Slashdot Mirror

It's not so scary once you know that subliminal suggestion doesn't work.

It's not a troll. Seriously. It was Professor Lipschitz or Lipshitz or some variation on that-- no idea if he was tenured or not. It was my freshman year, and I *believe* it was first semester, making it Chem 124 (the honors chemistry for freshman engineers-- biggest mistake I ever made taking honors for a class unrelated to my core CmpE studies) in fall of 1995.

I know this is only going to make you doubt me further-- I'd give you his full name and a definite semester/year/class, but I'm on a 2-week business trip out of town and can't get to my old notes at home to check for you.

He had an interest in asteroids as well, and was always bringing us images and videos of that stuff, despite it being a chemistry class.

I *believe* it was this guy, as the face matches up roughly with my memory, but it's been 8 years and he looks to have lost some weight. Email him and ask him about the Hoover Dustette.

Even better, here is a link indicating at least a few of these incidents as having appeared in the British Medical Journal.

I couldn't make this shit up.

No one knows what really happened, but I can guess: They turned on some kind of super radio transmitter, immediately microwaving a lot of their crew. The people who weren't in cooking range suffered weird side effects and hallucinations, the people who were in range got cooked. People on shore who were in range probably got dizzy, or maybe suffered a blackout, or god knows what-all. When their power system got fried, the whatever-it-was shut off, and whoever was left alive was like, "Oh, FUCK, that hurt. What the FUCK was THAT?" And, there ya go! ;) It's one of my favorite "It's not a conspiracy, it's stupidity" stories...

This widespread claim is not fully accepted by the scientific community. Cecil Adams notes at http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030328.html that those who work with the animals are receptive to the idea, but linguists dismiss it as nonsense.

I've read some of these so-called "conversations", and none of them even begins to approach the level of a child at 30 months. At 30 months my kids were all capable of completely innovative sentence structure and word formation ("allbody hug", "everystuff", "may you pick me up please?").

Go read the discussion at http://www.koko.org/world/talk_aol.html and then visit a daycare center for an afternoon. Tell me if you honestly believe that Koko "talks" in anything even approaching the level of a child at 2 1/2.

The claimed conversations that Koko engages in remind me of nothing so much as "facilitated communication", a delusion that spread through the psychiatric community, sucking down millions of dollars and wrecking people's lives with phony claims of sexual abuse -- claims supposedly made by autistic children whose random motions were interpreted as communication. Go visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/t ranscripts/1202.html and see if that doesn't look suspiciously like the conversations that Koko is supposedly having.

Wouldn't be very much on-topic, per se, but it could be really funny...

here is an article on the effects of height in presidential elections.

A couple of the choice tidbits...

from 1904-1984 80% of the winning canidates were the taller.

And only 2 POTUS have been short compaired to average heights of the times...

Makes me glad to be 6'1"...

here is an article on the effects of height in presidential elections.

A couple of the choice tidbits...

from 1904-1984 80% of the winning canidates were the taller.

And only 2 POTUS have been short compaired to average heights of the times...

Makes me glad to be 6'1"...

How big a problem is this for other gamers, and what, if anything can be done about it?

Don't ask me, I'm just a dog.

More than likely, the article had changed between the time your friend saw it and you saw it. One or both of your proxies are probably caching different versions of the web page

I think the parent post is right on target. According to the message board thread about this article the article has been substantially edited since it first appeared (Cecil Ad... err, Ed Zotti himself even chimed in to warn of the pending changes). I read it when it was first posted and, while I don't remember specific differences, it seems to be remarkably different now.

Even without this knowledge it would be a shorter leap of credulity to simply assume Ed changed something in the original article to "Lesbian Porn" for the yux of it than to hypothesize some corporate proxy monkey actively filtering text word by word. The article text simply got altered between visits, and your proxy server(s) took care of the rest.

Yeah. A long time ago. They use a primer that physically holds on to micro-scratches in the surface. Marginally more details from The Straight Dope.

I've seen that information about the history of the US dollar elsewhere; I just used the e2 writeup because it was most convenient. Here's info from The Straight Dope if you want something more credible.

Oh yeah - link

there's some good discussion going on in the forums: click me

They tried at least.

If I had to guess, it falls under laws designed to prohibit subliminal advertising. Unfortunately, my cursory Google search failed to find anything specifically prohibiting what you're describing; the most I could find was an FCC document describing subliminal advertising on TV as "clearly intended to be deceptive" and presumably therefore prohibited; this, if I had to guess, applies neither to cinematic films nor to simple brown spots on the film (the way I read it seems to require an intent to convey a message via subliminal perception).

While I was looking it up, though, I did find a good article on the development of subliminal advertising and its limitations.

That was the only time he ever scored!

Yep. Humans should have rights, corporations should not.

I agree with MrLint that only living breathing people should have rights. Unfortunately, a pro-business Supreme Court held a slightly different opinion back in 1886. The writing of the opinion has a minor twist, but from a legal standpoint, it became precident.

Fortunately, since then the rights of corporations have been scaled back a bit (a rich man can spend whatever he wants to get elected, but a rich corp can't), but it'd be nice to have a nice tidy upper court decision to clear this bizarre legal theory off the books.

>QWERTY was designed to slow typists down, since old typewriters couldn't keep up with ultra-fast typists.

That's actually just a joke, not fact.

Some light reading.

The keyboard arrangement was considered important enough to be included on Sholes' patent granted in 1878 (see drawing), some years after the machine was into production. QWERTY's effect, by reducing those annoying clashes, was to speed up typing rather than slow it down.

Which really only make sense... The Straight Dope on this.

Furthermore, because hey, someone will bring it up, there are no quality studies that show the superiority of Dvorak layouts over QWERTY. :-)

ANOTHER BITE FROM THE APPLE

Back to Barry Popik. Having gotten Big Apple squared away, Barry turned his attention to Chicago's nickname, the Windy City. The average mope believes Chicago was so dubbed because it's windy, meteorologically speaking. The more sophisticated set (including, till recently, your columnist) thinks the term originated in a comment by Charles Dana, editor of the New York Sun in the 1890s. Annoyed by the vocal (and ultimately successful) efforts of Chicago civic leaders to land the world's fair celebrating Columbus's discovery of America, Dana urged his readers to ignore "the nonsensical claims of that windy city"--windy meaning excessively talkative.
But that may not be the true explanation either. Scouring the magazines and newspapers of the day, Popik found that the nickname commonly used for Chicago switched from the Garden City to the Windy City in 1886, several years before Dana's comment. The earliest citation was from the Louisville Courier-Journal in early January, 1886, when it was used in reference to the wind off Lake Michigan. In other words, the average mope was right all along! However, when Popik attempted to notify former Chicagoan but soon-to-be New Yorker Hillary Rodham Clinton of his findings, she blew him off with a form letter--and this from a woman facing a campaign for the Senate. Come on, Hill, quit worrying about the Puerto Ricans and pay attention here. You want to lose the etymologist vote?

Full article here. There's also info on the origins of the "Big Apple." Neat.

Taft

You need to talk to Uncle Cecil, mate. See this.

Cheers,

Morel

I wonder how this will work out. The fact that the judge is now using the plot of a book as a comparison is quite chilling.

I once remembered hearing that there were seven basic plot lines, so I Googled it and came up with this. It seems that nobody can agree what constitutes the "basic" plot.

If this case flies, I expect to see Ford suing every other car manufacturer for infringing on their copyrighted idea, Apple computer suing Dell, HPaq and every white-box manufacturer in the world, RCA suing all the television and radio manufacturers.

No idea is ever truly unique, just as no plot line is ever truly unique.

That's too bad! They only give US excuses to invade Canada. :)

An Eskimo hooker.

Eskimo freebies

"Local police are following up harassment complaints filed against a large dog in a suit and a rabbity thing with teeth like a SkillSaw noticed in the area."

Damn thing is back again! I knew that as soon as we booked Jimmy Carter as a keynote speaker, ol' Bunnicula be attracted to the event.

The Straight Dope took a crack at the question: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mphonedial.htm l.

To quote the conclusion: "Basically, calculator keypad design evolved from cash registers, while telephone keypad design evolved from the rotary dial. Tradition has kept them that way ever since."

So what happened originally you ask? Here's an excerpt from The Straight Dope:

• Destino's fate is shrouded in as much mystery as its beginning. Disney and Dali, by mutual agreement, abandoned the project in 1947 after numerous storyboards and a 17 second test reel were completed. Hench said Disney felt the market for omnibus features had evaporated. Others privately felt that Dali's more extreme style and ideas may have been too much for Disney's midwestern sensibilities. After work on the short was shelved, much of the artwork was stolen from the studio and eventually showed up on the New York art market. Dali and Disney, however, remained good friends afterwards and continued to visit in each other's home countries.

For more related articles, here are some great links too:

• http://www.wdwcentral.com/comments/94_0_1_0_C/
  http://www.boston.com/globe/magazine/1-30/features tory2.shtml
  http://www.abstractdynamics.org/archives/2003/06/1 3/dali_v_disney.html
  http://www.animagic.hpg2.ig.com.br/destin1.htm
  (This last one has images of conceptual art designs too!)

-Mr. Fusion

Proof apple is a very active company, and has a very active Web presence: Apple website:

click www.beatles.com -- THE apple corps website.

Apple owns "Beatles One":
click legal notice 1:

Apple owns "Beatles Anthology"
click Legal Notice 2

As for Jacko.. He bought the rights to Northern Songs, which was formerly Dick James Music Limited. These guys owned the SHEET MUSIC rights (Insturmental play-along books you get in an insturment store), and nothing else.

click about sheet music and jacko..

The music, and record manufacturing rights are owned by Apple. THey might not exercise their rights to manufacturer anymore (they used to in the 70's and might have recently) but they can sure as hell license any part of it to any company they wish, and that is always Parlophone/Capitol.

As for finding a reference to Apple, look for a green apple on any of your beatles CD's.. they are there.. that's all you need to know.

Apple is a more active company than you think, why do they need a corporate website?

Gosh, let's see: try this, or you can just check out the Straight Dope, he's a pretty good skeptic. The grandparent post is confusing Prescott with the rest of his family, although they all benefited from dealing with the Nazis.

At least one of those links will take you to pdf scans of some original corporate records, which should be enough proof. BTW, the point that they aren't German is exactly the point to be concerned with! What does "Trading with the Enemy" mean to you? And while you're at it, investigate some of the Bush family dealings with the bin Ladens, very entertaining.

make sure to read some ultra-conservative propaganda as well. Otherwise you're simply a hypocrite. -- some of this story's discussion would qualify! Lots of liberal-baiting, with nary a substantive rebuttal in sight, lots of kneeJerks.

When you have an extremist position and no one cares what you have to say, don't complain when no one listens. That's not censorship, that's just supply/demand in the marketplace of ideas.

Wow, do you actually believe that it's extremist to be concerned that people don't know that their non-elected government has planned global domination by force for decades, and that their current actions are falsely justified? That concern is extremist? Wow.

This Urban Legend was definitively put to rest in 1998.

"I realize there are environmental concerns too, but I think fear over the devastating potential of nuclear weapons is the root problem. Without that, pollution can be managed and contained."

Read

Lots of states permanently disenfranchise felons.

Only 10 states permanently disenfranchise all felons...

I just thought I'd clarify for everyone what "lots" means in this discussion.

Here's the Straight Dope on the issue.

Cecil Adams covered the question of how much a cloud weighs in "The Straight Dope" a long time ago. I just thought some folks might have some interest in his discussion of this question.

Cecil Adams answered this a few years back. Sure he uses 747's instead of elephants, but his answer is a bit more detailed.

maybe you shouldnt be. IT is NOT A LIMIT. A limit would be something like X in which X is the smallest possible positive number:

F(x)=1-x, x>0 LIMIT as X approaches 0, f(x) approaches 1.

That would be a limit. (1-x) != 1 ever. It would merely approach 1. However, 1-x != .9 repeating ever either. It would terminate somewhere before infiniti. .9 repeating DOES NOT TERMINATE. It is NOT merely an estimation, but it is the actual number. You can never subtract anything from 1 and get .9 repeating. Thus, .9 ...= 1

heres another quick article and paradox abotu it

I love how when people either a) just made tehmselves look stupid or b) dont have the mental capacity to counter a claim, they just say something like "Im glad i learned math in a proper institution." Well, "learned" must be the wrong word here.

In an old straightdope column on the subject of mushroom clouds, Cecil Adams says, "You don't need an atom bomb to make a mushroom cloud, just convection. Mushroom clouds typically occur when an explosion produces a massive fireball. Since the fireball is very hot and thus less dense than the surrounding air, it rises rapidly, forming the cap of the mushroom cloud. In its wake the fireball leaves a column of heated air. This acts as a chimney, drawing in smoke and hot gases from ground fires. These form the stalk of the mushroom. Since the center is the hottest part of the mushroom cloud, it rises faster than the outer edges, giving the impression that the cap is curling down around the stalk. Thus the familiar fungal form."

Go check out the rest of the article, it's pretty informative and easy for non-physicists like myself to understand.

One explaination

The medical consensus seems to be "probably". Like most Ask Slashdot questions that don't pertain directly to geek topics, a nice thorough answer can be found at Straight Dope.

The entire cotton industry would thrown on it's ear if hemp were to be massively produced and manufactured into products.

The Straight Dope says differently.

Yes, of course alt.devilbunnies is for real. I'm surprised you ever doubted it. After the bunnies' assassination attempt on Jimmy Carter and their much-publicized terrorist takeover of Miami Airport, I thought everyone's doubts had been answered. Devilbunnies are out there. My advice to you is to run, run for the hills. :)

... The Straight Dope

I didn't bring criminal convictions up but since you asked, Bush's DUI conviction in 1976 courtesy of the Smoking Gun. I don't personally think it is that big a deal but you seem sensitive on the subject.

It's ceratinly true that all major political candidates favor corporate welfare of one kind or another. (Though I do want to point out that the Clinton administration's stance on trade was far more market oriented than the pandering of the Bush administration. Look at steel tariffs.) Bush was unusual in that he personally profited from corporate welfare.

"Self-righteous" is definitely an eye-of-the-beholder thing.

The Clinton recession? That's good. Clinton certainly benefitted from a strong economy while he was at the helm. And a downturn of some sort was inevitable. But he did the most important thing: he didn't derail the economy. The Bush tax cuts, which Bush claims is a "jobs stimulus", have created nothing but defecits as far as the eye can see while the economy sheds tens of thousands of jobs each month.

There was fraud in the election. The Bush team pressured Florida election boards to count invalid absentee ballots. But even with it, under every plausible recount scenario (with the hugely ironic exception of the one favored by the Gore team), Gore received more votes in Florida than Bush.

Not exactly; there are legal precedents on both sides of the issue.

This is wrong from trout to trousers. Adults want more interesting stories? The "Die Hard" series, "Speed," the "Lethal Weapon" movies, "Bad Boys," "S.W.A.T.," "Cliffhanger" ... how many of these do I have to list? How many movies about mad bombers were there in the 90s that raked in the cash, from adults, over and over? You know for a fact that interesting intelligent movies don't make much money, and that people read Cornwell rather than Dickens.

So when you start arguing that the reason people are abanding Nintendo games for Playstation ones is that the games on the Playstation are smarter, you need extra evidence. It may be that the characters and story are, at the moment, more complex on the Playstation, but that isn't what's attracting people. What's getting them is that PS2 is where the bread and circuses are. People went to watch Shakespeare because he told a good tale with jokes, and they went to watch Le Petomane fart through an ocarina.

A little background on how they already know where you are, and why.

Like Germany it is intent in gaining territory and resources like Afghanistan and Iraq, Germany claimed it was liberating when it launched its invasions. As with Germany there is a high state of Paranoia about enemies all around and in there midst this is tweaked and worked on by the government. If you question this you are yelled down by the fanatics possibly labelled a traitor/terrorist and shoved of to a concentration camp where you have no right's, not saying all those there are innocent of any crime but a lot will be. The arrogant feeling of racial/cultural supremacy that Germany was encouraged to feel is very similar to what a lot of American's feel. A lot of American and Europeans died fighting to remove people like bush.

This is not a dig at America it's people or it's way of life but a warning that history will judge you later and it will use all the facts from all sides plus hindsight so don't have knee jerk reactions don't be fooled by spin and always question.

Finally to all those Americans who complain about French treachery check out this and this. Some allies America where then the whole plan was simply try to cause hurt and try to get ride of a trading rival.

a) Adjust for wind, which messes up distance calculations
b) Adjust for deviations in the magnetic compass as a result of proximity to the earth's magnetic pole
c) Figure out where the plane ended up assuming it actually gets to the other side of the pond

Of course, maybe you just have a different notion of what constitutes a "simple instrument".

The QWERTY-slow typewriter story has been debunked. QWERTY forever!

Before I was introduced to Snopes by my humanities teacher 2 years ago, I had found a "Straight Dope" book that had some questions like those addressed by Snopes: urban legends & "my friend said" kind-of-stuff. Cecil Adams (no relation) and his crew publish their stuff online @ http://www.straightdope.com By the way, I've also been known to my friends to send them to Snopes on a regular basis for the "crap" they love to fill my email box with. There's a lot of disinformation floating around out there.