I snapped this picture today with my iPhone. It’s of my dog, Mozart, as seen through the distorted glass of the front door. I’m quite happy with the way it turned out.
Entries Tagged as 'Thoughts'
Feel the Love
October 23rd, 2009 by Mitchell Gerskup · 5 Comments · Photos, Thoughts
This is a poster for the CFI’s upcoming event featuring Tarek Fatah that was posted in the lobby of the University of Toronto’s Multi-Faith Centre:
I can feel the religious tolerance*… can’t you?
*Tolerance is the same thing as irony, right?
Tags:CFI·religion·Tarek Fatah·UofT
Blasphemy Day & New Blog
October 1st, 2009 by Mitchell Gerskup · No Comments · News, Photos, Thoughts
On September 30, 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of twelve editorial cartoons, some of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which sparked one of the largest collective shit-storms of censorship and free speech rights the world has seen to date. There were riots, threats of violence, death threats, front-page headlines, rallies, counter-rallies, and everything in between. This event served as the proverbial “shot heard around the world” for the present day dialogue on free speech, culminating in discussion of a non-binding “anti-blasphemy” resolution at the United Nations.
Blasphemy day, which takes place on September 30 to commemorate the publication of these cartoons, is a celebration of our right to free speech, and a reminder that there is still a very real threat in this world to people being able to express their ideas freely, and without fear of reprisal. It is my firm belief that all ideologies should be subjected to fair and open criticism, and that laws should exist to protect the rights of people — not sacred cows. Does that mean some people will get offended? Sure. However, the minute you step into a free and democratic society, based on the notion that not everybody does (or wants to) live their life in the same way that you do, you forfeit your right to not be offended.
With this in mind, the University of Toronto Secular Alliance, joined by the Centre for Inquiry, took to the streets yesterday to create a “free speech zone” on the University of Toronto’s campus. We set up an information booth, showed “blasphemous” videos, allowed people to write blasphemous messages on a public notice board, and generally allowed people to speak their mind. I am happy to say that we had a wide spectrum of people show up — not just atheists and agnostics. People chose to express their opinions in different ways — from shouting matches to quiet conversations — and it was all done in the spirit of free speech and diversity of opinions. The event was a huge success, and I am proud to have been able to take part.
Below are some of the photos from the event:
The full set can be found on Flickr, here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgerskup/sets/72157622490928466/
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Also, while we’re on the issue of free expression, I’m happy to announce that I will be contributing to a new Canadian Skeptic’s blog called Skeptic North. The site just launched today, and I’ll be submitting my first contribution this weekend. There are some very talented people contributing to this blog, so why not go check it out?
Tags:blasphemy·blasphemy day·censorship·danish cartoons·free speech·Jyllands-Posten·Muhammad·religion
Who Am I?
August 24th, 2009 by Mitchell Gerskup · No Comments · Thoughts
Well, according to Personas, this is how I look to the Internet:
Click to enlarge.Tags:
On WiFi, Journalism and PR
July 29th, 2009 by Mitchell Gerskup · No Comments · Critical Thinking, Thoughts
Continuing with my tradition of being impressed with the quality of journalism at Ars Technica, this article takes a skeptical look at WiFi allergies (or electrosensitivity) in light of a recent spate of reports on the subject.
However; perhaps a bit more interesting than a run-of-the-mill psychosomatic disorder, is the origin of the sudden interest in the topic. This sentence, found at the bottom of The Sun’s article*, might explain why:
Steve’s new Afterlife album, Electrosensitive, is out now on Defected Records.
*This is one of the articles quoted in the Ars article.
Hope for Journalism?
July 16th, 2009 by Mitchell Gerskup · No Comments · Critical Thinking, Thoughts
It seems like every day, we come across articles announcing a new technology or method that will revolutionize the way things work. The claims are bold (and usually vague), make a small splash in the headlines, and are never heard from again. Very rarely is there ever any critical thought or in-depth analysis into whether or not the technology/method does what it claims to do (or whether the supposed claims match the actual claims, for that matter). That’s why this article from ars technica is so fascinating. The first two paragraphs read like any other article of the aforementioned type:
In a recent article for the IEEE’s Spectrum magazine, Dr. Lawrence Roberts explains how the large routers that power the core of today’s Internet are doing it all wrong. They spend too much time processing each packet individually, then storing packets in a queue for during peak loads. This buffering makes VoIP calls and video streams stutter, and these routers use lots of hot-running and expensive memory, and they’re stuffed with specially-created chips.
Roberts’ company Anagran has a different approach: only do the expensive work for the first packet in a flow, then treat subsequent packets in the same flow just like that first packet, doing away with queues and specially-designed chips in lieu of simple processors and cheap DRAM. (In the late 1960s, Roberts led the team that created the ARPANET, which would morph into the Internet that we know today in the following two decades.) As an added benefit, slowing down flows that go too fast can now be done with precision, rather than bluntly as in today’s routers.
But the article doesn’t stop there.
Upon reading Roberts’ article, the claims look rather extraordinary. Could it be that Cisco, Juniper and the other router vendors have been barking up the wrong tree for decades? In a word, no.
Unlike most popular news nowadays, a bulk of the ars article focuses on the actual body of Roberts’ article and the claims made therein; not just the abstract. Granted, they are a tech blog, and a certain level of elevated understanding is expected in their articles. If anything, this only goes to show what’s missing from modern journalism, and how much conventional news sources would benefit from better science and technology journalism.
Conventional journalism might be on its way out, but there’s still hope.
Tags:journalism·science·technology
The Internet
July 15th, 2009 by Mitchell Gerskup · No Comments · Thoughts
Not only is this clip a striking example of The Internet at an earlier time, but also a sobering reminder of how journalism has evolved in the past few decades.
Things to watch out for in the clip:
- The interview at roughly 2:30, where the internet is described as a surprisingly civil place, and how anonymity doesn’t bring out the worst in people (like we might expect). Kind of hilarious in hindsight.
- The fact that the CBC at this time clearly had a better grasp of what the internet was, then most CNN and FOX reports nowadays.
Thanks to @ilyasally for posting this.
Tags:CBC·computers·internet·journalism
Viva Las Vegas
July 14th, 2009 by Mitchell Gerskup · No Comments · Photos, Thoughts
The best part of Las Vegas? Not only can you buy a 24 oz. cocktail, but you can get it at an outdoor stand and walk around the city with it:
The Amazing Meeting: Day 1
July 10th, 2009 by Mitchell Gerskup · 1 Comment · News, Photos, Thoughts
Today was the first “official” day of The Amazing Meeting 7. So far, I’ve managed to meet, and get my photo taken with: Phil Plait, Penn Jillette, and Yau-Man Chan.
There was a live recording of the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe during breakfast, and the talks ranged from subjects on Big Foot and UFO Abductions to developments in the Anti-Anti-Vaccination movement.
I was especially glad to see that James Randi is not just still alive, but seems to be doing rather well, despite recent health problems.
And that’s not all! There are more talks to come tomorrow from Penn & Teller, Adam Savage, and Michael Shermer all giving talks, among many others.
A complete set of photos (so far) can be found below:
Tags:skepticism·TAM
