“The Air’s Too Clean Edition” of Dr. Bill Podcast #144

Dr. Bill Podcast – 144 – (07/12/08)
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Dr. Bill disses global warming (Again!) We talk tech news: VMware CEO ousted, AppleTV Update, Microsoft pushes XP SP3, AVG fix… and the Geek Software of the Week: TimeLeft! Lot’s o’ stuff!

Microsoft Will Begin Pushing XP’s Service Pack 3 to Users

You vill do vhat we say! (Yes, I spelled it wrong on purpose, folks!) M$ is now pushing out SP3 to users! If you want to block it, you will have to explicitly do so.

Microsoft to Begin Pushing XP SP3 to Users

“Microsoft will begin pushing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) out via Automatic Updates to users who have not already downloaded it as early as Thursday, the company confirmed. However, because not every company will want to have SP3 automatically installed on its PCs, Microsoft also has a blocking kit available for download, as it has done with past service packs. Additionally, due to the large numbers of XP users, Microsoft will not push SP3 out to all users at once. ‘This is a throttled release, to allow Microsoft to carefully monitor the release to ensure that all customers have a good experience,’ a company spokesperson told InternetNews.com in an e-mail. The spokesperson would not confirm that SP3 would start being pushed out by Automatic Updates this week, however. The company began phasing in voluntary manual downloads of what is likely to be the last service pack for seven-year-old Windows XP this spring. After some glitches – particularly with HP PCs running on AMD processors – the company briefly suspended, then restarted, downloads of SP3. If automatic downloads do indeed begin this week, they come on the heels of last week’s announcement that Microsoft has officially discontinued sales of XP through most outlets.”

Is Cleaner Air REALLY the Cause of Global Warming?

You know I think that the whole “global warming” thing is dubious at best. The “scientists” all seem to be freaking out more and more over every new study and result. Well, here’s a good one. It seems that since we have been working so hard to have cleaner, clearer air… that this new clear air is CONTRIBUTING to global warming! Why? Because the sun is heating us up with such clear air to shine through! Oh no! Maybe we need to crank up the pollutants more to shield ourselves from that nasty ol’ sun! Yeah, right!

Air trends ‘amplifying’ warming

“Reduced air pollution and increased water evaporation appear to be adding to man-made global warming. Research presented at a major European science meeting adds to other evidence that cleaner air is letting more solar energy through to the Earth’s surface. Other studies show that increased water vapor in the atmosphere is reinforcing the impact of man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists suggest both trends may push temperatures higher than believed. But they say there is an urgent need for further research, particularly at sea.”

Oh yeah… pay us more research money so we can raise the alarm higher!

More from the article: “Between the 1950s and 1980s, the amount of solar energy penetrating through the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface appeared to be declining, by about 2% per decade. This trend received some publicity under the term “global dimming”. But in the 1980s, it appears to have reversed, according to two papers published last year in the journal Science. The decline in Soviet industry and clean air laws in western countries apparently reduced concentrations of aerosols, tiny particles, in the atmosphere. These aerosols may block solar radiation directly, or help clouds to form which in turn constitute a barrier; or both effects may occur. The lead researcher on one of those Science papers was Martin Wild from the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science (IACETH) in Zurich, and this week he has been discussing the implications of those findings at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) annual meeting in Vienna.”

Yeeesh! So… the air is just TOO CLEAN now! Well, if nothing else, it IS entertaining! What happens when they discover that breathing causes global warming? After all, we breathe out CARBON dioxide! Maybe I shouldn’t say this too loud. After all most of these wackos seem to be saying the earth would be much better off if mankind were wiped from the planet. OK, OK, back to computer-y things!