Seen Elsewhere

Immersive Archaeology. Photo uploaded by Pathfinder Linden.

Another round-up of interesting links.

Holocaust? What holocaust? Are you sure you don’t mean “Hologram?” I usually don’t bother with anti-Holocaust denial posts. It’s not that I’m not sympathetic to the problem but I find Holocaust deniers not merely repugnant creatures but also tedious. You could argue that this lends tacit support to the deniers. It’s rather like cleaning a cesspit; while it might need to be done it’s something I’d prefer other people to do. Our Political World has an interesting article on David Cole, who now no longer peddles denial. David Cole has always been one of the odder people in that crowd which when you consider who’s in it is quite an achievement.

Aristophanes’ Frogs I think I found this via Γλαυκῶπις‘s side bar. Aristophanes is possibly the greatest playwright of all time. Romans Go Home! brings out the power of his comedy in final months before the defeat of Athens.

The Antikythera Mechanism Caught by Ioannis at Mediterranean Archaeology. I tend to cringe when someone describes a site or an artefact as a “computer” because it tends to suggest that the modern world is the standard that everything should be judged by. Or that someone is handing out marks. In this case the word is justified. The Antikythera Mechanism is amazingly strange and you’ll continue to hear more about this in the media for a while yet. They may have revealed more text, but no-one’s published what the text says yet.

This Old House via About Archaeology, which has more info, comes an article at Natural History Magazine on Çatalhöyük. The Çatalhöyük dig will have an impact on future archaeological thought for centuries. And it has its own blog.

Neanderthal — The Rebirth No-one live blogs a TV programme like John Hawks. Find out what someone who knows what they’re talking about thinks about scientific shows.

My Ancestor Was an Ape. But In What Ape Line? Going further back, I thought we were the thrid chimpanzee. Pan Narrans, the story-telling ape according to Jack Cohen. Duane Smith has news of the possibility that we might be related to the Orangutan, Pongo, instead. I don’t know who’s funding the work. My guess is Rightguard.

3D Egyptian Archaeology in Second Life From the Stoa comes more digital goodness. I’ll pretend I know what I’m talking about though you’ll see I’m bluffing wildly by the end of paragraph. Second Life is a MMORPG in which users have created a virtual Philae. I looks hugely impressive to me. I love the tasteful but slightly gaudy colours. As far as I can tell Second Life software is free. That sounds like there’s a nasty bill awaiting the user somewhere. RP in an OG as part of a BA? It’s not impossible.

The Egyptian Chariot: Part 1 If you want to RP getting Philae then what better way than by Chariot? Hot Cup of Joe has the first part of an article on Egyptian chariots including plenty of references for further reading. I’m sure it will be appearing in a few 1st year undergraduate papers in the coming term.

Marx Myths & Legends via Cliopatria’s entry You Can Make a Career Out of Saying Stupid Things About Karl Marx comes news of a site about Marx by people who have read his work. Possibly one of the most misunderstood philosophers of all time in my opinion. Though if you try and read his work then in places it’s easy to see why he’s so misunderstood.

Questions Anyone? Compy Ed: Blogging about Computer Science Education might seem an odd place to get hints on Classics teaching but it’s worth a visit if you teach any subject. In this entry there a discussion of why silence is not a good answer if you ask if there’s any questions. The whole education category is worth browsing.

Pluto Blogging I haven’t Pluto blogged because I’m not at all sure the IAU will agree to its new planet resolution on Thursday as you can see at Doug’s Darkworld Pluto is a Planet! – Pluto is Not a Planet?. Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy shows nails the problem in his post Congratulations! It’s a planet! “The problem here is simple, really: we’re trying to wrap a scientific definition around a culturally-defined word that has no strict definition.” Scientific American has news why Pluton is a bad choice of word for Pluto-like bodies.

Special Letters Unit I should link to Ancient Ruins and Respect, but this brings back memories of the alphabet chart in primary school. C was for chimney, I wouldn’t have put it past the people who thought Chimney was a better C word than Cat or Ceiling to have M for duck.

Finally a reward for making it to the end. Badscience has details of how you can download a free scientific classic Follies and Fallacies in Medicine.