Messages

136

General Discussion / Re: The things we do for ....uhh love?

« on: October 18, 2007, 07:03:09 pm »

I sincerely don't mean this in a negative way, but what's the point in chasing a storm? Where I'm from, storms come to us...

Where you're from there aren't storms worth bothering with.

In general the point is to have fun and see something cool. Something which we happen to spend most of our time learning about in class and attempting to understand both conceptually and quantitatively.

In addition some people do it as part of research projects to better understand the weather. For example NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory(which currently employs me) held a large research project in the 1990s to better understand tornadoes. In 2009 they plan to repeat the experiment.

I saw myself in the background of like 3 frames on the Discovery channel show but they didn't air any of the interview stuff they did.

137

General Discussion / Re: The things we do for ....uhh love?

« on: October 15, 2007, 10:24:52 pm »

Yeah, I'd never drive 700 miles to go to the plains, but that's just me.  Of course, I can't drive either.

I don't know what's cool about the plains, but maybe something in the whether?  I think zorm is studying meteorology.

Yep, storm chasing, its good stuff.

This is over 3 consecutive days, and relatively short chases with an estimated path length. We crashed in a hotel this night.


This was over a single day and probably upwards of the longest chase. Not that this is a really rough path length and its 1 way, we definitely went after a storm at one point that took us off this path.


We were in Tulia on this day until about 4am because a section of the town got destroyed by a tornado. We still had the journey back home afterwards..

Also, theres a good chance I can be see on a discovery channel show from this day depending on what they actually use(I have no clue, it'll be a surprise).

What could possible be cool about the plains? 700+ is retarded.

Also I should add that you wouldn't know what to do with my girlfriend.

I could show her how to have a good time and love her and cherish her which you seem unable to do!

138

General Discussion / Re: The things we do for ....uhh love?

« on: October 15, 2007, 08:18:21 pm »

You're a pansy. I've done 700+ miles in a day to roam the plains and have a chance to see something cool.
Send your girlfriend down here so she can be with real men, ok?

139

General Discussion / Re: Nobel Peace Bull Shit...err Prize

« on: October 14, 2007, 12:34:01 am »

Its hard to find the actual sources for a lot of the information but if you feel so inclined you can google something like "Dr. Karoly global warming" and probably find a wealth of information from that. I don't really follow the debate all that closely.

Dr. Karoly participated in the IPCC report(that won the peace prize), but he presented a lot of the information he gathered and the like to us in class.
I know I wasn't very convinced by a lot of the stuff he presented, i.e. using things like computer models to "prove" this theory or that. But the point remains that it is valid science and in general is reasonably neutral.

140

General Discussion / Re: Nobel Peace Bull Shit...err Prize

« on: October 13, 2007, 02:03:03 pm »

I am conflicted as to the truthfulness and consequences of global warming. The problem I have is that both sides have an agenda to fulfil, and both sides pay scientists who miraculously agree with them. So it really comes down to: would I rather believe the oil companies or the environmentalists? That's a crappy choice, but I've decided that I would rather believe the ones that aren't in it for the money. Oil companies are trying to make a profit, and environmentalists are trying to help the world. It's obvious which one is more noble.

And some of the consequences:
- Changes in precipitation causing flooding and draught
- Changes in extreme weather events (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.)
- Disruption of agriculture, which may cause famines and death
- Lowering of ocean pH, which may cause massive extinctions and a disruption to the ecosystem

And there are others, too. It's not just about it getting wetter.

The funny thing is one that's frequently missed: one of the primary causes of global warming is the farming of cattle. Studies have shown that livestock are responsible for 18% of greenhouse emissions, which is higher than transportation. That works out to about 1.5 tonnes of emissions per year by an average person, just from eating meat! The problem is that the meat industry has a lot of money and, therefore, influence, so you rarely hear about that.

A couple of things, it is very true that scientists are raking it in from both sides and so a lot of the research probably is bias'd one way or the other. But I know for a fact that there is a lot of research being done that isn't along the lines of "the globe is getting hotter, we're all going to die! OMG!" and a lot of it involves figuring out the answers to some of the things you've mentioned.

Cattle farming produces a different greenhouse gas(in this case methane). They've but a fair amount of research into figuring out just how much cows fart from what I understand, sounds like fun stuff. AFAIK, and I could be wrong, but I don't think the amount of the emissions from this cause are necessarily higher infact, I suspect they're a lot lower. Its just a case of methane is much better at causing warming than something like CO2.

The other thing is that those consequences(which you probably already know, you seem to have done your homework) would likely only become visible after many generations. A lot of people were screaming "OMG GLOBAL WARMING!" after the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active on record. Yet the 2006 season was more towards the opposite end of the spectrum.. A single season or event can't verify something like global warming.

141

General Discussion / Re: Nobel Peace Bull Shit...err Prize

« on: October 12, 2007, 09:21:10 pm »

This is awesome. Maybe I'll get a raise.

142

General Discussion / Re: Say hello to my little...errr BIG Friend.

« on: October 11, 2007, 10:15:39 pm »

Awesome, its a shame a bigger can can't change the fact it tastes like dog piss...

143

General Discussion / Re: Let's hear it!

« on: October 09, 2007, 07:50:07 pm »

I should take up drinking, I don't have any gentlemanness contract to uphold and school rapes me.
5 hours to do 12 problems, and it only gets worse from here on out. *yay!*

144

General Discussion / Re: Sheriff goes on a shooting rampage

« on: October 08, 2007, 02:05:48 pm »

Shit happens, he was off duty.

Should really be "man goes on shooting rampage."

The fact that he was part of a peace force has little to do with the matter. I also agree with iago, it was zombies.

145

General Discussion / Re: Let's hear it!

« on: October 01, 2007, 07:18:20 pm »

What's with everyone hating on Texas?

Its Texas, self explanatory I believe. The President on OU pokes fun at the Texans saying its the dream of every Texan to goto school in Oklahoma. Which a lot of them do. He also made fun of the Deputy Secretary of Commerence when he was here, it was amusing.

Care to elaborate on that one?

He was going to give us a quiz on Friday, but we have the day off so he said he just give us all 100s instead. Then he said that by every touchdown OU beats Texas by he'll give us an extra point. Which is a lot consider quizzes are 3 points each.

I honestly don't know who I'm going for in this matchup.  I want both to lose!

But someone has to win and it'll be OU! :p

146

General Discussion / Re: Let's hear it!

« on: October 01, 2007, 01:25:15 pm »

OU really needs to beat the hell out of Texas this weekend, so I have a chance of passing physics.

147

General Discussion / Re: Let's hear it!

« on: October 01, 2007, 12:38:52 am »

This is my third semester and I still haven't drank.  Alcohol is totally unnecessary to have fun.

++

and as an added bonus, we can remember the fun we had when the night is over

148

General Discussion / Re: Let's hear it!

« on: September 30, 2007, 07:32:18 pm »

Umm yeah! I have drank Tequila with my mom and beer with my dad, some parents are extremely tolerant but maybe too tolerant... Anyway I like a little tolerance.

Considering how fucked up you are, thats not helping his case.

149

General Discussion / Re: 'Zerg'

« on: September 28, 2007, 02:06:27 pm »

I've heard people use it in reference to other games but never in real life, atleast not yet. I'm sure its just a matter of time.

150

General Discussion / Re: Symantec Warns of Internet Meltdown

« on: September 26, 2007, 04:18:18 pm »

I'm not sure whats more scary, that it took Symantec and hour to push the button to fix it or that it took an hour for some sysadmin to stop playing WoW and go "hey, the internets going to meltdown! WTF?!"