This month I didn’t post as much I wanted to. But I did get some writing done on “The Next Internet: A Climate Solution” and I have more substantive YouTube content in the works. I also attended a workshop on climate change.
Piece of Poop
My book includes a chapter called “What’s Pawisble” about using internet technology to manage dog poop. I think the chapter is a good place to start because it shows how internet technology can be used for things people might not think about and discussing dog waste creates opportunities for humour.
My first attempt to post a sample chapter in June from my book was essentially a piece of poop. However, in searching for visuals to go with the video, I posted close-ups of dog poop which turned people off.
I therefore, set the video to unlisted and did a rethink. When I returned to the video, I tried an animated pile of poop emoji I hope will set the tone for the article. An emoji seems to connect the topic of dog poop with technology like internet. Here is the result:
Climate Workshop
This month I also attended a climate workshop hosted at UBC and organized by the Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences (PIMS). Presenters included Judith Sayers, Seth Klein, Andrew Weaver, René Aïd and Gaël Giraud. Some highlights:
René Aïd discussed shifting electricity demand. Strategies attempted include pricing, sharing information, or asking people to reduce electricity use. Internet transport creates opportunities to do just this – both by collecting and sharing data but also by managing transportation and therefore significant amounts of energy consumption. Transportation operated by humans makes it hard to shift energy consumption to different times. However, delegating when garbage gets moved for recycling to another internet creates a lot of flexibility as to when that task needs to be completed.
Seth Klein mentioned a campaign to end fossil fuel advertising. The argument is that fossil fuel should be treated like cigarettes. Cigarettes harm people, so advertising should be restricted. Fossil fuels harm everyone, so banning related ads is justified. To this I would add there is another reason to ban fossil fuels: obscenity. The law puts restrictions on nudity since some people are offended. Fossil fuels on television, movies, and ads often portray activities that cause and will cause suffering and misery as entertainment. That is offensive! My book includes discussion of the impact of automobile ads on the general public and the potential effect of restricting ads.
Andrew Weaver shared “global warming represents the greatest opportunity for innovation, creativity and economic prosperity the world has ever seen” – a sentiment I agree with given the nature of my project.