Welcome new Members! Introduce yourselves here!

[COLONEL]

Originally Posted by Ketyk

Wow! Look at Colonel barking out orders like back in the day!

These are newbs, not recruits.

What can I say old habits die hard.

NEWB'S / Recruits They're all about the same, in a way

[TheProfessor]

I'm TheProfessor. TheProfessor says hello!

[Roadtoad]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

I'm TheProfessor. TheProfessor says hello!

Oh, please. Say it ain't so....

[COLONEL]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

I'm TheProfessor. TheProfessor says hello!

The Colonel says welcome and have a glass of Goats milk.Then when you're finished, Road Toad will give you a ride in his K-Wopper

[sbeeman]

Hello. I've greatly enjoyed lurking this forum for some time now, and I thought it might be fun to finally sign up.

My name is Stefan. I'm a young man with a background in ecology, scientific computing, and web technology. I enjoy long moonlit debates about semantics, games of rock-paper-scissors to allocate burden of proof, and spotting logical fallacies with my fiancee.

I promise not to post passive-aggressive suggestions that empiricism is flawed because it rejects my irrational belief system, nor to defend that irrational belief system with fallacious arguments and then ignore or dismiss all rebuttals of those arguments.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by sbeeman

Hello. I've greatly enjoyed lurking this forum for some time now, and I thought it might be fun to finally sign up.

Actually it's the posting that's the most fun of all, but I suspect you knew that.

Originally Posted by sbeeman

My name is Stefan. I'm a young man with a background in ecology, scientific computing, and web technology. I enjoy long moonlit debates about semantics, games of rock-paper-scissors to allocate burden of proof, and spotting logical fallacies with my fiancee.

Gosh! Sounds like there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Originally Posted by sbeeman

I promise not to post passive-aggressive suggestions that empiricism is flawed because it rejects my irrational belief system, nor to defend that irrational belief system with fallacious arguments and then ignore or dismiss all rebuttals of those arguments.

Bummer. Nobody here ever seems to do those things anymore.

As if.


Welcome to the funny farm, Stefan.

[COLONEL]

Welcome Stefan Along with you Glass of Goats milk how would you like your Roo steaks ? The MINTIE bowl is on your left help your self.

[swright777]

Originally Posted by Bell

Common theme: blame the Jooz!

Anywoo... welcome aboard. Normally I would offer you some Belgian beer, but since out national holiday Queen's Day is coming up, I'd like to offer you some Dutch beer (not Heineken)

I've noticed that the 'Blame the Joooos' theme is common in almost every conspiracy. I wonder if these people have ever even met a Jewish person.

I spent two weeks in Haifa when I was in the navy (US) back in '89. All of the people that I met were friendly. A Jewish family invited several of us into their home for dinner having just met us. We were headed back to the ship and a taxi full of locals stopped to give us a ride. We told the driver that we were broke (as usual), and he still gave us a ride.

Anyway, thanks for the beer.

[swright777]

Originally Posted by COLONEL

Welcome SWRIGHT ! Yup it takes all kinds and that's what you will find here too!
We have all kinds of people, we are like NewYork City one big melting pot. As a lurker you must know about the customary glass of Goats milk offered to the NEWB's and that being Friday, the weekend Menu is posted Enjoy your time and the people here.

I guess it would be boring if everyone used logic and common sense to explain or defend their views.

And thanks for the milk. I think I was too late to order from the menu.

[derchin]

Hey everybody. Name is Derchin if you haven't caught that by now. I've been lingering around this site and reading some of the threads for some time now. Aside from some previous hurdles concerning registration, I'm finally a member.

Cool.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by derchin

Hey everybody. Name is Derchin if you haven't caught that by now. I've been lingering around this site and reading some of the threads for some time now. Aside from some previous hurdles concerning registration, I'm finally a member.

Cool.

I keep telling them to get rid of the 'steeplechase' option on the registration page and go back to the more familiar 'jumping through hoops' process but will they listen?

Harumph, I say.

Anyway, that's all behiind you now and it's sane pailing from here on.

Or something.



Welcome aboard.

[derchin]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

I keep telling them to get rid of the 'steeplechase' option on the registration page and go back to the more familiar 'jumping through hoops' process but will they listen?

Harumph, I say.

Anyway, that's all behiind you now and it's all sane pailing from here on.

Or something.



Welcome aboard.

Hello there. I hope I haven't done anything wrong.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by derchin

Hello there. I hope I haven't done anything wrong.

I assume not, mate, since you're here.



To tell the truth, the only thing I remember about the registration process is that it wouldn't accept that I was 3,500 years old.

Stupid machine.

[derchin]

Oh, I see.

[COLONEL]

Originally Posted by derchin

Hello there. I hope I haven't done anything wrong.

Welcome have a glass of Goats milk and the only thing I can think of is if you have not returned all your library books yet, the Library Lady will be after you . Although she might be on vacation as she has not been around for a while, so you have a chance to get them returned.

[Lenoxus]

Hello all! I'm a near-lifelong skeptic and atheist (in fact, I would call myself a gnu atheist… not sure to what extent that may be controversial in these circles).

My first intro to this stuff was Joe Nickell's book The Magic Detectives. Other than that, nearly all of the books I have read about the paranormal were more on the credulous side, but I could usually figure out what was really going on, and recent Internet reading has helped sharpen my BS-detection skills.

I work for the after-school program of a middle school, where some of the kids are into the paranormal, especially cryptozoology. I don't like getting into arguments with them since I don't want to harm our relationship (or likelier, get into even more frustrating arguments with their parents). Fortunately, the kids themselves are quite good at arguing against the woo anyway; in fact, most of the "cryptozoology club" meetings seem to consist of the kids watching YouTube videos and pointing out how things were faked or played up.

Like all upstanding folk, I believe in "open-mindedness", but I believe much much much more strongly in the faultiness of human minds and our tendency to project all sorts of inner silliness onto the universe, as if reality were supposed to obey the intuitions of a few billion primates. It would take a very, very, very large amount of evidence to convince me that "the supernatural" exists, because of the long history of fakery-and-mistakery, plus my feeling that the supernatural doesn't really refer to anything that logically could exist so much as a kind of set of quasi-dualistic attitudes.

Maybe we've been visited by aliens… but they couldn't possibly be humanoid any more than they would speak Pig Latin. Maybe someone has experienced actual prophecy… but not Nostradamus or any other claimant.* Those are really tiny maybes. Tinier still are the maybes for homeopathy and astrology. Finding out that either one is "real" would be equivalent to finding out the Earth is "really" flat; it's not even imaginable.

I get really frustrated by the self-contradiction whereby woos insist their stuff in in some way untestable. You can't discover anything to be true in the first place if it's untestable! Even the supposed counterexamples they like to trot out, like love, are entirely testable. There are empirical differences between a situation where two people love one another and a situation where they don't. If someone told me that they knew as a matter of faith that Ellen Degeneres loved me, and I said "That's absurd. She can't possibly know I exist, and she's in a committed relationship, and I'm a man and she's a lesbian", would that person be entitled to reply "But love isn't a matter of evidence!"?

Anyway, rant over. Whew. Nice to be here…

*(The eeriest instance I can think of is the incident of that novel "Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan", seemingly predicting the Titanic sinking — but that's probably a Law of Large Numbers thing coupled with a few interdependent facts, eg, if a ship is going to be way short on lifeboats, it will probably be a very large cruise ship, with a "big" sort of name — look at the Titanic's sister ships! — whose makers are a tad hubristic, going too fast, etc.).

[serpentine]

Hmmmm...Don't know what the 'Goat's milk' thing is, but I've had plenty of it, since I grew up on it....Yummy!...
And yes, I know the 'paranormal' exists, since I've experienced it myself.
It's kind of like a 'sense' that many people just don't experience...And since there is a lot of corruption regarding 'psychics' and such, it's easy to doubt it all...Which is very understandable, and healthy.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by Lenoxus

Hello all! I'm a near-lifelong skeptic and atheist (in fact, I would call myself a gnu atheist… not sure to what extent that may be controversial in these circles).

<polite snip>

I can think of no better response to this than to nominate it for a language award.

I hope your stay here is as rewarding for yourself as it promises to be for us.

[Sideroxylon]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

I can think of no better response to this than to nominate it for a language award.

I hope your stay here is as rewarding for yourself as it promises to be for us.

I just read it in the nominations thread. What an auspicious entry.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by serpentine

Hmmmm...Don't know what the 'Goat's milk' thing is, but I've had plenty of it, since I grew up on it....Yummy!...

I have to say, I've been here for five years myself and I don't have any idea what's going on with that either. This seems to be the only thread in the forum where it's ever mentioned.

Originally Posted by serpentine

And yes, I know the 'paranormal' exists, since I've experienced it myself.
It's kind of like a 'sense' that many people just don't experience...And since there is a lot of corruption regarding 'psychics' and such, it's easy to doubt it all...Which is very understandable, and healthy.

Interesting times ahead, I'll warrant, when you start meeting up with the folks here who know the paranormal doesn't exist.



Vive la difference and welcome aboard!

[ratcat]

The Name is Jeff. Found my way here via the Skeptoid podcast. I have nothing clever to say at this time.

[LibraryLady]

Originally Posted by ratcat

The Name is Jeff. Found my way here via the Skeptoid podcast. I have nothing clever to say at this time.

I'm very grateful for that.

Have you returned your library books?

[marsattacksgirl]

I am quite ashamed to admit that I've spent most of my life as a devoted religious nut.

At one point, I even entertained new age fantasies and went to a psychic.

I had an epiphany watching Jason Robards perform in a production of The Iceman Cometh. His pipe dream monologue was personally illuminating. I've been discarding fantasies since then.

I feel humble and tardy among you.

Regards!

[SkeptimusPrime]

Originally Posted by marsattacksgirl

I am quite ashamed to admit that I've spent most of my life as a devoted religious nut.

Don't feel bad, I spent most of my college years as a fundamentalist Christian, I even went on a mission trip to India when I was about 22.

[FluffyPersian]

The Persian kitten pats your foot with her paw to welcome you. You can pet her, but watch out for the tiara.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by ratcat

The Name is Jeff. Found my way here via the Skeptoid podcast.

Hi Jeff!

Originally Posted by ratcat

I have nothing clever to say at this time.

Cool. You've brought me a new sig.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by marsattacksgirl

I am quite ashamed to admit that I've spent most of my life as a devoted religious nut.

I wouldn't sweat it. I've spent all of my life as a devoted nut without even the excuse of religion.

Originally Posted by marsattacksgirl

At one point, I even entertained new age fantasies and went to a psychic.

The fact that you've tried these things and not gone over to teh Dark Side™ speaks well of you. Nothing to be ashamed of there.

Originally Posted by marsattacksgirl

I had an epiphany watching Jason Robards perform in a production of The Iceman Cometh. His pipe dream monologue was personally illuminating. I've been discarding fantasies since then.

I feel humble and tardy among you.

Regards!

No need for that. Feel welcome instead!

[WarrenGaebel]

Hi, all. Yes, I'm a newbie, so I have questions. Is this the right thread to ask newbie-type questions? If not, what thread should I use. If this is the right thread, here's my first newbie question:

The list of posts within a thread is sorted chronologically. How can I change that to a reverse chronological sort?

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by WarrenGaebel

Hi, all. Yes, I'm a newbie, so I have questions. Is this the right thread to ask newbie-type questions? If not, what thread should I use. If this is the right thread, here's my first newbie question:

The list of posts within a thread is sorted chronologically. How can I change that to a reverse chronological sort?

Hi Warren. Welcome to the Forum.



I'm afraid the answer is that posts always apppear in the order that they were made. Now it's my turn for a question.

Why on Earth would you want to read a thread backwards? Surely it wouldn't make sense to have the answers coming before the questions, so to speak.

Although I have to admit that it wouldn't make a lot of difference in some threads.

[WarrenGaebel]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

Why on Earth would you want to read a thread backwards? Surely it wouldn't make sense to have the answers coming before the questions, so to speak.

Laziness. I don't want to have to click on the little right-pointing arrow to go to the last page.

I'm quite adept at reading posts backward. I've been doing it so long that it seems natural to me. By the time I get to the original message, I'm already aware of what people have said about it. [Some people would say that I've let my mind be infected by other people's thoughts prior to listening to the original thought, but I'm aware of that possibility and I compensate for it.]

P.S. - I can read upside-down too. Mirror reading isn't so easy, but I'm working on it.

[COLONEL]

Welcome NEWB'S ! Here it is Friday already, boy did this week fly by . So here is our weekend Menu

Goats milk fresh from our Goat, Belhaven beer,and spring water
Cats and Hamsters prepared by our chef and cooked anyway you want them. famous Grayman oat meal cookies and MINTIES.
If you see the Goat pat it on the head .

The Library Lady will be along soon to instuct you on your library books

[COLONEL]

Originally Posted by WarrenGaebel

Laziness. I don't want to have to click on the little right-pointing arrow to go to the last page.

I'm quite adept at reading posts backward. I've been doing it so long that it seems natural to me. By the time I get to the original message, I'm already aware of what people have said about it. [Some people would say that I've let my mind be infected by other people's thoughts prior to listening to the original thought, but I'm aware of that possibility and I compensate for it.]

P.S. - I can read upside-down too. Mirror reading isn't so easy, but I'm working on it.

Let us know when you get to mind reading , we will have a real challenge ready for you

[WarrenGaebel]

Originally Posted by COLONEL

Let us know when you get to mind reading , we will have a real challenge ready for you

I can predict what most members will think when they read my profile!

[Ketyk]

Originally Posted by WarrenGaebel

Laziness. I don't want to have to click on the little right-pointing arrow to go to the last page.

There is a way to go to the first unread post in a thread. I subscribe to a thread, then list my subscriptions. Clicking the icon circled below brings me to the first post posted I haven't seen.



Need help subscribing to a thread?

[bruto]

Originally Posted by WarrenGaebel

Hi, all. Yes, I'm a newbie, so I have questions. Is this the right thread to ask newbie-type questions? If not, what thread should I use. If this is the right thread, here's my first newbie question:

The list of posts within a thread is sorted chronologically. How can I change that to a reverse chronological sort?

Some older versions of this forum software, I think, used to have that option, but I don't see it here. If going to the last unread post doesn't do it for you, the only way I know to get a reverse chronological sort is to begin a reply. At least a portion of the most recent posts are presented in reverse. You can always abort the reply before you post it.

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by bruto

You can always abort the reply before you post it.

I'd like to see this replace the text which currently appears on the 'Submit' button.

[The Man]

Originally Posted by WarrenGaebel

Laziness. I don't want to have to click on the little right-pointing arrow to go to the last page.

I'm quite adept at reading posts backward. I've been doing it so long that it seems natural to me. By the time I get to the original message, I'm already aware of what people have said about it. [Some people would say that I've let my mind be infected by other people's thoughts prior to listening to the original thought, but I'm aware of that possibility and I compensate for it.]

P.S. - I can read upside-down too. Mirror reading isn't so easy, but I'm working on it.

Welcome WerrenGaebel,
Ah I guess great minds think alike. Generally what I do is click on the last page (particularly if it is a thread I’m subscribed to) just scroll down to the end and work my way back to where I left off. In the parenthesis next to the thread title are the thread page numbers hyperlinked to each of those pages. After a number of pages (over 10 I think) have built up the last page will be listed as just, unsurprisingly, “last page”.

Welcome everyone

[xterra]

Originally Posted by ratcat

The Name is Jeff. Found my way here via the Skeptoid podcast. I have nothing clever to say at this time.

Originally Posted by LibraryLady

I'm very grateful for that.

Have you returned your library books?

Ratcat, your comment reminds me of my friend Lenard (who spells his name that way because that's what his parents did). One reason I like Lenard is that he has lots to say -- and he doesn't say it.

LL, you know that Dante was wrong, don't you? The lowest level of Hell is really reserved for people who deliberately didn't return library books.

[LibraryLady]

Originally Posted by xterra

Ratcat, your comment reminds me of my friend Lenard (who spells his name that way because that's what his parents did). One reason I like Lenard is that he has lots to say -- and he doesn't say it.

LL, you know that Dante was wrong, don't you? The lowest level of Hell is really reserved for people who deliberately didn't return library books.

Actually, no. The lowest circle of hell is reserved for those who deface library books.

[xterra]

Originally Posted by LibraryLady

Actually, no. The lowest circle of hell is reserved for those who deface library books.

My error.

When you're right you're quite right. And you are.