Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

BA77’s off topic thread, Volume 1 — my pastor’s wife in Cosmopolitan

Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email

Since BA77 likes posting so many off topic comments on so many threads, and because others probably want to talk about off topics, I’m creating the first official off topic thread at UD just for off topic comments. YAY!

Here is my off topic, my pastor tried to get the congregation to stick around for 20 minutes longer than usual to take care of business matters requiring a vote. To give us incentive to remain, he said he’d pass around a copy of Cosmopolitan Magazine with a photo of his wife in it :shock:! Sure enough, she was in cosmopolitan magazine in the May 1965 issue. She was in a photo that featured former Congressman James Weaver, her dad….

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jdweaver.htm

Also, I think the chances of Darwinian evolution and mindless OOL being true are more remote than the chances of the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns playing each other in the next Superbowl.

Also, I really hate Windows 8.

So, speak your mind but exercise some discretion, keep it family friendly, and try not to start flame wars or launch into attacks against other UD participants. Other than that, talk about what you want. Enjoy!

Comments
COLLIN (re 2 above): "Also, I have been told that Michael Denton argues that this proves evolution is NOT true." Don't believe what you've been told. Read Denton for yourself. Your source probably had in mind Denton's first book, in which he shows that in many respects, the biochemical data supports a "creationist" explanation of origins rather than a Darwinian one. However, even in that first book, Denton did not argue: "Therefore, evolution is wrong and creationism is true." Rather, he left the whole matter unsettled. (He also later said that he should have titled the book: "Darwinism: A Theory in Crisis" rather than "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis" -- because people were taking him to have rejected "evolution" when really he was only showing the problem with Darwinian theory.) In his second book, Nature's Destiny, Denton moved beyond the argument of the first, and tried to show how evolution, operating in a non-Darwinian way, could produce results which look creationist while in fact proceeding naturalistically. The difference between the two books was not one of religious belief; Denton had already abandoned his childhood Protestant faith even before writing the first book. The difference, rather, was that Denton had not come up with the idea of changes being "stored" and used later, cumulatively with other changes, which would allow for big qualitative differences in creatures, even though the original mutations proceeded only in tiny steps, most of which resulted in no visible change in the creature. Denton's books are both good, but they should be read in chronological order, so that you can see how his thought changes and how the second book is in a way an answer to the question posed by the first book.Timaeus
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
08:39 PM
8
08
39
PM
PDT
The Talbott article, as usual, was a very insightful read, and even had an appeal for common ground between Darwinists and ID advocates: HOW BIOLOGISTS LOST SIGHT OF THE MEANING OF LIFE — AND ARE NOW STARING IT IN THE FACE - Stephen L. Talbott - May 2012 Excerpt: “If you think air traffic controllers have a tough job guiding planes into major airports or across a crowded continental airspace, consider the challenge facing a human cell trying to position its proteins”. A given cell, he notes, may make more than 10,000 different proteins, and typically contains more than a billion protein molecules at any one time. “Somehow a cell must get all its proteins to their correct destinations — and equally important, keep these molecules out of the wrong places”. And further: “It’s almost as if every mRNA [an intermediate between a gene and a corresponding protein] coming out of the nucleus knows where it’s going” (Travis 2011),,, Further, the billion protein molecules in a cell are virtually all capable of interacting with each other to one degree or another; they are subject to getting misfolded or “all balled up with one another”; they are critically modified through the attachment or detachment of molecular subunits, often in rapid order and with immediate implications for changing function; they can wind up inside large-capacity “transport vehicles” headed in any number of directions; they can be sidetracked by diverse processes of degradation and recycling . . . and so on without end. Yet the coherence of the whole is maintained. The question is indeed, then, “How does the organism meaningfully dispose of all its molecules, getting them to the right places and into the right interactions?” The same sort of question can be asked of cells, for example in the growing embryo, where literal streams of cells are flowing to their appointed places, differentiating themselves into different types as they go, and adjusting themselves to all sorts of unpredictable perturbations — even to the degree of responding appropriately when a lab technician excises a clump of them from one location in a young embryo and puts them in another, where they may proceed to adapt themselves in an entirely different and proper way to the new environment. It is hard to quibble with the immediate impression that form (which is more idea-like than thing-like) is primary, and the material particulars subsidiary. Two systems biologists, one from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Germany and one from Harvard Medical School, frame one part of the problem this way: "The human body is formed by trillions of individual cells. These cells work together with remarkable precision, first forming an adult organism out of a single fertilized egg, and then keeping the organism alive and functional for decades. To achieve this precision, one would assume that each individual cell reacts in a reliable, reproducible way to a given input, faithfully executing the required task. However, a growing number of studies investigating cellular processes on the level of single cells revealed large heterogeneity even among genetically identical cells of the same cell type. (Loewer and Lahav 2011)" ,,, Tangentially speaking: it would be well for biologists to pull back a little from the religious wars and realize that the truly fundamental problem most people have with much of the biological and evolutionary literature is rather simple and needs respectful addressing. We read accounts of the organism such as those just given — stories whose meaningful intricacies and coherent, eloquent plot lines never cease to surprise us, far outshining the highest literary achievements of a Shakespeare or Goethe or Pushkin. And then we hear that all this meaningful activity is, somehow, meaningless or a product of meaninglessness. This, I believe, is the real issue troubling the majority of the American populace when they are asked about their belief in evolution. They see one thing and then are told, more or less directly, that they are really seeing its denial. Yet no one has ever explained to them how you get meaning from meaninglessness — a difficult enough task once you realize that we cannot articulate any knowledge of the world at all except in the language of meaning. I see no reason why the issue of meaning couldn’t become common ground for reasoned conversation between intelligent design advocates (who, after all, believe in the centrality of the logos) and conventional evolutionary theorists (who commonly grant that natural selection produces at least the appearance of meaning in the world), as well as the rest of us. Taking this meaning seriously and introducing some ways of thinking about it is what I have attempted here. It does not seem ignoble to set out on such a task, however much views — our meanings — may differ. http://www.netfuture.org/2012/May1012_184.html#2bornagain77
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
08:22 PM
8
08
22
PM
PDT
HOW BIOLOGISTS LOST SIGHT OF THE MEANING OF LIFE — AND ARE NOW STARING IT IN THE FACE - Stephen L. Talbott - May 2012 Excerpt: What do we mean by “meaning”? The form of the question already suggests something amiss. Might we end up wandering in circles? After all, we must already know the meaning of a question before we can answer it. And beyond that, inquiries about the meaning of “meaning” might seem to launch us upon a mystifying pursuit of some inner essence or spiritual content we can never quite lay hold of. Perhaps this explains why so many biologists shun the idea that organisms engage in meaningful activity — that their lives can only be understood as lives of meaning. The idea may seem little more than a subjective and vaguely numinous obfuscation threatening objective description and theory. You would make a rare find if you came upon an entry for “meaning” in the index of a biological textbook. Even in examining a considerable shelf of anthologies on the philosophy of biology — books where difficult and even disreputable issues are often brought up for discussion — I can discover not a single index listing for the word.,,, http://www.netfuture.org/2012/May1012_184.html#2bornagain77
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
07:47 PM
7
07
47
PM
PDT
Thank you, Salvatore. Very kind of you. It happened about May 24, last year.Axel
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
04:44 PM
4
04
44
PM
PDT
CentralScrutinizer @ 36:
To pick up broads.
We prefer the term 'skirts.'Barb
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
04:39 PM
4
04
39
PM
PDT
Axel, Thanks for sharing such a personal anecdote. Whenever it happened, my sympathies. God bless, Salscordova
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
03:32 PM
3
03
32
PM
PDT
Thanks, Philip. Glad you liked it. I'll be getting that book, Forever Ours, and passing it on, I expect. Sounds a heart-warming theme. #68: comical, but also very, very sad; a desperately sad indication of the level of integrity in universities, and of course, wider society.Axel
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
03:10 PM
3
03
10
PM
PDT
Dr. Hunter channels Berlinski: Evolution is Making a List - Cornelius Hunter - August 18. 2013 Excerpt: research out of Japan continues to reveal the importance of epigenetic differences. Their research suggests that DNA methylation changes “contribute to transcriptional and phenotypic diversification in hominid evolution.” In other words, evolution occurred via incredibly complex molecular “bar code” mechanisms which, themselves, must have been created by evolution. So evolution must have created the mechanisms which cause evolution to occur. That is what philosophers call a self-referential theory. (Other people just call it wrong). But epigenetics is only one of many. Another conundrum is the genetic networks which, as McGill University’s Leon Glass explains, are so complex that researchers have been slow to unravel them. Yet everyone is certain they evolved. One sure sign that a problem is not solved (and therefore not a fact) is when the answer continues to switch between alternatives. For origin of life researchers, those alternatives have included a warm little pond (as Darwin put it), deep sea hydrothermal vents, and outer space. Last year the ball went back into the warm little pond court, but now NASA’s Mike Russell just hit it back into the deep sea hydrothermal vent court. So what’s next? Look for a new comet soon that puts the ball back into outer space. Of course none of these problems are very serious since it is certain that evolution is true. In fact, not only did evolution create all things, it also supplies right and wrong and the proper punishment to go along with it. As evolutionists at Michigan State University now explain, “We found evolution will punish you if you’re selfish and mean.” So evolution is not only true, it is also good. It’s making a list and checking it twice; it’s gonna find out who’s naughty and nice. http://darwins-god.blogspot.com/2013/08/weekend-roundup.htmlbornagain77
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
02:49 PM
2
02
49
PM
PDT
Life Got You Down? Just Remember You Got Opposable Thumbs! - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s8y9a12saUbornagain77
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
01:28 PM
1
01
28
PM
PDT
OK one more time.... the proof https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lzv5XVx3Wc Which resolves the dog cat evolution debate on this threadhttps://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/am-i-the-only-id-proponent-that-doesnt-like-the-phrase-positive-case-for-id/ (and now you know why I don't have posting privileges)Johnnyfarmer
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
12:45 PM
12
12
45
PM
PDT
OK fixed link here is evidence http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/64/CatDog.jpeg/250px-CatDog.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CatDog&Johnnyfarmer
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
12:31 PM
12
12
31
PM
PDT
Did dogs evolve from cats or did both dogs and cats evolve from a common ancestor? Here is the proof .... now you decide ! http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/64/CatDog.jpeg/250px-CatDog.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CatDog&Johnnyfarmer
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
12:28 PM
12
12
28
PM
PDT
Axel, that was beautiful. If might suggest a book: 'Forever Ours',, Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living from a Forensic Pathologist - Janis Amatuzio http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Ours-Immortality-Forensic-Pathologist/dp/1577315995 here is a video of her: Dr. Janis Amatuzio author of FOREVER OURS - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtnywJHLrLYbornagain77
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
09:57 AM
9
09
57
AM
PDT
Philip, I live in a second floor flat, the block being part of one of the three sides of a square, the fourth side opening onto premises of a garage, and with a communal green in the middle. I believe it was two days after my wife died in hospital, I was sitting at my computer, when I heard a rustling sound behind me. When I looked round, to my astonishment, I saw a blue tit sitting on a coffee table my wife kept by her armchair, (which had been temporarily moved,) looking at me quite cheekily. I hadn't noticed him when he flew through the door on my left, but the only way he could have gained entry to the flat was by flying through the window in my step-son's temporary bedroom at the back, and into the living room where I sat, through an arm of the L-shaped hall leading along the other arm to the front door. Si was in the bathroom next door to his room, at the time. He had only propped up the window a few inches, so our friend must have hopped through the gap. He seemed a young bird, as he wasn't scared. Well, I doubt if he'd have been the intrepid explorer if he had been. He wasn't a great tit, as he had a poll and less neat markings. He had the slightly puffed up look of a fledgling too, I believe. Anyway, he then took it upon himself to fly to the largish potted plant on the shelf a few feet to my right, and stared at me for a while. He then decided to fly out of one of the windows, none of which however were open, so he bumped into it. I then tried to open the windows, but feared to strain too much with the large middle window because of a heart condition, so called out to Si to come quickly, fearing he'd crash into a window again. However, he had flown up to the frieze below the ceiling overlooking where he had first alighted on the coffee table, by where my wife used to sit. Si told me to calm down, thought for a mo, then closed the venetian blinds on all the windows but the side window I had opened, then went and stood by the coffee table, below him and several feet across the room. The bird looked at him for several seconds, then flew straight out of the clear, open window. We were tickled pink about it, and I got to wondering what it could have meant. My first thought was that with his farewell stare, he was saying to Simon, 'Thank goodness someone's got his head screwed on,' but some moments later I decided it was most likely acting per pro his mother (or in loco matri) and saying to him, 'I'll always be with you, Si Si, (which she used to call him, apparently when he was little), never far from you.' Then later I continued musing on its significance, other than as some kind of consolation, which it really was, to both of us. 'Why a blue tit?' I wondered. Then I remembered that only the day before, I'd told Si what an obsession his Mum had had with the colour, blue! I can imagine God suggesting the game to Anthea, and how tickled she'd have been. My wife's internal organs had begun to fail badly, and on the face of it I thought of the things that could have been done by either or both of us to improve the situation, yet, when I went through each one, I realised that the whole affair could not have transpired more felicitously, immediate appearances notwithstading. 'Good old God!' as I like to say, when I'm pleased with a particularly propitious dispensation of his providence, in my admittedly not always clear-sighted eyes, and of course of which I approve mightily. Heck, even Nick Matze might, in my shoes.Axel
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
09:21 AM
9
09
21
AM
PDT
Thanks Andre, here is the entire article for those who, like me, do not have a subscription:
We Don't Actually Know What Triggers Lightning Strikes: A scientist asks: Could it be cosmic rays? By Katia Moskvitch|Posted Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013 Excerpt: What don't we know about lightning? The main problem is that we don't know how a thundercloud gets the spark needed to initiate a lightning bolt. The biggest mystery is that the electric field in thunderclouds is not very large. Years of experimental measurements from aeroplanes and air balloons have shown that the field is about 10 times smaller than what is needed to initiate lightning. It is not clear how a lightning bolt is born, but the idea is that something has to "seed" it first. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2013/08/lightning_strikes_what_causes_lightning_is_a_mystery_could_it_be_cosmic.html
Hmmm, interesting. Of related interest; Rainbows are formed by what are called ‘Quantum Catastrophes’.
Quantum Catastrophes Excerpt: Catastrophes [1] are at the heart of many fascinating optical phenomena. The most prominent example of such a catastrophe is the rainbow. http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~ulf/catastrophe.html
Thus, since I find Quantum Mechanical phenomena to be thoroughly Theistic in their nature in requiring a 'non-local', beyond space and time, cause to ultimately explain them completely, then yes, I actually do think God does form the rainbows;
Genesis 9:12-13 The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever.
Of related interest, this following woman has no doubt that her rainbow was a miracle
27 Amazing Miracles in Real Life Excerpt: Our son died of a brain tumor at 17. On the second anniversary of his death, as I was driving to work, a double rainbow appeared in the clear sky. One end was on the road in front of us and the other at the cemetery where he was buried. —Peggy H., Boone, North Carolina http://www.rd.com/family/27-amazing-miracles-in-real-life-2/
Music:
Oceanlab - Miracle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZHGMbQhmIM
bornagain77
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
08:09 AM
8
08
09
AM
PDT
The most viewed thread at UD in the last few months: https://uncommondescent.com/humor/breaking-news-michael-shermer-issues-cease-and-desist-order-against-pz-myers/ Approaching 6000 views!scordova
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
07:40 AM
7
07
40
AM
PDT
Since Off-Topic seems popular, and since I may refer to BA77 in the future, in honor of BA77 past and present off-topic contributions to UD, I retitled this thread: BA77's off topic thread, Volume 1scordova
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
07:11 AM
7
07
11
AM
PDT
I think the Off Topic Thread should be a weekly feature.
Sounds good to me. ATTN: UD authors, feel free to start Off-Topic thread if I don't. I think slightly irregular works since some news days are much slower than others....scordova
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
07:08 AM
7
07
08
AM
PDT
Photons, Double Helixes and Euler's Equation Quantum theory survives latest challenge - Dec 15, 2010 Excerpt: Even assuming that entangled photons could respond to one another instantly, the correlations between polarization states still violated Leggett’s inequality. The conclusion being that instantaneous communication is not enough to explain entanglement and realism must also be abandoned. This conclusion is now backed up by Sonja Franke-Arnold and collegues at the University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde who have performed another experiment showing that entangled photons show stronger correlations than allowed for particles with individually defined properties – even if they would be allowed to communicate constantly.,,, In photons, orbital angular momentum can be understood by imagining that the wave twists around the beam axis. It can draw a simple corkscrew pattern, a double helix or more complex helices with increasing angular momentum. Franke-Arnold and her team focused on the double-helix pattern.,,, "The main outcome is really a philosophical result," says Franke-Arnold. Entangled particles can't be described as individual entities, not even with a telepathic connection to their partners. http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2010/dec/15/quantum-theory-survives-latest-challenge Moreover the 'double helix' of the orbital angular momentum of a photon can be,,, Single photons to soak up data: Excerpt: the orbital angular momentum of a photon can take on an infinite number of values.Since a photon can also exist in a superposition of these states, it could – in principle – be encoded with an infinite amount of information. http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/7201 Moreover, if one looks on slide 17 of the following site, you will notice that information was actually encoded onto a single photon by taken advantage of this double helix pattern of a photon with a 'spiral phase plate': Information In Photon – Robert W. Boyd – slides from presentation (slide 17) http://www.quantumphotonics.uottawa.ca/assets/pdf/Boyd-Como-InPho.pdf But what is more interesting to note (at least fot me) is that slide 15 and 17 of the preceding presentation has an uncanny resemblance to Euler's Equation as is plotted in the following graph: Graph of Euler's Equation http://www.songho.ca/math/euler/euler.html And for those who have missed kairosfocus waxing poetic about Euler's Equation, Euler's Equation is regarded as the most enigmatic equation in math, and kairosfocus is hardly the only mathematician who has ever waxed poetic about it: God by the Numbers - Connecting the constants Excerpt: The final number comes from theoretical mathematics. It is Euler's (pronounced "Oiler's") number: e^pi*i. This number is equal to -1, so when the formula is written e^pi*i+1 = 0, it connects the five most important constants in mathematics (e, pi, i, 0, and 1) along with three of the most important mathematical operations (addition, multiplication, and exponentiation). These five constants symbolize the four major branches of classical mathematics: arithmetic, represented by 1 and 0; algebra, by i; geometry, by pi; and analysis, by e, the base of the natural log. e^pi*i+1 = 0 has been called "the most famous of all formulas," because, as one textbook says, "It appeals equally to the mystic, the scientist, the philosopher, and the mathematician.",,, The discovery of this number gave mathematicians the same sense of delight and wonder that would come from the discovery that three broken pieces of pottery, each made in different countries, could be fitted together to make a perfect sphere. It seemed to argue that there was a plan where no plan should be.,,, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/march/26.44.html?start=3 and of course the double helix is also found in DNA http://www.dataprotection.com/images/uploads/blog/DNA_Image.jpg and light (biophotons) are also found in DNA Are humans really beings of light? Excerpt: A particularly gifted student talked him into another experiment.,,, He also found that DNA could send out a wide range of frequencies, some of which seemed to be linked to certain functions. If DNA stored this light, it would naturally emit more light on being unzipped. These and other studies proved to Popp that one of the most essential sources of light and biophoton emissions was DNA. http://viewzone2.com/dna.html Well, is there some hidden 'design correlation' between the double helix pattern of a photon of light and the double helix pattern of DNA? Who knows? But it certainly is an interesting 'coincidence' that seems to signify much more going in on DNA on meets the eye at first glance.bornagain77
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
05:43 AM
5
05
43
AM
PDT
Axel @ 52 Funny stuff! :D Thanks for a morning laff!CentralScrutinizer
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
05:30 AM
5
05
30
AM
PDT
BA77 This beauty is for your collection http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929290.400-an-unearthly-answer-to-the-lightning-enigma.html To think that we still don't know what triggers Lightning :)Andre
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
05:16 AM
5
05
16
AM
PDT
"Somewhat ironically, a type of pathogenic bacteria that have evolved to swarm together more swiftly are actually less efficient when it comes to forming biofilms, scientists have found. ...Joao Xavier from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and his colleagues show that Pseudomonas aeruginosa is subject to an evolutionary trade-off between motility and effective biofilm formation. “We were surprised that the hyperswarmers were worse at forming biofilms than the wild type,” Xavier told New Scientist." (Bacterial Quid Pro Quo, August 19, 2013) http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view%2FarticleNo%2F37105%2Ftitle%2FBacterial-Quid-Pro-Quo%2F A mutation that improves one function quite often degrades another (Behe: first rule).bornagain77
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
04:59 AM
4
04
59
AM
PDT
I think the Off Topic Thread should be a weekly feature.bevets
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
04:52 AM
4
04
52
AM
PDT
Sorry. I should have grouped the above posts together. Or some of them. TSErik, Anglo-Indian and born in India, apart from one or two memory flashes, my earliest recollections are of the hospital ship we were brought back to the UK on by our mother, during the war. So, I grew up in outer London, and we grew up with the distinct impression that London was the hub of the universe, and everyone else in the country, including the denizens of the major cities, were yokels. There was absolutely no malice in it whatsoever. We were just infinitely patronising and blissfully unaware of it. How could we have been aware of it, since we loved them all the more for being yokels! I've since been told that Londoners are hated by the provincials. I wonder why? My sister in Australia married a lad from Felixstowe, Suffolk, who was in the navy with my brother, and she hasn't quite lost the Suffolk accent she picked up, after close on 50 years. East Anglia, the West Country and the South, all sound 'yokel' accents to our ears. I was talking the other day about the extraordinary genius for metaphor displayed in the various Anglo-Saxon (for want of a better designation) slang vocabularies, in the various English-speaking parts of the world. This wry, satirical humour is very characteristically working class (when work was about), and unsurprisingly, though the players earn a fortune today, often found in soccer talk. I believe it's the Ipswich team they call, 'the tractor boys'. Maybe it's a carry-over from an earlier day, when players would have been recruited locally, but probably not. Just a gratuitous jest! No offence in all this, Johnnyfarmer... Will you take that straw out of your mouth! Bill Bryson is very funny describing his encounter with two Bristol girls and the way they talked, but the funniest of all was his encounter with the barman and his boss with their broad Glaswegian accent, when he went into a pub in a side-street. And I can tell you, when an Edinburgher speaks to you, while laughing, never mind the impaired fluency, the accent becomes so broad, what is said becomes completely unintelligible, no matter how hard you try. Some Scots can't understand each other. So, in the end you just have to nod, and pretend - as did Bryson. The funny things was, when the boss appeared the bar-tender offered his services to him as an interpreter of what his boss was saying! Or it could even have been to his boss of what Bryson was saying! I can't be sure now, in recollection, but I believe it was the former. In the end, he had to finish his beer quickly as the strain of maintaining the well-meaning duplicity, feigning comprehension and whatever facial expressions might be called for, became too much. Tangentially, I've been absolutely bowled over by some names: Republican congressman, Saxby Chambliss, French footballer, Celestine Babayaro - that whole, World Cup-winning team had magical names.Axel
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
04:10 AM
4
04
10
AM
PDT
'OT: There are a couple great new posts up at ENV showing what a slime ball Nick Matzke is.' Nick's still smarting about God being nasty (in his very humble opinion). Traumatized. Next stage will be catatonia.Axel
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
03:28 AM
3
03
28
AM
PDT
#49 '....But it’s still less than one percent of the information that is stored in all the DNA molecules of a human being.' No it isn't! na... na... na... na...na. No, it isn't! na..na..na..na..na...na No it isn't! na... na... na... na...na. All chance!Axel
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
03:24 AM
3
03
24
AM
PDT
I really liked this quote "Put another way, if a single star is a bit of information, that's a galaxy of information for every person in the world. That's 315 times the number of grains of sand in the world. But it's still less than one percent of the information that is stored in all the DNA molecules of a human being."Andre
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
03:03 AM
3
03
03
AM
PDT
'“The theoretical (information) density of DNA is you could store the total world information, which is 1.8 zetabytes, at least in 2011, in about 4 grams of DNA.” (a zettabyte is one billion trillion or 10^21 bytes of digital data) Sriram Kosuri PhD. – Wyss Institute' Just chance, Philip. Don't read too much into it.Axel
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
02:57 AM
2
02
57
AM
PDT
'To pick up broads!' Excellent, CentralScrutinizerAxel
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
02:54 AM
2
02
54
AM
PDT
UD thread pages break browser's Back button Once you enter a thread page such as this one, the page re-enters itself recursively so that browser history shows that same page as the previous page. Hence, if you press Back button to go back, you are still in the same page. To get out you need to press Back button again. This particular type of bad manners has been making the "top ten" worst web designs since the early years web e.g. see Nielsen's Alert Box "top 10 design mistakes" from 1999, where it and its variant make the top two design mistakes. Can someone in charge inject a bit of 'intelligent design' into the page design itself, for harmony sake?nightlight
August 20, 2013
August
08
Aug
20
20
2013
02:49 AM
2
02
49
AM
PDT
1 2 3 4

Leave a Reply