tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:39:45 +0000Arguing For Arguments' Sakehttp://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Mark)Blogger179125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-5869048350825611680Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:44:00 +00002008-10-06T13:47:25.541+01:00Just to let you all know that my new site, Small•Hadron•Collider, is finally up and running. I'm currently developing a few iPhone apps as well as a referencing app for the Mac. Also available for web and graphical design. As mentioned in the previous post, this is also the home of my new blog. Small•Hadron•Colliderhttp://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/10/smallhadroncollider.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-7456471750854510502Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:01:00 +00002008-08-28T12:05:06.382+01:00Misc.In an attempt to unify all of my internet goings-on I will be moving my blog to my new Small•Hadron•Collider site (http://smallhadroncollider.com/blog/) in a few week's time. I will keep Neo-Sophistry up for prosperity's sake, but I will no longer be writing to it. The new blog will be very similar to this one, with a slight change of focus to reflect the fact that I won't be doing philosophy http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/08/change-of-addressfocus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-1664881173140159625Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:50:00 +00002008-08-18T13:53:49.367+01:00Misc.Not done a post in about a month. So to keep anyone that's still reading entertained I thought I'd post a book I wrote when I was younger. So here it is: Pete - A Story (in Words). It's only about 50 pages. Takes about ten minutes to read. And, most importantly, it's all true.http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/08/tumtetum.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-6235405934275903687Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:50:00 +00002008-07-21T21:52:15.188+01:00Misc.I'll continue to blog after I leave the philosophical fold. It may get a bit more computery, but it'll still just be me waffling in my usual kind of way.http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/07/addendum.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-1476269668886991568Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:25:00 +00002008-07-21T21:37:33.048+01:00Misc.Hello. I've not written anything on here for a couple of weeks; I would like to say that I've been busy, but I've mostly been procrastinating (a word that's horribly overused by students – and only students). So, I've decided that I'll more than likely be giving up philosophy. At least for a while. I hope to go into the indie Mac software business – although I'll need to get a real job while http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/07/its-been-while.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-3922746338331257446Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:08:00 +00002008-07-07T01:22:43.320+01:00technologyMisc.I'm a bit annoyed that Federer lost Wimbledon – I really wanted him to get the record for 6 times in a row for some reason. But I'm more annoyed about an e-mail I got this morning. Here's the backstory: I was having trouble with the Bibliography program I'm making – couldn't get the saving to work – so I joined the Cocoa-Dev mailing-list and sent an e-mail out explaining my problem. I got lots ofhttp://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/07/blowing-steam.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-8516619459738668223Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:50:00 +00002008-07-03T09:52:07.545+01:00Misc.Prepare to be shocked: oil prices reach new record high!!http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/07/this-will-never-get-old-for-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-9028281375510345865Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:20:00 +00002008-06-30T11:22:14.261+01:00Misc.An interesting article featuring some of my favourite topics: Conservapedia, evolution, science, and funding.http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/conservative-science.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-7156504562660078622Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:53:00 +00002008-06-27T09:53:56.372+01:00Misc.Shocking news: the price of oil hits new record of $2 over the previous record from last week! http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/shocking-news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-4219108422499283171Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:05:00 +00002008-06-22T19:05:58.644+01:00technologyMisc.I decided that instead of spending my time doing, you know, work I would rather make a Mac program that converts BibTex files into nicely formatted bibliographies that I can use in Pages. Finished the 0.0.1(alpha) release today: you copy the BibTex text into a box and it produces a nice looking bibliography. Want to make it fully drag-and-drop though: you drag and BibTex file or text onto the http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/bibtex-program.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-16335970055665038Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:05:00 +00002008-06-19T23:07:11.040+01:00Misc.Here's a few random links (most of which I found on the excellent Daring Fireball): Abridged Indiana Jones 4 (it's got spoilers, and you may not find it funny if you thought it was a good film – but it wasn't, so that shouldn't be a problem) YouTube Screening Room: Our Time Is Up (new YouTube site for short indie films; this one is good) Man Gets Windows Vista To Work With Printer (http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/amusing-things.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-5659912451100340048Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:02:00 +00002008-06-18T22:03:21.015+01:00Misc.You heard it here first.http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/rocks-found-on-mars.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-6263112304527302232Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:31:00 +00002008-06-16T22:40:35.104+01:00Misc.That needs to be the headline on news websites instead of "Oil at new record high price". Of course if oil is at an all time record high and then goes up in price again it will set a new record. Do we really need to be told it is a new record every single time?http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/oil-prices-continue-to-rise-until.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-397193338263795273Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:01:00 +00002008-06-11T19:02:38.977+01:00Misc.politicsFull episodes of The Colbert Report are now available online the day after broadcast. If you have any interest in American politics and a sense of humour then you can't not enjoy this programme. http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/colbert.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-2427493700212948837Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:26:00 +00002008-06-10T23:28:51.966+01:00technologyMisc.I'm just going to come straight out and say it: I really don't like the new Google logo. Sorry Google. http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/goog-le-ogo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-9002507511726494411Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:58:00 +00002008-06-10T12:00:14.208+01:00Misc.logicI was watching a documentary on Channel 4 the other day about the rise of the fundamentalist Christians in the UK. It was pretty worrying to be honest – I'm starting to agree a little more with Richard Dawkins (although he's still going about things the wrong way). But one of the things that really upset me about it was the way some House of Lords idiot gave an "argument" against gay adoption http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/letters-to-illogical.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-6452601805340657057Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:18:00 +00002008-06-09T15:17:53.665+01:00Misc.US Election '08politicsI love this sound clip (although, to be fair, it makes a bit more sense in context): http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/delivering-bottled-hot-water-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-4169433962856547941Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:57:00 +00002008-12-10T13:05:54.895ZMisc.Moral PhilosophyAt the end of exams we had a bonfire down on the beach. We decided it would be appropriate to burn the book we used for Research Methods as it caused all of us much pain. It's odd. Before it seemed like a good idea. But then, as it was burning, I started to feel like I'd done something quite wrong. And now it just feels like it was definitely the wrong thing to do. It's odd. We'll happily http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/burning-books.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-2811347143046716311Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:26:00 +00002008-06-09T13:48:43.547+01:00technologyMisc.I got an Xbox 360 a few weeks ago (just before exams in fact – surely the best time to buy one). Now people often accuse me of being anti-Microsoft, but this is simply not true. I'm anti-Windows (but then anyone who has used Windows is probably anti-Windows), I think that the Zune is ugly and hard to use, Steve Ballmer is a nut-case, and Internet Explorer and Office are both horrible programs. http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/xbox-360.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-4300893165038644178Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:57:00 +00002008-06-09T12:56:58.426+01:00US Election '08politicsSo, Obama won the Democratic nomination finally; and Hillary Clinton has stepped down. I expected the former, but not the latter. This leaves plenty of time for McCain to make a complete mess of things (and hopefully convinced the Clinton supporters who said they'd vote for McCain if Obama won that they should still vote Democrat). I honestly think that this election is probably one of the most http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-6694156507986025754Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:38:00 +00002008-06-09T14:09:59.560+01:00Misc.I was watching Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker today. It's not a great film – I've never been a huge fan of Coppola, but I didn't realise it was one of his when I started watching it. Check out this clip: Did you notice the guy walking into the shot on the left, realising he's on camera, and then backing off? For some reason I found that hugely entertaining. I'm pretty sure the usehttp://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-was-watching-francis-ford-coppolas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-2502989703442649744Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:31:00 +00002008-06-08T15:45:42.861+01:00Misc.meta-philosophyI now seem to have two main ideas within my philosophy (and I think they're linked): Pragmatics: Usefulness should guide our philosophical theories. For example, I wish to formulate a pragmatic conception of knowledge. Neo-Sophistry: Philosophy does not get at the truth, so we should argue for any position that we can. I think that Rorty had similar ideas on some things. I'll be reading some http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/two-view.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-2970815549884974751Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:29:00 +00002008-06-08T15:06:15.535+01:00meta-philosophyI'm not a fan of overly technical philosophy (I'm also not a fan of radishes, but I'll save that for another post). My problem is this: Science can be very technical, and thus hard for the layman to understand, but it makes up for it by being useful. The arts tend not to be technical as they are meant to provide some sort of enjoyment to Mr Normal Person. Technical philosophy fits into http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-technical-should-philosophy-be.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-5477336434626282971Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:44:00 +00002008-06-08T13:46:01.928+01:00Misc.This must have taken ages to do: http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/06/graffiti-animation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170937580314222587.post-1685253601224454075Mon, 26 May 2008 06:48:00 +00002008-05-26T12:55:33.614+01:00Misc.See here. It's an article about the Mars Phoenix probe landing on Mars yesterday. Which is excellent news. However, there's one line in it that made me confused: In 2003, Smith proposed a plan to re-engineer the Mars Surveyor and fly it on a mission to look for signatures of life in the ice and dirt of Mars far North. Mars Phoenix, literally and figuratively, rose from the ashes of Surveyor. http://neo-sophistry.blogspot.com/2008/05/mars-phoenix-and-bad-reporting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mark)5