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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...
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 295 min read
Orwell was an Optimist!
Contrary to the apparent belief of some in the world today, the book Nineteen Eighty-Four was not intended to be an instruction manual...
Oct 234 min read
Let’s Get Weird!
Words are weird. The word “weird” is a particularly weird word. Aside from the spelling, the way it has been used is hard to pin down,...
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 12, 20223 min read
Killing in the Name!
Who’d have thought that music could be political? Or that musicians might have political views? Let’s take the song Killing in the Name...
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...
May 15, 20223 min read
An Honest Man!
The Greek philosopher Diogenes is famous for carrying a lantern during the day, claiming he was “searching for an honest man”. Yet...
May 1, 20223 min read
Silos!
“Why can’t we all just get along?” This was the question asked by the incomparable Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks! Nicholson’s...
Apr 24, 20224 min read
Just asking questions!
“That is the question!” Or is it? The problem with many questions nowadays lies in the motivations behind the asking. By quoting out of...
Apr 17, 20224 min read
Relativity!
M. C. Escher has always been one of my favourite artists. From the moment I first saw his work (I think it might have been Waterfall), I...
Apr 10, 20223 min read
The Name is the Thing!
Some films age well. An example is the classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, which was fairly successful when it was originally released...
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...
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