From ENIAC to PC

This is only for those who have a little bit of computer geek hidden deep inside themselves.
ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer and it was, “was the first large-scale, electronic, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems, although earlier computers had been built with some of […]

I would swear that this is a joke, but apparently it is not.

This company sells carbon offsets to people so that they can feel righteous. Here is a description of one of the ways you can offset your carbon…..

The treadle pump is a simple device which uses human power to pump water from wells, streams and lakes. One person – man, woman or even child – can operate the pump by manipulating his/her body weight on two treadles and by holding a bamboo or wooden frame for support. These pumps displace the diesel pumps that are more commonly used.

Benefits
• Replaces polluting diesel-powered pumps
• Allows 2 or 3 harvests a year, instead of 1
• Prevents farmers having to leave their families to work in the city during ‘off season’
Farmers’ income increases, often between two and five-fold

As a guide: 1 treadle pump = 0.65 tonnes CO2 saved per year.

I would think that this whole company was fake except that David Cameron apparently buys carbon offsets from this company.

Megan McArdle is scandalized by the child labor implications of “or even child.” But I can’t get over how funny the whole thing is. If someone did this as a parody I would say that they were a genius. But to have someone try to pass this stuff off for real is just priceless.

I got to get in the business of selling offsets.

I want this on the roof of my house some day

From Bob Vila’s blog….

That said, I CAN appreciate a roofing product that claims to last up to 100 years without needing significant maintenance. Such is the case with the steel roofing that Follansbee markets. The secret to their roof’s longevity is a ZT alloy plating over steel. It’s a combination of zinc and tin, and

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A European mayor worth electing

There is town in Germany that is effectively controlled by neo-Nazis. You can read all about it here. But there was a section in the article that I thought demonstrated both why Europe still functions and why Europe is going down the tubes.

It all started in 1992, on April 19 — Easter Sunday. About 120 neo-Nazis raised the Reichskriegsflagge, a symbol used by Hitler’s Nazi party, in front of the old farmhouse at the end of Forststrasse. They wanted to celebrate the 103rd anniversary of Hitler’s birth. “We’ll smoke you out,” the right-wing radicals allegedly told the G. family next door. The family had previously complained about constant neo-Nazi music. And it had paid a steep price for such complaints: break-ins and slashed tires came first. Then one day they found their chickens dead and hanging from the garden fence.

Partying with the Nazis

On Easter Sunday 1992, the family barricaded itself inside the house. The mayor at the time, Fritz Kalf, was there with them, armed with a shotgun. When the police were called, a mere four officers arrived — and they didn’t dare enter the farmhouse where the Nazis were partying. Later, three dozen more cops showed up and put an end to the revelries, but not before the doors and windows of the G. family’s house had been destroyed along with Kalf’s car. The culprits vanished in the darkness. Indeed, the only who received a citation that evening was the mayor — for carrying a gun without a permit.

It is impressive that Germany still has a mayor willing to put himself at risk to defend his people. But it is sadly typical of modern day Europe that he was the only one to receive a ticket.