Anti-TED talk

I don't agree completely with this (TED is entertainment - nothing more) but he's got some great points - the idea that a lot of what we do is rearrange the puzzle pieces expecting change and this misses the mark rings true to me. Anyway this is worth 12 minutes of your time.

Ending corruption in Government

Lawrence Lessig has powerful ideas.  If you’re not familiar with him you should be.  Here’s something he’s doing right now to end the role of money in Government.

A more eloquent overview of the Rootstrikers movement can be found below.

Hate Hospitals

For some one who isn't a medical professional nor been sick a day in my life I spend too much time in hospitals.

Who'd of thought?

Love to know why...

 

Scary Stuff

I guess it's never routine.  

Gotta Love These Guys

One of the more coherent arguments for the existence (and our support) of this.

Appearance does not equal character

I had a psychology prof in college that had his hair cut in a "crew cut".  This was in the days when I (and just about everyone else) had a beard and hair down to my shoulders.  My prof, Bob, was a great instructor and became a mentor to me.  We socialized outside of class on a number of occasions.  One day the regular group of us were sitting on a beach outside of Steilacoom Washington just shooting the breeze and I asked Bob why he kept his hair so short when it was so unstylish - didn't he want to display his individuality?  His response was pretty simple:

 "When I was 17 I joined the Marines.  I had slicked back hair and a duck tail (look it up for those of you that don't know what this is).  They immediately shaved our heads and put us all in green uniforms.  When you all look the same real character stands out.  Appearance doesn't correlate with character.  Individuality comes from within."

Meteorite over Russia

I love that a large number of humans now carry video recording devices (in their phones). It enables us to get stuff like this:

Science and Art

Move on the the electronic age...

I get lots of printed paper brochures on a daily basis.  People wanting me to buy something or do something.  I like getting these.  I attend several courses, conferences, and seminar's each year.  I have my usual conferences but I also like trying out a few new things each year.  I'm less of prospect for consumer goods but you never know.  

I also share what I receive.  I work with a team of extraordinarily talented people and if I think some course or conference will help them I forward the brochure.  Because I work mostly in a virtual office, I share this by scanning the brochure and attaching it to an email.  I don't forward everything to everyone - just materials I think a specific individual might benefit from.  It always has an appropriate subject line and a short body explaining why I think this is relevant to the recipient.  It's different from spam in that way.

I'm not a very good candidate at all for email spam.  I'm a religious user of spam filters and even when something slips through I typically just delete it.  I don't know why this is but I prefer paper to an email when you are trying to sell me something.  I guess email marketing has that Nigerian 419 scam feel to it.

All this said - who the hell thinks printing stuff on non-standard size paper is a good idea?  I got a brochure today from SkillPath Seminars of Mission KS.  It's printed on what looks to be 11x10 inch stock and won't fit through my scanner.  I've got four people I would have sent this to but instead it's going in recycling.  Their loss I guess.  They need to get with the wonderful modern age in which we live and send me stuff on standard stock so I can scan it and send it on.  Just don't send it to me in an email or expect me to dig up your website.  I'm just not THAT excited about whatever you are selling.

Worst Presentation Ever

I don't think I've ever heard a stronger pro gun control presentation in my life.

Sometimes I hate Google News

I know this is all done via some text search bot and I shouldn't rant but how is this science news?