Author: ideonexus
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ABC has Candidates Debate Gossip while Pressing Science Issues Languish
Considering the list of embarrassingly stupid questions ABC asked Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton last night (see also here, here, here, here, and here), one has to wonder why the candidates prefer such unproductive distractions to engaging the positive and enlightening Science Debate 2008. It was infuriating watching Barack Obama be questioned about his relationship…
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Review of Mike Judge’s “Idiocracy”
“There was a time when reading wasn’t just for fags. And neither was writing. People wrote books and movies. Movies with stories that made you care about whose ass it was and why it was farting. And I believe that time can come again!” – Joe Bowers, Idiocracy Channel-surfing with my siblings during a family…
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Break Your Children Off of Books Today
When I had to learn SQABasic for automated testing, I downloaded and printed out the 902 page reference guide, three-hole punched it, and put it into a three-ring binder. The only nice thing about this otherwise idiotic and wasteful act of mine was that I printed it two-up and double-sided to conserve paper. Now I’m…
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Speak English or Go Home!
Dare County has made English its official language, and I say it’s about time somebody finally took a stand! They show up in our country in droves, usurping our traditional values, and turning our culture on its head. Studies show they are bringing down our children’s grammar skills. They don’t pay taxes, and their influx…
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Yuri’s Night World Dance Party in Second Life 2008
Extropia Dance Party In David Brin’s science fiction book Kiln People, people make copies of themselves to aide with multi-tasking. Something we’d all like the power to do at times. Time isn’t money, it’s much more precious. Extropia Saturday night, unable to physically travel a hundred-plus miles to hang out at one of the parties…
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North Carolina Museum of Natural Science: Tropical Connections and Mountain Cove Forest
Two short sets this week, two big sets coming over the next two weeks. Mountain Cove Forest Inside the NCMoNS is one great big recreation of a forest, filled with taxidermied animals. The Mountain Cove Forest was the last of these. I prefer live animals to dead ones, but this was definately one of the…
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Why Religion is More Popular Than Science
Religion has FREE FOOD: Free Food at the New Life Church One of the local Elizabeth City churches gives out free dinners every night of the week. This is a fantastic community service, crucial for our impoverished small town. This isn’t just good works, it’s good business. Of course, it was science that refined the…
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Otherness
Alien… Weird… Foreign… Alterity… Strange… Xeno… Other. Scientists and philosophers have had a field day with the issues raised by communicating with aliens. Consider the Problems of Interplanetary and Interstellar Trade. When we finally do meet the aliens, at least we can rest assured that they’ll speak geek. Nothing compares to the otherness found in…
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Representative Monique M. Davis Spews Torrent of Hatred at Atheists
I covered America’s sanctioned prejudice against non-believers awhile back, but noted that there were some notable improvements in tolerance toward people of no faith in more recent years. Then Representative Monique M. Davis (D-Ill.) let loose a horrible attack on Rob Sherman, an atheist testifying against the state government’s plan to give $1 million to…
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The Mathematics of Cooperation
Bees Forsake Their Own Reproduction for the Benefit of the Hive Photo by Todd Huffman Humans are funny animals. We cooperate at a level of sophistication seen nowhere else on planet Earth. Teachers, food servicers, law enforcement, medical workers, farmers, entertainers, engineers, truck drivers, and a bazillion other specialized laborers make our survival in its…
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Calorie-Counting Whoas
Last night I did my regular routine of working the stationary bike to get my three aerobic exercise sessions in for the week (I do weight training the other three times). For one hour I kept my RPMs above 85, managing over 20 miles in one hour. I lost two pounds of water weight from…
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Human Memory Prosthesis
Cave Paintings became writing, photography, and film, sundials became clocks, the abacus became the calculator, and all of these other tools supplementing human cognition gave way to the computer. We are as smart as our technological brain-extensions allow us to reach beyond our grasp. Mathematician Von Neumann estimated the total memory storage for a human…