I do micro fuel cells, and part of my research is bio-fuel cells - similar to the one in the article. While this is valuable research, you shouldn't get too excited, yet: it's not the only device of its kind, and the performance is not even nearly sufficient, for now, for any application. It's a proof of concept, and sometimes (non-reproduceable) with better than meager power density. But, I do believe that the future of implantable fuel cells is bright. It even may be that we won't need enzymes (or bacteria) at all, which would be perfect. Some metallizations and stable inorganic compounds might do the trick using blood plasma without any added bio-active catalyst.
Holy fucking shit, this is an excellent post! I was metamoderating it and I almost fell on the floor by the sheer truthfulness and insight of it.
Mad props to you, and yes, we are in violent agreement.
Also, I have some aspergers syndrome traits, which makes it easier for me to see how AS people (whom I'm quite interested in, since I found out about my traits) do usually have moral standards above the average for the society and time they live in.
Malin Larssona, Bernard Weissb, Staffan Jansona, Jan Sundellc and Carl-Gustav Bornehag Associations between indoor environmental factors and parental-reported autistic spectrum disorders in children 6-8 years of age
You are a bit unexperienced with scientific article headings and author naming. You see, those authors had a letter in the index, identifying their affiliation - so what you copy-pasted as Malin Larssona is actually Malin Larsson with an "a" in the index (superscript). Similarly, the correct names of the other authors are: Bernard Weiss, Staffan Janson, Jan Sundell and Carl-Gustav Bornehag
I am somewhat passionate about giving credit to scientists correctly, as I'm a researcher myself, and I care about having my name spelled correctly. And what I expect from others, I definitely do unto others as well. It's just basic respect and civility.
If you want to make a good, truly funny April's Fool joke, you should have a very minimum of talent/inspiration, which the Slashdot editors don't.
You will notice that on Slashdot, on the 1st of April, there isn't one hidden joke-story submission, but that they are all or almost all such. This makes ALL of them un-funny. There's not "ha, you got me!" or "OK, that was actually a creative one." - there's nothing. It only really makes Slashdot look utterly, pitifully pathetic.
Those who don't have a loved one with suspected Alzheimer's Disease (AD) don't even imagine how important this news is. AD is impossible to accurately decisively diagnose before it's moderate to advanced (before that it's just a non-specific Mild Cognitive Impairment), and even then there will always be doubts. AD is only decisively diagnosed after the death of the patient, when a biopsy of cerebral mass is made. No genetic diagnosis egsists, because there are so many genetic modifications that can lead to AD.
Anyway, this is great news for me, as I do have someone who is suspect to early signs of AD. I hope he can be tested soon.
Excellent post, I agree almost 100% with all of it. Now, regarding this quote:
The closest language to English is French. Even though it is not a Germanic language, most of the words (and spelling horrors) in English come from French, and English grammar is fairly easy to pick up anyway. This means that language proximity is fairly irrelevant when there is no application in study of the language.
Do you know why that is (or appears to be)? Because of Latin - the Romans came all the way up to old Albion and left a lasting legacy also in the English language. But when the Roman rule ended, the Germanic tribes invaded and then it was their turn to fuck around a bit:) and then some time after this, the language of the nobility was German, while the peasentry spoke some sort of Latin - this was a transitional period, after which the modern English language was molded to what has become Shakespeare's and now our common and beloved language. This language has as much Latin influences as it has German-Saxon ones; it's a true blend.
I speak both Hungarian and Finnish, and let me tell you; those two languages have almost NOTHING in common, except for a similarity in how the grammar works as a system - but the cases and the tenses are formed in drastically different ways, and there is no correspondence of tenses. And the vocabulary is completely different, except for a handful (about two dozen) words.
Hungarians have just as hard a time to learn Finnish as do Brits or Icelanders. And vice-versa for Hungarian.
Speaking as a non-Finnish speaking immigrant to Finland, I can attest that about 99.9% of young finns DO speak english - and moreover, even many of the old generation finns (80+) do speak a good to excellent english. The latter was the most surpriseing/shocking discovery about finns and the english language, I had.
That's exactly what I mean. Check it out: most psychopaths are very charismatic people, and many if not most politicians are cery charismatic people. Also, they are very interested in their own wealth and power and don't give two shits about the well-being of others - but they pretend to, very aptly.
Still, politicians are very carefully monitored, and only the most intelligent psychopaths make it to the top (unlike in corporations, where corporate psychopaths do make it to the top very easily). And as for examples of top-politician psychopaths, I will mention Stalin, Hitler, Milosevic, Pol Pot, Gerhard Schröeder, Vladimir Putin. All these men have been or still are extremely popular with the masses. Stalin, for instance, is still widely loved among Russians, in spite of the fact that his policies caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of their connationals even before WW2, and then millions of them after WW2.
No, I am not joking. I did not exclude the existence of normal e-mail accounts. You can receive e-mails from mailing lists and such, on your normal e-mail account. You'll also get some spam. But you can have an e-mail account that requires the 1c/email payment, and that one will not be used for mailing lists, obviously.
Sorry folks I know most here just don't want to hear this, but it's the only solution that will eventually work: require the sender to pay a very small amount per e-mail sent. For instance, 1 cent of a $ or EUR per e-mail, plus 1 cent per every MB of e-mail size. I would be more than happy to pay this modest sum.
This could (and should) be implemented on a recepient-level: there should be e-mail service provider companies that will require this payment for e-mails sent to their customers. This way, no change to any protocol or standard is required for this to work. Also, withing companies ("intranets"), this fee would be waived, so that mass mailings would be still possible for company announcements etc.
While 1 cent/email is completely immaterial for any normal user out there, it will deter the prolific spammer (including the Nigerian ones).
But in addition to such (remarkable albeit unprobable) change in the laws, it would be also important to increase awareness of the phenomenon of psychopathy - in my experience, most people just can't fathom the existence of unredeemable people without any conscience, capable of looking you straight in the eyes while lying.
They don't care. Most publicly traded companies are managed by corporate psychopaths ("Snakes in Suits", great book) and as such, they don't care for anyone's benefit but their own. If they can make $100.000 at the expense of the whole economy of their (or any) country, they'll do it. If it means hundreds of deaths, they'll do it. They just don't feel anything for anyone, and before their company tanks they'll have jumped ship already.
Re:Islamic groups are pushing censorship worldwide
on
UN Attacks Free Speech
·
· Score: 1
In most Islamic countries, marrying pre-pubescent girls is a-OK: 8 year old married to 47 year old, court battle Note that the mother only managed to have the case admitted - in an appeals court!
Electric cars have had an acceptable range of about at least 60 Km with one charge, since a long time. That's acceptable for 95% of the people, that is, for the great majority.
I am a big Google Labs user. I think they have a few really excellent little toys. Then there are others that are rubbish, but I like to focus on the good things in life:)
Anyhow, the 5 second delay is just perfect for me. I am an emotional person, I admit. I have often sent an e-mail and regretted it the next second. 5 seconds sounds about right for me to change my mind.
Another labs I use is the "notify of missing attachment". That's pure gold - basically, if I mention attachments in my e-mail, but don't provide it/them, I am notified when I try to send the e-mail.
Now, if they only added the option "reply or resend with full text (NO quoted text hiding)", that would be wonderful.
(you can't kill 15 people with less than 15 bullets)
Strictly technically speaking, yes, you can. Let's take a.50 Desert Eagle, for instance: provided that the shooter can cope with the giant recoil this handgun generates, the bullet will go through the chest of the first target, and probably the second one as well, causing the death of both persons. This was an extreme example, because even the more "mundane" AK-47 with its 7.62mm bullet could kill two adults in a similar way.
I used to hear this a lot (not so often nowadays), but what is this rate, actually? Do you know? Do you have an idea at least of the order of magnitude of this rate? I'll admit, I don't know the answer, but I don't spout bullshit I know fuck-all about, publicly.
1. Kundra was actively involved in the fraud. 2. Kundra knew about the fraud and did nothing about it. 3. Kundra didn't know about the fraud. 4. Kundra knew about the fraud and reported it to police.
We know the fourth isn't true - the investigation was started when they tried to bribe a contractor.
The first two mean that Kundra is corrupt and not fit for office. The third means that Kundra is incompetent and not fit for office.
Since we've eliminated the fourth possibility, all the remaining possibilities mean that Kundra is not fit for office.
Or, at the very least, a televised kick in the balls.
We could make it a game show, with a national lottery at dollar a ticket for the chance to be the one doing the kicking. Ad pricing could start at Super Bowl levels for the first episode, and double for each subsequent show. The money from the lottery and ad buys could be used to buy up the toxic assets, or buy out the predatory mortgages and relocate the victims into something actually affordable (in Florida).
It'd be a multi-win scenario. The public would get to vent its anger, the CEO's would learn a sharp, public and valuable lesson, and the corporate glass ceiling would be shattered as a host of women get sudden promotions to positions of power.
"blame me", which is political-speak for "screw you, it's done, get over it".
No, it's political speak for "the buck stops with me." In other words, something may be the fault of his staff, but the ultimate responsibility is with him. He's saying he won't simply throw someone else under the bus like previous presidents.
That's exactly the GP's point: Obama is using his current untouchability to protect the members of his administration that screw up. And some screwed up bigtime (and lied about it). But when the Divine Leader takes the generous step of taking the blame, who can argue, who could be angry?
Slashdot Mirror
I do micro fuel cells, and part of my research is bio-fuel cells - similar to the one in the article. While this is valuable research, you shouldn't get too excited, yet: it's not the only device of its kind, and the performance is not even nearly sufficient, for now, for any application. It's a proof of concept, and sometimes (non-reproduceable) with better than meager power density. But, I do believe that the future of implantable fuel cells is bright. It even may be that we won't need enzymes (or bacteria) at all, which would be perfect. Some metallizations and stable inorganic compounds might do the trick using blood plasma without any added bio-active catalyst.
Holy fucking shit, this is an excellent post! I was metamoderating it and I almost fell on the floor by the sheer truthfulness and insight of it.
Mad props to you, and yes, we are in violent agreement.
Also, I have some aspergers syndrome traits, which makes it easier for me to see how AS people (whom I'm quite interested in, since I found out about my traits) do usually have moral standards above the average for the society and time they live in.
doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2009.01.011
Malin Larssona, Bernard Weissb, Staffan Jansona, Jan Sundellc and Carl-Gustav Bornehag
Associations between indoor environmental factors and parental-reported autistic spectrum disorders in children 6-8 years of age
You are a bit unexperienced with scientific article headings and author naming. You see, those authors had a letter in the index, identifying their affiliation - so what you copy-pasted as Malin Larssona is actually Malin Larsson with an "a" in the index (superscript). Similarly, the correct names of the other authors are:
Bernard Weiss, Staffan Janson, Jan Sundell and Carl-Gustav Bornehag
I am somewhat passionate about giving credit to scientists correctly, as I'm a researcher myself, and I care about having my name spelled correctly. And what I expect from others, I definitely do unto others as well. It's just basic respect and civility.
If you want to make a good, truly funny April's Fool joke, you should have a very minimum of talent/inspiration, which the Slashdot editors don't.
You will notice that on Slashdot, on the 1st of April, there isn't one hidden joke-story submission, but that they are all or almost all such. This makes ALL of them un-funny. There's not "ha, you got me!" or "OK, that was actually a creative one." - there's nothing. It only really makes Slashdot look utterly, pitifully pathetic.
Those who don't have a loved one with suspected Alzheimer's Disease (AD) don't even imagine how important this news is. AD is impossible to accurately decisively diagnose before it's moderate to advanced (before that it's just a non-specific Mild Cognitive Impairment), and even then there will always be doubts. AD is only decisively diagnosed after the death of the patient, when a biopsy of cerebral mass is made. No genetic diagnosis egsists, because there are so many genetic modifications that can lead to AD.
Anyway, this is great news for me, as I do have someone who is suspect to early signs of AD. I hope he can be tested soon.
Excellent post, I agree almost 100% with all of it. Now, regarding this quote:
The closest language to English is French. Even though it is not a Germanic language, most of the words (and spelling horrors) in English come from French, and English grammar is fairly easy to pick up anyway. This means that language proximity is fairly irrelevant when there is no application in study of the language.
Do you know why that is (or appears to be)? Because of Latin - the Romans came all the way up to old Albion and left a lasting legacy also in the English language. But when the Roman rule ended, the Germanic tribes invaded and then it was their turn to fuck around a bit :) and then some time after this, the language of the nobility was German, while the peasentry spoke some sort of Latin - this was a transitional period, after which the modern English language was molded to what has become Shakespeare's and now our common and beloved language. This language has as much Latin influences as it has German-Saxon ones; it's a true blend.
I speak both Hungarian and Finnish, and let me tell you; those two languages have almost NOTHING in common, except for a similarity in how the grammar works as a system - but the cases and the tenses are formed in drastically different ways, and there is no correspondence of tenses. And the vocabulary is completely different, except for a handful (about two dozen) words.
Hungarians have just as hard a time to learn Finnish as do Brits or Icelanders. And vice-versa for Hungarian.
Speaking as a non-Finnish speaking immigrant to Finland, I can attest that about 99.9% of young finns DO speak english - and moreover, even many of the old generation finns (80+) do speak a good to excellent english. The latter was the most surpriseing/shocking discovery about finns and the english language, I had.
That's exactly what I mean. Check it out: most psychopaths are very charismatic people, and many if not most politicians are cery charismatic people. Also, they are very interested in their own wealth and power and don't give two shits about the well-being of others - but they pretend to, very aptly.
Still, politicians are very carefully monitored, and only the most intelligent psychopaths make it to the top (unlike in corporations, where corporate psychopaths do make it to the top very easily). And as for examples of top-politician psychopaths, I will mention Stalin, Hitler, Milosevic, Pol Pot, Gerhard Schröeder, Vladimir Putin. All these men have been or still are extremely popular with the masses. Stalin, for instance, is still widely loved among Russians, in spite of the fact that his policies caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of their connationals even before WW2, and then millions of them after WW2.
Incredible! You've solved spam.
Where thousands of security experts have failed, you alone have come up with the magic bullet.
Maybe that's the advantage of the idea: it came from someone who doesn't know that "it can't be done". It's called naive creativity.
No, I am not joking. I did not exclude the existence of normal e-mail accounts. You can receive e-mails from mailing lists and such, on your normal e-mail account. You'll also get some spam. But you can have an e-mail account that requires the 1c/email payment, and that one will not be used for mailing lists, obviously.
Sorry folks I know most here just don't want to hear this, but it's the only solution that will eventually work: require the sender to pay a very small amount per e-mail sent. For instance, 1 cent of a $ or EUR per e-mail, plus 1 cent per every MB of e-mail size. I would be more than happy to pay this modest sum.
This could (and should) be implemented on a recepient-level: there should be e-mail service provider companies that will require this payment for e-mails sent to their customers. This way, no change to any protocol or standard is required for this to work. Also, withing companies ("intranets"), this fee would be waived, so that mass mailings would be still possible for company announcements etc.
While 1 cent/email is completely immaterial for any normal user out there, it will deter the prolific spammer (including the Nigerian ones).
Good point.
But in addition to such (remarkable albeit unprobable) change in the laws, it would be also important to increase awareness of the phenomenon of psychopathy - in my experience, most people just can't fathom the existence of unredeemable people without any conscience, capable of looking you straight in the eyes while lying.
They don't care. Most publicly traded companies are managed by corporate psychopaths ("Snakes in Suits", great book) and as such, they don't care for anyone's benefit but their own. If they can make $100.000 at the expense of the whole economy of their (or any) country, they'll do it. If it means hundreds of deaths, they'll do it. They just don't feel anything for anyone, and before their company tanks they'll have jumped ship already.
In most Islamic countries, marrying pre-pubescent girls is a-OK: 8 year old married to 47 year old, court battle Note that the mother only managed to have the case admitted - in an appeals court!
Electric cars have had an acceptable range of about at least 60 Km with one charge, since a long time. That's acceptable for 95% of the people, that is, for the great majority.
I am a big Google Labs user. I think they have a few really excellent little toys. Then there are others that are rubbish, but I like to focus on the good things in life :)
Anyhow, the 5 second delay is just perfect for me. I am an emotional person, I admit. I have often sent an e-mail and regretted it the next second. 5 seconds sounds about right for me to change my mind.
Another labs I use is the "notify of missing attachment". That's pure gold - basically, if I mention attachments in my e-mail, but don't provide it/them, I am notified when I try to send the e-mail.
Now, if they only added the option "reply or resend with full text (NO quoted text hiding)", that would be wonderful.
(you can't kill 15 people with less than 15 bullets)
Strictly technically speaking, yes, you can. Let's take a .50 Desert Eagle, for instance: provided that the shooter can cope with the giant recoil this handgun generates, the bullet will go through the chest of the first target, and probably the second one as well, causing the death of both persons. This was an extreme example, because even the more "mundane" AK-47 with its 7.62mm bullet could kill two adults in a similar way.
Just sayin'
The original Xbox was, indeed reliable, but it did also scratch DVDs, although less often than the Xbox360.
Still, I'd say it was an overall better quality machine.
The Obama campaign was helped (and made "hip") by Hollywood & Co.
What did you expect? You didn't get a new kind of leader, you just got your average Chicago politician in the White House, that's all.
It seems that my 3 year estimate was close to the estimates of the people who should know.
That was a damn good guess, I have to admit.
Also, I'm surprised it's actually this close. My guess (if someone had forced me at gunpoint to make one) would have been about a decade from now.
With the rate IPv4 adressess are running out
I used to hear this a lot (not so often nowadays), but what is this rate, actually? Do you know? Do you have an idea at least of the order of magnitude of this rate? I'll admit, I don't know the answer, but I don't spout bullshit I know fuck-all about, publicly.
Just sayin'
We've got four basic possibilities here:
1. Kundra was actively involved in the fraud.
2. Kundra knew about the fraud and did nothing about it.
3. Kundra didn't know about the fraud.
4. Kundra knew about the fraud and reported it to police.
We know the fourth isn't true - the investigation was started when they tried to bribe a contractor.
The first two mean that Kundra is corrupt and not fit for office. The third means that Kundra is incompetent and not fit for office.
Since we've eliminated the fourth possibility, all the remaining possibilities mean that Kundra is not fit for office.
Well analysed.
Or, at the very least, a televised kick in the balls.
We could make it a game show, with a national lottery at dollar a ticket for the chance to be the one doing the kicking. Ad pricing could start at Super Bowl levels for the first episode, and double for each subsequent show. The money from the lottery and ad buys could be used to buy up the toxic assets, or buy out the predatory mortgages and relocate the victims into something actually affordable (in Florida).
It'd be a multi-win scenario. The public would get to vent its anger, the CEO's would learn a sharp, public and valuable lesson, and the corporate glass ceiling would be shattered as a host of women get sudden promotions to positions of power.
I believe you misspelled "pubic".
"blame me", which is political-speak for "screw you, it's done, get over it".
No, it's political speak for "the buck stops with me." In other words, something may be the fault of his staff, but the ultimate responsibility is with him. He's saying he won't simply throw someone else under the bus like previous presidents.
That's exactly the GP's point: Obama is using his current untouchability to protect the members of his administration that screw up. And some screwed up bigtime (and lied about it). But when the Divine Leader takes the generous step of taking the blame, who can argue, who could be angry?
For now.