#reasoncon

ORLY-EP0152A - #ReAsonCon3 2017 in Review

Welcome to ORLYRADIO #152 recorded Saturday, April 29th, 2017 - where we dismantle the current events for your edutainment through mostly rational conversations that make you go ‘Oh Really’! I’m your host Andy Cowen with my usual co-host, Fred Sims.

We make mistakes. Please, if you find one, pause the podcast, and send us a note. [email protected] or phone it in 470-222-6759 

Thank you to our Patreon Supporters! Donald Davis Melissa G. Henry Daniel Duncan

Gleb Tsipursky is slated to join us on May 12th. He will be here to talk  about effective ways of fighting post-truth politics and political deception.

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ORly Radio Show 55.5 - BONUS Post Show Religious Discussion

Andy, David and Michael discuss Michael's belief and Andy's unbelief, and eventually Michael goes to #ReAsonCon2015 with Andy.

Topic Tuesday #144 2015/04/21 "Before ReAsonCon 2015"

Friday I am traveling to a conference. There will be hundreds of  driven individuals like myself. Hundreds of men and women to talk to, to share ideas, and cross promote our projects. I have prepared as well as I can, without inducing panic attacks and undue stress. This has been planned for months. I have business cards, car magnets, a pocket recorder for those interviews that are bound to happen, battery packs for my phones and computers, Excedrin, Wi-Fi hotspot, and of course my hotel room. I do not know how I'm going to get a show out this week, and I don't want to miss it.

This conference is veiling my mind thoroughly. I was racking my brain trying to come up with a Topic Tuesday post, and all I could think of was rebranding the Topic Tuesday section of the webpage to better reflect what this blog has become. Perhaps I should just make it "Topic Tuesday". Perhaps I should meld it with "Cowen's Corner" and the headings and meta tagging will serve to keep it separate. Should I do that before the conference Friday?

See? Overwhelming.

BUT! It is good stress. I am forced to refine my efforts and focus on usability, discoverability, and making the overall experience something that visitors want to repeat.

I'm also using my tools in new ways, which makes them show their true strengths and weaknesses.  For Instance, I am currently typing this on a my $80 Winbook tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard shell from , and a Logitech Bluetooth mouse.. It is a full Windows 8.1 computer with a full USB port and it takes the same charger as all my other accessories. This will serve as my data entry device while at the convention. Hopefully it works well. I will have a full Dell laptop just in case, but I will try to work with this little fella.

Thusly, next Tuesday, I will have plenty to say about the experience, and reviews of my kit.

In the mean time, I would like you all to chime in and tell e if you think I should change anything with the website or the show in total.

Topic Tuesday #144 2015/04/21 "Before ReAsonCon 2015"

Friday I am traveling to a conference. There will be hundreds of  driven individuals like myself. Hundreds of men and women to talk to, to share ideas, and cross promote our projects. I have prepared as well as I can, without inducing panic attacks and undue stress. This has been planned for months. I have business cards, car magnets, a pocket recorder for those interviews that are bound to happen, battery packs for my phones and computers, Excedrin, Wi-Fi hotspot, and of course my hotel room. I do not know how I'm going to get a show out this week, and I don't want to miss it.

This conference is veiling my mind thoroughly. I was racking my brain trying to come up with a Topic Tuesday post, and all I could think of was rebranding the Topic Tuesday section of the webpage to better reflect what this blog has become. Perhaps I should just make it "Topic Tuesday". Perhaps I should meld it with "Cowen's Corner" and the headings and meta tagging will serve to keep it separate. Should I do that before the conference Friday?

See? Overwhelming.

BUT! It is good stress. I am forced to refine my efforts and focus on usability, discoverability, and making the overall experience something that visitors want to repeat.

I'm also using my tools in new ways, which makes them show their true strengths and weaknesses.  For Instance, I am currently typing this on a my $80 Winbook tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard shell from , and a Logitech Bluetooth mouse.. It is a full Windows 8.1 computer with a full USB port and it takes the same charger as all my other accessories. This will serve as my data entry device while at the convention. Hopefully it works well. I will have a full Dell laptop just in case, but I will try to work with this little fella.

Thusly, next Tuesday, I will have plenty to say about the experience, and reviews of my kit.

In the mean time, I would like you all to chime in and tell e if you think I should change anything with the website or the show in total.

ORly Radio Show 40 for Friday January 9th, 2015 - No Religion Required

Hosts: Andy & the Usual Suspects: David and Don!!! Special Guest - No Religion Required Music: "Rocket and Pamgaea” by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com)

Science / Technology / Politics

Item: World’s Largest Solar Thermal Power Project Achieved Commercial Operation and State and federal regulators are overseeing a two-year study of the facility's effects on birds. URLs: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=121544&p=irol-newsArticleNRG&ID=1899656 URLs:http://gizmodo.com/the-worlds-largest-solar-plant-started-creating-electr-1521998493 URLs:http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304703804579379230641329484

Item:Segway Inventor Dean Kamen Thinks His New Stirling Engine Will Get You Off The Grid For Under $10K URLs:http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/07/02/dean-kamen-thinks-his-new-stirling-engine-could-power-the-world/

Item: Drones : Too many missions and too few pilots are threatening the ‘readiness and combat capability’ of America’s unmanned Air Force, according to an internal memo. URLs: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/04/exclusive-u-s-drone-fleet-at-breaking-point-air-force-says.html

Humanities / Religion/ Politics

Item: Broke Guy Offers Nikes in Lieu of Bail, Chill Judge Says "OK"

URLs: http://gawker.com/broke-guy-offers-nikes-in-lieu-of-bail-chill-judge-say-1677405562 Item: Bohner wins third Speaker of the House position - Makes dissenters pay. URLs: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/boehner-allies-out-for-revenge-114007.html

Item: Masked gunmen wielding Kalashnikovs and a rocket launcher killed at least 12 people and injured 10 more at the Paris offices of satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday before escaping. URLs: http://gawker.com/gunmen-kill-12-in-shooting-at-paris-satirical-newspaper-1677943812 URLs:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/charlie-hebdo-satire-intimidation-analysis URLS: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/09/charlie-hebdo-suspects-killed_n_6439396.html

Politics / Humanities / Politics

Item: At 11:50 a.m. ET on Jan. 2, the dollar index was trading at 90.94. To make a long story short for those of us who don’t have a degree in economics, this is the highest level the dollar has traded at since March 2006. THANKS OBAMA!! URLs: http://reverbpress.com/politics/u-s-dollar-reaches-highest-value-in-9-years/ Item: 4 Things That Were Supposed To Happen By 2015 Because Obama Was Reelected URLs: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/01/01/3607416/4-things-2015-obama-reelected/

Potpourri / Politics / Flotsam & Jetsam

Item: New Bill Would Make Wearing Hoodies A Crime URLs: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/01/03/3607687/oklahoma-hoodie-ban/ Item: The oldest time capsule discovered in the country (1795) was opened Tuesday in Boston URLs: http://abcnews.go.com/US/oldest-us-time-capsule-opened-today/story?id=28025479 URLs: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/after-220-years-secrets-of-paul-revere-and-sam-adams-time-capsule-revealed/

Oh, Florida...

ITEM: Phoebe Jonchuck Killed by her father John Jonchuck Jr. He pulled her from his car and tossed her off a bridge 62’ to Tampa Bay.. . URLS: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/27793264/deputies-john-jonchuck-had-history-of-domestic-issuesd URLS:http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/ex-man-accused-throwing-child-bridge-says-hes-jeky/njj5w/

Item: A Florida dad taught parents in the state last week that it's fine to spank your kids, as long as you call the cops to oversee it URLs: http://gawker.com/dad-calls-cops-to-watch-him-spank-12-year-old-daughter-1677493594 Item: Disney cruise officials say 4-month-old was too young, forced family off ship URLs: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-family-forced-off-disney-cruise-ship-story.html

Item: Guy Trashes "Spiritual" Girlfriend's Car After Granny Dildo Sex Prophecy URLs: http://gawker.com/guy-trashes-spiritual-girlfriends-car-after-granny-di-1677076809

Entertainment/Reviews/(Nit)Picks

Andy’s: https://www.readingrainbow.com/ David’s: Misfit Flash Activity Tracker - http://www.amazon.com/Misfit-Flash-Fitness-Sleep-Monitor/dp/B00NIU9YG0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420857068&sr=8-1&keywords=misfit+flash Don’s: http://www.businessinsider.com/wind-turbines-that-look-like-trees-2015-1

(Originally posted Feb. 6, 2014. The original post can be accessed at alphascrawl.wordpress.com.)

I want to take a minute to talk about Ryan Bell. Specifically, I want to publicly change my stance on Bell’s experiment.

For those who aren’t aware, Ryan Bell is the former Adventist pastor who announced that, in 2014, he would be “trying on atheism” for a year. Here’s the blog he’s writing about the process.

When I first heard about the Year Without God, I thought: “this is a publicity stunt, by February 2015 he’ll be back in the pulpit with a book deal.” And then I forgot about him.

When I was talking to Cash about ReAsonCon* and he announced that he’d added Ryan Bell as a speaker, I may have rolled my eyes. And then I heard Bell’s interview on Cash and Love’s show. This guy is thoughtful, well-read, sincere… even before, while a member of the church, he agitated against their more conservative policies as a critic from within, which I can relate to and respect. I think that’s really telling.

I don’t think his Year Without God is a stunt anymore. I think it’s an honest search for a better way to be– a search like many of us have undertaken in the past, or will someday– and it’s incredibly gutsy of Bell to undertake such a personal journey so publicly and at great financial risk.