You really think the Russian government turns a blind eye to cyber criminals? That doesn't seem right to me... if the officials aren't on the lookout for criminals, then how will they know who to blackmail for bribes?
35 subscribers? Wow... and I wonder how many of those subscribers were not employees in some fashion of the paper. And how much advertising money was lost...
And, more importantly, it can help you keep in touch with friends in the real world. EG: a buddy I haven't seen in real life in a couple years is throwing a housewarming party. I wouldn't know about this if it weren't for computerized social networking. I might go with a few other people who used to hang out in that era. Or, someone post that they are going to a fundraising event... they don't have to annoy each one of their friends, people simply decide to go based on the fact that 1)it seems to be a worthwhile cause and 2)they will actually know someone there. Also works for just going out on the town for a night.
No, you don't have to be a statistical genius. Tell me, how many batteries died a short period after Windows 7 was installed, and what is the expected failure rate? If you don't have those two pieces of information you are simply spreading FUD.
This could be an example of The law of very large numbers. Basically, this states that people have very little intuitive grasp of statistics and so believe that many unrelated things are indeed connected. Also related to the logical fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc. It would be possible for a statisticion to determine whether the rate of battery failure after installing Windows 7 was expected, but that wouldn't convince anyone whose actually knows someone whose battery failed shortly after the installation. Or even not so shortly after.
Of course, it is possible that there is some bad code somewhere in Windows 7's power management that allows batteries to drain and then recharge continuously wearing them out, and a proper statistical analysis would reveal this as well.
To me the time flies when you are having fun thing is a bit different than time speeding up when you get older. My understanding is that the former is related to your perception of time as events happen, while the latter is more related to your memory of order of events (although not strictly in either case.)
The time going by quickly when you are having fun phenomenon really only applies while it is happening. I've notice that after an event filled stimulating weekend (whether those events are having fun or taking cares of responsibilities does not seem to matter) it feels like Friday was a long time ago when I get into work on Monday, but if I sit around and have a lazy weekend then on Sunday night it feels like I just got out of work and I start dreading Monday morning a bit.
On a slightly different note, I have found a way to dispel the feeling that time is flying by without you; think of some memorable event several months to a year or so ago. For instance think back to Halloween of last year. Or the fourth of July. Or Easter. To me then all of a sudden a sense arises of how many things have happened to me between then and now that somehow doesn't come about when just trying to think of what happened in the last year without putting in those time pacing events. But you do have to be careful of what time period you think about. Thinking about an event less than a month ago just makes me think "is the month almost up already?" while an event more than a year ago is generally relegated to ancient history in my mind and the time passed simply becomes an foggy amorphous expanse. Plus, I usually don't seem to carry much memory of the emotional impact of the event itself, almost as though it happened to someone else.
Think meta-organism. With people and computers being the neurons of a brain-like structure. Those who don't care much about their personal information and share everything freely... they'll be the sensory apparatus. Those people who microblurt every piece of information that comes their way through twitter, which is then set to automatically publish to facebook and Myspace and their personal blogs via RSS and so on and so on... those will be the myelinated sheath axons. Google would make up the Hippocampus. Slashdotters would form the gray matter of some lobe of the brain (and I would be quite surprised if that was the amygdala... Fox News and Comedy Central would make much better candidates for the twin amygdalae.) I guess Fark would make a great damaged frontal lobe.
Uggh. I should stop this line of thinking before I hurt something... or start taking myself seriously.
One way mirror wouldn't really work... those require the obscured side to be in relative darkness. Basically, a one way mirror simply reflects enough light that the images of objects behind it are washed out. An OLED screen would put out enough light to be visible.
I honestly think Google is a lot smarter than that... they don't sell data to the advertisers. Google keeps that data in house and simply decides which ads to show to which viewers. Selling that data would be like a dairy farmer selling his cows. In fact, that's one thing that almost makes me trust my data with Google... they don't want their competitors getting their hands on that data. It's not a kind heart and dedication to not being evil that drives Google to keep your data safe... it's pure financial self interest (and not even the enlightened variety.)
Also, those who do drugs regularly and are still successful don't advertise their use to people who believe that only morons do drugs. It's people who replace their personality with drugs that advertise it to the world.
A single nerve cell carries electrical impulses... sort-of kind-of. It's not like electricity flowing through a wire, the impulse is far more complex than that. What happens is that during rest the axon builds up a gradient of negative ions on one side of the membrane and positive ions on the other side. An applied voltage to an area of an axon opens channels which allows the ions to flow through the membrane, causing a change in voltage further down the axon which opens up ion channels there and so on. So, while there is indeed a measurable voltage difference as a nerve impulse travels down the axon, it is not a direct correlation with the concept of electricity as electrons flowing down a wire, even theough the initial nerve impulse can be initiated by an electrical pulse.
However, BETWEEN neurons the communication is completely chemical. Neurotransmitters are released from one neuron and travel across the synapse between it and the neighboring cell, possibly triggering an impulse in the next neuron. A sense of pleasure is achieved by certain neurotransmitters (primarily seratonin, dopamine and endorphins) being released in certain concentrations from certain neurons, which in turn triggers a related pattern of impulses in the neighboring neuron, which causes that neuron to release neurotransmitters in a particular way... and so on and so on. So while, yes, there is a sort-of kind-of analogy to an electrical current, the actual mechanism is nowhere near the kind of electrical current we have in a wire or microprocessor, but it is the easiest way to model the communication. The processing, however, occurs largely at the synapse, and that processing is "driven" to achieve equilibrium (the physical functioning of the brain, and actions taken by a person to chance the functioning of their own brain can work at cross purposes, such as in a drug addict. This is not a contradiction... the mind and brain are distinct entities.)
More to the point, the neurons surrounding those activated by the pleasure spike would soon add more receptors. Larger numbers of receptors means a larger amount of neurotransmitter would have to be released into the synapse to effect an impulse. Eventually the brain would operate normally only when the spike is active. The practical upshot to this is that a stronger and stronger signal would have to be sent through the spike to achieve the desired high. Eventually the user will get to a point where the levels needed to cause a high would damage neurons, preventing return to even the "functioning addict" mode. The user would then become chronically depressed, as this is the state pretty much defined by inadequate serotonergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic activity. It would require long term abstinence from the pleasure spike for the receptors to re-regulate to the point where normal pre-usage thought patterns can occur (I would assume 3-9 months, as this is the time-frame in which nicatonin receptors re-regulate after tobacco cessation.) Once spike addiction is broken and neural receptors return to normal levels, it would again be possible to get high from a spike, but it may have to be positioned in a slightly different place and effect different neurons if the original signaling neurons were damaged to the point of causing permanent lesions or scarring. However, the neuroreceptors would adapt much more rapidly to the presence of the pleasure signals, so the initial high would be much shorter and the return to a "functioning addict" state would be very quick indeed. A spike user would end up "chasing the dragon." They would never be able to return to the pleasurable state of their first high. Partially because their brains have rewired to be prepared for the action, partially because that first high wasn't as immediately pleasurable as they thought. One of the effects of dopamine release is that memories of related events are given rose tinted glasses... the memory of the event is happier than the event itself. Therefore, a user never actually experienced as much pleasure as they remember.
Don't worry, trendy people have started drinking tap water again. They are, however, filtering it through a Brita and then putting it in their own pretentious bottles.
Side note: these bottles bring health and safety full circle. I remember when there was a health concern about the aluminum in soda cans leading to Alzheimers, so the industry started lining cans with plastic and 20oz bottles became popular. Now with the concern about BP-A, people are paying top dollar for aluminum bottles to drink their water from.
True, to get sleepy from the tryptophan in turkey, one would have to figure out how to eat that turkey without eating the other amino acids present... it only promotes sleepiness when consumed on its own.
However, there is still a twisted nugget of almost truth if you follow one of the current theories on postprandial sedation. The whole chain goes something like this:
Eating large amounts of starchy food -> increased blood sugar levels.
elevated blood sugar -> insulin release
elevated insulin levels -> increased absorption of long chain amino acids into muscle tissue
increased absorption of long chain amino acids -> decreased blood serum levels of long chain amino acids
decreased serum long chain amino acid levels -> increased serum ratio of short chain/long chain amino acids
tryptophan is a short chain amino acid, and higher serum ratios of tryptophan lead to increased production of seratonin and melatonin, leading to sleepiness.
So yes, there is some tryptophan in turkey. And tryptophan supplements can induce sleepiness, but they need to be taken on an empty stomach to do so. That is because digesting pure tryptophan will also increase the serum ration of tryptophan to other amino acids. However in a traidional thankgsiving feast, it's the massive overload of carbs in the stuffing, corn, bread, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry marshmallow fluff, pie, whipped cream and even gravy (it's thickened with starch) that lead to the sleep inducing increased serum ratio of tryptophan. Some of the sleepiness can also be blamed on redirecting a good portion of blood flow to the digestive system to tackle the huge meal just consumed. A glass of wine or two can provide enough alcohol for the final KO providing the need to sleep.
If that means I miss some emergency alert that may save my life, well, that's life, ain't it?
Technically speaking, that would be death, not life. At the very least, an emergency broadcast would tell you to save your game because there is a tornado/hurricane/earthquake/zombie infestation coming along that could disrupt power. But seriously, putting yourself in danger for a video game is extremely stupid and selfish... you are not only putting yourself in danger but the using up the resources of and endangering rescuers that have to come save your hide because you were too busy powerlevelling your orcish mage to get out of trouble before disaster struck.
Slashdot Mirror
That's not a carabiner...that's the clip from a dog leash. Got the same clip on my work keys...
You really think the Russian government turns a blind eye to cyber criminals? That doesn't seem right to me... if the officials aren't on the lookout for criminals, then how will they know who to blackmail for bribes?
The editors figured out an easier way to get those all important dupes up?
35 subscribers? Wow... and I wonder how many of those subscribers were not employees in some fashion of the paper. And how much advertising money was lost...
Opened the door for kicks, took photographs of the inside of your house, and then went around saying how easy it was to get in.
How's the work on The Guide going?
And, more importantly, it can help you keep in touch with friends in the real world. EG: a buddy I haven't seen in real life in a couple years is throwing a housewarming party. I wouldn't know about this if it weren't for computerized social networking. I might go with a few other people who used to hang out in that era. Or, someone post that they are going to a fundraising event... they don't have to annoy each one of their friends, people simply decide to go based on the fact that 1)it seems to be a worthwhile cause and 2)they will actually know someone there. Also works for just going out on the town for a night.
Then just like frogs, we will get out once the water is too hot. [Citation Provided]
That is one question that you absolutely NEVER want to ask on the internet. And remember, there are worse pictures than the goatse guy.
Do you smoke?
I think the price fixing is on the blu-ray end.
No, you don't have to be a statistical genius. Tell me, how many batteries died a short period after Windows 7 was installed, and what is the expected failure rate? If you don't have those two pieces of information you are simply spreading FUD.
This could be an example of The law of very large numbers. Basically, this states that people have very little intuitive grasp of statistics and so believe that many unrelated things are indeed connected. Also related to the logical fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc. It would be possible for a statisticion to determine whether the rate of battery failure after installing Windows 7 was expected, but that wouldn't convince anyone whose actually knows someone whose battery failed shortly after the installation. Or even not so shortly after.
Of course, it is possible that there is some bad code somewhere in Windows 7's power management that allows batteries to drain and then recharge continuously wearing them out, and a proper statistical analysis would reveal this as well.
To me the time flies when you are having fun thing is a bit different than time speeding up when you get older. My understanding is that the former is related to your perception of time as events happen, while the latter is more related to your memory of order of events (although not strictly in either case.)
The time going by quickly when you are having fun phenomenon really only applies while it is happening. I've notice that after an event filled stimulating weekend (whether those events are having fun or taking cares of responsibilities does not seem to matter) it feels like Friday was a long time ago when I get into work on Monday, but if I sit around and have a lazy weekend then on Sunday night it feels like I just got out of work and I start dreading Monday morning a bit.
On a slightly different note, I have found a way to dispel the feeling that time is flying by without you; think of some memorable event several months to a year or so ago. For instance think back to Halloween of last year. Or the fourth of July. Or Easter. To me then all of a sudden a sense arises of how many things have happened to me between then and now that somehow doesn't come about when just trying to think of what happened in the last year without putting in those time pacing events. But you do have to be careful of what time period you think about. Thinking about an event less than a month ago just makes me think "is the month almost up already?" while an event more than a year ago is generally relegated to ancient history in my mind and the time passed simply becomes an foggy amorphous expanse. Plus, I usually don't seem to carry much memory of the emotional impact of the event itself, almost as though it happened to someone else.
Think meta-organism. With people and computers being the neurons of a brain-like structure. Those who don't care much about their personal information and share everything freely... they'll be the sensory apparatus. Those people who microblurt every piece of information that comes their way through twitter, which is then set to automatically publish to facebook and Myspace and their personal blogs via RSS and so on and so on... those will be the myelinated sheath axons. Google would make up the Hippocampus. Slashdotters would form the gray matter of some lobe of the brain (and I would be quite surprised if that was the amygdala... Fox News and Comedy Central would make much better candidates for the twin amygdalae.) I guess Fark would make a great damaged frontal lobe.
Uggh. I should stop this line of thinking before I hurt something... or start taking myself seriously.
One way mirror wouldn't really work... those require the obscured side to be in relative darkness. Basically, a one way mirror simply reflects enough light that the images of objects behind it are washed out. An OLED screen would put out enough light to be visible.
To be honest, they did get get them jacked up on coca leaves first... does dull the pain a bit.
I honestly think Google is a lot smarter than that... they don't sell data to the advertisers. Google keeps that data in house and simply decides which ads to show to which viewers. Selling that data would be like a dairy farmer selling his cows. In fact, that's one thing that almost makes me trust my data with Google... they don't want their competitors getting their hands on that data. It's not a kind heart and dedication to not being evil that drives Google to keep your data safe... it's pure financial self interest (and not even the enlightened variety.)
Also, those who do drugs regularly and are still successful don't advertise their use to people who believe that only morons do drugs. It's people who replace their personality with drugs that advertise it to the world.
A single nerve cell carries electrical impulses... sort-of kind-of. It's not like electricity flowing through a wire, the impulse is far more complex than that. What happens is that during rest the axon builds up a gradient of negative ions on one side of the membrane and positive ions on the other side. An applied voltage to an area of an axon opens channels which allows the ions to flow through the membrane, causing a change in voltage further down the axon which opens up ion channels there and so on. So, while there is indeed a measurable voltage difference as a nerve impulse travels down the axon, it is not a direct correlation with the concept of electricity as electrons flowing down a wire, even theough the initial nerve impulse can be initiated by an electrical pulse.
However, BETWEEN neurons the communication is completely chemical. Neurotransmitters are released from one neuron and travel across the synapse between it and the neighboring cell, possibly triggering an impulse in the next neuron. A sense of pleasure is achieved by certain neurotransmitters (primarily seratonin, dopamine and endorphins) being released in certain concentrations from certain neurons, which in turn triggers a related pattern of impulses in the neighboring neuron, which causes that neuron to release neurotransmitters in a particular way... and so on and so on. So while, yes, there is a sort-of kind-of analogy to an electrical current, the actual mechanism is nowhere near the kind of electrical current we have in a wire or microprocessor, but it is the easiest way to model the communication. The processing, however, occurs largely at the synapse, and that processing is "driven" to achieve equilibrium (the physical functioning of the brain, and actions taken by a person to chance the functioning of their own brain can work at cross purposes, such as in a drug addict. This is not a contradiction... the mind and brain are distinct entities.)
More to the point, the neurons surrounding those activated by the pleasure spike would soon add more receptors. Larger numbers of receptors means a larger amount of neurotransmitter would have to be released into the synapse to effect an impulse. Eventually the brain would operate normally only when the spike is active. The practical upshot to this is that a stronger and stronger signal would have to be sent through the spike to achieve the desired high. Eventually the user will get to a point where the levels needed to cause a high would damage neurons, preventing return to even the "functioning addict" mode. The user would then become chronically depressed, as this is the state pretty much defined by inadequate serotonergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic activity. It would require long term abstinence from the pleasure spike for the receptors to re-regulate to the point where normal pre-usage thought patterns can occur (I would assume 3-9 months, as this is the time-frame in which nicatonin receptors re-regulate after tobacco cessation.) Once spike addiction is broken and neural receptors return to normal levels, it would again be possible to get high from a spike, but it may have to be positioned in a slightly different place and effect different neurons if the original signaling neurons were damaged to the point of causing permanent lesions or scarring. However, the neuroreceptors would adapt much more rapidly to the presence of the pleasure signals, so the initial high would be much shorter and the return to a "functioning addict" state would be very quick indeed. A spike user would end up "chasing the dragon." They would never be able to return to the pleasurable state of their first high. Partially because their brains have rewired to be prepared for the action, partially because that first high wasn't as immediately pleasurable as they thought. One of the effects of dopamine release is that memories of related events are given rose tinted glasses... the memory of the event is happier than the event itself. Therefore, a user never actually experienced as much pleasure as they remember.
Then they failed the restricted friends list thing... you see how many people had access to address and phone number?
Don't worry, trendy people have started drinking tap water again. They are, however, filtering it through a Brita and then putting it in their own pretentious bottles.
Side note: these bottles bring health and safety full circle. I remember when there was a health concern about the aluminum in soda cans leading to Alzheimers, so the industry started lining cans with plastic and 20oz bottles became popular. Now with the concern about BP-A, people are paying top dollar for aluminum bottles to drink their water from.
So... they instituted an upside down Ponzi scheme?
True, to get sleepy from the tryptophan in turkey, one would have to figure out how to eat that turkey without eating the other amino acids present... it only promotes sleepiness when consumed on its own.
However, there is still a twisted nugget of almost truth if you follow one of the current theories on postprandial sedation. The whole chain goes something like this:
Eating large amounts of starchy food -> increased blood sugar levels.
elevated blood sugar -> insulin release
elevated insulin levels -> increased absorption of long chain amino acids into muscle tissue
increased absorption of long chain amino acids -> decreased blood serum levels of long chain amino acids
decreased serum long chain amino acid levels -> increased serum ratio of short chain/long chain amino acids
tryptophan is a short chain amino acid, and higher serum ratios of tryptophan lead to increased production of seratonin and melatonin, leading to sleepiness.
So yes, there is some tryptophan in turkey. And tryptophan supplements can induce sleepiness, but they need to be taken on an empty stomach to do so. That is because digesting pure tryptophan will also increase the serum ration of tryptophan to other amino acids. However in a traidional thankgsiving feast, it's the massive overload of carbs in the stuffing, corn, bread, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry marshmallow fluff, pie, whipped cream and even gravy (it's thickened with starch) that lead to the sleep inducing increased serum ratio of tryptophan. Some of the sleepiness can also be blamed on redirecting a good portion of blood flow to the digestive system to tackle the huge meal just consumed. A glass of wine or two can provide enough alcohol for the final KO providing the need to sleep.
If that means I miss some emergency alert that may save my life, well, that's life, ain't it?
Technically speaking, that would be death, not life. At the very least, an emergency broadcast would tell you to save your game because there is a tornado/hurricane/earthquake/zombie infestation coming along that could disrupt power. But seriously, putting yourself in danger for a video game is extremely stupid and selfish... you are not only putting yourself in danger but the using up the resources of and endangering rescuers that have to come save your hide because you were too busy powerlevelling your orcish mage to get out of trouble before disaster struck.