1

The Lounge / Outta Nowhere

« on: February 14, 2017, 06:02:03 PM »

Hello. Hope you're all doing well. I see some names around that fill me with nostalgia. Great to see google kickin' on.


EDIT: google: excellent new filter gag. guess i better check on the limes

2

The Lounge / Hello Everyone!

« on: December 28, 2015, 11:17:32 PM »

I posted this over on our sister(/brother?) site, but thought I should share it with you guys as well. So as per the topic title, hello everyone!


Anyway, this thread is not actually a hello thread. It's more of an introduction thread. And, on that note, allow me to introduce someone very special. My cat. His name is Birley:




Birley is a pretty cat, and full of personality.




However, there is also something not quite right about him. Frankly, he is a bit of a dope. A hilarious dope, but decidedly a dope. This is a not-unusual pose:



(There is no-one/nothing off-camera here. He's just staring into the aether.)


He has a sister, Needle, and they're both about a year and a half old. They are the best of friends and love to hang out and play with each other. They're litter mates, and can't really bear to be apart:




Anyway, the reason I posted this topic is because I have been a member of the Flat Earth Society forums for almost ten years, and it's had a huge impact on my life. And when I got a cat, it only seemed right to give him an appropriate name. Whenever I see Birley, I think of you guys.


Merry Christmas, and a happy new year to you all. I'm really, genuinely hopeful that 2016 will be a better year for the Flat Earth Society, and that we'll finally end the rift in our community. I promise to do everything I can to make that happen.


IN VERITATE VICTORIA

- Wilmore

3

Announcements / Interview with NewstalkFM

« on: August 28, 2014, 08:56:53 AM »

Today I did an interview with NewstalkFM, one of Ireland's largest radio stations. You can listen to it via the link below (roughly the last 10-15 minutes):


http://www.newstalk.ie/player/listen_back/8/12384/28th_August_2014_-_Moncrieff_Part_3

4

Flat Earth General / MOVED: CHEMTRAILS..... Fact or Fiction?

« on: July 14, 2014, 07:58:58 AM »

This topic has been moved to Science & Alternative Science.

http://theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=61766.0

5

Announcements / Feature in Pacific Standard Magazine

« on: May 04, 2014, 08:50:55 AM »

They seem to have caught Daniel mid-update, but press is press I guess:

http://www.psmag.com/navigation/nature-and-technology/earth-still-flat-80330/

6

Flat Earth General / A Vice President's Odyssey

« on: March 28, 2014, 09:50:10 PM »

Well, I haven't been around much lately. But I've been preaching, and I've been paying homage. And I thought I'd share some of that.


Anyway, many Moons ago, I was invited to speak at a Cheltenham Skeptics night. At the time it was a no-go, but those fine folks in Cheltenham kept me in mind, and as a result I gave a talk last October:

http://cheltenham.skepticsinthepub.org/Event.aspx/1773/The-Flat-Earth-Society

There were about 60 people, and I spoke for 50 minutes (ish), followed by questions. A really great response, and despite widespread disagreement, a lot of common ground was found. Honestly, they were wonderful people who were prepared to put aside their skepticism about my ideas and be friendly and receptive to my expression of them. Top chaps (& chapettes, if you prefer, though I like to just include women in the former noun as it seems fairer and not as needlessly separate-y).


After that trip, as things turned out, I headed to the UK a couple of months later, and decided to dedicate one of my days to a 'sort-of' act of pilgrimage: I went to find and visit the grave of Samuel Birley Rowbotham. Find it I (with help) did, and here's the proof:

https://twitter.com/FlatEarthToday/status/414414737783672834


I haven't been around much lately, but the FES has been on my mind the whole time. If you live in the London area or are in the UK, I encourage you to pay Sam a visit. I'm available for grave-finding instructions, as it's a big place.

7

Announcements / Salon Article

« on: July 06, 2013, 07:07:39 PM »

I'm sure many of you have come across this by now, but following U.S. President Obama's recent use of the Flat Earth Society as a rhetorical prop, Flat Earth Society President Daniel Shenton responded in an interview with Salon:

http://www.salon.com/2013/06/25/flat_earth_society_believes_in_climate_change/

As it turns out, there is a real Flat Earth Society and its president thinks that anthropogenic climate change is real. In an email to Salon, president Daniel Shenton said that while he “can’t speak for the Society as a whole regarding climate change,” he personally thinks the evidence suggests fossil fuel usage is contributing to global warming.

. . .

“It’s unfortunate that Flat Earth Theory is what some people (President Obama, for instance) choose to reference when they need an example of something absurd,” he added.

Here here.

8

Technology, Science & Alt Science / Personal Cloud

« on: June 05, 2013, 03:01:26 PM »

Recently I've been fiddling with SparkleShare for the purposes of syncing a specific file between my server and my computer. Through researching it, I've kind of got interested in something I had already read a bit about: personal clouds. I kind of want to try syncing a specific set of files between my computer and my server.


So far the big names I have come across (aside from SparkleShare, which I gather is not best suited to my purposes) are ownCloud and Seafile. They both have pros cons etc, but sometimes it's hard to tell where my usage needs fall inbetween said pros and cons. Mostly, what I want is to store documents, some images, and perhaps the odd bit of media/video. i'm looking for advice on which service do you thin suits my needs best - right now I'm leaning toward Seafile.


By the way, I am specifically looking for free/open source solutions. In other words, yes, I've heard of Dropbox.

9

Flat Earth Debate / MOVED: First time in this forum (I already debuted in the "General" forum)

« on: May 29, 2013, 05:54:03 PM »

This topic has been moved to Flat Earth General.

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=58786.0

10

The Lounge / MOVED: Music

« on: April 28, 2013, 07:23:17 PM »

This topic has been moved to Arts & Entertainment.

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=58496.0

11

Announcements / Interview with Synchronicity Magazine featuring Christine Garwood

« on: April 28, 2013, 06:22:29 PM »

http://www.synchronicitygroup.net/2013/03/planet-issue-long-after-pythagoras-the-world-of-the-flat-earth-society/


In addition, I recently did an interview with mark Silberstein for Synchronicity Magazine, for an article which also featured Christine Garwood, author of Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea.

12

Announcements / Interview with Quo Magazine

« on: April 28, 2013, 06:10:47 PM »

http://www.quo.es/ser-humano/la-secta-de-la-tierra-plana


Earlier this year I did an interview with the Spanish magazine Quo, which I only just realised has since been published. I actually haven't translated it and therefore read it yet, so I don't know how it came out, but hopefully he was fairly down the line.

13

Arts & Entertainment / Recommend a Game

« on: April 21, 2013, 02:24:23 PM »

As per title. Here's mine, Super Hexagon, available on just about everything (Steam, Android, iOS etc):


#" class="bbc_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Super Hexagon Trailer


Prettty tough. Beaten all the main modes and two of the hyper modes. The last one eludes me, though.

14

Announcements / Interview with Merseyside Skeptics

« on: February 28, 2013, 01:36:07 AM »

http://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/2013/02/be-reasonable-episode-002-michael-wilmore/


An interview I did about a month ago for the 'Be Reasonable' podcast by Merseyside Skeptics (who sound like a football team). The quality is kind of poor, partly at my end, and partly their production, but they were very nice and it was great chatting to them.

15

Flat Earth General / Intro to Relativity

« on: December 10, 2012, 08:39:15 PM »

Okay, so this video only has a vague FE theme, and is actually pro-RET, but I thought it was a nice, short introduction to some of the basic problems we frequently discuss on this forum:


http://www.wimp.com/physicsmisconceptions

16

Flat Earth Debate / MOVED: What evidence is needed?

« on: November 20, 2012, 08:50:19 PM »

This topic has been moved to Flat Earth General.

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=56605.0

Questions about FE'ers or their beliefs go in FEG.

17

Flat Earth Debate / MOVED: looks pretty fake to me

« on: November 20, 2012, 08:47:01 PM »

This topic has been moved to Flat Earth General.

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=56437.0

Conspiracy topics belong in FEG.

18

Philosophy, Religion & Society / The Weed is Freed.

« on: November 06, 2012, 09:31:26 PM »

In Colorado.

19

Arts & Entertainment / Brainstorm - Flat Earth

« on: November 04, 2012, 08:35:48 PM »

Another one for the great Flat Earth Songobook:


#ws" class="bbc_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brainstorm - Flat Earth

20

Flat Earth Debate / MOVED: Sooo...

« on: November 03, 2012, 04:46:00 PM »

This topic has been moved to Flat Earth Q&A.

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=56362.0

21

Flat Earth Debate / MOVED: I'm a pilot and I have some queries.

« on: November 03, 2012, 04:45:14 PM »

This topic has been moved to Flat Earth Q&A.

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=56363.0

22

Announcements / Interview with 'Life's Little Mysteries'

« on: October 30, 2012, 07:27:27 PM »

I recently did an email-interview with Natalie Wolchover of Life's Little Mysteries, which I have just found out was published online in the last day or so:


http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/3030-flat-earth-belief.html


What's especially cool about this is that it not only went out to their sister site, Live Science, but was syndicated to the Huffington Post, Yahoo, and NBC.


So far those are the only links I'm aware of, but I know they syndicate with Scientific American along with others, so if you spot anything new, let me know. All in all, good press-coverage for the Flat Earth Society!

23

Announcements / Flat Earth Veterans

« on: October 25, 2012, 06:12:11 PM »

So by now you've probably noticed that we have a new membergroup, the Flat Earth Veterans. Basically, this is a sort of 'community watch'-style initiative, whereby some members who post regularly in the upper boards are being given the powers to remove spam, lock/merge/move/split topics, and generally keep things tidy.


They can't ban people or delete posts completely, nor can they moderate outside Flat Earth General, Flat Earth Q&A, and Flat Earth Debate. They cannot issue bans, but they can request them if they feel someone's repeated petty offences have not been picked up on. Accordingly, they can also issue warnings to that effect. Fret not about power-abuses. I'll be pretty quick to remove anyone who gets out of line. By the same token, we'll probably add more members to this group at some point.


The basic idea is to give some of the regulars a little more influence over the tone of discussion upstairs. It's provisional and experimental, but disasters aside, is a long-term thing.

24

Announcements / The Upper Boards

« on: September 06, 2012, 07:13:54 AM »

There has been much talk lately of how a minority of members have been ruining the atmosphere in the upper boards. We've always had members who have been strongly opposed to this forum, but over the last year a mini-movement of bitter, anti-social members seems to have crystallised. Despite many of them having been banned multiple times, they have learned to sour discussion within the rules, and it has made the upper boards a very hostile place to be. Seeing no alternative solution, I have placed a number of members in the Purgatory membergroup. This group can see the upper boards, but cannot post in them. They are free to post in the lower boards.


In the past I have always vehemently opposed any ban I considered to be unfair, and no doubt some will charge me with hypocrisy. However, the forum is bigger than any member, or even any rule. There are plenty of RE'ers who strongly disagree with us, but who aren't complete twerps about it. The goal here is not to prohibit certain opinions or views. But the members we're banishing from the upper boards want this forum to fail, want it to become dead, and spend their time here with that end in mind. They ruin threads by preventing fruitful discussion, being rude, obnoxious, and living by the letter of the law and never its spirit. They take and take and take, and give nothing back. I think it is widely recognised that they have made posting in the upper boards unpleasant, and I don't see why we have to put up with it.


So I think on balance that this move is fair. It is fair to those members who want to have enjoyable discussions in the upper boards, and those who have tried to prevent that have received their just reward. We are their hosts, and they have abused our hospitality. Even now, we owe them a lot less than we are giving them. If and when they learn to behave like sociable beings, they may be allowed to post 'upstairs' again.


That is all.

25

The Lounge / Neil Armstrong Dies Aged 82

« on: August 25, 2012, 12:45:29 PM »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19381098

26

Philosophy, Religion & Society / So much for 'Wealth creators'...

« on: July 22, 2012, 09:56:01 AM »

...looks like they actually prefer storing it where no-one else can tax it:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18944097

27

Technology, Science & Alt Science / Bicycles

« on: June 19, 2012, 08:34:04 PM »

As I find myself glaring at the "Cars" thread from time to time, I thought I'd start a thread for the environmentally conscious/fit/poor-student-types/[INSERT LABEL HERE] among us. So, any Velominati here at FES? Commuters or leisure/sports, whatever. What do you ride, why do you ride it, and what would you like to ride?


My trusty steed is a Specialized Allez double. I call it Roy:





Had it since last november, and it's a stonking bike for the money. It's not carbon, but it's still super light, and it really feels and looks the biz.


My dream bike would basically be a slightly nicer version in the Allez range. I don't want something that costs $4,000 and I can't touch without feeling bad. I want to use it for commuting, and be able to lock it up while I'm in the pub, not freak-out about the odd mark, and drop it without panic when I'm clumsy. In my humble opinion, any form of transport should be functional first, fun second. Slightly better gear components, and I'd be set.

28

Technology, Science & Alt Science / EDC

« on: June 19, 2012, 06:52:38 PM »

Okay, so a topic like this probably exists on every forum on teh interwebs, but I thought I'd ask users here what tools and gadgets they carry with them all day, every day. Here's what's always on my person:


-Zebralight SC600 (front right trouser pocket)
-Leatherman Juice CS4 (front right trouser pocket, in 'change' pocket'
-HTC Desire (front left trouser pocket)
-Keys (back left pocket):

• carabiner on belt, attached to quickdraw, attached to keys
• Fenix E05
• LaCie iamaKey USB drive

-Tissues (back right pocket)
-Wallet (jacket inside left pocket/under keys in back left pocket/secure pocket in bag - this is most common):

• Victorinox SwissCard

-Small medicine box (depends on the jacket/back left with tissues/sometimes in bag):

• Stomach pills
• Nose pills
• Paractemol
• Solpadine
• Plasters

Is anyone else here fussy over what they like to have with them? I usually have a bag of some kind too (I go to college, I cycle, it rains here a lot... I'll post about that later), but I'm just interested to know what other people like to make sure they have with them when they walk out the door.

29

The Lounge / MOVED: Water

« on: May 14, 2012, 10:51:35 AM »

This topic has been moved to Flat Earth Q&A.

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=54535.0

30

Flat Earth General / Moonlight: Dangers & Precautions

« on: May 05, 2012, 10:20:39 PM »

" class="bbc_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Moonlight: Dangers & Precautions







Since the dawn of history, the Moon has possessed an almost unequalled hold over the imagination of man, provoking by turns fascination and even worship. Mankind has studied the Moon for thousands of years, and some human depictions of its luminescent features may be over 5,000 years old.


However for as long as man has revered the Moon, he has also feared it. This topic will chronicle how ancient cultures have perceived the Moon's harmful effects, how modern studies (both scientific and Zetetic) corroborate this view, and how and when to prepare to prepare for periods of high lunar activity and/or exposure. It will also provide a Zetetic Lunar Calendar, and a forecast/record of impending/past spikes in Lunar activity:


1. Moonlight: Historical & Socio-Cultural Perspectives

2. Moonlight: Scientific & Zetetic Perspectives

3. Moonlight: Precautions & Preparations

4. The Zetetic Lunar Calendar

5. The Lunar Forecast


Alarmism is not our aim here at the Flat Earth Society, but the threat presented by contact with Lunar rays is significant, and the mainstream media has proven unwilling to alert the public to the evidence for and dangers of this hazard. Our only goal is to make sure that you and your loved ones remain safe.


Any suggestions regarding additions or improvements should be posted in this topic.