January 20, 2010
Last Fourth of July Weekend, I attended Skepchicon, which is a "track" at a "con" (where a con is a thing where everyone dresses up like Darth Vader or a Twilight character or whatever). I was on the panel for a couple of sessions and participated in others, and had a blast.
The most interesting…
January 20, 2010
An exit survey of Massachusetts voters confirms that "decreased turnout among constituencies that historically have voted for progressive candidates," combined with a strong Republican performance among independents, delivered Scott Brown the margins he needed to win.
think progress
January 20, 2010
On the next episode of Skeptically Speaking, a panel discussion on skepticism and race. Is the face of modern skepticism really as monochrome as it appears? How do we make our message appeal to a broader, more diverse audience? And how do racial demographics influence belief in pseudoscience and…
January 20, 2010
Or so says the new Pray for Healing web site, formerly known as the Pray for Trig web site.
The idea is to pray for a miracle. It is not clear what miracle they are looking for, but
...[t]he miracle must be something which can turn the hardest-hearted atheist to the Lord, helping bring us as a…
January 19, 2010
... from his position as Chair of the DSCC. The motto of the DSCC is "Committed to Electing a Democratic Senate." Just now, there was one ... ONE!!!!!! ... race in play. One that would be hard to lose. One that would be disastrous to lose.
Bob. Menendez. Needs. To. Resign. Now.
January 19, 2010
the blog carnival, is here.
January 19, 2010
This is bible thumpers breaking military rules, US law, and endangering the troops.
The war profiteers who do this admit it, and retorts that those who do not like the bible references printed on US military hardware are "not Christians." Presumably this means that their complaints are…
January 19, 2010
In a very very bad way. The FBI needs to get a grip.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
January 19, 2010
Being right or wrong, being smart or not so smart, being religious-born vs. atheist-born, skeptical or not, or recovered faithful, figuring out what to think or believe vs. receiving the way or the wisdom. . It's complicated.
Read: Core Values, Atheism and Religion, Mike's latest installment at…
January 19, 2010
Hat Tip: Jim
January 19, 2010
There is an interesting conversation developing on The Intersection (What Should Science Organizations Say About Religion? Answer: A Lot) to which this is my response:
The conversation you have modeled here (people talking past each other ... see the original post) is very close to what actually…
January 19, 2010
Now that USB 3.0 is out, when will Linux get it?
Well, Linux has it. Windows does not. Mac does not.
Are you shocked? If so, you have just exposed a limitation on your own thinking. Linux supports more hardware (overall configuration and bits and piece) than any other system, by far. Linux is…
January 18, 2010
This was a project by a high school video class. As you watch, you'll see objects doing things that they should not do as students take turns singing a Hall and Oats song while they walk/dance along the halls of their high school.
The entire thing is filmed backwards, which explains how paper…
January 18, 2010
Well, not really.
But, as noted in Eruptions, there is a new swarm of little earthquakes underneath the Yellowstone Caldera. You'll remember we discussed this here last time that happened. Since that time, of course, we've gotten to see what it would actually look like if the world's scariest…
January 18, 2010
is here art Ionian Enchantment. Please have a look, there is good stuff there. Honest. No need to be skeptical about it. Just go and look!
January 18, 2010
Miriam Goldstein of The Oyster's Garter will now be blogging at Deep Sea News.
Miriam is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch researcher featured here.
Bookmark DSN. Interesting things will be happening.
January 18, 2010
... in the latest episode of Psycho Talk.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
January 18, 2010
Last weekend I attended Science Online 2010, which is a conference of science communicators with a heavy mix of bloggers, many journalists and others from the print industry, an increasingly large number of book authors, and OpenX (X=access, notebook, science, or whatever) advocates and…
January 18, 2010
I will be doing a Cafe Scientifique with the above title on Tuesday, January 19 (tomorrow as I write this) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bryant Lake Bowl. Doors open at 6. Get there early or call for reservations! The venue is small and the last CS sold out. Call 612-825-8949 for reservations (tickets…
January 18, 2010
There are a LOT of videos coming out on Science Online 10. Go to YouTube and enter Scio10 in search and you'll see them. Here are a few chosen from what is there already.
This is not comprehensive ... but will give you a flavor of the event.
Enjoy:
(Caution: The sound levels change…
January 18, 2010
In reference to this
Bullet Point 1: I agree, and I wanted to do that to you but for some reason we did not hook up.
Bullet Point 2: It is good to match up the flesh to the sound, it changes everything!
Bullet Point 3: I'm sure you are right about the explosion. Brilliant, actually (imagine that…
January 18, 2010
Bullet point 1: I just laid down and passed out.
Bullet point 2: I stayed as far away from SciCurious as possible, for that very reason.
Bullet Point 3: I also want to bottle Damond Nollan.
Bullet Point 4: LOL. But seriously, this is a philosophy that not only applies to phones but to all…
January 18, 2010
Well, I got back last night, but then I was asleep until now. So, as I have my morning cup of coffee I'm going through a couple/few hundred emails. Sorry some comments were trapped in moderation, but I've released all the real ones.
Later, I'll tell you all about the conference. I had long…
January 16, 2010
Hat tip Kathy
January 15, 2010
If you haven't seen, ah, heard it, you should check it out. Free sounds. For free.
The Freesound Project is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds. Freesound focusses only on sound, not songs. This is what sets freesound apart from other splendid libraries like ccMixter. New…
January 15, 2010
Now, I know all the ditto heads are going to show up and start arguing whether or not "horse-whipped" is spelled with a dash, but that is just a distraction. Check this out:
You should be horse-whipped for the insult you have paid to the highest office of our nation.
Having followed President Obama…
January 14, 2010
Every time Rush Limbaugh opens his mouth I grow less enamored with the mindless fetish for free speech that permeates American culture. And notice that I use the word "culture" and not "civilization." Because as long as this sort of thing is routine on our airwaves, we ain't got that civilization…
January 14, 2010
All good things come to an end. But then if you work hard enough, you can get them back.
.... continued
Like I said earlier, I returned from South Africa in similar or better shape than I left in. And I kept that level of exercise up for a long time, and kept in shape for a long time. Over the…
January 14, 2010
The Center for Inquiry is accepting disaster-relief donations through its S.H.A.R.E. program to support those providing care to the survivors of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Jan. 12 near the capital city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
All donations--100 percent with no operating costs retained--will…
January 14, 2010
The new strain of virus is likely to replace the older one; and if there's a third wave later in the year it could be more virulent. We had the equivalent of a flu season's worth of illness and deaths from August to November, when there are normally very few. In Canada, most of the people who died…
