Odd Lots

[jeff_duntemann]

• Of all the essential elements of science, proving causation is by far the hardest. Correlation only points in a direction that further research should take; it has no value in and of itself. (The title of the article is very hokey, by the way: Science is not failing us. Human ignorance--and corruption--are interfering with the scientific process.)
• Marvelously wrought steampunk playing cards. (Thanks to Bill Cherepy for the link.)
• I went to high school with one of these guys. (Joe Lill.) Very impressive piece of work. (Thanks to Pete Albrecht--another high school colleague--for the link.)
• I got one of these for Christmas from Lee Hart. We'll soon see if I can still write COSMAC binary machine code in my head, 35 years later. F8 FF A2...
• Carol presented me with Steven Pinker's new book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and I will report after I finish it. Pinker's stuff is always worth reading, and I've been waiting for this one for a long time.
• The Ropers (my sister Gretchen, Bill, and her girls) gave me one of these for Christmas, and having tested it on a few Meccano parts downstairs, I suspect it may turn out to be the best hex nut starter I've ever had.
• This is the first waterproof (more or less) tablet I've ever seen, and in my preferred 4:3 format to boot. And a MicroSD slot for sideloading! Details are still sparse, but it's the first CES 2012 announcement that hasn't made me yawn.
• I bought a Nook Color last week; more in upcoming posts. I heard today that you can now get a Nook Color for $99 or a Nook Simple Touch for free with a one-year subscription to the New York Times or People. I don't know if this is good for the industry or not, but it may well do wonderful things for the Nook's market share.
• There are challenges to living in the best Effin town in Ireland. (But nothing like those of a certain town in Austria.) Thanks to G. McDavid for the link.
• I offer this interesting piece as a glimpse into my ongoing research into the drivers of climate. I have long intuited that climate is a chaotic system, and we see evidence of two states in recent geological history. What the attractors are, and whether there are other states are questions of enormous importance, as is the question of how bad a change to the other known state would be. Note well: My tolerance of Climate Madness is now close to zero. Please limit comments to the points made in the article. If you wander into politics or comment angrily your posts will be deleted without hesitation or regret.