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User: blahtree

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  1. Re:no sale here either on Inside Apple's iPhone SDK Gag Order · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You are 100% missing the point here and have obviously never used one. I've had my iPod Touch for a week now and I haven't yet used it to play music.

    It's not an iPod, it's a portable computer.

  2. Re:In the US no one wants to buy light cars on Efficiency? Think Racing Cars, Not Hybrids · · Score: 1

    Actually, in maritime law, the least maneuverable craft has right of way. This usually means that the bigger boat has right of way, but not always. A large boat may have to yield to a smaller sail boat, for example, because it is more maneuverable.

  3. Re:They are unpleasant already on PETA Offers X-Prize for Artificial Meat · · Score: 1

    Since you seem to know something about the subject, do you have any good tempeh recipes? I've never managed to find a way to cook it that I've liked. I want to like tempeh, but it's always come across a bit heavy.

  4. Re:They are unpleasant already on PETA Offers X-Prize for Artificial Meat · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but that's bullshit. There's no way you need 600g of protein a day, regardless of what kind of athlete you are.

    Look up Scott Jurek sometime. He's a vegan ultradistance runner and completely dominates 100 mile trail running races. He seems to be doing just fine.

    Have fun with your kidney stones.

  5. Re:Then no cell phone is compatible. on iPhone SDK and Free Software Don't Match · · Score: 1

    Your Nokia N70 is built on Symbian 8.1, which predates platform security. As of Symbian 9.0, signing is mandatory for all native applications. Java is exempt, AFAIK.

  6. Re:If you want to see the real Cuba, go now... on Fidel Castro Resigns · · Score: 1

    It is my understanding that ships that dock at Cuban ports are not allowed to dock at US ports for 6 months afterwards. This makes it difficult for other countries to trade with Cuba and still do business with the US.

  7. Re:If you want to see the real Cuba, go now... on Fidel Castro Resigns · · Score: 2, Funny

    I spent 3 weeks cycling around Cuba in 2004 (I'm a Canadian). I went well off the beaten track, staying with families and camping. I saw many things that most visitors to Cuba never see.

    In my opinion, the focus on the welfare of the people is a red herring. People are provided for. They have food, shelter, health care, and education. No one is desperate. Resources are scarce, no thanks to the embargo, but people make do. Nobody prostitutes themselves because they have to.

    The real issue is the friction that an influx of foreign money creates between Cubans. Anyone who has contact with tourists (taxi drivers, waitresses, etc.) is rich. A $2 tip when the average wage is $15 a month is huge. Professionals such as lawyers, doctors, and software engineers by contrast are poor. This breeds a lot of suspicion, envy and distrust. Tourists are alternately welcomed with open arms or despised.

    It's a complicated country.

  8. Re:May Partially Explain Why Exercise Helps on Bone Hormone Linked to Obesity and Diabetes · · Score: 1

    That's just nonsense unless you are eating cookies the size of dinner plates.

    A medium chocolate chip cookie has around 60 calories:
    http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item.php?ite m_id=18164&size=2

    A 150lb person will burn that off jogging for 8 minutes.
    See http://www.caloriesperhour.com/ and try with your own weight and the activity of your choice.

    I don't at all disagree with posters below that detail the other benefits of exercise, but I can't let the "exercising enough is impossible" argument slide.

  9. Re:Save the Fish on Boeing Helping to Develop Algae-Powered Jet · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, it is possible to have algae blooms that use up all the oxygen and cause fish death. However, these blooms thrive more because of fertilizer runoff from commercial farming than global warming.

    See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6904249. stm

  10. Re:Well maybe... on Fructose As Culprit In the Obesity Epidemic · · Score: 1

    You've included some confusing simplifications here that I didn't really understand until I read the article. Most of all, lard is not a form of sugar. Lard is fat, plain and simple.

    However, you really have it backwards towards the end. It is high insulin that corresponds with low amounts of energy and storage of fat. Insulin takes sugar from the blood stream and stores it as fat. Low insulin is the goal, which is why Octreotide and exercise both work -- one by chemically lowering the insulin level and the other by increasing insulin sensitivity.

    It's not really that complicated. Don't eat processed foods, don't eat too much fat, eat fiber, and exercise. At the beginning it will suck, but it gets easier with time.

  11. Re:Obvious on Sport Is Unrelated To Obesity In Children · · Score: 1

    Rather, the moral of your story is that lifting weights and walking burn very few calories.

    I'm more familiar with activities like running, snowshoeing, and skate skiing that burn 500-1000 calories/hr. Sites like www.caloriesperhour.com are great for these kinds of calculations. Walking is a great place to start, but it is very low intensity exercise.

    I don't disagree that it's important to raise your BMR, but how exactly do you propose to do that without exercise? It seems like people will do anything to avoid exercise.

  12. Re:Obvious on Sport Is Unrelated To Obesity In Children · · Score: 1

    This is garbage.

    If TEE = BMR + PA + TEF, then if you increase your physical activity, you increase total expenditure. You talk as if PA is a fixed percentage.

    If I go out and do 1000 KCal of exercise, I've increased my TEE by 1000 KCal.

    Try cutting 1000 KCal out of your diet. That's pretty hard unless you eat total junk.

  13. Re:Inefficient use of human body on Using Gym Rats' Body Power to Generate Electricity · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm afraid you've been mislead. Take a look at www.caloriesperhour.com and do some calculations based on your weight. Jogging will come out on top.

    Yes, you can make the argument that powerlifting builds muscle mass and thus burns more calories at rest. Jogging raises your metabolism and essentially does the same thing.

    The number of calories burned is somewhat irrelevant though. For optimum health, you need both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Balance is good.

  14. Re:Computers as smart as "some" people im sure on BT Futurologist On Smart Yogurt and the $7 PC · · Score: 1

    Sure it does. It's called leverage.

  15. Re:Stats on Top 10 Digital Cameras on Flickr · · Score: 1

    Actually, I think the MP war is fading. The main difference between this and the MHz war is that the MP war is moderated by the need to store the pictures somewhere. The bigger the files get, the fewer pictures you can store on the same card. Consumers don't like this, I'm sure.

    There was a huge race at the beginning to get up to 4MP, but past there, progress has been relatively slowly trickling upwards.

    There are many other characteristics that consumers use to compare cameras: price, size/weight, LCD size, ease of use, zoom range, flash performance, etc.

  16. Re:OK, I'll be the party pooper here on Mice Produced Using Artificial Sperm · · Score: 2, Insightful

    People are having kids later than they used to, often because women have their careers to consider, which wasn't an issue in the past.

    So, either you create a society where women can have kids young and still lead a fulfilling life (i.e. do what they want to do, either work or not) OR you create the technology to allow a higher percentage of women to have kids when they're older.

  17. Re:No, geeks are lazy... on Health Problems Related to the Geek Lifestyle · · Score: 1

    Yes, if you spend 12 hours doing one thing, you will feel wasted afterwords. The moral is to not do one thing for 12 hours straight. Your life will be better. Seriously.

  18. Re:One time pads are _NOT_ secure, asswit on Totally Random One Time Pads · · Score: 1

    For those that don't know, here are the rules when using one-time pads.

    1. One time pads must be random. Not "random enough", but random.
    2. Do not re-use one time pads. Ever.
    3. Since both parties that want to communicate are going to need the same one-time pad, that one-time pad must be shared securely.

    #3 is probably what Lord Bitman is refering to when he says "One time pads are one of the least secure methods of secure communication." This is a problem with many forms of encryption called the key transfer problem.

    Even despite these limitations, I wouldn't call one time pads one of the least secure methods of secure communication. DES, 3DES, and in fact any form of symmetric encryption have the same problem.

    The key transfer problem certainly isn't insurmountable.

  19. Re:Clean food is good for you on Bring Home the Biotech Bacon · · Score: 1

    Although I don't disagree with you, it's also important to note that people react very differently to a high fat diet depending on their genetic makeup. Some people have a naturally high level of HDL cholesterol and seem to be completely unfazed by a high fat diet. Meanwhile, people who have a naturally low level of HDL cholesterol are dying in droves of heart disease. Your grandfather appears to be one of the lucky ones.

  20. Re:Name the Culprits on Two New WMF Bugs Found · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You have obviously never worked in professional software development.

    Software is developed by a team. No, not a team of programmers, but a team of people that may include architects, designers, UI designers, programmers, integrators, testers at various levels, management and marketing. This list changes in different environments. Often smaller, but sometimes larger.

    When a bug is found, who is responsible? Is it the programmer? Is it the tester that missed the bug? Is this "bug" actually a feature requested by marketing? Is this bug the result of mis-design? Was this bug either ignored or not found because of insufficient time allotted by management?

    It's easy to point fingers, but how do you decide who to point them at?

  21. Re:Tagging vs. Searching on Yahoo! Buys del.icio.us · · Score: 1

    Say what? Gmail allows you to apply as many labels as you like to an email. Well, ok, I only tried two, but still, you're not limited to one. In fact, anytime you add a label to a message that is still in the Inbox, it has two labels: Inbox and $yourlabel.

  22. Re:Tagging vs. Searching on Yahoo! Buys del.icio.us · · Score: 2, Interesting

    1) Google is about tagging too. Witness Gmail. Labels = tags.

    2) Personally, I don't see tagging and searching as competing Internet search philosophies. One is the table of contents and one is the index. You use both, just at different times depending on your need.

  23. Re:correct me if i'm wrong........ on Born with Couch Potato Genes? · · Score: 1

    You speak as if the two are mutually exclusive. It's possible to be both smart AND strong. In fact, having a strong, healthy body frees the mind. This is the basic precept of yoga, martial arts and other eastern practices.

  24. Re:Canada should sue too on Texas Sues Sony BMG over Rootkit · · Score: 2, Funny

    If by stern, you mean apologetic.

  25. Re:So why is Tamiflu withdrawn from customers? on A Flu Pandemic? · · Score: 1

    My girlfriend is a nurse who is currently giving flu shots. She says that Tamiflu has been withdrawn because the average person assumes they have the flu when they are merely sick. The government wants to prevent spurious usage.

    If you are at risk (traveling to Asia, for example), you can apply for an exemption for a prophylactic dose.

    This is in Canada, so YMMV.