Humodour

If you are all so happy why do you need to go on (a) bleating about it and (b) invading Europe in clapped-out camper vans? a) Because we're smug bastards b) Because Europeans are funny and we like your cultures. And we obviously also like camper vans. I guess.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian...x-1226082896611 Excellent read for anybody who wants a feel for where the world market for phones is heading. Australia is tends to be a testbed for new technologies due to the huge amount of early tech adopters and large disposable incomes, and thus an early indicator of global market trends. In this case, those trends indicate Nokia and Windows Phone OS are dead, and that Android is about to cream Apple. Android market share in Australia has gone from 2.1% to 29.7% in 1 year. Also, people don't buy basic phones anymore: it's all smartphones baby.

Yeah but the funny part is I LIKE the game, I just don't understand how they can keep kicking out games that feel like they are still in early stages of Beta testing and expect people to (gasp) not be upset? I am a huge fan of these type of games ... but to be honest Baldur's Gate on the original Xbox makes this game look just ... terrible. And that came out in like what ... 2002? Step the F**k up, Obsidian. Seriously. I agree. Obsidian has a lot of potential, but can't seem to break through. I don't think their vain attempts to cater to consoles are helping one bit. They're spreading themselves far too thin trying to jump on the bandwagon.

It's funny 'cause the Brits basically gave a bunch of convicts some gold mines and sunny beaches as punishment for stealing some bread. Two of my convict ancestors on the First Fleet had the surnames 'Rope' and 'Pulley'. They married each other. http://www.ropepulley.org/index_files/Convicts.htm

It sure isn't the sun Ironically, one of the most conservative people I remember, militantly opposing wind power were the Kiwis. Despite the fact that they the entire western coast of the South Island, from Greymouth and downwards being for all intent and purpose uninhabitated and somewhere between windy and stormy most days of the year. The attitude may have changed the last 5-6 years, but back then it was unthinkable to put up noisy, ugly windmills in the middle of nowhere. Haha. That brings me to another point: IN WHAT WAY ARE WIND FARMS UGLY?! They're beautiful and majestic and remind me just what humans are capable of. Sort of like the International Space Station. No tengas miedo! El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha va a salvar.

The OECD has some ideas: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/natio...f-1226083336849

Anyway, this isn't even just about solar. Renewable energy is a mix of technologies and solar is but one. Wind energy appears to be what shines for the UK.

You say this: Arse. If that were genuinely true you'd have craptonnes of industry gearing up for it to avoid oil price fluctuations alone. And then when I provide you evidence of "craptonnes of industry gearing up for it", you go and tell me that craptonnes of industry gearing up for it is not evidence of anything and in fact evidence that solar energy doesn't work. And that just because so many advances in the solar manufacturing process and conversion efficiency are taking place doesn't mean that solar is getting better or being is going to work. Tried listening to yourself, Wals? Zoraptor: So build the solar projects in countries where there's plenty of sun and send it over cables (as is already being done in Spain, Morocco). Or, do as is already being done by many companies and combine solar projects with back-up gas to produce a consistent level of output. There's no shame in using fossil fuels to boost renewables. It's a moron who thinks we must only use one or the other. I take it Germany is a very sunny place, btw? Because they sure seem to get a lot out of their solar panels.

Can't see her winning the overall popular vote against Obama.

That just proper storage, it still can't generate power at night. That's rather semantics isn't it? It does release power at night, and far better than any battery or fuel cell because it releases 99% of energy trapped in the molten salt. Basic fact is that it produces this "baseload" power the anti-renewables peops are always having a whine about. The "baseload power" argument demonstrates a lack of understanding of how renewable energy works: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/201...m?site=canberra Also noteworthy: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-millio...olar-power.html http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-bosch-...olar-panel.html

All-day solar power: http://inhabitat.com/video-gemasolar-plant...hr-solar-plant/

Some Melbournites have discovered a technology which should enable typing-powered laptops in about 3 years. http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronic...ou-work-/34845/

What a moronic thing to say. In what way? Modern society would not function without the ideas of the left, and the left still has plenty of good ideas left to give. Likewise modern society would not function without the right's best idea: free markets. Monte Carlo is being intentionally small-minded and rude with the statement in question. It's not necessary.

Slippery slope fallacy?

I can't link to people not doing something. You can do the reverse. Japan now requires all new buildings to have solar panels on their rooves: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-japan-solar-panels.html Google investing hundreds of millions in solar: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-0...-in-solar-plant America investing billions in solar: http://gigaom.com/cleantech/doe-offers-alm...ermal-projects/ Australia investing hundreds of millions in solar: http://www.rechargenews.com/energy/solar/article262602.ece http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-20/b...r-projects.html World government investment in solar: http://cleantechnica.com/2011/06/07/china-...s-top-10-lists/ China specifically: http://cleantechnica.com/2010/07/24/more-i...urope-combined/ New news articles describing some massive new solar investment come out every week or so: http://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=c...680&bih=925 New research papers describing some new advance in solar efficiency or cutting manufacturing costs, or a new type of solar energy come also come out every week or so: http://www.physorg.com/search/?search=solar I reiterate: your aversion to solar energy is irrational, and industry and investors everywhere are switching to it. Solar energy works. And it's getting cheaper just as oil gets more expensive.

Awwwww man... and I really wanted to do this, too, after watching Tangled!

Deus Ex 1 was, and still is, one of the best games of all time.

What a moronic thing to say.

Apples and oranges Krezack, you have a population of what, twenty-odd million? In the UK I think we are in the mid-sixties. So... you don't think a similar system would work in the UK?

Um, we DO!

Hahaha oh wow, nice find.

I want that one.

Somali is one of the world's most pressing problems right now along-side North Korea. And like North Korea, we like to either look away and pretend it doesn't exist, or make nervous jokes about it, and then divert the topic to something else. But the reality seems to be that it is getting worse and nobody has a ****ing clue how to fix it.

It was a joke to annoy LoF. But then he played along and I had Fionavar PM'ing me telling me to stop trolling. It got a bit heated on account of I don't like being accused of doing things I didn't do, then Fion threatened to ban "my" LoF account, at which point I encouraged him to do so. Unfortunately, LoF remains unbanned. My guess is that at least one of these various political alts floating around belongs to one of the right-wing guys here (e.g. taks, Monte Carlo, Guard Dog) in an attempt to misrepresent the political left, or you. I'm leaning towards it being you. Either way, though, it spices up the forums and does actually get people discussing some rather interesting stuff they wouldn't otherwise discuss, so I kind of like it.

But for people like you who're rather irrationally averse to solar, whatever. You lot can cheer on thorium nuclear reactors instead, since they're developing with an equally rapid growth trajectory: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-pint-s...ear-energy.html So far that I know of, the British, US, Russian, Chinese and Indian governments are actively working on thorium reactors or thorium research. For those out of the loop, thorium reactors are far less radioactive, produce far less waste, and CANNOT undergo nuclear meltdown by design. Also, thorium is extremely abundant such that every country has reserves to power it for quite a long time (with places like India, Canada, Australia having extremely large reserves). Oh, and thorium is actually a waste by-product of rare-earth mining already.