I’ve posted lots of pictures of globular clusters in the past, but this new one is something special. And not just because it’s stunningly beautiful… which it is: [Click to spheroidenate, or grab the massively embiggened 3850x3850 pixel version.] This is Hubble’s view of NGC 7006, a relatively faint cluster of a hundred or so [...]

From Bad Astronomy
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/m46lIqcx-SU/
9/15/2011 2:00:54 AM
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"Why All the Translations?" is the question Denny Burk asks in the title of chapter 44 of Dembski & Licona's Evidence for God. It's a good question; it seems likely that we have more translations of the Bible than of any other ancient text (Beowulf, say, or the works of Chaucer, Homer, Plato, Omar Khayyám...). The only reason for this I can come up with is that many people have been dissatisfied with the extant translations and thought they could do better — and believed it was important to do better.

From Notes from an Evil Burnee
http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/03/textual-transubstantiation.html
4/1/2012 3:18:00 AM
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[Click to hugely enarachnidate, or grab the atomically-mutated, 130 Mb, 9000 x 12000 pixel megaspider version here. But be you fairly warned: you'll lose your afternoon looking at it.] That is a new image of the Tarantula Nebula from the European Southern Observatory’s VISTA survey telescope in Chile. The telescope can see in the near-infrared, [...]

From Monicks: Unleashed
http://monicks.net/2010/08/12/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-spectacular-vista-of-the-tarantula/
8/13/2010 7:35:01 AM
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Wuh? Facebook is trying to expand its trademark rights over the word “book” by adding the claim to a newly revised version of its “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities,” the agreement all users implicitly consent to by using or accessing Facebook. You may recall that Facebook has launched multiple lawsuits against websites incorporating the word [...]

From Cynical-C
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cynical-c/nxDH/~3/CsPg2UTJDE4/
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
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Dropbox has reached version 1.0, which does not sound impressive, but is. Dropbox is a free or paid for file syncing service that totally kicks but. Try it out. The new version fixes various problems and significantly improves performance, but most importantly allows selective syncing, so you can have a subset of your files synced on a specific computer. (It was already true that you had a selective, as in file by file, syncing on mobile devices.) Seriously, of all the technologies out there, Dropbox is at the top of my list of software that made my life easier. Everything is always accessible on all computers (selectively, if I want, as of now) and backed up on the cloud. Whatever that is.

Opera has reached version 11 and apparently includes all sorts of bells and whistles including tab stacking. I'm not sure what that is, but I want it. I don't use [...]

From Greg Laden's Blog
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/N7rVf8Bhs48/technology_news_and_informatio.php
12/21/2010 3:35:44 AM
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Brian Cox was not faced with the toughest audiences at the Old Monk in Westminster last night. His talk was delivered to Westminster Skeptics; an assorted rabble of scientists, sceptics, bloggers and journalists led by legal blogger Jack of Kent, who meet once a month to discuss issues dear to rationalists. Brian's message - that science funding must be protected and ideally increased - was not a particularly hard one to sell to such an audience.

Continuing reading here or, read an edited version at New Scientist

From The Lay Scientist
http://layscience.net/node/978
3/18/2010 3:32:28 AM
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Recently, I mentioned two new books on human evolution, and I told you I had a print review of them coming up.

Well, it's here, and American Scientist!

Yes, I know, that's an internet thing, but it is the internet version of the print thing. Please have a look, and leave a nice comment! Or a mean comment, whatever.

From Greg Laden's Blog
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/zPF3mfcRmhQ/two_journeys_through_the_human.php
12/16/2011 12:35:08 PM
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There wasn't much color photography in Darwin's day, so all the photos we have of him are in black and white (or sepia). Here's a site with some skillful retouching of old photos to add color…and a new version of a familiar image.

From Pharyngula
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/wFPEQ-pywAM/colorized_darwin.php
1/20/2012 2:00:17 AM
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Just wanted to let you know that Matt Soniak, science writer, was interviewed on Skeptically Speaking last Sunday, March 25th, and a cleaned up version of the interview will be released on Saturday as a podcast . Matt was talking about Predators and Prey.

And, on the podcast there will be a pre-recorded conversation with Desiree Schell and me on "Man the Hunter" (more or less), a new installment of "Everything you know is sort of wrong."

Details here.

From Greg Laden's Blog
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/Cknw8roSNEY/predators_prey_and_me.php
3/29/2012 2:58:04 AM
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I recently installed Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Office 2010. I immediately noticed something different In Outlook 2010 when IMAP e-mails arrive…. The previous version of Outlook 2010 did not provide proper notification of new e-mails arriving via IMAP. I wrote an AutoHotkey script to get around this problem: Outlook 2010 support for IMAP (with [...] Related posts:

1. Outlook 2010 support for IMAP (with Google); or how AutoHotkey saved the day!
2. WM6 ActiveSync Error 0x8503001c – solution found!

3. From Matharu's Rants and Raves
   http://www.metalvortex.com/blog/2011/06/30/617.html
   7/1/2011 2:41:16 AM
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Recently, The New York Times published an op-ed calling for curricular changes in K-12 math education:

Today, American high schools offer a sequence of algebra, geometry, more algebra, pre-calculus and calculus (or a "reform" version in which these topics are interwoven). This has been codified by the Common Core State Standards, recently adopted by more than 40 states. This highly abstract curriculum is simply not the best way to prepare a vast majority of high school students for life.

For instance, how often do most adults encounter a situation in which they need to solve a quadratic equation? Do they need to know what constitutes a "group of transformations" or a "complex number"? Of course professional mathematicians, physicists and engineers need to know all this, but most citizens would be better served by studying how [...]

From Mike the Mad Biologist
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/KsPC/~3/VN6n4tNXYYw/meet_the_new_new_math_same_as.php
9/1/2011 1:00:57 AM
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As I've mentioned before, I've been spending a lot of time working on a book. Initially, I was working on a book made up of a collection of material from blog posts; along the way, I got diverted, and ended up writing a book about cloud computing using Google's AppEngine tools. The book isn't finished, but my publisher, the Pragmatic Programmers, have a program that they call beta books. Once a book is roughly 60% done, you can buy it at a discount, and download drafts electronically immediately. As more sections get done, you can download each new version. And when the book is finally finished, you get a final copy.

We released the first beta version of the book today. You can look at excerpts, or buy a copy, by going to the books page at Pragmatic's website.

If you're interested in what cloud computing is, and how to build cloud applications - or if you just feel like doing [...]

From Good Math, Bad Math
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/CyKN/~3/vcVuvTkvYIQ/code_in_the_cloud_my_book_beta.php
3/18/2010 4:27:34 AM
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There is a new kind of guitar. It is the electronic version of a guitar in the same way that a MIDI keyboard is an electronic version of a piano. And, it runs on Linux and is OpenSource!

The Misa Kitara consists of three main components: a full fretboard, a multi-touch screen and an onboard polyphonic synthesizer with sounds and effects.

The kitara's neck has 24 frets, but instead of strings each fret contains buttons.

You play notes by touching on the screen. The position and movement of your touch determine how the sound is generated and processed.

...

You can assign one sound to all six strings, or assign different sounds to different strings. The kitara can control compatible MIDI devices too. Everything is configurable. It runs Linux and is open source.

Get yours here!

Huxley already has his:

From Greg Laden's Blog
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/wzLjjveS_Ts/guitar_hero_real_guitar_and_li.php
1/8/2012 7:40:36 AM
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The Bible, we are told, is the inerrant word of God. But what word is it? And how should that word be translated into English? One might think there are straightforward answers to those questions, but there are not. Just last week, in fact, a brand new English translation of the biggest-selling Bible, the “New International Version” (“NIV”) was

From Secular News Daily
http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2010/11/28/rewriting-the-bible-again/
11/29/2010 3:38:24 PM
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I have to say that as a result of the DfE having a hissy-fit about the May 2010 version of the Child Protection policy, the new September 2010 version is somewhat better. But it would have required a very serious effort to make it worse than the May 2010 version, so saying it is an improvement isn't that much of a commendation.There certainly isn't enough of an improvement to justify the policy being described as "good" or even "adequate". It still has very serious deficiencies. These are some of the most obvious:

Section 22 deals with the duties of the Designated Teacher, but does not specify what the Designated Teacher will actually do on receiving a report or allegation of abuse, but rather there is a list of things which the Designated Teacher "will take into account". This kind of wriggle-room is precisely what a Child Protection Policy ought not to have.

From Confessions of a skeptic
http://scepticalthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/09/continuing-shortcomings-in-child.html
9/24/2010 5:00:00 PM
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The business of upgrading and developing Skeptical Science continues slowly but surely. The most significant update is a new page listing the latest climate articles. This displays all the most recent links from the Global Warming Links directory. The page lets you customise which links to view. You can view just the last week, month or year (I'll extend this later to include all time and paginate the results). You can narrow it to either skeptic or pro-AGW links. And what I find most useful - you can view only certain types of links such as mainstream media or peer-reviewed. So this allows you to check out all the skeptic peer-reviewed papers published in the last month. Or if you want to keep up with current views, check out the

From Skeptical Science
http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=181
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
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We read about "the dumbest-ass things that any state could possibly do" according to one retired New Orleans judge to prevent prostitution:

In their neighborhoods, they are sometimes taunted with dirty looks and jeers. Their pictures hang on the walls of local community centers where their children and grandchildren play. And their names and addresses are listed in newspapers and mailed out on postcards to everyone in the neighborhood.

Landing a job or even finding a landlord willing to give them a place to stay is a challenge.

These women wear a scarlet letter -- rather, 11 letters -- spelled out on their driver's licenses in bright orange text: SEX OFFENDER.

They aren't child molesters or pedophiles. Most are poor, hard-luck black women in New Orleans who agreed to exchange oral or anal sex for money. In doing so they violated the latest version [...]

From Mike the Mad Biologist
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/KsPC/~3/Lw4Z_aeUvcM/the_worst_way_to_combat_prosti.php
5/9/2011 2:55:18 AM
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