CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-25 13:49:54 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

Truth in advertising....

#funny  
(sent to me by a friend - if you know the original source, please let me know so I can attribute it properly)

2013-05-25 09:03:49 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord: At Least 14 Major North American Retailers Decline To Sign

The deadline to sign onto the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh passed on Tuesday, and at least 14 major North American retailers declined to participate.

The agreement, which demands a five-year commitment from participating retailers to conduct independent safety inspections of factories and pay up to $500,000 per year toward safety improvements, has seen greater support abroad than in the U.S.

Major European retailers -- for example, Marks & Spencer and Carrefour -- have joined the agreement. Others who've signed on include companies recently involved with factory disasters in Bangladesh, such as Swedish retailer H&M and Italian fashion house Benetton. A 2010 factory fire at a facility that made cardigans for H&M killed 21... more »

2013-05-25 01:18:44 (19 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

"Madrid is in the grip of a ‘demonic contagion’; eight exorcists are recruited" http://feedly.com/k/10YVD6k

Ok. This is getting stupid now.
#humanism

2013-05-24 22:13:09 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

#ShitHarperDid  (http://shd.ca) will have a TV spot on +CBC Sports  tonight.

"The first airing is TONIGHT during the Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh hockey game, which starts at 7:30pm EST. For some reason the ad was considered too controversial/sexy/cool?—and so the CBC is airing it by itself, meaning no other commercials around it, somewhere in the first period! So keep your eyes peeled and no bathroom breaks!"

#politics   #Canada  

2013-05-24 22:07:41 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Science Proves Connection Between Racism and Stupidity http://feedly.com/k/18oK9OA

2013-05-24 21:39:21 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

I officially like the new +Google+ UI

Since rolling out the new UI, I've noticed a change in my usage of G+.
Used to be I posted more than I read.
Now, with the new UI, I find I'm reading more - not as much as I'm posting, but more than with the old UI.

Assuming this is systemic and not just peculiar to me, this could be great for G+.  Anything that increases readership should provide more incentive to create even better content.

So, I give the new UI a big thumbs up.

2013-05-24 21:24:27 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Here's an excellent blog post by Jennifer Ouellette which explains why the hype surrounding Eric Weinstein is premature, and why this shouldn't have been published in the Guardian before there is even an article publically available.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/2013/05/24/dear-guardian-youve-been-played/

Via +Sean Carroll .

2013-05-24 21:05:44 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 1 +1s)

While Judge Mosley's dispassionate work on this matter is greatly appreciated, one must wonder if this process is just giving the responsible crooks even more time to hide their tracks and vanish into the political woodwork.

I would be truly amazed if the culprits can be tracked back to the #CPC (i.e. the offensively irrational Conservatives); that would make them not only offensively reactionary but also spectacularly stupid.  However, I would be interested in finding out if they had any hard evidence that robocalls were being made.  If they were, then their silence makes them complicit in undermining the election too.

#Canada   #politics   #robocalls  

2013-05-24 20:36:34 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Pope Francis: the Amazing Kreskin of the Catholic Church

#atheism  

2013-05-24 16:38:22 (6 comments, 5 reshares, 10 +1s)

Just in case you need a chuckle today, consider this clip from the brilliant Police Squad.

#funny

2013-05-24 04:08:56 (40 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

"Don't pray for Oklahoma"
Do something useful.

#humanism

2013-05-24 02:53:43 (31 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Toxic yogurt waste
headdesk
Can anyone corroborate this?
Is it really as bad as this article makes it out to be?
Part of me - the part that loves Greek yogurt - is not really buying this.  I mean, Greek yogurt has been around for a long time.

#environment  

2013-05-24 02:43:54 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Makani Power is a pretty cool company.
Hey, #Google!  Treat 'em right!

#sustainability  

2013-05-24 02:29:24 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Affordable solar-powered water pumps for poor farmers
I like this project; I think they have a good plan, and a great team.
I'm pitching in.

#sustainability   #technology  

2013-05-24 01:56:44 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 4 +1s)

Here's a nice #DIY  idea for recharging your phone.
I've got a nice big sunny window in my office right over my desk.  I think keeping one of these on my desk to use during my working day could be quite useful.

#sustainability  

2013-05-24 01:50:16 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

User fees are one thing.
But as far as I can tell, this amounts to imposing a fee on the non-users of a system.

#sustainability  

2013-05-24 01:35:12 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

A classic #firstworldproblem.

#design  

2013-05-24 00:01:41 (3 comments, 8 reshares, 11 +1s)

‘I’m Actually An Atheist’ Shirts Being Sold to Help Out Atheist Who Spoke to Wolf Blitzer

This gives me the warm fuzzies.

#humanism

2013-05-23 23:57:53 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 6 +1s)

Tesla Repays its Entire $465 Million Federal Loan Nine Years Early

#engineering #economics #transportation

2013-05-23 23:54:12 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Life-sized #lego #xwing
Well, someone's training is now complete; they are a lego master.

#starwars

"This 23-Ton, 5.3-Million-Brick X-Wing Is the Biggest Lego Model Ever" http://feedly.com/k/12yyNDW

2013-05-23 23:46:52 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

So, I suppose we can add innumeracy to Microsoft's many "credentials". 0_o

"Microsoft Inaccurately Depicts Windows Tablet as Larger than iPad in New Comparison Ad" http://feedly.com/k/12QMu2R

2013-05-23 14:40:27 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

Well done Ricky Gervais!
#humanism  

2013-05-23 04:29:35 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Philosophy is important.  But not all of it.
Here, for instance, is an example of philosophy gone bad.
It's what happens when people reason unconstrained by what actually exists (i.e. the body of scientific knowledge).

There's lots of important #philosophy  going on today.  This just ain't part of it.

#morality  

2013-05-22 21:35:22 (39 comments, 2 reshares, 5 +1s)

Here's a whole city that seems to have gone giddy with #woo .
#science   #health  

2013-05-22 21:32:33 (3 comments, 4 reshares, 21 +1s)

Most excellent guitar solo
Nothing makes me feel as old as seeing a 14 year old play like this....
#guitarist   #music  

2013-05-22 02:45:41 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Let's hope this useless bag of skin ends up in jail.
#cycling #society

"UK driver knocks cyclist off bike, brags about it on Twitter... : TreeHugger" http://feedly.com/k/12Hm8Aj

2013-05-22 02:30:30 (12 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Actual advice mallard dispenses advice, for once, that's actually good.

#education #humanism

2013-05-21 18:28:40 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

Thanks #nature for making stuff that's so useful.
And thanks #science for figuring it out.

#environment

"New Ecologically Friendly Way To Clean Up Oil Spills -- Raw Unprocessed Cotton | CleanTechnicaCleanTechnica" http://feedly.com/k/17ZDmx6

2013-05-21 18:15:38 (12 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Ok; I think this is a very clever idea - especially if solar or wind energy is used to recharge the "battery."

#pumpedenergy #sustainability

"Energy Storage On The Bottom Of The Ocean — New Pumped Hydroelectric Power Storage Design" http://feedly.com/k/17ZzXP5

2013-05-21 00:42:10 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 12 +1s)

Here's something many non-scientists don't get: the climate is non-linear.

Consider this passage: "Arctic sea ice is melting much, much faster than even the best climate models had projected. The reason is most likely unmodeled amplifying feedbacks."

Those "unmodeled amplifying feedbacks" are the system-wide feedback loops.  We need to develop better qualitative systems models before we code them up as quantitative mathematical models.  So long as we don't account for those feedback loops - that are all multipliers - climate models will underestimate the impact of #climatechange.

#science  

2013-05-21 00:27:02 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Inflating things fast
While it may look like magic, this is really just physics.
The real magic is in keeping the air in the object you're inflating.
And, not surprisingly, that's the bit they don't talk about at all.

#science   #design  

2013-05-20 20:13:29 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Alvin Plantinga's sensus divinitatis is soooo goofy
Right.  Well, I say there's a sensus naturalis that lets humans perceive the connectedness, beauty, elegance, and organization of nature.  And that Plantinga's _sensus divinitatis_ is really just a defect in _sensus naturalis._

So there.

#reason   #humanism  

2013-05-20 10:13:27 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

Wanna see some really cool re-envisioned #retro style #movieposters? Check out Olly Moss.

2013-05-19 22:53:13 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Kent Hovind is a global embarrassment to academia.

#reason #science

2013-05-19 22:09:23 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

The Costly Signalling Theory described in this article is interesting to me because it seems to be consistent with #systems thinking, which I continue to believe is fundamental to understanding society.

#psychology #evolution #altruism

2013-05-19 19:01:23 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Really cool butterfly crypsis pix!
#biology   #evolution  

2013-05-19 18:12:10 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Commenter "Don Flood" tries - and fails miserably - to explain yet another farcical variation of intelligent design / creationism to Jerry Coyne, who wisely will have none of it.

Notice how flawed Flood's argument is: it's based on the assumption that god exists, even though it purports to demonstrate that god must exist.

#humanism  

2013-05-19 16:41:33 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

A short note on gendercide, belief systems, and culture

2013-05-19 16:15:36 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Mystery of desert green spots solved by #science.

2013-05-19 03:05:57 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 12 +1s)

Assuming these scenes were truly improvised, they kind of take a bit of the edge off the notion of "great script" and "great direction."
#movie   #improvisation  

2013-05-19 02:16:43 (0 comments, 5 reshares, 5 +1s)

"Now we know why old scizophrenia medicine works on antibiotics-resistant bacteria" http://feedly.com/k/19Mibve

#health #medicine

2013-05-19 02:06:15 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

This could be a crucial element to revive the notion of the #hydrogen economy.

#sustainability

2013-05-18 20:19:04 (5 comments, 2 reshares, 6 +1s)

Is this cognitive dissonance at its finest? Or just contemptible bullshit?
#society #health

2013-05-18 20:15:58 (19 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

#economics  

2013-05-18 20:09:00 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

I thought this was somehow from The Onion.
Unfortunately, I don't think it was intended as a joke.

Is it just me or does this sink to an all time new level of insanity?

#wtf #woo #health

2013-05-18 16:46:53 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 5 +1s)

Here's a great example of "conflict of interest"

This is not to say that one should discount the input of industry groups (etc) out of hand, but that one needs very clear criteria when considering the quality of the arguments underlying the input that any agent provides.  This applies to any situation, not just this one.

New evidence can arise pretty much any time.  Such evidence may, upon proper analysis, reveal flaws in past decisions - flaws that need to be addressed.  Also, old evidence may have been improperly analyzed - which could again lead to a revision of decisions.

In this particular case, I would like to think that the first step is to identify which, if any, new evidence or new errors in analysis are being brought to light.  This doesn't mean the new evidence is being studied.  One can do this by simply checking if each claim hasbeen... more »

2013-05-18 16:13:49 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

The advantage of a "boring" treadmill is that it helps you let your mind wander - reflect, think, stew ideas.
These are activities that are invariably of benefit.
Give me a boring treadmill any day!

#design   #society  

2013-05-18 16:09:11 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Geezus!  Bad enough I have to deal with internet trolls.
Now there's aquatic ones too?
And illiterate ones at that?

#funny  

2013-05-18 13:52:36 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

Some people take beautiful pictures and cut them into pieces.
That's a puzzle to me.

#funny  

2013-05-18 13:50:57 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Explosive poop foam.
That is all.

#sustainability

"Explosive poop foam is killing hogs, destroying barns and stumping scientists : TreeHugger" http://feedly.com/k/10WqFQZ