Australian Scientific method gone to church to find it's spi

Don H · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 187

"James" wrote in message@hereticpress.com...
> Academic bias, dodgy commercially orientated researh and a nasty list
> moderators on the Web Standards Group.
>
> In research about internet site accessibility, an Australian University
> group selling courses for $495 a head for one day training sessions,
> WANAU have been getting away with a gross misrepresentation based on
> dodgy research claiming that 98% of Australian sites are inaccessible.
>
> New unfunded research by hereticpress.com reported that 64% of
> Australian University sites are accessible. A WANAU supporter with an
> incompatible religious view of science suggested that as WANAU did not
> commission the research they are entitled to ignore the results. On this
> reasoning Galileo's research should be ignored and the Church can retain
> the view that the sun orbits the earth, because they did not commission
> the research.
>
> A 600Kb file, hundreds of unpaid hours work, ignored by many so called
> Australian academics and comdemned by the Web Standards Group as not
> being "nice". The funded research by Alexander and WANAU has a bias
> towards promoting a business plan.
>
> http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#research
>
> A religious enthusiast suggested that instead of doing the research the
> author Tim was angry and should get in touch with his spiritual side.
>
> http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/abuse.txt
>
> Standards are very low at some Australian Universities, and the low
> standard is supported by a supposedly technology orientated group the
> web standards group. The WSG moderator suspended the author's membership
> in a very nasty fashion without any objective evaluation of the quality
> of the research, stating that people like Tim were doing more harm than
> good. The WSG moderator sent Tim a very condescending abusive email
> suspending his membership because he replied to a religious view of
> science which supported ignorance. What sort of group is the WSG that
> there is no right of reply and no support for scientific method. How did
> we all get to have computers, through scientific method and not by
> getting in touch with our spiritual sides! The WSG list moderator Peter
> Firminger should be castigated for this abuse of valuable research and
> personal attacks on an unpaid researcher who does value scientific method.
>
> http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/wsgsuspend.txt
>
> Other examples on hereticpress.com also indicate the decline of
> scientific method in Australian education. The former Australian
> minister for education Brendan Nelson said he had no problem with the
> teaching of intelligent design in science classes.
>
> http://www.hereticpress.com/Editorial.html#Nelson
>
> Peer review and scientific method have been thrown out the window in
> many examples of unpaid research. With paid research, whoever is paying
> can dictate what the results will be. In Australia that has meant biased
> research from Swinbourne University of drugged drivers used by Victoria
> Police to trample a thousand years of civil liberties and stop drivers
> for error prone saliva tests which then require a blood sample to prove
> your innocence.
>
> http://www.hereticpress.com/Editorial.html#TrafficScum
>
>
> A Heretic Press supporter and supporter of scientific method.
>
> James
> http://www.hereticpress.com
>
# "Spirituality" is the phlogiston theory of religion. It is a false
hypothesis based on the idea that when a person dies, and "breathes their
last (breath)" that this is the "soul" or "spirit" departing the body.
Actually, it is cessation of lung function, and it merely the last time any
CO2 is exhaled - no entity involved.
In modern parlance, "spirituality" is "refined emotion", and nothing
more. No one can prove it is some divine influence (the Holy Ghost)
"inspiring" a person, and providing "moral uplift".
The placebo effect might make a person think so, and the consequences
might be socially beneficial, but the rest is self-delusion.
"Spirit" comes from the same etymological root as - respire, expire,
inspire - breathing; that constant activity which tends to mark off the
living from the dead.
But each person has a "soul". Really? Where is it located in the body,
and what is its nature? True, we each have an "ego", but that is merely the
focal point of the conscious mind, an accumulation of characteristics over a
lifetime - subject to various influences, eg drunkenness, epilepsy, coma,
etc - and disintegrates at death. You can have a body without a mind (human
vegetable) but no one has yet produced a mind without a body - except
Hollywood.
It is to be noted that when the Pope recently abolished Limbo, that
resting place of innocent babies' souls, he didn't (seemingly) get of the
hotline-to-Heaven and consult the Almighty. No, he did it all by himself.
The empiricism of the Scientific Method can be inconvenient. It forces us
to go by hard evidence, not by wishful thinking.

Archived from group: aus>education

David Moss · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 3

In article , james07@hereticpress.com
writes...

> Standards are very low at some Australian Universities, and the low
> standard is supported by a supposedly technology orientated group the
> web standards group. The WSG moderator suspended the author's membership
> in a very nasty fashion without any objective evaluation of the quality
> of the research, stating that people like Tim were doing more harm than
> good.

If this is an example, they were probably correct to do so.

Lets take a look at this one paragraph to see why.

"Standards are very low at some Australian Universities"

Well, dur!
When you plot any spread of variables where there is variation you will
find some at one end of the spread and some at the other.

If you are going to make a meaningful, rather than an insulting
statement you have to put it in proper context. You also have to use
appropriate, non-judgemental language.

How is your "standard" quantified?
How is it tested?
What is the mean and standard deviation of the population?
Are there any obvious outliers in the data?
Are these outliers the result of observational error or do they
represent real data?
Are the outliers clustered?
Is there a common factor among the cluster that may explain the data?

Describe your topic objectively and you will be taken seriously by the
academic community. If you describe your topic subjectively, and
especially if you use loaded terms to do so, your work will be rejected.

My 2c worth + GST.
Payment by credit card preferred.

--
DM
personal opinion only
The Australian Politics Resource
http://sunnybar.dynip.com/politics

James · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 13

Academic bias, dodgy commercially orientated researh and a nasty list
moderators on the Web Standards Group.

In research about internet site accessibility, an Australian University
group selling courses for $495 a head for one day training sessions,
WANAU have been getting away with a gross misrepresentation based on
dodgy research claiming that 98% of Australian sites are inaccessible.

New unfunded research by hereticpress.com reported that 64% of
Australian University sites are accessible. A WANAU supporter with an
incompatible religious view of science suggested that as WANAU did not
commission the research they are entitled to ignore the results. On this
reasoning Galileo's research should be ignored and the Church can retain
the view that the sun orbits the earth, because they did not commission
the research.

A 600Kb file, hundreds of unpaid hours work, ignored by many so called
Australian academics and comdemned by the Web Standards Group as not
being "nice". The funded research by Alexander and WANAU has a bias
towards promoting a business plan.

http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#research

A religious enthusiast suggested that instead of doing the research the
author Tim was angry and should get in touch with his spiritual side.

http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/abuse.txt

Standards are very low at some Australian Universities, and the low
standard is supported by a supposedly technology orientated group the
web standards group. The WSG moderator suspended the author's membership
in a very nasty fashion without any objective evaluation of the quality
of the research, stating that people like Tim were doing more harm than
good. The WSG moderator sent Tim a very condescending abusive email
suspending his membership because he replied to a religious view of
science which supported ignorance. What sort of group is the WSG that
there is no right of reply and no support for scientific method. How did
we all get to have computers, through scientific method and not by
getting in touch with our spiritual sides! The WSG list moderator Peter
Firminger should be castigated for this abuse of valuable research and
personal attacks on an unpaid researcher who does value scientific method.

http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/wsgsuspend.txt

Other examples on hereticpress.com also indicate the decline of
scientific method in Australian education. The former Australian
minister for education Brendan Nelson said he had no problem with the
teaching of intelligent design in science classes.

http://www.hereticpress.com/Editorial.html#Nelson

Peer review and scientific method have been thrown out the window in
many examples of unpaid research. With paid research, whoever is paying
can dictate what the results will be. In Australia that has meant biased
research from Swinbourne University of drugged drivers used by Victoria
Police to trample a thousand years of civil liberties and stop drivers
for error prone saliva tests which then require a blood sample to prove
your innocence.

http://www.hereticpress.com/Editorial.html#TrafficScum

A Heretic Press supporter and supporter of scientific method.

James
http://www.hereticpress.com

Tim · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 6

Taking a look a one paragraph is inadequate, you are not correct to do
an and then evaluate a large body of work based on one paragraph, you
would have answers to other questions if you did look further.
Your two cents worth is not good value. Non judgmental language like
"Dur" to you too David, standarsd are not specified by me but then you
did not bother to find out what they were before replying, Dur

James

David Moss wrote:
> In article , james07@hereticpress.com
> writes...
>
>
>>Standards are very low at some Australian Universities, and the low
>>standard is supported by a supposedly technology orientated group the
>>web standards group. The WSG moderator suspended the author's membership
>>in a very nasty fashion without any objective evaluation of the quality
>>of the research, stating that people like Tim were doing more harm than
>>good.
>
>
> If this is an example, they were probably correct to do so.
>
> Lets take a look at this one paragraph to see why.
>
> "Standards are very low at some Australian Universities"
>
> Well, dur!
> When you plot any spread of variables where there is variation you will
> find some at one end of the spread and some at the other.
>
> If you are going to make a meaningful, rather than an insulting
> statement you have to put it in proper context. You also have to use
> appropriate, non-judgemental language.
>
> How is your "standard" quantified?
> How is it tested?
> What is the mean and standard deviation of the population?
> Are there any obvious outliers in the data?
> Are these outliers the result of observational error or do they
> represent real data?
> Are the outliers clustered?
> Is there a common factor among the cluster that may explain the data?
>
> Describe your topic objectively and you will be taken seriously by the
> academic community. If you describe your topic subjectively, and
> especially if you use loaded terms to do so, your work will be rejected.
>
> My 2c worth + GST.
> Payment by credit card preferred.
>

David Moss · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 3

In article , dogstar27
@optushome.com.au writes...

> Taking a look a one paragraph is inadequate, you are not correct to do
> an and then evaluate a large body of work based on one paragraph, you
> would have answers to other questions if you did look further.
> Your two cents worth is not good value. Non judgmental language like
> "Dur" to you too David, standarsd are not specified by me but then you
> did not bother to find out what they were before replying, Dur

I did actually read the entire text, but I thought it would be
enlightening to focus on a small part of it.

I deliberately used provocative language (dur) within my reply to get
you thinking about the provocative language in your own text.

If you feel 2c is too much to pay for my advice, feel free to pay in
cash.

Why are you so interested in web site useability anyway?
What is so different about websites that does not also apply to
billboards, newspapers, paintings and pamphlets?

This is a serious question. Although I spend a fair bit of effort trying
to make my own websites accessible, I'd probably spit the dummy and do
them all in Flash if someone tried to force me into it.

Take a look at a site I did at
www.fcq.com.au

There is a Flash animation on that page with no alt-tag.
What do you suggest I do to make the animation accessible to blind
people? Look at the animation carefully and think about the imagery and
the way it is targeted at the feelings and emotions of those who view
it. If a picture paints a thousand words, a Flash screen movie may
require an entire book. How big should the alt-tag be to convey the same
information to a blind person as a sighted person extracts in the few
seconds it pans across the scene?

--
DM
personal opinion only
The Australian Politics Resource
http://sunnybar.dynip.com/politics

Tim · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 6

What is the difference between billboards and the web? The 1992
Disability Discrimination Act applies to websites following Maguire v
SOCOG. Website accessibility relates to ramps on buildings for disabled
wheelchair access and importantly for commercial organisations to Search
Engine Optimisation, with valid code robots can easily index all your
sites content. Your page only has minor html errors nothimg to stop a
search engine, but it will fail every accessibility test.

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcq.com.au%2F

I can see from your text size options on www.fcq.com.au that you are
serious about accessibility, well done, but try not to shoot the
messenger (Duh:-) who exposes errors in major University homepages, they
should know better. The only Australian site to embed a flash file in
the homepage was Bond University and it is totally inaccessible to a
blind person using only a keyboard to navigate a site without Javascript
and the Macromedia plugin for Flash files.

You could not have read the entire text unless you viewed the page
frequently (updated often) and also viewed the source code, but seeing
as you used Microsoft FrontPage 5.0 to make your webpages, you might not
appreciate what the html coding means? You pages could do with a lot
more header tags, more keywords for search engines.

You are not being forced into it unless someone takes action against you
under the 1992 Act, but you are not a university offering IT courses
either.

You also need to use a tag to replace Javascript content for
browsers without Javascript. The Flash file is embedded in your page
with the tag. It is convential for accessibility when using
to also use the alternative . In the tag you
could put links to single graphics that are in the flash file por one
large panoramic picture. Then in the single picture file you could put a
brief description of only a few words in the image "alt".

A "longdesc" tag can also be included for the image which links to a
longer text description of the content or meaning of the images.

http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#longdescexplain

Common problems I found in Australian University homepages just updated.
http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#problems

Some Universities have spat the dummy over this review, but the best of
them with little to fear from an accessibility audit or review have
welcomed my work.

Tim

David Moss wrote:
> In article , dogstar27
> @optushome.com.au writes...
>
>
>>Taking a look a one paragraph is inadequate, you are not correct to do
>>an and then evaluate a large body of work based on one paragraph, you
>>would have answers to other questions if you did look further.
>>Your two cents worth is not good value. Non judgmental language like
>>"Dur" to you too David, standarsd are not specified by me but then you
>>did not bother to find out what they were before replying, Dur
>
>
> I did actually read the entire text, but I thought it would be
> enlightening to focus on a small part of it.
>
> I deliberately used provocative language (dur) within my reply to get
> you thinking about the provocative language in your own text.
>
> If you feel 2c is too much to pay for my advice, feel free to pay in
> cash.
>
> Why are you so interested in web site useability anyway?
> What is so different about websites that does not also apply to
> billboards, newspapers, paintings and pamphlets?
>
> This is a serious question. Although I spend a fair bit of effort trying
> to make my own websites accessible, I'd probably spit the dummy and do
> them all in Flash if someone tried to force me into it.
>
> Take a look at a site I did at
> www.fcq.com.au
>
> There is a Flash animation on that page with no alt-tag.
> What do you suggest I do to make the animation accessible to blind
> people? Look at the animation carefully and think about the imagery and
> the way it is targeted at the feelings and emotions of those who view
> it. If a picture paints a thousand words, a Flash screen movie may
> require an entire book. How big should the alt-tag be to convey the same
> information to a blind person as a sighted person extracts in the few
> seconds it pans across the scene?
>
>
>

Tim · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 6

Thanks Don we need your postings, in Victoria the Lebanese Catholic
Bracks (Brax) has enacted the religious vilification Act to stifle
criticism of religion. If science were taught in schools there would be
little room for egocentric dogmas from Christians, Muslims or Jews.
Muslims have already taken Christians to court for vilification.

Scientific method is under threat in Australia even from Universities
and if you stick your head up to defend scientific method that got us
here to be using computers, you are abused by fanatics who have no
critical thinking facility or knowledge of what scientific method means
like WANAU lunatics who say science is what they commissioned or paid for.

I was suspended from one group web (WSG) for responding in an unkind
fashion to a lunatic Christian who said as a University group WANAU did
not commission my research they are entitled to ignore the results.

Ignorance reigns, they should have all the fruits of technology taken
away from them, let them sit and watch the crystal spheres which
encircle the earth in the medieval dogma. I found my spiritual centre in
the pineal gland Smile

as Descartes instructed, but when I had it
surgically removed I still felt the same.

Tim

Don H wrote:
> "James" wrote in message
> @hereticpress.com...
>
>>Academic bias, dodgy commercially orientated researh and a nasty list
>>moderators on the Web Standards Group.
>>
>>In research about internet site accessibility, an Australian University
>>group selling courses for $495 a head for one day training sessions,
>>WANAU have been getting away with a gross misrepresentation based on
>>dodgy research claiming that 98% of Australian sites are inaccessible.
>>
>>New unfunded research by hereticpress.com reported that 64% of
>>Australian University sites are accessible. A WANAU supporter with an
>>incompatible religious view of science suggested that as WANAU did not
>>commission the research they are entitled to ignore the results. On this
>>reasoning Galileo's research should be ignored and the Church can retain
>>the view that the sun orbits the earth, because they did not commission
>>the research.
>>
>>A 600Kb file, hundreds of unpaid hours work, ignored by many so called
>>Australian academics and comdemned by the Web Standards Group as not
>>being "nice". The funded research by Alexander and WANAU has a bias
>>towards promoting a business plan.
>>
>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#research
>>
>>A religious enthusiast suggested that instead of doing the research the
>>author Tim was angry and should get in touch with his spiritual side.
>>
>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/abuse.txt
>>
>>Standards are very low at some Australian Universities, and the low
>>standard is supported by a supposedly technology orientated group the
>>web standards group. The WSG moderator suspended the author's membership
>>in a very nasty fashion without any objective evaluation of the quality
>>of the research, stating that people like Tim were doing more harm than
>>good. The WSG moderator sent Tim a very condescending abusive email
>>suspending his membership because he replied to a religious view of
>>science which supported ignorance. What sort of group is the WSG that
>>there is no right of reply and no support for scientific method. How did
>>we all get to have computers, through scientific method and not by
>>getting in touch with our spiritual sides! The WSG list moderator Peter
>>Firminger should be castigated for this abuse of valuable research and
>>personal attacks on an unpaid researcher who does value scientific method.
>>
>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/wsgsuspend.txt
>>
>>Other examples on hereticpress.com also indicate the decline of
>>scientific method in Australian education. The former Australian
>>minister for education Brendan Nelson said he had no problem with the
>>teaching of intelligent design in science classes.
>>
>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Editorial.html#Nelson
>>
>>Peer review and scientific method have been thrown out the window in
>>many examples of unpaid research. With paid research, whoever is paying
>>can dictate what the results will be. In Australia that has meant biased
>>research from Swinbourne University of drugged drivers used by Victoria
>>Police to trample a thousand years of civil liberties and stop drivers
>>for error prone saliva tests which then require a blood sample to prove
>>your innocence.
>>
>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Editorial.html#TrafficScum
>>
>>
>>A Heretic Press supporter and supporter of scientific method.
>>
>>James
>>http://www.hereticpress.com
>>
>
> # "Spirituality" is the phlogiston theory of religion. It is a false
> hypothesis based on the idea that when a person dies, and "breathes their
> last (breath)" that this is the "soul" or "spirit" departing the body.
> Actually, it is cessation of lung function, and it merely the last time any
> CO2 is exhaled - no entity involved.
> In modern parlance, "spirituality" is "refined emotion", and nothing
> more. No one can prove it is some divine influence (the Holy Ghost)
> "inspiring" a person, and providing "moral uplift".
> The placebo effect might make a person think so, and the consequences
> might be socially beneficial, but the rest is self-delusion.
> "Spirit" comes from the same etymological root as - respire, expire,
> inspire - breathing; that constant activity which tends to mark off the
> living from the dead.
> But each person has a "soul". Really? Where is it located in the body,
> and what is its nature? True, we each have an "ego", but that is merely the
> focal point of the conscious mind, an accumulation of characteristics over a
> lifetime - subject to various influences, eg drunkenness, epilepsy, coma,
> etc - and disintegrates at death. You can have a body without a mind (human
> vegetable) but no one has yet produced a mind without a body - except
> Hollywood.
> It is to be noted that when the Pope recently abolished Limbo, that
> resting place of innocent babies' souls, he didn't (seemingly) get of the
> hotline-to-Heaven and consult the Almighty. No, he did it all by himself.
> The empiricism of the Scientific Method can be inconvenient. It forces us
> to go by hard evidence, not by wishful thinking.
>
>

Don H · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 187

"David Moss" wrote in message@news.bigpond.com...
> In article , james07@hereticpress.com
> writes...
>
> > Standards are very low at some Australian Universities, and the low
> > standard is supported by a supposedly technology orientated group the
> > web standards group. The WSG moderator suspended the author's membership
> > in a very nasty fashion without any objective evaluation of the quality
> > of the research, stating that people like Tim were doing more harm than
> > good.
>
> If this is an example, they were probably correct to do so.
>
> Lets take a look at this one paragraph to see why.
>
> "Standards are very low at some Australian Universities"
>
> Well, dur!
> When you plot any spread of variables where there is variation you will
> find some at one end of the spread and some at the other.
>
> If you are going to make a meaningful, rather than an insulting
> statement you have to put it in proper context. You also have to use
> appropriate, non-judgemental language.
>
> How is your "standard" quantified?
> How is it tested?
> What is the mean and standard deviation of the population?
> Are there any obvious outliers in the data?
> Are these outliers the result of observational error or do they
> represent real data?
> Are the outliers clustered?
> Is there a common factor among the cluster that may explain the data?
>
> Describe your topic objectively and you will be taken seriously by the
> academic community. If you describe your topic subjectively, and
> especially if you use loaded terms to do so, your work will be rejected.
>
> My 2c worth + GST.
> Payment by credit card preferred.
>
> --
> DM
> personal opinion only
> The Australian Politics Resource
> http://sunnybar.dynip.com/politics

# I recently rehd the life of Michael Faraday (1791-1867), and he was odd
among scientists in that - "throughout his career he knew little or no
mathematics. He was not a mathematician, and indeed he once boasted that he
never made a mathematical calculation in his life except once when he turned
the handle of a Babbage calculating machine." - pg.248 ; "Makers of Science"
by Ivor B. Hart (OUP; 1923...1945)

Don H · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 187

"Tim" wrote in message@optushome.com.au...
> Thanks Don we need your postings, in Victoria the Lebanese Catholic
> Bracks (Brax) has enacted the religious vilification Act to stifle
> criticism of religion. If science were taught in schools there would be
> little room for egocentric dogmas from Christians, Muslims or Jews.
> Muslims have already taken Christians to court for vilification.
>
> Scientific method is under threat in Australia even from Universities
> and if you stick your head up to defend scientific method that got us
> here to be using computers, you are abused by fanatics who have no
> critical thinking facility or knowledge of what scientific method means
> like WANAU lunatics who say science is what they commissioned or paid for.
>
> I was suspended from one group web (WSG) for responding in an unkind
> fashion to a lunatic Christian who said as a University group WANAU did
> not commission my research they are entitled to ignore the results.
>
> Ignorance reigns, they should have all the fruits of technology taken
> away from them, let them sit and watch the crystal spheres which
> encircle the earth in the medieval dogma. I found my spiritual centre in
> the pineal gland Smile

as Descartes instructed, but when I had it
> surgically removed I still felt the same.
>
>
> Tim
>
> Don H wrote:
> > "James" wrote in message
> > @hereticpress.com...
> >
> >>Academic bias, dodgy commercially orientated researh and a nasty list
> >>moderators on the Web Standards Group.
> >>
> >>In research about internet site accessibility, an Australian University
> >>group selling courses for $495 a head for one day training sessions,
> >>WANAU have been getting away with a gross misrepresentation based on
> >>dodgy research claiming that 98% of Australian sites are inaccessible.
> >>
> >>New unfunded research by hereticpress.com reported that 64% of
> >>Australian University sites are accessible. A WANAU supporter with an
> >>incompatible religious view of science suggested that as WANAU did not
> >>commission the research they are entitled to ignore the results. On this
> >>reasoning Galileo's research should be ignored and the Church can retain
> >>the view that the sun orbits the earth, because they did not commission
> >>the research.
> >>
> >>A 600Kb file, hundreds of unpaid hours work, ignored by many so called
> >>Australian academics and comdemned by the Web Standards Group as not
> >>being "nice". The funded research by Alexander and WANAU has a bias
> >>towards promoting a business plan.
> >>
> >>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#research
> >>
> >>A religious enthusiast suggested that instead of doing the research the
> >>author Tim was angry and should get in touch with his spiritual side.
> >>
> >>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/abuse.txt
> >>
> >>Standards are very low at some Australian Universities, and the low
> >>standard is supported by a supposedly technology orientated group the
> >>web standards group. The WSG moderator suspended the author's membership
> >>in a very nasty fashion without any objective evaluation of the quality
> >>of the research, stating that people like Tim were doing more harm than
> >>good. The WSG moderator sent Tim a very condescending abusive email
> >>suspending his membership because he replied to a religious view of
> >>science which supported ignorance. What sort of group is the WSG that
> >>there is no right of reply and no support for scientific method. How did
> >>we all get to have computers, through scientific method and not by
> >>getting in touch with our spiritual sides! The WSG list moderator Peter
> >>Firminger should be castigated for this abuse of valuable research and
> >>personal attacks on an unpaid researcher who does value scientific
method.
> >>
> >>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/wsgsuspend.txt
> >>
> >>Other examples on hereticpress.com also indicate the decline of
> >>scientific method in Australian education. The former Australian
> >>minister for education Brendan Nelson said he had no problem with the
> >>teaching of intelligent design in science classes.
> >>
> >>http://www.hereticpress.com/Editorial.html#Nelson
> >>
> >>Peer review and scientific method have been thrown out the window in
> >>many examples of unpaid research. With paid research, whoever is paying
> >>can dictate what the results will be. In Australia that has meant biased
> >>research from Swinbourne University of drugged drivers used by Victoria
> >>Police to trample a thousand years of civil liberties and stop drivers
> >>for error prone saliva tests which then require a blood sample to prove
> >>your innocence.
> >>
> >>http://www.hereticpress.com/Editorial.html#TrafficScum
> >>
> >>
> >>A Heretic Press supporter and supporter of scientific method.
> >>
> >>James
> >>http://www.hereticpress.com
> >>
> >
> > # "Spirituality" is the phlogiston theory of religion. It is a false
> > hypothesis based on the idea that when a person dies, and "breathes
their
> > last (breath)" that this is the "soul" or "spirit" departing the body.
> > Actually, it is cessation of lung function, and it merely the last time
any
> > CO2 is exhaled - no entity involved.
> > In modern parlance, "spirituality" is "refined emotion", and nothing
> > more. No one can prove it is some divine influence (the Holy Ghost)
> > "inspiring" a person, and providing "moral uplift".
> > The placebo effect might make a person think so, and the consequences
> > might be socially beneficial, but the rest is self-delusion.
> > "Spirit" comes from the same etymological root as - respire, expire,
> > inspire - breathing; that constant activity which tends to mark off the
> > living from the dead.
> > But each person has a "soul". Really? Where is it located in the
body,
> > and what is its nature? True, we each have an "ego", but that is merely
the
> > focal point of the conscious mind, an accumulation of characteristics
over a
> > lifetime - subject to various influences, eg drunkenness, epilepsy,
coma,
> > etc - and disintegrates at death. You can have a body without a mind
(human
> > vegetable) but no one has yet produced a mind without a body - except
> > Hollywood.
> > It is to be noted that when the Pope recently abolished Limbo, that
> > resting place of innocent babies' souls, he didn't (seemingly) get of
the
> > hotline-to-Heaven and consult the Almighty. No, he did it all by
himself.
> > The empiricism of the Scientific Method can be inconvenient. It
forces us
> > to go by hard evidence, not by wishful thinking.
> >
> >
>
# Thanks for your kind words. However, to give the Bracks' govt its due,
the Vilification Act is well-intended, and probably was designed to stop
Muslims inciting to violence against the Infidel. It is ironic then, that
it was Muslims who prosecuted Christians.
What is vilification? It is calling someone a villain, who is not.
But what if the person really is a villain? All you'd be doing, by calling
him such, is stating a fact. You might be obliged to prove it, but that is
not impossible. After all, we all know Terrorists are villains, by
definition. They can't be human, or have legitimate grievances - no, they
are totally evil, and must be exterminated. In a world of Black and White,
Grey is an inconvenience, and best ignored.

David Moss · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 3

In article <46beaa17$0$22610$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-
01.iinet.net.au>, addinall@addinall.org writes...

>
> "Tim" wrote in message
> @optushome.com.au...
> > What is the difference between billboards and the web? The 1992 Disability
> > Discrimination Act applies to websites following Maguire v SOCOG. Website
> > accessibility relates to ramps on buildings for disabled wheelchair access
> > and importantly for commercial organisations to Search Engine
> > Optimisation, with valid code robots can easily index all your sites
> > content. Your page only has minor html errors nothimg to stop a search
> > engine, but it will fail every accessibility test.
> >
> > http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcq.com.au%2F
> >
> > I can see from your text size options on www.fcq.com.au that you are
> > serious about accessibility, well done, but try not to shoot the messenger
> > (Duh:-) who exposes errors in major University homepages, they should know
> > better. The only Australian site to embed a flash file in the homepage was
> > Bond University and it is totally inaccessible to a blind person using
> > only a keyboard to navigate a site without Javascript and the Macromedia
> > plugin for Flash files.
> >
> > You could not have read the entire text unless you viewed the page
> > frequently (updated often) and also viewed the source code, but seeing as
> > you used Microsoft FrontPage 5.0 to make your webpages, you might not
> > appreciate what the html coding means? You pages could do with a lot more
> > header tags, more keywords for search engines.
> >
> > You are not being forced into it unless someone takes action against you
> > under the 1992 Act, but you are not a university offering IT courses
> > either.
> >
> > You also need to use a tag to replace Javascript content for
> > browsers without Javascript. The Flash file is embedded in your page with
> > the tag. It is convential for accessibility when using to
> > also use the alternative . In the tag you could put
> > links to single graphics that are in the flash file por one large
> > panoramic picture. Then in the single picture file you could put a brief
> > description of only a few words in the image "alt".
> >
> > A "longdesc" tag can also be included for the image which links to a
> > longer text description of the content or meaning of the images.
> >
> > http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#longdescexplain
> >
> > Common problems I found in Australian University homepages just updated.
> > http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#problems
> >
> > Some Universities have spat the dummy over this review, but the best of
> > them with little to fear from an accessibility audit or review have
> > welcomed my work.
>
> I'm glad to see Deakin passed. I did a lot of the accessibility work on
> those pages. When I left every page passed using the Bobby tool.
> I'm not familiar with "cynthis".
>
> Cheers,
> Mark Addinall.
>
> >
> > Tim
> >
> >
> >
> > David Moss wrote:
> >> In article , dogstar27
> >> @optushome.com.au writes...
> >>
> >>
> >>>Taking a look a one paragraph is inadequate, you are not correct to do an
> >>>and then evaluate a large body of work based on one paragraph, you would
> >>>have answers to other questions if you did look further.
> >>>Your two cents worth is not good value. Non judgmental language like
> >>>"Dur" to you too David, standarsd are not specified by me but then you
> >>>did not bother to find out what they were before replying, Dur
> >>
> >>
> >> I did actually read the entire text, but I thought it would be
> >> enlightening to focus on a small part of it.
> >>
> >> I deliberately used provocative language (dur) within my reply to get you
> >> thinking about the provocative language in your own text.
> >>
> >> If you feel 2c is too much to pay for my advice, feel free to pay in
> >> cash.
> >>
> >> Why are you so interested in web site useability anyway?
> >> What is so different about websites that does not also apply to
> >> billboards, newspapers, paintings and pamphlets?
> >>
> >> This is a serious question. Although I spend a fair bit of effort trying
> >> to make my own websites accessible, I'd probably spit the dummy and do
> >> them all in Flash if someone tried to force me into it.
> >>
> >> Take a look at a site I did at
> >> www.fcq.com.au
> >>
> >> There is a Flash animation on that page with no alt-tag.
> >> What do you suggest I do to make the animation accessible to blind
> >> people? Look at the animation carefully and think about the imagery and
> >> the way it is targeted at the feelings and emotions of those who view it.
> >> If a picture paints a thousand words, a Flash screen movie may require an
> >> entire book. How big should the alt-tag be to convey the same information
> >> to a blind person as a sighted person extracts in the few seconds it pans
> >> across the scene?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
>

Whatever that thing at
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcq.com.au%2F

is, it finds things like " is not a valid tag", or "height is
not a valid attribute". I'm afraid I don't believe it.

Certainly I could probably pay more attention to the alt tags on some of
my images, but others are mnemonic icons that have explanatory text next
to them. They are designed to help sighted people only and are an
unnecessary distraction to visually impaired people.

Finally, although it may appear I use Frontpage to design the site,
behind the scenes a lot of what you see in the source code is straight
from PHP. The header, the left and right columns and the footer are all
generated by PHP scripts that are wrapped inside a Frontpage generated
shell. A look at the source code will show things like:

and strange stuff like that. The idea is that people with little
training can maintain the site using intuitive tools like Frontpage, but
the look, feel and accessibility of the site is maintained
automatically.

In fact you could say the way I wrote the fcq site raises accessibility
to another level by allowing people without special web authoring skills
to maintain the site.

The idea is that when I am finished with the site design, they won't
need me any more. Not good from an entrepreneurial viewpoint I know, but
thats probably why I'm not rich.

--
DM
personal opinion only
The Australian Politics Resource
http://sunnybar.dynip.com/politics

Addinall · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

"Tim" wrote in message @optushome.com.au...
> What is the difference between billboards and the web? The 1992 Disability
> Discrimination Act applies to websites following Maguire v SOCOG. Website
> accessibility relates to ramps on buildings for disabled wheelchair access
> and importantly for commercial organisations to Search Engine
> Optimisation, with valid code robots can easily index all your sites
> content. Your page only has minor html errors nothimg to stop a search
> engine, but it will fail every accessibility test.
>
> http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcq.com.au%2F
>
> I can see from your text size options on www.fcq.com.au that you are
> serious about accessibility, well done, but try not to shoot the messenger
> (Duh:-) who exposes errors in major University homepages, they should know
> better. The only Australian site to embed a flash file in the homepage was
> Bond University and it is totally inaccessible to a blind person using
> only a keyboard to navigate a site without Javascript and the Macromedia
> plugin for Flash files.
>
> You could not have read the entire text unless you viewed the page
> frequently (updated often) and also viewed the source code, but seeing as
> you used Microsoft FrontPage 5.0 to make your webpages, you might not
> appreciate what the html coding means? You pages could do with a lot more
> header tags, more keywords for search engines.
>
> You are not being forced into it unless someone takes action against you
> under the 1992 Act, but you are not a university offering IT courses
> either.
>
> You also need to use a tag to replace Javascript content for
> browsers without Javascript. The Flash file is embedded in your page with
> the tag. It is convential for accessibility when using to
> also use the alternative . In the tag you could put
> links to single graphics that are in the flash file por one large
> panoramic picture. Then in the single picture file you could put a brief
> description of only a few words in the image "alt".
>
> A "longdesc" tag can also be included for the image which links to a
> longer text description of the content or meaning of the images.
>
> http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#longdescexplain
>
> Common problems I found in Australian University homepages just updated.
> http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#problems
>
> Some Universities have spat the dummy over this review, but the best of
> them with little to fear from an accessibility audit or review have
> welcomed my work.

I'm glad to see Deakin passed. I did a lot of the accessibility work on
those pages. When I left every page passed using the Bobby tool.
I'm not familiar with "cynthis".

Cheers,
Mark Addinall.

>
> Tim
>
>
>
> David Moss wrote:
>> In article , dogstar27
>> @optushome.com.au writes...
>>
>>
>>>Taking a look a one paragraph is inadequate, you are not correct to do an
>>>and then evaluate a large body of work based on one paragraph, you would
>>>have answers to other questions if you did look further.
>>>Your two cents worth is not good value. Non judgmental language like
>>>"Dur" to you too David, standarsd are not specified by me but then you
>>>did not bother to find out what they were before replying, Dur
>>
>>
>> I did actually read the entire text, but I thought it would be
>> enlightening to focus on a small part of it.
>>
>> I deliberately used provocative language (dur) within my reply to get you
>> thinking about the provocative language in your own text.
>>
>> If you feel 2c is too much to pay for my advice, feel free to pay in
>> cash.
>>
>> Why are you so interested in web site useability anyway?
>> What is so different about websites that does not also apply to
>> billboards, newspapers, paintings and pamphlets?
>>
>> This is a serious question. Although I spend a fair bit of effort trying
>> to make my own websites accessible, I'd probably spit the dummy and do
>> them all in Flash if someone tried to force me into it.
>>
>> Take a look at a site I did at
>> www.fcq.com.au
>>
>> There is a Flash animation on that page with no alt-tag.
>> What do you suggest I do to make the animation accessible to blind
>> people? Look at the animation carefully and think about the imagery and
>> the way it is targeted at the feelings and emotions of those who view it.
>> If a picture paints a thousand words, a Flash screen movie may require an
>> entire book. How big should the alt-tag be to convey the same information
>> to a blind person as a sighted person extracts in the few seconds it pans
>> across the scene?
>>
>>
>>
>

James · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 13

David Moss wrote:
> In article <46beaa17$0$22610$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-
> 01.iinet.net.au>, addinall@addinall.org writes...
>
>
>>"Tim" wrote in message
>>@optushome.com.au...
>>
>>>What is the difference between billboards and the web? The 1992 Disability
>>>Discrimination Act applies to websites following Maguire v SOCOG. Website
>>>accessibility relates to ramps on buildings for disabled wheelchair access
>>>and importantly for commercial organisations to Search Engine
>>>Optimisation, with valid code robots can easily index all your sites
>>>content. Your page only has minor html errors nothimg to stop a search
>>>engine, but it will fail every accessibility test.
>>>
>>>http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcq.com.au%2F
>>>
>>>I can see from your text size options on www.fcq.com.au that you are
>>>serious about accessibility, well done, but try not to shoot the messenger
>>>(Duh:-) who exposes errors in major University homepages, they should know
>>>better. The only Australian site to embed a flash file in the homepage was
>>>Bond University and it is totally inaccessible to a blind person using
>>>only a keyboard to navigate a site without Javascript and the Macromedia
>>>plugin for Flash files.
>>>
>>>You could not have read the entire text unless you viewed the page
>>>frequently (updated often) and also viewed the source code, but seeing as
>>>you used Microsoft FrontPage 5.0 to make your webpages, you might not
>>>appreciate what the html coding means? You pages could do with a lot more
>>>header tags, more keywords for search engines.
>>>
>>>You are not being forced into it unless someone takes action against you
>>>under the 1992 Act, but you are not a university offering IT courses
>>>either.
>>>
>>>You also need to use a tag to replace Javascript content for
>>>browsers without Javascript. The Flash file is embedded in your page with
>>>the tag. It is convential for accessibility when using to
>>>also use the alternative . In the tag you could put
>>>links to single graphics that are in the flash file por one large
>>>panoramic picture. Then in the single picture file you could put a brief
>>>description of only a few words in the image "alt".
>>>
>>>A "longdesc" tag can also be included for the image which links to a
>>>longer text description of the content or meaning of the images.
>>>
>>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#longdescexplain
>>>
>>>Common problems I found in Australian University homepages just updated.
>>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#problems
>>>
>>>Some Universities have spat the dummy over this review, but the best of
>>>them with little to fear from an accessibility audit or review have
>>>welcomed my work.
>>
>>I'm glad to see Deakin passed. I did a lot of the accessibility work on
>>those pages. When I left every page passed using the Bobby tool.
>>I'm not familiar with "cynthis".
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Mark Addinall.
>>
>>
>>>Tim
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>David Moss wrote:
>>>
>>>>In article , dogstar27
>>>>@optushome.com.au writes...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Taking a look a one paragraph is inadequate, you are not correct to do an
>>>>>and then evaluate a large body of work based on one paragraph, you would
>>>>>have answers to other questions if you did look further.
>>>>>Your two cents worth is not good value. Non judgmental language like
>>>>>"Dur" to you too David, standarsd are not specified by me but then you
>>>>>did not bother to find out what they were before replying, Dur
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I did actually read the entire text, but I thought it would be
>>>>enlightening to focus on a small part of it.
>>>>
>>>>I deliberately used provocative language (dur) within my reply to get you
>>>>thinking about the provocative language in your own text.
>>>>
>>>>If you feel 2c is too much to pay for my advice, feel free to pay in
>>>>cash.
>>>>
>>>>Why are you so interested in web site useability anyway?
>>>>What is so different about websites that does not also apply to
>>>>billboards, newspapers, paintings and pamphlets?
>>>>
>>>>This is a serious question. Although I spend a fair bit of effort trying
>>>>to make my own websites accessible, I'd probably spit the dummy and do
>>>>them all in Flash if someone tried to force me into it.
>>>>
>>>>Take a look at a site I did at
>>>>www.fcq.com.au
>>>>
>>>>There is a Flash animation on that page with no alt-tag.
>>>>What do you suggest I do to make the animation accessible to blind
>>>>people? Look at the animation carefully and think about the imagery and
>>>>the way it is targeted at the feelings and emotions of those who view it.
>>>>If a picture paints a thousand words, a Flash screen movie may require an
>>>>entire book. How big should the alt-tag be to convey the same information
>>>>to a blind person as a sighted person extracts in the few seconds it pans
>>>>across the scene?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> Whatever that thing at
> http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcq.com.au%2F
>
> is, it finds things like " is not a valid tag", or "height is
> not a valid attribute". I'm afraid I don't believe it.
>
> Certainly I could probably pay more attention to the alt tags on some of
> my images, but others are mnemonic icons that have explanatory text next
> to them. They are designed to help sighted people only and are an
> unnecessary distraction to visually impaired people.
>
> Finally, although it may appear I use Frontpage to design the site,
> behind the scenes a lot of what you see in the source code is straight
> from PHP. The header, the left and right columns and the footer are all
> generated by PHP scripts that are wrapped inside a Frontpage generated
> shell. A look at the source code will show things like:
>
>
>
> and strange stuff like that. The idea is that people with little
> training can maintain the site using intuitive tools like Frontpage, but
> the look, feel and accessibility of the site is maintained
> automatically.
>
> In fact you could say the way I wrote the fcq site raises accessibility
> to another level by allowing people without special web authoring skills
> to maintain the site.
>
> The idea is that when I am finished with the site design, they won't
> need me any more. Not good from an entrepreneurial viewpoint I know, but
> thats probably why I'm not rich.
>

is not a valid tag height is
not a valid attribute" Centre is depreciated html and can now be in the
stylesheets rules, height is depreciated except for images.
I'm not rich either. Automatic tools to make webpages are improving but
many still do not produce valid code, it may look fine but validation is
more for webbots to navigate the page than humans.

Tim

James · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 13

Addinall wrote:
> "Tim" wrote in message
> @optushome.com.au...
>
>>What is the difference between billboards and the web? The 1992 Disability
>>Discrimination Act applies to websites following Maguire v SOCOG. Website
>>accessibility relates to ramps on buildings for disabled wheelchair access
>>and importantly for commercial organisations to Search Engine
>>Optimisation, with valid code robots can easily index all your sites
>>content. Your page only has minor html errors nothimg to stop a search
>>engine, but it will fail every accessibility test.
>>
>>http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcq.com.au%2F
>>
>>I can see from your text size options on www.fcq.com.au that you are
>>serious about accessibility, well done, but try not to shoot the messenger
>>(Duh:-) who exposes errors in major University homepages, they should know
>>better. The only Australian site to embed a flash file in the homepage was
>>Bond University and it is totally inaccessible to a blind person using
>>only a keyboard to navigate a site without Javascript and the Macromedia
>>plugin for Flash files.
>>
>>You could not have read the entire text unless you viewed the page
>>frequently (updated often) and also viewed the source code, but seeing as
>>you used Microsoft FrontPage 5.0 to make your webpages, you might not
>>appreciate what the html coding means? You pages could do with a lot more
>>header tags, more keywords for search engines.
>>
>>You are not being forced into it unless someone takes action against you
>>under the 1992 Act, but you are not a university offering IT courses
>>either.
>>
>>You also need to use a tag to replace Javascript content for
>>browsers without Javascript. The Flash file is embedded in your page with
>>the tag. It is convential for accessibility when using to
>>also use the alternative . In the tag you could put
>>links to single graphics that are in the flash file por one large
>>panoramic picture. Then in the single picture file you could put a brief
>>description of only a few words in the image "alt".
>>
>>A "longdesc" tag can also be included for the image which links to a
>>longer text description of the content or meaning of the images.
>>
>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#longdescexplain
>>
>>Common problems I found in Australian University homepages just updated.
>>http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Publishing/AustUni.html#problems
>>
>>Some Universities have spat the dummy over this review, but the best of
>>them with little to fear from an accessibility audit or review have
>>welcomed my work.
>
>
> I'm glad to see Deakin passed. I did a lot of the accessibility work on
> those pages. When I left every page passed using the Bobby tool.
> I'm not familiar with "cynthis".
>
> Cheers,
> Mark Addinall.
>
>
>>Tim
>>
>>
>>
>>David Moss wrote:
>>
>>>In article , dogstar27
>>>@optushome.com.au writes...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Taking a look a one paragraph is inadequate, you are not correct to do an
>>>>and then evaluate a large body of work based on one paragraph, you would
>>>>have answers to other questions if you did look further.
>>>>Your two cents worth is not good value. Non judgmental language like
>>>>"Dur" to you too David, standarsd are not specified by me but then you
>>>>did not bother to find out what they were before replying, Dur
>>>
>>>
>>>I did actually read the entire text, but I thought it would be
>>>enlightening to focus on a small part of it.
>>>
>>>I deliberately used provocative language (dur) within my reply to get you
>>>thinking about the provocative language in your own text.
>>>
>>>If you feel 2c is too much to pay for my advice, feel free to pay in
>>>cash.
>>>
>>>Why are you so interested in web site useability anyway?
>>>What is so different about websites that does not also apply to
>>>billboards, newspapers, paintings and pamphlets?
>>>
>>>This is a serious question. Although I spend a fair bit of effort trying
>>>to make my own websites accessible, I'd probably spit the dummy and do
>>>them all in Flash if someone tried to force me into it.
>>>
>>>Take a look at a site I did at
>>>www.fcq.com.au
>>>
>>>There is a Flash animation on that page with no alt-tag.
>>>What do you suggest I do to make the animation accessible to blind
>>>people? Look at the animation carefully and think about the imagery and
>>>the way it is targeted at the feelings and emotions of those who view it.
>>>If a picture paints a thousand words, a Flash screen movie may require an
>>>entire book. How big should the alt-tag be to convey the same information
>>>to a blind person as a sighted person extracts in the few seconds it pans
>>>across the scene?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
Good work Mark, many do not bother with validation and some other
academics sell training courses to Universities exaggerating that "every
site fails"
Some other great sites like Griffith University and Monash are
exceptional sites who have received no recognition at all.

Tim
http://www.hereticpress.com