by Jesse Galef
Those of you who also follow my posts at FriendlyAtheist know I’m a huge fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson. I think he’s an excellent science communicator and role model. He’s so enthusiastic about science and he makes others interested through his exuberance.
Back story (taken from the youtube info):
TIME recently went to interview [...]
A lot, at least if we were to replicate it with our current technology:
According to Kwabena Boahen, a computer scientist at Stanford University, a robot with a processor as smart as the human brain would require at least 10 megawatts to operate. That’s the amount of energy produced by a small hydroelectric plant. But a [...]
I’ve been hearing the more radical conservatives complaining about a new “Obama internet kill switch” that is being concocted to destroy our freedoms. For instance, here’s what Norman E. Hooben (”Stormin’ Norman”) says about it:
There has been some publicity lately about the Dictator and his Czars taking over the control of the Internet…and believe it [...]
You already knew that, but I’m going to rant about this anyway.
I have a business account with paypal that I use for a business of mine. In general, things have been fine — until about a month ago, when I logged in and couldn’t access any of my account history. Nothing recent and nothing old. [...]
Is an artificial human brain only 10 years away? Prof Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project, says yes:
“It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years,” he said.
“And if we do succeed, we will send a hologram to TED to talk.”
They’ve already simulated elements of [...]
When it comes to home electricity, we’re still living in the 1950’s.
Take a look at the plugs in your house. I live in a two year old house — and yet, there are receptacles sticking out of the wall with large faceplates. They seem like an afterthought.
Worse, the plugs are freaking huge and clumsy. Three [...]
by VorJack
To the chronicles of the bizarre abstinence-only crowd, we can now add a “purity ring” app for the iPhone:
For just 59p, consumers can download an application that allows them to take a purity pledge and then display a silver ring on their phone to prove their commitment to abstinence.
Oddly, this application was produced in [...]
There is a new god in town, and her name is Google. Here are 9 proofs that Google is God, according to The Church of Google:
Google is the closest thing to an Omniscient (all-knowing) entity in existence, which can be scientifically verified.
Google is everywhere at once (Omnipresent).
Google answers prayers.
Google is potentially immortal.
Google is infinite.
Google remembers [...]
Olaf: I agree, the US has no a president that they should be proud of. One with brains and that gets a lot of respect from the... The Stupid Virus
Francesco Orsenigo: Why do people bring things to such extremes? Because it gives us identity, purpose and at the same time... Pray for Obama
rA: Psalm 109:9, Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Pray for Obama
Craig Duckett: Now if Dennet would have said that “God is just a word” that would’ve been another... Meaningless Deepities
BD: http://blog.cafepress.com/2009 /11/20/psalm-1098-update/ Designs are off the website. Huzzah for reasonable people who see the... Pray for Obama
Siberia: Darth Pope wins. 2009 Bad Faith Awards
Offred: I was wondering how long it would be before Daniel or someone posted this, dkos has been having some involved discussions... Pray for Obama
