Archive for the ‘Site News’ Category

Yet another arbitrary chronological marker successfully passed without any cataclysm befalling the human race. Oh well, I guess there’s always next year.

Happy new year from everybody here at Lintbox!

Hello my fellow skeptics, I’ve returned and apologize profusely for my long-held inactivity.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Mitchell for being an absolute champ in filling the void while I was AWOL.  Despite our obvious need for new contributors (whom we will ALWAYS be happy to hire), Mitchell did a good job keeping our site afloat with new content!

There are many things I’ve learnt throughout my absence per se, the first being that life can be unrelentingly unfair.  Theologians and apostles can often find comfort in the belief that our lives, and indeed the world itself is governed by some divine formula culminating in– by my understanding– an apocalypse somehow orchestrated for our benefit.  As an atheist, I find the image silly. As someone who has seen his sister undergo five separate cancer-related surgeries, I find it vulgar.  The overall point (and one which I’ll probably elaborate on in the not-so-distant future) stands that were human suffering part of an omnipotent being’s master plan, that realization alone would be reason to rebel (were it sane to rebel against an imaginary character).

Another thing I’ve learnt is that despite the overwhelming stress one can face in life, to back away or otherwise neglect one’s own projects (as I, admittedly, have), you end up losing your only source for normalcy.  This, above all else, is a mistake I’ve learnt never again to repeat.   While it certainly hasn’t held much time in the spotlight (yet), Lintbox is a pride and dedication of mine I’m not soon planning to turn my back on.

To avoid any more fluff, I’m back, and back I shall stay…  But that’s not all there is to say.

While updates haven’t necessarily been flooding in over the past several months, the aim to expand Lintbox is as strong as ever, which brings me to an announcement:

We’ve recently provided new special features for the site, namely the Panel Discussions (which, though delayed, will receive a new submission tomorrow), there’s an entirely new, exciting special feature to keep an eye out for:  Skepticles.

“But what is/are Skepticles” you may ask?  Skepticles is an idea I’ve been toying with since Lintbox’s conception; A weekly/biweekly-updated comic strip featuring a Skepticism and/or Scientific focus.  Though I’ve already spoilt the surprise, I won’t divulge any more details until the coming updates!

And so, be on the lookout for updates as they should now be much more frequent, and thanks for sticking around throughout the dark patches!

-Paul

Well, these past few weeks have proven to be incredibly busy for all of us, and as a result our activity has lately been minimal.  This is, I assure you, a temporary circumstance and we should all be back in the game very soon.

In the meantime, as you can see from the navigation bar above, the Lintbox Forums are now up!   There you will be able to chat with the Lintbox staff and other readers alike, as it’s our goal to build up a good skeptic community!

So have at it, folks!  Sign up and begin posting today! (Just remember to give the forum rules a glance).

See you there!

As many may have noticed, activity recently here has been low.  No, we haven’t gone anywhere, but have instead been working on a fairly large website update.  Well, I’m now pleased to announce the introduction of our “Special Features” section, where you’ll find the usual slew of published articles as well as our newly-conceived Panel Discussions and Podcast, as explained below:

Panel Discussion – A biweekly feature published every other Saturday where Lintbox staff and contributors alike will each chime in on a single topic or controversy of note.  The first is slated to be published this coming Saturday.  Don’t miss it!

Podcast – Though still in the planning stages, we will occasionally publish a 30 minute-long feature where one author will have his/her chance to speak out on a particular topic of choice,  followed by a discussion by the Lintbox staff.  The layout has not yet been finalized however, so stayed tuned for related updates!

Finally, we are currently looking for new skeptics interested in writing or contributing to Lintbox!  Should this meet your fancy, be sure to send us an application via the Contact Us page!  Keep in mind, we will be keeping a close eye on all applications and may require a writing sample for consideration.

Stay tuned for more soon!

Well, we’ve recently hit a drought of posts here at Lintbox lately, due possibly to the fact that we’re lazy loafers.  I have recently, however, managed to fix quite a few remaining problems with the site’s layout, and have yet again updated the categories with new, flashier icons and a few additional topics.

We should be back in action soon!

In the meantime, be sure to check out Joss Whedon’s latest project, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog if you’re one of the very few remaining who haven’t.  The awesome series has become a huge online hit, and rightly so.  This is, after all, the Joss-Whedon’s-Firefly Joss Whedon we’re talking about.  If you’re late in the game, though, you should know that the series is scheduled to no longer be available for free today (As of the writing of this post, it’s still up).  Luckily, it can be found on iTunes for only $1.99 per act, and Dr. Horrible is worth every penny.

Also be sure to check out the related Captain Hammer’s Be Like Me, a wonderful short expository comic on the story’s antagonist (who is, ironically, a superhero).  The character Captain Hammer, as it turns out, is a brash, self-important and dim-witted brute who shows more interest in himself than the rest of society.  Most nefarious of all (and very related to the topic of skepticism) he follows the principles of figures such as Pol Pot in condemning the very appearance of intellectualism and the scientific pursuit in general.  Captain Hammer is, in fact, the very personification of the vapid, malicious anti-scientific sentiments skeptics and scientists alike aim to expunge.

In short, it’s awesome.  Watch it as many times as our linear timeframe may allow (or more)!

Sweet Zombie Jesus, the whole site’s been redesigned!

As some of you may have noticed, the site was down for the majority of the day today. Nothing was wrong, of course… we just wanted to improve on the overall design of the site!

But that’s not all… There are more surprises in store within the coming weeks. What could they be? Well, you’ll know, of course, in the coming weeks!

Stay tuned, and enjoy the new design!

Hoo-boy, have we been busy. The majority of us (save myself) have been occupied with exams and moving, and I’ve had a hell of an adventure volunteering as a teacher at a local high-school. If that weren’t enough, I’ve spent a very significant portion of this week managing a few issues with the site code and host, and formatted my system drive, among other things. Needless to be said, we’ve been distracted from the site, and at a bad time, at that. Not that there has been any more of an abundance of anti-science in the news recently, but we’ve had to defend ourselves from a mob of people who aren’t too happy with several recent posts on the front page (A phenomenon we’re going to have to get used to).

Nevertheless, though several unflattering things have been said about our character, we remain alive and kicking, and active in continuing to develop and produce material for the site. We have several detailed articles in the works as well as a few upcoming surprises we’ll [hopefully] be able to announce within the coming weeks.

To all those with whom we’ve been in contact regarding the disputes over several posts, we apologize for the recent lack of feedback and promise to have our responses ready soon!

With exams finally ending this week, I’ll finally have a chance to finish some of my posts. Check back soon for some new articles; we haven’t gone away!

Well, there goes another reprieve. We’re back, and I’ll be sure, this time, to staple our feet to the ground.

Well, I’ve been away– again.

Over the week I’ve been struck down with a really bad cold, and have spent most of my time since resting semi-comfortably in bed.  Thankfully, I’m better now, and have already begun working on a rather large article which should be up by tomorrow.

I may have jumped the gun before when I claimed that the current layout is final, as there have been a few problems with it brought to my attention, so be on the lookout for a few more updates!

Aside from that, things should return back to normal here, with regular updates appearing, well, regularly!