Topic: Introduce yourself here!

[Veljko]

Greetings!

My name is Veljko Petrović and I am from Serbia (up to recently Serbia and Montenegro and before that Yugoslavia). I am a big fan of the skepticast and, indeed, it does serve me as an escape to reality -- a sorely needed escape as my enviroment is all but skeptical.

My main interest lies with computers and I must plead to being quite the nerd. My other interests include science (especially astronomy), books (especially SF), linguistics and RPGs (of the pen 'n' paper variety).

Religiously, I am a firm atheist having been one ever since I graduated from a somewhat confused agnostic by being exposed to Carl Sagan.

[Flamefeather]

hi there  I'm Leigh.  I came across your podcast a few weeks ago, and have been listening to the older episodes to keep myself sane at work.  i'm 24, a girl (married) with a cat and a gerbil, and currently stuck living in North Carolina, though i'm trying to escape to the upper-midwest (cincinnati, hopefully).

 I've been fascinated with science my entire life, and very analytical as well.  I have little formal scientific training beyond what I recieved in High School, but I read extensively on science and economics (which are suprisingly similar) for pleasure.  I went to college for a few years, pursuing a Fine Arts degree, but after 2 horrible years of fighting with admministration over transfer credit from a technical school, roomates from hell, and ridicule from teachers and students for wanting to do illustration instead of gallery art, I got fed up and left.  did very much enjoy my Deductive Logic class, however.  have to love when the professor uses the "burn the witch" scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail to demonstrate that a logical argument is worthless if the premises are incorrect..   if/when I return, I'll major in biology or something instead.

Being an artistic person, I'm kind of split in my skepticism.  I am very skeptical and analytical of the Real World, but I also frequently revel in the world of fantasy, and "believe" some very strange things, which I freely admit have no basis in reality whatsoever.  including Discordianism (http://www.principiadiscordia.com), which is a fun little romp in being silly for its own sake, and is very fun for a fake religion.  (kinda like a more dada version of the Church of the SubGenius)  politically, I lean to Libertarian, so i probably piss everyone off on some topic with that one.  To some extent, I try to use science in my art too, wether it be in plausible anatomy for fantasy creatures, imagery of particularly interesting scientific tidbits, or using the bones picked ffrom owl pellets in a mixed-media piece.

in free time, I do art (http://www.phoenix-feathers.com/art.html) and play World of Warcraft   I also use far too many parentheses.  :shock:

[Paulhoff]

Wood floats, so do witches, wood burns, so do witches, so witches are made of wood.

Paul

     

[dreadgeekgrrl]

Greetings folks:

I'm Adrienne 'Aj'.  I'm a regular member of the Skepchick forum, a sometimes contributor to the magazine, a bioinformatician and open-source software evangelist in Portland, OR.  I just found the Skeptics Guide podcast and I deeply love it!  I'm a 39 year old woman, an Occam's Atheist (I like that since that perfectly encapsulates why I argue that there's no god--god is simply an inelegant solution).  

I'm one of the few black atheists I know.  

Let's see, what else?  Yes, I love Sci-fi (to answer one question already asked) Hitchiker's Guide and the Dune Pre-history stuff being perennial favorites.  While not sci-fi, I also love Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.

Cheers
Aj

[JD]

bioinformatician

That's the greatest title I've ever heard.  Welcome!

[Veljko]

I have to agree: it's awesome sounding -- however what it means is even more awesome. It's one of the most cutting edge fields in computing and is of critical importance. Tell me,
dreadgeekgrrl, what does your job entail? Which languages and/or tools do you use?

@re: Discworld

I second this. Terry Pratchett is several different types of genius.

[Domonique]

Hi my name is Domonique and I am from Melbourne, Australia. I love you guys and just hang out each week for your podcast, sad    I know, but your podcasts are so good.  I love Rebecca, she comes up with some good comebacks :lol:

[Erik]

open-source software evangelist...

Cool. My home computer runs Ubuntu and I have two other Fedora Core machines, but they are pretty much just for MythTV.

[JHGRedekop]

Hey there! I've already posted a bit of an intro on the thread for Podcast #45, but here's a longer version of the intro:

I'm a long-time member of the SKEPTIC mailing list, formerly run by Taner Edis and now managed by List Tyrant Leonard Cleavelin. Before that I was a member of sci.skeptic on USENET for several years.

I've just recently found the Skeptics Guide podcasts and have been working at catching up on them. I find they make excellent listening material for when I'm cycling -- I prefer spoken word stuff because it doesn't mask the sounds around me as much as music, and this Guide makes for excellent spoken word stuff.

So far I've listened to about 1-20, and 41-45 (most of -- got home about 15 mins short of the end, so I'm saving that for next ride). Once I'm caught up in the 40s, I'll be going back to fill in the middle.

The Guide has lots of great material -- so far it's the only podcast I subscribe to, though I'll probably start grabbing Digital Strips (webcomics) soon as well. Though I keep wishing I were there to throw in a few comments of my own.

[Paulhoff]

Welcome, I wish more people that have signed up and have not posted, would post in this thread. Say Hi already.

Paul

     

[Brian]

Hello all.  My name is Brian, and I am a 21 Computer Engineering student.  I've been listening to the podcast for a couple months and look forward to my weekly dose of Skepticism.

[Wonko the Sane]

Hello all.  My name is Brian, and I am a 21 Computer Engineering student.  I've been listening to the podcast for a couple months and look forward to my weekly dose of Skepticism.

Welcome...hey speaking of my weekly dose of Skepticism, when is this weks podcast going to be up?

[Tai Fung]

Hi all -- I've posted a few notes here and there, but Paul makes a good point -- I should follow suit with an introduction.

Hi.  

I suppose the only significant point of note about me is that I'm the "Anonymous" reviewer on iTunes (my handle/ID is my real name, which I was reluctant to put out there).

Anyway, rather than give some bio, I thought I'd just review prior posters' intros, and comment on what they have to say, assuming I have something in the ballpark near what they wrote.

<----- I work on this organism

What the heck is THAT?  Looks cool!

My name is Richard

As is mine!

As some people have found out, I have a very low tolerance for BS. I have put up with for over 50 years and am tried of it. I am short and to the point, which I can understand upsets some people, oh well.

I'm kinda like this in real life as well.  I find that skepticism and the search for truth, without fear of being "wrong," can have the same effect on some people as sunlight on a vampire.

See what happens when I use my real name!  

Of course, it's better than the question I usually get which is:  Are you related to Greg?

-John (the other one)

This actually really cracked me up.  That's just gotta drive you nuts!   :lol:   Alas, as a lifelong Yankees fan, let me say -- Are you related to Greg?  :twisted:

Hello!

My name is Mark but my friends have been calling me Xenu recently.

Yes, Xenu.

This is already a facinating exercise.  I also made great headway with my friends by first disclosing Scientologists' belief in Xenu, learned from this podcast, which was well in advance of the South Park episode that also brilliantly shed light on such wackiness.  The Xenu thing really opened their eyes!

I found this place via the skepchick blog, which had me at the line "...then you deserve to sit in a tub of pee."

I loved the line from Perry about Rebecca's horrific vegetarianism.   :lol:

I live in the Pacific NW of the US

My g/f's family is from Oregon -- that's simply a beautiful area.  Amazing weather!

Pretty cool job, too, btw!  

(The sound quality may be more of a problem for me as I'm not a native English speaker)

Well, your English grammar is fantastic!  

Well, to make it really short, I'm a 22 years old Brazillian who has a long standing interest in skepticism; albeit not going as far as pursuing a career in science... though sometimes I wish I did/I could. Nevertheless, I'm fascinated by the subject; I have taken a skeptical stance in life well before even knowing what the word meant, and I'm convinced it has saved me from falling into a myriad of traps over time.

Besides, I also derive a great lot of entertainment from reading and listening about these subjects, especially on the matter of public exploitation and quackery, and how to fight these notions. In that light, the Skeptic's Guide quickly became one of my favorite podcasts, so, congrats for the good work everyone. =)

LOL!   :lol:   This basically describes my interest and experience in Skepticism, nearly perfectly (but for the 22 year old and Brazillian parts).    

Yes, I'm one of those dress up geeks you speak of (c:

Woot!  Dress up geeks 4tw!  

My other interests include science (especially astronomy), books (especially SF), linguistics and RPGs (of the pen 'n' paper variety).

Sigh -- I discover a fellow fan of PnP RPG's and he's on the other side of the world!   :shock:

By the way, your sig line about NASA just cracks me up!  :lol:

I also use far too many parentheses.  :shock:

Ya know, I actually hear that about me, too (but surprisingly, I have not used them in this thread).

Wood floats, so do witches, wood burns, so do witches, so witches are made of wood.

My G/F got us 3rd row seats for "Spamalot" at the National Theater!  Woot!

Anyway, that's enough from me -- be well all!

[Thakkus]

welcome everybody

Im the token Christian (token, not Tolkien) on the forums who takes a regular beating around here.  But hey, I stay.  (<--- a poem!)

It's great to see the forums growing.

Chad

[Gilnei]

Sigh -- I discover a fellow fan of PnP RPG's and he's on the other side of the world!

Well, you can sigh again, because here's another one... and I'm on the other side of the world from both of you.  :lol: