Category Archives: Noteworthy

Noteworthy entries.

Video games and the Hollywood effect

By probabilityZero | July 10, 2009

“Indie” games, or independent video games (games developed without support from a major video game publisher) have become quite popular recently in some circles of gamers, and I couldn’t be happier.
The majority of these games are so-called “casual” games, or video games aimed at a wider and generally older audience. They tend to be puzzle-oriented, [...]

Also posted in Tech and games | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Piracy and shoplifting

By probabilityZero | June 22, 2009

A common talking point you hear from the RIAA/MPAA and the media corporations is that piracy is stealing. You wouldn’t steal a DVD movie, so why would you download a DVD rip from a torrent site?
Well, the obvious problem with this is that piracy isn’t stealing. Under the law, piracy is “copyright infringement” — stealing [...]

Also posted in Current events, Opinion | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Why do people believe celebrities instead of experts?

By probabilityZero | June 8, 2009

You’ve probably seen news coverage of the debate over the safety of vaccines and whether they cause autism in children. In fact, you might have seen new-age medicine spokeswoman and former Playboy model Jenny McCarthy speak out against vaccines on Oprah’s hugely popular television show.
Actually, being honest here: if you’re reading this blog, I doubt [...]

Also posted in Atheism, Current events, Opinion | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Is Twitter really good for anything?

By probabilityZero | May 28, 2009

Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, I still use it.
Everyone’s heard of Twitter. Senators use it, newscasters blabber about it, but what is it? This is as simple as I can state it: Twitter is a service where you (the user) post 140 character messages, which are meant to update people following you (subscribed to your updates, [...]

Also posted in Opinion, Tech and games | Tagged , | 3 Comments

The Pirate Bay four found guilty

By probabilityZero | April 17, 2009

The Pirate Bay four were found guilty today of helping consumers illegally download copyrighted material. They each were sentenced to a year in jail, and collectively must pay $3,620,000.
“It’s so bizarre that we got convicted at all, we have to laugh about it,” Pirate Bay member Sunde said. “They could have fined us 1 billion [...]

Also posted in Current events, Opinion | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

James D. Watson on science and genetics

By probabilityZero | April 13, 2009

No one may have the guts to say this, but if we could make better human beings by knowing how to add genes, why shouldn’t we?

Also posted in Atheism, Other | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Turtles all the way down – Intelligent design and infinite regression

By probabilityZero | March 16, 2009

If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument.

Also posted in Atheism, Opinion | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

What’s wrong with gay adoption?

By probabilityZero | January 17, 2009

Answer: there’s nothing wrong with it. It improves the lives of children by bringing them into loving homes. Where’s the problem with that?
Apparently conservatives (such as luckily-not-president McCain) believe that allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt is somehow bad or immoral. McCain had this to say about it:
I think that we’ve proven that both [...]

Also posted in Current events, Opinion | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Philip K. Dick’s 80th birthday

By probabilityZero | December 16, 2008

If he had not died in 1982, today would be his 80th birthday.
Philip K. Dick is my favorite author. I’m not sure what it is exactly that I always liked about him. He wasn’t always the most eloquent writer, and he sometimes relied on the same patterns repeatedly in his work. But he always seemed [...]

Also posted in Current events, Opinion, Other | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Spore, SecuROM, and why DRM doesn’t work

By probabilityZero | September 13, 2008

I’ve personally never had any problems with SecuROM. If I ever did have a problem with it when trying to play a game I purchased legally, however, I wouldn’t hesitate to download an illegal, pirated copy of the game. I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way.
An important issue that articles on [...]

Also posted in Tech and games | 3 Comments

Sarah Palin’s radical religious beliefs

By probabilityZero | September 7, 2008

The nomination of Sarah Palin as VP has certainly made this election season more interesting. The weirdest part, I think, is how she seems to match up with the criticisms McCain and the right have been making of Obama.
First, McCain criticized Obama for being inexperienced, and specifically for lacking foreign policy experience. Now, McCain’s running [...]

Also posted in Current events, Opinion | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments

Political interpretations of Dark Knight

By probabilityZero | July 28, 2008

First of all, Dark Knight is an amazing movie. Heath Ledger gave an great performance, and the storytelling was very well done. I also think that, while the movie can easily be seen to have political implications, they were not intentional, or at least not meant to be viewed as such. That said, the movie [...]

Also posted in Other | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments