Well, it seems Agile didn't make my employer's product offering faster to market, more competitive, cheaper, less buggy, or more maintainable last year.
I was hoping I could convince them to revamp their processes to use Blockchain in order to achieve these goals, this year.
We also have Cloudified Eco-Devops we haven't gotten round to yet...
Due to the practice of crop dessication it seems that the exposure (by which I mean ingestion) to glyphosate in the general population has risen a lot in recent years. Obviously this would differ between regions as the practice is more controlled in some regions than in others, differences in diet, and obviously the level of exposure probably is lower than what the article terms "high exposure". Still...
* On the shelf longer
* Less of certain vitamins and minerals
I think that eventually it is a combination of factors. That said, nutrition is about more than just the 3 food groups (carbs, fats, protein) with some vitamins and minerals tossed in.
One of the things needed for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients is enzymes. Lots are available especially in raw foods, but they are quite heat sensitive and temperatures of 60 or 70 degrees Celsius destroy them. Which is good if you want long shelf life, since they (by definition) help with the breakdown/rotting process.
Another factor that allegedly, according to some dieticians' writings, is present in raw produce is termed "hydrophilic colloids". I'm not sure about the accuracy of the term, but these are claimed to be substances that enhance the water solubility of other nutrients, also improving absorption of nutrients. Also destroyed by heat and thus not present in processed foods.
Then there's the whole intestinal population of flora, also playing a role in digestion. Many raw vegetables carry with them lactobacillus and other species which is part of the plant's natural defenses. Hence the traditional ability to pickle foods via fermentation of their own microbes, without the addition of other cultures. Plus the prebiotic substances that these microorganisms consume as food.
In short, you can't really get around adding fresh veggies and fruit to your meals.
It is difficult to sift through all the health hype and scientifically quantify each factor, but I think it is safe to say that having a diet of which around half (or more) consists of raw produce (which corresponds with the advice of a dietician I once consulted) would be close to optimal. The traditional way of preserving foods (before cooling, preservative chemicals and industrial processing became available) - in other words fermented foods, would probably also add some small measure to proper nutrition, with the provision that these foods are prepared via traditional/homemade methods, and not industrial shortcuts.
All those years sine the 1800s and they haven't been able to upgrade it with a simple heating pad? I've had some stethoscopes on my chest and back that could give me pneumonia all on their own.
It would be great if we could put this to use in something for generating bio-fuels.
Unfortunately it will probably work out that rather than produce more food, which will subsequently lower food prices, they'll devote more land to growing high starch corn for bio-fuel.
The good and bad news for both of you is that corn is one of the plants that already uses the more-efficient C4 pathway...
That summary reads like a case study straight out of Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline... Detroit making all the wrong decisions for short term gain (and long term demise). Don't they read Senge in Detroit?
For that matter, the software industry with their Agile fad should also read it.
Anyway, my 19-year-old Toyota pickup truck with 230 000 miles on the clock still goes like a rocket (as far as diesels CAN go like rockets...). And despite all the scratches and dents (but without rust), not a week goes by without an offer to buy from some entrepreneur that wants some transport to start up/expand his building or transport or garden service business (I'm outside of the US though).
False. Some plastics, including BPA and DEHP have been shown cause obesity. The effect is strongest when exposure is prenatal or in early childhood.
Chemicals like that, used as plasticizers in plastics, are called xenoestrogens - they bind to estrogen receptors, some molecules in preference to "real" estrogen, and thus cause estrogen-like effects. Estrogen plays a role in storing fat (which is the main reason why the normal female has a higher body fat percentage than the normal male). But it is a positive feedback loop in that adipose tissue also produces estrogen.
A male body has some estrogen just as a female body has some testosterone. There is some conversion between these hormones (very similar molecules). The balance also varies with age and a myriad of other factors (hence endocrinologists asking so much to see you).
A lot of xenoestrogens have been discovered. Some have other uses than plasticizers (e.g. pesticides, or parabens, which are ubiquitously used as preservatives in all manner of cosmetics). Some xenoestrogens are plant-based and occur in nature (e.g. in soy, flax seed).
My feeling, based on my experience about the real world, is that the obesity epidemic has no single cause that can be easily found and eradicated - my opinion is that it is more likely a combination and interaction of factors - perhaps some are chemical, some may be psychological (change in attitudes/culture/lifestyle).
But if the epidemic is brought on by some recent change(s), then it stands to reason that a lifestyle like our grandparents had might stave it off. It's neither easy or cheap to eat a diet of unprocessed foods, mostly made from fresh produce, seek organic produce or garden your own, cook in cast iron or stainless steel on a stovetop not in a microwave, store in glass containers, wear natural fabrics like cotton and linen, minimize the chemicals you put on your skin or inside your gut, etc. etc. etc. It can be done, but part of it requires a mindshift away from popular culture's dictates, which is the hard part for many people.
Plastics go in, plastics go out? Whats the problem?
Do they get into the blood stream? Do they degrade in the body and produce toxins?
Seems science does not know yet. The above study can't tell whether all of it comes out again... just that something comes out that thus must have entered.
It seems the concern is that >b>microplastics are of a size that would allow them to pass through cell membranes or perhaps even be incorporated in cell structures. Does some break down and release active compounds? Does it cause mechanical damage or weakness? More study needed.
I've heard Pashtun culture is like that, too. I wonder how people learn they're supposed to ask and respond like that.
The learning part I presume is easy; when you grow up in the culture that's the way things are (same as e.g. English "How are you?"/"Fine thanks." even if you are NOT fine is The Way Things Are Done.) Learning the culture is mostly also easy if the teacher is aware of the difference between the learner's culture and the culture being taught, and can convey that effectively. (As an aside: that is not always a given, since what Westerners loosely call Ubuntu culture has some taboos regarding sharing their rules with outsiders, even if insiders often profess profound gratitude if an outsider teaches other outsiders about the differences.)
What I think is often a stumbling block is idiomatic language usage, and the fact that not all sentences should be taken at literal value - often there are multiple levels of figurative meaning which are hard for the uninitiated outsider to grasp. (Aside:... which often is the problem with i.a. literal Bible interpretation, which causes all sorts of fallout in modern discourse about religion etc.) Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." Well, for the literalist this does not make sense since a human stomach could not possibly hold so much meat, and then it's primarily used in cultures where horses are not seen as food species - but the saying caught on probably BECAUSE of the humor inherent in the hyperbole and absurdity.
I get that paper manuals are heavy and expensive to ship, while a download is cheap. I don't mind the e-manual.
However, the manuals for purchases seem to have become increasingly shallow. It's just a place to stick the ubiquitous CYA warnings and legalese ("Keep sharp tools out of children!" "Don't operate electrical appliance in the bathtub!"). Usage instructions are likewise so vague that it is more helpful to figure out the working of the device by trial and error.
Document writing is an art. It is hard to be concise, clear and at the same time comprehensive. Same goes for software development documentation, by the way - good thing Agile these days puts "face-to-face communication above documentation" (good? not).
The problem with the world is not with this or that ideology or system. It is with human nature.
No sooner that someone drawns up an ideology (or laws, or tech, or some other system) to curtail some undesirable trait of humans, some other guy starts to think about a loophole to get around the constraint.
The other problem is obviously that some human(s) with his (their) own shortcomings draws up the system, so it can never be perfect.
When looking for reasons why the world sucks, instead of looking for something to blame outside you, why not start with some decent old-fashioned introspection?
> I'm not convinced that one can make something with a concoction of chemicals that is even closely as healthy to put inside your body than it is to just get it how nature has made it for millennia and our bodies are finely tuned to utilize through generations of selection?
???
Everything you eat is are just concoctions of chemicals. Your body is merely just a large chemical processing plant. Your body is not aware somehow of where the chemicals it is processing came from. Your opinion really makes no sense.
There are many "co-factors" in naturally grown foods that are just too expensive to manufacture, occur in minute quantities, possibly are unknown and are thus not replicated, etc. Some enzymes in vegetables and fruit, for example, are pretty important to a healthy digestion, but having them in food makes the shelf life much shorter. Luckily for food processors, heat above about 65 deg C destroys these, so after cooking and canning, or pasteurization, putting a "best before" date on it becomes a more predictable process. Another example is the naturally occurring bacteria of various Lactobacillus species in vegetables. These are also important to proper digestion and gut health.
My body is certainly not only a "basically large chemical processing plant" (but for the chemical processes that DO occur, having all the necessary reagents on hand is important - e.g. enzymes - else the process is stopped or the rate of reaction is much too slow). There are some "mechanics" involved (e.g. fiber's effect on blood sugar uptake amongst others), there's some microbial symbiosis involved (it's better to take good care of those populations in one's gut), etc.
Why not eat some nice green potatoes and potato shoots tonight? They're just chemicals after all and one's body (including liver) can handle chemicals that occur in them just fine? (It's even from a source that I would find acceptable...) One does do so not because "chemicals" is a very wide term and both the type of chemicals as well as their quantity make a difference to one's body.
> If you make a choice to eat vegetables, you want your food to taste like that.
Projecting is an undesirable trait in a human being, I would stop doing it if you hope to have any kind of social or romantic life.
I certainly do not want to have a social or romantic life with you, but mine is otherwise quite OK, thank you for your concern.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, it seems Agile didn't make my employer's product offering faster to market, more competitive, cheaper, less buggy, or more maintainable last year.
I was hoping I could convince them to revamp their processes to use Blockchain in order to achieve these goals, this year.
We also have Cloudified Eco-Devops we haven't gotten round to yet...
which they coped with by having sex at the office and smoking weed.
Are they hiring?
Only Rockstar develo.... I mean, moderators.
Due to the practice of crop dessication it seems that the exposure (by which I mean ingestion) to glyphosate in the general population has risen a lot in recent years. Obviously this would differ between regions as the practice is more controlled in some regions than in others, differences in diet, and obviously the level of exposure probably is lower than what the article terms "high exposure". Still...
* On the shelf longer
* Less of certain vitamins and minerals
I think that eventually it is a combination of factors. That said, nutrition is about more than just the 3 food groups (carbs, fats, protein) with some vitamins and minerals tossed in.
One of the things needed for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients is enzymes. Lots are available especially in raw foods, but they are quite heat sensitive and temperatures of 60 or 70 degrees Celsius destroy them. Which is good if you want long shelf life, since they (by definition) help with the breakdown/rotting process.
Another factor that allegedly, according to some dieticians' writings, is present in raw produce is termed "hydrophilic colloids". I'm not sure about the accuracy of the term, but these are claimed to be substances that enhance the water solubility of other nutrients, also improving absorption of nutrients. Also destroyed by heat and thus not present in processed foods.
Then there's the whole intestinal population of flora, also playing a role in digestion. Many raw vegetables carry with them lactobacillus and other species which is part of the plant's natural defenses. Hence the traditional ability to pickle foods via fermentation of their own microbes, without the addition of other cultures. Plus the prebiotic substances that these microorganisms consume as food.
In short, you can't really get around adding fresh veggies and fruit to your meals.
It is difficult to sift through all the health hype and scientifically quantify each factor, but I think it is safe to say that having a diet of which around half (or more) consists of raw produce (which corresponds with the advice of a dietician I once consulted) would be close to optimal. The traditional way of preserving foods (before cooling, preservative chemicals and industrial processing became available) - in other words fermented foods, would probably also add some small measure to proper nutrition, with the provision that these foods are prepared via traditional/homemade methods, and not industrial shortcuts.
They'd need to pay me to watch that.
All those years sine the 1800s and they haven't been able to upgrade it with a simple heating pad? I've had some stethoscopes on my chest and back that could give me pneumonia all on their own.
Maybe this civilization takes a long view.
So they have not invented Quarterly Results and Agile? That IS advanced.
This summary does a very good job at making a $2 per month price increase appear very dramatic.
Darn. Here I thought I'd just Chill going forward...
The one revenue opportunity that seems very likely is the one for sticky tape manufacturers.
It would be great if we could put this to use in something for generating bio-fuels.
Unfortunately it will probably work out that rather than produce more food, which will subsequently lower food prices, they'll devote more land to growing high starch corn for bio-fuel.
The good and bad news for both of you is that corn is one of the plants that already uses the more-efficient C4 pathway...
value the company's service so highly that it would take on average more than $1,000 to convince them to deactivate their accounts for a year
I am not an economist (by any means), but perhaps that's how low people value $1000 or amounts under it?
That summary reads like a case study straight out of Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline... Detroit making all the wrong decisions for short term gain (and long term demise). Don't they read Senge in Detroit?
For that matter, the software industry with their Agile fad should also read it.
Anyway, my 19-year-old Toyota pickup truck with 230 000 miles on the clock still goes like a rocket (as far as diesels CAN go like rockets...). And despite all the scratches and dents (but without rust), not a week goes by without an offer to buy from some entrepreneur that wants some transport to start up/expand his building or transport or garden service business (I'm outside of the US though).
I'm so glad the other trivial problems with books are now all solved.
By which I mean
(1) Books not laying flat and open on a tabletop at the page one wishes to read while doing other things with the hands, and
(2) bad binding that comes apart or crumbles after a couple of months and/or a couple of readings (library books).
Look, I absolutely love paper books, and prefer them to reading on a screen. But with the above in mind, it's touch and go.
...we screw it up. We get rid of harmless Dodos. We don't get rid of rattlesnakes or mosquitoes.
Allegedly, dodos tasted better than rattlers or mozzies.
Plastics don't make people fat.
False. Some plastics, including BPA and DEHP have been shown cause obesity. The effect is strongest when exposure is prenatal or in early childhood.
Chemicals like that, used as plasticizers in plastics, are called xenoestrogens - they bind to estrogen receptors, some molecules in preference to "real" estrogen, and thus cause estrogen-like effects. Estrogen plays a role in storing fat (which is the main reason why the normal female has a higher body fat percentage than the normal male). But it is a positive feedback loop in that adipose tissue also produces estrogen.
A male body has some estrogen just as a female body has some testosterone. There is some conversion between these hormones (very similar molecules). The balance also varies with age and a myriad of other factors (hence endocrinologists asking so much to see you).
A lot of xenoestrogens have been discovered. Some have other uses than plasticizers (e.g. pesticides, or parabens, which are ubiquitously used as preservatives in all manner of cosmetics). Some xenoestrogens are plant-based and occur in nature (e.g. in soy, flax seed).
My feeling, based on my experience about the real world, is that the obesity epidemic has no single cause that can be easily found and eradicated - my opinion is that it is more likely a combination and interaction of factors - perhaps some are chemical, some may be psychological (change in attitudes/culture/lifestyle).
But if the epidemic is brought on by some recent change(s), then it stands to reason that a lifestyle like our grandparents had might stave it off. It's neither easy or cheap to eat a diet of unprocessed foods, mostly made from fresh produce, seek organic produce or garden your own, cook in cast iron or stainless steel on a stovetop not in a microwave, store in glass containers, wear natural fabrics like cotton and linen, minimize the chemicals you put on your skin or inside your gut, etc. etc. etc. It can be done, but part of it requires a mindshift away from popular culture's dictates, which is the hard part for many people.
"To better keep track of you, my child."
Plastics go in, plastics go out? Whats the problem? Do they get into the blood stream? Do they degrade in the body and produce toxins?
Seems science does not know yet. The above study can't tell whether all of it comes out again... just that something comes out that thus must have entered.
It seems the concern is that >b>microplastics are of a size that would allow them to pass through cell membranes or perhaps even be incorporated in cell structures. Does some break down and release active compounds? Does it cause mechanical damage or weakness? More study needed.
I've heard Pashtun culture is like that, too. I wonder how people learn they're supposed to ask and respond like that.
The learning part I presume is easy; when you grow up in the culture that's the way things are (same as e.g. English "How are you?"/"Fine thanks." even if you are NOT fine is The Way Things Are Done.) Learning the culture is mostly also easy if the teacher is aware of the difference between the learner's culture and the culture being taught, and can convey that effectively. (As an aside: that is not always a given, since what Westerners loosely call Ubuntu culture has some taboos regarding sharing their rules with outsiders, even if insiders often profess profound gratitude if an outsider teaches other outsiders about the differences.)
What I think is often a stumbling block is idiomatic language usage, and the fact that not all sentences should be taken at literal value - often there are multiple levels of figurative meaning which are hard for the uninitiated outsider to grasp. (Aside: ... which often is the problem with i.a. literal Bible interpretation, which causes all sorts of fallout in modern discourse about religion etc.) Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." Well, for the literalist this does not make sense since a human stomach could not possibly hold so much meat, and then it's primarily used in cultures where horses are not seen as food species - but the saying caught on probably BECAUSE of the humor inherent in the hyperbole and absurdity.
In some languages*, the sterotyped exchange literally is: Where are you (=how are you)? I am here (=I am alive =well).
(* = e.g. Sepedi: Wena o kae? Ke hona.)
This is starting to sound like shavers.
"The better to see you with, my dear," replied the wolf.
Humans ARE robots. They are just made of meat and not metal.
... with and advanced AI to control it, that passes the Turing test sometimes.
I get that paper manuals are heavy and expensive to ship, while a download is cheap. I don't mind the e-manual.
However, the manuals for purchases seem to have become increasingly shallow. It's just a place to stick the ubiquitous CYA warnings and legalese ("Keep sharp tools out of children!" "Don't operate electrical appliance in the bathtub!"). Usage instructions are likewise so vague that it is more helpful to figure out the working of the device by trial and error.
Document writing is an art. It is hard to be concise, clear and at the same time comprehensive. Same goes for software development documentation, by the way - good thing Agile these days puts "face-to-face communication above documentation" (good? not).
I guess its the way things go...
No sooner that someone drawns up an ideology (or laws, or tech, or some other system) to curtail some undesirable trait of humans, some other guy starts to think about a loophole to get around the constraint.
The other problem is obviously that some human(s) with his (their) own shortcomings draws up the system, so it can never be perfect.
When looking for reasons why the world sucks, instead of looking for something to blame outside you, why not start with some decent old-fashioned introspection?
> I'm not convinced that one can make something with a concoction of chemicals that is even closely as healthy to put inside your body than it is to just get it how nature has made it for millennia and our bodies are finely tuned to utilize through generations of selection?
???
Everything you eat is are just concoctions of chemicals. Your body is merely just a large chemical processing plant. Your body is not aware somehow of where the chemicals it is processing came from. Your opinion really makes no sense.
There are many "co-factors" in naturally grown foods that are just too expensive to manufacture, occur in minute quantities, possibly are unknown and are thus not replicated, etc. Some enzymes in vegetables and fruit, for example, are pretty important to a healthy digestion, but having them in food makes the shelf life much shorter. Luckily for food processors, heat above about 65 deg C destroys these, so after cooking and canning, or pasteurization, putting a "best before" date on it becomes a more predictable process. Another example is the naturally occurring bacteria of various Lactobacillus species in vegetables. These are also important to proper digestion and gut health.
My body is certainly not only a "basically large chemical processing plant" (but for the chemical processes that DO occur, having all the necessary reagents on hand is important - e.g. enzymes - else the process is stopped or the rate of reaction is much too slow). There are some "mechanics" involved (e.g. fiber's effect on blood sugar uptake amongst others), there's some microbial symbiosis involved (it's better to take good care of those populations in one's gut), etc.
Why not eat some nice green potatoes and potato shoots tonight? They're just chemicals after all and one's body (including liver) can handle chemicals that occur in them just fine? (It's even from a source that I would find acceptable...) One does do so not because "chemicals" is a very wide term and both the type of chemicals as well as their quantity make a difference to one's body.
> If you make a choice to eat vegetables, you want your food to taste like that.
Projecting is an undesirable trait in a human being, I would stop doing it if you hope to have any kind of social or romantic life.
I certainly do not want to have a social or romantic life with you, but mine is otherwise quite OK, thank you for your concern.
What other verb is so descriptive of providing something of not much value apart from fad hype to consumers at a premium price?
Oh wait, you are referring to the suspension of fat particles in water. Never mind...