dimland radio 8-31-19 show notes

This Meme Started A Discussion

A prominent skeptic got a discussion started when they suggest the above meme was a hoax or, at least, a misrepresentation of the phenomenon it describes. Their contention was that the B/W photo was actually color. They weren't disputing the effect, they were pointing out the meme was using a deceptive example.

 

There be grey in here!

The photo of the kids is B/W. A commenter enlarged part of the image to show the greyscale bits inside the grid (see above). But the enlargement does demonstrate the problem with the meme. the color grid has plenty of color bleed happening, so it's not  a very good example of the effect. Below is a better version of the image.

 

 

Much cleaner color lines in the grid in this image.

I commented my opinion that the meme maker was not intending a hoax or to be deceptive in any way. I believe they were excited by the phenomenon and wanted to share ot with the internets. They were just sloppy in their execution.

 

Never attribute malice that which can be explained by incompetence.

 

Here's a cool piece by Phil Plait demonstrating a similar effect. Our brains make mistakes, kids.

 

Some Atheist Talk

Oh, goody. Something to read while on the toilet.

 

I'm an atheist. I don't often talk about it on the show. I'm not exactly certain why I don't. Sure, I often mention great advances in science and technology weren't prayed into existence, but I don't usually get into the whole no gods thing.

 

Well, my son received a mini-pamphlet during a visit to the Minnesota State Fair. It was telling him of the "good news" that he could go to heaven and live forever if he would just believe the right silliness. And that's what it seems like to atheists - silliness.

 

I demonstrated how this kind of "good news" sounds just plain silly.

 

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: 10 Actors Who Died On Set (Well, Not Exactly)

Trawling on the YouTube the other day had me run across a video titled "10 Actors Who Died On Set." You can probably guess, just from the title, what my pedantry was about this video. And if you guessed the actors didn't actually die on set you'd be correct. Well, one actor did actually die on the set of the movie he was filming.

 

Here is the video. Be warned, although there is not gore to be seen, the video does show the moment of death of that actor and the two child actors he was performing with. If you find that sort of thing too upsetting (and I don't blame you), when the video gets to the 3:30 mark skip ahead to 3:36 to avoid witnessing the moment.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Is There Something I Should Know' by Duran Duran & 'She Belongs To Me' by Ramones

Second ad break bumpers: 'Every Word Means No' by Let's Active & 'Younger Girls' by Cheap Trick

Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

Please subscribe on iTunes! Just search for Dimland Radio in the podcast section. And if you could leave a good rating and a positive review it would be awesome.

You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.

Images used under Fair Use.