UWA Atheist & Skeptic Society

Setting: A very long book-signing queue

Dramatis personae:
Richard Dawkins (RD): A philosopher
Daniel Midgley (DM): A Daniel Midgley

Curtain rises.

DM: Hello again!
RD: (peers at DM as if for the first time, appears to recognise) Oh, hello.
DM: (hands over a copy of 'The Magic of Reality') This is the copy of your book that I read to my son.
RD: I'm glad! Continue reading →

This is a surprisingly simple guide to Hangul, the Korean writing system.

Steve Bloor is an ex-Mormon, an ex-bishop, and a much nicer guy than I am. He's so nice, he actually cares about other people's feelings. If I could be like that -- it would require a soul transplant, and since I don't have a soul, there's no place to put a new one. Ah, me.

His latest blog post has got me thinking. Continue reading →

You put your blog on Facebook, and then you put Facebook on your blog. Then you try to wedge both of them into Google+, but since no one looks at G+, I think I'll just can that and see how this goes.

It's what they now call 'cross-promoting social media', and what they used to call 'being a tiresome attention whore'.

Result = proactive synergy?

I don't mind that my Good Reason Facebook page has only one liker, because it's me, and I think it's important to be your own best troll. Continue reading →

Did Google plan to be in the middle of international conflict when they started Google Maps? Perhaps not -- and yet, here we are. Labelling it the 'Persian Gulf' gets the Arabs mad, and calling it the 'Arabian Gulf' irks the Iranians. And that's just one of many trouble spots around the globe.

It's kind of our fault, though. Continue reading →

I don't usually share Facebook conversations, but you gotta see this. It's like a lot of rants from grammar police, but this one hits all the highlights.

Here's the original grab: "George Lucas disses neighbours by doing something awesome". One reader looked askance at the appearance of the word 'diss'.

Richard Dawkins is Richard Dawkins. His talk was entitled "Now Praise Intelligent Design".


Intelligent design gets a bad rap, you know. The term's been sullied to the point where it's been described as 'creationism in a cheap suit'. But all of us rely on intelligently designed things to make our lives easier. Continue reading →

Mishka's a talking dog, or so they say. She can do a passing impersonation of a person saying "I love you", as long as the person isn't speaking too distinctly, is chewing a lot of gum, and happens to be a dog.



It's a funny thing about talking animals, though — it's a lot like listening to records backwards for hidden messages. It's just random sounds until someone tells you what you ought to be listening for, and after that, it's as clear as can be. You have to be primed. Continue reading →

I love seeing what people do with the 'Daniel' font. And here's the latest:

Yvette from Unlimited People Coaching has placed it smack in the middle of their masthead, where it looks very fine.

Joseph Thiéry has featured it in his new e-book.

And if it's fun you're after, try it in the new app 'Meany Birds'. Good reviews, I see. Continue reading →

I love seeing what people do with the 'Daniel' font. And here's the latest:

Yvette from Unlimited People Coaching has placed it smack in the middle of their masthead, where it looks very fine.

Joseph Thiéry has featured it in his new e-book.

And if it's fun you're after, try it in the new app 'Meany Birds'. Good reviews, I see. Continue reading →