16
Write On! / Re: Recent blogposts
« on: December 03, 2011, 06:54:43 PM »
I got an even pornier ad on pogge this time. I just don't click on his links in public.
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17
Write On! / Re: Recent blogposts
« on: November 24, 2011, 06:27:29 PM »
I can no longer look at pogge's site at my office, because the banner ad here in Europe is sometimes porny. Europeople may be less inhibited but porny banner ads are still NSFW.
20
Asia / Re: Japan: huge earthquake, tsunamis, Asia-Pacific repercussions
« on: September 13, 2011, 07:33:57 PM »
It's true that ingesting a radioactive particle is different from exposure to "frank" radiation. However, I'm a little skeptical of their claim that there is a direct and linear relationship between exposure to radioactive isotopes and risk of death. The real measure is the extent to which you can detect that variation in cancer death rates is likely to be due to exposure rather than chance. I had thought that below a certain threshold, ingestion of radioactive isotopes (some of which have short half-lives), wouldn't be differentiable from random chance. Rarely are things like this ever linear. So when they say:
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/ionizing.html
Especially since mSv is a measurement of the relative effect of radiation. The becquerel is the absolute measure of emission from the radation source. There's not a direct relationship between becquerels and mSv!
That's one of the reasons why I'm down on nuclear-opponent groups. Sure the industry may underplay risks, but there is a certain amount of physical verifiability that can be done. Nuclear opponents seem to massively exaggerate even the little things.
Quote
As the crisis in Japan goes on, there are an increasing number of sources reporting that 100 milliSieverts (mSv) is the lowest dose at which a person is at risk for cancer. Established research disproves this claim. A dose of 100 mSv creates a one in 100 risk of getting cancer, buta dose of 10 mSv still gives a one in 1,000 chance of getting cancer, and a dose of 1 mSv gives a one in 10,000 risk.I'm very skeptical of this kind of claim. In fact, it's probably wrong. There isn't a linear relationship:
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/ionizing.html
Especially since mSv is a measurement of the relative effect of radiation. The becquerel is the absolute measure of emission from the radation source. There's not a direct relationship between becquerels and mSv!
That's one of the reasons why I'm down on nuclear-opponent groups. Sure the industry may underplay risks, but there is a certain amount of physical verifiability that can be done. Nuclear opponents seem to massively exaggerate even the little things.
21
Asia / Re: Japan: huge earthquake, tsunamis, Asia-Pacific repercussions
« on: September 13, 2011, 09:36:38 AM »Quote
Some say any radiation amount is too much once it is in the body,
That is kind of absurd. There was never a time in the existence of the universe where you could avoid radiation or radioactive isotopes.
Quote
and it is in our food/water/milk, so I guess buying organic is stupid now. I dunno.
I was always skeptical of organic food. My "translation" of the term is "food that goes bad faster."
23
Technology & Science / Re: E-readers
« on: September 08, 2011, 07:55:04 AM »
Yes, that's one of the other reasons why I got a Kobo Touch. Can't do that with Kindle. You can also read PDFs as well, though I believe the Kindle can do that one.
24
Technology & Science / Re: E-readers
« on: September 08, 2011, 05:20:47 AM »
Funny you should say this because I was reviewing an eReader I bought before leaving the USA for another blogfriend.
I bought a Kobo Touch, and am liking it. I think at full price in Chapters/Indigo, it's about $139. You can get new or gently used ones for less on eBay. I got mine new at dying Borders for about $95 before I moved to Europe. I don't think there are too many that are cheaper. It doesn't have the Kindle frills but it's also not tied to Amazon. It just reads books, pretty much, on black-and-white unlit e-Ink.
I bought a Kobo Touch, and am liking it. I think at full price in Chapters/Indigo, it's about $139. You can get new or gently used ones for less on eBay. I got mine new at dying Borders for about $95 before I moved to Europe. I don't think there are too many that are cheaper. It doesn't have the Kindle frills but it's also not tied to Amazon. It just reads books, pretty much, on black-and-white unlit e-Ink.
25
Environment / Re: Disastrous weather and other natural catastrophes
« on: September 05, 2011, 06:46:04 AM »
Did someone hack Toe's acct?
27
Chef's Corner / Re: Kitchen pron 2
« on: August 04, 2011, 04:48:56 PM »
I somehow survived six years with a toaster oven and two hot plates and a microwave. I can't imagine how I did it, but "stir fry" was probably a part of it.
28
Cause we're all in this together / Re: Remembering our friend Croghan27
« on: July 28, 2011, 04:15:02 PM »Oh dear Mandos, I sent something to abc.
Good idea Magoo, next July 26th will be a colourful board.
Er, but could you edit your message to remove the reference to my RL email? Thx.
ETA: Thx Toe. It's not that I am THAT paranoid but I do like to keep personae separate from Google---it's not like it's that hard to figure me out since I've been on the interwebs as Mandos for a long long time.
29
Cause we're all in this together / Re: Remembering our friend Croghan27
« on: July 28, 2011, 03:38:37 PM »
Sadly, I cannot. My inbox is empty but my account is one of the victims of the multiple board moves and upgrades. No amount of purging will fix it. You'll have to email me at
mandos
at
la-mancha
dot
net
That's really the only way to get to me.
mandos
at
la-mancha
dot
net
That's really the only way to get to me.
30
Cause we're all in this together / Re: Remembering our friend Croghan27
« on: July 28, 2011, 12:22:29 AM »
I'm glad people have gotten together about Crog's cat.
I'm still a little numb about it. I find myself thinking about posts I planned to have written, and what Croghan might have thought about them/responded. I used to meet Croghan fairly often when I visited Ottawa, and I remember spending hours chatting with him about all and sundry, and receiving a good deal of wisdom and life advice. Croghan, well, he talked in the fonts he wrote with. It's hard to describe to someone who didn't meet him in person. Spoken words not loud necessarily, but definitely bolded, italicized, highlighted in red, whatever was needed to make his point.
It's hard to imagine never hearing it again, because I was looking forward to swapping stories with him in the future. And arguing with him about nuclear energy. And...
I'm still a little numb about it. I find myself thinking about posts I planned to have written, and what Croghan might have thought about them/responded. I used to meet Croghan fairly often when I visited Ottawa, and I remember spending hours chatting with him about all and sundry, and receiving a good deal of wisdom and life advice. Croghan, well, he talked in the fonts he wrote with. It's hard to describe to someone who didn't meet him in person. Spoken words not loud necessarily, but definitely bolded, italicized, highlighted in red, whatever was needed to make his point.
It's hard to imagine never hearing it again, because I was looking forward to swapping stories with him in the future. And arguing with him about nuclear energy. And...