The Lounge

I just noticed this book is number three bestseller (all types of books) at US amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/ref=pd_ts_b_ldr/103-6432418-0205431 1. State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III by Bob Woodward 2. a self-help book 3. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris 4. a diet book 5. a success book ... ... (and so on) ================== It is probably significant what kind of book this Sam Harris is. Has anyone read it? I think it matters that it is selling a huge number of copies. excuse my being so quantitative:-) I'll get some review comment to help characterize the book

Glad to see a skeptical take on the peak oil issue: http://www.reason.com/0605/fe.rb.peak.shtml

No, not last call... I mean, what's with the coloured bars under users' sig lines? And how can I get one? It must be the longest. And the prettiest.

Hey everyone, I am exceptionally excited right now - my business partner and I launched our first fully automated internet based service website Its for graphic designers and basically lets people build presentations online and CD-ROMs easily, and its really exciting but I don't want to post the URL in case I'd be breaking spam rules. I am not trying to push it here of course I just want to do a little happy-dance and share a really cool milestone that I got to experience. Would it be in bad taste to share the URL so people could look at it?

What new and exciting developments are happening/have recently happened in your field of science? It'd be nice to hear about the cutting edge, especially if you guys are involved in it.

I'm beginning to realize that one can do a kind of "bestseller sociology" to get an indication of what mental climate prevails amongst various reading publics. I noticed an odd thing, just comparing the all-books bestseller lists of US and UK amazon. (this is all-books, not down in some category like "science" or "general physics"---so it is the most massive gauge of the mass market) the US list has a substantial minority of women authors. Less so the Brit list. The FIRST 25 of the brit list, the first page in other words, has only ONE woman-author book (#12 a cooker by Tana Ramsay) unless you count #17 "The Official Keeley Calendar for 2007" and Keeley is the w…

I heard of an essay written by a Nobel winner in the economy field. The title is "Hong Kong Wrong" It is published in the US newspaper but it is indeed too far for me to reach it. May anyone give me the link to the essay?

Is it physically possible to generate the type of holographics as seen in Star Wars?

Heres a thread to celebrate our stupidity, by telling our stories about the really dumb things we've done... I think I'm just a stupid prone person... I have so many stories to tell. Once, when I was a teenager, I ran out of razors, so I tried to shave my legs with a serated knife. Around that same time, before I came to my vegan sensibilities, I made a blow torch out of hairspray and a lighter and tried to set bugs on fire in my parents house, and I almost burned a couch down. Specifically, this thread was promted after something I did today: Today I got that idea that I should be more responsible with my money, instead of spending it all on cute skirts an…

Just for reference, this region is approximately the size of the state of Colorado: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=8&ll=-10.822515,-61.693726&spn=4.196764,7.080688&t=h&om=1 That's really, really scary (Zoom in)

In that other thread, post #23, Blike stated very clearly and concisely his views on religion in 75 words or less. I thought that was great. An open and generous contribution to our understanding of each other. I would like to hear what anyone else here can say, like that, in < 75 words. It can be what you think real religion is, or what your view is of the organized established, or what things are of ultimate concern to you--your beliefs about ultimately what you think matters most, or you can talk about your affiliation to this or that religious community. Nobody can say it all in 75 words, but I am curious to know what you choose to say in the space ava…

so my gf had a drunken threesome with two people who werent me. i just walked two and a half miles and i have a bunch of alcohol in me, which are the two best stress relievers i have available and i still feel like poopy. im out of ideas.

We were talking about taste today, yet another subject that we are clueless about. Were wondering why melted cheese seems to taste better. Is it just a texture thing that we interpret as better taste?

A group of friends and I have decided to rent out an ice rink for a few hours each week this winter. I used to play hockey when i was very little so I know that it can be very expensive to get equipment My question is, does anyone know about how much it is to get all the equipment I need. I want to get used stuff to cut down the price and I have no clue how much used equipment is. I dont have anything at the moment, I have to buy skates, a stick, pretty much everything I need I would have to buy. If someone knows how much it would be and could give me a ballpark figure on how much it might be it would be greatly appreciated.

That's not true at all! Just because somebody does something once doesn't mean they'll do it again. I'm just saying that there is room for error, and we should forgive that. I think that repeated "offenses" are a different matter, however. But repetition is NOT inevitable. And, if that happens, than you know she's not interested in an exclusive relationship with you. But, if that happens only once, that's not necesarily the case. I'm sorry, but I don't believe people are as black and white as you make them out to be.

‘Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to [an authority] and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction...’ - George Orwell, 1949. thanks to Nigel http://nige.wordpress.com/2006/09/30/keplers-law-from-kinetic-energy/

it will be interesting to track this book as a barometer of how the reading public is thinking, and to hear some reactions to it the book's publication date is listed as 18 October 2006, in just a few weeks and it is already #9 in overall sales rank at amazon.com. I find this surprising. the book isn't even available yet and it is already #9 in the category of all books it is also the #2 bestseller in the "Religion and Spirituality" books http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/22/ref=pd_ts_b_nav/103-6432418-0205431 The Religion and Spirituality bestseller list goes like this 1. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris 2. The God Delu…

should misogynist speech be suppressed at a critical forum? if so, what is it? how does one decide if speech is misogynist? [CONTENT WARNING: don't read this thread if you object to presenting, for critical discussion, speech which is possibly misogynist---or more generally, prejudicial to a genetic type of person] For example, consider two verses of a song by Donne http://www.npg.org.uk/live/prjohndonnepoetry.asp If thou be'est born to strange sights, Things invisible to see, Ride ten thousand days and nights, Till age snow white hairs on thee, Thou, when thou return'st wilt tell me All strange wonders that befell thee, And swe…

And doesn't it feel good...

Around the corner I have a friend, in this great city that has no end, yet the days go by and weeks rush on, and before I know it, a year is gone. And I never see my old friends face, For life is a swift and terrible race, He knows I like him just as well, As in the days when I rang his bell. And he rang mine but we were younger then, and now we are busy, tired men. Tired of playing a foolish game, Tired of trying to make a name. "Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim Just to show that I’m thinking of him." But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes, and distance between us grows and grows. Around the corner, yet miles away, "Here’s a telegram sir…

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/53272

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/52984 It was only a matter of time.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2366233,00.html Okay, so the PETA videos of poor circus animals get to me, I admit. Same with cows... poor cows! And yes, I too can't stand seeing debeaked chickens crammed into deplorable conditions for the purposes of providing the world with eggs and fried chicken. But seriously... halibut? Now granted, the ramifactions of their action were not considered, and the fish they "liberated" simply met with their deaths. But... why halibut? Why aren't they trying to liberate chimps, or cows, or some other group of animals more worthy of moral consideration? And, to top it off... random acts of vandalism. …

What is the difference between a pet and a slave?.

Many of you have probably read posts Ive made in the past when I was feeling lonely and rejected by other people. However, I have now found the secret to true happiness. I stopped worrying about what other people think, and Ive just decided to avoid conversations with people except for when I need to work with them. I no longer feel the pressure and stress of trying to be accepted by someone. I just dont care anymore, and it feels great!