Random Thoughts

One of the results of the conference "ComunicareFisica 2012" I attended last week (and about which I wrote extensively in the past few posts) was, for me, getting convinced that Twitter cannot really be ignored. I have subscribed long ago and never really used it much, but now I am going to be more careful with that medium. I intend to tweet there news on HEP as well as other things I find interesting. I promise it will be a high signal-to-noise channel. So this post is just to say that you are all welcome to follow me on twitter at @dorigo. See you there! As for Facebook: I am also there, of…

Disclaimer:  This blog post is composed of speculative ideas and any resemblance to actual scientific findings is purely coincidental.   The beginning of this speculation is oriented around early life forms, not the origin of life, but rather how simple primitive cells may have begun to evolve. Therefore one of the initial assumptions is that primitive cells existing during this early period were fundamentally unique.  Reproduction was not yet part of the dynamic, and these "cells" were little more than primitive chemical factories, capitalizing on their environment. One of the…

http://www.reason.com/news/show/134795.html  The disturbing intellectual record of Obama's science czar

One of the interesting things in the online autism world is how the use of labels and definitions created by mental health professionals are being taken over by the community. Autism is redefined away from a mental disorder to a neurological difference, and labels are adopted by individuals and reworked into personality traits and features that are innate to the person and not a signifier of defects  or deficits. There is plenty of pushback against this, with many parents insisting that their child is not autistic, that autism is not a fundamental and natural neurological difference but…

How can you tell the American recession is still worrisome, despite government worker unemployment only being 4.3%?  Beer sales have fallen again.  You'd think beer sales would go up in a bad economy, like it does historically, right?  Cheap entertainment and all that.  No, that only happens for a short while, and by now things have been so persistently bad people are buying a lot more hard liquor instead.  Beer just isn't strong enough to make an emotional difference these days. According to the recently released Beverage Information Group's 2012 Beer Handbook, the…

"A good speech should be like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest." W. Churchill

I've been reflecting on autism and what makes a disability and what makes a personality, as I wait for the APA to get its shit together and release the new DSM. Will the change in criteria mean my children are suddenly no longer autistic? (No, it won't). Psychological disorders diagnosed by behaviors are subjective at best--from both the client's side and the psychologist's side. Biases and knowledge bases make sure that there is a lack of consistency across the board in who gets a diagnosis and what diagnosis it is. The codes for the DSM are used to get insurance reimbursement--a label is…

If you were to ask me yesterday what did the most harm to romantic relationships, I would have said 'romantic comedies' followed by 'advice from women'. Why?  Let's face it, you would get arrested for romantic comedy behavior in real life.  No one wants their wedding broken up and guys running around the city on horseback are just an accident waiting to happen.  And advice from women is also dead on arrival - women give men advice like 'take a chance and talk to her' without telling men that the only people that women really want taking a chance look like George Clooney and…

Has global warming made it too darn hot to think about autumn events like Oktoberfest?  Can't choose between a milkshake and a beer? You are in luck, the Red Robin restaurant chain is simply mixing the two. A cold beer milkshake can appeal to beer enthusiasts and dessert-lovers, they believe, so now through November 11th, they are selling a Samuel Adams® Octoberfest Milkshake. You can probably guess its ingredients; soft serve ice cream, Samuel Adams® Octoberfest draft, vanilla and caramel. "Nothing says Oktoberfest better than a beer, so I incorporated the fun spirit of Red Robin…

It's Great To Be Back! I wish to apologize to all of my readers for being AWOL for so long without a word of explanation.  I have had a severe pain in my right arm from an unknown cause, and this has been made unbearable by any attempt to type.  This has left me unable to blog or respond to emails: indeed, for a very long time I was even unable to use the mouse and keyboard to check my emails.  My doctor cannot find a cause and suggests it is a trapped nerve.  It seems to be posture related: I can cycle - and have cycled - up to 44 miles in one day with only trivial aches…