Pen on Black

Pharyngula: Protect the sanctity of heterosexual marriage!

2009-09-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a great post by PZ Myers that really hits the nail on the head. I'm sure it's been said by others, but I always love PZ's style. Go read it and laugh and be angry at the same time.

Protect the sanctity of heterosexual marriage! @ Pharyngula

SURE Site is Live!

2009-06-20T00:28:00.000-07:00

Check it out: ucsbskeptics.com

UCSB's secular student group finally has its website... I'm hoping UCSB atheists and secularists of all types will find it when they search for a group like ours. We need more of a presence, and I think a proper website will definitely help.

Pardon the dust.

SURE Website Coming Soon!

2009-05-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

I got SURE's Director of Public Affairs position! So now it's time to get to work...

I've been working on a website so we have more of an official central hub of information on the net (something better than facebook), and it's going pretty smoothly so far, despite having almost no experience with this stuff. I've been looking through SSA Affiliate sites to get ideas for stuff I want to include - the Bruin Alliance of Skeptics and Secularists won the SSA's recent best website award, and I also like the site from the Secular Alliance of IU.

Lots of these sites are sort of blog-website hybrids (lots are on wordpress), so that might be a good design to follow: right now I'm hosting it on blogger and building it to look like a regular website, but it'll include a blog function. Even though we get free hosting from the OSL, I'm trying it here first since that's what I have the most experience with.

Here's what I have so far:

It'll be active by sometime this summer.

Running for SURE's new Director of Public Affairs

2009-05-14T01:28:00.000-07:00

I presented my little candidacy speech today for some of the members of SURE, the atheist/agnostic/freethought/secularism group on campus at UCSB - I had to cut out a bunch of stuff from my speech to fit it all in under the five minute limit, but still had some good points to talk about. Too bad it turned out I should've practiced the speech a bit more to get it down pat, so I could have avoided being all weird and awkward in front of everyone... but I'm pretty sure I gave a good enough speech to have a good chance to be the next DPA. Here's the speech outline for anyone who's interested: SURE speech outline. It's pretty rough as it is, but that's how I roll.

I said something about not putting up offensive posters in the speech... what I meant was that our posters shouldn't be part of a negative campaign that portrays religious people as stupid (I think there might be room for possibly portraying religious practices, or something, as stupid, but not the people). The poster that said "Don't believe in fairy tales? Neither do we" was great, because it's showing what the group is, and provides a welcoming tone to fellow nonbelievers. Whatever we put up will be offensive to some people just because of the fact that we're a secularist group in the first place. I'm not advocating worrying about every single person who might possibly get offended, I just wanted to say that our ad campaigns should definitely portray us positively - I'm all for lighting a fire with some controversial ads, I just want to avoid looking like a dick.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to helping out with the group next year, no matter whether I actually get elected to a position.

California Academy of Sciences

2009-04-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

Over spring break I went to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and it was AWESOME! They really did a wonderful job on the remodeling - it used to be kind of a dumpy place with mediocre and pretty boring exhibits, but now it's a really cool place to visit.

Here are a few photos from the visit... you can find more here.

The evolution room a really awesome - they had a line-up of skull replicas delineating human evolution, and you could actually touch and be close to the skulls... I didn't get so many shots in here since it was so dark, but it was a nice little side-room to visit. It also had some live penguins at the very end of the room, which was a nice touch. I kept wondering how a creationist would react to all that evolution in one place, and if there were any creationists in the crowd (I doubt it). But anyway...

I got a few nice shots of Emma in the evolution room. This trip will probably turn out to have helped make me spend lots more money on camera stuff, since there were plenty of people with nice cameras there, and I kept craving a speedlite set-up. Fortunately, I brought fast enough lenses to cope pretty well in the dark evolution room, but still! WANT MOAR CAMERA STUFF!!

The aquarium portion was really amazing. I really liked how the main viewing pool was connected to the rainforest exhibit upstairs. The diver here was actually taking questions from the audience, using little suction cups to stick to the glass. That sounds like a pretty cool job.

The last exhibit we visited was the rainforest sphere thing... it has representations of four different rainforests from around the world, with animal and plant specimens in smaller rooms within the sphere. There were also birds and butterflies (and maybe some other stuff) flying around freely inside the dome. We had to check our clothes for butterflies before leaving.

So overall it was a great trip... the food was really good too (I had some kind of lemon chicken with rice MMMM).

It was an awesome place to go to - I definitely recommend checking it out when in the San Fran area... along with the Exploratorium. That reminds me, I want to go to the Exploratorium...

Tough Guy Challenge 2009 on The Big Picture

2009-02-18T23:25:00.000-08:00

I was testing out my new Westinghouse 22" LCD monitor by looking through The Big Picture when the photoset for this year's "Tough Guy Challenge" caught my eye... I was intrigued. Something called "tough guy challenge" with a photo of some guy running through flames must be good. And then there's this guy:

I cracked up at number 14.

Atheist Bus Campaign

2009-01-09T10:25:00.001-08:00

The Atheist Bus Campaign has been all over the news lately, sending 800 buses out in the UK and elsewhere having a poster reading, "There's Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life." It's a great comeback against religious ads that basically berate nonbelievers and others for not believing, and I think these ads will brighten many people's days.

Now I think there's some sort of law of nature that states, "no matter how gentle and benign an atheistic statement is, it will be attacked as offensive and attempts to censor it shall be made by religious people." Following this law, the ads are being attacked as offensive and have been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority. The main claim to the ASA is that the ads violate this statement:

[M]arketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation.

Steven Green, national director of Christian Voice, said that the statement on the ads is

…given as a statement of fact and that means it must be capable of substantiation if it is not to break the rules. There is plenty of evidence for God, from people’s personal experience, to the complexity, interdependence, beauty and design of the natural world.

From that quotation, I would be amazed if his arguments hold up. First off, the ads say there's probably no "god." It isn't specifying any one god, and each of the mass of gods can be argued for with Green's weak rationale. Probabilistically speaking, the statement on the ads is much more likely to be true than any one of the gods that remain unspecified by the ads.

Second, Green's arguments are embarrassingly weak (embarrassing for him). Personal experience, again, can be argued for any god, but Green presumably only thinks the Christian god is legitimate. So what about all the other gods whose followers have "personally experienced" his/her/its presence?

The "complexity, interdependence, beauty and [apparent] design of the natural world"? One word: Evolution*. This argument is a tepid grope at trying to explain himself in some way other than "I was offended by the ad and want to censor it. Period."

These ads are so gentle as to make it amazing to me that religious people would blatantly display their double standards and want to remove them, despite religious ads that tell you you'll burn in hell unless you believe our particular stories and myths.

By the way, I just bought one of the campaign's T-Shirts! They can be ordered here: link.

*and science in general.

Homecoming Hiccups

2009-01-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

I'm at the airport waiting for a later flight to get back to Santa Barbara...

So I got to the airport on time, got through security in a few minutes, and was all settled near the gate. While I was sitting there, I saw one of my friends from school peek around the wall and go back to her seat, not seeing me. So of course I had to go say hi...

We chatted for a while, keeping an eye on the gate, checking back periodically. It was getting near the scheduled boarding time, and we kept checking on the gate, until finally it was about twenty minutes after we were supposed to board. I went up to the person behind the counter, who informed me that the flight had left about fifteen minutes earlier, and apparently they'd been looking for us.

My friend and I heard nothing, and saw no indication that the flight was boarding... So now we're waiting for a flight a little later.

I blame the noisy TV in the sports bar next to us, and the apparently useless speaker right above our heads.

Lucky for me, my earliest class tomorrow isn't until noon.

How to be an Ally with Atheists

2008-12-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

Here's a pretty good article from AlterNet on "how to get on an atheist's good side" (by Greta Christina) that has good tips for getting along in general - because it's true: atheists can be very good allies.

Here are the bullets; click through to read the rest.

Familiarize yourself with the common myths and misconceptions about atheists -- and don't perpetuate them.
Familiarize yourself with what it's like to be an atheist, both in the U.S. and in the rest of the world.
Find common ground.
Speak out against anti-atheist bigotry and other forms of religious intolerance.
Be inclusive of atheists.
Don't divide and conquer, and don't try to take away our anger.
If you're going to accuse an atheist or an atheist group of being intolerant -- be careful, and make sure that's really what they're being.
Do not -- repeat, DO NOT -- talk about "fundamentalist atheists."
Be aware of how religious belief gives you a place of mainstream and privilege.

Hilarious Spam from my Former Youth Group Mailing List

2008-12-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

I've been getting some spam sent through the mailing list from the youth group I used to attend when I went to church... There might be some virus or something on someone's computer, or some spammer just got a hold of the mailing list.

I'm a divorced 50 something lady. I'm recently divorced and looking to make the most the rest of my life. I would like to develop a casual relationship with a man, which could lead to something else but to be honest I'd like to keep things no strings attached unless I meet someone really great.

I've got some photos and a webcam here [link]

Would love to meet some single men to chat with. If you're married that's ok as well. Thanks

Hilarious! Apparently it's okay if I'm married if I want to hook up with a fifty year old chick! I'm picturing a pack-a-day cat lady. That's hawt.

I finally got my new implants, I simply LOVE them but I'm getting mixed reviews from my friends lol

maybe they are jealous I'm not sure.. tell me what you think of them

here are some pics of my boobs [link]

This was sent from the same address, so now I'm picturing a fifty year old pack-a-day cat lady who finally got her implants? "lol"?

I'm in crappy marriage and just went through a recent break up. Right now I am looking for a distraction - nothing serious, nothing with major drama. Someone to talk to, hang out with, and occasionally make out with for hours on end.

I'm in my early 40s, hot (that is not just my own egotistical opinion) and in great shape. Ideally I'd prefer someone between 35 and 50. If the chemistry isn't there it just isn't and we can move on quickly.

You can view my recent pics and chat with me here [link]

Okay, so a different "person" now. If she (or he - it's not gender specific) prefers someone between 35 and 50, I don't think a youth group mailing list is the best place to look.

I'm pretty sure the mailing list belongs to the super-religious, batshit crazy youth pastor that the church actually had to get rid of... I don't really feel like telling her.

Hubble Advent Calendar!

2008-12-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here's another one from The Big Picture: The Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar! It'll add an new amazing space picture every day until the 25th! The ones already up are beautiful - and there are plenty more to come! Celebrate the solstice with amazing photos of what's out there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

I'm over near Sacramento celebrating thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family. I hitched a ride up to San Jose, relaxed for a couple hours, then took another drive up here... basically a twelve hour trip.

But it's worth it. Not that seeing my great family isn't important, but this holiday's all about the food - my uncle Gerardo's cooking is renowned - so I know I'll leave a few pounds heavier than I came.

Wishing everyone a happy thanksgiving, and thinking of all I'm thankful for (not just family and food).

International Space Station on The Big Picture

2008-11-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

Check out these photos from The Big Picture of the ISS! They're amazing!!

I scrolled through in awe for the first few shots, but then I came to this one and got just a little more giddy inside... CAMERA! Is it a problem that I'm looking at photos of a massive man-made scientific base orbiting earth -- a freakin' space station -- and I'm more excited about a camera? My addiction is worse than I thought.

Via Bad Astronomy

Dan Barker Event was a Success!

2008-11-19T12:58:00.000-08:00

Dan Barker came to speak last week at UCSB, and it was great! He gave a very intelligent talk about his path from being a devout fundamental evangelical Christian to eventually shifting his belief into more and more moderate territory until he started wondering whether God himself is actually real, or just another biblical metaphor.

Barker gave an engaging insight into what it was like to be a "true believer," one who would approach random strangers on a quest to save their souls in time for the rapture. He talked about witnessing miracles and faith-healings, and how he thought there must be something wrong with anyone who didn't believe in God when faced with such hard, obvious evidence.

It was a very enlightening talk, and only a few people got up and left in the middle (maybe they had something else to do?)... We filled many more seats than we had hoped, which was also awesome!

Dan Barker to speak at UCSB!

2008-11-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

Imagine devoting nearly 20 years of your life preaching to people about the "saving" power of Jesus and the holy spirit, going on missions to Mexico, producing and playing Christian music for the masses, and traveling around the country to warn people about the rapture, which could come any day now. What does it take to go from a life of proselytizing in the name of Jeebus, to being one of America's most outspoken atheists - a co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and a published author of several books about atheism?

Dan Barker is coming to speak at UCSB on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 6pm. The event is being hosted by UCSB's freethought campus organization, Scientific Understanding and Reason Enrichment.

It should prove to be a very interesting talk, as he speaks about his "deconversion" to atheism from almost 20 years of being an evangelical preacher. (Plus it'll be FREE, so what's not to like?)

The event is taking place at Ebarcadero Hall, UCSB at 6pm on Wednesday, Nov. 12. (935 Embarcadero del Norte, Goleta, CA 93117).

Here's the FFRF events page.

Please come by if you're in the southern California area!

Image from FFRF site.

We still have some progress to make.

2008-11-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

We've elected the first black president of the United States, in the face of some lingering racism in many parts of the country. We elected the right choice for president based on policies, looking past skin color, which speaks volumes for how far we've come from the Jim Crow laws that once separated races in buses, schools, drinking fountains, and marriage.

We can look back at that time and stand in awe of how bigoted this society once was, and how difficult it was to live as a dark-skinned person in the midst of laws limiting many basic rights, based on nothing but ignorance and insidious hatred.

How far we've come since then! But unfortunately, ignorance and bigotry and hatred are far from dead in this country, even in relatively progressive states like California. Of course, it's nothing new to say that these societal cancers aren't dead (they won't ever fully go away), but I thought - naively - that they were far enough gone to at least live in a state where intolerance is no longer tolerated.

Thanks to a combination of bigotry and dirty tactics by those unashamed bigots, California Proposition 8 has passed, which eliminates the right of same-sex couples to get married. It adds a single sentence to the California constitution: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

People who see that this proposition has nothing to do with "protecting" marriage and everything to do with those despicable views that "different" equals "immoral" have had discrimination foisted on them and written into California's constitution. People who believe that civil rights should never be taken away because of the way people "feel" about gay marriage have been betrayed.

Some may think that we must respect all views equally - that all views deserve respect simply for being views. Should we then respect racism? Sexism? Of course not. Discrimination based on sexual orientation is no different whatsoever from discrimination based on race, and anyone who argues otherwise is delusional. Think about the Separate but Equal laws of the past. "Separate but Equal" was found to be inherently unequal and unconstitutional. How is the right to marry any different?

California, and many other states (Arkansas, for one, passed a ballot measure outlawing gay couples from adopting children) are a disgrace to American progress.

But there's still hope. Just as time and daylight have washed us of most of our previous bigotry, it will continue to cleanse us and improve our society so that following generations will look back in amazement at a time when people against gay rights could show their faces without shame. It's only a matter of time.

I will never stop fighting for equal rights. I will never give up on this front. And I will never respect those people who would taint our modern society with their backward morals and ignorance.

As for now, I'm ashamed to be a Californian.

Vote! Now!

2008-11-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

Get out and vote - it's kinda your civic duty.

If you're in California, your *moral* duty is to vote NO on prop 8. A vote against 8 is a vote against bigotry!

Prop 8

2008-10-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's disturbing to me that there are still plenty of people in California who would like to deprive a group of people of a basic human right like that of marriage. They see nothing wrong with wanting to take away someone's right to marry whomever they love, with no basis other than protecting "tradition," a word which in this case means nothing other than "bigotry." The notion of eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry, no matter how I look at it, seems no better than eliminating the right of black people to attend certain schools.

That proponents of proposition 8 are claiming that it will "protect marriage" just infuriates me. From what are you protecting marriage? Gay people? Is it so bad that someone who isn't like you gets the same rights that you get? Are same-sex couples supposed to walk away with a consolation-prize of "domestic partnerships" because of bigots' insecurities?

How dare you call yourself a decent person if you see nothing wrong with blocking an entire group of people this basic right? How dare you call yourself a "true American," as so many conservatives are wont to do, if you deny a whole group of people the right to pursue happiness?

Here's the entire text of Prop 8 if you're interested:

PROPOSITION 8

This initiative measure is submitted to the people in accordance with the
provisions of Article II, Section 8, of the California Constitution.

This initiative measure expressly amends the California Constitution by
adding a section thereto; therefore, new provisions proposed to be added are
printed in italic type to indicate that they are new.

SECTION 1. Title
This measure shall be known and may be cited as the “California Marriage
Protection Act.”

SECTION 2. Section 7.5 is added to Article I of the California Constitution,
to read:

SEC. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized
in California.

And here's the California General Election Voter's Guide: go read up on the propositions.

Actual Vector Calculus homework question:

2008-09-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

If Yoda says to Luke Skywalker, "The Force be with you," then the dot product of the Force and Luke should be:

A. positive
B. zero
C. any real number
D. negative

The correct answer should be E. Facepalm.

First few days: Done

2008-09-27T01:29:00.000-07:00

I've survived the first two days of Fall '08 pretty painlessly. I like my schedule (nothing before 11) and I'm not majorly behind in anything yet.

I just need to get my assignment schedule in order and do some reading and I'm all set for Monday.

Now it's time to see how late I can stay up and still wake up before 11.

In the HOUSE!

2008-09-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

Just checking in from my new house in Isla Vista, where I just moved in.

9/11 post from KafirGirl

2008-09-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

KafirGirl has a good post up about her experience on Sept. 11, 2001.

Seven years ago today, I sat in a cold, windowless classroom, staring at a puddle of tears on my desk. I should have skipped class today, I repeated in my head. Today would have been the best day to skip class. Some of the other kids, boys mostly, were yelling back and forth about how we should just nuke them. We. Them. On an ordinary day, I’d be included in the we. But I was one of them that day, and the 20 pairs of eyes burning holes through my skin reminded me of that more and more with every passing second.

Go read the post, then subscribe to her blog so you can learn about the Koran and have a good laugh at the same time.

How does the Large Hadron Collider work?

2008-09-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

In honor of getting closer and closer to being fully operational, the LHC has recently gotten lots of attention both from the scientific world (heralding the LHC as a remarkable tool that will help us understand more about how the universe formed, among other stuff) and from crazy people who actually think that turning the LHC on will create a mini black hole that'll destroy the earth, or that it will open a cosmic gate between the earth and an evil supernatural extraterrestrial race that will enslave humans and doom the earth for eternity, as foretold by the Bible. (From Bad Astronomy)

Well I'm with the scientists on this one... and here's a little video that explains how the LHC basically works in less than seven minutes! Enjoy.

Via Laughing Squid

Got my camera

2008-09-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

My new Canon Digital Rebel XSi/EOS 450D arrived this week and I've been taking tons of practice shots of the same boring stuff (socks, roofs out the window...) to get to know the camera a little better, but there are some sorta interesting shots too:

That's my dad, shot with the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II.

I was really looking forward to getting that lens - it's really inexpensive and has decent optics - the only drawback is that it's really cheaply made, and that was pretty obvious when I got it last week. It felt like a kid's toy and was really rattly.

I had some problems with the autofocus on the lens (I didn't have a problem with the other lens, which is weird because I thought the autofocus function was within the camera) - AF persistently would focus just before the true focus point, which can be seen a little in the shot above. It's very sharp, but I had to go manual to get the best of it.

So I sent it back to Amazon, and I'm planning on getting a 50mm f/1.4 instead, which will be really nice.

I need more lenses...

Lens photo by Papuass

Trying Out Google Chrome

2008-09-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

All I know so far: Google Chrome breaks this page - the footer gets smushed (smooshed?) over by the main content. Maybe they'll fix the problem, but from what I've seen, I still like Firefox just fine... Internet Explorer remains completely out of the equation (and if I really need IE, I have a neat little Firefox add-on to open it pretty painlessly).

My overall first impression: meh.

Musicovery: the moody webradio

2008-08-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Musicovery is basically what it sounds like - you can "discover" music based on your selections of genres and the mood you want to listen to at the moment.

I was stumbling around and tried the site out and played something by Sweet! I only have one Sweet song and I almost bought the album but was too lazy to do it just then... but the point is Musicovery worked pretty well at the moment.

By the way, I'm trying out StumbleUpon (I'm really behind the times) - so far I like it, and it'll definitely help me in times of extreme boredom while waiting for my camera to get here.

Still feeling photo-y

2008-08-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo from a backpacking trip a while ago:

There's at least one more from the trip on my flickr... I don't remember if I actually posted any when we got back, but I definitely didn't have photoshop to make them look pretty.

Interestingness

2008-08-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

Warning: time-wasting will ensue if you check out the last seven days of interestingness on Flickr. (Or even the general Explore Page).

I'm getting my camera! Eventually. I'll order it so it'll come when I'm in Santa Barbara so I can have some fun with it down there.

The interestingness page is bad... It makes me think of more equipment I need to buy.

Photo from BURИBLUE

EDIT: I bought the camera and a couple accessories yesterday! (Couldn't wait long enough to make it down to SB). By the way, what I meant to say in this post was that I was getting back into some photography stuff, like flickr, and flickr has the interestingness page, but the interestingness page distracted me and I didn't say all that, so here ya go.

Last week of work

2008-08-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Even though it's my last week as an intern at Asyst, I don't think the work will wind down until the last day... I have plenty of vibration testing and analysis to do, and it looks like I may not be able to do it on the ceiling conveyor (the one that has OHT* carry the FOUPs** back to the start for you) and instead might have to do it on the floor conveyor (the one that couldn't care less about your fragile meat-bag back).

*Overhead Hoist Transport - overhead track vehicles that carry FOUPs
**Front Opening Unified Pod - carries wafers

EDIT: Just to be clear, the opinions expressed on this blog are not necessarily those of Asyst or its associates.

Spending the weekend in LA

2008-08-22T07:42:00.001-07:00

Rise and shine! I'm up at 7:30 to get ready to go to Universal Studios, the main event of the weekend.

We also have some beach planned, some hangin' in Santa Monica, and of course I'm visiting the girlfriend.

Well it's time to get the complimentary breakfast downstairs!

I'll keep you posted if anything really interesting happens, other than the whole Universal Studios thing.

SURE UCSB, the Blog

2008-08-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

6/7/08 UPDATE! SURE now has an official website: ucsbskeptics.com. The blog was also updated: ucsbskeptics.blogspot.com

Remember SURE? The slightly under-promoted, fledgling (but growing) free thought student group at UCSB? We have a blog now!

Check it out: ~~Faithless~~ The SURE Blog

I'm really excited about going back this year... Funding!

Stop on by this school year if you're interested: meetings every Wednesday at 6pm in Theater and Dance 2600.

Light Transmitting Concrete

2008-08-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

This is really cool - it's a really simple idea that ends up looking amazing:

LiTraCon: concrete with strands of glass fibers running through them. What makes it especially cool is that it really does make a solid wall look like it's made of paper!

It could really do wonders with a blast shelter.

Via MAKE: Blog

All the news from China is making me want to exercize my capitalist rights.

2008-08-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

Nah, I just wanna buy something. I've spent my summer cooped up at work, and I feel like spending some of my crispy new cash on something to help me unwind in a couple weeks when I have my real summer vacation.

I want a gadget.

First thing that comes to mind: Camera. I've wanted a DSLR forever, and did lots of research a couple years ago, and really got into it... but I figured at the time that I wasn't going to use a really nice camera like that to its full potential, so I got myself a slightly less nice Canon Powershot S3 IS, which is a great camera, but just doesn't quite measure up to a DSLR. The problem is, I need to do lots more research now that the market is different (more cameras, SD won over CF, a few more lens choices to consider, etc.). Plus, how much photography would I be doing among all the more important stuff in my busying schoolwork schedule? I could tell myself I'm going to carry the thing around with me, but there's definitely a possibility that it would end up collecting dust somewhere after a little while. Still, I'm thinking on it.

What gadget could possibly be as satisfying as a new camera?..........

~~New computer?~~ my parents will probably end up getting me a new laptop when the incumbent wears out.

~~Speaker system?~~ I have some pretty good ipod speakers already.

~~Model Steam Engine?~~ That one was hard to cross out...

Headphones? New headphones aren't as good as a new camera, but they would be pretty satisfying. My current 'phones are falling apart bit by bit and they weren't very good to begin with, so new headphones might just open my ears to all the musical nuances I've been missing. Add that to the "get" list.

There's not much else I can think of. A camera and headphones sound like they would do the trick; I'll set aside a couple grand.

Grampa's Funeral

2008-08-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

Went to my step-granddad's funeral yesterday. He was pretty sick with Parkinson's, and had his third stroke a couple weeks ago, so he was rather far-gone near the end. It's a loss, but it's also a relief that he doesn't have to experience the pain of his condition and frustration of having such a sharp mind held back by his old body.

The service was very nice, but the tribute stories from friends and coworkers were the best part - I knew grampa was a cool guy, but I hadn't appreciated actually how great he was when he was younger... Even as an old man he was always sharp-witted and quick to tell a joke, but even more so in earlier years. Apparently he would tell these jokes called "shaggy dog stories," in which he would start talking about whatever the topic of conversation was at the time and reel everyone in with a long, drawn out story that turned out just to be a lame joke at the end. A little old man who knew grampa from work 30-40 years ago spoke and said it took him years to figure out exactly when he was starting one of them.

Someone said he was a great hearts player, and was the "sneakiest sun-of-a-gun" at shooting the moon. (Though my step-dad later said that he wasn't actually a great card player, he just often accidentally won and made it look like he knew what he was doing).

Everyone said that he always gave 100% in everything he did, and always wanted to know how everything worked... he was an electrical engineer and was an aviation buff (he had a Ryan airplane in his garage for a while because he wanted to take it apart, fix it up, and put it back together).

He was an avid gardener, and kept berries, corn, persimmons, and so many more plants in his backyard garden, from which plenty of food would come for dinner when we visited. I remember helping him in the garden at least a few times.

So that part of the service was very nice, and made me really appreciate having known him. Unfortunately, there was also a religious portion. The funeral was held in the Palo Alto VA Hospital chapel, and the chaplain there was going on about "blessing the spirit," and praising Jesus, and thanking God, and quoting Revelations or some such impersonal verbiage. All that BS just left a bad taste in my mouth - it's true what Dawkins says of religious funerals: all the Bible quoting and prayer fall completely flat next to the personal tributes given by family and friends. I don't think grampa was even that religious.

I can see how the idea of heaven could be somewhat attractive, but I find it so much more comforting and human that when you die, nothing happens. I feel sorry for people who waste so much time trying to "prepare" for an imaginary life after death, while stifling the only life they'll actually get in the process. It's obvious from the tributes that that wasn't grampa.

I'm happy that grampa filled his life with happiness and was loved, and I'm very glad to have known him, even though I only knew him as an old man.

San Jose wildlife: possum

2008-08-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

Possum eating the cat's food...

BMW ZX-6 Concept is strange, pretty

2008-08-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this BMW concept car by Jai Ho Yoo and Lukas Vanek... it looks really weird, but awesome at the same time:

I love the sweep-out seat design, but it would probably take some practice to be able to get in and out without looking like a doofus. How long until the seats can become independent hover-vehicles that detach from the chassis to eliminate the need to get up?

The page: IED Thesis: BMW 2015 Concept

Via Boing Boing Gadgets

Arturo Vivante's "Heathen"

2008-08-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

It's a nice short story about an exchange between an atheist and a theist. Excerpt:

“Boy, you’ll go to hell.”

I smiled and looked at him, a man much younger than me. “I’m not afraid of hell since I don’t believe in it, hell or heaven. How can you be happy in heaven if your brother is in hell? It doesn’t make sense.”

“You’ll find out. I’ll pray for your soul.”

“My soul won’t outlive my body. The soul is life, and death is the end, or at least I fervently hope so. This life is the real thing, not a rehearsal. And death is final, not an intermission. Dust and ashes, they can’t die; they are immortal, because they are not alive — immortality belongs to the unliving.”

“So you are a heathen.”

“Yes, if the word heathen comes from heath, the wilderness.”

Go check out the whole thing at the FFRF site.

Via Friendly Atheist

Judge rules UC can deny credit from Christian courses

2008-08-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

From SFGate:

A federal judge says the University of California can deny course credit to applicants from Christian high schools whose textbooks declare the Bible infallible and reject evolution.

According to the judge,

UC's review committees cited legitimate reasons for rejecting the texts - not because they contained religious viewpoints, but because they omitted important topics in science and history and failed to teach critical thinking.

I would be shocked if UC actually accepted anything like that...

Via RichardDawkins.net

Retinal Scarring is Fun! - The Torch Flashlight

2008-08-12T20:46:00.001-07:00

Finally, someone made a commercial form of the Fire Starter Flashlight: the Torch Flashlight!

It's great for light and fire-starting, but really shines for scrambled eggs:

Wicked Lasers Torch - Scrambled Eggs

Via TechEBlog.

New Year's Resolution

2008-08-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

Tee hee.

Via Bad Astronomy (Check out the post, it's interesting... the photo just made me laugh), and Drew Saunders.

Pro/E is annoying

2008-08-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

Pro/Engineer is the CAD platform we use at work... and it sucks.

Maybe it's not that bad, but I'm used to Solidworks. Pro/E has so much more crap you have to do in order to do the same thing, a gazillion "are you sure you want to do that?" messages (yes I'm sure! just do it!), and a really limited help system. I miss Solidworks.

That's all I have to say. Carry on.

Oh wait, one more thing: why the heck is the fillet tool called the "round" tool? It's the fillet tool!

Okay.

For the Wishlist: Desktop Factory 3D Printer

2008-08-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

WANT!

This thing is awesome... a sub $5000 3D printer that fits on a desktop: the Desktop Factory 3D Printer is really cheap (most 3D printers are between $30,000 and $100,000) and would be really cool to have around. You know, to make random stuff.

It can print within a 5 inch cube and would be great for making prototype and spare parts, toys, models, and anything else that comes to mind.

Of course there are printers out there with more capabilities, better material, better precision, etc, but this one is only $4995!

*drool*

New Book: The Blind Watchmaker

2008-08-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

I'm starting Richard Dawkins's The Blind Watchmaker, just to have a little something to read besides teh toobs - it's nice to have an actual book sometimes. So far so good, but I've only just gotten past what I read in the bookstore.

I really need to get more "into" reading more; it's stimulating, interesting, and gives you a better vocabulary, but I don't have enough of a queue to get into a reading rhythm. The last book I read was Infidel, which really great, but that was almost a YEAR ago.

At that rate, how many books do I have left until I DIE??

Made a part in the 3D printer at work!

2008-08-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

The 3D printer has worked all weekend on a little cube thingy I designed... it's really cool to send a CAD design to this machine and have it actually make it for you! It took 35 hours to build and now the extra bits are being stripped away in a corrosive bath.

In more depressing news, I think I might be slightly sick, but maybe it's just that I woke up at 4:47 this morning to drive my girlfriend to the airport.

Zombie Haiku!!

2008-07-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

The kittehs can wait... this just made my whole day.

Zombie Haiku

Via Boing Boing

Got the NIN Album in the mail (The Slip)

2008-07-30T23:12:00.001-07:00

I got my physical copy of The Slip by NIN the other day. I got the free download when they released it a while ago, and really liked the album, so I figured I'd buy it. Well, it arrived! So far so good.

I also hadn't realized that the free download has lyrics info in the song, which I discovered when I scrolled to them on my ipod...

Queued for posting: NEW KITTENS! (with photos)

Authorized Entry Only

2008-07-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

I feel special.

They added keycard readers to one of the labs at work today, and I'm just important enough to have access! There's something empowering about swiping an ID card to get into a room with an AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY sign on the door.

(The only thing that's required to get in is an online lab safety course, but it's still cool).

Beware of Robot

2008-07-28T21:20:00.001-07:00

I MUST have one of these signs from work. Wonder where they keep extras...

Is Facebook trying to tell me something?

2008-07-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

Here's an ad that I just saw on a facebook page within an application (click to big-it):

It's one of those personalized ads, right? If it is, why are "Hot Christian Girls" being pitched to me, the atheist with a girlfriend, of all people?

SOMEONE needs a new marketing team...

In Old Sacramento for the weekend

2008-07-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

I'm here in Old Sacramento staying at the Delta King Hotel/retired riverboat for the weekend in celebration of my mom's birthday.

Old Sacramento is a pretty cool Olde-Timey little mini-town with a bunch of eateries and shoppes and railroad tracks. I'm staying at the really neat Delta King Hotel, which is a permanently docked riverboat complete with a red paddle wheel. The whole place is really interesting, with little doors and old furniture... I have to reconnect the wireless every couple minutes, the TV only has 14 channels, and the only electric outlets are inside the TV cabinet and behind the bed, but it's an experience. (I got my internet fix. Feels goood).

SCIENCE! (In shirt form)

2008-07-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

I want one of the fantastic new SCIENCE! shirts from WearScience:

The ones with the robot and the ant conjure an image of some sort of sepia-toned mad scientist heralding a new creation, thanks to "SCIENCE!"

Can't imagine dinosaur meat being very tender, but it's frakkin' dinosaur meat! (Or maybe the science dude is feeding the dinosaur? I dunno.)

Where is my new domain?

2008-07-22T22:38:00.001-07:00

I bought the domain name penonblack.com a few days ago and have been getting a "transferring" message from blogger whenever I try to get to it from the dashboard, but now the link just goes to a barren 404 page... the transferring message said it would be at most three days before it's available, but I still don't see it.

EDIT: Yay! All it needed was a good 'ol refresh (switched to blogspot publishing then back to custom domain).

Freethought Club UCSB: SURE

2008-05-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

Edit 6/20/09: SURE has a website now! Check out ucsbskeptics.org for news and info about the group!

I'm part of a secular student group at UCSB called Scientific Understanding and Reason Enrichment, or SURE, a small organization which meets every [edit: check the website for updated meeting time and place] to hang out and have fun with a bunch of fellow godless atheists, agnostics, and the like. We're not much of a "presence," but we're only a fledgling club yet, and hopefully with some more funding and some more active members we can make ourselves into a more formidable group.

Something that I don't really like about the group is the name... Scientific Understanding and Reason Enrichment makes for a cute acronym, but it's a real mouthful and sucks to type (I considered a copy-paste from above), and might give an image to an outsider of a bunch of nerds who like to meet to tell each other chemistry jokes (Q: What is the name of the molecule bunny-O-bunny? A: An ether bunny! HAHAHAHAHA!!!), but that's just a minor gripe.

I don't have too much of a problem with the name - what I really don't like is that a Google search for "Freethought Club UCSB" or "Skeptics Club UCSB" doesn't turn up much on a search engine as of now. (I think we're listed in the bowels of the Secular Student Alliance site)*. If I were an atheist student looking for an atheist group at UCSB I would probably just Google it.

We're getting some kind of school funding coming up next year, which I hope will also help in the out-reach department.

So if you're an atheist, agnostic, or just curious, and you're coming to UCSB or are already here, come on by!

Check out our Facebook Page for a little more info about who we are and what we do. (I guess you have to have a Facebook account to see the group page... we should change that too).

* We aren't even on the official on-campus groups page for UCSB! (At time of posting).

EDIT 7/13/08: We're listed on the Office of Student Life site, but I had to do some searching: link

My Turn: Expelled Exposed!

2008-04-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Just doing my really slight part in the fight against the Intelligent Design film type thing "Expelled" starring Ben Stein.

Expelled

(From Pharyngula)

Shipwreck

2008-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

Following with the photography theme from last night, I thought I'd post a little something I shot with my camera-phone the other day (by the way, I got a new camera-phone!).

This boat washed up in the recent storm here at UCSB. I was taking a bike ride around the lagoon, and figured I'd take a shot of the boat from on top of the bluff... I think it turned out pretty well! Especially in black and white mode.

We also had a boat wash up a few weeks ago in a separate storm. It's sort of becoming expected that there'll be some new boat on our beach every time it rains.

Old Photoshop Projects

2008-01-28T00:58:00.000-08:00

It's a few weeks into the quarter, so that's the basic explanation of the blog drought. But it's time for a break, and I just rediscovered some stuff I haven't thought about since last year!

A few of my friends just got Photoshop. I took a Photoshop class in high school, so I was showing them some of the basics.

Most of my work in that class I'm not that proud of, but there are a few that I like. Like this magazine cover I made:

This one's more of an artsy type piece:

It was the self-portrait project for the semester. It's supposed to represent my journey into my current state of skepticism and rational thought, or something like that... (The top half has science and technology stuff, and the bottom has the bible).

I have a bunch more, but they're just the basic "make this flower look better" and "fix this old picture" stuff, so no need to put them here.

Hey Look, it's 2008

2008-01-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

Meh.

What's a Year?

2007-12-31T17:56:00.000-08:00

I just came across this fun, nerdy, and rather meticulous post from Bad Astronomy on various astronomical definitions of a "year" in honor of the new year. Good stuff!

The year, of course, is the time it takes for the Earth to orbit the Sun, right? Well, not exactly. It depends on what you mean by "year", and how you measure it. This takes a wee bit of explaining, so put down the champagne, take the lampshade off your head, and hang on.

I am enlightened! Now I'm looking forward to counting down the last ten of those 31,558,149 (or 31,558,432 or whatever) seconds of 2007 even more!

So there you go. As usual, astronomers have taken a simple concept like "years" and turned it into a horrifying nightmare of nerdy details. But really, it’s not like we made all this stuff up. The fault literally lies in the stars, and not ourselves.

It's a fun little read, so check it out!

New Year's Twilight Zone Marathon!

2007-12-31T15:04:00.000-08:00

...You open this door with the key of imagination. Inside it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance; of things and ideas; you've just crossed over into ... the Twilight Zone.

That's right! It's time for another 48 hour New Year's Twilight Zone marathon on SciFi! What better way of celebrating the new year than with classic creepy TV! Oh Rod Sterling, you're so dreamy.

I'll be counting down to the new year with each alien, monster, fortune teller, creepy kid, and living doll.

Walking with Dinosaurs - The Live Experience

2007-12-27T22:33:00.000-08:00

I just went out and saw Walking with Dinosaurs - The Live Experience at the Shark Tank (HP Pavilion), and what a grand live experience it was! Seeing all the life-size dinos in action was spectacular, and the "paleontologist's" commentary throughout the performance was very informative, with info on each time period being shown.

What really stole the show for me was the sheer size of some of the dinosaur models - the adult brachiosaurus was 42 feet tall and 75 feet long... and it had to fend off a predator! Amazing!

It was a great show.

Wishing everyone a merry December 25

2007-12-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone's Christmas is nice this year. (And happy Newton day, Cab Caloway day, solstice, Saturnalia, Agnostica, Squidmas, and so on).

Laser-Etched Calendar on Fingernails

2007-12-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

I wonder how accurate these fingernail calendars are.

Still, no matter how accurate it is, it's a neat idea.

(Via Make:)

(Photo: Here)

Free Rice and The Hunger Site

2007-12-23T12:57:00.000-08:00

Click to give!

These sites use all the proceeds from their advertising to help feed and donate to those who need it every time a visitor clicks through. Free Rice has you play a vocabulary game with every correct choice donating more rice through the United Nations World Food Program.

Link: FreeRice.com

The Hunger Site is a bit different: you'll find there a button that you click through once each day (any more than once per day per person is not counted), and the sponsor fees for the links which appear on the next page pay for a donation of food. In addition to hunger relief, they also have buttons for breast cancer, child health, literacy, rainforest, and animal rescue donations.

Link: TheHungerSite.com

These are great sites that people wondering how to donate to good causes without much fuss should visit every day.

I sleepwalk sometimes...

2007-12-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

For example, this morning I awoke to find that I had on two pairs of boxers (that's one extra).

One time I woke up to find that I had neatly transplanted one of my blankets from my bed to a high shelf in my closet (it doesn't belong there!).

And sometimes I'm only half asleep when I get the sudden drowsy urge to move something using my awesome powers of telekinesis, like the time I was trying to make a tissue hover in the air. I woke up in time to make the realization that I wasn't in a comic book.

Somehow I don't think I sleepwalk with my arms extended in front of me like I'm on a hunt for brains, but I guess it's possible (sort of like not knowing whether or not one has a snoring problem. Which I don't!).

No! Not Ron Paul Either!

2007-12-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

Did you not see the chart??

One of my Facebook friends is now a Ron Paul supporter. And by "supporter," I mean he's changed his profile picture to a Ron Paul poster, and his status is some Ron Paul drivel, and he's posted some video about Ron Paul... why am I friends with this guy?

'O Come All Ye Faithless' Cards Offensive?

2007-12-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

Well, Christians are up in a huff again. Borders has tagged copies of The God Delusion with 'O Come All Ye Faithless' Cards.

Try as I might, I just cannot see how a sane person would be offended by this at all. Get on with your lives! Stop boo-hooing about such a minor offense as a harmless parody.

Maybe they're actually offended that Borders payed any extra attention to The God Delusion.

(I know this is old news, but I still can't believe it).

(Via RichardDawkins.net)

Chairs that Follow You Around

2007-12-20T17:54:00.000-08:00

Now this is a good idea: little chairs that follow you around in a library (or bookstore, or whatever).

(Via Make:)

Teeny Tiny Toothbrush Bot

2007-12-20T13:48:00.001-08:00

I'm very tempted to make one of these little Bristlebots - a vibrating toothbrush "robot" - for my little sister (or for myself). They're so cool! And so easy... It's just a decapitated toothbrush head with a pager motor and battery attached.

They're quite fast, too! The vibrating action on the angled bristles causes the toothbrush head to go zipping off in whatever direction it happens to be pointing. These are way better than those boring little metal vibrating robots that hardly go anywhere. These are the roadsters of vibrabots!

Now I have to find a present for my sister...

2007-12-12T00:12:00.001-08:00

Ugh.

Well, don't vote for any Republican candidate.

2007-12-11T23:43:00.000-08:00

Remember this video?

I'm scared too, Jon.

~~~~~~~~~~

On a side note: There are a bunch of large-lettered chalk advertisements for Ron Paul all over campus... I just hope people don't fall for the old "I'm voting for the candidate with the biggest letters" trick.

Oh and here's a candidate issue stance chart that was posted on BoingBoing (or something) a while ago:

(Click to biggerize).

Please Don't Vote for Mitt Romney

2007-12-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

Of course I'm talking about his recent speech - that atrocious piece of filth pandering to religious zealots. The one that sent the founding fathers rolling in their graves. Hearing and reading this garbage compelled me to wear my scarlet letter shirt today.

I'm not going to take the time to go through the main points of the speech, but there are already plenty of dissections of Romney's flawed speech.

My T-Shirt Has Arrived!

2007-11-18T14:21:00.001-08:00

I just got my Scarlet Letter T-Shirt from the Richard Dawkins Foundation's Out Campaign! I'm very pleased. I'll wear it with pride!

Thanksgiving is coming!

2007-11-18T13:57:00.001-08:00

Wow, long time no blog. But hey, I've been kinda busy...

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving, when I get to go all the way from Santa Barbara to San Jose, then onward to Sacramento to fulfill the tradition of visiting my dad's family for the holiday. In the past it's been a joint celebration of Thanksgiving, early Hanukkah, and a bundle of early birthdays, but I think now it's just gonna be a nice Thanksgiving get-together. And I'm so excited!

Only two more days of school until I get to go home! It's kinda weird to think that I've been away from home for something like seven weeks.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

2007-09-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

That's right, it's that time of year again: the smell of cold steel and pickled eggs is in the air, the sounds of clashing swords and ringing doubloons can be heard in the distance, and global warming casts weary eyes on the imminent threat before it. Yes! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day again ye scurvy dogs!

Here's a joke to start you off:

Q: Why do pirates go to the opera?

A: For the ARRRRias and high c's!

Go here for more useful pirate jokage.

Fleas in the Church

2007-09-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Despite there being these fleas in churches all over the country, I'm talking about real, jumping, biting, hungry insects.

Let me explain: I'm in charge of running the sound board in the church down the street -- I kept the job from before I considered myself an atheist -- and I go over there every Wednesday to set up all the equipment for the youth band to practice.

Well, the week before last, I was wearing shorts and flip-flops while uncoiling the cables on stage, and kept feeling a tickling sensation on my legs. At first I didn't really think anything of it, but after a while it became a persistent, annoying tickle. I finally looked down at my shins, and to my horror discovered I was being invaded by bloodthirsty plague-gnats! ...I suppose it wasn't really "to my horror," but who the heck wants fleas on their legs?

Of course I had to get them off somehow, so I began to pick them off and try unsuccessfully to squish them into oblivion before remembering that fleas are pretty well indestructible when it comes to pinching. I was either going to have to tweeze their teeny tiny heads off between my fingernails, or use a much more satisfying method...

I went to get the lighter-stick from the sound booth. That's the easiest way I know to dispatch of fleas. The one thing I couldn't do was simply brush them off and allow them to jump right back onto my supple skin!

So, I began my deathly work, flaming scythe in hand, dark scowl on face, teeny tiny popping sounds issuing from between my fingertips. I usually don't condone taking the lives of innocent animals, but I think there's definitely an exception when it comes to fleas.

New Template a Success!

2007-09-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

I've successfully transferred the style of my old template over to the new Blogger Beta template! It just took some perseverance and some love... awwwww. I even managed to fix a little glitch in my Haloscan comments! (Even though the HTML editing in the new template is a BEAST).

Now I can have neat little toys to play with, like automatically updating categories (with page counts!), a sweet new archive tree that stands in for the old "previous posts" section [EDIT: I can't decide whether I want post titles displayed...], nice little older-newer post links at the bottom of each page, WYSIWYG layout editing, etc.

The only feature I had to give up was the expandable post link that I was beginning to get used to... oh well.

This opens up the doors to more amazing, fantastic, and wonderful new blog capabilities and opportunities to procrastinate!

I'm On the Out Campaign Blogroll!

2007-09-11T18:01:00.001-07:00

That's right! This blog has been added to the blogroll at the Out Campaign! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

I'll do my part to come out of the closet, reach out to other atheists, speak out against the oppression by religion, keep religion out of our schools and politics, and stand out as a perfectly moral, non-evil person that happens to be a godless infidel.

By the way, I think I'm keeping the scarlet 'A' down at the bottom of the posts... I just love how it looks on gray!

Watch

2007-09-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

This is a repost from my old blog. I thought it deserved more light.

Link to the photo page

My mom bought me this watch a few years ago while on a Caribbean cruise (tax free, duty free, of course). It has a slide rule and very useful unit conversion scales along the bezel.
The battery still hasn't quit.

Let me just say: this watch is just a super-duper fantastimazing watch. Even though the 200 meter water resistance is probably 198 meters more than I'll ever need, and even though I'll probably never have the opportunity to convert from liters to imperial gallons, this is a saWEET watch!

Another Reason Google Rocks

2007-09-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

First was the announcement that Google Earth can now look to the stars in the same way that it looks on earthly terrain. This is just utterly fantastic. It even gives you explanations of what you're looking at!

There's probably some other program that's out there that lets you do the same thing better, but Google has stitched together all this imagery from some sky survey organizations, and you can zoom right in on whatever you want! It's just amazing, I can't say it enough. This new service gives me a better appreciation for just how BIG the universe is, and how small and insignificant we are here on earth.

Now we have this unexpected gem: a hidden flight simulator in Google Earth. I'm so happy. It may not be the best flight simulator, but the novelty of having it pre-loaded on the new version of Earth is enough to make me giddy. That takes a lot. Well, maybe not, but still.

I dug out my old joystick and flew around campus for a while, then by my house, then around Mount Saint Helens, and I even landed once! (It wasn't on an actual landing strip, but who's watching?)

Yep. I still love Google.

Turn the simulator on by hitting Ctrl + Alt + A (Command/Open Apple Key + Option + A on the Mac).

Here's a list of functions.

Via Make:

Interrobang?!

2007-09-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

Oh why do all the good blog URLs have to be taken?

Go read about the interrobang and commiserate with me from having lost such a spectacular blog URL to, of all things, a CAR INSURANCE SPAM BLOG!

I'm not very creative, so it takes me a while to come up with a title I like, and when I come up with that seemingly perfect title every once in a while (short, sweet, easy to remember, etc.) just to be shot down in a great fireball by an occupied URL, it just sucks. Did I mention it was a car insurance spam blog?

To whoever made that page: may a plague enter your gums!

A CAR INSURANCE SPAM BLOG?!

Heh. Sorry.

SHE BEARS THE MARK!

2007-09-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

I put the scarlet letter from the Out Campaign onto the blog... I suppose it could be a she - sort of like a ship or a car. I think it looks rather nice on the gray background, don't you?

But maybe it deserves a slightly better place than the bottom of the page. It should be displayed with pride and prominence up near the top, to announce to the world that yes! I am an atheist! Out, if you will. But I really do love that little shadow effect.

I'll play around with it.

New Blog?

2007-09-05T00:06:00.001-07:00

I'm such an arteest. I have this internal drive to create! There's a deep desire in me to make a new blog, and post about my new college experiences (I might need an outlet), among other things.

The problem is - among other things - I like this template that I've spent so much time tweaking and adjusting and creating, dammit! But then there's the dilemma of not having all those fancy new features available from Blogger, like the whole labels thing, and the spiffy menu system for the archive links, and that stuff. So I've kinda started making a new blog out of the new template editing system, but it's a drag. I don't like all the tweaking stuff, I just want to see results! Impatient!

On the other hand, is it so important to have all that stuff? Isn't the content the important thing? Words are what change the world, not web design - despite what some hip I-put-web-2.0-stickers-on-my-laptop design type people will tell you. The problem with that is I'll have to start thinking of more interesting things to say. I need to reinvent myself. Having pretty much zero traffic is depressing. Interesting, socially provocative commentary on issues that matter (or that just draw people in) is what will give this little rant-throne the boost it needs.