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YouTube Is Removing Some Nootropics Channels (vice.com)

According to Wikipedia, nootropics are drugs, supplements, and other substances that improve cognitive function, particularly executive functions, memory, creativity, or motivation, in healthy individuals. Many of them are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and some have reported addiction and harm, as well as uncomfortable side effects. These concerns may be behind YouTube's recent decision to delete at least three nootropics channels over the past three days. Motherboard reports: The nootropics YouTubers don't know why YouTube penalized them. YouTube's community guidelines prohibit harmful or dangerous content, including "hard drug use," which seems like the most likely reason. [Ryan Michael Ballow, a YouTuber whose channel "Cortex Labs Nootropics" was deleted] believes it's either "pharmaceutical industry influence" or some other elements within YouTube's leadership decided to target nootropics specifically. "It's all extremely fishy, and demonstrates a continued censorship trend with YouTube," he said in an email. [Jonathan Roseland, another YouTube that recently had their channel "Limitless Mindset" deleted] guessed his channel got flagged because he made videos about kratom, an opioid-like substance that has been linked to deaths and is coming under increased government regulation. Other kratom videos have apparently been removed. But Ballow said he's never posted a video about kratom, and a search for "kratom" on YouTube pulls up countless results, including reviews. Similarly, searching for nootropics, magnesium, aniracetam, oxiracetam, and Modafinil showed no shortage of videos, including reviews.

It's hard to know why the channels were removed since YouTube declined to clarify specifics with the creators and did not respond to a request for comment. YouTube allows creators to appeal enforcement decisions, but Ballow's appeal was rejected. The rejection notice did not clearly state which guidelines were violated, but it pointed to another potential violation. YouTube "included a paragraph that states that if the sole purpose of your YouTube videos is to drive people off of the platform, said videos break the rules," Ballow said. He interpreted this to mean the fact that his videos directed viewers to other websites to buy products.

243 comments

  1. Ask nootropics user, Eddie Bravo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Quoth Eddie Bravo: "Look into it."

    1. Re:Ask nootropics user, Eddie Bravo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you seen this Slashdot video yet? Have you bought the Goat C shirt? - FatCashewsLoveMe

  2. drug dealers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google is only allowed to deal drugs on THEIR platform.

    "if the sole purpose of your YouTube videos is to drive people off of the platform"

    You're only allowed to deal clickbait back to YouTube, or else you sleep with the fishes.

  3. Microdose LSD? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did any videos mention micro dosing LSD? That is a hard drug that would violate the terms of service. Probably the next drug in line to be legalized after marijuana but until that time....

  4. Nothing to see here by mrbester · · Score: 5, Funny

    YouTube removes videos without an explanation aside from an implied "because fuck you, that's why". News at 11.

    YouTube rejects the appeal for reason given above. News is still at 11.

    --
    "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    1. Re:Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't wait for them to delete a #metoo, #iamwoke or a dying kid's wish video. The storm of burning shit would be awesome.

    2. Re:Nothing to see here by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

      We can probably guess why the channel was removed. Some of the videos seemed to be making medical claims about the drugs, and the descriptions had links where you could buy them... So basically a bunch of infomercials making claims not backed up by medical science.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Nothing to see here by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Google is free to do what they want, but their censorship policies suck. At least they should be able to give a clear reason when they ban something. Nothing much was lost with these videos of course, the only reason to defend them is on principle (not because you like what is in them).

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:Nothing to see here by mysidia · · Score: 1

      YouTube rejects the appeal for reason given above. News is still at 11.

      So YouTube is known for this, BUT this again raises the question: How can we enable small publishers to produce and make available for watching: video for people to see on the internet, and connect with audiences, in a manner in which the videos cannot be taken down or censored by a third party?

      Publishing to Youtube used to be the answer, but now Youtube is increasingly unreasonable and taking down more and more less-objectionable stuff, So what system exists that doesn't suffer the centralization of control that YT does?

    5. Re:Nothing to see here by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of videos on youtube about psychics, ghosts, and ufo's, making claims not backed up by ANY kind of science. Youtube didn't remove those.

    6. Re:Nothing to see here by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I agree, they should be much more transparent about the reasons for bans.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or did you mean:
       
        Publishing to Youtube before it was owned by Google used to be the answer, but now Youtube under Google is increasingly unreasonable

    8. Re:Nothing to see here by admin7087 · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately...

    9. Re:Nothing to see here by forkfail · · Score: 1

      News has been deeded in violation of the TOS and will not be viewed at 11 or at any other time!

      --
      Check your premises.
    10. Re:Nothing to see here by wbr1 · · Score: 1

      I think youtubes capriciousness and lack of transparency suck. But, there is a difference in watching some flat earth videos or believing in aliens vs promoting taking a drug into your body.

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    11. Re:Nothing to see here by rahvin112 · · Score: 0

      It's not censorship if it's their house, you are completely welcome to find another venue to promote whatever it is that Google doesn't want going on in their house.

      It's censorship when the government tells you that you can't talk about a subject anywhere. It's not censorship when Google tells you that you can't talk about that using their resources, because what Google did didn't stop you from talking about it, it only stopped you from using their resources.

      This is not a free speech issue.

    12. Re:Nothing to see here by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of videos on youtube about psychics, ghosts, and ufo's, making claims not backed up by ANY kind of science. Youtube didn't remove those.

      Those kinds of claims do not have the record of death and destruction that making (absurd) medical claims has. There might be some deaths that can be attributable to psychics (not counting psychic medicine), but...lots and lots of people have died because of snake oil peddling and quackery, sometimes quite horribly. (Link deals with Radithor, which was a patent medicine that was literally and openly radium-laced water, and the fate of a sports celebrity spokesperson had a three-bottle-a-day habit...)

    13. Re:Nothing to see here by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      How can we enable small publishers to produce and make available for watching: video for people to see on the internet, and connect with audiences, in a manner in which the videos cannot be taken down or censored by a third party?

      Nobody's stopping you from putting up your own website and hosting your videos there.

      But if you want to use YouTube's massive storage and infrastructure and promotional tools and enormous audience, and get all that for free, then you have to put up with them making the rules, however capricious.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    14. Re:Nothing to see here by anegg · · Score: 1

      It's not censorship if it's their house, you are completely welcome to find another venue to promote whatever it is that Google doesn't want going on in their house.

      A big "yes!", and at the same time a huge resounding "no!"

      Censorship is not just something of the government. Censorship occurs any time anyone chooses what to say and what not to say, or what can be said and what can't be said. Most of us practice self-censorship in our lives; we choose not to be brutally honest about everything with everyone (Honey, do you think these pants make me look fat?). Google, Facebook, and Twitter (among others) censor some of the content expressed through their mediums of communication (contrast these with e-mail service providers that do not censor the communications across their platforms). In the United States, Hollywood (the "movie industry") practiced self-censorship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code then introduced a movie rating system to avoid government censorship of their products.

      It is also a free speech issue. Communication providers used to have to make a decision - exert editorial control, and be responsible for all content, or keep their hands off (no editorial control), and have no responsibility for the content (i.e., allow free speech). The emergence of large corporations with extensive participation by the public in the mediums of communication provided by those corporations has brought with it new issues. Since the mediums are being used for public discourse, there IS an effect on free speech (even though it is not strictly a government regulation of free speech, something prohibited in the United States by the Constitution). Recent events have suggested that these large corporations be allowed to editorialize SOME of their content, while at the same time not being held responsible for ALL of their content. In other words, purely political pressures are regulating public speech in certain areas, and not others, which is expressly what the US Constitution prohibits the US government from doing. Since the regulation isn't being done by the US government, its not prohibited by the US Constitution. But that doesn't mean it's a good thing - the US Constitution prohibits government regulation of free speech for good reasons. Having large amounts of public communications take place over a "private" forum and having that private forum regulate the speech brings about the same results that the founders of the US sought to prevent; a small number of people making decisions about what CAN be discussed by the public at large. And these forums get to have it both ways - they can block speech they don't like, while at the same time refusing to admit responsibility for the speech that they chose not to block.

    15. Re:Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not illegal to claim you saw little grey men without proof.

      It is illegal to claim your drug is effective at treating a medical condition without proof.
      Most non-medicine meketers are carful to not make any direct claims while still implying their product works to avoid that. But randos on Youtube probably don't always realize the difference between "head on! apply directly to the forehead!" (doesn't actually say why you should want to apply it) and "head on cures headaches" (now you're in the FDA's court).

    16. Re:Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chiropractic videos are still present and these make wild claims about curing all manner of diseases and disorders. An addition, they show dangerous joint manipulation including neck and spinal adjustments. Besides transparency, YT needs consistency.

    17. Re:Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Youtube is increasingly unreasonable and taking down more and more less-objectionable stuff

      Eye of the beholder, I don't see Youtube being in any way unreasonable here. Pulling charlatan bullshit that has the capacity to hurt or kill people is not being unreasonable.

    18. Re:Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So.... exactly like thousands if not millions of other videos on youtube...

      Oh no!

    19. Re: Nothing to see here by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Stop confusing the first amendment with free speech. Private entities can censor, it's not illegal though. I am free to criticize their censorship though, and I do.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    20. Re:Nothing to see here by tepples · · Score: 1

      Nobody's stopping you from putting up your own website and hosting your videos there.

      Other than lack of $4,000 for a guide describing effective methods of finding and negotiating with potential advertisers the way a local TV station has to, as you quoted in this comment.

    21. Re:Nothing to see here by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Other than lack of $4,000 for a guide describing effective methods of finding and negotiating with potential advertisers the way a local TV station

      So, how much do you think it's worth? Remember, none of this is brand new. Local TV and radio stations across the US do this very thing every single day. Do you believe someone should be willing to do this work for you for free or on spec?

      Put a dollar amount on the value of the service YouTube provides for free. Tell us what it's worth to you and then we can figure out whether you can or cannot afford to be a bigshot internet video star.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    22. Re:Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh hell. Most medical science is a fraud. The flu shot is a fraud as well as statin drugs.

  5. new tropics nny 4th coast tourist trap still open by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    right through the fall.. some still calling this 'weather'? cease fire stand down... there are innocent moms & babys all around..

  6. Drug company advertising by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is why ad-supported media can never address the harms caused by the pharmaceutical industry and the very powerful pharmaceutical lobby in the US. All those advertising dollars influence the stories covered, the news promoted, and the videos allowed to be distributed on platforms.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
    1. Re:Drug company advertising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's easy to cry "Muh corporations!"

      I have a better explanation. Nutropics is a dangerous quack scam patterned after similar quack scams that have plagued the public since recorded history.

    2. Re:Drug company advertising by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      Yet, they allow some quack scams to continue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    3. Re:Drug company advertising by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      It's easy to cry "Muh corporations!"

      I have a better explanation. Nutropics is a dangerous quack scam patterned after similar quack scams that have plagued the public since recorded history.

      But they aren't banning all the videos, only some. Why? Well, maybe because some pharmaceutical companies would like to get in on the scam with their patents for them.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    4. Re:Drug company advertising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Its funny you post this in support of the supplement industry who more than pharmaceutical companies fund & lobby politicians to maintain their ability to peddle snake oil with no evidence of efficacy. On the other hand actual medicine is subject to rigorous testing to both ensure safety and efficacy.

      If you want to complain about the pharmaceutical you should be complaining about the trend lately for predatory pricing and massive price increases.

    5. Re:Drug company advertising by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Its funny you post this in support of the supplement industry who more than pharmaceutical companies fund & lobby politicians to maintain their ability to peddle snake oil with no evidence of efficacy. On the other hand actual medicine is subject to rigorous testing to both ensure safety and efficacy.

      If you want to complain about the pharmaceutical you should be complaining about the trend lately for predatory pricing and massive price increases.

      The pharmaceutical industry is guilty on all counts. But that's off-topic for this discussion, which is the pharmaceutical industry's stranglehold on advertiser-supported media.

      But since you went there, let's point out that it's so disingenuous of you to claim that I'm supporting the supplement industry (I did not), that they lobby more than pharmaceutical companies (laughably wrong), AND defend the pharmaceutical company's supposedly "rigorous testing" that I can only conclude you are employed by or shilling for those pharmaceutical companies.

      Pharmaceutical contributions VS. Supplement manufacturers. Also, Drug lobby second to NONE

      As far as that "rigorous testing"? Yea, it turns out, pharmaceutical companies are fond of only publishing clinical trials that have positive results, while failing to publish trials that show no efficacy or bad side-effects.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    6. Re:Drug company advertising by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

      Nutropics is a dangerous quack scam

      But if you drink my New Snake Oil, you'll be immune from all of those scams!

      And look -- I'm even holding a festival!

      --
      If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    7. Re:Drug company advertising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      while there is truth to what you say it is both a matter of scale and more nuanced than you describe.

      1) big pharma is called "big" for a reason. It has far, far, far, far more money than the supplement industry

      2) some of the funding and lobbying goes to bypassing those "rigorous testing" you refer to

      3) some of the funding and lobbying goes to removing some of the "rigorous testing" requirements you refer to

      4) some of the funding and lobbying goes to covering up for things that made into production without adequate testing and are now harming people

      yes, you are right about a) predatory pricing and b) massive price increases -- but you are missing a lot of the picture

      It is also very nuanced

      For example (and I'm afraid that I don't have a citation), kombucha was studied some decades ago by a pharma company which found that there were pharmacologically desirable results. However, the research got nixed because kombucha isn't (and really can't be) refined to a single substance or even simple set of substances. It was just too complicated -- while it *could* have good results there was not going to be any way to assure that you always *got* those good results and *only* got those results. To the poster who complained that they have to show a mechanism -- public safety is the reason. If you can't show *how* and *why* it is working then you don't understand it well enough for a public release to be anything other than a large, unmonitored experiment.

      Big pharma is very regulated for good reason. But their money is used to reduce or bypass the regulation. There are lots of things to be concerned about, not just a couple of abuses. And even though the supplement industry *does* do bad things that isn't a reason to not call out big pharma for their abuses. And, even though they are related market segments, it isn't generally an obligation to bring up the faults of both.

    8. Re:Drug company advertising by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 1

      It's easy to cry "Muh corporations!"

      I have a better explanation. Nutropics is a dangerous quack scam patterned after similar quack scams that have plagued the public since recorded history.

      But they aren't banning all the videos, only some. Why? Well, maybe because some pharmaceutical companies would like to get in on the scam with their patents for them.

      Actually, YouTube only taking down a random portion of the offending channels is normal. There is no need for conspiracy theories; normal incompetence explains it just fine.

      Seriously, it'll be news when YouTube manages to take down the worst offenders and only them, because it will mean that they've finally gotten their bots properly trained and monitored.

    9. Re:Drug company advertising by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Most of them are scams. A few do actually work though (Adderall being a popular choice), but they are all prescription only and have quite a few side effects.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  7. Dear Jonathan Roseland by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Move very slowly and keep your hands visible at all times while you're being arrested tomorrow.

  8. Private company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It can decide who it wants on its platform.

    They don't owe you anything.

    1. Re: Private company by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Definitely. And we can discuss their practices, loudly, wherever we wish.

    2. Re: Private company by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You should discuss why all these people rely on a service for income without any contractual guarantee.

    3. Re: Private company by mysidia · · Score: 0

      Every restaurant and retail store on the planet relies on the conduct of other people for income without any contractual guarantee.

    4. Re: Private company by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

      It does? Do you mean "customers"? The people who generate video content for Youtube aren't their customers. What gave you that idea? Youtubes customers are the advertisers.

    5. Re: Private company by wbr1 · · Score: 1

      Something similar can be said about any non-union employee working in an at-will employment state. No contractual guarantee....

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    6. Re: Private company by mysidia · · Score: 1

      It does? Do you mean "customers"? The people who generate video content for Youtube aren't their customers.

      Your reply is off-topic.... The point is in response to the question "Why all these people rely on a service for income in without any contractual guarantee"

      Ahem... *Cough* MOST real-world businesses rely on the conduct of other people for income without any contractual guarantee.

      This is true, even for Youtube itself.... No advertiser provides a contractual guarantee that they will continue advertising with Youtube forever, and most can cancel whenever they want; the advertisers always have the discretion to leave, and they only have to pay for the clicks they already received.

  9. Why is this a story? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Maybe because YouTube has too much power, and not enough competition?

    1. Re:Why is this a story? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not enough competition?!?

      Install Apache. There. Now you're able to compete with Youtube. Hosting videos is easy. Even hosting snake oil scam videos is easy.

    2. Re:Why is this a story? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      Not enough competition?!?

      Install Apache. There. Now you're able to compete with Youtube. Hosting videos is easy. Even hosting snake oil scam videos is easy.

      You think Youtube does what it does with a single Apache instance? I have installed Apache many times, and yet I still don't have a site that competes with Youtube. Maybe there is more to creating a viable video hosting site than installing Apache.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    3. Re: Why is this a story? by reanjr · · Score: 1

      This probably seems reasonable to someone with no experience delivering video over the Internet. The real world is way more complicated.

  10. Maybe by ArchieBunker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They were giving out medical advice without a license?

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:Maybe by Calydor · · Score: 0

      So did my grandmother when she suggested having some chicken soup and going to bed under a warm blanket.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    2. Re:Maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And if she were selling that advice she'd be doing something illegal.

    3. Re:Maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And if she published that advice you might actually have a valid analogy. Alas...

    4. Re:Maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      going to bed under a warm blanket.

      She must be really old. It's common knowledge nowadays that heat rises. If you want to stay warm when you sleep you should be on top of the blankets in order to enjoy all their warmth.

  11. Diminishing Freedoms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Troll

    What the fuck is happening to my country? Is no one above the influence of big pharma? The idea that they're taking these videos down because they're making false claims about any product is an absolute bullshit excuse. Search 'flamethrower diy' and you'll find heaps of videos that have much more severe ramifications than someone discussing nootropics would.

    Is there a video platform that is less interested in censorship and jerking off corporate interests?

    1. Re:Diminishing Freedoms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The American people hate freedom. This is reflected in the behavior of our corporations and government.

    2. Re:Diminishing Freedoms by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      You really think big Pharma has a hotline to YouTube to remove channels they don't like?

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    3. Re:Diminishing Freedoms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol, yes, 100%. You should climb out of your rock cave

  12. Almost as bad as being nootered at hooters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and I am one to talk

  13. Where's the problem? by rainer_d · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just buy a domain (which I presume most of these people already have) and publish the videos there.

    Those who are interested in that topic will certainly find them. Monetarization will be more difficult, but I'm sure the channels were made solely in the interest of science anyway. So nothing changed.

    --
    Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
    1. Re:Where's the problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those who are interested in that topic will certainly find them.

      Until Google deranks or outright delists their new sites too. Youtube isn't the only Alphabet company that's big on censorship and "shaping" the Internet.

    2. Re:Where's the problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Monetarization will be more difficult, but I'm sure the channels were made solely in the interest of science anyway.

      That's really the whole issue with people complaining about "censorship" when YouTube removes a video. Hosting videos is easy. Getting paid to host videos is hard. YouTube is much more important for the second part than the first, but it's a lot easier to get sympathy for videos getting taken off the whole internet than for simply not being able to make money off of them.

  14. Same problem as shopping malls by davecb · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The owners think of them as private spaces, but sell them to the public as public spaces. At some point they become de-facto monopolies or oligopolies (which see), and we end up having to create trust-busters, just like after the previous great depression.

    --
    davecb@spamcop.net
    1. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except we don't do trust-busting anymore.

    2. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And this is the fundamental disconnect.

      The socials have worked very hard to have the public use them as public forums with associated advantages such as liability protection, but then years later go on power trips claiming 'we're private!' and silence any voices which don't conform to their specific sociopolitical world view.

      Admittedly it is interesting to see Youtube going after even a -little- bit of the land of woo. Not likely we will see them put a beat down on things like homeopathy or anti-vax though.

      (anon to preserve moderations)

    3. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by DogDude · · Score: 1

      At some point they become de-facto monopolies or oligopolies

      That doesn't apply to this situation. Literally anybody on the world can post videos on the Internet. Actually, I think that people NOT on the world can also post videos to the Internet (ISS).

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    4. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      They are like a club with an open mic. They might allow most people but can certainly ban anyone they want to as well.

      The "public space" argument is mostly coming from the freeze peach crowd, but they have little credibility. Guys like Carl Benjamin, aka Sargon, complain about being silenced while raking in nearly $8000/month from Patreon and having nearly 800,000 subscribers on YouTube alone. Sure, he was banned from Twitter, but simply moved to Gab and is now more popular then ever.

      So given that he clearly isn't being silenced in any meaningful way, he has to claim that Twitter is a public space and he permaban is a global outrage and 1st amendment violation.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by davecb · · Score: 1

      It's the number of sites they can usefully post to that are limited, not the number of people who are able to post to them.

      --
      davecb@spamcop.net
    6. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by davecb · · Score: 1

      There are nutcases that claim that web sites and malls are public space, but that's not the case. The problem is that they are in fact private, and are legally treated as private, while at the same time being the only places where random people can congregate. Non-random people can congregate here (;-)) but that group doesn't include my late mother's friends.

      --
      davecb@spamcop.net
    7. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      It's the number of sites they can usefully post to that are limited, not the number of people who are able to post to them.

      There are plenty of sites they can post to. They can even decide to put them online and *gasp* host the videos themselves!

      Granted, the latter requires spending real money to buy service, but since these guys probably have a website anyways. Of course, I suppose the real danger is if they are promoting something with medical claims and the FDA goes after them..

    8. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by davecb · · Score: 1

      That's closer to the mode of a boutique store on the "high street", rather than a shopping mall. There is very little risk there, as people will go there purely on shopping expeditions, rather than hanging out at the mall the way my parents used to hang out on the actual grassy mall with the row of trees and stuff in Chatham. (Shopping malls are deliberately named after the sheltered promenades of years past, to sound inviting. Part of the problem!)

      --
      davecb@spamcop.net
    9. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unrestricted public service = public space.

      If you want a private space, limit admission and have a cover charge.

      Any other opinion is old, outdated, obsolete, and has already been abandoned by people that contribute to society. Only aging people fearing change and the breath of the grim reaper creeping up on them are fucking this up for the rest of us, like they have their entire lives.

    10. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      The value youtube provides isn't just hosting - it's promotion too. If you want your video to attract a lot of views, you put it on youtube. Where people browsing or searching may easily find it.

    11. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Larger YouTubers with big followings are punished less if they stop being reliant on YouTube alone. This doesn't really do anything for anyone smaller. Most give up.

      The thing that gets me is the (former) allure of being a "YouTube Star" is pretty much gone. You need to be liked/not flagged by Google enough to be promoted well, make mostly original content, and not be politically charged in any way. Not to mention the need for a certain amount of views and subscribers to even make partner (ie. enable ads on your videos at all). An established presence in bigger media (TV/Netflix/cable) guarantees you will not be penalized when breaking most of those guidelines that sink the little(r) guys with DMCA copyright strikes and community guideline violations.

      I think the current ad-supported models of business on the Internet should just die out, but people made money off of YouTube for supporting their families, sometimes just because US cents and dollars are better in their country's currency, and it suddenly disappeared. At least with a layoff you know why you were let go, but YouTube took people's livelihoods away from them with little notice or transparency in their reasons for doing so. That pisses me off.

      Carl Benjamin is successful because he made his fame in under the wire of all these new rules. Aside from those who "play nice" with the new, harsher rules, there will probably be less successful YouTubers from here on out.

      Even though it's their right as a private corporation, there were better ways of being transparent with the big changes they were about to make to their system.

    12. Re:Same problem as shopping malls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So let's say you are in a plane crash and wash up on an island. You are greeted by two people, who tell you of their libertarian paradise. You can do anything you want, all transactions are voluntary. Great, so you start trying to get to work making food and shelter. So you start to gather wood, and a knife appears at your throat "This is MY land, you can't just take things off of it, you have to pay me" "but I haven't got any money, I'd work for you" "No, I am only interested in money, if you don't have it, you don't get stuff"
      You then back off to get the knife out of your throat, and after a few days wading in the water off the island to avoid trespassing, you die of exertion, or kill one or both of the people on the island. But there is no way to live peacefully on this island for you, that was never a choice.

      Valuable land close to community, infrastructure, and jobs is all owned. You have to buy it from somebody, and further, the more concentrated wealth is, the more demand there is for the privilege to exclude others from sections of land with monopoly right over what happens on a location, fully backed up by the state, the higher the prices and rents will be. It is the same as the island, by leveraging rent privilege and violence, those who got their first can force others to die, control them and the outcomes available to them.

      Online platforms, positions of network centrality, they work in the same way. The low wages of content creators compared to the TV age and googles wildly high profit margin, as well as amazon's and others, and the ability to censor content are consequences of the fact that these rent privileges exist. If youtube faced real, meaningful competition, then their high profits and censorship would drive creators off of their platform. It is by virtue of these sorts of abusive behaviors that we know such structures are in place that allow them to act in such a way.

      So no, the fact that they can go host a video themselves doesn't really change availability, especially with the last breaths of net neutrality slowly expiring.

  15. Nootropic Sourcing by RedEars · · Score: 2

    There's tremendous liability here. Telling people to try drug X without a medical license and the drug not coming through a properly regulated distribution channel likely leads viewers to buy it on the internet. No telling whether the drug contains what it says, perhaps just enough fentanyl to kill a rhinoceros. The danger is more in how the viewer might obtain the drug rather than the danger of the drug or advice itself. At least that's my take.

    --
    He who forgets will be destined to remember. - EV
    1. Re:Nootropic Sourcing by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 2

      Officially supporting cognitive enhancement is one of my smaller policy goals.

      Right now, "nootropics" businesses slap the name on any unregulated drug they can manage. That includes extremely-addictive b-GABA receptor agonists like Phenibut. Bromantane might be fantastic; it also might increase risk of alzheimers. There's a drug from the 60s that was studied heavily by pharmaceutical researchers and determined to have pretty much no toxicity, no addictive nature, and a significant hypermnesic effect: the drug makes you learn fast as hell, with nearly double recall, by way of being a pretty selective dopamine drug (it cranks up dopamine activity in the prefrontal cortex, but not the nucleus accumbens, or some such) and not a norepinephrine drug.

      So we see some safe things, some extremely-harmful things, and some useful stuff.

      All of this gets pushed on the streets as "this is good for you and will make you smart". That needs to stop. I fully support cognitive enhancement; I want these dangerous drugs off the street, and people to have the choice--real choice, with real controls to protect them, and not manipulative bullshit from unscrupulous profiteers--to pursue cognitive enhancement with reasonable and understood risk. Right now, you're just taking random drugs and hoping it's okay.

      It's not that the drug may contain Fentanyl; it's that the drug may be an unregulated opioid (not Fentanyl, but still addictive--and yes, there is one), or something like Valium but ten times as addictive and tachyphylactic (Phenibut works about once a month unless you crank the dose way up; the withdrawal is horrifying). The "nootropic" trade uses strong self-regulation of purity standards as its primary defense against all accusation; the actual risks of the drugs, however, are downplayed.

      Also: nootropic has a very specific definition; the industry uses the term "nootropic" to refer to cognitive enhancers which don't fit the definition at all, so much so that cocaine fits the common use of the term.

    2. Re:Nootropic Sourcing by mysidia · · Score: 0

      There's tremendous liability here.

      Youtube has basically zero liability for 3rd party content on their website, thanks to legal protections and safe harbors.
      With exception of copyright --- they don't censor crap based on "liability";
      it's primarily to protect their reputation with the public, AND with advertisers especially, and
      secondarily to enforce management's view of politics and what the community standards on Youtube should be (For example, the new Anti-gun policies).

      Telling people to try drug X without a medical license and the drug not coming through
      a properly regulated distribution channel likely leads viewers to buy it on the internet.

      The same is true of all snake-oil health supplements, which are big business.
      Distribution channels for supplements, to the extent they're regulated at all, are only regulated by the manufacturers, and
      the government's agencies FBI / US Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- is primarily there to enforce the manufacturer's will.

    3. Re:Nootropic Sourcing by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Phenibut is not nearly as addictive as you describe and it works far more often than once a month. The tolerance to it builds up very quickly, though.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    4. Re:Nootropic Sourcing by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      It's been described to me as that a 250mg dose before bed will make you sleep like nothing else; and it'll work again 20-30 days later. You can do it twice in a row by taking 500mg the second time. People seem to get up to 5g/day to maintain the effects after only a few weeks of usage.

      The withdrawal has been invariably described as a terrifying experience of feeling horrible and contemplating suicide.

      A few people have been put on baclofen for medical detox. This hasn't happened very often, as you can taper phenibut. If you require medical assistance, you get baclofen, as it doesn't create drug craving or euphoria; Phenibut is considered similar to GHB in its effects.

      A lot of stuff out there won't do this. Some of the stuff out there is actually phenomenal and safe. Other stuff out there is ineffective and dangerous.

    5. Re:Nootropic Sourcing by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Phenibut is one of the mildest and safest tranquiliizers out there and the withdrawal is only possible when abusing the stuff (like taking several grams a day for a month or so), but that will happen with any tranquilizer abuse. It creates no craving since it is not addictive, but it is chemically close to a neurotransmitter and if taken for too long, the body will stop producing its own, hence withdrawal.

      Personally, I don't take it for more than two days in a row simply because there is no need, but I took 500 mg every evening for a week and it worked just as intended - I was in a better mood, lost the anxiety and slept well, but unlike other tranquilizers, without any cognitive problems whatsoever. No withdrawal effect afterwards. I speak Russian fluently so I read the information leaflet - the stuff is actually approved there - and that is how any medicine should be used - RTFM if in doubt (if you are curious, 250-500mg up to three times a day, for two to three weeks for psychical problems, 250-500mg three times a day, 750mg before sleep for the first few days and tapering down after for booze withdrawal, 250-500mg once as nausea prophylaxis).

      As for the GHB, phenibut is like one tenth the strength.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    6. Re:Nootropic Sourcing by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Interesting. I got much different stories when I asked in nootropics forum, seeking a sleep aid.

    7. Re:Nootropic Sourcing by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      People are different and people can have idiosyncratic reactions to some medicine. Also interactions might cause problems - phenibut shall not be mixed with alcohol, barbiturates or benzodiazepines, it can lead to all kinds of problems. I don't drink, maybe that's the reason the stuff works so well for me.

      It is also not quite a sleeping aid, it relaxes, removes anxiety and makes sleep more effective. This is why I normally take it when I know that my sleep is going to be short - the next day I feel like I've slept an hour or so longer than I actually have. But if you only need help to fall asleep, then melatonin is your friend and phenibut is a waste of money.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    8. Re: Nootropic Sourcing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sound like a drug addict.

      I can quit anytime i want. The drug doesn't interfere with my life. I use it all the time and have no issues, no side effects. I'll quit when I want to.

    9. Re: Nootropic Sourcing by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      I don't use it all the time, just once every few months -
      about as often as ibuprofen for a headache. No reason to take medicine if nothing hurts.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    10. Re: Nootropic Sourcing by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      That line of argument actually doesn't hold very well. I could shoot myself in the head whenever I want; why would I, and how would I prove I would?

      I've seen people go on and off things like alcohol and marijuana for years, and then get antagonized by the same reasoning when they drink socially or whatnot, as if you're addicted to something if you ever do it at any time in your life. "How would I prove I would?" is an interesting question in that frame.

  16. Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Troll

    And if they don't want to host a video of a gay wedding that is fine too.

    Oh wait...

    Can we stop using this excuse about private companies can do what they want? Or can they do what they want as long as liberals say its ok? Fascism much?

    1. Re:Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can we stop using this excuse about private companies can do what they want? Or can they do what they want as long as liberals say its ok? Fascism much?

      Ah yes, the "conservative fairness doctrine" in action.

    2. Re:Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah yes, the "conservative fairness doctrine" in action.

      The actual term is "equal protection under law" which used to be important in the USA.

      What the hell does "equal protection under law" have to do with Youtube's TOS? I love it when pseudo-capitalists bitch and moan about private entities doing things like this. It's almost as if you don't really believe in free market principles!

    3. Re:Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Equal protection under law has to do with the double-standard of prosecuting companies that do not want to cater gay weddings while supporting Youtube's decision to censor.

    4. Re:Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Equal protection under law has to do with the double-standard of prosecuting companies that do not want to cater gay weddings while supporting Youtube's decision to censor.

      I had no idea that Youtube was in the wedding cake business. But please do keep rushing to push government intervention in the private market for every single little thing you find offensive, you liberal snowflake.

    5. Re: Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The person you are replying to is a repubtard. LOL.

      It's pretty sad when a repubtard himself, doesn't notice another repubtard. You guys are so off the rails, you don't even know your own party anymore lol.

    6. Re: Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The person you are replying to is a repubtard. LOL.

      Obviously. Republicans are more than happy to utilize government force against private entities to mandate a "moral" stance, even if the private entity thinks otherwise.

    7. Re:Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We live in an age where rights people died for are mocked as freeze peach and blue haired oppressives want to put you in jail for calling them the wrong pronoun. 1/4 of "hackers" on slashdot support the rights of a billion dollar conglomerate who ruined the internet to censor you at their leisure. Fascism much? Fascism a whole fucking ton.

    8. Re:Gay Wedding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe in free speech. I believe the government should nto be able to censor anyone.

      I frankly don't care what you tube does though. Its their service, their servers, their software, what exactly give you the right to demand that they host content that they find dangerous or damaging. You are free to publicize your views elsewhere, and if no one else were to host you for free, you could roll your own.

      So take the faux outrage and stick it.

  17. No TRoPicS by puddingebola · · Score: 0

    I haaVE USSed Nootropics in thE TRoPiCs for Yeaars with NoO adveerse sidee Effects at ALL. Thay ARE Gud and maKe your bRain woRk GOOD>.

    1. Re:No TRoPicS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think we now know what happened to APK

    2. Re:No TRoPicS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...this on a day when I don't have mod points.

  18. Free speech. by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1, Troll

    You don't know what you had until it's gone. YouTube is now censoring their users' content at an alarming rate. People who just swear or even talk about sex jokingly see their channels demonetized at the least and deleted at worst. Free speech on the YouTube is limited now as they play thought police, judge, and executioner.

    1. Re:Free speech. by Sloppy · · Score: 2

      see their channels demonetized

      Oh noo! Boohooo!! Youtube is becoming more like NBC and HBO, who also didn't give me an automatic yes to my "let me be the executive producer of a new tv show" idea that I pitched them.

      Here, I found a magic brain pill video that youtube hasn't "censored" yet. So don't worry, nootropics is still cool on youtube.

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  19. Union/association by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

    All this bullshit YouTube is doing to building towards their demise. If no competitor comes in then we are looking at full scale unions between YouTube's. This is peoples jobs and when YouTube can take away your years of hard work with a click and never offer an explanation they have way too much power. Much much more money flies though YouTube than Uber and the state of California was debating considering Uber drivers employees. It's only a matter of time before YouTube realizes by taking full control of their users they are going to be forced to call them employees as well.

    1. Re:Union/association by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      All this bullshit YouTube is doing to building towards their demise.

      It certainly opens a door to competition.

      While Youtube as a free service has every right to decide what they allow or don't allow, every person kicked off for whatever reason, every channel punished by demonetization becomes a potential customer of another or new service.

      Eventually Youtube loses it's flagship status.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    2. Re:Union/association by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol if you're counting on income from youtube you're an idiot who has a vastly over-inflated sense of self-worth

  20. If only it were that easy by rojash · · Score: 1

    If it was that easy, do you think Google would have forked out the billions they paid for YouTube ??

    1. Re:If only it were that easy by rainer_d · · Score: 1

      Google wanted to make money.

      I presumed, those Nootropics guys are in it for the science and the general welfare of mankind ;-)

      --
      Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
    2. Re:If only it were that easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually it is really really really easy.

      Basically setup your web server, then in your website dir at perhaps /var/www/website
      Setup the folders /js, /public, /file, /css, put all of your videos into /file

      When you make the website put in a video tag and set the src='file/video.mp4'

      Voila, everything is done, and it was NOT very hard at all.

      You can get free domains all over the place, if you have a dynamic IP address from your ISP you can use no-ip like I did.

      So how long would this whole thing have taken to setup? About an hour if you already have linux setup and your router forwarding ports 80/443
      It is 2018, there are tutorials everywhere, we all have internet, we all have computers, we are all capable of setting up our own websites to show videos if we really want to.

    3. Re: If only it were that easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google makes money off YouTube via the data it collects about your interests. They keep claiming it doesnâ(TM)t make money but thatâ(TM)s direct ads from YouTube. Most of the revenue from YouTube comes from how it supliments your serial number and improves overall ad presentation in their search. If YouTube really drove down the bottom line, or losing control of that segment might give someone else leverage they would have abandoned it.

    4. Re:If only it were that easy by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      Okay, now tell us how easy it is to support millions of concurrent viewers.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    5. Re:If only it were that easy by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      You won't have millions of concurrent viewers. If you do you can spend some money on any of the numerous technologies that will support that with the revenue you can hopefully work out how to generate from those viewers.

    6. Re:If only it were that easy by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      Even hundreds of concurrent viewers can be problematic, and you won't fund a solution to that issue with that level of viewership.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    7. Re:If only it were that easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it was that easy, do you think Google would have forked out the billions they paid for YouTube ??

      Yes, because youtube was a popular website so might be a good investment for an ad company!

      Also, back when Youtube started, they had to have their website work before html5 and modern browsers. Believe it or not, making video work embedded on web pages was 'hard" and would involve Flash. And most people didn't have decent video players so if you just linked directly to the file or a torrent, lots of users couldn't handle playing it. Now you have <video> and I wouldn't be surprised if a much larger fraction of users don't need their browsers to play video anymore, anyway. Oh, and bandwidth is cheaper now than it was 15 years ago, too.)

      99% of people who have something to say about something, have no need for managing ad orders, ad targeting, etc. Youtube is simply never going to be in a position where they're capable of any serious censorship. They're way too easy to replace, from a casual user perspective. Your grandmother or daughter can make a web page with a video on it.

      Even their CDN and scaling work isn't that valuable; if your video gets too popular or is too large for you to afford hosting, then link to the torrent file instead of directly to the video file.

      The only people who care about Youtube are people who use them to make money on their videos, via Youtube's ads. Because yes, the ad business is actually kind of hard to make money on. But internet publishing overall? Fuck no, that's trivial.

    8. Re:If only it were that easy by DogDude · · Score: 1

      I did it. It cost $20 to register the domain, and the hosting is $10.month. It's not that hard. Try godaddy.com. Super easy. Let me know if you need help!

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    9. Re:If only it were that easy by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      You upload the video files to an amazon/google/etc cloud storage server and set it to be publically accessible. And then link to them (or embed them even) from there.

      It's what 3 cents per GB per month storage and 10-20c per GB outgoing data?

    10. Re: If only it were that easy by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      20c/GB for a 10min video of moderate HD quality is only, oh, $40 per 100 views. Yeah, that seems reasonable compared to other options....... not.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    11. Re:If only it were that easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cheap host for base site, cloudflare or similar to provide a sort of CDN and protection, and then a proper CDN for actually storing the heavy (vid) content. Still doesn't cost too much, though that;s subjective,m i suppose.,

    12. Re:If only it were that easy by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      If you're moving form a platform that used to pay you to a platform for which you now have to pay, any non-negative price is the definition of "costs too much" IMO. Thankfully, I don't have a ton of video to host so I don't have any skin in this game, but... if I did, I know how to host it properly -- most content creators, however, do not, nor could they afford the services of someone who does, such as myself.

      Plus, if we want to support YouTube's "right" to remove perfectly legal content from their service, what stops any CDN or hosting provider from doing the same? The reality is you can't act as both a public commons and a private space at once, which is what YouTube is trying to do now; thus all the backlash.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    13. Re: If only it were that easy by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      What other options? And why do nootropics ads need to be 10 minute long HD videos?

    14. Re: If only it were that easy by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      You really think YouTube is paying 20c/GB? Of course there are other options; I'm not doing your research for you. As for why nootropics ads need to be 10 minute long HD videos, why don't they? Or why does any video need to be 10 minutes long, or HD? People expect HD content now, and someone "researching" nootropics for their own use might want a long format presentation of all the pertinent details of the products they're evaluating. I can think of at least a dozen reasons an informational video about any product might need to be 10 minutes long, or longer. Stop being purposely dense, it doesn't look good on you.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    15. Re: If only it were that easy by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      Of course, youtube aren't. They have the scale not to. So is your basic proposal that youtube should be forced to host content because they can do it cheaper? Liveleak hosts videos, I'm sure there are other places. And you just link them from the website and change the links when you get banned for whatever reason. But I thought avoiding the video provider was supposed to be aim?

      If someone is evaluating a drug by watching videos rather than by reading then I guess they do need brain enhancement drugs, so I'll give you that the target market probably needs videos.

    16. Re: If only it were that easy by BronsCon · · Score: 1
      While nothing you wrote was wrong, my point was more that 20c/GB is actually an extremely high price for bandwidth. I pay my provider half a penny per GB at a relatively small scale, and that's if I consider the RAM, CPU, and storage as being given to me for free with the bandwidth purchase. Why the fuck would I ever pay 20c/GB?

      Plus, and I said this exact thing elsewhere in the thread, if we want to support YouTube's "right" to remove perfectly legal content from their service, what stops any CDN or hosting provider from doing the same? The reality is you can't act as both a public commons and a private space at once, which is what YouTube is trying to do now; thus all the backlash.

      If someone is evaluating a drug by watching videos rather than by reading then I guess they do need brain enhancement drugs, so I'll give you that the target market probably needs videos.

      Again, why limit to nootropics videos when YouTube is attacking many topics?

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    17. Re:If only it were that easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have yet to explain why you feel you should be able to force a provider to give you services for free.

    18. Re:If only it were that easy by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Been there, done that. Supporting any number of concurrent users is not hard, you just have to use what's available in your internet protocol toolkit. The real issue comes down to whether all users are on networks that support the necessary protocols. FYI, those would be RTP/RTCP/RTSP coupled with SIP for session management. (All conveniently defined relatively accurately on wikipedia) Furthermore, those protocols formed the basis for WebRTC, and contrary to anyone's opinion, RTP/RTCP/RTSP have been around since 1996, meaning none of this is new.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    19. Re:If only it were that easy by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      Furthermore, those protocols formed the basis for WebRTC, and contrary to anyone's opinion, RTP/RTCP/RTSP have been around since 1996, meaning none of this is new.

      But WebRTC hasn't seen wide adoption and I'm not aware of a modern browser that supports the others, or SIP for that matter, so none of them except for WebRTC (if you want to limit your audience significantly) are relevant to a discussion about building your own video delivery website. That would be why I never brought them up.

      That said, it really isn't that difficult to set up an RTSP-to-WebRTC gateway, for the handful of browsers that properly support WebRTC. The question remains, then, how do you support the majority of your viewers, and how do you pay for it all if you're coming from YouTube who used to pay you for your content (and are, thus, losing a revenue stream)? I guess that's two questions, but they remain nonetheless.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    20. Re:If only it were that easy by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      WebRTC is relatively new and I'm not surprised it's not universally supported because it's been hampered by DRM efforts. It's been too long, but IIRC the plumbing for the protocols is in place and a minor bit of code will properly render it in the client. Those protocols predate the fuck it all up efforts of the various MPAA/RIAA members and were written by quite competent technical people. The biggest issue you have is whether all the hardware between clients support all the features. Not all do, and likely with reason (insert conspiracy theory here for why connectivity providers that sell content might not want to support competitors streaming on "their" networks)

      To be sure, there are other legal challenges associated with this approach that are all related to licensing and "rights", which may be why only closed solutions have used these protocols that I'm aware of (and by no means am I an expert in this field at this time) Technically, there's no issue with supporting millions of concurrent viewers. Ping me again in a couple of years as I may have a better answer if I go that route again.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
  21. Implied paradox by jbmartin6 · · Score: 1

    I have to assume the people who are vetting all these YouTube channels must be taking some of these nootropic supplements themselves. Who could stand doing that job otherwise?

    --
    This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
  22. Are we there yet? by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 0

    We can probably guess why the channel was removed. Some of the videos seemed to be making medical claims about the drugs, and the descriptions had links where you could buy them... So basically a bunch of infomercials making claims not backed up by medical science.

    Is this all we are left with?

    I'd like to point out that we started with "everyone c'mon in, the service is free!",

    ...then "removed because this is clearly illegal speech"

    ...then "removed because this is hate speech"

    ...then "removed because it's unsafe to the community"

    ...then "[crickets]" and we can only guess why they did it.

    Are we there yet?

    1. Re:Are we there yet? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      To be fair you are mixing up Google and Facebook there, and Google is still far more liberal in terms of what it allows on YouTube. There are a lot of channels far more extreme than Diamond and Silk. It has to be said that SoundCloud is quite good too with hosting far right podcasts, although maybe because they get less attention.

      But yes, commercial realities hit YouTube. They make money from ads, and advertisers are more discerning than they had hoped.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Are we there yet? by admin7087 · · Score: 0

      It would be highly surprising if anything of any value whatsoever had ever been removed from Youtube. Go get a life and read some books.

    3. Re:Are we there yet? by Falos · · Score: 1

      >and advertisers are more capricious than they had hoped

      Like when a C-level sees the latest shiny and buys 1000 of them. All it takes is one email in the right place.

      The hawkers know this well. For either of these topics. But I don't have enough inklings to guess if censorcreep around nootropic vids would be financially or politically driven.

  23. Build your own soapbox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you don't like YouTube's policies, build your own video website, pay for the bandwidth yourself and host it all on your own. YouTube is a private entity, if they want you off their soapbox, thats your problem, not theirs. YouTube isn't a government agency, they aren't "censoring" you. They're just telling you to get off their soapbox.

  24. Dear Nootropics Peddlers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's the big deal? Just use some of your own products and come up with a better way.

  25. More than "the internet", "my web site" by raymorris · · Score: 1

    > likely leads viewers to buy it on the internet.

    Not just "the internet", but the videos had links to the publishers site, and instructed viewers to buy there. So plain old illegal drug advertising.

    The person on YouTube may have been an advertising affiliate for the site, or may have owned it outright. I don't see much difference.

  26. Pharma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Watch. They crack down on this and in exchange big pharma buys a ton of YouTube ads. Get ready for non stop baldness and boner pill ads.

    1. Re:Pharma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Be sure to let me know if you are correct. I haven't seen an ad on YouTube in years.

    2. Re:Pharma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you haven't been watching viral videos then, or music compilations/playlists. There are ads; trust me. Ever wonder why there was a clamor against autoplay content, or did you just crawl out from under a rock?

  27. Re:Why? Because Alex Jones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Q. Why is JewTube suddenly obsessed with stamping out "nootropics"? A. Alex Jones

    No, seriously. It's what funds InfoWars, and JewTube has a very obvious vendetta against Jones.

    Of course I'll be modded down for pointing this out, but... Think about it. Super Male Vitality anyone? Why, he literally sells a nootropic called "The Real Red Pill"!

    It's just fine and dandy to have a bunch of creepy sexual videos with Spiderman and Elsa, clearly targeting kids... It's just fine and dandy to have "...children" be the auto-complete suggestion for "how to have sex with", but supporting Trump, pointing out mainstream media lies and manipulation? Well... They'll stop at NOTHING to stamp *that* out.

    Trump supporters; proving Poe's Law every day.

  28. Re:It's an Open Secret by hey! · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The use of nootropics by engineering types reminds me very much of the use of "supplements" by body builders. There actually are things that work -- in fact there's a remarkable amount of overlap in the things mental and physical jocks need to do to maximize performance. Get plenty of high quality sleep. Good diet. Daily exercise. Caffeine. In fact if you include coffee and tea, the use of nootropics is nearly universal among desk workers.

    The marketing of nootropic products to mental jocks looking for an edge is remarkably similar to the snake oil marketing aimed at athletes. Take a substance where an (typically very minor) effect has been seen in a couple of studies and conflate evidence with proof. Now if you think about what the brain is, the idea that there is a single non-food molecule that will make it work better is pretty-far fetched. What exactly is this magical formula supposed to be doing in the brain? And by "exact", I mean which specific brain structures are being changed and how? The answer is, usually, nobody knows, but they have some promising studies, or sometimes just a single promising study.

    Here's the thing about complex systems like the brain, or the troposphere for that matter: they are rich sources of contradictory evidence and statistical outliers. A single study or even a handful of studies is evidence, but it's not proof.

    Now for bodybuilding there are two, or maybe three supplements that are safe and have evidence for useful effect, but I'd argue that there are unlikely to be any true nootropic compounds. That include caffeine. People use caffeine to offset the effects of inadequate sleep and meals heavy on refined carbohydrates that trigger insulin brain fogs. They also use caffeine to interfere with a natural brain function that promotes our survival: boredom. Boredom evolved so you don't waste too much time on things that aren't going to get you fed or laid in the near future -- a category of tasks that includes most desk work. So in a way, caffeine is actually an anti-nootropic.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  29. Common carrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do these fucktards not know that they're trashing their protection as a "common carrier" by censoring things? That goes for Google, Facebook, etc. I say throw the book at them. Sue them for every bit of libel or whatever else they display. They clearly exhibit the will and ability to censor whatever they feel like, so they're responsible for what they *don't* censor.

    Btw, #FuckZuck. fuckzuck.com.

    1. Re:Common carrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck the Zuck! He fucks ducks!

    2. Re:Common carrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck that asshole.

    3. Re:Common carrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I saw a duck in the park yesterday. It was quacking away quite happily. Then I got some Facebook notification. And it took a dump on the sidewalk. I had to walk through it. I was totally zucked.

    4. Re:Common carrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're not common carriers. So it doesn't make a difference.

    5. Re:Common carrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The duck probably was thinking about Zuck at the time.

  30. We need a decentralized internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Down with the corporate gatekeepers

    1. Re:We need a decentralized internet by Sloppy · · Score: 1

      The Youtube whiners don't want a decentralized platform without gatekeepers. They want a centralized ad service that pays them for the ad impressions their videos can get.

      Take away the ads, and you've taken away all the reasons anyone gives the slightest fuck about Youtube or their "censorship."

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    2. Re:We need a decentralized internet by k6mfw · · Score: 1

      Is it possible to rebuild usenet?

      --
      mfwright@batnet.com
    3. Re:We need a decentralized internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      usenet is still alive and well...

  31. Private property by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Youtube is private property. They can censor anything they want.

    Now, if Trump wanted all the videos that he didn't like removed, that would be a different story.

    Then again, if Trump told Google "Take these videos down." and Google complied because it is their property after all, I'd like to see that in the SCOTUS.

  32. Argument by misdirection by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's tremendous liability here. Telling people to try drug X without a medical license [...]

    This is argument by misdirection.

    1) Google should bear no liability for what it's users say, and

    2) Google should not be making legal decisions.

    Once you go down the path of "it's the carriers' responsibility", it's really very easy to suppress all kinds of speech. Make one flashy arrest very public, and watch how the "chilling effect" causes all the carriers to clamp down on everything even remotely related, out of fear.

    It's very, *very* clear that the current situation is untenable and unfair to the population.

    The situation is now so bad that there is a grassroots movement calling for the breakup of the big players (google, facebook, twitter, and so on) on monopoly/antitrust grounds.

    Google could be smart, recognize the growing trend, and go back to a "public commons" mode before that happens.

    Or, they could continue to try to adjust public thought, try to "bring home" the election for their preferred candidates, and then get chopped up like so much cordwood.

    (OTOH, that would probably be good for the users. Google has turned decidedly evil over the past few years, and "not being evil" is a competitive advantage that the smaller pieces could use to compete against each other.)

    1. Re:Argument by misdirection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Google clamping down on the Damore memo is any indication of their internal staff politics as a whole, the YouTube staff themselves may be too partisan in their beliefs to let the "public commons", more "hands-free" method of speech moderating on YouTube be reinstated ever again.

  33. Re:Why? Because Alex Jones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Christ, you are an illiterate, uneducated turd.

  34. d.tube distributed video on a blockchain by alexborges · · Score: 1

    We need to start moving to the distributed blockchain platforms as fast as possible. Check out steemit, busy.org, d.tube and the others coming around and on top of stuff like ipfs. Central platforms need to be phased. Im not saying current platforms are the way to go, but definitively, we need to empower distributed storage and services on blockchains transparent contracts, very much away of centralized palaces like alphabet's offers.

    --
    NO SIG
    1. Re:d.tube distributed video on a blockchain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. This is the future, and it's not censorable.

  35. When will we get a distributed youtube? by godrik · · Score: 1

    I don't quite understand why no one in the open source world has built a distributed youtube already.
    We have the perfect peer to peer technology to distribute the videos.
    Youtube comments is a feature no one really wants.
    The indexing bits looks a bit more complicated, but that is what DHTs are for.
    Recommendation, subscription can be built as an overlay service.

    I am surprised we haven't seen that happen already.

    1. Re:When will we get a distributed youtube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lbry.io

    2. Re:When will we get a distributed youtube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm afraid no one has hardware to spare; time or effort even more so. Then the first grotesque entry comes in. (child p0rn, for example) Suddenly your pet project/proof-of-concept became a wee bit complicated.

    3. Re:When will we get a distributed youtube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Using blockchain technology all transactions/ips can be logged so if you do post CP it would be easy for them to cooperate with the feds.

    4. Re:When will we get a distributed youtube? by Greyfox · · Score: 1
      Oh sure, you could build video hosting on tor or something. Set it up kind of like the hadoop file system, so chunks of video are stored redundantly in different places. Maybe even set up some sort of encryption so that it's difficult or impossible to discover what's stored on any individual system Generating a one time pad and storing it out on the network along with the video it's encrypted with might work. Maybe even set up a cryptographic system that could be used to identify users based on a public key they could post somewhere.

      People would have to volunteer storage for it and anyone would be able to post anything there. Once something's in the system, it'd be more or less impossible to remove. It would be under constant attack, both from spammers and from authorities intent on taking it down, because it would be used to distribute all manner of illegal content. Running storage nodes for it would no doubt be against the TOS for all the cloud providers, and people found running one would be vulnerable to persecution.

      It's very hard to build a system that would be resistant to attacks, and if you didn't account for all possible vulnerabilities, the developers and people participating in the network would no doubt be subject to legal liabilities. Even if you live in a country with some sort of "free speech," this would be one of the first things to consider when thinking about how to design a system like this. Even an educational implementation of such a system could potentially expose a developer to jail time. The considerations were similar for developing an encrypting mail client back in the day. There were a few half-hearted attempts to do so, none of them were ever very popular.

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  36. meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The slippery slope argument doesn't hold much water in this case as far as I'm concerned.

    For one thing, this is regulating something obviously geared at making money. Even if we were to try to make this a First Amendment issue, that guarantees "free speech" not "I should be able to get paid for what I say".

    Commercial speech should absolutely be regulated. Businesses are not citizens.

  37. Maybe you should actually read by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1, Insightful

    what the first amendment says

    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

    Since when is YouTube the same as congress?

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:Maybe you should actually read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      And maybe YOU should read what he actually wrote. Please quote where he said anything about government? Youtube can still censor and be anti-free speech. The only difference is the constitution makes it actually illegal if the government does it, while if Youtube does it, it's perfectly legal, but they're still assholes.

      Why do so many idiots seem to think only a government can censor or be anti-free speech?

      Or are you purposely putting up straw men because you know they're being dicks and you're just hoping to confuse the situation?

    2. Re:Maybe you should actually read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see critical thinking is not one your strong suits.

    3. Re:Maybe you should actually read by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      Honest Questions:

      1. Since Businesses get their license from the Government, then why are Businesses allowed to limit who they serve?

      2. Is is legal for a business to exclude a certain group of people based upon:

      * Gender
      * Race
      * Religion
      * Clothing
      * Speech

      Why is the last one (speech) OK for a business like YouTube to remove but not the others?

      3. Are "Private Clubs For Men" a business? Is excluding 50% of the population legal?

      I guess I've never understand why Free Speech is protected by the government but not businesses when business get their rights from the government in the first place???

    4. Re:Maybe you should actually read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I love how you discredited me so completely. I also love the good ol' "-1, I disagree with you, but can in no way refute you". I admit I misspoke on one thing. I said "where did he mention government" when I should have said "where did he mention legal". But of course that little bit did not really change my overall point. People keep claiming "first amendment only covers government" when free speech advocates start calling actions like youtube and such as anti-free speech and censorship, when bringing up "first amendment is only for government" is plain and simple a straw man. We aren't talking first amendment, we're talking free speech and censorship.

      Of course I'll be modded -1 again because people don't like what I'm saying but can't refute it in any way. Let's see if I can get the "troll" flag added as well because "grrrr, I disagree with you but my opinion isn't founded in fact in any way shape or form and only stands by throwing around logical fallacies!!!!!"

      Seriously, to the pro-censorship folks who love down modding me for stating that bringing up first amendment has nothing to do with calling companies out for being anti-free speech and pro censorship, does that level of cognitive dissonance actually hurt?

    5. Re:Maybe you should actually read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Youtube advertised they were the tube for YOU; you can post anything you want. Your cats, your dog, your weed, whatever. Go for it. They did this to build a platform and get users. "Express yourself"; that's an american ideal like ma's apple pie and the first amendment. Anything to get people to upload free content. I'll remind you, they'll change the EULA for a day on you, say you agree'd to it, and take all your content, royalty free.

      Big advertising companies decided they didn't like some of the content their name was going behind and also realized this is inevitably the format they are going to go to. But because the company making gilette razors didn't like their products advertised on someone's suicide prevention channel, or kellogs didn't like pop tarts being advertised as the preferred snack on someone's how to build a houka video. It's not because the algorithm was ineffective at sales; it's because we've got executives making arbitrary judgement calls about public image and who their core market really is. Heaven Forbid some algorithm finds them a new customer market, that's what they wanted, silly.

      So now Youtube is still for you, but we're all now part of this magical science experiment, and people who base their incomes off of youtube, their livelihoods are now also a science experiment.

      "The algorithm" is a computer science experiment.
      The marketers whims are an economics science experiement.
      Keeping the public sold on youtube being for you and not another corporate shill, that is also a science experiment.

      Nobody knows what the result of the science experiment will be, so it's still "up in the air". We know the advertising is bullcrap, but droning on about "well you should've never fallen for it dummy" just ensures it's going to be effective. Teach people, don't come up with smart little comments that only make sense to you and make you look like a complete a-hole.

    6. Re:Maybe you should actually read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is the last one (speech) OK for a business like YouTube to remove but not the others?

      Smells like a MRA/nazi apologist begging the question.

    7. Re:Maybe you should actually read by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

      Thanks dude. Your sentiments are exactly what I was talking about, not about breaking the law. Good on you dude.

    8. Re:Maybe you should actually read by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      So in other words you don't know.

      Apparently asking a simple question is now begging the question?

      WTF is a MRA/nazi apologist?

    9. Re:Maybe you should actually read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everything you do online is transmitted, processed and stored at a private company's IT equipment.

      Therefore, *nothing* you do online would be protected by the first amendment and *everything* could be censored, rerouted, modified, filtered, deleted without anyone ever having a recourse against it.

      The first amendment either fully applies to Internet companies or it doesn't apply to the Internet *at all*. You have free speech everywhere on public Internet forums or you don't have it anywhere unless a ton of companies cooperate voluntarily. Since they have little monetary gain but great monetary risks from being sued, companies that censor will outperform companies that don't, so over time, only censoring companies will remain.

      Once you allow Internet companies to censor, they will *all* censor. Such is the nature of IT, anything IT affects all instances of something - or none. So what model of a society do you prefer, a heavily censored Internet where very few companies get to decide what content is permissible - or a free speech Internet where conspiracy theorists can freely ramble about their stuff? You can't have an Internet of both.

  38. Re:Union--the alternative is unpleasantly violent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As the world just witnessed last 4 April, CNN story https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/04/us/youtube-hq-shooting/index.html

  39. The golden age of youtube is over. by BlueCoder · · Score: 2

    More than likely we need to move over to a torrent style video system and nas boxes with quick erase functions in case of raids. We will undoubtedly be labeled terrorists for wanting to watch non approved content.

    I'm still waiting for the next gen torrents with anonymous cloud storage and with soloman tech and xor pieces such there is no content unless you have all the pieces. And pieces are shared among torrents of different content. It's all split across opaque cloud storage. (Imagine you xor a video of barney the dinosaur with a video on hacking an xbox.) In exchange for you donating storage and bandwidth you get to upvote content.

    1. Re:The golden age of youtube is over. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      lbry.io - in the future for hosting files you can get a small cut of the videos profit, they use their own blockchain and cryptocurrency, still very early beta stages but already lots of content creators are uploading to this platform.

      Think P2P torrenting + Youtube had a baby, no middleman takes a cut, you can subscribe/tip or there is plenty of content for free.

      Again I remind you this is very early , open source, and they are making their own protocol so people can create their own search or other functions with their blockchain of content as well.

      They don't do anonymous and you IP is logged so you can be subject to DMCA if you post pirated content, or have the feds bust down your door for CP, but this also can be used for all media not just videos (although videos are their main focus right now) - you could distribute you band's music, blogs, programs you make, anything.

    2. Re:The golden age of youtube is over. by DogDude · · Score: 1

      More than likely we need to move over to a torrent style video system and nas boxes with quick erase functions in case of raids.

      Are you wanting to host child porn on Youtube?

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    3. Re: The golden age of youtube is over. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "They don't do anonymous and you IP is logged so you can be subject to DMCA if you post pirated content, or have the feds bust down your door for CP"

      Doesn't sound very trusting.

      And as soon as it gets popular it will turn into a YouTube clone.

    4. Re: The golden age of youtube is over. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No we do that in a pizza parlors basement. ;)

  40. Your opinion by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'd like to point out that the previous post was the opinion of a single person.

    While what he says is true, his explanations and descriptions are "correct, but not complete".

    Firstly, there definitely are many nootropics one can take that enhance mental ability. As an example of this, a bottle of "5-hour energy"(*) is mostly Taurine and Tyrosine (and a little caffeine), two amino acids that you would get normally in your diet. There are quite a few things you can get that will have an effect,

    Secondly, saying "the idea that there is a single non-food molecule that will make it work better is pretty-far fetched" is science by rationalization, it's how Aristotle came up with his laws of motion. A better way is to look at the evidence. What do the studies actually say?

    Thirdly, not knowing the mechanism of action is not evidence of... well, it's not evidence of anything, really.

    (I'm always astonished that our current medical field requires knowledge of the mechanism of action before allowing a drug on the market. I've come across treatments and potential cures that appear to work when based only on the evidence, yet can't be marketed because their mechanism of action is unknown.)

    Medical research has stagnated, for about the last 30 years. The backlash from this is that people are trying things on their own in an attempt to find cures and to make their lives better. Supplements are only one of the ways people are responding.

    Medical studies and the guidance of your local doctor would be nice, but the system is simply not set up for curing people or even trying something new.

    Go online, look at what people recommend, and do some research:

    a) Is the company selling the supplements of good reputation? (ie - do they stand behind the product, do they delist products that are poor quality?) There are definitely companies out there that value their reputation and standing within the community.

    b) Is the supplement backed by studies? Lots of supplements actually *do* have studies, and while they may not show the complete picture, it will at least tell you how well the product is tolerated, and whether it has side effects.

    c) Does the supplement have recommendations by doctors online? Lots and lots of doctors out there recommending one product or another, but beware of fake doctors. Many doctors will claim to be giving a supplement to their patients, which (if the claims are legit) would be further evidence of an effect, and of safety.

    d) Are product reviews favorable? It's possible to fake a couple of reviews, but if something has over a hundred reviews and is received favorably, it's probably legitimately good. Check out the 1-star ratings and see if it's complaints about the product, or about the service.

    e) Has the product been out long enough that side-effects would be reported? If something's been out for 5 years and lots of people are taking it... this is fair evidence that it's safe to try.

    Do some research and try a "$30 experiment", see if it eases your "fibromyalgia" a little. Done right, there's really very little risk, and it's cheaper than going to a doctor.

    (*) There are a lot of knock-off energy drinks that use other mechanisms, such as high sugar content. I'm talking specifically about the product "5-hour energy".

    1. Re:Your opinion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Do some research and try a "$30 experiment", see if it eases your "fibromyalgia" a little. Done right, there's really very little risk, and it's cheaper than going to a doctor.

      Careful. If that research is a few slick websites with results-are-not-typical testimonials this feeds the woo-verse that is filled with supplements, homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic and natural remedies all getting rich off $30 experiments while distracting people from what actually works.

    2. Re:Your opinion by hey! · · Score: 1

      Well, the man more right than his neighbors is a majority of one. :)

      I'll take your points one by one.

      (1) Taurine and Tyrosine are both stimulants, and stimulants are the one class of substances that have strong evidence supporting them. However my point is that it's debatable whether they actually make your brain better. They unquestionably are useful in forcing your brain to do things it doesn't want to do.

      (2) The notion that nootropics are far-fetched is simply an evaluation of plausibility -- similar to the notion that oxygen free speaker cables make your stereo sound better. If you could devise a double-blind study which showed people could hear the difference, then I'd be delighted to endorse your claims.

      (3) Sure; not knowing how something works doesn't prove it can't work. But if you don't have proof that something works, shouldn't you at least have an argument for why it's a plausible that it might work? The evidence for most putative nootropics is that they have been shown promising for treating various forms of dementia. But a drug which helps with the cognitive side effects of Parkinson's isn't necessarily going to make a healthy person smarter. That's like claiming a non-amputee can run faster by strapping a wooden leg to his knee. So if you want to claim that drug makes ordinary people smarter you need either proof or at least show that the mechanism of action is relevant to healthy people.

      Medical research: medical science stagnating for the last 30 years: tell that to someone who has cancer. This is simply the adult version of lack of object permanence; just because you aren't paying attention doesn't mean nothing is happening.

      a) Reputation is a lousy guide to supplements because the whole industry runs on hype, hope, and moving onto the next thing when people discover that chromium picolinate can't really make the pounds "melt away". Given wishful thinking, it takes a long time to undo the hype, and by then you've gone through two or three next big things.

      b) Studies are a lousy way for a layman to judge something is effective, which is why marketers love to cite them. You can prove almost anything by citing -- unchallenged -- carefully chosen studies because science produces spurious, one-off results all the time. The gold standard for evidence is a systematic review paper published in a high impact scientific journal. Point to one of those supporting a putative nootropic, and I'm there.

      c) Recommendations by on-line doctors: Now I'm suspecting that you must be writing a parody.

      d) testimonials: this is just point (a) reiterated.

      e) Product maturity: this is actually a good piece of advice.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    3. Re:Your opinion by AlanBDee · · Score: 1

      Let me share a story to illustrate the dangers of these supplemental companies. A cousin of mine is a seller of essential oils. One day she noticed a mole on her husband that looked like it could be melanoma. Instead of taking him to a doctor she treated him with frankincense oil. After about 6 weeks the mole was gone and she called it a success.

      When I told this to my dermatologists he explained that even when there is a suspicious mole, there's only about a 10% chance that it's melanoma. I think we can all agree that that 10% chance is not worth the risk and so they usually take it out as a precaution. He also pointed out that they could have had the mole removed for free at the local skin cancer fair they have every year.

      He is healthy and we still disagree on if she did the right thing. This is why it's important give clinical research more credibility then your own observations.

    4. Re:Your opinion by mesterha · · Score: 1

      However my point is that it's debatable whether they actually make your brain better. They unquestionably are useful in forcing your brain to do things it doesn't want to do.

      It's difficult to define better. Evolution is slow, and our thinking choices might be better (which is why we evolved the big brains.) If need to get somewhere in my car, but I'm tired, the smart move is to take a good stimulant. We haven't evolved enough in the last 100 years to "know" it's bad to fall asleep at the wheel.

      --

      Chris Mesterharm
    5. Re:Your opinion by froggyjojodaddy · · Score: 1

      "(1) Taurine and Tyrosine are both stimulants, and stimulants are the one class of substances that have strong evidence supporting them. However my point is that it's debatable whether they actually make your brain better. They unquestionably are useful in forcing your brain to do things it doesn't want to do."

      Sorry, I don't know the tags for quotes and the lack of an edit function means I don't know if this

      worked so forgive me if this looks weird...

      Here's my personal experience with Taurine and Tyrosine. Take it for what you will.. I've been doing heavy cardio for around 1.5 years now and I've experimented with different supplements to see the impact they have. Here's my experience:

      All exercise is done on a revolving stair climber, at speed level '12' (out of 18) for 60 minutes 1. (Control test). No supplements, only drinking regular iced water.
      Start off OK. After about 10 minutes, fatigue sets in and becomes progressively worse. Heart rate is ~130. Maintaining speed is a real chore and I find myself alternating between staying upright and resting on my elbows. Around the 40 minute mark, am able to maintain speed easier and stay upright. Heart rate is ~145. At the 50 minute mark, feel like I can go another 30 minutes relatively easily. Heart rate is ~150.

      2. Drinking a can of Monster Zero (no sugar, no calories) that is high in Taurine and Caffeine
      Take a big gulp of Monster around 2 minutes before starting the work out. After around 20 minutes, fatigue is starting to set in but I don't feel the need to rest on my elbows. Heart is rate is around ~135. At the 50 minute mark, I feel like I can keeping going easily. Heart rate is ~150. Continually sipping Monster throughout the workout.

      3. Taking 2 Magnum Rocket Science pills with a gulp of iced water 20 minutes before workout. (Google it, available at Popeyes supplement stores). Contains caffeine and tyrosine.
      Fatigue sets in around the 5 minutes mark. Heart rate at ~130. At 10 minutes, fatigue is all but gone. Heart rate at ~145. At the 50 minute mark, feel like I could probably go another hour. Heart rate at ~155. Continually sipping iced water throughout.

      Bear in mind this is over the course of 1.5 years and I do cardio 5 days a week so the results are repeatable for me. Drinking plain water is definitely the hardest on the body, the fatigue hits hard and stays for longer. Monster is second best but if I want to burn maximum calories (according to my fitbit), the Rocket Science pills give the best result.

      I have yet to feel any negative affects of the Rocket Science pills but I don't use them more than once a week. They do boost my heart rate a little higher and it takes maybe 30 minutes longer for my heart rate to get back to resting levels after a workout. My regular drink is a can of Monster during the workout.

      I haven't tried any of these during a workday but I generally don't feel tired or bored so I don't need them. I don't even really need them for the workout but they do help in burning off calories.

    6. Re:Your opinion by VeryFluffyBunny · · Score: 1

      It may be that many of the claims made about nootropic dietary supplements are fraudulent because the doses of the active ingredients in popular commercial brands are too small to have any effect: https://www.japha.org/article/...

      My guess is that if anything has the effects that they claim, it'd be classified as a pharmaceutical and require extensive research and clinical trials to determine appropriate dosage levels, side-effects, longer-term health effects, etc..

      Apparently, the evidence from preliminary studies so far hasn't been promising, i.e. no effect on adults. If you're a strict vegan, it might be advisable to take taurine supplements though - consult with a medical expert on the subject before taking the internet's word for it.

      In other words, just another brand of snake oil. There's one born every minute.

      --
      Debate is a form of harassment. Do not question my truth.
    7. Re:Your opinion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Medical research: medical science stagnating for the last 30 years: tell that to someone who has cancer. This is simply the adult version of lack of object permanence; just because you aren't paying attention doesn't mean nothing is happening.

      Not all fields of medicine have evolved equally though.
      For the pain treatment of said cancer patients, of which my recently diseased father was one of, we're still left to a refined opiate, aspirin, paracetamol, booze and some weed.
      Same stuff we've been using for the last 50 years.

    8. Re:Your opinion by clovis · · Score: 1

      I bet that it was a seborrheic keratosis. Younger people can them, but it's mostly something you'll become familiar after you get into your 60's. https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis...
      Often they just fall off on their own, and there won't be a scar.
      Wanna see pics of mine?

  41. Re: Science! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Private company. They can censor all they want. You dumbass millenials think you're entitled. You're why the US sucks so bad now.

  42. Re:It's an Open Secret by rahvin112 · · Score: 1

    If you are bored at work you should be trying to find a new job. There is nothing worse that hating your job because it makes you bored or is work you dislike.

    If you continue in a job you dislike you will inevitably have an awful midlife crisis when you finally realize life is far to short to spend 80% of it doing a job you hate.

  43. Because competition? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    " He interpreted this to mean the fact that his videos directed viewers to other websites to buy products. "

    Isn't that what Google is doing with their advertising? Perhaps they don't want competition on YouTube.

  44. Mechanism of action by sjbe · · Score: 1

    I'm always astonished that our current medical field requires knowledge of the mechanism of action before allowing a drug on the market.

    First off your statement is factually false. There is NO requirement that we understand the mechanism of action of a drug before bringing it to market. But there is a HUGE benefit to understanding the mechanism of action first. If you don't know how a drug works then you are basically doing science by guess and check which is usually stupid, slow, and frequently counterproductive. If you don't know how it works then you can't predict what sort of effects and side effects it might have on the body. You can waste huge amounts of money, brains, and time trying to test treatments that have no chance of success because you don't understand the underlying mechanism of action. Science is based on understanding what is happening so you can make testable predictions. Without that information you are basically trusting to luck.

    There are many drugs on the market for which we do not have a complete understanding of their mechanism of action. Most drugs aimed at treating mental disorders fall into this category. We don't actually know why many of them work, just that they do. There is NO legal requirement that we understand the mechanism of action prior to approving a drug. Furthermore drugs can be used for off label purposes by a physician.

    I've come across treatments and potential cures that appear to work when based only on the evidence, yet can't be marketed because their mechanism of action is unknown.

    No you haven't because that isn't a requirement by the FDA. What cures? What "evidence"? Stop making up strawmen to support your bogus claims.

    Medical research has stagnated, for about the last 30 years.

    Complete bullshit. Medical research has made astonishing gains in the last thirty years. You could only believe this if you have not bothered to look for actual facts or if you are making an argument from ignorance.

    1. Re:Mechanism of action by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Medical research has stagnated, for about the last 30 years.

      Complete bullshit. Medical research has made astonishing gains in the last thirty years. You could only believe this if you have not bothered to look for actual facts or if you are making an argument from ignorance.

      Just to cite one example, look at how much progress has been made in controlling HIV and preventing it from developing into full AIDS. What was once considered a death sentence in the 80s/90s is now a manageable disease with the proper treatment and medication schedule (although it is still very expensive today).

  45. What guarantee? by sjbe · · Score: 1

    You should discuss why all these people rely on a service for income without any contractual guarantee.

    The vast majority of people in any job are "at will" employees which means they have no contractual guarantee of continued employment. Ever give a tip to the waitstaff at a restaurant? There is no contractual guarantee there. Why should people using YouTube have guarantees? They knew what the deal was when they signed up. If the deal changes they can't pretend that they didn't know that was a possibility.

  46. Re:It's an Open Secret by hey! · · Score: 1

    I'm not really against the concept of nootropics, I'm just against trusting marketers to solve your problems for you.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  47. Re:Actually works? by Luckyo · · Score: 4, Informative

    The difference between medicine and alternative medicine, is that medicine actually works.

    Just sayin'

  48. Re:Actually works? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Do some research and try a "$30 experiment", see if it eases your "fibromyalgia" a little. Done right, there's really very little risk, and it's cheaper than going to a doctor.

    Careful. If that research is a few slick websites with results-are-not-typical testimonials this feeds the woo-verse that is filled with supplements, homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic and natural remedies all getting rich off $30 experiments while distracting people from what actually works.

    If traditional medicine "actually worked", as you put it, people wouldn't need to desperately search for alternatives.

    Just 'sayin...

    What do we call alternative therapies that are shown to have efficacy?
    Medicine.

    A great example is acupuncture*, it was demonstrated to have efficacy that exceeded placebo and now many insurances cover it. My local physical therapist office even provides it.

    *specifically sham acupuncture, turns out where you place the needles doesn't matter. Simply randomly placing them around the affected area was shown to reduce pain. Magical chakra points performed no better.

  49. $500 million Google drug advertisements settlement by Guppy · · Score: 1

    We can probably guess why the channel was removed. Some of the videos seemed to be making medical claims about the drugs, and the descriptions had links where you could buy them...

    It might also have something to do with what happened to Google back in 2011 , where they settled a case with the US Department of Justice regarding advertisements for rogue online pharmacies, for $500m.

    Followed by a shareholder lawsuit regarding the same issue, which they settled for something like $250m.

  50. Re:Actually works? by hey! · · Score: 1

    If traditional medicine "actually worked", as you put it, people wouldn't need to desperately search for alternatives.

    Just 'sayin...

    If you find a lump on your testicle, I highly recommend you show it to an oncologist rather than a witch-doctor. Even metastasized testicular cancer has a survival rate of 73% with modern treatments; early stage cancer survival rates are close to 100%.

    On the other hand, if you have stage IV pancreatic cancer, by all means consult the witch doctor. At the very least he's got as good a shot as anyone at treating the existential dimension of what you're going through.

    The fact that medicine acknowledges that it can't do everything is the reason it advances so rapidly. Witch-doctoring traditions also improve over time, to the point that healing traditions are well worth looking into for scientists, but what science does in years takes generations of trial and error.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  51. Actually works? by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 0

    The difference between medicine and alternative medicine, is that medicine actually works.

    Just sayin'

    Having my car repaired "just works".

    Traditional medicine is more like: "try this and see if the symptoms go away".

  52. Re:Actually works? by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

    There are 4 possible combination :
    1- both medicine and alternative medicine work
    2- only medicine works
    3- only alternative medicine works
    4- nothing work

    "3" is extremely rare, and in the case of "1", doing nothing at all and letting your body recover may be all that's needed. The reason it simple: when alternative medicine work, it is studied and soon enough, if the risks aren't too great, it becomes medicine. Medicine is just alternative medicine that work.

    The advantage alternative medicine has is that quite often, the human care is much better than what we have in hospitals or at the doctors office. While a doctor will just treat your disease like he does with the dozen people waiting in line behind you, your "alternative doctor" will take the time to teach you a healthy lifestyle (sleep well, eat well, exercise, ... the usual obvious stuff no one does). In fact the reason homeopathy was successful isn't because of the sugar pills, it is because Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy also imposed strict lifestyle rules to his patients, some of them like limiting smoking and drinking alcohol are scientifically tied to health improvement today.

  53. Re:Actually works? by AlanBDee · · Score: 1

    That is only one of the many problems that drive people to supplements. As you elude to there are the promises from their marketing department that the supplement works. They can almost claim anything, literally snake oil. Meanwhile pharmaceuticals that are regulated to by the FDA must disclose side-effects and must have scientific data the supports their claims. This ends with a perception of supplements working when in reality its more deception.

    But that's not the only issue, cost is another huge issue. Recently while I was getting a prescription filled I scoffed to the pharmacists at the price of the generic medication. He asked if I had a high deductible plan and then explained that if I never get close to hitting my deductible then it'd be cheaper to pay out-of-pocket and not process it through my insurance. It's was like a quarter of the cost. He basically said, "Yep, it's that's big a pain to deal with the insurance companies" He also recommend that I check websites like GoodRx.com to price shop across different pharmacies. What I found was the of the two medications I regularly take the price difference is huge between pharmacies. This is how screwed up the pharmaceutical market is.

  54. Re:Actually works? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When someone tries supplements, homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic and natural remedies after their cancer is no longer responding to the chemotherapy treatments, it's because they desperately want to live, not because the alternatives have a proven track record. Hell, it's why people even resort to prayer in those situations when they haven't been religious otherwise. The desperation is understandable, but the decisions made in desperation are not necessarily rational.

  55. Scientology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And, yet, Youtube has no problem constantly spamming me with ads about sensual condoms in pre-roll or, worse, three minute long advertisements trying to recruit people into Scientology.

    Youtube cunts can fuck right off.

  56. Replicating recommendation and ad sales by tepples · · Score: 1

    So let's say someone does go the IndieWeb route to replace YouTube. What means would you recommend for a small-time video producer to sell preroll ad time and promote the videos to people who have watched videos with similar subject matter?

    1. Re:Replicating recommendation and ad sales by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      What means would you recommend for a small-time video producer to sell preroll ad time and promote the videos to people who have watched videos with similar subject matter?

      That depends. Do you expect to get this service for free?

      And how does anybody sell advertising on a website? You contact advertisers. You show them how your content will reach their customers.

      I think the question you are really asking is, "How can I get somebody else to do all this work for me, and provide it to me for free?"

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Replicating recommendation and ad sales by tepples · · Score: 1

      Do you expect to get this service for free?

      No, but I expect a ballpark estimate of the cost of this service.

      And how does anybody sell advertising on a website? You contact advertisers. You show them how your content will reach their customers.

      I am indeed asking for a guide to help people who are switching away from YouTube learn how to efficiently "contact advertisers" and "show them how your content will reach their customers."

    3. Re:Replicating recommendation and ad sales by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I am indeed asking for a guide to help people who are switching away from YouTube learn how to efficiently "contact advertisers" and "show them how your content will reach their customers."

      OK, what would you be willing to pay for this guide? Or do you expect that work to be done for you for free too?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:Replicating recommendation and ad sales by tepples · · Score: 1

      How much do you plan to charge for this guide, both per copy and and as a license to syndicate it?

    5. Re:Replicating recommendation and ad sales by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      How much do you plan to charge for this guide, both per copy and and as a license to syndicate it?

      You can view it for free at my ad-supported website, but you'll need to pass a background check to get the URL. The background check costs $4000.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re: Replicating recommendation and ad sales by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How much is it worth to you? That's the question.

    7. Re:Replicating recommendation and ad sales by mysidia · · Score: 1

      I think the question you are really asking is, "How can I get somebody else to do all this work for me, and provide it to me for free?"

      No... it's too hypothetical to be worth something, but if they make the case that they've done real work they could justify a commission on the ad revenue.

      It's an interesting question..... How do you get preroll adds implemented for videos on independent websites?

      Bummer is that now that you're doing ads --- the company managing the advertising or the advertisers are now in a negotiating position to dictate your content "Or else, we won't advertise with you"

    8. Re:Replicating recommendation and ad sales by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      It's an interesting question..... How do you get preroll adds implemented for videos on independent websites?

      The answer is staring you in the face...literally.

      Television stations have been running ads on their video content for over half a century. Here's how they do it:

      1) Contact potential advertisers and convince them you will reach their potential customers.
      2) Have them send you their produced advertisements (usually via an ad agency)
      3) You edit those advertisements into your content and broadcast them.

      Now, what's stopping you from doing the exact same thing with pre-roll ads on your "indie-web" content? I mean, other than, " But it's hard!"

      And for the record, someone earlier asked me to provide a guide to publishing video with advertisements without using YouTube. I have now done so, above. You're welcome.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  57. Re:Actually works? by hey! · · Score: 1

    Try this and see if the symptoms go away is the best choice in many cases. The doctor *could* treat a minor injury that will heal itself with steroids, but it's not worth the risk.

    Most things people complain are best left to get better on their own. Or they require interventions that people don't want to go along with. People don't want to restrict calories, they want a magic pill that makes the pounds melt away. There are drug treatments that will do that, but they're dangerous enough that gastric bypass surgery is a less radical choice.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  58. PC Cancer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    YouTube has a bad case of stage IV PC cancer, with no chance for recover. Other platforms are going to mine its corpse for valuable resources (i.e. producers and viewers), and Google is going to scratch its head over how to bury the monstrous skeleton that's gonna be left behind.

  59. Re:Actually works? by Luckyo · · Score: 1

    When homeopathy et al troll intentionally confuses "actually works" with "just works".

  60. Seems obvious to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The nootropics YouTubers don't know why YouTube penalized them.

    Obviously the nootropics don't work well enough to give the users/advocates tthe cognitive ability to figure it out.

  61. Just say no! by ProzacPatient · · Score: 1

    There is a narcotic drug that has been out there awhile and it is plaguing our society, often used most by STEM types, and it causes; tremors, anxiety, irritability, sleep deprivation, over active bladder and racing thoughts among other things. It is so addictive that many cannot function without it and withdrawal symptoms are severe. We need to do something about trimethylxanthine before it is too late! Someone please think of the children!

    1. Re:Just say no! by thegreatbob · · Score: 1

      Horror of horrors! I've heard numerous reports of it being distributed in various venues as an effervescent solution, often leading to eructation and borborygmous!

      --
      There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
    2. Re:Just say no! by Agronomist+Cowherd · · Score: 1

      It's often mixed with dihydrogen monoxide, and that stuff can KILL you!.

      --
      -DwS
  62. Re: LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How do you get a one armed APK(polock) out of a tree?

    Wave to him. o/

  63. Re:Actually works? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Making tea from willow bark to cure a headache is alternative medicine. Doing so also works. It's where acetaminophen occurs outside of chem labs.

    Half of all medications originate in nature. Big Pharma loves selling to you for big money what grows in your garden for free and denounces the latter as alternative medicine.

  64. phenibut by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After 3 months of 4x a week 500mg a day I had withdrawals. Mainly some anxiety and complete inability to sleep for 4 days. And so I learned a lesson about Gaba drugs to be repeated with diclazepam twice weekly a few months later although in milder form. If you take them to go to sleep for extended periods of time, expect to pay for it later.

    But ALL drugs, OTC, from the doctor, etc will have negative side effects and we're not little children to be withheld cookies so we don't spoil our dinner. If you RTFM, you should be able to purchase/use anything because often time the medical professionals are stabbing the dark just like you are.

  65. Re:It's an Open Secret by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the idea that there is a single non-food molecule that will make it work better is pretty-far fetched.

    It's like you haven't heard of caffeine, nicotine, adrafinil, or adderall. Or aren't aware of SSRI's, SNRI's, MAOI's, where a molecule can have significant brain changes (although not in a nootropic way.)

    Maybe nootrope users are largely deluding themselves, but a lot of them subjectively report success with different substances. It would be like ignoring the experieces reported on Erowid because "the drug users were expecting to get a high."

  66. Re: Actually works? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Try this and see if the symptoms go away" is literally the non-scientific medicine mantra.

    At least scientific medicine is "this helps relieve symptoms in up to 40% of patients taking it, so try this and see if the symptoms go away."

    How the fuck do people not understand this by now?

  67. Re: It's an Open Secret by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As someone who had spent a lot of time using "proper" mental medicine I can tell you that it's no better than these nooptics. Nobody, not even the scientists that discover the compounds, know exactly how they work. NONE of them.

  68. Re: Actually works? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Medicine works for those who benifit from the powerful guildes it has created to defend the corporate funded drug trials that are anti-science because of the inherent conflict of interest fallacy of double-blind experiments that are discarded and unpublished because sciencism only works when the results are marketable by the owners of the means of production. Medicine still does much research on ignorent people in countries like India. And they still coerce children into involuntary and non-consensual experiments. Slashdot had a story about this a few months ago. Quackery and snake oil are discriptors of medical practitioners. And medical doctors are over-represented in penitentiary systems. Most doctors are being replaced by Google and science. An appeal to authority doesn't work very well when knowledge is cheaper with the increasing capacities of transisters.

    It's easy to sound smart;
    it's challemging to do smart.

    Doctorism is just another religious belief like scientism. Just ask Tom Cruise.

    - UTW

  69. Re: It's an Open Secret by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No effective Nootropics? SCIENCE, not your Broscience reply, begs to differ.

  70. Re: Science! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Keep licking those boots, you sniveling sycophant.

    When a monopoly corporation owns the public square and only the anointed can rent their soapbox, it's a problem. Break them up, force them to act to the benefit of society whom they are abusing and exploiting.

  71. Re: Actually works? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But taking a pill with no active ingredient is also alternative medicine. Only scientific tests can separate what works from what doesn't, and what is likely to work from what's snake oil.

  72. Re: Science! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually, youâ(TM)re why the country sucks so much now.

    Iâ(TM)m fine with private companies censoring contents that doesnâ(TM)t meet the image they want(like Nazi hate videos), but at some point individual private companies become big enough they essentially become public and probably should be subject to oversight.

  73. Re:It's an Open Secret by hey! · · Score: 1

    Stimulants, every last one.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.