Yep, the weekend was kinda like this...
You may now officially hate me. :-)
I'll post more pictures and thoughts after I've gotten some more sleep. In the meantime, goooo science!
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, September 06, 2010
Potpourri CLII
Let's get to it, shall we? I've got a lot of junk clogging up the arteries of my inbox.
This one came to me via Lin and Father Dan. Food for thought as we continue to debate the Ground Zero Mosque.
From Greg: It's a little old (2008 or so), but this story purports to cover Spain's efforts to give apes and similar non-human hominids "human rights." Assuming the story is true (and one wonders about anything one sees on the internet these days), I think it's a bit of a legalistic stretch regardless. Can laws be made to protect animals or punish crimes against animals more severely? No doubt a convincing case can be made. However, granting animals the same "rights" as humans presumes the capacity of said animals to accept, appreciate, and act upon such rights. Can animals enter into legally binding contracts, for instance? Would they know how to sue if that contract was violated? Can animals be held liable for crimes if they commit them? Oh, they're not liable? Why is that? Are we going to give them special status without any strings attached? Rights also have responsibilities attached to them. Or don't we believe that anymore?
Also from Greg: deep-fried beer. Really.
A few items I found while surfing:
This law (or amendment) makes eminent sense to me. Which means that someone with a J.D. will probably tell me why such a law would be a BAD idea and shouldn't even be considered. I read somewhere awhile back that 90% of the Politburo of the People's Republic of China has an education in science or engineering, vs. the U.S. Congress, where I'm pretty certain that a large chunk of them have degrees in law (actually, it's 179 members of the House and 57 senators). Food for thought.
What's the biggest threat to our national defenses? Al-Qaeda? North Korea? China? Nope. Guess again.
This is now old news, and the perpetrator has since been moved on to his eternal fate, but here are the demands of the man who held employees at Discovery Communications hostage last week. As with the equal-rights-for-apes story, this begs a serious question: are some of these folks really serious about elevating respect for the Earth and other living creatures in it, or is their real purpose to denigrate the value of human beings--and if so, to what end? If you downgrade the value of human beings individually or collectively, who stands to gain from that stance? My guess: anyone who wants to reduce the freedoms of said human beings in the name of "the planet" or some other equally general notion. It's a shame, really. Some of my favorite people are human beings.
From Lin:
From Gwen: a Star Wars shower curtain.
From Twila: a discussion of the effects of NASA stimulus spending.
Speaking of the stimulus, government spending on such things has now exceeded the seven years of the Iraq War, which certain friends of mine assured me would destroy or bankrupt the country.
Some amateur rocketeers in Denmark want to launch a human being into space on their rocket. Um, eek?
This interested me: how faculty authors can implement an open access policy (to reading their papers) at their institutions.
From D2: another TED talk on civilizational ethics.
From Father Dan: the world's top 50 resorts.
Okay, that'll do for now. Have a good, short, week.
Let's get to it, shall we? I've got a lot of junk clogging up the arteries of my inbox.
This one came to me via Lin and Father Dan. Food for thought as we continue to debate the Ground Zero Mosque.
From Greg: It's a little old (2008 or so), but this story purports to cover Spain's efforts to give apes and similar non-human hominids "human rights." Assuming the story is true (and one wonders about anything one sees on the internet these days), I think it's a bit of a legalistic stretch regardless. Can laws be made to protect animals or punish crimes against animals more severely? No doubt a convincing case can be made. However, granting animals the same "rights" as humans presumes the capacity of said animals to accept, appreciate, and act upon such rights. Can animals enter into legally binding contracts, for instance? Would they know how to sue if that contract was violated? Can animals be held liable for crimes if they commit them? Oh, they're not liable? Why is that? Are we going to give them special status without any strings attached? Rights also have responsibilities attached to them. Or don't we believe that anymore?
Also from Greg: deep-fried beer. Really.
A few items I found while surfing:
- Role models for boys down to “superheroes and slackers.”
- The art and science of whiskey making.
This law (or amendment) makes eminent sense to me. Which means that someone with a J.D. will probably tell me why such a law would be a BAD idea and shouldn't even be considered. I read somewhere awhile back that 90% of the Politburo of the People's Republic of China has an education in science or engineering, vs. the U.S. Congress, where I'm pretty certain that a large chunk of them have degrees in law (actually, it's 179 members of the House and 57 senators). Food for thought.
Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States .."
What's the biggest threat to our national defenses? Al-Qaeda? North Korea? China? Nope. Guess again.
This is now old news, and the perpetrator has since been moved on to his eternal fate, but here are the demands of the man who held employees at Discovery Communications hostage last week. As with the equal-rights-for-apes story, this begs a serious question: are some of these folks really serious about elevating respect for the Earth and other living creatures in it, or is their real purpose to denigrate the value of human beings--and if so, to what end? If you downgrade the value of human beings individually or collectively, who stands to gain from that stance? My guess: anyone who wants to reduce the freedoms of said human beings in the name of "the planet" or some other equally general notion. It's a shame, really. Some of my favorite people are human beings.
From Lin:
- What now passes for "scandal" if you're a conservative. Wow. Some reporters need to get a life.
- A Charles Krauthammer editorial on governing liberalism and its reactions to (or against) the people it means to rule. One of the most difficult things about interacting on the internet is the knee-jerk reactions of some folks if you politely state that you are for one position or against another. The assumption is not that you disagree and therefore have a worthy point of view but that you are OBVIOUSLY evil, corrupt, stupid, bigoted, etc. I find this method of attack (which seeks to humble, humiliate, or beat back, not argument, which would seek to convince) offensive. As I've said before, disagreeing with the President does not automatically make you a racist. If liberals want to win more of the electorate's hearts and minds, they might stop assuming or baldly stating that this is so.
- A TED video on the cultural roots and effects of choice. Caveat visor: I haven't watched this yet.
- A "manly" reading list. Great. More stuff for my Amazon wish list. On the plus side, I have at least read some of these already...oh, well. I've got another 40 years or so. Certainly the time will come up, right?
- An argument against the X-20 spaceplane.
From Gwen: a Star Wars shower curtain.
From Twila: a discussion of the effects of NASA stimulus spending.
Speaking of the stimulus, government spending on such things has now exceeded the seven years of the Iraq War, which certain friends of mine assured me would destroy or bankrupt the country.
Some amateur rocketeers in Denmark want to launch a human being into space on their rocket. Um, eek?
This interested me: how faculty authors can implement an open access policy (to reading their papers) at their institutions.
From D2: another TED talk on civilizational ethics.
From Father Dan: the world's top 50 resorts.
Okay, that'll do for now. Have a good, short, week.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Future of Fun
As I was meandering toward consciousness this morning, the following thought occurred to me: why would you go to a real place to visit a virtual world? Couldn't you just stay home? I'm not a video game person like my buddy Doc, but I've grown increasingly impressed with the level of graphics available in the games coming out now. Put them on a big TV, and you've got the "parlor" in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 or the holodeck on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I see variations of this at Disney World, where guests can get put into larger, more impressive virtual environments than they might get at home. I suppose the theme parks can try to keep up by providing the bigger, badder environments that can't be replicated at home--yet. But really, I think theme parks are fighting a losing battle with the virtual games. Kids need to experience fun in the real world, whether it be a unique, "conveyor belt" ride or a roller coaster. Get 'em out of the house, for gosh sakes! Likewise, I wonder and worry about the future of non-electronic games, like cards or Yahtzee. How well do kids used to non-electronic games adjust to power outages? The outdoors? Long car rides? I guess I'm still not wired for the 21st century.
As I was meandering toward consciousness this morning, the following thought occurred to me: why would you go to a real place to visit a virtual world? Couldn't you just stay home? I'm not a video game person like my buddy Doc, but I've grown increasingly impressed with the level of graphics available in the games coming out now. Put them on a big TV, and you've got the "parlor" in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 or the holodeck on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I see variations of this at Disney World, where guests can get put into larger, more impressive virtual environments than they might get at home. I suppose the theme parks can try to keep up by providing the bigger, badder environments that can't be replicated at home--yet. But really, I think theme parks are fighting a losing battle with the virtual games. Kids need to experience fun in the real world, whether it be a unique, "conveyor belt" ride or a roller coaster. Get 'em out of the house, for gosh sakes! Likewise, I wonder and worry about the future of non-electronic games, like cards or Yahtzee. How well do kids used to non-electronic games adjust to power outages? The outdoors? Long car rides? I guess I'm still not wired for the 21st century.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Random
Something fun and delicious from Greg Reynolds, the InstaPundit: a lamb and Guinness stew recipe.
Something fun and delicious from Greg Reynolds, the InstaPundit: a lamb and Guinness stew recipe.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
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