So, it turns out Debi and I aren’t the only Star Trek fans in Tampa. We weren’t interviewed by Fox 13, but saw all of these people being interviewed when we went last night. As far as the movie goes, it’s very good, but somewhat problematic as far as the Star Trek time line goes. However, we were duly impressed at how well this film integrated the quirks of the original characters into the new actors. The new cast is also very good. I hear there’s another movie in the mix, probably depending on how well this does in the theaters. I guess we’ll see. Maybe next time Debi, Toren, and I will dress up!
Among all the other things Debi has been doing, she found the time to choreograph a dance for the University of Tampa Spring Dance Concert with a friend (and now neighbor). Here it is:
I caught this story a couple of days ago about a wealthy chiropractor trying to change Florida legislation on childhood vaccines. I was so annoyed by it that I wrote a letter to the editor of the St. Petersburg Times. They called yesterday to let me know they were going to publish it. Found it today:
Thank you for bringing this piece of disturbing legislation to my attention. I wrote my state senator, Arthenia L. Joyner, and my state representative, Michael Scionti, to encourage them to vote against this piece of legislation. I would not have known about it if not for you story. So, thank you.
But I’m also writing with a bit of criticism. In that story, Gary Kompothecras’ claims were basically left unchallenged. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics found no link between thimerosal and autism. By not mentioning this you are doing your readers a huge disservice. To date, there is no scientific evidence to suggest vaccines cause autism.
If people like Kompothecras get their way, the result won’t be a reduction in autism (autism rates are going up while thimerosal has been removed from childhood vaccines), but outbreaks of measles, as has already happened in the United States. Please do a good, scientific story on this topic. Educate the public, don’t spread fear.
Dr. Ryan T. Cragun, Tampa
On the agenda for tomorrow – posting footage of Toren. Stay tuned!
While I absolutely don’t have the time to do this, I decided I’m going to do it anyway, because I miss it. I’ve put together a monthly gaming night with my brother (Josh) and brother-in-law (Steve). To make things simple for anyone who wants to participate, we’ll be playing Nexuiz, a first-person shooter that is open-source. That means it is free, runs on Windows, Linux, and OSX, and will run on pretty much anyone’s computer. I’ll host the game on one of our computers (probably Debi’s desktop) then play on my other computer. Given that we just received an upgrade to our bandwidth (20mb download/5mb upload), I should have sufficient bandwidth to manage the server.
If you’re interested, the first game is scheduled for May 10th at 9pm Eastern. The server will be called “Darwin’s House.” Not sure what we’ll play – free for all, capture the flag, team deathmatch, etc. – but it should be fun.
I also created a group on Facebook so I can keep everyone informed about the games. If you want an invite to the group on Facebook, let me know.
