68 year old male. Your story on technology and "the elderly" in DC couldn't have been more deprecating to "seniors". Put young people from rural South Africa in the same position and you get the same results as you report for "seniors". New technology is new to those unfamiliar with it. John Kerry is 69 ... why didn't he attend the classes? Why can't young people drive a stick shift?
Just one of millions, I worked in publishing from 1972 till 2000. During that time (and after in other jobs) I led the charge to adopt appropriate technology as it developed -- from Linotype and proof-readers to pcs, macs, networks and websites -- mostly to save money and shorten production cycles. My first email system -- international, by the way -- you've never heard of. "My" "senior" writers and editors were eager to move on because it put them in better control of their product. (Too bad about "my" typesetters, proofers, runners and pasteup people.)
Recently I went to a birthday party followed by a dance club. I danced with a woman I had just met a week before for an hour or so in a crowd rocked by a great, live band. Surprised by her enthusiasm, I finally (and rudely) asked her how old she was. She hesitated just a second, smiled and answered, "I don't know." I only hope that more "senior-aware" seniors answer the same way. I don't know. And then you die.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Scientific? American ... coal emissions sequestration
Scientific American ... comment
"The One-Stop Carbon Solution" (Scientific American, 11/2013) suggests sequestration of coal plant emissions by "soda-streaming" CO2 into brine and injecting the brine into wells. The pressurized brine forced into the substrata in turn forces methane to be released into return wells drilled for the purpose. Anywhere else it would be called fracking -- tapping even more CO2 and the spew from burning methane!
Why go to absurd lengths to support continued environmental terror by the commodities industrial complex? CO2 sequestration is commodities hokus pokus and a waste of good investment and research money. Why produce the CO2 in the first place? Geothermal EGS can tap the heat beneath our feet virtually anywhere on earth -- and within a few decades could replace virtually all commodity/CO2-based (coal, oil, gas, nuclear ...) electricity generation.
Instead of coal plant enhancement, why not adapt generating equipment on-site to geo requirements and feed the grid through the plant's existing connection. Instead of wells for injecting chemicals, drill wells that extract geothermal heat directly. With much less complexity, replace coal-burning with the unlimited heat of the earth. As geothermal power generation becomes feasible, not just on geyser strata or "rings of fire", savings from elimination of commodities-associated externalities* together with long-term operational savings make a practical, long-term financial case with enormous environmental benefit.
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*[http://geo-energy.org/events/Air%20Emissions%20Comparison%20and%20Externality%20Analysis_Publication.pdf]
Why go to absurd lengths to support continued environmental terror by the commodities industrial complex? CO2 sequestration is commodities hokus pokus and a waste of good investment and research money. Why produce the CO2 in the first place? Geothermal EGS can tap the heat beneath our feet virtually anywhere on earth -- and within a few decades could replace virtually all commodity/CO2-based (coal, oil, gas, nuclear ...) electricity generation.
Instead of coal plant enhancement, why not adapt generating equipment on-site to geo requirements and feed the grid through the plant's existing connection. Instead of wells for injecting chemicals, drill wells that extract geothermal heat directly. With much less complexity, replace coal-burning with the unlimited heat of the earth. As geothermal power generation becomes feasible, not just on geyser strata or "rings of fire", savings from elimination of commodities-associated externalities* together with long-term operational savings make a practical, long-term financial case with enormous environmental benefit.
_____
*[http://geo-energy.org/events/Air%20Emissions%20Comparison%20and%20Externality%20Analysis_Publication.pdf]
Friday, November 8, 2013
Milky Way
Outdoors on a very clear night, I looked up and saw "the Milky Way". It is obvious, but once more I experienced the wonder that everything I am, see and feel is "the Milky Way". What a view!
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