http://www.edgepenguin.com The EdgePenguin Blog http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/gravityfilm.htmlI've just been sent a link to a trailer to a new film "Gravity" that is coming out later this year: 10 May 2013 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/firstpub3.htmlAfter many delays, I have finally submitted my first publication to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS). The submitted (not reviewed or accepted) version of the paper can be viewed on the public pre-print service ArXiv. Our original intention was to make it available here after review, but making the paper public at the time of submission was a condition of the code we used. I've received informal feedback from some people in the field already, and its been positive so far. I am yet to be assigned a reviewer as of today, and expect to wait a few weeks until reviews come back. 18 Apr 2013 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/glass.htmlLast year, an engineer walked into a McDonalds restaurant wearing a camera headset similar to Google Glass and had an altercation with the staff. At the time, I was quite sympathetic to this self-described cyborg - the staff had seemed to me to be ignorant, thuggish bullies attacking something they didn't understand. The fact that they worked for an unpleasant multinational corporation didn't endear them to me either. 18 Mar 2013 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/sciad.htmlThere has been a surge in the last decade or so of individuals and groups vocally lobbying various governments, including mine, to invest more in science. They have been quite successful in the UK - science funding was shielded from government spending cuts to an extent, and the general public seems to be more well disposed towards publicly funded science. Science is riding high at the moment. However, there is a message I'd like to give to many of those involved in this kind of advocacy: 12 Mar 2013 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/darkmatter2.htmlLike most bloggers, I collect information about the users who visit me. One of the things I can see if the refer - if you click on a link to the blog that is on another website, I can see the website you were previously on. Sometimes this is a Google search page, and thus you can see what search terms someone used to find a specific blog entry. 04 Jan 2013 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/enlightenment.htmlThe skeptics movement prides itself on being able to use science and reason to enlighten people, and often acts as if skeptics are the sole guardians of reason itself. Despite this self image, skeptics sometimes make grievous errors. 31 Dec 2012 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/dnstax.htmlI have had an idea of how to resolve some of the corporate tax avoidance problems in the UK. I've not thought it through much, and there may be some obvious flaw I am missing. 22 Nov 2012 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/technocrats.htmlThe recent reshuffle of David Cameron's cabinet has prompted some discussion of whether or not his new appointees are qualified for their jobs. Much was rightly made of how we now have a Secretary of state for Health who believes in the efficacy of homoeopathy (spoiler alert: it doesn't work at all) and a Minister for Equality who doesn't believe gay people should be allowed to adopt children. 13 Sep 2012 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/firstpub2.htmlAs promised, I am continuing my series of posts on the process of preparing and submitting my first paper. 08 Sep 2012 http://www.edgepenguin.com/content/privilege.htmlToday I was speaking with various people on twitter about the subject of "privilege" - a concept I have been skeptical of since first hearing about. User @anarchic_teapot claimed that I did not understand the concept properly, and directed me to an article explaining it. I've read this, and here I will review and critique it. I shall do so by sections, using the headings from the article itself 20 Aug 2012