Re:Herbal medicine has limited value
on
Trick or Treatment
·
· Score: 2, Informative
But the concept that if something is toxic in large doses that a small dose might have medicinal effects is not crazy at all.
The author of TFR (in addition to apparently having run out of apostrophes) forgot to mention the other lynchpin that marks homeopathy as a fraud.
It's not just the dilution aspect. It's that the substances are chosen based on their ability to cause similar symptoms to what they're supposed to treat. Because the less you use of the substance, the less it causes those symptoms. Therefore, the "reasoning" goes, the less of it you use, the more it will remove those symptoms when they already exist due to a different cause.
It may be cute in the movies, but there are no options for head mounted displays that will do what you want to do, essentially live in the visor.
Agreed. VR systems have a lot of challenges to address, but the biggest one IMO is the visual part. You've tried out a much broader range of HMDs than I have, but our experiences are very similar.
I was disappointed enough that I've more or less discounted that type of interface until someone comes up with a high-resolution direct feed into the optic nerve or the brain itself. As someone who grew up reading cyberpunk fiction, I cannot stress enough how great that disappointment was.
Outside of true VR, the Cave approach seems like the best one to me, but that won't address the question in TFS because it's not portable or private.
You know, if we were standardizing cables, there's absolutely no reason we can't create a very simple, low-power protocol for a multi-voltage transformer to query what kind of power a device needs.
Wouldn't it be simpler to pick 24v or whatever as the standard and just have each device contain a voltage regulator that takes it down to the appropriate voltage? I have to imagine that would be cheaper than an intelligent multi-voltage system.
Have you run into trouble with customers who find out that they can't get support from Cisco for their secondhand gear? Or worse, threats from Cisco for running unlicensed OS/firmware? Cisco makes great hardware in most cases, but I stay away from it like the plague myself because of those and other similar support/licensing policies.
Don't forget the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. I imagine the Air Force has a lot of pull with NASA, and that museum has managed to score a *ton* of incredible pieces of aerospace history, including a huge number of one-of-a-kind vehicles. They've got the last Valkyrie, Boeing's Bird of Prey, the static test B-2 airframe, the YF-22 prototype, the "Streak Eagle" F-15, etc.
I'd be interested to know if anyone wants to make a case that AFP is necessary, but my personal opinion is that it's only worth using if you're running an OSX server.
Our Mac people at work claim that the only way for the OS X file search utility to work correctly is via AFP. The third-party server software they use as an AFP server on Windows maintains a server-side index, which I imagine is why, although I don't know how much of that is a requirement with OS X as opposed to their specific configuration.
How the hell are we supposed to know what that means?! I would've named it Beer.
If WINE were a Microsoft product, this new 64-bit version would be called WINE32 in order to fit in with the revised Windows system-folder naming standard. The 32-bit version would be renamed to WINO64.
Most "enterprise" workers don't need anything beyond the built-in support in XP and Vista for zip files.
I do use 7-zip myself, but the interface is minimalistic enough that I'd be nervous recommending it to an office worker if they did need more advanced archive-handling for some reason. I was honestly shocked when I discovered that it was written specifically for Windows and not a port of a Linux app.
In colloquial English virtual is synonymous with pseudo.
That's how it's being used here too. A program thinks it's reading and writing to a contiguous block of memory at a particular address. That continuous block of memory doesn't really exist, and if it's being paged then there isn't even physical memory being accessed. Would you argue that VMWare's name is a misnomer just because real electronic computer hardware is involved and not some bizarre substitute like hydraulic logic?
What you do realize is 99% of the human population is dumber than headless chickens.
Most people are not incredibly knowledgeable about computers. There's a big difference. Pretty much everyone is very good at something. That's why some people get paid to sell merchandise, design hardware, repair engines, cook food, synthesize chemicals, or perform surgery, and others get paid to solve computer problems.
I can't help but think it was designed by someone who was pissed off that people didn't format their code the way he formatted his code. Since his way was obviously the "right" way, why not write a language that forces you to do it that way? Problem solved!
This is actually the main reason I haven't worked with Python beyond tweaking a few existing scripts. The funny thing is that (unless I'm misremembering the syntax) I already code using that style in other languages. But the idea of forcing that style on everyone annoys me enough to put me off of the language as a whole.
I was really hoping that 3.0 would remove that petty stupidity. Doing so would even retain backwards compatibility with prior versions!
In Business/Industry, if it does the job, then why change it? Especially when changing it will cost money. Thats why I still see windows 98 based machines running VB6 Apps.
Because as someone else put it in this thread, the world is changing around that system. For example, if a company has to implement Payment Card Industry-compliant security, then those Windows 98 machines have to go. As a side-effect, anything that won't run on a supported version of Windows has to go too.
What's wrong with a prisoner being held at the "OfficeMax Federal Penitentiary"? And do you really care if the state trooper that pulls you over has a few logos on his car or not?
It's too likely to lead to preferential treatment for the executives of the companies doing the sponsoring.
Um, strawman. "God, Rest ye merry Gentleman" is not Dogma.
Christmas as the modern world knows it is something that came after the Bible was written. So where is your cutoff date for dogma versus modern belief?
I don't have time to research it in a huge amount of depth, but according to the Wikipedia article on Christmas, it was argued by the Pope in the 18th century that Christmas was actually the date of Christ's birth.
The song I quoted is from the 19th century at the latest, and allegedly "centuries" older.
So in any case, I think it's misleading at best to claim "[Christmas] was never intended to celebrate the anniversary of His birth".
Of course, the real meaning has never been "Christmas was the Christ's birthday". Christmas is a celebration of His birth, but was never intended to celebrate the anniversary of His birth.
"God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day. To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray."
You can do that online (BBB.org); my experience is that a real person in Texas will respond and help resolve it.
I think it depends on the area. I'm in Washington, and a few years ago I tried to go through the BBB to resolve a dispute with a company up here who will remain nameless.
I explained in detail the situation - that I had been charged for a service I didn't believe I agreed to, that I couldn't resolve it with the company, and that as a result I'd filed a chargeback but it was still in progress.
I got a response back indicating that the company was willing to waive the charge if I hadn't filed a chargeback, and asked if I would agree to those terms. I explained again that I had already filed one (months ago at that point), so I couldn't agree to those terms.
The BBB responded that because I had refused an offer, the case was closed and I was out of luck. I tried to get an answer about how I was supposed to accept an offer that I (and presumably the company) already knew I couldn't fulfill, but never got one.
It really gave me the impression that the BBB in this area is basically in the pocket of local companies.
My take on Dead Space is that it was made to be the most awesome homage-in-game-form to sci-fi horror ever. The two most obvious influences are the Alien series and Event Horizon, but it's also got a lot of Solaris (the original and remake), Sunshine, and virtually every other film in the genre. The author of TFA basically admits up front that it succeeds at this. Is it possible that it could be even more awesome if it had a more original story? I guess, but then it wouldn't be the same kind of game. It seems to me as if someone went to see Michael Bay's Transformers or Armageddon, and then complained that the giant robots should have had deeper and more believable motivation or that they saw Bruce Willis' tearful goodbye a mile away. I like originality and interesting stories as much as (nearly) anyone, but I also think that it's OK for a game or movie to be fun without a lot of either of those things, as long as the execution is top-notch. It's one of the reasons I love The Criterion Collection - the same company releases films as disparate as Solaris (the original) and Armageddon, and they treat both equally in terms of additional content.
But then those games doesn't require DX 10 and would run just fine without that crap to.
I think you're missing the point.
Current virtualization software supports 3D hardware either poorly or not at all. A full-featured software renderer might let games and other 3D apps from a few years or more ago run at full speed with the look of 3D acceleration on new hardware in a virtualized OS. That would be really handy for software that isn't compatible with newer versions of Windows.
Quantum physics tells us that in some situations, it's not possible to measure all aspects of a particle at once.
Even setting that aside, just because it's possible within the constraints of the physical universe to measure something doesn't mean that we as humans have the technology to measure it.
Even setting that aside, most people who believe in souls attribute some sort of metaphysical and/or supernatural aspect to them - that is, it has aspects that extend beyond the purely physical universe. To use a potentially strained metaphor, the code for Tempest running in MAME can't tell that it isn't running on the real hardware (assuming the emulator is fully accurate), but that doesn't mean nothing outside of its emulated environment exists. Another would be the graviton - most physicists seem to think they exist, and we can certainly measure the effects of gravity, but we can't detect the messenger particles themselves currently.
It's one thing to say there's no physical evidence of a soul, but it's pretty arrogant to use that as the basis for claiming that it doesn't exist at all. Until we've fully reverse-engineered the universe (including how self-awareness works), I'm staying neutral on the topic.
Linux is pretty much ready for any n00b to come along and use it for everything but the latest commercial games
Linux has made a *lot* of strides in the last few years, but it's still got a ways to go.
I've been running Kubuntu on a couple of machines, and am amazed at how usable it is. I'm planning on setting up my next workstation to dual-boot, because I will be able to do all of my non-specialized work on it and then boot into XP for things I can't run on Linux.
However, even running it on some spare machines has revealed that there is still often the need to do things like edit xorg.conf and manually specify what my monitor is capable of. Otherwise my choice is "slow open-source NVidia driver" versus "fast proprietary NVidia driver at 640x480 only". End users should *never* have to look up monitor specs to get a normal resolution. Especially on hardware like a GeForce 5200-based card connected to a ViewSonic CRT, both of which are hardly bleeding-edge.
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But the concept that if something is toxic in large doses that a small dose might have medicinal effects is not crazy at all.
The author of TFR (in addition to apparently having run out of apostrophes) forgot to mention the other lynchpin that marks homeopathy as a fraud.
It's not just the dilution aspect. It's that the substances are chosen based on their ability to cause similar symptoms to what they're supposed to treat. Because the less you use of the substance, the less it causes those symptoms. Therefore, the "reasoning" goes, the less of it you use, the more it will remove those symptoms when they already exist due to a different cause.
It may be cute in the movies, but there are no options for head mounted displays that will do what you want to do, essentially live in the visor.
Agreed. VR systems have a lot of challenges to address, but the biggest one IMO is the visual part. You've tried out a much broader range of HMDs than I have, but our experiences are very similar.
I was disappointed enough that I've more or less discounted that type of interface until someone comes up with a high-resolution direct feed into the optic nerve or the brain itself. As someone who grew up reading cyberpunk fiction, I cannot stress enough how great that disappointment was.
Outside of true VR, the Cave approach seems like the best one to me, but that won't address the question in TFS because it's not portable or private.
You know, if we were standardizing cables, there's absolutely no reason we can't create a very simple, low-power protocol for a multi-voltage transformer to query what kind of power a device needs.
Wouldn't it be simpler to pick 24v or whatever as the standard and just have each device contain a voltage regulator that takes it down to the appropriate voltage? I have to imagine that would be cheaper than an intelligent multi-voltage system.
With new gear, part of the value is warranty and service. I have somewhere to turn in case of problem.
Yeah, exactly. I hate getting rid of working gear, but the cost of maintaining our own supply of replacement parts is huge.
it will run just fine for another 5 years.
Except that much sooner, MS is dropping support for Windows 2000, so you'll potentially be vulnerable to exploits.
Have you run into trouble with customers who find out that they can't get support from Cisco for their secondhand gear? Or worse, threats from Cisco for running unlicensed OS/firmware?
Cisco makes great hardware in most cases, but I stay away from it like the plague myself because of those and other similar support/licensing policies.
Don't forget the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. I imagine the Air Force has a lot of pull with NASA, and that museum has managed to score a *ton* of incredible pieces of aerospace history, including a huge number of one-of-a-kind vehicles. They've got the last Valkyrie, Boeing's Bird of Prey, the static test B-2 airframe, the YF-22 prototype, the "Streak Eagle" F-15, etc.
I'd be interested to know if anyone wants to make a case that AFP is necessary, but my personal opinion is that it's only worth using if you're running an OSX server.
Our Mac people at work claim that the only way for the OS X file search utility to work correctly is via AFP. The third-party server software they use as an AFP server on Windows maintains a server-side index, which I imagine is why, although I don't know how much of that is a requirement with OS X as opposed to their specific configuration.
How the hell are we supposed to know what that means?! I would've named it Beer.
If WINE were a Microsoft product, this new 64-bit version would be called WINE32 in order to fit in with the revised Windows system-folder naming standard. The 32-bit version would be renamed to WINO64.
7-zip instead of WinZip
Most "enterprise" workers don't need anything beyond the built-in support in XP and Vista for zip files.
I do use 7-zip myself, but the interface is minimalistic enough that I'd be nervous recommending it to an office worker if they did need more advanced archive-handling for some reason. I was honestly shocked when I discovered that it was written specifically for Windows and not a port of a Linux app.
So is there anyone looking at the "supergun" concept? or did the idea die out with Bull?
My understanding is that the usefulness of that design is limited because any cargo must be able to withstand such high G-forces.
In American, the phrase means 'x is trousers,' which is quite nonsensical.
Is it any more nonsensical than British peoples' apparent distaste for undergarments?
In colloquial English virtual is synonymous with pseudo.
That's how it's being used here too. A program thinks it's reading and writing to a contiguous block of memory at a particular address. That continuous block of memory doesn't really exist, and if it's being paged then there isn't even physical memory being accessed.
Would you argue that VMWare's name is a misnomer just because real electronic computer hardware is involved and not some bizarre substitute like hydraulic logic?
What you do realize is 99% of the human population is dumber than headless chickens.
Most people are not incredibly knowledgeable about computers. There's a big difference. Pretty much everyone is very good at something. That's why some people get paid to sell merchandise, design hardware, repair engines, cook food, synthesize chemicals, or perform surgery, and others get paid to solve computer problems.
I can't help but think it was designed by someone who was pissed off that people didn't format their code the way he formatted his code. Since his way was obviously the "right" way, why not write a language that forces you to do it that way? Problem solved!
This is actually the main reason I haven't worked with Python beyond tweaking a few existing scripts. The funny thing is that (unless I'm misremembering the syntax) I already code using that style in other languages. But the idea of forcing that style on everyone annoys me enough to put me off of the language as a whole.
I was really hoping that 3.0 would remove that petty stupidity. Doing so would even retain backwards compatibility with prior versions!
In Business/Industry, if it does the job, then why change it? Especially when changing it will cost money. Thats why I still see windows 98 based machines running VB6 Apps.
Because as someone else put it in this thread, the world is changing around that system. For example, if a company has to implement Payment Card Industry-compliant security, then those Windows 98 machines have to go. As a side-effect, anything that won't run on a supported version of Windows has to go too.
What's wrong with a prisoner being held at the "OfficeMax Federal Penitentiary"? And do you really care if the state trooper that pulls you over has a few logos on his car or not?
It's too likely to lead to preferential treatment for the executives of the companies doing the sponsoring.
Um, strawman. "God, Rest ye merry Gentleman" is not Dogma.
Christmas as the modern world knows it is something that came after the Bible was written. So where is your cutoff date for dogma versus modern belief?
I don't have time to research it in a huge amount of depth, but according to the Wikipedia article on Christmas, it was argued by the Pope in the 18th century that Christmas was actually the date of Christ's birth.
The song I quoted is from the 19th century at the latest, and allegedly "centuries" older.
So in any case, I think it's misleading at best to claim "[Christmas] was never intended to celebrate the anniversary of His birth".
Of course, the real meaning has never been "Christmas was the Christ's birthday". Christmas is a celebration of His birth, but was never intended to celebrate the anniversary of His birth.
"God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day. To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray."
You were saying?
You can do that online (BBB.org); my experience is that a real person in Texas will respond and help resolve it.
I think it depends on the area. I'm in Washington, and a few years ago I tried to go through the BBB to resolve a dispute with a company up here who will remain nameless.
I explained in detail the situation - that I had been charged for a service I didn't believe I agreed to, that I couldn't resolve it with the company, and that as a result I'd filed a chargeback but it was still in progress.
I got a response back indicating that the company was willing to waive the charge if I hadn't filed a chargeback, and asked if I would agree to those terms. I explained again that I had already filed one (months ago at that point), so I couldn't agree to those terms.
The BBB responded that because I had refused an offer, the case was closed and I was out of luck. I tried to get an answer about how I was supposed to accept an offer that I (and presumably the company) already knew I couldn't fulfill, but never got one.
It really gave me the impression that the BBB in this area is basically in the pocket of local companies.
My take on Dead Space is that it was made to be the most awesome homage-in-game-form to sci-fi horror ever. The two most obvious influences are the Alien series and Event Horizon, but it's also got a lot of Solaris (the original and remake), Sunshine, and virtually every other film in the genre.
The author of TFA basically admits up front that it succeeds at this. Is it possible that it could be even more awesome if it had a more original story? I guess, but then it wouldn't be the same kind of game.
It seems to me as if someone went to see Michael Bay's Transformers or Armageddon, and then complained that the giant robots should have had deeper and more believable motivation or that they saw Bruce Willis' tearful goodbye a mile away.
I like originality and interesting stories as much as (nearly) anyone, but I also think that it's OK for a game or movie to be fun without a lot of either of those things, as long as the execution is top-notch. It's one of the reasons I love The Criterion Collection - the same company releases films as disparate as Solaris (the original) and Armageddon, and they treat both equally in terms of additional content.
But then those games doesn't require DX 10 and would run just fine without that crap to.
I think you're missing the point.
Current virtualization software supports 3D hardware either poorly or not at all. A full-featured software renderer might let games and other 3D apps from a few years or more ago run at full speed with the look of 3D acceleration on new hardware in a virtualized OS. That would be really handy for software that isn't compatible with newer versions of Windows.
I imagine the target market is people who live off the grid, or want a backup in case the grid fails.
If something exists, it can be measured.
Quantum physics tells us that in some situations, it's not possible to measure all aspects of a particle at once.
Even setting that aside, just because it's possible within the constraints of the physical universe to measure something doesn't mean that we as humans have the technology to measure it.
Even setting that aside, most people who believe in souls attribute some sort of metaphysical and/or supernatural aspect to them - that is, it has aspects that extend beyond the purely physical universe. To use a potentially strained metaphor, the code for Tempest running in MAME can't tell that it isn't running on the real hardware (assuming the emulator is fully accurate), but that doesn't mean nothing outside of its emulated environment exists. Another would be the graviton - most physicists seem to think they exist, and we can certainly measure the effects of gravity, but we can't detect the messenger particles themselves currently.
It's one thing to say there's no physical evidence of a soul, but it's pretty arrogant to use that as the basis for claiming that it doesn't exist at all. Until we've fully reverse-engineered the universe (including how self-awareness works), I'm staying neutral on the topic.
Linux is pretty much ready for any n00b to come along and use it for everything but the latest commercial games
Linux has made a *lot* of strides in the last few years, but it's still got a ways to go.
I've been running Kubuntu on a couple of machines, and am amazed at how usable it is. I'm planning on setting up my next workstation to dual-boot, because I will be able to do all of my non-specialized work on it and then boot into XP for things I can't run on Linux.
However, even running it on some spare machines has revealed that there is still often the need to do things like edit xorg.conf and manually specify what my monitor is capable of. Otherwise my choice is "slow open-source NVidia driver" versus "fast proprietary NVidia driver at 640x480 only". End users should *never* have to look up monitor specs to get a normal resolution. Especially on hardware like a GeForce 5200-based card connected to a ViewSonic CRT, both of which are hardly bleeding-edge.