Why PZ Myers is off my reading list
Summary: PZ Myers has created a “rude” environment on his blog, where the emphasis on ridicule and insult can obscure the nuances that separate good scholarship from pseudo-scholarship. [EDIT-- It has...
View ArticleThad
Thad Roberts: my one-time friend, and one of science’s greatest betrayers I’ve been sitting on this post for more than a year. I don’t know why. Its been more than a decade since I knew Thad Roberts,...
View ArticleYarrr! The pirates of Brittany!
Since today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and since I’m celebrating from my sabbatical home in Bretagne (Brittany), it seems appropriate to highlight the French contributions in pirate...
View ArticlePseudo-scholarship and the Libertarians
In this post I consider the definition of pseudo-scholarship as something more subtle than pseudo-science, and I examine an essay by Ayn Rand as an example. This post examines some poor aspects of...
View ArticleThere is difference between science and debate
The goal of science is to build knowledge. The goal of a debate is to win. While these can sometimes look very similar, they are not the same. Online media have created platforms where superficial...
View ArticleStructured reasoning with ProbLog
ProbLog is a simple language for probabilistic reasoning. It allows you to write logic programs that account for uncertainty among the facts and propositions, and it can calculate the probabilities of...
View ArticleAn experiment with Deep Sky Stacker
Following a comment on my previous post, “Getting started with night photography,” I was inspired to try out Deep Sky Stacker, a popular application for astrophotography. I’ve avoided using DSS for two...
View ArticleGalactic Center over Lighthouse: do-over
About six weeks ago I posted a photo showing the Milky Way over a lighthouse on Ilse de Groix, as seen from the coast of southern Brittany in France. I still have a lot to learn about post-processing....
View ArticleChoosing our Labels
What is the difference between an Atheist and an Agnostic, and does it matter? Atheists are stuck with a lot of nasty stereotypes. Those stereotypes are regularly reinforced by popular media and by...
View ArticleExtraordinary Tweets and the Madness of Crowds
Twitter accelerates the spread old-fashioned mob thinking. Thanks to the efforts of internet skeptics, older varieties of internet noise email hoaxes seem more or less tamed. But recent blowups — from...
View ArticleAbout Chris Winstead
Professional Information Chris Winstead is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Utah State University. Those seeking professional information about Chris Winstead, his...
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