Bite Sized Blogables
Dec. 3rd, 2005 01:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nfotxnFirefox 1.5 Was Released
Firefox is finally becoming a pretty good quality product with a lot of attention to less fabulous but more useful features in this release like re-ordering of tabs, faster back and forward buttons and security and privacy enhancements.
The del.icio.us 1.0.2 extension also totally rules. You can see my bookmarks here.
Science faces "dangerous times"
I've been saying this for ages. People educated in all sorts of sciences from mathematics to health and chemistry need to start out-preaching the fundamentalists. Many Sci-Fi writers, most notably Isaac Asimov, wrote about a future full of technology that the people simply used and did not understand. It was to be self-evident and omnipresent. The part they missed is mysticism where people revert to unproved and irrefutable claims rather than knowledge and understanding.
Ivory towers people. We gotta teach everyone. And we have to be kind and understanding about it.
The $5 Philanthropist
"Support Babz Chula’s cancer treatments for Waldenstrom's Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma"
"Provide HIV+ folks affordable housing for one full year"
"Provide Medically Needed Eyewear for Underprivileged Babies & Children"
I love this idea. By giving small payments aggregated on an internet scale to individuals or small causes we get a sort of intimacy with the causes we put our donations towards. Small payments make giving accessible to a lot of people.
Bonus: Tax deductible for Canadians.
David Byrne Gets RIAA Burn
Like any half-thinking individual Byrne thinks the RIAA and DMCA are bullshit. He even cites Lawrence Lessig in his blog entry. I mean this is old news here: The RIAA is dumb, radio is broken and their digging their own grave. Who wants to go dancing?
I'm just pleased they're going after important artists. You know to protect the artists... from themselves.
Firefox is finally becoming a pretty good quality product with a lot of attention to less fabulous but more useful features in this release like re-ordering of tabs, faster back and forward buttons and security and privacy enhancements.
The del.icio.us 1.0.2 extension also totally rules. You can see my bookmarks here.
Science faces "dangerous times"
I've been saying this for ages. People educated in all sorts of sciences from mathematics to health and chemistry need to start out-preaching the fundamentalists. Many Sci-Fi writers, most notably Isaac Asimov, wrote about a future full of technology that the people simply used and did not understand. It was to be self-evident and omnipresent. The part they missed is mysticism where people revert to unproved and irrefutable claims rather than knowledge and understanding.
Ivory towers people. We gotta teach everyone. And we have to be kind and understanding about it.
The $5 Philanthropist
"Support Babz Chula’s cancer treatments for Waldenstrom's Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma"
"Provide HIV+ folks affordable housing for one full year"
"Provide Medically Needed Eyewear for Underprivileged Babies & Children"
I love this idea. By giving small payments aggregated on an internet scale to individuals or small causes we get a sort of intimacy with the causes we put our donations towards. Small payments make giving accessible to a lot of people.
Bonus: Tax deductible for Canadians.
David Byrne Gets RIAA Burn
Like any half-thinking individual Byrne thinks the RIAA and DMCA are bullshit. He even cites Lawrence Lessig in his blog entry. I mean this is old news here: The RIAA is dumb, radio is broken and their digging their own grave. Who wants to go dancing?
I'm just pleased they're going after important artists. You know to protect the artists... from themselves.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-12-03 11:44 am (UTC)The tricky thing about preaching for science is that you don't have to believe in science to reap its benefits. Why be scientific when you can enjoy all the results as long as someone else is?
Scientific study always raises more questions than it answers, and the scientific worldview is more interested in those questions than in any answer. This makes many people uncomfortable. Fundamentalism 'helps' them with their daily lives. Fundamentalists can still use cell phones and computers, and receive state of the art medical care developed through scientific inquiry so psychologically, what does the scientific world view have to offer them? How do we make people *want* to understand?
no subject
Date: 2005-12-03 06:12 pm (UTC)S.