Hey New Yorkers, Lee Smolin is great. I highly recommend going to this panel if you are free tomorrow night.
THE COOPER UNION
EDGE NYC EVENT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17!
INTELLIGENT THOUGHT: SCIENCE VERSUS THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN MOVEMENT
Panel discussion
|Jerry Coyne (Moderator), Neil Shubin, Lee Smolin, Seth Lloyd
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 6:30 pm
The Great Hall
7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue - Free
Intelligent design, the concept that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection, is a controversial topic sparking disparate views across the nation. An overwhelming majority of the scientific community views intelligent design as pseudoscience. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has stated that intelligent design "and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life" are not science because they cannot be tested by experiment, do not generate any predictions and propose no new hypotheses of their own.
THE COOPER UNION
EDGE NYC EVENT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17!
INTELLIGENT THOUGHT: SCIENCE VERSUS THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN MOVEMENT
Panel discussion
|Jerry Coyne (Moderator), Neil Shubin, Lee Smolin, Seth Lloyd
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 6:30 pm
The Great Hall
7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue - Free
Intelligent design, the concept that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection, is a controversial topic sparking disparate views across the nation. An overwhelming majority of the scientific community views intelligent design as pseudoscience. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has stated that intelligent design "and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life" are not science because they cannot be tested by experiment, do not generate any predictions and propose no new hypotheses of their own.
Sometimes, what you really want is a just a fucking phone
My old mobile phone is starting to have problems with the power connector, after 3+ years of hard use. I can't replace it with the same model, because it lacks e911, a mandatory feature for my carrier, Verizon. Besides, I want to get bluetooth so I can do hands free without screwing around with wires while I'm driving.
So here's my wish list ...
required
nice to have
The two high-end phone without a camera are Blackberrys, but no AMPS. The two low-end phones without a camera lack bluetooth.
So, I may settle for an LG VX5300 with a blob of opaque epoxy on the lens of the camera that I really don't need and don't want. It does have data capabilites, but weak ones. I've already got an EV-DO card for my lap top, so I can live with that.
My old mobile phone is starting to have problems with the power connector, after 3+ years of hard use. I can't replace it with the same model, because it lacks e911, a mandatory feature for my carrier, Verizon. Besides, I want to get bluetooth so I can do hands free without screwing around with wires while I'm driving.
So here's my wish list ...
required
- tri-mode: AMPS, CDMA 1900/800 (I need AMPS, the old analog service, so I can use the phone off the beaten track.)
- NO camera (Some companies don't allow cameras in their buildings. Connectivity is, by definition, sucky if the phone is stuck at a receptionist's desk. Besides, I have a bunch of cameras already. Further, Verizon requires the use of "picture messaging". WTF? Most decent phones have USB. Why would I want to pay extra to send the picture to myself over their network?)
- blue tooth and voice commands (So I can comply with the new "hands free" law when driving. It's a good idea anyway on windy mountain roads.)
nice to have
- 1xRTT or EV-DO modem capability
- GSM would be sweet, but I'm not travelling to Europe much these days, so it doesn't come up much. (It's not a feature of any phone that Verizon supports. And most GSM phones don't do AMPS, so it's an impass.)
- PDA functionality with POP3 & sync to MS Outlook calendar
The two high-end phone without a camera are Blackberrys, but no AMPS. The two low-end phones without a camera lack bluetooth.
So, I may settle for an LG VX5300 with a blob of opaque epoxy on the lens of the camera that I really don't need and don't want. It does have data capabilites, but weak ones. I've already got an EV-DO card for my lap top, so I can live with that.
friday 13th bonus post
small aircraft crashes into high-rise nyc apartment building.
i know i feel safer.
i havent read the article but i appreciate the irony.
another bauble unearthed by woodward -- james carvilles scumminess. serves kerry right though for his efforts to smear dean.
another bauble unearthed by woodward -- james carvilles scumminess. serves kerry right though for his efforts to smear dean.
Suposedly Google just bought YouTube for 1.65 billion.
more surprising than noko setting off an atomic bomb?
operation hollywood
i was going to link to josh marshalls post about this yesterday. theyre starting to give fascismo a bad name.
yacht rock
Third season of Lost begins at 9 tonight. What happened when Desmond Hume turned that key? Why does the love of Desmond's life care about the "the electromagnetic anomaly"? What's so special about Jack, Kate, and Sawyer to the Others? Who are the Others? Important questions, all.
saw some odd numbers on my fresh direct invoice this morning. called in to complain but they assured me the numbers were high due to some credit card authorization bs. so i waited and waited. my delivery came 45 minutes late and 2 pounds heavy, or light actually.
the weight on the aspargus said 2.48lbs. i had ordered 1lb. i got 1lb but was charged for 2.48. i had a similar problem with the onions in my order. fortunately, like every good cook, i have a scale handy. fuckers reimbursed me but i should have made more of a stink and got some freebies.
the weight on the aspargus said 2.48lbs. i had ordered 1lb. i got 1lb but was charged for 2.48. i had a similar problem with the onions in my order. fortunately, like every good cook, i have a scale handy. fuckers reimbursed me but i should have made more of a stink and got some freebies.
Okay, sure, the Guinness really is superior here in Ireland. But I have to admit I've shifted my attention a bit more to the whiskey. The bar at the Brooks Hotel has, they argue, the best selection in all of Ireland. Despite my efforts it wasn't possible to sample them all, but I took quite a liking to the Green Spot. I've never seen it in NYC, but I usually don't drink whiskey there, so maybe it's not a find. Still I might bring back a bottle just in case. Smooth.
LONDON (Reuters) - Imagine being able to check instantly whether or not statements made by politicians were correct. That is the sort of service Google Inc. boss Eric Schmidt believes the Internet will offer within five years.
Politicians have yet to appreciate the impact of the online world, which will also affect the outcome of elections, Schmidt said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Wednesday.
He predicted that "truth predictor" software would, within five years, "hold politicians to account." People would be able to use programs to check seemingly factual statements against historical data to see to see if they were correct.
Politicians have yet to appreciate the impact of the online world, which will also affect the outcome of elections, Schmidt said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Wednesday.
He predicted that "truth predictor" software would, within five years, "hold politicians to account." People would be able to use programs to check seemingly factual statements against historical data to see to see if they were correct.
i try to steer clear of the gratuitous news stories but i caught one line about the amish girls case. sounds awful.
fox has foley excommunicated from the party.
jus' fer fun (assuming wretching is your idea of fun)
The 9/11 Commission -- pull on a few loose threads and the whole thing starts unravelling
