Some fatherly advice for getting back into the swing of things after the holidays: Start slow then taper. Also, The Prime Directive is Stupid. While the ethics of obligations is a very tricky thing, it is often through our inaction that we cause the most harm. Injunctions against playing God begs the question: if we [...]
In light of continuing problems configuring my internet connection with Mandriva (a result of the ill-planned wireless fiasco), I’ve decided to take a sledgehammer to the problem and switch to Kubuntu. This, by the way, is considered trendy in some circles. For others this is merely the action of a habitual poseur. My internet, however, [...]
Google Earth tells me that close to 1688.07 miles separates Brighton, MA from Austin, TX, making me one of the few people to travel so far just to enjoy the seven-year-old’s luxury of a snow day. Texas doesn’t really do snow. Texas does ice. A preponderance of elevated highways doesn’t seems so smart now, does [...]
I found this article from Atlantic fascinating. Highly speculative, to be sure, but tackling the delicate issue of religion in a such a plausibly secular way as to be intriguing despite the obvious gaps. I’d summarize the essential argument as follows. 1. During development, children learn to apply psychological properties to objects, which are distinct [...]
Today I looked again at my course registration for the coming semester. I’m entering that frenzied two week period of course shopping, trying to optimize some mysterious complex formula involving workload, schedule, topic, interest, usefulness, redundancy, along with all those vague slanted indicators enumerable only in feelings and not in words. Emoticons of choice. I [...]
Anastasia and I went to see Shut Up and Sing, a documentary on the the Dixie Chicks, covering their politically charged last three years. The documentary seemed to have a rather singular, political message (one I agree with) but failed to explore this issue with any particularly surprising depth. I left feeling rather ambivalent, beyond [...]
I’ve been trying to catch up on Russian again and came across the following page explaining verb aspect. I now have a name for why verbs of motion have multiple forms. Consider Я хожу на робату. and Я иду на робату. When I first came across verb aspect in Russian, I thought that ходить and [...]
People still ganging up on ID-ists should turn their attention to more damaging uses of pseudo-science, such as that that “supports” the abuse of children.
I find the continuing debate on ID versus evolution of declining value these days. As a social issue, and more importantly a legal one, the advocates of evolution have rightly come out on top. Certainly, this would seem to indicate that further debating the topic is of rather marginal importance. Those that have been convinced [...]
Fewer features, higher prices. Modern business ethics at work.