Online adverts waste energy

See? I'm not the only one who thinks adverts on the Net waste energy...

Check this article out - they even did a study on it!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/02/green_browsing_study/

Earth: The Power of the Planet

Just finished watching a great series about Earth.

It explored how the Earth was created, and all the special conditions that were needed in order for our planet to support life. You can read about it here. Highly recommended and very interesting!

It explored the idea that no matter what has happened to Earth in its long history, it has always managed to recover, and each time it has recovered, a new chapter in evolution has been created. The idea is that the major catastrophies that have happened throughout Earth's history have been the main drivers for evolution.

Anyway, the presenter (scientist Iain Stewart) wrapped up by saying that it's not our planet that needs saving - it's the human race. The Earth will always recover from everything that is thrown at it, man-made or otherwise. It is plainly obviously that the human race will one day become extinct, but the Earth will carry on, and something else will evolve to take our place.

This just re-inforces my previous post - F*ck the Planet! :)

F*ck the Planet

I don't get it.

Governments and organisations all over the world are encouraging all of us to use less energy, take less flights, drive less, etc, etc, in order to save the planet. And every day we're encouraged to turn off lights, unplug things when they're not in use - basically to save every little bit of energy possible.

I'm all for "helping our planet". If I can take a train somewhere instead of flying, I do. I turn things off when I'm not using them. I recycle as much as possible. I cycle wherever I can. I'm doing "my bit".

The thing that pisses me off about all this is that whilst we're all made to feel guilty about leaving a light on accidentally, it's perfectly alright for all these advertising companies to install thousands upon thousands of thousands of energy-hungry advertising screens absolutely everywhere there is space to put them. For instance, on the London Underground at the moment, standard advertising boards that line the escalator walls are being replaced with LCD screens. Some escalators are quite long, and there is literally a screen every couple of feet all the way along. Sometimes this equates to about 30 screens on each side. Now, not only are these screens using energy, they're also releasing heat - one of the biggest problems on the Underground, and one which they're spending millions on trying to resolve.

I'm watching the Premier League football at the moment, and all the advertising boards that surround the pitches are now live animated screens, using even more energy. Right now, on my computer, advertisements written in Flash are chewing up CPU power, not only slowing down my computer, but also causing it to use more energy.

My point is, we're all making an effort to do something to help, yet these advertising companies are allowed to go ahead and use as much energy as they like. Why? I mean, I know why - money. If we were really serious about saving energy, we wouldn't be letting these companies produce advertisements in this manner. Is it REALLY necessary to have animated adverts EVERYWHERE??? It just doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.

So, until something is done about this blatant waste of energy, why the hell are we bothering to "do our bit"? I'll "only boil as much water as I need" when they remove all those advertising screens from the Underground. I'll "offset my carbon" the next time I fly when they ban these animated advertisements boards from football pitches.

Until then, F*ck the Planet!

Moo

Things are a little better at my new job - not so bored now. More angry than anything, but in this line of work that's to be expected. Either way, I'm eating more curry, that's one thing for sure.

About to buy tickets to the Boxing Day Test Match at the MCG this year... Yay!

More to follow. Maybe... Sometime...

Moo.

I am Boredom.

See, this is how bored I am at my new job. I'm blogging, and I'm blogging about something that I stumbled across yesterday whilst enduring more boredom.

I was browsing the BBC News website yesterday afternoon, looking for something interesting to read, when I stumbled across an article about a Qantas jet that had to turn around and make an emergency landing after taking off from Adelaide to fly to Melbourne.

All very boring stuff (hence the subject), but I did notice something perculiar about the map of Australia they had included. See if you can spot the perculiararity:

And again if you can't read the writing on the map:

Blog? What's a Blog?

Uh, well it seems I've completely neglected my blog, again. I just noticed that the last post was about when it snowed, in February! Well, it's not snowing anymore (It only snowed twice anyway...), and it's definitely not February anymore either.

Too much has happened since that post, with the highlights being:

• Getting my Work Permit
• Moving office to a pollution-filled Oxford Street
  
• Trip back to Oz around Easter with Renae in tow
• Getting back on my bicycle
• Getting Sky TV installed...

That's all I can think of for now. I will post more later, when The "F" Word is finished, I promise!

PS - Stu: Help? What else has been going on that is remotely of interest...? Hmmm...

The Man from Snowy London

This is the sight that greeted me when I walked out of my front door this morning:

London had about 10cm of snow fall overnight and this morning. It is still snowing a little bit now. Hopefully it keeps it up so we can go and have snowball fights in Regent's Park at lunchtime!

It's great when it snows here because it doesn't happen very often. You actually see people SMILING in the morning instead of scowling, and the kids all run around playing in the snow. I saw a couple of people down my street attempting to pull each other around on a snow sledge. Was quite funny. It should snow more often in London methinks. Looks nicer too because it's all covered in lovely white snowy stuff...!

For such a cold country, it is quite funny how it can't cope with the cold. Actually, it's not that bad, unless you're catching a train. They seem to break down as soon as it gets too cold or too hot. Must say that I'm glad I catch the bus now instead of the tube.

I donned my snowboots this morning too, which was cool. There was no way I was going to risk walking in the deep snow with my work shoes on. That would be an instant arse-plant for sure.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...! :-)

Oz-ward bound!

Yep, it's true - I'm heading back to the homeland!

But don't get too excited (coz I know everyone is MEGA-excited!), it's only for a visit. It has been brought on by a few factors.

#1: My Working Holiday Visa expires in April. This means that in order to continue living and working in this wonderful country, I have to get a Work Permit via job sponsorship. The good news is that I have one of these being applied for as I type this. The "bad" news is that I have to fly all the way back to Oz to get Entry Clearance to return to the UK on my Work Permit. Quite a long flight to get a stamp, if you ask me...

#2: I can't work, or stay in the country, until I have some sort of Visa, so I figured it was a good a time as any to make the long journey home for a visit.

#3: I'm a tad homesick. It's been 2 years since I left Melbourne, and for some silly reason, I miss the place! Maybe this little visit will remind me why I left to come here in the first place. Or, maybe it will make me wonder why the hell I'm living in this insane place at all! This still remains to be seen.

Either way, I'll be in the country (not necessarily Melbourne the entire time) from 2nd April until the 20th. Consider this your first and last warning...!

I'll also have my other (better?) half in tow. She's been to Australia before, but she wasn't lucky enough to make it down to the deep south. Should be a good laugh! Please make sure there is some water for us to use when we get there. Ta!

Till then...