Some musical entertainment today from the excellent Pat Guadagno. This is from a concert in Bayonet Park, which is somewhere in New Jersey. The lyrics kind of… resonated.
The complete concert is available here.
Expert Advice on How to Avoid Destroying your Phone’s Battery
2 February 2015 by Leave a Comment
You can leave your phone plugged into the charger overnight without too much risk, provided it’s not a counterfeit charger, and you don’t let your phone overheat. For best results with your smartphone charging, here’s what to remember:
- Always use official chargers and cables, or certified alternatives from reputable brands and retailers.
- Don’t let your phone get too hot. Remove the case when charging overnight.
- For the longest battery life possible, try to keep your battery between 50 and 80 percent.
- Avoid letting phone battery completely discharge, and don’t charge it from 0 percent up to 100 percent too often.
Expert Advice on How to Avoid Destroying your Phone’s Battery | Digital Trends.
Nice to know.
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The Reason Stick: The Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense
2 February 2015 by Leave a Comment
A blunt, shit-stained instrument wielded indiscriminately to bludgeon pseudoscience, superstition, blind faith and common or garden irrational bollocks.
via The Reason Stick: The Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense.
H/T to AB for bringing this to my attention. Do visit the original site as there’s more fun.
Click for larger image
Oldest modern human remains outside Africa found in Israel
1 February 2015 by Leave a Comment
“This is the smoking gun that confirms what geneticists have been predicting,” he said. “We had finds from Africa and from Europe but we were missing the connection between them; it’s like finishing a puzzle and finding that a piece is missing: it drives you crazy. This is the missing connection between the older African populations and the later European populations.”
via Oldest modern human remains outside Africa found in Israel – Archaeology – Israel News | Haaretz.
Another piece of the puzzle.
Oh, the Internet is marvellous thing: Popeye the Sailor: Nearlyweds
31 January 2015 by Leave a Comment
From archive.org.
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What’s Wrong with Blasphemy
30 January 2015 by Leave a Comment
The End Blasphemy Laws campaign believes “blasphemy” and “insult” to religion laws are wrong in several ways:
- They violate the human right to freedom of expression
- They protect religious belief and practices, institutions and leaders, from legitimate and necessary criticism
- They are intrinsically bad laws
- They legitimize mob violence, vigilantism, and persecution of minorities
This extract is from the site End Blasphemy Law, which is part of a new campaign aimed at the abolition of blasphemy laws. The campaign is lead by the International Humanist and Ethical Union and European Humanist Federation.
You can read a discussion of these bullet points here, and you can join the campaign here. I urge you to do so.
My Clerihew
27 January 2015 by Leave a Comment
My Clerihew
A little while ago, I signed up with Patreon to support the work of the creator of the excellent Jesus & Mo cartoon strip. Part of the reward for this support was the promise of a personal clerihew, which was just delivered:
Roger Cavanagh
Your name rhymes with taverner.
Apart from that, not much –
Which is why this clerihew kind of sucks.
The author did acknowledge that this was probably not his best work: “So, yeah. Sorry about that!”. It’s just as well that the expectation of my clerihew was not a factor in my decision to support the author. Anyway here’s the latest cartoon:
The cartoon’s appear here. If you enjoy them, do consider your own Patreon donation
Winning vs. Not Losing
22 January 2015 by Leave a Comment
It’s not about winning, it’s about not losing.
via Winning vs. Not Losing | Smilodon’s Retreat.
Succinct and explanatory.
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Some good news: Countdown To Zero
20 January 2015 by Leave a Comment
Some good news: I was catching up on watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Jimmy Carter was the guest on the 12 January edition. One of the things he talked about was the programme to eradicate Guinea worm, which has been supported by the Carter Center.
In 1986, the disease afflicted an estimated 3.5 million people a year in 21 countries in Africa and Asia. Today, thanks to the work of The Carter Center and its partners — including the countries themselves — the incidence of Guinea worm has been reduced by more than 99.99 percent to 126 cases in 2014.
I did not know this. It is a wonderful achievement, and everyone involved in the project should be congratulated.
I imagine that President Carter was on the show to publicise the Countdown To Zero exhibition was opened at the American Museum of Natural History on 15 January 2015. It’s in New York.
oddrops 