Miniblog

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  Blog Against Theocracy 2009
  

  Just a brief note to let everyone know that Blog Against Theocracy 2009 is well under way. Blog Against Theocracy is a blog swarm that attempts to get as many people blogging as possible over the same three day period in support of church-state separation. Many great posts are to be found there.

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  49th Carnival of Mathematics
  

  Latest installment of the Carnival of Mathematics is out now at 360.

  
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  Blog Against Theocracy Information
  

  The annual Blog Against Theocracy will be coming to a blog near you April 10th - 12th, 2009. This will be the third time bloggers from all over have banned together to celebrate separation of church and state. Blue Gal has posted some information and resources for bloggers interested in participating in this year's Blog Against Theocracy. Hopefully we can count on all of you to raise awareness of our first freedom. Please note that this blogswarm is not for criticism of religion, but, as Tengrain from Mock, Paper, Scissors put it, "a reminder that the Government should keep out of religion, and Religion should keep out of the government." 'Nuff said.

  
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  Come enjoy the view from The Giants' Shoulders
  

  The eighth edition of the monthly science history blog carnival The Giants' Shoulders is now available at Greg Laden's Blog. There's something for everyone here from Evolution's Influence On Pulp Fiction to why Everybody Hates Francis Bacon. The Giants' Shoulders invites contributors to submit links to their blog posts on classic scientific papers, profiles of scientists or concept from the history of science. Last months' edition is at The Questionable Authority and you can find the next edition on the 15th of March at The Evilutionary Biologist.

  
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  The blogging President
  

  Barack Obama's campaign was the first Presidential campaign to truly embrace the internet. Now comes word that The Whitehouse has its own blog, complete with RSS feed. I'm sure the blog will be written by PR flacks, but at least this is a sign that the Obama administration is serious about taking the Presidency to the people. H/T: Lifehacker

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  New tr.im URLs extension for Firefox
  

  The URL shortening service tr.im has a new Firefox extension that allows you to create the shortest URLs (e.g. http://tr.im/2t4f) ever with just a mouse click. There are even options for automatically posting to Twitter. If you sign up for a unique tr.im account you get clickthrough statistics on all your shortened URLs too! I think it's time to finally retire my tinyURL extension.

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  Bigfoot was a hoax
  

  In a story that I doubt is a surprise to anyone sane, the Times-Standard Online reported last month reported last month that not only was Bigfoot a hoax, but the Northern California newspaper was complicit in the hoax. Quoting: "We now know the whole thing was a hoax -- or a brash attempt to claim credit for one. Late in 2002, Ray Wallace died at the age of 84 in Washington. But he didn't take Bigfoot to the grave with him; he had spilled his guts to a few members of his family. ... The Times-Standard called June Beal, wife of deceased Times editor L.W. “Scoop” Beal, to find out if she knew anything about it. ... ”They were in on this hoax,” June Beal said of her husband and Wallace. “It was just a fun thing and the fun got out of hand.”
  

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  Does graffiti promote littering and theft?
  

  Popular, and controversial, the Broken Window theory says that the outward appearances of small crimes, such as broken windows or graffiti, serve as triggers for more serious crimes. Former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani based his Quality of Life Campaign on the theory, but there has been little evidence to support it and many criticisms. However, Ed at Not Exactly Rocket Science reports on new research that suggests the Broken Window theory does indeed have some validity. H/T to The Mouse Trap.

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  Does acupuncture really work?
  

  Doctor Harriet Hall tells us why "almost everything [we've] heard about acupuncture is wrong."

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  The inside scoop on WordPress 2.7
  

  WordPress 2.7 is about to go live, but are you ready for it? There are a host of changes in store for you, mostly good and maybe one or two clunkers (personally, I think the vertical menu is a bit of a step backward). There are also some improvements to the API that I'm sure theme developers are going to want to implement right away. To help usher in this new WordPress era, Technosailor tells you 10 Things You Need To Know About WordPress 2.7.