Sticking With Dropbox — A cursory but alarming analysis of Google Drive's terms of service. Short form: if you're producing copyrighted material for which you wish to protect first rights (i.e., if you're a working or aspiring professional author), for the love of God, don't use Google Drive. More comments on this from the same source, indicating this might not be such a big deal after all. I remain dubious. (Via
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danjiteDogfights on Your iPhone — This is cool. I want one. (Thanks to Dad.)
Descriptive Camera, 2012 — This is also very weirdly cool. A text-based camera. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)
'GPS brain cells' seen in pigeons — Researchers have spotted a group of 53 cells within pigeons' brains that respond to the direction and strength of the Earth's magnetic field.
Jupiter and the Moons of Earth — APOD again. Though I have to wonder why the phrase "Earth's largest natural satellite" was used to describe the moon in this photo's cutline. Did we really need the adjective "natural" for clarity there?
What are Those Weird Spirals on Mars' Surface? — The giant coils suggest a mysterious network of valleys on the Martian surface were formed through volcanic activity.
Les Très Riches Heures de Mrs Mole: A Real-Life Ronald Searle Love Story — A lovely piece about coping with cancer through art. (Courtesy of
fjmMore debunking of the ex-NASA 49 climate change deniers — Remember that embarrassingly bad letter written by 49 ex-NASA employees saying that global warming is a fraud and that NASA shouldn’t support it? Not that the people who need to read this piece will do so, and even if they do, they'll just dismiss it as part of the hoax. Sorry, climate change denialists, but the facts are seriously biased against you.
Women’s Prayer Group Praying That the Women at MRFF All Get Incurable Breast Cancer — As the hymn goes, "They will know that we are Christians by our love." And people wonder why I am an atheist.
Study of the Day: Even the Religious Lose Faith When They Think Critically — New research in Science shows that, unlike intuitive thinking, activating the analytical cognitive system promotes religious skepticism. Which dovetails nicely with the GOP's decades long effort to tear down education in this country.
Satanazis III: Night of the Satanazis — Maybe you’re thinking this is just a snarky post, mocking a bunch of fringe characters for their over-the-top rhetoric and their literal demonization of their political opponents. But these aren’t just fringe characters telling us that liberals are Nazis who murder babies and love the Satan whom they serve. These are Roman Catholic bishops, state governors, influential clergy and elected officials saying this. The great legacy of conservatism of this era will be how it legitimized absolute lunacy.
Using U.S. Dollars, Zimbabwe Finds a Problem: No Change — (Thanks to Dad.)
The Children of Fallujah - Sayef's story — The phosphorus shells that devastated this city were fired in 2004. But are the victims of America's dirty war still being born?
GOP Sets Up A Showdown On Violence Against Women Act — “Unfortunately in Congress, there are some who’d like to make this a political play. They’d like to make cheap shots and try to politicize it in an election year,” said Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD). Right. Because no Republican ever has done anything like this, especially not to President Obama. We all know how principled the GOP is, after all.
We Are Not Stupid — Romney is still Romney and he’s still running as the head of a party that has spent the last few years pursuing a profoundly regressive agenda. Last few years? Try my entire lifetime.
?otd: Where did your week go?
4/27/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hour (WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bicycle ride
Hours slept: 6.0 (fitful)
Weight: 241.4 (!)
Currently reading: A Game of Thrones (graphic novel), George R.R. Martin with Daniel Abraham and Tommy Patterson