Random

The question is: who gets to choose my null hypothesis? Chad asks whether there are "reasons" for being an atheist. This is an axiomatically incorrect question: the bigger question is what is the null hypothesis? Do we assume that there is a God and that she has some attributes, until evidence to the contrary is presented? Or, do we assume that there is no such thing as a God, until some evidence to the effect is presented? It would certainly seem simpler, ab initio, to start with the premise of No God, until and unless there is positive evidence to the contrary. A counter-argument would be…
One One Zero Two Instant cult classic 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 It is almost as if Information Itself wants To Be Free Eight Eight Cee One Take away One and then you are Done Someone quick and smart already got the t-shirt
is it just me, or is it becoming genuinely hard to find a finite priced trans-atlantic flight this summer? to anywhere over the pond. I've done a fair bit of travel on these routes over the years and I don't ever remember prices this high or schedules this constrained
Russia has suspended its compliance with the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe over the issue of US forward based missile defence systems This is brilliant! US foreign policy is an incoherent mess. But, now it has been reduced to a "previously known problem"! I expect an analytic solution will be derived any year know, probably in a small old house on an isolated island in the Atlantic.
Early stormy friday, and we ask the Omniscient iPod to prognosticate What will we hear from the early COROT discovery announcement due any day now? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh. The Covering: Aids - Yellowman The Crossing: Louie, Louie - Toots & The Maytals The Crown: Peaches - Stranglers The Root: Fiskurinn Hennar Stínu Haukar The Past: Sárt er að missa - Utangarðsmenn The Future: The Saturday Boy - Billy Bragg The Questioner: Di Provenza il mar - La Traviata The House: Tangó - Utangarðsmenn The Inside: Ready to Run (live) - Dixie Chicks The Outcome: Metropolis - the Pogues The…
do minor errors ruin good books? I feel very churlish being annoyed that Spin's author got M41 mixed up with M31 There were other errors, but this one was jarring. Good book though, fun read.
Oh, mighty iPod, it is a sunny, scary friday, and we ask hubmly: is dark energy really bad for astronomy? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh. The SDM riff The Covering: Lullaby of London - Pogues The Crossing: Pearly Dewdrops' Drops - Cocteau Twins The Crown: There's No One Like Me The Root: Í Grænni Lautu The Past: Take Down the Union Jack - Billy Bragg The Future: Like Soldiers Do - Billy Bragg The Questioner: Colpito qui m'avete - Pavarotti The House: Mr Parmacist - The Fall The Inside: Recitar!... Vesti la giubba - Pavarotti The Outcome: One Better Day - Madness So, not good, eh? As…
The humble 35mm film is rapidly vanishing, vanquished by ever improving digital cameras. But, in the process we're losing an invaluable resource: the humble film canister! These used to flood the world by the hundreds of millions each year, taken for granted, ever present. Now, they are a vanishing species. Selling for $0.05 EACH in large lots on eBay (I kid you not!) These things are useful! For everything from storing beads, to making alka seltzer rockets! K-12 outreach for the sciences could collapse. Hundreds of thousands of kids might become delinquent with boredom. There are…
USS Reagan is headed home Pulled into Pearl Harbour this week. The Y Ranter calls non-war this new moon Alex at FoE tells us what you need to bomb Iran Counting is a very powerful approach to reality. New moon is April 17th, the US Air Force's main advantage against a foe like Iran is stealth. Best time to strike is late night/early morning. So, all things being equal, the few days right after new moon are their time - otherwise those expensive stealth planes risk being silhouetted against a waning moon. To do the sort of strike that is being bandied about, requires serious assembly of…
In view of the weather, we ask the iPod: wazzup iPod? Anything exciting coming our way? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh. Traveling lite edition... The Covering: Mars Ultras, You'll Never Make the Station (liv) - Half Man, Half Biscuit The Crossing: Science Friction - XTC The Crown: Bright Lights - Special AKA The Root: Damaged Goods - Gang of Four The Past: Henry Kissinger - Monty Python The Future: Shut Up - Madness The Questioner: Decomposing Composers - Monty Python The House: Wibbleton to Wobbleton The Inside: Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle The Outcome: Come Go With Me…
Kurt Vonnegut RIP Dratt.
Björk held an outdoor concert monday night to introduce her new album, Volta I wasn't there, of course, but word is that it was good. Very good. Sounds like some of the songs are as good as her best work, and (not having heard it yet) the album may be excellent, and different, again. That'd be good. Album is out next month, first single is available as a download right now. (Yup, it is up on iTunes, just checked). YouTube snippet No pirate video from last nights concert, yet.
An ode to Princeton Professors: Don't try this at home... Rumour of War There are soldiers marching on the common today They were there again this evening They paced up and down like sea birds on the ground Before the storm clouds gathering I must buy whatever tinned food is left on the shelves They are testing the air raid sirens They've filled up the blood banks and emptied the beds At the hospital and the asylum I saw a man build a shelter in his garden today And we stood there idly chatting He said: "No, no I don't think war will come" Yet still he carried on digging Everything in my life…
Uwe Reinhardt, the James Madison Professor of Political Economy at Princeton makes a bold suggestion in the Daily Princetonian: Bomb Iceland! In lieu of bombing Iran. It is true that it'd be easier (easier still if the US had not broken its bilateral treaty with Iceland and abandoned its air base there), and it makes almost as much sense. It'd probably be cheaper; at least in the short run. But here is where he goes too far! "If we unleashed Shock and Awe in Reykjavik, we would generously compensate Iceland to the tune of, say, 275 percent of that country's $14 billion 2006 GDP -- a mere…
The aircraft carrier USS Reagan and its Carrier Strike Group have concluded 7th fleet operations Question is: which way did they head when they left; east, back home to San Diego; or, west to the 5th fleet area of operations? It has been a short tour if they go back home. I hope they have a good prompt trip back to the US. Hey, the 5th fleet now does podcasts! The Stennis has backed out of the gulf and is providing air support to Afghan forces. Also in the news, HMS Sir Bedivere brings a new platoon of Royal Marines to HMS Cornwall. Hope they are more careful with that batch.
"like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime" The LA Times' John Kenney reports: "...The F-14s flew by low. Each of us activated our earpieces and hand-held mini walkie-talkies, agreed on a frequency, and I slowed the car to 15 mph as Carol and the boys opened the doors and rolled out, taking cover under shrubbery near the Bibb lettuce stand (the boys love salad!)." Typical journamalisms! I mean, everybodyyyy knows that the F-14 was retired from service last year. The only people still flying F-14s are the Iranian Air Force... Oh, my god, you don't suppose they got Indiana…
Oh Good, Friday it is then. By special request, here in the urban area in which the true scientific miracle of the oracular omniscience of the iPod was first revealed, we ask a burning question: which of the Beyond Einstein missions will fly first? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh. The Covering: I dreamed I saw Phil Ochs Last Night - Billy Bragg The Crossing: Sigga Gamla - Edda The Crown: Recitativo The Root: Lagið sem hefði átt að vera leikið - Spilverk Þjóðanna The Past: Young Lust - Pink Floyd The Future: Wishing the Days Away - Billy Bragg The Questioner: Life During Wartime (live) -…
Iran claims Bushehr nuclear power station is "logistically complete" That means it is ready to be loaded with fuel and ought to be just a turn-key from being operational. Russia is reportedly holding back fuel for 2 months, pending UN process. Iran claims it has paid Russia in full and wants the fuel delivered now. Iran is also noting that Russia's delay validated its push to do its own uranium enrichment, with some justification, although it is a bit of a catch-22. Further, Iran announced its intent to tender for another power station, 2GW this time. There are conflicting reports about…
I think I finally figured what is going on with Iran and the hostages and the nuclear fuel and the aircraft carriers... it is a very elaborate google bomb. You wouldn't believe the number of hits Ahmadinejad has been getting (he needs to break the technorati top 1000 to really be in money I think, still a bit of a niche market - needs a bit of controversy to get over that last threshold) Oh, and don't believe "Operation Bite" I mean please! That just sucks. No, it bites. The Pentagon can do way better than that, personally I'm holding out for "Operation Rising Sun" Much more upbeat, kinda…
I don't know which is more annoying - seeing blue & maize clad athletes carrying another enormous trophy away from Penn State on the plane (well, two, actually, apparently, for men and women's gymnasts); or the fact that it even crossed my mind to care what team won a sports competition... There are real benefits to being at a university where you know sports don't matter at all, ever. As for the guy who was disappointed when I sat next to him instead of one of the female gymnasts: he was wearing an OSU sweater, she was UoM - ain't gonna happen... I was also reminded of why I never fly…