rippenburn's definitions

Apollogist

A person who uses any means to defend a controversial claim by the State, in particular one who brands any counter-claim a 'conspiracy', the most famous such debate being that the USA landed men on the Moon from 1969 to 1972 in the Apollo missions, hence the deliberate misspelling of the word 'apologist'. Apollogists are the modern day equivalent of the Religious apologetics, who sought to defend inconsistencies of fact and logic in their faith by excusing the author. Likewise, Apollogists attempt to defend inconsistencies in evidence distributed by the State through unsubstantiated claims, diversion, the abuse of natural effects, and the misuse of scientific principles. Unlike their Religious counterparts, Apollogists are inclined to belittle or berate the author of a counter-claim, accusing them of being mindless; having no education or no understanding of a scientific principle; wearing tin-foil hats; on medication; or more recently as being part of a social movement attempting to subvert the State.

As with the Apollo mission to the Moon, the proposed Orion mission to Mars faces an obstacle in passing through the Van Allen radiation belts, which are harmful to life. When interviewed, former NASA astronaut and Apollogist Don Pettit said, "I'd go to the Moon in a nanosecond. The problem is we don't have that technology to do that anymore. We used to but we destroyed that technology and it's a painful process to build it back again."

by rippenburn April 16, 2018

Somosphere

The somosphere is the sum of all man-made networks, systems, software and hardware required to support virtual identities used in social media and gaming. It combines the words 'somos' (Spanish meaning 'we are') and 'sphere' and describes a completely artificial zone that engulfs much of the Earth. Drawing on a comparison to the biosphere, the somosphere can be seen to have evolved from the need for humans to communicate, moving from a purely verbal form of language to one that could be written, distributed through invention of the printing press, telegraph, radio and TV, and the Internet, to its current state as a global electronic ecosystem that supports virtual life. Unlike the biosphere, the somosphere is not a self-regulating ecosystem, although this aspect is changing with major contributors such as network operators, Internet Service Providers and social media giant Facebook showing reluctance to moderate content or comply with government interference (e.g. to prevent illegal downloading of copyright material). To this end the somosphere has emerged to be representative of the true will of the people, who are (for the most part) unrestricted by physical form, age, gender, social standing, nationality, geographical and geopolitical location, relative and religious influences and taboo. To borrow a quote from Descartes, 'We connect, therefore we are'.

Recent opinion polls have failed to appreciate factors within the somosphere, which could account for their poor performance in predicting the outcome of the Brexit and US Presidential Elections. Such factors include the reliability of statistics based on unqualified accounts; deliberate false accounting; trending within anonymous groups; and media interference. Clearly big-data generated by activity within the somosphere alone is not reliable and, as with grossly overestimated predictions from mixed meteorological data over the effect of global warming, pollsters must rethink the models used when assessing the habits of real people in line with online advertising.

by rippenburn November 12, 2016

quantum lag

Quantum lag is the time it takes for changes in the quantum realm to be reflected in reality. Unlike the 'real world', the quantum realm has no equivalent dimensions because the quantum elements are relational. It is only when these elements acquire mass and energy, from which the natural laws are derived, that they can be measured in terms of space and time.

Most of us will only notice quantum lag when the quantum event is experienced immediately prior to its effect in reality, a condition referred to as deja-vu. Less obvious effects are those of intuition and premonition. More disturbing effects involve apparitions, e.g. ghosts, whereby the quantum event is so strong as to appear real even though it never manifests in reality (which is why ghosts cannot be recorded on physical media). Quantum lag also explains why properties of elements in the quantum realm appear to change faster than allowed by the speed of light, referred to as quantum entanglement.

by rippenburn November 27, 2016

sci-bli

A blind faith in anything remotely scientific in nature. Sci-Bli is a blind acceptance that science provides answers to everything from the origin of the universe and life to the nature of consciousness. The Sci-Bli are willing to overlook the rigours of scientific method, in particular the need to prove a hypothesis using experiment and observation that may be replicated, and are predisposed to engage in the belittling of any idea or theory that does not conform with orthodox scientific belief, even if the idea or theory has a grounding in science, branding the authors of such work as 'heretics' in the same manner detractors of religious faiths have been in the past. Sci-Bli'ers can be seen to be rooted in science fiction and cling to notions that have absolutely no place in proven science, for example hyperspace, warp drives and star gates.

Though not without good reason, those who do not believe that Man has walked on the Moon are branded 'conspiracy theorists' or 'Moon-landing deniers' by any number of people who themselves, incapable of explaining how something that might have been achieved 50 years ago has proved impossible to replicate, are guilty of having a blind faith in science and deserving of the title 'Sci-Bli'.

by rippenburn December 16, 2020

Esophaguts

The condition where the neck line is indistinguishable from the waistline suggesting the esophagus is nothing more than a hole at the top of the stomach.

Obesity has become so prevalent that the medical community has introduced a number of terms to grade the severity in physical appearance including cankle, thankle, chinkle and esophaguts.

by rippenburn April 28, 2022

cot crawler

Adult who dates somebody way to young for them. Similar to a cradle snatcher but with a difference in age that borders on paedofilia.

I'm not saying it's wrong but she was only a foetus when that cot crawler started collecting his pension.

by rippenburn May 18, 2018

fridgeon

A person who can't help checking what there is in the fridge to snack on, often someone else's fridge and always someone else's food or drink. Fridgeons can be identified in a room by the guilty look on their face when confronted by the angry owner of the consumables or their tendency to stop chewing when asked "what are you eating?"

I don't think you can blame the dog this time dear, not unless he's figured out how to use ziplock freezer bags and ring-pull cans - that has all the signs of a teenage "fridgeon".

by rippenburn May 12, 2024