gregladen | December 9, 2008He's not saying.
Is Norm Coleman under investigation in connection with the claims made in a lawsuit alleging that a longtime supporter, Nasser Kazeminy, used an insurance company that employs Coleman's wife to illegally pass money to Coleman?
Could be...
Last month, a Minnesota good-government group sent letters to the FBI and the Senate ethics committee, calling on both to investigate the charges. Coleman quickly responded by declaring in a statement:
I not only welcome such an investigation, but I am eager to have it move forward immediately.
That forthright response made us wonder…
gregladen | December 8, 2008This evening we have two topics to cover in the area of domestic engineering. The first has to do with shopping (for groceries) and the second has to do with dishwashers.
First, and this will be brief, on the shopping for groceries:
Grocery Shopping
You know how each person goes up to the conveyor belt and puts their purchase items down, and perhaps places a plastic stick (provided by the store) behind your items (or if necessary in front as well) in order to separate the items that you are purchasing from those of other shoppers?
Well, you're doin' it wrong!!!!
Or at least, some of you…
gregladen | December 8, 2008I'm putting the following below the fold because it may be offensive to some. But it's really funny.
Normally I don't like humor that makes fun of PC, because it is usually not funny. But this is Linux humor, and there are some gems. Like the "less" and "more" command joke. Ha!
I totally stole this from Linux Personagerie.
Enjoy.
---------- the fold ----------
Politically Correct UNIX: System VI Release Notes
UTILITIES
"man" pages are now called "person" pages.
Similarly, "hangman" is now the "person_executed_by_an_oppressive_regime".
To avoid casting aspersions on our feline friends…
gregladen | December 8, 2008Remember the Atheist Sign that ruined everything for everybody up in Washington State? Well, now those damn free thinkers are going to impose their freedom of speech on the god fearing (or should that be "atheist fearing") people of Illinois.
Here's the sign being provided by the Freedom from Religion Foundation:
And it will be placed in the Illinois City Hall in Springfield. Right down from Homer and Marge's place.
Hat tip: The Friendly Atheist.
gregladen | December 8, 2008Emily Badger writing at Miller-McCune's blog has a thoughtful piece on how George Bush ruined science for everybody:
Barack Obama received a relatively quiet endorsement on Aug. 23 from 61 of the country's Nobel laureates in physics, medicine and chemistry -- scientific heavyweights who used the occasion to both call for a scientific renewal in America and critique the state of American science at the end of the Bush era.
"During the administration of George W. Bush," their open letter charged, "vital parts of our country's scientific enterprise have been damaged by stagnant or declining…
gregladen | December 8, 2008The copying of DNA's master instructions into messenger molecules of RNA, a process known as DNA transcription, has always been thought to be a unidirectional process whereby a copying machine starts and moves in one direction. But in work that represents a fundamental shift in scientists' understanding of the phenomenon, MIT researchers have found evidence that two DNA copying machines frequently start from the same site and move in different directions.
Press release here
gregladen | December 8, 2008The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.
details
gregladen | December 8, 2008The atheists ... this time disguised as hedonistic sun worshipers ... are at it again. A "Winter Solstice" sign bought and paid for by the Freedom from Religion Foundation identifying religion as "Myth and supersition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds" was put up at a holiday display.
A whole bunch of religious yahoos got really mad. They claim that the sign is offensive and should be suppresses. So much for tolerance.
The Freedom From Thinking Independantly Foundation (I'm making that part up) held a big-ol' rally at the State Capitol. (Details here.)
Also at the capitol were…
gregladen | December 7, 2008But almost no papers report retraction of the story following the coroner's verdict that the vaccine played no part in the death.
On Tuesday the Telegraph, the Independent, the Mirror, the Express, the Mail, and the Metro all reported that a coroner was hearing the case of a toddler who died after receiving the MMR vaccine, which the parents blamed for their loss. Toddler 'died after MMR jab' (Metro), 'Healthy' baby died after MMR jab (Independent), you know the headlines by now.
On Thursday the coroner announced his verdict: the vaccine played no part in this child's death. So far, of the…
gregladen | December 7, 2008And the results are at the same time boring and astonishing. I mean, look at this graph:
Never mind the details of the graph. The point is that the two distros, running on an almost identical Linux kernel and using identical desktops and an almost identical X system, are almost identical when run on an identical computer.
Details here if you must know.
gregladen | December 7, 2008This is a bunch of people getting their science news in 3D:
It must be a story about one of those parasites that come flying out of your head after breeding in your brain or something.
Anyway, 3D Science News is HERE.
gregladen | December 7, 2008Genetic Tests of Athletic Prowess -- For Babies
A new genetic test offers to predict the sports at which a baby will someday excel. But even if the science were sound -- it's not -- this might not be a good idea.
The $150 test, offered by Colorado-based Atlas Sports Genetics, looks at ACTN3, a gene that codes for fast-twitch muscle fiber.
Details here, and a related commentary here.
Horrifying parasitic illness reaches all-time low from PhysOrg.com
(AP) -- Cases of Guinea worm disease - a horrifying infection that culminates in worms coming out of a victim's skin - have reached an all-…
gregladen | December 7, 2008Welcome to the War on Christmas.
As I think it was Mike who pointed out for himself, "Happy Holidays" is what I learned to say when I was a kid because it was inclusive of New Years. Later, it continued to make sense because I discovered Jewish People. Eventually, by the time I was ten or so, it became apparent that there were actually a number of other religions. Then, eventually, it became clear that there were people (like me, it turns out) who do not affiliate with any relgion but still like to sing Christmas carols. OK, I perwsonally do not sing the chrismas carols, but I do EAT THE…
gregladen | December 7, 2008... so, you think can sing, eh?
Well, Desiree Schell, talk show host with Q. Transmissions of Edmonton, Canada, has asked me to tell you about a contest.
Q Transmissions wants YOU to sing us what is sure to be the next smash hit on the Skeptical charts... Fervent Unbeliever!
...
Perform your best rendition of the song. YouTube, your blackberry, your laptop... it doesn't matter how you do it as long as we hear your lovely (or not so lovely) voice serenading us. Like this!
Get all the fame and prestige that a skeptical talk-show on a community radio station can provide. And a prize!
Go to Q…
gregladen | December 7, 2008
So how do you get your stickers? We may be all about speedy electronic communication, but this time we're going old school with snail mail. Just send a self-addressed stamped envelope (along with a note if you're so inclined) to:
Send me some Gmail stickers already
P.O. Box 391420
Mountain View, CA 94039-1420
gregladen | December 6, 2008Oliver G. Selfridge, an innovator in early computer science and artificial intelligence, died on Wednesday in Boston. He was 82.
The cause was injuries suffered in a fall on Sunday at his home in nearby Belmont, Mass., said his companion, Edwina L. Rissland.
Credited with coining the term "intelligent agents," for software programs capable of observing and responding to changes in their environment, Mr. Selfridge theorized about far more, including devices that would not only automate certain tasks but also learn through practice how to perform them better, faster and more cheaply.
NYT