Agnoistrology http://agnoistrology.com Daily Horoscopes For People Who Don't Believe in Horoscopes Sat, 02 Jul 2011 19:26:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 Agnoistrologyhttp://feedburner.google.com Earthquake in Japan http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Agnoistrology/~3/dqROh2z6jVc/ http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/03/11/earthquake-in-japan/#comments Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:58:37 +0000 edd http://agnoistrology.com/?p=384 [...]]]> In light of the recent earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan, a portion of the proceeds from the Agnoistrology.com online store will go to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. Below is some footage of the damage caused by this disaster (via Bad Astronomy).

And via Pink Tentacle:

Related Reading:

Natural DisastersNatural Disasters
Earthquakes (reillustrated) (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)Earthquakes (reillustrated) (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
]]> http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/03/11/earthquake-in-japan/feed/ 0 http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/03/11/earthquake-in-japan/ The first Agnoistrology.com T-Shirt is now available! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Agnoistrology/~3/I0xQsZDjbDw/ http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/03/10/first-t-shirt/#comments Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:52:59 +0000 edd http://agnoistrology.com/?p=379 [...]]]> These lines from William Ernest Henley’s Invictus sum up what Agnoistrolgy is all about quite nicely.

 

And it has a pocket!

 

The shirt is only available in white at the moment but more will be developed if the demand for this one is enough to justify it (so tell your friends to buy one, too). Online store

Related Reading:

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Summary & Study Guide | by Bobby HendersonThe Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Summary & Study Guide | by Bobby Henderson
History of AstronomyHistory of Astronomy
]]> http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/03/10/first-t-shirt/feed/ 0 http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/03/10/first-t-shirt/ New ‘Scopes! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Agnoistrology/~3/MSqM-qvO_MI/ http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/01/16/new-scopes/#comments Sun, 16 Jan 2011 06:08:17 +0000 edd http://agnoistrology.com/?p=371 I’ve added a few new horoscopes to the agnoistrological database (only a few and they still appear randomly) but I promise I’ll work hard at updating the site. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Look for new blog posts coming soon!

Related Reading:

A Text-Book of AstronomyA Text-Book of Astronomy
Understanding Quantum Physics: An Advanced Guide for the PerplexedUnderstanding Quantum Physics: An Advanced Guide for the Perplexed
]]> http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/01/16/new-scopes/feed/ 0 http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2011/01/16/new-scopes/ Reporting Bugs Found in homo sapiens 1.0 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Agnoistrology/~3/tMrYnXm4CiE/ http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/12/06/reporting-bugs-found-in-homo-sapiens-1-0/#comments Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:34:31 +0000 edd http://agnoistrology.com/?p=364 [...]]]> One morning at my ‘day job,’ I happened to notice a sweet, pleasing aroma from a cabinet next to me where I had chosen to take a short break. The odor was somewhat familiar and I was not surprised at all to find a can of recently used paint after a short investigation. My mind once again turned to contemplating the many ‘design flaws’ present in the human body; if I hadn’t recognized the smell of paint, how long might I have sat there while my brain cells were dying? One would think that any competent designer would make damaging important organs feel bad instead of euphoric, as many recreational drugs do.

When my good friend posted the fact that hemoglobin is much more effective at transporting carbon monoxide than oxygen, I knew there must be many more bugs in this version of homo sapiens that I hadn’t thought of yet.

So, I’m curious: what would you improve? Please use the comment section to rant about how your body fails you and what changes you would make.

Related Reading:

The Jesus DelusionThe Jesus Delusion
Cosmology: From Alpha to OmegaCosmology: From Alpha to Omega
]]> http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/12/06/reporting-bugs-found-in-homo-sapiens-1-0/feed/ 3 http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/12/06/reporting-bugs-found-in-homo-sapiens-1-0/ What the future holds for Agnoistrology.com http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Agnoistrology/~3/nVJZc6gkX8U/ http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/12/02/what-the-future-holds-for-agnoistrology-com/#comments Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:02:07 +0000 edd http://agnoistrology.com/?p=361 [...]]]> First, I’d like to offer my apologies for the lack of updates to the site recently. A death in the family, increased workload at my ‘day job,’ and the holiday season have all conspired against me (odd how even I have a tendency to anthropomorphize a random combination of events), curbing my online productivity. The good news is that things have settled down a bit, but the bad news is that I seem incapable of dismissing the ideas that occasionally pop into my mind and, consequently, you may see two new projects of mine revealed here in the coming weeks.

Second, I’m curious to hear what you would like to see here (other than more horoscopes). Feel free to use the comment section to post your requests.

Finally, thanks again for visiting Agnoistrology.com for all your prognosticatory needs!

Related Reading:

The Quantum World: Quantum Physics for EveryoneThe Quantum World: Quantum Physics for Everyone
An Introduction to Modern CosmologyAn Introduction to Modern Cosmology
]]> http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/12/02/what-the-future-holds-for-agnoistrology-com/feed/ 0 http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/12/02/what-the-future-holds-for-agnoistrology-com/ If the World had come with Social Networking Pre-Installed… http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Agnoistrology/~3/7O7Ubm1Tz5Q/ http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/09/14/if-the-world-had-come-with-social-networking-pre-installed/#comments Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:35:25 +0000 edd http://agnoistrology.com/?p=356 Received this in an email the other day:

Historical Social Network

Related Reading:

Dozen Jumbo Dinosaurs up to 6 inches longDozen Jumbo Dinosaurs up to 6 inches long
On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection, or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for LifeOn the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection, or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
]]> http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/09/14/if-the-world-had-come-with-social-networking-pre-installed/feed/ 0 http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/09/14/if-the-world-had-come-with-social-networking-pre-installed/ Cyborg Noses and Turing Tests http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Agnoistrology/~3/utezYnn-_eU/ http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/09/08/cyborg-noses-and-turing-tests/#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:02:51 +0000 edd http://agnoistrology.com/?p=349 [...]]]> After my last entry about spambots, I noticed quite a few of them ‘Liking’ the Agnoistrology.com Facebook page. One of the characteristics they all shared was an Egyptian origin.

Now, many were obviously not human; they listed their hobbies and favorite shows and movies in generalities like ‘Hiking,’ ‘Action Movies,’ and ‘Reality Shows,’ without any specific examples. In addition, many of the FB pages they ‘Liked’ were huge, and I mean international huge, corporate pages designed only to advertise a product line. Did I mention that they also invariably listed the Bible or the Koran (or both!) and no others as a favorite book? It became apparent early on that these profiles of young adults wanting to meet both males and females while pursuing a higher education were artificial personalities constructed to boost the fan count of certain pages. I’m guessing they became fans of my page randomly in order to appear to have unique interests.

Unfortunately, I soon found myself automatically assuming that any new Egyptian fan of Agnoistrology.com was a spambot. I was profiling FB profiles!

This got me thinking about Turing tests.

The only real criteria I was using to judge the humanity of these profile owners was the unlikelihood of someone displaying all of the characteristics of a herd mentality also expressing a fondness for my site. My conscience played devil’s advocate: One of these kids could have a relative working for that soft drink company and just think this pop singer is attractive…and have a literary interest in that religious book…and know someone on that reality show…and work part-time for this fast food chain. Who am I to ban them from Agnoistrology? Let them broaden their horizons!

I was unwilling to ‘Friend’ any of them, however, without a reliable, automated Turing test. Ultimately, I’m confident I would have definitively and accurately categorized them with a minimum exchange of messages but what would have really been handy is a CAPTCHA of some sort.

But how long will CAPTCHAs be viable? Frankly, I’m surprised they still work as well as they do. Speech recognition has gotten pretty good and a Japanese research group is already developing chemical sensors that utilize a synthesis of bio- and computer technology to react to certain smells. It seems to me that a paradigm shift is looming that will leave Turing tests behind and I probably should have seen it coming the first time I was fooled into holding a conversation with someone’s answering machine.

Related Reading:

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, 3/eArtificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, 3/e
Pass Turing Test? Pass Ringer T by CafePress
]]> http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/09/08/cyborg-noses-and-turing-tests/feed/ 0 http://agnoistrology.com/blog/2010/09/08/cyborg-noses-and-turing-tests/