The battle of Bosworth ended Richard III’s rule and put the first Tudor, Henry, on the throne. Now, archeologists have conclusively located the battlefield where it happened (in 1485). They even found, right on the field, a silver badge, shaped like a boar. These badges were worn only by Richard’s most-trusted knights, so this is […]
Spring Equinox
So it’s here! Today the sun appears to drift directly over the equator. The day is roughly as long as the night in both the southern and northern hemispheres. And after today, until late June, each day in the Northern hemisphere will be a little longer than the previous day. (In the Southern hemisphere: Darkness […]
Benford's Law
I’ve been listening to the Radiolab podcast (which is excellent). I recently listened to their issue about numbers. Some cool stuff in there, like how and when babies start to understand quantities (logarithmically and very young). The thing that interested me the most was Benford’s law. Here’s my succinct definition. BENFORD’S LAW The world prefers […]
Genetically Modify Your Meat
I always figured that the (far) future of meat-eating would be nanotechnology. Cows are basically made of grass and water, right? I mean, they’re machines in which grass and water go in, and muscle and eyeballs and hair come out. And a blade of grass is a machine in which dirt and water and light […]
Been Away
Took 4 days to visit Savannah and I come back to a late weeklyrob! Geez, do I have to do everything myself? Had myself a nice little birthday, followed by my wife’s birthday, followed by our anniversary (today). But I haven’t been on the Web since Thursday, and I haven’t paid attention to the news. […]
Inflammation = Bad
Every time I turn around, I hear about inflammation. I think that inflammation is the scourge of humanity. I’m not joking. I once attended a bunch of lectures given by lots of different doctors on different subjects. The lectures were not linked by content, but practically every doctor said two things: 1. In my field, […]
Writer's Block and Rough Drafts
I do a lot of writing, so I’m familiar with the most terrifying of sights: A blank page. You’re in the middle or beginning of writing and you’re stuck about what to do next. You just look at that page and look at it and look at it until you suddenly wake up in a […]
Don't Blow Second Chances
I was once in a large, heavy, canoe-like boat with about 6 other people. We had docked next to several similar boats, and as the waves heaved, the boats knocked and banged against each other. While we were waiting to get out, a guy next to me rested his hand over the top edge of […]
I posted before about the questions around images of children having sex when the images are purely imaginary. That is, they’re drawn or computer-generated and no child was involved at any stage. I’ve also posted about a guy in Australia who was convicted of owning a cartoon satire of underage Lisa Simpson having sex. Now […]
This Is So Secure. Oh Wait, It's Not.
Saw this article today about how “Chip and Pin” cards are coming to the US: — …a new generation of card readers that scan a tiny chip activated by a personal identification number, or PIN. — The article talks about how secure these cards are, admitting the imperfection of any system, no matter how great. […]