Rabu, 30 Juli 2014

Krisis Kepercayaan Terhadap Teori Pemanasan Global



Der Spiegel memuat 8 artikel tentang pemanasan global
"Plagued by reports of sloppy work, falsifications and exaggerations, climate research is facing a crisis of confidence. How reliable are the predictions about global warming and its consequences? And would it really be the end of the world if temperatures rose by more than the much-quoted limit of two degrees Celsius?"
Diwarnai oleh laporan adanya pekerjaan yang ceroboh, pemalsuan data dan melebih-lebihkan data yang ada, penelitian tentang iklim menghadapi krisis kepercayaan. Seberapakah keandalan prediksi pemanasan global dan konsekuensi dari pemanasan global? Dan apakah benar-benar akan menjadi akhir dunia jika temperatur bumi naik lebih dari 2 derajat Celcius?
Berikut ini 8 artikel selengkapnya. Masih pakai bahasa Inggris :)

Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Angin Tidak Menguntungkan


Hmm, kalau ternyata pembangkit listrik tenaga angin tidak menguntungkan, pakai apa ya? Masak pakai nuklir?
E.ON Netz Wind Report 2005
Lessons Learned: E.ON Netz GmbH, the largest grid operator in Germany, reports in its Wind Report 2005, that "Wind energy cannot replace conventional power stations to any significant extent...The more wind power capacity [on] the grid, the lower the percentage of traditional generation it can replace."
Tulisan lengkap: http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wp-content/uploads/eonwindreport2005.pdf
Wind Power is a complete disaster
There is no evidence that industrial wind power is likely to have a significant impact on carbon emissions. The European experience is instructive. Denmark, the world’s most wind-intensive nation, with more than 6,000 turbines generating 19% of its electricity, has yet to close a single fossil-fuel plant. It requires 50% more coal-generated electricity to cover wind power’s unpredictability, and pollution and carbon dioxide emissions have risen (by 36% in 2006 alone).

Kritikan Nobelis Pakar Ekonomi Terhadap Federal Reserve


Kalau pakar ekonomi pemenang nobel dah komplen tentang Federal Reserve Bank, ini maksudnya apa ya? Biasanya orang-orang ini kan akur-akur saja satu sama lain
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/03/nobel-prize-winning-economist-federal.html

Joseph Stiglitz - former head economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a nobel-prize winner - said yesterday that the very structure of the Federal Reserve system is so fraught with conflicts that it is "corrupt" and undermines democracy.
Stiglitz said:
If we [i.e. the IMF] had seen a governance structure that corresponds to our Federal Reserve system, we would have been yelling and screaming and saying that country does not deserve any assistance, this is a corrupt governing structure.
Stiglitz pointed out that - if another country had presented a plan to reform its financial system, and included a regulatory regime that copied the makeup of the Federal Reserve system - "it would have been a big signal that something is wrong."
Stiglitz stressed that the Fed banks have clear conflicts of interest, since the banks are largely governed by a board of directors that includes officers of the very banks they're supposed to be overseeing:
So, these are the guys who appointed the guy who bailed them out ... Is that a conflict of interest?
They would say, 'no conflict of interest, we were just doing our job. But you have to look at the conflicts of interest"...
The reason you talk about governance is because in a democracy you want people to have confidence ... This is a structure that will undermine confidence in a democracy.
Indeed, by all objective measures, the Fed has performed horribly (and see this).
As 6 congressmen wrote last November, there are at least 4 reasons to demand full transparency of the Federal Reserve, and a change in the Fed's structure:
First ... how effective a regulator can the Federal Reserve be if it is unwilling to strive for good public policy through its regulatory powers?
Second, there is an inherent conflict in the manner in which regional reserve branch presidents are selected – in that representatives of the member banks select the regional president. It seems counterproductive, yet the banking system has provided case after case of regulated entities selecting their own regulator.
Third, the Federal Reserve has continually resisted efforts to engage in discussion on structural and governance reform at the System. Most recently, Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Federal Reserve has rejected a White House request that [the Federal Reserve] conduct a public review of its structure and operations.
Despite a request from the administration that provided ample opportunity for the Federal Reserve to have input into its own reforms, the central bank has simply refused. It is because of this attitude that I argue that real financial regulatory reform cannot occur without an examination into the structure of this entity.
Fourth, and most importantly, the Federal Reserve has shown a repeated unwillingness to accept efforts to improve transparency for the System.

Antara Sains dan Agama

Sambil baca-baca diskusi di blog-blog mengenai global warming, kebetulan menemukan orang yang menulis tentang perbedaan antara sains dan religion, terutama dalam kasus global warming

Princeton Physicist William Happer said, “It’s unbelievable, you hear of an event when the weather’s warm and it’s proof of global warming. Then if the weather’s cold, that’s proof of global warming as well.  And that reveals the problem with the theory that man-made greenhouse gases are causing a climate catastrophe. It’s not falsifiable. Serious scientists, when they look at this, say this is an example of a theory that cannot be falsified and a theory that cannot be falsified is not science. It’s religion.” AMEN!

Sumber: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/20374

Metode ilmiah dibangun atas dasar keraguan / skeptisme untuk membangun teori-teori ilmiah., sedangkan agama dibangun atas dasar keyakinan. Kedua hal ini tidak dapat disatukan. Kalau disatukan, jadinya nanti adalah The Actual Method seperti komik berikut ini:
The Actual Method

Selasa, 29 Juli 2014

Buku Who Goest There: Friend or Foe

Kata pengantar dari buku tersebut:

The recent Persian Gulf War focused attention on the problem of fratricide, or “friendly fire” casualties among combat units. Twenty-four percent of U.S. combat fatalities in that conflict were due to friendly fire. The House Armed Services Committee requested that OTA assess the technology and techniques available to reduce this tragic loss of life. Although friendly fire has often been dismissed in the military literature as an insignificant contributor to overall combat losses, in those few historical cases for which good data are available, estimated friendly fire losses have accounted for at least 10 percent of total losses. Friendly fire has been an important-and under-appreciated-source of combat deaths.

Lanjutannya dapat dibaca di http://ota-cdn.fas.org/reports/9351.pdf

Referensi

Memanfaatkan Laptop Sebagai Powerbank

Notebook Toshiba Portege sebagai powerbank
Bagi pengguna laptop, kita dapat menggunakan laptop sebagai powerbank, jadi tidak perlu lagi menambah gadget yang masuk tas. Selengkapnya dapat dibaca di http://gadget.kabarkita.org/notebook-laptop-sebagai-power-bank/

Misteri Jatuhnya Malaysian Airlines MH17


Jatuhnya pesawat MH17 mengundang misteri. Rudal apa yang menjatuhkan pesawat itu? Siapakah yang bertanggugjawab? Sampai hari ini belum jelas. Kepentingan politik pihak-pihak yang terlihat juga membuat suasana tambah keruh. Di satu sisi ada Ukraina yang didukung Amerika, di sisi lain ada separatis Ukraina yang didukung oleh Russia. Sementara negara-negara Belanda, Malaysia, Indonesia warganegaranya jadi korban pada insiden tersebut.

Artikel-artikel seputar MH17 dapat dibaca di http://politik.kabarkita.org/2014/07/29/kontroversi-jatuhnya-pesawat-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh17/

Sabtu, 26 Juli 2014

Perbandingan Teknik Membuat Powerbank

Regulator seri LM317 sebagai komponen utama powerbank buatan sendiri
Rupanya banyak juga yang punya ide membuat powerbank sendiri. Untuk itu saya mencoba menyarikan teknik-teknik apa saja yang dipakai orang untuk membuat powerbank sendiri. Tulisan lengkapnya dapat dibaca di artikel Perbandingan Rangkaian Powerbank Buatan Sendiri

Review Casing Server 4U Enlight 4808

Casing Enlight 4808
Beberapa waktu ini mendapatkan kesempatan untuk membuat server dengan casing ukuran 4U. Akhirnya setelah memilih-milih dan mencari casing yang tersedia di berbagai toko, akhirnya saya mencoba casing Enlight 4808. Review lengkapnya dapat dilihat di http://gadget.kabarkita.org/review-casing-server-4u-enlight-en-4808/

Membuat Tempe Sendiri

Tempe buatan sendiri
Di Indonesia kita kalau mau makan tempe biasanya tidak usah repot-repot, cukup membeli di pasar atau supermarket atau bisa juga di menunggu tukang sayur yang lewat depan rumah. Namun jika tidak ada yang berjualan tempe terpaksa kita gigit jari, misal jika tinggal di luar Indonesia yang jarang ada orang berjualan tempe. Selain itu bisa saja kira kurang puas dengan tempe yang ada, dan ingin melakukan modifikasi sendiri. Untuk itu kita dapat membuat tempe sendiri dengan bahan-bahan sederhana yaitu kacang kedele dan ragi tempe. Untuk detail selanjutnya dapat dibaca di artikel Cara Membuat Tempe.