March 13, 2008
Firefox 3 is in testing, with the latest build, beta 4, released Monday. Mozilla is aiming for a final release of its flagship product before the end of the first quarter of 2008. Let's take a look at the changes coming down the pike.
You can grab a copy of the latest Firefox 3 beta from mozilla.…
March 13, 2008
There is an intersesting study being reported (at the annual Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness meetings in D.C.) on elementary school achievement gap dynamics. The study indicates that the usual "racial/ethnic" gaps are seen in early years, but that a lot of gap-closing happens by…
March 13, 2008
Ten Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus chicks have been moved by helicopter, from their current stronghold on Torishima Island to the site of a former colony 350 km to the South-east.
The potential for future volcanic events on Torishima is among the most serious threats to this…
March 13, 2008
A bird that was known only from two records from the 1920s has been discovered in the Pacific after a gap of 79 years. Sightings of the Critically Endangered Beck's Petrel Pseudobulweria becki - published by the British Ornithologists' Club - have finally proven the species is still in existence,…
March 13, 2008
Blowflies. They are nearly impossible to swat dead, because they are so good at getting out of the way, and they are very very fast. For this reason, the blowfly, while an annoying creature, is an excelent model for research into rapid sensory information processing.
A team of scientists from…
March 13, 2008
A woman was stopped at Munich airport after baggage control handlers found the skeleton of her brother sealed in a plastic bag in her luggage, police said Wednesday.
The 62-year-old woman and her 63-year-old friend, who both live in Italy, were hauled in by airport police Tuesday after a scan of…
March 13, 2008
Public Access Public MeetingThe NIH is hosting an Open meeting on public access (Bethesda, March 20, 2008). The purpose of the meeting is to air public comments on the new NIH OA policy. The agency is soliciting public comments in advance of the meeting, and about 50 commenters will be given five…
March 13, 2008
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment.…
March 13, 2008
Wikileaks has this:
208 scanned pages relating to the Church of Scientology's former "Office of Special Affairs" employee and subsequent apostate Frank Oliver. The documents are dated between 1986 and 1992 (inclusive), when, according to the file, Frank Oliver was declared a "suppressive person"…
March 13, 2008
You've probably heard that this is the year of the frog. But with all the hype about the election, the war, the economy, robots, and so on, it is easy to forget. The Wildlife Conservation Society has a nice frog slide show on this site, and a list of things you can do to save "the frog" and the…
March 12, 2008
The big, bad wolf could use a few friends. If western states remove the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act--a decision currently under debate--consequences could be grave. Wyoming and Idaho announced they would reduce their populations of approximately 300 and 700 wolves,…
March 12, 2008
(click the bunnies)
March 12, 2008
Charles Darwin turns 200 next year--Happy birthday, dude!--and the Peabody Museum of Natural History is getting excited. You would think that a couple centuries would have kicked the last bit of dust over the grave of "intelligent design," but sadly, it ain't so. The people at the Peabody still…
March 12, 2008
The Blog Carnival, is here, at Tangled up in Blue Guy
March 12, 2008
The Acid Test is a webs standards test to which browsers can be subjected to see which is best. Here are some of the current results for browsers that are released (the one you are likely to use if your software is reasonably well updated):
Konqueror on Ubuntu 7.10: 62%
Epiphany on Ubuntu 8.04: 59…
March 12, 2008
This is a picture of David Vitter, who was caught up in a prostitution ring in 2007. His face exhibits a certain look, one that may be referred to as an expression of shame.
Here we have New York Governor, or should I say the Former New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer, in a state of shame regarding…
March 12, 2008
... well, just a little carnival. More like a street fair. On a small side street:
Editorial: State must set standards for home schooling
Extreme circumstances make bad legal precedents. It's proven anew in last week's court ruling that would dismantle a thriving and diverse home-school…
March 12, 2008
There is a campaign to bring attention, of the public and of congress, to a five year long stagnation of NIH funding, which is being called a broken pipeline. NIH funding had been increased significantly prior to that, to address major shortfalls in funding for mostly medical research in key…
March 12, 2008
Last week, a secret recording emerged of a disturbing speech by Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern stating that homosexuality is a bigger threat to our nation than "terrorism or Islam." Rep. Kern has refused to apologize for her remarks.
She also said:
"They're going after two year olds...."
"…
March 12, 2008
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is going to resign any moment now.
Mr Spitzer, 48, made a public apology on Monday for what he called his unacceptable behaviour, but did not give details.
He was allegedly identified by federal agents arranging to meet a prostitute in a Washington hotel.
Mr…
March 12, 2008
The pending federal decision about whether to protect the polar bear as a threatened species is as much about climate science as it is about climate change.
The US Fish and Wildlife service is contemplating the listing of the obviusly endangered polar bear as a threatened species. Well, duh...…
March 12, 2008
hat tip: Miss Cellania
March 11, 2008
For the last several months, we've been cat sitting for our friends Gil and Gilliane. They are very good cats, and Amanda especially has bonded to them. Well, Gil and Gilliane are returning from their extended stay overseas, and want their cats back. There will be a certain emptiness when…
March 11, 2008
This was at the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin Texas. And it wasn't really him being heckled, exactly.
Business Week journalist Sarah Lacy was interviewing Zuckerberg on the stage, and apparently chose topics to ask him about that were of little interest to the audience. In other words,…
March 11, 2008
I remember, when I was getting to know Amanda, carefully exploring certain key issues such as this. It actually didn't take long to find out that we had almost identical political views, and perspectives on science, rational thinking, religion, and so on. (I say "almost" only because there is room…
March 11, 2008
This Thursday, at Stratton Hall, at the Cumberland Christian School.
The fair will feature roughly 80 projects created by sixth-, seventh-, and eighth- grade students. Students started working on the experiments and projects in early December. ... Stratton Hall will be open from 7 to 8:30 p.m.…
March 11, 2008
Check it out:
Dear Friend of the Bell Museum:
Thanks to your efforts, the Bell Museum's building project is included in both House and Senate versions of the Minnesota State Legislature's 2008 bonding recommendations.
Now is the time to contact Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to express your…
March 11, 2008
Yet another demonstration of creationist's inability to get what they want without resorting to ethically questionable behavior .....
Shortly before he was to attend a screening in January of the documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," ... Roger Moore, a film critic for The Orlando…
March 11, 2008
I have purchased a few songs from iTunes, but I don't like doing it. I have the sense that you are not really buying the song in the same way you do when you buy a CD. But I do use the iTunes software (for now) on my Windows box to keep track of the CDs I own. Eventually, I'll change how I do…
March 11, 2008
OMG!
A three-judge panel from the 2nd District Court of Appeals made it illegal on February 28 for any parent to home school their child, unless they have a teaching or tutor credential. Upon hearing the ruling, school districts officials began demanding that police take immediate action. So…
