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arbitrarywords

112 karma · joined August 18, 2010

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arbitrarywords··on CRISPR tech selectively shreds cancer cells, including "undruggable" cancers
Looking through that, they seem to leave out what would be the most interesting comparison - expectancy adjusted for stage at detection against time? Edit Claude suggests the problem is bordering on intractable, but table 7 in this link is probably as good as it gets https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/caac...
arbitrarywords··on EFF is leaving X
This is an important point and it feels odd that the entire discussion seems to not be able to engage with it, but on another level it might be the same problem. As a long term financial support of the eff I'm starting to get the same awkward feelings that made me question my financial support for Mozilla and Wikipedia. Any time someone views the world through a single lens, it highlights some things and ignores others and it seems like a net loss to the world that everything is being forced into a being judged along a single (increasingly polarised) axis
arbitrarywords··on A battery has replaced Hawaii's last coal plant
I hadn't heard of the word either but I sure do have the condition! I was a triathlete at one point, but I would take a very large swing around the marker buoys just in case one might touch me... and the grandparents comment of "big spooky tubes" sent a surge of adrenaline through my body. I feel so seen:)
arbitrarywords··on Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay
As long as you are all happy with this. I'm still a little bit worried that the issue is Right There On the Table:)
arbitrarywords··on Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay
From an English background, I imagine we are sitting at a meeting. Something that is tabled is between us and under discussion. Something shelved has been removed from the table. What things are Americans visualising here when they say table?
arbitrarywords··on Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police
What about if the police had a dedicated fund for arrests. For the employer - they aren't allowed to sack the employee, but administrative costs of finding temp staff can be claimed from the fund. For the arrested, all cost of living expenses are covered until trial, but should they be found guilty, this becomes a CPI indexed, interest free debt. Any pre-conviction incarceration costs where accused is found innocent are also paid by the fund. This seems to grab most of the data in one account. But does also seem to add a big incentive to find people guilty...
arbitrarywords··on Meditation study shows changes associated with awareness, stress (2011)
I found Waking Up by Sam Harris pretty interesting. It's a bit more abstract than a how-to manual, more why and what. http://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Spirituality-Without-Religio...
arbitrarywords··on What You Can't Say (2004)
Well the impression I get is the idea of a "cultural" muslim is contested from both within and without the muslim community so I don't think it's quite that clear cut. Who gets to own the labels seems to always be a political battle. You could argue that it is only "reasonable" to use the label for those who hold the beliefs.
arbitrarywords··on What You Can't Say (2004)
If Islam <-> Muslim is completely false, curious as to how you would define the term?
arbitrarywords··on Wikileaks publishes 500k new Stratfor emails
Thanks. None of those quite seem to fit the email though. I'm guessing that the allusion in the email must have just been to general Klingon war-like attitudes.
arbitrarywords··on Wikileaks publishes 500k new Stratfor emails
I was wondering if the explicit naming of the weapons was supposed to refer to that exact scene in the Kubrick movie. Which, given it was one of the triggers of the slave rebellion make the original email seem possibly quite weird.
arbitrarywords··on Wikileaks publishes 500k new Stratfor emails
I'm assuming that there is some sort of Star Trek universe remake of the scene from Spartacus, but I can't seem to find it. If so, does it have the same set-up (slave gladiators battling for the amusement of the elites)? I'm not entirely sure this makes sense...
arbitrarywords··on MacKenzie Bezos Writes Amazon Review for Jeff Bezos Biography
Without addressing the politics of it, it seems a good guess that anyone named MacKenzie is a 13 year old girl. http://www.behindthename.com/top/search.php?terms=mackenzie&...
arbitrarywords··on Being alone
Maybe imagine you're a happily married account manager for a baby formula company and then when you go to professional conferences (of mostly women), every time you try to engage someone or get involved in a group conversation the talk subtly turns to nipple tenderness and mid-term horniness. It makes doing your job and life in general harder than if you were just another woman.
arbitrarywords··on Smart Things Jeff Bezos Has Said
with the proviso that the "additional input" is something more substantial that an opinion poll...
arbitrarywords··on Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)
Can recommend their "Robust Flavour" line. Really quite nice, fresh and olicey.
arbitrarywords··on What happened to innovation?
We might be slightly talking at cross purposes. I agree that something hot contains a lot of available energy. I'm making the point that it may not produce any available energy (i.e. inert in the sense of nuclear fusion).
arbitrarywords··on What happened to innovation?
For your point to be persuasive you need to add why temperature and density would increase power. e.g. one could have a core of extremely hot, dense inert material.
arbitrarywords··on Bioethicist says parents who don't vaccinate should face liability
While I agree that secret mass sterilization would indeed be bad, I found that article to be extremely non-persuasive in making me think that this is the case.
arbitrarywords··on Bioethicist says parents who don't vaccinate should face liability
The complication is vaccines have two benefits. 1. I am less likely to be infected 2. I am less likely to infect someone who can't be vaccinated. If you want people to leave you alone then you have to convince them that point 2 is less important than something else.
arbitrarywords··on Australian Government will offer 1Gbps this year to all NBN-connected homes
Nah, it's South Brisbane. They knocked down the old exchange for the hospital extension, Telstra installed fibre, supposedly eventually it will be rolled into the official NBN network, but until then, we get rates way worse than ADSL and I'm forced to pay $30/mth for a "landline" which I never use... still, it's worth it for the latency.
arbitrarywords··on Australian Government will offer 1Gbps this year to all NBN-connected homes
Not to mention latency, which is the most significant factor for me. I'm on semi-NBN and now have a 4ms ping to work. Only have to leave the house once a week (Warning: side-effects may vary).
arbitrarywords··on Denmark: 1,000 Megawatts Of Offshore Wind, And No Signs of Slowing Down
Yeh, this is the thing I always find a bit suspicious about nuclear power. If noone is prepared to price the risk (and can also realistically pay out on a claim) then how can you ever come up with a $/KW price for comparison?
arbitrarywords··on Show HN: My all-nighter project to find the best Google Reader alternative
If you solve this problem can you please reply to your comment with the solution. Thanks.
arbitrarywords··on Confessions of A Job Destroyer
Don't know if anyone is still reading this thread.. but I randomly came across a US version of this today too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps
arbitrarywords··on Confessions of A Job Destroyer
We have this thing in Australia called work for the dole http://deewr.gov.au/work-dole , basically a watered down version of what was suggested. It has had quite a few changes over the years and has been hugely politically unpopular, but in my post uni bumming around days, I was drafted into one of these programs, and it was really fantastic. Everyone whinged (as we will) but everyone enjoyed themselves and got satisfaction from actually doing something societally useful. I've never experienced anything quite like it in a government, commercial or non-profit environment. The camaraderie, the weird mix of people, the kooky old retired navy guy who ran the program - so much gold. I agree, that it's hard to do, but it did seem like it would solve some of the above problems.
arbitrarywords··on Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter
Yehhh, but... that's exactly what people say to themselves when they start. It won't happen to me because I (insert whatever here). Your brain may start to say different things without you really noticing, or if you do notice, it may seem to make a different sense later. You might want to have more safeguards than just this. An example of one is tell someone you trust what you are doing, talk to them about it, and write down somewhere, that if they tell you to stop you will stop. Even if they have changed. Even if they are a stupid idiot who doesn't understand anything and you don't even know why you were friends with them before etc. etc. etc. Slippery slope is slippery.
arbitrarywords··on It’s the Sugar, Folks
Yeh, so true. It's a good hint you're shopping right if you have to bend down a lot and, hey, free workout. Also I know a huge number of people who well know how to cook, but just don't get round to it. Something, something delayed gratification, future time orientation, blah. Also, why am I reading hacker news and looking at knowyourmeme when I could be cooking dahl and rice?
arbitrarywords··on It’s the Sugar, Folks
Yeh, meat and vegetables can be expensive. But, for example, a bag of lentils, a bag of brown rice, some tinned tomatoes and spices. That stuff is so cheap, none of it requires refrigeration and it's easy to cook large amounts using a single pot on a plug-in stovetop. Sure, there's a process around it, but almost by definition, if you're poor, then you've got a low hourly rate. Even these days, as a "proper grown up", if someone suggests getting food out, my instinctive reaction is "No, I can't afford that". I think the problem more lies with the sort of idea that was in a front page article a couple of days back (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5279307) the bad stuff is just so tasty - what can make different kinds of people choose to eat super boring lentils and rice over super stimulating delicious fat/salt/sugar?
arbitrarywords··on Massive Dosing - the LSD Thumbprint
There's no shortcut to being an interesting and clever person. You gotta put the hours in

I agree, but would mention that where drugs have been useful in my life is in generating interesting avenues to put the hours into. As a shy and awkward young person who had difficulty relating to people outside a very narrow personality type, at one party where I had taken some acid, I had a mild experience of egolessness, where I became aware of all the people at the party as "real" individuals, who were all intensely fascinating people, with amazing stories and experiences and outlooks, with whom I could engage. Of course, as you point out, the hard part is integrating that experience with the rest of your life, but you've got to have the idea first.

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