A new adventure

When you purchase a used item from Ebay, there is a period of time when you wonder if you'll receive what you paid for. In the case of a film camera there are two levels of testing. The first is to try out all of the features while shooting film. The second is when you get your film back.

This is an odd situation now, though it was the default experience for almost all photographers before the year 2000. You shoot, then get your film developed, to find out if you have anything at all.

I've been spoiled by digital photograhy. The instant I take a digital shot, a quick peek at the screen tells me volumes (out of focus, bad composition, huge ISO problem, white balance is screwed). Now, I take a shot, and wind the crank having nothing but faith that anything is happening at all. Of course, the first roll of film is the worst. I have not yet received anything that convinces me that I've captured an image!

The first roll will be completed tomorrow and will be turned in to the camera shop that actually develops 220 film. I'll be holding my breath....hoping I don't turn blue.

Watching Too Much FOX "News" can make you Dumb and Dumber

It is always good to find substantial evidence to support an observation, even an unscientific observation. It has been quite obvious to me that people who gathered most of their news information from Fox "News" were in the dark about lots of facts. I strongly suspected for years, and then firmly believed after observations over time that Fox is a propaganda network.

This article, with it's many research sources, just makes it pretty clear. If you watch Fox all of the time, then you'll just be dumb and get dumber.

http://climateprogress.org/2010/12/17/fox-news-misinformation-policy-issues-climate-science/

As the comments posted below the article point out, there are many sublties that are important to consider as well. The notion that people who are obsessive about news in general, might enter into the calculations.

Ah, for the "good old days" when you only had to learn your ABC, CBS, NBCs. :)

One Minute Global Warming Speech -Refined

In a blog post here on January 6, 2010, I formulated a one minute global warming speech. After some thought and inspiration from the thoughts of others, the speech has been refined a bit. The purpose of both talks is to shatter certain assumptions and illusions caused by inexpert use of our native language.
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The new speech titled "Global Climate Change Re-perspective"

1) GLOBAL - Your backyard, your state, and even your country are tiny fractions of the entire Globe's surface. The lower 48 states comprise about 1.5% of the entire global surface. This tiny amount is not in any way representative of the entire globe.

2) CLIMATE - Climate is not Weather and Weather is not Climate. What you see in your front yard today is Weather. When snow floats down from the sky you are seeing Weather. When the rain wets your upturned face that is Weather. That freezing wind from the North is Weather. Climate is a 30 year average on conditions. You cannot see Climate. You cannot taste Climate. Climate cannot chill or warm your bones today.

3) CHANGE - Change is not necessarily random. We search for patterns in change to determine whether or not one exists. Searching for patterns is a meticulous detective story requiring serious intellectual effort and time.

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The entire purpose of the short speech is to provide a basis for a more intelligent discussion of global climate change. Once the definitions of the terms are clearly set, then a more fruitful conversation can ensue.

Happy conversations!



The old speech is here: http://blognimrod.blogspot.com/2010/01/cold-global-warming.html

While my page is by no means the best one out there it is a small effort to bring together references to the science in one location.
http://www.n1yz.com/Climate_Change_Matrix.htm