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zagreb impressions
+ 5 - 4 | § ¶Project Coin: Small Changes in JDK 7
As part of my employer's Java News Brief series, I have written an article on Project Coin: Small Changes in JDK 7. In the article, I discuss a set of small but useful changes to be introduced into Java™ by the end of the year.Previously, I have written articles in the series on an Intro to JGoodies Forms, Units and Measures with JScience, an Intro to JGoodies Validation, Writing Music in Java: Two Approaches, A Better Date and Time API: Joda Time, Highlights of Apache Commons Lang, Part 1, and Highlights of Apache Commons Lang, Part 2.
Check it out!
+ 2 - 6 | § ¶The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution is Richard Dawkins's latest book, a readable review of the scientific evidence for Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. Apparently, Dawkins realized that his last several books about biology and religion assumed that the reader understood and accepted the evidence for evolution, so he decided that he needed a book to lay out the evidence. Dawkins covers a lot of ground in his discussion, weaving discoveries in paleontology, embryology, anatomy, genetics, artificial breeding and geography together to demonstrate the depth and breadth of the evidence that leads to a nearly inescapable conclusion: natural selection acting on isolated populations inevitably leads to biological diversity.
(more)+ 4 - 8 | § ¶The Three Strategies of the Anti-Evolution Movements
Last night, my alma mater's Assembly Series hosted a lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward Larson on the topic "From Dayton to Dover: A Brief History of the Evolution Teaching Controversy in the U.S." I really enjoyed the talk as an overview of the evolution vs. creation debate over the past century or so.The main structure was an analysis of the three strategies that anti-Evolution activists have used over the years:
- Removing evolution from the classroom
- Balancing evolution with some form of creationist instruction
- Teaching that evolution itself is "just a theory"
+ 2 - 7 | § ¶Thoughts on the Special Election and the Senate
I think a big part of the reason Coakley lost is that the left is mad at Obama that he wasn't able to get everything the movement wanted when he had the supermajority. Perhaps the worst thing that happened for the Democrats this past year was getting this 60th vote. It gave the appearance of complete power but not the reality of it. Because of Franken/Coleman, the supermajority was in place for only four months, and the Senate was in recess for half of that time.We on the left are blaming Obama for not giving us everything the progressive movement wants when he had only a short time it was even possible (and enough moderates in the Senate that perhaps it wasn't ever possible). Obama is a progressive pragmatist - he's not going for the home run on every issue, and he realizes that (if that strikes you as odd, consider that the current health care reform is more conservative than what Nixon proposed). Unfortunately, we have a purist fringe on the left that doesn't accept anything short of liberal purity, and a purist fringe on the right that has taken over the entire opposition party to the point that no compromise is possible.
(more)
+ 17 - 23 | § ¶My Sister's House is Famous
I just found out that this classic 1975 Pepsi commercial was filmed at my sister's house! They've done a huge remodel, so the porch isn't there anymore, but it's the same house.+ 19 - 24 | § ¶I Guess I Could Get Used to Poutine
Fareed Zakaria just introduced me to another pair of interesting ideas: the ease with which I could legally live outside the United States, and the artificial hurdles the United States puts up to expanding our skilled and educated workforce.When we lived in Germany in 2005, we had to come back from that great experience earlier than I would have liked because we couldn't get long-term legal status. We looked into the possibility of getting legal status in other European countries, but all of them built their requirements on close family connections. While this makes some sense, it's not really a system designed for the future economy, is it?
Of course, I'm lucky that I don't have to worry about trying to get into the USA. Our immigration policy is just a mess, I'm glad I don't have to navigate it, and it's not designed to build our economy, either.
And then there's Canada. (more)
+ 36 - 17 | § ¶How St. Louis Makes use of Snow
This is right outside the Cardinals' Busch Stadium, in the area that used to be the previous stadium.
(Thanks to Matthew Porter for the image)
+ 24 - 26 | § ¶My Favorite word of 2008
- Recombobulation Area
- An area at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee in which passengers that have just passed through security screening can get their clothes and belongings back in order.
