Letters to the Editor
hypatia
Published Letters: 7 Editor's Choice: 1
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Typical of an english major trying to write about science
[Read the article: Weird science]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Where, exactly did Charles Darwin write, that "you and I and the hippos and all the rest were almost Calvinistically preordained once life (whatever that is exactly) got started in the first place"?
I'm no historian, but I never knew that Darwin believed in preordination. This article needs footnotes.
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Is it Science or Technology that has limitations?
[Read the article: The Big Idea: No more breakthroughs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Probably both, but that's beside the point. The writer does not seem to understand the differences between science and technology. While the two persuits are increasingly interdependent, their goals are vastly different. The scientist's goals are the discovery of knowlege and understanding of the universe. The technolgist's (engineer's) goal is invention and the application of knowlege to solve problems. The scientist wonders where rain comes from, and the technologist wonders how to keep it off his head.
We will never know everything. (We may not even be capable of understanging the universe.) There will always be more to learn. It's just a pitty that scientists have had to become so specialized. Perhaps the next breakthrough will come interdiciplinary cross-fertilization....
We will never run out of things to invent. It's just a pitty that our patent system has gotten so out of control that it is stiffling inovation. Amazon just patented customer reviews of books and products. Next it'll be reader comments about online magazine articles....
Hyaptia
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Journalism 101
[Read the article: Betting on bird flu]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's hard to know where to start critiquing this article, but I'll single out just a few sentences:
A recent example occurred on Oct. 21 with Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' confirmation contract. At approximately 8:30 that morning, traders monitoring the Harriet Miers confirmation process began aggressively selling contracts betting against her confirmation -- dropping her stock price 42 points in early trading. The following Thursday, Miers withdrew her nomination from the high court.
The extract above relates several facts but NO knowledge. The author uses 'Oct. 21' and then 'the following Thursday'. How long a time period is that? One day or seven? Why should I have to refer to my calendar while reading this article? Surely, the author knows how many days.
Then the author says, "...dropping her stock price 42 points...." It dropped from where? If the price fell from 100 points to 58, I'm unimpressed because the 'market' still thought she'd be confirmed. If the price fell from 42 to zero, I'm awed. Which should I be, unimpressed, awed, or something in between?
Come on editors, there's to your job than checking spelling, grammar, and 'flow'. Here's a hint -- Content, content, content.
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Microsoft's Vista OS is coming out soon
[Read the article: Taking inventory on chips and houses]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe Intel is stocking up on chips in preparation for the release of Vista. A lot of people will be buying new PCs, and having lots of Intel chips available might make it a bit harder on AMD.
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KaPoom!
[Read the article: Housing starts: The bottom falls out]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It looks like Itulip is right again.
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Life is not fair....and it never will be.
[Read the article: So I went a little overboard in my courting -- I'm not a crazy stalker!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I sincerely feel your pain.
* You want closure on a relationship gone bad.
* You want to set the record straight.
* You'd also like to get your reputation back.
But any attempts you make to do any of these things will only make matters worse. It sucks. It's not fair. But that's the way it is, and there's not much you can do about it, so you might as well blow it off.
Your small town sounds like one big high school to me (Yuck!).
I think your only hope is to out grow the hipsters and move on to another scene or out grow the town and move on to the big(er) city. Carefully consider your job and family before moving. Don't make any rash decisions about leaving town. You're not in a hurry. Time is on your side.
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Chet Edwards????
[Read the article: Reports: Clinton wasn't vetted, Chet Edwards was]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Chet Edwards for VP??
I hope part of his vetting was to have him "potatoe".
He sounds like another Dan Quayle to me.