Lectures done! 22 Oct 2007 Today was the final lecture in my Introduction to Cognitive Science course. Thank the fates it is over. I started this having no real idea of the topic, never having taught what Americans are pleased to call “freshmen” and we call “first-years”, and with the first two lectures occurring in my absence as I was at a conference in the UK. So it has been a bit like surfing a wave of magma. Anyway, I dropped my hindbrain (17″ MacPowerBook G4) on Friday and shattered the LCD. This has made it hard to (i) prepare the lecture, (ii) give the lecture, and (iii) post blog entries. Now that I have time, and it is being repaired, I am to fix this. Administrative
Administrative A nice experience 12 Oct 2007 My mate Ian Musgrave, Astroblogger and expert in several fields of science, and his lovely family, are up visiting rellies in Queensland from the arid wasteland that is Adelaide. We all went on a bushwalk and while we were eating apples at the top of the cliff, we saw a… Read More
Administrative Your favourite Australian science blogger 22 Jun 2010 National Science Week 2010 is an Australian government initiative, and they’re holding a “nominate your favourite Australian Science Blogger” comp at The Big Blog Theory. Now I would never tell anyone who to nominate, but get over there are mention someone. I don’t know, maybe Ian Musgrave’s Astroblog, or Chris… Read More
Administrative Australian Easter bits 9 Apr 2009 A young gorilla escaped from his enclosure at the Melbourne Zoo last night and wandered about for 20 minutes while craven visitors hid out. I would have sat and waited for him to introduce himself. And paid good money for the chance. A moron by the name of Cardinal George… Read More
I used to think it was a terrible thing that life was so unfair. Then I thought, ‘what if life *were* fair, and all of the terrible things that happen to us came because we really deserved them?’ Now I take great comfort in the general unfairness and hostility of the universe. Marcus Cole Babylon 5: A Late Delivery from Avalon (#3.13) (1996)
You don’t know the convenience of a laptop until you are without it, for whatever reason. Craig Venter has done some terrific work on DNA, and artificial life is getting closer. How will Philosophy handle that side of science?