Wednesday, December 29, 2004
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This is supposed to be a good program for burning Cd's etc: CDBurnerXP Pro - freeware burning solution | Home / News
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Monday, December 06, 2004
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Friday, December 03, 2004
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
November 29, 2004
Evolution And Faith
My current column this week for Las Vegas CityLife was inspired by reading Richard Dawkins's excellent book A Devil's Chaplain, which includes many of his essays on evolutionary biology. I happened to be reading this when I came across yet another story about idiots attempting to get evolution classified as an unprovable theory in high school science textbooks. Being the meek, quiet person that I am, I immediately pulled out my mental M-60 and laid waste.
Today I received a letter from a reader, laying many of the usual arguments against evolution and in favor of creationism before me. He seemed to be asking for a response, so I gave him one. I tried to be genuinely polite and did my level best to answer as many of his questions as I could (how can intelligence arise from non-intelligence, how'd the human eye come about, etc.). I am not a biologist, and I probably gave him some faulty answers, but I also gave him some places to look for more authoritative answers. I hope he'll check out these sources (Dawkins, Darwin, etc.)
I'd like to quote from the end of my response, though, as I think it sums up a lot of my thoughts on the whole faith vs. science issue, without a lot of my usual swearing and rambunctiousness. It follows below.
[Most of letter truncated because you don't really care about Northern English moths and chimpanzee DNA.]
What offends me is not faith; nor is it faith in something when all evidence points to the contrary. Please, believe that the Biblical version of humanity's origins are true if you like. Believe that the world grows from the navel of Krishna, if you'd rather believe that. If it comforts you, fine. It's not my place to force you to believe or disbelieve anything.
What bothers me deeply is when your faith or anyone else's gets in the way of teaching this country's children how to think rationally. Faith, almost by definition, is irrational. Creationism is faith-based. It is an irrational explanation for how we came to be here. Why would you even bother teaching your children about science at all, if you're then going to tell them that science is right about everything except the things you believe for no good reason other than, well, you just do? If you really want to teach your children the value of faith, take science away from them altogether; let them grow up with a medieval understanding of the world and our place in it. Tell them that the stars are really potholes in the floor of Heaven -- and why not? Science tells us that's not true, but science also tells us that Genesis isn't true, so clearly science gets things wrong. Tell your children that thunder is the sound of angels playing drums. Science tells us that thunder is the sound made when lightning displaces air molecules, but so what? Religion tells us that the Earth is at the center of the universe. Tell your children that.
The whole point of science is that it is consistent; any scientific experiment can be replicated by anyone who cares to undertake it, and any theory is based upon sound experimentation and/or observation. The same is not true of religion; God does not speak to everyone, and He doesn't even say the same things to the people who do claim to hear from Him. If he did, there wouldn't be three major Western religions and a dozen more Eastern ones.
I am sorry if my column offended you, but please understand: I am deeply offended by the notion that myths invented in the Bronze Age by superstitious desert nomads should be given exactly the same credence as the work of people like Darwin and Einstein and Euclid and Hawking and Newton. Our world is being driven further and further into irrationality by people who cannot reconcile their faith with reality, and therefore decide that it is reality which is lacking.
Look at the insanity in the Middle East: people who are totally identical in genetic makeup and who live almost identical lives are murdering one another because some of them believe in one invisible magic spirit and some believe in a totally different invisible magic spirit. Hell, not even that -- they're committing mass murder because one of them calls the magic spirit one thing and another calls him something else. Occasionally, for variety, they fly planes into our buildings because we don't recognize the power of their magic spirit. How many die in Northern Ireland because some of the Irish think Mary ascended to Heaven bodily and some of them don't? Is that not an absolutely idiotic thing to kill and die for? How about murdering someone who uses a different name when they pray to essentially the exact same God you do? Is that not barbaric?
And yet, that is faith: and how dare anybody suggest that someone's faith might just in fact be misplaced; that whatever it is they have faith in might just be irrelevant or in fact nonexistent. The problem with faith is that nobody's willing to simply have it, and let other people believe what they want; everybody wants to share their faith. It is considered perfectly okay for you to mock my perfectly rational ideas about evolution, but if I point out that your position depends upon the notion of a magic superhero in the sky, you'll probably take offense. Why? Why are irrational beliefs somehow less subject to scrutiny and dissection than rational ones? Why can't we simply point out in school that some people believe that God made the world in seven days, and that's fine, but there's no actual evidence to support that, other than some poorly translated writings that were cribbed from oral traditions that were already hundreds of years old before the first written copy of Genesis ever appeared?
Our children receive enough nonsense and misinformation on a daily basis; I think we should at least leave science class as the one -- maybe the only -- place where critical thinking and rationality aren't thrown out the door.
I hope that I've explained my position and answered some of your questions. And thank you again for taking the time to write.
Sincerely,
Joshua Ellis
Evolution And Faith
My current column this week for Las Vegas CityLife was inspired by reading Richard Dawkins's excellent book A Devil's Chaplain, which includes many of his essays on evolutionary biology. I happened to be reading this when I came across yet another story about idiots attempting to get evolution classified as an unprovable theory in high school science textbooks. Being the meek, quiet person that I am, I immediately pulled out my mental M-60 and laid waste.
Today I received a letter from a reader, laying many of the usual arguments against evolution and in favor of creationism before me. He seemed to be asking for a response, so I gave him one. I tried to be genuinely polite and did my level best to answer as many of his questions as I could (how can intelligence arise from non-intelligence, how'd the human eye come about, etc.). I am not a biologist, and I probably gave him some faulty answers, but I also gave him some places to look for more authoritative answers. I hope he'll check out these sources (Dawkins, Darwin, etc.)
I'd like to quote from the end of my response, though, as I think it sums up a lot of my thoughts on the whole faith vs. science issue, without a lot of my usual swearing and rambunctiousness. It follows below.
[Most of letter truncated because you don't really care about Northern English moths and chimpanzee DNA.]
What offends me is not faith; nor is it faith in something when all evidence points to the contrary. Please, believe that the Biblical version of humanity's origins are true if you like. Believe that the world grows from the navel of Krishna, if you'd rather believe that. If it comforts you, fine. It's not my place to force you to believe or disbelieve anything.
What bothers me deeply is when your faith or anyone else's gets in the way of teaching this country's children how to think rationally. Faith, almost by definition, is irrational. Creationism is faith-based. It is an irrational explanation for how we came to be here. Why would you even bother teaching your children about science at all, if you're then going to tell them that science is right about everything except the things you believe for no good reason other than, well, you just do? If you really want to teach your children the value of faith, take science away from them altogether; let them grow up with a medieval understanding of the world and our place in it. Tell them that the stars are really potholes in the floor of Heaven -- and why not? Science tells us that's not true, but science also tells us that Genesis isn't true, so clearly science gets things wrong. Tell your children that thunder is the sound of angels playing drums. Science tells us that thunder is the sound made when lightning displaces air molecules, but so what? Religion tells us that the Earth is at the center of the universe. Tell your children that.
The whole point of science is that it is consistent; any scientific experiment can be replicated by anyone who cares to undertake it, and any theory is based upon sound experimentation and/or observation. The same is not true of religion; God does not speak to everyone, and He doesn't even say the same things to the people who do claim to hear from Him. If he did, there wouldn't be three major Western religions and a dozen more Eastern ones.
I am sorry if my column offended you, but please understand: I am deeply offended by the notion that myths invented in the Bronze Age by superstitious desert nomads should be given exactly the same credence as the work of people like Darwin and Einstein and Euclid and Hawking and Newton. Our world is being driven further and further into irrationality by people who cannot reconcile their faith with reality, and therefore decide that it is reality which is lacking.
Look at the insanity in the Middle East: people who are totally identical in genetic makeup and who live almost identical lives are murdering one another because some of them believe in one invisible magic spirit and some believe in a totally different invisible magic spirit. Hell, not even that -- they're committing mass murder because one of them calls the magic spirit one thing and another calls him something else. Occasionally, for variety, they fly planes into our buildings because we don't recognize the power of their magic spirit. How many die in Northern Ireland because some of the Irish think Mary ascended to Heaven bodily and some of them don't? Is that not an absolutely idiotic thing to kill and die for? How about murdering someone who uses a different name when they pray to essentially the exact same God you do? Is that not barbaric?
And yet, that is faith: and how dare anybody suggest that someone's faith might just in fact be misplaced; that whatever it is they have faith in might just be irrelevant or in fact nonexistent. The problem with faith is that nobody's willing to simply have it, and let other people believe what they want; everybody wants to share their faith. It is considered perfectly okay for you to mock my perfectly rational ideas about evolution, but if I point out that your position depends upon the notion of a magic superhero in the sky, you'll probably take offense. Why? Why are irrational beliefs somehow less subject to scrutiny and dissection than rational ones? Why can't we simply point out in school that some people believe that God made the world in seven days, and that's fine, but there's no actual evidence to support that, other than some poorly translated writings that were cribbed from oral traditions that were already hundreds of years old before the first written copy of Genesis ever appeared?
Our children receive enough nonsense and misinformation on a daily basis; I think we should at least leave science class as the one -- maybe the only -- place where critical thinking and rationality aren't thrown out the door.
I hope that I've explained my position and answered some of your questions. And thank you again for taking the time to write.
Sincerely,
Joshua Ellis
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Friday, November 26, 2004
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
The shooting of the wounded insurgents in a Mosque detailed by the man who filmed it: Kevin Sites Blog
Monday, November 22, 2004
Friday, November 19, 2004
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Monday, November 15, 2004
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Friday, November 12, 2004
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Monday, November 08, 2004
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Friday, October 22, 2004
This is well worth reading: Understanding American Pie - Interpretation of Don Mclean's epic song to the passing of an era.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Type in the process you want to know about: [system process] - [system process] - Process Information
Friday, October 15, 2004
I am getting more of the overseas spam letters. Feel free to spam these addresses:
cordwilliams@iol.pt
stevewilliams@universal.pt
MR.STEVE WILLIAMS
LOTTERY COORDINATOR
As in
cordwilliams@iol.pt
stevewilliams@universal.pt
MR.STEVE WILLIAMS
LOTTERY COORDINATOR
As in
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Monday, October 11, 2004
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Amazing "Photoshopped" images of todays buildings in ruins: http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=3538&
Link Here
Link Here
Saturday, October 09, 2004
Friday, October 08, 2004
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Monday, October 04, 2004
Sunday, October 03, 2004
PressF1 - New Zealand's PC World self-help forum: "Here is another solution to the problem of lost/forgotten Administrator passwords. Ive tried it out this morning and it works a treat, and very easy to use."
Saturday, October 02, 2004
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
One of the best blogs on the net, I posted this for one of my classmates who I told about "blogs" today: :: YBLOG ZA :: Mike Golby ::
Monday, September 27, 2004
Sunday, September 26, 2004
There are a lot of people who are hypocrites in other areas of their lives too: LA Weekly: News: The Outing
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Friday, September 24, 2004
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
I am proud to be British too in spite of recent events and by that I mean the last fifty years: Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail
Tools to check LANs etc: Freeware downloads TCP/IP Networking - Protocol Analyzers - SnapFiles, we download it before you do!
All the anti hijack tools in one place: MajorGeeks.com - Download Freeware and Shareware Computer Utilities.
Not sure about this since I don't believe in outside supernatural forces but I like the sincerity if not the authenticity: Pope Michael
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Monday, September 20, 2004
Sunday, September 19, 2004
I was a schoolboy in Ndola when this happened and I remember it well: BBC ON THIS DAY | 18 | 1961: UN Secretary General killed in air crash
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Another way of improving your browsing experience using the Hosts file, at the moment I am finding Proxomitron to be excellent, but I may try this at a later date: Supertrick XG - Home
Friday, September 17, 2004
Plenty of songs to listen to and d/l: KINGBLIND: Music, Art & Entertainment: 09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Monday, September 13, 2004
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Shocking images of the children killed in the school hostage drama: Getty Images Editorial - Image Results - GINSWEB03
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
The idiot who's wasting his life in an airport: Guardian Unlimited Film | Features | Paul Berczeller on the man who inspired Steven Spielberg's Terminal
Monday, September 06, 2004
Sunday, September 05, 2004
The Future of String Theory: "Can we show that this fundamental idea yields a unique theory with the unique solution, which happens to be the world as we know it?"
Edge: SMOLIN VS. SUSSKIND: THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE: "In the remote past the universe inflated to an enormous size, many orders of magnitude bigger than the observed portion that we can see. Most of the universe is behind the cosmic hor"
Saturday, September 04, 2004
A good program and this is version 4: More Space software download - morespace, diskspace, free disk space
Friday, September 03, 2004
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Monday, August 30, 2004
Thinking of Laura: "How am I suppose to Live Without You. I could hardly believe it when I heard the news today I had to come and get it straight from youThey said you were leaving, someone swept your heart"
On death and check the original post as well: MonkeyFilter | I work all day, and get half drunk at night...
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Dear Reader
Thought I would try a little blogging from the text window rather than what I have been doing which is using "Blog This". The weather in Christchurch has been dismal with constant rain and cold for the last two weeks, the temperature rarely gets above 10 deg C and we have had some snow. All this despite the fact that we are only one week away from the official start of Spring, the 1st September.
Here is a link to "Words"
This is a blog that I hope will allow friends of mine to get some publicity for their art and poetry.
Last week I started a computer graphics course, having got my NZQA Computing Level III Certificate in the last year and a half, I hope to refine my meager skills with Photoshop and Freehand. Having spent the last thirty seven years or so involved in electronic hardware repair and construction I feel that as I am getting older I really need to move into a more artistic state of mind and try to communicate some of the things I have learned in my life, using graphic arts . After finishing this course I want to learn the basics of web site design and then I hope to get a job where I can put these skills to use.
In the course of my training I have come across a lot of younger people who have fine computing skills and I am going to have trouble competing in the job market. I missed a job last week because I had no web site maintenance skills even though I had all the other necessary requirements.
Nevertheless, I am enjoying the work with computers in general and I am satisfied with the progress I have made.
Bye for now
Robert
Thought I would try a little blogging from the text window rather than what I have been doing which is using "Blog This". The weather in Christchurch has been dismal with constant rain and cold for the last two weeks, the temperature rarely gets above 10 deg C and we have had some snow. All this despite the fact that we are only one week away from the official start of Spring, the 1st September.
Here is a link to "Words"
This is a blog that I hope will allow friends of mine to get some publicity for their art and poetry.
Last week I started a computer graphics course, having got my NZQA Computing Level III Certificate in the last year and a half, I hope to refine my meager skills with Photoshop and Freehand. Having spent the last thirty seven years or so involved in electronic hardware repair and construction I feel that as I am getting older I really need to move into a more artistic state of mind and try to communicate some of the things I have learned in my life, using graphic arts . After finishing this course I want to learn the basics of web site design and then I hope to get a job where I can put these skills to use.
In the course of my training I have come across a lot of younger people who have fine computing skills and I am going to have trouble competing in the job market. I missed a job last week because I had no web site maintenance skills even though I had all the other necessary requirements.
Nevertheless, I am enjoying the work with computers in general and I am satisfied with the progress I have made.
Bye for now
Robert
Whenever I see articles like this, of which there are more and more, I think about going back to Zambia, my home country. Unfortunately I know nothing about farming, it would be wonderful to start from the "grass roots" and work up, like that movie about the Amish starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, can't remember the name at the moment: BBC NEWS | In pictures: Rebuilding
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Love this thread, especially y6y6y6: America's Problem - How Torture Came Down From The Top | Metafilter
Supposed to be the best anti-virus program but too expensive for me:NOD32 Australia - Tomorrow's antivirus software today!
Friday, August 27, 2004
Slick way to re instal your operating system and according to reliable sources this program works without a hitch, including XP and SP2: Download Autostreamer 1.0.28 - Basically, all it really needs is a source (that being an original Windows CD or a local share) and a Service Pack file
Not quite sure what is going on here. I had a quick read and this and what he has written would make me vote for John Kerry. But this site is posting the book as if it is an indictment against him?????: JOHN KERRY'S THE NEW SOLDIER
Couldn't get back to my scam letter post but here is the main site for internet scams etc:Prime Time Crime
Thursday, August 26, 2004
All seems back to normal again, this is a very strange site: SelectSmart.com Selectors Quizzes Tests Decision Makers Select Quiz Test Surveys
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Just got hit by this scam today, feel free to spam this email address:
coordinatormorris_oslint@primposta.com
Lottery scam letters
coordinatormorris_oslint@primposta.com
Lottery scam letters
Monday, August 16, 2004
More against Bush: Suckful: Quotes from Other People: "Bertrand Russell: Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.One of the chief obstacles to intelligen"
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Friday, August 13, 2004
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Monday, August 09, 2004
The guy who lost his job at MS for blogging that the company had Apple G5's on site for whatever reason: eclecticism > Fifteen minutes of fame
Sunday, August 08, 2004
Saturday, August 07, 2004
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