Education Visualising the molecular 28 Mar 2009 A dozen or so years ago, or maybe more, I was heading up the communications section of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, when I employed a young biology graduate as a graphics guy to do medical graphics. This he did for a while, until… Continue Reading
Technology Why we’ll never be downloaded 4 Mar 2009 An interesting article is up at the New Atlantis by Ari Schulman, arguing that we will never be able to replicate the mind on a digital computer. Here I want briefly to argue there are other reasons for this. Continue Reading
Evolution The Place of Science in Society 24 Jan 2009 It came as an email. Then it was on the Seed Bloggers Forum. Now it’s on my frigging Facebook – they really want me to answer this: In his first speech as President-elect last November, Barack Obama reminded us of the promise of “a world connected by our own science… Continue Reading
Administrative Interregnum 21 Dec 2008 Because I have to hand back my laptop to my present employer, and my future employer won’t have a Mac for me before mid-January or later, I may not be able to post much for a while. I do have access to a desktop PC, but what can one really… Continue Reading
Censorship The lies of the internet censors: Your. Filter. Won’t. Work. 16 Dec 2008 The title is the title of a nice essay at Crikey. I especially like this: Bernadette McMenamin of ChildWise, you’ve crossed the line, defaming everyone who’s protested the government’s plans. “Most of these people are not fully aware of the facts and secondly, those who are aware are, in effect,… Continue Reading
Censorship Why copyright is censorship 16 Dec 2008 Here’s an excellent discussion by Lawrence Lessig on the creeping nature of regulation through copyright. Quite apart from anything else it’s an amazing use of presentation software. Sure, it’s 2002, but things have only got worse… Continue Reading
Censorship No shit! 14 Dec 2008 Here’s an article, by MSN no less, that explains the problems with broad filtering. A fellow named Herman Libshitz can’t get an email account from Verizon because his name contains “shit”. Residents of Scunthorpe in the UK apparently have similar problems. God only knows what the residents of Testiclebreastpenisvaginaville can… Continue Reading
Censorship ISP filtering for Americans too? 8 Dec 2008 So it looks like Australia won’t be the sole idiot child of the Internet. FCC chair Kevin Martin wants… you guessed… an “opt out” smut filter at the ISP. In your face American First Amendment! All you smug Mericans, wipe of that goofy smile, now, OK? Continue Reading
Education British schoolkids’ teddies win space race 6 Dec 200818 Sep 2017 I just love this: Cambridge University’s Space Flight club got local school children to make space suits for these teddy bears, which were attached to a helium balloon that rose to 30km, enough to see the curvature of the earth. All teds were recovered safely. I expect Prof. Steve Steve… Continue Reading