February 2012
2 posts
What're YOU doing this Friday!? - Feb 3rd, 10pm...
Friday evening. This Friday evening. Yeah, the 3rd of February. Well, It’ll be evening on the east coast of the United States. Well, actually most of the US will technically be “evening” at this time. Anyway, We’re having a super-cool-awesome-hangout-thing. And if you’d like to join us, it will be, fun. (Is “hangout” owned by Google now?)
Anyway,...
January 2012
1 post
2 tags
Social Group - 2012 Doom Edition
Welcome to your last year on the planet. Yup, apparently we’re all going out in a great big explosion of Mayan doom sometime late this year. I’m sorry, I don’t know the details. It’s just what I hear, and I always believe what I hear.
Anyway, since I feel it is my job to make sure your final year starts off as good as possible, I’ve decided to have yet another a very...
December 2011
2 posts
SkeptiCamp Virtual Post Mortem 2011
This Friday, Dec 16th, at 9pm ET, we will be hosting our 2nd Annual SkeptiCamp Virtual Post Mortem! What is that you say? Well, let’s copy&paste in the words of SkeptiCamp’s creator, Reed Esau (from the SkeptiCamp wiki site):
On December 16th, a panel of SkeptiCamp organizers will meet in an online video conference to discuss lessons learned from the past year of events. This is...
Social Group Tonight
Yup, there’s a chat tonight. There’s no guest though, just all of you fabulous people, which I find just as interesting.
Forgive me if I’m not feeling too creative with this week’s post, and forgive me for not posting it sooner. To make it up to you all, here’s a cool nerdy picture of Simon Pegg for your amusement. Well, he amuses me.
Here’s the video...
November 2011
2 posts
2 tags
Special Guest Tonight! 9pm ET
That’s right, there IS a video chat tonight, at the usual time, 9pm ET, and yes there is going to be a very special guest. I just can’t tell you who it is. Well, I could, especially now because he’s confirmed that he will be able to make it, but I’d rather just tease you. I’m mean like that. I’d tell you to trust me, and that if you join the chat with us, it...
2 tags
Living Vicariously - Video Chat Tomorrow
Yes, there is a video chat tomorrow, Friday, Nov 4th! I know you’re excited, I’m excited too! There’s nothing that validates my reclusive anti-social life more than virtually pretending I’m doing something social when I’m really alone, with my cats and my computer. Well, anyway.
As you know, one of my favorite things about VDS is the story telling. I can’t get...
October 2011
4 posts
Mayhem Time
With all of the Halloween festivities going on this weekend, you are correct in assuming that I didn’t schedule a video chat this Friday. I will most likely be dressed in some elaborate craziness, and sipping on some sort of pumpkin themed adult beverage at a gathering of zombies and other creepy things.
But, If you happen to be in front of a computer, in costume or not, this Friday...
2 tags
Social Group this Friday!
I know you’re all super excited about special guest Maki Naro next week, but don’t forget you can get your video chat fix this week as well. Our regular “Social Group” meets this Friday, October 7th, at the usual 9pm ET. See you there!
Here’s the chat link: http://connectpro30341441.adobeconnect.com/socialgroup20111007/
3 tags
Guest Added: Maki Naro
Next Friday, October 14th, Maki Naro, from the spectacular blogs Sci-ənce and Mad Art Lab, will be joining us on video chat. Apparently, he “is an artist, incurable geek, and lover of cooking, public radio, small animals, and Blade Runner”. Also, “He can hit a man from a hundred yards while riding at full gallop”. Whoa! Now we’re talking! Well, all I know is that he...
September 2011
4 posts
2 tags
SGU Live Tonight!
Well it’s Friday again, so you know what that means … or well, it doesn’t. Yup, there’s no chat tonight. Yes, this is one of those regular Fridays that I have to spend time with those tiny little skeptics that live with me, and eat my food, and are always expecting me to do things for them (and I love it).
Anyway, since you’re not going to be hanging out with...
2 tags
Special Guests Added: Sara Mayhew - Sept 30th
If you’ve been on the chat recently, you’ve probably met Sara Mayhew, resident of the remote outpost that is Kirkland Lake, Ontario. If you haven’t met her, you should, she’s brilliant, talented, AND CANADIAN! She’s also a TED fellow, gave fascinating talks at TAM and Dragon*con, does this cool skeptical manga called “Legend of the Ztarr”, and I believe...
2 tags
MacOS Lion is a Bear
I’ve got some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that Adobe Connect was just updated (well, a few weeks back) to a brand spanking shiny new version (8.1.2) and this is supposed to fix all of our current problems. Amazingly enough, judging from this past Friday’s performance, it seem to be working very well. There were few serious audio problems, and only intermittent video...
2 tags
August 2011
3 posts
2 tags
Upcoming events... and stuff.
Yup, you heard it right, Brian Thompson, the Field Coordinator for the James Randi Education Foundation, will be on the video chat, September 9th, at the usual time (9pm ET) to talk about all of the upcoming JREF kick-ass-ed-ness, and if we’re lucky, he’ll be funny too. Don’t believe that such a stuffy and serious do-gooder can be funny? Check out his...
2 tags
Fraser Cain Rescheduled for Aug 26th
Since Aug 19th is Fraser’s 40th birthday, and I remember when I was that young (ahem, 2010), I decided to cut him some slack and not force him to hang out with us nerds that day. (Well, actually I stupidly scheduled it for that day) Therefore, there will be no chat this week, but come back next week, Aug 26th, for what will sure be an interesting event.
Here’s a little teaser:
In...
3 tags
Social Group this Friday, August 5th, 9pm ET
Yeah, you already knew, but I thought I’d remind you, you know, just in case. I’ll be here, ready to share TAM stories (if anyone is interested) and we’ll be discussing skeptical topics, you know, light, easy discussions like the take-over of Skepticism by those troublesome atheists, and such…
By the way, the 2 year anniversary of VDS is coming up in September, so bring...
July 2011
5 posts
1 tag
No chat tonight. Boo!
Yup, there’s no video chat tonight, sorry. To be honest I’m still recovering from TAM. Don’t worry though, we’ll be back for a no rules social group chat next week, where we’ll be able to share stories of craziness and learning from Las Vegas!
In the mean time here’s a few reminders:
There’s no rush, but I’m still looking for donations to help...
6 tags
TECH SUPPORT!
One of the really great things about using a paid, big-name service like Adobe Connect, is that you get access to the amazing, professional, courteous, quick, and efficient support staff. Hey, don’t laugh, really, it’s great… well, prejudice aside, I have great hopes that I’ll be able to get them to deal with our problems when they arise, really… *ahem*
Honestly...
2 tags
My Experience with VDS at TAM 9
The most recent Virtual Drinking Skeptically video chat was a bit of a special event. Brian hooked up a computer and camera at TAM9 and invited all of us poor bast*rds who weren’t there to join him for a few hours via videoconference. The chat started at 9pm Pacific Time (aka Las Vegas time) on a Thursday night, which means it was 11pm for me, and midnight for anyone who chimed in from the East...
The Amazing Meeting - VDS Live
As many of you know, I will be attending The Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas next week. If you will be there as well, make sure you find me, I will have a bag full of Virtual Drinking Skeptically goodies to give out. Also, I just love turning my virtual friends in to meatspace friends!
If you can’t make it this year, that’s too bad, but there are a few ways you can live vicariously...
2 tags
Special Guests: Massimo Pigliucci & Julia Galef -...
Announcing special guests: Massimo Pigliucci and Julia Galef. They will be joining us on Friday, July 8 at 9pm ET for a few hours to answer your questions in ‘virtual’ person.
You probably already know this incredibly smart duo does the blog and podcast thing called “Rationally Speaking”. And you’ve probably seen one or both of them speak at TAM, NECSS, or other places. No doubt...
June 2011
9 posts
2 tags
Social Group Tomorrow! - July 1st, 9pm ET
Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth! Well, perhaps not the greatest, and well, perhaps not really a show either, well, it’s fun, and there will be other skeptical-types there, well, not really there physically, kind-of in virtual space, sort of like video chat, well actually, it IS video chat. No, we all do wear pants, well, actually, if our lower bodies do end up on camera we...
2 tags
Special Guest: Donna Mugavero
Announcing “special guest”: Donna Mugavero. She will be joining us on Friday, June 24 at 9pm ET for a few hours to answer your questions in ‘virtual’ person.
Also known as the notorious “Ms. Information”, this powerhouse of artistic prowess has her hands in a great many projects. Not only is she responsible for infusing “the magic” into the popular Geologic Podcast, she...
2 tags
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Special Guest: Donna Mugavero - Rescheduled
The difficulty with being awesome*, is that it can make you very busy. For the very awesome, that busyness can typically take place on weekend days, for example, Friday night. As it turns out, Ms. Information, who is particularly awesome, has the continued burden of busyness in proportion to her awesome.
What I’m trying to say is that she can’t come out and play this Friday. I know,...
3 tags
Billy Meier UFO Case →
If you weren’t one of those lucky people that attended Derek Bartholomaus’ special guest chat last year, there’s some good news. Derek has compiled together all of his materials related to the Bill Meier UFO case and is in the process of posting them online. You’ll be able to see all of the pictures and video, plus details of the investigations, and even instructions on how...
#60 - Trolls, Cellphone Cancer, and Psychopaths
The following is an attempt at summarizing what happened on last Friday, 6/3. This event was one of many that I’ve participated in. Usually they are called “video chats” but I like to forget that I’m taking to people spread out all over the country. I like to think of this as my regular social group, with friends, because that’s what it feels like to me.
Topics
Sara...
3 tags
Social Group Video Chat this Friday!
Here’s a polite reminder that you’ve already agreed to hang out with your friends, here, on video chat this coming Friday, from 9pm ET until about midnight. What? Did you forget? I guess you’re just going to have to cancel your plans to get drunk on cough suppressant and dodge traffic on I-83, because I know you, and you just wouldn’t feel right if you didn’t honor...
May 2011
6 posts
2 tags
Video Chat Next Friday
That’s right, there’s no chat tonight (Friday, May 27th) but there is one next Friday (June 3rd), so be sure to come back then. In the mean time, there are plenty of other cool online (and one IRL) skeptical things to do.
At 8pm ET (6pm MT) tonight (every Friday) you can go listen to a great sciency-skepticy radio show called, “Skeptically Speaking” with host Desiree...
3 tags
Who do you want to meet?
If you’re reading this then you probably know what VirtualDS is. You also may know that about once a month I convince someone interesting, who is involved in something related to “skepticism”, to show up on video chat for about 3 hours on a Friday night, so that anyone else who also shows up, on said video chat, can talk with them. What you might not know is that sometimes...
2 tags
Confusion, Eternal Damnation, and ... look a...
Just to clear up any confusion with the previous post, YES, Virtual Drinking Skeptically is NOT going anywhere. I enjoy hanging out with my skeptical friends too much to ever give it up, not that it’s an addiction or anything. *shifty eyes* Plus, I’ve already pledged my soul to it by blood sacrifice, so there’s the threat of eternal damnation to think about. *ahem*
Here are a...
3 tags
No chat tonight, or ever again, apparently.
Well, actually, if the rapture does begin tomorrow at 6pm, I’m pretty sure I’ll still be here. I confirmed that fact with this easy chart. And in case you’re concerned that there will be widespread auto accidents, electrical failures, and other problems due to people disappearing or being whisked away magically, I’m pretty sure there’s no “Yay! Raptured!”...
2 tags
I'm Just Like the Cool Kids Now...
That’s right, I’ve moved the blog to tumblr. Oh no, there’s no really GOOD reason to do this. (Other that the minor issue that I’ve grown to hate wordpress with a passion) Anyway, please stay tuned while I figure out the best way to make this everything that you’ve come to expect from VirtualDS, with the added coolness that comes from being on tumblr, whatever that...
Special Guest: Maria Walters - May 13th, 9pm ET
Announcing “special guest”: Maria Walters. She will be joining us on Friday, May 13 at 9pm ET for a few hours to answer your questions in ‘virtual’ person.
Maria Walters is a writer for Skepchick.org and organizer of the Atlanta Skeptics. She is a skeptical activist, who, among other things, works to set up vaccination clinics and fundraisers to coincide with skeptical events. She is a strong...
April 2011
1 post
Special Guest: Elyse Anders - April 22, 9pm ET
Announcing “special guest”: Elyse Anders. She will be joining us on Friday, Mar 11 at 9pm ETfor a few hours to answer your questions in ‘virtual’ person.
“Elyse Anders is President of the Women Thinking Free Foundation, a non-profit organization working to increase awareness of science, critical thinking and skepticism in a world clouded with pseudoscience, homeopathy and psychic...
March 2011
3 posts
Special Guest: Ben Radford - March 25th, 9pm EST
This coming Friday, March 25th at 9pm, we will be welcoming the return of Ben Radford. This marks the first encore appearance of a special guest on VirtualDS. This also marks the first formal video chat on the new service, so we definitely won’t have an encore of the horrible failure by “the video chat service that shall not be named” to meet minimum expectations.
Benjamin...
Ding dong Tokbox is dead!
As you probably know, Tokbox’s main chat service is dying. Yup, they’re closing it down on April 5. This was cause for some concern on my part, since the main reason we’ve been able to enjoy the “video chat awesomeness” of VirtualDS is that we had software that was inexpensive, worked on most platforms, and would support many video streams at once. Tokbox did give us...
Special Guest: Matt Lowry - March 11, 9pm ET
Announcing “special guest”: Matt Lowry. He will be joining us on Friday, Mar 11 at 9pm ET for a few hours to answer your questions in ‘virtual’ person.
Matt Lowry is a high school & college physics professor who is dedicated to educating his students and the public about science, skepticism, and critical thinking. He blogs on these and other subjects at The Skeptical Teacher. In addition, he...
February 2011
3 posts
Special Guest: Sharon Hill - Feb 18, 9pm ET
Announcing “special guest”: Sharon Hill. She will be joining us on Friday, Feb 18th at 9pm ET for a few hours to answer your questions in ‘virtual’ person.
Sharon Hill has been an active member of the skeptical community since 1993. In 2006, she began her blog “Doubtful” which covers topics relating to paranormal happenings, cryptozoology, anomalous natural phenomena, science &...
Tokbox is closing their chat service on April 5th
I received an email today from Tokbox, announcing the following:
Dear Brian, When given the choice of having the good or bad news first, we always opt for bad news. So here goes…As of April 5th, 2011 the TokBox video chat and video conferencing service will no longer be available. We promise it’s not you, it’s us. You can continue to enjoy your premium services until April 5th, 2011 for free. At...
#50 - 10:23 and Fire Breathing
Last night’s discussion topic was about 10:23, a now annual and global protest against homeopathic medicine. Originally started by the Merseyside Skeptics Society in the UK, last year, to directly protest Boots’ continued endorsement and sale of homeopathic remedies, it has now become an organized protest around the world, loosely organized by volunteers, where the events are run my...
January 2011
1 post
Special Guest: Jeff Wagg - Jan 28th, 9pm ET
Announcing “special guest”: Jeff Wagg. He will be joining us on Friday, Jan 28th at 9pm EST for a few hours to answer your questions in ‘virtual’ person.
Having grown up in the “Witch City” of Salem, Massachusetts, Jeff has always been fascinated by the fringes of reality. His question of “Why doesn’t anyone take the paranormal seriously?” was answered one day when...
November 2010
3 posts
Life Intrudes
Due to many factors, including travel, career, and “life”, I have been unable to update the blog for about a month. I apologize, because I really care for this project and I value the many people that I spend time with on the video chat. In a related fashion, the Social Group chat, originally scheduled for this Friday, has been moved to Dec 17th, and will be the last video chat of the...
Special Guest: Ben Radford - Nov 19th, 9pm EST
Announcing “special guest”: Ben Radford. He will be joining us on Friday, Nov 19th at 9pm EST for a few hours to answer your questions in ‘virtual’ person.
Benjamin Radford is managing editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the non-profit educational organization the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has written hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics,...
Special Event: SkeptiCamp Virtual Post Mortem 2010
When I first heard about SketpiCamp on twitter, I wasn’t really sure what it was, but after some of the feedback and video showed up on the web from Colorado, NY, and other places, I suspected whatever it was it was pretty cool. Then in February, Reed Esau, the guy behind these ”informal, community-organized conferences borne from the desire for people to share and learn in an open...
October 2010
4 posts
#43 - Giga-pudding, The Daniel Loxton "Interview"
Last Friday evening, Daniel Loxton sat in his home office/library and talked to a video camera. A number of us talked into ours back at him. He was fascinating and provocative, and we all had a 3 hour good time. The format of this chat (at least the first half) turned out to be as close to an interview as we’ve ever done. Since I found Daniel’s answers fascinating, I thought...