February 28, 2010
Somebody is RIGHT on the Internet!!!!11!!
...I would like to start by apologising for our handling of this situation. We have not communicated well with our forum volunteers and users (for example in my insensitive 'Outrage' post, which was written in the heat of the moment). In the process we have…
February 27, 2010
I admit up front that I'm going all paternalistic on the Dawkins Forum people, and Imma gonna let you finish your imminent self destruction and all, but first I wanted to use this moment in time as an object lesson in communication.
A letter was recently posted somewhere by the RDF forum staff to…
February 26, 2010
One of the reasons I blog is to put out stuff to see how others react to it. This is to ultimately modify and improve .... the stuff. I was rather amused a while back when we were discussing racist science, and I was accused of intentionally putting stuff out there to see what reactions it would…
February 26, 2010
According to The Internet, the Canadian females, many under drinking age by several days, partied on the ice after beating the American Team in Vancouver yesterday. They had champaign, beers, smoked cigars, and they got silly, attempting at one point to drive the Zamboni machine around on the ice…
February 26, 2010
... In other words, the next version of the Linux Kernel, versoin 2.6.33, is hereby released.
February 25, 2010
And not just because PZ Myers gets t00n'd.
... but because it doesn't really make anyone saying anything sound like they're singing. Sometimes it makes them sound like .... they are being Autotuned.
February 24, 2010
Imagine that you, as a greatly liked and respected person, found yourself overnight subjected to personal vilification on an unprecedented scale, from anonymous commenters on a website. Suppose you found yourself described as an "utter twat" a "suppurating rectum. A suppurating rat's rectum. A…
February 24, 2010
A preview.
Hat tip: Chuck Todd
February 24, 2010
From the NCSE:
OAKLAND, CA February 23, 2010
They came from Texas. Big, brawny men, with big, brawny brains. They had a mission: To make evolution education safe for kids throughout the Republic of Texas.
These three men--David Hillis, Gerald Skoog and Ron Wetherington---stood tall for evolution!…
February 24, 2010
A half century of struggle has resulted in more than a little change, which we hope is still ongoing.
I was moderately disturbed to see, while watching a brand new documentary on human evolution, credit for the "discovery" of a particular fossil given to a man who had not in fact discovered the…
February 23, 2010
Don't click on this or you will be distracted for the rest of the evening!
February 23, 2010
.... do NOT click on this link and play with this thing.
Hat Tip: Emma D.
February 21, 2010
Skaters performing in "Black Face" in 2010?
Here, I'm mainly responding to commentary I heard run prior to this appalling performance... you know, the back story on the athletes.
This is not hard. The word "aboriginal" means native. The Mohawk Indians are aboriginal to parts of New York State…
February 21, 2010
Not to stir up more trouble, but ...
February 21, 2010
Many people give credit to Ronald Reagan, when he climbed up on the Berlin Wall and personally kicked it down brick by brick while under fire from the East German Stasi.
Many people give credit to Team USA, the Hockey Team that beat the USSR team at the Lake Placid Olympics.
Still others credit…
February 21, 2010
Read Blunt Force English at Quiche Moraine
February 21, 2010
... well, not really, but they should!!!
Following two simple guidelines would help: 1) Don't ever change the function of installed software unless the user has requested it (don't even suggest it. Just sit there quietly until told othewise) and 2) Don't evern install new software. Ever. That is…
February 20, 2010
... especially for those I left behind.
"Oh... you're back. I see."
"Huh. Thought you might be staying in the hospital longer than that."
"Oh hai. I suppose you want your good chair back."
But seriously, this is where we find out what the true limitations of modern medicine are. Lying in the…
February 18, 2010
Yes, I fell and busted my knee on the ice. I don't want to go on and on about it, but here are the more important details:
It made a loud noise. I might have preferred a minor contusion, hairline fracture of the ulna, a cracked rib, and a minorly damaged knee rather than all 200 plus knee-…
February 18, 2010
... steady ... steady ...
February 16, 2010
An endless stream of ceiling tiles flow by punctuated by light fixtures, vents, and sprinkler heads. There is the occasional cracked tile and yes, the occasional duct tape. The morphine makes it interesting, and it occurs to me that until now I've only had this particular view of the world by…
February 16, 2010
It is with some reluctance that I recommend this. Lovecraft was important in science fiction and all, but the little I've read of his also stinks of racism, and not just the n-word southerny Mark Twain thing, but a true disdain for all that is not Mighty White. (This would be a case where…
February 16, 2010
Well, that is not a direct quote, but Google has admitted that the early version of Google Buzz had serious flaws related to privacy, and this may be related to Google having skipped a step with its testing process.
The BBC has a story on this.
...Buzz was only tested internally and bypassed more…
February 15, 2010
Trust and Critical Thinking at Science Online 2010.
There is discussion going on here, and the six videos are here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
February 15, 2010
Why? I'm not entirely sure. I guess so you can bring it on an airplane and play Super Mario Kart while traveling?
February 15, 2010
Café Scientifique: Waste = Food
Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater, Minneapolis, MN
Tickets: $5-$12
Call 612-825-8949 for reservations
University of Minnesota College of Design alum Sarah Wolbert promotes an ingenious view of rebalancing urban food…
February 15, 2010
Al Franken allies with Tom Coburn to oppose Uganda's death-to-homosexuals bill
Sen. Al Franken has signed on to a Senate resolution condemning a bill before Uganda's Parliament that would outlaw homosexuality and make it a crime punishable by death. (Hat tip: Minnesota Independent.)
What makes the…
February 15, 2010
In the wake of recent public meetings by the Texas Schoolboard, Russell Shorto has written an extensive piece for the New York Times Magazine. Shorto is the author of Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason (Vintage).
The Christian "truth" about America's…
