Gaming: Dave Arneson Dies
I just learned that Dave Arneson, co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game with Gary Gygax, died on April 7, 2009. Here's a tribute.
Science, Belief, Knowledge and Sorting Out Language
Here are some quotes from a position (and plea) presented presented by Dr. Helen Quinn that summarize my thoughts on faith, belief and knowledge (science).
"When a person hears 'scientists believe,' he or she may hear it as a statement of faith or a suggestion of uncertainty. Neither is what we intend.
"What do we mean by 'scientists believe that . . .'? Typically it is something like 'Most scientists agree that the preponderance of the evidence favors the interpretation that . . ., and furthermore, there is no evidence that directly contradicts that interpretation.' Clumsy language perhaps, but it would behoove us to say something like it more often. If we need a shorthand version, we can replace it by 'Scientific evidence supports the conclusion that . . ..' Sometimes we should just say 'We know that . . ..' In other words, we need to articulate more precisely the state of our knowledge—its authority or uncertainty. ...
"We could, and I think should, excise the word "believe" from our vocabulary when talking about science."
-- Helen Quinn: a theoretical particle physicist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and a former president of the American Physical Society
Original article here.
Comments [0]
Writing Research: The Classical World
I've been researching the history of the classical world (i.e. Greek, Roman) for a screenplay. In addition to the history I've read, I've spent some time with the few remaining Greek dramas that are available. Here's some of the historical figures I've investigated:
- Caesarion
- Cleopatra Selene
- Alexander Helios
- Ptolemy Philadelphus
Does anyone have any recommended books on these figures?
Or other resources that I may not have visited on the Internet. I've read the Wikipedia pages and all the Wikipedia internal/external links, so any other resources would be helpful.
Comments [0]
Mark Your Calendars ATL, "The Room" Is Here
Atlanta's Plaza Theatre will screen Tommy Wiseau's film, The Room, at 9:30 PM Tuesday March 17, 2009. Mark your calendars for this unique and rare event to view this cult film on the silver screen. I'll be there, and if you would like to hang, let me know.
Comments [0]
Celebrate Square Root Day!
Today, March 3, 2009 is Square Root Day.
Either way you format the date
"Month, Day, Year"
or
"Day, Month, Year"
it's still a square root.
Have fun and enjoy today. The next one won't arrive for seven years:
April 4, 2016 (4/4/16)
Comments [0]
Philip José Farmer Travels To The Riverworld
I just learned that science fiction author Philip José Farmer died yesterday, February 25, 2009. He's best known for the Riverworld series.
When I read his Hugo award-winning novella "Riders of the Purple Wage," I was reminded of Joe R. Lansdale's "Writer of the Purple Rage." Yes, I know the obvious connection is to Zane Grey's western novel "Riders of the Purple Sage," which I have not read. Grey's stories and novels are good, and I love westerns, but I'm a bigger fan of Lansdale's "Mojo" fiction.
Wasn't there a cable television film adaptation of "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" made in the 90s? I recall that it wasn't bad, but left too many story threads unresolved. It begged for a sequel or sequels. Too bad no studio has taken the baton for this one. It could be done like the Dune films or even The Chronicles of Narnia.
Anyway, Farmer will be missed.
Comments [0]
Geek Trivia
See if you can answer these trivia questions without resorting to your favorite search engine:
What operating system uses rc as its primary shell environment?
What processor architecture was originally used in unreleased versions of the BeBox?
In which operating system was VSAM first introduced?
What utility program on the IBM mainframe is used to manipulate character set definitions (load modules) for the IBM 3800 printing subsystem?
I'll post answers tomorrow.
Comments [0]
Of Mice and Men, and Truth and Honor. And Vegetable Golems.
Our hero is an unlikely sort. He's from a timid culture. A society that not only encourages timidity and fearfulness from birth, but also indoctrinates its youth through an institutional pogram designed to rat out any visage of individuality, free-thought and fearlessness. Into this world is born our hero. He's small, much smaller than others of his species, but his heart is full of large promise. From birth, he doesn't comprehend the authoritarian methods enacted by the elders. He is exiled as a heretic and sent into the dungeons, where the rats live in vile darkness. A darkness that engulfs their world, as well as their hearts. It is expected that he will not survive.
Out of the black our hero develops his courage and destiny and brings back the light of tolerance, honesty, truth and openness. It is the tale of Despereux, a film based on a best-selling book. And it is charming and rewarding for both young and old.
Comments [0]
The announcement of the discovery of natural selection
July 1, 1858, by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, read into the record of the Linnean Society of London.
Comments [0]
New blog post
New blog posts on my blog: http://walterhisownself.blogspot.com with an embedded link to the Nova program profiling Richard Feynman. One of my personal heroes.
Comments [0]
Comments [0]