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raincom

3,541 karma · joined September 16, 2014

glad.gift6991@fastmail.com
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raincom··on JFK files expose family secrets: Their relatives were CIA assets
Movies portray spies as some special operations people. However, most of the academics in humanities are potential spies: they gather intelligence by offering fellowships, scholarships and grants to people from abroad to stay at hosting institutions' "Depart of Government", "Center for Peace", "Department of Political Sciences", "Department of Asian studies", "Center for conflict resolution". The targets are usually other Ph.Ds and others who are connected to the elite in the target countries.
raincom··on The Rise of the Japanese Toilet
Squat toils + bidet attachment is better than squat toilet and a jug for water. No dispute about that. Sit down toilet + hand held bidet attachment is worse than sit down toilet + bidet inside in the toilet without using hand. My answer was about sit down toilet with hand held bidet attachments; how Indians discovered these hand held bidet attachments.
raincom··on The Rise of the Japanese Toilet
I have been using Neo180 manual bidet for 5 years, which I bought for Amazon. Replaced it last year with the same model. I don't like manual handheld sprayer bidets, which are popular in the Middle East; later, they spread to SE Asia, now South Asia, Russia.
raincom··on The Rise of the Japanese Toilet
I used it in Indian hotels. Sure, one should get 30 day practical course on how to use bidet spray without wetting the whole restroom, without spraying junk around. If that is what initiation is, it is a failure in my considered opinion.
raincom··on The Rise of the Japanese Toilet
Well, Indians have learned this technology from abroad--mostly Middle East, thats where many Indians work. Of course, now Indian companies make those sprayer bidets.
raincom··on The Rise of the Japanese Toilet
Those hand sprayer versions are bad to use and unhygienic too, because fecal matter gets sprayed beyond the toilet bowl. I know why Arabic countries prefer hand sprayer versions: istinja practices of Islam.
raincom··on The ‘white-collar bloodbath’ is all part of the AI hype machine
Now one has to work 60 hours to afford housing(rent/mortgage) and insurance (health, home, automotive). Yes, food is cheap if one can cook.
raincom··on The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon in the Standard Model: an update
Often times, anomalies to existing theories bring "scientific revolutions". In this case, it is good to see anomaly being resolved with fixing the lab and the computational apparatus.
raincom··on Chomsky on what ChatGPT is good for (2023)
It is ontological emergence vs epistemological emergence, not philosophical vs ontological. Simply, ontic vs epistemic.
raincom··on Trump administration halts Harvard's ability to enroll international students
Sorry to ask, who is "their primary lobbyist with the GOP"?
raincom··on Trump Threatens 25% Tariffs on Apple If iPhones Not Made in US
In the third world, $1M is hardly considered as a bribe. For large contracts in the third world, companies pay 20% as bribe. That's why Benazir Bhutto's husband is called "Mr 10%". In India, regional parties rule many states; the big bosses there want 20%.
raincom··on Observations from people-watching
"Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology". Earlier, Missiology used to be called as "Practical Anthropology". Even today, the best materials for learning phonetics and linguistics practically come from Christians, because of their drive to proselytize everyone on this earth, with various languages, etc. "Summer Institute of Linguistics" is one such.
raincom··on Ask HN: Best email solution for personal domain
I use both https://purelymail.com and https://fastmail.com Try Purelymail, as you can set it up for $10 per year.
raincom··on Metagenomics test saves woman's sight after mystery infection
Crux:

"Metagenomics technology uses cutting-edge genomic sequencing, which can identify all bacteria, fungi or parasites present in a sample by comparing them against a database of millions of pathogens.

[if you] do a separate test for each and every one and if you've got an infection with something that's unexpected, rare or not previously known, you won't find it."

raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
The first generation drug Exenatide's patent was filed in 1992, but got approved in 2005. The latest one is Tirzepatide, a dual agonist, approved in 2022. Expect soon for Retaglutide, a triple agnonist, in the market.
raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
$499 per month "[f]or the Zepbound 5 mg, 7.5 mg, and 10 mg vial" [1]. So, I don't know how much they charge for 15 mg.

[1] https://zepbound.lilly.com/coverage-savings

raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
Yes, if you sell to others; no, if you join with others who buy from the same batch from the same source.
raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
Risks, there are risks everywhere. Late Philosopher of Science, Larry Laudan wrote a little book--The Book of Risks: Fascinating Facts About the Chances We Take Every Day
raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
It costs from $600 to $1000 if one wants full suite of tests. There are at least two popular third party testing labs. Since testing is expensive, buyers pool together to share costs. In large groups, one ends up spending $10.
raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
Sourcing is easy if you are adventurous. Many third party testing labs help you deal with safety: purity, toxins, whether it is legit.
raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
I see at least three sources of problems.

1. Test it for mass, purity, endotoxins, whether it is the real deal or not; this can be easily mitigated if one joins some testing group to share costs.

2. Calculate the dosage units properly, as it depends on how much bacteriostatic water is mixed with the powder. Here, many peptide calculators help. Some will end up making mistakes here; instead of taking 5 units, one will take 50 units--this leads to ER visits.

3. Hygiene: use gloves and alcohol wipes.

raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
It is $500 a month after the first month, as El Lilly charges $350 during the first month for a starter dosage.
raincom··on The end of compounded GLP-1 drugs leaves many patients in a ‘lose-lose’ position
Become a compounded pharmacist yourself: get lyophilized powder of glp-1 drugs, bacteriostatic water, Leur Lock syringe with a needle, gloves and alcohol pads; make your own glp-1 compound in your home.
raincom··on Naur's "Programming as Theory Building" and LLMs replacing human programmers
Yes, indeed. They think that every circular argument is vicious. Not at all, there are two kinds of circularity: virtuous circularity; vicious circularity. Bootstrapping falls under the former. Check [1] and [2]

[1] https://www.hipkapi.com/2011/03/10/foundationalism-and-virtu...

[2] Brown, Harold I. “Circular Justifications.” PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1994 (1994): 406–14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/193045.

raincom··on Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders
Come on, ALPRs violate privacy of drivers.
raincom··on Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) are used by every state in the US. They already have algorithms on top of these ALPRs to pull out suspects for possible drug mules.
raincom··on I should have loved biology too
One thing I was suggested when learning a new subject: pick a book like "history and philosophy of physics/chemistry/biology". This has served me well. Most of the teachers are bad; most of the text book writers are bad. In my considered view, a philosopher of biology can write a better biology textbook for newbies.
raincom··on Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss
CI + self-control or will --> CO (that's the hypothesis sold by many)

CI + hormones --> CO (that's an alternative hypothesis)

raincom··on Russian Propaganda Campaign Targets France with AI-Fabricated Scandals
One brand of disinformation group accuses another of disinformation--interesting times.
raincom··on Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss
If you treat humans as biological machines, signaling system (hormones, endocrine system) is very important. When signaling system is messed up, your CI/CO model with self-control doesn't work at all. Signals need to be fixed.
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