To lack faith does not mean to have 100% certainty.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Thought of the day | 12 Comments »
Happy Easter
Posted on April 4, 2010 by Michael
Once the Easter Bunny dies, it stays dead. Duh.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Easter, Easter bunny, Jesus | Leave a comment »
Thought of the day
Posted on April 3, 2010 by Michael
Whenever it is claimed atheists are somehow intolerant, it is never actually explained how. And when someone actually attempts it, what is usually meant is that they are not accepting, and there’s a difference in that.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Thought of the day | 1 Comment »
Corrections, corrections
Posted on March 31, 2010 by Michael
In my post about microsatellites and mitochondria there were a few errors. Fortunately, the author of the paper that formed the basis for a large portion of what I wrote also happens to be my professor. I petitioned him for review:
I stated that mtDNA is powerful as a tool for determining relations within a species. It should have read that mtDNA is useful for determining certain evolutionary patterns. There’s little excuse for this mistake.
I said genetic variation as determined by microsatellites is an indicator for population health. This may be true, but it isn’t possible to really be sure. If natural selection is acting upon these points, then populations with more variation may have better fitness.
I stated that populations are managed via arbitrary geographical lines. I actually meant political lines, but it’s unclear if that is true. This depends upon the level of coordination in management and conservation between the U.S. and Canada, and precisely where the borders fall. More on this later. Update: The political lines largely follow the geographical divides. There is some overlap, but it is minor.
I’ve also corrected some minor language here and there, as well as a citation (the paper I used was from 2004, not 2003). All the updates can be reviewed on the original post.
Thanks to Chris for his help.
Filed under: Misc, Science | Tagged: Atlantic cod, Chris Lage, Genetics, Microsatellites, Mitochondria | Leave a comment »
Matt Mullenweg
Posted on March 31, 2010 by Michael
Matt Mullenweg is the big honcho around WordPress. When my blog got shut down, I left him a message on his Facebook fan page informing him that he had been had by a stupid, dangerous man. I also cited his own complaints over censorship from several years earlier. I never did get a direct response, but my blog was quickly reinstated.
This left me with a taste of curiosity. Was it just coincidence that I got my site back shortly after sending the big guy a message? I had sent countless emails to “Mark“, so it was plausible that those combined with the big hub–bub across the Interwebblings was what did the trick. But since I never got any response or notification, it was impossible to tell. Until now.
It does look like Mullenweg was the one who fixed everything. Look at February 22 on his fan page. There is one post there praising him for reinstating my blog. But what is not there is what’s more interesting. Notice there is no post from yours truly; there’s no point where I tell Mullenweg that he was had. There should also be two other posts telling him roughly the same thing from two other people. He clearly saw all the posts. This is certainly evidence that he was aware of my situation; this plus the timing of the reinstatement of FTSOS indicates to me that he was the one who fixed the error made by “Mark”.
Even though I appreciate his (silent) corrective action, I find little justification in his sanitizing of comments. Sure, we all get embarrassed from time to time, and criticism is occasionally unpleasant, but leave that sort of hide-your-follies-behind-the-delete-button-stuff to the quacks.
Fortunately, I have a blog where I can expose these minor embarrassments.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: "Mark", Andreas Moritz, Christopher Maloney, Maine, Matt Mullenweg | Leave a comment »
Dear Discovery Channel
Posted on March 31, 2010 by Michael
Why?
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Christie Wilcox, Discovery Channel, Observations of a Nerd, Sarah Palin | 4 Comments »
Dear Facebook
Posted on March 30, 2010 by Michael
Please stop spamming my email with new notifications about nothing. I’ve already told you I want nothing from you; don’t make me unsubscribe to every little thing because you hate your users, their privacy, and leaving people alone.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Facebook, Spam | 1 Comment »
Thought of the day
Posted on March 30, 2010 by Michael
For-profit health care is one of the major moral crimes in modern America.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Health care, Thought of the day | 14 Comments »
Thought of the day
Posted on March 29, 2010 by Michael
Science simply represents our best effort to understand what is going on in this universe, and the boundary between it and the rest of rational thought cannot always be drawn.
~Sam Harris
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Sam Harris, Thought of the day | 7 Comments »
Impressive
Posted on March 27, 2010 by Michael
Take a look at the 25th picture from this (first) Kilimanjaro photo gallery.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Kilimanjaro | Leave a comment »
For the Sake of Science 