AbFab in real life?

A plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Germany after two British women tried to open a cabin door mid-flight. Am I the only one who immediately thought of AbFab when I read that article? If you're not convinced yet, here's more:

The XL Airways plane was flying from the Greek island of Kos to Manchester when Wednesday's incident happened.

An airline spokeswoman said the women were thought to have been smoking in the plane's toilet, and were suspected of bringing their own alcohol on board.

She said they had started to swear at and threaten staff who refused to sell them any more alcohol from the bar.

The women had then said they wanted to open the door to get "some fresh air" into the plane.

We won't tolerate this sort of behaviour XL Airways spokeswoman.

"Their language was totally unacceptable, as was their behaviour. They were very abusive and threatening," the spokeswoman said.

I'm thinking Eddy and Pats have come to life.

Oh, and just in case you're not familiar with the show, check out the clip below. :-)

Rock me sexy Jesus!

(via MAJeff)

Should mileage units be gallons per 1000 miles?

Mileage is generally reported in miles per gallon (or kilometers per litre for the rest of the world). This seems to make sense. The consumer will want to know how far they will be able to get with the gasoline (petrol or paraffin for you non-Americans) they buy. Well, not exactly.

That might be a good metric if you have a fixed fuel budget and your travel plans followed from this. But most people buying automobiles aren't in that position. Most car shoppers have a certain amount of driving they need to do and are looking to keep their expenditures down. It should therefore make more sense to report mileage as the reciprocal (like gallons per 1000 miles for example).

While the two are mathematically equivalent, reciprocals scale differently. Most people will make bad decisions with the opposite ratio. Check out the video below for an explanation.



There are many examples of things like this all over. Let's take sunscreens for example. The SPF rating represents the equivalent protected exposure to UV rays in minutes to 1 minute exposure without the sunscreen. For example, 15 minutes of exposure to the sun while wearing SPF15 sunscreen gives you the same UV exposure as 1 minute unprotected.

But how much UV radiation is actually blocked? That can be calculated using the formula (1 - 1/SPF) * 100%
SPF5 blocks 80% of UV radiation.
SPF15 blocks 93% of UV radiation.
SPF45 blocks 98% of UV radiation.
SPF100 blocks 99% of UV radiation.

While something with a very high SPF rating may seem very impressive, I think anything higher than SPF15 is a waste.

And of course the way mileage is reported should be changed.

2008 Anti-Superstition Party this Friday 13th!

Next Friday, June 13th is the Freethought Society of Philadelphia's 2008 Anti-Superstition party. For those who've been reading this blog for a while (back when I actually used to write more) may remember my visit to the 2006 Anti-Superstion party. It is likely that I will be the Lucky Leprechaun once again. ;-)

This year's party looks to be a lot of fun. It will be held at the Radisson-Warwick Plaza Hotel and the guest of honor will be none other than "The Amazing" James Randi. So if you can't make it out to Las Vegas for TAM6 and you'll be near Phily on the 13th, you might want to consider stopping by.

You'll also get to meet Dr. Stephen Uhl, former priest-turned-psychologist. How can you miss that???

Jon Stewart on the West Virginia results.

This is too funny.

Welcome May!

Sorry if the clapping is a bit loud; I recorded this from the crowd.

APOD fractal

Is it just me, or does today's Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)



remind you of a famous fractal named Julia?

Zimmer interviews Gary Marcus

NYU Psychology professor Gary Marcus has just released his latest book Kluge about how the human brain is the product of tinkering. It is really one of the best refutations of the argument from design. Here he is interviewed by Carl Zimmer.

Charleton Heston dead at 84

Charleton Heston has died at the ripe old age of 84. In honor of him, I have found this video somebody made using clips from a classic Heston movie and the soundtrack from The Simpsons send-up on it. Yes, I realize that Dr. Zaius was not Heston's character, but it just seems so strangely appropriate.

JoCo in Philadelphia

(Poster by Len)

Last Wednesday (April 2nd), Jonathan Coulton played a concert in Philadelphia for the very first time. Or perhaps I should say that he played a concert in Philadelphia proper for the very first time. He was joined once again by Paul and Storm for a show at the World Cafe Live. This a larger venue than the last few times I saw him. Jen hooked me up with a ticket (her ticket--she couldn't make it--thanks Jen!) at a table near the front and center with some friends Caroline, Arthur, Jeanne, Kathy that was absolutely fantastic. This may be the best show I've been to yet. Unlike past shows where I brought props related to JoCo songs, I decided to honor Paul and Storm at this show: I brought panties (you'll have to check out the video to see what I'm talking about.)

Speaking of Paul and Storm, they played (with full cathedral echo) their very fun song Nun Fight. I'm sorry that I wasn't recording at the time.




But I was able to get some footage of the concert. Below is the playlist of the songs I recorded. It's not the complete set they played, but it's a decent chunk of it.

1. Opening Band
Watch the panties fly.


2. Nugget Man
An homage to a great inventor indeed.


3. IDEAL jingle
If you're not a 30+er from the Philly area, you won't get this one.


4. The Future Soon
Hey popular girls! Remember to treat the nerds nicely or this is what they'll do to you.


5. I'm Your Moon
Love song to Pluto from its moon Charon.


6. Flickr
This is the first time I've heard this song with the proper accompanying video. It's AOK!


7. Code Monkey
Needs no introduction.


8. Soft Rocked By Me
Jonathan sings about what it's like to be a total pussy.


9. Creepy Doll
Paul and Storm really rock on the back up during this song.


10. I Feel Fantastic
The song is fantastic.


11. Mr. Fancy Pants
Watch a grown man have fun with a $1000+ toy.


12. Dance Soterios Johnson, Dance (partial)
Unfortunately, due to my camera running out of memory and an emergency refill, I was only able to get the last verse. Luckily (for JoCo), what was lost was mostly screw-ups since this song was a special request that he hadn't rehearsed or played in like forever. Still, I felt that the performance was important enough that it needed to be posted anyway.


13. Still Alive
I added some "TRON" FX to this song written for the video game Portal. JoCo couldn't help laughing during the song because most of the audience members were holding up their cell phones (lit up). I guess cell phones are the "lighters" of the twenty first century.


14. Skullcrusher Mountain
What's with all the screaming?


15. Re: Your Brains
Even someone like me who couldn't sing to save his life can be a zombie for this audience sing-along.


16. First Of May
The JoCo classic about the coming of Spring (adult themes).


17. Sweet Caroline
Since I recorded this from the audience, I must apologize for the loud, off-key singing from the crowd. Oh wait, that was me ...
(Note to self: sign up for singing lessons)

Here's the video (total playing time 58:52) Enjoy!


UPDATE: The Voice of Free Planet X has a podcast with some highlights from the show as well as interviews.

UPDATE #2: The three panties from our table have made it to The Gallery Of Thrown Panties.

Is the Vogue cover racist?

If you haven't already heard, there's a bit of a controversy brewing over the latest cover of Vogue with LeBron James and Giselle Bundchen on it. Take a look for yourself.



The speculation is that the cover is invoking King Kong and therefore suggesting that LeBron James--and hence the black man--is a big brutish gorilla.



Clearly the resemblance is haunting. Almost too much to be explained away by mere coincidence. However, King Kong isn't the only cultural icon to employ the Gorilla kidnapping helpless beauty meme. For example, this Emmanuel Frémiet sculpture is obviously not King Kong.



So there are two other possibilities for the cover (I will go ahead and dismiss the explanation that the concept was completely original and the gorilla reference is just imagined by us). One is that the Vogue cover didn't copy the King Kong poster but was invoking the gorilla reference, and the the other is that the cover copied some other gorilla artwork. Given the fact that the Vogue photographer Annie Leibovitz has a history of 'artful borrowing', I think it's safe to say that the cover was in fact a copy of either the King Kong poster or something else.

For years a certain photographer has been calling us up to complain about Annie Leibovitz' penchant for recreating famous photographs and passing them off as original compositions. We usually chalked up the accusations to jealousy, and thought nothing more.

Now comes new evidence that our original source was right. Women's Wear Daily reported last week on the Vanity Fair photographer's "artful borrowing." WWD reporter Jeff Bercovici wrote that "a spokeswoman for the magazine acknowledged Wednesday that the cover photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Al Gore, shot by Annie Leibovitz, was 'inspired' by 'Ballet Society,' a 1948 portrait by Irving Penn of George Balanchine and three collaborators."

This seems to confirm that the Vogue cover is a copy. The question now becomes "Is it a copy of the King Kong poster?" While the resemblance is eerie, there seem to be too many inconsistencies for someone of Leibovitz' talent. So it shouldn't have been a big surprise when an old WWI recruiting poster surfaced.



If you compare that poster to the Vogue cover, it should be patently obvious where the inspiration came from. This leaves us with several questions.

Is the cover a copy of the "Mad Brute" WWI poster?
I think that clearly it is.

Is it racist?
Here I'm not too sure. In the original poster, the gorilla represents Germany in general, and Kaiser Wilhelm in particular (and you can't get much whiter than that). But that only raises the question of why compare LeBron James to the German war machine? It could just be that the mad brutes represent professional jocks. But would Leibovitz and Vogue have made a similar cover with a white athlete like Tom Brady? I'm guessing probably not, but I can see such a layout actually working (and without the surrounding controversy). Of course it doesn't help that the gorilla imagery always seems to involve a white girl. Perhaps a print of a gorilla kidnapping a young black beauty would remove the racial connotation. But a photographer who likes to copy classic artwork is an unlikely candidate to set that precedent.

But what really jumped out at me about this whole affair was that the old WWI poster (as well as the Frémiet sculpture) depicted a bare breasted woman. Such an image would be considered indecent today. As I've talked about before, one of the great sins of the religification of American society has been the demonization of the human body. News Flash: Female breasts aren't evil and seeing them won't psychologically mar children!

Star halfway across the Universe goes BOOM!

Have you ever seen a massive supernova in action. On March 19th, Pi-of-the-Sky did.

2008.03.19 "Pi of the Sky" telescope detected the brightest ever optical outburst from a distant universe. The explosion happened 7.5 billion light years from the Earth, halfway across the visible Universe. The telescope is only 71 mm in diameter.

Just in case you missed it, here's the movie.

Illinois: part of a balanced breakfast

It seems that pareidolia madness has struck Ebay once again. I guess I had become so accustomed to seeing such ridiculously stupid demand for nouveau religious relics such as the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich or the recent Jesus cheetoh, that I was actually a bit surprised to see a small bit of secular pareidolia fetch such a steep price. That's right, behold the Illinois Corn Flake which just sold for $1,350.00 on Ebay!



I admit, that rather pales in comparison to the $28,000.00 that the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich sold for. So maybe there is something to this religious devotion making people crazy spenders after all.

Happy Easter!

Beware the Ides of March!

Happy Birthday Albert!

Today is Albert Einstein's 129th birthday. It is also pi day. Therefore the two events are simultaneous. Or are they?

Road Trip

Molly, who shot to internet geek semi-stardom with her uke covers of Jonathan Coulton's Tom Cruise Crazy and Mr. Fancy Pants (as well as the Britney Spears classic Toxic) has just released a new original song about astronaut gone mental case Lisa Nowak.

Food fight!

How many battles and ethnic dishes can you identify?



(via Radula)

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

This is why I love The Onion!


Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

In Allah We Trust

I've never been much of a crusader for the popular atheist causes of removing the Under God from the pledge of allegiance or the In God We Trust from the currency. I've always thought (and still do) that there are more important fights out there. It's not that I'm fond of the phrase Under God, but I see children pledging an oath of allegiance to a national symbol as a proto-fascist imposition that has no place in country supposedly founded upon the principle of personal liberty. Ron Rosenbaum put it quite well.

The pledge is a kind of forced confession of orthodoxy. No, not water-boarding, but coercion nonetheless. Especially for peer-group-pressured school kids. Even if they have the right to opt out. In past school-prayer cases, the court has resisted the idea that the state should be implicated in even the social coercion or propagation of religion.

Busybody school boards and bombastic anthem peddlers at ball games should let people find their way to allegiance in their own fashion rather than making "allegiance" an implement of state power used to extract oaths.

I say dump the entire pledge!

Now, In God We Trust never really offended me before. It was one of those things that I always just took for granted but didn't fret about because it didn't really impact my life. I might roll my eyes when I caught sight of it on a bill, but I wouldn't get upset.

Words themselves don't have any intrinsic offensiveness to them. It is when those words represent something that we find deeply repulsive--such as certain human behaviors--that the words take on their offensive character. And so it is that I have begun to find In God We Trust on my currency increasingly distasteful. The blame falls squarely on the fundamentalist offensive (did you like that double entendre?) to relabel the United States as a "Christian Nation." Many of these misinformed marionettes like to defend their claim with "It even says 'In God We Trust' on the money!" Never mind the sheer ludicrousness of that argument; I've come to realize that those four words serve no useful purpose other than as a rallying point for the fundagelical zombies. And so I'm beginning to agree with those people who already do find those words offensive.

Until recently, I had no concise way of conveying to a Christian why that would or even should be offensive to me. Then yesterday I read this post by VJACK that began thus:

How do you suppose American Christians would feel about using currency on which "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the greatest) was printed?

Wow! That says it all. Without much hesitation, that line inspired Todd Sayre to create this little photoshoped beauty.



How would Christians feel if their money looked like that? Pretty offended would be my guess. Yet from my perspective, there's no difference: both statements are equally silly and neither belongs on legal tender. And yes, I am aware that the "God" from In God We Trust need not necessarily refer to the Christian God (try telling that to a fundamentalist), but as an atheist I find all gods to be as invalid as Allah is to Christians. So the analogy is a good one.