CTRL+ALT+DELETE... A Ghost story.
Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:18:46 AM PDT
This isn't the story you thought it was. There is a strong streak of geek in it. But read on...
This is about a company that I thought had awesome idea. Simply put, they have an online virtual computer, with everything you expect from a computer.. disk drives, email, browser, office aps. Yes, a browser within a browser. And you can access it from anywhere in the world.
International Herald Tribune
G.ho.st, pronounced "Ghost," is an acronym for Global Hosted Operating System. Its goal is not as lofty as peace, although its founders and employees hope to encourage it, but to create a free, Web-based virtual computer so that users can access their desktop, files and documents from any computer with an Internet connection, not unlike the way e-mail messages are retrieved online.
What's interesting is the inspiration for the name... because ghosts go through walls, and this is a company with staff who communicate by computers because they are on opposite sides of the Wall....
How I love the words "critical threshold"..
Thu Sep 15, 2005 at 11:45:37 PM PDT
This is a bit of an experimental diary...
Basically, I thought it would be fun to Google the words "critical threshold", "tipping point", that sort of thing. Here's the first thing that came up...
A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover. Scientists fear that the Arctic has now entered an irreversible phase of warming which will accelerate the loss of the polar sea ice that has helped to keep the climate stable for thousands of years.
Independent
16 september
More results on the flip...
Clinton and McCain: Global warming is real..
Thu Aug 18, 2005 at 10:39:47 PM PDT
.. and alaska is the canary in the coal mine that will make America wake up.
Global warming: Will you listen now, America?
Two of the leading contenders (Clinton and McCain) to contest the next US presidential election have delivered an urgent warning to the United States on global warming, saying the evidence of climate change has become too stark to ignore and human activity is a major cause.
Independent
...more over the flip..
The american dream is killing us..
Tue Mar 29, 2005 at 11:47:44 PM PDT
.. and what I mean by "the american dream" is the view that the world economy can keep expanding, to ever wider horizons, like pilgrims rolling west in their wagon trains, looking for new land and new resources. It is not exclusive to americans, and not all americans subscribe to this view.
Today this article appeared in which a group of concerned scientists warn that two-thirds of the world's natural capital is under threat or just plain gone.
The study contains what its authors call "a stark warning" for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.
"Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted," it says.
Law of the Sea or Locals only- a Poll
Mon Mar 07, 2005 at 01:36:50 PM PDT
Be gentle, it's my first diary.
This is basically a follow-up to this diary, which details an attempt to regulate fishing in international waters.
A bit of background... the oceans are, in my opinion, the big, unreported crisis-in-the-making of the 21st century. There are Ten Times (warning-it's a PDF) fewer large predator fish in the sea, and fish stocks are crashing all over the world. More to the point, current fishing practices are based on fishing down the food web..
that is, you catch the big fish, then catch medium fish that the big fish eat (so they don't recover), then catch the little fish that the medium fish eat.. and pretty soon, jellyfish is on the menu.
