We’ve been expecting an SDK, and a path for getting 3rd party apps on the iPhone and iPod touch for a while now. Even with the expectation there I am blown away. Not only do we have ridiculously cool and high tech hardware, but it looks like they did everything right with the SDK. We are going to see an explosion of creative apps utilizing a lot of untapped power in these devices.

Better yet, Apple is providing all the developers a marketplace they don’t have to maintain that gets their apps in front of every iPhone/iPod user… anywhere in the world.

To top that off Apple’s put aside $100,000,000 to invest in this market. I can’t think of a single time I’ve seen a company create a market so rapidly, and so intelligently. This is what capitalism is all about people. Not only is Apple going to reap huge amounts of money from their innovative technology and thinking here, but thousands of small time developers now have an easy channel to make money on their work, and millions of users are going to benefit from the apps they create.

Wow.

I have to applaud Fred Thompson for (seemingly) trying to stay out of the in-fighting.

“While all this hullabaloo is going on around me and everybody’s attacking each other and everybody’s talking about process and who’s got the most political ambition to drive them, I’m just going to stay steady up the middle with the same conservative, common-sense message that I’ve had and what I’ve always been in my political life from day one,” he said.

I know I’m an idealist, but to me it is rather shocking how much battle goes on within parties that are supposed to be working towards common goals. There is less of goals being thrown about than there is warnings should you vote for the wrong person. It’s not about who’s going to do the best job, or who’s goals are most aligned with yours, it’s about who you can’t vote for because of dirt and fear.

Truly a pitiful state for a democracy to be in.

It’s trivial to tell if a poll has been manipulated. It’s a lot more likely that supporters simply posted about it in their forums and chats, and had everyone they knew was a supporter hop in and vote. That’s called good organization, and passion. It’s one of the things America really lacks a lot of the time when it comes to politics. Here’s my response to this editor.

If it does turn out to be hacking and we see some convincing proof I’ll apologize. Otherwise I’m just disgusted by the state of our media.

I’ll start by saying I’ve just started hearing of Ron Paul in the past month or so. I’m not a supporter or a detractor.

Now that that’s out of the way, I find what you did childish in the extreme. You essentially took down a poll because you didn’t like the results. I see where you’re coming from, it does seem like his supporters got organized and took advantage of the poll.

But how is that different from coming to a town and drumming up support, helping people get to the real polls to cast their vote?

Now it’d be different if there was hacking or forgery involved, but I have to assume that a corporation as big as yours can easily detect such a simple thing on a web based poll. Which was it? Was it hacking? If so, bad form on them. It seems more likely the case is that Ron Paul has a lot of web user support, and is good at organizing and communicating with them.

If that’s the case then your actions were not only childish, but a disservice to all of your readers and watchers. Please clear up the story and let us know if it was in fact some sort of hacking (actually breaking into your servers to skew the data,) or simply a strong and well organized web community? You may not want to believe it, but that would be reflecting the sentiments of “the many.”

If you really felt that these polls were unscientific and unimportant as you implied… why would you be concerned about taking it down?

I have to feel there’s something else at work here behind your actions, and it frankly puts a bad taste in my mouth. If I don’t hear an update, and I don’t see any proof of hacking, then I won’t be trusting CNBC again.

Sincerely,

Alex Morse

Blogger finds Y2K bug in NASA Climate Study

Check out the article. After correcting the problem, we now find that warmest year on record was (drumroll)

1934

As opposed to 1998, which the study previously stated.

Obviously hold an event for the word and get it mentioned in national news!

NAACP delegates ‘bury’ the N-word.

There’s not much more that can be said. I’m just gaping.

NASA can’t afford looking for killer asteroids.

So what’s top on your list, America? A few more bucks in your pocket so you can eat out a few more times this year at your favourite fast food restaurant, or the continued survival of the human race? Sometimes I wonder if we should survive when I consider how idiotic we can be, but I’m not so cynical that I entertain those thoughts very often

I’m not at all denying that we have had an impact. Certainly we have. Indeed, I think we’ve done some vast and horrible things. I do infact think that we have helped cause, or at least speed, climate change. Is that bad? Well, yes, it likely is, not because of the change itself but because of how we react to it, and how little we understand it.

The problem is we don’t know what we’re doing.

We spend most of our time on this matter arguing about who’s fault it is and how to fix it. It’s quite a problem, because we don’t know how many factors are involved, nor do we know the weight to put on the factors we do know about. I equate our flailing and bickering to the process of gluing together a china teapot that’s been broken… except we’re doing it in a dark room only by touch. I know it’s arrogant of me to make such a judgement on a world community of scientists, but it’s not like I’m wrong on the matter. There’s no consensus on causes, and even less on fixes.

Do we need to “fix” anything?

Recent evidence shows that we’re not alone in this problem. Mars is also warming up, despite the fact they don’t have a bunch of troublesome humans belching out greenhouse gasses. This is currently being attributed to the current solar cycle, and of course that’s pretty obvious. The sun is the main factor that affects absolutely anything in our solar system, so naturally it is one of the first places to look for cause of changes. Of course, it’s not anywhere near the only factor, but it’s good to have a bit of validation on my thoughts that we haven’t fully grasped the problem.

How often do you try to solve a problem without understanding it first? I’m guilty of it from time to time. I will readily admit that if I don’t have a firm grasp of the problem before attempting a fix, I most often fail to solve it. I don’t see how it should be any different on a professional scientific scale.

We’re going about this wrong.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea to reduce emissions. I actually think it’s great. I would love to go Solar, or Wind power. I like being ecologically friendly when I can. I think we’re putting the wrong priority on it. Historically we’ve been terrible at trying to “fix” nature. There are may instances where we’ve had great intentions of helping nature but not seen the big picture and failed utterly. The global climate is far more complex than regional ecosystems, yet we spend a lot of time bickering about it and making sweeping generalizations about the need to fix it, and how.

When you’re sick, and you don’t know what’s wrong what do you do? You treat the symptoms so you can continue getting on about your life as well as possible. You keep trying to figure out what’s wrong, but you don’t let yourself be crippled in the meantime. That’s what we should be primarily focused on at this point. We’re busy making predictions of catastrophe, some of which are in fact likely to come about. We’re busy laying about blame for things that are sometimes no one’s fault, or everyone’s fault. We should instead be acknowledging the change, and working to adjust to it.

Pragmatism is more helpful than being reactionary or sensational

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for minimizing our impact on other species. If I had my way I’d live in a solar house, with an electric car out on a lake surrounded by forest, growing my own vegetables and frolicking with the other woodland creatures. That’s not a likely scenario for me or most other people any time soon. Until that becomes more plausible I’ll be going about my daily life as I was.

In a world where we’re likely to see weather patterns we’re not accustomed to we need to acknowledge their power and unpredictability, while preparing as best we can. If you live where hurricanes hit, for the love of all that’s holy be sure not to be in a flood plain, or below sea level. Don’t live in a trailer or other unsound structure. If you live where there could be tornados, keep a weather radio and know how and when to take cover. If it gets hot, be sure to have water and a way to help cool yourself down should the power go out. If you live where you can be snowed in, keep supplies. There’s too much human tragedy happening due to ignorance and simple arrogance/lack of preparation.

This world has been around much longer than we have, and unless we get our act together it will be here long after we’ve passed. To it, we’re a minor annoyance at best. Thousands, probably millions, of species have come along and gone past in the life of earth, we are no exception. We do not have to be as ignorant, but it seems we often choose to be.

Billy: It’s my turn to use the swing, Tommy.
Tommy: No, I got off for a few minutes earlier so I still have time.
Billy: That’s not fair Tommy, you should have let someone else use it then.
Tommy: Oh yeah? Well you smell bad!
Billy: Your hair is ugly!

Etcetera.

Here’s a real world example Slashdot repost on wealth distribution. First let me preface this by saying I’m speaking of the US only. The overwhelming response here is “We need socialism,” “Balance the wealth,” or simply “This is so unfair!” Well yes, ok it is “unfair,” but definitely not in the sense that most of these people are crying. They ignore the fact that the people that are abundantly wealthy earned it through work, cleverness, or maybe just luck. In some cases maybe it was previous generations of their family that earned the bulk of it, but that doesn’t make any difference really. It was legitimately gained in almost all cases.

Somehow when the subject is brought up, the wealthy are ignored. Somehow they become dehumanized entities, and instead are thought of as just resources. “Well they have all that, they don’t need it, they should give it to everyone else!”

Wait… what?

That’s the common cry, you’ve heard it to. You know as well as I if the roles were reversed the same people crying for the government to rob the rich would be fighting tooth and nail to keep what they’ve rightfully earned. It’s not fair indeed. It’s not fair to demand from others something you have no right to.

No one has a right to have wealth given to them. Everyone has the right to earn it for themselves.

It’s interesting, because there’s a lot of other points that the people complaining about the wealthy miss. Our country has tons of benefits it pours on its citizens. Many I disagree with, but there’s still plenty I’m happy to pay for. Roads, Defense, Education being my top 3 favourites (the sad state of our schools is fodder for another entry.) Where do you think that money comes from?

The top 1% pay about 30% of all taxes
The top 5% pay about 50% of all taxes
and the top 50% pay about 98% of all taxes

The median income in the US is about $36,000 a year. That’s not the mean, as at the high end of the chart it gets disproportionately high. Looking back at percentages that means if you’re making an average income or higher, you’re getting taxed disproportionately more than people making a few thousand below you. I’ve actually seen this on my taxes, going up a bracket can net you an effective loss if you’re not careful. So we already have a system in place that’s taking more money from people that have more. People that are middle income or slightly below are paying next to nothing comparatively, yet still enjoying the same benefits.

No that’s not true. The exorbitantly wealthy enjoy far less benefits from government programs. They’re already sending their children to private schools, they don’t take advantage of any of the numerous programs in place to help out if you’re in a bind.

So those decrying the wealthy are correct in a way, it’s just not fair. The thing is, they’ve completely missed on WHAT is actually unfair.

Perhaps that’s a bit unfair.  I don’t know Al.  He may be genuine, and totally believe most of the crap he’s spewing.  At best his movie is socially irresponsible, just as any other propaganda is.  Yes, I just called what is being lauded as a public service movie as socially irresponsible.  Why?  Because despite the intent it does what even the basest marketing firm will do, it uses human suffering to try and push its agenda.

Again, let me emphasize that I do believe the Earth is undergoing climate change.  I do believe we’re feeling a warming trend right now, at least the appearance of one.  I don’t agree with Gore’s methods, or many of the more alarmist climatologists decrying the end of the world.

The crux of the matter is, we’re damned ignorant.  Climate is a fascinating study, and a lot can be learned from studying trends in localized areas, or correlating global data.  However–even today–there are so many nuances lost to us, so many details we don’t understand.  I appreciate arrogance, but a lot of this is just silly.  I am all for climate study.  I think more should be spent on observing our effects on the environment, making sure we can keep from killing ourselves, etc.  I don’t think any of us have a truly firm grasp on our impact on the global climate yet, and I am absolutely positive many of the alarmists are simply using dire possibilities to further their own ends.

This is nothing new.  I remember reading and researching on the topic in the mid 90′s when I first started catching wind of… well… the ill wind.  I  just ran across another article outlining a lot of things I’ve seen before, but it’s a nice comprehensive look at some of the things that have been done on the subject.  Check it out.

Climate chaos? Don’t believe it

Confidence is good, but it’s foolish to assume we have a grasp on a system so large when we are probably only about halfway there.  We should definitely continue to study and watch, but calm down!  I have great faith in humanity’s ability to create, and to survive.  Here’s a clever solution should the worst predictions become true.

Space Sunshade