stratosfyr

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• Commented on Fancy thermochromic swine flu masks
  Influenza is spread both by contaminated surfaces AND aerosols from coughs and sneezes (tiny droplets of saliva and mucous full of virus). So, it is airborne. It just doesn't, you know, float around, emanating from the bodies of the fallen,...
• Commented on Biofeedback bracelet for stressed daytraders
  Made for man-wrists. Bah....
• Commented on Augmented reality rig that turns you into a character in a third-person game
  It'd be very interesting to see if this leads to less inhibition... or more self-consciousness. Sometimes it can be pretty enlightening to see yourself in photos, on video, or even in a mirror. You get to see how goofy you...
• Commented on Heroes and sociopaths: behavioral twins?
  I probably could have saved some time and just said: this is trait theory. (Primarily the two "Big Five" traits, Openness to Experience and Agreeableness.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_psychology#Trait_theories...
• Commented on Heroes and sociopaths: behavioral twins?
  I think this article is capturing part of the picture of two traits... empathy-selfishness and approach-avoidance. They aren't related, but someone high on approach (risk-taking, high-energy, go-getter attitude) is going to be noticed and do a lot more than someone...
• Commented on Cop gets 7-day paid vacation for Tasering child
  ... why do I always let myself play devil's advocate..? Xopher, it isn't obvious at all that I'd defend the cops no matter what. Besides the fact that I did it once, what are you basing that on? All I...
• Commented on Cop gets 7-day paid vacation for Tasering child
  My first reaction is anger at the cop... but then again... At 10, I'd already hit my major growth spurt and was about 5'3" and 130 pounds and quite capable of doing some damage, if motivated. I wasn't a violent...
• Commented on Conservative children's book vilifies Nancy Pelosi
  The sample passage on the site is essentially condemning credit cards, but in a sort of backwards way that vilifies lenders instead of encouraging saving, thrift, and responsible borrowing. I can't imagine how children would possibly understand that. Lending and...
• Commented on Real calculators modeled after desktop calculators
  @Gloria You clearly haven't sat an exam since the invention of SMS. Just having a cell phone on your person is practically grounds for expulsion these days. Anyway, my phone doesn't do fractions or stats like my Casio. Not that...
• Commented on Thieves who stole from child get a public shaming
  Years of research in behaviorism has shown that punishment works when it's swift, proportionate to the crime, and brief. Otherwise it doesn't work, or at least doesn't work well. a) Too slow, and it doesn't create a mental association of...
• Commented on Three-armed baby costume
  Let me just say, Corvidae is an awesome name for a kid. And that's a brilliant costume....
• Commented on Lost paper trail allows borrower to ignore $460,000 mortgage debt
  Property taxes (taxes in general) exist to pay for the services the government provides to property owners. Most generally, property rights: national defense, policing, courts etc. These just aren't optional; they're necessary to ensure that someone doesn't just come to...
• Commented on Nuclear transport trucks in US look surprisingly like regular old trucks
  Then you really ought to learn some science. Plutonium is the most deadly substance known. One *atom*, lodged in your lungs, will eventually cause cancer. That's, uh, actually not true. Pretty much by definition of "radioactive substance." Depending on the...
• Commented on Nuclear transport trucks in US look surprisingly like regular old trucks
  Well, as long as they're not open in the back so big ol' barrels of radioactive waste can just fly off and into the eyes of youngsters as they push blind old guys out of harm's way....
• Commented on Interview with author of Introvert Power
  What really gets me is when job ads say "The only thing you need is an outgoing personality!" Ugh....
• Commented on Machine translation fun
  I like when it answers itself: With great power there must also come great responsibility. Also, a large responsibility requires a large force....
• Commented on Review: Sennheiser's IE8 noise-isolating headphones
  Popvoid -- that's a really good point. I already find the idea of buying crazy-expensive headphones an iffy proposition, but if they sound really good I can see the appeal. (I'm too poor and cheap, but still.) The thing is,...
• Commented on Dutch government tries to stop 13-year-old girl from sailing around world solo
  Serious answer to Roku @77: I'm pro-choice and don't think she should be allowed to go. It's a very risky proposition and I doubt she's mature enough to handle it... much as having babies is a risky proposition that requires...
• Commented on Behold! The most hideous cellphone in the universe
  I dunno, I kind of like the enamely bit. If it were an iPhone case instead of an ugly phone, anyway....
• Commented on Disney Netbook
  Needs moar princesses....
• Commented on How to carry a laptop and a lapdog at the same time
  My dogs are also tiny (11 lbs total), 8 years old, and one of them has luxating patellas. They still love to walk but they don't like the noise of busy sidewalks, the threat of people stepping on them, and...
• Commented on Tienanmen Square erased
  After learning about it somewhat by accident, I tried to do a history project on the Chinese Cultural Revolution while I was in high school (in Canada). The internet would have been a big help if it had been mature......
• Commented on Brand timeline -- what brands do you interact with and when?
  I've been up for 30 minutes and I'm already thinking... LG, GE, Jamieson, Burt's Bees, Hakim, Bayer, Exact, NEC, MSI, BoingBoing, Google. In the next few minutes... Garnier, Colgate, Neilsen, Becel, President's Choice, Minute Maid... I'm going to have to...
• Commented on Death Star annihilates the Enterprise
  @30 Xeno: That doesn't settle anything....
• Commented on Mr. T on ghosts, UFOs, Pee-wee Herman, etc
  That last question. What the heck?...
• Commented on Trekker iPhone case mod boldly glues
  I nearly had the Global Frequency logo lasered to my phone, but alas the phone is rubber-backed and GF is mostly forgotten. Still I bet I can find a Trek sticker lying around. Wonder how similar a Bookeen looks to...
• Favorited Opening Skinner's Box: ten psych experiments that remade the world on Boing Boing
• Favorited Nebula Award winners for 2008 announced on Boing Boing
• Commented on XKCD: The book
  Well, I like xkcd. They should talk to Diamond Comics. It'd do gangbusters in comic shops....
• Commented on Get Back to Nature, With Henry David Thoreau
  I like to "go to the cottage" by closing the front door and opening the back....