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Cubist



Posts: 558
Joined: Oct. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: April 08 2015,12:11   

"Easter is cancelled. They found the body."

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: April 12 2015,11:36   

This just in: apparently our old pal Vox Day is involved in a vote-rigging scandal at the Hugos.

I find that amusing.

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"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: April 12 2015,12:35   

Quote (Cubist @ April 08 2015,11:11)
"Easter is cancelled. They found the body."

Behind the couch?

  
Glen Davidson



Posts: 1100
Joined: May 2006

(Permalink) Posted: April 12 2015,13:02   

Quote (Henry J @ April 12 2015,12:35)
Quote (Cubist @ April 08 2015,11:11)
"Easter is cancelled. They found the body."

Behind the couch?

The butler did it!

Who could see that coming?

Glen Davidson

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http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p....p

Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of coincidence---ID philosophy

   
Cubist



Posts: 558
Joined: Oct. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: April 12 2015,23:40   

Quote (fnxtr @ April 12 2015,11:36)
This just in: apparently our old pal Vox Day is involved in a vote-rigging scandal at the Hugos.

I find that amusing.

Strictly speaking, VD & cronies rigged the nominations, not the vote. The vote isn't going to happen until Worldcon itself occurs. Mind you, VD & cronies haven't violated the letter of any rule related to Hugo nominations; the spirit of said rules, yeah, that's been stomped on with hobnailed boots. This is actually the third time around for VD & cronies; the first two times, their efforts didn't yield much (if any) in the way of practical results.

It's worth noting that the actual Hugo vote is not USA-style "first past the post" but, rather, a different  voting protocol known as Instant Runoff Voting, which has a certain degree of resistance to the sort of game VD & cronies are playing. It's also worth noting that there are a number of people who have publically affirmed that they're going to vote No Award over most/all of the items on the Sad/Rabid Puppies slates; some of them will automatically No Award everybody on a Sad/Rabid Puppy slate, while others will make an exception for those people who were placed on a Sad/Rabid Puppy slate without their consent. All this being the case, it's not at all clear how much in the way of practical results VD & cronies are going to achieve this time around, either.

Of course, VD isn't going to give up just because he's an N-time loser. SF author Charles Stross has a blog post which examines VD's little game, notes that VD has founded an SF publishing company (Castalia House) in Finland, and speculates that VD's long-term goal may be to use Castalia House to generate a nontrivial quantity of like-minded SF authors who qualify to join the SFWA, with the intended goal of shitting on John Scalzi, a very successful SF author who VD hates with the burning passion of a million suns.

  
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: April 13 2015,00:46   

Interesting wiki write up.

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Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: April 13 2015,19:35   

You are of course correct, Cubist.

The Hugos mean about as much to me as the Bluegrass Awards; I just thought it was odd that someone was actually taking Captain Warmouse seriously.

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"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
Cubist



Posts: 558
Joined: Oct. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: April 14 2015,02:31   

Quote (fnxtr @ April 13 2015,19:35)
You are of course correct, Cubist.

The Hugos mean about as much to me as the Bluegrass Awards

This statement tells me that you're not part of the subculture of science fiction fandom. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," as Seinfeld might have said…

To people who are part of the subculture of science fiction fandom, the Hugo Awards are a pretty big deal. They were first given in 1953, and over the 60-odd years of their existence, the Hugos have been a largely reliable indicator of quality in science fiction. I say "largely" because the Hugos are decided by vote of anybody who can spare the cost of a Supporting Membership to the World SF Convention, which means that there have been some… questionable… Hugo winners over the decades. But still, 60-odd years of history and tradition, you know?

Quote
I just thought it was odd that someone was actually taking Captain Warmouse seriously.

See also: "60-odd years of history and tradition". That's what VD is shitting on, so it makes sense that SF fans would take VD's monkeywrenching seriously. Outside of concern regarding VD's monkeywrenching, most SF fans don't give any more of a shit about VD than anybody here does.

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: April 14 2015,08:49   

I meant why anyone would take him seriously enough to become a fellow monkeywrencher.

And it's true. I like a good read but I'm not really in the loop.

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"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
Cubist



Posts: 558
Joined: Oct. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: April 14 2015,13:14   

Quote (fnxtr @ April 14 2015,08:49)
I meant why anyone would take him seriously enough to become a fellow monkeywrencher.

VD's comrades are basically "VD lite", in that they pretty much agree with VD's views without necessarily being as extreme/toxic about it as VD himself is.

Quote
And it's true. I like a good read but I'm not really in the loop.

[nods] Understood.

  
Amadan



Posts: 1337
Joined: Jan. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: April 19 2015,15:17   

Ken Ham has competition.

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"People are always looking for natural selection to generate random mutations" - Densye  4-4-2011
JoeG BTW dumbass- some variations help ensure reproductive fitness so they cannot be random wrt it.

   
khan



Posts: 1554
Joined: May 2007

(Permalink) Posted: April 19 2015,19:15   

I have moved from Ohio to SW Florida, in case anyone is interested.

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"It's as if all those words, in their hurry to escape from the loony, have fallen over each other, forming scrambled heaps of meaninglessness." -damitall

That's so fucking stupid it merits a wing in the museum of stupid. -midwifetoad

Frequency is just the plural of wavelength...
-JoeG

  
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: April 19 2015,20:08   

Quote (Amadan @ April 19 2015,15:17)
Ken Ham has competition.

That's my back yard. I probably met this guy or his neighbors when i worked in protective services.

The dogs are actually scarier than the guns

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Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
paragwinn



Posts: 539
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: April 19 2015,22:56   

Quote (khan @ April 19 2015,17:15)
I have moved from Ohio to SW Florida, in case anyone is interested.

Voluntarily?

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All women build up a resistance [to male condescension]. Apparently, ID did not predict that. -Kristine 4-19-11
F/Ns to F/Ns to F/Ns etc. The whole thing is F/N ridiculous -Seversky on KF footnote fetish 8-20-11
Sigh. Really Bill? - Barry Arrington

  
khan



Posts: 1554
Joined: May 2007

(Permalink) Posted: April 20 2015,18:12   

Yes, voluntarily.

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"It's as if all those words, in their hurry to escape from the loony, have fallen over each other, forming scrambled heaps of meaninglessness." -damitall

That's so fucking stupid it merits a wing in the museum of stupid. -midwifetoad

Frequency is just the plural of wavelength...
-JoeG

  
Amadan



Posts: 1337
Joined: Jan. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: April 22 2015,02:27   

Rick 'Mr. Bubbles' Santorum says Obama has imposed a "secular theocracy".

Further comment is not required.

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"People are always looking for natural selection to generate random mutations" - Densye  4-4-2011
JoeG BTW dumbass- some variations help ensure reproductive fitness so they cannot be random wrt it.

   
stevestory



Posts: 13407
Joined: Oct. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: April 22 2015,12:43   

First they came for the Santorum, and EEEEEEWWWWWWW

   
J-Dog



Posts: 4402
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: April 24 2015,14:33   

New slogan for all the conservative-leaning members of UD*:
"Get Icky With Ricky"!


* WAG = 100%...

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Come on Tough Guy, do the little dance of ID impotence you do so well. - Louis to Joe G 2/10

Gullibility is not a virtue - Quidam on Dembski's belief in the Bible Code Faith Healers & ID 7/08

UD is an Unnatural Douchemagnet. - richardthughes 7/11

  
Dr.GH



Posts: 2333
Joined: May 2002

(Permalink) Posted: May 02 2015,10:28   

Casey Luskin testifies

http://www.worldmag.com/2015....olution

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"Science is the horse that pulls the cart of philosophy."

L. Susskind, 2004 "SMOLIN VS. SUSSKIND: THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE"

   
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 02 2015,16:45   

Quote (Dr.GH @ May 02 2015,08:28)
Casey Luskin testifies

http://www.worldmag.com/2015.......olution

Wonder what their comments policy is.

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"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 03 2015,17:02   

Quote (Cubist @ April 14 2015,11:14)
Quote (fnxtr @ April 14 2015,08:49)
I meant why anyone would take him seriously enough to become a fellow monkeywrencher.

VD's comrades are basically "VD lite", in that they pretty much agree with VD's views without necessarily being as extreme/toxic about it as VD himself is.

Quote
And it's true. I like a good read but I'm not really in the loop.

[nods] Understood.

So after the kerfuffle I decided to read some Kloos.  "Lines of Departure" is fun in a Neal Asher kind of way, but it's not really science fiction, it's just Tom Clancy in space.

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"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: May 04 2015,05:47   

I have a bookshelf of Heinlein era science fiction, but I'm not sure what real science fiction is.

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Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
Cubist



Posts: 558
Joined: Oct. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 04 2015,14:58   

Quote (midwifetoad @ May 04 2015,05:47)
I have a bookshelf of Heinlein era science fiction, but I'm not sure what real science fiction is.

Heh! Defining 'science fiction' is a notoriously difficult task—ask five different SF fen (plural of "fan", and yes, "fen" is a time-honored term in fannish slang), and you'll get 6 different answers. Myself, I go with this definition:

Science fiction is a branch of literature in which scientific theories and/or findings are so central to the plot that the story couldn't exist if said theories/findings were removed from the story.

  
JohnW



Posts: 3217
Joined: Aug. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 04 2015,15:08   

Quote (Cubist @ May 04 2015,12:58)
Quote (midwifetoad @ May 04 2015,05:47)
I have a bookshelf of Heinlein era science fiction, but I'm not sure what real science fiction is.

Heh! Defining 'science fiction' is a notoriously difficult task—ask five different SF fen (plural of "fan", and yes, "fen" is a time-honored term in fannish slang), and you'll get 6 different answers. Myself, I go with this definition:

Science fiction is a branch of literature in which scientific theories and/or findings are so central to the plot that the story couldn't exist if said theories/findings were removed from the story.

It's like pornography.  I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.

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Math is just a language of reality. Its a waste of time to know it. - Robert Byers

There isn't any probability that the letter d is in the word "mathematics"...  The correct answer would be "not even 0" - JoeG

  
Cubist



Posts: 558
Joined: Oct. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 04 2015,16:06   

Quote (JohnW @ May 04 2015,15:08)
 
Quote (Cubist @ May 04 2015,12:58)
 
Quote (midwifetoad @ May 04 2015,05:47)
I have a bookshelf of Heinlein era science fiction, but I'm not sure what real science fiction is.

Heh! Defining 'science fiction' is a notoriously difficult task—ask five different SF fen (plural of "fan", and yes, "fen" is a time-honored term in fannish slang), and you'll get 6 different answers. Myself, I go with this definition:

Science fiction is a branch of literature in which scientific theories and/or findings are so central to the plot that the story couldn't exist if said theories/findings were removed from the story.

It's like pornography.  I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.

[nods] Yep. You may be amused to know that Damon Knight's definition of SF was "what we point at when we say it"…

  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: May 04 2015,20:28   

The definition that Cubist gave is closer than anything I could have thought up. Though I do wonder if it should read "fictional scientific theory and/or finding", since detective stories and such are apt to refer to things in real science when the characters analyze something.

  
OgreMkV



Posts: 3668
Joined: Oct. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: May 04 2015,22:54   

Quote (Henry J @ May 04 2015,20:28)
The definition that Cubist gave is closer than anything I could have thought up. Though I do wonder if it should read "fictional scientific theory and/or finding", since detective stories and such are apt to refer to things in real science when the characters analyze something.

I've always considered science fiction to be "advanced from what we have today". So something like Wired and Amped are science fiction, even though it's on Earth, takes place today, and using known (mostly) tech. Even a Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is arguably science fiction... though in every case, there are blurred lines.

Hard science fiction is science fiction based on science. Stephen Baxter springs immediately to mind. There's no fantastic aspect, just technology and science... with a deep explanation of why the science is like that.

Space opera is science fiction that doesn't care anything about the tech or the science... it's just a contrivance for the story. Star Wars, for example.

I could go on. Dramatic science fiction. Military science fiction. Science fiction fantasy (orcs with plasma cannons man!). Cyberpunk. etc. etc. etc.

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Ignored by those who can't provide evidence for their claims.

http://skepticink.com/smilodo....retreat

   
Bob O'H



Posts: 2564
Joined: Oct. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: May 05 2015,02:49   

Quote (midwifetoad @ May 04 2015,05:47)
I have a bookshelf of Heinlein era science fiction, but I'm not sure what real science fiction is.

If it's mentioned by Dave Langford it's SF.

Margaret Atwood famously described SF as being about 'talking squids in outer space', which became a bit of a meme.

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It is fun to dip into the various threads to watch cluelessness at work in the hands of the confident exponent. - Soapy Sam (so say we all)

   
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: May 05 2015,07:20   

Sherlock Holmes would be science fiction, and Foundation would be space opera. My own working definition is that if it is on a school reading list, it's not science fiction. If it has magic not involving wooden sticks or incantations, it might be.

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Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
stevestory



Posts: 13407
Joined: Oct. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: May 19 2015,14:58   

bobby jindal's sleazy creationism

   
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