We mentioned before how we thought John Cook’s Hiroshima bomb global warming comparator sidebar widget for websites was ridiculous propaganda. True to form, yesterday the SkS Kidz tried to elevate the application status by creating what appears to be a fake “hack”, complete with a gussied up timeline of them supposedly solving the issue.
Of course, from my viewpoint, there was no hack at all, it was simply a juvenile attempt to draw attention to their widget by adding a collection of bogus metrics such as kitten sneezes, bovine flatulence, Santa chimney excursions, cheeseburgers, and yes, even “twerking” as these energy expenditures supposedly relate to heat collecting in the atmosphere. The hope was that it would generate some concern, maybe some outrage, which would translate to some news coverage. I’ve seen PR tricks like this before, and this wasn’t even a good one.
The dead giveaway is the way they describe the hack in the post about it. Gone are the concerned, simmering hushed condemnations we are used to hearing with their last embarrassment on the Internet, instead we get descriptions of each metric added with this bit of praise:
The bovine flatulence metric appears to get the total methane production from Methane Emissions from Cattle, by Johnson and Johnson, 1995, which puts the figure at 80 teragrams per year. The energy released by combusting methane is easy to find. Of course, this doesn’t account for increases in cattle populations in the past twenty years.
Other figures are easier to verify. The hacker at least seems to have done his (or her) homework.
But twerking by itself is just plain wrong. Mixing twerking with science is an abomination.
The comments left on the post also indicate some, but not all, figured out this “hack” was bogus. This was co-written by the same Bob Lacatena that supposedly had the previous SkS hack all figured out, only to be mocked by Lucia in six parts.
As Mark Steyn described in his uncertainty over Bill McKibben’s recent call for climate scientists to go on strike:
But I had to read this piece twice just to make sure it wasn’t one of those leaden April Fool’s jests the author can’t quite pull off.
In the case of this post from the SkS kids “…leaden April Fool’s jests the author can’t quite pull off.” sums it up pretty well in my opinion.
This PR widget was already ridiculous with Hiroshima bombs, now this lame attempt to bring attention to it on April Fools Day simply elevates their work to desperation status.
Crook’s Hiroshima bomb & kitten sneeze widget is a joke every day of the year, not just April fools.
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/search?q=hiroshima
I am left without words . ;>(
Sorry I will still Not Bother to visits SS.
There is enough rubbish in my life already.
Humor has to have a degree of truth to it. That is why it failed.
We need a widget for “missing Hiroshima Bombs”. The amounts that climate science originally forecast to be accumulating each year versus the amount that is actually happening and is then “missing”. Like most things in climate science, the amount missing is about 70% of that forecasted.
What is SkS? I did a search and couldn’t find anything credible via the results. Is there something I am missing here on page 30 or something?
If you convert Hiroshimas to W/m^2 it comes out to only 0.5 for the last 17 years, or only about 25% of the direct forcing of 1.94W/m^2 since preindustrial. This is NOT a widget for alarm, it is one for low sensitivity.
Sounds like 234,198.09878 Tempests in a Teapot to me.
I believe SkS inadvertently laid bear the ludicrousness of his H. bombs of energy by the equally acceptable kitten sneezes. Hey, why not. At least it would give them a human heart.
WUWT, Why draw attention to the SS kids?
Anthony/Mods… Delete this post after reading. Just an fyi…
Extra letter in word in first sentence: “Hiromshima” Drop middle “m”
[Done. Thank you. Mod]
There is a Russian saying that goes along the lines;
“A good joke is 10% joke and 90% true.”
This is not even 1% true which is why it fails as a joke.
Every day is April Fools at SkS.
Why is this website along with other alarmists bullshit always featured here?
“Mixing twerking with science is an abomination.”
Probably, but then there’s very little science at Skeptical Science to mix it with.
I’m Skeptical that man made CO2 is causing global warming, Climate Change is NOT exclusively anthropogenic.
When you’re as irrelevant as SkS, it can seem like you’re on your own planet in a foreign reality … and looney can seem sane … this AGW cult is really out there.
high-brow PR antics!
VIDEO 14.33: 1 April: Bloomberg TV: Global Warming Effects: Jeffrey Sachs, Michael Mann
On today’s “Charlie Rose,” a look at global warming and its effects which recently made headlines. Penn State professor Michael Mann, director of the Earth Institute Jeffrey Sachs and Princeton professor Michael Oppenheimer speak…
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/global-warming-effects-charlie-rose-04-01-8yMvdUaoT6Kt9Zd4WWiz7Q.html
Yup. Arrested puberty
SkS- hmmm… sounds like a Communist- developed weapon of conquest.
Ad-hoc hacks from a bunch of hicks…. Hick hoc hacks.
Yes Alan Robertson, that’s true but the picture is a Chinese Copy of The Russian Developed, “Samozariadnyia Karabina Simonova” (translated as “Russian military carbine”). Of course SKS has other meanings, but Cook’s Skeptical Science rarely has any meaning for me.
Other verified meanings for the abbreviation SKS include ….
Abbr. Meaning
SKS Szkolny Klub Sportowy (Polish: School Sports Club)
SKS Some Kind Soul
SKS Vojens Lufthavn, Denmark – Jojens (Airport Code)
SKS Snow King Special (Polaris Snowmobiles)
SKS Suomen Kartografinen Seura (Cartographic Society of Finland)
SKS Syarikat Kejuruteraan Sistematik Sdn Bhd (Brunei)
SKS Strany Konzervativní Smlouvy
SKS St Kevin’s School (Gold Coast, Australia)
SKS Stanley Knowles School (Winnipeg, MB, Canada)
SKS Svalbard KLM SDS Station
SKS Sustainable Knowledge Society (information science)
SKS Swayam Krushi Sangha
SKS Shanghai Krupp Stainless (Shanghia, China)
SKS SIRS Knowledge Source (ProQuest software)
SKS Smart Key System (cars)
There are a host of other known casual or “unverified meanings”
Shelby Kate Schmitz
Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura
Self Knowledge Symposium
Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran
Satuan Kredit Semester
Sistem Kredit Semester
Storm King School
Sigma Kappa Sigma
Stock for Standard
Skaitos Kompiuteriu Servisas
Szkolnego Klubu Sportowego
South Kent School
Skandinaviska Killi Saellskapet
Same Key System
Storage Key Storage
Schiff Kreidler Shell
Swayam Krishi Sangam
Survival Knife System
Sintrale Kommisje Skûtsjesilen
Sistem Kebut Semalam
Samaj Kalyan Sangstha
Sate Khas Senayan
Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset
Svenska Kemistsamfundet Swedish
Solar King Supply
Superconducting Kaon Spectrometer
Shwachman-Kulczycki score
sulfated keratan sulfate
Synchronizing Key Server
Sistem Kebut Semalem
Straight Key Standard
Schweizer Kavallerie Schwadron
Smart Kids Software
Slovenski Katehetski Svet
Single Kernel Simulation
Stocks and Shotgun
swayam krishi sangham
Sigma Kappa Sorority
Stop Kindersex Stop
Stichting Karnaval Steenbergen
Samozaryadnyi Karabin Sistemi
Sayoc Kali Silak
Skandinavisk Killi Selskab
Stapler Kran Service
Sintrale Kommisje Skutsjesilen
Sea Kayak Specialists
Scanning Kinetic Spectroscopy
Special Knowledge and Skills
Studentpartiet Kommunpartiet Studenterna
SuRgiCaL KiLLinG SprEE
Shariket Kahraba Skikda
Spatial Knowledge Systems
Schlamm Kompostierungs System
Silent Killing Squad
Sena Kalyan Sangstha
Solar Kombi Speicher
Smart Kids Savers
Symmetric Key Services
Segel Kameradschaft Scheppen
sight korsak svd
Samaj Kallyan Samity
Samaj Kallyan Sangstha
Shearing Knife Sheath
Studencki Komitet Solidarnosci
Sealed Knot Society
Sacramento Kings Sports
Samuel Kass Sam
Senhit Keren Seraye
Shaikh Kahlifa bin Salman
Staceyjoy Knitting Stitch
Stunt Kites in Sweden
Sundance Kayak School
Suzuki Katana Specials
Switzerland Karten der Schweiz
Science Killing Scoundrel
No doubt there are further possibilities.
These boobs say:
Heh, some environmentalists. The USEPA just released an updated methane inventory, including enteric emissions from cattle, methane contributions from manure etc.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2014-Main-Text.pdf
Just hack happy at SKS, the sound of one hand clapping or just heads exploding, situation as usual at the abnormal tree house, I feel another Josh cartoon coming on.
Could have been worse, their toy box might, maybe, perhaps, been broken into and their favourite dress up costumes taken.
As Mark Steyn described in his uncertainty over Bill McKibben’s recent call for climate scientists to go on strike:
————————————————————
Seems Mark Steyn is finding within the climate field a treasure trove of “interesting” personalities he can mock and ridicule. What fun this will be.
Ooops wrong thread.
Not content with trying to scare people with their end of world cries, they now try to scare their own patrons into stopping using their widgets … bizarre.
If you had a widget that reportedly (joke or no joke) had been hacked, would you keep it on your site?
I thought the Hiroshima bomb widget was the April Fool, am I wrong?
I thought the kitten sneezes was a p155take! Ah well, perhaps I failed the gullibility test there.
Science Killing Scoundrel says:
April 2, 2014 at 9:52 pm
______________
Yep, that’s a CHICOM copy of the Soviet SKS. CHICOMS are Commies, too. You went to a lot of trouble to deflect my hint that Greens are watermelons, Red inside.
I won’t say it’s always fun when
CommiesGreens drive by, but it’s always obvious.It’s probably sensible that somebody read and keep an eye on them, for their own safety if nothing else. But it’s not going to be me. Even here I won’t read most articles about that website.
How many cremations a day? Or is that too Hollocausty?
If you think your site has been compromised in any way you would take it down, or your ISP would. If a hacker can change a widget there is no telling what other nasties they can drop on the site. Leaving it up while it is being secured is no less that irresponsible. PowerDNS provide domain name resolution. I have informed them that for a period of time they were providing DNS for a compromised site. I don’t expect a response.
“”leaden April Fool’s jests the author can’t quite pull off.” sums it up pretty well in my opinion.”
I’m fairly convinced that somebody was pulling something off…..
Well at least SkS manages to occasionaly get above the 100,000 page rank mark.
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/skepticalscience.com
Pierre is slowly catching up on them though.
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/notrickszone.com
Steve smokes them.
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/stevengoddard.wordpress.com
Yes, if i followed SKS then I suppose I would continue to host the widget even after i thought it had been hacked.
The SKS have a strong following of true believers. After Bob Lacatena’s lengthy tale disclosing the hilarious details of a second incident in which user names and passwords were stolen their readers reacted oddly. Here’s an example,
“MP3CE at 08:16 AM on 24 March, 2014
Realy KUDOS to you, guys !!! What a great job you do here!”
I bet Cook couldn’t stop giggling when he thought of that.
OT. The BBC & the Wet Office in the UK are making hay whilst the Sun doesn’t shine about the weather conditions over here. For the first time I have heard them in the last couple of days down drone on about “pollution” over Britain, referring to UK emissions & EU emissions being blown over to us by winds from north Africa, aclong with vast dust clouds of sand particles, whipped up by well known meteorological phenomena, & being deposited on the ground, streets, & cars. They don’t miss a trick. The emission are ALWAY there ALL year round, not that they are significant in any case. So, what do they do? Classically, they get spokespersons/come-drama-queens to spout about “health” & “risk” telling us all that we should stay indoors all day, don’t do any strenuous exercise especially if you have a chest condition, coupled with the statements like We don’t (yes we do) want to panic or frighten people just make them aware (read scared)!” The good old Precautionary Principle is always good for a scare story! Where I live in Devon in the South-West of England, we have beautiful iron rich & fertile clayey soil, & it’s ALL mud when wet (as it is now), & ALL dust when dry as the tractors roar around the lanes! We’re used to it. Just letting you know what is coming your way re-ramping up the pollution scares as AGW is clearly dying in Europe, it’s just going to be a long lingering death. On Channel 4 News last night, Richard Tol, dissenting UNIPCC professor advising the GWPF & other organisations, was hung out to dry by biased anchorman/woman letting loose the Grantham Institute’s rabid dog Bob Ward unfettered rantings against Professor Tol, & very little opportunity for redress the balance, yet more not-so-impartial” reporting in the UK! Details over at Bishop Hill’s blog. AtB
PS the soil is red due to the iron I should have added!
… Pass ‘often wrong john’ a brown paper bag so that he can re-breathe some of his own co2 contribution to stop his giggling before he wets himself.
The stupid still burns. American cattle herds are at low levels not seen since 1953.
They can’t even do humor properly. And they expect people to take them seriously?
How about a widget to track the accumulation of bogus climate science? This could be represented in terms of m^3 of flatulence, gallons of acid reflux, pounds of manure, …
How many Krakatoas is that? 0.002?
Kitten sneezes divided by Hiroshima bombs times the cube root of pigs in a poke at half past a monkeys ass will equate to AGW logic about something…go figure…or not.
Quadrillion Kitten-Sneezes thus can be entered in the annals of the List of Humourous Measurements:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement
Kitten sneezes is a feature not a hack. Also more appropriate for the the mind numbed CACCA (CATastrophic anthropogenic climate change alarmist) crowd.