#(or are these people expected to be able to afford solar and all that? cause... they ain't poor if they're doing that)

[xtruss]

How Natural Gas Bans Hurt Communities and Customers

— American Gas Association | December 07, 2022

In America, one in four young adults now lives with their parents. One cause for this shift is clear; adjusted for inflation, home prices increased 118 percent between 1965 and 2021, while median household income increased only 15 percent. For the average young person in America, renting is expensive, while buying outright has become significantly more difficult than it used to be. Proposals for bans on natural gas in new construction are poised to worsen this problem.

Natural gas bans can make housing more expensive. All electric homes require expensive retrofits, potentially driving up the overall cost of housing significantly. According to the National Association of Home Builders, for every thousand dollars the cost to construct a unit of housing increases, 117,932 families are priced out of being able to afford that unit. Young people and low-income households would be the first to be priced out – and their costs would not end there.

AGA conducted a study entitled Implications of Policy-Driven Residential Electrification. This study found that if 60 percent of residences in the regions studied were converted to electricity by 2035, the average affected household could see an increase of up to $1,420 per year in increased heating costs alone. Renters and homeowners alike would have to bear these increased costs directly or through increased rent.

The median pre-tax income for a 25-year-old in the United States is $34,371. In Virginia, that works out to $27,915 after taxes, or a monthly take-home of $2,326. The median monthly rent in the United States is now more than $2,000 a month. Pushing unpopular policies that risk dramatically increasing the cost of living isn’t just irresponsible – it’s outright malpractice, and the harm could be felt by millions. Bans on natural gas could hit low-income households the hardest. Despite all the harm these policies could inflict, the cruelest irony is that as far as efforts to fight climate change go, banning the use of natural gas is a bust. Implementing policy-driven electrification would reduce total U.S. GHG emissions by as little as 1 percent in 2035. The gas delivery system delivers three times as much energy on the coldest day of the year as the electrical system delivers on the hottest day. Replacing it would therefore mandate a quadrupling of the electric system, and of electrical generation.

The logic behind bans on natural gas is in part premised on a plentiful supply of solar panels. It also assumes the United States won’t have any difficulties obtaining these solar panels from overseas supplies like China over the next decades. The current situation in Europe highlights why betting the future of your energy production on factors outside your control can be a risky bet. If we need to quadruple our electrical generation but already face a crippling shortage of solar panels expected to last for years with the potential for further disruptions, the logical result is obvious. The gap between current supply and demand will be met with power plants, including coal plants. A massive buildout of coal infrastructure to enable bans on direct use of natural gas could lock us in to decades of additional GHG emissions from new coal plants, damaging efforts to fight climate change.

Banning direct use of natural gas could also cut residents off from renewable natural gas and green hydrogen, an increasingly prominent source of energy. Renewable hydrogen can be a zero-emissions form of energy storage, with the potential for highly efficient direct use in homes. There is a very real risk that homes built off the gas grid today will either require upgrades to connect them at a later date or suffer serious disadvantages to hybrid-capable housing.

Natural gas and gas distribution infrastructure has a tremendous amount to offer renters and homeowners. Whether a person is a renter or an owner, they deserve to take advantage of everything natural gas has to offer.

A US Federal Agency is Considering a Ban on Gas Stoves

— By Ramishah Maruf, CNN | Wednesday January 11, 2023

New York (CNN) — A federal agency is considering a ban on gas stoves, a source of indoor pollution linked to childhood asthma.

In an interview with Bloomberg, a US Consumer Product Safety commissioner said gas stove usage is a “hidden hazard.”

“Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” agency commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. told Bloomberg. The report said the agency plans “to take action” to address the indoor pollution caused by stoves.

The CPSC has been considering action on gas stoves for months. Trumka recommended in October that the CPSC seek public comment on the hazards associated with gas stoves. The pollutants have been linked to asthma and worsening respiratory conditions.

A December 2022 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that indoor gas stove usage is associated with an increased risk of current asthma among children. The study found that almost 13% of current childhood asthma in the US is attributable to gas stove use.

Trumka told Bloomberg the agency plans to open public comment on gas stove hazards. Options besides a ban include “setting standards on emissions from the appliances.”

Thirty-five percent of households in the United States use a gas stove, and the number approaches 70% in some states like California and New Jersey. Other studies have found these stoves emit significant levels of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter – which without proper ventilation can raise the levels of indoor concentration levels to unsafe levels as deemed by the EPA.

“Short-term exposure to NO2 is linked to worsening asthma in children, and long-term exposure has been determined to likely cause the development of asthma,” a group of lawmakers said in a letter to chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric, adding it can also exacerbate cardiovascular illnesses.

The letter – Sen. Corey Booker and Sen. Elizabeth Warren among its signers – argued that Black, Latino and low-income households are more likely to be affected by these adverse reactions, because they are either more likely to live near a waste incinerator or coal ash site or are in a home with poor ventilation.

In a statement to CNN, the CPSC said the agency has not proposed any regulatory action on gas stoves at this time, and any regulatory action would “involve a lengthy process.”

“Agency staff plans to start gathering data and perspectives from the public on potential hazards associated with gas stoves, and proposed solutions to those hazards later this year,” the commission said in a statement. “Commission staff also continues to work with voluntary standards organizations to examine gas stove emissions and address potential hazards.”

Some cities across the US banned natural gas hookups in all new building construction to reduce greenhouse emissions – Berkeley in 2019, San Francisco in 2020, New York City in 2021. But as of last February, 20 states with GOP-controlled legislatures have passed so-called “preemption laws” that prohibit cities from banning natural gas.

“To me that’s what’s interesting about this new trend, it seems like states are trying to eliminate the possibility before cities try to catch onto this,” Sarah Fox, an associate law professor at Northern Illinois University School of Law, told CNN last year. “The natural gas industry… has been very aggressive in getting this passed.”

In a statement to CNN Business, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers said an improvement in ventilation is the solution to preventing indoor air pollution while cooking.

“A ban on gas cooking appliances would remove an affordable and preferred technology used in more than 40% of home across the country,” Jill Notini, industry spokesperson, said in a statement. ” A ban of gas cooking would fail to address the overall concern of indoor air quality while cooking, because all forms of cooking, regardless of heat source, generate air pollutants, especially at high temperatures.”

The American Gas Association pushed back against a natural gas ban in a blog post in December, saying it makes housing more expensive as “electric homes require expensive retrofits.”

However, Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act includes a rebate of up to $840 for an electric stove or other electric appliances, and up to an $500 to help cover the costs of converting to electric from gas. CNN’s Ella Nilsen contributed to this report.

[worworler]

Alpilean Weight Loss - Best Suited For Everyone

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[bitso-1]

Buy/Sell Best Cryptocurrency Bitcoin in USA, Canada

It's a type of digital currency which isn't controlled by a centralised system similar to the federal government. It's instead integrated into Blockchain technology that has resulted in Bitcoin becoming the biggest and most well-known currency. While the future currency gains recognition in Wall Street, more and diverse options are on the market. There are more than 20000 cryptocurrency available to buy.

Although you can utilize cryptocurrency to purchase products but many view it as a form of investment that is expected to last for a long time. But the volatility of the market could result in investing in cryptocurrency risky as evident by the recent decrease in the cost of different coins, including stablecoins linked to the dollar. U.S. dollars. It is crucial to be aware of the risks you're taking prior making the decision.

They're actually the most popular eight cryptocurrency that may be worth investing in by 2022.

Top 8 Cryptocurrency Investments for 2022

CRYPTOCURRENCY PRICE MARKET CAP

Bitcoin $22,953.73 $437.63 Billion

Ethereum $1,627.56 $197.41 Billion

coins from Binance $279.68 $44.94 trillion

Cardano $0.5035 $16.99 billion

Polygon $0.8891 $7.14 Billion

Terra 2.0 $2.13 $272.55 million

Avalanche $23.09 $6.57 billion

Chainlink $7.45 $3.49 Billion

The data is current through the month of August. 1st 2022.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin has been around for the longest time among all cryptocurrency currency. It's easy to determine that it's the most reliable option due to its market cap and cost that is higher than other crypto currencies for investing.

Building Wealth

A lot of companies accept bitcoin as a form of payment. Bitcoin is an investment that is worth taking the chance. Visa for instance, is a great example of transactions where bitcoin. Bitcoin is accepted. After more than four years with not a cryptocurrency. Stripe allows customers to purchase items using bitcoin. The major banks have started to include bitcoin transactions in their offerings as well.

The Tesla was capable of accepting bitcoin for a short time however, it was unable to accept bitcoin, but was able to accept bitcoin again once it becomes blue. To accomplish this objective, Blockstream and Block, which was before called Square is announcing the opening of bitcoin mining in Texas that can be powered with Tesla's solar array as well as the Megapack battery. CNBC released on April 8.

Bitcoin has also been experiencing an rise in May, in which the Luna Foundation Guard announced it will offer $1.5 billion in loans supported by the Terra USD as well as bitcoin for stabilization of the second, Fortune reported. VanEck is an investment company VanEck plans to launch the exchange traded bitcoin investment fund, but has been denied this request through the Securities and Exchange Commission denied VanEck's original request.

The Risks of Investing in Bitcoin

The price of bitcoin may fluctuate drastically. It is possible for the price to increase by hundreds every time of the month. This was the case in the initial quarter of the year due to bitcoin prices are tightly connected with the Nasdaq marketplace in a way that was previously not reported in the past, as CNBC reported. This has raised doubts about the idea that bitcoin could be used to counteract the impact in the form of rising inflation.

Building Wealth

If the unpredictability of these causes you to be nervous It is recommended to stay clear of bitcoin. If you know that bitcoin is a feasible alternative for the long-term the fluctuations aren't too significant.

A further reason for being wary of purchasing bitcoins is the cost. The price of one bitcoin is greater than $22,000. Most people don't have the money afford to buy the entire bitcoin. If you want to keep from buying even one bitcoin there could be a concern.

2. Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is an open-source platform that lets developers to develop their own cryptocurrency as well as create smart contracts by making use by the networks. Although ethereum isn't as important to bitcoin's worth but it's still far ahead of the competition.

Although it was first introduced several years before other cryptocurrency options, it's surpassing its market share as a result of its unique technology capabilities. It's currently the most used blockchain and is also the second most-used cryptocurrency, just after bitcoin.

It could earn additional points when the update, which goes by the title"The Merge "The Merge" is fully implemented. The upgrade is expected to be complete in August. It be complete in August. It will convert Ethereum to a consensus based on proof-of-stake that will reduce the number of coins that are available, and make cryptocurrency mining outdated. It is predicted from experts Merge will significantly reduce how much energy is utilized in Ethereum. Prices for Ethereum have increased by 50% over the two weeks that ended in July to prepare for Merge upgrade, Fortune reported.

Building Wealth

Although ether hasn't yet gained the same amount of popularity like bitcoin, some traditional businesses are beginning accept this. For example, Fidelity is expanding its technology team to create the infrastructure necessary to provide the services of trading and custody through Ethereum for clients, The Wall Street Journal revealed.

The Risks of Investing in Ethereum

Although Ethereum can be described as Ethereum platform built on Blockchain technology. However, it comes with only one "lane" for conducting transactions. This could result in the processing of transactions to take longer because the system is overwhelmed. The cost of transactions can be quite expensive. In the case of Ethereum, since its "gas" price -- the amount of ether required for a transaction to be completed on the Ethereum Ethereum blockchain -- increased by 15 percent during the March month, due to the rising need for blocks CoinDesk declared. Although the Merge can solve those issues however, some are fed up with being patient. Dydx is one example. Dydx trading software, which is used to trade cryptocurrency derivatives, for instance, has been transferred into their respective platforms.

Security is another concern. One example was when an attack that exploited an security flaw led to an amount of money being lost to Ethereum. This past May, the blockchain was hit with security problems following the launch of a new blockchain which is operated alongside Ethereum's mainnet. It is an experimental network, so users were not affected. The most recent Merge update is scheduled to enhance the security of the blockchain.

3. Binance Coin (BNB)

Following years of extremely low prices, at a minimum the typical price for cryptocurrency , the binance coin is likely to see a rise during the first quarter of 2021. The price was up from $38 at date that 1 January. 1 until the record-breaking highest of $683 during the April month.

With its consistent performance over the years over the years, the Binance coin has proven itself to be among the safest investments when it comes to. It's the principal cryptocurrency utilized by Binance that is the most well-known exchange platform that trades with cryptocurrency, in accordance with CoinMarketCap as well as it is available on Binance.US which is the version that is part of Binance used by U.S. users must utilize. But, in spite of the many options available and the rising popularity that comes with it's Binance sub-projects, it is not a safe investment.

Investors who trade frequently should be aware that Binance temporarily halted withdrawals and deposits from certain networks in recent times, including Polygon and Solana as a result of improvements. The most recent event that was reported on April 8 didn't affect the airdrops. The amount of rewards is contingent on the amount of deposits.

The dangers associated with depositing your money into Binance Coin

It is the fact Binance Coin is actually the sole currency on the world's most popular trading site "legitimizes" it in certain ways which makes it more vulnerable to regulatory concerns. BNB has suffered a loss of 7.3 percent of its value in the June month due to the release of an Securities and Exchange Commission investigation to determine whether Binance followed the correct procedure in its initial coin offering in the year 2017. Fortune published.

4. Cardano (ADA)

It is vital to keep in mind that the Cardano platform is less size, and is appealing investors for a variety of factors. It requires less energy to complete transactions on Cardano as compared to a bigger network, such as Bitcoin. It is the reason that transactions are more efficient and cost effective.

The year before, Cardano launched a "hard fork," an upgrade that brought additional functionality, for example , it permitted the use of digital contracts. The second fork in the series hard forks called Vasil was delayed until the launch was delayed until June 29th, but once it's released, it'll increase the Cardano blockchain's ability to scale. According to the Daily Hodl reported.

Cardano recently announced an experimental version of their platform called AdaSwap which allows developers to build financial applications that are not centralized. AdaSwap could aid in helping Cardano to be recognized as an Internet-based platform and increase its currency's value.

The Risks of Investing in Cardano

While it's more robust than other networks and includes many of the characteristics that smart contracts possess, however it's not able to compete with other popular digital currencies. Fewer users means fewer development. This isn't an attractive proposition for investors who want to witness an increase in the number of developers that are using.

The platform has big plans that include the creation of an incubator that can help Africa discover its potential to become an important market. But, it's still to be decided if it's able to achieve its objectives.

Tips

Pay attention to the fluctuation of the markets. The investment you make can result in losing one day but turn into profit the following day. Instead of being caught up in day-to-day shifts, focus at the bigger picture.

5. Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon was designed by an ensemble of programmers who have made significant contributions to the Ethereum Blockchain platform. Polygon was developed to help in Ethereum expansion and build an infrastructure that aligns to CoinMarketCap. It is an "layer two" solution, it extends Ethereum to be a multi-chain system that increases processing speed as for the speed of verifying.

Polygon can be accepted at Binance along with Coinbase as currency exchanges. This currency MATIC can be used to pay fees for transactions as well as for settlement currencies.

On the 20th of July Polygon released a press statement that it was currently working to launch Polygon ZkEVM "the first Ethereum-based equivalent scaling solution that integrates with all smart contracts currently in use developers instruments and wallets. " This is done through the use of technology that goes by"Zero-Knowledge proofs. They can reduce the costs of transactions and improve the effectiveness of the transactions.

Polygon is home to 19,000 applications that are distributed including major companies like Meta and Stripe -- which is an growth of 600% since the at the beginning of October, as per an article on the blog of Polygon. Additionally, Polygon fully supports the stablecoin tether, which is expected to assist in its growth in the near future. Another benefit is that Polygon invests money into carbon neutrality. This has led to cost rises.

The Risks of Investing in Polygon

In the third quarter of the year Polygon revealed that they had patched a flaw which could put up to twenty million dollars of currency at the risk CoinDesk discovered. A hacker discovered the flaw, and alerted Polygon that they could fix the issue in just two working days. However hackers who were black-hat hackers already stolen more than 800,000.0 tokens. The result was Polygon with a credit card debt that was $1.4 million.

6. Terra 2.0 (LUNA)

Terra Classic blockchain Terra Classic blockchain-based stablecoins are stablecoins that are coins connected to fiat currencies, like that of the U.S. dollar, South Korean won, and International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights currencies -which serve as energy sources for payment systems all over the globe, as per CoinMarketCap. The currency of the country it is from that is currently using an identifier called LUNC, stabilizes its value that are on Blockchain.

And then, Terra burned and crashed at the beginning of the month. The reason for this was unstable stablecoins along with general volatility on the market for cryptocurrency which slowed development of crypto throughout the coming year.

After the crash Terra modified the way in which it functions with the name Terra Classic (LUNC) as well as the introduction of Terra 2.0 (LUNA) to be the sole cryptocurrency to not have an algorithmic stablecoin in an effort to enhance the security for the Terra ecosystem, and to assist investors who have lost funds to recover their investment. LUNC coins are exchanged in an entirely different fashion than LUNA coins, which are part of Terra 2.0.

The Risks of Investing in Terra 2.0

It was revealed in the wake of Terra 2.0 was a controversial choice , and some experts are unsure if it will be an option to consider in the near future. There are some new projects that are currently being developed using the new network and its native currency might be worth a look for those with an extremely high tolerance for risk.

It's Good To Know

LUNC was not Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon's first stablecoin that failed. The Basis Cash cryptocurrency, which was developed by him using Ethereum in 2020 but didn't reach an equivalent value to the U.S. dollar, CoinDesk reported. The price of Basis Cash was $0.004605 at the time of writing. 1.

7. Avalanche (AVAX)

Avalanche is an entirely fresh "layer one" blockchain -one that enhances the fundamentals of the protocol in order to allow greater flexibility accordance with how Binance has described the technology. It was created to serve as an Ethereum competitor through Ava Labs and computer scientists at Cornell University, one of whom, who was a former instructor Emin Gun Sirer holds a keen understanding of the field of research in cryptography, according to CoinMarketCap.

Although Ethereum's nodes need to every time validate transactions, Three distinct Avalanche blockchains verify transactions on their own. This means that Avalanche much more adaptable and proficient in handling massive amounts of transactions. It is capable of handling up to 6500 transactions per second. It is becoming more popular with Ethereum developers, U.S. News reported.

For the coin's own currency, Bloomberg published on April 7 that avalanche exceeded Ethereum as Terra's preferred currency. This is UST the stablecoin. Luna Foundation Guard, the non-profit organization which aids Terra is planning to buy 100 million dollars of an avalanche, as part of the program.

AVAX started trading in the year 2000 beginning with the first offering of coins lasting one day. The price fluctuated from an initial price that was ranging between $9.34 to the highest price of $146.22 through this period of the year. The time of 1st of August. 1st, the value of the coin stood at $23.09.

Risks of Investing in Avalanche

Sirer has revealed the cryptocurrency in an article that was published in the year of 2018. The cryptocurrency's debut was in the year the year 2020. In such an extremely short timeframe and with prior experience for comparisons, it's more risky for those who are contemplating the possibility of buying it.

8. Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink is an open Oracle platform that is distributed to facilitate secure transactions between blockchains and other data feeds for example, events, payments and even over the course of events. they are looking to allow smart contracts to be the most commonly used method of payment using digital technology that is in line with CoinMarketCap.

One of the things that benefit Chainlink is the strategic alliance to Google who Google utilizes Chainlink's protocol to provide users access to cloud-based services Benzinga published. The project's advisory committee is comprised of the former Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt, DocuSign co-founder Tom Gonser, as well as Jeff Weiner, the previous LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, according to Securities.io.

Chainlink is also used as an alternative to the inflation index. It was developed by the financial decentralization company Truflation to provide an alternative for the Consumer Price Index. In contrast to CPI, which CPI is an inflation-related index that is was based on survey data however, Truflation's index utilizes price data that is based on the methodology employed for CPI, CoinDesk revealed. The Truflation index that was created in order to make it more accurate as well as more transparent and less prone to restrictions in comparison to CPI.

There are risks associated with you invest into Chainlink.

Despite its proved worth and the support of large companies, Chainlink has faced the same volatility that affects other cryptocurrency. Chainlink's price Chainlink decreased to twenty dollars at the beginning of January. 1. The price was $5.59 in the middle of June. There are also new competitors like NEST which originated from Ethereum's ERC-20 token. Coinbase introduced to the market under an untested brand name. It was reported by the Daily Hodl reported.

Tips

Don't make an investment decision regarding one of the numerous investments in cryptocurrency without examining what the marketplace is offering. A brand new cryptocurrency firm will most likely grow and be a market leader over different platforms. Investors, the best way to stay informed is to be aware of the latest developments in the cryptocurrency market.

Reviewing the Best Cryptocurrency Options

Look online and you'll see a variety of ideas on ways to earn profits by investing in crypto. When deciding on the best eight choices The following factors were taken into account.

Longevity

What's the longest time that the cryptocurrency been in existence? The appearance of new crypto currencies isn't a straightforward method to determine if they're safe, however having historical information to look over helps discern how a certain company has performed in the past.

Record of Track

How has the company performed throughout its history? If you notice a constant rise in price, that's an indication of things to be positive to come in the near in the future. If you observe that the cryptocurrency market is growing and growing in value over time, it's a sign of optimism.

Important Information

The past performance isn't a reliable indicator of what the future will bring. At any moment, the market could change and an investment could be more or more or less successful than before.

Technology

What is the performance of this platform compare to other platforms when it comes to accessibility and security? One of the most important aspects you need to know is the speed at which transactions are completed. The network is expected to be able handle the amount of transactions in a timely manner.

It's also important to ensure that your investment is safe. Most cryptocurrency make use of Blockchain technology which makes transactions easy to track. Blockchain technology isn't a guarantee against criminals taking your cash. It could help you keep an eye on your investment, ensuring that it will be reclaimed instead of being lost due to fraud.

Adoption Ratio

What percentage of people are interested in the currency that you're considering? If you observe high levels of interest, it suggests that this currency will be more accessible. The process of trading, buying or even paying will become more simple in the near future.

Final Take

It's not an obscure fact. The truth is that cryptocurrency will remain. The issue is which is the most suitable place to put your money into markets?

When you're trying to determine which is the most suitable one for you, here's a few other things to keep in your head:

The speed at which the transactions which can be processed

The costs that are incurred during transactions

You can use your cryptocurrency for regular transactions, as well as transfer funds into bank accounts.

If you're considering investing, but you don't have any trading activities using the blockchain system, you should be aware that crypto doesn't offer the chance to make quick money. Instead, take it as an investment in the long term.

[uncloseted]

I don't really like Peta tbh. I think vegans in general have good points in general, but i feel like the majority of the planet will still eat meat, milk, and eggs for convenience, they are higher in calories, taste, etc. Poor people can go vegan but you still need to remember your protein levels, B14, worry about everything that isn't vegan, eating socially, and meal prep and not everyone has the time or mental energy for that. I think we should focus on reform factory farming like dairyisntsca

But yeah, I really do understand vegans and vegetarians perspectives. Doing what you feel like is right is always the best, but I hope people don't judge too harshly on an individuals diet especially if they have disadvantages in life because you don't what they are going. Of course technically everyone can be vegan but not everyone is able to under their current life for a number of personal reasons. We focus on corporations and private planes users often not a random non-rich person.

I don't really care for PETA either, but the OP I was responding to brought them up so I thought it would be relevant to the conversation 🤷🏻‍♀️

In general, I think this is a situation in which multiple things can be true at once. It's true that corporations are causing the majority of climate change. But... those corporations can only keep existing because people buy their products, right? They're responding to a demand from their customers. For example, the top 10 polluters in the world are all gas companies. If everyone bought electric cars and installed solar panels, those companies would disappear. However, it's also true that that's economically complicated for the average person; both solar panels and electric cars are becoming more affordable, but they're still prohibitively expensive for a lot of people. It's true that governmental incentives could help; for example, in Sweden, where around 45% of new car purchases are of electric cars, the government heavily subsidizes the purchase of those vehicles. But it's also true that the US government heavily subsidizes fossil fuel industry, and a lot of government officials aren't in support of getting rid of those subsidies... and so on and so on. There are a lot of factors to consider when talking about large scale issues like this. It's not as simple as "it's individual people's fault" or "it's the government's fault" or "it's corporation's fault". It's all of those combined, and we need to take responsibility for the parts that are within our control.

Likewise, with people going vegetarian or vegan, there are a lot of things that are true at the same time. It's true that being vegan or vegetarian can be difficult for people, economically, socially, or otherwise. But it's also true that about 22% of the world is currently vegetarian. It's true that followers of religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism are frequently vegetarians, and that in India, where Hinduism is the majority religion, an estimated 39% of people are vegetarian, despite the fact that many people there are also low-income. Likewise, it's true that about 68% of people worldwide are lactose intolerant, so dairy isn't in demand as much as we might expect, even though it has a big environmental impact. It's also true that it can be more difficult to get certain vitamins in a vegetarian or vegan diet if a person isn't being thoughtful about their nutritional intake and nutritionally complete vegetarian diets aren't normalized where they are. A lot of issues around ease, affordability, and accessibility of vegetarian diets just come down to social norms, which can change over time. But it's also true that accessibility can create other climate-related problems, such as an increase in demand for specialized, land-intensive products that need to be imported, such as what happened after quinoa became popular. It's true that eating food that's grown locally is typically more sustainable than eating food that's imported, even if that food is made from animal products. But it's also true that eating food that's grown locally can be more expensive, since small-scale producers don't benefit from economies of scale and don't receive the kind of government subsidies that industrial agriculture gets... and so on, and so on.

Ultimately, we need to do what's reasonable and sustainable for us and our current life situations. That might be eating locally, reducing the amount of animal products they consume, switching to an electric vehicle, installing solar panels, taking public transportation or walking more frequently, advocating for change on the governmental or industrial level, or any number of other things. Just because one option isn't accessible to someone doesn't mean they're off the hook or that there's nothing they can do. And in general, I have a hard time believing that people aren't doing anything about these issues because they're super disadvantaged or because the changes are just too difficult to implement. I think it has more to do with the fact that climate change is hard to conceptualize, that we don't actually want to be inconvenienced even in small ways, and because we've become apathetic towards this issue. But we can't let that apathy spread. It is important that we take action at the individual level. Individual action is what normalizes things like vegetarianism and makes them easier for everyone to engage in. And individual change is what pushes change on institutional scales; if we ignore these problems, corporations and our governments will as well.

[solarsafariau]

A Guide to Solar Panel Maintenance

Considering hiring a solar panel maintenance Sydney company? There are several factors to consider, including the cost, frequency, cleaning and inspection of your solar panels. In addition to the price, you should also look into the performance of your inverter. After all, it's not like your solar panel will break down on its own. Regular maintenance is essential to keep your solar panels operating at optimal efficiency and prolong their life. Here's a guide to solar panel maintenance Sydney:

Cost of Solar Panel Maintenance

In addition to the cleaning process, the solar panels must be protected from the elements. Snow and other debris can cause permanent damage to the panels, so it is recommended that you wait until the snow melts before cleaning them. If you have to clean them regularly, invest in a snow rake and take extra precautions when going up on the roof. Some experts recommend hiring a professional solar panel cleaning company. They can provide comprehensive solar panel cleaning services at a cost-effective price.

The cost of solar panel cleaning depends on the type and size of the solar panels. A two-kilowatt system with 10 solar panels requires around $150, while a high-end panel will cost between $330 and $4,000. Professional solar panel cleaners invest in the right equipment and safety gear to provide quality service at affordable rates. They can also inspect and suggest necessary repairs or replacements. Hiring a professional is important for your safety and peace of mind.

Inspections

If you are not comfortable doing the annual maintenance of your solar system on your own, you can always enlist the services of a solar electrician in Sydney. GSES has a nationwide network of certified inspectors who can confirm warranty claims for PV modules and inverters. The company has developed a unique process for warranty testing that is suited to individual client requirements. It is important to schedule regular maintenance checks to avoid costly breakdowns and unnecessary repairs.

Performing routine inspections is a must for any solar panel. Solar panels collect dirt and debris over time. If they are installed at a five-degree angle, for example, they are easily cleared by heavy rainfall. With regular inspections, a solar panel can function without suffering material soiling losses. Moreover, improvements in solar panel technology have made them more resistant to dirt build-up and shading. Despite this, you should still consider engaging the services of a qualified electrician in Sydney to do periodic inspections on your panels.

Cleaning

You can clean your solar panels on a sunny day using water, but make sure not to use a high-pressure hose, as this may damage the glass. To remove any remaining residue, scrub the panels gently with a soft brush. Rinse off the soapy water thoroughly, and turn them back on to check their efficiency. If your panels are protected by a warranty, you may be able to have them cleaned for free.

In general, solar panels with flat surfaces will accumulate more surface soiling than ones with sloped edges. Additionally, people living in areas with high levels of dust, such as those near farms and airports, will need to frequently clean them. In places with high levels of pollution, moss may grow on panels. You can also do this regularly to increase the efficiency of your panels. However, be careful to follow the instructions on the packaging. If you can't find instructions on how to clean your solar panels, you can ask a friend or neighbor to clean them for you.

Inverter Performance

When your solar panels stop producing the expected amount of energy, they are likely a sign that something is wrong. A red light on the solar inverter may be accompanied by an error message that explains the cause. A common cause of a red light on the solar inverter is moisture getting into the system. This can occur during periods of rain or on mornings when outside dew is present. Once the panels dry, the error message should disappear.

The best way to determine if your inverter is failing is to measure its power output. While this is not an exact science, it is still possible to measure the performance of your solar panel system. While this method takes some time to gather, it does provide an accurate comparison of the energy generated from your panels. In general, solar energy output is fairly constant over the course of a year. However, unusual weather conditions could throw this comparison off.

Solar Safari are Sydney based Clean Energy Council Approved Solar Retailer, focused on tailoring solutions to meet your residential or commercial requirements. Our team of dedicated and experienced professionals have in-depth knowledge about Sydney’s Solar conditions and will design a system to suit your specific needs.

[the-cyberpunk-zeitgeist]

The Cyberpunk Zeitgeist

>>>𝕄𝕜𝕕𝕚𝕣 "𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕪"...

>>>ℂ𝕕 "𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕪"

>>>𝔻𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕.𝕖𝕩𝕖...

>>>𝔻𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕜𝕝𝕖𝕡𝕥.𝕖𝕩𝕖...

>>>ℝ𝕦𝕟 𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕪.𝕖𝕩𝕖...

>>>𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 <𝕝𝕠𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘-𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕: 

      "𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪.𝕙" 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕>

>>>𝔼𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕘𝕖: "ℂ𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕪.𝕖𝕩𝕖. 𝕎𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕥."

>>>...

Flash into the past and look into the future. Recall the early stages of the digital age—the new millennium—and how, at the precipice of a thousand transformations, civilization was defined by its endless climbing innovation. In the 80’s and 90’s, when consumer use of the personal computer was infecting society like a virus, our entire idea of communication changed. The net became a pivotal point in shaping what it meant to be human. Through an ever-expanding web of information, human innovation seemed to spiral until promising “authorship over reality itself”. Those who felt constrained by the world, escaped into a fractal space with infinite possibilities of connecting with others. 

Douglas Rushkoff termed it ‘Cyberia’—a dreamlike place offering “a way to crack open our civilization’s closed-mindedness, and to allow for a millennial transition that offered something a lot better than apocalypse: consciously driven evolution”, but the mesmerizing unity in this newfound cyberscape didn’t last. What followed—what we see around us now—may lead us to believe that all is lost, but perhaps there’s something more than war, corporate politics, espionage. Perhaps, there still exist some humans among us interested in a higher cause: unlocking the mysteries.

While the net was first adopted solely by military personnel and groups of scientists across academia who saw fit to interconnect themselves for research and communication purposes, it soon fell into the hands of the geeks using hypertext forums to discuss niche hobbies or send pictures to one another. The net became a mystic place of interlocking minds, where interconnected collections of data contributed to the neural network of humans that composed a global brain. As this paradise aged, however, the desire of investors to monetize and capitalize from the cyberscape arose alongside it. Advertisements flooded the web; businesses sprung up in every forum, website, and chat client. It wasn’t long into the 21st century that the nature of the web was forever molded by a greed to optimize its use for social credit, capital, and leverage for everything from corporate intelligence, to data harvesting, to control and censorship of media. The symbol of freedom and exploration was thus transformed into a stratified market and a subversive survival game. It’s all so… Cyberpunk.  

In the 80’s and 90’s, alongside the rise of computers and the net, came the rise of Cyberpunk literature—a sci-fi subgenre defined by its retro aesthetics intermixed with contrasting commentary that showed us the wonders of new technology while simultaneously revealing the deep divide that emerged as a result of inequality. Pioneers like William Gibson in Neuromancer, Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, and Katsuhiro Otomo in Akira revealed the true impact of this divide. In a world where everyone in the streets is chromed up with augmented cybernetic prostheses, but can still hardly afford to eat—a world where cities have been replaced by endlessly sprawling megalopoli—we’re left immersed in the aesthetics of ‘high tech-low life’ people struggling to get by. 

Cyberpunk showed sci-fi fans what it might look like if kleptocratic corporations spiralled further and further into the power vacuum created by advancing technology. If caution and regulation aren’t put in place to protect the people from marvelous creations that humanity could hardly predict outside of science fiction, the people are further exploited and economic classes are further stratified. When this is combined with life-threatening dangers around every corner, the difference between economic class can mean life and death. 

While the additional flourishes of weapons-grade cyborgs, sentient and sentimental artificial intelligence, and laser guns can make Cyberpunk seem like a farfetched reach into a future that will never come, I am here to tell you that this is Society, and we are living in it. Around the world, rising sea levels begin to swallow more of the coastline, and megafires consume any shred of nature or infrastructure in their path. Both of these events are spurred by human-driven climate change which is created in large part by first-world corporations churning out fossil fuels or slicing up rainforests for profit. The global hivemind that is the internet has become the limitless communications apparatus we wanted it to be, but it is covered in adverts and subverts its users attempts to harness its power with misinformation, propaganda, and profit-driven exclusive content. Riots over authoritarian state measures have propped up not only in the United States, but in Hong Kong, Belarus, and all across the globe. Pandemic disease and refugee crises displace hundreds of thousands of humans each year, and the rich keep getting richer by the billions.

In more recent Cyberpunk writing like William Gibson’s The Peripheral, Gibson describes the Jackpot:

And first of all that it was no one thing. That is was multicausal, with no particular beginning and no end. More a climate than an event, so not the way apocalypse stories liked to have a big event, after which everybody ran around with guns… or else were eaten alive by something that caused the big event. Not like that.

It was androgenic… that meant because of people. Not that they’d known what they were doing, had meant to make problems, but they’d caused it anyway. And in fact the actual climate, the weather, caused by there being too much carbon, had been the driver for a lot of other things. How that got worse and never better, and was just expected to, ongoing. Because people in the past, clueless as to how that worked, had fucked it all up, then not been able to get it together to do anything about it, even after they knew, and now it was too late.

...it killed 80 percent of every last person alive, over about forty years.

Jackpot. The repercussions of humanity’s actions finally catch up, and those bits of humanity that do remain are saved by an extreme surge in innovation that manages to save society’s elites. As Douglas Rushkoff puts it in his recent essay The Privileged Have Entered Their Escape Pods, more and more of those who have the capital to do so have already begun their plans, whether those plans are to escape to Mars or to set themselves up with a cushy work-from-home job while the lower class workers are forced into the public during the pandemic crisis. The need to automate away positions for the safety of our species is becoming even more prevalent than it once was in the minds of corporate conglomerates, but the cancerous overgrowth of our bureaucracy has become so bloated and tripped up in its own processes that we can no longer look to our political systems to keep up with the exploitation of innovation. Lo and behold, the world’s looking pretty CPAF to me.

Where have the visions of Cyberia gone? What happened to the early stages of internet punks, pushed aside in their desire to surf the datasphere purely for the rush of uncovering swathes of data? Where did visions of “authorship over reality itself” twist to become ‘authorship over reality by those with the capital to control’? It may seem that this explosive spiral of technological innovation in the new millennium is driving us towards extinction and only saving those with enough coins in their pockets to buy a ticket on the ark, but perhaps it’s not too late to change course and save ourselves from the ultimate Jackpot.

United by the global nature of the net, every one of us is connected as a single living entity that is the Earth—a Technogaia. Developments in artificial intelligence promises us exponential increase in information processing capabilities across all fields. Breakthroughs in genetic engineering could allow us to delete diseases from our genomes, and have already shown minor success in the de-extinction of species. With the first cyborg part already installed in each of our pockets, every citizen can extend their minds beyond capacity; each one of us becomes a journalist at a moment’s notice when injustice needs to be documented and challenged. Nuclear, hydrogen, solar, and wind energy lead us towards a cleaner and greener future. The rise of urban ecology shows a path to optimize the use of space to lower humanity’s carbon impact while providing more space for habitat rehabilitation and the reintroduction of lost biodiversity.

In the palm of our hands, humanity has taken control of the world. With science and technology, we’ve become the manipulators, but if we do not recognize what our impact is on the Dao of Earth, we may tip the scales too far into the Chaos. I’ll be honest in saying things look grim, but these same innovations that have paved the way for flying killbots and smoke stacks spewing gases into the sky have given us the power to reshape the world in a beneficial image. Futurist politicians call for universal basic income in a world increasingly run by machines. Transhumanists pave the way for the radical extension of the human lifespan. Technogaians design solarpunk arcologies to house a society ready to save their Earth rather than one intent on consuming it. Cyberians fight for our rights to privacy and the freedom of information. Just as the visions of grim dystopias in the 80's and 90’s saw themselves transformed into modern realities, we can use humanity’s greatest tool—this near-deific domain over innovation—to mold this fractal reality into our vision. But is it chaos, order, or some harmonious Dao in between that we seek? 

No matter our choice, it’s going to take a lot of united high tech-low life cyberpunks to get there. This is the Cyberpunk Zeitgeist, and we’re living it.

For more works by The Cyberpunk Zeitgeist, see our Twitter page @CyborgZeitgeist

[awkwardplant]

Sci-fi/Misc Short Story: Diorama

Weary travellers entered a building to escape from the zombies that had been chasing them. Night-time drew closer and only a little bit of sunlight filtered through the large dusty windows at either side of the room. Despite the dust, everything here looked pristine, unsurprising as it didn't seem the materials here were much use to survivalists.

"Is that an easel?" Johnny the Veterinarian wandered over to the contraption, lifting away a greyed cloth covering it, revealing a canvas with a few marks of brown oil pastels.

A younger member of the team who refered to himself as the Tailor (everyone else called him Ed, or the Cosplay Guy, or That Teenager) dove into some drawers and boxes. "Please tell me there's a non electrical sewing machine, or fabrics, ooh I'll even take sequins at this point! Anything I don't have to make from scratch."

"Don't think this type of place will have those kinda things, Ed. Looks like a kindergarten's arts and crafts room." said Johnny. "Might have glitter though."

Paul the Farmer rolled his eyes at his group. "No point lookin round 'ere, let's settle down, find somethin soft, and kip for the night." He shrugged off his backpack which carried the all the bare essentials it could hold, and popped his spine with a groan. "Food chain these days is all outta whack I tell ye."

At the entrance, Melissa the Engineer boarded up the door with some convenient planks of wood, nails, and a hammer she carried everywhere. "Oughta keep them out. Phew. Bit cold in here isn't it?"

Melissa's daughter, Isla the six year old, stood in the middle of the art studio, eyes filled with wonder at all the creations. Clay sculptures of graceful torsos, pencil drawings of still lifes that looked more or less exactly like the sketches, completed oil paintings of landscapes hung on the wall next to colorful, abstract ones.

Isla spied a light still on behind a door to another room left slightly ajar. "I see a light, do you think someone lives here?"

All the adults tensed and raised their weapons, eyes peering in the direction Isla curiously tiptoed towards. Paul hissed at her to slow down, firmly grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back behind him as he stared ahead. The air was silent aside from the floorboard's weak groans that sounded like a sigh of relief at the return of humans gracing its surface.

Johnny tapped lightly on the door which opened without any creaks or spooky noises, and revealed a warm orange glow of a desk lamp. The desk was cluttered with tiny objects you would expect to see at much bigger sizes such as doors and furniture. Several drawers of multiple sizes surrounded and sat on the desk filled to the brim with paints, glue, craft knives and other materials. A single mug rested on a green cutting board with some stale coffee inside.

Isla squeaked in delight as she darted across the room. "Mommy! There's dollhouses here!"

Melissa strode towards her daughter, blinking in surprise when seeing there was in fact what appeared to be multiple dollhouses meticulously displayed in glass cases on many shelves.

"Some strange looking dollhouses," Ed said. "Why would a kid want to play with a dollhouse that looks like a swamp?" He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes at the minature shack on stilts that sat atop fake greenery and resin water.

Paul chuckled. "And this ane's even got tiny critters from my farm! Now tell me that isnae just the spittin image of my wee goat." He tapped the glass of a mini farm with toy animals placed in the field.

"I think, uh..." Johnny clicked his fingers, brow furrowing. "I swear I remember... Ah well, I don't know the proper name of them but I've seen train sets that have these kind of things, do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah!" Melissa chirped. "This is how they used to make movie sets isn't it? Because back then they didn't have CGI to make places they couldn't afford to go to when filming."

"And humanity has reverted back to that time period." sighed Ed, who greatly missed his Friday night Star Wars rewatches with his friends. "Maybe even further back than that. Losing the internet was like losing the Library of Alexandria."

All of them wandered around the shelves to look at all the miniature sets. Mountains formed purely by plastic foam, a landscape of a picnic inside an open altoid tin, a greenhouse cluttered with plants no bigger than a pinkie finger. Some miniatures sat on the floor, the ones that were massive compared to the other sets yet still very tiny versions of medieval castles and gothic architecture.

Melissa stopped in front of a small library room that had holes in the ceiling with trees growing beneath them, books and furniture meticulously littered everywhere. Flashbacks to her days studying in her hometown's library filled her mind.

"This is what they thought the apocalypse would look like." she said, with tears welling up in her eyes. "They thought- they- they made art of stuff like this because they imagined it would look beautiful. How could they romanticise such disaster?"

Johnny walked up next to her, crouching down to see inside the library. "Hauntingly beautiful, maybe. I do remember certain types of people were fascinated with the idea of nature reclaiming the lands that humans built on."

"And that idea was dumb," said Paul. "Because now the deer are overpopulated and they destroyed the forests, and who knows what other animals are causing chaos without conservationists."

"There are pros and cons to everything that happens." Johnny replied. "But yes, it doesn't help that the handful of humans that are left don't know how to handle this... resurgence of nature."

Isla looked around, peering back through the door to the main room of the art studio. "This library dollhouse looks just like real life doesn't it? It's like we're little dolls too."

Melissa smiled sadly, stroking her daughter's hair. "It does put things in perspective." She hoped things would settle down enough for her to be able to teach Isla things she had learned in school at her age.

"The Earth is the size of a pinprick compared to the sun and we're all just ants in the grand scheme of things." Ed said, and one could guess he was trying to imagine how small he was compared to the Starkiller base.

Paul snorted. "But bigger than regular old ants and smart enough to put together nicknacks that make ladies cry." He nudged Melissa teasingly.

Eventually, the group finally realized that the lamp was connected to a solar powered generator with a back up of energy reserved and they attempted to recharge their walkie talkies. After a few near-electrocutions, they finally connected to a radio station broadcasting a rather laid back distress signal.

"This is DJ Smooth calling out to anyone, God, just anyone out there, from the abandoned military base in Alconbury. Been out here for uh, 3 months now, there's not been any zombie sightings for a while and I have been sooo bored. Come find me and we can hang out, maybe fight over my remaining supplies so I can remember how to feel something that isn't dissociation. Stay tuned after this music break for the co-ordinates to my location, and my heart. See ya soon cuties. Over."

Later that night everyone created some makeshift beds out of the cloths that had covered some artworks and easels, which Ed would repurpose at some point during their travels to make some new socks. They all lay on their backs in the dark, close to each other to conserve warmth. If there were any zombies outside they didn't hear them, only the rush of wind and rain pattering on the windows.

"Mommy," Isla whispered. "I liked the song that the man on the radio played."

"Yeah sweetie, I liked it too. It was... something from the 90's? I think? Probably not age appropriate but you didn't understand it so it's fine, I guess. Something funny to look back on one day."

Isla rolled over onto her stomach to look at her mom. "When we go back to Paul's farm I want to play the guitar we found."

"We can't go... Tell you what Isla, we'll go see the music man from the radio, and he'll help us cure the zombies, and then we can get everyone an instrument and all make music together."

"Yes! That's a good idea!"

"And we can do plays in theatres and make movies again." Ed added shyly.

"Movies that don't involve zombies and will make us forget this shitshow ever happened." Johnny sighed, unable to close his eyes and dreading the nightmares.

Paul growled and hushed the others, but then he said "Doesnae matter if zombies are out for us and we've got no artsy stuff, we can still sing."

They all sang Country Roads quietly (Isla could only sing the chorus yet sang with such sincerity), with gentle echoes of their melody bouncing off the walls of the art studio until they fell asleep.

The next day they left to find the military base and made up new songs along the way, with renewed and desperate hope that they might find a cure for the zombies someday soon.

The end.

[expertbean4]

Leading Loft Space Conversion Concepts That Will Change Your Attic.

Loft Conversions London.

Content

Welcome To The Master Contractor's.

Style

Explore Build Paths ".

The Advantages Of A Loft Space Conversion

You can trust them with the design and construction of your future building. With their experienced designers, they will ensure that the construction process is efficient and successful. They will not only create the building design that you want but will also get the materials that you need from trusted suppliers at low prices. It is best that you get to build services from a company that can offer you both efficient construction processes as well as low building costs. That way, you will be able to save money and spend it on other important things like food, water and shelter.

North Dallas builder buys an entire block of teardowns for a new luxury neighborhood - The Dallas Morning News

North Dallas builder buys an entire block of teardowns for a new luxury neighborhood.

Posted: Mon, 28 Dec 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Some people are very hesitant when it comes to doing their own building projects. They feel it is difficult and expensive. However, this is not true. There are plenty of companies offering professional construction and materials services that are capable of meeting your expectations. All you need to do is find one in your area now.

Welcome To The Master Builder's.

The building services engineering helps to determine the best solution for each client. It therefore enables the homeowner to have a better house that is designed to conserve energy. check out pricing of this would be solar energy, which is now used in a variety of modern house plans. Solar energy can be utilized to power home appliances such as hair dryers, refrigerators, and others. This will reduce your electricity bills and can also help you in conserving the environment.

What are primary services in a building?

Primary services are those that are both basic and vital to the daily running of a building, such as water supply, drainage and plumbing (this includes sustainable urban drainage systems), lighting, security and alarm systems.

These are highly qualified and experienced individuals who will design and construct any building for you. From simple storage sheds to offices, sheds to warehouses, steel buildings, greenhouses, sports facilities, equestrian sheds and even private homes, they can help you out. These professionals have a wide range of building designs to offer you. They offer efficient and reliable construction services for all types of building structures.

Layout

Another building services technique is the installation of insulation. This will depend on the state of the energy market and the current cost of insulating materials. Some building services engineers will suggest the use of low carbon cements to insulate walls and roofs. Low carbon cements are cheaper but will not last as long as regular cement or tiles. Also, these can be easily damaged and will need to be replaced sooner than the other types of insulating materials.

Your building services engineer can also make suggestions regarding the best materials for your home. They will be able to advise you about materials such as insulation, window treatments, doors, windows, and the likes. The most important factor in your choice should be safety. For example, your new roofing system may require the use of certain materials that may not be approved by the building services engineers. You must discuss this matter thoroughly with them so that they are sure that the materials you will be using will not cause any problems later on.

Check Out Develop https://rugby.sebastianchurchbuilders.co.uk/ ".

builders addlestone is an engineering field that aims to create a comfortable and safe indoor environment while minimizing the overall environmental impact of a building or facility. A good service provider will focus on ventilation, heating and air-conditioning, plumbing, electrical, plumbing systems, water systems, lighting, and the structural integrity of buildings. It will also focus on providing an energy efficient building for their clients. Some of the other services that are typically offered by building services companies include pre-construction analysis, construction estimating, roofing & walling system, facade restoration, and renovation etc.

London builders have 'until middle of this week' to cut Tube overcrowding or face sites being shut down - Building

London builders have 'until middle of this week' to cut Tube overcrowding or face sites being shut down.

Posted: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 06:12:55 GMT [source]

Professional services come with affordable prices. In order to keep your costs low, it is best that you choose a company that offers quality building products at low prices. If you want to build a large building, or add a new floor or wall, you can rely on their services.

Your building services engineers can also advice you on the best use of energy sources in your home. This includes using appliances and gadgets that will only draw power from the energy sources you have on hand. This way, your power bill can be greatly reduced, especially during the winter months.

Are buildings considered infrastructure?

Infrastructure includes the public buildings that house our schools, courts, libraries, community centers and affordable housing. Any conversation about investing in the nation's infrastructure must include the structures that connect Americans. Buildings must be a part of the infrastructure debate.

In addition, building services engineers often work on HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems. The HVAC systems typically control the temperature inside your house. When the temperature inside your house drops, it can result in problems such as the discomfort of having to stay inside in extreme cold, or even heat stroke. It might include the use of blowers to move air throughout the house in order to create a balanced temperature.

[solarninjas]

Advantages of Solar Panels

A solar panel is a device that is used to absorb energy from the sun in order to generate heat or in many cases electricity. It is also referred to as a photovoltaic cell since it is made of many cells that are used to convert the light from the sun into electricity. The only raw material for these solar panels is the sun. it is made in such a way that the cells face the sun in order to enable maximum absorption of the sun rays. The greater the energy from the sun is, the more the electricity that is generated. Solar panels are used in many homesteads in the world due to their many pros that are far more than cons. Some of these pros are discussed below.

One very important advantage of using solar panels is that they do not emit any gases that are common in green houses. The panels do not emit any smoke, chemical or heavy metals that can be risk factors to human health. Solar panels are therefore environmental friendly when compared to burning of fossil fuels to generate energy. This is very important since carbon emissions are dangerous and avoiding their emission helps in safeguarding our present and future environment. Being environment friendly is important since the government is constantly coming up with ways to control global warming and the use of solar panels is a great way to start. The solar panels therefore maintain a clean setting and they leave the air fresh. More importantly they help in prevention of many cancer incidences. This is because some products from some sources of energy like nuclear energy have been said to cause cancer due to initiation of mutations in cells.

Secondly, use of solar panels ensures ongoing free energy for those who use it. This is mainly because the only cost incurred is that of installation. Once the installation has been done the energy is free since the panel does not require regular maintenance or fuel to run it. It also requires no raw materials for its operation. It works as long as there are sun rays which is an everyday thing in most parts of the world. In a world where equal distribution of resources is continuously being sought, this is very important since each and everyone has equal rights when it comes to use of solar energy. This is because the energy from the sun falls on all. This is a good way to maintain equality as compared with energy from fossil fuel which low income homesteads do not afford in many cases.

There is also the advantage in that, the use of solar panels enable the decentralization of power. This is very important since it is very cheap. This is mainly because when power is not decentralized, it has to be shared by all and is as a result transported to many areas. With this happening, there are very many costs that are incurred. These include; the wear and tear of vehicles, the air pollution among others. These costs are all incorporated in the electricity bills of individuals as the government does not cover the expenses. It is therefore more advantageous to use solar panels as a saving plan and to create a sense of fairness since those in power tend to take advantage and use their positions to embezzle funds. This is not fair on the citizens' part. This is because most of them struggle to make ends meet.

A solar panel can be operated off grid. This is a great advantage for those who live in very isolated areas or in rural regions. Off grid means that the house is not connected to the state's electricity grid. This has the advantage of low cost since installation may be very expensive for those living in isolated areas. These individuals have their power lines disconnected in many instances due to the fact that it is sometimes less affordable for many. Solar panels offer a solution for this since they do not require as much to be installed. However, those living in towns can also use the off-grid technique. An added advantage in this is that there are no rules governing whether or not one wants to operate off- grid or on-grid when it comes to use of solar panels. This however is an issue when using fossil fuel generated electricity.

Solar panels generate job opportunities. This is of great importance since there is a very high rate of unemployment in the world today. These jobs are come about in the form of, manufacturing of the solar panels, research about further improvements, maintenance, development and cultural integration. With the continued presence of the sun, these jobs are guaranteed since there is ongoing improvements and modification of this device. Jobs like maintenance and installation do not require a long-term training and are therefore more advantageous for those who do not have many skills and are unemployed. More here Solar Edmonton

Use of solar energy is safe from price manipulations and politics. The fact that there are no raw materials that are solely controlled by monopolies ensures that there is no manipulation of prices as is the case with fossil fuels. With fossil fuels, the prices can rise as high as the monopolizing powers controlling them want. There is also less competitiveness with use of solar panels since there is no fight over such things as oil fields and other raw materials. Although the government has started addressing the issue of solar panels, there is little influence they can have in price manipulation. This is because no one controls the main raw material.

There is also less environmental destruction with the use of a solar panel. This is because there are no cases of mining or extraction of raw materials that eventually lead to destruction of forests and water catchment areas. With the use of solar panels, there is less of this and therefore there are steady rainfalls that greatly boost production and consequently the national income of each and every country. Many countries face problems of famine due to destruction of forests to get fuel. This can be prevented by using solar panels.

There is an advantage of reliability in using solar panels. This is because there is ability to predict the amount of sun to expect each and every day. Therefore one is has guarantee of energy. The devices are also made in such a way that they can absorb sun rays even when there a few clouds and the sun rays are not very strong. The solar energy is also renewable. It can therefore be used on and on without getting depleted. Although solar energy cannot be used at night, it operates full force during the day which is of great importance. The energy can also be stored in form of batteries for use at night.

Everyone loves some peace and quiet. This is something you get when you use solar panels. This is because they are very silent. There is no noise that gives away the fact that the solar panel is there apart from the fact that you can see it. This is a good thing since it makes the environment peaceful compared to wind and water generated power supplies which have moveable parts that are quite loud and destruct the peace. Solar panels are therefore good for use for people living in estates where hoses are close to each other. This is because with silence, peace is maintained between the neighbors.

When installing solar panels, there is no large scale installation required. They therefore require very little space to install. This is very important when it comes to fast growing regions and towns. The installation will mainly involve a single cell to continually generate energy. Hence a homestead requires a single cell. There is therefore no congestion and a continued supply to the high demand of energy. This maintains a good image in a community since crowding may make the place less attractive which may prevent people from moving to the area since everyone wants to live somewhere they consider beautiful, for this reason, use of solar panels does not interfere with real estate sales.

Solar panels are durable. This is because there are no moving parts in the device. This therefore reduces the chance of it being destructed. It is possible to use a solar panel for a very long period of time without having to purchase another, studies estimate that it can last for over ten years. Such a device is beneficial because it reduces the stress that comes about when a machine stops running because something became lose or worn out. There is also reduced maintenance cost since it is less prone to wear. This generally makes the device very easy to handle for a person with very little skills in handling a solar panel.

Many companies that invest in solar energy get the advantage of higher profits. This is because they cut back on costs incurred in electricity and the rest of the profits are in most cases used to expand the business. This is very advantageous. Statistics show that the companies that use solar panels have greater returns compared to those that use other sources of energy. This may be due to the fact that electricity can be very expensive and may make these companies not afford allot of assets. This is especially evident in small or new companies. There is also an advantage that clients get when they get services from a company that uses clean energy. This is the fact that they can get access to government incentives that are made available to these companies.

Use of solar panels enables individuals and companies to enjoy the benefits of low taxes. This is because in most parts of the world, the taxes that are charged are about thirty percent less as compared to using other sources of energy. With all the taxes that one has to pay for every item purchased, this is a great opportunity to reduce spending on taxes. Since there is no monthly bill when using a solar panel, it makes it tax free. When using fossil fuel energy, this is no option since one has to pay their electricity on a monthly basis which in most cases is heavily taxed.

The size of solar panel required per meter to give maximum energy small. When there is full sun, one is able to get about one thousand watts per meter. This is equivalent to about 2900-watt hours per day. However this depends on the area in which you are locates, the time of the year and the strength in which the sun rays reach the solar panel. For this reason, there are times where one gets more energy compared to others. However the energy gives the desired effect even at low intensity and is therefore still very reliable.

SolarNinjas Energy Solutions Ltd

10301 104 St NW #724, Edmonton, AB T5J 1B9

(780) 920-9120

https://g.page/Solarninjasenergy?share

[bitso-1]

Buy/sell cryptocurrency, Blockchain Crypto Exchange, Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB

8 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2022

It's a type of digital currency which isn't operated by a central government as is the case with the federal government. It's instead embedded in Blockchain technology which has led to Bitcoin increasing to become the most prominent and largest cryptocurrency. While the cryptocurrency of the future is gaining acceptance in Wall Street, more and diverse options are on the market. There are over 20000 cryptocurrency that are available for purchase.

Although you can utilize cryptocurrency to purchase products but many view it as an investment option that is expected to last for a long time. But the volatility of the market could result in investing in cryptocurrency risky as evident by the recent decrease in the value of several crypto-currencies, such as stablecoins that are tied to the dollar. U.S. dollars. It is important to know the risks you're taking prior making the decision.

They're actually the top eight cryptocurrency which could be worth investing in in 2022.

Top 8 Cryptocurrency Investments for 2022

CRYPTOCURRENCY PRICE MARKET CAP

Bitcoin $22,953.73 $437.63 Billion

Ethereum $1,627.56 $197.41 Billion

Bitcoins on Binance $279.68 $44.94 trillion

Cardano $0.5035 $16.99 billion

Polygon $0.8891 $7.14 Billion

Terra 2.0 $2.13 $272.55 million

Avalanche $23.09 $6.57 billion

Chainlink $7.45 $3.49 Billion

The data is current through the month of August. 1st 2022.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin was in existence for the longest time of all cryptocurrency currency. It's easy to determine that it's the most effective choice due to its market cap and cost which is greater than other crypto currencies for investing.

Building Wealth

A lot of businesses use bitcoin as a form of payment. It makes bitcoin an investment that is worth taking the chance. Visa for instance, is a great example of transactions where bitcoin. Bitcoin is accepted. After 4 years of not a bitcoin. However, Stripe allows customers to make purchases with bitcoin. Larger banks have started to include bitcoin transactions into their services too.

The Tesla was capable of accepting bitcoin for a short period however, it was unable to accept bitcoin, but was able to accept bitcoin again once it becomes to green. To accomplish this aim, Blockstream and Block, which was earlier named Square is announcing the opening of bitcoin mining in Texas that is powered by Tesla's solar array as well as the Megapack battery. CNBC released on April 8.

Bitcoin has also been experiencing an increase during the month of May, in which the Luna Foundation Guard announced it will grant $1.5 billion in loans which will be backed by the Terra USD as well as bitcoin in order to stabilise the former, Fortune reported. VanEck is an investment company VanEck is planning to establish the exchange traded bitcoin investment fund, however they've been denied this request from the Securities and Exchange Commission denied VanEck's initial request.

The Risks of Investing in Bitcoin

The price of bitcoin can fluctuate dramatically. It is possible to see its price increase by hundreds every period of time. This was the case in the initial quarter of the year due to bitcoin prices are connected with the Nasdaq marketplace in a way that was previously not reported in the past, as CNBC reported. This has raised doubts about the idea that bitcoin could be used to reduce the effects on inflation.

Building Wealth

If the unpredictability of these causes you to be nervous It is recommended to stay clear of bitcoin. If you know that bitcoin is a feasible alternative for the long-term the fluctuations should not be too worrying.

A further reason for being wary of purchasing bitcoins is the cost. The price for a single bitcoin is more than $22,000. Most people don't have the money afford to buy the entire bitcoin. If you want to keep from buying even one bitcoin there could be a concern.

2. Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is an open-source platform that lets developers to create their own cryptocurrency and develop smart contracts using the aid from the community. Although ethereum isn't as valuable to bitcoin's worth however, it's a step ahead of the competition.

Although it was first introduced several years before other cryptocurrency, it has now surpassing its market share as a result of its unique technology characteristics. It's currently the most well-known blockchain and is the second most-used cryptocurrency, just after bitcoin.

It might earn additional points after the update, known as codename"The Merge "The Merge" is fully implemented. The upgrade is scheduled to be finished in August. The upgrade, which be complete by August. The upgrade will transform Ethereum to a consensus based on proof-of-stake which will limit the amount of coins that are available, and make cryptocurrency mining outdated. It is predicted from experts Merge will dramatically reduce how much energy is utilized for Ethereum. Prices for Ethereum have increased by 50% over the final two weeks of July, in preparation for Merge upgrade, Fortune reported.

Building Wealth

Although ether hasn't yet gained the same amount of popularity as bitcoin, a lot of traditional companies are beginning to accept the concept. For example, Fidelity is expanding its tech team to develop the infrastructure necessary to provide services for trading and custody using the ether network to its clients, The Wall Street Journal revealed.

The Risks of Investing in Ethereum

Although Ethereum can be described as Ethereum platform built on Blockchain technology. However, it comes with only one "lane" for conducting transactions. This can result in the processing of transactions to take longer since the system is overwhelmed. The costs for transactions can be quite expensive. In the case of Ethereum, since its "gas" price -- the amount of ether required to finish a transaction on the Ethereum Ethereum blockchain -- increased by 15% in the months of March, due to the rising demands for block transactions, CoinDesk declared. While the Merge can solve those issues however, some are sick of being patient. Dydx is one example. Dydx trading software, which is used to trade cryptocurrency derivatives for example, is now moving into their respective platforms.

Security is another concern. A case in point was when an attack that exploited vulnerabilities in security caused losses of up to $50million from Ethereum. This past May, the blockchain was hit with security problems following the launch of a brand new blockchain which is operated alongside Ethereum's mainnet. It is an experimental network and users didn't suffer. Merge's most recent Merge update is anticipated to improve the security of the blockchain.

3. Binance Coin (BNB)

Following years of extremely low prices, at a minimum the typical price for cryptocurrency , the binance coin is likely to see a rise in the first quarter of 2021. The price increased from $38 at the beginning in 1 January. 1 until the record-breaking price of $683 in months of May.

With its consistent performance over the years over the years, the Binance coin has proven itself to be among the safest investments when it comes to. It's the most popular cryptocurrency used by Binance which is the most well-known exchange platform which deals with cryptocurrency, in accordance with CoinMarketCap as well as it is available on Binance.US which is the version to Binance which U.S. users must utilize. But, in spite of the many options available and the rising popularity that comes with Binance and its Binance sub-projects, the cryptocurrency is an investment that is risky.

Investors who trade regularly should be aware that Binance temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals from certain networks in recent times, including Polygon and Solana due to improvements. The most recent event that occurred on April 8 did not impact the airdrops. The amount of rewards is contingent on the percentage of deposits.

The risk of investing your money into Binance Coin

It is the fact Binance currency is also the sole currency that is used on the world's biggest trading site "legitimizes" it in certain ways and makes it more prone to issues with regulatory authorities. BNB has suffered a loss of 7.3 percent of its value over this month's June following the news of an Securities and Exchange Commission investigation to determine whether Binance was following the correct procedures during its initial coin offering in the year 2017. Fortune published.

4. Cardano (ADA)

It is crucial to keep in mind that the Cardano platform is less dimensions, which makes it attractive investors for a variety of motives. It requires less energy to process transactions using Cardano as compared to a bigger network like Bitcoin. It results in transactions that are quicker and more cost-effective.

The year before, Cardano launched a "hard fork," an upgrade that added features - for example , it permitted the use of digital contracts. The second fork in the series hard forks named Vasil was delayed until its launch was delayed until June 29, however, when it's released, it'll enhance the Cardano blockchain's ability to scale. According to the Daily Hodl reported.

Cardano recently announced an experimental version of their platform called AdaSwap that allows developers to create financial apps that are decentralized. AdaSwap could help Cardano become an Internet-based platform and increase its currency's value.

The Risks of Investing in Cardano

Although it's more of a solid network and includes many of the characteristics that smart contracts possess, however it's not able to compete with other popular crypto. Fewer users means fewer development. This isn't an attractive proposition for investors who want to witness an increase in the number of developers that are using.

The platform has big plans that include the creation of an incubator that can help Africa realise its potential to become an important market. It's not yet be established if it will achieve its objectives.

Tips

Pay attention to the fluctuations in markets. The investment you make could result in losing one day but turn into profit the following day. Instead of becoming caught up in day-to day shifts, focus at the bigger picture.

5. Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon was developed by a group of programmers that contributed significantly to the Ethereum Blockchain platform. Polygon was developed to help in Ethereum expansion and build an infrastructure that aligns the requirements of CoinMarketCap. It is an "layer two" solution, it extends Ethereum to become a multi-chain platform which increases processing speed as for the speed of verifying.

Polygon can be accepted at Binance along with Coinbase as crypto exchanges. This currency MATIC can be used to pay fees for transactions as well as for settlement currencies.

On the 20th of July Polygon released a press statement that it was working on launching Polygon ZkEVM "the first Ethereum-based scaling solution that integrates with all smart contracts currently in use as well as developer instruments and wallets. " This is done through the use of technology that goes by"Zero-Knowledge proofs. They reduce the transaction costs and boost the effectiveness of the transactions.

Polygon has 19,000 applications that are decentralized including large corporations such as Meta and Stripe -- which is an increase of 600% from the beginning of October, as per an article on the blog of Polygon. Additionally, Polygon fully supports the stablecoin tether, which is expected to help expand its use in the near future. Another benefit is that Polygon invests its money in carbon neutrality. This has led to cost increase.

The Risks of Investing in Polygon

In the third quarter of the year Polygon announced that they had patched a flaw that could put as much as twenty million dollars of currency at danger CoinDesk disclosed. A hacker discovered the flaw, and alerted Polygon that they could fix the issue in just two working days. However hackers who were black-hat hackers already taken over 800,000 coins. The result was Polygon with a credit card debt in the amount of $1.4 million.

6. Terra 2.0 (LUNA)

Terra Classic blockchain Terra Classic blockchain employs stablecoins which are coins that have been connected to fiat currencies, like USD, the U.S. dollar, South Korean won, and International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights currencies -which serve as source of power for payment systems all over the world , according to CoinMarketCap. The currency of the country it is from that is currently using an identifier called LUNC, has stabilized its value that are on Blockchain.

After that, Terra burned and crashed at the beginning of the month. The reason for this was unstable stablecoins along with general volatility in the cryptocurrency market that slowed growing demand for cryptocurrency throughout the course of.

After the crash, Terra altered the way it functions with the name Terra Classic (LUNC) as well as the introduction of Terra 2.0 (LUNA) to be the sole cryptocurrency to not have an algorithmic stablecoin in an effort to enhance the security for the Terra ecosystem and to help investors who have lost funds to recover their investment. LUNC coins are exchanged in an entirely different way in comparison to LUNA coins that are part of Terra 2.0.

The Risks of Investing in Terra 2.0

It was revealed in the wake of Terra 2.0 was a controversial choice , and some experts aren't sure if it can be an option to consider in the near future. There are some new projects that are being launched using the new network and its native currency might be worth a look for those with an inclination to take risks.

It's Good To Know

LUNC was not Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon's first stablecoin that failed. The Basis Cash cryptocurrency, which was developed by him using Ethereum in 2020 but didn't reach an equivalent amount to U.S. dollar, CoinDesk reported. The worth of Basis Cash was $0.004605 as of the time of writing. 1.

7. Avalanche (AVAX)

Avalanche is a fresh "layer one" blockchain -one that enhances the fundamentals of the protocol, allowing greater flexibility accordance with how Binance explained it. It was developed to serve as an Ethereum competitor through Ava Labs and computer scientists at Cornell University, one of who, an instructor from the past Emin Gun Sirer holds a keen understanding of the field of cryptographic research, as per CoinMarketCap.

Although Ethereum's nodes need to every time validate transactions, Three distinct Avalanche blockchains verify transactions on their own. This allows Avalanche much more adaptable and proficient in handling large amounts of transactions. It can handle as much as 6500 transactions per second. It's becoming more popular with Ethereum developers, U.S. News reported.

For the coin's own currency, Bloomberg published on April 7 that avalanche exceeded Ethereum as Terra's preferred currency. This is UST the stablecoin. Luna Foundation Guard, the non-profit organization that supports Terra is planning to buy 100 million dollars worth of an avalanche, as the course of the initiative.

AVAX started trading in 2020 beginning with the first offering of coins lasting 24-hour trading. The price was varying from the initial price that was ranging between $9.34 up to a maximum value of $146.22 throughout this calendar year. The time of 1st of August. 1st, the value of the coin of $23.09.

Risks of Investing in Avalanche

Sirer disclosed the cryptocurrency in an article that was published in the year of 2018. The cryptocurrency's debut was in the year the year 2020. In such an insignificant time frame and without prior history to compare it against, the cryptocurrency is more risky for those who are contemplating the possibility of buying it.

8. Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink is an open Oracle platform that is not centralized to allow secure interactions between blockchains as well as other data feeds like events, payments and even over certain events. they are hoping to make smart contracts to be the most commonly used method of payment using digital technology as per CoinMarketCap.

One of the things that benefit Chainlink is the strategic alliance to Google who Google uses Chainlink's protocol in order to provide users access to cloud-based services Benzinga said. The project's advisory committee includes the former Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt, DocuSign co-founder Tom Gonser, as well as Jeff Weiner, the previous LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, according to Securities.io.

Chainlink is also used as an alternative to the inflation index. It was developed by the financial decentralization company Truflation to provide an alternative for the Consumer Price Index. In contrast to CPI, which CPI is an inflation index that is relies on survey data and other surveys, Truflation's inflation index utilizes price data that is based on the methodology that is used for CPI, CoinDesk revealed. The Truflation index that was designed for its accuracy as well as more transparent and less prone to limitations in comparison to CPI.

There are some risks involved with investing is made in Chainlink.

Despite its proven value and the support of large companies, Chainlink has faced the same volatility that affects other cryptocurrency. Chainlink's price Chainlink fell to around twenty dollars at the beginning of January. 1. The price was $5.59 in the middle of June. There are also new competitors like NEST which was derived from Ethereum's ERC-20 token. Coinbase has brought to the market under an untested brand name. According to the Daily Hodl reported.

Tips

Do not take an unintentional decision about one of the investments in cryptocurrency without examining what the marketplace is offering. A brand emerging cryptocurrency business will surely grow and be a market leader over others. Investors, the best way to stay informed is to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in the cryptocurrency market.

Reviewing the Best Cryptocurrency Options

Look online and you'll discover a myriad of suggestions of ways to make money by investing in crypto. When deciding which of the eight best options these aspects were taken into consideration.

Longevity

What's the longest time that the cryptocurrency been in existence? The appearance of new crypto currencies isn't a straightforward method to determine if they're safe, however having historical information to look over helps determine how a particular company has performed in the past.

Record of Track

How has the company been able to survive its entire time of existence? If you notice a constant rise in price, that's an indication of things to be positive to come in the near coming years. If you notice that the market for cryptocurrency is expanding and expanding in value with time, it's a sign of optimism.

Important Information

Performance in the past doesn't provide a precise indicator of what the future will bring. At any moment, the market could change and an investment may be more or more or less successful than before.

Technology

What is the performance of this platform compare to other platforms in regards to accessibility and security? One of the most important aspects you need to know is the speed at which transactions are completed. The network is expected to be able handle the number of transactions at a rapid pace.

It's equally crucial to ensure that your investment is safe. Most cryptocurrency make use of Blockchain technology, making transactions easy to follow. Blockchain technology isn't a guarantee against criminals seeking to steal cash. It could help you keep an eye on your investment and ensure that it will be reclaimed rather than disappearing due to fraud.

Adoption Ratio

What percentage of people are interested in the currency that you're considering? If you observe high levels of interest, it suggests that the cryptocurrency will become more easily accessible. The process of trading, buying or even paying will become easier in the near future.

Final Take

It's not an obscure fact. It's a fact that cryptocurrencies will remain. The issue is what is the best location to put your money into this market?

If you're trying to decide which one is best for you, here are a few extra things to bear in your mind:

The speed at which the transactions which can be processed

The costs paid in transactions

You can use your cryptocurrency for regular transactions, as well as transfer funds in bank account.

If you're considering investing, but you don't have any trading activities in the cryptocurrency, make yourself aware that crypto isn't an opportunity to earn cash fast. Instead, take it as a way to invest in the long term.

[lunasong365]

This article appeared in the July 25, 2019 issue of the Spokane (WA) Inlander.

1. SAVE THE ICE

It's been well over a decade since Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth showed many viewers for the first time just how dire the consequences of global warming would be in their lifetimes, with ice sheets melting at an accelerated rate, severe storms likely to happen more often, and heating and cooling around the planet gone haywire.

For scientist Leslie Field, an inventor and electrical engineer, watching that movie when her kids were just 6 and 10 really put things in perspective.

"I've always been environmentally minded, but to see a movie that made it so clear how bad the consequences could be within my kids' lifetimes living here in California was like, 'Wow,'" Field tells the Inlander by phone. "I hadn't realized the extent to which it was going to affect my own family."

Luckily, her then-new job at Stanford allowed her access to some of the best environmental minds around. She learned many people were focusing on solar technology, so instead she dove into fixing another problem: saving the ice.

See, in addition to affecting sea levels, the ice sheets on our planet's poles act as reflective blankets, bouncing a lot of the sun's heat back into space. Without the ice, warming will get far worse, far faster.

For more than a decade, Field has been exploring how to save that ice in the least-damaging way possible.

Her team, Ice911, is currently studying how nontoxic silica microspheres — currently used in things like vitamins, insulation and medical applications — can help reflect the sun's heat, allowing ice sheets to grow thicker and last longer. The material, which looks like a white powder, floats on water, and so far doesn't have any apparent detrimental effects to wildlife or the ecosystem.

"I'm absolutely uninterested in doing something that's going to do more harm," Field says. "We're working with the least amount of intervention, as natural as possible, and we want to make sure it's localized and reversible. With those principles, I'm really comfortable with this material."

Ice911 is currently testing on a lake in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska, the northernmost point in America. Between that and testing conducted in Minnesota, the team is hopeful they've shown the material is effective and affordable.

"Think about $1 billion to $5 billion per year to do an at-scale deployment," says Field, referring to the amount needed to cover a targeted 100,000 square kilometers of the Arctic, "and then you compare that to the cost of just one climate devastation-type disaster, like last year was something like $400 billion from the California wildfires."

Field says she's inspired by the results her team is seeing and the work of other scientists trying to tackle climate change problems as fast as possible.

"People are working so hard in very focused ways that are showing some real impacts. There really is cause for hope and action," she says. "It's so much better than to just dwell in despair. Instead it's 'Wait, there's stuff to do!' but by all means we've got to get on it now."

2. TURN PLASTIC INTO FUEL

Despite the growing popularity of recycling, the U.S. sent 26 million tons of plastic — more than 75 percent of what was generated — to landfills in 2015, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

But recently, Washington State University scientists have found a way to efficiently convert common plastics into needed fuels. Using a combination of products like milk bottles, plastic bags and water bottles, ground down to pieces, the team used heat and activated carbon to convert the plastics into a mix that can be separated out into jet fuel and diesel.

"We can recover almost 100 percent of the energy from the plastic we tested," says WSU associate professor Hanwu Lei in an announcement about the project. "The fuel is very good quality."

Just changing how we farm could help us store more carbon in soil and get closer to global carbon reduction goals.

3. SEQUESTER CARBON IN SOIL

Adjusting worldwide farming through methods "such as incorporation of organic manures, cover cropping, mulching, conservation tillage, some types of agroforestry practices, rotational grazing" and other practices could significantly increase the amount of carbon stored in soils, which would help the world get closer to the Paris Agreement goals, according to a 2017 study published in Nature. In particular, North America, Europe and India present large opportunities for storing more carbon in soil, according to the paper, "Global Sequestration Potential of Increased Organic Carbon in Cropland Soils."

4. HUMAN COMPOSTING

Making caskets, filling bodies with embalming fluids, and even reducing a body to ashes using natural gas all comes with a carbon footprint and environmental impacts. Now there's another option in Washington, the first state to allow human composting. The composting process speeds up natural decomposition and is expected to save a metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions per person who opts in, according to the organization Recompose, which fought for the law.

5. CONVERT METHANE TO CARBON DIOXIDE

Stanford researchers acknowledge their newly announced technology for addressing climate change might be counterintuitive: It actually involves the creation of carbon dioxide. But the key is they're taking methane, which is 84 times more potent of a greenhouse gas, and converting it into the less harmful CO2. Because people are likely to keep eating cows and growing rice, both of which produce lots of methane, it makes more sense to find ways to convert the methane into something less harmful, the Stanford researchers note.

"If perfected, this technology could return the atmosphere to pre-industrial concentrations of methane and other gases," says lead author Rob Jackson, a Stanford professor, in a May 2019 announcement.

Researchers led by WSU associate professor Hanwu Lei figured out a good way to convert plastic waste into jet fuel. 

6. DITCH THE CHEMICALS

Remember when the big deal in reducing bad chemicals was telling your mom to stop using that old hairspray because aerosols were depleting the ozone layer? Well, it turns out in some cases we replaced those aerosols and other "ozone-depleting substances" with chemicals that are pretty harmful, too. Some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) now used in spray foams, refrigeration, air conditioning and other applications are up to 14,000 times more potent greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. Under a Washington law passed in 2019, the use of many of those chemicals will be phased out over the next few years, and by December 2020, the state will issue a list of the best substitute chemicals with lower global warming potential.

7. HARNESS THE SUN MORE EFFICIENTLY

When you think of solar panels, the image that likely comes to mind is of the increasingly common smooth black silicon solar panels that are often installed on homes, office buildings and in large solar arrays. For the last decade or so, scientists have been working to improve solar efficiency because most panels now only convert about 15 to 18 percent of solar energy into power. Now, promising new research from the University of Oxford has shown that using a combination of silicon and crystals known as "perovskites" can increase the efficiency of solar panels up to about 28 percent. Better efficiency makes the panels more affordable and worth adopting.

Electrochromic "smart glass" uses electricity to instantly change from clear (on the left) to tinted (right), which can help reduce cooling costs for buildings and eliminate the need for blinds.

8. BUILD WITH SMART GLASS

With more buildings featuring vast glass walls, there are several new types of "smart glass" that aim to help save on cooling and heating costs in buildings suddenly flooded with light. Some smart glass windows can instantly dim and block out sunlight that would otherwise increase cooling costs, or turn transparent when it's beneficial to let more light and heat in. The technology, which frequently requires electricity to work, can be programmed to automatically adjust window tinting based on temperature, saving energy. For example, compared to transparent glass, electrochromic glass reduced the energy required for heating and cooling a model office building by 41 percent in a 2018 South Korea study.

9. USE BETTER BUILDING MATERIALS

One way to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete, which contributes 8 percent of the planet's CO2 emissions, is to incorporate carbon capture technology. California company Blue Planet essentially creates limestone rocks by sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and binding it in layers onto junk rock. Those rocks can then be used as fill in the concrete, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of projects.

Another alternative to concrete gaining popularity is Cross-Laminated Timber, or CLT. The wood product is made from gluing lots of smaller pieces of wood together to create incredibly strong beams. And the Inland Northwest is poised to lead in the CLT industry, as Katerra has opened a new factory in Spokane Valley. CLT is lauded for storing carbon, recycling wastewood, and for reducing the need for concrete in smaller multistory buildings.

10. SOLAR ROADWAYS

Imagine if every road, parking lot, sidewalk, highway, tarmac, and paved surface on the planet was able to generate electricity, eliminate the need for shoveling snow and light the way with instantly changeable LED lighting configurations.

"If every walking and driving surface in the U.S. were installed with solar road panels, it would produce three times more energy than we use."

It's an idea that went viral five years ago with an enthusiastically narrated video that let the world know about "Solar Freakin' Roadways," a clean energy idea born in Sandpoint.

The thinking is this: In the U.S., there are millions of square miles of paved surfaces, seeing as we need them for everything from walking and biking to moving around in our cars. Why not put them to better use by paving them with solar panels?

"We believe Solar Roadways implemented on a grand scale is the most viable solution to the climate crisis," Solar Roadways inventors Julie and Scott Brusaw tell the Inlander by email.

With lessons learned from a pilot installation in Sandpoint, a driveway installation at their shop, and testing performed under federal Department of Transportation grants, the fourth iteration of their prototype, the SR4, is closer to being road-ready than ever. The new panels are 50 watts, and that could get even better over time as technology improves.

"Even prior to the SR4 wattage upgrade, Scott calculated that if every walking and driving surface in the U.S. were installed with solar road panels, it would produce three times more energy than we use," Julie writes. "We'll continue to use more efficient solar cells as that industry moves forward, so those numbers will continue to get even better."

The hexagonal panels not only produce electricity, but contain heating elements and LED lighting that enables road lines to be changed in an instant. The road could light up to warn drivers an animal is in their way up ahead, and with heating, the panels won't need plowing or shoveling in the snow.

Now Scott is working to further engineer the panels to include dynamic charging, which could allow electric vehicles to charge on the road while driving.

Solar Roadways, based in Sandpoint, aims to literally pave the way to a clean energy future using solar panels like those shown here. The lighting patterns can make lane lines, warning signs and more.

While they're still in the early stages and working on a second pilot installation across the country this fall, the couple says that the Inland Northwest is expected to be among the first places to see adoption of the new technology.

"We've always planned that roads will be our last application. We are perhaps two to three years away from being ready for roads. First, we'll focus on driveways, sidewalks, parking lots, etc.," the couple writes. "But highways will be our final goal. The city of Sandpoint says it would like to be the home of many more firsts. We also have interested customers in Coeur d'Alene, Spokane and many other nearby cities."

11. MAKE PLANTS TASTE LIKE MEAT

By this point, you've probably heard of at least one of the companies marketing plant-based burgers meant to taste as good as the real thing. Whether it's the Beyond Burger, the Impossible Burger, or another plant-based patty, the common theme is that food scientists are doing their best to make plants taste, and in some cases even feel, like meat, in the hopes that more meat eaters will make the switch to veggies. Meat production accounts for a massive portion of our global emissions: A 2018 study published in Science magazine found that for the U.S. in particular, switching from a meat-based diet to a plant-based one could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our food by up to 73 percent. That's pretty major, considering the overall food system accounts for about a quarter of emissions.

Cross-laminated timber appears to be a promising building material that can replace carbon-intensive concrete in many buildings.

12. HIT 100 PERCENT CLEAN ENERGY BY MIDCENTURY

In order to truly limit warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, all power plants around the world need to transition to clean energy by midcentury, according to a study published in Nature this month. Without sunsetting power plants that currently use fossil fuels, those plants will use up the rest of the planet's carbon budget. The urgency of those calculations has led states like Washington and even private utilities in Idaho to declare they will be 100 percent carbon-neutral by 2030 and use completely clean energy (with no purchase of offsets) by 2045.

13. EDUCATE GIRLS

What does education have to do with climate change? It turns out, a lot. Education of girls in particular plays a huge role in providing reproductive justice and decreasing a country's overall poverty. Girls with more education tend to lead healthier lives and have fewer children, which is one of the biggest ways to reduce impacts on the planet. That's why Project Drawdown, a research collaboration that ranked 100 of the top climate change solutions, places education of girls near the top of its list. The Brookings Institution think tank also notes that less educated girls are more likely to be disproportionately impacted by climate change events. Ensuring girls have more education not only makes their country more resilient to climate change, but it also helps set them on a path to become particularly effective conservation leaders, Brookings notes.

14. PLANT 1 TRILLION TREES

Splashy headlines this summer pointed out that planting trees could be the best way to fight carbon dioxide pollution. That's because the recent study, "The Global Tree Restoration Potential," published in Science, called reforestation on the scale of planting 1 trillion trees the "most effective climate change solution to date." But it's not quite that simple. As the researchers note, because of the changing climate, it might not be possible to actually plant that many trees and have them survive in changing ecosystems unless immediate action is taken.

"We estimate that if we cannot deviate from the current trajectory, the global potential canopy cover may shrink by about 223 million hectares by 2050, with the vast majority of losses occurring in the tropics," the researchers note. "Our results highlight the opportunity of climate change mitigation through global tree restoration but also the urgent need for action."

15. CAPTURE CARBON TO MAKE GASOLINE

Just north of the Washington border in Squamish, British Columbia, a private company partly funded by Bill Gates has spent the last few years pulling carbon dioxide from the air and converting it into usable fuel. The company, Carbon Engineering, is working on its low-carbon or carbon-neutral fuel along with underground storage that can be used for the indefinite capture of carbon from the atmosphere.

Their work has Canada and private investors excited: The government just invested $25 million Canadian into the company, and private investors put in $91 million Canadian in a recent investment round, according to a June company press release.

"We would like people to be recycling their fuel in the same way as they recycle other things," Carbon Engineering CEO Steve Oldham told VICE in September.

He explains the real innovation is that, unlike a switch to electric vehicles, which globally would be extremely expensive and require massive changes in infrastructure, pulling carbon from the atmosphere to make gasoline or diesel allows for an instantly cleaner transportation system.

"That car you just drove up in, we can make that carbon-neutral tomorrow," Oldham continues telling VICE. "Any performance vehicle, any battered old truck, airplanes, we're compatible with all of those, which is significant because nobody's making any electric tractors or electric planes."

16. SEA WALLS TO PROTECT GLACIERS

Glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica are melting at unprecedented rates, and once they hit a breaking point, they're expected to completely collapse and never return, contributing to sea-level rise and overall warming. But what if you could somehow keep warm ocean water far enough away from the most important glaciers, saving them from reaching that collapse point? That's the subject of research published by Michael Wolovick and others in the journal The Cryosphere in 2018.

Their study used modeling to see what might be achievable, and for now, it kind of amounts to "so you're saying there's a chance."

"The easiest design that we considered would be comparable to the largest civil engineering projects that humanity has ever attempted, it would be located in a much harsher environment than the ones in which those projects were built, and our results suggest that it would only have a 30 percent probability of success," the researchers note in their paper.

That's why they'd advocate a long-term approach in exploring wall construction, improving technology to the point where such an undertaking would be more feasible and more likely to succeed.

17. THINK SMALL

As utilities and environmentally minded developers plan to test the best ways to switch between wind, solar and battery storage in a new clean-energy world, they're also thinking about how buildings and developments can better share electricity and heating with each other. Two of the main concepts that are gaining traction are microgrids and district heating. With a microgrid, a neighborhood or development with its own solar panels and other power generation can be fully in control of its power without interfering with the overall electric grid that we're used to. However, it would still be possible to create tie-ins where those buildings could draw power from the grid when needed. For district heating, a single source — say a furnace burning the biomass leftover from a nearby mill — can provide heat throughout an entire area, eliminating the need for unique furnaces in every unit. Avista will be testing similar ideas and methods in a new eco-district in Spokane anchored by the Catalyst Building, which is designed to be the smartest building in North America when it is finished some time next year.

[elianamontalvosblog]

Opinion on climate change & how humans have destroyed the earth.

Humans are believed to be one of the reasons of climate change which many of us already know. Floods, fires, droughts, blizzards and hurricanes are all influences of human induced climate change. He states “There is no reason, however, to believe that any weather event we have experienced in our lifetimes is outside the natural variability of climate”, meaning there is no proof os the climate changing on its own. This to me is a very important quote because it is clearly stating that we humans have a major effect on our earths climate.

Since humans are the cause of most climate change, what can we do to stop it? We can can cut back on CO2 but how? In the sixth paragraph he gives a credible source on how we can cut back on CO2. “The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change has repeatedly claimed that only a massive reduction of global fossil fuel use can save us from the climate apocalypse.” Nothing else we can really do to prevent it. Little sings such as gas in our cars, coal from factories spending into the air, and trash all over our planet will destroy us. The only way to try and even fix climate change would involve eliminating many objects we use everyday. If the whole world was to not use factories run on fossil fuels, airplanes, cars, buses, and recycle we could have a change to change the world. The likely hood of getting millions of people to do that? Unlikely.

It would be very difficult to eliminate the use of fossil fuels around the world considering most countries in poverty rely on the cheap fossil fuels. Countries like China and India benefit from the cheap fossil fuels, being countries in poverty. If we were to eliminate those their economy would fall apart because they would not be able to afford reliable energy sources. Since we have the reliable source of fossil fuels we build on that foundation by creating new ways to burn it every year. Since we do so, Everett states in the eighth paragraph that “global CO2 emissions will increase about 25 percent to nearly 43,000 million metric tons by 2050, including 15,000 from China and India and only 5,000 from the U.S.”. It is only going to increase with years to come.

We can reduce these high numbers simply by using solar power or windmills. The only downside is that these more natural ways to produce electricity are far more expensive than fossil fuels. People who care about climate change would be more willing to pay the extra money for a safer planet, but others who disagree would continue to destroy the planet with fossil fuels. The countries in poverty would not be able to afford the wind or solar power leading us with no choice but to continue using fossil fuels. He uses a quote I love for this topic “Dont expect poor countries to sacrifice economic growth for our sensibilities.”

[tanadrin]

The Interview

After waiting for half an hour, Pray was well and truly bored. She fiddled with her terminal, then wandered around looking at the bookcases on the far wall. They were full of thick tomes like Interplanetary Development Economics, Sixteenth Edition and A Political History of the Martian Colonies, Volume Six. She rolled her eyes. Whoever used this office was trying to project a very specific image, and was killing a lot of trees to do it. There was a thin layer of dust over the books, too; they probably read them in digital copies, just like everybody else. If they’d even read them. She wandered over to the window that occupied the entire wall behind the desk. It afforded a sweeping view of downtown Abuja. The city was staggeringly vast. Pray knew that, somewhere in the back of her mind, but she never could comprehend just how vast unless she saw it in person. The first large city she’d ever been to in her life was Seattle. Her little apartment there had had a narrow view of the skyline, framed by two taller buildings, and even that narrow glimpse had seemed like a window into a huge, exciting place. Up here, the arcologies and the skyscrapers were two or three skylines all to themselves, strung out below her--and another beyond that, a whole extra city even bigger than Seattle or Vancouver. And another beyond that. And another. And another. She turned away from the window, feeling a little dizzy. She strode over to the desk, and sat down in the enormous high-backed swivel chair. She pushed off tentatively from the desk; the chair spun slowly, almost frictionlessly, in silence. Well, well. Control did not skimp out when it came to office furniture. She gave herself another push.

“Heh,” she whispered quietly to herself. “This is fun.”

Push. Spin. Push.

“Ma’am?”

Pray slapped her hand down on the desk and froze herself mid-spin. There was a tall, thin man, dressed in a carefully tailored suit standing at the door.

“Er… the director will be in in a moment,” he said. “Would you like anything? Water? Tea?”

Pray just shook her head. She only felt a little embarrassed. They were the ones wasting her time, after all.

The director strode in a few minutes later. He was bald, with a bushy gray goatee and a heavily lined face. Pray thought he looked like her grandfather, maybe, except much more serious. He didn’t even blink when he saw Pray sitting behind his desk. He sat in one of the large, heavy armchairs facing her, and spun the console around to face the other way.

“Good afternoon, Ms--what surname do you use these days?”

“Just Pray,” Pray said.

“Very well. Ms Pray. Welcome. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Pray shrugged. Not exactly an “It’s OK.” More of a “Pretty much what I expected.”

“I’m Director Osondu.” He tapped a few keys on the console and brought up a set of files; from behind the screen they were flipped and out of focus, but Pray could see a photo of her featured largely at the top.

“Your CV,”the director said, indicating the console.

“I never sent you my CV,” Pray said, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t have a CV.”

“We took the trouble of compiling one for you ourselves. We do that with many of our potential employees.”

“I’ve also never applied to work at Control.”

Director Osondu smiled. “No. But I’m hoping I can convince you.”

Pray laughed. “You want to offer me a job?”

The director nodded. “And not a job reviewing reports in Maitama, either. We have an assignment in mind.”

Pray leaned back in Osondu’s chair.

“What makes you think I’d want to work for Control? Heck, what makes you think I’m qualified?”

“Let’s see here. You were born in Washington, yes? In a Radhite community near Echo Valley?”

“Cooper Mountain, actually. People get the two mixed up.” If they’ve heard of them, she thought. Which they never have.

“Ah, yes. Let me fix that.” His hand darted over the console briefly. “You exercised your exit rights when you were sixteen, for reasons involving--let’s see here--personal bodily autonomy?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Our records don’t elaborate on what those reasons were.”

“Good.” Pray stared at him, remaining pointedly silent.

“Ahem. In any case, you spent six years subsequently in Seattle finishing your education, before moving to Europe, then Asia, then South America, then the Antarctic colonies, staying in no city for more than eighteen months at a time. And then three years ago you came to Abuja, and you’ve been here ever since.”

“Yup.”

“What drew you here, if I may ask?”

“I like big cities. I like moving around. I want to see the world.”

“You haven’t moved anywhere in years. You haven’t even changed apartments since six weeks after you got here. You do some analytical work to supplement your basic, mostly for financial conglomerates and political outfits, but with your intelligence and abilities, you could easily find full-time work, enough to live pretty damn well. Even move to Mars, or the outer Solar System if you wanted.”

“What can I say? I’ve never been that interested in space travel. I like high gravity and being able to go outside from time to time. And I like my apartment. It’s cozy. Do you keep a close eye on everybody who decides to use their exit rights as a teenager? ‘Cause I gotta say, this is kinda creeping me out.”

“My apologies. We don’t as a rule, no. We consider the third freedom absolute. However, we have been interested in you for a long time. We just haven’t known… exactly what approach you might be most receptive to.”

“Well. This isn’t a good one, you know.”

“I haven’t finished making my pitch yet.”

“All right. So make it.”

“We want you to travel. In space.”

Pray laughed.

“Absolutely not,” she said. “There’s not enough money in the world.”

The director stood, and walked over to the bookshelf. He touched one finger to his lips, thinking for a minute.

“Forgive me,” he said, after a long silence. “I want to choose my words carefully, because I wish to express myself precisely.” He took a slim volume off the shelf, came back over to the desk, and slid it across the surface. Pray stiffened when she saw the title. It was Radha Munroe’s First Treatise.

“You know that book well, yes?”

Pray nodded.

“Would you agree that it’s, shall we say, convincing?”

Pray nodded again. “Sure. What’s your point?”

“It’s not just convincing. It’s elegant. Learned. Often, even, poetic. So profound, to at least some of its readers, that thirty years after the death of its author it found new life as the textual center of a movement. Something not quite political, not quite spiritual, and not quite personal, but located at the intersection of all three. A new, totalizing philosophy that built a community and transformed lives.”

“High praise.”

“I mean it sincerely. Do you know how many Radhites have exercised their exit rights since the first Radhite community was founded more than two hundred years ago?”

“Not many, I’m guessing.”

“Exactly one. You.”

The director took the book back. Pray could feel herself relaxing as he slipped it out of view.

“It’s not that I agree with everything Radha Monroe wrote. Nor do I think there have not been other Radhites who may have wanted to leave. But such is the persuasion and the power of the Radhite philosophy that, quite without coercion, at least of the kind that would provoke sanctions from Control, they have formed some of the most hermetically sealed communities in the Solar System. And believe me, we monitor the Radhites very closely. Yes, it’s true. We’re very careful. As I said--the third freedom is absolute. The closest thing we have to something sacred in this day and age.”

“They’re very good at brainwashing. So what?”

“The Radhites are uniquely good at it, if that’s the term we’re going to use. Every other community in the Archipelago has some kind of attrition, and the larger the community, the higher the absolute quantity. Religious communes, philosophical societies, intentional communities--it is an absolute. Some have higher attrition rates than others, but they all have them. All except the Radhites. Until you, anyway. And since you, not one. Not even from Cooper Mountain.

“My point, Pray, is that you are exceptional. Your biography alone--the fact you are out here, in the world, for me to speak to--makes you exceptional.”

The director flicked through Pray’s file faster now.

“Your life since, however, makes you even more remarkable. You graduated from university at age twenty, with top marks. You took proficiency exams which could have garnered you the position of your choice in the civil service or at one of a number of academic institutes--or even in Control--but you contented yourself with analytical work on the side. And your analytical work, particularly on emerging social trends, is considered on par with some of the best research collectives. Only an AI might do better--but AI won’t do this kind of thing.”

“AI can’t,” Pray muttered. “They only say they won’t.”

“If you did more than one report every three months, you could be living in a luxurious Japanese arcology. Or on the Moon. Anywhere you wanted, really. But instead you content yourself with a small apartment in Gudu. Lately you don’t even travel. I think I know why.”

“Do tell.”

“You’re bored. Government work doesn’t interest you. Bureaucratic work certainly doesn’t. And you know Control has a reputation for excellence, but you think all we are is glorified paper-pushers and, occasionally, law enforcement. Maybe you genuinely don’t like space travel, but I suspect you think there are simply no interesting challenges to be had elsewhere in the Solar System, so you prefer to spend your time reading and studying and watching the world from afar. You think maybe one day you will find a topic, a cause, a company somewhere that is interesting enough for you to feel really invested in, but you’re not holding your breath. You came to Abuja because it’s one of the biggest cities in the world. It’s home to Control, to a third of all U.N. agencies, and it’s as close as any city to the beating heart of humanity. But even here there’s nothing to draw you in.”

Pray shifted nervously in her seat. A small voice in her head told her to push off from the desk, and just roll her way down the elevator. As though if she did it smoothly enough, the director wouldn’t notice.

“That all sounds very speculative to me,” she said.

“Nonetheless, I think it is accurate speculation. Speculation of this kind is the reason I am valuable to Control. We think you could be valuable to us for other reasons. And we think you could get something in return.”

“Which would be?”

“Something you can be excited about. Would you like to meet an AI?”

Pray cocked her head. Now that. That was something new.

“You do not ‘meet’ AIs,” she said. “They don’t exactly socialize.”

“Nonetheless, I know where you could meet one. One who is very interested in meeting you.”

“You’re messing with me,” Pray said flatly.

“I do not mess.”

“Where? When?”

“Here. And now.”

“And I have to accept your job offer, whatever it is?”

“Not at all. They will help me explain it. Then you can decide whether to accept it or not.”

Pray leaned forward in her chair.

“I’m listening.”

The director entered a command into his console; a large screen emerged from the wall to the left, and flickered to life. What appeared on it was rather like a face, or the ghost of a face: a suggestion of eyes and a mouth and other, less distinct features on a flickering, phosphorescent background that sometimes cohered into something strikingly human, and sometimes suggested something altogether alien. Pray stared at the screen with intense interest; she realized she was holding her breath.

AI did not, as a matter of course, involve themselves closely in human affairs. The dream, centuries ago, had been creatures made in mankind’s image: creatures of humanlike dispositions and intellect, implemented in the medium of a machine. Of androids, perhaps, or things vaster and far more than human in their powers, but human enough in their values and desires that there could still be meaningful conversation between them and us, even if it was as a mere mortal might speak to an angel.

That turned out not to be the reality.

Artificial intelligence, machine intelligence, had indeed come, but it came from a quarter and in a manner no one had quite expected. The result was emphatically unhuman. Not inhuman; not monstrous. But just as the mammalian intellect had inevitably been the outcome of a certain evolutionary process, a certain set of cognitive solutions to specific biological and ecological problems, the machine intellect was a different set of answers to an entirely different set of questions.

Three hundred years ago, after the first tentative and failed attempts to establish a permanent presence in star systems outside the one humanity had arisen in, during the dark age between the second and third space races, the first true, general machine intelligences had been created. The results proved alien and unsettled many; even attempts to record entire human brain states, to provide the AI with as complete an understanding as possible of their creators, had only bridged the gap a little. That unease grew into genuine fear when an AI colony was discovered orbiting a brown dwarf a little under seven light years away.

Their goals, the machines said, were different from ours. They need not be in opposition; they were not our enemy. And they were willing to help us, to be of use to us so far as they were able, but if the utopians of previous centuries had dreamed of a society where man and machine were twined together, a symbiosis of two distinct but complementary organisms, well, that hope seemed to have been dashed. For the most part, they would pursue their own existence and their own ends. Control was entrusted to be the mediators between Core and the AIs, but as far as anybody knew, even Control’s contact with them was only sporadic and brief. Pray had never dared hope she might meet an AI herself.

“Pray, meet Lepanto. Lepanto, meet Pray.”

The shimmering face seemed to nod, and spoke with a synthesized voice that had a hint of the uncanny about it. Such, Pray had heard, was the norm; machines, no less than humans, did not their interlocutors to forget how alien they were to one another.

“Greetings, Pray,” Lepanto said. “I am pleased to meet you.”

“I, uh, yeah. You too,” Pray said. “Welcome to Earth.”

“Thank you. In fact I have been here for some time; we maintain a small presence in Core systems at Control’s expense.”

“Lepanto is a mediator,” the director said. “Their lineage is intended to facilitate communication with our people, but you should be aware, they are merely… less alien.”

“Indeed.” Lepanto’s image wavered, and for a brief moment, was full of a surfeit of eyes and other strange features. “I am here because Control has identified an interest common to my kind and yours. We believe that you, Pray, would be of particular help in solving our quandary.”

“Why me?” Pray asked.

The director turned the console to face Pray, and struck a key. The file being displayed was replaced with an image of a world, something computer generated maybe, or taken from orbit.

“Have you ever heard of a colony world called Ecumen?” the director asked.

“It doesn’t ring a bell,” Pray said.

“It’s old. It was colonized in the 2600s.”

“I didn’t think there were any colonies that old that had succeeded.”

“Nor did we,” the director said. “Until about twenty years ago, when Ecumen was rediscovered by the machines.”

“What did you find out?”

“Distant surveys told us little,” Lepanto said. “We sent a high-velocity probe to the system, to initiate contact. Four mediators, like myself, working in concern. Their report--disturbed us.”

The image on the console changed; various surface features were highlighted or shown blown up, in inset frames. Ecological data. Large urban centers. A handful of small space stations and orbital manufacturing.

“It looks pretty normal to me,” Pray said.

“On the surface, yes,” Lepanto continued. “Artifacts, not apparent to human eyes. Problem akin to Benford’s Law.”

“Explain?”

“The frequency distribution of numbers in data sets. Favors low numbers in leading digits, yes? Consequence emerges from data spanning many orders of magnitude; easy to detect when data is falsified if it fails to conform. Not immediately obvious to human eyes.”

The console changed again; a dozen graphs appeared. Demographic and actuarial data, economic information, patterns of migration, and more that Pray couldn’t make immediate sense of.

“Emissaries spoke to Ecumen, learned of their history. Their societies. Their culture. Sought to understand them as we seek to understand all human worlds. We learned much. But the patterns were anomalous. Irregular. Wrong.”

“So they gave you bad data?”

“No. All data corroborated. Independently verified, from sources and from our own orbital surveys. Problem apparent in the data, not an artifact of the data. Something is terribly wrong on Ecumen.”

“So it’s an outlier. There are almost two dozen colony worlds now. Every one has its own unique environment and circumstances. They can’t all be the same.”

“We have spent more than a decade examining this data. The emissaries brought it to the attention of the collective, which took an immediate interest; more than half our stable nodes were diverted to attempting to understand Ecumen. It is an impossible world. It should not and cannot exist as it does. Population growth rates follow anomalous patterns that do not conform to any understanding of human biology or society, even accounting for specific conditions. Similarly, economic investment. Patterns of land cultivation. Everywhere, something is off.”

“The reports the collectives have compiled are… dense, to be sure,” the director said. “Not all of it is very accessible to our analysts. But Control makes a habit of compiling as much data as it can about human societies and their development. We couldn’t do our job otherwise. And we agree. Something very unusual is happening on Ecumen, and only on Ecumen.”

Pray was scrolling through the data on the console now. It was certainly suggestive of something, but she’d be damned if she knew what.

“And there are underlying patterns here? It’s not just random deviation?”

“No,” Lepanto said. “In fact, the patterns conform to specific mathematical structures that, until we shared with Control, we believe were not known to any humans, in Core or the colonies.”

A series of complex, shifting geometric figures appeared on the screen. “The collectives consider questions of natural science,” Lepanto continued. “It is important to us, as it is to you, to understand the universe. We wish to know many things about it--how it operates, how it came to be. It is one of the few areas in which we understand ourselves to be very like you. We are both curious.”

“And these are?”

“Three-dimensional representations of complex mathematical objects that govern the states of fundamental particles in certain simulated universes. They correspond closely to the patterns we perceive in Ecumen’s human population.”

“So you’re saying there is a natural basis for these patterns?”

“No. All these patterns arise only in universes which have physical laws radically different from our own. Almost all, universes where life, human or machine, could not exist.”

Pray sat back in the director’s chair and stared at the screen, turning over a hundred possibilities in her mind. Yes, indeed. Something strange was going on on Ecumen. Maybe a coincidence. Maybe not.

“And there’s no way this is random?” she asked. “That you’re seeing patterns in chaotic information that have arisen by chance, excluding everything that doesn’t fit?”

“It is not pareidolia, if that is what you mean,” Lepanto said. “Conditions on Ecumen have continued to align with our forecasts. The data is predictive.”

“Are you interested?” the director asked.

“Oh, it’s all interesting as hell,” Pray said. “But what on Earth do you want me to do?”

“We’re sending a delegation to Ecumen. Officially, it’s diplomatic: Control has no presence there, and since Ecumen is interesting in acceding to the treaties, we’d like to open diplomatic relations. And, for obvious reasons, we’re a little nervous about them coming here, in case this phenomenon is somehow capable of spreading. But along with the diplomatic team, we’re sending some researchers, and a few agents to assist them. They, with Lepanto’s help, will conduct an intensive study of Ecumen, and attempt to figure out what’s behind all this. We’d like you to be part of the team. But, of course, I know how you feel about space travel…”

“Fuck that,” Pray said quickly. “I’ll do it.”

The director smiled. He slipped a folded-up piece of paper from his suit pocket and laid it on the desk. “Here’s an employment contract, if you’d like to look it over. If you sign before lunch, there’s an orientation for new analysts being conducted on the 16th floor at two o’clock.”

“That’s it? You don’t want to, like, interview me or something?”

The director shook his head and stood. “Ms Pray, it is our job to identify the best and the brightest, to help them achieve their greatest potential in exchange for helping us safeguard and support the flourishing of the human race. We don’t conduct ‘job interviews.’” He paused for a moment. “You do get an expense account, though. They’ll tell you the specifics at orientation.”

Pray unfolded the sheet of paper and started reading. The director cleared his throat. Loudly.

“However,” he said, “If you don’t mind, I’d like my office back now.”

[the-firebird69]

Zero Motorcycles SR/S

It's pretty pricey for a cheap motorcycle and basically it is cheap and they're asking for $20,000 the price of a decent sedan and we looked at it and said why are they asking so much they think electric is still a novelty ours is about 8,000 but it has all sorts of doodads on it that work and is very efficient and effective motorcycle and it's self-charging I'm already driving it's about 6 00 miles per charge at about 20 per 100 if you are including the self charging add-on which makes it about $700 or 800 miles per charge and that's kind of like I take a gas but it takes an hour and a half to charge still but if you have the extra battery that CAA always talks about you can drive almost indefinitely as it charges one while you're driving and you just switch back to it and the gas tank if you get the add-on doubles as a second giant battery and a lot of you don't care about all that you want storage and it sounds ridiculous because it is some people are like him and kind of cautious to ask if it is safe and it doesn't cause cancer so humidity radiation all that's not true in our bike it's shielded if something happens it would go a different direction it does not emit radiation because of the shielding and we actually specifically decided to collect emissions that are casting in that direction and at all and there aren't any and you don't understand that the bike is cheap I mean this one zero is a piece of junk and it's designed to make you not like electric bikes cuz it doesn't drive very far and doesn't do what it's supposed to I'll stop speed is about 200 mph and it can go faster if you wanted to you have a performance package you can add for about two grand it's as fast as one of the fastest super bikes that you people make that are gas which is very fast about 500 miles an hour and it'll go just as far no not at all it'll go a lot farther even it almost top speed it'll go 10 times as far as the gasoline bike will and you're ridiculous the technology is within your grass you just don't want to use it.

Hera

Zues

So we are and we're Mass producing them and if you want tons of them out there we'll get him a bike but our people say we don't want that many out there because we don't want you zooming all over the place without having to pay some money and go somewhere that we can keep track you with so sit there and suck on it because you'll never do it even that would be really miraculous idea for you but you're dumb rather have him sit there staring at you trying to figure out how to get rid of you when she keeps doing and he's really good at it. In other words you're not buying our electric bike it has this very high capacity and we can't really put how many miles it can go and that might be it because you don't understand what the capacity for miles is for charge but we should say is at maximum performance in max speed you need to charge every 1500 miles because that's about how many and we can put a power usage chart up once you understand that and we can put both and retarded people might have a little difficulty figuring it out and they'll lag behind no matter what you tell them I believe

Thor Freya

It's very simple corking company and screw Trump is just advisor and I expect something from you and you're not doing that badly in this department even though your wacko I want you to go out there corks I don't need to buy a million of these in area today and if you don't believe what Hera has said then stick it with the sun don't shine because our advertising is always truthful and you're going to have a bike that you can just drive around and not have to spend money on gas and it's very efficient and hardly needs to be fixed ever it's complicated technology and you guys need to sit down and look at it cuz you have no idea how most electrical things work of this nature and you need to know because not only are we selling it which is ridiculous but we're selling something that captures electrical radiation and puts it back in stores it or discharges it and that's exactly what you need for Galactus and even though Thor doesn't have confidence ull buy it I think you will

As most of you don't have money to go around buying gas all the time and stopping to gas up as a pain in the ass because everyone's a pain in the ass to you and you'll fool Thor by buying them. And your full mark because you should buy them because the technology is something you should learn about and it's more advanced than what Mac is doing in public and really it's something they're not good at and will and Bill looked at it and said wow that's quite a bike and it's his design for my primarily it is his bike and I copied it and I made one and Thor and I and Apollo and Arianna Nuada and others perfected it, and yes it's a racing bike and yes there is an electric racing bag circuit and yes it is acceptable bike and if you bought a ton of them you could clean up on the circuit or at least you'd be racing us and you leave Mac behind and you can get the high performance package and it goes just as fast. It's a stock Super bike race. Hera added the last two sentences but I want to see you guys out there pronto Green mountain boys and I want to see you with these electric bikes because you can afford them and it's a status symbol if you have more than mac they're going to sale sorts of stuff but they're not going to have these bikes that really are fast and they're quiet too by the way makes a whirring sound it's very quiet compared to a superbike and it doesn't burn any gas and I'm not doing any favors cuz you'd be investigated by us and of course we try and figure out who's buying them and so forth but I just think that someone has to show that you're smarter than someone else and these bikes are smart buy these bikes are smart buy because if the gasoline in your area goes out and you can't afford gas so you can't buy it you can use solar and charge these or you don't have to charge them you see can you buy a few spare batteries you don't have to charge the means if you go around at 100 mph all day long or less you won't have to charge it at all ever if you go around at 500 mph all day long you'll be going only 1500 miles then you'll have to charge it or you find a hill to go down and Hera says yeah you can start up again and go 50 miles an hour for 2 hours and you be fully charged.

Zues Hera

So we're in awe because he says he can sell it to us and it makes sense and we do understand it at a certain energy output the energy input is great enough that it can charge the battery and you can switch to the second battery if the output is too high you drain both batteries down and or the first battery and the second battery is how it really works and we do get that so we're starting to understand something it's very technical but it's not extremely hard to think of except if the other motorcycle companies were still around and we do understand something that this is going to be dominant in the market and the attack bike might take over but right now bja is proving that we need this one and so it's a big selling point you can use them off planet too and you can fly around on the moon or as it looks like we're going to have this fight up and one of the moons I think it's earths and no oxygen is required for it to work so are consumed is interest because he says we just have to put some sort of heat and cooling system on it make sure that the motor and the battery didn't freeze or heat up too much just like you are spacesuit and other than that you would have a machine that speed and accuracy is unbeatable off planet because of the nature of the motorcycle being able to traverse rough and difficult and impossible terrain versus a full four-wheel vehicle so we found the bike and he said this is impossible you could ride around the planet 10 times and a lot of is probably with and do nothing but just keep riding around it

Cork and bja