Trying something new to knock the dust off the blog here.
Most of my posting goes on over on FB… simply because that’s where a lot of people are, the content is easy to grab and share, and I can quickly pop in and share stuff without much comment in between kicking ass at work.
Collected here are some of the highlights of the day.
There were also cool amphibious ATVs and not so cool allegations that USAID created a social network in Cuba to spy on people.
Yeah, I run the gamut on things. I kind of pride myself on the variety of stuff I share out and the diversity that becomes apparent in some of the discussions that go on. It’s good to know that I can always count on my friends to always keep me on my toes and leaning new stuff.
And that’s why that “Culture of Shut Up” situation bothers me a bit. In no small part because, try as I might to avoid it, I know I’m guilty of fueling it sometimes.
I’m still not sure how I feel about the Mozilla CEO being forced to resign by public opinion. I did feel that the Duck Dynasty guy got a raw deal when the Internet went apeshit over his comments (though it seems that turned out a net positive for the DD crew… tons of publicity at a low, low cost). I don’t feel bad about taking geocentrists to task for their utter refusal to accept just how nonsensical their view is… just like I don’t feel bad about taking those who put science and religion into a mutually exclusive equation. (They’re not, plenty of scientists with faith and plenty of faithful who don’t scoff at science.)
I do try to stay aware of where I stand in all of that. Of when I encourage others to speak, discourage them to do so, remain silent and just let things play out. Without question, I do try to facilitate more than shut down lines of discussion. But it’s a tough line to walk sometimes… and it leads to a lot of uncomfortable internal dialogues.
Which side of things are you on? Do you pay attention to how your words and action impact others?
I’m kind of excited about the Smithsonian finally getting a real T-Rex. It’s even more neat because I know one of the people out in Colorado who’s on the team that’s picking it up. People I know have incredibly interesting jobs and I dig it. 🙂
In other news today, one of the classic WWE (nee WWF) wrestlers of my childhood, The Ultimate Warrior, died suddenly and unexpected, just days after being inducted into the WWE hall of fame. I haven’t watched wrestling in decades, and the Warrior has been a little “off” over the years (seriously, dude seemed pretty crazy often after he left wrestling), but he was still an impressive and driven individual who made quite the impact on the world around him.
Finally, I feel really bad for you if you didn’t make it out to see Winter Soldier (the second Captain America movie) this weekend but did watch yesterday’s episode of Agents of SHIELD. I’ve never seen a TV show so directly tied into a movie… in the middle of its first season. It managed to spoil pretty much every plot twist of Winter Soldier. Granted, it made for the best episode of the series yet, but only if you saw the movie or don’t care about spoilers.
Okay, so none of it is real time travel… but a lot of it is kind of a blast from the past. Also of note is that Jem and the Holograms article which really nails why that show (and a lot of 80s cartoons) kind of rock and that brilliant cupcake recipe that came up near the end of the day.
The big thing, though, is the news about that Heartbleed situation that’s likely to have some every growing impacts across the online world. Basically, there was a flaw in the security layer that is supposed to protect a lot of stuff online. It’s been open for a while and a lot of big deal places are just patching it now. This is one of those times when everyone needs to change all of their passwords (because we all know most of us don’t do that regularly like we’re supposed to).
One of my absolute favorite iterations of Batman was the 90s cartoon version produced by Bruce Timm and voiced by Kevin Conroy. It managed to capture both the dark and light sides of Batman in stories that were well written, entertaining, and drawn with such an amazing, unique style that nothing has really ever come close since. Batman turns 75 this year and Timm and company put out one short (hopefully one of many) to celebrate. The fact that it’s done in the style of an old movie serial episode is just brilliant.
Speaking of blasts from the past, the other really neat news bit today was about a tiny bit of papyrus with some Coptic writing on it. It refers, in the fragment that’s readable, to the wide of Jesus Christ and has, apparently, been certified to at least be really old. What kind of weight the announcement carries kind of depends on how you feel about such things. A lot of scholars out there have no problem with the idea of Jesus having a wife. Some other people, though, get a bit… bent out of shape… at the suggestion. Personally, I just find it interesting.
Finally, there was mention in one story in my feed of one of my absolute favorite classic parapsychological experiments: The Phillip Experiment. Wherein a group of experimenters wondered if they could conjure a completely made up spirit. In short, they kind of did. What did it prove? Well, that’s a bit up for grabs. They weren’t even sure exactly how it worked… just that it did. It’s that bit of ambiguity that really makes me want to try to repeat their experiment. Someday…