You bastard. You complete and utter bastard.
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-39743332/what-trump-misses
Friday 28 April 2017
The Daedalus suit shall one day be MINE !
Shut up. Shut up and take my goddamn motherfrakkin' money.
A British inventor, who built an Iron Man-style flight suit, has flown it at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference in Vancouver. "My approach to flight was why not augment the human mind and body, because they are amazing machines, so I just bolted on what was missing - thrust."
Mr Browning, a Royal Marine Reserve, created his flying machine using six miniature jet engines and a specially designed exoskeleton. He has a helmet with a sophisticated heads-up display that keeps him informed about fuel use.
The Daedalus suit - named after the father of Icarus by Mr Browning's eight-year-old son - takes off vertically. Mr Browning uses his arms to control the direction and speed of the flight. Mr Browning said it is easily capable of flying at 200mph (321km/h) and an altitude of a few thousand feet. But, for safety reasons, he keeps the altitude and speed low. He insisted it is "safer than a motorbike". The suit can currently fly uninterrupted for around 10 minutes..
But he insists the project remains "a bit of fun" and is unlikely to become a mainstream method of transportation.
Reminds me of a story they told us once in school. An old man wearing a backpack walks into an airport looking somewhat lost. Eventually an official asks him if he needs any help. "I've invented a flying machine," says the old man, "and I thought this might be the place to show people."
The official laughs. "Sir," he says, "we have lots of flying machines. All those things outside are flying machines. We use them all the time. Have done for years. Look, there's one taking off now."
"Ah, I see you're right," says the old man. "My invention has come too late to be of any use." With that the old man walks outside, presses a button on his backpack and flies away.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39441825
A British inventor, who built an Iron Man-style flight suit, has flown it at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference in Vancouver. "My approach to flight was why not augment the human mind and body, because they are amazing machines, so I just bolted on what was missing - thrust."
Mr Browning, a Royal Marine Reserve, created his flying machine using six miniature jet engines and a specially designed exoskeleton. He has a helmet with a sophisticated heads-up display that keeps him informed about fuel use.
The Daedalus suit - named after the father of Icarus by Mr Browning's eight-year-old son - takes off vertically. Mr Browning uses his arms to control the direction and speed of the flight. Mr Browning said it is easily capable of flying at 200mph (321km/h) and an altitude of a few thousand feet. But, for safety reasons, he keeps the altitude and speed low. He insisted it is "safer than a motorbike". The suit can currently fly uninterrupted for around 10 minutes..
But he insists the project remains "a bit of fun" and is unlikely to become a mainstream method of transportation.
Reminds me of a story they told us once in school. An old man wearing a backpack walks into an airport looking somewhat lost. Eventually an official asks him if he needs any help. "I've invented a flying machine," says the old man, "and I thought this might be the place to show people."
The official laughs. "Sir," he says, "we have lots of flying machines. All those things outside are flying machines. We use them all the time. Have done for years. Look, there's one taking off now."
"Ah, I see you're right," says the old man. "My invention has come too late to be of any use." With that the old man walks outside, presses a button on his backpack and flies away.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39441825
Virtual Angkor Wat
This sounds fun. Via Matt Hall.
Virtual Angkor takes users back about 1,000 years into a thriving community of 25,000 virtual Cambodians living inside a model of Angkor Wat, partially mapped using geometry generated by airborne laser surveys.
Another Australian project, Virtual Songlines, takes us ten times further back into the past to look at how different tribes of the first Australians lived in places like Warrane and Meanjin (better known today as Sydney Cove and Brisbane's CBD).
Some of the detail in Dr Chandler's world has been crafted through extraordinary archaeological diligence. For instance, in order to accurately recreate flora, Dr Chandler's team had to first consult with experts on soil cores to verify which plants existed at that time, then flew over and photographed the trees before modelling and texturing the relatively geometrically complex objects.
For audio, he has travelled to remote villages to record ambient sound, a task that has become harder and harder as Cambodia develops and motorbikes, cell phones, and televisions become commonplace. Highly detailed terrain maps have been gleaned from two helicopter borne laser surveys, known as LiDAR, that were conducted by a partnership including the University of Sydney called the Khmer Angkor Lidar Consortium at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
Unlike a film or book though, both Virtual Songlines and Virtual Angkor are not being built as a final product but rather just one version of worlds that will continually evolve to reflect competing historical perspectives and new archaeological discoveries in what Dr Chandler has dubbed an "iterative dialogue".
Virtual Songlines will be on display as a virtual reality experience at Brisbane Powerhouse in June, Sydney's Powerhouse Museum at the end of July and available in numerous libraries as a desktop computer experience around the same time, with a downloadable PC version expected in August.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-22/virtual-angkor-wat-and-other-3d-ancient-civilisations/8447504?pfm=ms&pfmredir=sm
Virtual Angkor takes users back about 1,000 years into a thriving community of 25,000 virtual Cambodians living inside a model of Angkor Wat, partially mapped using geometry generated by airborne laser surveys.
Another Australian project, Virtual Songlines, takes us ten times further back into the past to look at how different tribes of the first Australians lived in places like Warrane and Meanjin (better known today as Sydney Cove and Brisbane's CBD).
Some of the detail in Dr Chandler's world has been crafted through extraordinary archaeological diligence. For instance, in order to accurately recreate flora, Dr Chandler's team had to first consult with experts on soil cores to verify which plants existed at that time, then flew over and photographed the trees before modelling and texturing the relatively geometrically complex objects.
For audio, he has travelled to remote villages to record ambient sound, a task that has become harder and harder as Cambodia develops and motorbikes, cell phones, and televisions become commonplace. Highly detailed terrain maps have been gleaned from two helicopter borne laser surveys, known as LiDAR, that were conducted by a partnership including the University of Sydney called the Khmer Angkor Lidar Consortium at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
Unlike a film or book though, both Virtual Songlines and Virtual Angkor are not being built as a final product but rather just one version of worlds that will continually evolve to reflect competing historical perspectives and new archaeological discoveries in what Dr Chandler has dubbed an "iterative dialogue".
Virtual Songlines will be on display as a virtual reality experience at Brisbane Powerhouse in June, Sydney's Powerhouse Museum at the end of July and available in numerous libraries as a desktop computer experience around the same time, with a downloadable PC version expected in August.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-22/virtual-angkor-wat-and-other-3d-ancient-civilisations/8447504?pfm=ms&pfmredir=sm
Thursday 27 April 2017
Arecibo vs FAST
Another Arecibo flyer. Is this Arecibo trying to make peace with FAST or a withering put-down ? YOU decide ! :)
Fun with illegal aliens
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security opened a new office, called VOICE, to "serve the needs of crime victims and their families who have been impacted by crimes committed by removable criminal aliens".
The centrepiece is a new hotline that victims can call for support and assistance. It was set up under the authority of an executive order on immigration from President Drumpf in January. People began making clear exactly what people should not be using the line for :
"I reported seeing a bloated orange humanoid."
Well done, that man.
But why in the world would you even want a separate hotline for crimes committed by foreigners ?!?! As opposed to, oh, I don't know, calling the police ?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39731085
The centrepiece is a new hotline that victims can call for support and assistance. It was set up under the authority of an executive order on immigration from President Drumpf in January. People began making clear exactly what people should not be using the line for :
"I reported seeing a bloated orange humanoid."
Well done, that man.
But why in the world would you even want a separate hotline for crimes committed by foreigners ?!?! As opposed to, oh, I don't know, calling the police ?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39731085
Wednesday 26 April 2017
Error propagation in action
I smell a future IgNobel.
Scientists have calculated the optimal strategy for throwing something accurately - whether it's a dart or a crumpled-up piece of paper. US researchers say the slow-is-more-accurate rule generally applies.
In a series of calculations, they looked at the physics behind releasing a projectile with the human arm. Their equations suggest a slow but accurate throw is the best strategy for getting a piece of paper into a nearby bin.
Lead researcher Madhusudhan Venkadesan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Yale University, said faster throws tend to be less accurate. This is because the ball travels in a nearly straight line, so any errors in the angle at which the object is released tend to be amplified. In slow and curved flight paths, small errors in the angle of release have little effect, he said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39712282
Scientists have calculated the optimal strategy for throwing something accurately - whether it's a dart or a crumpled-up piece of paper. US researchers say the slow-is-more-accurate rule generally applies.
In a series of calculations, they looked at the physics behind releasing a projectile with the human arm. Their equations suggest a slow but accurate throw is the best strategy for getting a piece of paper into a nearby bin.
Lead researcher Madhusudhan Venkadesan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Yale University, said faster throws tend to be less accurate. This is because the ball travels in a nearly straight line, so any errors in the angle at which the object is released tend to be amplified. In slow and curved flight paths, small errors in the angle of release have little effect, he said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39712282
Animals that survive being eaten (but probably wish they hadn't)
The glorious majesty of nature never fails to impress.
In 2012, biologists on an expedition to East Timor in southeast Asia spotted a brahminy blind snake wriggling out of somewhere quite unexpected: the rear end of a common Asian toad. "It's quite surprising that a vertebrate, which has lungs, was able to survive," says O'Shea.
The snake may be better equipped for the journey than most species. With a long, slender body just a few millimetres wide, it effortlessly burrows through tiny holes and crevices in its environment. Passing through the narrow confines of a toad's digestive tract should not be too much of a challenge in principle. O'Shea thinks the snake crawled through the toad's gut instead of simply being carried through by muscle contractions that move food along.
Almost certainly the biggest problem the blind snake had to deal with was a prolonged lack of oxygen. As an underground dweller and due to its small size, it needs less air to survive than many animals. But still, there is a limit to how little it can tolerate. "Theoretically, the time it takes to get through the gut would determine if it lives or dies," says O'Shea.
The researchers do not know how long it took the snake to journey through the toad's gut. But although they watched it wriggle out alive, it died about five hours later.
The brahminy blind snake, however, probably had little impact on the toad that ate it, beyond the strange feeling of having an animal move through its stomach and intestines. "The toad just appeared to be embarrassed," says O'Shea. After all, it had a snake sticking out of its bottom.
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170424-there-are-animals-that-can-survive-being-eaten
In 2012, biologists on an expedition to East Timor in southeast Asia spotted a brahminy blind snake wriggling out of somewhere quite unexpected: the rear end of a common Asian toad. "It's quite surprising that a vertebrate, which has lungs, was able to survive," says O'Shea.
The snake may be better equipped for the journey than most species. With a long, slender body just a few millimetres wide, it effortlessly burrows through tiny holes and crevices in its environment. Passing through the narrow confines of a toad's digestive tract should not be too much of a challenge in principle. O'Shea thinks the snake crawled through the toad's gut instead of simply being carried through by muscle contractions that move food along.
Almost certainly the biggest problem the blind snake had to deal with was a prolonged lack of oxygen. As an underground dweller and due to its small size, it needs less air to survive than many animals. But still, there is a limit to how little it can tolerate. "Theoretically, the time it takes to get through the gut would determine if it lives or dies," says O'Shea.
The researchers do not know how long it took the snake to journey through the toad's gut. But although they watched it wriggle out alive, it died about five hours later.
The brahminy blind snake, however, probably had little impact on the toad that ate it, beyond the strange feeling of having an animal move through its stomach and intestines. "The toad just appeared to be embarrassed," says O'Shea. After all, it had a snake sticking out of its bottom.
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170424-there-are-animals-that-can-survive-being-eaten
Trump practises Ferengi Rule of Acquisition no. 76
Ferengi Rule of Acquisition no. 76 : Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
Donald Drumpf has indicated he will scrap plans to find cash for his border wall in this week's spending bill. The president's close adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said funding for the wall would be left out of a budget measure that must pass by Friday. Building the wall, paid for by Mexico, was a key campaign promise.
Democrats had threatened to block the bill if money was earmarked for the wall, so its omission may now avert a government shutdown. But the president insisted on Twitter that he still supported the wall and that it would be built.
Mr Drumpf had proposed $1.5bn (£1.2bn) for his wall as part of the spending bill, which funds federal agencies to the end of the current fiscal year. Analysts say the president is under pressure to deliver on his election pledges, few of which have been fulfilled during his first 100 days in office.
[How interesting that Trump was later offered a comparable amount but rejected it, saying he needed $5.7 billion. Presumably this figure was arrived through pure guesswork.]
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39708768
Donald Drumpf has indicated he will scrap plans to find cash for his border wall in this week's spending bill. The president's close adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said funding for the wall would be left out of a budget measure that must pass by Friday. Building the wall, paid for by Mexico, was a key campaign promise.
Democrats had threatened to block the bill if money was earmarked for the wall, so its omission may now avert a government shutdown. But the president insisted on Twitter that he still supported the wall and that it would be built.
Mr Drumpf had proposed $1.5bn (£1.2bn) for his wall as part of the spending bill, which funds federal agencies to the end of the current fiscal year. Analysts say the president is under pressure to deliver on his election pledges, few of which have been fulfilled during his first 100 days in office.
[How interesting that Trump was later offered a comparable amount but rejected it, saying he needed $5.7 billion. Presumably this figure was arrived through pure guesswork.]
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39708768
Monday 24 April 2017
Scientists are believers too
One may make assumptions about reality yet not have a devout, unshakeable belief in anything. Or indeed one may indeed have a devout belief but still make assumptions and explore them.
Originally shared by Brian Koberlein
I Believe
What do you believe? Do you believe in fate? In love? In God? Do you believe in evolution? Global warming? The big bang?
Our beliefs — those things we hold to be true — are a central part of what defines us. They shape our lives in ways seen and unseen. They form a foundation for our ethics, values, and even our political views.
There is a popular idea among scientists that belief is not a part of science. One does not believe in evolution, one understands evolution, as if the mere comprehension of natural selection ensures one’s acceptance of evolution. If you don’t believe in evolution, you simply don’t understand it. But that’s nonsense. One can understand a concept without accepting its validity, and people can and do choose not to believe in evolution. People believe in creationism. People believe the Earth is flat. They believe there is a divine creator, or that there is no god. Those beliefs are a part of their identity, and we cannot simply declare their beliefs to be invalid. The central freedom anyone has is a freedom of thought.
The reluctance to speak of belief in science stems, I think in part, from the fact that that it is often used by trolls and the like to paint science as a religion. If scientists believe in evolution then it is no different than a belief in the Holy Trinity or the Great Pumpkin, and can be dismissed as mere dogma. In this view all beliefs are statements of faith, made piously in the absence of evidence. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe, as Christ admonishes doubting Thomas. Thus, changing one’s belief is a sign of weakness. It demonstrates a tragic loss of faith.
But there are central beliefs (tenets if you prefer) of scientific adherents. A belief that the cosmos has (at least in part) an objective reality, and that humans have the ability to understand that reality, though incomplete it may be. A belief that, despite its many flaws, the scientific method of observation and experimentation allows us to build a confluence of evidence that brings to light an emergent truth. These are not controversial beliefs, and they are held by scientists all over the world, whether they be atheist or devout, and regardless of their political persuasion. Thus, evolution, global warming, and black holes are a part of that emergent truth. Like most scientists I believe them to be true, but it is a conditional belief, supported by the scientific evidence we currently have.
With the recent March on Science this weekend, there has been a great deal of discussion about science and politics. Is science inherently political? Should it be? Or should it strive to be neutral? Individually, scientists can be politically active, and many loudly proclaim their views. As debates over the science march and related issues have demonstrated, even scientists don’t agree on their politics. But one thing they do agree upon is that the cosmos has an objective reality, and humanity is best served when we listen to what that reality teaches us. To my mind, our political discussions should start with those lessons. We should start with a recognition of the scientific evidence we currently have. If we hold that to be common ground, our political debates will still be fierce, but they will lead to the betterment of us all.
At least that is what I believe.
https://briankoberlein.com/2017/04/24/i-believe/
Originally shared by Brian Koberlein
I Believe
What do you believe? Do you believe in fate? In love? In God? Do you believe in evolution? Global warming? The big bang?
Our beliefs — those things we hold to be true — are a central part of what defines us. They shape our lives in ways seen and unseen. They form a foundation for our ethics, values, and even our political views.
There is a popular idea among scientists that belief is not a part of science. One does not believe in evolution, one understands evolution, as if the mere comprehension of natural selection ensures one’s acceptance of evolution. If you don’t believe in evolution, you simply don’t understand it. But that’s nonsense. One can understand a concept without accepting its validity, and people can and do choose not to believe in evolution. People believe in creationism. People believe the Earth is flat. They believe there is a divine creator, or that there is no god. Those beliefs are a part of their identity, and we cannot simply declare their beliefs to be invalid. The central freedom anyone has is a freedom of thought.
The reluctance to speak of belief in science stems, I think in part, from the fact that that it is often used by trolls and the like to paint science as a religion. If scientists believe in evolution then it is no different than a belief in the Holy Trinity or the Great Pumpkin, and can be dismissed as mere dogma. In this view all beliefs are statements of faith, made piously in the absence of evidence. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe, as Christ admonishes doubting Thomas. Thus, changing one’s belief is a sign of weakness. It demonstrates a tragic loss of faith.
But there are central beliefs (tenets if you prefer) of scientific adherents. A belief that the cosmos has (at least in part) an objective reality, and that humans have the ability to understand that reality, though incomplete it may be. A belief that, despite its many flaws, the scientific method of observation and experimentation allows us to build a confluence of evidence that brings to light an emergent truth. These are not controversial beliefs, and they are held by scientists all over the world, whether they be atheist or devout, and regardless of their political persuasion. Thus, evolution, global warming, and black holes are a part of that emergent truth. Like most scientists I believe them to be true, but it is a conditional belief, supported by the scientific evidence we currently have.
With the recent March on Science this weekend, there has been a great deal of discussion about science and politics. Is science inherently political? Should it be? Or should it strive to be neutral? Individually, scientists can be politically active, and many loudly proclaim their views. As debates over the science march and related issues have demonstrated, even scientists don’t agree on their politics. But one thing they do agree upon is that the cosmos has an objective reality, and humanity is best served when we listen to what that reality teaches us. To my mind, our political discussions should start with those lessons. We should start with a recognition of the scientific evidence we currently have. If we hold that to be common ground, our political debates will still be fierce, but they will lead to the betterment of us all.
At least that is what I believe.
https://briankoberlein.com/2017/04/24/i-believe/
A plausible conspiracy
One of those rarest of things : a conspiracy theory I'm prepared to entertain. Note that "entertain" does not mean, "subscribe to unconditionally body and soul until the end of time."
“Nigel Farage Just Visited the Ecuadorian Embassy in London,” the headline said. “Asked by BuzzFeed News if he’d been visiting Julian Assange, the former Ukip leader said he could not remember what he had been doing in the building.”
And that was how the world found out, by accident, that the founder of WikiLeaks, the organisation which published Hillary Clinton’s leaked emails – a decisive advantage for Donald Drumpf’s campaign – and Farage, a friend of Donald Drumpf, were mutually acquainted.
When Nigel Farage tripped down the steps of the Ecuadorian embassy – a visit that he did not expect to be photographed or documented – a beam of light was shone on a previously hidden world: a political alignment between WikiLeaks’ ideology, Ukip’s ideology and Drumpf’s ideology that is not necessarily just an affinity. It is also, potentially, a channel of communication.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/23/when-nigel-farage-met-julian-assange?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Google%2B
“Nigel Farage Just Visited the Ecuadorian Embassy in London,” the headline said. “Asked by BuzzFeed News if he’d been visiting Julian Assange, the former Ukip leader said he could not remember what he had been doing in the building.”
And that was how the world found out, by accident, that the founder of WikiLeaks, the organisation which published Hillary Clinton’s leaked emails – a decisive advantage for Donald Drumpf’s campaign – and Farage, a friend of Donald Drumpf, were mutually acquainted.
When Nigel Farage tripped down the steps of the Ecuadorian embassy – a visit that he did not expect to be photographed or documented – a beam of light was shone on a previously hidden world: a political alignment between WikiLeaks’ ideology, Ukip’s ideology and Drumpf’s ideology that is not necessarily just an affinity. It is also, potentially, a channel of communication.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/23/when-nigel-farage-met-julian-assange?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Google%2B
Sunday 23 April 2017
Saturday 22 April 2017
Decision made
Ranty summary of why I'm voting Liberal Democrat in a Tory-Labour marginal constituency. More for posterity than anything else.
There are good reasons why some are predicting a landslide win for the Tories - they are well ahead in the polls, the SNP dominate Scotland, and Labour seem determined to screw themselves as hard as possible. And yet that does not tell the whole story. We're already in uncharted waters - not just from the referendum result, but from the massive loss of "safe" seats at the last election and in recent by-elections.
Paradoxically, this election is one born of both opportunism and desperation. It's opportunistic because of the high poll ratings for the Tories, the extreme weakness of the Labour party, the saturation level of the SNP and the tiny number of Liberal Democrat and Green MPs. And yet it is also desperate, due to the immense ongoing political pressure resulting from Brexit, coupled with the new challenge of a second Scottish independence referendum, as well as the underlying unpopularity of austerity. For Theresa May it's do-or-die at this point : either secure a "mandate" from the populace or accept defeat and a potential change of course. Politically, an election looks like not just a good way to secure the next few years of Tory government, but the only way. She's certainly gaming the system, but it's a game she's been forced to play.
There seems to me reasonable evidence to doubt the certainty of a landslide Tory victory. The Lib Dems recently won some spectacular victories in by-elections. Labour are so unpopular it looks extremely unlikely that they can win. Anecdotally, I know too many once-devoted Labour supporters (both young and old) who are literally disgusted with Corbyn to take any claims of a shock Labour win seriously. But surely a shock Liberal Democrat win is even more unlikely ?
Sure. But the Tory minority is tiny. It's far less implausible to suggest that it might be reduced to nothing and the government replaced with a coalition of the left. I accept that we won't get a shock Labour or Lib Dem win, but would a Tory loss be so unexpected ? Anger at Brexit is widespread, austerity is unpopular. With a sensible leader at Labour's helm I doubt there'd be much talk of a Tory landslide at all. So I do think there's a chance of an upset. More pragmatically, Cardiff voted strongly for Remain, so in my constituency the Lib Dems now have a chance to appeal to voters in a way they previously haven't, since no other party is so staunchly anti-Brexit.
There are good reasons why some are predicting a landslide win for the Tories - they are well ahead in the polls, the SNP dominate Scotland, and Labour seem determined to screw themselves as hard as possible. And yet that does not tell the whole story. We're already in uncharted waters - not just from the referendum result, but from the massive loss of "safe" seats at the last election and in recent by-elections.
Paradoxically, this election is one born of both opportunism and desperation. It's opportunistic because of the high poll ratings for the Tories, the extreme weakness of the Labour party, the saturation level of the SNP and the tiny number of Liberal Democrat and Green MPs. And yet it is also desperate, due to the immense ongoing political pressure resulting from Brexit, coupled with the new challenge of a second Scottish independence referendum, as well as the underlying unpopularity of austerity. For Theresa May it's do-or-die at this point : either secure a "mandate" from the populace or accept defeat and a potential change of course. Politically, an election looks like not just a good way to secure the next few years of Tory government, but the only way. She's certainly gaming the system, but it's a game she's been forced to play.
There seems to me reasonable evidence to doubt the certainty of a landslide Tory victory. The Lib Dems recently won some spectacular victories in by-elections. Labour are so unpopular it looks extremely unlikely that they can win. Anecdotally, I know too many once-devoted Labour supporters (both young and old) who are literally disgusted with Corbyn to take any claims of a shock Labour win seriously. But surely a shock Liberal Democrat win is even more unlikely ?
Sure. But the Tory minority is tiny. It's far less implausible to suggest that it might be reduced to nothing and the government replaced with a coalition of the left. I accept that we won't get a shock Labour or Lib Dem win, but would a Tory loss be so unexpected ? Anger at Brexit is widespread, austerity is unpopular. With a sensible leader at Labour's helm I doubt there'd be much talk of a Tory landslide at all. So I do think there's a chance of an upset. More pragmatically, Cardiff voted strongly for Remain, so in my constituency the Lib Dems now have a chance to appeal to voters in a way they previously haven't, since no other party is so staunchly anti-Brexit.
Here We Go Again
Thank you, Brenda from Bristol, for saying what we're all thinking : There's too much politics going on at the moment. There certainly is, far too much. Time was when we could all discuss politics at leisure, get cross with the other side but not too cross because we could be confident that the damage they could do would be limited.
Friday 21 April 2017
The Liberal Democrats are rich now
I've been wondering if I'm suffering from the Nirvana fallacy myself having decided not to vote for Labour in a Tory-Labour marginal constituency. OK, maybe I don't like Corbyn but I still like Labour more than the Tories, and Labour ostensibly have a greater chance of winning than the Lib Dems.
The problem is that with Corbyn in charge, Labour may have the right policies but not the right principles. I do not think Corbyn actually believes in compromise or negotiation - his "kinder politics" was a shoddy piece of bullshit code for "do whatever I say". Cameron - and I'm loathe to say this - was right about him.
Secondly, the "safe seats" idea appears to be passing, given both the previous general election and recent by-election results. Cardiff voted for Remain, which makes a Lib Dem surge here not so implausible.
And the clincher : Brexit. With Corbyn in charge, a Labour win would do nothing for me on the most important political issue of the day. The man wants Brexit to happen and doesn't appear to have any plausible strategy to even get us a good exit deal. So with Labour now effectively campaigning for (in my opinion) a major political disaster, why should I vote for them ? On the most important issue of this generation they're no better than the Tories - so even if they won, I'd have voted for something I didn't actually want, which would defeat the purpose of voting.
I could be persuaded back to Labour but it would take two radical actions that must happen (and I doubt very much will given the short campaign of a snap election) :
1) Corbyn needs to go. Not change policy - go. Yes, I'm making an ad hominem attack, and quite happily, because it's not his policies but the man himself I do not trust. No point having nice policies if I don't trust you to implement them.
2) Labour needs to either campaign very strongly and very loudly against Brexit or at the very least for getting us to retain the massive advantages of EU membership somehow, a la Switzerland or Norway.
The Liberal Democrats claim to have raised more than twice as much as Labour from individual donors since a snap election was called. All parties have made cash appeals to supporters after Theresa May's surprise decision to hold an election on 8 June. The Lib Dems say they raised £500,000 in 48 hours. A similar Labour fund-raising drive is reported to have raised £200,000. Labour has yet to comment on the figure, reported by the FT.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-39665212
The problem is that with Corbyn in charge, Labour may have the right policies but not the right principles. I do not think Corbyn actually believes in compromise or negotiation - his "kinder politics" was a shoddy piece of bullshit code for "do whatever I say". Cameron - and I'm loathe to say this - was right about him.
Secondly, the "safe seats" idea appears to be passing, given both the previous general election and recent by-election results. Cardiff voted for Remain, which makes a Lib Dem surge here not so implausible.
And the clincher : Brexit. With Corbyn in charge, a Labour win would do nothing for me on the most important political issue of the day. The man wants Brexit to happen and doesn't appear to have any plausible strategy to even get us a good exit deal. So with Labour now effectively campaigning for (in my opinion) a major political disaster, why should I vote for them ? On the most important issue of this generation they're no better than the Tories - so even if they won, I'd have voted for something I didn't actually want, which would defeat the purpose of voting.
I could be persuaded back to Labour but it would take two radical actions that must happen (and I doubt very much will given the short campaign of a snap election) :
1) Corbyn needs to go. Not change policy - go. Yes, I'm making an ad hominem attack, and quite happily, because it's not his policies but the man himself I do not trust. No point having nice policies if I don't trust you to implement them.
2) Labour needs to either campaign very strongly and very loudly against Brexit or at the very least for getting us to retain the massive advantages of EU membership somehow, a la Switzerland or Norway.
The Liberal Democrats claim to have raised more than twice as much as Labour from individual donors since a snap election was called. All parties have made cash appeals to supporters after Theresa May's surprise decision to hold an election on 8 June. The Lib Dems say they raised £500,000 in 48 hours. A similar Labour fund-raising drive is reported to have raised £200,000. Labour has yet to comment on the figure, reported by the FT.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-39665212
The worst voting system possible
OH DEAR GOD NO.
A new app which allows people to vote using a selfie has been revealed by a leading election technology company.
I mean, there's no real reason to read beyond that point, I'm just preserving this as a record of human folly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39665002/selfies-could-make-election-voting-more-accessible-app-makers-say
A new app which allows people to vote using a selfie has been revealed by a leading election technology company.
I mean, there's no real reason to read beyond that point, I'm just preserving this as a record of human folly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39665002/selfies-could-make-election-voting-more-accessible-app-makers-say
More flying cars ! More I say ! Hang those who talk of less !
More flying cars ! More I say ! Hang those who talk of less !
Originally shared by Scientist-Online
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39661299
Originally shared by Scientist-Online
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39661299
Wednesday 19 April 2017
Thought-to-text interface in development
Facebook says it is working on technology to allow us to control computers directly with our brains.
Presumably the satire version would be :
Facebook says it is working on technology to allow computers to directly control our brains.
From the article :
It is developing “silent speech” software to allow people to type at a rate of 100 words per minute, it says. The project, in its early stages, will require new technology to detect brainwaves without needing invasive surgery.
"We are not talking about decoding your random thoughts,” assured Facebook's Regina Dugan.
"You have many thoughts, you choose to share some of them. We’re talking about decoding those words. A silent speech interface - one with all the speed and flexibility of voice."
On his Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg added: "Our brains produce enough data to stream four HD movies every second. The problem is that the best way we have to get information out into the world - speech - can only transmit about the same amount of data as a 1980s modem. We're working on a system that will let you type straight from your brain about five times faster than you can type on your phone today. Eventually, we want to turn it into a wearable technology that can be manufactured at scale. Even a simple yes/no 'brain click' would help make things like augmented reality feel much more natural. Technology is going to have to get a lot more advanced before we can share a pure thought or feeling, but this is a first step."
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39648788
Presumably the satire version would be :
Facebook says it is working on technology to allow computers to directly control our brains.
From the article :
It is developing “silent speech” software to allow people to type at a rate of 100 words per minute, it says. The project, in its early stages, will require new technology to detect brainwaves without needing invasive surgery.
"We are not talking about decoding your random thoughts,” assured Facebook's Regina Dugan.
"You have many thoughts, you choose to share some of them. We’re talking about decoding those words. A silent speech interface - one with all the speed and flexibility of voice."
On his Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg added: "Our brains produce enough data to stream four HD movies every second. The problem is that the best way we have to get information out into the world - speech - can only transmit about the same amount of data as a 1980s modem. We're working on a system that will let you type straight from your brain about five times faster than you can type on your phone today. Eventually, we want to turn it into a wearable technology that can be manufactured at scale. Even a simple yes/no 'brain click' would help make things like augmented reality feel much more natural. Technology is going to have to get a lot more advanced before we can share a pure thought or feeling, but this is a first step."
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39648788
Tuesday 18 April 2017
Yay, an election
I shall be voting for the Liberal Democrats, as they're the only party making any sense at the moment.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans to call a snap general election on 8 June. She said Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership following the EU referendum. Explaining the decision, Mrs May said: "The country is coming together but Westminster is not.
In his response to Mrs May's announcement, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron tweeted: "This is your chance to change the direction of your country. If you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit. If you want to keep Britain in the single market. If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance." He also accused the PM of "bottling" the TV debates and urged broadcasters to "empty chair" her if she refused to take part.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-39629603
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans to call a snap general election on 8 June. She said Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership following the EU referendum. Explaining the decision, Mrs May said: "The country is coming together but Westminster is not.
In his response to Mrs May's announcement, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron tweeted: "This is your chance to change the direction of your country. If you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit. If you want to keep Britain in the single market. If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance." He also accused the PM of "bottling" the TV debates and urged broadcasters to "empty chair" her if she refused to take part.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-39629603
Erdogan's Turkey
Too long and complex to summarise, but well worth reading in its entirety.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Erdogans_Turkey
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Erdogans_Turkey
Thursday 13 April 2017
Intelligent people try to improve themselves, says Plato
An early example of groupthink ? You could be forgiven for thinking that Plato is here not only describing groupthink, where individuals tend to want to agree with the group because they're part of a group, but supporting it. In context, it's more subtle than that. He's actually suggesting something profoundly, deceptively tautologous - which sounds crazy, but such is the way of Plato.
What he's saying is that people who agree with each other... agree with each other ! That is, when people disagree, it isn't because they think the other person is correct, it's that they think they're wrong... that in that one, specific instant, they think the other person is less intelligent than they are (or is simply mistaken for some other reason). After all, if you thought that both their reasoning and their information was perfect, you could never disagree with them.
So intelligent, knowledgeable people can and do try to outdo each other because they believe the others are mistaken in some specific regard; merely respecting the overall knowledge and intelligence of others in a similar field does not automatically lead to groupthink at all. Indeed, however flawed the academic system is, its system of competitive collaborations is very good at preventing this. It's perfectly possible to agree and disagree with people on different issues. You don't have to think that someone who believes a single different thing to you is inherently and unconditionally stupid.
Yet the wilfully ignorant insist on believing some absurd absolute version of this : we're all desperately trying to agree with each other while simultaneously dismissing external ideas as crackpottery; that we can attack external ideas but not the group's own. Nothing could be further from the truth - the reason a scientific consensus emerges at all is because it's endured a damn good mauling. If your idea can't stand up to that, then you're asking for double standards. And that's not going to happen.
Which is why if you're reading Plato expecting simple, unquestionable conclusions, you're doing it really wrong.
Wednesday 12 April 2017
Rehab for Pythons
It certainly is a memorable headline.
When Australian police raided a crystal methamphetamine lab last year, they may have been expecting to seize kilos of narcotics, drug-making equipment and piles of cash. The search uncovered something else: a 6ft-long jungle python showing visible signs of addiction. It had apparently absorbed drug fumes and particles through its skin.
Seven months later, the "very aggressive" snake has returned to normal behaviour under the care of 14 prisoners selected to work in a wildlife care programme. It is one of about 250 animals cared for at a minimum-security prison in Sydney which houses kangaroos, wallabies, possums, wombats and native birds.
The John Morony Correctional Complex has also taken in a handful of other reptiles seized during police raids. According to one of the correctional officers, some criminals use venomous snakes to protect hidden stashes of guns and drugs. The jungle python "which cannot be named due to legal reasons" will be resettled with new owners once the court case against the alleged drug traffickers is over.
Prison governor Ivan Calder said the wildlife programme, which has been running for nearly 20 years, also helps rehabilitate inmates. "What we see with the men in our care in their approach to animals is that it softens them and it humanises them," he told the BBC. "Giving the inmates the opportunity to care and take responsibility for animals is a major enabler in their rehabilitation and a major agent for behaviour change."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-39550815
When Australian police raided a crystal methamphetamine lab last year, they may have been expecting to seize kilos of narcotics, drug-making equipment and piles of cash. The search uncovered something else: a 6ft-long jungle python showing visible signs of addiction. It had apparently absorbed drug fumes and particles through its skin.
Seven months later, the "very aggressive" snake has returned to normal behaviour under the care of 14 prisoners selected to work in a wildlife care programme. It is one of about 250 animals cared for at a minimum-security prison in Sydney which houses kangaroos, wallabies, possums, wombats and native birds.
The John Morony Correctional Complex has also taken in a handful of other reptiles seized during police raids. According to one of the correctional officers, some criminals use venomous snakes to protect hidden stashes of guns and drugs. The jungle python "which cannot be named due to legal reasons" will be resettled with new owners once the court case against the alleged drug traffickers is over.
Prison governor Ivan Calder said the wildlife programme, which has been running for nearly 20 years, also helps rehabilitate inmates. "What we see with the men in our care in their approach to animals is that it softens them and it humanises them," he told the BBC. "Giving the inmates the opportunity to care and take responsibility for animals is a major enabler in their rehabilitation and a major agent for behaviour change."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-39550815
Monday 10 April 2017
Negative mass
No, that's enough. Physics is weird and I don't like it.
Washington State University physicists have created a fluid with negative mass, which is exactly what it sounds like. Push it, and unlike every physical object in the world we know, it doesn’t accelerate in the direction it was pushed. It accelerates backwards.
Hypothetically, matter can have negative mass in the same sense that an electric charge can be either negative or positive. People rarely think in these terms, and our everyday world sees only the positive aspects of Isaac Newton’s Second Law of Motion, in which a force is equal to the mass of an object times its acceleration, or F=ma.
https://news.wsu.edu/2017/04/10/negative-mass-created-at-wsu/?utm_source=G%2B&utm_medium=news-article&utm_campaign=G-plus
Washington State University physicists have created a fluid with negative mass, which is exactly what it sounds like. Push it, and unlike every physical object in the world we know, it doesn’t accelerate in the direction it was pushed. It accelerates backwards.
Hypothetically, matter can have negative mass in the same sense that an electric charge can be either negative or positive. People rarely think in these terms, and our everyday world sees only the positive aspects of Isaac Newton’s Second Law of Motion, in which a force is equal to the mass of an object times its acceleration, or F=ma.
https://news.wsu.edu/2017/04/10/negative-mass-created-at-wsu/?utm_source=G%2B&utm_medium=news-article&utm_campaign=G-plus
Visualising cells in 3D in your web browser
I suppose the biology stuff is interesting but it's the interactive 3D visualisations that caught my eye. Sadly not yet available but that might happen eventually.
Our goal is to make all tools and software developed at the Institute publicly available once they are useful and robust. In the coming year, we will begin to post the code for various projects into an open-source repository. With a goal of practicing and promoting open science, we use and develop open-source software whenever possible and practical. Licensing will be described as the software is released.
http://www.allencell.org/
Our goal is to make all tools and software developed at the Institute publicly available once they are useful and robust. In the coming year, we will begin to post the code for various projects into an open-source repository. With a goal of practicing and promoting open science, we use and develop open-source software whenever possible and practical. Licensing will be described as the software is released.
http://www.allencell.org/
Sunday 9 April 2017
Religious beliefs are - shock, horror ! - complicated
A quarter of people who describe themselves as Christians in Great Britain do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, a survey commissioned by the BBC suggests. However, almost one in 10 people of no religion say they do believe the Easter story, but it has "some content that should not be taken literally". A fifth of non-religious people believe in life after death, the poll suggests.
ComRes surveyed 2,010 British adults by telephone, between 2 and 12 February 2017. The research was commissioned by BBC local radio for Palm Sunday. The survey suggested:
17% of all people believe the Bible version word-for-word
31% of Christians believe word-for-word the Bible version, rising to 57% among "active" Christians (those who go to a religious service at least once a month)
Exactly half of all people surveyed did not believe in the resurrection at all
46% of people say they believe in some form of life after death and 46% do not
20% of non-religious people say they believe in some form of life after death
9% of non-religious people believe in the Resurrection, 1% of whom say they believe it literally
Reverend Dr Lorraine Cavenagh is the acting general secretary for Modern Church, which promotes liberal Christian theology. She said:
"I think [people answering the survey] are being asked to believe in the way they might have been asked to believe when they were at Sunday school. You're talking about adults here. And an adult faith requires that it be constantly questioned, constantly re-interpreted, which incidentally is very much what modern church is actually about. Science, but also intellectual and philosophical thought has progressed. It has a trickle-down effect on just about everybody's lives. So to ask an adult to believe in the resurrection the way they did when they were at Sunday school simply won't do and that's true of much of the key elements of the Christian faith."
And it's not a small minority either, whatever the militant atheists might say.
Also : http://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/uncategorized/how-to-choose-the-next-archbishop-of-canterbury/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39153121
ComRes surveyed 2,010 British adults by telephone, between 2 and 12 February 2017. The research was commissioned by BBC local radio for Palm Sunday. The survey suggested:
17% of all people believe the Bible version word-for-word
31% of Christians believe word-for-word the Bible version, rising to 57% among "active" Christians (those who go to a religious service at least once a month)
Exactly half of all people surveyed did not believe in the resurrection at all
46% of people say they believe in some form of life after death and 46% do not
20% of non-religious people say they believe in some form of life after death
9% of non-religious people believe in the Resurrection, 1% of whom say they believe it literally
Reverend Dr Lorraine Cavenagh is the acting general secretary for Modern Church, which promotes liberal Christian theology. She said:
"I think [people answering the survey] are being asked to believe in the way they might have been asked to believe when they were at Sunday school. You're talking about adults here. And an adult faith requires that it be constantly questioned, constantly re-interpreted, which incidentally is very much what modern church is actually about. Science, but also intellectual and philosophical thought has progressed. It has a trickle-down effect on just about everybody's lives. So to ask an adult to believe in the resurrection the way they did when they were at Sunday school simply won't do and that's true of much of the key elements of the Christian faith."
And it's not a small minority either, whatever the militant atheists might say.
Also : http://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/uncategorized/how-to-choose-the-next-archbishop-of-canterbury/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39153121
Thursday 6 April 2017
The remarkable abilities of baby ants
Instead of hairs, some ant larvae have a sound-producing organ that allows them to communicate. Karsten Schonrogge from the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, UK found that, once the outer shell of some Myrmica ant pupae toughens, a specialised organ forms to allow them to make calls. Older ants typically use chemical signals to communicate, but the researchers think that the tough outer skin of pupae may block the secretion of pheromones, encouraging them to resort to sound in order to communicate. Rubbing noises seem to convey a high social status since larvae that belong to a lower class are mute.
Larval behaviour may be even more bizarre than their little-known physical features. For example, they often act as "communal stomachs" . Adults have such a thin waist that they can only consume fluids. Larvae eat insects on behalf of the adults and then produce a protein-rich liquid for their elders to eat.
Workers produce eggs that look identical to the queen's eggs, so Ebie and her team initially suspected that a chemical marker on the queen's eggs helped make the distinction clear and encourage the worker ants to stop laying their own eggs. "We were surprised to find that it wasn't the eggs," says Ebie. "Larvae were in fact delaying worker reproduction."
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170405-baby-ants-have-a-host-of-unexpected-superpowers
Larval behaviour may be even more bizarre than their little-known physical features. For example, they often act as "communal stomachs" . Adults have such a thin waist that they can only consume fluids. Larvae eat insects on behalf of the adults and then produce a protein-rich liquid for their elders to eat.
Workers produce eggs that look identical to the queen's eggs, so Ebie and her team initially suspected that a chemical marker on the queen's eggs helped make the distinction clear and encourage the worker ants to stop laying their own eggs. "We were surprised to find that it wasn't the eggs," says Ebie. "Larvae were in fact delaying worker reproduction."
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170405-baby-ants-have-a-host-of-unexpected-superpowers
Wednesday 5 April 2017
First trials of a driverless bus
Members of the British public are getting their first extended trial of a driverless shuttle bus. Over the next three weeks, about 100 people will travel in a prototype shuttle on a route in Greenwich, London. The vehicle, which travels up to 10mph (16.1kmph), will be controlled by a computer. However, there will be a trained person on board who can stop the shuttle if required.
Eventually this will be reversed. Members of the public will be invited to have a go at driving a car for themselves, but there will be a trained computer on board to stop them if required.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39495915
Eventually this will be reversed. Members of the public will be invited to have a go at driving a car for themselves, but there will be a trained computer on board to stop them if required.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39495915
Tuesday 4 April 2017
Is this man helping terrorists ? YOU DECIDE !
Brilliant. I now know a very dangerous fact about knives ! No-one shall stop my stabbing rampage !
(Warning : video features hate speech and graphic content from a well-known propaganda outlet)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAP6yL-EdY8
(Warning : video features hate speech and graphic content from a well-known propaganda outlet)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAP6yL-EdY8
Brexit : a parable
And they all lived happ.... err, wait, no they didn't. Damn.
Found on the internet.I have credit for the author below, but sadly not a direct link to the original source material.
Once in jolly old England there was a poor farmer named Jack. Jack had one cow who didn't produce much milk but still, every morning Jack took her milk to the market and earned what money he could.
Jack grew tired of going to market and thought to himself "There are too many other milk sellers. Perhaps I should sell my cow".
The next morning, Jack set out for the market and on the way he met a toady looking fellow in a camel hair coat who smelled of fags and booze.
Jack, hypnotized by the creature's swiveling eyes, listened attentively about how the market was taking more from Jack than he was getting in return, and about how he should listen to the toad who should know because he works in the market.
Jack, who was not too bright, a bit naive and afraid of the outside world, ruminated over the toad's words and asked, "What am I to do?" The toad told Jack that the money that the market used was not really worth anything and that Jack could sell his cow to the toad for some magic beans.
"Magic beans?" asked Jack, slightly hesitant. "Not just any magic beans", quoth the toad. "These beans will grow into a giant beanstalk and provide access to Bongo Bongo Land, where slutty women always clean behind the fridge and gays cause rain. There is also a goose who lays golden eggs. I should know. I trade in metal. All you need to do is believe." Jack got excited by this prospect but he was still unable to make up his mind.
"Tell you what" said the toad, "Let's draw straws. If I choose the longest straw, let me have your cow. If you choose the longest straw, we will draw straws again".
"Okay" said Jack, not quite certain of what he was agreeing to. And so they did. The straws had no discernible difference in length but the toad spoke of a conspiracy by the media and the north London elites.
This made Jack angry, as he did not like being taken advantage of, so he agreed that the toad should take the cow and he, defiantly took the magic beans, determined to stick two fingers up at the out-of-touch establishment.
The toad slunk away with Jack's cow, wearing the disconcerting grin of one who couldn't believe he had just gotten away with it. Jack hurried home to plant his magic beans and boast to all of his neighbours of his superlative powers of reasoning.
His neighbours despaired of Jack and tried in vain to convince him that magic only exists in fairy tales and that he should make contingency plans. Jack, impervious to their advice, hurriedly planted his beans and waited eagerly for the spoils to start flowing in.
"Soon", he thought to himself, "the market will come to me, begging to trade and then I will call the shots. They need me more than I need them".
As the days went by, Jack was no longer able to pay the bills and his home and property were repossessed. Despite this, he clung to the toad's slimy words and became even more convinced of a traitorous, leftist plan to destroy his sovereignty.
The market, having never really noticed Jack in the first place, continued as it always had and set up a public order notice banning Jack from coming within 12 nautical miles of the trading floor.
(By Guardian commentor Hibernic)
https://profile.theguardian.com/user/id/13785585?page=1
Found on the internet.I have credit for the author below, but sadly not a direct link to the original source material.
Once in jolly old England there was a poor farmer named Jack. Jack had one cow who didn't produce much milk but still, every morning Jack took her milk to the market and earned what money he could.
Jack grew tired of going to market and thought to himself "There are too many other milk sellers. Perhaps I should sell my cow".
The next morning, Jack set out for the market and on the way he met a toady looking fellow in a camel hair coat who smelled of fags and booze.
Jack, hypnotized by the creature's swiveling eyes, listened attentively about how the market was taking more from Jack than he was getting in return, and about how he should listen to the toad who should know because he works in the market.
Jack, who was not too bright, a bit naive and afraid of the outside world, ruminated over the toad's words and asked, "What am I to do?" The toad told Jack that the money that the market used was not really worth anything and that Jack could sell his cow to the toad for some magic beans.
"Magic beans?" asked Jack, slightly hesitant. "Not just any magic beans", quoth the toad. "These beans will grow into a giant beanstalk and provide access to Bongo Bongo Land, where slutty women always clean behind the fridge and gays cause rain. There is also a goose who lays golden eggs. I should know. I trade in metal. All you need to do is believe." Jack got excited by this prospect but he was still unable to make up his mind.
"Tell you what" said the toad, "Let's draw straws. If I choose the longest straw, let me have your cow. If you choose the longest straw, we will draw straws again".
"Okay" said Jack, not quite certain of what he was agreeing to. And so they did. The straws had no discernible difference in length but the toad spoke of a conspiracy by the media and the north London elites.
This made Jack angry, as he did not like being taken advantage of, so he agreed that the toad should take the cow and he, defiantly took the magic beans, determined to stick two fingers up at the out-of-touch establishment.
The toad slunk away with Jack's cow, wearing the disconcerting grin of one who couldn't believe he had just gotten away with it. Jack hurried home to plant his magic beans and boast to all of his neighbours of his superlative powers of reasoning.
His neighbours despaired of Jack and tried in vain to convince him that magic only exists in fairy tales and that he should make contingency plans. Jack, impervious to their advice, hurriedly planted his beans and waited eagerly for the spoils to start flowing in.
"Soon", he thought to himself, "the market will come to me, begging to trade and then I will call the shots. They need me more than I need them".
As the days went by, Jack was no longer able to pay the bills and his home and property were repossessed. Despite this, he clung to the toad's slimy words and became even more convinced of a traitorous, leftist plan to destroy his sovereignty.
The market, having never really noticed Jack in the first place, continued as it always had and set up a public order notice banning Jack from coming within 12 nautical miles of the trading floor.
(By Guardian commentor Hibernic)
https://profile.theguardian.com/user/id/13785585?page=1
Encryption is good, let's keep it
Sir Tim said moves to undermine encryption would be a "bad idea" and represent a massive security breach. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said there should be no safe space for terrorists to be able to communicate online. But Sir Tim said giving the authorities a key to unlock coded messages would have serious consequences.
"Now I know that if you're trying to catch terrorists it's really tempting to demand to be able to break all that encryption but if you break that encryption then guess what - so could other people and guess what - they may end up getting better at it than you are," he said.
Sir Tim also criticised moves by legislators on both sides of the Atlantic, which he sees as an assault on the privacy of web users. He attacked the UK's recent Investigatory Powers Act, which he had criticised when it went through Parliament: "The idea that all ISPs should be required to spy on citizens and hold the data for six months is appalling."
I still think my web crawler idea has merit here.
The web's creator also said he was shocked by the direction the US Congress and Senate had taken when they voted to scrap laws preventing internet service providers from selling users' data. He said privacy online was as important as the trust between a doctor and a patient. "We're talking about it being just a human right that my ability to communicate with people on the web, to go to websites I want without being spied on is really, really crucial."
I agree, however, if it's a case of selling my data in aggregate without personally identifiable information, then I'd be probably be mostly OK with that.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39490324
"Now I know that if you're trying to catch terrorists it's really tempting to demand to be able to break all that encryption but if you break that encryption then guess what - so could other people and guess what - they may end up getting better at it than you are," he said.
Sir Tim also criticised moves by legislators on both sides of the Atlantic, which he sees as an assault on the privacy of web users. He attacked the UK's recent Investigatory Powers Act, which he had criticised when it went through Parliament: "The idea that all ISPs should be required to spy on citizens and hold the data for six months is appalling."
I still think my web crawler idea has merit here.
The web's creator also said he was shocked by the direction the US Congress and Senate had taken when they voted to scrap laws preventing internet service providers from selling users' data. He said privacy online was as important as the trust between a doctor and a patient. "We're talking about it being just a human right that my ability to communicate with people on the web, to go to websites I want without being spied on is really, really crucial."
I agree, however, if it's a case of selling my data in aggregate without personally identifiable information, then I'd be probably be mostly OK with that.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39490324
Another star is going all weird !
A previously unremarked star in the constellation Cygnus has, in the past year, become known as the most mysterious object in our Galaxy. Boyajian's star exhibits puzzling episodes of sporadic dimming discovered in photometry with the Kepler Mission. Proposed explanations have focused on its obscuration by colliding exo-planets, exo-comets, and even intervention of alien intelligence.These hypotheses have focused on phenomena external to the star because the radiative flux missing during the dimmings was believed to exceed the star's storage capacity. We point out that modelling of variations in solar luminosity has shown that convective stars can store the required fluxes efficiently, thus removing the need for such esoteric explanations. Rather ,studies of Boyajian's star may produce important new insights into stellar magneto-convection.
https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.00070
https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.00070
Monday 3 April 2017
Some people just want to watch the world burn
Relevant offensive Plato quote :
For a corrupt person it’s better not to be alive, for he necessarily lives badly.
Disabling comments as I don't particularly care to go in to how literally (or not) I take this to be correct.
US President Donald Drumpf has said the United States will "solve" the nuclear threat from North Korea, with or without China's help. "If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you," he said in an interview with UK newspaper the Financial Times. Pressed on whether he thought he could succeed alone, he replied: "Totally." Mr Drumpf was speaking ahead of a scheduled visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.
Asked if he meant "one-on-one" unilateral action, Mr Drumpf said: "I don't have to say any more."
He did not give any further details on what action he would take.
[At the time of the original post, Trump was raving about "fire and fury". Little did anyone suspect that it was "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."]
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39475178
For a corrupt person it’s better not to be alive, for he necessarily lives badly.
Disabling comments as I don't particularly care to go in to how literally (or not) I take this to be correct.
US President Donald Drumpf has said the United States will "solve" the nuclear threat from North Korea, with or without China's help. "If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you," he said in an interview with UK newspaper the Financial Times. Pressed on whether he thought he could succeed alone, he replied: "Totally." Mr Drumpf was speaking ahead of a scheduled visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.
Asked if he meant "one-on-one" unilateral action, Mr Drumpf said: "I don't have to say any more."
He did not give any further details on what action he would take.
[At the time of the original post, Trump was raving about "fire and fury". Little did anyone suspect that it was "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."]
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39475178
A handy chart of lies about the EU found in the British tabloids
The really interesting thing about this is how small the proportion of falsehoods about migration and politics is. But then I suppose a few whopping great lies are just as bad as dozens of little ones, and much easier to get away with you if tell thousands of lies about food...
http://boingboing.net/2016/10/26/eu-lies-and-the-british-tabloi.html
http://boingboing.net/2016/10/26/eu-lies-and-the-british-tabloi.html
Saturday 1 April 2017
Even MPs now understand that science reporting is shite
Good lord ! Something sensible coming out of Westminster ! And it was from the 29th March, not today before anyone gets worried. :)
The Science Communication and Engagement Report found that people have a strong desire to know how science affects their daily lives. However 71% of people believe the media sensationalises science, and 67% say they have no option but to trust those governing scientific information. Just 28% believe that journalists check their facts when reporting scientific matters.
Remarkably the Committee also found that the 'Boaty McBoatface' incident, where a competition to name an arctic polar ship created a social media storm, actually increased public engagement with science, and demonstrates how audacious ways of stimulating dialogue can be of public benefit.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/news-parliament-2015/science-communication-engagement-report-publication-16-17/
The Science Communication and Engagement Report found that people have a strong desire to know how science affects their daily lives. However 71% of people believe the media sensationalises science, and 67% say they have no option but to trust those governing scientific information. Just 28% believe that journalists check their facts when reporting scientific matters.
Remarkably the Committee also found that the 'Boaty McBoatface' incident, where a competition to name an arctic polar ship created a social media storm, actually increased public engagement with science, and demonstrates how audacious ways of stimulating dialogue can be of public benefit.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/news-parliament-2015/science-communication-engagement-report-publication-16-17/
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