Monthly Archives: February 2008

How Do I Know This Isn’t Garbage?

Posted on February 29, 2008 by arensb

I’ve said elsewhere that science can be distilled down to two questions: “What is the world like?” and “How do I know this isn’t garbage?” Richard Feynman stated the second question as: The first principle is that you must not … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion, Science | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Tuesday Playlist

Posted on February 26, 2008 by arensb

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), Abba Money, Money, Money, Abba Sell Sell Sell, Barenaked Ladies, Maroon Nag Nag Nag, Cabaret Voltaire Tora! Tora! Tora!, Depeche Mode, Speak & Spell Blah-Blah-Blah, Iggy Pop, Blah-Blah-Blah Kiss Kiss Kiss, Yoko Ono, … Continue reading →

Posted in :-) | 3 Comments

Alan Parsons and Roger Waters Walk Into a Bar…

Posted on February 24, 2008 by arensb

Mashups are nothing new. Witness, for instance, Pink Project’s 1982 combination of Alan Parsons Project’s Mammagamma and Sirius with Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2:

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Fractal Wrongness

Posted on February 21, 2008 by arensb

I just ran across a wonderful term that must be propagated further: fractal wrongness The state of being wrong at every conceivable scale of resolution. That is, from a distance, a fractally wrong person’s worldview is incorrect; and furthermore, if … Continue reading →

Posted in :-), Geek | 2 Comments

Ben Stein Deteriorates Into Bad Self-Parody

Posted on February 21, 2008 by arensb

Pop quiz: one of these quotations was written years ago by a young-earth creationist so ignorant that other YECs have tried to distance themselves from him. The other was published today, by a proponent of Intelligent Design (which, we are … Continue reading →

Posted in Creationism, FFS, Intelligent Design | 2 Comments

Where Are all the Reflective Christians?

Posted on February 19, 2008 by arensb

One recurring criticism of Dawkins’s The God Delusion (and Hitchens’s God Is Not Great, Victor Stenger’s God: the Failed Hypothesis, and others) is that these authors attack a simplistic conception of God, one that no intelligent, educated person believes in … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | 12 Comments

McChurch

Posted on February 13, 2008 by arensb

Christianity Today has an article about the latest thing in religion: Eddie Johnson, the lead pastor of Cumberland Church, espouses the franchising concept when it comes to the relationship between his church in Nashville, Tennessee, and North Point Community Church … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Google Maps Illustrates How Averages Can Fail

Posted on February 12, 2008 by arensb

Call me easily amused, but I thought it was funny that if you search Google Maps for Florida, the green arrow points at the Gulf of Mexico (and the one for Michigan points at Lake Michigan). Even better, if you … Continue reading →

Posted in :-), Math | Leave a comment

Huckabee at UMD

Posted on February 10, 2008 by arensb

I was going to write up Mike Huckabee’s visit to UMD, but Ariel Alexovich did a better job of it than I would have. Plus, her article has a photo that might plausibly have me in it (the second guy … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Politics | 8 Comments

Classy, Mitt. Real Classy.

Posted on February 8, 2008 by arensb

Mitt Romney, bowing out of the race: Now, if I fight on, in my campaign, all the way to the convention … I want you to know, I’ve given this a lot of thought – I’d forestall the launch of … Continue reading →

Posted in FFS, News, Politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment