The Carbon Debate

In Australia at least, it appears that we are about to get a carbon tax. The carbon tax is effectively a way of puting a price on carbon to influence personal and business behaviour in the Australian marketplace. The expectation is that the price on carbon will shift energy consumption away from fossil fuels toward clean energy alternatives such as solar and wind.

Unfortunately there is a significant amount of politics involved and we can be sure that the cost will not necessarily be borne by the fossil fuel industry. Already, there is talk of significant concessions to the fossil fuel industry and this will certainly skew the burden away from those who should be burdened and onto the man on the street.

Ultimately, carbon is not the culprit, carbon is merely a by product of human activity on the planet and it is that human activity that is directly responsible for global warming. There are probably a  miriad of other factors that are also driving global warming including deforestation, the building of cities and roads and even war and conflict.

From a positive perspective, Australia could lead the way in demonstrating that a carbon price is a great way to modify behaviour and incentivise the adoption of efficient, clean energy consumption. From a negative perspective, it is possible that pricing carbon creates a fantastic new product for the global trading merket to profit from.

As we become more aware of the impacts of our behaviours and adopt new, efficient lifestyles we should be able to overcome the negative impact that we've had on the environment to date.

 


Posted by: Andrew
Company: Noble & Associates
Phone: 61894007400
Posted On: 1/1/0001
Contact via email: andrew@nobleaccounting.com.au
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The Joker


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Company: Noble & Associates
Phone: 61894007400
Posted On: 1/1/0001
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At Scale Everything Breaks - Google

How big can government get? Could we expect a global government to emerge in the next decade out of the United Nations? As much as this might be planned for, it is instructive to see what Google has discovered about operating at scale.

Behind the scenes, Google is fighting a constant battle against the twin demons of cascading failovers and the increasingly challenging levels of complexity that massively scaled services bring. ‘At scale, everything breaks, and Google must walk a tightrope between increasing the scaling of its systems while avoiding cascading failovers, such as the outage that affected Gmail Read On


Posted by: Andrew
Company: Noble & Associates
Phone: 61894007400
Posted On: 1/1/0001
Contact via email: andrew@nobleaccounting.com.au
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LulzSec and Anonymous join Forces for Operation #AntiSec

Don't worry about the clash of civilisations between East & West, here is the real deal! I reported on the start of World War 3 here and now notice that the war has ratcheted up a notch with the start of a joint Freedom Operation .

This is a typical guerrilla war, with significant asymeteries. On the one side we have the historical command & control structure backed up by big money and protected by a military industrial complex. On the other side we have an emerging organism without a centralised command structure and sharing a common bond of a desire for freedom.

To place this in context, the efforts of Anonymous appear to have been a little like a fly anoying an elephant. This is not to say that the balance of power cannot shift because big things can emerge from small things, a huge tree can grow from a seed.

The future is indeed interesting, especially where the Internet and freedom is concerned.


Posted by: Andrew
Company: Noble & Associates
Phone: 61894007400
Posted On: 1/1/0001
Contact via email: andrew@nobleaccounting.com.au
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The Empathic Civilisation


Posted by: Andrew
Company: Noble & Associates
Phone: 61894007400
Posted On: 1/1/0001
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Why are Container Homes Not Popular in Western Australia?

I find container homes fascinating & believe that there is a lot of opportunity in Western Australia for the concept, especially where components are built in China for local 'Makano like' construction. Our huge regional expanse and limited population makes it extremely expensive to build even the most simple home in WA so any modularised dwelling that can be easily transported and erected must have a good possibility of commercial success in this marketplace.

Most people have a poor opinion of container homes because little attention is normally paid to the facade & exterior design. For our climate in Western Australia I like the idea of combining container homes with large shade sails.

Most shires & councils in Western Australia have strict building codes that limit the use of container homes because of their standard unappealing design.

Some other useful posts on futureWA in relation to this style of home -

Video about container homes

A container home with real style


Posted by: Andrew
Company: Noble & Associates
Phone: 61894007400
Posted On: 1/1/0001
Contact via email: andrew@nobleaccounting.com.au
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Diesel Generators needed to keep up with Perth Summer

Toward the end of our hot 2011 summer these generators had to be placed in strategic locations around the more affluent suburbs as the demand for cooling must have increased substantially on previous summers. Here is a diesel generator down the road from my house.

 


Posted by: Andrew
Company: Noble & Associates
Phone: 61894007400
Posted On: 1/1/0001
Contact via email: andrew@nobleaccounting.com.au
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