Study notes: Nov 23-29, 2014: "Gene Study Finds Cannibal Pattern" and other things

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week: 

• Article, "The Seven Types of Short Story Opening, and How to Decide Which is Right for Your Story," by Charlie Jane Anders
• Article, "Gene Study Finds Cannibal Pattern," by Nicholas Wade
• Paper, "Buddhist Hard Determinism: No Self, No Free Will, No Responsibility," by Riccardo Repetti
• Article, "Vladimir Putin is Right Out of a Russian Novel," by Linton Weeks
• Letter, "Letter of His Holiness John Paul II to Artists," by Who Do You Think?
• Article, "Neoreactionary Movement," on Rational Wiki
• Article, "Geeks for Monarchy: The Rise of the Neo-Reactionaries," by 
• Article, "Mormon Women, Traditionalists and Feminists: An Evolving Conversation," by Andrea Radke-Moss
• Article, "Mormon Studies in the Classroom: Mormon Women, Patriarchy and Equality," by Andrea Radke-Moss
• Article, "Pragmatism and Progress: An Overview of LDS Sister Missionary Service in the Twentieth Century," by Andrea Radke-Moss
• Article, "Ukraine, Not the Ukraine: The Significance of Three Little Letters," by Katy Steinmetz
• Article, "Ukraine or the Ukraine: Why do some country names have 'the'?," by Tom Geoghegan. 
• Article, "Life Tips You Need to Know," by Likes.com
• Article, "College Life: Tips for Survival," by Hassan Ishtiaq
• Article, "What's so bad about hating the Daleks, anyway?" by Charlie Jane Anders
• Article, "The Economics of Star Trek: The Proto-Post Scarcity Economy," by Rick Webb
• Article, "BYU prof fears Mormon scholars are giving in to secularism," by Peggy Fletcher Stack

WikiLearning #4 (Archeofuturism, &c)

Things I've learned from Wikipedia, and sometimes other places.

This is commentary. And this is really good.

Aglaonice (also called Agloanike, or Aganice of Thessaly) was a Greek astronomer who lived in the first or second centuries BC, "the daughter of Hegetor (or Hegemon) of Thessaly."

Notes for "The Anti-Reactionary FAQ"

Notes for "The Anti-Reactionary FAQ," by Scott S. Alexander. I was originally going to be including this in my weekly Study Notes post, but then it got really long. So here it is, early and all on its own.

While I have included some highlights, I highly encourage you to read the original document yourself.

WikiLearning #3 (gunpowder, &c)

Things I've learned from Wikipedia, and sometimes other places.

This is commentary. And this is really good.

Gunpowder manufacturing

"For the most powerful black powder meal, a wood charcoal is used. The best wood for the purpose is Pacific willow, but others such as alder or buckthorn can be used... Cottonwood was used by the American Confederate States."

WikiLearning #2 (aestheticization of violence, &c)

Things I've learned from Wikipedia, and sometimes other places.

This is commentary. And this is really good.

Blueseed is or was a "company working on launching a ship near Silicon Valley which was to serve as a visa-free startup community and entrepreneurial incubator. The shipstead planned to offer living and office space, high-speed Internet connectivity, and regular ferry service to the mainland. The project aims included overcoming the difficulty organizations face obtaining US work visas, intending to use the easier B-1/B-2 visas to travel to the mainland, while work will be done on the ship."

Full disclosure, I accidentally typed "sheep" instead of "ship" the first time around. 

Study notes: Nov 18-22, 2014: "Philosophy in Prison" and other things

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

What I've been watching and reading this week:

TED Talk: "The leaders who ruined Africa and the generation who can fix it," by Fred Swaniker
TED Talk: "Is there a real you?" by Julian Baggini
TED Talk: "Philosophy in prison," by Damon Horowitz.
TED Talk: "All it takes is 10 mindful minutes," by Andy Puddicombe
TED Talk: "We can be Buddhas," by Robert Thurman
Blog post: "Contemplating the Red Pill," by Free Northerner
Article: "Fifty Ways to Leave Leviathan," by Max Borders & Jeffrey A. Tucker
Article: "How Long Ago Was Adam Created!?" by Maan Khalife
Blog post: "The Most Useful Mnemonic Technique," by Brienne
Article: "How Climate Change Will End Wine As We Know It," by Sandra Allen
Article: "Latter-day Saint, Latter-day Lovecraft: an interview with W.H. Pugmire," by Theric Jepsen

I have also written notes on David Pulsipher's talk, "Renouncing War: How Mormon Theology & History Lead Us to Nonviolence," and compiled some knowledge from Wikipedia and elsewhere.

WikiLearning #1 (sea organs, &c)

Things I've learned from Wikipedia, and sometimes other places.

This is commentary. And this is really good.

The Sea Organ is an "experimental musical instrument which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps." Built by Nikola Basic "as apart of the project to redesign the new city coast (Nova riva)" of Zadar, Croatia, which had been destroyed during WWII.

Notes: Renouncing War: How Mormon Theology & History Lead Us to Nonviolence

Notes to the forum seminar Renouncing War: How Mormon Theology and History Lead Us to Nonviolence, by David Pulsipher, who is teaching "US History 1820 to 1920" and "History of Peace" this semester.

This is commentary. And this is really good. 

A link to the video will be posted in this spot as soon as it it uploaded to BYU-I.