#TAM9 – last day – sound bytes

Well, the last day is now done. Others have been doing such a great job of live blogging that I’ve opted out, so here is the link you are looking for (Its the Friendly Atheist … and being friendly, he has had some friends helping as well – Great job folks)

Apologies to my regular readers (all 3 of you) not at TAM9, its still TAM related stuff, and so some of this just might leave you scratching your head because you need to have been at TAM9 to understand.

Also, here are some links from stuff that relates to talks during the day …

• How many passes do you count? http://tinyurl.com/3n9dbug –
• Why our brains aren’t always accurate http://tinyurl.com/4y46v8j
• James Randi and his magic levitating device. #TAM9 http://t.co/gtZe7qA
• The expected sounds of the Universe as sung by gravitational waves. http://t.co/bb9D4Ky #tam9
• OK, not last day, but I missed it previously – here are the details of PZ’s slides and talk on aliens
• presentation of the skeptics we’ve lost since TAM8 here: http://bit.ly/pnfRMA
• Do you believe in any god(s)? Anonymous poll: http://t.co/ysITBFZ

Now, moving on, here are tweets from the last day (Sun) that I’ve mined for you to enjoy. I’ve got separate collections for previous days, Fri here and also Sat here. It is designed to both amuse and to also help bring it all back.

The Sunday papers

• “Last year Phil Plait did his infamous Don’t Be a Dick speech and I had a problem with that because I’m a smartass.” @ashleyfmiller
• Don’t be a dick, you should be halfway between a dick and a pussy
• “Here we have some inaccurate stereotypes. I mean we do eat babies, but the rest is wrong.” @ashleyfmillerhttp://t.co/3CjKQ2J
• could easily have given a full talk – good slides, good content, well presented. Plus, there was a Joss Whedon quote. – Jutta
• The presentation from @ashleyfmiller was fucking brilliant. I’m biased, but the audience wasn’t and they clearly agreed. – Jarrett Kaufman
• Ashley F Miller reminds #TAM9 audience that emotional appeals are not exclusive property of woo peddlers; we can mix that with rationality.- Tana Owens

Sara E Mayhew Secular Storytelling

• My new favorite word: mangaka – Idiotic Savant
• If you are in an American comic book and you are on fire, you are probably literally on fire. @saramayhew
• “It’s important to make the emotional connection when storytelling” – @saramayhew
• Something I didn’t think we would talk about at #TAM9: the Twilight books are crap. – Dayna Doskocil
• Calling twilight characters cardboard is an insult to sturdy packaging material -Sarah Mayhew
• Legend of the Ztarr is manga that celebrates critical thinking http://t.co/sErwxRf – Alastair D’Silva 
• “@StevenTheWonky: I think I’m a little bit in love with Sara E Mayhew. #TAM9” Get in line with half the audience. – David Tellet

Communicating Skepticism panel with  PZ Myers, Eugenie Scott, Carol Tavris, and Jamy Ian Swiss

• “What you say is not nearly as important as what they hear.” – Genie Scott
• .@pzmyers agrees with Sadie and Carol, etc. but observes that the opposite side (the Right) doesn’t patiently and calmly reason
• .@pzmyers Tells us to look at how the other aide does it. BUT THEY’RE ASSHOLES. Don’t be like themI didn’t read “The God Delusion” until after I knew myself to be an atheist… I agree with PZ though- a thunderbolt from the skies. – Steven Glassman
• Nicely put by PZ: Truth is our pole star, science is our vessel, and passion is our engine
• Carol Tavris, re PZ’s measured response: “I hope this panel isn’t going to be too agreeable.”
• I never thought I’d fond myself agreeing more with @pzmyers than Eugenie Scott. – Cory Albrecht
• “Ghost hunters are everywhere – more than ghosts!” – @badastronomer
• Scott: Set your goals and use tactics that will get you there
• “We provide extraordinary evidence that skeptics are cool!”- @jamyianswiss talking about his first skeptic community’s mission
• You know you are at #TAM9 when: Mabus sends you a DM every 5 minutes. – Robynn McCarthy
• “The very sign of pseudoscience… is speaking in certainty.” – Carol Tavris
• @pzmyers “There’s a shortcut to getting into the media: conflict. I’m an expert on this.”
• Autocorrect FAIL? Maybe, maybe not #TAM9 #damnyouautocorrect http://t.co/o2AaOWu – Pieter B
• If I suggested a spoon full of sugar, skeptics would likely argue over the sweetener and the spoon. Therein the trouble.- Robynn McCarthy
• .@pzmyers “When I say you are my people, I don’t mean that we’re all uniform.” – Emily
• “I am wearing a mask in the public, so you don’t see the tentacles” I think @pzmyers just admitted he is The Cthulhu. :)  – Isil Arican
• Speaking to the #TAM9 audience: “You are my people.”
• Q: Why are you so great? @pzmyers: I like that question! @GeorgeHrab: I’m sorry, we’re out of time. Geo rules. – Tim Farley
• .@pzmyers sez the point of rationalist movement is to be yourself regardless of peer reviewed research saying another way works better
• “the catholic church is a human institution, not an infallible one” Caril Travis
• If @BadAstronomer had a blank check he’d make a tv network. And name it after the natural predator of foxes. WIN
• Jamy Ian Swiss: “I end up talking to honors high school students, when I should be talking to first graders and second graders.”
• Eugenie C. Scott: “Why do young skeptics smoke? This is nuts guys. You’re too smart for this.”
• How would you promote science? “I’d fight every god damned religious person running for office!” -Carol Tavris
• I think the author was Hans Küng but not sure RT @skeptigal_1: RT @Free_thinkr: missed the title of the book Carol Tavris mentioned.
• One dissenting person is crazy, two is a conspiracy, and three is a movement. Carol Tarvis
• Think of a sound bite ad poetry. – Genie Scott
• Kurzweil is weird, declares P.Z. Myers
• ROFL “…the singularity. You know, the rapture of the nerds.” – @pzmyers

Talk by Desiree Schell

• “If you want to build a powerful movement, people must feel they and their needs are being represented.” – Desiree Schell
• The militants make the moderates of a movement seem more mainstream. But the moderates stick around when the militants fade – Nicole
• Next year, can we require the A/V team to monitor Twitter?- Shark Launcher
• “I’m not saying we should take up arms to take the homeopathic pigs down…though that would be fun.” – @teh_skeptic
• The average IQ at South Point hotel is returning to it’s normally low level. :(- Rose Schwartz

Talk by Steven Novella Mental Illness Denial: It’s Not Just Scientologists

• James Randi has met L. Ron Hubbard two times. Both times L. Ron was drunk
• “Scientology: the creationists of mental health.” – S. Novella
• Steven Novella’s slide deck has excellent formatting and readability. White large font dark background. #icanreadit – Carissa Snedeker
• Jenna! Quick! Ask Desiree if it would be effective to leave little flaming bags of poo on Jenny McCarthy’s doorstep! – Bob Blaskiewicz

• Its not so much your brain is normal or not normal. It is more about whether it is harming your life. RE Mental Illness #StevenNovella
• Depression is not deficiency of Prozac /Steven Novella
• US SCORED A GOAL! We’re up 1-0 #USWNT #TAM9 While Steve Novella is.scoring one solid point after another.

Jennifer Ouellette The Universe Through the Looking Glass

• “How do you use social media? Tweet about Dr Who.” – Phil Plait
• In honour of #TAM9 this weekend, I recommend: http://t.co/uVpYKDb (/via @9GAG) –  Jeyradan

<I’ve forgotten the context of these, I’ll work it out later when I’ve done a brain reset>

• @hemantmehta for President! – Rich Orman
• #TAM9 is over, intellect recharged, ready to deal with the world’s bullshit for another year. – Mark Heil
• Others are advocating casting a wider net to be relevant to a more diverse audience. Yetis vs. drug war, for instance – PZ
• Y is there no sasquach on this panel? Grothe- “u havnt seen me w/ my pants off” Hrab-“yes I have, it’s how I got the gig”
• I <3 @JenLucPiquant‘s use of video clips, including gratuitous Doctor Who theme and totally relevant David Tennant. – Emily

Sean Faircloth Attack of the Theocrats — and What We Can Do About It.

• Now THIS (Faircloth) is how to use emotion to motivate!  – Barbara Drescher
• According to Sean Faircloth, there are 25 non-theist members of Congress, but only one is openly non-theist (Pete Stark). – Roy
• Personally, I’d be happy if women represented more than 50% of the population. :-) – Ryan Horsfall
• Can Sean Faircloth out Ralph-Reed Ralph Reed? He’s got potential. – Mitchell Lampert
• “The moral majority never were moral and never were the majority.” -Sean Faircloth

$1 Million Challenge

• “The envelope is organic material, so it’s alive.” I’m pretty sure the tree’s dead. @banacheck @jamyianswiss presentation – Rachel Quinn
• My moustache curls in the presence of ghosts – Phillip Schmitte
• Applicant: Francis Martin (Mya Rose) claimed to predict lottery numbers. Only got 2 right for 3 days playing. Never applied-Su Fabie
• Hmm, changes to the #MDC applications weed out the cranks/insane much earlier in the process – Su Fabie
• Banachek explains that MDC applicants can’t fill out applications, hence no psychic this year #TAM9 http://t.co/grQ22zl – Su Fabie
• Anonymous MDC applicant: “Where’s my money?” #ha #hubrisisfunny – Tana Owens
• No challenger. Not surprised, but still blows – Rachel Quinn

After hours …

• The people here at #tam9 are too smart. Am I the only person here without a PhD? – Rick Cummings
• You know you are at #TAM9 when everyone is eavesdropping on the Paleontologist on the shuttle bus- Robynn McCarthy
• Lol, I just took a piss next to James Randi. Not an appropriate to be starstruck – Jamie Foley
• James Randi: Hugging is a new priority for future TAMs – Roy
• it’s just not right if you don’t go to the Del Mar. – chris pederson
• @viewtifuljimmy Don’t forget to take your free bible from your room on your way out. Make the Gideons bankrupt one TAM at a time. #tam9 – Jimmy
• After listening to us fumble for explanations, I think next year we need a workshop on the Skeptic Elevator Pitch. – Emily (after listening to various folks being asked what the heck TAM is when riding in the elevator)
• #youknowyouhavebeenatTAM when 1AM pacific time seems too early to go to bed – Sharon Hill
• I had not internet for the last four days. It was like being on the fuckin’ moon! – John Rael
• I’ve been in Vegas so long I feel like I live here. I don’t like the casino motif in my living room. – Melissa Lee
• @Saramayhew informs us the best way to defuse awkward situations : try to bite your own ear – Radio Freethinker

And thats a wrap then. Oh wait, a further question, what the heck shall we call it next year? Well here are a couple of thoughts I picked up off others …

• TAM 10.23
• TAM10 2012 Doomsday
• TAM^10

If you have a better one, drop a comment.

Oh, and if doing comments, then what should we ask to have changed for next year? Well here is my rant list, what’s on yours?

• Coffee rant – Keep the F***king coffee pots out and don’t let the hotel whip it away after 5 mins
• AV Rant – Tell the A/V guys to monitor twitter
• AV Rant 2 – In fact, now that I think of it, tell the A/V guys to keep the slides up and stop cutting back to the speaker. We all know what the speaker looks like, but since we lack psychic abilities we need to be able to see their slides to work out what the heck they are talking about. Since they went to the trouble of creating the slides, we would like to see them
• Powerpoint rant – two options here, either issue binoculars to all those at the back, or give the presenters an “Idiots guide to Powerpoint” (or perhaps a powerpoint template). Some got it bang on, but others appear to believe we all have 20-20 vision
• WiFi Rant – The ability to get access to twitter without the need to engage with the International Monetary Fund

Some stuff coming later …

• TAM Pictures
• Other cool TAM9 links
• List and poll of Skeptical blogs

Least you worry, this posting has been officially blessed with TAM magic, I’m sitting in the Del Mar on Mon as I write this. Its just me here, you have mostly all gone now, I’ll soon also be on the road. Sorry what was that you said … oh, you don’t believe that magic exists!!! [Pah! … you skeptic].