http://mr-verb.blogspot.com/2009/07/blogal-language-blog-world-has-gotten.html

• Language Learning
• Language Teaching
• Language Technology
• Language Professionals.

http://lyspeth.com/blog/2009/07/04/comcast-fail-let-me-count-the-ways/

I’ve written before about my struggles with Comcast — they lose payments, they bill incorrectly, and until recently, calling their general customer service from my cell phone was an exercise in frustration because they would redirect me to New Mexico Comcast based on my area code.

When closing my account with them, I had another struggle: they told me they would send me a final bill, but they didn’t issue the bill before the due date on my previous bill or before the account was closed. When I talked to them, they seemed not to be aware that I had ever been promised such a thing, and maybe not even aware that I had called to cancel my account (even though my account should have shown that I had canceled as well as returning my modem — another poor experience, since it took 30+ minutes while everyone in the place moved at molasses-speed).

Eventually I had to sit on hold on their online chat for a while and request that they tell me the final balance. One representative claimed I should just pay the full amount due and they would refund the balance, but I’ve heard that song and dance before and I didn’t fall for it. To quote myself from March 2008, “Like hell. At this point, they don’t get my money until they prove that they’re supposed to.”

Even after he agreed, he claimed all they could give me was an estimate because they couldn’t calculate the taxes. (Really? How do you do it every month then?)

Today I got a notice in my email that my bill was ready online, so I guess they finally prepared it. I tried to log in to look at it (because the email doesn’t give the amount) and — surprise! — I can’t log in because the account number associated with my login profile has been canceled and is invalid. No, really.

Let’s hope I estimated an amount close to the correct amount when I paid them online. Otherwise I’ll have to wait for my mail to be forwarded to sort this out. (…and I only even get paper statements because they can’t be trusted to send out an email every month.)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/eEEf20TFAnI/charles_darwin_vs_a_giant_squi.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/charles_darwin_vs_a_giant_squi.php

Awesome.

Note, however, that it reiterates that odd theme of one-eyed squid that we see all over the place.

(via Michael Barton)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/772N-P_rerQ/auf_wiedersehen_lindau.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/auf_wiedersehen_lindau.php

Yesterday was my last day in Lindau, I'm sorry to say — it was also the day of the closing ceremonies on the island of Mainau, in case you were wondering why it was so quiet on the blog. I decided to leave all my electronical gear behind at the hotel and venture out for the last session with a stark naked brain.

The day began with a walk down to the harbor to board the Sonnenkönigin, a very impressive ship that can only be inadequately be called a ferry. We were welcomed aboard with a glass of wine or a glass of juice if you felt 8 am was a little early to begin, and tables heaped with food. One thing I'm going to miss a great deal when I get back to Minnesota is good bread — the stuff that is chewy and substantial and has all this flavor. Bread back home is a kind of glorified aerogel, a pale and puffy spongy substance.

We also got some musical entertainment, and a lot of hard sell for the German province of Baden-Württemburg. They can do everything, except speak proper German (really, it's their motto: "Wir können alles. Außer Hoch-Deutsch.") They put on a good show with lots of exhibits touting their support for basic research and industry — if nothing else, I'm convinced they value the practical benefits of science enough to heavily recruit mobs of graduate students.

Mainau is a lovely island in Lake Constance, topped with an old baroque Schloss and filled with gardens and walking paths. We were there for a final panel on sustainability. The panel consisted of four nobelists, Pachauri, Molina, Schrock, and Stocker, one government minister, whose name I've probably misspelled since her tag was turned away from me — Quellen-Thielen, I believe — and one annoying crackpot, Bjorn Lomborg, who really didn't belong up on the stage. Even as insubstantial as he was, though, Lomborg did agree, along with every one else, that climate change and global warming are real phenomena. Here's a short summary of what they said.

Pachauri: Our big problem is unsustainable growth. It's inevitable and desirable that third-world economies expand, but the old strategies of exploiting fossil fuels aren't going to work.

Lomborg: While global warming is real, it's not a crucial problem, since it will only cost 0.5% of world GDP to cope with it. He's pro-development, and thinks, for example, that while global warming may increase the incidence of malaria by 3% more, we ought to be focusing on the 100% of malaria cases occurring now rather than trying to reduce the 3%. We need to invest in better technology, but imposing limitations on CO₂ emissions now is fruitless.

Molina: We aren't taking the right path in growing economies — we need to convince the world that building sustainable energy supplies and limiting environmental damage now is the best viable long-term strategy. He had to take a poke at Lomborg, too: putting a dollar value on irreversible changes is inappropriate and misleading. Focusing on one aspect of the problem and calling the cost increases and human losses manageable hides the risks of passing a tipping point. He favors, as an important early step, incorporating the costs of externalities such as CO₂ emission into the economy.

Quellen-Thielen (sp?): Germany takes climate change seriously, and the government sets policies and targets for emissions. They also materially support new technologies, like photovoltaics. These actions have not harmed the economy but instead have created new jobs and positioned Germany as a global leader.

This prompted one of the more obnoxious jabs from Lomborg, who literally sneered at German environmental efforts, pointing out that all the photocells Germany has built are already obsolete, and that it was just money thrown down the drain. Throughout, Lomborg took the attitude that direct action now is inefficient, and that we're better off waiting for new technologies to emerge, at which time the magic of the market will kick in and our problems will go away. Quellen-Thielen reasonably pointed out that their development now means they've got a leg up, that they're obtaining a reasonable fraction of their energy directly from the sun right now, and they are also building the industrial infrastructure to build on new ideas quickly.

Schrock: He was a bit out of place here; I think the presence of Lomborg effectively derailed the whole panel away from a discussion of a diversity of solutions to the global warming and into a wasted defense of the rightness of taking any policy action at all. Schrock clearly wanted to talk about catalysis and the importance of chemistry in generating technical solutions, and advocated more investment in basic as well as applied research — he fears that we could lose the potential for long-term improvements in a frantic search for solutions we can implement right now.

Stocker: he also spoke against the bean-counter on the panel, pointing out that the 2003 heat wave killed thousands, and within 30 years, that kind of event will likely have a frequency of every other year. He thinks global warming is a misnomer: it's more than just a temperature shift, but it's going to lead to a sea level rise, changes in the availability of water resources in some of the most heavily populated areas of the world, and is going to trigger resource wars that will be devastating. He pointed out that this really is an anomalous event in our history, that CO₂ is 29% higher than at any time in the last 850,000 years. He believes we need a globally binding emissions target set right away.

So it was a mildly interesting discussion, but it could have been so much better — I suspect someone noticed it was hard to find a strong contrarian among Nobel prize winners, and decided to bring in a last-minute alternative view. Unfortunately, Lomborg's basically an advocate for do-nothingness and did nothing but distract the others from wrestling with more substantial ideas.

After sitting in the sun for this outdoor panel, I got a sunburn and a strong desire to escape, so I spent the time afterwards wandering about in the gardens. Then the best part, getting back on the Sonnenkönigin and being handed a big mug of cold beer as I boarded. I'm beginning to get the impression that all bier in Deutschland ist frei. That can't be true, but empirically it seems to be the case. Or maybe it's just Baden-Württemburg's cunning plan to persuade us that southwestern Germany is paradise.

We had more entertainment on the trip back — Stuart Pivar was aboard, doing tricks with balloons! No, actually it was some other guy who made balloon molecules, as well as strange hats. I guess the guy just looked at me and decided I needed more tentacles.

Do you want this to be the dominant image of atheism?

He also made a buckyball out of balloons, and guess who ended up wearing that on his head?

Sir Harold Kroto

And that's all there was. A great meeting overall, lots of fun, and lots of networking. The majority of the attendees are graduate students who are brought over to hob-nob with the biggest of the big-wigs of science, and most importantly, make international connections with their peers. Any graduate student readers of this post: ask around in your department if anyone knows about nominations for the Lindau meetings. They are definitely worth attending for young people wanting to get involved in this global enterprise called science.

One evening after the talks, when we were hanging about in a gasthof enjoying some good food and beer, the Countess Bettina Bernadotte stopped by our table (Yes! You also get to meet European nobility!), and we all talked a bit about the meetings. She's the president of the council for the meetings, and puts a tremendous amount of effort and fund-raising to get them off the ground. When asked why she was doing it, the answer was simple: that while she gets no direct personal or material gain from the meetings, as a citizen of the world she feels an obligation to make a contribution to bettering the world's knowledge, and this is an opportunity to foster a positive benefit to science. The whole meeting is built around giving young investigators connections.

Now I'm on my long, slow way home. It was worth it, and hope I can go again.

Tonight I'm in the city of Friedrichshafen, home of the zeppelin (I asked if there were any connecting flights by zeppelin, but I'm out of luck and will have to take an Airbus tomorrow, instead.) Then I'm off to Frankfurt, Philadelphia, and finally, Minneapolis. All should be smooth this time — I don't have any too-short layovers on this trip.

Now I'm going to stroll about and use the Fourth of July to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the first transatlantic zeppelin flight — I noticed that there was a big brass band down by the harbor, with fellows in bright green uniforms and tall hats with tassels. It should be fun!

http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2009/07/that-lame-duck-status.html

"Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road. They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that."

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/z_BwiUDcmSc/why_would_i_go_on_a_game_show.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/why_would_i_go_on_a_game_show.php

What a crazy idea for a game show: a Turkish program is looking for 10 atheists to compete for the chance to be converted. What next, a show with healthy contestants competing for the chance to be infected with a disease, and the winner gets a long hospital stay?

The game show producers give their bias away when they announce "We don't approve of anyone being an atheist". They're also planning to have a team of theologians to screen out religious people pretending to be godless so they can get a free trip to the holy site of their choice.

Well, I'm not a fake atheist, but I'm wondering what they're offering to people like me. We go on the program, we get non-stop harangues from crazy imams, priests, rabbis, and monks, and if we don't fall for their foolishness, we lose? I'd be tempted to just say "yes!" to the rabbi to really piss off the Muslim hosts, get a trip to Jerusalem, and then annoy the rabbi when I tell him I lied. Or would the theologians also have to confer to determine that your conversion was sincere?

http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-todays-pearls-before-swine-rat.html

http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2009/07/carnival-of-liberals.html

http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2009/07/happy-fourth-of-july.html

http://emshort.wordpress.com/2009/07/04/textfyre-link/

http://emshort.wordpress.com/?p=1400

I don’t normally post just links, but there’s an interesting (long, detailed, and eventually somewhat spoilery, though the spoilers are marked) review of Jack Toresal and the Secret Letter here.

http://kitchendancing.blogspot.com/2009/07/beets-lentils-and-homemade-mustard.html

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/1VFSswCMUwI/what_is_it_with_atheists_and_g.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/what_is_it_with_atheists_and_g.php

There is a strange correlation: most of the atheists I know are straight, yet when I post a pointless poll like this one, I know with near certainty which way the godless hordes of Pharyngula will try to skew it.

Do you agree with President Obama's decision to extend certain benefits to gay partners of federal employees?

51.38% Yes
48.62% No

It goes further, too. We atheists tend to strongly favor women's rights and equality in the marketplace, yet only about half of us are female. I could bring up an article like this one, in which conservative democrats demand that abortion services not be provided under universal healthcare, and I know how most of the progressive godless readers here will respond: with anger. You won't be voting for Reps. Dan Boren (D-OK); Bart Stupak (D-MI); Colin Peterson (D-MN); Tim Holden (D-PA); Travis Childers (D-MS); Lincoln Davis (D-TN); Heath Shuler (D-NC) Solomon Ortiz (D-TX); Mike McIntyre (D-NC); Jerry Costello (D-IL); Gene Taylor (D-MS); James Oberstar (D-MN); Bobby Bright (D-AL); Steve Driehaus (D-OH); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH); Charlie Melancon (D-LA); John Murtha (D-PA); Paul Kanjorski (D-PA); and Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-PA) in the next election. Hey, Colin Peterson is my state representative; I'll be writing him a pissed-off letter when I get home, and he has lost my vote.

It's not just a selective reading on my part. Other sources, like Lavender Magazine, have noticed that the atheists in their communities have a rather reliable political and social position. Here's a review of Atheists Talk radio (which is no more, I'm sorry to say).

Many radio programs broadcast locally are queer-inclusive. But aside from KFAI's Fresh Fruit, which is total queer content, no program is as fully queer-supportive as Atheists Talk. Large time chunks have been devoted to Wayne Besen, the Fagbug, and Project 515. Plus, an organic queer sensitivity weaves throughout other segments, because of the atheist and democratic value that separates religion and state.

Host Mike Haubrich thinks "religious institutions that suppress the rights of GLBT folks are using their beliefs as justification for an underlying homophobia. By using the Bible as an absolute moral guide in legislating issues related to marriage and other societal benefits that should be recognized as being granted by such a basic document as the Declaration of Independence, they are demonstrating precisely the effects of church-state entanglement that James Madison was warning against. The state should not be used as a sledgehammer to enforce a particular religious code, and an individual's sexuality should not be subject to the whims of religious interpretation."

Contributor August Berkshire observes, "Americans are proud of our ideals of liberty and equality. Why then are some people shocked when these ideals are applied to people of color, women, and sexual minorities? Are some citizens 'more equal' than others?"

People dependent on religion like to claim that atheism is just another religion, and they argue that we can't know that we'd have a better society if we got rid of god (and usually go the other way and claim we'd be immoral without our imaginary cosmic policeman in the sky), but you know, I look around at all the atheist communities springing up around the country, and I see the people who are most committed to tolerance and equality joining them, and I am convinced. A godless America would be a better America, one more committed to the Enlightenment ideals that accompanied its founding, one that would actually have some ideals and principles that would make it a better place to live for everyone.

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/pricepaid.asp

http://echidneofthesnakes.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html#1386156891872281837

http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2009/07/two-words.html

You would think this was a good thing. Indeed, when I moved in the balcony was cleaned every month. But health took its toll, and it happens at most once a year these days.

The thing is, the only time it happens now is when someone tells the landlord that they are going to have a huge barbecue party out there. All of my windows face out onto it, which means I have to close them as soon as the lighter fluid comes out, and sit inside baking and listening to raucous people outside for hours.

Well. Or I could go somewhere. But the thing about people holding parties is that they tend to be on holidays when basically everything is closed. The only places I can think of that will be open tomorrow are parks (which will be full of groups of people setting off fireworks illegally and drinking in public) and movie theatres (which I have practically sworn off because they are so insanely loud inside).

Ah well. It doesn't happen often, and it should be cool tomorrow. As a bonus, assuming the party throwers clean up (something that occasionally happens) the balcony will be nice and clean.

http://lyspeth.com/blog/2009/07/03/when-you-say-as-in/

” ‘With any luck we will be able to ftp some suitable software and get it running on the Tera.’
‘The Terror?’
‘Tera. As in Teraflops.’
‘That does me no good at all. When you say “as in” you are supposed to give me something more familiar to relate it to.’ “

I got a Portland Water Bureau Drinking Water Quality Report in my mailbox today. There’s a section where they list contaminants, including Radium, which is measured in picocuries per liter. There’s also a “Definitions” section which defines picocuries per liter, among other things. The definition is:
“Picocurie is a measurement of radioactivity. One picocurie is a trillion times smaller than one curie.”

Note to the PWB: please see the above Cryptonomicon excerpt for my reaction to this definition.

http://thegoodluckduck.blogspot.com/2009/07/natures-head-roxi.html

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/v6SLDuKiI7E/another_reason_to_support_full.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/another_reason_to_support_full.php

Because it would end embarrassing mistakes like this one.

A group of teenagers misunderstood a woman's screams during sex and, thinking they were stopping an assault, beat a 25-year-old man in her bedroom, police said.

Multiple tragedies here: not only was an innocent man beat up, but now everyone at school is so going to know those teenagers are like total virgins.