other arts have we as a race already lost? And how many more may we yet lose?
I watched the second part of Doctor Who, and found myself disappointed. After the promise I felt at the first episode, I felt the second episode was too light-hearted and Eccleston's Doctor character became a little too smug. Time will tell if the program can redeem itself as I wait for the return of the Daleks.
There was a program on not long ago where a man travelled to the Amazon to live with the indigenous people. One of the most surprising things about the program was when he revealed that they had forgotten how to light a fire without the use of matches or a lighter. To give something back, he showed them how to start a fire from scratch, reinstalling a forgotten art. How many other arts have we as a race already lost? And how many more may we yet lose?
I watched the second part of Doctor Who, and found myself disappointed. After the promise I felt at the first episode, I felt the second episode was too light-hearted and Eccleston's Doctor character became a little too smug. Time will tell if the program can redeem itself as I wait for the return of the Daleks.
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