Fiddly Bits

jeannr: agentmlovestacos (via cromulence)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:23:51 -0800

jeannr:

agentmlovestacos (via cromulence)

loveallthis: Inspired by jeannr, I flowcharted the Beatles...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:09:24 -0800

loveallthis:

Inspired by jeannr, I flowcharted the Beatles classic, ‘Hey Jude.’

Fourble Board

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:49:47 -0700

The unusual title is a bit of oil worker argot: the “fourble board” of an oil derrick is a narrow catwalk that is as high up as four lengths of drilling pipe placed vertically (two lengths of pipe are a “double”, three are a “thribble” and four are a “fourble.”

[An explanation of the title of an episode of the old time radio radio show Quiet Please!]

"qui desposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles [who has put down the mighty from their seat..."

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:22:25 -0700

“

qui desposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles

[who has put down the mighty from their seat and has exalted the humble]

”

- from the Magnificat

"Designers think they’re in the artifact business, but they’re not . They’re in the..."

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:00:45 -0700

“Designers think they’re in the artifact business, but they’re not . They’re in the consequence business.”

- Allan Chochinov

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch—you must first invent the universe."

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:19:16 -0700

“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch—you must first invent the universe.”

- Carl Sagan, Cosmos

"Comfort can lull you into a dangerous tranquility."

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:29:06 -0700

“Comfort can lull you into a dangerous tranquility.”

- Andre Gregory, My Dinner with Andre

Rolling Stones at Altamont

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:55:32 -0700

“When idealism and anarchy rode together on the same horse and no one was quite sure which was holding the reins.”

OR

“A young black man murdered in the midst of a white crowd by white thugs as white men played their version of black music.”

"We wish to find the truth, no matter where it lies. But to find the truth we need imagination and..."

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

“We wish to find the truth, no matter where it lies. But to find the truth we need imagination and skepticism both. We will not be afraid to speculate, but we will be careful to distinguish speculation from fact.”

- Carl Sagan

A Matter of Perspective

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Close to a century ago, humorist Robert Benchley was dispatched by his newspaper to Venice. Upon arriving, he cabled his editor, “Streets flooded, please advise.”

"Star Trek, despite its strong international and interspecies perspective, often ignores the most..."

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 22:00:00 -0700

“Star Trek, despite its strong international and interspecies perspective, often ignores the most elementary scientific facts. The idea that Mr Spock could be a cross between a human being and a life form independently evolved on the planet Vulcan is genetically far less probable than a successful cross of a man and an artichoke.”

- Carl Sagan

"…hand is the cutting edge of the mind."

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:30:29 -0700

“…hand is the cutting edge of the mind.”

- Jacob Bronowski

"If you want to control someone, and make them mute, take control of their use of their hands…..."

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:06:00 -0700

“If you want to control someone, and make them mute, take control of their use of their hands… If I thought world leaders were smart enough to understand this, I would be a conspiracy theorist and be looking at the removal of the hands [i.e. the arts] from modern education as the means of our deliberate enslavement.”

- George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in Metaphors we Live By

"Once Marcel Duchamp decided that he would put up a urinal at the exhibit and simply declare the art..."

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

“Once Marcel Duchamp decided that he would put up a urinal at the exhibit and simply declare the art to *be* art by *fiat*, there is no limit to what you can do. And there is also now very little criteria by which you judge quality.”

- Jonathan Miller, author, director, producer, lecturer, and physician

James Randi talks about the ways in which people communicate and...

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:31:20 -0700

James Randi talks about the ways in which people communicate and how some times things get misinterpreted.

"I worry that, especially as the Millennium nears, pseudoscience and superstition will seem year by..."

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

“

I worry that, especially as the Millennium nears, pseudoscience and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive. Where have we heard it before?

Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us – then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls.

The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir.

”

- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark

"We have arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements – transportation,..."

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:59:00 -0700

“We have arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements – transportation, communications, and all other industries; agriculture, medicine, education, entertainment, protecting the environment; and even the key democratic institution of voting – profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.”

- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark

"I think the absolute key is that learning, the education of a child, is a long process, and we are..."

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:35:00 -0700

“I think the absolute key is that learning, the education of a child, is a long process, and we are now in the middle of a fast food society. We want instant everything. We even have books now like Algebra Made Easy and Shakespeare Made Easy. But I want teachers and parents to remember that it’s not easy! To be good at anything—anything!—takes thousands and thousands of hours of patient study, and I want people to know that when kids make mistakes or have setbacks, we don’t need to jump all over them for every little thing.”

- Rafe Esquith in Teacher Magazine

Picky Bad Science Spotter of the Week Award

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:09:50 -0700

… goes to Jennifer Leech, who has been bothered for decades by an issue in The Lord of the Flies. “In the book it says that Piggy has myopia.” “So,” she continues: “how can the children marooned on that island have used his glasses to start a fire?”

From Ben Goldacre Thursday May 1, 2003 The Guardian

"Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made..."

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:18:43 -0700

“Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always different.”

- Dieter Rams, 1993