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April 2014

Techie Tuesday: A Real Buck Rodgers Rocket Ship?

As the quest for space moves from government to corporations (like so many other fantastic things developed by taxpayers and then handed over to the crony-ist bidder) new and exciting achievements are on the horizon. (sic) Take, for example, this amazing video of a SpaceX rocket ship that does the heretofore unthinkable: this rocket takes off and lands all in piece. … Read the rest

Mother Earth Monday: Elephants can tell different human languages

“Look, look over there, a group of elephants is coming.”The recorded voices were played for hundreds of elephants across 47 family groups during daylight hours.When elephants heard the adult male Maasai voices, they tended to gather together, start investigative smelling with their trunks, and move cautiously away.But… Read the rest

Worldwide Wednesday: The Truth About Domestication

 

In school we were taught that humans engineered farm animals to be perfect by clever breeding over centuries, but that might not be true.   In the recent past, herd animals mixed with wild – and their DNA reveals the trails taken by humans as we spread across the planet. … Read the rest

Techie Tuesday: Because GODgle Says So!

My fellow web worker says she “was talking about why we had to make some changes based on Google’s best practices, bla bla bla and my teenage daughter suddenly asked “Why do you have to do everything Google says”?

Using a search engine is the most popular online activity, according to surveys by Pew Internet and most of internet users go to Google first.… Read the rest

Wild Friday: Is Google a God?

Oh dear, it was bound to happen I suppose.  But now there is a crowd that claims Google is actually God!  The Church of Google has nine proofs that explain why we should worship her above all other gods.

PROOF #1

Google is the closest thing to an Omniscient (all-knowing) entity in existence, which can be scientifically verified.… Read the rest

Thirsty Thursday: Twerkin in the Rain

Maybe you saw Todrick with the Pentatonix doing a version of the Wizard of Oz movie with modern lyrics or maybe you saw him with Willem Belli playing Cinderella defending herself in a court case against Snow White, or maybe this is your first exposure to Todrick Hall. … Read the rest

Techie Tuesday: Police Can Intercept All Cell Phones

Police in Florida and other states refuse to talk about the new device that allows them to intercept cellular phone communications. According to Associated Press journalist Jack Gillum “a Stingray device tricks all cellphones in an area into electronically identifying themselves and transmitting data to police rather than the nearest phone company’s tower.” … Read the rest

Soapbox Saturday: Free Markets and Public Competition

Dean Baker says “People who like the market to determine outcomes should be happy with the idea of having the government compete on a level playing field with private sector firms.

If private firms offer a lower price or a better product, the government will be driven from the market with little harm done.… Read the rest