Just say NO kids…
Category Archives: Misc.
Merry Christmas (etc.) Everyone!
Or whatever holiday you prefer.
And a happy New Year!
Happy Halloween!
Beware the Coursera bait and switch!
On July 30 I signed up on Coursera to take their “verified certificate” version of the course Evolution: A Course for Educators, taught by Joel Cracraft and David Randle of the American Museum of Natural History. I figured it would be fairly easy given my background and the certificate would add a little something to my resume. So, as I said, I signed up, paid the $29 fee for the certificate got an email receipt back from Coursera and waited for the class to start on Aug. 3rd.
Aug. 3rd quickly rolls around and I get another email, ostensibly from Cracraft & Randle, welcoming me to the course.
Great!
Then I tried to log in and start the course only to get a 404 error message telling me that the page for the course isn’t there.
I contact Coursera and they send back the usual “use X browser & clear your cache” troubleshooting message. I was already using browser X and I cleared my cache but this has no effect and I inform Coursera of this.
Next I get an email telling me that the course I signed up for has “changed format” (apparently in a matter of days) and that I needed to “un-enroll” from the old course, get my money back and then re-enroll in the new version.
One problem though, the new “format” is $20 more than the old one!
I suggest to them that since I already paid the price they had asked for (and got a receipt & welcoming email etc.) that they should allow me access to the course.
They responded by refunding my money and telling me (in corporate happy talk) that it was too damn bad and that if I wanted to take the course I would have to cough up $49 dollars, going so far as to suggest that I look into their financial aide services if I thought that would help.
Well, instead of paying more money I am telling everyone I know about their bait and switch and asking that you pass this on on Facebook and Twitter and the like. Thanks!
By the way, does anyone out there know Cracraft or Randle? I wonder what they would think of how Coursera treats their would-be students.
[And I was so looking forward to the Dinosaur Paleobiology course they offer as well…]
And now a little poorly concealed bragging
Last weekend while I was awaiting delivery of my copy of Cambridge University historian of science Nick Hopwood‘s new book Haeckel’s Embryos: Images, Evolution, and Fraud (2015) on 19th century biologist Ernst Haeckel and his (in)famous embryo illustrations, (which I have written about a few times here an PCWP and elsewhere), I got a Facebook notification that I had been “tagged” in a post by my friend (in real life, not just Facebook) and colleague Dr. Nick Matzke. The somewhat cryptic post said the following:
Hey look who’s in the acknowledgements – Troy Britain
Attached to this comment was the following picture:
Thereafter the comments conversation between Nick M. and I went like this:
Me: Wait, wait, wait, this isn’t Hopwood’s new book is it (my copy is in route)?!
Nick: Yep it is!!
Me: Holy crap!
Nick: Immortality!
Apparently Professor Hopwood was kind enough to mention me (and Nick Matzke as well) in the acknowledgements section of his new book (page 304).
The relevant section reads as follows:
For crucial pieces of advice, I thank Thomas Brandstetter, Troy Britain, Solveig Jülich, Ron Ladouceur, Nick Matzke, Signe Nipper Nielsen, Ron Numbers, Jesse Olszynko-Gryn, and Constance Sommerey…
Quite an honor! All the more given the company of people like Nick Matzke, Ron Numbers and the rest.
Thank you Prof. Hopwood, you are too kind! And thank you for writing this book! It needed to be done and I look forward to reading it (or rather the rest of it, I’m up to chap. 3 already)!
A happy Pi day to one and all!
3.1415…
I knew I had become part of a meme but holy crap…
A new Facebook friend asked me if it was me in the meme picturing a bearded guy looking over his shoulder with a pigeon and chessboard in front of him. I told him that I am indeed that guy.
It can get messy
He then asked if it felt weird when I started seeing such things on the internet and in the process of composing my response to his question I did a Google image search based on my original picture and discovered that my likeness had been added to a meme generator. Now, I knew that my picture was “out there” and even blogged about the fact my mug had been stuck into a “demotivation” style meme but it is still a rather odd thing to find a picture of yourself repeated over and over dozens of times with all sorts of different words plastered over top of them.
Most are variations of the original quote, though they often substitute “creationists” with “liberals”, “Republicans”, or whatever political point of view the various meme authors find objectionable. Some replace “creationists” with Christians in general and at least one changes it to Muslims. Others exchange “creationists” for the names of specific people—no doubt the result of dimly remembered arguments taking place forgotten discussion boards—and some take shots at the fans of disfavored sports teams:
Some stray from the original form but seem to be improvising based on the general theme:
A few were taking shots at President Obama’s handling of the war in Iraq:
At least one seemed to take issue with the premise:
Still others are indecipherable by me:
So, yes, as I told my FB friend, it is kind of weird. Especially when I see it used in ways I am either ambivalent about or in ways I would probably rather it not be used. For example, some used homophobic slurs, or rude terms for the mentally disabled and a few even attacked political or philosophical views that I have sympathies with.
Still, I am “Zen” about it. The internet is the modern day Wild West, and once you put a picture of yourself out there you have lost control. It is just something you have to get used to if you want to play in the game.
Though, with all these bits of me (get it?) floating around the net, there aught to be a way for me to get my beak wet (get it?) on the deal…
Fibonacci Pigeons!
Since I must post any pigeon related humor I run across—especially if there is a science angle to it—I present the following, Fibonacci Pigeons:
Some new Pigeonchess artwork
A modified version of my creationist pigeon mascot, the “Patreon Protesting Pigeon“. A little reverse psychology to woo patrons [Psst, don’t tell the other readers, it’ll give the trick away].
The Patreon Protesting Pigeon
Some Xmas gifts plus
Just wanted to share a couple fun Christmas presents I got this year and a couple of gifts I got earlier in the year that I have been meaning to post some pictures of but had not yet got round to doing so.
The first is an amusing caricature of yours truly, drawn by Gabriel Corral (who was, until recently, one of my co-workers):
A caricature of me riding a sauropod while waiving a Darwin-fish pennant. The caption reads: “Not scientifically accurate”.
He drew caricatures of each of us who work, or worked, at AFS Printing as Christmas gifts.
Next is a painting by my sister, Kindra Pizarro, of a skeleton tree:
An original painting by my sister Kindra.
Very cool (be sure to check out her Etsy store: Voodoo Kitty Handmade Oddities).
Finally a couple of neat dinosaur statuettes given to me by my friends Don and Gaynell Frack, I think for my last birthday (or maybe even last Christmas, can’t recall):
A Stegosaurus statuette.
A Triceratops statuette.
Apparently they bought them, for a very reasonable price, at an art sale put on by a Buddhist temple. Both are very cool, though I think I like the Triceratops best. The only problem is my ever finding a place to display them where the cats won’t be able to destroy them (first world problems).
So that’s it for now, thank you so much Gabriel, Kindra, Don and Gaynell for the thought and the gifts!
Playing Chess with Pigeons 