Sunspots 897

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

The Arts: NPR has posted photos of lots of fireflies in action.

Politics: A Conversation writer discusses access to White House documents.

Another Conversation writer tells about partisan news consumption. (In other words, getting news from one side of the political divide.)

Yet another Conversation post discusses political activity by members of the military.

Science: Gizmodo reports that a newly discovered species of isopods (aka pill bugs, wood lice, roly polys, and more) can grow up to a half meter or so in length.

The Scientist reports on why doing work that requires thinking makes you feel tired.

The Scientist also has an article about dreaming in animals, and its possible ethical implications.

A Conversation article tells us why animals have tails.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

Some thoughts on the upcoming election

A couple of thoughts on the upcoming Presidential election, from thinkers of times past:

There is joy in heaven, we are told, over the conversions that take place on earth. In Luke xv, 7, we read: “I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-and-nine just persons which need no repentance.” When an election for president of the United States is approaching, there is tremendous excitement – a great commotion. Probably most newspapers from Maine to California would have something on nearly every page about the candidate. The whole country is excited, but I doubt it would be noticed in heaven. – Heaven: The Place We Long For, by D. L. Moody (public domain)

Psalm 118:9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes. (World English Bible, public domain) 

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 699

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

The Arts: Christianity: Christianity Today on why the news isn't as important as most of us seem to think it is.


Finance: (or something) China is to open the world's longest over-ocean bridge today, according to National Public Radio.

History: (or something) From the New York Times, a map of every building in the US, with some accompanying text.

Humor: (or something) Relevant reports that a man ordered two glasses of water in a restaurant, and left a $10,000 tip.

Politics: Christianity Today has reported on a survey of evangelical voters. Sojourners has criticized the methodology of the survey.

Women are often treated badly in South Korea, according to National Public Radio. One symptom is that voyeurs place spy cameras in public bathrooms.

Science: Christianity Today also has an essay on how, and why, God seems to stay hidden -- not immediately visible.

Earther reports that climate change is expanding tick infestations on moose in New England, killing lots of moose.

Sports: (and science) A professor at the University of Illinois has produced the physics of baseball.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 662

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

Christianity: (And politics) A Christianity Today writer takes Jerry Falwell, Jr., to task for defending President Trump's sexual indiscretions on dubious scriptural ground.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware recommends a program that checks your Windows computer for vulnerability to the Spectre and Meltdown malware, recently discovered to be dangerous, with vulnerability built in to many information appliances. (The computer I'm using now is not vulnerable, probably due to some recent updates.)

Wired doesn't think Facebook is going to do much better than it has on feeding users reliable news. [Personal note: I glance at the Facebook news feed about once every two weeks, and never click on something. After such a glance, I search for the topic, maybe once every couple of months. Facebook is not a good way to get news.]

National Public Radio discusses best "screen time" practices for parents, including a quiz. Oh, oh.

Health: (or something. A YouGov survey reveals that a lot of us don't make our beds every day.

History: Listverse describes some recent archeological discoveries related to the ancient Greek civilization.

Politics:  National Public Radio reports that several top positions in the Trump administration (such as an ambassador to South Korea) have not been filled, and that morale among federal employees is low.

NPR also reports that the Trump administration is continuing protection for some lands in Alaska. Good for them!

Science: Listverse on ideas about whether life exists elsewhere in the universe.


Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 612

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

Christianity: A Relevant writer says that our prayers probably should be simpler.

In Christianity Today, a short discussion of addiction to pornography, and how prevalent it is.

Morgan Busse repeats some classic, and needed, guidelines on what to say, or not.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware reports on a Chrome browser extension that searches your Internet cache. In other words, it looks in what you've already looked at, rather than the entire web. Should be a big help in finding things you only partly remember, that you've already seen.

Google has made 819 typefaces available for free. One catch -- you can't download these to your computer, and use them in, say, Word. They are designed to be added to part or all of a web page.

Gizmo's also notes that a new version of Libre Office, a freeware substitute for Microsoft Office, is available for download.

Health: Scientific American reports that the dust mites that you may be allergic to cannot survive in a dry area, like, say, Arizona or Utah.

History: Listverse reports on 10 amazing items (or groups of items) of considerable value found with a metal detector.

Philosophy: Scientific American reports on research that shows that most people think that they are morally superior to others.


Politics: (And the environment) The Guardian reports that a house bill would, if adopted as law, sell a chunk of public land "as large as Connecticut." Please don't.

FiveThirtyEight on how Judge Gorsuch (if confirmed) and additional Supreme Court Justices appointed by President Trump might change previous decisions, such as Roe v. Wade/Doe v. Bolton.

Listverse discusses 10 problems with where and how we get our news. And "fake news" is on the list, but it's not the only problem.

Science: Scientific American discusses "strategic retreat" from rising bodies of water, caused by climate change.


Image source (public domain)

How to keep up with blogs, news, etc.

There is more than one way to do this. Some people check the blog site every so often. Some blogs send an e-mail when a new post is available. Some bloggers post on Facebook when they have a new post.

But there's another, and, for many, a better way. Use the blog's RSS feed, and subscribe to it by some RSS reader. (I use Google Reader, but there are many other ways.)

All this is explained well in a post from Gizmo's Freeware (which site I subscribe to, by the way.)