The Green Room

[PedalUma]

Regardless of belief systems there is just practical living through each day given where we are right now. Fire season is three months early this year in the West. Last year my boss at a large outdoor equipment store rented five air scrubbers so customers could breathe. This was in Santa Rosa California, North of San Francisco. It has been very bad for three-years. He was paying $5,000 per week rental for the air scrubbers. The design is simple. A fan bows out fresh air, drawing it from electrostatic filters that collect particles as small as viruses and smoke. When they turn grey, swap them. So I made my own from bike boxes with a $20 fan and twin filters. They circulate 2,000 cubic feet per minute on the medium setting and as second oscillating fan should be used at some distance to keep the air moving. Last year I was selling these cardboard boxes for $230 each. They are very quiet and remove all of the smoke smell indoors.
A few times last year when I would get off the train in Santa Rosa the platform would be covered with charred twigs because it had be raining fire. The fires are so powerful that they create their own winds.

New video shows terrifying fire tornado forming in California

Hot winds and swirling fire were captured on video.

thehill.com

 

[Art Deco]

Regardless of belief systems there is just practical living through each day given where we are right now. Fire season is three months early this year in the West. Last year my boss at a large outdoor equipment store rented five air scrubbers so customers could breathe. This was in Santa Rosa California, North of San Francisco. It has been very bad for three-years. He was paying $5,000 per week rental for the air scrubbers. The design is simple. A fan bows out fresh air, drawing it from electrostatic filters that collect particles as small as viruses and smoke. When they turn grey, swap them. So I made my own from bike boxes with a $20 fan and twin filters. They circulate 2,000 cubic feet per minute on the medium setting and as second oscillating fan should be used at some distance to keep the air moving. Last year I was selling these cardboard boxes for $230 each. They are very quiet and remove all of the smoke smell indoors.
A few times last year when I would get off the train in Santa Rosa the platform would be covered with charred twigs because it had be raining fire. The fires are so powerful that they create their own winds.

New video shows terrifying fire tornado forming in California

Hot winds and swirling fire were captured on video.

thehill.com

Sounds like you sir, have a viable go fund me project. More viable than most, anyway, HEPA filters are expensive ...

 

[Catalyzt]

Now, please bear with me, here, because I know I'm biased. My opinions are often not popular, so I hope if you disagree with me, you'll chuckle, shake your head, and blow raspberries, and not scream and throw things at me-- I get a lot of both reactions! I was a very young hippie and a very old punk, I'm a former rock critic who used to love writing vicious rips of bands like Bon Jovi, and I have a knee-jerk disdain for anything resembling pretension. I sometimes paint with a broad brush, and I'm likely to make a mess of the wainscoting.

I kind of despise Gates, mostly because he'll never be held accountable for the gross inefficiencies of his operating system, and the impact they have had on our standard of living and economy. I mean, let's get serious: Using a standalone 1983 Wang word processor, or a DOS-based word processor like WordPerfect or Xywrite, I could write a document with complex formatting in half the time it takes using the current version of Word. (Weirdly, the college students I work with today rarely dispute this.)

I wouldn't let Gates stop me from reading "Factfulness," I think that is fair. What probably will stop me, however, is the oblivious technocratic hubris and condescension of the "Gapminder" website. It bears a depressing similarity to the cheerful infographics used by drug companies, or clickbait news headlines: "Everything you need to know about..."

Er, no. Actually, what I need to know is who collected that data, how the study was designed, what the independent variables were, whether I can identify any selection bias, p-hacking, or HARKing (Hypothesis After Results Known), make sure the outcome measures reported at the end of the study were the same ones the researchers started with at the beginning, and see conflict of interest statements from the authors.

Lurking behind our disdain for hard science, I think, is a more serious problem: We're losing the ability to think critically about statistics and numbers-- to intelligently reconcile what the numbers say with what we observe with our eyes while setting aside our own confirmation bias.

Rosling suggests that we should only carry opinions for which we have strong supporting facts. I believe this is dead wrong and contrary to the principles of the scientific method: We form hypotheses based on imperfect information, but maintain an open mind as we acquire more facts, higher quality and more relevant facts, and as our ability to digest and interpret them improves. I strongly feel that it's imperative to make mistakes in order to sharpen our skills, or we'll never learn how to think critically.

The other problems noted by Roslings critics: His projections are unreasonably optimistic because it's nearly impossible to collect good data in places where living conditions are the worst.

Oh, to hell with it. Maybe I'll read it anyway, just to get my blood pressure up!

 

[PedalUma]

Those air scrubbers cost $60 in materials to make. Anyone can do it that is qualified to fold a pizza box. When I made the first one I made templates when making the measurements. So now I do not need to measure, I just trace the template. Then you roll the tracing with what looks like the spur on a cowboys boot before cutting and taping. Inside I use plastic grommet/fasteners for reinforcement.

Only good friends can argue like no others.

 

[Art Deco]

England and Germany ... Floods from the BBC.

Flash floods: Parts of London receive a month of rain in one day

Cars are submerged in water in some areas while train services have also been cancelled.

www.bbc.com

Germany floods: Dozens killed after record rain in Germany and Belgium

The two countries and the Netherlands experience widespread devastation after record rainfall.

www.bbc.com

 

[Cramer Long]

Bullshit is now a regular word, b/c too many people can't spell "Alternative Facts" ...

There's no such thing as Alternative facts .One is true the other isn't . Since I can base mine on other evidences you can't deny are . Mine is the Truth and yours are the Alternative facts with no supporting evidences . Keep in mind by ignoring me . You make it so I have free reign I'm not denying the World is getting way worse . I'm telling you it's not Climate change . WHy else are there Riots and burning of buildings everywhere simultaneously . Herds of locusts that destroy crops . It's not just one country it's all countries . Same with CRT in everywhere I looked save Communist Countries . They don't need it . Why is every nation distressed ? Why the massive quakes , Floods etc all of a sudden increasing at warp speed everywhere? Didn't they tell us we had 80 years LOL. These are obvious facts you have just speculation for . I have reasons why . U just hate them

 

[Gordon71]

England and Germany ... Floods from the BBC.

Flash floods: Parts of London receive a month of rain in one day

Cars are submerged in water in some areas while train services have also been cancelled.

www.bbc.com

Germany floods: Dozens killed after record rain in Germany and Belgium

The two countries and the Netherlands experience widespread devastation after record rainfall.

www.bbc.com

Wait,I thought god was going to cook us. Now he's trying to drown us? Didn't work the first time he tried it.

 

[Art Deco]

We are a tough species when necessary ... Very hard to kill off, I guess, as long as we just don't catch another meteor.
The latest EU plan for reducing emissions is a whopper.

EU unveils sweeping climate change plan

It proposes taxing jet fuel and effectively banning the sale of petrol cars within 20 years.

www.bbc.com

 

[Mulezen]

Man Harvests Methane for 8 Hours to Fuel Bike That Runs on Swamp Gas

This motorcycle runs on freshly harvested bog methane that rests in a giant condom attached to the back of the bike. It takes eight hours of labor to go 12 miles.

www.vice.com

 

[Gordon71]

I'm curious about what it means to report a particular post. I don't care about the religious blather one way or the other but posting lies about the vaccine are literally getting people killed.

 

[Cramer Long]

We are a tough species when necessary ... Very hard to kill off, I guess, as long as we just don't catch another meteor.
The latest EU plan for reducing emissions is a whopper.

EU unveils sweeping climate change plan

It proposes taxing jet fuel and effectively banning the sale of petrol cars within 20 years.

www.bbc.com

How can people be so utterly insanely stupid ? we see from what happened in Texas this past winter . Green energy totally failed the 40% they were supposed to provide . While supplying just 3% . Plus look how much land is being destroyed . Carbon Neutral ?? LOL What's that even mean ? No wonder the man calls people sheep and the govts and Kings Wolves pretending to be Sheep. Thinking they were so smart they became as fools . How sweet is that ? LOL

 

[Gordon71]

Man Harvests Methane for 8 Hours to Fuel Bike That Runs on Swamp Gas

This motorcycle runs on freshly harvested bog methane that rests in a giant condom attached to the back of the bike. It takes eight hours of labor to go 12 miles.

www.vice.com

Cool. I wonder what the exhaust smells like. Maybe he can figure out how to capture cow farts.

 

[Cramer Long]

Man Harvests Methane for 8 Hours to Fuel Bike That Runs on Swamp Gas

This motorcycle runs on freshly harvested bog methane that rests in a giant condom attached to the back of the bike. It takes eight hours of labor to go 12 miles.

www.vice.com

Oooh yeah that's real bright . Then someone goes by tosses a cigarette and Kaboom . LOL Plus Methane displaces Oxygen . So enough of it in the atmosphere would suffocate Mammals / Man guys think God won't need to burn the planet . Man will do it himself lol

 

[Art Deco]

I'm curious about what it means to report a particular post. I don't care about the religious blather one way or the other but posting lies about the vaccine are literally getting people killed.

Especially when it seems to be a well organized effort to spread that bullshit, and is directed by some very highly placed politicians and businesses that we can't "ignore".

 

[Cramer Long]

NOPE all the Frozen wind turbines have nothing to do with them not providing enough energy in Texas . Democrat Lawmakers blame it on the Republicans LOL Come on guys > WHy not just a smidge of honesty. It's like you base everything you believe on who said it . regardless of supporting evidences

 

[Art Deco]

Man Harvests Methane for 8 Hours to Fuel Bike That Runs on Swamp Gas

This motorcycle runs on freshly harvested bog methane that rests in a giant condom attached to the back of the bike. It takes eight hours of labor to go 12 miles.

www.vice.com

I learned a cool word (from @PatriciaK, I think) that described my reaction to the methane man's method...

... Y'allernuts .

Youtube fame must warp people worse than heat.

 

[Art Deco]

But that reminded me of this website ... a forgotten gem . Runs on a solar powered server somewhere with backup power from pedaling bikes that run a generator. .
www.lowtechmagazine.com

How Sustainable is a Solar Powered Website?

We present our website’s energy and uptime data, calculate the embodied energy of our configuration, consider the optimal balance between sustainability and server uptime, and outline possible improvements.

www.lowtechmagazine.com

 

[DaveMatthews]

Man Harvests Methane for 8 Hours to Fuel Bike That Runs on Swamp Gas

This motorcycle runs on freshly harvested bog methane that rests in a giant condom attached to the back of the bike. It takes eight hours of labor to go 12 miles.

www.vice.com

How sheik!

 

[PatriciaK]

I learned a cool word (from @PatriciaK, I think) that described my reaction to the methane man's method...

... Y'allernuts .

Youtube fame must warp people worse than heat.

Wish I could claim that, but it wasn't me .

 

[Art Deco]

Wish I could claim that, but it wasn't me .

It's on the net. Anyone can claim it now.