SamSam

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• Commented on Understanding the psychology of authoritarianism
  I think that this book was written in an unfortunate manner. I think that there is a great deal of really interesting research that often does point to quite surprising differences in the way that liberals and conservatives think --...
• Commented on Galileo's fingers found
  I find it deliciously ironic both that his body was treated like that of a saint, when in fact the Vatican hated him at the time, and that it was the third finger that was kept, appropriately giving the Church...
• Commented on Technology to generate power from slow moving river and ocean currents
  I feel like there are new prototypes of these kinds of generators coming out every week. But why do we only ever hear about them when they are in prototype stage? Do any weird and new generators ever get out...
• Commented on Its healthy for kids to get dirty
  Now cue a whole bunch of angry people saying that this study only came out so that the government could start rationing antibacterial soap......
• Commented on Rethinking NIMBY: Why Wind Power Could Lead To New Ways of Defining (and Dealing With) Public Naysaying
  @sukaton: Have you stood near a vertical wind turbine? They're just as loud as the propeller type, as far as I can tell. They also are much less efficient that propeller types, so you need more of them to get...
• Commented on Rethinking NIMBY: Why Wind Power Could Lead To New Ways of Defining (and Dealing With) Public Naysaying
  I agree with wil9000: the attempts to prevent the Cape Wind windfarms from being built off of Cape Cod are pure NIMBYism. Cape Codians are as liberal and environmentally conscious as anyone, but they don't want green power if it's...
• Commented on Spectacular slow card-flourishes from Dimitri Arleri
  I don't think I would allow this man at my poker table....
• Commented on 3D scanning with a plain webcam
  It's impressive and at the same time it falls way short of being usable if the goal is, as stated, "model acquisition" What do you mean? It acquires a 3d model just by turning the object around in front of...
• Commented on People speak out on library censorship incident: “It’s dangerous to democracy when an interest group imposes its views on another.”
  I'm not sure that that is the issue. The people getting fired was what started this, but the question at the meeting appears to be whether Alan Moore's book should be allowed in the library. I'm saying it's a gray...
• Commented on Trompe l'oeil back-garden sink-hole
  Not sure why the original article didn't mention it, but this is actually the back yard of an Apple executive. In his words: I wanted someone to barf when they look at it. http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/apple-execs-backyard-designed-barfing...
• Commented on People speak out on library censorship incident: “It’s dangerous to democracy when an interest group imposes its views on another.”
  As an addendum to my above comment: What if, instead of being Alan Moore's work, it were that of Milo Manara? (Google image search link slightly NSFW, more so if SafeSearch is off.) Milo Manara's graphic novels are the kinds...
• Commented on People speak out on library censorship incident: “It’s dangerous to democracy when an interest group imposes its views on another.”
  I think this is pretty ridiculous, but not that ridiculous. If it actually were a Penthouse, for instance, would we be ok for kids to take the porno mag from the library? Would we be saying "Anybody on a 'library...
• Commented on "Where Are Your Keys?" a language fluency game
  Actually, from the site it doesn't look like it's the game that's being called "open source" but rather the curriculum: "The “Where Are Your Keys?” Language fluency game embodies… an open source curriculum project..." This makes a little more sense...
• Commented on Demonstrating TSA futility by stabbing dead pigs with pens
  I'm not so sure whether a planeful of passengers would bring down gun-toting hijackers anymore. A year or two after 9/11, sure. Everyone was remembering the heros who brought down that plane, everyone could see themselves as a hero. Nearly...
• Commented on Chumby One: handsome successor to the cutest computer ever
  It looks great, but how useful is it for the non- or only semi-hacker? It looks like it's got an internet connection and has a browser with Pandora on it. Are those capabilities right out of the box? That is,...
• Commented on Energy Literacy part One: Energy is invisible
  @Anon: No one said that anyone would "save" a watt, so I don't know where the quotation marks come from. Rather, the article discusses reducing your power needs by a watt (in the same way that switching from a 60W...
• Commented on Klingon as a First Language
  Um, I'd say it strays a little closer to the "child abuse" side of that line. I'm also interested in the mother (assuming she was part of the family at the time). She went along with this?...
• Commented on Portrait of the blogger as a young D&D addict
  You know, I actually agree with #2: this was actually quite remarkably balanced. I think they were actually posing a legitimate question when wondering what exactly role-playing does to a person's mind. Sure, we know now that the answer is...
• Commented on Infographic: Projected pot tax revenues
  .I mean, who breaks the law knowing that they will most likely get caught, have jail time and/or large fines? Uhhh... apparently one in three Americans 12+, according to that graph. Don't use the "they broke the law, they deserve...
• Commented on Was Demi Moore Ralph-Laurenized on "W" mag cover, with missing hip-flesh?
  I too think that this may well be her real hips. In that position, there really is a dip before the thigh muscle starts. It's hard to tell though, so I won't be betting any money either way....
• Commented on Hiney Virus Update
  What makes you say it was overblown? Did you read the article?...
• Commented on Is There Really A Water Crisis?
  Well, first of all, I don't run my tap all day. My point was that if I did, it wouldn't affect anything outside of the NYC watershed. It's not a global issue. Anon's point (or one of his points at...
• Commented on Hiney Virus Update
  Thanks, this is a great post. Many completely smart people are confused as to the apparent contrast between the Hiney warnings and the (apparent) low numbers of deaths. This clears that up nicely. @Salsaman: I think people know what "hiney"...
• Commented on Mark Dery on 2012 bunkum
  Um, wait, what? So all this is harmful, but only given that the people who sell the bunkum go on to buy cocaine? Ok. So if they don't buy cocaine, it's not harmful? And if someone else entirely buys cocaine,...
• Commented on Mark Dery on 2012 bunkum
  @Kilgore Trout: Um... did you miss the point of the article? Did you read any comment here that suggests that 2012 will be the end of the world? Or any comment that suggests that the Maya thought that 2012 would...
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  One addition, though: if your child didn't understand it, then it should have been explained better, or at least the homework should have included an explanation so that the parents could help. Great evidence-based teaching methods are only so good...
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  This is a GREAT exercise, and the research literature supports it. The idea is that young students should become fluent in the mental re-arrangement that most people who are fluent in math do subconsciously. When we add 8 + 3...
• Commented on Oil running out faster than the International Energy Agency admits, says whistleblower
  Why would this make treehuggers "jump up and down with glee?" Treehuggers don't want cities to increase use of solar panels because they randomly want people to spend money, but because they recognize that drilling for oil isn't sustainable, either...
• Commented on Oil running out faster than the International Energy Agency admits, says whistleblower
  I digress. The graph. It's a market percentage prediction graph. So the sharp decline we see in the crude oil section, is a decline relative to the other possible energy sources in the market. This doesn't seem to be supported...
• Commented on Mark Dery on 2012 bunkum
  That's not the case with a lot of paranormal beliefs. These are adults who should know better. They are spending millions of dollars a year. It isn't as harmful as say a lot of the anti-vaccine nonsense or other alternative...