Wub's Ramblings

Parenting while Male: Father Holds His Daughter's Hand on Bus, Transit Police Investigate

2008-05-13T17:54:53Z

In the modern hysteria over child predators, one of the most depressing victims has been the father.

Luckily for me, wublette is now sufficiently big that she no longer lets me hold her hand when I want to. (tho I bet that if I did, some loonie would look askance at it).

In this case from the modern witch hunt, a dad is caught holding his daughter's hand and telling her to "be quiet" when she complained she was hungry.

To rational people, such a display would be absolutely meaningless and unremarkable. I don't know how many times I've told my kids to quiet down and not complain. To the insane, however, he was clearly a Dangerous Predator(tm) who was coercing the child and he needed to be stopped!

So the transit police had to get involved and the man had to be investigated.

Of course, the man was found to be innocent and the incident was found to be without merit. No charges were filed (unlike this unlucky guy). Hours of police time wasted. Hours of this family's life wasted. And the very real threat that the investigation alone could have ruined the man's life.

This fear of predators is just a witch hunt. Perhaps the hyper-vigalance may stop one predator, but the cost of making all men presumptive perpetrators is too high. It leaves men in fear of even saying "hi" to a neighborhood child and potentially damages the relationships between a dad and his kids if he is afraid anything he says might be misconstrued by some paranoid idiot.
And what happens when a man, afraid of being labeled a predator, hesitates to help a hurt or lost child?

What works in deconverting Christians?

2008-05-13T14:33:27Z

What works in deconverting Christians? is an interesting analysis done by Kieran Bennett.

Using deconversion testimonies posted on Positive Atheism, Kieran disected 117 entries and distilled just what worked.

Surprisingly, Christianity itself did most of the damage. Either by confusing or conflicting answers from priests or from problems with dogma or in the Bible, Christianity served as its own worst enemy in most of the cases. Very few deconverts reported contact with atheists or atheists publications as their reason to leave their faith.

The analysis is fascinating and thorough. I hope that as more stories come out they will add to the knowledge base we have started here and help show ways we can help others.

(Spied on The Atheist Blogger)

Proof that Baptists Cause Tornados...

2008-05-07T21:48:41Z

Interesting post. There is a positive correlation between the number of Baptists and the incidence of tornados... Curious...

Iron Sky : Attack of the Space Nazis!!!

2008-05-07T17:54:58Z

In 1945 the Nazis fled to the moon. In 2018 they are coming back.

A new movie from the people who brought us Star Wreck.

You've got to watch the new Trailer. This could be interesting...

The Japanese are Strange: IV Drip Cafes

2008-05-02T16:58:02Z

I'm sorry, but the idea of going to a cafe and getting an IV drip is just too weird...

Just too damn weird...

Graphjam: Pop Culture for People in Cubicles...

2008-05-02T15:34:47Z

Handy site for extraneous graphs for your next presentation...

see more song memes

Creationism/Evolution 101 Reading List

2008-05-01T13:54:14Z

A very handy list by the National Center for Science Education that lists both accessible and technical books defending the teaching of evolution.

I'm going to add a few to my library soon.

Stoopid user alerts...

2008-04-30T19:28:18Z

We just got a request from our Pointy Haired Boss to create a new user account... This is annoying since it seems a real dumb use of resources to create accounts for users when they can just click the same buttons and do it themselves (not to mention the security implications of our entering their passwords)...

But in this case, the user to be created is the new guy who is supposed to be overseeing our contract and work...

If our own supervisor can't handle creating his own account into the system, I'm more than just a little reticent about the future direction of the project...

Sportsmanship

2008-04-30T17:14:05Z

Here's a story about true sportsmanship.

A senior softball player in one of her last games hits the first home run of her career. On the way around the bases she tears a tendon and can no longer walk. If anyone on her team touches or helps her, it will be an out. If she can't make it around, they will have to change it from a home run and record it as a single.

Two players from the other team step up and carry her around the bases so the run will count, even though the home run could mean their team loses and misses a chance at playoffs...

I've got to take a break now, there's something in my eye...

Damn Tree Sex!!!

2008-04-24T00:25:55Z

I'm not particularly allergic, but we had a few days of rain followed by a great 80 degree day, so that means it a damn tree and grass orgy out there!

In one day, my purple van is now almost yellow with pollen, the air is thick with flower goo, and my eyes are red and irritated as hell...

I can't imagine how anyone who is actually allergic could even survive this...

Tetris - The Movie

2008-04-22T16:10:06Z

A Brother Dies. A Hero Is Born. Get in Line For Adventure!
Tetris - The Movie

Sorry... the concept is just so stupid and the trailer is so cliche filled that it just made me laugh...

GRRRRR... Ranting...

2008-04-21T16:40:59Z

Ok, so my boss is having another "requirements gathering" meeting with another group out there. This is good, since it means our project is getting more recognition and the more external data sources we can identify, the better off our dataset is going to be.

The problem is my boss is very stuck in the "developers develop, analysts analyse" mindset, so this meeting is just for analysts and I'm a developer. Despite the fact that there is no one who knows the data model even remotely as good as I do and the fact that I am far better at boiling down customer requests to real requirements than anyone else on our project.

So the analysts are going to get a list of what the customer thinks they want, which may not in any-way line up with what the customer really wants or with what is actually practical to implement with the current data model or the way the data model should be given what the customer wants done.

So they are going to develop a set of requirements and bring them to me and when I complain about it my concerns will be ignored or dismissed and we'll go forward with an unreasonable timeframe to implement something the customer likely doesn't really need and features that will not be used because the analysts didn't ask the right questions during requirement gathering. And worse there will be another round of feature requests to implement things that should have been included in the 1.0 if someone had bothered to find out what the customer actually needs.

sigh...

Pepsi-Stuff

2008-04-21T15:34:38Z

I've been collecting Pepsi-Stuff points. I figure since I'm going to drink soda anyway, I might as well get something back for it.

I've bene using them to buy a few new songs for my 'pod... But its really annoying that the songs I can get with points are restricted to a few thousand that Amazon has picked out, apparently mostly from new hits and acts with a large selection of old classics.

Well, what if I want something else?? Something that apeals to my alternative tastes or weird sensibility??? I can't use the points for just any song on Amazon I want to get.

For example, I recently stumbled across the Puppini Sisters. Amazon has a their albums and songs, but none of them are available thru the Pepsi-Points system.

~~Same problem with Screeching Weasels and Me First and the Gimme-Gimmes... :-/~~
figured out how to get those to use Points, but still cant get Puppini

Answers in Genesis: BUSTED!

2008-04-18T14:26:49Z

Followup to yesterday's post. Bounced around a few links off yesterday's article and found an exchange between the Answers in Genesis: Busted! site and some random spokesbeing for AiG concerning experiments that verify evoluton.

Its an excellent read and has well cited references to several experiments that support evolution.

Music: The Puppini Sisters

2008-04-18T01:10:42Z

Modern swing music. Imagine the classic sounds of Andrews Sisters singing covers of modern songs like Walk Like an Egyptian or even I will Survive.

You can hear some of their songs on their myspace page and on their official page: http://www.thepuppinisisters.com/ (warning, flash powered site).

I like their cover of Walk Like an Egyptian and just like the concept of an acopella swing group intrigues me. I think I'll spring some Pepsi-points and get some of their songs...

NewScientist: 24 Myths and Misconceptions about Evolution

2008-04-18T00:50:49Z

NewScientist magazine has an excellent article debunking 24 common misconceptions about Evolution.

Topics range from "Survival of the fittest" justifies "everyone for themselves" to Mutations can only destroy information, not create it.

Its an informative article even for non-deniers.

Very telling quote from a lobbyist

2008-04-16T15:04:20Z

I'm a big supporter of sunlight laws that would open up the process of legislation and make it more transparent so citizens can know just what our politicians are up to.

In this article about a sunshine law being proposed in Texas, a lobbyist makes a very telling statement

"Are we going to let the American people decide our defense policy, our trade policy, our immigration policy?"

Well, since these are all laws that affect Americans, and since those politicians lobbyists are lobbying are supposedly working for those Americans, why can't Americans know more about these laws or be given the opportunity to voice an opinion?

I've long equated lobbying with bribery and government corruption. By expressing concern for public input, he only confirms my sentiment. Lobbyists that they aren't there for our interests, but for their own and they certainly don't want us to know more about what they are doing or how badly it impacts us.

Ooooooohhhh!!! A warning letter from Comcast!

2008-04-15T22:57:25Z

I got a "notification by a copyright owner" today from Comcast... It seems that somewhere between 12 March 2008 and 20 March 2008 my BitTorrent client picked up a trace of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Curious since I don't own the file, I don't remember ever trying to get that file, nor can I find a trace of it on my box now. Maybe there's a portion of it burried in the deleted side of things, but nowhere I can find without diagnostic tools.

I keep a torrent client running in the background of my server on the off chance that I want to download some file or another. For example, after Nine Inch Nails made public their Ghosts album, I fired up a torrent of it and got my copy and did my part to spread the file by leaving my torrent running. I also snagged a recent copy of Oracle server that was torrented by Oracle.

Woohoo, so it looks like I'm going to join the ranks of the evil elite who get subjected to endless legal assaults by clueless legal and corporate types. I might just have to save and frame this first contact warning sheet.

This would be interesting if I didn't know it is most likely going to be extremely annoying...

My latest brilliant idea... someone market this for me...

2008-04-15T16:45:56Z

I've been enjoying using Twinkle, a location-aware Twitter client for the iPhone. It not only posts your entry with location information, but also lets you see recent tweets from whatever area you are in...

So here's my latest brilliant idea: Make a location-aware traffic alerter. You click "Traffic Sucks" and it sends a localized note. You can pull up a list of recent Sucks alerts relative to where you are so you can get a feel for how bad traffic in the area is.

Ideally it'd link into Google maps for a real-time Sucks dotter...

Somoene get on this for me...

Followup: Rep Davis called out by Keith Olbermann

2008-04-09T15:05:37Z

Following up to my earlier story about Illinois Rep Davis going off the bend on atheism, Friendly Atheist has comment and a video clip from Keith Olbermann calling Rep Davis to the mat.

Ziggy Marley - Drive

2008-04-09T14:20:12Z

Since its on right now, I just wanted to blog how much I like Ziggy Marley's version of Drive from the movie 50 First Dates... I'm not much for reggae, but I kinda like this one.

I'll also catch flak for it, but I like 311's reggae cover of The Cure's Lovesong... I wont say 311's version is better, but I really think they bring a distinct new interpretation to the classic that is more than just another version of the song.

Illinois State Legislator: "it's dangerous for our children to even know that [atheism] exists

2008-04-05T00:02:56Z

Errrr... wow... Now this is scary for religious freedom. It seems Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) thinks the very existence of atheism is dangerous and equates atheism with the destruction of society.

Davis: You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.

Here's an article from the Chicago Tribune on the issue.

Dalek Empire Radio Play

2008-04-02T14:45:34Z

I've started listening to the Dalek Empire Radio Plays by Big Finish Productions. These are the same Daleks from the Doctor Who universe, but these are not Doctor Who episodes but just deal with how humanity handle a galactic invasion from the Daleks without the Doctor's help.

So far the story is engaging and the acting and sound effects are supurb. I can't recommend the plays highly enough. Just great stuffe. Get em.

Spread Freedom: Fitna the Movie: a film about Islam

2008-03-29T17:43:22Z

Fitna is a short film about Islam. Since the film doesn't drool and fawn over Muslims, it is being called "anti-islam" and its producers are being threatened with the predictable death threats.

The threats are so bad that even LiveLeak grew concerned about the safety of some of their affiliates and they pulled their copy.

I don't know the details of the film. And honestly, I don't care. But I do care that people are getting death threats for expressing their opinion. And I also care that ignorant Muslim fundamentals are trying to force their will on others. So I'm taking my part in spreading it farther than the movie ever would have been spread if it weren't for ignorant censors.
We may fear your ignorant violence, but we do not fear your little god.

Here's a link to the Google Video of Fitna.

And here's a torrent link

Jesus Christ Zombie Lord

2008-03-29T13:19:13Z

Jesus Christ Superstar meets Zombies!

Soon to be a major motion picture. Check out the trailers over at http://3dayslater.net/.