Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 22:09:46 11/06/00
Go up one level in this thread
On November 06, 2000 at 23:15:52, Eelco de Groot wrote:
>>
>>I still test Tiger on 386sx-20MHz (if you know what it is :), and my dream is to
>>make Tiger the strongest program in the world on that hardware.
>>
>>I play "mine is bigger than yours" with software only. Knowing that my processor
>>is going to consume in just one day more Watts than some people in the third
>>world will use in their whole lifetime does not make me especially happy.
>>
>>So you can guess what I think about multiprocessor computers.
>>
>>Sorry to spoil the Gigahertz party. I'm not mother Theresa, but sometimes I feel
>>a little bit guilty. Which does nothing to solve the problem, I know, I know...
>>
>>
>>
>> Christophe
>
>
>
>Well, if you can work behind a computer maybe you don't have to use a car or
>other transport that much..
You are right, that's 100% true for me.
> But on the other hand I think it it may very well be
>true that we really "ain't seen nothing yet". The flooding in Britain,
>Christophe you know, you live in Guadeloupe, a place where hurricanes can be
>very dangerous.
I have read some studies about this, and it looks like the global warming has a
strong influence on hurricanes (which are indeed a big danger here in
Guadeloupe) and on the El Nino phenomenon.
> Is the Gulf stream getting stronger? Measurements seem to
>indicate (http://explorezone.com/archives/99_04/07_hurricane_predict.htm) a
>higher salt content, causing it to sink deeper (but also at lower latitudes
>then?) and this way drawing more warm water from the tropics north to the
>Caribbean and the Eastern U.S. Stronger storms go with this. But at the same
>time we see more rainfall in the North Atlantic and even more fresh water there
>due to Greenland ice melting. This might in this century weaken the warm
>Gulfstream in the North Atlantic considerably and it might even get into a
>chaotic flip-flop state. Global warming may produce some very, very cold winters
>for Europe in this dreaded scenario and I think for North America too. Today is
>a "Decision Day" in the U.S. and though I didn't think environmental matters
>would play a big role in the election campaign I am a bit worried about the
>almost total lack of mention sofar. There are no easy points to score here but
>we should not close our eyes either. US citizens, this year there seems to be
>nothing to decide? It is not true! If you are still undecided maybe you should
>type in 'oceanic conveyor belt' or 'global warming' into any search engine and
>do some research. This is just one little article by leading German researcher,
>Stefan (Another "cutting edge" Stefan, it must be something in the name)
>Rahmstorf: http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/home_6.htm.
>
>Sorry to be mentioning election matters but sometimes I worry about this.
I'm not sure the problem is the change in the climate. If we disturb the climate
too much and eventually the human race disappear because of this, I will say:
we've got what we deserved.
What concerns me is that there is not enough resources on the planet for
everybody on earth to live the life WE are living in the "developped" countries.
Energy is not the only matter, but it's one of the biggest problem.
The problem is even bigger with energy, because even if you assume there is
enough for everybody, then the resulting warming up of the planet leads to a
gigantic disaster.
So in order to keep on living the way we live, there is only one solution: force
the rest of the human kind to keep on living with very low level of energetic
consumption. Which means very low levels of developpement in our current way of
thinking.
The implications are absolutely frightening. Disgusting. Just imagine what would
the developped countries do in order to keep the energetic domination.
So it's obvious that we CANNOT keep on living the way we live. Reducing the
energetic consumption should be a priority.
Switching back to my little level, I am totally upset when I see the huge
heatsink of the PIII or Athlons, and the two fans that are needed to prevent
them from burning.
And what should I think when I see people using these processors in computers
used only for word processing???
And consequently, what should I think about a software company that produces
bigger and bigger operating systems year after year just to keep people buying
bigger and bigger computers?
So I can only applause to the Transmeta Crusoe chip, or the hanheld philosophy.
Amongst other things.
Christophe
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