Sunspots 594

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey claims that the US is not hostile toward Christianity, but hostile toward Christians who try to bully others into certain kinds of behavior.


Computing: Several companies in the information sector are working together with public representatives to develop ethics guidelines for artificial intelligence, according to reports by National Public Radio and other sources.

Gizmo's Freeware has posted an updated and annotated list of the best free apps, including, for example, substitutes for Word and Excel, and games, and many more.

Finance: Scientific American reports that Congress, with a bill backed by members of both parties (!) will probably pass legislation that helps prevent people who have lost property in a flood from continuing to receive federally backed insurance payments when they re-build in the same place. The worst case mentioned is a home that has had 34 damage claims in 32 years, whose owner has been paid about ten times the property's value over that time period.

Food: Cup noodles are 45 years old. NPR reports on their history and culture (and also on Ramen noodles).

Health: National Public Radio reports on the value of walking for health, especially in older people.

History: Listverse presents 10 amazing stories of survival in the Arctic.


Humor: (or not) The Conversation on why some of us think clowns are creepy.

Real humor: An amazing rope trick video.




Politics: NPR reports on the question of whether fact checks matter.
Science: NPR reports that an environmentally cleaner car may actually cost less.
Scientific American reports that 8-month-old babies are able to understand more than we might expect, and to use communication with adults.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 566

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (and politics, I guess) Christianity Today reports on how World Relief has re-settled many thousands of refugees into the US.

And Christianity Today has an article on how becoming a Christian is like getting a bone marrow transplant. Really.

Computing: Christianity Today interviews an expert on the "pornification" of social media, especially by teen-aged girls.

Wired says that closing your apps doesn't save battery life, and explains why.

Science: Listverse on some recent findings in ant behavior. Example: in at least some species, some of the time, some of the worker ants don't seem to do anything productive.

Listverse has also posted about some commonly believed "facts" about some animals, that are not true. Example: praying mantis females always eat the head of the male who is mating with them.

And Listverse reports on 10 animals that can clone themselves. Some of these are vertebrates -- no mammals or birds, though.

Wired reports that microbes are beginning to replace chemical insecticides in agriculture.

Wired also reports on a strange finding about prime numbers.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 402

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Science:  Fox News reports that there may be devastating solar storms this year.

The Arts: (Actually, education) Seattle teachers have refused to administer a state-mandated test to their students, according to NPR.

Politics: (or Christianity) Wired reports on a student who was told she had to cease attending a public high school because she wouldn't wear an RFID chip in her school lanyard (on the grounds that that is related to the mark of the beast. It's a complex story.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports on nine free apps you should strongly consider installing on your Android device.

Freebook Sifter lists many free books available in Kindle format, complete with the number of reviews, and the average number of stars in the reviews for each book. It's not just a list. You can browse by topics and subtopics. Gizmo's Freeware, where I saw this listed, says that some of the books on the list are not free, presumably because Amazon or the publisher has changed the price.

Image source (public domain)

Death threats over the Internet?

Death threats by Facebook? By Twitter? By e-mail? By comments on blogs and videos? Unfortunately, yes. Fortunately, they haven't come to me -- yet.

Leonard Pitts, a fine newspaper columnist, points out, in one of his many good pieces of writing, that there have been at least four cases of death threats, delivered by the Internet, to people who should have had no fear of such, within the last couple of weeks.

The newest technology, he eloquently reminds us, doesn't necessarily make communication any better. Instead, it brings out the worst in some of us. What we need to do is to use wisdom. And, as he says, "There is no app for that."

Thanks for reading. Read Pitts.