gregladen | December 8, 2016A few suggestions for holiday gifts, or library upgrades, in the topic of birds.
Thinking About Birds Thinking
Some very interesting books came out this year that investigate bird brains.
Bird Brain: An Exploration of Avian Intelligence by Nathan Emery is the best current book on animal intelligence, and one of the best bird books you'll be able to lay your hands on right now.
My review of the book is here.
What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World by Jon Young is an exploration of nature via the senses (mainly visual and auditory) of birds, and of the…
gregladen | December 8, 2016What happens when you imagine the worst case scenario. Then the thing happens, but it was worse than you thought it could be. What is that called? Worchester isn't just a city west of Boston anymore.
We have a new Ikonokast podcast out, and in it, we speak with Shawn Otto about what happened on November 7th 2015 and what it means. And, what you can do about it.Click here and enjoy.
The Ikonokast Podcast is also on Apple iTunes and Google Play so you subscribe, it will be in your inbox.
gregladen | December 7, 2016The Art of the Deal isn't just a book by Donald Trump any more.
It is American fiscal and foreign policy.
We haven't even started yet, and we've started. This is embarassing.
gregladen | December 7, 2016The Republicans don't care at all bout the law, the Constitution, freedom, security, or the people of the United States.
One way we ensure civilian control of the military is by restricting military associated individuals from being secretary of defense. It is not like it can't happen, but there has to be a waiting period.
Trump's current pick for this position is too fresh out of the military to legally take this roll.
So, the Republicans are changing the rules. Just for their own guy, though. Just for Trump's appointment.
Roll over, Republicans. Sit. Heel.
gregladen | December 7, 2016He started the process of stealing your democracy. Why? How? Have a look:
I will hold the electors who put his name in the ballot box as equally responsible.
Oh, and by the way, he also did this:
Donald Trump Picks GOP Oil Industry Ally, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, to Lead EPA
gregladen | December 7, 2016The CS Detective: An Algorithmic Tale of Crime, Conspiracy, and Computation by Jeremy Kubica is the tory of disgraced ex-detective and hardboiled private eye Frank Runtime.
Frank Runtime knows REGEX and is not afraid to use it.
From the publishers:
When a robbery hits police headquarters, it's up to Frank Runtime and his extensive search skills to catch the culprits. In this detective story, you'll learn how to use algorithmic tools to solve the case. Runtime scours smugglers' boats with binary search, tails spies with a search tree, escapes a prison with depth-first search, and picks locks…
gregladen | December 5, 2016Right now the number one problem we face in the US is the fact that a) the president of the United States can not be stopped or deterred from launching nuclear missiles if he choses to do so, by design; and b) Donald Trump will be inaugurated, if the electoral college so decides, in January.
If you are in a state that has electors slated to vote for Trump. send your city and state name to this email address:
votehrc@gmail.com
You will then receive instructions as to what to do next.
Pass it on.
gregladen | December 4, 2016According to NBC:
Standing Rock Chairman: Pipeline Plan Denial 'A Win For All Of America' 1:57
The secretary of the Army Corps of Engineers told Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II Sunday that the current route for the controversial Dakota Access pipeline will be denied.
"Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," the Army's Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a statement Sunday. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and…
gregladen | December 4, 2016Time to make sure you are stocked up and up to date on your climate science books. First, you will need reference materials throughout the holiday season, because Uncle Bob is going to challenge you more stridently than usual. Climate change deniers have taken over the US government. You are on the run. Underground. Up against the wall. So, you need to be ready. Uncle Bob is coming for you.
Second, you may want to give a few climate change related books away for the holidays. Know any science or social studies teachers? Maybe a nice book for Uncle Bob's wife? Ha, that would be funny. Anyway…
gregladen | December 3, 2016The press helped elect Donald Trump. The mainstream press loved itself that false balance, giving absurdly pseudo-even coverage to whatever tripe might be spewed by willfully ignorant conservatives. So, screw them, and we await their apology. Meanwhile, the tabloid press has made its own contribution to the problem. Part of that is impressing on so many minds such crazy crap that a large percentage of Americans (apparently about one half of the actual voters) will believe anything. Or, perhaps, simply don't care about what is real and what is not.
People are looking for things to do to…
gregladen | December 3, 2016Here I have just a few suggestions for science books for the kiddos. See this post for the adult version.
The Outdoor Science Lab for Kids and the other books in the same series are excellent, highly recommended, and reviewed here.
Treecology is also a science activity book that people seem to love. Chance are you already have it. Obviously, it focuses on trees, but that does not stop it from being year round, and there are, of course, many non-tree things that relate to trees, and that stuff is covered as well. My review.
Electronics for Kids and The Arduino Project Handbook are great…
gregladen | December 3, 2016Here is my selection of the top science books from 2016, excluding those mainly for kids. Also, I don't include climate change related books here either. (These will both be covered in separate posts.)
The number of books on this list is not large, and I think this was not the most prolific year ever for top science books. But, the ones on the list are great! For brevity, I'm mostly using the publisher's info below. Where I've reviewed the book, there is a link to that review. Click through to the reviews if you want to read my commentary, but in most cases, you can judge these books by…
gregladen | December 2, 2016The American alligator is found only in the US, and is widespread in Texas. It is found at several inland localities, and along the coast. And, it turns out that the preferred locations for many of the important activities in the day to day live of the American alligator overlap a great deal with humans.
Louise Hayes, biologist, and photographer Philippe Henry have produced, with TAMU Press, Alligators of Texas, a highly accessible, well written, and richly illustrated monograph on these beasts.
If you are into Alligators and their relatives, regardless of where you live, this book may…
gregladen | November 29, 2016You know that Donald Trump has been claiming very clearly and precisely that he won both the electoral and popular vote, and that it only looks like he did not win the popular vote because of voter fraud, meaning, that a certain number of American citizens voted twice, or otherwise rigged the elections. In fact, he explicitly says that millions of Americans voted illegally, accounting for the >2 million popular vote margin that Secretary Clinton currently holds.
Messing with voting in this manner is a serious crime, perhaps often a felony.
What we have here is Donald Trump accusing a…
gregladen | November 29, 2016... and loss of citizenship, which may amount to be thrown out of the country.
Flag burning may be obnoxious to many, but it is a constitutionally protected act, as long as it is your flag and you do it outside.
Presumptive President Elect Donald Trump has called for severe penalties for flag burners:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803567993036754944
By the way, if you strip someone of their citizenship, and you do throw them out of the country, it is possible that they will have no way to go or no way to get there. Once they are no longer US citizen, they can be tossed into a…
gregladen | November 28, 2016You know what LEGO is. Do you know what LEGO Ideas is?
This is a program where people -- not normal people but Lego Ninja Expert people -- propose lego builds. The builds are normally actually built, but some are just designed or have parts that are just designed. These propose builds are then vetted on a publicly available web space at LEGO. People "support" the project by providing a very simple evaluation and, basically, a vote.
If a proposed build gets 10,000 votes, it goes into review. I suppose the review process is important, or all future LEGO projeects would be about Boaty…
gregladen | November 28, 2016Trigger warning: This post contains several images of racist or similar messages found through history and throughout the world, including a handul from the US over the last few weeks. These are provided as documentation to go along with the text of this blog post and to inform the reader of the nature of these messages. Most of the images are from mainstream media and are regarded as genuine. If you feel any are not, indicate so in the comments if you like.
An antisemitic graffiti in Lithuania.
I am a scientist who studies race and racism and related topics. This includes the critique…
gregladen | November 26, 2016So, today I was on my way to the pharmacy to buy important medicine for my son. The medicine cost about 50 bucks, and I had a fifty dollar bill in my back pocket.
In my front pocket, I had a twenty.
Just before I walk into the pharmacy, this dude with a mask comes along and says, "I've got a gun, give me your money."
So, I hand him the $20. He grabs it out of my hand and runs away.
I went into the pharmacy, and as the pharmacist was preparing the medicine for my son, I called the police. A cop arrived within seconds.
The cop opens up his clipboard thingie to take notes, and I told him…
gregladen | November 25, 2016As you know, there is interest in doing a recount for the presidential balloting in three key states. The chance that a recount in these three states would change Trump's win (290 to 232 electoral votes) is small. But, it is possible that a recount could demonstrate irregularities that should be addressed.
Also, there is the possibility again small, of so-called "faithless electors" giving Trump a pass. If something like that happens, from Clinton's perspective, it would be nice if even one of these states flipped (most likely Wisconsin).
So, to keep track of the numbers, here are the…
gregladen | November 25, 2016The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide by Pawet "Sariel" Kmiec (Second Edition) tells you how to build machines, models, robots, etc. that will work.
You need to construct these things in a way that ensures they won't easily fall apart, and that requires a certain amount of engineering. There are some fairly expensive and specialized Lego Technic pieces that you may not have on hand, and this book can help you emulate them. How do you matcha motor or servo to a specific task? You need to know some stuff to make that decision sensibly. How do you make a transmission? Or an…