Mike Huben
From Huben's Wiki
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== Entertainment == | == Entertainment == | ||
| − | [[Image:hogfather.jpg| | + | [[Image:hogfather.jpg|thumb|Terry Pratchett's "Hogfather".]] |
I read omnivorously in science, politics, and philosophy, but I've always read a LOT of SF and Fantasy. My favorite has long been comic fantasy, especially the [[Diskworld]] and [[Dresden Files]] series. My taste in films is much more varied. [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/tastes.html Here is a short list of my favorite books, films, etc.] I avoid almost all sports programs and events. I don't have a working TV: I tend to watch the rare interesting TV show on the internet. | I read omnivorously in science, politics, and philosophy, but I've always read a LOT of SF and Fantasy. My favorite has long been comic fantasy, especially the [[Diskworld]] and [[Dresden Files]] series. My taste in films is much more varied. [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/tastes.html Here is a short list of my favorite books, films, etc.] I avoid almost all sports programs and events. I don't have a working TV: I tend to watch the rare interesting TV show on the internet. | ||
== Gardening == | == Gardening == | ||
| − | [[Image:Garden.jpg| | + | [[Image:Garden.jpg|thumb|A corner of my garden in peak season.]] |
I've always had a strong interest in botany and gardening. I used to work for Cornell's Bailey Hortorium, caring for their live botanical collection of several thousand species. [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/garden.html My home garden has a bit over 300 varieties of perennials and shrubs.] | I've always had a strong interest in botany and gardening. I used to work for Cornell's Bailey Hortorium, caring for their live botanical collection of several thousand species. [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/garden.html My home garden has a bit over 300 varieties of perennials and shrubs.] | ||
== Daylily Breeding == | == Daylily Breeding == | ||
| − | [[Image:Vanilla Stella.jpg| | + | [[Image:Vanilla Stella.jpg|thumb|Vanilla Stella, one of my daylily introductions.]] |
[http://hubendaylilies.blogspot.com Daylilies are my major garden interest.] While I refuse to be so smitten that I myopically class other perennials as "companion plants", I've built a medium size assortment (400) for garden pleasure and hybridizing. I've always wanted to hybridize again, and daylilies are such a no-care and simple group to work with that I could not resist. I currently have about 3000 seedlings, 1000 from each of the past 3 years. I am a modestly successful hybridizer with about 20 introduced varieties that sell widely in North America and Europe. | [http://hubendaylilies.blogspot.com Daylilies are my major garden interest.] While I refuse to be so smitten that I myopically class other perennials as "companion plants", I've built a medium size assortment (400) for garden pleasure and hybridizing. I've always wanted to hybridize again, and daylilies are such a no-care and simple group to work with that I could not resist. I currently have about 3000 seedlings, 1000 from each of the past 3 years. I am a modestly successful hybridizer with about 20 introduced varieties that sell widely in North America and Europe. | ||
== Entomology and Evaniidae == | == Entomology and Evaniidae == | ||
| − | [[Image:BMurrayorum1a.jpg| | + | [[Image:BMurrayorum1a.jpg|thumb|Brachygaster murrayorum [Hymenoptera: Evaniidae]]][[Image:MouseMites.jpg|thumb|Mouse skin mites.]][[Image:HummingbirdMite.jpg|Hummingbrid feather mite.]] |
One of my true loves has always been [[Entomology]]. I used to specialize in [[Acarology]] (the study of mites), and built a collection of a thousand slide-mounted specimens (and who knows how many more in alcohol that I've never mounted.) I've got a substantial number of colorful mite photographs that I've always wanted to publish, photographed by my friends in the New York Microscopical Society and me. After my last sabbatical collecting insects in Ecuador (1988), I finally settled on my current specialization, the [[Evaniidae]] (a family of wasps that parasitize cockroach egg cases.) I study these at the [http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/ Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology] on an unofficial basis. I'm also a member of the [http://entclub.org/ Cambridge Entomological Club]. | One of my true loves has always been [[Entomology]]. I used to specialize in [[Acarology]] (the study of mites), and built a collection of a thousand slide-mounted specimens (and who knows how many more in alcohol that I've never mounted.) I've got a substantial number of colorful mite photographs that I've always wanted to publish, photographed by my friends in the New York Microscopical Society and me. After my last sabbatical collecting insects in Ecuador (1988), I finally settled on my current specialization, the [[Evaniidae]] (a family of wasps that parasitize cockroach egg cases.) I study these at the [http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/ Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology] on an unofficial basis. I'm also a member of the [http://entclub.org/ Cambridge Entomological Club]. | ||
== Philosophy and Countering Libertarianism == | == Philosophy and Countering Libertarianism == | ||
| − | [[Image:Consorting_w_the_Enemy.jpg| | + | [[Image:Consorting_w_the_Enemy.jpg|thumb|David Friedman visiting me. He called this picture "consorting with the enemy".]] |
My philosophical ideas spring from skepticism, relativism, positivism, pragmatism, and humanism. When evaluating ideas, I work with the assumption that theories ought to match reality -- it is surprising how much theory matches reality badly. This tends to produce a preference for ideas that are valid (ie. work well) rather than theoretically correct (without working well.) | My philosophical ideas spring from skepticism, relativism, positivism, pragmatism, and humanism. When evaluating ideas, I work with the assumption that theories ought to match reality -- it is surprising how much theory matches reality badly. This tends to produce a preference for ideas that are valid (ie. work well) rather than theoretically correct (without working well.) | ||
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== Atheism == | == Atheism == | ||
| − | [[Image:Flying spaghetti monster manifests..jpg| | + | [[Image:Flying spaghetti monster manifests..jpg|thumb|Vortices from jet engines resembling the Flying Sphagetti Monster.]] |
I am a zealous, evangelistic, crusading [http://www.infidels.org/ agnostic and skeptic], in religion, politics, pseudoscience, and quack medical practice. I've been posting for about 35 years (first on the old PLATO system and later on USENET) to political and religious newsgroups. Here's an [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/humbio autobiographical posting] from an old secular humanist mailing list. I'm a huge fan of Richard Dawkins and PZ Meyers. | I am a zealous, evangelistic, crusading [http://www.infidels.org/ agnostic and skeptic], in religion, politics, pseudoscience, and quack medical practice. I've been posting for about 35 years (first on the old PLATO system and later on USENET) to political and religious newsgroups. Here's an [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/humbio autobiographical posting] from an old secular humanist mailing list. I'm a huge fan of Richard Dawkins and PZ Meyers. | ||
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