http://spin-onehalf.com Science, technology and media commentary for people who like to know things. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:21:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I thought it was vitally important that the vial in the image look like Re-Animator fluid. Imagine the carnage that would be unleashed by the unwitting dupe seduced by the promise of a cureall that turned out not to be just harmless linseed oil, but instead the sadistic creation ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/10/why-people-suck-at-being-healthy/ There was a time, long ago, that people knew the value of a dollar. And this is not in some "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" sense. I mean, they literally knew what a dollar was worth. For most of 1975, a dollar had a specific value ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/08/the-us-dollar-is-proof-that-americans-are-stupid/ Click on the image to see it full size. I'm working on a new theme for the blog so that I can include larger format images. It might take some time. This is pretty much exactly what would happen if William Shatner came 'round to tea at the Prime ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/08/hidden-doorways-a-reality/ This is one of the possible results of congress enacting the Terminators as Secret Service Agents Act. The world could use fewer jerks. I found this article on BBC today. Augmented Reality (AR) is a pretty sweet concept. The technology looks very cool, totally validating years of cyberpunk fiction. ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/08/why-terminator-vision-is-a-stupid-term/ I imagine the recent negotiations to have gone something like this. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I like to imagine that Uncle Bill threatened Kim Jong Il with a Roman spatha. I for one am glad that Bill Clinton gets a little attention. He gets ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/08/on-rescuing-reporters-and-accurate-language-in-astronomy/ New edition of Scientia Pro Publica up. It's looking great this week. Read it or miss out on very interesting things. http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/08/scientia-pro-publica-9/ There are organisms that reproduce sexually and there are organisms that reproduce asexually. The former outnumber the latter by many orders of magnitude. Hell, even plants have sex on a pretty regular basis--though it's a sort of kinky, bee-assisted sex. The question is why? Asexual reproduction ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/08/why-sexual-reproduction-is-so-popular/ Everyone has their idea of a dream honeymoon. This is mine, in case you were wondering. I'm not really all that sure how many regular readers I have. The information on Google Analytics is mystifying at best. But, in the interests of preserving those few readers that I ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/07/im-going-on-vacation/ Scientia Pro Publica has a new edition out. One of my articles was accepted, which is totally cool. This week's edition was published by John over at A DC Birding Blog. There's a very good lineup of articles in this edition and I hope that everyone can click on ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/07/scientia-pro-publica-8/ A month or so ago, I talked a little bit about this new element. Well, they've finally settled on a name for it. I must say I'm a little disappointed in Professor Hofmann. I know as well as the next guy the contribution that Copernicus made to ... http://spin-onehalf.com/2009/07/copernicus-joins-the-table/