tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:50:15 +0000Blogs about life, politics, religion, evolution vs intelligent design, and anything else I find interesting.http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)Blogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-6797749452736921790Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:30:00 +00002012-01-08T18:41:22.222-08:00I learned something interesting today at a gas station. I went in to buy a diet coke and wasn't thinking and pulled out my credit card to pay. When the clerk asked if I was paying with debit or credit I suddenly remembered my New Years resolution to give the credit card companies as little money as possible and paid with cash instead. I also mentioned my resolution to him and received some http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-using-credit-cards-hurts-small.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-3689249639431090693Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:17:00 +00002011-12-12T17:18:29.839-08:00Whenever there is a debate about how much DNA truly is junk, someone brings up the Onion Test which was coined by Professor T. Ryan Gregory. In his words:The onion test is a simple reality check for anyone who thinks they have come up with a universal function for non-coding DNA. Whatever your proposed function, ask yourself the question: Can I explain why an onion needs five more times DNA for http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2011/12/onion-test-answered-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-6949562042763014148Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:36:00 +00002011-07-18T12:04:21.973-07:00I found this interesting tidbit in Wikipedia's entry on the Blood Type Diet:Yamamoto et al. further note:Although the O blood type is common in all populations around the world,[22] there is no evidence that the O gene represents the ancestral gene at the ABO locus. Nor is it reasonable to suppose that a defective gene would arise spontaneously and then evolve into normal genes.[23]What does thishttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2011/07/evolution-of-genes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-6676835999500890799Wed, 15 Jun 2011 01:14:00 +00002011-06-14T18:14:37.978-07:00I voted for Obama last time around. There were a few things I liked about his policy but mostly it was a vote against McCain. However, if Ron Paul had won the Republican nomination he would have been my man. I am glad to see he is running again. I don't think he has a chance of winning but at least he's a sane voice in the wilderness.Ron Paul repsonds to questions (GOP debate #1, 2011)http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2011/06/ron-paul-for-president.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-5834892008270826498Tue, 17 May 2011 20:26:00 +00002011-05-17T14:55:32.598-07:00It looks like gas prices on on there way down, at least temporarily. Americans don't like paying $4.00 plus for a gallon of gas so demand is going down. That means oil producing companies have to charge less for oil. This shows that if the price of gas is too high Americans will find a way to use less of it. Using less energy resources is a good idea for us all. If we lower our consumption enoughhttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2011/05/gas-tax-experiment.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-8742434813907902365Fri, 13 May 2011 17:11:00 +00002011-08-22T18:20:43.681-07:00Don’t you just hate remembering passwords for all the websites you use? I do. And I know it’s very tempting to just use the same password everywhere but that could be a monumental mistake. If your password gets compromised at one website all your accounts could be compromised. At the very minimum you should have 3 passwords. Choose one for high security financial accounts; one for email accounts;http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-pick-and-remember-hundreds-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-7733610287727250619Tue, 28 Dec 2010 08:36:00 +00002010-12-28T12:19:58.683-08:00In an attempt to find out what I believe some have asked me “who is God”? I think that’s kind of a weird question. How would I know? The question also assumes that God is a person and that God has a name. Maybe that’s true but I wouldn’t know. I don’t think it is possible for anyone to know what God is. Many have made up stories about God as an attempt to understand what God is and some of these http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-is-god.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-1628125104975556652Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:52:00 +00002011-01-11T01:24:16.965-08:00In chapter 3 of his book The Blind Watchmaker, evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins, introduced the Weasel Program. In The Blind Watchmaker, Dawkins attempts to refute the argument for the existence of an intelligent designer (or God) based on the complexity of living organisms. As part of his argument, Dawkins asks us to consider the short sentence from Shakespeare below.METHINKShttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2010/04/interactive-weasel-program.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-6100332536881132325Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:22:00 +00002010-01-27T01:26:37.598-08:00I just watched Quid Pro Quo last night. The movie explores the world of facticious disability disorder which includes people who are compulsively sexually attracted to disabled people, pretend to be disabled and/or want to be disabled. They are called devotees, pretenders and wannabes. I never knew those types of people existed.I love to watch these types of movies -- movies about bent people or http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2010/01/movies-about-bent-people.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-5874816890093443119Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:39:00 +00002009-11-20T14:04:16.137-08:00Last night as I was bicycling home from work I was hit by a truck. I was riding through a crosswalk and stopped a few feet away was a truck. I saw the truck start movement and then stop. Because of that I assumed the driver saw me so I proceeded to ride the rest of the way through the crosswalk. I was almost passed the truck when it lunged forward and struck me. It couldn’t have been going more http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/11/last-words.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-7053622256894866485Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:17:00 +00002009-10-18T23:18:14.947-07:00In his blog, biologist T. Ryan Gregory coined the phrase “Onion Test”. The blog entry starts like this:The onion test is a simple reality check for anyone who thinks they have come up with a universal function for non-coding DNA. Whatever your proposed function, ask yourself this question: Can I explain why an onion needs about five times more non-coding DNA for this function than a human?Why http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/10/onion-test-answered.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-8265286925780952346Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:07:00 +00002009-10-07T12:15:22.056-07:00I think most people believe that they, their thoughts and their feelings are more than just a chemical reaction. They have a belief that there is more to themselves than the material. This is why it is so easy to subscribe to the first religion we are exposed to -- it gives us an initial framework for our thoughts. Eventually we may mature intellectually and become aware of other ways of http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-side-are-you-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-7237439701478601747Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:51:00 +00002009-10-19T12:24:09.902-07:00Damn it. I’ve been expelled from PZ Myers blog Pharyngula. PZ has rules about what is allowed on his blog which creationists must follow. If you cross the line you get put in the dungeon and that means you can no longer contribute comments. I admit that I played around as close to the line as possible without crossing over -- and sometimes did stick my pinky toe over just to annoy PZ. A few timeshttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/09/expelled-from-pharnygula.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-2750667991893873549Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:40:00 +00002011-01-11T13:40:30.897-08:00The Silverlight application below simulates mutation and natural selection of genomes. You can start the simulation now by pressing the Evolve Genome button and then read on.Note that there are two views to this application: the Simulation View and the Mutation View. The Mutation View shows what happens when a coding sequence is mutated. Press the Mutation View tab and go look. The simulation http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/09/genomicron-simulates-mutation-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-523447701469288721Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:25:00 +00002009-08-24T18:39:28.844-07:00A thoughtful person once asked the question: “Does entropy apply to information?” The answer is obviously “yes”, but why? The short answer is that it’s because the probability of information is extremely low. The purpose of this blog entry is to attempt to explain my answer.Consider the highly organized sequence of characters below.Mathematics is the language of science. To succeed in science, http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/08/probability-of-information-part-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-356564407821619994Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:07:00 +00002009-08-24T01:16:33.547-07:00My wife and I originally purchased the Magic Wand as a sex toy, and as such, it is unsurpassed. However we have found other uses for the gadget besides its obvious use as a massager.Relief from Burn PainOne day I burned myself and decided to try distraction to get through the pain. I applied the Magic Wand to one of my feet and to my amazement the pain disappeared completely. I removed the Magic http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-i-believe-in-magic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-5435875111306548258Fri, 22 May 2009 01:22:00 +00002009-05-22T21:17:56.721-07:00I have heard that marijuana gives you the munchies. Not that I would know; I only smoked it for a brief period of time during my teenage years and I always had the munchies back then. However, after drinking Diet Coke I get really hungry. I wonder what chemistry is involved that makes me so hungry after drinking that stuff. Maybe they should call it Break Your Diet Coke. You can probably think ofhttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/05/diet-coke-versus-marijuana.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-6713416447760921406Sun, 03 May 2009 06:32:00 +00002010-03-31T18:36:21.924-07:00In my first blog entry about the probability of information I used the English language to show that the probability of generating a significant amount of information randomly is essentially 0. It’s important to note that the example is not just an analogy; it illustrates a fact that applies to all kinds of information – including DNA. The calculation may vary depending on the type of informationhttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/05/probabilityof-information-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-6403921065635149327Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:30:00 +00002009-05-02T23:32:37.278-07:00I recently posted an ad on seattle.craigslist.com advertizing a property I have for rent. Someone notified me that my property was posted for rent with two ads with two different prices and thought perhaps I had made a mistake. I went to check and it turned out that the second ad was posted by someone else and could only be contacted by anonymous Craigslist email and they were listing my propertyhttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/04/erentalapplicationscom-scam.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-8707148337140739763Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:19:00 +00002009-05-27T22:34:33.066-07:00I recently searched youtube.com using the search words "evolution probability" and found a number of atheist apologists making variations of the same stupid argument that the guy in this video is making. In this blog entry I explain why this guy and blogger Lord Runolfr get it wrong.Consider the following paragraph:Mathematics is the language of science. To succeed in science, one must use http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/03/probability-of-information.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-6070201790545826527Sun, 01 Mar 2009 07:43:00 +00002009-02-28T23:58:40.340-08:00Some time ago I wrote a blog entry suggesting that the idea that 97% of human DNA is junk is absurd. My argument was from an engineering perspective and was based on comparing the relative size of 3% of human DNA to the size of Microsoft Word. This blog entry was criticized by PZ Myer’s, a biology professor and prominent atheist, in Pharyngula, a popular blog that he writes. But there was more http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/02/professor-neil-strickland-vs-pharyngula.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-3938133823968919984Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:45:00 +00002009-02-22T23:53:23.499-08:00My wife took this picture today while we were waiting for dinner at 112th Street Diner. I think the ceiling lights made my hair look thinner. My wife says I always look like that (grrrr). Somehow I prefer the picture in my profile. But that one was eight years ago and I had more hair. Entropy sucks.http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/02/entropy-sucks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-7102369388882915692Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:44:00 +00002009-01-07T18:57:08.900-08:00I had mixed feelings when Hillary Clinton was nominated for Secretary of State. I didn’t want to see her try and fail to establish a national health care plan again. And I don’t think that should be a priority right now. Nominating her for Secretary of State distracts her from that nonsense. But while Clinton is a foreign policy wonk she isn’t what we need as Secretary of State either. Clinton ishttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2009/01/ron-paul-for-secretary-of-state.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-4953446865788995082Thu, 01 Jan 2009 04:19:00 +00002008-12-31T20:26:11.032-08:00I have mostly fond memories playing bombardment during high school PE classes. You could say it was my favorite sport. This is where the class divides up into two sides and throws balls at one another. In the classes I attended it was usually freshmen against sophomores or freshmen against the Advance PE Class which consisted of juniors and seniors. This usually meant that the freshman class http://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2008/12/people-i-like.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34429775.post-5186307921128075041Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:18:00 +00002010-11-16T00:51:59.049-08:00I just got back from vacation. I went to Los Angeles and San Francisco to take a break from the rain in Seattle. I am now wishing I had had the foresight to go to Chicago instead to witness Obama's victory speech in person. Below is the part of Obama’s victory speech that I like most, but before you play it consider an excerpt the lyrics to 2PAC’s song Changes:Come on come onI see no changes wakehttp://randystimpson.blogspot.com/2008/11/obama-versus-2pac.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Intelligent Designer)2