Google CEO joins Apple’s board of directors
The search giant’s Eric Schmidt joins the computer maker’s board, which already includes Steve Jobs and Al Gore.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2006-08-29 | Filed under: News, Tech and games | 2 responses
Colbert wins first round for Hungarian bridge!
As Thomas Koselak reports Stephen Colbert has won the first round of the Hungarian bridge naming contest as per major hungarian news sources. (http://origo.hu/nagyvilag/20060822amerikai.html & http://index.hu/gazdasag/magyar/colb060822/) Colbert is 1st by 8,4 million votes; 2nd place has 2+ mill. and 3rd- 1,8 mill, votes. 2nd round will come soon!
Posted by probabilityZero on 2006-08-29 | Filed under: News | 2 responses
JonBenet suspect innocent
The case against John Mark Karr, suspect for the murder of JonBonet Ramsey, has been dropped, after DNA tests show he had not been at the crime scene. I hope all the 24hr news stations are proud of all the time they’ve spent covering this whole thing.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2006-08-28 | Filed under: Current events | 3 responses
Entropy for idiots
A common claim among creationists is that evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics. Anyone who understands thermodynamics should see why this is bullshit, but creationists aren’t known for their knowledge of science.
The second law of thermodynamics says, “No process is possible in which the sole result is the transfer of energy from a cooler to a hotter body,” sometimes stated as “The entropy of a closed system cannot decrease.” Creationists misread this, using it to say that order cannot come from disorder.
There is one big, obvious problem with this. Hopefully you’ve heard it before. Ready? Okay: we are not living in a closed system! There is something called the sun that provides plenty of energy.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2006-08-28 | Filed under: Atheism, Noteworthy, Opinion | 72 responses
Is Bush an Idiot?
Video
“You know things are bad when one of your own turns on you.”
To answer the question in the video: this man is a genuine idiot, no doubt about it. A rich coke-head who was used as a mascot for the neocon’s grab for the presidency. At least he makes for good comedy.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2006-08-27 | Filed under: Current events, Other | 4 responses
Stupidity Manifesto
I found this article on “Blogs for Bush” and it basically outlines everything wrong with the neocon/evangelical view of science.
Why did science stray from the path of truth? I think it is because we ceased educating the men of science with a knowledge of religion - a knowledge, that is, of genuine truth, genuine reason, and the relationship of man to creation, and his Creator. When science became a narrowly forcused search for something immediately practical, it was bound to eventually be hijacked by people who wanted to use the cover of science for very impractical efforts. Keep in mind that communism, once upon a time, was considered irrefutable because it was supposedly hard-nosed science about the human condition and destiny - the crackpot theories of an out of touch German intellectual were peddled as if they were on par with the theory of gravity.
So science can’t be truth if it contradicts religious priciples in any way? There is no evidence in favor of creationism and similar ideas that are contradicted by science, so why should existing evidence be ignored? Just because you don’t like it?
The truth will out - and that means that the quest for the truth will continue, and that will mean that efforts in science will continue to yield results…but the Age of Science is over, killed off by lies. I don’t regret its passing - hopefully we will soon start to really educate people, so that even as they pursue science, they keep it in perspective, and in relation to the real human condition.
There aren’t any absolutes in science. Theories will change and improve as more data is gathered.
Does this mean there is no “truth” in science? No. But there is no absolute truth.
Religion has a unique position of being able to say whatever, not provide evidence, and still be widely believed as absolute truth. Maybe science can’t give you all the answers all the time, but it can give you the best explanation given the evidence available.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2006-08-27 | Filed under: Atheism, Opinion | 6 responses
Who Killed the Electric Car?
I just saw the new movie “Who Killed the Electric Car?” at the Tower Theater in Sacramento, and I really liked it. Though it wasn’t as good as Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” it told a very interesting story that I had never even thought about.
Electric cars went off the market because no one wanted them, right? Wrong. One of the most surprising and disturbing parts of the movie is the car companies not allowing willing customers to buy the EV1 cars, and instead crushing and shreading them.
This movie wasn’t playing in my local theaters, and probably never will, but it was still worth seeing. This is a story that needed to be told, and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the enviroment, electric cars, dishonest car companies, or just interesting documentaries.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2006-08-27 | Filed under: Other | 2 responses