Pearo

Is this your first macbook after PC products? IF so, it maybe one of the reasons you hate it, this is why I always say if you have been an apple user stick with apple. If you are a windows user stick with windows. Secondly, it may just be because the macbook air is lightweight and not really a fair comparison to other macbook products. My macbook air has been retired for this reason. There is a lot of good stuff in the macbook air, but the performance was lacking in my opinion. But, let me say this, if you like the small size of a macbook air, then consider an asus zenbook. I went down this path and was happy. I needed the small size for travel reasons and I cant talk the zenbook up enough as a result.

I am a technology whore. I own macbook and Ipad. I own an android phone and there is an android tablet kicking around here that I got free from Telstra that I use to control spotify on my PC!. I also have a windows PC downstairs, and am typing this on a windows 8 notebook. At work I have several windows PC's and a Linux machine. And guess what, I work on software for windows, apple, android and linux. They are all much the same these days. They are all playing catchup with each other on a regular basis.. They all make me money so they are are all good as far as I am concerned. Meh... IF apple come up with a good search engine, they will beat google. Playing catchup does not win you market space these days, innovation does. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.

I bought an asus touchsreen notebook a while back. Thought the touchscreen was marketing gimick that I would never use. Guess what, I hate using notebooks that are not touchscreen now!! It took a bit to get used to the win 8 thing, and I am guessing that most people who a windows powerusers (like myself) probably did not like it. But as a developer, I make a point of learning to use software out of the box, because thats what most of my user base will do. Once I get used to it, I tend to find it harder to go backwards. I reckon MS does pretty good these days. Vista was a bit of a cockup (there was mamoth changes under the hood with vista), but win 7 and win 8 was good. It will be interesting to see how win 10 goes.

I learned calculus at uni when studying engineering. I only did year 10 at school, so it was a tough gig, but I got through the math somehow. 15 year on, I have never used any of it and I could not do the basics to save me now. I do still use some math, including stats/probs an some basic trig, but thats about it. Calculus was pretty freaking cool when it finally clicked in your brain, its sad that I cant remember any of it.

What?? Do you even understand CSG?

Oh the irony... FWIW, I have no vested interest in the future of the planet. I have no kids, and the wife and I do not plan to have kids. I am a man of science, not fiction, so I obtain all my knowledge of subjects from peer reviewed science, not the media. My interested in the environment is purely based on self interest. I like flying, I like sailing, I like motorcycling and I like camping. I do wish to preserve my current surrounds for at least the next 40 odd years, because then my brain and body will be retiring, or well on the way to doing so. I doubt I will see any major impacts from climate change (as its called now, not global warming) so at the end of the day I don't really care what people do. I hate the greens and the far left, I am traditionally a labor supporter (although now there is no parties worth voting for IMHO). So I really don't fit the profile of an environmentalist at all. In-fact I am what most people call a capitalist pig, although I like to think I am a little more politically neutral (call me part democratic socialist if you will). Solar? The reason I want it is because of money. If I can offset my power bill. Coal Seam Gas, I think you will find Dazza is spot on the money. Most methane leaks from CSG are related to natural rock fractures as opposed to industry related issues. There is so much environmental pressure on the CSG industry in Australia that there is a vested interest in keeping it safe. I am an electrician (instrument fitter) turned electrical engineer, so I understand power distribution. Everyone wants cheap reliable power, but every whinges about coal and CSG. Fact is, you cannot provide base loads and peak loads from solar at this point it time, so you have no option but to burn natural resources. When we find a way to store solar power cheaply and effectively then maybe, just maybe we can do away with coal, gas and nuclear power. WRT to Climate change, well here you have to be really careful what you read. The IPCC was known to falsify and cherry pick data and in my mind cannot be trusted. I cant remember the exact details, but this was discovered quite a few years ago now, and they have since changed their outlook to more accuratly reflect the real data that exists. IPCC aside, I look mainly are the real data obtained from real scientists, i.e, the ones that are not manipulating the results but rather just publishing raw data. If you think that climate change is not due to anthropogenic causes then you are living with your head in the sand. There is data, plenty off it showing the cycle of heating is much greater than it has ever been in the last 500000 years, and coincidentally that cycle started at the same time as the industrial revolution. There was so much carbon pollution in the early days of the industrial revolution that it actually had an effect on radio carbon dating. So you can deny it as much as you want (I dont really care), but there is empirical evidence out there to show that there is climate change that is being influence by man made causes. Here is the thing. The environment is like modern form of religion. It does not matter what facts are presented, people have the idea in their head and they continue to deny the evidence of reality. So you get to the point where you just realise that debating the issue is a pointless exercise. If you are really interested in the science behind climate change, I encourage you to take a deep look at the real science. Steer clear of the IPCC (my opinion only, I don't believe they can be trusted). Don't look at the first google link. Check the authors and their industry status and education and check that any papers are peer reviewed. If you do this, I think you may just change your mind on the subject.

The only difference is that now those extremes are much worse, and they are having an impact. And dont forget, we have some pretty good data going back about 750000 years, so depsite what the naysayers will tell you, its not just a little cherry picked sample. On the topic off solar power, I have been looking at off grid systems for a while. I would like to fit one, but the cost of batteries is what stops me. Put simple, the avg lifespan of a bank is about 10 years from what I can gather, and maybe even less in Queensland due to avg. temps. When you compare that to the cost of grid power it does not add up. What about using the grid for storage? Well that does not add up either. I can get 8c/kwh but it costs me a lot more than that to buy it back. So my current plan is to fit enough panels to cover off as much of my daytime usage as possible, and at night I will rely on the grid. The only problem I have is the neighbours are planning to develop and that is the side the sun comes from, so I am just holding off until I know what they have planned.

Documented after the fact you say? Are you suggesting that the Bible may somehow be influenced by man himself? Perhaps even a bunch of stories written by people who were before a time where science and physics actually provide sensible answers to environmental phenomena? BTW, I am still having issues linking Ahmed and Salome to Adam and Eve. Now wondering where the name Adam and Eve came from. Its still Adam and Eve in the KJV bible, and alas I cant read hebrew so perusing the tanakh is out of the question for me... Hmmm, I have read the bible enough times now, maybe its time to search for a academic well versed in the hebrew language to explain the interpretation.

Yeah, its just convenient they were replaced with some modern english names. Oh, and where did you get that part from? I dont recall reading that in genesis.

Well that is the basis for the old testament. Inbreeding and incest is pretty normal in the bible, one only has to read the first dozen pages. What amazes me, is we have adam and eve, very european(brit) types names (well eve is a little hippy like) then all of a sudden sons are arabic, and for the most part the rest of the bible is arabic. I guess the garden of eden must have been somewhere in europe, then they were shipped to the middle east.

I think you misunderstand what the word atheist means.

Dont worry, I know plenty of very smart folk who are religious. One fellow even turned his back on science because it conflicted with his religion. These days though, we have explanations for most things, and as we ask questions and discover more we also discover that there is no logical reason for a god or gods. On the contrary, we can actually show that if indeed life and the universe was designed by a creator, then that creator was pretty stupid because there is some really, really dumb designs out there.

my synolgy NAS automagically puts itself to sleep.

So if its not "The good book" and its not "the word of god", then what is it? Some scholars think yes, but I do recall hearing something on the radio just recently that suggests no. The lack of evidence to support a 'god' suggests no. Furthermore, the empirical evidence we have these days contradicts a lot of what the bible says, and the bible is the only 'evidence' of a god, and use the word evidence in this context very loosely. Once again, there are events written in the bible that various scientists think may have occurred. Real events that may have occurred but we now have logical reasons for them that are not attributed to punishment by a god. Its hard to research bible fact these days, as there is so much rubbish perpetuated by so called religious scholars trying to justify that a god exists.

Well killing homosexuals and kids who diss their parents are pretty far separated. But lets drop the kids part, and go with the killing homosexuals part. If you do that, you are probably a a bit deranged regardless, do it in the name of the 'good book' and you are a funadmentalist nutbag. But lest be honest here, there is plenty of offences in the bible that attract the death penalty, and some is pretty bad. Ie, I think its in Samual, the part about killing your son if your dad is a sinner. Geez, poor kid does nothing wrong but his dad get jeleous over a neighbor and bam, death row.

Yup, just pick out the bits that suit you and ignore the rest, the proclaim to the world that teaches good morals. And if you choose the bad bits as well, your a fundamentalist nutbag apparently.

I am not sure why they call it the good book, when is full of such atrocities. Murder, pillageing, rape etc.