Comments on: Astroblurbs http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/ I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:02:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Starviking http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102571 Starviking Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:04:33 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102571 Re the Pom/Yank theme - all very interesting, but they are slang terms. Calling UK scientists 'English' is like calling US scientists 'New Englanders', or Australian scientists 'Canberrans'. I wouldn't be so miffed - but this isn't the first time this had happened on this most excellent blog... :( Re the Pom/Yank theme - all very interesting, but they are slang terms.

Calling UK scientists ‘English’ is like calling US scientists ‘New Englanders’, or Australian scientists ‘Canberrans’.

I wouldn’t be so miffed - but this isn’t the first time this had happened on this most excellent blog… :(

]]> By: marko http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102407 marko Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:05:34 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102407 What an amazing thing George Hrab did there! I just listened to all of it while using the cooles table on the web that I know (http://dayah.com/periodic/). My favorite song: Praseodymium. What an amazing thing George Hrab did there! I just listened to all of it while using the cooles table on the web that I know (http://dayah.com/periodic/). My favorite song: Praseodymium.

]]> By: Light http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102274 Light Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:03:51 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102274 I guess no one's heard of Moly grease? Used for lubing your chassis and a little dab helps when putting the heads of a Chevy Small Block back together. I guess no one’s heard of Moly grease? Used for lubing your chassis and a little dab helps when putting the heads of a Chevy Small Block back together.

]]> By: Blizno http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102155 Blizno Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:23:27 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102155 I have a very strong memory as a little kid of everybody from the neighborhood gathering in the street to watch an eclipse. My father carefully poked a hole in one sheet of paper with a pin and held it over another sheet of paper. We saw a small, bright circle. As it got eerily dark, a bite appeared in the circle that got bigger and bigger until the circle was gone and all the birds became silent. Our mother, the sun, slowly reappeared much to my relief. I have a very strong memory as a little kid of everybody from the neighborhood gathering in the street to watch an eclipse. My father carefully poked a hole in one sheet of paper with a pin and held it over another sheet of paper. We saw a small, bright circle. As it got eerily dark, a bite appeared in the circle that got bigger and bigger until the circle was gone and all the birds became silent. Our mother, the sun, slowly reappeared much to my relief.

]]> By: Blizno http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102152 Blizno Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:12:56 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-102152 "Sorry Southerners, if you’re from the USA you’re a Yank." The worst war the USA ever experienced, the American Civil War, was between Yankees and Rebels. The South (Rebels) lost. Some Southerners still hang onto bitterness and pride and go so far as to fly the Confederate flag, which most Americans consider a symbol of slavery. Imagine a few Germans flying swastika flags... I say this only to explain why a few people from the southern United States aren't comfortable being called Yanks. That war is long over. Go ahead and call us Yanks. There are far worse things you can call us. "If you’re from the UK you’re a Pom. Being called Pommy gets rid of all the other awkward labels like English, Scot, Brit or Welsh." I've never heard of "Pommy" but I understand the irritation of being called English when you're from some other part of the UK. I use "UK" to be safe like I use "USA" instead of "American" most of the time. The term "American" covers two continents and the huge strip of land connecting them. Lots of us used to call everybody from the Soviet Union "Russians" and didn't know or care the difference. “Sorry Southerners, if you’re from the USA you’re a Yank.”

The worst war the USA ever experienced, the American Civil War, was between Yankees and Rebels. The South (Rebels) lost. Some Southerners still hang onto bitterness and pride and go so far as to fly the Confederate flag, which most Americans consider a symbol of slavery. Imagine a few Germans flying swastika flags…
I say this only to explain why a few people from the southern United States aren’t comfortable being called Yanks.
That war is long over. Go ahead and call us Yanks. There are far worse things you can call us.

“If you’re from the UK you’re a Pom. Being called Pommy gets rid of all the other awkward labels like English, Scot, Brit or Welsh.”

I’ve never heard of “Pommy” but I understand the irritation of being called English when you’re from some other part of the UK. I use “UK” to be safe like I use “USA” instead of “American” most of the time. The term “American” covers two continents and the huge strip of land connecting them. Lots of us used to call everybody from the Soviet Union “Russians” and didn’t know or care the difference.

]]> By: Paul Hutch http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-101975 Paul Hutch Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:35:38 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-101975 First let me say thank you very much to Phil for not only the link above but also the kind words in his PM to me. Also a big thank you to all the readers here who gave me my first > 1000 visitors/day in the 7 years I've had my domain. Phil's post was on May 18th, the WTSP-TV article with PDF's was posted on May 13th. The article was moved to the WTSP story archives so it no longer has the exact date (it says 2 months ago). The PDF's were faxed to WTSP on May 12th, if anyone wants copies of the PDF's, post a comment on my site and I'll gladly send them to you. The reason all the reporters and media started turning on Mr. Piculas was these clearly sketchy PDF's that support the school boards side of the story. Frankly I'm very dissappointed in the media in general and the Tampa Bay media specifically for not investigating the PDF's. A local reporter could have gone and insisted on seeing the originals which may very clearly show the falsification of govermanet documents. We all should remember from Wategate that the attempted cover up of an embarrassing story may actually expose criminally punishable actions by government employees. A potential problem may arise shortly because I noticed that this morning I'm getting traffic from TotalFark.com, if their linking to me goes to the public Fark it might bring my cheap hosting account at GoDaddy to its knees. First let me say thank you very much to Phil for not only the link above but also the kind words in his PM to me. Also a big thank you to all the readers here who gave me my first > 1000 visitors/day in the 7 years I’ve had my domain.

Phil’s post was on May 18th, the WTSP-TV article with PDF’s was posted on May 13th. The article was moved to the WTSP story archives so it no longer has the exact date (it says 2 months ago). The PDF’s were faxed to WTSP on May 12th, if anyone wants copies of the PDF’s, post a comment on my site and I’ll gladly send them to you. The reason all the reporters and media started turning on Mr. Piculas was these clearly sketchy PDF’s that support the school boards side of the story.

Frankly I’m very dissappointed in the media in general and the Tampa Bay media specifically for not investigating the PDF’s. A local reporter could have gone and insisted on seeing the originals which may very clearly show the falsification of govermanet documents. We all should remember from Wategate that the attempted cover up of an embarrassing story may actually expose criminally punishable actions by government employees.

A potential problem may arise shortly because I noticed that this morning I’m getting traffic from TotalFark.com, if their linking to me goes to the public Fark it might bring my cheap hosting account at GoDaddy to its knees.

]]> By: yy2bggggs http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-101874 yy2bggggs Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:22:26 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/07/15/astroblurbs/#comment-101874 Regarding (2), I was one of the people handing out the flack. It's good to see that some evidence has arisen in this case (it seems, about a week after your followup post, though the PDF links are currently dead). Countering the fired-for-magic theory, however, I've run across other dead-links, such as the one from here: http://jaypgreene.com/2008/05/15/that-wizardry-teacher-firing-theres-more-to-the-story/ ...who points out that: "Nor did many people mention that the same school district that allegedly fired a substitute teacher for performing one magic trick has been hiring a professional magician to come in and perform for the kids for years, and after this story broke, they’ve reassured him that they still want him to come do his show." ...so I'm still not sure I have the full story, but at least the paperwork issues make it look less likely a result of disgruntled fired employee. (Also, FWIW, I may sound much grumpier than I am here, as I'm usually just lurking quietly when I'm happy, which is most of the time, but this implies that when I do speak I'm usually complaining). Regarding (2), I was one of the people handing out the flack.

It’s good to see that some evidence has arisen in this case (it seems, about a week after your followup post, though the PDF links are currently dead).

Countering the fired-for-magic theory, however, I’ve run across other dead-links, such as the one from here:
http://jaypgreene.com/2008/05/15/that-wizardry-teacher-firing-theres-more-to-the-story/
…who points out that:
“Nor did many people mention that the same school district that allegedly fired a substitute teacher for performing one magic trick has been hiring a professional magician to come in and perform for the kids for years, and after this story broke, they’ve reassured him that they still want him to come do his show.”

…so I’m still not sure I have the full story, but at least the paperwork issues make it look less likely a result of disgruntled fired employee.

(Also, FWIW, I may sound much grumpier than I am here, as I’m usually just lurking quietly when I’m happy, which is most of the time, but this implies that when I do speak I’m usually complaining).

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