Terahertz

I’ve always secretly wanted a laptop, however, resented their high prices, over powered specs, and bulky sizes. So when I learned ASUS (I bought my motherboard for my low-end small-form-factor desktop from them) has a new line of laptops called the Eee PCs, I got curious.

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One thing many people fail to realize when criticizing science, is that not all science is in a laboratory with test tubes, chemicals, and geeky glasses.

Science is a method of investigation, one based upon empirical trial and error. In the most simplistic form science involves creating a hypothesis for some problem or unknown phenomenon, extrapolating a new result from this hypothesis and testing that result.

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Federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion announced his grand-old climate plan to save the world and attempt to get his party back into power this fall recently.  The big buzz of his plan is “carbon-taxes” as opposed to the Harper-Layton deal of “cap-and-trade.”

The New York Times has a bit of an explanation and comparison between the two systems:

Under the cap-and-trade model, which is embodied in most of the legislation that has been offered so far to deal with global warming, the government would set an overall limit — squeezed lower and lower over time — on the amount of carbon dioxide that can be pumped into the atmosphere.

…

A carbon tax reverses the process. The government would impose a tax on carbon output, gradually raising the price of energy produced from fossil fuels to higher and higher levels. The cost of coal would go up the most, because it emits more carbon dioxide for each unit of energy, with the price rising less for products derived from oil like gasoline and jet fuel, and even less for natural gas. The money raised by the tax, ideally, would be used to offset other taxes in ways that could compensate lower-income households and minimize damage to the economy.

Carbon taxes are likely less popular due to the word “tax” which no one likes, however, an experiment has been launched in BC where they have begun taxing all fossil fuels.

Critics can be found supporting either side of the issue, however the key here is that BOTH methods actually start doing something about climate change, as opposed to earlier “intensity” regulations.  Time will tell which method reigns supreme in Canada.

Science can let you see the wonder, and beauty of the world.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0]

I love the whole world.

(via Pharyngula, XKCD)

My latest attempt at non-fiction comes from Tom Harpur, writer of the book-turned-CBC-documentary “The Pagan Christ” which asked if Jesus was made up of earlier myths. Harpur however, is a self described

struggling Christian who has found the Anglican Church the most conductive to his own spiritual grown. But, I’m attached to it by an elastic band, not a chain. [Would You Believe? p. 45]

The book I’m reading is “Would You Believe? Finding God Without Losing Your Mind” subtitled “A book for doubters, sceptics and wistful unbelievers.” With this title and his form of liberal Christianity, I went in honestly expecting a decent argument or case for theism.

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Apparently that religion thing just isn’t working and the United Church of Canada is considering “throwing in the towel” and getting on with their lives.

“By even asking that question, we are acting as if we are a human organization rather than a God organization. It is a [national leadership] that is profoundly flawed with no strong sense of purpose or direction or destiny.”

I would say, yes, you are a human organization, and now we all agree.

The only downside I would see to losing the United Church is that they are one of the more liberal churches, often taking part in Gay Pride Parades, and supporting greater dialogues (like Greta Vosper’s “With or Without God”).

The numbers leaving their church however are staggering:

Like most mainstream Protestant denominations, the United Church of Canada has seen dramatic drops in membership. There are now 3,400 United Church congregations; since 1996, the Church has lost about 460 parishes. The Church reports a membership of 558,000, down 21% since 1996.

Although it doesn’t say whether people are leaving church all together, or just going to other (more “traditional”) churches.

(Via Pharyngula)

My newest video made after the Pride Parade with some friends in their backyard.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/2qAIJLyIDyw]

If you’ve been looking for a movie that combines John Cusack’s typical self-loathing character with sharp political satire on the war in Iraq and profiteering, the movie War, Inc. is for you.

Although it sometimes goes a bit absurd, it’s generally sharp, funny, and a bit scary (in that all satire has just enough truth in it). The greatest image of the entire movie has to be that of tanks rolling through the streets of Emerald City, Turaqistan with billboards plastered all over them. Some of the great dialogue can be found when Cusack’s character (a hitman undercover as a trade show organizer) walks into the trade show and announces the stage must be at the East end of the tent, so that the Muslims won’t have to turn away from the stage five times a day. He then asks his coworkers to remember to be “culturally sensitive.”

All in all I though it was a great film, despite some of the lesser reviews (despite what they think, this is not a Dr. Strangelove-esque movie).

So I follow my normal path to work today, only to get the pleasure of discovering that the CCIS phase 2 construction site has blocked yet another direct path I take, and plans to keep it blocked until September 30th! (Well after classes begin). To best illustrate this inconvienience I have taken the liberty of creating a Google Map to show it. The old construction site and my old path are in blue, the new expansion and the detour are in red.

The detour measured 270 m, which is around 888 feet! Luckily you can cut through the building instead of going around, but it’s still frustrating.

You can see the original map on google here. (WordPress doesn’t let me embed anything.)

A quick search on Facebook demonstrated that sometimes politics can be lonely: