Nerve Endings Firing Away » Asides

Why am I an atheist and a naturalist

Patrix — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:56:46 +0000

I’m going to tell my entire story; from my religious experiences in early childhood, to my rejection of religion and God in my mid-twenties. The backstory is important, as my skepticism isn’t something new, but something that has been a lifelong struggle.
Next, I should warn you that if you are a person of faith, I’ll probably offend you gravely with this tome. Make no mistake: I have no compunctions about doing so. I’m not one to hide the truth behind deferential embroidery. Still, if you are the type who is likely to take offense and refuse to continue reading, it would be most courteous of me to offend you early on, so as to respect your valuable time.
To that end: God is almost certainly a lie, religion is a scourge upon the world, and you are wasting your life with a cultish devotion to nonsensical superstitions and soul-crushing dogmas. Also, you don’t have a soul.
Now that I’ve dispensed with the discourteous courtesies, and we are rid of the chronically hyper-offendable, let us begin.

This [long] essay by Mark Jaquith is one of the best personal accounts I have read on one’s transition to atheism. My transition was hardly this gradual and introspective but then my earlier experiences hadn’t been that religious either. For whom it is longer, it is also much harder which makes the transition all the more liberating. Perhaps I should write about my transition too but it is neither as introspective nor as dramatic.

via Tempus Fugit.

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For Founders to Decorators, Facebook Riches

Patrix — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:55:40 +0000

The graffiti artist who took Facebook stock instead of cash for painting the walls of the social network’s first headquarters made a smart bet. The shares owned by the artist, David Choe, are expected to be worth upward of $200 million when Facebook stock trades publicly later this year.

So, how much did you pay your painters?

[Source: NYTimes]

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Sex, Lies, and Hit Men

Patrix — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:40:04 +0000

As they say, only in Texas.

Jeffrey Stern was a wealthy personal injury lawyer who drove a Maserati. His wife, Yvonne, was a stunning carpool mom who loved Fendi dresses and Hermès handbags. Together they were the envy of their exclusive Bellaire neighborhood. Then came three bungled attempts on her life, the revelation that Jeffrey had taken a mistress, and the bombshell that investigators had accused the lovers of plotting to kill Yvonne.

[Source: Texas Monthly]

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Burgled in Philly

Patrix — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:55:32 +0000

When John Davidson’s apartment gets robbed, he learns that the easiest way to get his stuff back is to have one drug dealer lie to another drug dealer while he lies to the police.

[Source: The Bygone Bureau]

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The Lives They Lived

Patrix — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:00:13 +0000

The first one by Mike DeStefano is awesome on so many levels. Read them all.

And of the hundreds of stories we considered, we were surprised to find that many of the ones we liked the most are from people talking directly about facing death, either their own or someone else’s. These turn out to be very revealing stories. Not maudlin or despairing, just cleareyed, and occasionally hopeful. This is, over all, a hopeful collection of people.

[Source: The Lives They Lived]

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Design for an Urban Public Toilet

Patrix — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:47:25 +0000

It is patented and is a steal for $60K with $12K for annual maintenance.

For the residents of Portland, Ore., taking a whiz in a public toilet is not just a matter of necessity. It’s an act of civic pride.
That’s because the city is home to the Portland Loo, a unique, patented outdoor bathroom that inspires such worship in its fanbase you’d think that Steve Jobs himself had designed it. This adoration comes despite the fact that the 24-hour loo was built to be as inhospitable as possible. This toilet does not want to be loved, but in Portland, it is No. 1 (and, presumably, sometimes No. 2 as well).

[Source: The Atlantic Cities]

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Default Stage – Outrage

Patrix — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:30:20 +0000

More proof that Indians don’t get humor (I use the term loosely since Jay Leno is involved) and the default reaction is outrage and a need for apology.

…by portraying the holy shrine of the Golden Temple as Romney’s vacation home, [Jay] Leno exposed all Sikh people to “hatred, contempt, ridicule, and obloquy.”

[Source: Hollywood Reporter]

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Making the Next Movie for the Internet Generation

Patrix — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:01:08 +0000

An excellent initiative by Amazon to encourage budding filmmakers; something that Netflix, Hulu, or even YouTube should’ve been doing. I’ve stopped expecting traditional production studios in Hollywood to innovate. Perhaps we should simply kill Hollywood.

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Jonathan Coulton on the MegaUpload shutdown

Patrix — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:00:41 +0000

And right now everyone’s fighting to control distribution channels, which is why I can’t watch Star Wars on Netflix or iTunes. It’s fine if you want to have that fight, but don’t yell and scream about how you’re losing business to piracy when your stuff isn’t even available in the box I have on top of my TV. A lot of us have figured out how to do this.

An excellent post by Jonathan Coulton from the perspective of an artiste who, according to the industry and the government, supposedly is going to be bankrupted by online piracy.

[Link to Jonathan Coulton on the MegaUpload shutdown]

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Post tags: content, copyright, megaupload, pb, piracy

How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life

Patrix — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:00:41 +0000

“Here is evidence that suggests that when your football team does well, grades suffer,” said Dr. Waddell, who compared transcripts of over 29,700 students from 1999 to 2007 against Oregon’s win-loss record. For every three games won, grade-point average for men dropped 0.02, widening the G.P.A. gender gap by 9 percent. Women’s grades didn’t suffer. In a separate survey of 183 students, the success of the Ducks also seemed to cause slacking off: students reported studying less (24 percent of men, 9 percent of women), consuming more alcohol (28 percent, 20 percent) and partying more (47 percent, 28 percent).

As much as I love college football, there is much wrong with institutional football especially given its tradeoffs with academics and misplaced priorities.

[Link to How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life]

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© patrix for Nerve Endings Firing Away, 2012. | Permalink | No comment
Post tags: academics, college, football, pb, Sports

Reddit: Web’s unstoppable force

Patrix — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:42:42 +0000

How the site went from a second-tier aggregator to the Web’s unstoppable force.

I admit that I have a Reddit addiction too; especially the awesome AskReddit sub-reddit.

[Source: Slate Magazine]

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Fareed Zakaria interviews Obama

Patrix — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:23:08 +0000

In an exclusive interview with TIME’s Fareed Zakaria, President Obama opens up on Iran, Afghanistan, China and the challenges the U.S. faces in navigating a rapidly changing world. A full transcript of their conversation follows

The only (American) journalist I consider intelligent enough to ask intelligent questions on American foreign policy.

[Source: Time Magazine]

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Post tags: Barack Obama, foreign policy, interview

Apple in Education

Patrix — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:17:02 +0000

An excellent initiative by Apple to self-author textbooks and sell them in the iBooks Store for $14.99 or less. Obviously, their primary goal is to sell more Macs and iPads so all the authoring and publishing tools are free. Go forth and publish. Or rather go first.

[Source: Apple in Education]

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Scenes From India

Patrix — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:57:29 +0000

Scenes From India – In Focus:

Diversity is everywhere in India, from its religions and languages to its economy, and climates. The second-most populous nation in the world, India is home to more than 1.2 billion people. Most are Hindu, but seven other religions — including Islam, Christianity and Sikhism — make up nearly 20 percent of the population. January 26 will be India’s 62nd Republic Day, marking the date in 1950 when the country’s constitution came into force. Collected here are recent photos from across the vast nation, offering only a small glimpse of the people and diversity of India. [41 photos]

(Via www.theatlantic.com)

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‘Thirty Five’

Patrix — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:01:57 +0000

‘Thirty Five’:

You may think the lead guitarist is the bad-ass in the band, but you’d be wrong. It’s the bass player.
If you were to drop off the face of the earth tomorrow, the people who call looking for you, those are your real friends.
There are statistics everyone chases no matter what industry you are in. Stop sweating it.

(Via The Brooks Review)

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Top Reasons Why Apple Could Trump Amazon in Digital Textbooks

Patrix — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:24:43 +0000

Amazon Digital Books uses its proprietary format called MOBI (also called Kindle format), while Apple uses an open format called ePub

Wait! Apple is open?

[Link to Top Reasons Why Apple Could Trump Amazon in Digital Textbooks]

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The 8 Best Innovation Ideas From Around the World

Patrix — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:00:59 +0000

Some of the answers to our innovation challenge will come from within the U.S. We remain in many ways the most dynamic country in the world, with more top universities and multinational corporations than any other nation. But it's foolish to imagine that the best innovation ideas in the world already have a home in policies coming from Washington, D.C. Here is a world-wide tour of the best ideas that our government should import to jump-start innovation.

Several lessons for the U.S. to continue reigning atop the world but sadly no one in Washington is listening and the squabbles continue.

[Link to The 8 Best Innovation Ideas From Around the World]

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Post tags: economicgrowth, fave, innovation, pb, unitedstates

Tea’d Off

Patrix — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:00:36 +0000

Most epochs are defined by one or another anxiety. More important, though, is the form which that anxiety takes. Millions of Americans are currently worried about two things that are, in their minds, emotionally related. The first of these is the prospect that white people will no longer be the majority in this country, and the second is that the United States will be just one among many world powers. This is by no means purely a “racial” matter. (In my experience, black Americans are quite concerned that “Hispanic” immigration will relegate them, too.) Having an honest and open discussion about all this is not just a high priority. It’s more like a matter of social and political survival.

Christopher Hitchens points to the heart of the matter in this alleged Tea Party uprising. Cut down to the basics, it is the impending loss of control and change that scares these people. Like everything else, hopefully, this too shall pass.

[Link to Tea'd Off]

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Nobel peace prize: Who is boycotting the ceremony?

Patrix — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 22:00:22 +0000

This year's Nobel peace prize was awarded this year to Chinese political activist Liu Xiaobo. The move angered Beijing, which warned of "consequences" for governments attending the ceremony. The BBC's Paul Reynolds looks at which countries are not going, and why.

We may like to rant on the United States stand against WikiLeaks's Julian Assange or the endemic corruption of Kalamadi and co. during the CWG in India but its helps to bear in mind that there are other countries in the world where mere ranting might send you to prison. That's no reason to stop ranting about your democratic country's shenanigans but this depressing list of countries might give you an idea if China surpasses the United States as the world's moral policeman. That is a far more scary thought.

[Link to Nobel peace prize: Who is boycotting the ceremony?]

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Starbucks Hacks : Frugal

Patrix — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:00:20 +0000

Now, I know as a rule frugal people don't buy Starbucks drinks. But say you're in a hurry and you need a caffeine fix, or you're a tea junkie like me and couldn't wait for your kettle to boil some water before your class/work/whatever. Or maybe your with some friends who all want to go to Starbucks (Because, say what you will about Starbucks, but if you want a place to hang out with your friends other than your house, Starbucks is much cheaper than a restaurant or bar), how can you save money?
If you and a friend are out and want a Frappuccino, ask for a Venti split into two tall cups. Iced venti cups are 24 oz. Tall are 12. Viola. Two talls would cost you about 6 bucks, a venti, 4.

I know coffee snobs hate Starbucks but no one can deny its ubiquity. It is that familiar place where you can get coffee be it an airport or a busy downtown of a new city. But it can add up quick especially for not so great coffee so hopefully these tips by a Starbucks employee should save a penny.

Although recently, I haven't frequently Starbucks much but having done so in the past, I can vouch for their relaxed ambiance ^[1] and friendly staff. They'll never ask you to leave even if you have been nursing that empty cup of plain coffee you bought several hours ago. Make friends with the barista. And don't feel bad for accepting a free drink once in a while because they'll throw it out anyway. And don't forget to pick up the free coffee grounds for your vegetable garden.

[Link to Starbucks Hacks : Frugal]

Footnotes:

unless it is a Times Sq location

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