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gregladen | September 17, 2009This is the 199th anniversary of one of the many, many events in Mexico that can be thought of as formative in its long and complex history. Mike has an interesting post comparing the very different patterns of "Independence Making" in Mexico vs. the US.
One of the biggest differences, of course, was that the Native American population in what is now the US was much more systematically exterminated than was the Mexican native population. That meant that when the revolution came, the guns were being held primarily in brown hands in Mexico and white hands in the British colonies.
Anyway…
grrlscientist | September 17, 2009
Video created by The Sneer Review.
Since I have recently developed quite a history of visiting cold and snowy places, often during the winter (remember Morris, Minnesota in January? Or how about Helsinki, Finland in November, then again in February?), I wish to preserve that tradition. I am competing for the opportunity to go to Antarctica in February 2010 -- a dream adventure that I've always wanted to pursue (and almost did pursue when I was an undergraduate researching Fin Whales and Crabeater Seals at the University of Washington). To enter, all candidates must publish a picture of…
cortex | September 17, 2009There's one other angle to the social network story that I wasn't able to mention in my Wired essay. Right now, retail companies are investing a pretty penny in consumer preference algorithms, that AI software which suggests books to buy on Amazon, and DVD's to rent on Netflix, and songs to purchase on iTunes. The assumption is that human preferences are predictable - if you like Bob Dylan, you'll probably like Astral Weeks; if you like How We Decide, you might like Predictably Irrational; if you like The Wire, you might like Homicide, or The Shield.
These algorithms have their limitations,…
mspringer | September 17, 2009I note an interesting short piece by James Hrynyshyn about a bit of a local controversy in Nova Scotia about the installation of a tower to provide wireless internet to the area. Leading the opposition is a guy worried about the health effects:
"I think over a period of time it will change the DNA of the garlic because it shakes up the molecules," he said Tuesday.
EastLink uses microwave transmission to provide high-speed internet access to rural areas outside its wired network.
Levine said he moved to the country to get away from pollution, and he sees the radiation from the towers as…
gregladen | September 17, 2009As you know, Mary of Peter Paul and Mary has died. So has Henry Gibson. Although I did go through a folk music phase ... worked in a folk-music coffee house for a while and everything (and I went to school with Kay Wilkie, I got a cat from Arlo Guthrie, and Pete Seeger was the first member of the nature conservation organization I started when I was a kid and so on) ... I was always much more comfortable in the Niel Young - Zappa part of the spectrum. Henry Gibson, who's heart was bigger than his 1970s period lapels, was a regular on Laugh-In, which was, at the time, a very funny TV show…
sb admin | September 17, 2009by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
I just got my seasonal flu shot. It was free and my medical center is encouraging everyone to get one. I wouldn't be telling the truth if I said I didn't feel it at all, but in all honesty, I hardly felt it. They must be using smaller needles these days. Anyway, given that most circulating flu virus is pandemic swine flu H1N1, for which a vaccine is not yet available (coming soon to a clinic near you, we're told), you might wonder why I -- or anyone --would bother. I'll do my best to explain my reasoning, but I'll grant at the outset I may have…
grrlscientist | September 16, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 6544 - 2997 - 1973 - 1938 - 1261 out of 611 candidates registered. With less than 2 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. [Yes, you can change who you voted for, even if you voted weeks or months ago! All you have to do is log in using the account you created to cast your original vote, a process that takes only seconds] Already, two of my fellow competitors are appealing to their supporters to…
gregladen | September 16, 2009Amanda got her official letter today indicating that she has a Masters Degree in Biology from the University of Minnesota. This letter is important because it is what she shows her school HR department so they can give her the tiny raise teachers get if they have a Masters Degree.
They U sent it by airmail:
Which is good, because we live really really far from the U but close to the airport:
NOT!!!!
I wonder if the letter flew to Chicago and back before getting delivered?
gregladen | September 16, 2009Disney plans to remake Yellow Submarine ... in 3D. What I want to know is, how did the Blue Meanies get hold of the rights to this film anyway?
A 3D remake of The Beatles' 1968 film Yellow Submarine has been confirmed, Disney Studios has announced.
It will incorporate the 16 Beatles songs and recordings from the original animated film.
Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook said the new film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis using the same motion-capture effects employed in Polar Express.
bbc
gregladen | September 16, 2009St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Bill Foster believes, contrary to the overwhelming majority of scientists, that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. He believes the world literally was created in six days, and he once complained to school officials when his son was taught about Darwin's theory of evolution in fifth grade.
Is that relevant to the campaign for mayor of Florida's fourth largest city?
Yes!! And in a place like St. Petersburg Florida, it virtually guarantees a landslide victory for this yahoo!
"This city is trying to increase its employment base with respect to scientific…
grrlscientist | September 16, 2009Everyone loves free books, right? Well, I know I do, and since I've got a huge stack of books in my apartment that are seeking a loving home, I want to share them with you. These books are duplicates of review copies, advance reading copies and uncorrected proofs as well as some books that I purchased or somehow obtained. All books are in excellent (like new) shape, unless otherwise noted. I am offering them to you several times per week for the next few months, free of charge, although I will ask you to pay the cost of the shipping envelope and postage for mailing each book to you. Below the…
gregladen | September 16, 2009I'm getting bored playing with Mike H. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I've replaced most of the links to his blog, Crook's Shadow, with alternative, funny links. That is partly because I don't want to accidentally give his blog any technorati (or other) cred, and partly because it amuses me.
But I am getting tired of him. He's stopped making utterly stupid arguments and now all he does is thumb his nose and and pick his nose and who knows what else he is doing to his nose. (I think that's his nose, anyway.)
One one hand I don't like banning people. On the other hand I have…
mspringer | September 16, 2009Let's say you've got a water molecule. It doesn't have to be water, but it helps if it's one we can easily picture:
You can imagine water vapor as an ensemble of many of these molecules flying and bouncing around in their container. This translational motion is not the only kind of motion they're executing. They're also rotating, and each impact with another molecule can change the speed and direction of that rotation. Not only are the molecules translating and rotating, they're also vibrating. The relative positions of the two hydrogen and one oxygen atom are not fixed rigidly, but in…
dgmacarthur | September 16, 2009 In this final post of their three-part series, lawyers Daniel Vorhaus and Lawrence Moore of the superb blog Genomics Law Report analyse the legal repercussions of a personal genomics company going bankrupt. In part one of the series Vorhaus and Moore analysed the privacy policies of two representative personal genomics companies, while part two was a detailed examination of the complex legal issues surrounding the treatment of customer genetic data in the event of company bankruptcy.
In this final installment, Vorhaus and Moore bring it all together to explain the implications for personal…
cwilcox | September 15, 2009I did a guest post for Paw-Talk.Net, a great blog about animals of all kinds. It's about eight of the cutest endangered species - so go check it out for your weekly dose!
grrlscientist | September 15, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 6446 - 2857 - 1955 - 1920 - 1259 out of 606 candidates registered. With only 2 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. [Yes, you can change who you voted for, even if you voted weeks or months ago! All you have to do is log in using the account you created to cast your original vote, a process that takes only seconds] Already, two of my fellow competitors are appealing to their supporters to change…
gregladen | September 15, 2009In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, former Democratic President Jimmy Carter attributed much of the conservative opposition that President Obama is receiving to the issue of race.
"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man," Carter said.
Read the rest here
gregladen | September 15, 2009Premiering October 6th, the two-hour drama will coincide with the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of his seminal work On the Origin of the Species.
In 1858 Charles Darwin received a letter from naturalist Alfred Wallace, explaining his own theory of evolution. This was the trigger event that led to the publication of Darwin's seminal theory on the origin of species.
Nova/NGS trailer:
gregladen | September 15, 2009... than it was. Because it's got these dohickeys on the bottom now that will make it easier for you, dear reader, and I do love you all, to tweet, stumbleon, digg, whatever, the posts that you like. So please do that!!!!
I thank the Scinceblogs Dot Com overlords for this wonderful gift.
gregladen | September 15, 2009Rebuke. v. Call on the carpet: censure severely or angrily; "The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car"; "The deputy ragged the Prime Minister"; "The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup"
The house rebuked Wilson. It was almost a party line vote, but not completely. The wisdom on the street is that the Democrats will pay a small cost for this, as Wilson, the snotty face whinging Republican from South Carolina will play the victim. But, the wisdom on the street is also that this was the right thing to do.
That is the difference between Republicans and…