Christopher Merle

I’ve been working on some WordPress websites for some clients and I’ve noticed a distinct improvement in themes since I last perused them. So I’ve decided it’s time to update my theme. Right now it’s fspring with minor mods. The picture at the top of the paper maple is mine. So don’t be surprised if the look changes from day to day and you see changes within in a theme.

I just upgraded to WordPress 2.7.1 from WordPress 2.0.2. It was pretty painless. Now is the time to move my theme over and see if it still works.

Update- I moved my modified theme fspring, activated it, and it does. Woot!

There comes a point when a skeptic becomes a contrarian or worse a denialist. Case in point: global warming. How does one find what real skeptics think about global warming? Googling doesn’t help. There’s too much noise.
I suppose my starting point would be Skeptical Inquirer or The Skeptic and to look at what well respected skeptics have to say on the matter. But in the end it isn’t their opinion that matters. What matters are their critical skills that a lay person can use to sort out the evidence and the science. As a lay person I can’t go drill ice cores and measure trace amounts of gas. I can’t examine sediment cores or tree rings. I don’t have time to sort out existing temperature records or greenhouse gas measurements over time.

I think the term skeptic has picked up some negative connotations. In that it is a philosophy that rejects everything. I would like to see myself as a rationalist. Someone who strives to look at the world and science in manner that helps to build up a better picture of the world. The problem is anytime anyone comes up with a useful descriptive term it gets co-opted by assholes. And it gets redefined into meaning the exact opposite of what it’s supposed to be or into meaning whatever they want it to mean. It becomes white noise. They aren’t assholes. They are cocksuckers.

I have successfully moved my blog. Once I’m satisfied everything works, I’ll disable the old location.

My reasons for blogging are many. Mainly to test the waters of opinion. To see if they make sense, which they probably don’t. I may meander from idea to idea. In fact, I may jump around and change the subject alot. So, I’m reminded of the Chewbacca Defense from the South Park episode, Chef Aid.

I’m not going to use any legal arguments, just that what I say may not make any sense. I read an excellent book on writing. The author said, write for yourself, but write as though you were writing for other people. Writing for yourself is art. Writing for others is craft.

If what I write doesn’t make sense. Don’t worry about it because I don’t care. Well, not much anyway.