blog
razib | May 18, 2007Check out Julian Sanchez's v-log. I agree with the general thrust of his critique, but I'm also intrigued by the possibilities of turning v-logs into mini-Daily Shows as he does with the video splicing here (I assume he didn't spend a lot of time on this). I don't think it is really appropriate for science because it isn't like scientists normally are talking about their work on TV all the time, but perhaps when it comes to something with stem cell policy and the occasional "panel discussions" you see it might be interesting and funny.
razib | May 14, 2007I don't watch many films, but I thought I would pass this along...
Live and Become, never checked the time. Great film. It was long, but the time flew by.
Hot Fuzz, checked the time only once, 3/4 of the way through the film. Pretty good.
The Namesake, checked the time a fair amount, especially the second half of the film. Tried to do too much.
Spiderman 3, checked the time a lot. Am I old? The special effects didn't do it for me. Give me some 3-D CGI and smells or something new.
razib | May 9, 2007I have two blogs from The Atlantic's small flotilla, Ross Douthat & M. Yglesias, in my RSS reader. Now, one thing I notice is that there is a faux-tab1 at the top that allows you to toggle between these two blogs, as well as James Fallow's & Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish. But here's the thing: Sullivan's site doesn't have a tab to toggle back to the other sites within The Atlantic's blog confederacy! I suppose it is fair since he has the highest profile and brings the most readers, but I suspect that Jakob Nielsen might have a word to say about this sort of design architecture in…
razib | May 9, 2007Via William Saletan, Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus. Being an numbers man, I found this interesting:
Until this year, only pregnant women 35 and older were routinely tested to see if their fetuses had the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome. As a result many couples were given the diagnosis only at birth. But under a new recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, doctors have begun to offer a new, safer screening procedure to all pregnant women, regardless of age.
About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome…
razib | May 8, 2007A local coffee shop that I frequent carries Barista Magazine. Though I'm not a "coffee nerd," I pick it up to pass the time, and I noted an article which mentioned that the coffee is New York City is shockingly bad. Not that it is as bad, for example, as the coffee in Billings, Montana (no offense Billiings!). Rather, for a city famous for its food & culture it seems surprising that one would have to rely upon Starbucks as the font of all bean goodness. So what is it? Do people here disagree?*
* Please don't offer an opinion if you haven't had Pacific Northwest coffee!
razib | May 5, 2007I don't follow non-science news very closely. Most of my RSS feeds are science related. Nevertheless, I'm starting to get the sense that a recession is in the offing, and that we might be in the beginning of one right now. Anyone else get that feeling???
razib | May 1, 2007There's a local "wrap" bistro
where I often get my lunch, and they offer a wide selection of hot sauces for condiments. I always pick out Frank's RedHot Original because it's the hottest of the bunch. By "hot" I'm talking on a relative scale, it's a typical cayenne sauce, powerful enough to terrify civilians, but nothing intimidating for true soldiers. Nevertheless, I really enjoy its tangy flavor, it adds some extra dimensions of taste that nicely complement the heat (and compensate for its middle-row "spice" rating). It some ways it reminds me of the Trappey's Red Devil cayenne sauce,…
razib | May 1, 2007The post yesterday where I reflect David Dobb's departure from ScienceBlogs made me reconsider why I blog. There are many sorts of blogs out there. Some, like The Daily Kos, are involved in affecting social and political change. Others are basically notepads for personal hobbies. Many blogs are run by writers who have a "beat" and try out ideas and supplement their print content on the web. And so on. So why do I blog? To learn. I've made this pretty implicitly clear before, but I thought I would make it totally clear. This doesn't mean that other people can't learn from me, but,…
razib | April 30, 2007Below is why I haven't been blogging much....
~70 degrees fahrenheit, light breeze, no humidity....
razib | April 30, 2007Today we debuted the Denialism Blog, while David Dobbs of Smooth Pebbles bids farewell to ScienceBlogs. David offers cogent rationales for why he decided to leave ScienceBlogs (the proximate reason is that he just isn't posting much as far as bloggers go). One thing to note that is I don't think a blog is really worthwhile for most people without an intelligent commentariat. I've learned a lot from critiques, suggestions and recommendations from comments on my blogs over the past 5 years. Of course, the key is intelligent. Most humans aren't very smart, so they're basically just expending…
razib | April 25, 2007Final Update: Victory Day! In response to Shelley's request I've removed the text of the original email.
Update III: Shelly has another post on what she wants out of this:
Some have called for the boycott of all Wiley journals. While I appreciate the sentiment (more than any of you can know), I'm not sure that that is the best idea for science. I'd like to think that we bloggers can deal with these types of things with some grace, roll with the punches, get up, and keep on going. Wiley didn't exercise the best judgment in choosing to prod me into submission, but I don't think we have to…
razib | April 22, 2007Chris of Mixing Memory rips into the usual suspects for analogizing atheist activism with the women's suffrage movement. I have basically taken a sabbatical from these SB intramural debates about religion, Creationism, etc. So I'll let you comment over there. But, I will offer that I've never been jumped for being an atheist, but I have for being a "sand nigger." So I hope people will maintain some perspective....
Update: Also @ Mike's & Josh's.