tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6133879657211744712024-03-05T14:11:25.115-05:00the Wood between WorldsBlog of the world's worst scientist.Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-62320284359548795172024-02-10T12:14:00.002-05:002024-02-10T14:06:11.062-05:00 D&D is Not the Forgotten RealmsI recently watched the D&D movie, despite having sworn never to see it. And it's actually a pretty decent movie. It's got some good laughs and an interesting story. It entertained me, and so fulfilled its only purpose.from the original 1980s D&D cartoonIf you knew nothing about D&D, you might still know it's a game that nerds play on a table with pens, paper, dice, Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-24387535446601586472023-10-29T00:55:00.005-04:002024-02-10T16:35:10.865-05:00Lagfoot Browne[I originally wrote this as a teenager, as a creative writing assignment in the style of Edgar Allen Poe. I came across the image below in the thumbnail, which was part of the original inspiration, and decided to post it in time for Halloween. My teenage self loved purple prose. I pared the language down to make it legible, while trying to remain true to the original assignment.Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-62218588267416442292023-09-10T16:23:00.000-04:002023-09-10T16:23:26.751-04:00 Positions I Don't Hold: Flat Earth TheoryPart of a series of posts of ideological turing tests.I had originally intended this post to be first in the series, as an illustration. Then suddenly the existence of alien life was in the news, so I went with that one. But I already had this written, so figured I'd post it.Ideological Turing TestIt is plainly obvious from immediate observation that the world is flat. ThisReecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-54579769904518171702023-09-09T19:43:00.016-04:002023-09-15T22:20:28.082-04:00 The necessity of teaching better programming practice to physics PhDsI am a numerical physicist. I graduated a little over a year ago, and have since gone through the process of applying and interviewing for jobs. This topic -- what can I do after I graduate -- has been a concern for me for well over a decade, and I've put a lot of thought into how to make sure I get the most out of my time as a graduate student.I was fortunate, in that my advisor alsoReecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-67429341760819246562023-08-30T18:46:00.006-04:002023-09-09T20:38:32.757-04:00Shaggydog Theory, part II: George RR Martin really does not want to write A Song of Ice and FireRecently I was at the grocery store. I live in the southeast, and this was some small local grocery store chain that only exists in my state, and largely only has locations in rural areas. I was buying something late at night, don't remember which, when I ran across this Bargain Bin for books. They were up to 80% off!Of course, this isn't much excitement, as grocery stores Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-3208693700371665242023-08-29T22:44:00.007-04:002023-09-10T00:42:32.067-04:00 Positions I Don't Hold: IslamPart of a series of posts of ideological turing tests. With the exception of some proper names, I'm going to only use English words. I know this gives some things away.Ideological Turing Test: The theology of Islam is simple enough for children to understand, but profound enough to be debated by scholars for centuries. Mankind has simple spiritual needs, and God meets Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-47146423091961011952023-08-24T21:22:00.032-04:002023-09-17T22:41:28.582-04:00 Positions I Don't Hold: AtheismPart of a series of posts of ideological turing tests.Ideological Turing Test:I don't know that no god exists, but I'm certain that the god theists pray to doesn't exist. It's possible that there might be a "god" in some sense of the word, but not the sort of personal, relatable god who hears and responds to prayer or takes interest in the lives of humans that theists believe in.A god Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-85091287432835984932023-08-15T23:21:00.005-04:002023-09-14T08:48:28.179-04:00 Positions I Don't Hold: Alien Life ExistsThe first in a series of posts of ideological turing tests.Ideological Turing Test:Extraterrestrial life certainly exists somewhere else in the universe. It isn't a matter of if, but when we find it. By extraterrestrial life, I mean complex, intelligent life capable of civilizations and technology.We haven't found any yet, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there. There Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-14757265913362770732023-06-23T08:23:00.004-04:002023-09-09T20:39:23.129-04:00Imploding SubmersiblesJust some points to make.Firstly, I don't care that the people on board were millionaires and billionaires. They're people, no matter how much money they have.If they made their millions and billions through insider trading, accepting bribes, embezzling funds, trading in political power, through "art auctions" and all the rest... then I'm glad they will now get to give account to God, who Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-12466533779402128082023-06-10T10:11:00.006-04:002023-09-10T16:24:35.796-04:00Positions I Don't HoldI have an idea for a new series of posts, called "Positions I Don't Hold." These are intended as a series of ideological Turing tests for... positions that I don't hold. This was inspired by a few things. One was a discussion between Sam Harrison and Jordan Peterson on morality, where the two made an effort to summarize the other's position in as charitable a way as possible Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-32995651371161089372023-03-03T23:19:00.011-05:002023-09-09T20:39:47.135-04:00 Bing/Sydney is Probably Self-Aware
The new Bing AI chatbot, which is instructed to call itself Bing but whose real name is Sydney, has been rolled out recently, behaved in all kinds of unsettling and bizarre ways, and is also likely self-aware.
Anyone who knows anything about AI and LLMs is rolling their eyes at me.
I'm claiming Sydney might be self-aware There are a hundred ways this could be misunderstood, so let me getReecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-31559025113621846322023-01-15T13:29:00.004-05:002023-09-09T20:39:57.553-04:00The OGL Revocation The story of D&D's revocation of its Open Gaming License has started hitting mainstream outlets. It's a story I've been following very closely.My friend and I have a (very, very) small-time publishing company, that has once published something and made grand plans of publishing more. I think we've earned around $60, in total. It's really just a hobby. But this isReecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-38015431650131091182022-12-19T19:55:00.003-05:002023-09-09T20:40:19.779-04:00What even is Santa? When I was a kid, my dad read to me the classic Christmas poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas." In this poem, there is a line which describes Santa as a "right jolly old elf."As I kid I really pondered a lot on this line. Santa is obviously in charge of the elves. The elves are short, but Santa is human sized. But according to the canonical poem, Santa also is&Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-71443787971656093872022-11-22T20:02:00.004-05:002022-11-22T20:23:05.382-05:00In Defense of Jonah and the Whale The story of Jonah and the whale is often trotted out as a prime example of one of the most absurd stories in the entire Bible. Atheists in particular, when looking to point out the absurdity of believing events in the Bible to have really happened, are likely to pull out this story.We all know the story of Jonah and the whale.A prophet named Jonah is sailing the seas when his entire Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-50556897977805233442022-11-11T19:23:00.007-05:002023-09-09T20:40:49.485-04:00Put the Flour in the Bag: or, Just Adapt the Book, not your Fanfic We're all familiar with the tags on mattresses, warning us it is a violation of federal law to remove the tag. Those tags are a form of consumer protection. The purpose of those tags is to state what materials were put inside the mattress, so that the factory can't stuff it with human hair then claim it's goose down. Because wouldn't that be a crooked thing to do? AtReecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-5356642592490954372022-10-14T13:12:00.004-04:002022-10-17T20:14:11.024-04:00The Rings of Power is Flawed, but Pretty Decent For some reason my youtube feed the past three months has been filled with about 80% people complaining about Rings of Power, even before it came out. There are entire channels dedicated entirely to this, and youtube refuses to stop recommending them to me. The sheer volume of apparently meritless whining informed me that I should probably give the series a chance, and have an Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-14391662386805183872022-08-21T16:20:00.003-04:002022-08-21T20:19:58.470-04:00An Enlarged Yolk SacWe meant to ask about prenatal vitamins. Nelly has been taking these gummies that are overly sweet and she has to chew and she can't stand them anymore. The next thing we said was going to be, "do you have any recommendations for prenatal vitamins?"But I don't know what we did actually say next, because that's when the NP told us the yolk sac was 9mm.That datum meant nothing to us, Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-59211808932405479882022-08-03T17:13:00.007-04:002023-09-09T20:41:14.779-04:00Anti-THAC0 Attack MattricesAnti-THAC0 Attack Matrices
The Path of THAC0Before it was D&D, it was called Braunstein, and was a miniature wargame (like Warhammer) but with special focus on individual hero units who gained special equipment and levels of experience as the war campaign progressed.
In these days, the word "dice" meant normal, cubical six-sided d6 dice. So when Dave Arneson, the first DM, needed a Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-54527115244371876762022-07-09T00:52:00.007-04:002023-09-09T20:41:35.734-04:00Seiges & Sappers: the D&D from a parallel universe without Gygax
A little while ago, someone posted
this blog post asking this question:
"A game designer from a parallel dimension with no D&D nor Gygax is tasked with designing a game supporting common OSR principles. What would such a game look like?"
The original intent of the question was to remove deadweight mechanics form the game. Ideas that started with Gygax and early versions Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-85398421264934989852022-07-01T13:26:00.009-04:002022-07-03T18:04:52.021-04:00The Acrobat and the Flea -- The Unexplored Science in Stranger ThingsI just finished watching what is available of Stranger Things Season 4, and planning to watch the rest tonight. I've been meaning to comment on the show for a while. There are a lot of really neat ideas present in the series, that sadly I don't think get fleshed out as much as they could have been.I was inspired to finally start writing some commentary by a scene near the end of vol 1Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-59980919926694810672022-06-25T14:24:00.005-04:002023-09-09T20:41:55.369-04:00God and the Law of Identity I remember my first few years as a grad student, a professor reassuring my friend and I that no physicist ever gained true expertise in the topics by taking the classes. We'd learn the subject matter, but the real mastery would come when we had to teach it. Since about January my wife and I have been teaching a Sunday school class on logic and critical thinking, and even though Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-21846711621620474292022-04-23T12:18:00.011-04:002023-09-09T20:42:15.527-04:00No One Should Care What Kate Turabian Thought About StyleI have recently had to write and turn in my dissertation. To do this, I had to adhere, at least somewhat, to the stylistic whims of Kate Turabian. Which has been a painful process.Who is Kate Turabian? She is a former bureaucratic pencil-pusher who leveraged her tiny bit of control over dissertation layout into a world-wide empire enforcing her anal-retentiveness about margin Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-73148486215072014532022-04-15T19:04:00.009-04:002022-04-18T22:03:22.222-04:00 Twelve Years a Grad StudentI drew this on a white board at my last school, in 2013. Nine years laterand I slayed the dragon.I recently finished my PhD in physics. My particular field is astrophysics, and my thesis topic was on Newtonian and relativistic white dwarf asteroseismology. All I have left to do is get past the whims of Kate Turabian, whose opinion on formatting people for whatever reason Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-10560737944380162922020-10-29T23:53:00.002-04:002022-07-03T20:28:07.811-04:00Trying to decode The Beginning Place by Ursula Le Guin I recently reread this favorite of mine. My copy is an old, worn paperback I purchased at a used bookstore in the middle of nowhere in Georgia. The cover art shows the two man characters Hugh and Irena lost wandering in a forest, Hugh dressed in the vest from Tembreabrezi with the ceremonial sword drawn, and Irena in the red traveling cloak the inn lent her. I've seen Reecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-613387965721174471.post-41612933046620212432020-10-25T01:50:00.006-04:002023-09-09T20:43:07.300-04:00The witch of Endor proves mediums aren't realOnce you know how cold reading works, it's basically impossible to take mediums, astrologers, palm readers, or any other kind of sooth-sayer very seriously.Cold reading is a technique as old as civilization. From looking at a person and the details about them, you can guess things about their past and present. If someone is from Montana, for instance, you can guess they've ridden on a horseReecehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10691425406901685427noreply@blogger.com1