Carbon Cate, Say Yes & Climate Change Rally on Sunday

Have you been following the "Say Yes" Ad featuring "Carbon Cate"? The furore of comments included the idea that rich actresses are not the kind of people that will make the ad change the minds "of the battlers" out in the electorate. Perhaps the "Working Families" are not watching the ad either, being too busy working, driving to and fro and looking after their families. There was even a suggestion on Q&A last night that those "who are doing it hard " in "Western Sydney" have spent too much on their McMansions to have anything left over for saving the environment, once they take their blankets off!

Go for it Cate, you have as  much right to comment as anyone and a much better looking face on the TV than mine would be. If the ACF and others made an advertisement with normal people like myself, who would watch it? (unless its one of those instant viral hits on YouTube). Jonathan Holmes Media Watch discussion also was a beauty and its great to see that . But having seen Prof David Karoly in action at Melbourne University it is sad to see how little the actual factual information was able to be presented.
As Jonathan Holmes commented  "And Alan Jones is accusing one of Australia's most respected scientists of being corrupted by the payment of a small retainer? The hypocrisy, and the gall, are breathtaking.
The current regulator, ACMA, tells Media Watch that today it's begun an investigation into 2GB's coverage of the climate change debate." I'll hope that produces some results but I wouldn't bet on it.

So I'll say Yes to a Carbon Tax. Even though I can be considered part of a "Working family", earning less than the $150,000 mentioned as being part of middle class welfare. Its interesting to know that 3 professional working adults still barely make it to the income level considered middle class!
So join the Climate Change March in Melbourne on Sunday - 11am outside the State Library, Melbourne and Say Yes!

Climate Commission Report

Yesterday the Climate Commission released its "The Critical Decade" report.  This updates the science on Climate Change and continues the warning that this decade is critical for actually doing something about changing our behaviour. Key message number 4 states: " This is the critical decade. Decisions we make from now to 2020 will determine the severity of climate change our children and grandchildren experience. "
John Faine, after his holiday in Turkey, commented that in Europe no one is still arguing the science but is actually trying to do something. The fairly lax standards introduced initially are being tightened and some are proposing that the European Union will impose greenhouse gas controls on products and services imported from parts of the world that lack such regulations.
So no matter what we do, others will impose their solutions on us. Whether Britain can manage a 50% cut in Carbon Emissions as reported by CoolMelbourne.org  (and others) is moot, at least it is having the moral and physical attempts at trying. Unlike us, so far.
So gird your loins and expect price changes in electricity (coming anyway with infrastructure improvements in network and transmission), fuel, food, imports etc, etc.
Just start saving and stop consuming quite so much and many of us will have money to pay for these changes.
Think global & act local.
But even if we cut CO2 emissions it won't make a lot of difference right? Favourite argument of the denial movement. Check out Skeptical Science site for the maths for this. Rational argument, detailed explanation , not 1 minute, TV/Radio, irrational sound bites help to understand these problems.
Go to your local library and any of the plethora of books and magazines on the subject. Go do something useful.

iPAD Reality Check

Sometime ago I was lusting after an iPAD (jan 2010). I could envisage lots of uses for such a device around my home, at work and generally as a mobile device instead of lugging a laptop.
Now I've got one, or should I say, my library has bought a couple of devices for staff use. Yeah!! I have been bringing it home and figuring out the pros and cons of the device.
Dealing with "the Apple Way" was the first learning point. From a person who has used PC's her whole life, the Apple Way of doing things is a little different. Downloading iTunes onto my work PC, authorising it and syncing iTunes with the iPAD was relatively easy, if somewhat counter-intuitive to 20 years of PC using.
Downloading Apps from the iStore was easy - very similar to my Android Phone.
Paying for iWorks Apps such as Pages, Keynote and Numbers has enabled the device to be used with office files but it hurts that I need to download the three apps separately. Perhaps my systems admins can use a different, networked approach?
The interface with iTunes Apps File Sharing is workable but cumbersome. However, the document I transferred from the iPAD  to the appropriate folder and then opened in Word 2007 worked like a dream. No importing problems or formatting problems so far.
So far I have avoided as much of the "cloud" as possible, for reasons to do with privacy and security, but I will have to approach that issue sooner or later.
I have downloaded eBooks, podcasts and iView programs - all good. More on eBooks later!
I have used the iPAD at a planning meeting, taking notes as the discussion evolved. I have loaded photos and used it as a photo slideshow, and I used the device in a particular Library Program.
The inbuilt camera is useful for Skype but does not have high enough resolution to use it as a camera. The size of the iPAD makes it difficult to focus as well.
I have also projected the iPAD screen onto a data projector.
The BAD part is the lack of Flash support - none of the Children's online databases subscribed to by my library work as all need Flash!
The interface is intuituve, easy to use and of course a little bit limiting.
But it is a fine piece of engineering and great to use while sitting on the couch in front of the fire!

Todays news - more killings

I find it sad that today's news is focussed on more killings.
President Obama has announced that Osama bin Laden has been killed. Retribution by the west for his launching attacks on the "free world".
A NATO bomb has also supposedly killed one of Gaddafi's son and grandsons.
And in Afghanistan a 12 year old boy has launched a suicide bomb attack killing four and injuring a dozen more.
I wonder whether the world is a safer place. I doubt whether killing Osama bin Laden will change the direction of terrorist groups.
An "eye for an eye" says the bible. But does retribution work? Does the use of force make the world a safer place or is it safer for us in the west that have money, power and weapons?
Perhaps the "powers that be" (PTB's) can reflect on the need for justice and basic living conditions for all people to combat the rise in terrorism and killing of innocents. Or are none of us innocent?
I too would use force against a perceived enemy, particularly if the enemy has killed someone close to me.