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Saturday Open Thread

by Jerome a Paris
Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 11:32:11 AM EST

The last transition pieces for the Belwind offshore wind farm

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Saturday Open Thread | 43 comments (43 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

I will have more offshore wind blogging (4.00 / 4)

soon, with a few more nicely impressive pictures...

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 11:33:10 AM EST

Haiti (4.00 / 6)

There has been precious little information about the plight of universities in Haiti. Our Institute has gotten e-mails which indicate that the vast majority of campuses are devastated:

... few details were available about the impact of the natural disaster on Haitian universities. A photograph circulating on news wires shows a man trapped in rubble at the University of Port-au-Prince, and American academics with ties to Haiti said they had not been able to make contact with colleagues at the main university there, the State University of Haiti.

I will translate part of an email we got recently from a professor (who will remain anonymous, for now):

I don't know what God did to preserve my life, because I was near the Linguistics faculty [when the earthquake occurred] that collapsed with everything inside and I had plans to enter the building to find out something, but God had other plans. I turned to do something else, and that is why I'm alive today. It is ... (weighs heavily on me/us), I have no strength to talk about this; they are saying that close to two hundred thousand people perished. We no longer have universities, all of them have fallen and there are still dead beneath the rubble.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 12:01:29 PM EST

Journalism excellence (4.00 / 3)

Les hôpitaux de Paris vont supprimer 3 à 4.000 emplois
Sa réforme avait suscité un tollé, poussant même un haut responsable à mettre sa démission dans la balance, mais le directeur de l'Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) ne cède rien. Benoît Leclercq a annoncé le nombre exact du nombre de postes supprimés dans l'AP-HP d'ici 2012 : 3.000 à 4.000 emplois. La moitié des suppressions concernera les soignants et les médecins, l'autre moitié le personnel administratif», précise Benoît Leclercq dans un entretien au Parisien/Aujourd'hui en France.

B. Leclercq has announced the exact number of jobs to be cut in Paris hospitals by 2012: 3,000 to 4,000.

Gotta love that "exact"
And gotta love the kinds of savings we make to cut deficits.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 02:47:16 PM EST

Maus tu sais pas encore commen (none / 0)

ils vont réaliser ces économies...

Il s'agit d'une privatisation en douceur. Tu verras.

Mais c'est un scandâââle!!

by redstar on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 05:50:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

glass half full or half empty... (4.00 / 4)

lol

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 05:23:51 PM EST

And I reach 80% (4.00 / 3)

of the comments in the OT for the past 6 hours!

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 05:24:39 PM EST

Re: And I reach 80% (4.00 / 2)

Sorry, Jerome. Your OTs are often the most commented but today I slept late while having gotten little sleep and then have had to work on cleaning out caulk around the tiles above a bath tub. That was the quick fix performed by the previous owner and I want to repair it properly, with grout. Nasty stuff. I was just having too much fun with that to log onto ET early, and when I did I got distracted with a diary and then my stomach called--lunchtime.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 05:51:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (none / 0)

I was off learning to ride motorcycles.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 11:16:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (none / 0)

A praiseworthy application of one's time.

I rode my beemer for years and years and years. I'd use it as my handle but, for some reason, OpposingHeadCylinders doesn't sound as cool as Knucklehead.

;-)

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 12:53:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (none / 1)

It's probably going to be a KLR650 or a DR400 for me. And maybe a scooter before those so I can get around the neighborhood.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 01:39:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (none / 1)

Eerily quiet.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 06:27:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (4.00 / 2)

heh, and here i was ruminating how the mental health of theis blog is in proportion to how members have something else to do saturday night but blog.

this week we're all in great shape!

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 07:15:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (4.00 / 3)

Well i actually wrote a diary, so had to go and lie down.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 07:19:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Blame the dysfunctional US Health Care system ... (4.00 / 3)

... in combination with the recession ... being as severely underemployed as I am, as long as my throat infection shows signs of improving day to day, I'll see if I can get better with rest and vit-amins.

Utsukushikereba sore de ii

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 07:51:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (none / 1)

You, too? I'm currently still trying to recover from a cold, complete with a horribly sore throat, while trying to get my weekly ebay listings done... who has time for blogging when surviving is so time-consuming?

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

by Izzy (izzy at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 08:29:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (none / 1)

Perhaps its a virus passed by computers. Ive had 2 to 3 weeks where the most active thing ive done is my Tuesday night preparing the Salons entries.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 09:54:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (none / 0)

Perhaps, but I know a bunch of non-computer-using folks who have it, too. I'm thinking it's a global crud pandemic.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

by Izzy (izzy at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jan 23rd, 2010 at 09:57:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (4.00 / 2)

A week ago I was suffering from the dread "no obvious symptoms" (flu?) syndrome. The only obvious symptom was that my nose ran incessantly for four or five days, my head hurt my muscles ached and I had no energy. Fortunately, it was nasty outside and there was little I had to do.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 01:31:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (none / 1)

I'm pretty sure I recovered from the cold (caught from those people couching in the seats behind me in the half hour flight for a three hour layover from Atlanta to Charlotte) ... just that while my defenses were down, I picked up a bit of a strep throat infection.

The local supermarket pharmacy hands out antibiotics for free, but a doctor's appointment to get the scrip is anything but.

Utsukushikereba sore de ii

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 12:13:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (none / 1)

I heard of this insane guy who believed that the amoxicyllin, terramycin and tri-sulfa drugs in the aquarium section of the local pet stores were from the same production runs as the stuff they sent to the pharmacies. But I wouldn't trust a crazy like him.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 01:35:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (none / 1)

Hmm -- I think I told that story in one of my diaries here: I had a horrible gum infection back in the day and cured it with aquarium tetracycline. Someone here got upset at that story... was it Jake? Anyway, it cleared my infection up quickly.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

by Izzy (izzy at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 01:54:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (none / 1)

That might have been before I was on ET. Had I seen it I certainly would have at least given you a 4.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 11:13:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Blame the US Health Care system ... (none / 0)

Hadn't thought about it but, yeah, that's likely to be true. Most of the pill you take is the binder and there may be a difference between fish/human binders ... since the fish anti-biotic has to withstand floating around the aquarium before being ingested.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 12:35:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

If in severe pain and ... (none / 0)

... without a credit card balance to see a doctor, I'd be tempted. But with an infection that seems to be fading, I'd be worried about underdoing the dosage and just evolving a more antibiotic resistent collection.

Indeed, in extremity, I'd probably ask my wife to mail some human antibiotics to me, since in the Dem. Republic of Congo, a prescription is advice, not pre-requisite.

Utsukushikereba sore de ii

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 01:43:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If in severe pain and ... (none / 0)

You should do it anyway. Amoxicyllin, Teramycin and Cipro, latest formulations. Stuff last a long time in a cool, dark place. Or at least have her bring some back when she returns, preferably with a prescription.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 05:03:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (none / 1)

I know that feeling. The nagging fear in the back of your head "Is this the night when nobody replies ...?" "Am I all alone online ?" "If there's nobody there to notice, do my ravings make any noise ?"

Madness beckons, I stare into its face and recognise my own.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 07:27:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (none / 0)

Well it is usually you in here on a Saturday afternoon, yelling at the empty echoing void.

Dont say you've developed a social life!

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 09:01:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: And I reach 80% (4.00 / 2)

Only for this and hte next tow weeks. I was going to go to the Colchester beer fest with a friend, but netwrok rail decided to dig the line up. Didn't fancy a long bus ride after a beer fest (too far between loos) so we met in London and did a mini crawl around Paddington.

which made a very nice change from, as you note, shouting into an unresponsive void.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 11:17:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Changing behaviour (4.00 / 2)

Probably apocryphal, but a nice anecdote.

A few years ago, I knew a guy who bought a local bar in one of S.F.'s little out-of-the-way neighborhoods. Comfy, pool table, a "nice dive."
But there was a certain type that was hanging out there that he didn't really want. I met him a few weeks later, he said "oh, no problems, they left."
I asked what he did? He said "nothing, really -- I just had the bartenders wear ties. They didn't think it was their kind of place anymore and left."
Sometimes, it really is that simple.

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 07:05:41 AM EST

Re: Saturday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

I'm back in Dharamsala after my family departure from India. As I said earlier my laptop is dead, I used substandard Indian-made Acer batteries and they destroyed the motherboard, I discovered it just the day before in Delhi's Nehru Place (computer market) when I asked repairmen to open the erratically working laptop.

So in all probability instead of repairing the old one I have to buy new laptop. Today I talked with one Spanish guy who lives on the upper floor in my guesthouse, he recommended to buy light netbook like his Acer Aspire One and buy external DVD-Rom and hard drive. He says it's best for traveler like me and there is not so huge difference between usual laptop and netbook, anyway I am not burning DVDs or watching movies every day. What do you think is it good idea?

by FarEasterner (avdavydov@yandex.ru) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 10:35:45 AM EST

More to read (none / 1)

because of this unexpected break from my usual writing routine I will have more time to read. Right now I have two new books to think about - How Rich Countries Got Rich and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor by Erik Reinert
and Terror and Consent by Philip Bobbitt

Normally I do not read such staff but recently especially after reading Jeffrey Sachs' The End of Poverty and several works on Al Qaeda and Pakistan I became interested and these two books seem to provide good theoretical background to issues of international terrorism and development.

by FarEasterner (avdavydov@yandex.ru) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 11:38:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 1)

If you need/want to carry around a DVD drive with you I don't see the advantage of separating it from the computer. And some disadvantages as the separate until will need it's own update cycle, slow slide into incompatibility, getting lost, & etc.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 12:28:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 1)

That reminds me I have to get a 1 TB HD soon, so I can archive billions of files without the tedium of going thru them for duplicates. (A G4, a G5 and a macbook + 4 x La Cie 250 gig externals). After that I will install a better automated system for back up. The 1 TB HD's are less than 100 Beuros these days.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 01:15:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

exactly this price dor external 1 TB HD. just i cannot imagine what i can store in it (all my programs and electronic pdf-library occupies less than 30GB), but it's maybe good way to throw away all my CDs where I kept archive photos. and still it will be empty.

by FarEasterner (avdavydov@yandex.ru) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 02:05:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 0)

Video editing tends to decimate HD space rather rapidly.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 02:14:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 0)

A Western Digital WD1TB costs 89€ via Finnish netshops - a bit more in the store.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 02:18:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 0)

Ha !! When I first started at Nat west bank 20 years ago we had a football sized computer floor which, including near and offline, had 15Tb of data storage. and that was considered colossal !!

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 04:54:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 0)

Do you mean football pitch sized?

Getting 15TB inside a football twenty years ago would indeed have been colossal. :)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 05:09:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 0)

Its a big change from my employers in the early/mid 80's buying a hard drive for the early ICL PC clones that I was testing, Just over £1000 for 40 Mb... (And that was in real money :)

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Jan 27th, 2010 at 05:17:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I think that is a very good idea ... (none / 1)

... then in an internet cafe you can just plug your drive into a USB port.

However, double check whether you need a hard drive - fewer moving parts normally means fewer ways for things to go wrong, after all, and USB flash drives are available in GB+ sizes. A netbook, large enough capacity USB flash drive (large enough to back all the critical files in the netbook, that is), and USB DVD drive and you can keep the DVD drive in a padded case except when you are actually using it.

Utsukushikereba sore de ii

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sun Jan 24th, 2010 at 01:58:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I think that is a very good idea ... (none / 0)

yes, I almost decided to buy netbook plus external DVD drive. main thing for me was not a price (though it will be cheaper than to buy normal laptop) but weight - only 1.2 kg (with adapter) + 200 gr (DVD-rom) and time its battery works. My old Acer traveler weighted almost 4 kg with adapter and battery worked in the beginning for only 3-4 hours. Airlines now charge mercilessly for every pound of luggage, while new 6-cell batteries allegedly work for 8 hours non-stop. About external memory - I did not see pendrives of good capacity yet, maximum of 32 GB. For the same money (100 dollars) I can buy external hard drive of 1TB or ultralight Transcend 500 GB in special case claimed to be developed for American military.

by FarEasterner (avdavydov@yandex.ru) on Wed Jan 27th, 2010 at 04:58:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I think that is a very good idea ... (none / 0)

I did not see pendrives of good capacity yet, maximum of 32 GB.

and you need more than 32 Gb for what reason? do you have to carry your entire film collection round with you everywhere? for almost any use 32 Gb is more than enough, and the USB stick is something that'll fit in a pocket so wont add to luggage weight, wont involve extra cables, dosnt have motors in to drain battery time, and for the price of a 32 Gb, you could instead get 3 16 Gb sticks, little less high tech, but does the job just as well.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Jan 27th, 2010 at 05:12:58 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I think that is a very good idea ... (none / 0)

thank you for reminding about movies - it's a good idea to fill such 1 TB drive with them. For instance my favourite Peter Jackson's The Lord of the rings trilogy has 12 DVDs which before I was carrying in light CD bags.

seriously speaking i am very grateful to computer industry for minimizing everything because i am always on the move (I am planning to trek around Annapurna in Nepal the whole march).

by FarEasterner (avdavydov@yandex.ru) on Wed Jan 27th, 2010 at 05:28:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Saturday Open Thread | 43 comments (43 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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