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“In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms."
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3 days ago5 min read
What evidence do you have of that?
Thomas Bayes (maybe), via Wikipedia The portrait above might be that of Thomas Bayes ... but probably not. Perfect! I wanted to talk...
Dec 44 min read
Grandma COBOL
So, it’s HER fault! :) I recently wrote about why Y2K was such a big deal. To summarize, one major reason was the cost of computer...
Nov 275 min read
The First Programmer
The exception that proves the rule . We’ve all heard the phrase, but I think most people use it without understanding it or knowing where...
Nov 205 min read
AI Big Brother
Artificial Intelligence is- Hey! Come on! I haven’t even said anything yet! Ahem. As I was saying, Artificial Intelligence is a term that...
Nov 136 min read
End of an Epoch!
Let’s talk about the end of the world, shall we? Or maybe not. Fortunately, some stories of impending doom are overestimated, and some...
Nov 65 min read
Who controls the past
“‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’” George Orwell,...
Oct 166 min read
Welcome to the Rage Machine!
One of my all-time favourite songs is Welcome to the Machine , by Pink Floyd. While the song appeared on the 1975 album Wish You Were...
Oct 95 min read
Rasputin
It’s been more than two years since I last posted, so I’m trying to remember which buttons to press to make this happen. Life has a...
Jul 24, 20223 min read
Jellies!
When the COVID-19 pandemic began (need to be specific here, to avoid confusion ...), I recall a lot of people emphasizing the need to...
Jun 26, 20224 min read
Move the Earth!
“Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth” “δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω” Archimedes is described as a mathematician,...
Jun 5, 20223 min read
Apathy!
As I have noted before, I tend to avoid politics as a primary focus of my writing. But this last Ontario election worries me quite a...
May 23, 20223 min read
The Plural of Linux!
It’s been a while, but the Latin plural should be “Linuces” (3rd declension noun), but don’t worry – I won’t use that. Non-technical...
Apr 3, 20224 min read
The Wall!
#TIL that the iconic image of the album cover for the famous album The Wall was not actually the original cover. In fact, the text “Pink...
Mar 27, 20224 min read
All in this Together!
When I write, I sometimes have a topic in mind, and look for an interesting way to introduce it. This time, I ended up going down an...
Mar 20, 20224 min read
Trust The Science!
“Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” A vastly amusing quote from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, about which I will, erm, make...
Mar 6, 20222 min read
Not a plumber!
The great John Cleese describes the Dunning-Kruger Effect in a brilliantly concise way which is vastly entertaining. Brilliant!...
Feb 27, 20224 min read
School!
Over the decades, the way we listen to music has changed, and it’s interesting to wonder about the implications of those changes. Prior...
Feb 13, 20225 min read
Moo!
A farmer asked a physicist to help him figure out how to increase milk production. After gathering data and studying the problem, the...
Feb 6, 20226 min read
Lingua Franca!
Recently, I was listening to an old episode of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, (actually, episode 803, dated 28-Nov-2020), in which...
Jan 30, 20224 min read
Major Generalist
It’s interesting that everyone needs to come up with their own “process” for writing. And, while there are certain common elements, each...
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