The Skeptics Guide to the Universe Forum

Something interesting I found today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvM9AfAzoSo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3sWa9Aeo4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXPIfMyj7mI

Last night, Peacefully in his sleep Brilligtove lost his battle with cancer. I am very sad for losing a friend. I hope you all remember him well and take care of yourselves.

I don't have a lot of details right now but I can keep you informed as much as i can.

Here's one for Gnostic Christian Bishop to debate:

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/09/religious-leader-called-coronavirus-gods-punishment-gays-hospitalized-covid/#.X1hofo0tgig.twitter

QuoteA religious leader who previously blamed the coronavirus pandemic on LGBTQ people has been hospitalized with complications from COVID-19.

Nuff said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHBcVlqpvZ8

Blatantly stolen from last year:

Rank the 50 celebrities in order from 1 to 50. With 1 (Top) being the most likely to die and 50 (Bottom) being the least likely.
Scoring will be (51-R). Where R=where you ranked the celebrity.
Top of your list will be worth 50 Points. Bottom of your list will only be worth 1 point.

As per a suggestion by brilligtove there will be incentive to place younger celebrities higher.
There will be a bonus 20 points for whoever ranks the youngest person to die, highest on their list
There will be a bonus 10 points for whoever ranks the 2nd youngest person to die, highest on their list
There will be a bonus 5 points for whoever ranks the 3rd youngest person to die highest on their list
If more than 1 person ranks a celebrity highest then those bonus points will be divided between them.

Obviously the bonus points will apply at the end of the year. I will add them provisionally as each celebrity dies, and adjust them if a younger celebrity dies.

Here is the list.
Allen, Woody
Asner, Ed
Attenborough, David
Barker, Bob
Beatty, Ned
Belafonte, Harry
Bennett, Tony
Brimley, Wilford
Brooks, Mel
Carter, Jimmy
Cheney, Dick
Cleary, Beverly
Clinton, Bill
Cosby, Bill
de Havilland, Olivia
Dole, Bob
Douglas, Kirk
Downs, Hugh
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader
Gorbachev, Mikhail
Holbrook, Hal
Kim Jong-Un
King, Don
King, Larry
Kissinger, Henry
Lansbury, Angela
Lasorda, Tommy
Lear, Norman
Lewis, Jerry Lee
Little Richard
Lockhart, June
Madoff, Bernard
Mondale, Walter
Mubarak, Hosni
Nelson, Willie
Newhart, Bob
Ono, Yoko
Osbourne, Ozzy
Pope Benedict XVI
Prince Philip
Queen Elizabeth II
Reiner, Carl
Sandusky, Jerry
Saint, Eva Marie
Spector, Phil
Stiller, Jerry
Tyson, Cicely
Van Dyke, Dick
Walters, Barbara
White, Betty

https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/
They are on the way to the moon nearing orbit.

Use one of the words from the previous quote to make a new two word quote.

"Let's Go!"

You know I don't mind paying $8-12 a month to watch all the movies I want. But now disney is pulling things from netflix and starting their own so they get more money. I won't pay for 2 services so If something is exclusive to hulu or amazon or some other service that I want I'll just download it.

The services are going to end up all being out of business. greedy bastards.

Someone plug it back in.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/16/17987280/youtube-down-outage

Show us yours:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/10/google-pixel-buds-are-wireless-earbuds-that-translate-conversations-in-real-time/

Quotetwo Pixel Bud wearers chat in their native languages by translating conversations in real time. In the demo, a native English speaker and a native Swedish speaker had a conversation with each other, both using their native languages.

Quotecomprehend conversations in 40 different languages.

Listen to a lot of radio and since I hate most music anyway I'm posting stuff I hear that I hate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb73w-Y_X4k

Is it me or is there a certain demographic that is protesting the new education plan?

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/sex-ed-curriculum-protests-in-ontario-go-province-wide-1.2544517

WTF parents. Get with the times. Our education system is horrifically outdated. We need to teach kids and this will be good.

I also heard a local argument that the woman said we need to teach only a man and a woman can make a child (the way god intended). I nearly yelled at the tv what a bigot she was. All it takes is an egg and a sperm. Had she paid attention maybe she wouldn't have 6 children. I'm surprised he bible thumping husband let her speak. F*&%!

I say go ahead and take your child out of school. Home school them then see how well they adjust to a society that tolerates that kind of ignorance. Same goes for people that don't want to give out marriage licenses to same sex couples. QUIT YOU JOB if you don't like it. Eventually your bigotry will get you permanently unemployable.

/rant

I think this is awsome and sends a clear message.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/22/4581373/man-faces-sentence-for-online.html

Don't forget Draw Mohammad Day.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/05/17/i-was-into-astronomy-when-it-was-still-astrology/

http://www.fark.com/comments/7112049/Astronomer-tweets-an-offhand-hipster-comment-The-internet-responds

Seems like a hipster thing to do.

Facts, 360 B.C.-A.D. 2012

QuoteIn memoriam: After years of health problems, Facts has finally died.

QuoteFacts is survived by two brothers, Rumor and Innuendo, and a sister, Emphatic Assertion.

This isn't twitter. We need content. Mafia games will suck.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-02/15/andre-ford-chicken-farming

In the comments people are arguing the ethicacy of this.
What you think?

Rules as stolen from StoneQuarry's 2009 game and DK 2010 game:

The rules:
Each person guesses 25 people.

All guesses must obviously be guesses of living persons of notoriety.  When it comes to questionable notoriety status, the mods will discuss and determine if that person is acceptable.  A general rule is that the person must be of somewhat mentionable status, appear in the news often or is just plain well-known.  Unborn babies cannot be used but children of famous people can.  It is best to supply as much info about that person as possible by typing this info after the name, a Wiki link is also helpful.

For example, a player may choose C.C. DeVille.  Others may not know who he is.  After doing some checking I would decide he is acceptable since he is the guitarist for Poison.  In this case the player should have posted C.C. Deville – Poison guitarist in his guessing post.  This just makes things easier, even if the person is obvious. 

EXAMPLE:  Arnold Schwarzenegger – actor and governor of CA.

Once you post and guess there is no editing permitted.  The system notes at the bottom of your post if you edited.  All edited posts after guessing is complete will result in disqualification.

Scoring:
If a celeb is either over the age of 80 (80 and 1 day is over 80 - see birthday rule in green below) or is clearly in poor health prior to the guess, the points awarded will be 5.
Points awarded for age is age at time of death.  So if a person is 79 but turns 80 then dies, 5 points will be awarded.  If the person turns 80 the day of his/her death (dies on their birthday), 20 points will be awarded.

All other scores are the celeb at age of death subtracted from 100.  This makes guesses of younger persons worth more points.
EXAMPLE: Heath Ledger passed at 28 and was not ill - suicide is not considered a factor in the dead pool game.  Had you had Heath in your list and the game were active in 2008, you would have gained 72 points (100-28=72)
If a person is NOT ill prior to the guess and becomes ill during the game, full points will be awarded.

To score, the celeb must be clearly deceased as noted by a viable source.
The source will be posted and each player notified of his points.
If you are aware of one of your celebs passing, please PM me or post immediately so I may verify and score.

Game start/end:
The game begins at 00:00:01 on January 1 and ends midnight December 31 at 23:59:59 at the International Date Line.
All guesses must be posted before begin time.

Additional notes:
Once a celeb dies, the poster may then select another person into his pool (always keeping 25 persons on the board).  Any celeb who has become sick during 2008 cannot be used as an additional pick.  This new pick must be in the form a new post - no editing the original.

Assassinating celebrities or conspiring to do so will result in immediate removal from the game.   

Take your time and draw your list carefully.
Only one post with your 25 guesses is permitted prior to Jan 1.
The game does not officially start until Jan 1 so you have over 2 months to decide on your list.
If you create a list prior to Jan 1 and someone on your list dies before Jan 1, you will gain no points for them since the game doesn't begin until Jan 1.
Once the game begins you can add additional people, replacing those who have died prior to 2010, always keeping 25 on your list.
You cannot change your picks prior to Jan 1 because someone else came to mind or you forgot someone who was sick.  You can ONLY add people if someone dies prior to game start, again in the form of a new post explaining who died on your list.  Please check with me prior to new (added due to death) guess posts so I can make note.

Winner/Prize
Will be decided by whoever has the most points at the end of the year - simple.
As for the prize - Its bragging rights!!!!!!

Latecomers Rule:

All players are welcome to add their lists at any time during 2011.
The rule for editing has not changed - all edited lists will be disqualified.
All people who submitted their lists prior to Jan 1, 2011 can guess 25 celebs.
All guessers after Jan1 will work this way:
Every 1st and 15th of the month one person will be removed from newer players' lists.
This makes it more on a level field for those who sent in their lists prior to 12/31/2011.
Jan 1 - Jan 14th - 24 guesses
Jan 15th - Jan 31st - 23 guesses
Feb 1 - Feb 14th - 22 guesses and so on.

Some good answers. Some bad.
Miss USA 2011 - 51 Delegates Interview (Q2 - Evolution taught in school)

Small pox to be destroyed

So I'm reading this and thinking. Should we cause this species to go extinct?

This is totally freaking cool!

http://www.solarsystemscope.com/

She's got enough money.
http://finance.sympatico.ca/news/contentposting_af/oprah_to_open_her_own_bank/f3f43fdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Christs_of_Ypsilanti

Quote"I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere round the clock with their daily lives,"

LOL

Pope Benedict: No scientific theory can discount God

http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/01/06/pope-benedict-no-scientific-theory-can-discount-god/

Guess the arguement is over.

Rules as stolen from StoneQuarry's 2009 game and DK 2010 game:

The rules:
Each person guesses 25 people.

All guesses must obviously be guesses of living persons of notoriety.  When it comes to questionable notoriety status, the mods will discuss and determine if that person is acceptable.  A general rule is that the person must be of somewhat mentionable status, appear in the news often or is just plain well-known.  Unborn babies cannot be used but children of famous people can.  It is best to supply as much info about that person as possible by typing this info after the name, a Wiki link is also helpful.

For example, a player may choose C.C. DeVille.  Others may not know who he is.  After doing some checking I would decide he is acceptable since he is the guitarist for Poison.  In this case the player should have posted C.C. Deville – Poison guitarist in his guessing post.  This just makes things easier, even if the person is obvious. 

EXAMPLE:  Arnold Schwarzenegger – actor and governor of CA.

Once you post and guess there is no editing permitted.  The system notes at the bottom of your post if you edited.  All edited posts after guessing is complete will result in disqualification.

Scoring:
If a celeb is either over the age of 80 (80 and 1 day is over 80 - see birthday rule in green below) or is clearly in poor health prior to the guess, the points awarded will be 5.
Points awarded for age is age at time of death.  So if a person is 79 but turns 80 then dies, 5 points will be awarded.  If the person turns 80 the day of his/her death (dies on their birthday), 20 points will be awarded.

All other scores are the celeb at age of death subtracted from 100.  This makes guesses of younger persons worth more points.
EXAMPLE: Heath Ledger passed at 28 and was not ill - suicide is not considered a factor in the dead pool game.  Had you had Heath in your list and the game were active in 2008, you would have gained 72 points (100-28=72)
If a person is NOT ill prior to the guess and becomes ill during the game, full points will be awarded.

To score, the celeb must be clearly deceased as noted by a viable source.
The source will be posted and each player notified of his points.
If you are aware of one of your celebs passing, please PM me or post immediately so I may verify and score.

Game start/end:
The game begins at 00:00:01 on January 1 and ends midnight December 31 at 23:59:59 at the International Date Line.
All guesses must be posted before begin time.

Additional notes:
Once a celeb dies, the poster may then select another person into his pool (always keeping 25 persons on the board).  Any celeb who has become sick during 2008 cannot be used as an additional pick.  This new pick must be in the form a new post - no editing the original.

Assassinating celebrities or conspiring to do so will result in immediate removal from the game.   

Take your time and draw your list carefully.
Only one post with your 25 guesses is permitted prior to Jan 1.
The game does not officially start until Jan 1 so you have over 2 months to decide on your list.
If you create a list prior to Jan 1 and someone on your list dies before Jan 1, you will gain no points for them since the game doesn't begin until Jan 1.
Once the game begins you can add additional people, replacing those who have died prior to 2010, always keeping 25 on your list.
You cannot change your picks prior to Jan 1 because someone else came to mind or you forgot someone who was sick.  You can ONLY add people if someone dies prior to game start, again in the form of a new post explaining who died on your list.  Please check with me prior to new (added due to death) guess posts so I can make note.

Winner/Prize
Will be decided by whoever has the most points at the end of the year - simple.
As for the prize - Its A Surprise!!!!!!
Could be internet points, could be an actual, real product you can hold in your hands. Who knows? Will it be you?

Latecomers Rule:

All players are welcome to add their lists at any time during 2011.
The rule for editing has not changed - all edited lists will be disqualified.
All people who submitted their lists prior to Jan 1, 2011 can guess 25 celebs.
All guessers after Jan1 will work this way:
Every 1st and 15th of the month one person will be removed from newer players' lists.
This makes it more on a level field for those who sent in their lists prior to 12/31/2011.
Jan 1 - Jan 14th - 24 guesses
Jan 15th - Jan 31st - 23 guesses
Feb 1 - Feb 14th - 22 guesses and so on.

http://www.dmns.org/science/the-snowmastodon-project

Lost: One set of vocal cords. Slightly used. If found please return to me.
Thanks.

So lets say we win and all the churches, synagogues and places of worship close down. Would humanity be better off?

So I've once again used my science/skeptical knowledge for evil in manipulating the sheeple.

First, I had a co-worker that insisted on only eating Sub from a certain chain because they were owned by people calling themselves doctors. I told this person that bread was more carsenogenic since wheat absorbs the ultraviolet light. Therefore we should eat rice as it is in the water, shielded by refraction. They bought it hook line and sinker. Had to confess later.

Now, A person at work is rearranging thier desk for greater Fung-shui. I let them know that the support beam by them was blocking the energy. They said it was a grounding effect. I mentioned that only works if you have a summer birthday. Those born in cold months need the heat to flow into them. Of course I know thier birthday was in January since it was on the calendar. They continued to argue and I asked if they had any idea how Fung-shui worked? They had to admit they didn't. Now they are trying to get moved away from the pole.

So am I evil?
Have you ever used your powers to manipulate the sheeple?

(stolen from ILS)
Here's how it works.
1) Generate a random number (http://www.random.org/dice/)
2) Use the number to find a name of a recent poster (http://sguforums.com/index.php?action=recent)
3) Use the random number to get an image (http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/)
4) Same number to get a few words from a quote (http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3)
5) Shop up an album cover using your favorite editor
6) Post your creation (http://www.imageshack.us/)
7) Show off your work here.

Example

stumbled on these during the visual counting thread.





good wholesome fun.
add more.

Even the lord almighty is going down the Hollywood ditch and turning 3D.
You can now watch the Christmas pagant on line with your geek glasses on.

http://www.cbg3d.com/

Or maybe I'll skip that one.

Do your children tend believe or be skeptical about things?

Doesn't fit in YLYL or YRYL but seriously cools stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/v/zQEsG4eKIXs

Here is my creation this year.

Investers sue over not enough profit.
LOL
http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE69K42D20101021

Kewl stuff.

The Whore thread ended in a neat game of posting a picture count down.

Lets have a fun little game to count up!.
(Hint don't reuse the ones from that other thread.)

Can we do this democratically?

http://content.secondspace.com/news/detailsplayer.swf?videoSrc=http://komonews.s3.amazonaws.com/100727_deer.flv

I'm excited I will be visiting San Diego for the last week of Sept.
Staying right on the bay so should be fun.

They don't have them all and it's in German but still kinda cool.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:Alchemist-hp#meine_Wiki-Bildergalerie

Interesting mural ans stop motion animation.

http://www.youtube.com/v/sMoKcsN8wM8

http://www.youtube.com/v/Uu7Db5On00U

I so wanna build one now.
BBC News - Extreme DIY: Building a homemade nuclear reactor in NYC

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xdqpkg

I'm not really into cRAP but this is cool animation and 3d to boot.

http://www.youtube.com/v/TZ2znlF5TVM

Interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/v/A3oIiH7BLmg