Global Warming news -mostly about Gangwon

Blogger note: In the 'create a new post' window, the two quotes below are the same colour, although the fonts are different. I have this problem frequently now that I am on a Mac.

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The joongang and the Chosun have articles about unusual crops in Gangwondo.

The Joongang has this to say:

Melons now grow in greenhouses in Yanggu County, Gangwon, and apples grow outdoors. Tangerines are being grown in Gangneung, Gangwon.

All of this shows that semitropical temperatures are moving north, leaving some to wonder what the temperature will be like in 100 years. The meteorological administration says that if the temperature continues its meteoric rise, the average temperature in Korea will be about 4 degrees higher. Ski resorts in Jeolla and Gangwon may have to shut down. Pine trees, which are symbolic of the Korean soul for many Koreans, could also disappear.

Apples growing outdoors is a sign of increased temperatures? I confess that I chiefly remember only wild apple trees rather than orchards in my part of Canada, but I have trouble thinking of apple trees as sub-tropical.

"Ski resorts may have to shut down"? Well, perhaps we can be done with Olympics bids, then.

From the Chosun, we learn that Gangneung has planted a field of sunflowers along the Namdae River:

The 8,000 sq. m field is made up of one million sunflowers and it is drawing people out of their cars to get a closer look. These sunflowers are different in that they only come up to a person’s waist, whereas ordinary sunflowers usually grow to the average person’s head.

Alright, maybe sunflowers aren't tropical either (and the article made no such connection) but they have the word 'sun' right in the name. Read critically, people!

I will work, next week, on finding and photographing one or both of these crops.

Roboseyo* has (re)posted a video about global warming that compares the costs and benefits of acting on global warming with whether or not such warming is taking place. The speaker in the video makes a fair point but I feel the worst-case-scenarios (while possible) aren't the way to convince fence-sitters.

On the other hand, I would have added that if we take action against global warming and it never does occur (and that Gore and the others, the many, many others, were wrong), we still come out ahead. I say this because most of the action needed to reduce or slow global warming have other great benefits - reducing fuel emissions is good for more than keeping us cool, it also prolongs how long we actually have fuel, reduces other forms of pollution, and walking and cycling rather than driving may make us healthier.

This is a point that GI Korea (link is to a search on his site for global warming) might not get. Either that, or he wants to argue the problem on it's own merits (is global warming happening or not) and not go off on tangents. Anyway, his blog is the best place for clear-headed anti-global warming information (not that I agree with it, mind you).

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Added later:

the Korea Times also has an article, an editorial this time, about Korea becoming subtropical. The writer is concerned that Lee Myoung-bak isn't doing enough. I can't really say, but I do know that Canadians have/had trouble accepting their government's One Ton Challenge, and Canadians produce far more carbon as individuals than Koreans do. I'm not exactly blaming Canadians: citizens are fewer and spread further out than Koreans are, making automobiles far more necessary.

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Roboseyo is also involved in KIVA, which is very cool. Follow the above link to his site. KIVA is sort of micro-loan bank. Instead of giving large groups piles of money, the micro-loans go to small-business people - to buy a sewing machine or a bike or, well, I don't know, but the loans are in the order of $20 to $50 or so. I don't think the loaner, Roboseyo in this case, makes money, but he has a wonderfully high likelihood of having the loan repaid and so is able to use it again. I have wanted to get involved but have always been too lazy.

looking for photo-editing software

One surprise I have found with the iMac is that, while the photo-editing software has some technical features, it lacks a lot of the simple stuff I enjoyed with Microsoft's "paint" - part of the Windows accessories package.

As a teacher, I like to take pictures and then write text on them -maybe a label or caption. I also like to be able to point at or circle a specific part of the picture.

As an enthusiastic amateur, I also like to occasionally stitch three or four photos together to make a panoramic view.

As a blogger, I like to resize photos to very specific sizes.

With iPhoto, I appear to be able to do none of these things. I can blur part of a picture, which is great if I want to remove recognizable features of person's face to preserve anonymity and the crop feature is better that Window's version but if I want to resize a pic the simplest options are "large, medium and small".

I am looking at GIMP, Serif Photoplus and a few other free editing software programs online, but getting GIMP to add a phrase to a picture is overkill. Its not clear to me that Serif Photoplus has an Apple version.

Any suggestions?

Born with the gift of laughter and the knowledge the world was mad

The quote above might be as true for me as it was for Sabitini's Scaramouch.

Random bit of bad news: KwandongAlex was sick and feverish ten days ago, KwandongWife was sick and feverish two days ago (and may still be) and now I, too, have tonsillitis.  It looks like I won't need surgery, just medicine and I've started taking the normal-for-Korea pack of six pills after each meal.

I have always had a cold or a runny nose.  I have a few allergies and foreigner's long nose but mine is pinched and narrow so all my life I have sneezed a few times a day -except now.  Tonsillitis has given me a sore throat but my breathing is so much clearer and easier.

I don't really understand the random illnesses I have had here. I've had pneumonia, Bells Palsy and now tonsillitis.  Bell's Palsy, in particular, is disease that strikes randomly and I've always considered myself too healthy to worry about pneumonia.

Random bit of good news: MSN Messenger on the Windows side side of the partition has 'found' the video camera so KwandongAlex chatted with GeorgianBayGrandma last night.  I had started to investigate why the camera wouldn't work, wasn't recognized, in Windows, but hadn't done anything.  Suddenly, now it works.  woo-hoo!

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Oh, Scaramouch is a great, swashbuckling sort of movie, but the end of the book resorts to some ugly politics (for our era, at least) to sort out the plot.

Video Chatting

When MSN Messenger first came out, I put everyone I knew on my contact list and chatted with many of them frequently.  When circumstances allowed, I bought a web-cam and used it with a few people.

In the last two or more years, I have only chatted with my mother.  We chat using the web-cams so she can see her grandson -well, also to talk to me and such, but mostly for the chance to see her grandson that her cruel, unfeeling son keeps 10,000 km away.

In buying the new computer, an iMac with built in web-cam, I figured that video chat would improve or at least stay the same.

This is not the case.  Apple's iChat does not work with MSN Messenger.  I have the Windows OS as well and when I use it, the built in web-cam isn't found or recognized.  anyway, it isn't functional while using Windows.

Does anyone know if this is a problem with my version of Boot Camp?  I started checking an iMac forum, but was called away just as I started reading something on that subject.

I am tempted to set up Google Video Chat - I use Google for just about everything else - but it seems like a step backward.  I expected a new computer to expand my options (and it has, mostly) not simply exchange one option with another.  If I were changing because Google Chat were a better service, that would be one thing.  But to change due to software incompatibilities is another, less palatable thing.

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Oh, I downloaded Chrome on the Windows side and I like it.  Very functional but without any flash (I mean ostentation, I guess it features Flash animation and the like).

Cyworld: Explorer, Firefox and Safari

As part of their homework, third year students are required to make three videos through the semester. Most post their videos to Cyworld and send me a link. I am able to access most of these videos with any of the three browsers I use.

Well, until two weeks ago, I used Firefox almost all the time and Explorer the rest. These days, I use Safari (Apple's browser). if it doesn't work, I shut down, change OS and try Firefox. Finally, I try Explorer. Explorer always works but I wonder about viruses and spyware, feeling that Firefox offers more protection. Sarfari apparently offers so much protection I don't see any anti-virus software or concerns.

Anyway, today, I was able to watch all but four videos on Safari. The "mini-hompy"s (a typical Korean abreviation of Mini -homepage) didn't even open. On Firefox, they opened, but the video wouldn't play. Finally, after re-entering my login data manytimes, I was able to get to my emails in Explorer, follow the link and watch the video.

Maybe, for completeness, I should try Chrome, Google's browser.
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One other thing about Safari is that when I hover over a link, the link doesn't appear anywhere for me to read. In Firefox and Explorer, I can see the link URL before clicking on it. I like that better.

Getting comfortable at home

The new iMac computer is working great and it is almost fully set up.  It will take significant time to get really familiar with it, though.

The computer came with Korean instructions in hard copy although it was easy to set it to operate in English (or Korean).  I downloaded some manuals but I feel I am still missing stuff.  When I first set the computer up, I was surprised at having only four USB ports and a short cord for the mouse.  It seemed damn inconvenient although serviceable.  I received help partitioning the drive and in doing so, saw the serviceman plug the mouse into the keyboard.  Turns out the keyboard has two USB ports built in.

Am I just unobservant or was that tidbit included in the Korean instructions?

The computer looks great on my desk.  The CPU and hard drive and all that are built into the monitor.  The keyboard is notebook sized or possibly even smaller.  combined, I have more desk space with the desk top than I did with the notebook.  I am no longer balancing textbooks on open drawers or pulling kitchen chairs close to pile needed materials on.

Everything is backwards or, at least, turned 90 degrees, on the iMac.  The on/off and other controls are on the upper left, instead of the bottom left.  To close a window (can I still use that word?), I click on an icon at the upper-left instead of the upper-right.  The tabbed pages in Safari close on the left side rather than Firefox's right side. ...

I can't compare Apple with Windows because my closest comparison is the old and slowly failing notebook, which I will continue to use a great deal until this semester finishes.  The features on this iMac blow the notebook away but Vista might do the same.

The trick is not to think outside the Microsoft box, but ignore that box even exists.  There are a lot of similarities (Safari and the newest Explorer both look a lot like Firefox) but the key is results and not how the two paths are different.  Hmm, paths and boxes -mixed metaphors, I guess.

a smaller photo

This photo may be a repeat, but now it is blogging sized.  I'm learning.  It was darn hard to find after I adjusted the size and saved it, though.  I hope that gets easier.