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Aquafire
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 Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Krametash wrote: | BTW, You used to work in Ikea? Din't expect that from a comp genius... 
Kramer  |
Not sure if your addressing this to me..Kramer.
But yes, I studied for a BSc in Botany at Adelaide University. (1970's) aka...ancient history...
That doesn't make me an expert, but it does make me a reasonable gardener & general weed killer...... 
Aqua
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Krametash
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Joined: 29 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 3:10 am Post subject: |
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| Aquafire wrote: | | Krametash wrote: | BTW, You used to work in Ikea? Din't expect that from a comp genius...
Kramer |
Not sure if your addressing this to me..Kramer.
But yes, I studied for a BSc in Botany at Adelaide University. (1970's) aka...ancient history...
That doesn't make me an expert, but it does make me a reasonable gardener & general weed killer......
Aqua |
Oops, sorry I didn't make that clear, I was actually talking to Barnz. But a 3 foot tall bald gardener/computer genius who studied botany in Adelaide....wow 
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Chris..S
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:16 am Post subject: |
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| Aquafire wrote: | | barnz wrote: |
Bamboo is actually one of the most renewable resources on earth. It fits well with the "Green Ethos" as well as the aesthetic desires of those who live that way. |
Actually...it's not..
In many countries, Bamboo is an invasive pest that does untold enviromental damage to both land and rivers.
Bamboo is notorious, in that it sucks up much of the available nutrients in the soil and draws on huge amounts of water. It chokes the life out of the land, in that it kills off all competing native plants. When burning, it gives rise to high temperature fires, that often sterilize the soil beneath. It takes years for the microlife of the soil to recover. In many rivers where it was planted to stop erosion; it has now taken over with subsequent impacts on the breeding cycles of local water fowl, fish and other animals, dependent on a pristine native environments for their continued existence.
No doubt, in some areas, Bamboo has a benefit, but I doubt one can seriously support the claim that its the "most renewable resource on earth". As part of the wider "grasses group" yes..but of itself no.
In comparison, fodder & grain crops such as wheat, barley, oats & rice,etc (which are paret of the same family as bamboo); not only provide food for most of the worlds' human and domesticated animal population, which Bamboo does not..(sorry to say, 'Bamboo Shoots' are hardly up there as a major food source), but these same fodder and grain groups, also provide most of the raw material for fuel, as well as material for building, where dried stubble, is used with mud to make bricks, or as "straw~bale" houses...etc.
This genus of grasses also include specific species that 'fix nitrogen' and are benificial as a "green manure" that can be ploughed back into the soil.
They may not be as 'sexy' or as "trendy" as bamboo seems to be with certain sectors of the Green movement; but pound for pound, they far outstrip Bamboo in terms of enviromental benefit and renewability.
So if Dell really wanted to make a statement about enviromental renewables, they should have made the case out of compressed straw/hay/stubble...
Aqua |
But it looks good and cuddly pandas live in it |
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Aquafire
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:17 am Post subject: |
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| Krametash wrote: |
Oops, sorry I didn't make that clear, I was actually talking to Barnz. But a 3 foot tall bald gardener/computer genius who studied botany in Adelaide....wow |
No worries Kramer.
The world is full of even stranger things, than bald midgets carrying handguns* and university degrees. 
hehehe
Aqua
* I have an excuse...those dammed Vampire Koala bears are very frisky at the moment...so it's for my own self protection....
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Aquafire
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:36 am Post subject: |
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Re : Bamboo...vs Grass
| Chris..S wrote: | | But it looks good and cuddly pandas live in it |
True...if your a Panda...
But lets face it...isn't this far more appealing ?
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macmanmacman
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Joined: 25 Oct 2007
Posts: 1691
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:32 am Post subject: |
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I don't trust dell as far as i can throw them why you ask.
1. Customer service sucks have fun when you get a customer rep in india that doesn't know jack about the computer system you called for help with.
2. Have fun when your power supply plug breaks off inside your new laptop and you find out you won't see it again for 3 months.
3. Have fun if you want to use windows xp on you new laptop unless you purchase a disk from dell you cannot install xp due to a perpritory disk controller that only works in vista.
Dell in sort sucks dell should stand for.
D-umb
E-cntric
L-oser
L-ame
Needs a s to make it really bad.... |
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barnz
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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 423
Location: Oakland, CA
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:34 am Post subject: |
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| Aquafire wrote: | | barnz wrote: |
Bamboo is actually one of the most renewable resources on earth. It fits well with the "Green Ethos" as well as the aesthetic desires of those who live that way. |
Actually...it's not..
|
Actually, it is.
| Quote: | renewable
Adjective
able to be renewed |
Aqua - I understand you are a botanist with far more expertise than I. And I take all of your points on how troublesome Bamboo can be - but most of those problems are rooted (ha ha) in the easily-renewable nature of the plant.
As far as the sustainability issues of bamboo in the ecosystem, that is of course another matter. But much of the commercially available bamboo product is coming from sustainable bamboo farms - and is preventing the harvest of much slower growing (and therefore harder to restore and better to keep growing in place) hard wood trees. If I choose to harvest some bamboo, nobody (should be) getting their knickers in a knot. If I try to cut down a tree, even a relatively recently planted tree, well watch out me.
@Kramer -
yes it is required to be a genius to post here. (Along with being geniuses, Aqua and I are both anciently old - that helps too)*. Come to think of it you should have received your secret genius society t-shirt before even lurking in the off topic forum. Can I see your credentials, please? 
(Previous employ at IKEA is not required but counts for extra credit, as it is well known that Ingvar only hires MENSA members).
*For example, I don't have to click on the link to hear Teri Garr in my head singing "Roll, Roll, Roll in the hay..." Good One Aqua!
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Aquafire
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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Barnzy,
My hat off to you...for knowing who that cute lady is....
Incidentally, I owe you a little apology...in that I misread your opening statement concerning Bamboo. I read your sentence as if it said Bamboo is THE MOST renewable instead of one of the most renewable.
There certianly are agriforest plantations of bamboo that have been set up in numerous parts of the world. I do not doubt they offer a valuable cash crop for many communities. But these are always on a pretty small scale.
Unfortunately, sometimes, best intentions get overlooked by political realities on the ground. Case in point, Eucalyptus farming in India. This has had more than it's fair share of troubles. It was meant to offer poor farmers a cash crop that when matured, would give them a good income. Unfortunately, a combination of poor education, little supervision over the plantations, corruption and extortion by local authorities, has all lead to many of the very poorest farmers ending up in even more debt than when they started.
Even so, there many good outcomes, which rarely make the headlines.. (doom & gloom is far more 'newsworthy' these days)...
As for calling me a Botanist. Thankyou for the compliment. But I don't consider my self worthy of such a lofty title. I ended up being more of a Horticulturalist than anything else. But as I said, that was a very long time ago. I have changed careers in the long course of my "Ancient" life...
Best wishes
Aqua
Ps..
Keep up the good work in supporting that beautiful & rare stand of Oaks...
To think that a University is behind the move...
They should hang their heads in shame...
Maybe you should get U of B's school of Botany involved..?
I am suprised that they're not more pro~active...
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Krametash
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Joined: 29 Jun 2008
Posts: 220
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| barnz wrote: | @Kramer -
yes it is required to be a genius to post here. (Along with being geniuses, Aqua and I are both anciently old - that helps too)*. Come to think of it you should have received your secret genius society t-shirt before even lurking in the off topic forum. Can I see your credentials, please?
(Previous employ at IKEA is not required but counts for extra credit, as it is well known that Ingvar only hires MENSA members).
*For example, I don't have to click on the link to hear Teri Garr in my head singing "Roll, Roll, Roll in the hay..." Good One Aqua! |
Um.......well.......What would you say if I said I'm a not anciently old person, having never worked in Ikea OR taken a degree in botany in Adelaide, not a member of Mensa......
Hmm....Secret genius society T-shirts.....Well, I guess that since everyone on this forum is already a genius (hopefully), me included, I don't think I need such a T-shirt......
As for my credentials.....
Try: Guy (sadly) still attending high school....
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hackersmovie
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barnz
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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 423
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Krametash wrote: |
As for my credentials.....
Try: Guy (sadly) still attending high school....
|
Your penance to the elders is to design the
"I'm a secret genius" T-Shirt,
and to watch Young Frankenstein*, (as wll as all the other movies the old guys tell you to watch. Aqua just gets the first go.).
*That's pronounced frahnk-en-SHTEEN.
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JohnnyBoy
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Bobaloo
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Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 1591
Location: Huntington, New York
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| Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Aquafire wrote: | | barnz wrote: |
Bamboo is actually one of the most renewable resources on earth. It fits well with the "Green Ethos" as well as the aesthetic desires of those who live that way. |
Actually...it's not..
In many countries, Bamboo is an invasive pest that does untold enviromental damage to both land and rivers.
Bamboo is notorious, in that it sucks up much of the available nutrients in the soil and draws on huge amounts of water. It chokes the life out of the land, in that it kills off all competing native plants. When burning, it gives rise to high temperature fires, that often sterilize the soil beneath. It takes years for the microlife of the soil to recover. In many rivers where it was planted to stop erosion; it has now taken over with subsequent impacts on the breeding cycles of local water fowl, fish and other animals, dependent on a pristine native environments for their continued existence.
No doubt, in some areas, Bamboo has a benefit, but I doubt one can seriously support the claim that its the "most renewable resource on earth". As part of the wider "grasses group" yes..but of itself no.
In comparison, fodder & grain crops such as wheat, barley, oats & rice,etc (which are paret of the same family as bamboo); not only provide food for most of the worlds' human and domesticated animal population, which Bamboo does not..(sorry to say, 'Bamboo Shoots' are hardly up there as a major food source), but these same fodder and grain groups, also provide most of the raw material for fuel, as well as material for building, where dried stubble, is used with mud to make bricks, or as "straw~bale" houses...etc.
This genus of grasses also include specific species that 'fix nitrogen' and are benificial as a "green manure" that can be ploughed back into the soil.
They may not be as 'sexy' or as "trendy" as bamboo seems to be with certain sectors of the Green movement; but pound for pound, they far outstrip Bamboo in terms of enviromental benefit and renewability.
So if Dell really wanted to make a statement about enviromental renewables, they should have made the case out of compressed straw/hay/stubble...
Aqua |
Aqua,
Do we finally agree on something? Thanks for the post, my brother. As one who had battled with the scourge of bamboo for over 3 years, you are 100% right here. My neighbor, ( two neighbors ago,) had bamboo growing in his yard that he said had the proper containment. A six inch landscaping board is not that. One morning I woke up with spikes protruding from my grass extending 25' from the property line. It took me the better part of 3 years to get it cleaned up in my yard and the 3rd owner of the house next door finally went in with a backhoe to remove it. Not only did it invade my yard, but the yard behind me and the yard next to them.
If you plan on planting this, sure you install a plastic barrier on all 4 sides to contain it. This stuff is evil.
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Aquafire
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| Bobaloo wrote: | As one who had battled with the scourge of bamboo for over 3 years, you are 100% right here. My neighbor, ( two neighbors ago,) had bamboo growing in his yard that he said had the proper containment. A six inch landscaping board is not that. One morning I woke up with spikes protruding from my grass extending 25' from the property line. It took me the better part of 3 years to get it cleaned up in my yard and the 3rd owner of the house next door finally went in with a back-hoe to remove it. Not only did it invade my yard, but the yard behind me and the yard next to them.
If you plan on planting this, sure you install a plastic barrier on all 4 sides to contain it. This stuff is evil. |
You are certainly correct Bobaloo.
The tragedy with so many plants in an urban setting, is that landscapers & homemakers, so often choose species that are very pretty, while being destructive, or in other ways poisonous, or extremely difficult to get rid of. 
It's great to read that you chose to grub and hoe it out, rather than poisoning it. I would have loved to have seen that Back-hoe in operation..
| Bobaloo wrote: | | Do we finally agree on something? Thanks for the post, my brother. |
Well Bobaloo.
We may come from opposite sides of the political fence, but I would never doubt your sincerity, any more than I would disrespect your opinion. I may razz you from time to time, but thats' because of my being an Aussie and a Political & Scientific Curmudgeon*** ...
In as much, I guess the following sentences sum up that latter part of me...
" | Quote: | | They (Curmudgeons) have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor." |
But that said, yes...we are brothers who agree that the world needs changing....only...we disagree as to which road and what steps, to take, in the process of helping it out.
Aqua
***What is a Curmudgeon ?
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Bobaloo
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:04 am Post subject: |
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"
An angry young man grows up to be a crotchety and cantankerous old man.
Anybody lose a hockey puck???
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