Sunspots 627

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

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey argues that a Christian pacifist, and/or a Christian who refuses to use a gun on others, is not, therefore, a coward.

FiveThirtyEight reports on a study that says that as much as 25% of the US population may be atheists, although most of them don't identify themselves as such.

Christianity Today analyzes the influence of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr on James Comey, the recently fired head of the FBI, and on other prominent public figures.


Computing: Pro Publica reports that some Trump properties, including Mar-a-Lago, used by the President and other important figures, have networks that could easily be hacked. Wired has more on this.

Open Broadcaster Software is a free tool for recording and live streaming video.

The Conversation argues that banning laptops on airplanes would do little to increase security.

Listverse discusses the origin of 10 fonts currently in use.

Politics: Scientific American reports that the Republican governors of Vermont and Massachusetts are seriously concerned about the current and future effects of global warming, and are urging the Trump administration to continue trying to slow it down.

FiveThirtyEight gives a thorough analysis of the likelihood of President Trump being removed from office by the Congress.

Science: The History Blog reports on a fossil Nodosaur.

Scientific American reports that plants may be able to hear.

Scientific American also reports on an apple-picking robot. (With video)


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 521

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

The Arts: Left Behind is going to be available through Netflix. E. Stephen Burnett does not recommend it, from any source.

Christianity: The New English Translation of the Bible, which can be downloaded free, in various formats. It is not public domain.

A Christianity Today columnist has begun wearing the same outfit to work all week. (In this case, the columnist is a female.)

Computing: Metaflop is a web site that lets you create your own fonts by modifying a pre-existing one.

Wired says that Coolors is a web site that lets you create your own color palettes, easily. It works. I plan to post a poster, with colors selected from that site, tomorrow.

Gizmo's Freeware has a Free Windows Desktop Software Security list, annotated.

The History Blog tells us about the first selfie, taken in 1839.

Health: Christianity Today reviews a book that claims that Christians, historically, have embraced advancements in medicine, and should continue to do so.

Politics: Benjamin L. Corey gives statistics on how much (or little) Christians actually give that goes to help the poor, and says that his support of government assistance isn't because he is a socialist, but because, if the church isn't coming anywhere close to meeting needs, then government should, by default.

Science: Time reports on a baby, conceived in vitro, with mitochondria, taken from the mother, and inserted into the egg.

National Public Radio reports on miscarriages. They are more common than you think, and the most common cause is a chromosomal abnormality. In other words, miscarriage prevents births of severely abnormal babies.

Wired on why, and how, cats purr.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 455

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:
Computing: Gizmo's Freeware has found a web site that will turn your handwriting into a usable Windows font, for free. Amazing!

Gizmo's has also found a free on-line Office suite.
 
Science: Wired reports on foot-long invading snails that eat the stucco off of houses, in Florida.

From the blog of the wife of one of my nephews, some stunning photos of the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. (You can right-click on the photos to see a larger version of any or all of them.) She is an assistant to a sled dog racer in Alaska.

It's amazing how much women (and, presumably, men) don't know about how to go about conceiving a child, according to National Public Radio.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 296

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

Humor: Katherine eats out, with her family, in a restaurant where you can't see anything.

Science: Carl Zimmer tells us that, under certain conditions, a body in a grave can turn into soap.

A study shows that students learn better if the handouts they are given are not in a plain font like this one, or this one, but in a "disfluent" font, like Comic Sans. Interesting, for sure.

Computing: David Pogue, of the New York Times, discusses how our obsession with replacing our electronic gadgets frequently impacts the environment, and what, if anything, to do about this. 

Image source (public domain)