https://www.posetteforever.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=3458&p=41258#p41258
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Endosphere
Tuesday, 12 May 2009, 11:12 PM

Re: Technology Run Amok
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Luckily (for reasons alluded by Tormie) it doesn't seem this detector would be very useful in assessing "carbon taxes," although some ambitious bureaucrats could certainly use it to hand out fines for other kinds of pollution or violating workplace "safety rules," etc.

According to the description, the detector works by measuring changes in air temperature and hydrogen sulfide concentrations, plus peak sound volume.  It comes up with a weighted average of these three factors and assigns a score to the event, then compares it against previously rated samples.  I thought it was especially funny that if (but only if) you get a high-[i]ranking[/i] score, a little fan automatically turns on to disperse the offending/prize-winning emissions.

An [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Altitude_Flatus_Expulsion]article linked off the Wikipedia article you guys mentioned was pretty funny too.  I used to think of mountain climbers as heroic brave explorers, but after the visual image I had in my mind while reading about "high altitude flatus expulsion" I'll never again think about [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Hillary]Sir Edmund Hillary without laughing.