![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Slow news day
Mar. 14th, 2011 09:46 amStop Press! Idiots on the internet...
A collection of unsurprisingly talented comments from Facebook.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/upload/2011/03/i_hope_these_people_arent_your/GodBlessAmerica.php
A collection of unsurprisingly talented comments from Facebook.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/upload/2011/03/i_hope_these_people_arent_your/GodBlessAmerica.php
Kiss of Death.
Feb. 6th, 2011 03:54 pmYes yes, I shall doom Carl utterly by transcribing his stats to a clean and new character sheet.
Well, that's not the intention, but 'twould be ironic.
Well, that's not the intention, but 'twould be ironic.
Webcomic Love
Jan. 17th, 2011 09:53 amHow to encourage children to love science.
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2125
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2125
Happy Winter.
Dec. 20th, 2010 05:02 pmAlso - a nice and often amusing essay from Ricky Gervais on why he's an atheist. Often Ricky Gervais sounds like a bit of a dick, so this was surprisingly nice to read, because he didn't.
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/
Webcomic love
Dec. 15th, 2010 06:47 pmDarryl Cunningham does a neat and concise summary of Climate Change.
http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com/2010/12/climate-change.html
http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com/2010/12/climate-change.html
Eberron, D+D and bards.
Dec. 10th, 2010 10:19 amMostly for adance kibbitzing from the herd:
Carl gets to know 5th level bard spells this level. Three of them, to be exact of which he can cast 1/day (until he gets the +4cha item he's been saving for. Maybe even worth getting a loan for.).
Options include:
False Vision (misinformation for 14 hours in case of folks scrying us)
Mass Cure Light wounds (up to 14 people, doing 1d8+14 hp)
Mass Suggestion (We're not Jaiks Seven, Move along now)
Mislead (turn improved invisible and have illusory me to distract folks)
Persistent Image (create entire illusion scene scripted without concentration - fun!)
Seeming (a mass disguise illusion spell again up to 14 people - maybe useful for infiltrating the Death Star)
Shadow Walk (fast travel using the shadow plane - i like it!)
plus anything from Spell compendium I've missed.
So far i'm tempted by:
Shadow Walk (another mobility/transit option)
Persistent Image (stage shows, and recreating youtube videos for us)
So, the third slot is free and if any of you lot have thoughts for synergy etc, yell. Remember that Carl is not a combat bard, so his spell DC is not that pumped.
In other news - Inspire Greatness (+3 hit, +3d10+3xConMod, +2 fortSaves) now affects 2 allies at a time! Exciting.
All this with Mass Heal 2x/day.
If any of you have access to a printer - could you run me off the last page of:
http://www.kcdnd.com/players/spell%20sheets/DnD_3.5_Bard_Spells.pdf
or
pages 15/16 from here:
http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Spells-Bard.pdf
Carl gets to know 5th level bard spells this level. Three of them, to be exact of which he can cast 1/day (until he gets the +4cha item he's been saving for. Maybe even worth getting a loan for.).
Options include:
False Vision (misinformation for 14 hours in case of folks scrying us)
Mass Cure Light wounds (up to 14 people, doing 1d8+14 hp)
Mass Suggestion (We're not Jaiks Seven, Move along now)
Mislead (turn improved invisible and have illusory me to distract folks)
Persistent Image (create entire illusion scene scripted without concentration - fun!)
Seeming (a mass disguise illusion spell again up to 14 people - maybe useful for infiltrating the Death Star)
Shadow Walk (fast travel using the shadow plane - i like it!)
plus anything from Spell compendium I've missed.
So far i'm tempted by:
Shadow Walk (another mobility/transit option)
Persistent Image (stage shows, and recreating youtube videos for us)
So, the third slot is free and if any of you lot have thoughts for synergy etc, yell. Remember that Carl is not a combat bard, so his spell DC is not that pumped.
In other news - Inspire Greatness (+3 hit, +3d10+3xConMod, +2 fortSaves) now affects 2 allies at a time! Exciting.
All this with Mass Heal 2x/day.
If any of you have access to a printer - could you run me off the last page of:
http://www.kcdnd.com/players/spell%20sheets/DnD_3.5_Bard_Spells.pdf
or
pages 15/16 from here:
http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Spells-Bard.pdf
Movember Final
Dec. 1st, 2010 01:20 pmYes, this is my last moustache-post.
It's not bad though, and Lera approves so I may keep it a while.
Prostate Cancer Charity - http://uk.movember.com/mospace/947908/
Dr. Hadwen Trust - http://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Wilkins-Movember2010
Thank you to all who've donated so far. In total us folks at CSR have raised nearly £400 for the official Movember site. Which is pretty good!
It's not bad though, and Lera approves so I may keep it a while.
Prostate Cancer Charity - http://uk.movember.com/mospace/947908/
Dr. Hadwen Trust - http://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Wilkins-Movember2010
Thank you to all who've donated so far. In total us folks at CSR have raised nearly £400 for the official Movember site. Which is pretty good!
Webcomic Love
Nov. 26th, 2010 03:56 pmSaturday Morning Breakfast Cereal -
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2075
Yes, I like the comic's usual take on science etc.
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2075
Yes, I like the comic's usual take on science etc.
Book burning
Nov. 26th, 2010 10:41 amBirmingham girl arrested for allegedly burning Quran
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/25/girl-arrested-allegedly-burning-quran
This kind of story upsets me a little since I wonder where the legal line gets drawn. What are acceptable ways of house-tidying or disposing of personal property? Garden waste is OK to burn, so's old furniture and arguably being paper, books could be burned too.
So, if you're allowed to burn your own unwanted property safely - where's the crime? Would it be better or worse if the Quran was one of a bunch of books being burned? Is chucking it in a wheelie bin that much more respectful? Is deleting a pdf of the Quran innately offensive? Could other faiths object to other books being disposed of? If Jedi is officially a faith in some circles does that mean that Splinter of the Mind's Eye could be holy enough to be criminal to burn? It's certainly unreliable and inconsistent with the later Star Wars canon. Even if you think the object in general is special, why should that affect what I can do with my instance of that object.
It feels like they've got a sticky situation where they're trying to make the intent criminal, and that's got to be harder than demonstrating the actual actions performed.
If I could be bothered, it'd make me tempted to hold a big book bonfire party. Just bring a book that you think is worthy of permanent disposal to render it unreadable by others.
Fret not, I'm likely not that motivated.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/25/girl-arrested-allegedly-burning-quran
This kind of story upsets me a little since I wonder where the legal line gets drawn. What are acceptable ways of house-tidying or disposing of personal property? Garden waste is OK to burn, so's old furniture and arguably being paper, books could be burned too.
So, if you're allowed to burn your own unwanted property safely - where's the crime? Would it be better or worse if the Quran was one of a bunch of books being burned? Is chucking it in a wheelie bin that much more respectful? Is deleting a pdf of the Quran innately offensive? Could other faiths object to other books being disposed of? If Jedi is officially a faith in some circles does that mean that Splinter of the Mind's Eye could be holy enough to be criminal to burn? It's certainly unreliable and inconsistent with the later Star Wars canon. Even if you think the object in general is special, why should that affect what I can do with my instance of that object.
It feels like they've got a sticky situation where they're trying to make the intent criminal, and that's got to be harder than demonstrating the actual actions performed.
If I could be bothered, it'd make me tempted to hold a big book bonfire party. Just bring a book that you think is worthy of permanent disposal to render it unreadable by others.
Fret not, I'm likely not that motivated.
My, how manly you are...
Nov. 22nd, 2010 10:57 amUpdated moustache pics.
http://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Wilkins-Movember2010
http://uk.movember.com/mospace/947908/
http://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Wilkins-Movember2010
http://uk.movember.com/mospace/947908/
Updated Movember photos
Nov. 15th, 2010 05:00 pmhttp://uk.movember.com/mospace/947908/
http://www.justgiving.com/simon-wilkins-movember2010/
It looks better as a moustache after shaving the rest of the face, otherwise it kind of blends in.
http://www.justgiving.com/simon-wilkins-movember2010/
It looks better as a moustache after shaving the rest of the face, otherwise it kind of blends in.
And a Movember link...
Nov. 5th, 2010 10:58 amThis is for the Animal-Friendly Dr Hadwen Trust, though.
Original Movember site is:
http://uk.movember.com/mospace/947908/
Original Movember site is:
http://uk.movember.com/mospace/947908/
Jesus and Mo - still good!
Nov. 5th, 2010 10:44 amThat's not news, I know - but this one has a neat pun.
http://www.jesusandmo.net/2010/11/04/abou/
http://www.jesusandmo.net/2010/11/04/abou/
The horror...
Oct. 1st, 2010 10:49 amFat George prepares to vomit on the eiderdown of my youthful nostalgia again.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i677c428c4dc16c2c7592835d50e86a3a
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i677c428c4dc16c2c7592835d50e86a3a
Ah, my angry blogger strikes again.
Sep. 30th, 2010 11:04 amIt's all good stuff about certainty, or the obvious lack thereof, in atheism and other theisms. We don't need absolute certainty to operate and it's useful to underline that to avoid hyperbolic stuff.
The thing that made me smile and re-post was this:
"(The flip side of this fallacy is the theists' claim that they cannot supply atheists' demands for absolute certainty about claims of a god's existence or properties. We do not demand absolute certainty. We'd like to see a case made beyond a reasonable doubt, but at this point I'd settle for probable cause or even reasonable suspicion.)"
Which I thought was cute. After that the tone of the post gets slightly ruder, but the content's still nice (in its meaning as accurate). Which is why I read it.
( More below )
http://barefootbum.blogspot.com/2010/09/atheism-conviction-and-certainty.html
PS - Someone please tell me how to use cut tags here - I bet they don't use lj-cut as a syntax.
The thing that made me smile and re-post was this:
"(The flip side of this fallacy is the theists' claim that they cannot supply atheists' demands for absolute certainty about claims of a god's existence or properties. We do not demand absolute certainty. We'd like to see a case made beyond a reasonable doubt, but at this point I'd settle for probable cause or even reasonable suspicion.)"
Which I thought was cute. After that the tone of the post gets slightly ruder, but the content's still nice (in its meaning as accurate). Which is why I read it.
( More below )
http://barefootbum.blogspot.com/2010/09/atheism-conviction-and-certainty.html
PS - Someone please tell me how to use cut tags here - I bet they don't use lj-cut as a syntax.
Gold and Lead - Session 1 - Wagons Roll!
Sep. 28th, 2010 11:23 pmhttp://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/gold-and-lead
In which Mr Brendon is appraised of the importance of the coal supplies of Sweetwater to the rest of the railroad interest by Titus Adams. Mr Adams also notes the rival interests of the AT+SF railroad company both in this area and in the main thrust southwards to New Mexico.
The Party assemble with wagons and numerous supplies including dogs, telegraphy equipment and some reasonable quality whisky. In addition to the Brendon party, a young german woman is also travelling to Sweetwater to meet with her uncle following the death of her godfather and guardian.
Travel along the trail is uneventful and limited by the wagons and oxen. A nightly stop offers sounds of wildlife that do not overly bother the encampment. With the arrival of morning, the party decide to strike out for Sweetwater ahead of the wagons. It should only take half a day by horse and stagecoach, whereas the wagons could be 2-3 days from the nascent town.
The alert senses of the Sheriff give rise to suspicion of the area just beyond the crest of a hill. A brief conversation is held after which the decision is taken to ride through the suspect area and avoid the worst of any ambush.
As the stagecoach leaves the crest of the hill and Dr Rackworth spies some shapes in the wooded slopes, a few arrows begin to fly. Rackworth spurs his mule to greater endeavour and charges one of the bushwhacking indians. Sheriff Buck takes a wider path around and up the slope before readying a rifle.
The fight is brief and all the five indians present on the slopes are slain. The cost is significant, though. The driver of the stagecoach takes an arrow in the side, and Dr Rackworth is near slain by the arrow and tomahawk wounds sustained in the fray. The dashing Irishman Mr Devlin coolly shot the last remaining fleeing unarmed indian in the back with his shotgun.
The wounded driver and doctor are made as comfortable as possible with some laudanum and they drive onwards towards Sweetwater without additional interruption.
In which Mr Brendon is appraised of the importance of the coal supplies of Sweetwater to the rest of the railroad interest by Titus Adams. Mr Adams also notes the rival interests of the AT+SF railroad company both in this area and in the main thrust southwards to New Mexico.
The Party assemble with wagons and numerous supplies including dogs, telegraphy equipment and some reasonable quality whisky. In addition to the Brendon party, a young german woman is also travelling to Sweetwater to meet with her uncle following the death of her godfather and guardian.
Travel along the trail is uneventful and limited by the wagons and oxen. A nightly stop offers sounds of wildlife that do not overly bother the encampment. With the arrival of morning, the party decide to strike out for Sweetwater ahead of the wagons. It should only take half a day by horse and stagecoach, whereas the wagons could be 2-3 days from the nascent town.
The alert senses of the Sheriff give rise to suspicion of the area just beyond the crest of a hill. A brief conversation is held after which the decision is taken to ride through the suspect area and avoid the worst of any ambush.
As the stagecoach leaves the crest of the hill and Dr Rackworth spies some shapes in the wooded slopes, a few arrows begin to fly. Rackworth spurs his mule to greater endeavour and charges one of the bushwhacking indians. Sheriff Buck takes a wider path around and up the slope before readying a rifle.
The fight is brief and all the five indians present on the slopes are slain. The cost is significant, though. The driver of the stagecoach takes an arrow in the side, and Dr Rackworth is near slain by the arrow and tomahawk wounds sustained in the fray. The dashing Irishman Mr Devlin coolly shot the last remaining fleeing unarmed indian in the back with his shotgun.
The wounded driver and doctor are made as comfortable as possible with some laudanum and they drive onwards towards Sweetwater without additional interruption.
Linky linky
Sep. 20th, 2010 11:13 amRichard Dawkins' full speech regarding the Pope's visit to the UK - and in particular a response to the Pope's assertion that atheists are like nazis - I guess PBXVI ain't heard of Godwin's Law.
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/521113-ratzinger-is-an-enemy-of-humanity
The title may seem inflammatory, but the speech reads well and is reasoned.
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/521113-ratzinger-is-an-enemy-of-humanity
The title may seem inflammatory, but the speech reads well and is reasoned.
Toddlers etc.
Sep. 19th, 2010 09:09 pmBen has taught Henry a new game: Dinosaurs attack car transporter.
L was saying 'maybe they're just getting a ride' before Henry started with the 'raah!' noises and the running and the screaming.
L was saying 'maybe they're just getting a ride' before Henry started with the 'raah!' noises and the running and the screaming.
