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User: drkoemans

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  1. Re:That's just gut-wrenching on Artificial Sweeteners Are Toxic To Digestive Gut Bacteria, Study Finds (cnbc.com) · · Score: 2

    You know what known to be toxic? Sugar. Not toxic merely to gut bacteria, toxic to you.

    Just for fun I looked up the LD50 for sugar. A 180 lbs person would need to consume 5.2 lbs of sugar to get to a 50% chance of dying from it. Toxic yes, but at impossibly high amounts. I get what your saying, sugar isn't good for you, but its toxicity level is pretty damn low.

  2. They absolutely were which is why I didn't vote for Obama when he ran for a second term. If I wasn't cynical before then it was certainly my turning point. It really doesn't matter which lizard you elect to office, they are all the same. While voting 3rd party is unlikely to do anything (particularly in my state which is 100% democrat), and all of the candidates are problematic in one way or another, I at least feel like I am saying to the political machine that the two party system sucks.

  3. Re:Venture capital fund - Is this another investme on Bill Gates Pledges $100 Million To Find an Alzheimer's Cure, His First Commitment To a Non-communicable Disease (reuters.com) · · Score: 1

    I think the philosophy behind the Gates Foundation (Seattleite here, not affiliated with the foundation or Gates himself) was to build a self sustaining foundation that would not drain the endowment. Bigger, longer projects with a very broad scope. It is a noble idea, I don't think there is anything wrong with capitalism particularly if the driver is the betterment of mankind but these things have a way of changing over time. Remember when Google's motto was do no evil? Just saying it isn't as nefarious as "he's trying to make money with his gifts," the message is a bit more nuanced than that. Whether they achieve that dream is another matter.

  4. The big advantage to high pay/cost of living... on Scraping By On Six Figures? Tech Workers Feel Poor in Silicon Valley's Wealth Bubble (theguardian.com) · · Score: 1

    Is your retirement fund. Being working poor and earning $150k a year will be a bummer but if you've done it right you'll likely come out the other side with assets like a plump 401k, options and real estate. Putting in your time under those conditions, assuming the stress doesn't kill you first, makes for a pretty sweet retirement. Dump those assets and move somewhere cheap and spend the rest your days (maybe retire at 50) living liking a king.

  5. Re:My Faves on Slashdot Asks: Your Favorite Podcasts? And Why? · · Score: 1

    Mine is almost identical to yours except I also have How Did This Get Made? and The Flophouse, bad movie podcasts that are hilarious.

  6. By Netflix they mean streaming services... on Netflix is 'Killing' DVD Sales, Research Finds (torrentfreak.com) · · Score: 1

    We owned media in a time where the burden of re-acquiring it was too great. Now that I can rent just about anything from Amazon or iTunes from the comfort of my couch precludes the need for me to permanently store it on site. Very few of the films I still own are available on Netflix. I doubt Netflix is solely to blame, it is the ubiquity of media on all the various services many of us subscribe. And if we've learned anything from the music industry, the film industry should be cheering this since subscription services are outstripping the revenue once seen by the music industry from media sales alone.

  7. Re:In this economy? on Cassettes Are Back, and Booming (fastcompany.com) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For a machine that will likely have had no maintenance and many consumable parts? If you don't mind paying half price adjusted for inflation for a used machine I've got 2000 Toyota Camry for sale right right now. Adjusted for inflation from what I paid new 2000 ($24,000) at half price (adjusted) that comes to $16,000. Current blue book is about $3000. I've probably got a washer/dryer set in a similar vintage I'm willing to make that same sweetheart deal on.

    The internet is full of comments like yours so I'll pretend to take you seriously for a second. I think the reason the price is so high right now (whereas they were pennies on the dollar a few years ago) is obviously the market is hot but more importantly there is a scarcity problem. My very high end Sony ES apparently died without me realizing it despite being kept in a production setting, though never used. So many of the rubber and plastic parts have degraded on these machines in 20 or more years that many of them didn't make it into the new century. That of course and many probably went into the dust bin long ago.

  8. Re: In this economy? on Cassettes Are Back, and Booming (fastcompany.com) · · Score: 3

    Essentially, yamaha MT120. I thought about just playing them in my standard tape deck and using software to flip it around and align the tracks but as I mentioned in my first post, my tape deck is broken too and I've been pissed about how expensive they are to replace. Getting back on topic though, I'm with everyone else in this thread, tapes really provide no value in this modern world. They were a hacky solution at best meant to solve the home recording problem. As a v1.0 they met the criteria but bring nothing to the party in 2017 other than sentimental memories.

  9. Re:In this economy? on Cassettes Are Back, and Booming (fastcompany.com) · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Clearly you haven't been paying attention. If you find a cassette deck for $.25 I strongly suggest you pick it up and throw it on ebay. My broken tape deck is selling in the neighborhood for $100 on ebay currently. I tried to buy an old 4 track recorder to salvage some band recordings I made in my teen years and I couldn't justify the expense at the current rate. They are selling for as much used as I paid for them new 25 years ago. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html...

  10. Re:eating less on Microbiome Changes Drive the Dieting Yo-Yo Effect, Study Finds (smh.com.au) · · Score: 1

    And, honestly, it STILL comes down to "YOU need to eat less". Short of individually tailored micromanagement of your gut, you're not going to ever really change what's in there.

    The same could be said of anything though. Your legs work YOU just need to fight through your crippling joint pain. Easy right? When you can't eat "normal" portions because your body is metabolizing the energy differently that everyone around you and you are constantly fighting hunger urges, there is an undeniable psychological weight on your being. Eating less is the right solution but to only half of the problem. The second half is the sticky bit and means either suppressing those urges (the wrong way as these solutions have been around for a long time and tend to kill you) or by addressing how your body metabolizes food (gut biome). One address the symptom and the other addresses the cause.

  11. Re:Not surpised on Samsung Washing Machines Recalled For Risk of 'Impact Injuries' (usatoday.com) · · Score: 1

    This. I just bought a new Maytag washer/dryer set a few weeks back and the installer said they were nice units. He said most of the new stuff is pretty good, everything but Samsung. Said he won't even install them for the reason cited above. I used to work in a music shop and all the repair guys had their conspiracy theories about what was shit and what is great and chalked it up to that. Had no idea the problem was as pervasive as this.

  12. I assume there is only one program on the disk.

  13. Re:So many problems with IFTTT on 'My Heroic and Lazy Stand Against IFTTT' (pinboard.in) · · Score: 1

    It's hard to complain about something free but you couldn't be more right. That, and the granularity of the features is garbage at best. Automating lights can only be set to a quarter of an hour. Poor feature support where certain aspects of a service cannot be controlled at all despite the API being exposed. The potential for IFTTT is immense but the execution leaves much to be desired. I'd pay for a full featured, responsive service but I'm left with only what could be. But hey, it is free.

  14. Re:Industry won't cooperate on Ask Slashdot: Linux and the Home Recording Studio? · · Score: 1

    This. Rarely does a DAW need to just lay down tracks like we did in the old days. Most of your effects are all digital and depending on the setup, some or all instruments as well. Compatibility with plug-ins is a must and Audacity, while it love it, doesn't cut it when up against ProTools, Cubase or Sonar. If you have an old school outboard rig, and you can find a compatible interface for Linux, you can recreate an old school 8-track system pretty easily. I don't think we're there yet for complex digital works with 3rd party plug-ins.

  15. Re:Rewrite? Don't you mean correct? on Auschwitz Museum Releases Software To Rewrite Holocaust Nomenclature (thestack.com) · · Score: 1

    Interesting. I stand corrected!

  16. Rewrite? Don't you mean correct? on Auschwitz Museum Releases Software To Rewrite Holocaust Nomenclature (thestack.com) · · Score: 1

    From the summary, this sounds like a tool that corrects or adds additional clarity to an otherwise ambiguous phrase. The word "rewrite" almost always has a negative connotation associated with the intent of obfuscating fact. Not sure why the submitter chose to use such a loaded term. I suppose it's possible it was copied from TFA but who reads that?

  17. Re: Not illegal everywhere on The Internet Falls For Rumblr, a Fake "Tinder For Fighting" App · · Score: 1

    This. Came here to say the same thing about Seattle. Not sure why everyone just assumes it is illegal and getting wound up about it. Here is video proof. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=...

  18. Re:School isn't there to enrich lives on Stop Taking All the Fun Out of Science · · Score: 1

    Same. I believe the idea was that high school kids would often have after school jobs and that was certainly true at the time. These days though few high school-er's have job, hell most college kids don't have jobs. I was on the football team and we had mandatory 0 period weight lifting which meant getting in at 6:30am. That was not great.

  19. Re:Won't stop the moral hysteria on Rare "Healthy" Smokers Lungs Explained · · Score: 1

    Often mis-attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes, the succinct phrase "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins." sums this sentiment up nicely.

  20. Re:Won't stop the moral hysteria on Rare "Healthy" Smokers Lungs Explained · · Score: 1

    It's rarely a good idea to reply to an AC but I'll bite. I'm not saying it's good or bad for you, I don't know but propylene glycol is the same stuff they use in artificial fog for stage smoke machines. I haven't heard of too many stage manager deaths related to smoke machines. Given the time I spent in rock clubs in my youth I'm sure I've inhaled gallons of the stuff. While it doesn't appear carcinogenic, it can be related to respiratory irritation.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  21. Re:Great idea! on Fitbit Wants To Help Corporations Track Employee Health · · Score: 1

    ...the real answer isn't wellness programs, it's get health insurance out of the hands of employers.

    This is exactly right. TFA isn't even a question if these two pieces are separated. Let's not band aid what is already a broken system, separate the two and if people want discounts/incentives from their insurer let them elect to wear a device, just like they are doing with auto insurance now. None of this has anything to do with my employer and we've only incentivized their interest in my personal life by attaching the two.

  22. Re:Passenger Weight Limits on Airline Begins Weighing Passengers For 'Safety' · · Score: 1

    True but in the first scenario we are talking about extra fuel expenditures. It literally costs more to fly heavier people. With volume, that is fixed regardless of load, flight duration etc. I'm guessing the average density of a human has some but minor variations regardless of fitness and yes I know muscle weighs more. Pegging volume to weight seems like it makes sense to me. I'm bigger (volume) than average therefore I weigh more. If I am paying more, it should be for both mass AND volume. The only question is in which direction is your additional volume, horizontal or vertical?

  23. Re:Passenger Weight Limits on Airline Begins Weighing Passengers For 'Safety' · · Score: 1

    Agreed. And I'm fine by paying by the pound. At 6' 1" 210 I'll pay more than the average. But since this is about weight and not volume and equitable distribution of that limited resource, the short people won't mind if I ask for their excess legroom to accommodate my height. It's only fair right? If we have adjustable fare's weight then I want adjustable seats based on height. Do that and I'm in.

  24. surrounding yourself with yes men on J.J. Abrams On "Star Wars" Cast's Racial and Sexual Diversity · · Score: 1

    I don't think anyone seriously believes Lucas is a racist. He was strangled by his own hubris and surrounded by yes men that should have said "hey, maybe this reads as a little offensive?" I saw a bit of a documentary and even Lucas seems to question the fact that he gets no push back from anyone. That is how we ended up with these turds (I-II-III). To that end the prequels are equal opportunity offenders and I think we can all agree there is something in there for everyone to DIS-like, we don't have to focus on racism/stereotyping alone.

  25. Re:Never heard that one before on J.J. Abrams On "Star Wars" Cast's Racial and Sexual Diversity · · Score: 1

    I'm Romanian, and I lived in Transylvania for 7 years, I even got some Transylvanian accent. Trust me, the Nemoidians do NOT have a Transylvanian accent. I didn't think they had a Japanese accent either. in fact, I didn't think any characters had a specific accent, nor did I care.

    Agreed, but it did seem to me that they had the stereotype of a dubbed japanese accent but you'd probably have to be familiar with the north american localized content for imported films to know that. Of course, George Lucas would have been...