Thursday, August 31, 2006

The Dread Pirate Bin Laden


Bruce Schneier has a great post echoing an article on Legal Affairs about treating terrorists as pirates. Seems that pirates as a criminal have an international legal standing that would be useful in prosecuting terrorists.

>JjV<
----------------------------
Pareto Phenomenon: Very few things seem to contribute to a majority of problems.

Edward R. Murrow


Murrow talking about the anti-communist hearing of Senator Joseph McCarthy:
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear - one, of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of un-reason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men; Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were - for the moment - unpopular."

Seems this is still applicable today.......

Personality Test Results

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!"
You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up.
If only your routine didn't always bomb!
You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.
The Muppet Personality Test

>JjV<
-----------------------------
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Nanotech Assembler

Great CGI video on how nantechnology could build items.


50 Misconceptions about evolution

Pharyngula writes about the Raving Atheist forums producing a list of 50 Misconceptions about Evolution in their forums.  The collected list follows.

50 Misconceptions about evolution

1) Evolution gives you what you need

2) We popped out of monkeys one day

3) The theory of evolution is tied to the big bang theory

4) The theory of evolution says random chemicals mysteriously made the first cell

5) Darwin took back his theory of evolution on his death bed (that's an urban myth created by christians)

6) The eye accidently formed itself somehow.

7) That things evolve 'magically' without selection involved.  It's just some slow process...

8) That evolution equals eugenics.

9) That it has a GOAL.

10) That it can happen to anything, even watches and pottery.

11) That it's a scientific conspiracy theory we believe in to battle Christianity.

12) That evolution equals atheism.

13) That there is an actual difference between micro and macro-evolution.

14) That it is a 'Random' process.

15) That there are no transition fossils

16) That humans evolved from the Apes that are around today.

17)  The second law of thermodynamics makes evolution impossible.

18) If evolution is true, how come there are still monkeys?

19) Evolution requires faith.

20) Survival of the fittest means organisms should go kill off weaker members of its species to make survival easier for the stronger members.

21) Physical changes that occur during the lifetime of an organism will be passed on the offspring.

22) Survival of the fittest is circular logic.

23) Only the fittest survive. (In actuality, if an organism can barely get by then it  classified into the "fit" category).

24) Kent Hovind is an expert in the fields of evolution, biology, and other sciences.

25) Organisms evolve/mutate during their lifetime if a new selection pressure exerts itself.

26) Evolution caused slavery.

27) Many scientists are now casting doubt on Darwins theory.

28) Charles Darwin is satan.

29) Evolution can't exist because of irreducible complexity.

30) Evolution is JUST a theory.

31) God made evolution so he could trick as many scientists as he could into believing it, instead of him, just so he could light them on fire for all eternity. But he still loves them.

32) Man and dinosaurs existed at the same time.  T-Rex used to be a vegetarian

33) 'Darwinists' claim that any criticism of the theory of evolution is unscientific

34) Evolution is effectively refuted by 'the Cambrian Explosion'

35) Scientists "believe" in evolution.

36)  There is great strife in the scientific community over evolution.

37)  Kent Hovind is a brilliant man!

38) Evolution can't explain love.

39) If evolution is true, why are there homosexuals?

40) There are no transitional forms: One species gives birth to another!

41) If you believe in evolution, then that means you think it's okay to kill, rape, and steal

42) Evolution is not testable or empirical, therefore it is not science.

43) No Darwin, then no Hitler

44) The perfect match between bees and flowers must be a designer because it can't be evolution.

45) Mutations are never beneficial

46) There is limits to biological change: new kinds never arise

47) Vertebrate embryos never resemble each other

48) Evolution must be wrong because gravity pulls things down right, but that clearly doesn't happen because birds can stay up in the air.

49) Oh you evolutionists make me laugh, it was God who created the world.  It says so in the bible and the bible says its true

50) Evolution was responsible for the Columbine highschool shooting

51) Evolution can never be proven because we didn't see it occur.

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
Through the router, over the firewall, down the cable..... nothing but net!


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Doctor Who: Season Three Starts Filming


The third season of the BBC's new Doctor Who series began filming in mid-August.  Freema Agyeman (Google Image Search)has been tapped to play the new series second companion.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Pancake Goodness

I have a weakness for a steaming hot stack of pancakes and I've blogged my favorite recipe before.  However, I recently tried a recipe out of Everyday Food's from the How-To with Allie column.  I used the whole-grain & yogurt options and they were awesome.  Below is the recipe I used:
  1. 1/2 Cup whole-wheat flour
  2. 1/4 cup cornmeal
  3. 1/4 cup wheat germ
  4. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  5. 2 teaspoons baking powder
  6. 2 tablespoons sugar
  7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  8. 2/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
  9. 1/3 cup milk
  10. Oil for cooking

Preheat griddle to 325-350

  • Combine items 1 through 7 and whisk till blended.
  • Add items 8 and 9 and whisk gently till combined.
  • Put down a small pool of oil on the griddle and then a spoon the batter on too of the oil.
  • Cook until bubbly, about 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Flip and cook another 1 to 2 minutes.
Makes about six pancakes.  Don't underestimate these guys.  They are very filling!!





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Saturday, August 12, 2006

Nuff Said....

So its turning into a comic strip sort of day.....

This B.C. strip sure hits the mark!


Could Be

Stolen from Blaugh. Original here.

Senior Netizens

DEAR GREAT, GREAT GRANDSON,

THANKS FOR TELLING ME ABOUT OPENDNS LAST NIGHT - MY CONNECTION IS FLYING THIS MORNING. YOU ROXX0RZ! I’M ALSO GOING TO TRY DOWNLOADING THAT DNS CACHING TOOL TO SEE IF I CAN GET PAST THESE DAMN COMCRAP PROBLEMS. STUPID TECH SUPPORT PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL THEY’RE DOING, AND I’M GETTING READY TO SWITCH TO DSL. SWING BY FOR SOME APPLE PIE LATER TONIGHT IF YOU’D LIKE. ME AND THE GIRLS ARE DOIN’ A QUILTCAMP INTO THE WEE HOURS.

LOVE,

GREAT, GREAT GRANDMA SHARON

Monday, August 07, 2006

73 best atheist quotes

The American Atheist logo, based on the atomic model. Officially, the letter 'A' in the middle stands for the country "America" and would in theory change for expansion into other countries. The open-ended vertical orbital signifies that all is not yet known.
The 73 best atheist quotes as compiled by Chris Beach.




Stephen Roberts
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

Doug McLeod
    I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence

Unknown
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

Richard Feynman
But I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell, possibly. It doesn't frighten me.

Emo Philips
When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.    

Gustaf Lindborg
The sailor does not pray for wind, he learns to sail.

Richard Lederer (Anguished English)
There once was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages.

Epicurus
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

Annie Wood Besant
No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.

Unknown
Blind faith is an ironic gift to return to the Creator of human intelligence.

Carl Sagan
You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep-seated need to believe.

Unknown
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand" -Mark Twain

Ned Flanders
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends! Well I say there are some things we don't want to know! Important things!

Blaise Pascal
Men never commit evil so fully and joyfuly as when they do it for religious convictions one vote against Men never commit evil so fully and joyfuly as when they do it for religious convictions. .25%3 votes for Men never commit evil so fully and joyfuly as when they do it for religious convictions.75%

Bertrand Russell
So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.

Woody Allen
I do not believe in an afterlife, although I am bringing a change of underwear.

Friedrich Nietzsche
In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point.

Chapman Cohen
Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense,

Ferdinand Magellan
The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church.

Stephen Jay Gould
Creation science has not entered the curriculum for a reason so simple and so basic that we often forget to mention it: because it is false, and because good teachers understand exactly why it is false. What could be more destructive of that most fragile yet most precious commodity in our entire intellectual heritage -- good teaching -- than a bill forcing honorable teachers to sully their sacred trust by granting equal treatment to a doctrine not only known to be false, but calculated to undermine any general understanding of science as an enterprise?...

Gypsy Rose Lee
Praying is like a rocking chair-- it'll give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere.

Clark Adams
If Atheism is a religion, then health is a disease!

Justin Brown
An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist believes that deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated...

Steve
It's not lying, I've really convinced myself of it.

Seneca the Younger 4 b.c.- 65 a.d.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

Bumper sticker
You keep believing, I'll keep evolving.

Carl Sagan
Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of the astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.

Robert G. Ingersoll
God has always resembled his creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved and he was invariably found on the side of those in power. Most of the gods were pleased with sacrifice, and the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a divine perfume...

Robert G. Ingersoll
Christianity did not come with tidings of great joy, but with a message of eternal grief. It came with the threat of everlasting torture on its lips. It meant war on earth and perdition hereafter.

Friedrich Nietzsche
Which is it, is man one of God's blunders or is God one of man's?

Robert G. Ingersoll
Why should I allow that same God to tell me how to raise my kids, who had to drown His own?

George Bernard Shaw
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.

H. L. Mencken
We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.

Karl Marx
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, & the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

Taslima Nasrin
Koranic teaching still insists that the sun moves around the earth. How can we advance when they teach things like that?

Isaac Asimov
Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.

Gene Roddenberry
They said God was on high and he controlled the world and therefore we must pray against Satan. Well, if God controls the world, he controls Satan. For me, religion was full of misstatements and reaches of logic that I just couldn't agree with.

Mark Twain
It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

Lenny Bruce
If Jesus had been killed 20 years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little Electric Chairs around their necks instead of crosses

Robert G. Ingersoll (Ingersoll's Works)
Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, the absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains.

Albert Einstein
A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

Sir Julian Huxley
...any belief in supernatural creators, rulers, or influencers of natural or human process introduces an irreparable split into the universe, and prevents us from grasping its real unity. Any belief in Absolutes, whether the absolute validity of moral commandments, of authority of revelation, of inner certitudes, or of divine inspiration, erects a formidable barrier against progress and the responsibility of improvement, moral, rational, and religious....

Delos B. McKown
The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.

Carl Sagon
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Gene Roddenberry
We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes.

Albert Einstein
Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning.

David Brooks (The Necessity of Atheism)
To explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy.

unknown
Don't pray in my school, and I won't think in your church.

Sam Harris
Whenever a man imagines that he need only believe the truth of a proposition, without evidence - that unbelievers will go to hell, that Jews drink the blood of infants - he becomes capable of anything.

unknown
People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs.

unknown
Blasphemy is a victimless crime.

Richard Dawkins
Be thankful that you have a life, and forsake your vain and presumptuous desire for a second one.

Robert G. Ingersoll
The inspiration of the bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it.

Mark Twain
The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.

Unknown
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned

Jonathon Green
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him

Stephen King
The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance...logic can be happily tossed out the window.

Galileo Galilei
I do not think it is necessary to believe that the same God who has given us our senses, reason, and intelligence wished us to abandon their use, giving us by some other means the information that we could gain through them.

Robert G. Ingersoll
As people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers.

Bertrand Russell
And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence.

Benjamin Franklin
The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.

W.C.Fields
Prayers never bring anything... They may bring solace to the sap, the bigot, the ignorant, the aboriginal, and the lazy - but to the enlightened it is the same as asking Santa Claus to bring you something for Xmas.

Stephen Hawking
The intelligent beings in these regions should therefore not be surprised if they observe that their locality in the universe satisfies the conditions that are necessary for their existence. It is a bit like a rich person living in a wealthy neighborhood not seeing any poverty...

Charlie Chaplin
By simple common sense I don't believe in God.

Peter O'Toole (The Ruling Class)
Everything is more or less organized matter. To think so is against religion, but I think so just the same. When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.

Carl Sagan
Atheism is more than just the knowledge that gods do not exist, and that religion is either a mistake or a fraud. Atheism is an attitude, a frame of mind that looks at the world objectively, fearlessly, always trying to understand all things as a part of nature...

Shakti Gawain
We always attract into our life whatever we think about the most, believe the most strongly, expect on the deepest level, and imagine most vividly.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

Thomas Jefferson
Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear...

Albert Einstein
The contemplation of this world beckoned as a liberation (...) The road to this paradise was not as comfortable and alluring as the road to the religious paradise; but it has shown itself reliable, and I have never regretted having chosen it.

Justin Brown
If the Bible is mistaken in telling us where we came from, how can we trust it to tell us where we're going?

Donald Morgan
Jesus' last words on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" hardly seem like the words of a man who planned it that way. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure there is something wrong here.

JP Shooter
Buy a clue, they're free

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Sunday, August 06, 2006

Do You Know What Libery Is?

Liberty
View this simple, elegant, powerful flash presentation on what Liberty is.

The animation was created by Lux Lucre. The text and inspiration come from "The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey" by Ken Schoolland.  Supported by the International Society for Individual Liberty.

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Saturday, August 05, 2006

Seven Lessons


Seven lessons quoted from an essay Tim O'Reilly which he wrote at the height of the P2P-era; still extremely relevant.


.........a piece I wrote in 2002, entitled Piracy is Progressive Taxation. It contained seven lessons from my experience as a print and online publisher:

   1. Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.
   2. Piracy is progressive taxation.
   3. Customers want to do the right thing, if they can.
   4. Shoplifting is a bigger threat than piracy.
   5. File sharing networks don't threaten book, music, or film publishing. They threaten existing publishers.
   6. "Free" is eventually replaced by a higher-quality paid service.
   7. "There's more than one way to do it."


Read the entire essay......

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
Murphy's First Law: Nothing is as easy as it looks.


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