Nice Timing

Do you think this is supposed to come as a big surprise? GM set to detail shift to fuel-saving technology.



People have known for decades that the big auto makers could have embarked on meaningful efforts to curtail the use of fossil fuels, even more, that they may have actually squashed several entrepreneurial attempts at new technologies by buying them out and storing the ideas in their vaults.

No, it's no surprise that after a good shake-up in the stock market, coincident with the environmental conference and all the media hype about global warming that one of the big guys would leap at the opportunity.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and if the timing is right, let's be sure to look like a hero. Well you're not fooling us!

Lights out

And so it begins. Out of Nairobi Kenya, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist has come up an idea to counter the effects of greenhouse gases said to cause global warming. The notion is that by adding certain pullutants high into the atmosphere, typically sulfates, the earth will reflect more of the sun's heat, allowing the climate to cool.

Now, that in itself sounds a little ironic, since pollutants have been blamed thus far, but I draw your attention to a sentence hidden deep in the article Scientists say pollution may be helpful. Tom Wigley, a senior U.S. government climatologist said "a temporary shield would give political leaders more time to reduce human dependence on fossil fuels". Remember, the U.S. rejected the Kyoto deal.

What happens when you allow more time for something? You use it up! And the U.S. is the biggest user. The other problem, a complex one, is the long term effect this remedy may have intermixed with the gases already present, and the inevitable build up in concentration.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it; but if you broke it, screw it up some more!

Only to live another day

A story today out of the University of Utah, tells of a new potential pain killer.

It comes from the venom of the Conus regious cone snail and compounds from it are said to have been effective in treating pain in terminal cancer patients. Unfortunately, we likely wouldn't see drugs derived from this for up to 10 years.

'Unfortunatley'? Not to sound mean, but really. How long should we keep terminal cancer patients (alive and) pain free. To what end? I don't know anyone in this terrible predicament, and perhaps I would be offended if I did. However, this is yet another example where technology is seemingly driven to prolong life regardless of any possible downside.

If pain didn't serve a useful purpose in nature, it wouldn't exist in the first place.

Just right-click

One of the many phrases the computer age has put upon the lay person. I are not one so it amuses me to no end how an entire culture has evolved in a relatively short period of time. With respect to computer use, I figure the general public can be categorized in four ways.

First, the techno-weenies. They not only use the computer in their day to day work, but probably do all of their own maintenance, installing what they need, have utility programs to keep everything running smoothly, eat at their desk, and maybe shower once in a while.

Second, the gamers and browsers. For them, the computer is a tool that owes them something and using a word-processor or spreadsheet is as tough as it gets. This group is untrainable, and must upgrade a computer simply because it has collected so much unruly junk.

Next, we have the I dunno's. Those who say they know nothing about computers and are mostly right, but are at least humble. Unfortunately, as is stated time and again, they profess to be unable to learn about them as well.

Lastly we have the innocents. Those who don't own one, can't use one and don't care to. Unfortunately for them they still pay their Sears bill at the store and can barely handle an ATM. They are, however, happy! They never got sucked in. No passwords to remember, no metal boxes in the basement that can't be thrown out, no spam, no disconnects, no viruses, and no tennis elbow.

Yes, computers are amazing. My career has revolved around them, and software, so I often wonder what the world would be like without them. It was, after all, only one short lifetime ago that they didn't exist.

You Can Run...

I wrote this in May of 2002. Enjoy.

The great apes gave rise to mankind
I can easily make this thought mine.
As Darwin would say, the strong surely stay
As the weak will be left far behind.

Note the raptor's physique, the bird and its beak.
See how well they intertwine.
If the comet had not, the birds would have bought
Freedom from man as we dine.

We find ourselves at the top of the chain
Mocking a world of gambles and gain.
Take heed lest yee think, man not be on the brink
Of near death by a lesser brain

We toyed with our planet,
Wasting much of it's granite,
But never feeling the pain
Of a creature so small
That within us all
Its effects will drive us insane.

In the Same Vein

Further to What a gas, you might figure, so why tell the story. OK it's predicated on the notion that perhaps I shoudn't have been so lucky.

Had it not been for three varieties of anti-biotics being pumped into me 24/7, I would surely have died a horrible death. These wonder drugs kept me alive to live another day, but is this right?

Our world is over-populated as it is. We put helmets on kids so they can ride bikes. We drink bottled water and have air-bags in our cars. And AIDS... another time. We prolong life only to crowd our living space and mis-treat the elderly.

Anti-bacterial soap and similar products. Don't buy them. They kill bacteria that's good for us and force mutations on the bad bacteria, enabling them to become even stronger. Now a youngster's immune system can't even handle a peanut! Let them swim in the lake and play in the dirt (like we did), if it doesn't kill them immediately, it might make them stronger.

From what I've been told, already our collective ability to make new anti-bacterial agents to fight ever more resistant bacteria, is dwindling.

Technology may help us live longer but eventually may spawn a super-bug that could wipe us all out in days or weeks.

What a gas

Everyone has some bacteria swimming around in the back of their mouths. And sometimes a sore throat can turn into a not so minor strep throat. That can be treated easily.

That is if the bacteria are well behaved. If the little gremlins get loose, look out! Such was my turning point in July of 1994. The day after working several hours in the backyard I forced myself to go to a local clinic, feeling quite dizzy. After a blood test and Tylenol, the doctor dismissed me suggesting I might have Mononucleosis. That evening, my son roused me from a nap only to discover that my mords were wixed, and I was white and clammy. We then discovered I could no longer walk.

Once in emergency and after being seen by two doctors, I blacked out. Apparently, a visiting doctor then took an interest and, after seeing an ominous rash on my back, called the CDC in Atlanta. The diagnosis... Necrotizing Fasciitis, sometimes called Group A Strep Toxic Shock Syndrome, or the Flesh Eating Disease!

In 1994, at least, I learned that only 1 in 7 physicians are able to diagnose the disease. Moreover, it's very often fatal, not so much because the bacteria kills you outright, but because of the treatment. Many will succumb to the effects of massive doses of anti-biotics, long before any surgery can ever take place.

I was lucky in that my heart was strong, so they say. Also I came out of the hospital two weeks later intact... no amputations. Not everyone is so lucky.

We cannot control the behaviour of bacteria that runs rampant, but we can do things to prevent our immune systems from being compromised, which makes us susceptible to such rare infections.

In the grand scheme of things, did this technology contribute to me having a better life? or just a longer one?