A long, text-only blog entry with merely "claims" that "I have done this amazing thing", is stupid.
How did this garbage make the Main Page?
Shall I write a FaceBook Post on the perpetual-motion machine that I invented, and built, but refuse to show anyone because they might steal my ideas? It would hold more water than this guy's incomprehensible gobbledygook.
What happens if Steam gets bought out by EA, Microsoft, or Comcast?
You still need to protect yourself even if the current owners treat their customers well.
That doesn't even need to happen.
Steam crippled Hitman: Absolution, at least access to the many user-generated Challenges, when Square Enix bought the Franchise. They're coming out with a new one so, even though the previous version is still for sale, it doesn't fucking work. The workaround is a pain in the ass, and works unreliably.
From Square Enix: "Dear fans. Thank you for making all of those user-generated Challenge maps, and letting the world use them for free. The kept Hitman: Absolution alive long enough for us to come out with the next, DLC-out-the-ass version of Hitman that you will not buy, but will "subscribe to".
That is, "Thanks to Hitman's most dedicated fans! Now FOAD!"
Hell, my damned gaming mouse demands access to the internet in order to work. WTF?!?!? (LogiTech)
I love everything about this comment. It makes me wonder what kind of medieval festival they have going on there in Tijuana.
Don't ask a taxi driver to take you to a "donkey show". They do not (generally) exist. Asking for such will get you taken to a very bad part of town. You will end up with an incredible hangover, in the gutter, and nothing in your pockets.
So they say. I went to Tijuana with my girl –during a weekday. It's a skeevy town, but then again every border town is sketchy.
We randomly wandered the streets. One street had a woman standing in every doorway, desperately trying to catch my eye (as my girl is attractive, I guess). Not a single man (pimp) visible, but I'm no dummy. Any pimp who shows his face is a stupid pimp. Pimps are not nice people. Stupid ones are downright dangerous. We hurried along that block to the next.
The pharmacies there are also sketchy, despite their signs making them look official. There are two different types. The Mexican Govt. clamped down on "prescription tourism", meaning that one must pay for an appointment with a 'physician' before they can get their whatever. I've read that, in the end, that makes it just as expensive as just getting an Rx in the US. That's probably a good thing.
I don't watch much real television (read none - since the 1980s and wasn't even big on TV then but the increase in commercial time irked me enough to just find other things to do) but I do like documentaries.
I watch a lot of them, documentaries that is. So, for me, the 'net has been a great thing. There are many documentaries available online. There are enough so that I will probably never run out of things to watch. I like to find a YouTube video and then let it autoplay and pick the next one for me. I also use the playlist function in the search - a whole lot. Between playlist and setting the settings for "long" it means I get some pretty good stuff. My preferences lie with history and science - subsets being military/war and tech/physics - some nature too.
I ditched TV in 2001. For the 10 prior years, I would only watch with my finger ready for the 'mute' button. Got to where I could just close my eyes and hit 30, 60 or 90 seconds by practice. Usually, at 90, I'd un-mute, hear an ad, and mute-back for another 30 seconds. All with eyes closed and resting. very annoying, especially as the content just continued to go downhill.
Thanks for the Tip on YouTube settings – for selecting long videos. Nice filter idea. I've watched wood-turning videos, docs of all sorts, and many "bad" documentaries by conspiracy theorists. I use those to keep my BS-detector tuned, calling out every straw-man, appeal to the ancients, and so on. I am a PhD scientist, so that type of documentary is just like having a refresher. Vice releases some great gonzo journalism pieces.
I have HBO GO, not by choice but by FiOS bundling. It's pretty great. If you want to find great collections of Documentaries, message me with your town or City, and I will tell you where you can find stuff that no company will ever digitize from VHS, but the places hold onto them. Big Public Libraries, main branch, are a good place to start.
Oh, and books-on-tape?!?!? Fucking gold-mine of scientific biographies, great literature, and stuff that NetFlix or Audible won't serve-up.
your institution didn't "ban" dropbox, they just inked a deal for full scale deployment of a competitor, that is all.
No. They did. A 6-month warning was given that access to DropBox domains will soon be blocked from any institutional network connection. Yes, you could proxy around that. Yes, you could use it at home. But why?
I only use Box Sync to share project files with colleagues within the same institution. For real collaborators around the world, especially if the data is sensitive (i.e., patentable), I make them sftp to MY OWN SERVER. I'm working on WebDAV, so they will quit bitching about having to see a command line.
Yes, I know easy-interface sftp software abounds, but graduate students today are, to be quite honest, terribly ignorant about how computers actually work. RoR and running 'demo files' of expensive software makes them feel powerful –yet they have no clue how any of the steps between 0's and 1's, all the way to the clicky-easy interface that they are "instant experts" at, operate. They don't know how to build a NAND gate, but they should at least have a grasp of ANY of the layers in between that make doing things so easy. They are clueless.
Funny how all this DRM actually motivates people to 'piracy' (== unauthorized copying of an electronic file). We all saw this coming ten years ago, but apparently the public happily swallowed the whole thing, fish-hook and all.
Why the fuck would I ever "buy" a digital copy of something. It is not a purchase of an item, but of a limited license, which can be revoked at any time if corporate problems arise with the controller. As in this very case, and others, as various 'digital retailers' go belly-up.
Anyone 'purchasing' anything by digital download/access, with a DRM restriction, is really only purchasing a limited license of use, and nothing more. By doing so, you have given up your rights under the Doctrine of First Sale. That is, when you're done, you can't loan it to a friend, sell it, or even give it away.
How about banning DropBox. The CEO as openly stated they they index every file that crosses their servers.
Oh, now I see. Republicans won't ban DropBox because Condi Rice is on its Board of Directors.
My own (huge) institution has banned Dropbox entirely. Instead, a subscription to Box Sync was purchased for everyone. Box Sync encrypts before upload/sync, and then decrypts locally. They literally cannot peer into your files—This is by Design.
Especially middle-aged guys in denial of their failing bodies and brains. At 41 you're better off on one of those three-wheel contraptions for retirees.
You are at least two decades off the mark. "Failing bodies and brains at 41?" Hardly.
Lifestyle choices can come into play, but 41 was wa-a-ay better than 21 as far as both physical and intellectual prowess. I've had 25 years to practice and refine skills in my various, regular activities. For example, 25 years of dancing experience makes one a highly sought-after dance partner. You can't get 25 years of practice by age 21.
And yet there are documented cases where fecal transplants after microbiome-destroying procedures have radically changed someone's weight, despite no change in diet or exercise.
I hope the documented cases you refer to aren't 'Scheisse porn' videos.:-P
Anyway, agreed, we know very little. Humans are superorganisms. Most of the cells in our bodies are NOT our own. IIRC, a human body has about 10 trillion cells. 90% of those cells do not contain our DNA — They are symbiotes.
Going back even further, it is generally hypothesized that organelles in our own cells arose from this symbiosis. But, over eons, in mono-cellular organisms, some of these symbiotes lost their ability to survive outside of a living cell of the host. It is a profoundly important view, and really makes one think. Tough to do experiments to test the hypothesis, I imagine (not my field).
Elsevier should serve as a warning to other industries like healthcare and insurance. You can pursue profit in an industry, but once it becomes your sole modus operandi you risk the very real incidence of becoming a riot trigger.
I, myself, made the decision over a decade ago to (1) NEVER publish my work in any of their journals, and (2) NEVER to perform the (voluntary & unpaid) referee work in evaluating manuscripts submitted for publication in an Elsevier-owned journal.
Elsevier is evil to the core. Go try to find yourself a copy of Einstein's Annalen der Physik paper. Oops! Elsevier bought-up the journal, and owns its entire archives.
I choose, instead, to publish in Nature, Physical Review, and other respectable journals.
Not if their dumb choices lead to the spend-out of the taxes that I happily pay. That is, Medicare, as well as Soc. Sec. Disability Benefits for having self-induced emphysema.
In those cases, they are not only dumb, but they are also stealing money from me when the Social Safety Net provides them health and/or hospice care while they wheeze themselves to death. Or, FSM-forbid, get a fucking lung transplant on my taxpayer dime, only to take up smoking again once they get out of the hospital.
E-cigs are vapor. There is no flame, there is no burning of tobacco,... blah blah blah.
Vapor, at least partially. But also a suspension of liquid particles in a gaseous medium---That is why one sees "vape clouds" coming out of e-cigs and their users' mouths.
More importantly, you should study a bit of organic chemistry. Just because there is "no fire" does not in any way indicate that chemical reactions are not going on. Actually, it is quite the opposite. Ask any organic chemist, "When you do chemical synthesis experiments, do you burn stuff, or do you heat it under specific conditions to ensure that you obtain a high-purity synthesis?"
I will save you the time---E-cigs use PEG and whatever else is at-hand, and is cheap as the solvent for the nicotine solution. Many, many scientific studies have found all of the usual baddies in the 'vape' from an array of vendors of the little nicotine cells, in combination with various models of vaping devices – which vary wildly in the actual temperature they apply to produce your delicious nicotine vapor.
What baddies? The same as those found in cigarette smoke, generally. . . in some cases more. Hexanes, benzene, hydroxylated benzene derivatives, and all the rest of your other favorite carcinogens that are found in cigarette smoke. In some cases, more than an equivalent nicotine-dose drag of a "real" cigarette.
Vaping sticks are still cancer sticks.
Nicotine does have legitimate medical uses – indisputably. But vaping in a movie theater is not among them.
I hope your mom also enjoyed every dollar of taxpayer money it took for her end of life medical care as she sucked down those cigarettes.
Yes. This is exactly the point. Thank you for making it.
PS – I note that you are a foe of a friend and that you have a FIVE-digit/. ID #. None of that matters to me. You made the point that strikes to the heart of the ethical question about which this whole thread revolves. Again, thanks.
Your freedom ends where mine starts. I should have the ability to go about my life without having people blowing clouds of smoke in my face while I eat, work, or walk down the street.
Having recently moved from a country that very nearly to abolished smoking to Europe, all I can say is this place stinks. Literally. And thats before I look at the mountain of butts smokers leave behind.
Yes, "Your freedom ends where my nose begins."
But to your main point about the US stinking of cigarettes. . .
I spent a year in Germany around 2000. It was impossible to enjoy any food, drink, or dance at all. Every place was choked with smoke, and most of them had no central air-exchange system, only a couple of tiny windows.
Then, back to the USA, where laws banning smoking in restaurants had started catching on. I could finally go out and enjoy an evening again! Smokers had to go outside, and in some cities, more than 40 feet from the entrance of any building.
So, get off of your high-horse. The US got the restaurant-and-bar-scene smoking bans underway long before the EU. You guys are finally catching up. And, at last, I can return to Europe and not have to bear the infamous chain-smoking and un-ventilated spaces!
I'm not all gung-ho "USA USA USA!". Nope. Not at all. But the US did indeed lead on being THE FIRST to institute bans on cigarette smoking in dining and socializing establishments. And, in some cities (like mine), on your balcony or out your window, because everybody knows that smoke drifts with the wind.
Because it has been repeatedly shown that trying to outlaw any kind of drug only leads to even worse health problems, violence, crime, loss of citizen's rights, loss of revenue, increased government spending, and just all around misery.
You are cherry-picking.
Desomorphine (krokodil in Russia) was discovered about 80 years ago, in the search for a "more effective but less addictive painkiller". It turned out to be wa-a-a-ay more addicting, with about the same pain relief. Drug makers abandoned it, and soon-enough, it was outlawed for the good reasons I described.
And how many decades was until a single American died from this horrible drug? ANSWER: Many. At least 60 years, if not more.
Desomorphine is just one single example among many, many others. It is a bad-bad thing. Outlawing it did NOT lead to a ton of people desperately seeking it. On the contrary---It was not until the recent 'Krokodil' epidemic in Russia that any American even had knowledge of the drug. No one was clamouring for it just because it was illegal.
BTW – Russia got the problem under control by making codeine a prescription-only drug. Oh, hey, that's another example of a prohibition of a drug actually curtailing a problem – this case in Russia, not the US!
Golly, I thought that the US ruled the world, but apparently that is not the case. . .
So the best thing for society would be if you died?
Thanks for the compliment.
I was simply stating that killing me will not prevent the damning information from being released.
It will be released, in small tranches, and at the most critically important moments, while I am still alive. I know how to time things.
So, my life is of no consequence to the whistle-blowing. All of that machinery is already set up, and ready to go into motion – including strategic moves by attorneys, pre-scripted. The important pieces are all already in the hands of many – who do not know the second party that holds the other part of the key – but will if I die. In more than triplicate (geographically). I am not stupid.
He's in a documentary that's from before he was shipped here and while he was serving time in Romania. It's called something like, "The Most Dangerous Town on the Internet." It's worth watching and is easily found online at your favorite torrent site - it was free in a bundle thingy (I think) but I'm sure there are many ways to get it - there's probably streaming versions.
There are two of them. Almost the same titles. Links below. Both produced by Norton(TM) == Symantec (TM) Antivirus. Nonetheless, they were both worth the 20 minutes of each – time well spent. Just keep in the back of your mind, while watching, that Symantec produced them both, and that Symantec has a stake in having people scared. Even for those in-the-know, you will find the videos informative---They are mostly interviews of people, black-hats and white-hats, so you can hear their voices, watch their body language, and hear (an edited version of) what they have to say. . . and why they do what they do.
Before the links, I recall a trojan that I wrote in 1987, and uploaded to my local BBS, which updated daily with BBS's in other States of the US. It was a seriously damaging trojan, but only potentially so. It was so clumsily written (in BASIC on DOS 3.3) that I doubt that anyone ever clicked on the "Yes, Format my boot-up drive" button. . . or text-entry "Y or N?" line. (I forget which.) I was just trying to get my $50 bounty from Norton for 'discovering' a new malware 'in the wild,' for which they advertised so heavily in computer magazines back then. They never paid me.
As someone with a circadian rhythm disorder, I end up doing around 28 hrs about 2-3 times a month. I probably go over that a few times a year. These are up all night can't sleep, crap now I've got to go to work for the next 9 hours. Then when I get home I'm not tired and stay up all night again. You get used to it. Not that you should want to, but your body adapts.
I also went 2.5 days without food or water before I started passing out from it (was really depressed). One day without food and drink is nothing as long as you aren't exercising at the same time. It's ok to be hungry. We never used to be full all the time.
Apply for SSDI (Disability)!!! That will gain you the right under the ADA to have accommodations made for your sleep schedule – if it is determined to be a "disability". Don't let the word put you off. It is just one gov't dept's use of a term. I does not mean that you are broken!!! So, stiff upper lip. Inquire with a disability attorney, NOT your physician directly (it's like asking for a prescription for morphine to them...). The attorney will assess and advise.
Humans did not evolve to adhere to this crazy 9-to-5 shit. Nor to sit in chairs. In rows and columns.
Personally, when without responsibilities (i.e., on vacation), I naturally go into the 'medieval' "two-sleep cycle". Bed at 10:00 pm. Awaken around 3:00 am. Do stuff for 2–4 hours (take a walk, read, write, code, make the wife happy, etc.). Back to bed around 6:00 am. Awaken for "the day" at 10:00 am or so.
When I let my brain and body have the sleep cycle they naturally need, I become far more alert during waking hours. Like, light-switch-on alert at 3:00 am sharp. In normal life, I use that time when I can. Undoubtedly, if unshackled from the "9-to-5" grind, will find your body falling into this rhythm, too. Just one rule: No TV, computer, or other lighted display after 9:00 pm.
The above is far preferable to "paying for sleep" via pharmaceuticals. Say "Hello!" to the Ambien Walrus for me.
Also when doing work as opposed to screwing around after about hour 10 I start turning into a vegetable. Am I a weakling? Maybe. I've put in my fair share of all nighters followed by a short (unplanned) nap followed by another all nighter.
When you wake up and still feel tired and look at your clock and realize that you've only had 8 hours of sleep in the last 72, this isn't usually an accomplishment and generally whatever you were doing now falls behind while you catch up on sleep. Hopefully you didn't make any mistakes either, that will set you back farther.
Agreed. If you exert effort when your brain feels "fried", then you are indeed wasting your time.
If your mind remains focused, be it by passion or fear or inspiration, then go with it. Everyone is different.
The opposite is true. One day, you might have four good hours in you. The next, 12 hours. We humans are meat-bags, not robots. Intellectual productivity is maximized when a person discards that "9-to-5" crap, and uses the juice when it flows.
"When attention frays, I call it a day." – Sir Holo
Out of interest what task was this? It appears reading related. Study perhaps? Coding?
I'll answer the 30+-ers first. As Richard Feynman said (roughly), "To perform an intellectually intensive task, one necessarily requires a significant amount of uninterrupted time to commit to the work."
I work in many disparate fields. That means, when a major task in one arena is ready – to be analyzed, or more typically, written-up – a major block of time must be committed to it. You first have to get everything loaded into your working memory, which can take several hours.
Having invested those hours, you use as much 'juice' as you have to make use of having this colossal, focused set of data and related publications all in your working memory. Only then can you begin to make broad-view correlations. Or, alternatively, write a 35-page REVIEW article for a journal, which references absolutely everyone who has contributed to the field in the past, exactly what they contributed, and where it fits into the mosaic and story that you have been ruminating for months. If your giant, authoritative REVIEW, with its 250+ References, each succinctly described and properly Cited, is to be assembled. . . and is to be "The Authoritative Reference" on the topic.
Well, that is when the 30+-ers are done. The goal is not the time spent. No, no, no. It is making best use of the motherlode of primary-source information that you have taken several hours to load into your head (working memory, the active part). You STOP when the mind's attention begins to fray. Then, you STOP. Immediately.
Finally, responding to another Commenter: After you recover, the first thing you do is to read through and edit what you have written. With time, you will learn what signals your brain gives you when it is about to crash. Armed with that knowledge, you learn to stop before protracted and focused effort loses quality.
I'm just lucky to have noticed my own ability for this at an early age, and have refined my self-awareness to the point that I can do this. But only when absolutely necessary. It is painful. And during such marathons, your attention cannot be diverted for more than a minute or two... say, when the wife comes home and wants to chat. My wife is the same way---When inspiration strikes, she will do the same. It's fortunate to be with someone that understands how bursts of creativity work.
It is, of course, "time-shifting", but is far more than that. Yes, recovery afterwards is required. But when your working memory is filled with a single, complex topic – or when creative inspiration hits you – you must make the most use of it while 'the iron is hot'.
If it hits in the middle of the night, GO AND DO! If you can 'pre-lag' your sleep, and clear your calendar in anticipation of such an exertion, then do so.
Oh, to answer your question: Was it coding? Occasionally. More often, it has been marathons of data-collection on difficult-to-access instruments, analyzing a massive data-set (often one appearing non-contiguous upon casual observation), writing-up a massive work, or simply scribbling down a thunderbolt of inspiration that has struck you – as fast as you can, while it is still in your mind. You will not 'remember it in the morning'. Every creative should keep pen and paper on their night-stand.
It's like a freight train. You can't pause or divert. And if you do not do it when your brain is ready to go, go, go, then the opportunity will have been wasted.
To all who have replied: You are in agreement with me, but failed at reading comprehension:
Sir Holo said:"... while simultaneously dosing daily with a 'full-mix' macrobiotic."
Perhaps I should have written 'full-spectrum' instead?
I was pointing out that our gut flora are a significant factor in our guts' response to, digestion of, and uptake of calories, vitamins, minerals, etc.
That is, their primary caloric intake is ethanol -a simple sugar.
Ethanol isn't a sugar, it's an alcohol. It winds up on the citric acid cycle via a slightly meandering path.
Is that because the second carbon lacks a carbonyl (C=O bond)?
If it did, with formula then C2H4O2 – instead of EtOH (C2H6O) – what would it be called? A monosaccharide, yes, but what is the nomenclature for monosaccharides? Would it be called "ethanose"?
I'm a solid-state physicist, so I never took a biochem course...
Slashdot Mirror
A long, text-only blog entry with merely "claims" that "I have done this amazing thing", is stupid.
How did this garbage make the Main Page?
Shall I write a FaceBook Post on the perpetual-motion machine that I invented, and built, but refuse to show anyone because they might steal my ideas? It would hold more water than this guy's incomprehensible gobbledygook.
What happens if Steam gets bought out by EA, Microsoft, or Comcast?
You still need to protect yourself even if the current owners treat their customers well.
That doesn't even need to happen.
Steam crippled Hitman: Absolution, at least access to the many user-generated Challenges, when Square Enix bought the Franchise. They're coming out with a new one so, even though the previous version is still for sale, it doesn't fucking work. The workaround is a pain in the ass, and works unreliably.
From Square Enix: "Dear fans. Thank you for making all of those user-generated Challenge maps, and letting the world use them for free. The kept Hitman: Absolution alive long enough for us to come out with the next, DLC-out-the-ass version of Hitman that you will not buy, but will "subscribe to".
That is, "Thanks to Hitman's most dedicated fans! Now FOAD!"
Hell, my damned gaming mouse demands access to the internet in order to work. WTF?!?!? (LogiTech)
I love everything about this comment. It makes me wonder what kind of medieval festival they have going on there in Tijuana.
Don't ask a taxi driver to take you to a "donkey show". They do not (generally) exist. Asking for such will get you taken to a very bad part of town. You will end up with an incredible hangover, in the gutter, and nothing in your pockets.
So they say. I went to Tijuana with my girl –during a weekday. It's a skeevy town, but then again every border town is sketchy.
We randomly wandered the streets. One street had a woman standing in every doorway, desperately trying to catch my eye (as my girl is attractive, I guess). Not a single man (pimp) visible, but I'm no dummy. Any pimp who shows his face is a stupid pimp. Pimps are not nice people. Stupid ones are downright dangerous. We hurried along that block to the next.
The pharmacies there are also sketchy, despite their signs making them look official. There are two different types. The Mexican Govt. clamped down on "prescription tourism", meaning that one must pay for an appointment with a 'physician' before they can get their whatever. I've read that, in the end, that makes it just as expensive as just getting an Rx in the US. That's probably a good thing.
I don't watch much real television (read none - since the 1980s and wasn't even big on TV then but the increase in commercial time irked me enough to just find other things to do) but I do like documentaries.
I watch a lot of them, documentaries that is. So, for me, the 'net has been a great thing. There are many documentaries available online. There are enough so that I will probably never run out of things to watch. I like to find a YouTube video and then let it autoplay and pick the next one for me. I also use the playlist function in the search - a whole lot. Between playlist and setting the settings for "long" it means I get some pretty good stuff. My preferences lie with history and science - subsets being military/war and tech/physics - some nature too.
I ditched TV in 2001. For the 10 prior years, I would only watch with my finger ready for the 'mute' button. Got to where I could just close my eyes and hit 30, 60 or 90 seconds by practice. Usually, at 90, I'd un-mute, hear an ad, and mute-back for another 30 seconds. All with eyes closed and resting. very annoying, especially as the content just continued to go downhill.
Thanks for the Tip on YouTube settings – for selecting long videos. Nice filter idea. I've watched wood-turning videos, docs of all sorts, and many "bad" documentaries by conspiracy theorists. I use those to keep my BS-detector tuned, calling out every straw-man, appeal to the ancients, and so on. I am a PhD scientist, so that type of documentary is just like having a refresher. Vice releases some great gonzo journalism pieces.
I have HBO GO, not by choice but by FiOS bundling. It's pretty great. If you want to find great collections of Documentaries, message me with your town or City, and I will tell you where you can find stuff that no company will ever digitize from VHS, but the places hold onto them. Big Public Libraries, main branch, are a good place to start.
Oh, and books-on-tape?!?!? Fucking gold-mine of scientific biographies, great literature, and stuff that NetFlix or Audible won't serve-up.
your institution didn't "ban" dropbox, they just inked a deal for full scale deployment of a competitor, that is all.
No. They did. A 6-month warning was given that access to DropBox domains will soon be blocked from any institutional network connection. Yes, you could proxy around that. Yes, you could use it at home. But why?
I only use Box Sync to share project files with colleagues within the same institution. For real collaborators around the world, especially if the data is sensitive (i.e., patentable), I make them sftp to MY OWN SERVER. I'm working on WebDAV, so they will quit bitching about having to see a command line.
Yes, I know easy-interface sftp software abounds, but graduate students today are, to be quite honest, terribly ignorant about how computers actually work. RoR and running 'demo files' of expensive software makes them feel powerful –yet they have no clue how any of the steps between 0's and 1's, all the way to the clicky-easy interface that they are "instant experts" at, operate. They don't know how to build a NAND gate, but they should at least have a grasp of ANY of the layers in between that make doing things so easy. They are clueless.
Funny how all this DRM actually motivates people to 'piracy' (== unauthorized copying of an electronic file). We all saw this coming ten years ago, but apparently the public happily swallowed the whole thing, fish-hook and all.
Why the fuck would I ever "buy" a digital copy of something. It is not a purchase of an item, but of a limited license, which can be revoked at any time if corporate problems arise with the controller. As in this very case, and others, as various 'digital retailers' go belly-up.
Anyone 'purchasing' anything by digital download/access, with a DRM restriction, is really only purchasing a limited license of use, and nothing more. By doing so, you have given up your rights under the Doctrine of First Sale. That is, when you're done, you can't loan it to a friend, sell it, or even give it away.
Buy real books. et cetera.
How about banning DropBox. The CEO as openly stated they they index every file that crosses their servers.
Oh, now I see. Republicans won't ban DropBox because Condi Rice is on its Board of Directors.
My own (huge) institution has banned Dropbox entirely. Instead, a subscription to Box Sync was purchased for everyone. Box Sync encrypts before upload/sync, and then decrypts locally. They literally cannot peer into your files—This is by Design.
Especially middle-aged guys in denial of their failing bodies and brains. At 41 you're better off on one of those three-wheel contraptions for retirees.
You are at least two decades off the mark. "Failing bodies and brains at 41?" Hardly.
Lifestyle choices can come into play, but 41 was wa-a-ay better than 21 as far as both physical and intellectual prowess. I've had 25 years to practice and refine skills in my various, regular activities. For example, 25 years of dancing experience makes one a highly sought-after dance partner. You can't get 25 years of practice by age 21.
You must be 21.
And yet there are documented cases where fecal transplants after microbiome-destroying procedures have radically changed someone's weight, despite no change in diet or exercise.
I hope the documented cases you refer to aren't 'Scheisse porn' videos. :-P
Anyway, agreed, we know very little. Humans are superorganisms. Most of the cells in our bodies are NOT our own. IIRC, a human body has about 10 trillion cells. 90% of those cells do not contain our DNA — They are symbiotes.
Going back even further, it is generally hypothesized that organelles in our own cells arose from this symbiosis. But, over eons, in mono-cellular organisms, some of these symbiotes lost their ability to survive outside of a living cell of the host. It is a profoundly important view, and really makes one think. Tough to do experiments to test the hypothesis, I imagine (not my field).
Elsevier should serve as a warning to other industries like healthcare and insurance. You can pursue profit in an industry, but once it becomes your sole modus operandi you risk the very real incidence of becoming a riot trigger.
I, myself, made the decision over a decade ago to (1) NEVER publish my work in any of their journals, and (2) NEVER to perform the (voluntary & unpaid) referee work in evaluating manuscripts submitted for publication in an Elsevier-owned journal.
Elsevier is evil to the core. Go try to find yourself a copy of Einstein's Annalen der Physik paper. Oops! Elsevier bought-up the journal, and owns its entire archives.
I choose, instead, to publish in Nature, Physical Review, and other respectable journals.
Fuck Elsevier.
Smoking his dumb.
People should have the right to be dumb.
Not if their dumb choices lead to the spend-out of the taxes that I happily pay. That is, Medicare, as well as Soc. Sec. Disability Benefits for having self-induced emphysema.
In those cases, they are not only dumb, but they are also stealing money from me when the Social Safety Net provides them health and/or hospice care while they wheeze themselves to death. Or, FSM-forbid, get a fucking lung transplant on my taxpayer dime, only to take up smoking again once they get out of the hospital.
Again, YOUR freedom ends where MY nose begins.
Women have a right to their body... Abortion
... said no Republican, ever.
E-cigs are vapor. There is no flame, there is no burning of tobacco, ... blah blah blah.
Vapor, at least partially. But also a suspension of liquid particles in a gaseous medium---That is why one sees "vape clouds" coming out of e-cigs and their users' mouths.
More importantly, you should study a bit of organic chemistry. Just because there is "no fire" does not in any way indicate that chemical reactions are not going on. Actually, it is quite the opposite. Ask any organic chemist, "When you do chemical synthesis experiments, do you burn stuff, or do you heat it under specific conditions to ensure that you obtain a high-purity synthesis?"
I will save you the time---E-cigs use PEG and whatever else is at-hand, and is cheap as the solvent for the nicotine solution. Many, many scientific studies have found all of the usual baddies in the 'vape' from an array of vendors of the little nicotine cells, in combination with various models of vaping devices – which vary wildly in the actual temperature they apply to produce your delicious nicotine vapor.
What baddies? The same as those found in cigarette smoke, generally. . . in some cases more. Hexanes, benzene, hydroxylated benzene derivatives, and all the rest of your other favorite carcinogens that are found in cigarette smoke. In some cases, more than an equivalent nicotine-dose drag of a "real" cigarette.
Vaping sticks are still cancer sticks.
Nicotine does have legitimate medical uses – indisputably. But vaping in a movie theater is not among them.
I hope your mom also enjoyed every dollar of taxpayer money it took for her end of life medical care as she sucked down those cigarettes.
Yes. This is exactly the point. Thank you for making it.
PS – I note that you are a foe of a friend and that you have a FIVE-digit /. ID #. None of that matters to me. You made the point that strikes to the heart of the ethical question about which this whole thread revolves. Again, thanks.
Your freedom ends where mine starts. I should have the ability to go about my life without having people blowing clouds of smoke in my face while I eat, work, or walk down the street.
Having recently moved from a country that very nearly to abolished smoking to Europe, all I can say is this place stinks. Literally. And thats before I look at the mountain of butts smokers leave behind.
Yes, "Your freedom ends where my nose begins."
But to your main point about the US stinking of cigarettes. . .
I spent a year in Germany around 2000. It was impossible to enjoy any food, drink, or dance at all. Every place was choked with smoke, and most of them had no central air-exchange system, only a couple of tiny windows.
Then, back to the USA, where laws banning smoking in restaurants had started catching on. I could finally go out and enjoy an evening again! Smokers had to go outside, and in some cities, more than 40 feet from the entrance of any building.
So, get off of your high-horse. The US got the restaurant-and-bar-scene smoking bans underway long before the EU. You guys are finally catching up. And, at last, I can return to Europe and not have to bear the infamous chain-smoking and un-ventilated spaces!
I'm not all gung-ho "USA USA USA!". Nope. Not at all. But the US did indeed lead on being THE FIRST to institute bans on cigarette smoking in dining and socializing establishments. And, in some cities (like mine), on your balcony or out your window, because everybody knows that smoke drifts with the wind.
Junkies are dropping syringes all over the beach? Then don't go to the beach!
Where else am I going to find FREE syringes?
I harvest them, clean them up, and then re-sell them as "like-new" to the junkies on Venice Beach.
NOTE: Sarcasm lies above.
Because it has been repeatedly shown that trying to outlaw any kind of drug only leads to even worse health problems, violence, crime, loss of citizen's rights, loss of revenue, increased government spending, and just all around misery.
You are cherry-picking.
Desomorphine (krokodil in Russia) was discovered about 80 years ago, in the search for a "more effective but less addictive painkiller". It turned out to be wa-a-a-ay more addicting, with about the same pain relief. Drug makers abandoned it, and soon-enough, it was outlawed for the good reasons I described.
And how many decades was until a single American died from this horrible drug? ANSWER: Many. At least 60 years, if not more.
Desomorphine is just one single example among many, many others. It is a bad-bad thing. Outlawing it did NOT lead to a ton of people desperately seeking it. On the contrary---It was not until the recent 'Krokodil' epidemic in Russia that any American even had knowledge of the drug. No one was clamouring for it just because it was illegal.
BTW – Russia got the problem under control by making codeine a prescription-only drug. Oh, hey, that's another example of a prohibition of a drug actually curtailing a problem – this case in Russia, not the US!
Golly, I thought that the US ruled the world, but apparently that is not the case. . .
ummm, are you aware of the profits?
Do you mean profits to lung-cancer surgeons, most of whom treat patients who are old enough to be on Medicare?
You really know how to spend those tax dollars effectively, don't you?
So the best thing for society would be if you died?
Thanks for the compliment.
I was simply stating that killing me will not prevent the damning information from being released.
It will be released, in small tranches, and at the most critically important moments, while I am still alive. I know how to time things.
So, my life is of no consequence to the whistle-blowing. All of that machinery is already set up, and ready to go into motion – including strategic moves by attorneys, pre-scripted. The important pieces are all already in the hands of many – who do not know the second party that holds the other part of the key – but will if I die. In more than triplicate (geographically). I am not stupid.
He's in a documentary that's from before he was shipped here and while he was serving time in Romania. It's called something like, "The Most Dangerous Town on the Internet." It's worth watching and is easily found online at your favorite torrent site - it was free in a bundle thingy (I think) but I'm sure there are many ways to get it - there's probably streaming versions.
There are two of them. Almost the same titles. Links below. Both produced by Norton(TM) == Symantec (TM) Antivirus. Nonetheless, they were both worth the 20 minutes of each – time well spent. Just keep in the back of your mind, while watching, that Symantec produced them both, and that Symantec has a stake in having people scared. Even for those in-the-know, you will find the videos informative---They are mostly interviews of people, black-hats and white-hats, so you can hear their voices, watch their body language, and hear (an edited version of) what they have to say. . . and why they do what they do.
Before the links, I recall a trojan that I wrote in 1987, and uploaded to my local BBS, which updated daily with BBS's in other States of the US. It was a seriously damaging trojan, but only potentially so. It was so clumsily written (in BASIC on DOS 3.3) that I doubt that anyone ever clicked on the "Yes, Format my boot-up drive" button. . . or text-entry "Y or N?" line. (I forget which.) I was just trying to get my $50 bounty from Norton for 'discovering' a new malware 'in the wild,' for which they advertised so heavily in computer magazines back then. They never paid me.
LINKS (not embedded, but you can copy-paste, can't you?):
http://us.norton.com/mostdange...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
As someone with a circadian rhythm disorder, I end up doing around 28 hrs about 2-3 times a month. I probably go over that a few times a year. These are up all night can't sleep, crap now I've got to go to work for the next 9 hours. Then when I get home I'm not tired and stay up all night again. You get used to it. Not that you should want to, but your body adapts.
I also went 2.5 days without food or water before I started passing out from it (was really depressed). One day without food and drink is nothing as long as you aren't exercising at the same time. It's ok to be hungry. We never used to be full all the time.
Apply for SSDI (Disability)!!! That will gain you the right under the ADA to have accommodations made for your sleep schedule – if it is determined to be a "disability". Don't let the word put you off. It is just one gov't dept's use of a term. I does not mean that you are broken!!! So, stiff upper lip. Inquire with a disability attorney, NOT your physician directly (it's like asking for a prescription for morphine to them...). The attorney will assess and advise.
Humans did not evolve to adhere to this crazy 9-to-5 shit. Nor to sit in chairs. In rows and columns.
Personally, when without responsibilities (i.e., on vacation), I naturally go into the 'medieval' "two-sleep cycle". Bed at 10:00 pm. Awaken around 3:00 am. Do stuff for 2–4 hours (take a walk, read, write, code, make the wife happy, etc.). Back to bed around 6:00 am. Awaken for "the day" at 10:00 am or so.
When I let my brain and body have the sleep cycle they naturally need, I become far more alert during waking hours. Like, light-switch-on alert at 3:00 am sharp. In normal life, I use that time when I can. Undoubtedly, if unshackled from the "9-to-5" grind, will find your body falling into this rhythm, too. Just one rule: No TV, computer, or other lighted display after 9:00 pm.
The above is far preferable to "paying for sleep" via pharmaceuticals. Say "Hello!" to the Ambien Walrus for me.
Also when doing work as opposed to screwing around after about hour 10 I start turning into a vegetable. Am I a weakling? Maybe. I've put in my fair share of all nighters followed by a short (unplanned) nap followed by another all nighter.
When you wake up and still feel tired and look at your clock and realize that you've only had 8 hours of sleep in the last 72, this isn't usually an accomplishment and generally whatever you were doing now falls behind while you catch up on sleep. Hopefully you didn't make any mistakes either, that will set you back farther.
Agreed. If you exert effort when your brain feels "fried", then you are indeed wasting your time.
If your mind remains focused, be it by passion or fear or inspiration, then go with it. Everyone is different.
The opposite is true. One day, you might have four good hours in you. The next, 12 hours. We humans are meat-bags, not robots. Intellectual productivity is maximized when a person discards that "9-to-5" crap, and uses the juice when it flows.
"When attention frays, I call it a day." – Sir Holo
Out of interest what task was this? It appears reading related. Study perhaps? Coding?
I'll answer the 30+-ers first. As Richard Feynman said (roughly), "To perform an intellectually intensive task, one necessarily requires a significant amount of uninterrupted time to commit to the work."
I work in many disparate fields. That means, when a major task in one arena is ready – to be analyzed, or more typically, written-up – a major block of time must be committed to it. You first have to get everything loaded into your working memory, which can take several hours.
Having invested those hours, you use as much 'juice' as you have to make use of having this colossal, focused set of data and related publications all in your working memory. Only then can you begin to make broad-view correlations. Or, alternatively, write a 35-page REVIEW article for a journal, which references absolutely everyone who has contributed to the field in the past, exactly what they contributed, and where it fits into the mosaic and story that you have been ruminating for months. If your giant, authoritative REVIEW, with its 250+ References, each succinctly described and properly Cited, is to be assembled. . . and is to be "The Authoritative Reference" on the topic.
Well, that is when the 30+-ers are done. The goal is not the time spent. No, no, no. It is making best use of the motherlode of primary-source information that you have taken several hours to load into your head (working memory, the active part). You STOP when the mind's attention begins to fray. Then, you STOP. Immediately.
Finally, responding to another Commenter: After you recover, the first thing you do is to read through and edit what you have written. With time, you will learn what signals your brain gives you when it is about to crash. Armed with that knowledge, you learn to stop before protracted and focused effort loses quality.
I'm just lucky to have noticed my own ability for this at an early age, and have refined my self-awareness to the point that I can do this. But only when absolutely necessary. It is painful. And during such marathons, your attention cannot be diverted for more than a minute or two... say, when the wife comes home and wants to chat. My wife is the same way---When inspiration strikes, she will do the same. It's fortunate to be with someone that understands how bursts of creativity work.
It is, of course, "time-shifting", but is far more than that. Yes, recovery afterwards is required. But when your working memory is filled with a single, complex topic – or when creative inspiration hits you – you must make the most use of it while 'the iron is hot'.
If it hits in the middle of the night, GO AND DO! If you can 'pre-lag' your sleep, and clear your calendar in anticipation of such an exertion, then do so.
Oh, to answer your question: Was it coding? Occasionally. More often, it has been marathons of data-collection on difficult-to-access instruments, analyzing a massive data-set (often one appearing non-contiguous upon casual observation), writing-up a massive work, or simply scribbling down a thunderbolt of inspiration that has struck you – as fast as you can, while it is still in your mind. You will not 'remember it in the morning'. Every creative should keep pen and paper on their night-stand.
It's like a freight train. You can't pause or divert. And if you do not do it when your brain is ready to go, go, go, then the opportunity will have been wasted.
To all who have replied: You are in agreement with me, but failed at reading comprehension:
Sir Holo said:"... while simultaneously dosing daily with a 'full-mix' macrobiotic."
Perhaps I should have written 'full-spectrum' instead?
I was pointing out that our gut flora are a significant factor in our guts' response to, digestion of, and uptake of calories, vitamins, minerals, etc.
That is, their primary caloric intake is ethanol -a simple sugar.
Ethanol isn't a sugar, it's an alcohol. It winds up on the citric acid cycle via a slightly meandering path.
Is that because the second carbon lacks a carbonyl (C=O bond)?
If it did, with formula then C2H4O2 – instead of EtOH (C2H6O) – what would it be called? A monosaccharide, yes, but what is the nomenclature for monosaccharides? Would it be called "ethanose"?
I'm a solid-state physicist, so I never took a biochem course...