Category Archives: postgresql

postgresql

IPCC's mitigation report

== Highlights of the IPCC's mitigation report == http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/grist/gristmill/~3/114411036/75161 (from Gristmill) I want to highlight a few points from the IPCC's Mitigation Report (PDF). First, even the most stringent global greenhouse gas targets can be met at a cost of a mere 0.1% of GDP per year! While the report is not explicit about when action should be taken, it does say that: In order to stabilize the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere, emissions would need to peak and decline thereafter. The lower the stabilization level, the more quickly this peak and decline would need to occur. The Center for American Progress and I have encouraged stabilizing atmospheric CO2 concentration at 450 ppm and/or a temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius over the pre-industrial era. That said, according to one of the report's charts (see page 22), reductions aimed to cut emissions 85% by 2050 must be initiated before 2015. And maybe sooner. According to the IPCC: Decision-making about the appropriate level of global mitigation over time involves an iterative risk management process that includes mitigation and adaptation, taking into account actual and avoided climate change damages, co-benefits, sustainability, equity, and attitudes to risk. … if the damage cost curve increases steeply, or contains non-linearities (e.g. vulnerability thresholds or even small probabilities of catastrophic events), earlier and more stringent mitigation is economically justified. Tucked into footnote 37 of the report, there's a brief discussion of feedbacks that could certainly, and dangerously, be categorized as a non-linear, vulnerable threshold to which we are blind. The message of the report is clear. Countries must act, and soon. We can choose to stabilize the climate and still maintain prosperous economies. But we must make a financial commitment that just hasn't materialized. We've been going backwards. The IPCC reports: Government funding in real absolute terms for most energy research programmes has been flat or declining for nearly two decades (even after the UNFCCC came into force) and is now about half of the 1980 level. At this point, that is unacceptable. The policies the IPCC has recommended have great potential and low cost. The world needs make the political and economic commitments to curb emissions. The time to act is now. This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

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postgresql

eat local and “foodmiles”

Another article about food and transportation costs… AskPablo: Foodmiles http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/askpablo-foodmiles-002478.php

I used a cost study from UC Davis to determine the energy input versus the yield. I arrived at roughly 4.85 kg of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent units) for each kg of cherries. If we assume 500 km of transportation by semi we add 0.06 kg CO2e, or about 1.2%. If the same cherries are grown in Argentina and flown to the US (21,000 km) the emissions jump to 16.82 kg CO2e per kg of cherries, or 71.1%. Quite a difference! It is possible that the cherries would be shipped by container ship in a refrigerated compartment but then we would have to account for the refrigeration as well.

What if the cherries are dehydrated first and the transported by ship? Removing moisture from agricultural products is one way to cut back on transportation costs and emissions. Dried cherries have about 15% moisture content (vs. 75% in fresh cherries) so the CO2e from cultivation per kg of dried cherries will be higher, around 12.14 kg CO2e per kg of dried cherries. Trucking over 500 km would again add 0.06 kg CO2e, or 0.5%, but shipping by container ship over 25,000 km (more than air cargo because you can't ship point-to-point) contributes only 0.42 kg, or 3.3%.

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postgresql

philosophy of perl

From Larry Wall, creator of Perl, in 1995: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.perl.misc/msg/4ea8ddd4dfcf8a9b

* Learn it once, use it many times

You learn a natural language once and use it many times. The lesson for a language designer is that a language should be optimized for expressive power rather than for ease of learning. It's easy to learn to drive a golf cart, but it's hard to express yourself in one.

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postgresql

1-800-GOOG-411

There are other free 411 services out there, but I thought I'd share this one:

Google threw a new product called Goog-411 into Google Labs today – a free telephone based information service that could replace toll 411 calls. About 2.6 billion 411 calls are made in the U.S. each year, and it is a $7 billion/year market.

Goog-411 can be accessed by dialing 1-800-GOOG-411. The product is completely automated and there is no way to talk to a human for additional or clarifying information. You tell it your city and state, and then ask for a specific business or business category.

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postgresql

150 best apartment ideas

There are a couple nice pages in this link.. original link below. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0061139734/sr=1-3/qid=1175487863/ref=dp_images_all/103-8644087-1651865?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175487863&sr=1-3 == 150 Best Apartment Ideas == http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mocoloco/KGTY/~3/105942160/003963.php (from MoCo Loco) 150 apartments from all over the world, “This compilation expresses the diversity of current trends in apartment design and provides an inspirational source of ideas for those active in the field of design or interested in catching up on the latest in contemporary residential architecture.”. Lots of ideas for small spaces (here are some pages from the book). Hardcover, 600 pages, well illustrated, $19.77 at Amazon. + 150 Best Apartment Ideas at Amazon

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postgresql

USDA coffee ruling

http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2007/04/03/coffee_organic/

Until now, however, there has been a special provision for “grower groups” that made certification practical for farmer cooperatives in the Third World, whose memberships can reach into the thousands. Because of the immense logistical demands of inspecting every farm in a large co-op, a compromise was reached: An organic inspector would randomly visit only a portion of the group's farms each year, usually 20 percent. The grower groups would then self-police the remainder through a manager who made sure they followed the rules. The following year, an inspector would return and visit another 20 percent of the farms. After five years, all farms would be inspected.

But in the ruling made public this month, the National Organic Program overturned that system, saying every farm in a grower group must now be visited and inspected annually — as has been the practice in the United States — rather than only a percentage.

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pintoids

== Pintoids – Pinhole cameras made from Altoid tins == http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/04/pintoids_pinhole_cameras.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890 (from MAKE Magazine) Merrill photo has a gallery, kits and a how-to on making your own pinhole camera from a mint tin – Pintoids are pinhole cameras made from Altoid containers. A piece of pop culture transformed into something useful. An instrument to view the world with a dry, distorted, sense of humor. They tend to create curiously strong images. The Great Pintoid Adventure is a continuing journey. This first series represents a trip I took with my dog across the northern plains to the north shore of Lake Superior. Imperfections in the negative come from loading film at a campsite each night using a dark bag. Both hands in a dark bag, loading cameras … and it was mosquito season. Pintoids – Pinhole Cameras made from Altoid tins – Link. Related: HOW TO – Make your own – Link.Altoid camera kit – Link. [Read this article] [Comment on this article]

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