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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 12/25/2006 : 11:21:45 [Permalink]
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| OK, did we, like, win the "war on Christmas" or something? I got about 12 holiday cards this year and none of them said "Merry Christmas", and my mom has been wishing everyone a "Merry Christmas and Happy Secular Holidays". |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 12/25/2006 : 11:41:47 [Permalink]
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What's a Secular Holy-day?
Edited to remark: It's important that secular people be able to get off paid days from work, just like the religious, so I amend mt question to add this caution: Maybe the word, "holiday" should be secularized/replaced/made more generic? But in so doing, let's not lose precious paid days off, hard-won by our working population!
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 12/25/2006 11:48:11 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 12/25/2006 : 12:19:54 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
quote:
Originally posted by filthy
Hmm. The thought occurs: a stragically placed wrench might solve the problem quickly and entirely -- but that is wicked and evil, and I don't reccommend it!!! 
I've entertained that idea, but it falls on two facts:
First, even a creationist would recognise cause-and-effect, and realise which intelligent agent was behind the wrench.
Secondly, I have to force a locked door to get to it, and the hatch and ladder I have to use to get to that door will be plainly visible in the corridoor during the entire event.
Do it anyway; you can always blame it on the terrorists! Does Sweden have any terrorists? I don't know, but if not, you can have a few of ours.
Just starting to get over some sort of stomach bug that has had me laid low since Saturday. Still can't eat much, which is just as well. I can stand to lose some weight.
Got the gig and my first editing job will be a 12 page, procedural document. I've seen a draft, and it ain't too bad. I'll get the final some time this week. I'm allowed to bill 2 hours on it. Almost like stealing, it is, but I'm told the next one will be a bit more tech.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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GeeMack
SFN Regular
USA
1093 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 13:54:58 [Permalink]
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Just an experience to share at the Water Cooler, and a snake story for you, filthy, although the snake in this is the victim not victor. But I'm sure as a lover of nature in general, even you would have appreciated witnessing this scene...
Several days ago I was down by our Illinois River looking for eagles, or whatever other birds might be available for viewing. As I came around a curve in a gravel road I noticed a male American Kestrel flying up from the road with something dangling from its talons. I stopped the car as the bird landed on a power line not more than about 60 feet ahead of me. I pulled out the binoculars and zoomed in on the Kestrel. This is our smallest falcon, looking a lot like a midget Peregrine, about 10 inches from beak to tail, maybe slightly larger than a Mourning Dove or common American Robin.
The thing hanging from its claws turned out to be a small snake, not terribly unusual since snakes, insects, and tiny mammals make up the regular diet of a Kestrel. It consumes about 25% of its body weigh per day to keep properly fueled, and snakes are as good a source of food as any. The snake appeared to be maybe a foot long and about 3/8 inch in diameter, thin as a pinky finger or a fat pencil. Although I couldn't see it well enough to make an ID, given the size, season, and habitat, it was possibly a Northern Water Snake, or more likely a Common Garter Snake.
So for the next 8 or 10 minutes I had a clear, close up, unobstructed view of that gorgeous bird making a tasty lunch of that little snake. He started at the head and and just kept eating a bit at a time, tearing off hunks of flesh, bones, and entrails, and gobbling them down. All the while the snake, or what was left of it, would continue to coil a bit then uncoil, certainly just residual nerve reactions, because it had been obviously dispatched within moments of the capture. When there were only about 2 or 3 inches left of the meal, the Kestrel took off with the remains and landed in a nearby tree. It was quite a show, a real life predator/prey action scene which I thoroughly enjoyed watching and sharing with a friend who accompanied me that day.
Now to some of you this notion of a small bird of prey munching on a slithery reptile might seem a bit repugnant, but it is just a natural part of the chain of life. Being a nature lover this was quite a pleasure for me to witness. And although I have seen many such things, Bald Eagles taking fish from the river, Coopers Hawks attacking small birds, Red Tails landing on hapless rodents, this scene of the Kestrel eating the snake was every bit as fascinating and enjoyable to watch as any I've experienced.
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McQ
Skeptic Friend
USA
258 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 14:13:24 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by GeeMack
Just an experience to share at the Water Cooler, and a snake story for you, filthy, although the snake in this is the victim not victor. But I'm sure as a lover of nature in general, even you would have appreciated witnessing this scene...
Several days ago I was down by our Illinois River looking for eagles, or whatever other birds might be available for viewing. As I came around a curve in a gravel road I noticed a male American Kestrel flying up from the road with something dangling from its talons. I stopped the car as the bird landed on a power line not more than about 60 feet ahead of me. I pulled out the binoculars and zoomed in on the Kestrel. This is our smallest falcon, looking a lot like a midget Peregrine, about 10 inches from beak to tail, maybe slightly larger than a Mourning Dove or common American Robin.
The thing hanging from its claws turned out to be a small snake, not terribly unusual since snakes, insects, and tiny mammals make up the regular diet of a Kestrel. It consumes about 25% of its body weigh per day to keep properly fueled, and snakes are as good a source of food as any. The snake appeared to be maybe a foot long and about 3/8 inch in diameter, thin as a pinky finger or a fat pencil. Although I couldn't see it well enough to make an ID, given the size, season, and habitat, it was possibly a Northern Water Snake, or more likely a Common Garter Snake.
So for the next 8 or 10 minutes I had a clear, close up, unobstructed view of that gorgeous bird making a tasty lunch of that little snake. He started at the head and and just kept eating a bit at a time, tearing off hunks of flesh, bones, and entrails, and gobbling them down. All the while the snake, or what was left of it, would continue to coil a bit then uncoil, certainly just residual nerve reactions, because it had been obviously dispatched within moments of the capture. When there were only about 2 or 3 inches left of the meal, the Kestrel took off with the remains and landed in a nearby tree. It was quite a show, a real life predator/prey action scene which I thoroughly enjoyed watching and sharing with a friend who accompanied me that day.
Now to some of you this notion of a small bird of prey munching on a slithery reptile might seem a bit repugnant, but it is just a natural part of the chain of life. Being a nature lover this was quite a pleasure for me to witness. And although I have seen many such things, Bald Eagles taking fish from the river, Coopers Hawks attacking small birds, Red Tails landing on hapless rodents, this scene of the Kestrel eating the snake was every bit as fascinating and enjoyable to watch as any I've experienced.
Very cool, and a rare treat to get to watch it. About three winters ago I got to watch a Sharp-shinned Hawk dine on a small rabbit in my back yard. It was there a good 45 minutes, munching away. I didn't witness the kill, just the immediate aftermath though. |
Elvis didn't do no drugs!
--Penn Gillette |
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2007 : 18:01:40 [Permalink]
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Saw a sticker on a car today:
"Roses are red, violets are blue
I'm a schizophrenic and so am I".
Made me smile.
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METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2007 : 18:16:58 [Permalink]
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Since everyone seems to be having success in their lives now-a-days (marf, Kil, beskeptigal) I thought I'd point out my claim to fame: I am, since a couple of weeks ago, a published author in a peer-reviewed journal (second author mind you, but you have to start somewhere). It was published in Environmental Science and Technology and can be downloaded for free.
Environment Arrays: A Possible Approach for Predicting Changes in Waterborne Bacterial Disease Potential
Jack A. Heinemann, Håkan Rosén, Marion Savill, Sofia Burgos-Caraballo, and Gary A. Toranzos
Environ. Sci. Technol.; 2006; 40(23) pp 7150 - 7156
Abstract:
Current molecular techniques for identifying bacteria in water have proven useful, but they are not reliably predictive of impending disease outbreaks. Genomics-based approaches will help to detect the presence of pathogens quickly and well before they grow into a population that poses a risk to public health. We suggest that genomics is only one component of the toolbox that will be needed to identify emerging waterborne threats. We propose a methodology beyond genomics, based on activity in the mobile genome. This approach makes use of a new device called an environment array. The array will depend upon the same research necessary for genomics-based detection, but will not require an a priori knowledge of virulence genes. Environment arrays are assembled from molecular profiles of the infectious elements that transfer between bacteria. The advantage of the array is that it monitors the activity of the mobile genome, rather than the presence of particular DNA sequences. Environmental arrays should thus be many times more sensitive than traditional hybridization or PCR-based techniques that target already-known DNA sequences. Mobile elements are known to respond to new environmental conditions that may correlate with a chemical contamination or the bloom of bacterial pathogens, potentially allowing for a much broader application in detecting unknown or unanticipated biological and chemical contaminants.
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METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 01/09/2007 : 18:54:03 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Hawks
Since everyone seems to be having success in their lives now-a-days (marf, Kil, beskeptigal) I thought I'd point out my claim to fame: I am, since a couple of weeks ago, a published author in a peer-reviewed journal (second author mind you, but you have to start somewhere). It was published in Environmental Science and Technology and can be downloaded for free.
Environment Arrays: A Possible Approach for Predicting Changes in Waterborne Bacterial Disease Potential
Jack A. Heinemann, Håkan Rosén, Marion Savill, Sofia Burgos-Caraballo, and Gary A. Toranzos
Environ. Sci. Technol.; 2006; 40(23) pp 7150 - 7156
Good going Hawks!!!! |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2007 : 18:56:52 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Hawks
Since everyone seems to be having success in their lives now-a-days (marf, Kil, beskeptigal) I thought I'd point out my claim to fame: I am, since a couple of weeks ago, a published author in a peer-reviewed journal (second author mind you, but you have to start somewhere). It was published in Environmental Science and Technology and can be downloaded for free.
Way to go, Hawks! I think it serves SFN well when its regular members can claim to be published authors in scientific journals. Of course, Mozina published something or other about iron suns (?!) in some Russian journal of physics, but that shouldn't detract from waht looks like (upon a quick skim) to be some good science you the part of you and your co-authors. |
| Edited by - Cuneiformist on 01/10/2007 05:43:26 |
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2007 : 19:34:24 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Cuneiformist
to be some god science you the part of you and your co-authors.
Are you accusing me of doing intelligent design research? |
METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2007 : 19:47:08 [Permalink]
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Congrats and thanks for the link, Hawks. I've read the abstract.
So you are working on a new and more sensitive method of detecting waterborne bacterial diseases? Cool! This should prove very useful in places like the Horn of Africa, where water must be pumped from deep boreholes, and is often contaminated afterward.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2007 : 05:43:53 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Hawks
quote:
Originally posted by Cuneiformist
to be some god science you the part of you and your co-authors.
Are you accusing me of doing intelligent design research?
D'oh! |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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JohnOAS
SFN Regular
Australia
800 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2007 : 21:10:32 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
Don't know how many people remember this old thread, but I did. Looks like our Folding@Home team has mostly folded. Our star player hasn't produced a work unit since April of last year!
Cool. I'll look into those when I get home. I've run the SETI one before, but as I have at least 5 PC's on 24/7, I can probably share the love around some, and add the folding project.
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John's just this guy, you know. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2007 : 21:15:33 [Permalink]
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| SETI@Home changed their software somewhat drastically a while back (less than a year, I think), and because I'd stopped contributing to that project prior to the change, I never went to look to see if the SFN SETI@Home team survived the transition. |
- 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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The Water Cooler
Topic Locked
