The Weekly Gnuz & Lynx Roundup for Caturday, 2013/06/08

Neil deGrasse Tyson at The Amazing Meeting 6. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

G’day. I’m taking a break from a few things to allow for study and for research on a project of mine, and to recover from the recent funeral service I attended this last Wednesday. That includes much live posting on this blog, though I’ll continue to update it with queued posts.

I’m experimenting with Mandelbulber again and learning new tricks with Fractal Domains, so I’m keeping myself busy reading and generating images. As I type this, I’m at the game shop getting ready to review notes and take new ones from my literary and creative writing courses, both quite good so far, and I’ll post reviews of them when they are completed, or perhaps do those of individual lectures as I finish studying from them, which should be fun.

My sympathies go out to twitterer @Ravenpenny and his family on the passing of his grandmother, and a shoutout to my friends Kate, Kari and Stu Barton in thanks for their fantastic support this week.

Peeps like you make this oblate spheroid of a planet go ’round.

Talotaa Frang.

Bloggies

• Sunday Evening Commentarium for 2013/06/02
• Science Denial, Science Education, and Social Justice
• Sharon Hill – Sounds Sciencey at NECSS 2013
• 10 Questions for Neil deGrasse Tyson
• French Bulldog vs Cat
• Fractals of the Week: Blogging Hiatus Thumbnail Edition
• ‘I Am Offended’ – Richard Dawkins @ UC Berkeley
• Nanomaterials: The Science of the Small
• Calculating the Odds of Intelligent Life

Others’ Bloggies

• How Rationality Can Make Your Life More Awesome
• The Science of Consciousness
• Slacktivism — helpful or not?
• Gullibility and Pseudoscience: Bridged by Headlines
• Little Kitten — Lawrence Leung looks at Reality Television
• Star Trek — Into Bad Science
• Teh Return of the Hideous Dog from the Philippines
• PA House Bill 612 on licensing naturopaths: Opposition fail
• In Conversation: Shelley Segal and Mr Oz Atheist

Gnuz & Odd Stuff

• Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Kicked Out of Bilderberg Conference Hotel (Video). Again. He just can’t mind his Ps and Qs, can he?
• Seattle woman attempts to live on sunlight, water Suicidal much? Silly human, photosynthesis is for plants!
  
• Oh, those tricksy little goblins… Prophet sends goblins to steal woman’s g-strings. Drama as goblin falls out of man’s trousers in a commuter omnibus. This seems to happen a lot in Zimbabwe….
• Creationist advocates Biblical flood in Iowa media
• Scientists find oldest feathered dinosaur yet: Sorry, Archaeopteryx. — Maybe, if it hasn’t merely been faked like many fossils out of China have been…
• Side effects may vary: the growing problem of unregulated medical apps.
• An insider opens up about problems with paranormal investigation.
• GOP Candidate: Yoga Opens You to Satanic Possession – Garance Franke-Ruta Quite silly. I’m ashamed for my state when people like this can get into public office…
• …and for this, as well — Virginia man pleads no contest in daughter’s death, saying he believed demon possessed her.
• Europe’s updated Particle Physics Plan Weighty with Global Implications
• Can a mammoth carcass really preserve flowing blood and possibly live cells?
• Ghost Stories: Scams Targeting S.F.’s Cantonese Community Reveal the Terrible Power of Belief.

Bloggy Stats

• 129,290 pageviews,
• 1920 comments approved (deleted intra-site pingbacks),
• 2,123 posts published as of this update,
• 210 awesome WordPress & email subscribers,
• 2,040 Twitter fellows,
• 19 Likes on this site’s FB page,
• and 272 Tumblr fellows.

Thank you all!

Amazing Resonance experiment!

Buzz Aldrin & Thomas Dolby Perform “She Blinded me with Science”

reblogged from…

Token Skeptic

xkcd: Nomenclature

The Weekly Gnuz & Lynx Roundup for Caturday, 2013/06/01

G’day! This week was busy, and just may see the completion of the current course of study – the current disk of lectures will be completed this morning, and the last of five begun at library or ye olde gaming shoppe — whichever is quieter — this coming afternoon.

My sister had to go into the hospital, but seems in better condition now, which is very, very good. Mr Eccles was being his usual bad self, playful little kitteh that he is, and seems to enjoy the strangest things, like tossed feathers, but that’s cats for you.

I did get study done at library a couple of days this week, though I’ve still got a few practice assignments ahead of me to complete, but that’s cool. The last two lectures were fun, dealing with number patterns – palindromes, black holes, locks, and other fun things to do with simple maths in interestingly complex ways.

I’ve also started on a classic by Chuck Darwin — Origin of Species — yes, THAT book. It’s a dense read, but very informative, though the science is mostly of historical value and largely supplanted by modern evolution over more than 150 years.

Evolution evolves, like any well-supported idea that continues to be of use, being fortunate enough to resist serious attempts to falsify it by scientists themselves.

Stay cool, stay brilliant, and pay no attention to fractal Tyrannosaurs if you see them. Chances are it’s all in your head.

Bloggies

• Sunday Evening Commentarium for 2013/05/26
• Space Oddity Chris Hadfield covers David Bowie
• Sir David Attenborough speaks fractal quote
• Fractals of the Week: Newton’s Method Edition More infinitely complex nightmares via simple maths
• Why the Quest for Certain Knowledge Fails Why our search for an utterly unshakeable foundation for knowledge has proven fruitless, and unnecessary.
• Dick Feynman on the Methods of Science My favorite late 20th century physicist discusses the scientific and non-scientific ways of finding things out, and the power and elegance of the former.

Others’ Bloggies

• Unexpected Reprecussions from Michelle Bachmann’s Retirement
• Cat Thursday — Jigglypuff’s a basket case
• Don McLeroy replies
• Times that I will not talk about being an atheist
• Defining Terrorism in the 21st Century
• Dolphins, Cats, Frogs, and Babies
• The Straw Vulcan: Hollywood’s illogical approach to logical decision making
• Should we let the clowns run the circus?
• Why can’t science reporting be both critical AND awesome?
• Acupuncture is a theatrical placebo: The end of a myth
• Yet Another fossil Bird: Auroris xui
• Manhattanhenge!: An annual tradition
• “I Appear Missing” — Josh Homme’s NDE
• Is It Too Late to Start Again?
• Patrick Stewart Gives Passionate Response to Question at Comicpalooza 2013
• Good advice

Gnuz & Odd Stuff

• Heaven for Atheists? Pope sparks debate
• Mindscapes: First Interview with a Dead Man
• Glenn Beck sees media conspiracy to label him a ‘conspiracy theorist’
• Discredited vaccination claims injected into GP training
• Animal planet engages in ratings whoring with ‘Mermaids’
• The 9/11 conspiracy theorist who changed his mind
• Creationist Kent Hovind ordered to pay taxes, penalties
• Anti-vax parents may join dubious church
• Biblical Medicine? How Religious Corporations Are Gobbling Up Healthcare Facilities
• Supplement and herbal meds result in calls to poison control centers
• Hairy Creature Sighting Disturbs Classes – an interesting case of mass psychogenic illness
• Revenge of the Reality-Based Community
• Has the Oklahoma atheist been saved? Yes, by other atheists!
• The Girl Who Turned to Bone
• Nigerian ‘factory babies’ bought and sold
• Local news would rather bank on truth of demonic tale, but quotes Skeptic
• Croatian bees are being trained to hunt down deadly landmines
• Leading Catholics call for prayer, fasting to fight gay marriage – WTF?
• Geneticists eliminate schizophrenia symptoms in mice – Yay! Now, if only this pans out for humans! hat-tip to Kate Campbell for this one!
• Genetically engineered mosquitos lose nose for humans
• Antievolution bills die in Missouri
• Dawn of the Deed: the Prehistoric Origins of Sex (PDF)
• Anti-Evolution & Anti-Climate Science Legislation Scorecard: 2013
• Creationism creates stir in Springboro school board
• Eugenie Scott wins her 9th honorary doctorate
• Obit for Bigfoot enthusiast Bobbie Short
• Use Dolphins to detect cancer? No.
• More evidence that the polygraph is pseudoscience
• Dublin Lord Mayor says Mansion House is Haunted
• Here’s what Pangea looks like mapped with modern political borders
• 112 Cartoon Elements Make Learning The Periodic Table Fun
• Six-Legged Giant Finds Secret Hideaway, Hides For 80 Years
• Atheism Rises, Religiosity Declines in America

Bloggy Stats

• 129,006 pageviews, by you, this blog’s steely-eyed readers,
• 206 WordPress readers,
• 54 comment subscribers,
• 2,112 posts published, including this one,
• 2,017 Twitter fellows,
• 19 Likes on this site’s Facebook page,
• 1,921 comments approved,
• …and 270 Tumblr fellows.

Creationism du jour (Q&A)

Peaches the Cat is Kind of a Dick

The Weekly Gnuz & Lynx Roundup for Caturday, 2013/05/25

douglas adams inspired “Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy” H2G2 http://www.hughes-photography.eu (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This week started out a bit rough, as events seemingly conspired to mess up my plans for Summer courses online with a local college, but it turned out well in the end.

I’ve still got plenty of time to complete my Teaching Company courses and sign up for Fall semester online courses, which should be fun for my ebil Troythuluness.

I’ve completed three scratch-built parameter sets for Mandelbulber, and am using them for generating most of my images this weekend and the coming week, tweaking them as needed.

Current study schedule is working out nicely — as I type this, I’m at the local gaming shop with the final 10 lessons for my math course on DVD, and depending on the noise level I’ll be watching it either here or the library, just on the other side of the block.

UPDATE: That’s a no go, since I misplaced my headphones before leaving this morning, and so will instead be watching the lectures at home tonight. Note to self: Must make sure to put headphones where they will be remembered…

Regardless, I’m rewarding myself for study by watching Doctor Who eps…

I’m also editing my fiction draft and working on my protagonist, the Mirus, and I’ve noticed that there’s a lot in both that need changes.

Bloggies

• “It’s been a good life”  I cribbed the title from an autobiography by Isaac Asimov, but it’s about why I’ve really no right nor reason to beat myself up over things like my own inevitable demise.
• Fractals of the Week: Shattered Worlds A bit corny for a title, but I had fun with the images this week…
• Foundation Beyond Belief — Support the Crisis Response Please donate for the disaster relief efforts in the wake of the Oklahoma Tornado
• Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Astrophysics of Start Trek Neil sez why he prefers Star Trek to Star Wars, and though a Star Wars fan myself, I have to agree with him.
• Happy Towel Day: 2013/05/25 Celebrating Douglas Adams, who gave us the Secret of Life the Universe and Everything, and who made SF uniquely funny. 101010!

Other Bloggies

• Happy Towel Day (#towelday) Also celebrating Douglas Adams, with handy infographic!
• Cat Thursday — Rubbish Tip Cats This reminds me of how we literally found Mr Eccles as a kitten crying near a dumpster…
• Left Hemispheres Podcast Ep. 19 : Snarkitudinousity My very first poscast appearance with the guys at Left Hemispheres — Check out their earlier episodes on iTunes, and their blog!
• Tornado Occurs, Christian Gobbledygook results. My Response. via Laughing in Purgatory
• The Genetics of Mental Illness via Steve Novella
• The Younger Dryas On a genuine scientific controversy, and how science is really done, by Steve Novella
• Can’t the Pope bless someone without getting hell for it via Sharon Hill
• Prime Minister Defends Theological Piracy via Andrew at Laughing in Purgatory
• Friday Link Dump 5/24/13 via the Superior Sapients at Left Hemispheres

Bloggy Stats

• 128,720 page views since 2008/12/28,
• 1,915 comments approved,
• 2,105 posts, including this one,
• 200 WordPress and email subscribers,
• 2,023 Twitter fellows,
• 19 Likes on this blog’s Facebook page,
• 266 Tumblr fellows,

Thanks… you all make this blog

Futurama Evolution Ep. Highlights

Ray Hyman: “How to Tell the Future” — TAM 2012

Related articles

• Interstellar Hitchhikers, Rejoice: It’s #TowelDay! (geeksaresexy.net)
• 6 Life Lessons From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (geeksugar.com)

The Weekly Gnuz & Lynx Roundup for Caturday, 2013/05/04

It appears that my college funding is safe for now — the annoyingly urgent appointment this week has been taken care of, giving me some time before other matters need attending to…

So far, I’ve finished 12 lessons in my course module in only two weeks, taking care of some essentials needed to make it in whatever college study is pursued, either online or in a live classroom environment.

I’ve been doing some fractals, of course, but mostly as a reward after study to better motivate myself — Oh, yes, and watching Doctor Who as well, going through season six, on my way to the current eps.

I’d like to spend a bit next week doing more editing on my story draft and a few ideas I’ve been playing around with for blog posts. There’s a tension going on between posting on skeptical topics and posting on things that interest me that aren’t, well, very skepticky. Not good.

That’s something that needs to be resolved.

I may not be able to blog regularly once college starts, but I’ve until the 20th of this month to enroll. Come then and afterward, I’ll post whenever reasonably possible, but lessons come before blogging depending on what the course load turns out. We’ll see.

I will keep in contact with my online community of peeps, despite my absolutely horrid social skills. You guys (and gals) are special, even if we don’t chat regularly — Who would have guessed that people I’ve never seen in real time could be so awesome?

My Bloggies

• Fear of the Light
• Fractals of the Week: Thor’s Day XaoS Edition
• from 2011, “Who Gives a Crap About Precision?”

Others’ Bloggies

• Ready for the End of the World
• Despicable Me 2
• Cat Thursday — Schrodinger’s Cat Again
• Breaking News: Australian Newspapers Band Together to Protest Anti-Vaccination
• Left Hemispheres Friday Link Dump 5/3/13
• Agenticity, Patternicity & Belief

Science, Gnuz & Odd Stuff

• Hundreds of UFOs swarming over Perth. Or not.
• Right wing fringe is now a cynical money-making ‘racket’
• Woo Bombdetectors — the End of Dowsing for Death
• Misinformation in the news continues to prosper because no one complains
• Evolution in US schools: Student shortchanged, misinformed, or completely ignorant
• Graphology rubbish: No better than astrology or numerology
• Lose-iana: Getting smacked for scientific ignorance
• Kevin Trudeau files bankruptcy
• Papua New Guinea is still burning “Sorcerers” at the stake
• Revelation that ‘six-inch Alien is Human. Siriusly.
• Lose-iana continues rejection of the real world
• Over a quarter of the people in the US are just plain paranoid
• Woman missing for 11 years found — Psychics were NO help at all

Bloggy Stats

• 127,551 sharp pairs of eyes since 2008/12/28
• 1,893 comments posted,
• 2,082 posts published, including this one,
• 196 WordPress subscribers,
• 2022 Twitter fellows,
• 245 Tumblr fellows,
• 19 Likes on this site’s Facebook page…

…Thanks so much! Words fail me right now.

And Still They Move (w/Ann Druyan)

The Weekly Gnuz & Lynx Roundup for Caturday, 2013/04/27

English: Simon Singh speaking at TAM London October 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Goodness Gorgeous…and Rocky…and Mr Eccles! Today was a bit of a mess, since I got almost no sleep last night, though I’d been ‘banking on sleep’ over the week, which helped me get through the day without too much fuzzy-headedness. I’m getting normal sleep this coming morning, hopefully. This week has been good so far, and study is coming along swimmingly, with the seventh lecture in my math course coming up soon, probably tomorrow afternoon at the comic shop. I’m correcting any gaps in my math skills while prepping for college next month for the Summer, and if not, there’s always the Fall semester, but we’ll see. I’ve noticed for a while that I haven’t been doing very many “skepticky” posts, so I’ll be addressing that soon. After all, this just wouldn’t be a skeptical blog if I didn’t critique something at least once in a bit! Onward, then, me hearties!

Bloggy Lynx

• Channeling Sagan… a quote born of a friend’s dream…literally.
• Making Sense of How Life Fits Together — Bobbi Seleski
• The Daily Show — Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Book Review: The Invisible Gorilla, by Christopher Chabris & Daniel Simons My review of a book on cognitive illusions and myths, and how to avoid them.
• Caturday’s Astronomy Pix 2013/04/21-27
• Fractals of the Week: Fortresses & Fastness More Mandelbulbery

Others’ Bloggies

• Around our Garden
• Cat Thursday — ANZAC Day
• The Left Hemispheres Podcast Ep. 17: Oh Islamophobia, you bad girl.
• How To Step Outside of Your (God)Box
• Confusing Standards for Censorship: Chopra Edition
• Backdoor Creationism
• DONE! Lords Pass Defamation Bill #LibelReform
• NECSS Simon Singh interviewed by Jamy Ian Swiss

Science, Gnuz & Odd Stuff

• For Scientists, Some Philosophies are a Dead End
• Poker Players Arms Give Away Their Hands
• What does modern prejudice look like?
• Sharon Hill: Mystery Foot, Therefore Bigfoot
• Origin of Jupiter’s Water Solved — The Massive 1994 Comet Bombardment
• New Scanner Can Make Brain Images While Mice Move
• More Background on that Fourth-Grader’s Creationist Science Quiz
• Mechanical Sculptures Built From Discarded Objects
• Take the Pew Research Center’s Science and Technology Knowledge Quiz
• The Big Five Personality Test, Online
• Why does anything exist? Scientists find a bit of the answer
• Religion and Mental Health: New Study Links Belief In ‘Punitive God’ With Emotional Problems
• Gorgeous altimetric radar map of the Ishtar Terra region of Venus
• List of Free Science Books: Physics Database
• 1960s Satellite Images Add to Evidence Of Shrinking Sea Ice

Bloggy Stats

• 127,107 keen-eyed peerings,
• 1,883 comments approved,
• 2,073 posts published, including this one,
• 194 WordPress subscribers,
• 2,015 Twitter fellows,
• 237 Tumblr fellows,
• 19 Likes on this blog’s Facebook page,

Thanks to all of you!

A.C. Grayling – Atheism, Secularism, Humanism: Three Zones of Argument