The Evil Eyebrow

  • Jesus and his Lungs

    There is an AP article today concerning the possible cause of death of Jesus of Nazareth. (acutal title Jesus may have died of a blood clot in his lungs, Israeli doctor says By GAVIN RABINOWITZ, Associated Press, Published on: 06/09/05 )

    The gist of this article is that Jesus may not have died from asphyxiation and blood loss, but instead from a pulmonary embolism. The article goes into more detail.

    As the husband of an academic, I’m aware of the need to find things to publish, and as a card-carrying geek, I’m additionally aware of the occasional desire to investigate something odd, but in this case I have to ask, “Who really cares?” This was almost 2,000 years ago, and the historical evidence is sketchy at best, when it comes to medically significant details (and, of course, there are those who argue that there are no historical data at all, merely the Bible).

    It just goes to show that there are some strange things people will argue about.

  • GIS for the Common Person

    This CNN story shows that geographic information systems (GIS) are reaching deeper into the populace.

    Having some experience using GIS for transportation planning and just generally screwing around with maps, this latest trend is specatacular! Many feliciations to Google and Google Maps for coming out with a beautiful map interface.

    Of course, the linked CNN story doesn’t quite come out and say that the technical ability to take a list of addresses and turn them into a geocoded graphical layer (i.e. stick them on the map) is not exactly plug-and-play. But it’s getting better!

    My job provides me with access to ESRI ArcGIS which is the most powerful GIS program available. Unfortunately, it’s also the most expensive, unaffordable by persons who want to merely tinker. The trend of smaller GIS products coming to the market will make it easier for people to know and understand the power of maps. (it will also teach them how easy it is to manipulate data to represent what you want, with a map. NEVER trust a map on TV)

  • LOST

    Jenn and I watched the pilot for Lost (ABC) last night (again) and noticed that, after the monster? made it’s night-time, rip-up-trees-while-making-noise appearance, the black lady a.k.a. Lt. Uhura said something to the effect of, “Reminds me of something from home, in the Bronx.”

    Hmmmm… Subway? Steam power?

  • Additions to Reading List

    I’ve added some books to my reading list at www.jbwr.net/web/bp/books/recent_books.html

  • Revenge of the Sith: After The Fact take II

    SPOILERS!

    We went to see Revenge of the Sith again last night. ‘Twas just as good action-wise last night as it was the first time, although I found myself daydreaming during any scene with Annakin talking to Padme (except for the end).

    I’m still a bit disappointed by the beginning battle scene. It had the potential to be very edgy, and instead is sort of blah. The CGI is really cool, but the whole package is a bit thin.

    The most well-done scene of the whole movie is probably when Newly Minted Darth Vader appears in the council room and all of the little paduwan come out of hiding. “Master Skywalker. There are too many of them. What are we going to do?” . . . Phzzzzz! Great scene.

    Jenn and I also agree that the staring-across-Coruscant scene between Anakin and Padme was pretty good. Actually, I think Hayden Christensen did a great job in the movie as long as he didn’t talk. He made an excellent evil-transitional Jedi.

    “So this is how liberty dies; with thunderous applause.” I can see where people would have drawn inferences to the current situation in America, but I think it’s merely coincidence. I will put money, though, that Lucas probably changed the line, “If you’re not with me, you’re my Enemy,” from “If you’re not with me, you’re against me.” ‘Course, I’m just guessing.

    Apparently, this or last week’s Entertainment Weekly had a bunch of reasons why Episode III was odd. Included were some obvious ones like, “How come it took 19 years to build the first Death Star and only 4 to do the second?” Also, how did Obi-Wan, Owen, and Beru age so much between III and IV? My favorite was, “How come Padme just stares into space all of the time. Don’t they have books?”

    My biggest physics issue with the movie was the fight on the lava planet. How come these guys didn’t just ignite and turn to ash? Molten rock is awfully hot, and to glow like it was, it needs to be something like 1500 degrees celsius (don’t quote me on this one). That’s enough thermal radiation to fry your average car, much less a Jedi.

    It’s a good thing Yoda lost his lightsaber in the battle with Palpatine, or he might have helped train Luke to be better and then Luke wouldn’t have lost a hand leading to the meeting-of-the-mechanical-hands moment in the second death star which precluded a Darth Vader the Second murderous rampage and thus ending all hope for the rebellion. Or am I stretching?

  • First Interstellar Vehicle

    Voyager 1 has reached the heliosheath as evidenced in the linked article. “Who cares?” you ask, whilst munching popcorn, watching clonetroopers duke it out with Jedi? I do! And you should too, as this is a phen0menal display of engineering acuity.

    Voyager 1 was launched 35 miles from my house, in 1977. At least, the house I lived in then. Since that fiery debut, it has passed the gas giants and coasted all the way to the edge of interstellar space. Rumor has it that Nasa wants to cut funding for the Voyager program and turn off the probes. It think that would be a shame at this stage, with no other programs in the works to explore the same regions.

  • Evolution: Fact or Theory (or Fiction)?

    As of today, a Google search on evolution produces “about 91,200,000” results. I’m sure by tomorrow, that will have changed. Controversial subjects will do that. (Actually, in the time it took me to write this entry, it blossomed to 92,300,000)

    What’s equally amazing is just how uneducated people are about evolution! I include myself in that pile. A few days ago, a conversation with a co-worker came around to the topic of speciation (893,000 hits for speciation) and he and I both agreed that there had been no observations of a speciation event in the laboratory or the wild.

    It was bugging me after that conversation that I couldn’t speak with any real knowledge about evolution. I decided to use the internet to do some searching, to see what I could find. Well, I found quite a bit.

    Did you know that speciation has been observed numerous times since at least 1905? I did not, but now I do. Of course, by “observed” we speak of a scientifcally determined differentiation between creatures which is dependent on what species really means, anyway. I’m not going to argue with a bunch of biologists, go read it for yourself. Furthermore, speciation has been “observed” by methods other than the Mark I Eyeball. It only takes a moment of critical thinking to determine that. 1) Life is derived from other life. 2) There are life forms that exist now that did not millions of years ago. 3) Therefore life forms must change into different life forms, over time.

    Ahhh, but why am I bothering with this mental doodle, you ask? It’s because there are a number of topics that are subject to heated debate, and those of us who are going to tilt at them windmills, should at least be educated about the topics in question.

    For Example: If you follow the news, you’ll know that Cobb County, Georgia, my fair home, placed a sticker on the front inside cover of biology textbooks within the county. The sticker says, “This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.” I’ve learned a lot about evolution since this debate heated up; let’s take it one sentence at a time.

    “This Textbook contains material on evolution:” Well, yes. It’s biology. As I understand it, evolution (not evolutionary theory, we’ll get to that) is the foundation of modern biology. Without it, biology would not exist. This sentence isn’t very controversial.

    “Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things:” I’ve learned through research that Evolution is a fact, not a theory. Why do I say this? Because Evolution is merely the statement that existing life has developed from pre-existing life; that creatures change in nature as time goes by. This is questioned/debated by virtually no one. There are no dinosaurs still roaming around and there were no humans when the dinosaurs existed, therefore things/creatures have evolved over time. That is verifiable, observable fact and to question it is to be a six-day biblical creationist. Now, what is theoretical about Evolution? Evolutionary theory is a theory which attempts to explain how creatures move from dinosaurs to birds, over time. Modern evolutionary theory is best represented by Neodarwinism which indicates that evolutionary processes proceed through slight mutations followed by natural selection. That is the “theoretical” part of Evolution, not evolution itself. The last part of that sentence says that evolution addresses that origin of living things. That’s not correct, although I think I know what the writers were trying to say. What they meant to put on the sticker should have been, “…regarding the development of living things,” but they didn’t. Evolution and Evolutionary Theory do not address how life began. They presupposes life, and then Evolution states that yes, things evolve, and Evolutionary Theory says, this is how they change over time. No origins in there anywhere.

    “This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered:” I bet that there is a very similar sentence in the introduction of the biology book where the scientific method is explained. Why bother including it on the cover. Or rather, why not include this sentence on the cover of every science textbook. That way, you’re covering your bases and teaching students not to be dogmatic robots.

    Now, I’m just an engineer with internet access. I’m not a biologist who can state an eloquent argument. If you disagree with my points, I refer you to the above links and some FAQing good FAQ’s there.

    For edification, I present the following sticker to be placed inside all Cobb County Physics Textbooks. Keep in mind that the scientific definition of “theory” is, “An idea so well supported by evidence that it would be really silly to not at least tentatively agree with it, until you develop countervailing evidence.”

    This textbook contains material on gravity. Gravity is a theory, not a fact, regarding the attraction of matter to other matter. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.

  • Store Wars!

    Store Wars! Coming to a supermarket near you!

    Definitely worth a looksee

  • Order 66

    I wonder how long it will take before the term “Order 66” becomes a pop-culture staple? Perhaps it will be relegated entirely to the more geekified sect of persons who are willing to sit out in front of a theater for hours waiting for a Star Wars film to debut.

    I’ve been trying to come up with a way that it might slip into usage. Something along the lines of, “I tried to find her last night, but she was 404,” or something similar. I suppose that it could be applied to standard betrayal lexicon. “I was 66’d by the system,” or, “They told me they would be at the movies at 9:00, but they 66’d me.”

    I bet it won’t take long to start hearing it, but I doubt that the people around me at work will be using it any time soon.

  • JibJab Teams with Budweiser

    On the JibJab mailing list, I learned that they’ve got a new teaser out to advertise their upcoming full-length feature short starring some of the Budweiser mascots. Hopefully Spuds will show up.

The Evil Eyebrow

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