Sensis and Yellow Pages in free fall?

Posted on 30. Jan, 2007 by Cameron Reilly in General

Meg has this interesting post on the decline of Sensis and Yellow Pages. Check out their Alexa graphs.

I wonder where their online customers are going?

I was also interested to read on her blog that former local Microsoft sales director Gary Cox has moved to News Digital to head up their local search play, TrueLocal.

G’DAY WORLD 193 – On Scientology.

Posted on 29. Jan, 2007 by Cameron Reilly in Podcast, science vs religion

I was listening today to an episode of The Infidel Guy’s show and he was interviewing a bloke by the name of Dan Garvin. Dan Garvin was a Scientologist for 27 years and a Sea Org member (their senior ranks, so-called because all the secret stuff happens on an ocean liner) for 25 years. He worked for ten years in their intelligence, PR, and Legal branch, the Office of Special Affairs (OSA). Dan got out two and a half years ago because a series of realizations that lead him to atheism and skepticism. All this got me thinking about how ludicrous the claims of the Scientologists are. But are they any more ridiculous than the claims of other religions?

Links from the show:
Infidel Guy interview with Dan Garvin
Wikipedia “Scientology“.

If you haven’t already, make sure you fill out my SCIENCE v FAITH poll.

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The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me” by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.

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Science v Faith – the poll

Posted on 28. Jan, 2007 by Cameron Reilly in science vs religion

I’ve set up a new forum for the ongoing discussion of science versus faith. As the first post, I’ve thrown up a poll based on Dawkins’ probability scale to see where we all sit in terms of believing in god. TAKE THE POLL.

Is Science Based On Faith?

Posted on 26. Jan, 2007 by Cameron Reilly in General, science vs religion

In the comments to my recent post on rationality, Tony Goodson said “Science is just as faith based as Religion!!”

Tony, I’m glad you said this, because it’s hearing rubbish statements like “Science is just as faith based as Religion!!” which has forced me to become more vocal about this whole issue. If that’s the kind of nonsense that people still believe these days, then as a society we are in a pretty bad situation. The fact that some Christians run around telling each other these things is just another example of why I believe it is a negative force in the community.

Science is the OPPOSITE to faith. The scientific process is all about finding evidence to prove or disprove a theory. Science is always moving forwards, trying to disprove earlier theories, searching for new theories, trying to gather better data.

Faith and religion only survive by IGNORING evidence and by desperately clinging to bronze age ideas. They are completely opposite ways of looking at the universe.

Developing a hypothesis in order to test it against the evidence is a completely rational approach. It has NOTHING to do with faith.

The “Big Bang” theory, again, has NOTHING to do with faith. I’d love to know who is spreading this kind of meme and how they get away with it.

The Nobel Prize in Physics last year was awarded to two Americans for precisely measuring the faint light that revealed the seeds of today’s galaxies and superclusters. Which, according to MSNBC “affirmed the big-bang theory to even the most stubborn skeptics.” “It’s just a magnificent verification of the big bang,” said Lawrence Krauss, a professor of physics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

So it’s about as proven as scientific theories get (which doesn’t necessarily mean it cannot get replaced by a new theory in the future if competing evidence becomes available, although that seems highly unlikely). The difference, of course, between the big bang “theory” and god is that the first has overwhelming hard evidence to support it and the second has none.

The fact that I still come across so many people (usually Christians) who are completely clueless about the how the scientific process works is totally bewildering. I’ve been wondering lately whose fault it is.

The Christians for not picking up a book about science once in a while and for being gullible when they hear this kind of stuff from the million-dollar pastor on the stage with all of the lights?

The scientific community’s fault for not doing a better job at communicating these things to the public?

The fault of the media for not getting the word out to the public?

Even my six-year olds know more about how it works than many adults I seem to come across.

Speaking of my boys, one of them said to me today “Daddy I don’t believe in God. Do you know why?”

“Why, T-Bone?”, I ask him.

“Because who invented God?”, he replied.

And he’s only six.