February 4, 2008
Or, if you want to spell something with a phone number, is there an easy way to do that? For instance, I made a joke on this comment using this cypher.
Here is a site, called "PhoneSpell" tht facilitates this sort of shenanigans.
February 4, 2008
Musician and activist Bono accepts the 2005 TED Prize with a riveting talk, arguing that aid to Africa isn't just another celebrity cause; it's a global emergency. He argues passionately that mere charity won't solve the serious problems facing the world's second-largest continent. The solution, he…
February 4, 2008
The first time I read the following passage from The Voyage, I was reminded of my own first experience in a rain forest (in Zaire). Evident in this passage is at least a glimmering of Darwin's appreciation for the complexity of ecosystems. Darwin could be considered the first scientific ecologist…
February 4, 2008
And, why were they cut? An interesting analysis of the effects of the cut or damaged undersea cables is available, and conspiracy theories about the reason for this event begin to emerge.
There is no way that the damage to four undersea cables in the same region of the world is a coincidence.…
February 3, 2008
A fourth undersea cable has broken, this one linking Qatar and the UAE. The cause is said to be unknown at this time, but there are reports that it was due to a power breakdown rather than a physical break in the cable. [source]
Meanwhile, the two cables that broke a few days in Egypt may not have…
February 3, 2008
And this is how the Europeans do it....
February 3, 2008
I am utterly undecided. Feel free to make a suggestion.
To me, it is simply not the case that in most regards one candidate has better positions than the other. The main difference I see is in that Clinton has articulated her positions in more detail than Obama. Obama seems to be running more of…
February 3, 2008
The next version of Ubuntu is getting closer to a new release. My one version old installation is working so well, I have not actually upgraded to the most current version. Here is an overview from a group that tested this new Alpha version, in which they discuss some of the new features and stuff…
February 3, 2008
Mel Gibson broke off relations with recently departed actor Heath Ledger after he spurned Gibson's advice not to accept the role of a gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain."
...
"Ledger asked Gibson whether he should take the role of Ennis Del Mar in 'Brokeback,'"...
"Gibson strongly counseled against…
February 3, 2008
What does the undersea world of the internet look like? This:
Click the image to see the full size version at The Guardian.
February 3, 2008
I'd like to point you to an interesting piece on teaching evolution in Florida:
Sometimes, Allyn Sue Baylor doesn't teach evolution in her science class, even though the state requires it. She knows of other teachers who duck the issue, too.
They fear a backlash.
"There are cases when parents have…
February 3, 2008
With all five school board members believing evolution should not be taught as fact, the School Board of Highlands County on Tuesday will consider a resolution opposing the state's proposed new science standards stance on evolution.
The proposed resolution states, "The board recognizes the…
February 3, 2008
Ralph Nader has formed a presidential exploratory committee and said he will launch another presidential run if he believes he can raise enough money to appear on most state ballots in the fall. ...
...now with John Edwards also out of the race, Nader said he feels his candidacy is more urgent than…
February 3, 2008
There many ways of dividing up and categorizing Natural Selection. For example, there are the Natural Selection, Sexual Selection and Artificial Selection, and then there is the Modes of Selection (Stabilizing, Directional, and Disruptive) trichotomy.
We sense that these are good because they…
February 3, 2008
Ed Brayton asks us to sign this online petition "...to keep the pressure on the state Board of Education to adopt the new proposed science standards as they are ..."
Please go do it.
February 3, 2008
Or at least, Caucus! (but caucus for Al, Really) It is sort of like going to the gym, but slower...Here's how it works:
Al's Site is Here.
The Caucus Finder is HERE.
February 3, 2008
Behold this humble passage by Darwin, which is what immediately follows his discussion of the octopus. This passage is a touchstone to several important aspects of what Darwin was doing and thinking, and is a poignant link to what Darwin did not know:
ST. PAUL'S ROCKS.--In crossing the Atlantic…
February 3, 2008
Have a good time.
But you may want to have a look at this.
NFL cracks down on Super Bowl church parties
Hat Tip: Evolgen
February 2, 2008
The Google Summer of Code is a project run by Google which matches up ideas, programmers (focusing on students) and OpenSource development project to advance the technology.
Speaking at open source conference Linux.conf.au yesterday (Thursday), Google's head of open source programs, Leslie Hawthorn…
February 2, 2008
This looks like a photograph of a mountain, possibly a volcano, with natural drainage systems emanating from it. But it is not.
It is actually a large depression with numerous troughs emanating, perhaps, into it. They can't be erosional features because that would require some kind of liquid,…
February 2, 2008
Tatiana was the captive Siberian Tiger who, on Christmas Day, leaped out of her cave to attack teenage boys who were taunting her. She killed one of them. Zookeepers are investigating how she did it, considering the possibility that the wall of her enclosure was not high enough (technically, it…
February 2, 2008
Solanum tuberosum, is an American cultivar related to the tomato and the eggplant (Remarkably, they are all in the same genus, but rarely to all three appear in the same dish). Potatoes, the lovely underground storage organ (USO) without which we would not have French Fries, or dipping chips to…
February 2, 2008
or at least, the US Space Age. And belated (sorry, The Space Age, please don't get mad at me!)
It was fifty years ago on Janurary 31st, 1958, when Explorer 1 was thrown into space by three Rocket Scientists (pictured here seconds before launch). Explorer 1 basically went up and then came down.…
February 2, 2008
"all human beings would like to be able to fly--not by plane or helicopter or oversize cannon, but strapped to a thunderous gadget with intuitive controls"
So, what's the problem with getting a functioning jet back off the ground? According a recent piece in Popular Mechanics, "everything."
First…
February 2, 2008
That's one way to turn French Onion Dip into Frenched Onion Dip.
A Clemson University Professor has tested George's Conundrum, also known as the Seinfeld Hypothesis of Germ Theory.
You know the story, and in case you don't, watch it here:
Double Dipping? 'Seinfeld' Was Right from PhysOrg.com…
February 2, 2008
Of his time on the Beagle (1832 - 1836), Darwin wrote, "The voyage of the Beagle has been by far the most important event in my life and has determined my whole career." Of the manuscript describing that voyage, he wrote, "The success of this my first literary child always tickles my vanity more…
February 2, 2008
In two apparently independent events, a total of three undersea cables normally carrying a large amount of data, including Internet and Telephone signals, have been cut. The first two cables were in the Eastern Mediterranean offshore from Egypt, and the third cut, apparently a day later, is…
