Lend a Hand

Great little web site this: Lend a Hand
Actually this is an unashamed trick to get Google to index the above site, as I added a Google search facility for them recently ;-)

Disruptive Technology: Interesting how traditional wired telco's are feeling the pinch

I've been well aware of this phenomenon from first-hand experience, but this is a good article on the topic.

Open Super-Computing and BeoWulf

Wired News carries this fun article about the BeoWulf 10 year birthday party. Sounds like a fun technology to play with when I have some spare time.

eBooks: Two Opposing Views

Gizmodo carries this article discussing obstacles to eBook adoption, while Boing Boing disagrees violently in this article. Both worth a read.

Software Devlopment: "Great Hackers", by Paul Graham

I read This great essay about Great Hackers by Paul Graham today. Well worth a read.

Internet Telephony that actually works?

I’ve heard a lot about Skype free internet telephony, so I decided to give it a whirl. You can get the software here (free, of course), and call me by clicking on Skype Me!. Much of the buzz around this software originates from the fact that it was developed by the founders of Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing software. There's an article about Skype here.

Gotta Love African Leaders

Independent Online reports that the newly-elected president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, has asked parliament to move into a bombed sports complex so he can use the $100-million New State House as his residence.

Google Ads Fails Spectacularly!

I found this ridiculous Creationist site advertised in connection with my blog on Evolutionary Computation. And this crap too. Quite amusing really. So much for contextual advertising ;-)

The Skeptics Society provides a wonderful remedy for the above kind of brain damage, as does The Foundation for Critical Thinking and
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal which carries a great article on The Evolution of Creationism.

I really appreciate this except from the book Why DO People Believe Weird Things? (pp. 275-278, please excuse the flagrant plagiarism):

1. Credo consolans: I believe because it consols me.
   
2. Simplicity: Pseudoscientific beliefs are simpler and easier to understand than scientific ones.
   
3. Immediacy: Pseudoscience offers immediate gratification and hope.
   
4. Morality and Meaning: Science does not offer moral messages and answers to our questions about the meaning of our existence. Superstitions give us answers to these ultimate questions.
   
5. Hope Springs Eternal: ALL humans, skeptics and scientists included, look to the future for a better life and world, and the siren song of pseudoscience and superstition is hard to resist.

Oh, and An Index to Creationist Claims might also be interesting to some.