Sacred BBQ

Nanobots--coming to a reality near you...

2005-01-18T10:49:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged in forever. I've been involved in a couple of projects that have effectively sucked up all my free time. But raising my head above my limited horizons I came across this article about combining living cells with mechanical parts.

I suppose the luddites and technophobes are screaming right now, but it only makes sense that the more complicated your devices become the more "biological" they become. You either end up incorporating living material into your machines or duplicating them. It's physics itself that determines the best solution to any physical problem. It's also physics that says the "gray goo" scenerio won't happen, but perhaps I'll save that rant for another time...

Famous Atheist Now Believes in God

2004-12-09T16:17:00.000-06:00

"At age 81, after decades of insisting belief is a mistake, Antony Flew
has concluded that some sort of intelligence or first cause must have
created the universe. A super-intelligence is the only good explanation
for the origin of life and the complexity of nature, Flew said in a
telephone interview from England." more here

It is interesting whens one's philosophical "enemies" are dragged to your side. I supposed we can't begrudge him the reluctance with which he admits (though not in so many words) that the goal, for which he spent his whole life, is wrong. The comments of the individual reporting this that, "I don't think it's like a big deal" and that Flew accepts only a "minimal God" are amusing. What's more they show the truth behind the false veneer of honest intellectual inquiry.

The truth is that those who actively promote atheism are really antitheists.

I think we are witnessing the death of atheistic materialism. What will replace it, once the shock and denial wear off, will be a more honest, burning, hatred for God.

When Virtues Become Vices

2004-12-03T10:13:00.000-06:00

Apparently chastity, once considered a virtue, is now an "extreme view on sex"--at least according to the Herald and Weekly Times

If "Ms (laugh) Henry Waxman" (The editor of this story is the funniest part of the whole thing.)--If Ms Waxman were a considervative he (she?) would be branded a far right-wing extremist. The phrase "far left-wing extremist", has never appeared in the mouth of a reporter or editor. They don't believe that anything can be too far left leaning. But then they showed their colors when the put the headline on the story.

By all rights, Ms Waxman would never be given the time of day. Yet the press, in their non-stop pursuit of their culture war, gladly give Ms Waxman an unchallenged platform to spread blatant political propagada. Did they look into the facts of his allegations? Did they look into the ties between individuals in HHS and the various sex/abortion industries (like Planned Parenthood) that normally get the hundreds of millions of dollars spent in this arena?

Media bias is nothing new. I'm only surprised that it has become so blatently partisan. They're starting to sound more and more like your typical liberal college rag or, perhaps, NPR.

I'll leave with a quote (pardon my King James) from Jesus' favorite prophet:

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; they put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20

At least we can be confident that someday there will be a true accounting, and if God has anything to say about it, it wont go well for Ms Waxman or the editors and reporters of the Herald and Weekly Times.

Cracks In The Foundation

2004-12-03T09:08:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of press of late about Mr. Annan getting caught with his pants down in the so called "oil for food" scam. As usual the press is marching in lock-step, pointing fingers at the president and US conservatives saying "no one agrees with you anyway". Sophomoric (and self serving) appeals to popular/"world" opinion aside, its always interesting when a new iceberg tips its head above the news cartel waters. This report seems to indicate that not all is well in Annon land.

While it would be amusing to see Annan get tossed out on his ear for his crass attempt to influence US elections, he's in his second term and has most likely done all the damage he most likely to do. Like the president, I'd prefer to see a full accounting--though I'm afraid we're not likely to see that with him still in office. One would have expected his Nixonesque secrecy to have roused the press, but they're always the last to turn on their own. After all, this "news" has been known for years now.

Flogging the Blog

2004-12-02T16:35:00.000-06:00

MSN Spaces reaction: "'This isn't for them,' said Blake Irving, MSN corporate vice president.
'Those are folks that are going to be using existing services. ... But
to actually produce something that everyone can use, where they can't get themselves into trouble [technically], but can have almost the same amount of power -- not the same amount of flexibility, but the same amount of publishing power -- is a coup for users. Users are going to go crazy for this kind of thing.'"

How much more needs to be said? Just as Microsoft said that people that actually want browsers that support Cascading Style Sheets and Web Standards are not their customers, now they are saying that only techno-illiterates are wanted for blogging. How much demand do they think there is in a demographic that includes people who have to glance at a pictographic quick reference chart to turn on their computer?

Someone needs to revisit their business plan and set their sites a little higher. Aparently Microsoft is all out of visionaries.

Is it just me, or does Microsoft lately seem to always be coming to the party late and poorly dressed? This MSN Space(d) idea is poorly conceived and only half-heartedly implimented.

With its late entry into blogging, web-based search engines and its apparent abandonment of Internet Explorer, it sees that Microsoft feels, like Alexander, that there are no more worlds to conquer and has just given up any real innovation.

While it will always have some techno-serfs, I can't see its empire lasting if it doesn't continue to expand with real innovation instead of this second-rate "me-too" development.

Refer Madness For Real

2004-12-02T10:47:00.000-06:00

This story is funny for a number of reasons. It's basically a bunch of European pot-smoking quasi-scientist types who are trying to come to grips with the fact that their habit of choice is really, after all, dangerous. The comment at the end about "half the world" smoking pot shows just how skewed their perceptions of reality are.

At first glance their comments about legalizing pot so the government can regulate it seems like self-serving nonsense. Which it is. But it also seems to be an implicit aknowledgement of the destructive power of government to commerce as well as an indictment of their law enforcement.

Even more reasons why europe will never really about to anything.

PC Stereotypes

2004-12-02T10:22:00.000-06:00

Hmong Hunter Charged With 6 Murders Is Said to be a Shaman

But I thought Shamen were the good guys! Only Christians are truly evil, right? But then perhaps not all "spirits" are good spirits, eh?

Who Said The World Court Wasn't A Weapon Against the US?

2004-11-30T16:39:00.000-06:00

Interesting that a (liberal) US based organization went to Germany to prosecute crimes that allegedly took place in Iraq. Can any non-liberal/non-anti-American doubt the wisdom of pulling out of the World Court? The UN has repeatedly shown itself to be a criminal anti-US hate club; at least this weapon has been denied them.

The only real question left is whether Germany's hatred of the US or its economic weakness will win out. I'm betting german judges would rather screw up US/European relations further (and of course blame it all on the US) even at the cost of economic trade.

And Microsoft still has its collective head in....the sand

2004-11-24T08:45:00.000-06:00

IE use has dropped to under 90% This has to be the fastest abandonment of a technology on record. While security has been the straw that has broken the MScamel's back, there can be little doubt that it is fueled by a resentment of MS's lack of response to customer demand. They disbanded their IE development team years ago and effective abandoned both their product and their customers and now they are reaping their just reward.
New browser wins over net surfers

Only In Texas

2004-11-18T08:53:00.000-06:00

I don't know if this is "digital convergence" or just incredible laziness, but I think State Scrambles to Regulate "Remote Hunting" is funny. I especially liked the hunters with disabilities ploy. When you consider all the 12-year-olds that will be clicking their mouse thinking this is the best thing since Delta Force, it might become a valid argument. At least for those hunters that step in front of the web cam. =)

Just Great :-P

2004-11-16T08:45:00.000-06:00

Heavy Computer Use May Cause Blindness

And You Just Thought It Was A Punch Lline

2004-11-15T12:09:00.000-06:00

Man bites dog.

And I Thought A Simple IQ Test Would Suffice!

2004-11-03T08:33:00.000-06:00

Scientists scan brains for political clues

Just Great! One More Thing To Worry About

2004-11-02T14:11:00.000-06:00

Fighting Death Through Hope As if I didn't already have enough to worry about!

New Find Or Sign Of Desperation

2004-10-29T09:04:00.000-05:00

We already have pygmies, so what makes this a different species? "Hobbit" Joins Human Family Is this really a discovery or just a sign of desperation for the supporters of a 19th Century theory that was developed in ignorance of genetics? A theory that is slowly losing the dominance it once had. Perhaps, like phrenology and abiogenesis, it is time to retire this theory?

TV-B-Gone

2004-10-21T10:11:00.000-05:00

This device could either save civilization--or destroy it.

"Mr Altman said he was inspired to make the device after noticing how human interaction suffers when people watch television in public places."

I can think of some places where human interaction might not be a good thing. Remember what effect the Babel fish had when it was discovered!

Uncarrot Tarot: Annotations

2004-10-21T09:53:00.000-05:00

I don't believe in fortune telling, but I have a theory of why some do. It involves constructed narratives. Anyway I felt this was funny enough it ought to be shared. Be sure to check out the complete index. Quite amusing.

The Science May Be Pseudo, But At Least It Is PC

2004-10-21T08:52:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure this story (Female hormones decide research skills of male scientists!) is pure bunk. If their assumption is correct, all the worlds top mathematicians should be women, not men. I don't even think they have their brain theory right. I'm fairly certain math and analytical thinking is a left-side activity.

The last paragraph is interesting, though. I suspect the comment about women in social sciences having high testosterone is a reference to the prediliction of lesbians trying to use academics to force their beliefs on everyone. Maybe not. But I am sure this study was largely a product of PC bias and way to much free research grant money.

Hunt for Grand Theft Auto pirates

2004-10-21T08:37:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else but me find it ironic that a company that makes a game called Grand Theft, a game about stealing things is all upset about having their game stolen? I think its funny.

But Aren't All Archeologists Grave Robbers?

2004-10-20T13:39:00.000-05:00

Let's see, we've got spousal abuse, child abuse, animal abuse.... I don't know if there is such a thing as plant abuse yet (though my wife commits it all the time) and now there is corpse abuse. The interesting thing here is that the "abuse" stopped once the corpses were reburied. Does that mean the graves are now un-desecrated?

The modern legal system, devoid of any moral base, is getting stranger and stranger.

Those Dem Catholics

2004-10-19T16:29:00.000-05:00

I know many catholics are democrats. It must be tough to support a party that officially undermines your beliefs. Sounds like it's even getting tough for a pseudo-catholic like Kerry.

I know that the republicans aren't exactly a godly group themselves, but at least they don't have any deliberately anti-Christian planks in their platform.

Web access coming to electrical outlets

2004-10-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

I am told that this isn't exactly news, but I don't care. I want this.Web access coming to electrical outlets - Oct. 15, 2004

The Culture Wars Have Arrived In Europe

2004-10-13T10:42:00.000-05:00

Slowly people are beginning to wake up to the inheirent hypocrisy and intolerance of the socio-political left. The word "tolerence" itself is nothing more than a red flag to wave at people who don't agree with you. The naked truth is that liberals are really anti-God. It's the only possible explanation that adequately addresses liberal hypocracy. The culture wars have arrived in Europe. Better late then never.

Election Fraud As campaign Strategy

2004-10-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

I must confess I'm ambivalent about this election. Yes Bush is good and Kerry is evil, which is proven by the level of pure liberal rage if nothing else. Yet, despite my better instincts, I've been sampling the usual mindless liberal crap that floats through the blogs on the net when I began to notice a disturbing trend.

I was looking mostly at web/css design sites (who's owners all seem to be of the same political stripe) when I followed some links related to the actual voting process. A lot of the discussions were about how one can register and vote by mail, when the various state deadlines were and how restrictive they were at the polls.

Now I'll admit I am sometimes slow on the uptake. I tend to take life at face value. But in among all the usual left-wing extremist paranoia and mythology about voter disenfranchisement and evil republicans turning voters away (somehow, especially, in districts run by democrats), it gradually dawned on me what these nice fair-minded liberals were talking about.

They were talking about how they could vote in multiple states.

Suddenly all this talk in the news about voter disenfranchisement and evil republicans makes sense. They're actually trying to discourage any kind of challenge to, or even close inspection of, the poll results.

We've long known that the dead vote democratic (especially in Chicago) and that illegals vote democratic (especially in LA) now it seems that college students (these were mostly college students) vote democratic where and as often as they like. At least if they can find a state that will take mail in ballots.

The terrorists don't have to blow anything up. They can just walk into any number of states that don't require voter ID (and even many that do, but only require those forms that are easily forged) and send multiple ballots in by mail, and vote themselves into power. The democrats seem to be doing everything they can to help them out.

I shouldn't be surprised though. When you embrace relativism in all its forms, there is no such thing as truth...only the exercise of raw naked power.

Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam

2004-10-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

In 1980, not long after Mt. St. Helens erupted, a high school band from Enid OK, with much fear and trepidation, made the trip to Portland OR, to march in the Rose Festival. Seeing Mount St. Helen acting up again (Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam - Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument) brings back all kinds of wierd flashbacks, from marching on football fields with face masks while kicking up ash, to watching The Empire Strikes Back, only to have the movies stopped in the middle warning us that another eruption had taken place. Afterwards, leaving the theater, we saw giant flakes of ash falling like snow on a warm summer night.

That was a long time ago. Sometimes its easy to forget that those events were all real. But then you get these reminders. Mount St. Helens is still there--at least for now.

Perhaps It Doesn't Know The Tune

2004-10-04T14:53:00.000-05:00

So perhaps the whales are just riffing off the tune? Oceanic storms make the Earth 'hum'

When Science Goes Insane

2004-10-01T16:07:00.000-05:00

From fish farts, to scientifically verifying the food on the floor 5-second rule, to a patented comb-over technique, it's all here. Science prize celebrates fish flatulence, hula hoops | CNET News.com Now doesn't that just fill you with confidence in man's ability to understand the chaotic world he lives in?

Again with the predictions...

2004-10-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

Three Cosmic Explosions Could Precede Supernovae I hope they're more accurate with this than they have been prediction earthquakes and erupting volcanoes...

Does That Mean We Have To Call Them Mortamins?

2004-10-01T15:27:00.000-05:00

Guess mom was wrong after all. Vitamin Supplements Might Raise Risk of Early Death Better not tell my daughter, she already gags on her Flintstones.

Evolution's Double-Edged Sword

2004-09-30T15:43:00.000-05:00

This is a specific case that illustrates a problem I've long had with the theory of evolution. Assuming there ever was such a thing as a positive mutation (even assuming this was the result of the introduction of new information in the genetic code--which I think unlikely) natural selection would tilt toward the species who specialize and kill of their more generalized competition. But then, at the same time, this would make them less adaptable to changes in their environment--ultimately killing off the specialists after the generalist species were gone.

In other words it's an entirely reductionistic theory that cannot account for the increase of anything except entropy.Discovery Channel :: News :: Study: Big Predators Don't Last Long

Ooops I'm An Addict

2004-09-30T15:26:00.000-05:00

I've never drunk alcohol and I've never smoked or done drugs, but I guess I'm not as clean and sober as I thought I was. Still, why are they calling this a mental disorder when it seems to be a chemical addiction? Is Caffeine Withdrawal a Mental Disorder?

And you wonder why I still record junk on VHS?

2004-09-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

This could kill the blank media market. New Technology Could Yield Terabyte Optical Disks I mean one disk and you don't have to buy anymore until the next hardware upgrade to the next new standard format. Unless--of course--you want to record every single episode of Dr. Who ever produced. Then you might want a second disk or something.

Who Didn't See This One Coming?

2004-09-27T15:27:00.000-05:00

Taleban Leader Killed in Afghanistan was in Guantanamo Bay Prison Awww, you mean he wasn't just a poor innocent opium farmer like all those human rights groups said he was???

I, personally, think they should release them all--but only after putting RFID tags in them. Then set the cruise missiles to home in on the signals. It would help us find the hidden terrorist enclaves and be entertaining at the same time!

Finally! A use for spinach!

2004-09-21T15:55:00.000-05:00

Spinach could power better solar cells If you don't want to eat it, tell your mom it can be put to better use!

Humans Are Pre-Wired For Langugage

2004-09-17T15:39:00.000-05:00

This is truly amazing: Deaf Kids in Nicaragua Give Birth to New Language. It is looking more and more like humans are pre-wired for language. It would seem that all children are some form of "madlib" just waiting (or not) for someone to fill in the linguistic blanks, but with all the rules of how to use them already in place.

One-upping the Hummer

2004-09-17T14:14:00.000-05:00

Look. I'm not necessarily against conspicuous consumption. I feel everyone, even rich people, have the right to make a fool of themselves. But come on! Isn't this getting a little too carried away? Truck maker unveils a monster pickup

CBS News, Faked Memos, and the Nixon Kennedy Debates...

2004-09-16T10:02:00.000-05:00

The fallout from this faked story is quite interesting. With repeated revelations of false and plagiarized news stories in the print media, admissions of censorship by CNN and ongoing stories like this--CBS News | GOP Slams CBS On Bush Memos I'm constantly amazed that liberals still have the balls to stand up and say "what liberal media bias?" Even funnier is CBS near-admission that the memos were fake but the story is still true. And if you buy that you really are too stupid to vote.

With polls showing journalists vote Democratic in rates of 4:1 (in "fly over" country) to 12:1 (in NY, DC and the coast--of course they didn't say how many of those "1" votes went to Green, Socialist, Communist etc. parties) I say it goes beyond mere bias to election fraud and an outright attempt to manipulate the American public.

However the truly interesting thing in this situation, as always, are the unintended consequences. Setting aside discussions of type fonts and proportional spacing (to say nothing of anachronisticc memo formatting and inappropriate acronyms and terminology) the net result of all this is that the TV is showing a lot of pictures of dashing young fighter pilot George Bush to a lot of women. Don't underestimate the impact of that.

In a famous debate between Kennedy and Nixon, it was reported that those who listened to the radio felt that Nixon had won the debate. But those who watched it on TV felt Kennedy had won. Why? Largely it was the women--who felt that Kennedy was better looking.

Fast forward to '04 where image is even more important and substance is unknown. The impact could be even greater.

I have noticed more pictures of Kerry in dress uniform (I'm not talking about the swift boat veterans version) being paraded around a bit in the media of late, but it's just not the same. Kerry never looked good and always looked stiff in uniform while the young George W looks relaxed, confident and manly.

Kerry and the media, not George Bush, would be advised to drop the subject of past military server and find another subject, fast.

Press CTRL+ALT+Del to start WWIII

2004-09-13T22:56:00.000-05:00

OSS torpedoed: Royal Navy will run on Windows for Warships Kinda gives new meaning to the blue screen of death, doesn't it? Think Linux will sign up with the Air Force to keep Microsoft from achieving tactical superiority?

Watch Out Below!

2004-09-13T22:23:00.000-05:00

Yes that's a buzzard. You can't see the score or more circling around overhead.

2004-09-13T22:22:00.000-05:00

The wild kingdom comes to the big city. It was only an average sized opossum in the road, but it still attracted scores of vultures. (Notice the pair lurking on the roof? There were a lot more just waiting for us to drive away.)

Stem Cell Research & Hidden Agendas

2004-09-03T10:36:00.000-05:00

Bold New World for Bald Mice is an interesting article, not so much for what it says, but that it reluctantly reports on an aspect of the stem cell research debate that the media-liberal complex and many scientists seem to be trying to censor. The actual subject, using stem cells to grow hair and skin is perhaps not so earth shattering as it might once have been. But the interesting thing is how the writer almost apologizes for the fact that the experiment used, and I quote, "so-called adult stem cells". This only after a liberal apologia sneering at "religious groups and anti-abortion activists". Ok, so this is Wired magazine.

The ignored truth is that most all of the research that is actually producing promising results is being conducted with "so-called adult stem cells" while the always lauded fetal stem cells tend to produce a frightening level of cancers. A fact that many stem-cell proponents are unaware of and the rest couldn't care less about.

So why are two professions who are, supposedly, engaged in the search for truth and informing the rest of us morons--why are they deliberately withholding this information? Why do they angrily promote fetal cell research when more promising and less controversial avenues are open to them? The answer has to be that there is an agenda at work here separate from science or health.

What is that agenda? We can't really know until they decide to be honest with us. But they've already shown that they're willing to sacrifice honesty to pursue their agenda.

The most obvious guess is that someone is trying to create a market for human flesh. I can't imagine why unless you had a surplus supply that was easily accessible. Granted abortion is big business, but I don't think this would be a successful way to diversify the industry.

I suspect that it is entirely a subconscious reaction. A desire to promote abortion at even extreme costs. More than that, I think it is an attack on anyone who would promote any form of traditional morality--even the inherent worth of human life. I take it back. It's not a subconscious reaction; it's a spiritual reaction.

I realize it's politically incorrect to believe in Satan. Even many people who claim to believe in the bible or God reject the idea. But when you're working out the moral equations of the situation, its probably the best solution to a lot of these questions.

Now where is that razor that Occam left lying around here...?

A Return Call From ET?

2004-09-02T15:40:00.000-05:00

Mysterious signals from the depths of space. Sounds like the beginning to a good SF plot.

Testing

2004-08-25T09:08:00.000-05:00

Due to firewall issues, I've been posting most of my blog entries via email. It seems, however, that the last few haven't actually made it to my blog. So this is a test and an apology rolled into one. To make up for the missed entries, I'll just submit this link for now. As usual, with emailed blog entries, you'll have to copy and past the URL into the browser, until I find the time to log in from home and fix the link by hand.

The Dialectizer

Cat forces down plane

2004-08-11T10:23:00.000-05:00

Yeah, but was the cat a muslim?

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1053262.html

EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

2004-08-09T09:26:00.000-05:00

It is a rare thing to be around when a major shift occurs in human history. Granted the news makes it appear that human existance has been teetering on the brinks since the invention of the press (though it is all somehow the republicans fault). Still, when the real end of humanity came did you think anyone would hear about it? No. Except, posssibly, for one lone voice calling
out in the wilderness.

It has finally happened. And that voice is calling out: "The Daleks are coming! The Daleks are coming!"

Canadians in Spaaaaaaaaaaace!

2004-08-05T14:39:00.000-05:00

I don't know. I went to the Da Vinci website and looked through the gallery. It looks to me like they spent more time painting the thing then actually building it. Was it made by engineers or marketing specialists?

http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,64482,00.html

The pretend war-hero presidential candidate

2004-08-03T16:02:00.000-05:00

A surprising left-of center leaning media outlet (upi) published an interesting article on pretend war-hero John Kerry and just how much he hurt the *real* heros languishing in POW camps during the Vietnam war. Like most media outlets, they give the Kerry campaign the (last-unanswered) word, but at least the article (Ex-POWs slam Kerry's war-protest activities) helps push the balance a tinsy bit towards the middle.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040803-123611-2794r

Re-un-disillusioned Again

2004-07-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

Despite my cynical nature, I often find myself disillusioned in regards to various truths I've held. It is considerably less often that I've found the opposite to happen.

So what would the opposite of disillusioned be anyway? Re-illusioned doesn't seem right. Un-disillusioned, is just a little too confusing. Whatever.

My cousin sent a me a couple of links that just re-un-disillusioned me. It concerns the movie Terminal and the real-life inspiration for the story. I hadn't heard of the true version of the story (though it seems everyone else had) so I was quite surprised to find what I thought was simply a clever premise was in fact inspired by a true tale.

I guess I should have known. (He said cynically, re-un-disillusioned again...)

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2004-06-17-terminal-side_x.htm
http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/airport.htm

Love is in the air.

2004-07-27T22:59:00.000-05:00

Now we know why the homosexual lobby has the Democratic Party in their back pocket.

http://www.noedesign.com/dev/KerryEdwards/index.html

Well, they keep saying the public doesn’t know the real John Kerry. I guess we do now.

Always late to the party...

2004-07-07T21:00:00.000-05:00

I was disappointed to hear I missed the spamiversary--by like 3 months. Still it's great (in an epidemiological sense) to know how it all started. Now if we could only find a way to round up all the spammers and saw off their heads like good Muslims. SPAMMERS ARE THE GREAT SATAN!

Science Made Stupid

2004-06-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while a site comes along that you just have to share. Such is the case with Science Made Stupid. Anyone who stayed awake in high school science class or who just kept watching TV on Saturday mornings even after the cartoons ended because they were too lazy to go outside--like I did, will appreciate the humor of this site. But if you find yourself accidentally learning anything, be careful!

Post-Modernism = Political Correctness = Liberal Left = Narcissism

2004-06-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

Suddenly it all makes sense. While ostensibly about Michael Moore this really explains the whole post-modernist movement that the political left has not only embraced but forced down the throats of the rest of us. While the author, who leans left himself, doesn't go that far, it's pretty much an indictment of the whole Democratic party. I'm sure there are plenty of narcissists on the right, but I don't think the Republicans have made it a core value the way the Democrats have.

Teleportation and Einstein's Ghost

2004-06-16T15:42:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting story to me for a couple of reasons. First, obviously the idea of teleportation itself is quite fascinating and for the last few years it seems we've been getting more and more hints that some form of real teleportation might ultimately be possible.

Secondly, and more personally, a few years ago I wrote a couple of stories where I needed faster than light communication across interstellar distances. While many authors have just waved their hand over this, or resorted to things like wormholes and messenger ships, I had heard of the EPR paradox and thought it might be useful. I was quickly disabused of the notion that phased-entanglement could be used to deliver information, however entanglement has reared it's ugly head again in this latest teleportation story. If data can be transferred between quantum bits in ion traps, it would seem that not just quantum computers but instantaneous interstellar communication could be possible as well.

While it may turn out that causality cannot be violated in this way after all, if I can just provide the suspension of disbelief long enough to get these stories published, I'll be happy.

Shoot. Don't Think

2004-06-10T17:30:00.000-05:00

I don't own a lomo. I probably never will. I own a cheap digital camera that can barely manage more than 1 megapixal, which is very fussy about light and has a vindictively inaccurate viewfinder. It should be an acceptable substitute.

I do, however appreciate the attitude of this photographic movement especially as it is expressed in their 10 Golden Rules.

Now that I set up an account at hello I may be posting some from time to time. Of course that means I have to go out and get a life--since I do little more than go back and forth between work and home--and thus lack much in the way of subject matter. Still, I guess that is part of the lomo philosophy as well.

2004-06-08T20:39:00.000-05:00

If you look real close, you can see two flies in the flytrap

But is it 508 compliant?

2004-06-08T16:06:00.000-05:00

I meant to post this Friday when a friend sent it to me. I'd seen ascii movies before, but not one like this.

I wonder if ALA know about this or would approve of the the CSS abuse.

First Post

2004-06-04T08:44:00.000-05:00

I hate those first posters on message boards so I thought I'd beat them to it in the hopes of keeping them at bay.

I'm also something of a reluctant blogger. It's not that I don't want to litter the public consciousness with my ignorant opinions the same as everyone else, it's just the fact that everyone else is doing it which makes me want to avoid this. But I'm coming to suspect that blogging (or something like it) is very probably the future of the web, and I'd like to stay out as far ahead of the technological curve as my time and finances allow.

Lately I've been learning PHP. (I know behind the curve again.) I've even been developing a primitive content management system that I could probably use for this, but I decided to give blogger a try because it seems like a quick and easy intro to blogging--and I haven't decided on what features I'd implement on my own. I had experimented with greymatter when I was with another host, but didn't feel like setting it all up when I switched. My directories on my current host are cluttered enough as it is.