I didn't design the fictional time machine, but I would describe the flux capacitor as part of the time circuit.
That said, I have conflicting memories of whether the Mr. Fusion provided power for the car to drive or if that came from gasoline. I vaguely remember the car running entirely out of power and being pushed into a driveway where Doc stuffed garbage into the Mr. Fusion, but I also remember gasoline in other scenes...maybe technology change between the 1st and 2nd movie?
Hooray, more ultra-high-resolution equipment for displaying low-res content to people who can't see the difference.
Anyway, most of the people who will buy this stuff are middle-aged and old people who get suckered by Circuit City salesmen and can't even see the resolution of a 20 year old 27" tv hooked up to a VHS tape.
Yeah, actually, I don't remember if I had that tested before or after the weight loss anecdote, but my thyroid was found to be normal...which leads me into another rant:
Damned doctors don't want to chase symptoms and problems and bothersome things unless they think it's an immediate threat to your life. I went to a doctor who is universally described as very patient and helpful, but he didn't want to help with my difficulty sleeping, my perceived eating problem, my weight problem, ingrown toenail, etc.
Anyway, that was all years ago. Now I only bother to go when I've got something that needs immediate attention.
When I get medical insurance again, I'm going to specialists for a few things...
And these are the people who would probably be alcoholics or drug addicts otherwise.
...and at that point, their addiction would be taken seriously and treated. Instead, they escape treatment by being addicted to WoW and behaving worse than if they just got drunk or high every night.
I too combined calorie reduction with exercise. I tried pretty hard to keep all necessary components in my diet. I think my natural functional weight is just higher than the media wants me to believe.
Some years ago, I tried losing 40 pounds to come down near the weight recommended as ideal for me. I got to 170 and found that I just didn't feel healthy and strong. I ate healthy and balanced but I felt sickly. I couldn't function well, even after months of healthy habits and being told I look great.
Now I'm back at ~210 and I feel good. I've got a belly and man boobs and I can walk, bicycle, or do heavy work all day. Oh, and I get to eat whatever the hell I want, and however much of it I want. Three pounds of ravioli? Sounds like fun. A Wendy's triple greaseburger with a huge side of fries? No problem. A 24oz steak? Don't forget the loaded potato. That huge jug of cheeze balls from WalMart? My teeth and hands will be orange, and the container will be empty.
An individual's healthy weight is best determined by that individual. Call me obese if you want, but I know when I'm at my appropriate weight.
If I wasn't currently dependent on our internet connection for degree-critical work, I'd have accidentally cut off our internet connection, just to give him a few days of reality.
I did that to my wife. It didn't stop her, and it doesn't stop most. They find another connection. Destroy the computer, and they find a way to get another computer or just use someone else's computer.
When the addict is a dependent or child, there are actually a few more options. Normally, it is not effective to force someone out of the game; however, I suspect that parents forcing a child out of the game can be effective. However, as his brother, I'd start by reminding him that unshowered nerds sitting at their computers 24/7 never get laid.
It might be a good idea to stop enabling him, too.
You may want to join the WOW_widow Yahoo group that I linked earlier.
We reconciled after she quit WoW. She got professional help. She does have an addictive personality, but other addictions (TV, Red Sox) haven't caused any destruction, while WoW has.
You can't pause or Tivo your WoW addiction, it doesn't cost much to feed the addiction, you can't get put in jail for it, and physical health problems don't stop you from using WoW. If all that's not bad enough, society in general does not even recognize the potential addictiveness of WoW for the sort of people who can get addicted, so it doesn't get the serious attention that other behavioral addictions get (sex and gambling come to mind).
You are mostly correct. However, WoW addiction tends to be quite destructive, and WoW is designed specifically to pull in potential addicts*. You MUST fix the problem that pushed the person into WoW addiction; but WOW widows commonly find that repairing the root problem doesn't pull the addict out of WoW or even reduce the symptoms.
Whether or not you blame WoW, the resources I posted near the top of this thread are useful for finding out what caused it and what can be done about it.
*: Remember honor decay, anyone? That's gone, but it's one specific and easily named example. Blizzard has everything to gain and nothing to lose by addicting people; they have no reason not to...but they have $$$ to gain and investors to satisfy.
I'm not sure I understand the question, but I'll try to answer:
Just because you cure the depression (or other problem) that has pushed someone into WoW, doesn't mean that they will stop the destructive* overuse of WoW. Further, most severe WoW addicts who recover (and are healed of the original problem that pushed them into it) cannot just play a little bit; they get sucked right back in to the destructive* overuse of WoW.
I've learned this through my own personal experience and my studying of support groups and of individual cases.
*: By "destructive", I mean that they destroy themselves, their relationships, their careers, their families, and often other stuff too.
What you say could be applied to other behavioral addictions such as gambling, or even to substance addictions. It could also apply to lifestyles of gangsters or welfare abusers.
Anyway, I've _never_ heard of anybody treating fishing the way that people commonly treat WoW. I've never heard of people wasting away and getting diseases because they're too busy fishing to eat or take care of themselves. I've never heard of.... you know, I don't need to write out that list of symptoms again, they're in another post of mine in this thread: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=254913&cid=199 82151
So, how destructive must it be before you describe it as an addiction?
I thought my wife was addicted to television (brain-sucking "reality" television, at that!), but then she got addicted to WoW and I learned the meaning of "behavioral addiction".
She cannot be in a room with a tv and not have it on. She cannot do anything without having a tv on. We have a tv in the bathroom, fer FSM's sake!
She turns the tv on, then starts doing whatever it is she intended to do, and I come over and find it on an infomercial or some show she hates. If I ask why she's watching that, she says she isn't but she had to have the tv on; and if I turn it off she asks why the hell I just turned off her tv.
So, she is a compulsive tv watcher, however, it is not an addiction:
-She doesn't watch 22 hours in a row from 8am to 6am 7 days per week
-She doesn't leave energy drinks and fast food remains piled up because of tv
-She doesn't become less functional without it
-She does not get physical or psychological symptoms if it is removed
-She has never lost a job over it
-She wouldn't discard her marriage over it
-If she had to watch less tv, then watching a little wouldn't force her to watch at all times
-She wouldn't say nasty things to her friends and family just to get them to go away so she could watch tv
-There are worse things that I won't even list here, but you get the idea The opposite of all of the above applied to WoW when she was addicted.
Dear god that looks amazing. The cylindrical battery in the hinge is inspired.
I had a laptop with a cylindrical battery placed similarly.
Actually, it took a series of cylindrical batteries. I can't remember if they were C cells or D cells.
Come to think of it, that laptop, which ran CP/M on a Z80 processor, also used solid state storage. Technology comes around again to the same thing, I guess.
One day in Biology class I noticed the room was quite hazy. I looked down and realized there was smoke emenating from my backpack. I opened it up and took the batteries out of the laptop. That was the end of that laptop. I wish I still had the remnants of that thing, it could be a nice conversation piece. To this day I prefer joe as my text editor because of its Wordstar-like commands.
Ergo, there are now x-y in the stockpile. Change x and y a bunch of times, run equipment out the back door of army bases when inspectors visit, stall, delay, lie, and prevaricate, and the simplest explanation becomes "They have (x-y) plus or (minus some uncertainty factor) weapons in their stockpile and the reason they keep lying to us is they don't want us to catch them."
"We hear that you've got weapons of mass destruction. You better not have any." "We heard that you still have them. Don't make us come in there!" "We're coming, and you better not have weapons of mass destruction when we get there!" "We'll be there in 10 days, you better not have weapons of mass destruction!" "We're here, you better not have weapons of mass destruction!" "Hey, where'd the weapons of mass destruction go?"
Duh. Kinda like: "This is the police. We've heard you've got drugs in there." "We're going to come and find your drugs." "You better not have drugs when we get there." "Okay, we're coming on the 25th to get your drugs." "Knock knock! We're here! You better not have drugs." "Hey, where'd the dugs go?"
Of course if the cops repeatedly warn a drug dealer that they're coming on a specific day to raid his place, he's going to get the crack factory out of there and destroy all evidence that there ever was anything illegal going on. Why wouldn't Saddam do the same?
Thinking that the RIAA could conceivably stop attacking their customers: Ok, I suppose it's possible.
Thinking that WoW addicts can pull away from the game long enough to write to congress, or even long enough to read through Slashdot until they get to your comment: Totally unrealistic.
Forget the WoW addicts, they're a lost cause. They don't care anyway, all they want to listen to is the WoW music that they already get as part of their paid WoW subscription.
The last time I was in a casino, I realized that out of the thousands of drones sitting at machines, not a single one was smiling. Aren't they there to have fun? Must be something like grinding and farming in an MMORPG...lots of unpleasant time spent "having fun".
I repeat: Thousands of people. Zero smiles. Legions of bleary-eyed bleak-souled drones.
I have no moral problem with gambling, and it doesn't bother me that there are four casinos within two hours drive of my house...but I just can't understand why any of those people are there, doing that. They sure don't look like they're having fun. (And, you may ask, why was I there? Restaurants.)
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks, my memory was pretty foggy.
Only one question remains: What kind of power was used to make the car fly?
I didn't design the fictional time machine, but I would describe the flux capacitor as part of the time circuit.
That said, I have conflicting memories of whether the Mr. Fusion provided power for the car to drive or if that came from gasoline. I vaguely remember the car running entirely out of power and being pushed into a driveway where Doc stuffed garbage into the Mr. Fusion, but I also remember gasoline in other scenes...maybe technology change between the 1st and 2nd movie?
I'm pretty sure they didn't have any engine under the hood...
(Rear engine, folks.)
Hooray, more ultra-high-resolution equipment for displaying low-res content to people who can't see the difference.
Anyway, most of the people who will buy this stuff are middle-aged and old people who get suckered by Circuit City salesmen and can't even see the resolution of a 20 year old 27" tv hooked up to a VHS tape.
Yeah, actually, I don't remember if I had that tested before or after the weight loss anecdote, but my thyroid was found to be normal...which leads me into another rant:
Damned doctors don't want to chase symptoms and problems and bothersome things unless they think it's an immediate threat to your life. I went to a doctor who is universally described as very patient and helpful, but he didn't want to help with my difficulty sleeping, my perceived eating problem, my weight problem, ingrown toenail, etc.
Anyway, that was all years ago. Now I only bother to go when I've got something that needs immediate attention.
When I get medical insurance again, I'm going to specialists for a few things...
I too combined calorie reduction with exercise. I tried pretty hard to keep all necessary components in my diet. I think my natural functional weight is just higher than the media wants me to believe.
They aren't "mentally equilibrated", because they're still addicted to WoW even though you've cured the depression or other underlying problem.
Some years ago, I tried losing 40 pounds to come down near the weight recommended as ideal for me. I got to 170 and found that I just didn't feel healthy and strong. I ate healthy and balanced but I felt sickly. I couldn't function well, even after months of healthy habits and being told I look great.
Now I'm back at ~210 and I feel good. I've got a belly and man boobs and I can walk, bicycle, or do heavy work all day. Oh, and I get to eat whatever the hell I want, and however much of it I want. Three pounds of ravioli? Sounds like fun. A Wendy's triple greaseburger with a huge side of fries? No problem. A 24oz steak? Don't forget the loaded potato. That huge jug of cheeze balls from WalMart? My teeth and hands will be orange, and the container will be empty.
An individual's healthy weight is best determined by that individual. Call me obese if you want, but I know when I'm at my appropriate weight.
Hell yeah. Fat chicks' mouths and tongues get a lot of exercise. Fat chicks are lonely. You do the math...
When the addict is a dependent or child, there are actually a few more options. Normally, it is not effective to force someone out of the game; however, I suspect that parents forcing a child out of the game can be effective. However, as his brother, I'd start by reminding him that unshowered nerds sitting at their computers 24/7 never get laid.
It might be a good idea to stop enabling him, too.
You may want to join the WOW_widow Yahoo group that I linked earlier.
We reconciled after she quit WoW. She got professional help. She does have an addictive personality, but other addictions (TV, Red Sox) haven't caused any destruction, while WoW has.
You can't pause or Tivo your WoW addiction, it doesn't cost much to feed the addiction, you can't get put in jail for it, and physical health problems don't stop you from using WoW. If all that's not bad enough, society in general does not even recognize the potential addictiveness of WoW for the sort of people who can get addicted, so it doesn't get the serious attention that other behavioral addictions get (sex and gambling come to mind).
You are mostly correct. However, WoW addiction tends to be quite destructive, and WoW is designed specifically to pull in potential addicts*. You MUST fix the problem that pushed the person into WoW addiction; but WOW widows commonly find that repairing the root problem doesn't pull the addict out of WoW or even reduce the symptoms.
Whether or not you blame WoW, the resources I posted near the top of this thread are useful for finding out what caused it and what can be done about it.
*: Remember honor decay, anyone? That's gone, but it's one specific and easily named example. Blizzard has everything to gain and nothing to lose by addicting people; they have no reason not to...but they have $$$ to gain and investors to satisfy.
I'm not sure I understand the question, but I'll try to answer:
Just because you cure the depression (or other problem) that has pushed someone into WoW, doesn't mean that they will stop the destructive* overuse of WoW. Further, most severe WoW addicts who recover (and are healed of the original problem that pushed them into it) cannot just play a little bit; they get sucked right back in to the destructive* overuse of WoW.
I've learned this through my own personal experience and my studying of support groups and of individual cases.
*: By "destructive", I mean that they destroy themselves, their relationships, their careers, their families, and often other stuff too.
What you say could be applied to other behavioral addictions such as gambling, or even to substance addictions. It could also apply to lifestyles of gangsters or welfare abusers.
.... you know, I don't need to write out that list of symptoms again, they're in another post of mine in this thread:9 82151
Anyway, I've _never_ heard of anybody treating fishing the way that people commonly treat WoW. I've never heard of people wasting away and getting diseases because they're too busy fishing to eat or take care of themselves. I've never heard of
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=254913&cid=19
So, how destructive must it be before you describe it as an addiction?
I thought my wife was addicted to television (brain-sucking "reality" television, at that!), but then she got addicted to WoW and I learned the meaning of "behavioral addiction".
She cannot be in a room with a tv and not have it on. She cannot do anything without having a tv on. We have a tv in the bathroom, fer FSM's sake!
She turns the tv on, then starts doing whatever it is she intended to do, and I come over and find it on an infomercial or some show she hates. If I ask why she's watching that, she says she isn't but she had to have the tv on; and if I turn it off she asks why the hell I just turned off her tv.
So, she is a compulsive tv watcher, however, it is not an addiction:
-She doesn't watch 22 hours in a row from 8am to 6am 7 days per week
-She doesn't leave energy drinks and fast food remains piled up because of tv
-She doesn't become less functional without it
-She does not get physical or psychological symptoms if it is removed
-She has never lost a job over it
-She wouldn't discard her marriage over it
-If she had to watch less tv, then watching a little wouldn't force her to watch at all times
-She wouldn't say nasty things to her friends and family just to get them to go away so she could watch tv
-There are worse things that I won't even list here, but you get the idea
The opposite of all of the above applied to WoW when she was addicted.
A PDA?
Here's a few links for people who are worried about WOW addicts:
http://soulkerfuffle.blogspot.com/2006/10/view-fr
http://wowdetox.com/
http://wowrecovery.com/
http://deletewow.com/
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/WOW_widow
http://www.wowrecovery.com/
http://www.wowdetox.com/view.php?number=13640
http://www.joystiq.com/2005/06/23/boy-dies-after-
http://www.joystiq.com/2005/11/04/wow-online-fune
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195236,00.htm
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/20/news_6127
The trouble with dirty lawyer logic is that it may be backed up by dirty lawyers.
Oh, and the word is "dealt".
Actually, it took a series of cylindrical batteries. I can't remember if they were C cells or D cells.
Come to think of it, that laptop, which ran CP/M on a Z80 processor, also used solid state storage. Technology comes around again to the same thing, I guess.
One day in Biology class I noticed the room was quite hazy. I looked down and realized there was smoke emenating from my backpack. I opened it up and took the batteries out of the laptop. That was the end of that laptop. I wish I still had the remnants of that thing, it could be a nice conversation piece. To this day I prefer joe as my text editor because of its Wordstar-like commands.
http://www.banjoben.com/picks.jpg1 -RED-DELRIN-THUMBPICK.gif
http://littlebrotherblues.com/Gear/Thumbpicks/905
"We heard that you still have them. Don't make us come in there!"
"We're coming, and you better not have weapons of mass destruction when we get there!"
"We'll be there in 10 days, you better not have weapons of mass destruction!"
"We're here, you better not have weapons of mass destruction!"
"Hey, where'd the weapons of mass destruction go?"
Duh. Kinda like:
"This is the police. We've heard you've got drugs in there."
"We're going to come and find your drugs."
"You better not have drugs when we get there."
"Okay, we're coming on the 25th to get your drugs."
"Knock knock! We're here! You better not have drugs."
"Hey, where'd the dugs go?"
Of course if the cops repeatedly warn a drug dealer that they're coming on a specific day to raid his place, he's going to get the crack factory out of there and destroy all evidence that there ever was anything illegal going on. Why wouldn't Saddam do the same?
Thinking that the RIAA could conceivably stop attacking their customers: Ok, I suppose it's possible.
Thinking that WoW addicts can pull away from the game long enough to write to congress, or even long enough to read through Slashdot until they get to your comment: Totally unrealistic.
Forget the WoW addicts, they're a lost cause. They don't care anyway, all they want to listen to is the WoW music that they already get as part of their paid WoW subscription.
The last time I was in a casino, I realized that out of the thousands of drones sitting at machines, not a single one was smiling. Aren't they there to have fun? Must be something like grinding and farming in an MMORPG...lots of unpleasant time spent "having fun".
I repeat: Thousands of people. Zero smiles. Legions of bleary-eyed bleak-souled drones.
I have no moral problem with gambling, and it doesn't bother me that there are four casinos within two hours drive of my house...but I just can't understand why any of those people are there, doing that. They sure don't look like they're having fun. (And, you may ask, why was I there? Restaurants.)