Re: Autism PSA

[Julia Thompson]

http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2006/05/alison-tepper-singer-and-rett-girls.html
http://www.autismvox.com/its-just-not-autism-speaking/
http://autisticbfh.blogspot.com/2006/05/hate-speech-every-day.html

Julia
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Good Math, Bad Math entry

[Julia Thompson]

http://goodmath.blogspot.com/2006/05/magic-23.html

Mark takes on pyramidiots (as one commenter tags them).

If you enjoy people poking fun at conspiracy theorists, this is a 
must-read.  If you have absolutely no interest in that sort of thing, 
don't click the link.  :)


Julia
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Re: Good Math, Bad Math entry

[Ronn!Blankenship]

At 03:52 PM Sunday 5/21/2006, Julia Thompson wrote:

http://goodmath.blogspot.com/2006/05/magic-23.html

Mark takes on pyramidiots (as one commenter tags them).

If you enjoy people poking fun at conspiracy theorists, this is a 
must-read.  If you have absolutely no interest in that sort of 
thing, don't click the link.  :)


Julia



Thanks for the laughs.


--Ronn!  :)

"Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country 
and two words have been added to the pledge of Allegiance... UNDER 
GOD.  Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer and that 
would be eliminated from schools too?"

   -- Red Skelton

(Someone asked me to change my .sig quote back, so I did.)




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UK officers discover sex-slave cult

[Julia Thompson]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4996410.stm

Apparently there's a sex-slave cult based on Norman's Gor books.  A home 
in the UK was raided.  (This particular group is part of a splinter 
group.  According to the article, there are an estimated 25,000 Goreans 
worldwide.)


I found this at 
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2006/05/i_never_liked_those_novels_any.php
which is a pretty good blog.  (It was a comment on this blog that 
prompted people to tell a certain commenter that he needed to do a blog 
on debunking bad math)


Julia
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RE: Good Math, Bad Math entry

[Dan Minette]

> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
> Behalf Of Julia Thompson
> Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 3:53 PM
> To: Killer Bs Discussion
> Subject: Good Math, Bad Math entry
> If you enjoy people poking fun at conspiracy theorists, this is a
> must-read.  If you have absolutely no interest in that sort of thing,
> don't click the link.  :)

One of the comments had an interesting theorythat this particular
pyramid conspiracy theory was the product of someone with an outrageous
sense of humor, instead of a conspiracy theory nutter.

My favorite numerologist "proof" was by Dr. Isaac Asimov who "proved" that
the mean distance, in miles, from the earth to the moon is given in the
Bible.

Dan M.


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Re: Good Math, Bad Math entry

[Charlie Bell]

On 22/05/2006, at 1:45 AM, Dan Minette wrote:


My favorite numerologist "proof" was by Dr. Isaac Asimov who  
"proved" that
the mean distance, in miles, from the earth to the moon is given in  
the

Bible.


oh, there are plenty of those. The recent "Bible Code" revival has  
lead to quite a few smart wags using the same "method" to show all  
sorts of... bollocks.


Nothing to do with the veracity of the source material - the same  
algorithms work equally well on any body of english text that is  
sufficiently long...


Charlie
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RE: Good Math, Bad Math entry

[Dan Minette]

> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
> Behalf Of Charlie Bell
> Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 6:22 PM
> To: Killer Bs Discussion
> Subject: Re: Good Math, Bad Math entry
> 
> 
> oh, there are plenty of those. The recent "Bible Code" revival has
> lead to quite a few smart wags using the same "method" to show all
> sorts of... bollocks.

True, but he remains a favorite because I read his "proof" ages ago, when I
was 15 or 16 (>35 years ago).


> Nothing to do with the veracity of the source material - the same
> algorithms work equally well on any body of english text that is
> sufficiently long...

That's true.  One thing that's interesting is that the Bible does have
numerical codes that mean something.  For example, the Numbers of the Beast
found in ancient copies of Revelations (666 is the most common, but there
are some very old texts that have the Number of the Beast as 616) refers to
Nero in both variations of the number (666 and 616).

 
Dan M. 


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Re: Good Math, Bad Math entry

[Charlie Bell]

On 22/05/2006, at 3:06 AM, Dan Minette wrote:


oh, there are plenty of those. The recent "Bible Code" revival has
lead to quite a few smart wags using the same "method" to show all
sorts of... bollocks.


True, but he remains a favorite because I read his "proof" ages  
ago, when I

was 15 or 16 (>35 years ago).


Was a classic. Was Von Daniken as Crank of the Week when I was a sprog.




Nothing to do with the veracity of the source material - the same
algorithms work equally well on any body of english text that is
sufficiently long...


That's true.One thing that's interesting is that the Bible does have
numerical codes that mean something.  For example, the Numbers of  
the Beast
found in ancient copies of Revelations (666 is the most common, but  
there
are some very old texts that have the Number of the Beast as 616)  
refers to

Nero in both variations of the number (666 and 616).


Yup. Interesting. Meaningful, less certain. But interesting for sure.


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Re: Good Math, Bad Math entry

[maru dubshinki]

On 5/21/06, Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

http://goodmath.blogspot.com/2006/05/magic-23.html

Mark takes on pyramidiots (as one commenter tags them).

If you enjoy people poking fun at conspiracy theorists, this is a
must-read.  If you have absolutely no interest in that sort of thing,
don't click the link.  :)

Julia


If I didn't know better, I'd say that's just a bunch of Discordians having fun.

~maru
hail eris!
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Re: Good Math, Bad Math entry

[Julia Thompson]

maru dubshinki wrote:

On 5/21/06, Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

http://goodmath.blogspot.com/2006/05/magic-23.html

Mark takes on pyramidiots (as one commenter tags them).

If you enjoy people poking fun at conspiracy theorists, this is a
must-read.  If you have absolutely no interest in that sort of thing,
don't click the link.  :)

Julia


If I didn't know better, I'd say that's just a bunch of Discordians 
having fun.


~maru
hail eris!


Yeah, well, as I was going through the blog entry, I kept seeing this 
multiple of 47, which bothered me.  (It being a multiple of 47 was what 
bothered me.)


:)

Then again, I'm weird.  My favorite integer right now is 21504.

Julia
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Brain-Tumor Cluster Strikes University

[Ronn!Blankenship]

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

Today's Headlines - May 19, 2006


Brain-Tumor Cluster Strikes University
from Nature News

A Melbourne university has emptied the top floors of one of its buildings
after a spate of brain-tumour cases were reported during the past month.
Most affected staff worked on the top floor, raising fears that cell-phone
masts on top of the building are responsible. But experts say it is far more
likely to be an unfortunate coincidence.

Since mid-April, five staff from the business school of the Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology (RMIT) University have reported developing brain
tumours. Two other cases have been reported since 1999. Of the seven, two
are malignant and five benign.

"We suspect there might be other cases, but these haven't been confirmed,"
says National Tertiary Education Union representative Matthew McGowan, who
adds that the union and the university have received phone calls and e-mails
from additional staff reporting health concerns.

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060515/full/060515-14.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/g7474





SIGN UP TODAY for "Science in the News Weekly," an e-newsletter produced by
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--Ronn!  :)

"Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country 
and two words have been added to the pledge of Allegiance... UNDER 
GOD.  Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer and that 
would be eliminated from schools too?"

   -- Red Skelton

(Someone asked me to change my .sig quote back, so I did.)




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Re: Good Math, Bad Math entry

[Ronn!Blankenship]

At 11:23 PM Sunday 5/21/2006, Julia Thompson wrote:

Yeah, well, as I was going through the blog entry, I kept seeing 
this multiple of 47, which bothered me.  (It being a multiple of 47 
was what bothered me.)


:)

Then again, I'm weird.  My favorite integer right now is 21504.

Julia




y?


--Ronn!  :)

"Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country 
and two words have been added to the pledge of Allegiance... UNDER 
GOD.  Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer and that 
would be eliminated from schools too?"

   -- Red Skelton

(Someone asked me to change my .sig quote back, so I did.)




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