If this is a data point, I would have to say that Americans have lost their capability to think. Please say it isn’t so.
Year: 2007
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Worthy of Tufte
There’s a new version of the mammalian family tree that’s just been published, as a result of taking earlier studies and producing a "supertree" from them. Pharyngula has the details, and there’s a most interesting discussion developing in the comments section.The image that is used on Pharyngula is beautiful, and worthy of something done by the great Edward Tufte, but if you want to see the tree in its full, stunning, glory, then get the version that the BBC has published here and zoom in. I’d love to be able to print this out as a huge wallchart. -
A Trifle OTT?
A trifle over the top, was my reaction to the news that a Swiss man living in Thailand has been jailed for 10 years for insulting the country’s king. But it could have been worse – the judge wanted to impose a sentence of 20 years, but had a flash of leniency, because the accused pleaded guilty… -
Sauce For The Goose…
…Is not always sauce for the gander. I think Ronan Bennett makes a very good point in his article in The Guardian today. -
The New Pope – The Starwars Version
I’m pretty sure I’ve blogged about this before, but it’s just been referred to over on the New Humanists’ Blog, so I thought that was excuse enough to put it up again.It’s by Adam Buxton, and I think it illustrates how we humans love ritual, whatever the background… -
Yet Another Debate
It’s just like waiting for the proverbial London bus – you stand around for ages and ages, and then three of them come along at once. Here’s another debate about religion… This time between Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and AC Grayling versus Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Professor Roger Scruton and Nigel Spivey. The podcasts can be downloaded here.The trouble is that every speaker is like a blind man confronted with the elephant – they all define it in their own way, so they mostly talk past each other. There are some good riffs – Hitchens’ introduction is excellent, and Spivey’s in its own way is pretty good, but he did seem (to me) to confuse religion with creativity, and religion with patronage. Thankfully, Dawkins pointed out the latter confusion. I’m still listening so haven’t heard all the arguments, but it’s good stuff thus far…Update: I was not impressed at all by Neuberger or Scruton. If this is the best that those who believe that religion is a good thing, then the result that the motion that "we’d all be better off without religion" was carried does not surprise me one bit.For: 1,205Against: 778The motion is carried. -
The God of Eth
Stephen Law has another excellent post over at his eponymous blog to get you thinking about the nature of god. It’s always seemed "patently obvious" to me that if such a being exists (I’m a six on the Dawkins scale), that it must be supremely indifferent of us. -
A Must-See Film?
J. Carter Wood, over at Obscene Desserts, draws our attention to the oft-overlooked art of typography. It’s always seemed strange to me that something so ubiquitous can also be something so unnoticed – its effects being wrought often at almost an unconscious level, as if by some strange osmosis.Apparently, the Helvetica font turns 50 this year, and as JCW writes, there is even to be a documentary about it. And it’s feature-length, too. Ye gods – I can easily imagine dedicated typographers having the attention span to be able to sit through this (they seem at times to be a pretty obsessive bunch), but us ordinary mortals?Oh – and check out the article by Mark Simonson on Arial; it’s definitely worth reading. -
With Friends Like These…
…Who needs enemies? That Mo, eh? What a card he is! Another brilliant episode in the ongoing story of religious folk. -
The Perfect Man For The Job
The director of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organization has clearly the perfect name… He must be the right man for the job. -
Cheddarvision
As a restful alternative to the shenanigans of The Apprentice, you might want to try Cheddarvision… -
They’re Baaack!
Another bunch of 16 people whom I definitely wouldn’t want to bump into at parties has hit the screen tonight. Yes, the third series of The Apprentice has begun in all its tacky, toecurling glory.
Apparently, all the candidates have left their previous jobs to take part in the show. I can’t think why. Probably that very thought was going through the mind of tonight’s – ah – victim, Andy Jackson.
In fact, I can’t help but wonder why on earth anyone would want to take part in this at all. The process does seem to have a tendency to self-select the candidates who appear for the most part to have the most unappealing human characteristics. Speaking of which, it would seem that Tre Azam is easily the leader in the candidate from hell stakes on the boy’s side. I’m not sure yet about the girl’s side, but Gerri Blackwood has possibilities.
Still, I have to admit that it has all the appeal of a road crash. You know you shouldn’t look at it, but it has a certain morbid fascination, and you rubberneck as you drive past on life’s road.
Update: Anna Pickard’s got a brilliant blow-by-blow blog of the opening episode here.
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Another Debate
This time it’s Dawkins and McGrath. I haven’t heard it yet – just downloading it now. I’m curious to hear whether McGrath comes up with anything better than hand-waving this time around.Update: Nope – he didn’t. He’s a prime example of an "Imperial Courtier" who dances round every utterance without voicing anything whatsoever of substance so far as I could discern. -
The World’s Biggest Sundial
The Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society draws our attention to the world’s biggest sundial – with a gnomon that is 155 metres (510 feet) high. -
Clippy Reincarnated?
Some of you will probably remember Clippy – that obnoxious anthropomorphised cartoon paperclip that came with earlier versions of Microsoft Office. Thankfully, it has now been laid to rest in the latest version of Office. But don’t breathe too easily – the next generation of these assistants has just made her debut on MSN Messenger. -
Life Imitates Art – Part II
Sometimes I think my head will explode. It’s likely to be triggered by an overdose of incongruity. Such as this: the video of Nigerian email scammers acting out the Monty Python "Dead Parrot" sketch in the mistaken belief that this will earn them a scholarship to come to the US to study film. -
Life Imitates Art
In a fine piece over at Ballardian, Simon Sellars muses on the parallels between a film made in 1974, modern suburbia in Australia, and the uncanny prescience of J. G. Ballard in describing it all. Worth reading. -
Peanut Butter and Evolution
I’m currently under the weather with ‘flu. So I’m not feeling particularly wonderful at the moment. A feeling that was not helped one jot or tittle by this pile of bollocks.There’s more where that came from apparently, but I don’t feel strong enough to wade through it.(hat tip to Richard Dawkins net for the link)Oh, and while we are on the subject of how stupid people can be. This example of motherly love takes some beating for the sheer banality of evil. -
Happy Birthday, Richard!
Richard Dawkins is 66 today. One digit short of the mark of the beast, in the eyes of some, no doubt. May he be around to celebrate many more birthdays… -
Monkey Think, Monkey Do
Emotiv Systems demonstrated a prototype of a new computer peripheral recently. It purportedly allows the wearer to think about actions, and for those actions to be acted upon by the computer. Watch the video to get a sense of this. I can’t help but feel that a) the learning/training time is going to be fairly long and b) the response time as evidenced from the video (presumably carried out by trained personnel) is slower than molasses on a cold day. Still, it will be interesting to see what actually arrives on the market.
Geoff Coupe's Blog 