Stupidity on Parade VIII

To paraphrase a line from a recent episode of "The Guild," there is so much FAIL in that video that I don't even know where to begin. This is a clip of "Dr." Charlene Warner, talking about the "physics of homeopathy," as if homeopathy has anything to do with reality. This is the sort of garbled nonsense that results when pseudoscientists try to use real science to support their woo. This person has absolutely NO clue what she is babbling about. If the stupidity density in her vicinity gets any higher, she runs a risk of collapsing into a singularity, but it will at least be interesting to have a chance to observe the production of Hawking radiation up close...

The Latest Song Stuck in My Head

"Voodoo Child" performed by the Rogue Traders, written by Elvis Costello, James Ash, and Steve Davis, not to be confused with the song "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Doctor Who fans will remember this as the song playing when the Master unleashed the Toclafane on the Earth in the Episode "The Sound of Drums." (Yes, I'm a nerd. What's your point?)

It is interesting to note that lead singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte (who has since left the band) also appeared in the Australian soap opera "Neighbors." Her appearance was disguised in this video so that the song would be judged on its own merits rather than from a celebrity halo effect. Other notable actors to have appeared in "Neighbors" include Russell Crow, Kylie Minogue, and Dichen Lachman (who is currently appearing in Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" as Sierra).

Making Lilypond work with TeXShop

I have a confession to make. I have a secret desire to someday write a book on music theory, if only to have the opportunity to start the chapter on key signatures with a quote from Harry Chapin:

Those of you who are musically inclined will note that we have switched to a minor key, which of course means that the plot is about to thicken.

But, hey, how to pull this off? Typesetting a book that would contain equations describing the properties of sound is tough. The best tool for that would be LaTeX (with which I am fond of using the TeXShop front-end). And music engraving is even tougher. Quite frankly, most computer-generated music notation is of very poor quality. Fortunately there is Lilypond, which ostensibly can be made to work with TeXShop.

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Pirates, keep an eye on your parrots!

Converting iPhone Voicemails to Custom Ringtones

Recently, I received a voicemail from a friend that was so endearing that I not only wanted to preserve it, but I wanted to turn it into a custom ringtone and associate it with the Contact for that person.  Unfortunately, the iPhone provides no straightforward mechanism for doing this.

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DSCOVR May Fly After All

Paid for, built, and grounded by the Bush Administration to gather dust in a Maryland warehouse, DSCOVR may get off the ground after all.  Designed to sit at the L1 Lagrange point between the Earth and the Sun in order to measure the Earth's albedo, the Deep Space Climate Observatory has the potential to settle the climate change debate once and for all. Now Congress has apropriated $9 million to start the process of refurbishing the probe in order to get it fit to launch again.

This is why Alton Brown rocks

On the Jimmy Fallon show, A.B. demonstrates a novel approach to making smoothies. It involves powertools and a fire extinguisher....