Random numbers less random around world events?

This one intrigues me: a study shows that random number generators become less random around major global events (9/11, Tsunami). Its one of those statistical correlations that's hard to explain or refute, though it harkens back to mundane explanations for remote viewing experiments, the Bible Code, Father Ernetti's Chronovisor and Asimov's psychohistory.

via Minding the Planet

OrganicHTML Grows Your Site... Or Something

Those of you into black boxes, check out OrganicHTML, which, uh...

Color Picker based on Flickr Tags

It's February 2005, and Greg Minshall might say if you want to get rid of your cat, name it "Tags".

But Krazydad's "Colr Pickr" is an especially creative use of tagged data, building a color picker out of Flickr-tagged images based on average color value. I'm not sure if Flickr feeds the color value automatically, or whether Krazydad has done a pre-scan, but if I find out I'll edit the post.

I first did a color picker many years ago when JavaScript first came out (It was called LiveScript before Netscape did the industry a disservice by renaming it JavaScript and confusing a generation of sales people who sold Java services as JavaScript and vice versa.)

3D Pavement Drawings

This guy is good. Check out the 3D illusion section, such as the Coke bottle.


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Country Divided over "Is Bush a Uniter or a Divider?"

This is such a funny meta-concept. Bush campaigned in 2000 as "I'm a uniter, not a divider." What does America think? A poll shows 49% think he's a uniter, 49% think he's a divider.
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Creation Science in the Classroom

Rather than fight the introduction of "creation science" or "intelligent design" into the classroom, welcome it with open arms and present in an opening unit on scientific inquiry. Teach the scientific method, introduce the concept of falsifiability. Talk about concepts like "hypothesis" and "theory" and "reductio ad absurdem". Discuss historical contexts where religion was used to explain the unknown: Was the earth flat? Did the sun rotate around the earth? Walk through the process of how people scientifically determined that the earth actually rotates around the sun, and the social process by which this became accepted.

When it comes time to teach biological origins and changes, present as many alternative theories as you have time for, and discuss how you would gather evidence in support of or in refutation of each theory. Compare this process with the other historical scientific inquiries to see where the process itself might have parallels.

At the end of the day, you will have scientists ready to examine any theory and arrive at conclusions with confidence.