September 2010 Archives
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September 30, 2010
Four Stone Hearth Is Up
Four Stone Hearth 102: At the Hatter's Tea Party is up. Head over to Anthropology in Practice and see the fun presentation that Krystal D'Costa put together for this anthropology blog carnival. If you’re like me, you find a number...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:00 AM
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September 29, 2010
Der Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae Online
Der Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae is online. Der Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae is based on Adolf Erman’s venerable (1906-1909) Wörterbuch der Ägyptischen Sprache and its several revisions. Page images of the 1906-1909 version are available for browsing in their entirety. Free...Read all of " Der Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae Online"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:18 AM
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September 28, 2010
Bagdad West
Yesterday was the hottest day on record. At least in the greater Los Angeles area it was. How hot was it? The National Weather Service's thermometer downtown reached 113 degrees for the first time since records began being kept in...
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:10 AM
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September 27, 2010
“UC Bjoerling,” You Say
Yesterday afternoon Shirley and I enjoyed the Cornucopia Baroque Ensemble at Pomona College. The ensemble consists of Alfred Cramer, Baroque violin; Roger Lebow, Baroque cello; Carolyn Beck, Baroque bassoon; and Fraydon Becks, harpsichord. The program featured works by Geroef Philipp...Read all of "“UC Bjoerling,” You Say"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:19 PM
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September 26, 2010
Scholarly Tablets From The Royal Palace At Ugarit, One More Time
I’ve written about this before but I thought I’d try to cut the cake in a somewhat different way this time. The Royal Palace at Ugarit yielded eight classical school and literary texts or excerpts written on seven tablets in...Read all of "Scholarly Tablets From The Royal Palace At Ugarit, One More Time"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:44 AM
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September 25, 2010
Jesus On Toast
Brunt Impressions, LCC markets toasters that burn images into toast. Among them is a toaster that will allow Jesus to join you for breakfast if for only as long as it takes you to eat your toast. Galen Dively III’s...
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:19 AM
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September 23, 2010
On The Constraint Of Free Expression
I wrote the stuff below a few days ago and for some reason didn’t post it at the time. But the arrest of “[s]ix men from northern England . . . after they filmed themselves burning a copy of the...Read all of "On The Constraint Of Free Expression"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:18 PM
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September 22, 2010
When PZ Myers and Jim West Agree
Well, when they sort of agree. While PZ has a lot more to say than Jim does, they agree that Carl Drews and Weiqing Han’s PLoS One paper on fluid dynamic modeling as applied to the parting of the Red...Read all of "When PZ Myers and Jim West Agree"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:26 AM
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September 21, 2010
Biblical Minimalism, Science Fiction and Myth
Much of this is so yesterday and I must ask that you please excuse the ramble, but for abnormal reasons, I’ve been thinking about myth or perhaps only about “myth.” Or, better, I’ve been thinking about myth and “myth.” Myth...Read all of "Biblical Minimalism, Science Fiction and Myth"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:22 PM
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September 20, 2010
It’s Not Just What You Say
Jeff Galak and Leif D. Nelson will publish an abnormally interesting paper, “The Virtues of Opaque Prose: How Lay Beliefs about Fluency Influence Perceptions of Quality,” in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. They preformed three experiments that manipulated fonts...Read all of "It’s Not Just What You Say"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:40 AM
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September 16, 2010
Four Stone Hearth #101
While heading off to party, I noticed that Nick Horton posted the 101st edition of the anthropology carnival Four Stone Hearth. Head over to Sapien Games and check it out. There's a lot of monkey business there plus other abnormally...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth #101"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:00 AM
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September 15, 2010
The Earth With Rings Of Satellites
Boing Boing has two abnormally interesting posts one right after the other. “What if the Earth had rings?” (What happens when satellites collide?) followed by “13,000 satellites around the Earth” (This one has a real time Google Earth presentation to...Read all of "The Earth With Rings Of Satellites"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:11 PM
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September 14, 2010
Old Syrian Hawk Discovered
And by Syrian hawk, I don’t mean a war monger or the Syrian coat of arms. SANA (and Global Arab Network, they have exactly the same story) reports the discovery of a very old sculpture of a hawk at Belaas,...Read all of "Old Syrian Hawk Discovered"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:17 AM
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September 12, 2010
I Assume This Is Not A Joke
Poe’s law being what it is, it’s so hard to tell a joke from the real thing. That said, it appears that a group of folks are planning a conference in support of geocentrism, “Galileo was Wrong: The Church Was...Read all of "I Assume This Is Not A Joke"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:19 AM
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September 11, 2010
On Burning Bibles
If that’s what someone wants to do, fine. Let them do it. At the intervention of one group of Muslims against another, a South African court has banned the burning of Bibles. In a moral world, no court should be...Read all of "On Burning Bibles"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:51 AM
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September 10, 2010
Picture Your Favorite Philosopher
Steve Pyke has photographed philosophers. His two online volumes that picture quite a few philosophers from whom I have learned. I was particularly glad to see the likenesses of Arthur Danto, Penelope Maddy, and Daniel Dennett but pictures of my...Read all of "Picture Your Favorite Philosopher"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:22 AM
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September 9, 2010
Others Plan To Read the Qur’an Too
but perhaps on different days. I should have known that my idea to have a read the Qur’an day was not original. I’ve had very few truly original ideas that didn’t involve pissing against a wall. It seems that Larry...Read all of "Others Plan To Read the Qur’an Too"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:58 AM
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September 8, 2010
Quotation Of A Week Ago
Keith Parsons on leaving philosophy of religion and returning to his first love, science and the philosophy of the history of science: BTW, in saying that I now consider the case for theism to be a fraud, I do not...Read all of "Quotation Of A Week Ago"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:03 PM
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September 7, 2010
Let’s Have A Read The Qur'an Day
In reaction to the crazy and dangerous suggestion that people here in America burn the Qur'an on September 11 of this year, I think I will reread the Qur'an on that day. It’s been while. I suggest that as many...Read all of "Let’s Have A Read The Qur'an Day"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:05 AM
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September 6, 2010
A 7-6th Century BCE Scarab With An “Ugaritic” Shin?
Well, I don’t think so. The other day Gianfranco Pintore posted a short discussion of what at first blush appears to be an abnormally interesting scarab. A rendition of the seal side is over there on the left. It comes...Read all of "A 7-6th Century BCE Scarab With An “Ugaritic” Shin?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:58 PM
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September 5, 2010
Sunday Rant On Proving A Negative Positive
For reasons that can only be understood as originating from a serious misunderstanding of the most basic principles of predicate logic, many people claim that it is somehow easier to prove a positive than a negative. It is even common...
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Posted by Duane Smith at 7:30 PM
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September 4, 2010
Problems, Problems
Abnormally, I am having some network problems. Service is intermittent. If you see this page our system is working. But it may stop working at any minute. The problem looks like some intermittent issue on the WAN side of our...Read all of "Problems, Problems"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:00 PM
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September 3, 2010
Quotation of the Day
Ed Brayton on Glen Beck’s false claim that he held George Washington's hand-written first inaugural address in his hand, No, it wasn't just a figure of speech. It was an intentional deception. And it's a specific kind of deception, the...Read all of "Quotation of the Day"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:09 PM
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September 2, 2010
An Academic Balance Sheet
Texas A&M may be among the first to develop an economic calculus to evaluate teaching and teachers but unless there is a near sea change in how we all think of education, how we value education such a calculus will...Read all of "An Academic Balance Sheet"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:30 PM
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Four Stone Hearth #100 Is Up
Yesterday, Martin Rundkvist posted the 100th edition of Four Stone Hearth at Aardvarchaeology. He also announced that he is relinquishing his task as coordinator. Martin has been an excellent carnival coordinator and those of us who post on the edges...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth #100 Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:00 AM
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September 1, 2010
Moabite(?) Temple Discovered
AP is reporting that archaeologists have uncovered an Iron Age II temple (8th century) at Khirbat 'Ataroz near the town of Mabada in Jordan. Among the finds is a four legged zoomorphic figure that Ziad Al-Saad, head of the Jordanian...Read all of "Moabite(?) Temple Discovered"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:00 PM
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Claremont Colleges Digital Library And What Isn’t In It
Charles Jones at The Ancient World Online reports on the antiquity related material available from the Claremont Colleges Digital Library. While I was generally aware of these collections and for several years of my life worked within a few feet...Read all of "Claremont Colleges Digital Library And What Isn’t In It"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:17 PM
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