klenow

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• Commented on Wingnut extreme: Glenn Beck says "Story of Stuff" is Commie propaganda
  GeorgeStanton: "Although, I'm not convinced people are less happy now than they were in the 50s." Nah, everyone loved the 1950s. It was one big happy nation back then. Well, except women, blacks, and homosexuals, but they don't really count....
• Commented on Treatment of intersexed African athlete appalling
  Just to chime in as a current research scientist that used to teach clinical physiology.... 1. Disorders of sexual development are associated with significantly elevated cancer risk. Technically, this is is a "potentially life threatening condition", but stating it that...
• Commented on Pigeons are faster than DSL
  Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway....
• Commented on They Might Be Giants: "Meet the Elements" music video (BB Video)
  I have a bunch of older TMBG stuff, and my kids listen to selected tracks from it a lot. Recently, my son was out back playing with some of the neighborhood kids. They had buil Lego spaceships and were fighting...
• Commented on NY police use trick to arrest people for pot possession
  remmelt, you bring tears to my eyes (in a good way)....
• Commented on Report: Deet, popular and potent insect repellent, is neurotoxic
  "Um, if you look at what plants are the most common now, they're ones that are edible by humans." whhaaaa---? I highly doubt that. I don't have numbers, but that does put our claims on equal footing. And I did...
• Commented on Report: Deet, popular and potent insect repellent, is neurotoxic
  I STAND CORRECTED.... I was talking out of my ass, I jumped before I looked, and I made some wrong assumptions. Fortunately for my ego, I did say "probably" several times in the above post. 1) I got curious, so...
• Commented on Report: Deet, popular and potent insect repellent, is neurotoxic
  Eh...it's a halfway decent inhibitor in vitro. 500uM isn't a horrible inhibitor, but it's not great, either. 500nM, I'd be impressed and a little concerned. Even 1uM, as they report in insects, I'd be cautious. But given the high Ki...
• Commented on Prominent Black professor arrested for entering own home while Black
  Sounds to me like Gates was the one with the narrative in his head. He & the driver were pushing on the door for 15 minutes. If I see two guys spending 15 minutes trying to force a door in,...
• Commented on People getting stuck on freshly tarred street
  So who's the jerk that just stood there and videotaped it for the lulz?...
• Commented on Video reveals NYPD allegedly fabricating drug arrest
  I'm sure that the adult in me would see this as an interesting and poignant commentary on modern police operational culture, but the kid in me can't get past the name "Maximo Colon"....
• Commented on Happy 35th Anniversary, 10-cent Beer Night
  We're all avoiding the obvious question here. Who the hell went to 10 cent beer night and thought, "You know, I need to bring some Thunderbird along with me, because there is no WAY I'm blowing $2 to get sloshed."...
• Commented on What plagiarism looks like
  I would say something about the socioeconomic status of plagiarism, but I'm poor and I can't risk it....
• Commented on Ex-drug czar John Walters made a fool on CNN
  @AnjaFlower, #22 re: dblomqu1 #6 I used to smoke it occasionally when I was younger, but don't now. I would, probably, if I weren't a parent. And it's because of the risk involved. In my state, if I'm caught, I...
• Commented on Elsevier has <em>an entire division</em> dedicated to publishing fake advertorial "peer-reviewed" journals
  Boycotting. There's not a lot that most people can do, but if you are in the scientific community, there are three things. One: stop referencing their journals. Not referencing them reduces their impact score, which is basically the journal's rating....
• Commented on Spanish Flu of 1918: how bad was it?
  "That was during the worst pandemic of the modern era and one which occurred in the days before the instantaneous communications of radio, television and the Web enabled quick public health responses. " ....and before jet airplanes. Also bear in...
• Commented on Untitled 2
  No, that's bullshit. There is no way that you could steampunk a narwhal with a guestblogger using only Cory Doctorow's surveillance cameras and a ukulele and make a vintage ad for llama bacon. You'd wind up with a longhorse....
• Commented on TED talk: Bonnie Bassler: Discovering bacteria's amazing communication system
  bbreader: I didn't watch the video, but I'm very familiar with the field (I work in it; QS and multispecies biofilm formation in infection). Quorum sensing (QS) systems are an accepted thing in the scientific community. LOTS of bacteria are...
• Commented on HOWTO set up a molecular biology lab for less than $1000
  Wow...memories. I used to use a cycler just like the PE one there. Only thing more old-school than that thing is three water baths and a tube rack (yes, hyperbole. Deal with it). Funny how some of the stuff just...
• Commented on Giant Star Wars pool toys and kites
  Hell, I didn't even notice the children for the HOLY CRAP, that's a tie fighter KITE. And the X-wing floaty thing has a SQUIRT CANNON on it. Sorry for the caps, but I really am yelling. And you people noticed...
• Commented on Many Restaurants Remain Oblivious to Mobile Web
  Get 'em the old fashioned way. Ask around. Don't bother with Top of the Hill. IMHO, it's Chili's level food. Edible, but that's about it. Great atmosphere, though. Fun place to grab a few beers after work. However, Carolina Brewery...
• Commented on When It All Falls Apart
  Although this is a little over the top, this is a geekout topic for me. I've always loved post-apocalyptic fiction; Earth Abides, Canticle for Leibowitz, The Stand, Cat's Cradle, etc. I have plans, and I am prepared with marketable, useful...
• Commented on Proposal to allow publishers to charge for access to tax-funded research
  To clarify... I am fighting this. I have written the appropriate Congress members and have organized colleagues to do the same. We will fight louder as it gets closer to being a reality. If it gets closer to being a...
• Commented on Proposal to allow publishers to charge for access to tax-funded research
  GAH...hit on my pet peeve. I am a scientist. I am livid about this bill (and yeah, I've already fired off letters to the appropriate congresscritters, along with many of my colleagues). A few years ago when the NIH said...
• Commented on NASA-sponsored Singularity University offers grad courses in accelerating technological change
  @12, freedryk: The Big Ones I can think of: 1875 - 1909 : Electricity, powered flight as a novelty, radio invented, Einstein's glory days, telephone, fountain pen, internal combustion, motion pictures. Serious stuff, no doubt. Most of these, however, were...
• Commented on The case against Candy Land
  A little age perspective, please... If I saw my 7 year old daughter seriously reading "See Spot Run," I would get concerned. If I saw my 4 year old nephew doing the same thing, I'd be impressed. Games come in...
• Commented on Bike-light that paints a laser-lit bike-lane on the road around you
  Do want. I don't care if it's effective. I really don't. It paints a bike lane around you with lasers. Laser + bike. How is that not freakin' sweet? I am a bike commuter. I have the reflectors, the lights,...
• Commented on The Sweet Delirium of the Perfect Eggnog
  Ahhh.....egg nog. We have our old family recipe, and I make it every year. New people who come to our holiday parties balk at first, horrified by the idea. But once they see the regulars fight over line position, they...
• Commented on Arab shoe-tossing isn't a gesture of friendly affection
  The information is important. Personally, I never knew that throwing a shoe at someone had special significance to Arabs. When I heard about this, my first thought was that somebody spontaneously got really, really pissed off about something Bush said...
• Commented on Comfort with meaninglessness the key to good programmers
  "Very few, so far, have predicted that the consistent group would be the most successful. Remarkably, it is the consistent group, and almost exclusively the consistent group, that is successful." I'm not a programmer, so maybe this is just my...