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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 07/16/2013 : 09:09:31 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by pleco
How did you get Batboy printed on your badge?
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We can request the avatars that we use on the JREF forum. Not coincidentally, mine is the same one that I use here.
I post there in the event folder. It's kind of funny. I've been a member since 2004, pretty much when that forum started, because I tend to join skeptical forums just to show support. I have around 240 posts over there in all of that time. Mostly TAM related. |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2013 : 18:45:01 [Permalink]
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Yesterday was pretty much a disaster. Today I was on an estimate that took all day. Tomorrow and Friday I'm working. I'll try to get to finishing my story about this years TAM, but it might not happen until Saturday.
Sorry... |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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ThorGoLucky
Snuggle Wolf
USA
1487 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2013 : 21:14:18 [Permalink]
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| I patiently await your story, Kil. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2013 : 22:41:40 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by ThorGoLucky
I patiently await your story, Kil.
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Hey! This is the TAM thread. You were there too. It would not at all be a bad thing if you were to post a bit about your time there as well.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2013 : 00:09:44 [Permalink]
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One nice thing about this TAM is they had tables set up for breakfast. That's been missing at the last few TAM's. Lunches yeah, but we had to balance our breakfasts on our laps or find a spot with something to use as a table. Another big improvement is that the continental breakfasts now includes bagels and eggs and cereal and fruit and yogurt and so on. The breakfast fare has been getting progressively better, year by year. It used to be sweet rolls and coffee, pretty much. The only protein that happened was if you put cream in your coffee. I don't. Back at TAM4 it was a diabetic's nightmare, kinda. So now we get a real breakfast and tables to sit at and the good company of other skeptics to dine with. I don't know why they stopped doing that for a couple of years, but I was very happy that the tables were back.
Saturday's talks started with Richard Saunders and his take on "true believers." Barbara Drescher talked about how MENSA is basically of very little value to the world. IQ does not get you critical thinking, unless, of course, if it does. I thought it was a fun subject, especially since I'm hopelessly insecure about my own intelligence.
A very big deal, and really cool was Sanal Edamaruku, president of Rationalist International was the next speaker. He is the Indian skeptic who is living in exile right now, for the crime of exposing a weeping crucifix that was actually dripping drainage water by capillary action. He was charged with blasphemy under Indian law at the request of the Catholic church, and denied bail. So he got the heck out of Dodge. His talk was called Indian Gurus: From Flying fakirs and Starving Saints. Very cool. Next was a panel discussion, which I pretty much slept through. I was slightly sick and it dogged me for most of TAM. On the up side, the coffee break was next and I had a couple of cups. It probably didn't do what I was sick with any good, but it did wake me up. I'm gonna skip here to after lunch. Well... There was a talk on climate change by Michael Mann and an SGU session. Then lunch. Good as usual.
Other talks worth noting were two talks about Stanislaw Burzynski and his cancer clinic. First up was David Gorski and next came Robert Blaskiewicz. I caught most of it. When I did nod out, I was awakened quickly by either laughter or applause. And what's really silly is nodding off and then waking up and applauding because everyone else is. It's a totally doofus reflex action of mine. But again, I didn't miss much. There was a panel on quacks and cranks and then came the most assertive talk of the afternoon. Jerry Coyne did what even PZ Myers has never done at TAM. His talk was on the incompatibility of science and religion, and he went for it. My guess is he made a few people uncomfortable, or maybe even unhappy, but mostly his talk was well received. Randi's keynote was great. I wondered why, in all of these years, Randi had never done a keynote address at TAM. But this year he did and he was up for it. And that's saying something.
Yes. I skipped over some of the talks. In all honesty, I think there were too many speakers this year. Not that the talks I skipped over were bad, because all the talks were pretty good to great. But the talks were cut to around 30 minutes with the exception of the keynote addresses and panel discussions. I think a few of the speakers could have used more time. But maybe that's just me. I don't know...
More when I have time.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2013 : 02:48:30 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Kil
Yesterday was pretty much a disaster. Today I was on an estimate that took all day. Tomorrow and Friday I'm working. I'll try to get to finishing my story about this years TAM, but it might not happen until Saturday.
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Work Before play... We all know the drill. No need to apologise about it, the important thing is that you have an income.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2013 : 17:53:01 [Permalink]
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Some photos from TAM:
Me with Daniel Loxton and Don Prothero and their new book
ThorGoLucky with George Hrab
Me, chillin' at The Del Mar
Boron 10, Kil and Derek
James Randi and Sanal Edamaruku
Sanal Edamaruku posing with me and Boron 10
ThorGoLucky with his special friend at dinner
Boron 10 chillin' at The Del Mar Lounge
Me with Susan Blackmore. We have four shots of us together because Susan Blackmore wanted to get it right. The only other person who cared as much about the shot was Christopher Hitchens, back at TAM5
Sunday night, after TAM officially ended, a party ensued at the Del Mar. I left three battery chargers in Vegas. How could that have happened? Monday was rough. |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2013 : 13:41:49 [Permalink]
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Saturday night, Tim and Torsten and I had dinner at the new asian restaurant at the South Point. I forgot what they had, but I had some yellowtail sashimi and a really good beef teriyaki. The soup was miso and good. I'd say that was the best meal I had at the South Point this year. Did I mention that Torsten and I went to the mexican place on thursday evening? Pretty good. I'm sure everyone is interested in a rundown of our meals, not. But there is a point to this part of the story which I will get to right now. On thursday I also invited myself to eat with a group of skeptics for lunch at the seafood place. That was good too.
A little about TAM. It's not odd at all to just join a group of skeptics eating or standing in line to eat or whatever. TAM is a very social event. It took me years to get up the nerve to just join in like that, being shy myself. But you get used to it at TAM, because pretty much no one is tripping and socializing is half of the TAM experience. In some ways it might be more than half, because TAM is also about bringing together a community. And that means both at the events and during the off hours we are still a community of skeptics. It's one of those things that keeps pulling me back to TAM. It's the immersion quotient I guess. Conversation comes easy when everyone around you is a skeptic. This is not an easy concept to get across, I think, but TAM is the only time I ever feel that I am fully in my element. It's not just a meal and then home. Or an event and then home. It is home for 4 or 5 days. One of the reasons I love being a volunteer and a TAMbassador is it brings me even closer to being a part of whatever it is, and I get to help people who were like me when I first arrived at TAM by myself. And really, I know from experience how intimidating that can be without some guidance, if you happen to be shy. The thing to know is pretty much everyone is there for a good time and to be with other skeptics. And once you get that, it's much easier to introduce yourself to a group of people you have never met and just join in. It's liberating, at least for that five days, to know that you are surrounded by and welcomed by people of your kind. You are with friends.
I wound up having lunch with a group of skeptics including Jim Lippard on Sunday because we just came together. There was no plan. It just happened while we were standing in line to eat. That sort of thing never happens at home.
But back to after dinner at the asian place. Torsten, as always, called it a night and Tim and I went down to the Del Mar and hung out. Sadly, the best Tim could do on flights was to leave on Sunday morning. |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2013 : 19:02:06 [Permalink]
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Tim left early on Sunday morning. I was down for breakfast early because the paper presentations start at eight. I wanted to save a seat for myself in my usual place, which is in the first row of the second second set of chairs, behind the important people, like Torsten. (ThorGoLucky had a vip registration. They call it The TAM Experience. That means that once there he gets to sit with the bigwigs and can go to any show or workshop without having to pay extra, because he already has paid extra. I sit in the first row of the riff-raff section.) I save my seat by putting my JREF bag on my seat of choice and hope that no one moves it or steals it. (I can't remember which TAM we got those bags at, but they are cool for carrying stuff like the program and other stuff they hand out or I buy, and a computer for carry on, which is the other way I use it.) And really, I don't worry about it being stolen. But someone did move it on Sunday. The nerve!
Anyhow, from eight until ten were the paper presentations. Anyone can submit a paper to be heard at TAM. The best of the submissions are chosen. (To tell you the truth, I'd have at least tried for it by now if it weren't for my stage fright.) The first time I saw Tim Farley and Kylie Sturgess was when they presented a paper. And this was a pretty good bunch of papers.
My favorite paper presentation this year was called The Great Global Debate by Shane Greenup, who has created an app that finds rebuttals to articles and blogs of interest to skeptics. It was my favorite because I spend so much time looking at blogs and articles and debating, for example, anti-vax or anti GMO stuff. People give me links to articles that they think supports their position and I can use this app to see if there are any written rebuttals to a specific article or blog or more generally, to a topic that has been rebutted without having to wade through a Google search, which can be much more haphazard. It's called rbutr. (For your information, you can find the app and more about it here.)
Other good presentations were Jeffery Weston’s talk on skepticism in comics, and Andrew Hansford’s debunking of The Marble Head UFO. In fact, all of the presentations were good, which is why the paper presentations are some attendees favorite part of the conference.
As the years have gone by, the Sunday session has lengthened and now it’s a full day. The regular talks begin right after the paper presentations and continue until the closing statements for the years TAM. Lunch is on us, but everything else is like every other TAM day. (I mentioned above that I had lunch with Jim Lippard. Also there was Gregory 'Gerg' Perrine, who does the Skeptic Wire podcast, and a few other skeptics. I actually invited myself to eat with Gerg more than once. Cool guy.)
The talks were good, mostly. I’m not going to dis the ones I didn’t like. It’s easy enough to just pass on them. Suffice it to say that I left the hall for a couple of the talks. The highlights of the afternoon for me were the panel discussions. I liked that they had one called Bigfoot Skeptics: Abominable Science! That one included Daniel Loxton, Sharon Hill, Don Prothero, Blake Smith with Karen Stollznow moderating. With shows like Hunting Bigfoot on TV, it’s still important to promote cryptozoology skepticism, given the number of people who believe that creatures like Bigfoot exist, and even that cryptozoology is linked to creationism. Also, if for no other reason than kids are so interested in monsters, cryptozoology skepticism makes for great lessons in critical thinking from many directions.
Harriet Hall told us that many of the medical screening tests don’t reduce the deaths they are screening for.
I should probably mention that what talks I am writing about are out of order at this point. Not that you would notice.
The other panel discussion of the afternoon was called Magicians vs. Psychics. On the panel was Banechek, Mark Edward, Max Maven, Jamy Ian Swiss, James Randi and Ray Hyman. So yeah… What you would expect. This is a really cool bunch of people and along with the scientists, the role that magicians play in skepticism can’t be overstated. So even without fireworks, this would have been a fun panel discussion. But here’s what happened. Mark Edward has worked as a psychic and written about it. He is also active with the The Independent Investigations Group. (IIG) A very credible skeptics group, out of the CFI, that I have considered joining. The problem for some is that he still does psychic shows, without telling his audience that he isn't psychic at all. He calls it investigation. Jamy Ian Swiss calls it “small 's' skepticism.” Swiss thinks he does it for money and he went off on Edward. Now… That’s not something you see at every TAM. It’s been since Hitchens went off on the guy from the Onion that there were that kind of fireworks from the stage at TAM. Edward fought back but it was pretty clear that he wasn’t going to convince Swiss that his intentions are pure, and I doubt that they had dinner together Sunday evening.
So that’s how that went. It was uncomfortable but also kinda fun. I know… I’m bad.
Massimo Polidoro was the last speaker. He talked about how cool it was to learn how to be a skeptical investigator from James Randi.
Yeah… Skipped a bunch.
I should have mentioned at the beginning that George Hrab wrote a haiku for introducing each speaker. And they were all really good. He’s got this MC stuff down.
DJ came out to give Susan Gerbic the 2013 James Randi Award For Skepticism in the Public Interest for her work on Guerrilla Skepticism. She had gone missing, but picked up the award later.
And then came the emotional closing of TAM by James Randi. He talked a bit about how wonderful this years TAM had been, “Best TAM ever” he said, and how much he appreciates the support from us. But there was something about his tone. He seemed to be choked up. I’d never seen him choked up before. He paused several times in his closing remarks to, what appeared to me, regroup. And that caused me to choke up. I don’t know how many people his closing remarks affected that way, but it got to me. I just don’t know…
More to come.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2013 : 21:06:57 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Kil
I actually invited myself to eat the Gerg more than once. |
I hope you meant "with," instead of "the." 'Cause if not, we might need to start a poll on cannibalism in skepticism.
...Or was it a euphemism for sex? |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2013 : 22:07:22 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Originally posted by Kil
I actually invited myself to eat the Gerg more than once. |
I hope you meant "with," instead of "the." 'Cause if not, we might need to start a poll on cannibalism in skepticism.
...Or was it a euphemism for sex?
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With editors like you, who needs editors?
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2013 : 18:31:11 [Permalink]
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There was a party Sunday night at the Del Mar. It went on for hours. I got reasonably drunk and had a reasonably good time. I skipped the skeptic challenge. It was interesting the first couple of years that I went, and it's a good thing to have, but being in the audience, because we can't make a sound, makes it a bit like watching paint dry. So I had dinner and partied. (If anyone can remember who I had dinner with please step forward. I can't recall if Thorsten was still there.)
Monday morning was great. I checked out, got myself a bagel and coffee and sat around at the Del Mar chatting with different people. It was very relaxing and I didn't have to rush because my flight wasn't until mid afternoon. I hung out with some the Jref forum people and just chilled.
And that's about it for TAM. Getting to the airport was easy, and from then on the day was a nightmare. I believe I talked about the delays and everything, so I won't go over that again. On the upside, I did get a $100 dollar voucher from SouthWest Air to be used by next year at the same time. So I figure if I do go back to TAM (If there is a TAM) I have most of my flight already paid for.
Here's a photo they took of the volunteers. I finally made it to the lunch this year. What cracks me up about this is that Randi kept making fun of my shirt. I really don't know why, but he seemed to be looking at it when this photo was taken. He mentioned it more than once. Maybe he doesn't like Hawaiian shirts? I don't know...
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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My TAM thread
