Thanks, Bob. > But I think that it does show the magnitude of the effect this topic is beginning to have on our lives.
My mistake to choose a topic that's too important. But they do say it's worth capturing the interest of the class. Also I was concerned to leverage the magnitude of the problem for its halo effect on two very mundane tasks: ++ copying data across correctly ++ making sure the code works (…once you've loaded all the J-words it needs :-) Most people just dismiss the issues arising as the way of the world. But never has so much hung on getting these simple matters right. Ian On Fri, 7 Jun 2019 at 19:26, 'robert therriault' via Chat < [email protected]> wrote: > You made your questions very clear Ian, > > But I think that it does show the magnitude of the effect this topic is > beginning to have on our lives. It would be like you had asked someone to > check trajectory numbers on incoming enemy fire. The first response may be > to be strategies on getting away from the danger, rather than to determine > the nature of the danger. It gives me hope that people react this way > initially, although I agree with you that the important part may be to look > at the situation more analytically. > > I will take a look at your project when I get a chance because I think > that the question of accuracy is important, but also because the subject > affects the entire planet. > > Nice application of the J resources. > > Cheers, bob > > > On Jun 7, 2019, at 11:14 AM, Ian Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> I'm going to put myself in the "not enough interest to try to figure > this > > out" category, for now. > > > > Whoa, folks. It's only an example! Let's not carried away by the > magnitude > > of the problem domain to refuse to focus on the two limited questions > I've > > asked. > > > > Let me repeat them, hopefully clarifying them… > > > > ++ are the input figures reliable, i.e. has the data been corrupted when > > moving it from web to SAMPLE9? > > ++ is TABULA calculating it right? > > > > These are purely questions of data integrity and code reliability. I > > thought everyone on this list was keenly interested in such issues. > > > > The first question arises from the deceptively simple task of looking up > a > > quantity on the web and transferring it into a calculating engine. > Simple, > > but errors can arise. Issues arise about where such-and-such a physical > > constant or observation comes from. How the end-user can verify its > source. > > Would it have helped if I'd phrased it in terms of looking up the current > > $/£ exchange rate? > > > > TABULA is distributed with tables of physical and chemical constants. Are > > they up-to-date? Have they been copied across correctly? Built-in tables > > are an inherently unsatisfactory solution. I'm now considering an > > interactive specialised browser, with which the user can locate any of > > these quantities on a given webpage, draw a box round them, and leave > > TABULA to fetch the numbers and units at the point of use. Hey presto: > > keying errors eliminated, up-to-date figures, near-perfect assurance of > the > > integrity of the data being fetched. Warning if the webpage has been > > corrupted or pulled. > > > > These, and only these, are the questions I'm interested in here. I just > > fail to see how I could possibly have made it clearer. > > > > On Fri, 7 Jun 2019 at 18:43, Raul Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> On Fri, Jun 7, 2019 at 12:18 PM Ian Clark <[email protected]> > wrote: > >>> Would anyone fancy checking my calculations? > >> > >> I don't, but if I did, I'd try to find an alternate way of getting the > >> same information and see if the numbers land in the same order of > >> magnitude. > >> > >> (For example, when talking about global temperature change over the > >> last century, I like double checking those kinds of numbers with rise > >> in sea level. Weather stations tend to be near airports, which tend to > >> have lots of asphalt, but sea level doesn't have that issue and the > >> thermal expansion coefficient of water is something I can easily find, > >> as are NOAA numbers on sea level...) > >> > >> So, if I were be double checking numbers related to CO2, I'd try to > >> find some similar thing. For actual levels, I don't have any good > >> ideas - maybe something optical? > >> > >> For cost of pulling it back out? The big mechanism there has always > >> been trees and similar vegetation. So maybe I'd check forestry service > >> records, or lumber statistics. I'd probably have to put some thought > >> into it though - maybe a few weeks before I had any really good ideas > >> on what to look for. Hopefully someone else has been doing this > >> thinking, but most people aren't really interested in doing that kind > >> of thinking. > >> > >> (Related: It takes about 60 years to grow a typical crop of trees for > >> lumber -- maybe 10 times that for something like Sitka Spruce -- and > >> during that time they relatively large amount of CO2 out of the > >> atmosphere. So if enough land is earmarked for vegetation, we should > >> be seeing a lot of CO2 being pulled out of the atmosphere. Well, that > >> and don't let them burn up in forest fires, for example.) > >> > >> Anyways, good luck, but I'm going to put myself in the "not enough > >> interest to try to figure this out" category, for now. Maybe if I > >> think up a good approach I'll change my mind. > >> > >> Thanks, > >> > >> -- > >> Raul > >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > >> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
