Directly relevant to PhD 2500 words on “capsule biographies” of lobby groups“proxies” in the (Australian) coal wars - BCA, MCA, ACA (defunct), IPA, CIS, Lavoisier, Galileo etc ACF, TWS, Green Party, Greenpeace, Australia Institute, Climate Institute etc Indirectly relevant to PhD 2500 words on “the Road to Toronto” - state, corporate and public responses to/awareness... Continue Reading →
The Joy of … Big Numbers; the Simpsons, Hype Cycles and George Monbiot
Here's 3 quotations about energy provision. They're from 1973, 2001 and 2010. Skim, don't ponder. I've put the relevant bits in bold. The tl;dr is that politicians like Big Numbers (duh). “Project Independence was an initiative announced by U.S. President Richard Nixon on November 7, 1973, in reaction to the OPEC oil embargo and the... Continue Reading →
Boundary Objects and good advice.
You know the old joke - "I'm a sex object. I ask for sex, and people object"? No, well, now you do... Boundary objects are, according to wikipedia - "In sociology, a boundary object is information, such as specimens, field notes, and maps, used in different ways by different communities. Boundary object are plastic, interpreted... Continue Reading →
Social Media Advice for Conferences
A while back I went to a "how to 'do' social media for (academic conferences). Typed up stuff and... left it on my desktop... Good advice includes; start early have a separate email address (also makes it easier to get a twitter account) don't overcommit to stuff (if you're not populating a blog/updating a twitter... Continue Reading →
Happy Days are here again (aka “don’t kick the Beckett)
I'm the “Potsie.” And I've got to figure out a way for happy days.... Potsie was the dweeb. Nice, but dim. And in the May 15, 1979 episode of Happy Days, he is about to flunk out of college, because he just can't get things right. He can't remember his anatomy. But his friends (including... Continue Reading →
“Technology versus the Leviathan”. But does it need a Leviathan? #innovation #democracy
TLDR: It's a dilemma that has never gotten old. How do you overthrow an ossified system of control without becoming that same thing? “Met the new boss,” and all that. Or, worse and more likely, you run out of steam, lose heart, your best ideas get “borrowed” and prop up the thing you were trying... Continue Reading →
The only way is ethics – principles for scientists
Seems about right to me. The topic of having professional ethics for scientists isn't new. Here is a list of principles proposed by the then chief scientific adviser in the UK, Professor Sir David King - in 2007: Act with skill and care, keep skills up to date Prevent corrupt practice and declare conflicts of... Continue Reading →
Prelude in LNG major: Of Shell, #climate change and innovation
Innovation is double plus good? Well, depends... The oil giant Shell is building a new ship, the BBC reports. Half-way through the story, after manfully capturing the scale of this big boy (it's the biggest ship EVER. Over 400m long) we get, as they say in Hollywood, the “reveal.” It's going to be the FNG... Continue Reading →
“Putting the octopus in the jar…” Literature reviews…
"Whenever I thought about writing, I would think of climbing a huge mountain or drowning in a sea of literature. Pat says we should think about the literature review as more of a creative challenge. A much more useful analogy for the literature review is trying to get an octopus into a jar. When you think... Continue Reading →
Australian #climate wrecking is a bi-partisan, long-term thing. Or “Abbott is not unique”
Here's what the excellent books by Guy Pearse and Clive Hamilton about the Australian government's climate policy under John Howard miss(1); during the premiership of Paul Keating, much loved for his views on Aboriginal reconciliation, Labor was also a "blocker" on climate change, both domestically and internationally. The reason is pretty simple. It's four letters.... Continue Reading →
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