benl

8 ms·

61.
by benl 17y ago
/Any suggestions?/ My suggestion would be to step back, realize that climate change is not a religion, and that you do not have to convert others to your cause. If at that point, you still find it engaging and rewarding to debate the scienc
62.
by benl 17y ago
Academia.edu is looking for developer interns in our San Francisco office: http://academia.edu/jobs/developer_intern We value enthusiasm, motivation and curiosity over experience in our interns, and we give you challenging projects to wor
63.
by benl 17y ago
There's a lot of back-and-forth in this thread about whether this disproves AGW or not. Before people get too invested in these arguments, it might make sense to step back for a second or two and ask yourself the question: "What is the null
64.
Uranium Is So Last Century — Enter Thorium, the New Green Nuke(wired.com)
82 points by benl 17y ago|1 comments
65.
by benl 17y ago
It's amazing what a little fact checking can do for your perspective. After watching 'An Inconvenient Truth', I was quite affected by the supposed plight of the Polar Bears. So I did a bit of research, and I found out two fascinating facts:
66.
by benl 17y ago
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand Firestar, Michael Flynn
67.
by benl 18y ago
Don't worry -- I didn't call you a communist. I can cite counter-examples without name-calling.
68.
by benl 18y ago
"the costs of raising meat (which, in effect, only the wealthy can afford to eat)" I guess the 99 cent hamburger must also be part of my delusion, then.
69.
by benl 18y ago
You've got it backwards -- the very reason that food is plentiful is that there is profit to be made in growing and selling it. Your statement: "food isn't scarce for most of us and few have problems acquiring it and the ability to produce
70.
by benl 18y ago
Profit is the world's way of signaling that you are doing something in an efficient, effective, and long-term sustainable way. So, given that health care is one of the most fundamental individual needs, profit most definitely should be the
71.
by benl 18y ago
So much for Disaster Capitalism ( http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine ) then, huh?
72.
SpaceX's Falcon 1 makes it to orbit(spacex.com)
16 points by benl 18y ago|2 comments
73.
by benl 18y ago
This is an incredibly poorly thought out piece. Right from the beginning: "Imagine what would happen if GM and Ford collaborated to invest in the components and architecture of a better public transport network -- and then licensed it for
74.
by benl 18y ago
Give me a break. This post, and an number of the other Knol-is-bad commentary pieces floating around, boil down to not much more than "Google owes me/my friends a living". This quote is priceless: "The company whose mission is to 'organize
75.
by benl 19y ago
Firestar by Michael Flynn. It's a little-know book by a little-known author, but it's the best near-term space sci fi I've ever read.
76.
by benl 19y ago
This is a sad moment for me. ACC was the first science fiction author I ever read, and it wouldn't be an understatement to say that he changed my life. His novels stimulated to think in a new way and to break free of the religious shackles
77.
by benl 19y ago
Well it may be natural to feel that way, but it sure ain't rational.
78.
by benl 19y ago
OK, look, I'm going to try and reply to this in the politest possible way, but sometimes I find that difficult when faced with statements like this. I really don't understand where people get off preaching about other people's business deci
79.
by benl 19y ago
I'm not sure whether any of these are anti-trendy or not, but here are a few things I found myself doing in a project I've been working on recently: * It's an online bookmarking system, and I didn't add tagging. I found that the UI step to
80.
by benl 19y ago
This argument doesn't refute anything. All it demonstrates is that succinctness is not the only thing that enables a language to be powerful. I'm not sure anyone has ever made that claim. The fact that there are other things, such as sens
81.
by benl 19y ago
Good article, but it doesn't mention where these emmigres are going. Anyone know?
82.
by benl 19y ago
With all due respect, I suggest ignoring that teacher. This is the 'precautionary principle' which, while it sounds all nice and sensible on first hearing, is actually a recipe for justifying all kinds of mindless nonsense. "Vaccines might