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[ { "body": "**Don't listen to anyone who's saying that the pro has better GPUs (\"video cards\") than the non-pros. That's only for the 15inch 2.66Ghz and more expensive models.**\n\nThe different between a 13\" nonpro and a 13\" pro is:\n\n-the pro's body is aluminum whereas the nonpro's is polycarbonate\n\n-the pro has a much better screen\n\n-the pro has a SD card reader and a firewire port\n\n-other differences such as HDD and RAM will not be noted since these are cheaper to upgrade by yourself\n\nThat's it. The 13\" pro and 13\" nonpro have the same exact CPU architecture and the same exact motherboard specs.\n\nsource (scroll down a little and click compare): http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro?mco=MTAyNTQzMzk\n\nSo, I guess, it really comes down to this:\nDo you like silver or white better? And are you going to do graphics editing which requires good color reproduction?\n\nNow, if you are planning on getting the 15\" 2.66ghz model or better, then you've got a dedicated GPU that will allow you to perform some 3D video acceleration at a much better ability than the IGP (an nvidia 9400) on the motherboard.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I agree. I wasn't too happy with the Jake Shield vs Mayhem Miller fight either. \n\nThe thing that I don't like about wrestling is that they count for points, even if they do nothing but put the person on their ass. Neither side can really do much damage, but it still wins the round. In my opinion, the biggest hypocrisy of this is that pulling guard is also worth nothing, even though it also immobilizes your opponent.\n\nPoints should only be awarded if the other person can capitalize it. I mean, no one really wants to take down big nog for a pretty good reason. \n\nRashad did fight smart. He fought to the rules and won by the rules. But Silva pretty much walked out unscathed and Rashad with a minor concussion. ", "score": 12 }, { "body": "You forgot to put spoiler in your title brother.\n\nNot that I mind, but people tend to get all hate-o-radey around here when you don't.\n\nAnd yes, wrestlers can be very boring, but the onus is on the person who they a taking down to either stuff it, or make them pay for it.", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Well with Kairo gone off the deep end (and the UFC), you are going to have to settle for less awesome takedowns for awhile. :-(", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I never get frustrated watching wrestlers. I get frustrated when someone highly touted is exposed by a wrestler. It's not the wrestlers fault if their opponent can't stop takedowns or escape while in guard.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I couldn't agree more with OP. And because I see the cage when compared to a ring as something that helps wrestlers, I think the UFC favors wrestlers and tends to have less exciting fights than Dream or Pride.\n\ntake downs that don't result in damage shouldn't count for points, but the fighter should get *some* credit for initiating contact/controlling the ring/controlling the opponent.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I agree that the victory did not look impressive. I'm actually not a big fan of the amazing take down artists. Those fighters that can consistently take down opponents and then they get back up, doing little damage.\n\nThough it is not their fault. These fighters have learned to capitalize on the current rules and scoring system of MMA to their advantage.\n\nThis was one of the reasons that the Gracie family originally sold their ownership of the UFC in the 90s. It was no longer the test of the \"Ultimate Fighter\", but of the the person who can use the rules to their advantage to win.\n\nThat being said, I still enjoyed the event tonight considering how plagued this particular UFC was with injuries.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Rashad definitely needs to work on his ground game. He did great setting up the takedowns, but once he had Silva down he did nothing. What the hell is the point in getting a jiu jitsu black belt if you're not going to use it?", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Wrestlers *can* be boring. Fixed!\r\n\r\nSome of the most entertaining fights are from those with strong wrestling base, Brock Lesnar, Urijah Faber, Chase Bebe; all really dynamic fighters who use their wrestling interestingly. Unfortunatly tho, a good wrestler can use their skill to hamper and deny position changes, fucking boring. Additionally, I think a lot of blame should be placed on the opponent that those tactics are useable on. Maybe they should be better trained in that aspect of MMA, understanding how best to escape that suffocating bullshit, etc.\r\n\r\nBJJ was used in a similar way at one point in the UFC, and it was really boring. Now the ground game is refined, most fighters are smart enough to understand what to do to escape... I think wrestling is on a similar path, it's a great tool that has been under-utilized in MMA, and consequently most of the worlds fighters aren't very great at adapting to and defending it.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Anyone who values a true relationship with someone famous isn't going to cheapen it by flashing it on Reddit. ", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "The battery you are going to need for this project depends (mostly) on two things: the flow rate of air and how long you want it to operate for. The flow rate determines the amount of power the resistor will draw from the battery (too much and the battery will overheat and possibly explode), and the amount of time you want to run it for determines the battery capacity.\n\nThe coil material itself is pretty much negligible, but you'll probably want something that won't be easily oxidized. As far as testing goes, an IR thermometer probably won't work because air isn't a blackbody so its IR emission spectrum won't be representative of it's temperature, and measuring the temperature of the coil is mostly irrelevant (unless you want to get into some heat transfer analysis, which I promise you don't).\n\nIf you want a simple solution, a filament like you would find in a toaster oven (graphite?) attached to a battery with a potentiometer will let you control the power to the filament. Once you figure your air flow rate out, just dial up the power on the filament until the air is at the temperature you want.", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Being post op by nearly 21 months I have had enough time to gauge this question with the fullness of time. To be honest I spent 8 years pre-op, so had enough time to get my head together re who and what I was. Prior to the operation I was always worried about my gender and other people's perception of me, and post op I have no such concerns.\n\nI am a self ascribed tom boy most of the time, so having this deep down peace about my physicality means that I have the confidence to just be me. As to how much does the operation make me feel 'correct', well correct is not the best word to describe it - more like complete, whole, at peace with myself. Of course I wish that I had a womb to be able to procreate, but aside from that there is nothing else that would 'fix' my body.\n\nUltimately I have a great satisfaction from being me, and as a woman I feel whole and serene in my inner self, in a way I never was pre-op.\n\nHope this helps.", "score": 15 }, { "body": "Like many such things the answer varies from person to person, but studies performed on post operative trans people show an astonishingly high rate of post-surgical satisfaction (something like 99% having no regrets). Generally, for those who get it, surgery is a remarkable liberation and often represents closing the book on transition.\n\nThe exact feelings are, however, individuated and complex. Surgery solves a unique set of problems, and for those who get it, it is indeed a must. It does not, however, fix everything. Understanding that is, to my mind, *required* before going in to get SRS.\n\nAs to it being easy on the body, it isn't. But think of it as you would any advanced surgery designed to fix a problem. It can be debilitating and difficult, but freedom from the problem it mends is more than worth it. As to hormones... they're very benign. Unless you have a side effect or an allergic reaction to them, they're painless and help adjust one's body slowly. In time you feel more at ease with yourself, less like you're constantly at war with your body and your impulses.\n\nIt's a liberation I cannot describe. For once, I feel in total control, and increasingly I have a body my mind understands. It gives me a sense of rightness and peace. Doesn't hurt at all. :)", "score": 12 }, { "body": "It's brought a remarkable and persistent sense of peace. Waking up and getting out of bed and seeing, and feeling a vagina between my legs has made me smile every day I've been post op. (14 months, tomorrow)\n\nI felt as if I had carried a weight with me my entire life, and as if the first time I could process I was post-op; I finally dropped it. It also made me feel like, no one can take away who I am anymore. It might have been a silly feeling, but becoming anatomically female was empowering in that I didn't have that prick to be a telltale sign of my past anymore.\n\nIt hasn't really affected how people treat me, obviously it's not often strangers see it, but it was remarkable in how much confidence and peace it brought to me. Best decision I ever made in my life, and I haven't had a single regret.\n\nTo add a bit about hormones. They can be rough on the body, but they still bring about a better sense of being. While it took SRS to truly feel healed, hormones eased the dissidence I felt with my body. I felt like I was able to take steps to reclaim it. They can be rough physically, but that depends on the type of hormone really. I was on spirolactone for a couple years and was very very happy to be off of it post-op.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Trans people typically find that being exposed to the wrong set of hormones (that is, the set your body produces without medical intervention, if you're a trans person) is what's \"not easy on the body\". Both trans men who take testosterone and trans women who take estrogen tend to find they feel more stable and emotionally balanced as a result. (Some, of course, experience unrelated side effects and have to stop, as can happenw ith any medication.)", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I'll tell the story of Ellen (not her real name, of course).\n\nWhen Ellen finally began to deal with her transsexualism she was in college. She was still quite young looking and had managed to escape too much masculinization. She started by taking Spronolactone. This is an anti-androgen. Blocking testosterone was wonderful. Ellen had been lucky in that her body had escaped many of the masculinizing effects of testosterone, but Spiro was great for undoing some the damage that had been done and preventing any more harm. In fact, the body naturally produces some estrogen, and so with androgens blocked and her own natural estrogens, Ellen began to become more feminine in appearance. She went through several months of looking increasingly androgynous. She got a lot of stares as people would try to figure her out (even though she was notionally still presenting as male). Finally, nine months after starting Spiro and before she'd even gotten hormones, she transitioned. It might have been saner to wait for hormones, but she looked good and just couldn't wait. Passing as a boy was getting more and more difficult and passing as a girl was just too awesome to wait any longer.\n\nCollege turned out to be a great place to transition. Everything was dealt with well, and people were very supportive. In classes and outside, she encountered a lot of people she'd never met and amazingly word didn't seem to travel. It was a really positive experience.\n\nVery soon after, she was on proper hormones, had her name and id properly changed and was living a mostly normal life as female. Everything in her life was much better than it had ever been and she was much happier.\n\nSurgery wasn't something to worry about initially. You need to complete the \"real life experience\" first anyway. But as time wore on, things got a bit more complicated. Surgery is expensive, and it is a major procedure with some serious risks (one of the worst is getting a rectovaginal fistula, which is something no one wants to have happen). It's also pricey for someone who is still in college.\n\nA year later, Ellen is eligible for surgery, but isn't ready. She hasn't saved enough money yet for one thing, but she's still worried about the risks. She's got a good social life, with good friends, most of whom have no idea about her past.\n\nBut over time she realizes that surgery probably will be something she'll have to do. Ever since transition, she's always \"tucked\" which keeps dangly genital bits out of the way, and over time, she notices that she's less and less happy about the few occasions (e.g., showering, taking a bath) when everything gets to all hang out. Ugh. Maybe some people can live this way, but she realizes that she can't.\n\nSo, a little over two years after transition, it's surgery time. She has very realistic expectations and very real awareness of the risks. She goes into the situation matter-of-factly. This is something she needs to do to be whole, but it's not going to change her situation much. Almost everyone she knows assumes she's a regular woman as it is, and she has a good life too. It'll make certain kinds of sex possible, but there are lots of ways to have sex, and to be honest she's pretty unexcited about all of them. Her attitude was a bit like getting your wisdom teeth out; if you need to do it, best do it. Plan some time off to recover, deal, get back on with your life.\n\nBut that wasn't how it worked out. To her surprise, it was **awesome**. It triggered the release of *so much happiness* she was on cloud nine, not just the day after but for *months*. She said \"I thought it was something I needed to do, but I never knew how happy it would make me\".\n\nNo one can stay this insanely happy forever, but even today, years later, waking up each morning is wonderful because she was able to achieve something that once seemed as impossible as going to the moon. She's here, she did it, and that's awesome. Yes, it would be nicer if she was fertile. Yes, it would be have been born right in the first place, but it is what it is, and she could have been dealt a much worse hand than this one.\n\nHer final analogy is that she dodged a bullet: \"You may not have liked having to dodge it in the first place, but you're really really glad you did, and shudder to think of what would have happened to you if you hadn't.\"\n\nNot every transsexual woman is this lucky or this happy, but that's Ellen's story. To respond to the original question, surgery was (unexpectedly) pretty amazing, for Ellen, but as far as her happiness goes, hormones and transition were also things that helped fix things for her, and both contributed massively to relieving the misery of gender dysphoria.\n", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Li17 - I'll assume you're female.\n\nImagine you're kidnapped, given a bilateral radical mastectomy, the full female genital mutilation, your genitalia actually sewn shut... then they fill you full of testosterone, so you grow facial hair, body hair, your skin gets oily and tough.... You escape, but you have to try living like that.\n\nNow imagine it was all some horrible nightmare. The relief you'd feel at that would be a taste of what it's like to be post-op. To have a body that feels right, not horribly, perversely wrong. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Half Price Books? They have a great benefit plan. Also, you get first dibs on any books that get brought in.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Early twenties female. Native English speaker with some French (reading/writing better than speaking, but gets better with practice), experience with Macs and PCs as well as numerous programs, art history major with history minor, extreme interest in proofreading and copyediting. Currently interning with a local publication. Have my own jewelry business. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Damn. Ok.\n\nYou have two separate problems, both of which can get worse, and which should be thought of separately:\n\n1. Ruth's disease\n2. Tiffany\n\nRuth's disease, while heartbreaking, is *predictable* - you know what is coming, and you have some ideas about the timeline. Tiffany is not predictable, and will continue to make this hard until dealt with. She is only comfortable with a status quo that is going to end, inevitably.\n\n* You have to stop/limit Tiffany, or you will never have peace.\n\nHow? Get control of Ruth's money and how it is accessed (edit: this is a power of attorney in the US). Set her up on a fixed allowance from Ruth that drops when she breaks a boundary, each time she does so. If Ruth doesn't want to go for this, than you're in a hard place that I can't help, because I don't personally know Ruth.\n\nSecond, threaten to remove Ruth unless Tiffany comes up with a way for her to stay that meets your needs. Make those needs clear, and make it HER CHOICE if Ruth can stay or not. If she doesn't follow through, then you have to move Ruth to the home, because there is no better option. Give Tiffany the power to make that decision by changing her actions, and knowledge of the consequences of changing those actions. If Ruth is capable of making an informed decision herself, she should know of these conditions for her to stay, and should be a part of making those conditions, but you can't let her irrational desires cause risks to her health.\n\nThird, if you have to move Ruth (and it sounds like this will be necessary either now or in the future). Secure the house with locks that cannot be unlocked from the inside, and cut off power/heat/water to the house so that Tiffany can't abuse it, or will abuse it less. You have to set boundaries through deterrents, or possibly pay Tiffany to improve the island or property.\n\nFourth, the situation sucks, and I'm sorry. I don't think trying to move Tiffany is a good idea, or even possible, so you just need to limit her ability to cause chaos, and to cost you more than (X reasoable limit) each month.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "A libertarian is a republican who has been arrested. Or a liberal that took an economics class. \r\n\r\n", "score": 20 }, { "body": "Actually the full Libertarian response is to hand the Law Enforcement Officer a card or piece of paper that contains your statement that you do not consent to a search, and that you will not be answering any questions. It's ok to not speak. \r\n\r\nPrint this and carry it with you at all times: \r\nhttp://www.natvan.com/leaflets/rights.pdf\r\n\r\nSome people actually say the words on the card, rather than just handing it out. Refusing the speak can be received with hostility by the police, though. \r\n\r\n\r\n", "score": 17 }, { "body": "Ive found that when you assert your rights, they are going to be more likely to fuck with your further and you ensure a ticket.... ", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Once you realize that the job of the police is to arrest you, and I mean YOU, it totally changes your perspective.\n\n[Here's a great video on the subject](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc).", "score": 3 }, { "body": "My friend showed me this [site](http://flexyourrights.org). It's helped me out a lot to understand my rights with cops.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Yes it's normal, it's happened to me occasionally ( or maybe often and I just don't notice) and I've seen it happen to girls when fingering them.\n\nNot sure what the explanation is but from experience it's pretty common and harmless.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "> Then, over the years, as I thought about it more, I realized that the main tenet of Atheism was essentially flawed. At least to me it was. Atheism is based on doubt and skepticism. \"Can you prove that god exists?\", yada yada. But extending the same tenet, you can't exactly disprove god either.\r\n\r\nNot being able to disprove God (or at least, definitions of God that are so vague that they have no effect on the universe) is not a problem. You can't disprove the idea that you are a brain in a jar connected up to the Matrix; you can't disprove the hypothesis that the universe was created by inter-dimensional alien scientists in a lab in another dimension; you can't disprove that unicorns exist on another planet many millions of light-years away; you can't disprove that everything you think is real is actually just your imagination as you lie in some coma like state in another reality that you would not recognize as your own.\r\n\r\nThe point I'm getting at is that there are a massive number of unfalsifiable claims that people can make which can't be disproved. That doesn't mean we should give them any credit, or that not accepting them is flawed. That's why there is a [burden of proof](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_proof) on people who make claims such as that there is some God. I can't believe you claimed to be an atheist once, yet have never, as far as I can tell, come across this before.\r\n\r\n> There isn't an acceptable explanation for millions of things that happen in this world of ours.\r\n\r\nWell, Atheism isn't an explanation of anything. It is the rejection of what it considers a large set of particularly bad explanations. Neither does religion have much explanatory power, at least no more than any other made up unfalsifiable claims, or any more than each other. There is one thing that has proven itself time and time again to actually work at coming up with explanations. It's what brought us out of the dark ages, revolutionized our world, brought us energy, mass food production, global communication, convenient global transport and so on. That's the scientific method. If you have something it absolutely can't explain but that religion explains perfectly, you best have some damn good evidence for that claim.\r\n\r\n> Surely everyone has felt that there's something beyond human intellect, some universal force beyond understanding.\r\n\r\nThat is false. I am one of just **many** people who hasn't felt any kind of \"universal force\". What is a \"universal force\" anyway? There are four fundamental forces in the universe; gravity, the strong and weak nuclear forces and the electromagnetic force. I'm guessing you're not talking about any of those, so can you accurately define what it is you're actually talking about there?\r\n\r\n> And until you achieve that goal, through which ever path you take, you keep getting reborn due to your karmic relations with other people.\r\n\r\nWhat does it mean to be \"reborn\"? Is there some part of what fundamentally makes you who you are which survives the death of your body and makes it in to another body? If so, what is that part? Is it some aspect of your personality, or can you be reborn with a completely different personality? If so, then in what way can it be said to really be you? By what mechanism are we \"reborn\" in to new bodies?\r\n\r\n> And most importantly, don't believe anything unless it is your personal experience.\r\n\r\nIf anything, personal experience should be believed less. Our senses aren't perfect and our brains do all kinds of strange things all the time. How often have you mistaken a shadow for a burglar, caught something out of the corner of your eye that was actually just a floater in your vision, heard strange whisperings in the wind at night, imagined seeing something etc? It happens to us all frequently! Sometimes people suffer from hallucinations that seem completely and utterly real to them; all it takes is dehydration, tiredness, lack of sleep, illness, fever or any number of drugs to cause this. Sometimes it's due to mental problems, some so severe that the person believes in a completely false reality, hears voices that are not real etc. and required medication.\r\n\r\nI would check myself in to a psychiatric hospital sooner than I would believe that I've seen God or something (the former has happened thousands of times to people, the latter none, making it massively more likely that I am another sufferer of some mental problem).", "score": 103 }, { "body": "I'll spread the word that you're off looking for yourself. They'll ask me why you suspect you're missing, and I'll tell them that somehow you managed to dissociate yourself from the universe, despite being constantly immersed in it. I'll tell them you feel some of your behavior to this point has been unnatural, such as when you allow your voice to make noises that other people may use to misdiagnose the future of the universe or the status of any projectiles within it. They'll ask how some chunk of nature such as yourself can act unnaturally, and I'll explain how the universe is supposed to be the cozy womb of its fauna, and that it's sick of swordfights and manta rays and plastics and hurricanes and UV radiation and carnivores, because it's opposed to destruction. Then they'll ask me where I learned that, and I'll say from Dali, who was suspended from the universe for setting giraffes on fire. They'll say that's dumb, and I'll tell them to go to hell, and the universe will scowl at me until I placate it by feeding some part of it to some other part of it.", "score": 33 }, { "body": "I was going to attempt to post some of my thoughts (combined with yours) on why your line of reasoning is false, but your text, like the religious texts, is filled to the brim with vague generalizations, false analogies, elementary logical fallacies and obvious predjudice on topics that you clearly have no idea on.\n\nSorry :(", "score": 24 }, { "body": "> Surely everyone has felt that there's something beyond human intellect, some universal force beyond understanding.\n\nNope. Seriously, why are people vulnerable to such nonsense? If someone with long hair smoking a bong spewed this sort of nonsense, you would laugh. But if a man in the Vatican surrounded by incense says it (or insert whatever holyman you like), then it's wisdom.", "score": 21 }, { "body": "> you keep getting reborn due to your karmic relations with other people.\n\nIf you get enough Karma on Reddit do you finally die?", "score": 13 }, { "body": "Hmm... very thoughtful read indeed. I'm also a Hindu (albeit now an atheist).\n\nYou didn't really come full-circle, in my opinion.\n\n>But the realization gradually dawned on me that religion was so hypocritical and false and pointless and I sort of grew into atheism.\n\nYou were always an agnostic, never an atheist. One doesn't simply *choose* atheism because one is fed up with religion and rituals.\n\nReading your lengthy wall-of-text, I see that you always believed in a *higher-power*, though you were disillusioned with the way religion was practiced. \n\n#Atheism is a **realization** that there is no *higher-power* (god). *It's not a choice.*\n\n#Note: I hate most atheists because they have a *more-righteous-than-thou* attitude, the same attitude they mock religious people for. The hypocrisy is so disgusting it's led me to unsubscribe from the atheism subreddit.\n\nInteresting read, through and through. Do what makes you happy and gives you peace. Everything else is just semantics.", "score": 10 }, { "body": "I fell in love with the Hindu \"religion\" when I met my bosses. They are from Nepal and are the most grounded, thoughtful, and intelligent people I have ever met. I constantly ask questions and all the answers they have, even if they cannot answer my questions, give me peace.\n\nI am jealous, in a messed up way, that I cannot become a Hindu. However, feeling like that makes me lose track of what's really important. Love and purpose.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "I'm a Hindu who's gone through his own cycle of beliefs as well. This is what I think.\n\nI can't quite bring myself to fall for a Dawkins'esque -you're an idiot if you don't see the *obvious* *fact* that there is no god- approach. In fact , I think Dawkins cements this belligerence of his in his latest book quite ostensibly. The swarm of 'houlier-than-thou' atheists spawned as a result of Dawkins popularity is a lot I don't particularly care for (In fact I'd be surprised If I'm noted downvoted into oblivion already). \n\nThere is no proof for God's existence. And as you, and many others over the years , have pointed out, there is none to prove his non-existence either. Sure, I've heard the whole what if I propose there's a giant tea pot on the far side of the moon argument. It isn't plausible, it isn't probable, granted, but to decree that because of this , it isn't *possible* is , to me, tantamount to the leap of faith taken by theists the world over. \n\nThat said there's also the fact that the cause and effect chain, when followed far enough back towards it's origin , always leaves one unanswered question, which, to me isn't satisfactorily explained by science or religion.\n\nI personally think that being an Agnostic is more rational stand and it also leaves you open to ideas/discussion. Unlike Dawkin's brand of Atheism which regards all religions as a homogenized non-subject (convenient enough) unworthy of discussion or analysis. \n\nIt's been a while since I read through eastern religion, but I'd reckon they've got the right idea. That being - how is it relevant ? There are schools of thought in Hinduism which are Agnostic/Atheistic in nature, there are sects of Buddhism where the concept of 'God' is not important enough to waste time discussing, and I'm pretty sure Taoism doesn't have a place for 'God' either. ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "> Surely everyone has felt that there's something beyond human intellect, some universal force beyond understanding\n\nNo.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Actually it would have been full circle if you stopped at atheist. Since you were, 1) Born an atheist 2) forced into religion 3) agnostic 4) atheist. You are well on your way around the circle a 2nd time now.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "> The whole point is that you can believe in whatever you need to believe. The form isn't important, its the feelings and emotions that you attach to that form. So yeah, you could in theory worship Goku and it'd work out fine.\n\nBasically you're selfmedicating, aren't you?", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Your story is great (and I am happy for you!) - but it doesn't answer what for me has been the big question about religion. These experiences are personal, as you say - how can you convince someone about something that they cannot directly understand, or relate to? SHOULD you try to do this? Is it wrong to expect them to be devoted to something that to them is nothing but hearsay?\n\nThat's my position. Until I *know*, rather than hope, believe or whatever, I'm not going to state that something is real. It seems irrational to me to do otherwise.\n\nBut there is one line in your post I particularly like:\n\n*Because the easiest path is the path of love.*\n\nThat is exactly it. Forget all the god stuff, what is divine and what isn't, what book is holy and what isn't, and just be an awesome human being to the people around you. Needless to say, if everyone did that already, we wouldn't even need religion.\n\nGood luck with everything :)\n", "score": 5 }, { "body": "All I see is someone who couldn't live with uncertainty and doubt and fell back to empty easy answers.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "[Pantheism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism), more specifically [Classical Pantheism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism#Varieties_of_pantheism) and [Naturalistic Pantheism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalistic_pantheism). \n \nYou may find it interesting. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "(warning, serious answer)\n\nstart at MIT's opencourseware website, under biology:\nhttp://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Biology/index.htm\n\nI recommend starting at 7.012: introduction to biology\nhttp://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Biology/7-012Fall-2004/VideoLectures/index.htm\n\nyou can see there are three hour-long lectures right there about genetics. They assume you know nothing at all about genetics and walk you through it quite logically.\n\nIf you are REALLY interested, then visit the course 7.03: Genetics\n\nUnfortunately they don't have the videos online for that one but you can still read the excellent course notes.", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "A new Gorillaz album is supposed to show up in the first half of the year, last I heard. *Plastic Beach* is the name, I believe.", "score": 14 }, { "body": "LCDSOUNDSYSTEM. We need more of your dance-punk mr. murphy.\n\nedit: new band from the same label, 'Free Energy', seems very promising too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHdAhsvDR_I", "score": 4 }, { "body": "*Winter of Mixed Drinks* by Frightened Rabbit will be out this March. Should be the album of the year unless a real surprise comes along.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Red Sparowes, Black Keys, Crystal Castles, Beastie Boys, Eisley, Lydia, Minus the Bear, Cake, Against Me!, can't think of anything else off the top of my head.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "MGMT is supposed to release a new album. It should be interesting to see what kind of sound/progress they make.\n\nAlso, Justice is reported to release another album. I thought their first and only album, (Cross), was pretty amazing, so I'm really excited to see what's next for them. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "These, among others:\n\n* The Album Leaf - A Chorus of Storytellers\n* Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise\n* Patrick Wolf - Conqueror\n* Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma\n* Xiu Xiu - Dear God, I Hate Myself\n* Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring\n* Husky Rescue - Ship of Light\n* Eluvium - Similes\n* Liars - Sisterworld\n* Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago\n* The Knife - Tomorrow, in a Year\n* CHEW LiPS - Unicorn\n* UNKLE - Where Did The Night Fall\n* Efterklang - Magic Chairs\n* Rjd2 - The Colossus\n* Blue Sky Black Death - MK Ultra\n* Cult of Luna - Viga Riket\n* Deltron 3030 - Deltron Event II\n* of Montreal - False Priest\n\nand perhaps Le Corps Mince de Françoise will get last year's album out the door...", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I loved Wind Waker. Sailing around searching for treasure had to be one of the most fun things ever for me. Also, the giant squid battles were epic. ", "score": 15 }, { "body": "Majora's Mask, especially after reading [this](http://www.zeldainformer.com/2008/05/the-message-of-majoras-mask.php). It's probably not true, but it's a wonderful story. I cried. I think reading it made me a better person. Fucking cheesy, I know. ", "score": 15 }, { "body": "Majora's Mask, as it really explores some really mature concepts like love and death. I enjoyed never running out of things to do between dungeons, unlike Twilight Princess (which was still good, but not my favorite) where you sometimes go from one dungeon straight to the next.", "score": 11 }, { "body": "Asked me a few years ago and I would have a said Ocarina of Time but then a I replayed Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask and Majora's Mask has become my new favorite. ", "score": 10 }, { "body": "Links Awakening ties\nwith link to the past with me. Nothing beats traditional Zelda, and if you can find an example of gaming brilliance\nas memorable as the sign post maze in a 3d Zelda let me know. ", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Since A Link to the Past and Wind Waker have already been mentioned I think some love should go to Link's Awakening. ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I'm probably in the minority here, but I really liked Zelda 2. The first one is probably my favorite, but if I was asked to pick one besides the first, it would be Ocarina.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "A link to the past. Best Zelda game or best game?\r\n\r\nAnswer: Best game I've ever played in my entire life. It's right up there with Deus Ex, Mario 3, Super Metroid and FF3. ", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I was also watching that marathon from about half way through Zelda 2 until the amazing finish. Really great stuff and I hope Tim does do an IAMA. My favorite is Ocarina of Time with Majora's Mask and Wind Waker tying with in second.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Because within recorded human history, there is no precedent. Earth can only be stripped of it's resources once. It is hard enough to convince people to believe in certain aspects of science that can be tested over and over. Now try to convincing people to believe in something that hasn't ever happened to us.", "score": 24 }, { "body": "Probably cause most people just think, \"oh i'll be dead by then, i'll let somebody else deal with it\"", "score": 8 }, { "body": "It's good to see that there are others out there who are awake. People are stuck in their social networks, video games, gossip magazine and reality television shows....they wait in line (in car or by foot) for genetically modified fast and convenient food. The majority of people have no idea what's in store. And the water issue, that's huge! It's not just Somalia anymore....but, so long as the sheep are fed, they are content grazing. ", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Because we will find a way to fix it, we always do. Worried about fresh water? If it truly became an issue in the western world (real money at stake) we would be able to fix the issue within a few years tops, as long as money is to be made, there is no problem. Until it becomes serious enough that you can make some serious bucks, nobody will worry about it.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Because it has been the M.O. of the human species since the beginning of civilization.\n\nThe only difference is now there are a lot of us, enough to make a significant impact on our supplies.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I trust science to fix these situations for me. If it can't, I had a hell of a time consuming and contributing to these problems.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Simply put to those who don't care, it's because it won't be their problem when they're dead and gone decades from now.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Simply put, if the planet can't support the amount of humans that are on it, the problem takes care of itself. Its going to happen at some point, be it this century or the next, so why worry about it and ruin your life?\n\nThere will be societies that get around a lot of the disadvantages, but its like reheating leftovers after Thanksgiving. Sure it tastes alright, but it will be a long time before we can feast again.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "You're making the right decision and the brave decision. \n\nAs long as you're not a Cylon, otherwise you would be jeopardizing the future of your entire race.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "My advice is for you to think of it entirely as a health concern to you, that way it makes the choice easier and it has to be done. But do mourn the loss a bit, this is a life.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Are you going to Planned Parenthood? If not, I recommend that you do. I had an abortion almost a year ago (01-21-09) and they were *amazing* to me. \r\nYou say you are only 4-5 weeks along? As long as you are not heavily anemic, you can and should get the medication abortion. Planned Parenthood's site has a video about it. Instead of having any type of physical procedure, you take 4 pills bucally (hold 'em in your cheeks for about 30 minutes) and they dissolve into your system. These pills cause the pregnancy hormone to cease production so your embryo cannot grow any longer. Then, 24-48 hours later you take a final pill that causes your pregnancy to expel itself. This is pretty painful, like having a very bad period for a few weeks. However, you can get Vicodin, or in my case, Oxy (which was great). \r\nYou will have to get an ultrasound twice, most likely. Once to determine how far along you actually are, and once about a week later during a follow up to make sure that everything is going according to plan. Ultrasounds aren't too bad, pretty uncomfortable (cold lube and penis-shaped camera and strangers).\r\nSince you are unable to take birth control, you should try looking into herbal solutions that can make you even less fertile, increase the thickness of vaginal mucus, etc. They do work. You can also [try bringing on a miscarriage](http://www.sisterzeus.com/Abortif.htm) by combining herbs and making a tincture if you are sure that you are only 4-5 weeks along.\r\nYou will probably automatically go into \"lab mode\" and not deal with it emotionally until it's physically gone from your body. I still get sad on the 21st of months, and I still get really freaked out about getting pregnant when I have any type of female abnormality, even though I am quite good with my birth control.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMost importantly, do you have someone to take care of you? Physically as well as emotionally? When you get an abortion, make sure someone is with you tending to your **every need** for at least the first 24-48 hours. This is an absolute must. Many things can go wrong.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI hope the best for you. Don't let it eat you up inside, you're doing the right thing. :)\r\n\r\nEDIT: Is money an issue at all? I am quite sure the minimum for a medication/surgical abortion at PP is $500 (of course there are exceptions, but generally this is the rule I've encountered).\r\n\r\nEDIT 2: Downvoters, what the fuck? You're stupid.\r\n\r\nEDIT 3: I forgot to add, it may not be as painful for you as I'm making it out to be because I was carrying twin embryos. Your experience expelling the pregnancy might be lighter and shorter, and less painful. So don't stress yourself out about it. But, just warning you, lemon-sized clots will most likely happen for the first few days...sorry for the overshare to anyone with sensitive gag reflexes.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I don't know what clinic you have in mind, but if there's a Planned Parenthood clinic anywhere nearby, I suggest you at a minimum talk to them. I have great respect for that organization; among other things, my father was the Medical Director of one of one of their clinics for a while.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "It is a hard decision and one that cannot be taken lightly.\n\nI am fully pro-choice, especially if your genetic disorder could cause complication or future problems for the fetus.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders. This is a hard decision and it should be hard. It is natural for you to feel sadness, loss, anger, etc. It's *also* OK for you to be logical and make a decision based on the information you have received from your doctor. There's no reason those two reactions can't co-exist. Be strong, you will get through this!", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "maybe if it was like 30 rock - like all the behind the scene stories of the actors as well as the soap opera plot.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Alright will sign all you guys up as soon as I can get into 1spawn as its not loading for me right now :\\", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Alright i'm not sure if 1swarm is down or its just me but I can't access right now so can't send invites :\\", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "**First Person** - i would view him/her as a rich 30 year old that inherited money from their parents that doesn't need to work because they have enough money off of which to live. i would offer my friendship if they'd ever come out to play.\n\n**Second Person** - i would view him/her as a 30 year old person living with their parents. since they have nothing better to do, i'd invite them for a beer. as they are jobless, i would buy.\n\nyeah. i'm not judgmental.", "score": 22 }, { "body": "I think the first person should invite the second person over once in awhile so they can both be friends.", "score": 17 }, { "body": "I have to assume that the OP is a 30 year old, living with his parents. Has never worked, and doesn't have friends. He stays home most of the time wishing his parents were rich and would die leaving a large inheritance. ", "score": 8 }, { "body": "I think what you're really asking is, all things people equal, which one of those people I would look down upon more. And while how I would view either of these people largely depends on who they are and everything that you haven't told me about them, I'll bite. I would view the second person more negatively. Why? Because while they are both living off their parents, the second person isn't working because he doesn't *want* to, pushing off his responsibilities onto his parents; the first person isn't working because he doesn't *need* to, he isn't a burden to his parents or to society. Person one could just as easily be as unbearable as person two and might continue to leech of his parents if they were poor, though given the information we can't know that. He might all get a job if he needed to, unlike person one who is selfish enough to not care that he is a burden to his parents, who don't have the guts to kick him out, and doesn't do anything to change it. However, given the fact that neither of them do any kind of work, have friends, or leave their house, I imagine both of them to be insufferable douches and wouldn't want to know either of them.\n\nEDIT: TL;DR All things equal, person two is more of a douche because he is a burden on other people, person one isn't.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "_First Person_: If they were a douchebag, I would consider their circumstances as having a lot to do with it, but if not, it probably wouldn't bother me. I've never understood people who are jealous of those who happened to pick richer parents. It's nothing you can change, and, at least in the small, capitalism is not a zero-sum game. Get rich yourself.\n\n_Second Person_: I wouldn't blame them. It's their parents' fault. We call people like that *enablers* for a reason.\n\nIn both cases, I admit I have a very hard time relating to people who have no inner ambition (for example, I couldn't WAIT to get out of my parents' house and even if I had a large inheritance I would still want to make it on my own). But I also try not to be too judgemental, because I'm not them so I can't possibly understand. Also, they aren't affecting me in any way, so why waste the energy worrying about them?", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Check out [SASS](http://sass-lang.com/) (Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets).\n\nThe intent of SASS doesn't apply directly to your problem, but SASS could be used in the way that you've described. It's a templating language based on [HAML](http://haml-lang.com/), and although it's typically used in Ruby, I hear that its been ported to other languages (including PHP).", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "My friends and I would play fuzion frenzy on xbox, and instead of racing in those roller balls like the game wanted us to, we would play 2 on 2, with 2 people on offense and 2 people on defense, trying to stop them from finishing the course in time.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "This is why I love the GTA series. I always came up with my own objectives in those games. For example, in San Andreas I would ride a dirt bike off of the mountain, jump off the dirt bike, and then open my parachute. When I was close to the ground, I would drop my parachute, and try to land on a car. \n\nIn GTA IV: Ballad of Gay Tony, I would take a helicopter as high as I could go, parachute onto a tall building, and then parachute down to lower buildings. I would try to see how many buildings I could parachute to before hitting the ground. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I was 6' 120lbs when I was 19. After my girlfriend cheated on me with a football player, I decided to bulk up.\n\nThis is really hard at first, because your body isn't used to it taking in so many calories. You basically have to force feed yourself for awhile and will often feel extremely full/bloated.\n\nThere are two different methods depending on how quick you want to gain weight: clean and slow, or fast and dirty.\n\nFast and dirty is pretty simple. Buy a few bags of http://www.bulknutrition.com/?products_id=377, some whole milk, and drink one or two of these shakes per day. If you're really serious, drink one in the morning for breakfast and one late at night before bed. Force yourself to eat lunch, a snack, dinner, and an after dinner snack. For an added bonus, consider starting to lift weights. Start simple - I'd recommend a basic 5x5 routine (http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/) to start.\n\nClean and slow is a bit more difficult. You need to up your calories, but in a clean way. Lifting weights is a must here, not an option. Once again, use that 5x5 routine to start. Buy some basic whey protein (http://www.bulknutrition.com/?products_id=63), and some skim milk. Buy bags of chicken from Costco or Sam's Club. Try to find clean, high protein foods you can eat a lot of, and just start eating. Have at least two of those protein shakes per day, and have at least 6 meals per day. Breakfast, big snack, lunch, big snack, dinner, big snack. You need to eat until you are almost sick, and you need to work out.\n\nIf you'd like, I can write you a customized diet and workout plan. PM me if desired.\n\nP.S. I'm about 190 now. Here I am curling my dog for some reason:\nhttp://i.imgur.com/txGqJ.jpg\n\nEdit: I see you are working out. Either post in here your routine and diet, or PM me. I'll figure out where you are going wrong!", "score": 10 }, { "body": "1. I worried about everything. \n2. I started drinking...and then I started enjoying being drunk. \n3. I started eating a lot more junk food and fast food. \n4. I get no exercise other than walking around and occasionally climbing ladders to retrieve things at work. \n5. I turned 30. ", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Have you started puberty? If not, wait. If so, read on. \n\nI was sort of like this. I put on 40 pounds. Here is how:\n\n1. You need to eat every 2-3 hours. Don't eat stuff that bloats you or fills you completely. \n\n2. In order to figure out how much you need to eat, you need to count your calories. If you are not gaining weight, you must increase your calories. Don't eat totally healthy food, because it usually doesn't have enough calories. Don't eat crap, but feel free to eat nuts, some good fats, etc. \n\n\n3. In order to put on quality weight, you need to lift properly. That means lifting heavy. Use a weight that you can do about 8 reps with on the last set. The first 2 or 3 sets should not be to failure. For example, you bench 100 pounds for 8 reps the first set, but you don't go to failure. Rest 1.5 minutes, do another 8 reps. By the 4th set, you should fail at about 8 reps. If not, increase weight next week. Do about 3 exercises per body part (e.g. for chest, do bench, incline, and flyes). You can also try a 5x5 routine, which you can find on the internet. \n\n4. Eat protein every 3 hours, and get about 200 grams a day. You MUST eat enough protein. \n\n5. Keep notes of your body weight and the weight you are lifting. Try to increase something, either weight or reps, each time you do a body part again. \n\nIf you lift to a point where your body cannot do anymore weight (to failure), and push a little past that point, and eat enough calories and protein, you will gain muscle. If you eat a lot without lifting, you will gain fat. \n\nIf you lift wonderfully but don't eat enough calories or protein, you will not get bigger or stronger, and you may actually get weaker. ", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Eat. More. Food.\n\nAnd for any fatties out there:\n\nEat. Less. Fucking. Food.\n\nHere endeth the lesson.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "1. Lift weights. Real weights. Squats. Deadlifts. Heavy Presses.\n\n2. Eat 3,000 cals of food a day. Keep track on fitday\n\n3. Drink a gallon of whole milk a day", "score": 4 }, { "body": "From age 16 to age 29, i was 6'3\", and 145. The only way for me to gain weight was to carry a bag of lead in each pocket. I've since turned thirty, and gained abotu 10 pounds. But I'm still pretty lanky. I've tried diet, kreatine, working out, \"hard gainer\" workouts, protein sups, everything. I even tried an 8000 calorie (that's right) a day diet for a month. I went broke doing it. It's just nature's way. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "* You can't turn fat into muscle. \n* If you we're really eating right to gain muscle then I would suggest that that way you are training is wrong - you didn't say much about your workout regime. \n* Unless you have a thyroid issue, you will put on weight if you do the above mentioned right - you may need to see a doctor about this. \n* Carbs are fucking important for someone with your metabolism - you need them to stave off ketosis and/or a catabolic state. \n\nI'll give you the benefit of the doubt but most men in your age bracket with that type of metabolism don't eat enough. Typically what they think is enough isn't - they forget to look at the nutritional values of what they're consuming. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "G.O.M.A.D.\n\nGallon Of Milk A Day.\n\nDo that with a serious whole-body, compound barbell exercise regime (eg, deadlifts, squats, press, benchpress, etc.\n\nYou won't have any trouble adding the weight.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "You know this will only end up as a tool for interrogation. If you think this is paranoia and the government isn't already working on it then you're a fucking moron. While most people would be rightfully freaked out by this I can't wait for the first poor fucker to take a look in my head. They'll be strapping his arms behind his back. It is dark in here .. you are likely to be eaten by a grue.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "|95% of the time she only want to play, she almost never comes to me so I can pet her, and if you try to pick her up she wants to get away from me like she has something other important stuff to do.\n\nCats are very independent, and 95% of the time most of them want to be left alone. The problem you're having is that pets are heavily stereotyped toward dogs. Cats and dogs are REALLY different socially. It's nothing personal.\n\n|But sometimes she come onto my bed and purrs and looks at me with this wierd kinky look. Then she always goes straight to my armpit and start licking my t-shirt or my bare skin. For me its very wierd and often feel silly.\n\nShe's feeling affectionate and is responding by \"cleaning\" you. If you had two cats you would see them do this to each other, also. It's nothing to worry about; and it is silly, but then, part of the reason many people love cats is because they're silly.\n\ntl;dr: Normal cat, nothing to worry about.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Smell is an important aspect of social interaction for cats. And, guess where your smell is strongest. Cats will interact with humans like they were other cats. An important step for her to be more cuddly is to only pet her when she deliberately asks for it.\n\nI have noticed certain gender preferences among our cats, male cats tend to prefer women and female cats tend to prefer men. There are of course frequent exceptions to this rule. If a cat picks a favourite human, it will often be of the opposite gender. Having a cat lick your armpit is very funny, we have one here that does it to me.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "lol.. \"kinky pussy.\"\r\n\r\nBut seriously, many pets dislike being picked up. I don't think you'd appreciate being picked up by some bigger animal and carried around like a baby either.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "often times cats like to rub up against you with the top of their heads or their rump just ahead of the tail. i used to think this was purely affectionate behaviour, until i learned that this is where they have scent glands, and that they're marking you.\n\ni guess possesive behaviour is still affectionate, in a way, but some of the shine is off for me.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Different breeds of cats can have very different personalities. I have a burmese kitten - just over 6 months - and he's astonishingly affectionate. Probably the most affectionate cat I've known. He would rather be held while he sleeps, than lying on a lap, or by himself - and he constantly bugs me to pick him up. When he was small I solved the problem by letting himself sleep in my hoodie (mondo cute), but now he's too big for that.\n\nHe loves being held like a baby with his belly exposed - loves a good belly rub. If you approach him while he's half asleep, he'll often give a little cute meow and turn his belly up for a rub. He's like a little dog sometimes.\n\nBut not all Burmese are this way - his sister from the same litter (whom my partner's parents own) can't stand to be held. She's also quite stupid, while our cat is astonishingly intelligent ( having managed to open doors and the like).\n\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": " 1. I support animal testing. I believe it is ethical when it is conducted as humanely as possible. It is ethical because it supports the advancement of science.\n 2. Yes.\n 3. Yes.\n 4. No, I would probably be less likely to do so unless it was a commonplace product.\n 5. No, this is not an area of expertise for legislators. Scientific protocols should be the responsibility of scientists.\n\nPersonal Questions. Please answer them as I need them to organize my data.\n\n 1. 48\n 2. Male\n 3. Doctorate\n 4. Educator\n", "score": 8 }, { "body": "1. I believe it's unethical, but perhaps necessary. I am somewhat torn. I feel it's a great unfairness to the animals. They have no way of consenting, and I have heard details of experiments wherein they suffered great pain. But would it be better to test on humans? For some things, of course, but as humans would have to consent that would leave many experiments undone due to the risk of death/pain. So yeah I think it's completely unethical to test on animals.\n\n2. Not where I can avoid it. I generally don't check everything I purchase, but if I happen to learn something was tested on animals, I will not buy it. \n\n3. Yes.\n\n4. Yes.\n\n5. I think it should be strictly regulated, at the very least. I would have to know more about the types of experiments performed on animals to decide if I think it should be completely prohibited. I lean toward \"yes,\" but again testing on rats who are going to die of natural causes in two years is clearly preferable over testing on humans. \n\n*Personal*\n\n1. 19\n\n2. Female. \n\n3. In college.\n\n4. Cashier assistant/Costco's bitch.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "1. I don't like it. I believe that it is unethical but at this point in time necessary to some extent. It is unethical because we are knowingly inflicting pain and/or giving those animals diseases which will in most cases kill them.\n2. I try to avoid doing so.\n3. Yes I love and respect animals.\n4. Yes.\n5. Not until we can find a better way that is proven. However, I believe that we need to be more picky when it comes to allowing experiments to be performed on animals. \n\nPersonal:\n1. 30\n2. female\n3. 4 years college, not graduated.\n4. Staff Research Associate II ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "1. Animal testing when done in a responsible manner that improves human life is okay. I think it is more humane than blindly testing drugs on people. I'm sure there are some form of animal testing that I'd be opposed to though. As a zookeeper I've worked with animals that have come from animal testing labs (hormone studies etc) and they seemed to be a little on edge due to their old routines etc, but otherwise I think lived healthy lives.\n\n2. Yes. I think we all do whether we know it or not.\n\n3. Very much so. I'm a biologist, have been a zoo keeper, and have worked with 100's of species of animals from reptiles to primates.\n\n4. I'd probably be more inclined to allow other factors make my decision. It is not a priority.\n\n5. Prohibits? No, I don't agree with blindly prohibiting such things. Limiting? Maybe.\n\nPersonal:\n\n1. 27\n2. Male\n3. B.S. Biology, 38 graduate credit hours working on my M.S.\n4. Student/Unemployed biologist", "score": 4 }, { "body": "- What is your opinion on animal testing? Do you believe it is ethical or unethical? Why?\n\n*Ethical, assuming we are talking about medical testing here. I couldn't care less of some makeup company has to spend more money using alternatives, but If animal testing is the most accurate or cost effective way to make medicine for humans and animals, I say go for it. Call me an evil selfish whore, but if I could have saved my godfather from dying of cancer, I would have killed a million dogs.*\n\n- Do you purchase products that are tested on animals?\n\n*I don't really check. I probably should.*\n\n- Would you consider yourself an animal lover?\n\n*YES! My cat is my baby. Actually, I also really like farm animals even though I eat meat. If predators in the natural world can befriend what might have been their dinner at times, I don't see why I can't*\n\n- Would you be more inclined to buy a product that is not tested on animals rather than one that is?\n\n*I get excited when I see cruelty free products that don't smell like shit, so yes.*\n\n- Do you think legislation should be passed that prohibits animal testing?\n\n*I think we need to start working on animal ethics laws in general. I believe in eating meat and animal testing, but I see no reason other than profit that we shouldn't treat these animals as humanely as possible. *\n\nPersonal Questions. Please answer them as I need them to organize my data.\nAge? *19*\nGender? *Female*\nEducation? *some college*\nOccupation? *unemployed*", "score": 4 }, { "body": "1. Ethical. For the greater good.\n2. I don't know. I don't check, so maybe?\n3. No.\n4. No. Nor would I be inclined in the opposite direction.\n5. No.\n\n-\n\n1. 27\n2. Male\n3. Some college\n4. Game Programmer\n", "score": 3 }, { "body": "1. Ethical as long as the research is published and the methods are clearly stated. \n\n2. I don't know, I hope not but it's not like most things one buys says \"Now tested on cute, fluffy bunnies!\"\n\n3. Yeah, I like animals. I'm not a hunter and I like nature but I don't chain myself to trees or have an E.L.F. membership\n\n4. Depends on the product. If it's medicine, I'd feel better knowing it was tested, evaluated and proven effective across a range of relevant animals thus proving it effective for humans. \n\n5. Again, it depends. Legislation which prohibits flat out cruel research with no apparent benefit could be proposed, but I'd hate to see legislation get in the way of a scientific breakthrough.\n\n-\n\n1. 36\n2. Male\n3. College\n4. Artist (in other words, I work at Target right now)", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Animal testing is horrible because most animals can't read or write. They should allow dogs to bark their answers, or horses to \"stomp out\" the proper responses. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": " 1. I support animal testing when it is done humanely and for the betterment of mankind and the rest of the world.\n 2. I'm sure that I have. Products that I buy aren't often specifically labeled that they are tested on animals but usually more when they are making a point that they aren't. If I knew a certain company benefited from cruel testing I wouldn't buy their products.\n 3. Yes. All shapes, forms, ways, and sizes.\n 4. No.\n 5. No. \n\nPersonal Questions. Please answer them as I need them to organize my data.\n\n 1. Age? 21\n 2. Gender? M\n 3. Education? Pre-School, K-8, High School, College\n 4. Occupation? Student\n", "score": 3 }, { "body": "1. Animal models are absolutely critical to advancing medicine and science. It would be unethical to not use animal models.\n2. Yes, several medications that keep me, and millions of other people, alive. \n3. Yes.\n4. No.\n5. Fuck no. That's when I, and the other scientists, move out of this country.\n----\n 1. 28\n 2. Male\n 3. PhD\n 4. Research scientist\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Try ubuntustudio. I've used Linux for audio recording, synthesis and fooling around since 99 or so. I use Linux in general daily and I've helped people through their own tribulations with Linux audio. Once it works it will usually work ok. When/if you get it working make sure it still works after a restart. Nothing's more frustrating then shutting a perfectly working system down at 2AM after figuring it out only to find it doesn't work when you boot up again and you can't remember how you got it working.\n\nThat said I've never released any music I've done on Linux. I have used some free tools born under Linux on OSX: JACK, Ardour and sooperlooper. \n\nI'm a pretty seasoned guy on this stuff and it's sad that audio (pro or even just getting flash, alsa and Jack) working in concert is a black art. \n\nThat said I wish you luck. Feel free to pm me or comment if you have issues. But expect that as soon as those issues are cleared up you'll have new ones. :-)\n\nBut yeah, for me firing up one of my Linux machines to record an idea means that I will undoubtably forget what I wanted to record by the time I get everything up and running. ", "score": 7 }, { "body": "You may want to check out irc for help:\n\nfreenode.net #opensourcemusicians\n\n[Open Source Musicians Website](http://opensourcemusician.libsyn.com/)\n\n\n[Schedule for podcasts](http://live.pipemanmusic.com/)\n\nThey recently held a call in show. You might find the channel very useful.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "If you just want to get reasonable latencies (5-10 ms) this is enough:\n\n1. Install JACK\n\n2. (A) Get a separate sound card for music, set pulseaudio to the internal card. (B) Disable pulseaudio. (C) Close everything that makes sound, wait a couple of seconds, then start JACK\n\n3. Add this to your /etc/security/limits.conf :\n\n @audio - rtprio 99\n @audio - nice -10\n\nYou may have to add the audio group, I don't remember.\n\nIn step 2, only one of (A), (B) or (C) is needed.\n\nStep 3 will enable you to create real time threads. You may have to enable this in JACK and in your music software.\n\nEDIT: Gaah, markdown. The @audio thingies should be on separate lines..", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Don't mean to be rude but who in their right mind uses Linux in a studio? \nApart form masochists...", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "No. What they mean is that space-time itself is expanding. There is no space or time outside of our bubble.", "score": 13 }, { "body": "\"the universe is expanding\" means that everything everywhere is getting further apart\n\nMost of your question, or at least it seems your confusion, is really about cosmology. It's a little tricky to explain because IANAphysicist and I'm not up on the latest theories the cool kids are working on.\n\nTry not to think of space as a physical substance that can increase or decrease. [this is a little philosophical, but important] Space and time are a language that we use to describe objects and events NOT a stage for events and objects on which to occur.\n\nEinstein suggested one think about objects being \"spatially extended\" so position and time are a property of an object and have no inherent existence. How you think about space and time isn't necessarily important though.\n\nThe Universe it seems is homogeneous. I don't like this description but it's good enough. What I mean is that no matter where you go or how far away you get, you will always find the same sorts of things like galaxies and stars and clusters and such. There is no segregation between \"completely empty space\" and \"occupied by galaxies space\"\n\nOr\n\nThere isn't infinite nothingness which contains a finite Universe.\n\nIt's difficult to say these things properly.\n\nEither the Universe is open and infinite [if you fly in a rocketship in a straight line you will keep finding new planets and stars and galaxies for ever and ever] or closed and finite [there are only so many stars and galaxies etc. If you had enough time you could visit every single one and eventually be finished]\n\nThe closed universe thing would mean that if you traveled in a straight line for a long enough time, eventually you would return to your starting point. Like the mario levels where when you walk off the right side of the screen and you appear on the left side. Or the Matrix Revolutions where Neo is trapped in the trainman's subway world. He runs down the tunnel only to end up where he started running.\n\nThere are better explanations of this. Some of them involve donuts. Who doesn't like donuts?\n\nRead Cosmos by Carl Sagan. It's a little old and some of the information outdated. But still very good. Other books too. Read those.\n\nStarting point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_cosmology", "score": 13 }, { "body": "Radix is correct. What people don't understand is that the big bang created time and space as it expanded. Think of it like a balloon that's expanding into nothingness. Thus, the universe (as well as the matter and energy) is expanding as time goes on. ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Why is it always one big bang? Couldn't there be serveral of it? We already made that mistake with continents, planets and suns.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Additionally, I've never experienced an awkward pause while high in conversation---each sentence offers the possibility of a new topic, no matter how trivial. Even when someone says something that makes me think they are stoned out of their gourd, I find that I just end up going with it. No judgment during the rotation.", "score": 22 }, { "body": "[6] It's like wikipedia without a back button. Once you click a link, you can only click other links on that page. You can never go back to a previous one.\n\nBecause of that, you have to be much more careful about clicking the links if you're on a topic that you want to finish later. I usually leave \"anchors\" for myself. Little notes in the form of facebook status updates that mention what we were talking about, so we can come back to them later.\n\nBut we never do.\n\nAnd then later, I realize the notes are just funny quotes that make no sense out of context.", "score": 16 }, { "body": "[0] My cousin disapproves of my smoking weed. She's very Christian and very big on the \"no drugs for me, just Jesus, thank you\" thing. Whenever she comes to visit she always tells me that \"we just have the best conversations, you're so much fun to talk to!\"\n\nI think she wouldn't be quite as impressed if I wasn't stoned out of my mind whenever she comes to visit.", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "Why are so many people on this thread acting like this guy is certainly a pedophile? How did you gather that from reading this post? Where is the \"creepy\" part? \n\nMost of the stuff sounds like he was just trying to be funny (\"little penis\", \"exotic dancer\"). A 17 year old's nip slip? My dad talks about tits all the time, and 17 isn't really pedophile territory (technically, yes, but there are plenty of 17s who like 20s and vice-versa... I wouldn't think less of anyone because of a story they told involving a 17yr old rather than an 18yr old). \n\nI think most things can be attributed to him just being awkward, not creepy. He could have made a bad joke to the cashier, and she took offense to it, so she complained.\n\n>He will snap at his wife about little things like when his hot chocolate is too hot, seemingly at random.\n\nBickering between husband and wife? How is this different than any other marriage?\n\nThe only thing that might be \"creepy\" is the part about him sleeping in your bed... but that's all you said. Was he drunk? High on pain meds? Maybe he was just working on something in your room, sat down on your bed to rest, and ending up falling asleep.\n\nIf you're biggest complaint with your dad is with a couple ill-advised jokes, you need to stop over-analyzing your life. Sounds like you're being paranoid.", "score": 118 }, { "body": "You're complaining that your dad has porn on his computer? And all of the porn is nude women? Damn, consider yourself to have a pretty normal dad. I would never check my dad's porn stash for fear that I might find something *other* than nude women.", "score": 55 }, { "body": "He sounds like a pretty normal, pretty nice guy to me. A lot of this shit, you are just blowing it all out of perportion. He slept in your bed in his house. He has pron. He was hittin' on the cashier who wasn't into him. Big fucking deal! Grow up! How old are you?", "score": 41 }, { "body": "Um, a clitoris is a little penis. Or a penis is a large clitoris. They both start from the same proto-nub. The fact that he referred to it doesn't suddenly make him a sexual deviant.\r\n\r\nHow is a married adult male having pictures of nude women on his computer and lying about them abnormal? For fuck's sake, get a grip.\r\n\r\n> I get one of the deepest, most creepy vibes I have ever felt from another person from him and I don't get it.\r\n\r\nYou imagine these vibes because you think he's creepy. You're creating his \"negative energy\" you experience. It's allll you. Relationships are a two way street. ", "score": 26 }, { "body": "That reminds me of the time I taught my niece to belly dance. It was completely innocent, but my sister got all weirded out and now I'm not allowed to babysit my niece anymore. Maybe he's just a little eccentric like myself? ", "score": 22 }, { "body": ">He was addicted to prescription pain medication for most of his life.\n\nA lot of people, unfortunately, who abuse alcohol or especially pills for extended periods of time then quit, experience a weird craziness. Almost like a mild Alzheimer's. My uncle had this problem. He always seemed normal. Then he quit the pills and became very strange.", "score": 16 }, { "body": "Are you aware of any unusual sexual history he may have? If he has always been like this I'd wonder if he may have some emotional/intimacy issues which may be causing him to feel unable to properly connect with people and lead him to act inappropriately or display proper judgment. Just a completely uneducated guess, but either way it sounds like confrontation with him may lead him to feel \"betrayed\" or act irrationally. Hope it works out safely. ", "score": 13 }, { "body": "You sound a bit uptight, and your dad sounds human to me. He is not all that effective with people, from the sound of it. He's a little creepy, that's all. Awkward. I think it would do you both well if you could be more forgiving and try to appreciate him without fear or judgment.", "score": 13 }, { "body": "I think OP needs therapy.\n\nHis father is a normal human being. There are issues beneath the surface that he needs to identify. whats the real reason you hate him? something to do with money? he deprived you of something in your childhood?\n\nPS: Most males begin to feel this way about their fathers at some point so recognize that.", "score": 13 }, { "body": "He may have a mental disorder, could be mildly autistic or possibly bipolar. This is only the case if he has always been this way, as these don't really just suddenly appear.\n\nIf its autism:\n\nA lack of empathy could be the reason behind his assumptions on others emotions.\n\nThe lack of social understanding could be responsible for him talking on inappropriate subjects (sex jokes, etc.), and the awkward gestures towards the checkout woman.\n\nHe either doesn't know how to tell you about the porn on his computer and came up with a quick excuse, or he is really unaware of the awkwardness caused by having nude pics on his computer for photoshopping reasons.\n\nLikely all this could be mixed with depression which causes his constant negativity.", "score": 12 }, { "body": "1. Exotic dancer used to describe a kid dancing... without context this means nothing.\r\n2. 17 year old nip slip... here in the UK the age of consent is 16 so 17 year olds are completely fair game.\r\n3. Little penis again without context could just be a funny joke.\r\n4. my dad once walked in and found me sleeping on his bed when i was 20... it was purely a \"im realy tired.. i wonder if my dads bed is better than mine\", your dad could have a similar reason.\r\n5. He simply didnt want to tell you that he wanks at his computer... as long as the porn is normal (ie.. no kids, no rape, no anything ilegal) its all good.\r\n6. Bickering with a wife or anyone close over pointless things happens all the time, i can start an arguement with my dad about nearly anything and vice versa.\r\n7. That just sounds like hes a kill joy.\r\n8. Building a bit more on #7, he might not be comfortable in social sitautions, he means well but just cant naturaly show affection.\r\n9. Could be a million things, the clerk leading him on, her having a shitty day and wanting to get him in trouble etc...\r\n10. Ive not known anyone addicted to meds so i cant comment on this.\r\n\r\nOverall it just sounds like the guy is a bit of an introvert who doesnt feel comfortable doing normal family stuff, if you want to get on with him better find out if theres something he likes to do in his spare time (watch football, play darts/chess/etc.) and try and engage him in something he enjoys.\r\n\r\nDisclaimer* If at some point he goes Postal and kills people then you didnt hear anything from me... infact i didnt even write this... your crazy!", "score": 12 }, { "body": "I can definitely see why this would bother you, but maybe you're looking too much into some of these things; not all of them, but some at least. \n\nMaybe he's had a long or frustrating day at work, or any number of stressors that could cause someone to radiate negativity. Not that that makes it okay, but try understanding where he's coming from. No family is perfect, and every one has issues to get around. \n\nYou should try voicing your opinion in a calm non-confrontational way when something bothers you, without getting angry or just completely repressing it. If it is in-depth conversations and connections you are looking for with your family, then try to open these lines of communication.\n\nAnd if there are some issues too big to work out together, try suggesting some kind of family therapy; or at least, you should look in to talking to someone by yourself to help *you* deal with these things.", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Don't bother. To say the least, I had a pretty bad father. My mother tried to help me have a relationship with him, but when I was 19 and decided to just cut him out, I never felt better.\n\nYou can choose your friends, and you can't chose your family, but that doesn't mean you have to keep them. Sometimes a family member is nothing but a cancer on your life and your soul, they're toxic, and like any cancer you need to cut it out (irradiating them seems to be illegal). He may be your dad, but that doesn't mean he's a good person that you need to keep in contact with. Think about how he makes you feel, how he affects your life, and how you feel elsewhere. If you're better off without him, then that's something you should consider.", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Regardless of whether he's a pedophile or an 'emotional vampire' or whatever, if you feel genuinely uncomfortable around him the only thing you should \"do\" is minimize or eliminate the interactions you have with him.\n\nSimply put, you need to decide which is more important to you: your comfort level or your relationship with your father. Whichever you value more is the one you'll work on improving.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I think there are several separate things going on here:\n\n1. The sex stuff. This is probably the part that is creeping you out. your dad is talking to you about sexual topics as if you are a friend or peer or bar buddy, not his child, and it makes you uncomfortable; which is understandable, especially if he started doing this when you were a teenager.\n\n2. The negativity. Father or not, being around an extremely negative person has a way of sucking the joy out of any situation, especially if the negative person is somehow the dominant person or the focal point. Your dad may be passive but as the father/patriarch he is kind of the dominant figure and the main connection between all parties present.\n\n3. The passivity and addictions. This may be a leap, but it sounds to me like you do not have a lot of respect for your father as a man, possibly bc of his passivity and the weakness his addictions represent. This can be a very uncomfortable feeling I think for a guy, until he comes to terms with it. The disappointment, perhaps some resentment, the sense that you are somehow being disloyal or not honoring him the way you \"should.\" \n\nIf any of this is accurate, then I think the only way to get past it is to face your father for who he is and accept that he may not be the kind of man you wish he was, or the kind of father you can consider a role model or even a father figure. ", "score": 7 }, { "body": "\"He puts off powerful waves of negative energy. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but his presence is like a black hole: he sucks in all the light in the room.\"\n\nMy friend's dad used to say the exact same thing about people giving off waves of negative energy and he was a paranoid schizophrenic. He also mentioned \"emotional vampires\" like you do. It played a huge factor in his life and if he thought someone was an emotional vampire or gave off bad waves he wouldn't trust you. Do you have issues with anxiety or mental illness in general? ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Here is my outsider's perspective on this. Your father is:\n\nA) A man who looks at adult porno and makes off-colour jokes. \n\nB) Addicted to prescription pain killers? By what definition? Does a doctor prescribe him these *prescription* pain killers? If so, have you considered that he is in pain and needs them? If a doctor felt he doesn't need them they would be ethically obliged NOT to prescribe them to him. I wouldn't consider it an addiction unless he is acquiring them via illegal channels.\n\nC) Bickers with his wife and is somewhat cynical\n\n\nHe maybe is a bit quirky, but who isn't? There isn't a single person alive who wouldn't show some cracks when held up to the microscope. I think you are holding him up to an unrealistic standard here. There comes a time when you have to realize that your dad is just an ordinary dude who happened to conceive you many years ago. You have to cut him some slack, because if you don't, who will?", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Counseling.\n\nGet him to it. Hell, you would benefit as well.\n\nIt will make both of your lives better, and that's not bullshit.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "A lot of that stuff IS really creepy, but I wouldn't worry about the porn thing... that's the most normal thing on the list (and so is him trying to explain it away).", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Sometimes relationships aren't the best option. There are some people that are just, through no fault of yours, bad for you to be around too much. You can always love and tolerate from a distance. I'm sorry I can't offer anything help-wise, but I do hope sincerely that you find someone/something that can.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "As one who wrote off his dad a good ten years before he died, it is not hard to do if he is really that bad. You don't say if you are still living at home or not. If not, just don't contact him. If he calls, talk to him but let him start the conversations. either his attitude will change or not. If it does great. If not no big loss. \r\n\r\nIf you are still at home, just put up with it until you can move out.\r\n\r\nWhat kind of relationship is it when you are weirded out by just his presence? Not one that is worth the effort.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I just want to thank you. I know this is wrong, but reading this and imagining Tobias saying these things around the prop home to the Bluth family in various situations really brightened my day.\n\nOn a serious note, he really sounds like his mind doesn't work in a way where he can comprehend social situations and interact accordingly. It may help to call him on these things as they come up (I bet he never gave another gift to a cashier after that call). Over time, he may normalize enough to have a decent relationship with. Then again, he may not, but he sounds like a guy that needs someone to love him and it doesn't sound like he's done anything unforgivable. Best of luck to you :)", "score": 3 }, { "body": "If you turn this on it's head, it makes you seem pretty creepy.\n\n\"My Son keeps talking about *negative energy* and other strange make believe things even though he's a grown man\"\n\n\"My Son found pornography on my computer and challenged me about it. I'm an adult, and I enjoy pornography, what person wouldn't understand this?\"\n\n\"I accidentally fell asleep in my Son's bed one day and he thought it was really weird, even though it's my house, he's my son and I look after his daughter for him\"\n\nThose are all things your father could quite rightly say about you and they all paint you in a negative, strange light.\nI think you're deluding yourself if you think all the issues are with him. I'm not saying he doesn't have issues, I don't know, but I certainly think you do. This whole \"negative energy\" thing for starters, there's no such thing, it's just your brain interpreting events in a certain way for some reason. That's something **you** need to get over.\n\nI also think it's worth bearing in mind the impact this has on your daughter. If your father currently has custody you need to have a workable relationship with him for the sake of her wellbeing. I wouldn't let stupid things like \"waves of negative energy\" jeopardise that for a second.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Sounds like you are the one being negative. He is just living his life and has occasional mood swings. You on the other hand are analyzing everything he does. STOP IT. All kids think their parents are weird.....most don't put it on the internet.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Sherlock Holmes was better than I expected; Avatar was not. So the winner is obviously Sherlock Holmes. ", "score": 10 }, { "body": "Avatar. While Sherlock Holmes was without a doubt a great movie, it isn't a movie I would pay to watch again, whereas I have seen Avatar 3 times so far. I just kind of get lost and caught up in Pandora.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I loved both so much. I liked Sherlock Holmes the best, but I just loved the actors, and really have a personal connection to the books, and such. \n\nAvatar felt somewhat cheesy to me, but it was absolutely beautiful. I haven't seen dead snow =\\\n\nI guess I should say that I like each one for different reasons. Not too equatable in my mind.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "They both sucked as movies. Sherlock Holmes was just a generic action movie. There were no interesting characters, which is horrible because the movie is \"based\" on great characters.\n\nAvatar is an amazing piece of film-making. I don't think it is a very good movie, but it is a must see.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Avatar scored just a little higher than Holmes for me. Both had their issues. Avatar was a great ride, but it only took a brief glance at the characters and situation to figure out how the whole movie was going to play out. I also enjoyed Sherlock Holmes, I couldn't shake the feeling that Robert Downey Jr. was playing the Tony Stark character, just with a Sherlock Holmes mask on top. Both were good, but I'm heading out this weekend to go see Avatar again, not Sherlock.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "*I hope you mean hash brownies because potatoes don't really fuel my fire*\n \nRule 2: Remember to dress appropriately. The last thing you want is to be burned at the stake as a heretic.\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Not C++, but one 2D game engine I enjoy using, which is open source, uses OpenGL, has a sweet community and nice documentation* is [LÖVE](http://love2d.org/).\n\n*\\*Now that I check, it seems that the awesome official tutorials have disappeared. I guess they're being updated for the recent new version... blah, this sucks. I don't recommend getting into it until the tutorials show up again, unless you like learning through reference manuals.*", "score": 11 }, { "body": "I've been reasonably happy with [ClanLib](http://clanlib.org/). C++, though I've never tried the OSX port myself.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "A lot of people seem to be using cocos2d. It's python-based on the PC side, and has an Objective-C port for the iPhone: http://cocos2d.org/ Basic scenegraph and movement tweening sort of featureset.\n\nC++ wise, I'm not sure. I've always rolled my own, but I'd also be interested to know of any other nice engines that would allow quick rapid prototyping of 2d games in C++/", "score": 4 }, { "body": "May I also suggest the [Rapid Prototyping Framework](http://2dboy.com/2009/05/27/rapid-prototyping-framework)?", "score": 4 }, { "body": "It isn't C++, but [Flixel](http://www.flixel.org) is a pretty solid 2D opensource library for Flash, and you don't even need to own Flash to use it.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I haven't used it yet myself, but heard already some good reports about [gosu](http://code.google.com/p/gosu/). Uses modern c++ and is cross-platform including OS X, so it might be worth a look.\n", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Quick filling and hot eh?\nWell, its hard to say what you can do when I don't know the rest of your inventory so Ill try to give you some alternatives:\nChopped ham with scrambled eggs on toast. - Decently filling and hot.\nIf you want it more filling you can melt some Pepper Jack into that, tough I never tasted that myself, so do at own risk.\n\nPasta with tuna, add in spicing as you see fit, I usually spice it up with black pepper some vinegar and mushroom soy and then fry it for about a min. - Very delicious if you like tuna, and very filling. Also good with cheese in it. (Everyone should have tuna at home at all times, it is what we will have to eat after the apocalypse. Learn to love it ^^ ).\n\nWhat we in Sweden call \"Fattiga Riddare\", translates as \"Poor Knights\" is delicious. Whip up 2 or 3 eggs and then dip bread in it until the bread soaks up some egg. Fry in a pan with lots of butter. Enjoy with sugar or cheese. - Very delicious, but more of a sweet thing than food, not so filling.\n\nThats all I can think of now :/ I know two of my recepies contained eggs, but its one of those ingredients that holds for months and can be used in almost every meal.\n\nGood luck with your quest for food!\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "[Vanguard](http://www.hulu.com/vanguard) covers some interesting topics. Not exactly light hearted though.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Well, for starters you can chat with us. We enjoy having discussions. The next part is to just live it. We don't \"convert people\". I personally challenge them when they start saying bullshit in public places (evolution is BS? I love to discuss this).\n\nOtherwise, stay informed on science in general. Better have a mind full of science than imaginary friends.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Keep in mind though, that this isn't a real \"documentary;\" it's obviously biased and skewed to only show the extremities of the opposing side. Bill uses the same cut/paste/out-of-context tricks that were used in that disingenuous intelligent design movie Expelled. \n\nI liked Religulous too, but to say that it's the final word and that all religions are dumb *hurr hurr*, is like a creationist watching Expelled and saying evolution is stupid *derp derp*.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I too watched it recently . I like the bit where Arkansas Senator says you don't have to pass IQ test to be a senator!!!!!! pwned", "score": 4 }, { "body": "> Have we evolved from animals? Or have they evolved from us. You can watch a video of a monkey pissing into his own mouth on Youtube...but then again you cannot find a video of a monkey manipulating the rest of its kind with something that makes no sense.\n\nI sort of understand what you're trying to say here, but the way you put it sounds ridiculous. First off, humans are type of animal. Secondly, having the ability to manipulate society through concepts like religion shows we're a BIT more intelligent than monkeys... which might imply the exact opposite of the point you're trying to make, but then again I could just be misunderstanding you. \n", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "So you're what, 19 or so? Some people are just late bloomers. Don't be too hard on yourself - there are a lot of people your age in the same situation. \n\nIf you're not too good at chatting up random girls, maybe try some internet dating to get the ball rolling.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Actually having the conversation is a good start on making the conversation seem confident ;) Basically, get in, be charming and respectful and then leave before you run out of interesting things to chat about. If you begin and end your conversations well you'll appear confident in yourself (and seem like you have other things to do, which you should). As far as what to talk about, you should be able to transition pretty easily from a comment about class to something interesting about yourself and then a quick question or two about her before you should probably be going. Exchanging facebooks with girls is easy and non-threatening enough -- really try to let things come naturally rather than getting into rigid \"dating\" mode. Hang out with some girls and if you're having a good time and one seems to be digging you too the opportunity to kiss her should present itself. \n\ntl;dr: good = start conversations, really good = start conversation and end it before you become boring. ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I think you're best bet is to make friends with girls instead of perusing them right off the bat. Just get comfortable talking and being friendly and sooner or later you'll click romantically with one or them, or even better one of her friends.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "People in general love to talk about themselves. Everyone thinks that their own opinions are very interesting. So, the best thing to talk about is the other person. Ask a lot of open-ended questions. Start with something you have in common (the class, the long line for the checkout, something relevant to your classes) and laugh and be interested in her replies. \n\nThere's some good stock questions you can ask people in college: What's your major? What dorm are you in? Howabout the weather we've been having? Did you hear about the kid who got mugged up on 53rd? (Well, maybe that last one is just my school.)", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "She may be flirting with you to make a boring shift more fun/to get more tips/etc.\n\nI worked in food service for years. My flirting rarely meant anything, and free things went to regular customers who were nice to me since they were a) nice and b) likely to come back.\n\nThat said, feel free to ask her out. But don't get your hopes up.\n\nedit: I got asked out often, and I never let it be awkward unless the customer make it awkward.", "score": 25 }, { "body": "My friend just wrote down his number and left it with his bill and left. She actually called him and they've been together for years.\n\nI think that works even better now-a-days because she can just text you and still leave the ball in your court.", "score": 19 }, { "body": ">sometimes i buy a coffee only to see her and throw it out when i leave. she's soooo beautiful!!!!\n\nThat is getting dangerously close to creep territory, just so you know.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Some flirting or something that looks like it is probably part of her job. Other than that, just ask. What do you have to lose? If you are lucky you get some free coffee in your face ;)", "score": 4 }, { "body": "The real question is: if you break up, will you miss the coffee or her more?\n\nTrust me on this, once you split up, you can never go back. Lost one of my favourite restaurants that way. *sniff*", "score": 4 }, { "body": "If you have a business card, give it to her and tell her, \"If you ever want to get some lunch of coffee, give me a call!\" Do this after chatting it up with her for a little bit, preferably when there's nobody behind you in line.\n\nRefrain from asking for her number, unless you're prepared for rejection.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I don't think it's rude at all. If you get denied, oh well...you get denied. Flirt anyway.\r\n\r\nHowever, the line \"I buy coffee only to see her and throw it out when I leave\"...sounds pretty ridiculous. If you're going in there to talk to her do just that. Have a casual talk (if the place isn't busy). Don't act like you're Doug Funny trying to get Patty Mayonaise. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Does he know you've posted his name and number (and any phone number he'll have in the future, in case he decides to change it) on a site that gets roughly [4.7 million unique visitors per month](http://siteanalytics.compete.com/reddit.com/)?", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Rather than seizure inducing lights he should have a picture of someone holding a business card for inspection. imho", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I had to live in a shitty apartment away from my girlfriend/fiancee/wife for two and a half years. Having become a grownup and having big boy furniture, I was not well pleased with the idea of sucking down fucking Ikea again.\n\nWhat I did was decorate in the style of \"things that hang from the ceiling.\"\n\nInstead of a bed, I had one of [these](http://www.hammocks.com/hammocks/handwoven-hammocks/managerstoppickxxlmazatlanmayanhammock.cfm).\n\nInstead of a dresser, I had [these.](http://cache.static.tsavo.com/wordpress/uploads/2009/03/storage-1.jpg)\n\nInstead of flowerpots, I had [these.](http://s2.thisnext.com/media/230x230/Hanging-Glass-Bubble_171BF393.jpg)\n\nAs it was a new city and as I had a big goddamn wall, I bought two Thomas Guides, cut them up, spray-glued them to foamcore, and laid out the entire city of Los Angeles on my wall. I then outlined all the public transit lines using embroidery floss and pins.\n\nAt the end of two years, I still had a hammock (which I slept in for the better part of a year before knuckling under and buying a bed), everything else was cheap enough to dispose of and I bloody well knew LA. And as an added bonus, a Roomba will get things exceptionally clean when you have, essentially, no furniture.\n\nGood luck.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Ever played Diablo II and its expansion? Think of it like that. The things that Immortal Throne adds to the first three chapters are all improvements, not complete game-changers. You don't lose anything for having installed Immortal Throne.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Immortal Throne was just an expansion to the first game. If Steam gives you the option to play either you can likely analog those to \"Classic\" and \"Expansion\" modes in Diablo II. If IT lets you play the first 3 acts, then those acts are the same acts from TQ but with more items, etc.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Just play immortal throne. Like the others said it's just an expansion to the original. So it only adds additional content. I loaded up both and the game starts in the same setting. The only difference from what I saw was the lack of additional features that you get in IT.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": ">I want to be a good feminist and say that I can survive on my own, vibrator in one hand and wine wine glass in the other. But I make so many other sacrifices that I just want my personal life to be safe and comforting. I just want to happy.\n\nHoney, you just spoke the truth of the sexy intelligent woman of today. It's hard, but you know what? Do you *really* have time to be fucking around with some weaselly little ex?! You are in college, no? The guys you're 'frightening' away are COLLEGE BOYS **Don't let stupid little college boys get under your skin!!** Set your shoulders back, stride forward with business as usual, and it will work out. I promise. The right person might not come along for a while, but you keep on testing the water when you feel like giving it a try, and be single when you want a little less drama. And ask guys out. They like that. ", "score": 27 }, { "body": "Maybe this is just the 3:30AM malknim talking, but please: don't go back with your ex!!! He sounds undeserving.\n\nFind yourself someone better. See your fierceness as a pre-selection, you wouldn't want to be in a relationship with someone who can't hold his own in a debate, right? Who would feel threatened by your fowardness (? I'm making words up when I'm zombified, zat iz ze french way ;)\n\nWhy don't you go for a slightly older and wiser guy. I have been labelled many times \"intimidating\" before I met my boyfriend, and I found that mature men were attracted to that. Well... they didn't tell me that, I just kinda assumed, logically. ", "score": 24 }, { "body": "not having a boyfriend is better than having a shitty one. at least that way when a good one comes along you'll be open to it.", "score": 17 }, { "body": "Your intellect does shine through in how you describe things in your post.\n\n>I want to be a good feminist and say that I can survive on my own, vibrator in one hand and wine wine glass in the other. But I make so many other sacrifices that I just want my personal life to be safe and comforting. I just want to happy.\n\nThat's quite an image. ::chuckles:: I like that, have you considered writing for your school newspaper?\n\nBut to get to the fundamental seriousness behind your statement I will tell you what I have told many others: It's not an either/or proposition. Being a good feminist (however it is you define this) is about making choices for yourself and not settling for anything less than you deserve. What you deserve is a good deal more than your ex.\n\nTrust me when I say that I understand this longing you feel to find someone and have a personal life that is warm, to which one looks forward to each night when they come home from a hard day's work. But you will be chasing an *illusion* or at best a pale imitation of what it is you truly desire if you return to your ex. You know this.\n\n>But since then, I've felt sick to my stomach.\n\nThat's how you know this.\n\n'When you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with' is a fine turn of phrase that has just enough pithiness to sound like simple wisdom. It is also spectacularly wrong. Like most such ideas it works only on a case by case basis. In *this* case it assuredly doesn't.\n\n>But I was really, really single until I was 19 and I've been taking my recent lack of success as confirmation that my ex is probably the best I can get, in that he's the only thing I can get.\n\nAs seductive as this idea is, understand that it is an abyss that you must not allow yourself to be swallowed by. I do not mean to sound dire, but we must never allow ourselves to internalise the belief that we're less deserving than we are. For us as women this represents a launching of herself into a pit which is very, very hard to escape from.\n\nYou're still young and with a great future stretching out before you. We live in a world of some six billion people and you have the rest of your life spreading before you like a vast, verdant expanse. Why give up on finding love *now* of all times?\n\nI say to you in all candour that your ex will not be a sufficient substitute. Your longing to be *with* someone will be swiftly supplanted by a longing to be with someone *better* who actually meets your deservedly high standards.\n\nAs Malknim suggested, your traits give you a sort of preselection bias. The kinds of guys you very likely don't want are turned off by what makes you one hell of a woman. This is actually sparing you a great deal of anguish, I promise you. For a woman like you, the right person will come.\n\nMy next bit of advice is an expansion of a rather old dating cliche: Be yourself. In your responses to others in this thread I noticed you said you dumb yourself down for men and then overcompensate when you catch yourself, for example. Simply be you. When you dumb yourself down you probably seem a little fake or oddly reserved to the men you're performing this act for.\n\nWhenever we put on a show for others, it can be felt- consciously or otherwise. Why hide your genuine self. Put it out there for all to see!\n\nDo not feel this conflict between your independence and your desire to be with someone. There is no conflict. These are just two dimensions to the kind of woman you are. So many of us yearn for love, and long to be swept off our feet. This doesn't make us weak. It merely makes us human.\n\nSo pick up that vibrator and wine glass, sister, and march.", "score": 13 }, { "body": "I'm not a lady but do **not** take your ex back.\n\nUnder no circumstances should someone be allowed to badmouth you to your boyfriend. I kicked my uncles ass at my grandmothers house for talking about my girlfriend (now wife) and would do it again in a heartbeat.\n\nHow might you intimidating exactly if you even know? ", "score": 13 }, { "body": "Post-college (OK, downright old!) male with an opinion, chiming in.\n\n* For a whole host of reasons we could debate for hours, many societal pieces have fallen into place during the last 10-15 years that all have the cumulative affect of stunting twentysomething male maturity. You can see it not only in how they treat women, but also in the emotional and economical aspects of their lives. It's irritating to watch, but the point is: This is *not* a matter of you being too intimidating, or odd or anything else; there are bigger forces at work, more or less screwing up your pool of available guys en masse.\n\n* The woman you are now - or, more accurately, the woman you seem to be from your (eloquent!) post - is strong and smart. *Continue to be that woman.* It might mean fewer dates in college (or not, if you start dating post-college guys), but being yourself and demanding a companion who is caring and mature is, on the whole, better than a string of heartache and frustration.\n\n* Agree with some of the others here -- don't go back to the ex. He sounds like someone who needs to get his ass kicked.\n\n\n\n", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Guy here. You sound awesome, first of all. I'd prefer more direct women that ae willing to argue with me.\n\nJust because the guys you see now are intimidated by your directness doesn't mean that there aren't guy who appreciate it. You just haven't met them, yet. Keep trying, just like they tell us menfolk to do, and you'll find one.\n\nThe ex, he sounds like a dick. At least, he sounds like someone you aren't really into. I'd avoid it and keep hitting on cute guys. We like it. The sort of man around whom your forwardness would be appreciated, at least, wouldn't mind.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Intimidating is just a word that stupid men use to put down women who they know are better than them. It serves to keep these women in relationships with stupid assholes because they then think that they will never do any better because the men around them go into bitch fits when approached for sex. Fah. \n\nWhatever you do don't get back with your ex. Don't give in to the pressure you might be feeling in your romantic life and just enjoy yourself. In my experience \"intimidating\" ages well. ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Keep looking. I'm a guy who prefers and loves strong-willed, smart, successful women. We exist, even in college (Junior here)! Just because you didn't immediately find the right person for you doesn't mean that you should give up and go back to someone who cheats on you.\n\nYou'll run into a lot of immature people in college. Don't take that as a sign that YOU need to change, take that as a sign that the right guy is going to take a little longer to find at your age.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Well whatever you do if I were you don't get back together with your ex. :P\n\nPeople are far better off alone than being in relationships that either don't make sense or don't make them happy.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I get that I'm \"intimidating\" too. I don't really mind because I am terrible with people and never talk to anyone. People also say it seems like I think I'm better than everyone else. I do but that's not the reason I am cold and standoffish. I'm just terrible with people and keeping friends so I would rather just not. Also socializing is draining. I'm not very successful but people say I am still very intimidating nonetheless.\n\nPoint is, maybe you could learn form the way I am. Try being more open. The way you dress, talk and even your mannerisms. \n\nJust take it easy. What happens, happens. If you try too hard, even in your thoughts you might come off as desperate. Don't worry too much about it, it will happen eventually, usually when you least expect.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Do not ever \"settle\" for something that is not what you truly deserve. You know that this guy doesn't make you happy, so don't get back together with him. Period.\n\nAs for finding a new guy, don't let yourself get hung up on the idea that you think you might be intimidating to guys. You might be to some guys, and maybe that's off-putting... but guess what. It means you're getting to know the wrong kind of guys.\n\nGet out and be social in areas that interest you and where you feel like you can challenge yourself. make new friends of both genders, and keep in contact with (and go out with again!) the people who you think are awesome and worth holding on to as friends.\n\nI used okcupid and meetup to get to know people in my area both for dates and for activities when I moved to new areas. It was really useful.\n\nYou might consider doing some volunteering at shelters/foodbanks, or something... or finding local community college classes you want to take to start getting to know people with similar interests and values. \n\nWhatever you do, don't stay at home \"bored\" and depressed that you can't find a guy.\n\nDon't ever settle. Be active and social and patient while building and widening your social circle. I think these things will increase both the chances of finding a guy who IS good enough to keep around, and puts you more into an emotional mental state where you'll be able to have a truly healthy and sustainable relationship.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Guy here. For the love of god, don't get back with an ex who cheated on you (for months).\n\nIf you're the good looking, capable girl/woman - you'll find someone. As for your \"intimidation\", you can probably talk with a few more friends (or go on a few more random dates) and figure out how to hold it back once a while. Unfortunately dating is a game, and you've got to play it. Either way, don't let the reason - you being intimidating to some others- be the reason you give up and go back to your cheating ex. It makes me think you're not that smart after all - kind of like those stupid soaps/dramas about good women who get tied down by dumb men.\n\nOh, have whomever said intimidating expand on what that means... talks too much about certain things? Glare? Way too hot? (if that was the case men would be approaching you anyways if you're in a bar)", "score": 3 }, { "body": "First thing: He's your ex for a reason. Don't go back.\n\nSecond thing: I understand where you are coming from, as I have a similar academic back ground. I'm also an ex-kick boxer, and I have eyes that look through people (apparently). I have been told that men find me rather intimidating. I've found someone who can hold his own, and doesn't act like he's walking on eggshells, or is frustratingly timid... best part, I'm positive you will too!\n\nThirdly: Sure you're lonely, we all know what that feels like. Just please, do your feminist self a favour and don't get back with the ex. You'll find someone who makes you happy, and is exactly what you need. \n\nGo out in your spare time, or hang out in public places while you study or work on homework. Pick places that *you* like hanging out in, and be open and friendly. This is where you meet guys that like at least something you do. \n\nUnfortunately, you can't go shopping for men, and you simply have to find ways to keep yourself blissful while you live your life, so you're pleasantly surprised when someone comes along who sweeps you off your feet.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Every breakup I've ever had has cost me something. Some cost a little, some cost a lot. Goes with the territory.\n\nIf all you lost were the things you mentioned, you got off easy. Let it go. You haven't seen anything yet. Hopefully you won't.\n\nYou'll understand someday how very little this breakup actually cost if you're ever in a bad relationship that needs to end and decide that it's worth it to just walk away from everything you own (except for your clothes) and have to replace everything. *{Said in my best voice of experience.}*\n\nBTW, drunken e-mails (and other real time communication, phone calls, etc.) generally don't ever help a situation turn around to have a happy ending. :)\n\n*edit:wording*", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Save your money. You may end up getting cited for \"harrasing\" her. Start brand new. Focus on something exciting, like finding the next girl in your life. I know it doesn't seem fair, but you will save your dignity, just let it go. ", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Definitely do not contact her or go near her any more. \n\nIf you're dying for some payback, unload a can of Great Stuff (foam insulation) under the hood of her car. I wouldn't, though. Bad karma.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Its not instinct, its mostly their way of dressing, body language, facial features and accents. You will be amazed at how much you can pick up about a person merely by watching them for a few seconds.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I'm Australian and lived in Japan for a few months and study the language now at uni, and from that relatively little knowledge I can usually predict what country Asians I see are from.\nIt's not necessarily a gut instinct.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Protip: Use ethnic heritage and not nationality. \n\nNationality corresponds to the country of which you are a citizen.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I started menstruating during the summer between 4th and 5th grade, I was not quite 9. When I was 11 I developed anemia, and then as a result of that I also developed [dysmenorrhea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysmenorrhea) and [Menorrhagia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menorrhagia). When I was 14 and lost my virginity it only got worse. I have fainted multiple times before, barfed, spent days in bed, had extremely high fevers, not to mention fucking INSANE mood swings. I tried to get birth control but wasn't able to get a hold of it until I was 16. After trying out several kinds I finally found a pill that I feel great on, I just keep taking it for several months until I have breakthrough bleeding and have a very light, mild cramping period for 3-4 days.\r\n\r\n\r\nEdit: 19 years old now.\r\n\r\nRidiculous amount of oversharing.", "score": 16 }, { "body": "Trying to be as non-creepy as possible:\n\nWhen did you develop breasts to a reasonably full degree?\nDid other children (males/females) treat you differently? ", "score": 8 }, { "body": "I feel you.\n\nEven though I got my period around the average age (12), I still developed far before my friends.\nI was the first to have my period, and my hips and boobs exploded in 5th grade. I had always been a stick, but I was now at 5'5\" and 90 lbs, with child bearing hips and B cups that literally looked fake.\n\nThey sprouted up out of nowhere and were so damn perky and out of proportion to the rest of my body that I was constantly asked if I had implants... at the age of 11.\n\nWhile I embraced my womanly body, as I never really identified with the beanpole I once was, I was so disgusted by men's reactions.\nSure, I like some of the attention, but middle aged men thought I was in my early 20's when I was only in middle school.\n\nI still have pretty much the same body, except I'm now 5'8\", I've filled out a bit (115 - 125 lbs now), and my boobs have finally received a little bit of sag, so they no longer look bolted on, thank god :)\n\nAlso, one of the things I wanted to comment on, since we're all sharing how terrible our visits from Aunt Flow are, does anyone else get frustrated at just how little men know about periods? \n\"You're bleeding and you're scary, Big whoop\". Oh how I wish they knew how much pain we were in: the back and side-vag cramps, the exhaustion, the migraines (I apparently have too much estrogen in my system, so when I'm not on birth control I get horrible horrible migraines for the entire week), and for some of us, the shits.\n\nI feel if guys knew this, they would cut us some slack. Well, maybe.\n\n**Did I win for the most overshares?**", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Wow, I am very happy to see you posting about this. I am a MOM... as in I have a daughter, that is going through puberty, at the age of 9. I have no idea how to deal with this. I went through puberty late (as in 14, really late to get a period). I have already had the talk about tampons vs. pads, have the bras that she needs, talked about (as much as I could, I have no experience) early puberty. So, tell me, how should I be a good mom to her?", "score": 6 }, { "body": "It's comforting to know that someone else has gone through something similar to what I had to go through. I'm also Asian and started menstruating around the age of ten - I thought that was so early and was totally ashamed by it. I also heard that once you have your period, you stop growing... which obliterated my dreams of becoming a basketball player/model. Oh ya I was fat when I was younger too. And you said you were bullied, meeee tooooo. \r\n\r\nLet me postulate this: Does masturbation at a young age induce an earlier onset of puberty/menstruation? ", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Ouch. I feel sorry for you. My niece went through that too. It must suck to be 9 and get your period.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Arduino + Ethernet shield. Run a web server on the Arduino that serves a page with Open and Close on it. Arduino trips a relay that opens or closes the door. If you don't want to tamper with the door mechanism, you could always wire the relays into the remote and make sure you place the whole bundle line of sight.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Mine has a built-in garage door opener. I just text my kid: \"Hey, could you open up the garage door please?\"", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Garage door openers use RF signals to communicate. The iPhone doesn't have an RF transmitter in the range required. \n\nIf you wanted an iPhone app that operated generic garage door openers you'd need an RF hardware dongle. Which would be totally fucking pointless, since if you need to get into the garage, you've got your car there. Just keep the remote in your car.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I think the easiest way to do this is to set up a home server and somehow wire this to your garage door opener (good luck there). Then you need to make a webapp to integrate that functionality (not hard at all), and then access it through safari via wifi/internet.\n\nIt's really the garage door integration part that is bothering me... Google might offer you some similar home projects from other hackers. If you got the cash, X10 might help: http://rake.sh/blog/2009/03/25/using-my-iphone-as-a-garage-door-opener/", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "You should check out 'The Last Question' by Isaac Asimov. It's a pretty great read and very relevant to this discussion. [link](http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html)", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "There is no way to learn a language quickly unless you are completely immersed. That's why immersion programs exist. If you want to be fluent and conversational at a rapid speed- I'd suggest looking into one. I've been learning French for 3 years now and learned more in an 8 day accelerated immersion program (english was not allowed, if you spoke it accidentally more than 3 times you would be sent home) at a french university in Nova Scotia than in an entire semester. Your brain becomes a sponge and you absorb everything because it's relevant. You ask \"what is this?\" and you remember that it's fucking blueberry pie because you're going to want some tomorrow too.\n\nObviously, not always helpful but look into accelerated courses around your area, hell- I bet if you look on craigslist and put up an offer, you may get a tutor for the desired language at a much cheaper rate than you'd find from a professional teacher.\n\nIf these are also out of the question, don't get discouraged, there are other things you can look into:\n\n* Podcasts are GREAT- try to make yourself listen to one every day, make it a habit and listen to it in the morning while you get ready or something, or drive to school/work/wherever.\n* Keep watching movies in desired language, watch them with the subtitles on in the original language- not english. This way you get used to seeing the words and hearing them at the same time.\n* Buy some children's books and read them.\n* Buy verb practice books, it's grueling and it sucks but do it. Work on a chapter a night or something. Setting up a routine is the best way to do it.\n* Find some local language clubs/groups and join them.\n* Find a native speaker and ask them to help you, don't be embarassed, they'll appreciate your effort.\n\nAll this above is meant to help you immerse yourself if you can't realistically immerse yourself. It's not always fun and dandy like just watching movies, you have to keep up with it or else you lose what you've learned. The best way to do it is to concentrate on one thing daily, be it vocabulary, grammar, podcasts, or whatever. Or spread it out during the day into little segments such as a podcast in the morning, some vocab and grammar practice in the afternoon and a movie at night. Treat yourself with cultural items too like different foods from the country of origin while learning about them, and learn different mannerisms/etiquette (try them out on Americans, just for fun). \n\nDon't give up is the most important part. It's extremely frustrating to meet a native and realize you can't understand a goddamn word they're saying but keep it up and it's one of the most fascinating and rewarding experiences to slowly begin to understand conversations.\n\nEdit: misplaced sentence.\n\n", "score": 14 }, { "body": "Motivation is really a key factor. If you have a need and a desire to use the language (rather than just learn it), it'll go much quicker.\n\nChildrens books are usually also a good place to start, if you're learning on your own. They're simple, illustrated and quickly expands your vocabulary.\n\nHaving a natural conversation with people who speak it natively is of course a giant booster. Lacking that, I usually go for entertainment. I personally like comedies, and even if you have to watch them subtitled in the beginning, you'll quickly learn new words. Go with whatever holds your interest, and on the upside you'll even learn something about the culture behind the language.\n\nI haven't tried audiobooks or Rosetta Stone. BBC has a decent language learning site, that may be worth a look: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/\n\nIn the end there's no faster way to learn than being immersed in the language and culture every day. Aside from the spoken and written language, you also have to partially learn a local body language, customs and all the little faux pas and oddities that makes up the culture.\n\nHave fun ;)", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Don't use Rosetta Stone, it's a waste of time. I started learning Korean from scratch (self-taught) in December and Rosetta Stone is just too god damn slow. Please do not buy the logic that it \"teaches you the language like a child learns it\". We are smarter than children and you can learn it much faster and more effectively in other ways. \n\nWhat I did was google \"Korean Flashcards\" and \"Korean Grammar\". This led me to a website that has hundreds of Korean flashcards for vocab words as well as numerous online lesson books of Korean grammar so I could begin to start writing simple sentences. By practicing these for an hour or two every day, I've gone from zilch to being able to read and write Korean (understanding speech is still hard, but I can speak it to some extent) on a very simple level and getting better every day. As long as you're motivated, self-directed learning is the best way. \n\ntl;dr: DO NOT USE ROSETTA STONE. IT'S TOO SLOW. \n\nEdit: I'd also like to add that if the language you're learning isn't written in an alphabet you're familiar with (ie. English, French, Spanish, Italian versus Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean), make sure you learn the alphabet and character construction first. I wasted a lot of time just dealing with the romanization which is attractive because it's more natural, but it's inaccurate and will stunt your progress.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I'm surprised nobody mentioned Mnemosyne. It's not how you should learn, but it's how you should remember, considering vocabulary is a huge portion of learning the language.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I took several linguistics courses... I heard time and time again that the Pimsleur approach was one of the best, and by far the greatest value for your buck. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "As a king, I'm often an entirely different person when I'm in drag. Luckily, my partner and my persona get along quite well. ;)\n\nIf it helps, imagine your girlfriend disappears when she does drag. The person you are dating is somewhere else entirely -- this is what drag is about: the wholehearted performance of gender, not just on stage, but entirely. It's method acting. Try to separate your girlfriend, who I presume you get along with very well, from her masculine counterpart.\n\nThe personality is all part of the play, and this may be the way your partner chooses to express her concept of gender-through-kinging. That being said, **no one ever has the right to treat you inappropriately**, even (or especially) your partner, be they a she or he at the time. \n\nMight I recommend bringing up this fact to her during the conversation. People often forget that they have rights in a relationship, and that they have the responsibility to observe and protect the rights of their partners.", "score": 16 }, { "body": "Tell her that you are not part of her act, by default. If she wants to be insulting to people whilst in character, fine and dandy - but you aren't to be treated as an extension of that performance. ", "score": 15 }, { "body": "Being that I am treated much differently dressed as a [woman](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zZGdg6CTokA/S0AppMNkiGI/AAAAAAAAAU0/tWWjOfmPrF0/s1600-h/swallow.street.jpg) than I am dressed as a [guy](http://static1.px.yelp.com/photo/0-KV-WfGK0jBDnqgTC3nLQ/l), I understand that presentation can have an [effect on how you are treated](http://fauxwhore.blogspot.com/2009/12/wednesday-december-30-2009.html). But, more profoundly, they way one presents has a HUGE effect on how that person behaves and treats others. \r\n\r\nYour partner took on stereotypically masculine behaviors by proxy, when dessed as a guy. Likewise, I am much more pleasant and deferential when dressed as a girl. I can afford to be because people are MUCH nicer if I am dressed as a girl.", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "heating plastic almost 100% is going to cause the release of potentially toxic chemicals, in no way is it a good idea. get a real pipe, roll a j, get a brass nozzle from a hardwood store, use a lightbulb vape but neeever use plastic (or aluminum foil)", "score": 5 }, { "body": "[2] For some reason i kept reading \"pipe\" as \"pie\" and had no idea why you would want to eat a whole damn pie of chapstick, usually just one stick is enough..", "score": 3 }, { "body": "i feel this is a lil obvious but do you know what a dugout is? \n\nthe case that holds a cigarette shaped porcelain or steel pipe and a weed chamber to load it. looks like your smoking a cigarette except that you have to keep lighting it. less than $20", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Dude, I've got people stalking me and downvoting everything I post. And *I* don't want that button.\n\nLet it go. Life's too short to bear a grudge. ", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I've always thought an \"add as enemy\" function would be fitting for most social networking things. It just makes sense.", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I'd like to believe that things happen for a reason and good always begets more good. \n\nBut it has been my experience thus far that shit just happens.\n\nThis said however, I do believe that you should treat people as you would have them treat you. I treat people well for this reason and encourage others to do so, but I don't think that \"what goes around comes around.\" It's more like if more good is going around then more good will probably come back around, sadly it does not always work this way but by individually putting out more good it does increase the odds.\n\nI really hope that there isn't a karmic system tallying the good and bad things we do and don't do, keeping track of that sounds like a shitty job to me.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "[3] I believe Karma to be a more concise yet complex idea. Although fate may hold similar meaning, to me I think people presume the idea of fate to mean more along the lines of \"everything happens for a reason,for me.\" I think Karma has a much broader perspective with the balance of the individual in relation to the balance of all.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Get out of Woodstock and eat takeout all over the city for a few days. There are maps just for food, cart reviews in the NYTimes (ha), you'll figure it out. \n\nBut guess what, I'll start you off with some protips, free of charge:\n\n* Best burrito: Los Gorditos @ SE 50th and SE Division (new vegan-only cart opening @ SE Hawthorne and SE 12th where there are many other carts you should check out)\n* Best beer: This is tough to say in Portland, but here's where I feel I'm getting the most consistent variety of solid tasting beers: Rogue (NW 14th? and NE Flanders), Lucky Labrador (NW 20th and NW Quimby and one other SE location), Mash Tun (NE 20th or so and NE Alberta)\n* Best coffee: Portland is full of the best coffee, you can find it at basically every coffee shop. For atmosphere, I like deep couches and crossword puzzles so I liked Concordia Coffeehouse (on NE 30th or so and NE Alberta), but its hard not to frequent other places just as often.\n* Best pizza: Good Neighbor Pizza on NE 14th and NE Dekum, Bella Faccia on NE 30th and NE Alberta.\n* Best use of quarters: arcade games and beer at Ground Kontrol (NW 5th and NW Couch (pronounced cooch)\n* Transportation: I've been living here since 2005 without a car and I get around more than most of my friends with cars. Get a bike, you live in the right city for it, and you know its fun.\n* Best job: something close to your house and/or favorite bar that gives you medical insurance. good luck.\n* Mandatory (and frequent) visits: Powell's books on W Burnside and 10th; Stumptown Coffee on SW 3rd and SW Pine; Mt. Tabor; across the Fremont Bridge (or, if you're carless, walk/ride across the Broadway bridge for similar view); food carts downtown; various theaters serving beer; beer festivals every few months; bike races half the year; blah blah blah i'm tired its 4AM\n\nTL;DR: There's a ton of stuff in Portland that's good/fun and I listed their addresses. Bam.\n\n*Edited for bullet points\n\n*Edited a day later for stuff close to Woodstock:\nBeing that you're pretty \"deep\" in SE, so to speak, you should start out with stuff close to you. SE Portland especially is a great neighborhood-oriented area, you can stay close to your house for weeks at a time and not miss out on anything. There are huge amounts of spots to hang out from SE Clinton to E Burnside, mostly west of 39th street.\n\n* Roadside Attraction (SE 12th/SE Yamhill) and, when it closes, The Basement Pub next door are pretty small, dark places. Roadside has a free pool table, but small, cash-only bar w/ 5 stools. There are plenty of booths though.\n* If you haven't noticed already, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission requires bars to serve food in this state. I don't know about you but that was new for me, most bars are drinks only in other states I've lived in. This is great because there are tons of bars that double as restaurants and tons of restaurants that double as bars! Even coffee shops can serve liquor/beer here! Yay!\n* Holocene (SE 10th/SE Morrison) will be good on occasion for shows and/or dancing and drinking. Other times it will be a $5 - $10 cover for something you'll end up leaving.\n* SE Clinton has Dots, Night Light Lounge; SE Division has a Stumptown Coffee, Los Gorditos, Blue Pig (pretty good breakfast), New Seasons grocery (check out the cafe); SE Hawthorne is kinda crowded and touristy but there are a few decent record shops, smoke shops if that's your thing, and the surrounding neighborhoods are nice but they're tired of the traffic.\n* Burnside is loaded with bars/strip clubs/mexican food/house/blah blah. At the East Burn Lounge on your birthday you can sign up (in advance) for 1 hour of free beer or up to 10 glasses of wine for you and up to 9 friends. Rontom's is nice most of the time, especially the patio during the summer.\n* Red and Black (SE 12th/SE Oak) has amazing food (Black Dragon noodles w/ tofu and a beer on tap please), and is worker-owned and operated to boot. You'll notice that not only is the cafe vegan, but so are the rest of the surrounding businesses on that block, including the tattoo parlor. So, yeah.\n\n*Now you're starting to get up into NE before we've explored across the river, but those are later posts.\n", "score": 15 }, { "body": "Wait 4-6 months while trying to keep/find a stable job, and then give up and move back to wherever you're from.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Go to one of the McMinnamon theatres (sp?) and sit on a couch getting drunk eating pizza while you watch a movie. Hit up the carts a couple times for lunch, take the Max all the way to Hillsboro and back for kicks, go to Powell's and get lost for a couple hours.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Hang out with redditors. We've had a few meetups lately, and they've been fun.\n\nMy girlfriend and I move up from Eugene 8 months ago, and I'm still asking the question you are.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I am your my neighbor as well. I will buy you a drink at the delta this week if you want. I live on Insley and 57th", "score": 5 }, { "body": "What kind of work are you looking for?\n\nEdit: You didn't actually say you needed work, but it does sound like you have no transportation. If you want someone to show you around, or if you need any help getting situated (i.e. furniture moving, trips to the DMV, etc.), PM me and I'll do what I can.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Go to the [Laurelhurst Theater](http://www.laurelhursttheater.com/home.html \"5 Minute Previews - No Commercials\") and enjoy a movie with beer and food where the staff treats you like an adult.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Take a bike ride through downtown and the various neighborhoods. Make note of all the cool shops, stores, clubs,..etc you want to go back and visit.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Hop in your time machine and see The Roots perform tonight at 9PM. Then see Questlove DJ at an after party until 4AM. (Actually, you still have 20 minutes until he's done. Hurry!)", "score": 3 }, { "body": "We're freaking neighbors! I'm on Duke. \n\nBut seriously, hop on the 19 and go downtown and walk around for a while. Go to Powells, stop by Ash St Saloon for some good grimy dive baring, and then go up to the Pearl to gawk at yuppies. \n\nIf you don't want to go downtown, go over to division and walk around over there. The area is really starting to pick up. Hawthorne and Belmont are also awesome for walking but they can be crowded and pricey. \n\nWelcome to the neighborhood!", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Not at all. I wouldn't care if it was a guy and girl, two girls or two guys. Do your make out stuff in private. School is for learning. By the way, I am gay.", "score": 112 }, { "body": "Easy checklist for you:\n\n1. Are you white or male or straight?\n\n2. Is the person you are criticizing non-white or non-male or non-straight?\n\n3. If you answered \"YES\" to both questions, then you are definitely an evil racist, sexist, homophobic bigot.\n\nHave a nice day :-)", "score": 54 }, { "body": "Everyone in this thread says \"If it was a boy and girl couple, would the professor have given a speech about tolerance\"\n\nTo which I say, \"Had it been 2 girls, would you have said anything to the professor?\"", "score": 43 }, { "body": "Man up and tell the guys themselves to cut it out. \n\nThis isn't high school - your professor is not a babysitter. And you shouldn't be running to him with non-academic complaints about other students. You're basically a \"tattler\". No one likes a tattler.\n\nIf it doesn't bother him, it's up to the students to police their own classroom etiquette.", "score": 36 }, { "body": "Sit behind them while they make out and keep muttering \"oh god that's so hot\"... basically weird them out right back.", "score": 28 }, { "body": "I am a former professor. No sexual display would have been tolerated in my classroom, ever. Not from a gay couple, nor a straight couple. \"Giggling and whispering the entire time\" would also not be considered acceptable conduct during my lecture. I suggest you run your experience by your student mentor or your dean of students. Its wise to get the incident on someone's radar (even if not necessarily a formal complaint) particularly if you are concerned the instructor may not grade you fairly. Good luck.", "score": 18 }, { "body": "Nope. Don't think your being unreasonable at all. It's more a fault on the side of the professor, I'm sure he would have told a straight couple to stop it, he's probably just more afraid of the backlash he would get from the couple if he spoke up against them.", "score": 11 }, { "body": "if it was a boy-and-girl couple, do you think the professor would have given you the same lecture about tolerance? i don't think it's unreasonable to request that students refrain from sexual intimacy in the classroom", "score": 8 }, { "body": "If students are distracting you in class, gay, straight, whatever, you have a right to complain. Go back to your professor and explain your feelings. Assure him that it's not the fact it's a gay couple that's a problem, that any couple giggling and swapping spit in the front row would be a distraction. You're all there to learn - if they aren't then they should go elsewhere to make out.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Let me just ask you this... Did you complain to the professor every time a heterosexual couple made out in class?...", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Why didn't you just ask them to stop instead of jumping straight to the professor? Seems like you broke a karma rule here, and you suffered a consequence.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "nope- that was all ok- i have had many gay friends and many of them don't like PDA either and would have complained themselves.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Classtime is not the time for making out, regardless of sexuality. Holding hands is perfectly fine because it's not nearly as distracting as making out.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "He's the one being homophobic by presuming your complaint was against their sexual preferance rather than their behavior.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Record it on your cell phone and take it to the Dean if the professor is being such as asshole about it.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "This professor is entirely out of line. Of course, it would have been courteous to inform the affectionate couple that they are being distracting, but I don't feel you were obligated to do so. This could open you up to being yelled or lectured by them just as the professor had. Ultimately, the conduct of the classroom at large is the professor's responsibility and he seems to be shirking that part of his job.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Next time just masturbate in class. When you get in trouble ask why the school is so openly intolerant of lonely people.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I will add that the most requested thing while i was on drive through was \"can i come in to use the bathroom\", to which the answer was always \"sorry cant, the doors have been locked, but there is a bush (it really was a decorative tree/bush for swiss chalet next to us) but here is some napkins, help yourself to that bush if you have too\".", "score": 21 }, { "body": "Most disgusting thing you ever saw someone do to someone's food? How often does stuff like that happen?", "score": 13 }, { "body": "Do you / would you eat at Taco Hell now?\nWhy wouldn't you serve someone on a bike?\nDo you tip at fast food restaurants?", "score": 12 }, { "body": "What percentage of people at night, would you say, are baked out of their minds?\n\nAny scary/sketchy people come in late at night? Who was the worst?\n\nDid anyone working with you go to or graduate college/high school?", "score": 8 }, { "body": "My boyfriend thinks that if we go through the drive through at night, the people working will hate us for interrupting whatever they are doing. Is this true? What do you do all night? ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I know everyone's talking about how much the food sucks, but I've got a serious craving for a Steak Grilled Stuft Burrito right now.\n", "score": 6 }, { "body": "It has always been my opinion that the food at Taco Bell is shitty but the condiments are great. I'd mostly go there to load up on Fire Sauce and Jalapeno Sauce to make my own burritos at home. That quesadilla sauce has crack in it, I swear.\n\nSo, please share an irate customer story. I love hearing about shitty people getting put in their place.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Any idea why the franchises cost so much? Would love to open a TB where I live but don't have a couple million laying around. ", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Two questions:\n\n1. What USDA grade is the meat?\n2. Do the beans come from a tank under the ground like gas stations?", "score": 3 }, { "body": "To all the people wondering why (or jumping down my throat because) i was responding to this post: it's because I frequent the Something Awful forums in which if a thread is posted about a particular experience in Ask/Tell (IAmA) anyone with knowledge about that particular topic is encouraged to chime in with their experiences. I had always assumed that this was because it's almost impossible for one person to answer every question in the larger threads and because multiple people responding leads to more dialogue instead of long lulls between replies. Since there is nothing in the IAmA rules section that indicates otherwise i simply assumed it would be the same here.\n\nMy question is why would it be a bad thing to have multiple inputs on a topic by different people with first hand experience? IAmA about being a cop is read because the reader wants to know what it's like to be a cop, right? Well law enforcement in TX is different than GA, or NY, or wherever hence anyone with law enforcement experience would be contributing to the conversation.\n\nSorry for sharing an alternate parallel experience, I suppose. Won't happen again.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Many movies take an age-old story/concept (Shakespearean/Greek/Egyptian/whatever) and tell it in a unique way. There is nothing wrong with this. Most story lines have been told for a very long time. \n\nStar Wars: A movie about the chosen one that will save the weak from the evil clutches of some power and will change things forever. Otherwise known as Samurai+Flash Gordon. See about 200 other movies made. Also see The Hidden Fortress.\n\nThe Matrix: Where an antagonist puts a protagonist in an alternative reality that they believe is reality. See Dark City, Ghost in the Shell, Nightmare on Elm Street 3.\n\nOthers are just plain old rip-offs. Look up Terminator. James Cameron practically admitted he stole the idea from The Outer Limits. The writer of the story even sued him for it. Does that make Terminator a bad film?\n\nReservoir Dogs. OH NOES. Sorry, it was originally called City on Fire. This is one of the biggest rip-offs in history. In fact, most of his movies are complete rip-offs. FYI- I loved Reservoir Dogs.\n\nThe fact is that most movies take an old story and give it new twists. The key is how well you tell the story and how much you make it your own.\n\nThis is unavoidable. It will never change.", "score": 10 }, { "body": "I have to say, I went into this movie expecting it to be pretty bad, as you describe, but I found that it was actually pretty damn good.", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "I always felt like it was sort of a precursor to shows like office and even 30 rock to some extent. ", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Loved that show. Dave Foley is at least ten kinds of awesome, Maura Tierney STILL looks smoking hot; you also had Stephen Root in his pre-Office Space/King of the Hill days, and a little-known Joe Rogan.\r\n\r\nSpin City reminded me of that show- they were both seriously underrated. The humor was probably too highbrow for Peoria.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I considered watching that show again, but then I remembered Andy Dick is in it. Everything else is great (OK, it's good, not great), but Andy Dick just taints the entire thing.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "One of my old faves [was watching episode 2 before i saw this post]. I certainly dropped off after Phil Hartman died. [every time i see Zap Branigan on futurama i think that should have been Phil]", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Dave: well we need to setup a designated smoking area then.\n\nBill: how about a mobile 10 foot radius around me?", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "The Count of Monte Cristo, by Dumas.\n\nIt's an awesome adventure/revenge story, really easy to read considering its age. ", "score": 32 }, { "body": "I really like The Stranger by Albert Camus. Read that several times. Don Quijote is amazing aswell.\n\n\nI would suggest you read Bram Stokers Dracula and Mary Shellys Frankenstein though. They both will help you ease yourself into the experiance of classic litterature. Frankenstein in particular I found very good.", "score": 23 }, { "body": "My favorite genre is sci-fi as well but my favorite novel is [The Grapes of Wrath](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapes_of_wrath \"wikipedia\") by John Steinbeck.\n\n\nIf I understand your question correctly I think that fits what you are looking for.", "score": 22 }, { "body": "I'm assuming you've tried 1984 by Orwell? I second (I guess \"third\") The Stranger by Camus. It's an \"existentialist\" novel, so be ready to dig a bit for some meaning. The ending, though, stands alone as mind-blowing. Read this when you're in the pits - it'll ironically lift you right back up into willing some shit to power.", "score": 21 }, { "body": "Can't believe I'm the first to mention Hemingway. I've never read a book or story of his that I didn't enjoy.", "score": 16 }, { "body": "Moby Dick. Give it a chance. (Unless you read it in high school and hated it, in which case give it a second chance.)", "score": 13 }, { "body": "Moby Dick: Herman Melville\n\nThe Master and Margarita: Mikhail Bulgakov\n\n1984: George Orwell\n\nDon Quixote: Cervantes\n\nCrime and Punishment: Dostoyevsky\n\n\n", "score": 10 }, { "body": "I really enjoy Ray Bradbury, though I'm not sure if he's considered a classic yet. Farenheit 451 is a good place to start though I prefer his short stories. *The Illustrated Man* has a great selection of short stories sure to satisfy any sci-fi, dystropic seeking reader.", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Crime and Punishment is the best novel, classic or not. It grips you more than shitty pulp like Da Vinci Code or Palahnuik, with more depth than possibly anything you'll read afterward.", "score": 9 }, { "body": "*Jane Eyre*, by Charlotte Bronte.\n\nI was skeptical as hell about it at first - it's a chick book, right? - but it's totally worth the read. Totally changed my mind about 19th century authors.\n\n*Anna Karenina* was also amazing.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "*A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man* by James Joyce is an incredible experience if you can get through it. It's not terribly long, but it's quite dense. The writing, though, for all its meticulousness, is absolutely beautiful.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Les Miserables, Victor Hugo. Yes, he can be tangential, but my god, the character development is unparalleled, in my opinion.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Can't believe this is not here - Joseph Conrad. Read Heart of Darkness - a short, and perfect novel. These are very rare in my opinion and deserve our attention as readers. For relatively modern classics try also - E.L. Doctorow - the Book of Daniel. Thomas Pynchon - the Crying of Lot 49 and anything by Don de Lillo\n\n", "score": 6 }, { "body": "A few that come to mind are Picture of Dorian Gray (starts a bit slow), Bram Stokers Dracula, anything HP Lovecraft (My favorite Author).\n\nSome advanced reading (more advanced than me!!)\n...I've currently got War and Peace sitting on my desk unread and Ive always wanted to try Paradise Lost (Milton) and Dantes Inferno (3 books?)...", "score": 5 }, { "body": "If you like fantasy, try the Discworld series. I consider them classics at least. when you mean classic, what do you really mean? Classic as in, more than half a century old? or classic as in, everyone has heard of them or had to read the in highschool. Either way, you can't go wrong with Jules Verne, HG wells, isaac asimov, huxley. There are plenty out there. oh and lovecraft\n\nEdit: if you are going to downvote me, please give me some constructive criticism ", "score": 4 }, { "body": "1. Read Catch 22. \n\n2. Then read Crime and Punishment. \n\n3. Then consider the fact that Yossarian is based on Raskalnikov. \n\n4. Repeat.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I suppose you've read *Stranger in a Strange Land* by Robert Heinlein?\n\nI like *The Godfather*, though I'm not sure if it's considered a \"classic\". \n\nSome \"real\" classics:\n\n*Lord of the Flies* by William Golding.\n\n*Lolita* by Nabokov.\n\n*1984* by George Orwell.\n\nSome classics originally written in other languages:\n\n*The Gambler* by Dostoevsky.\n\n*The Red and the Black* by Stendhal (originally in French).\n\n*The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas* or *Epitaph for a Small Winner* by Machado de Assis (originally in Portuguese). The narrator is a dead guy. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I second Cannery Row, still my favorite Steinbeck, it's winter where I live so I dug out the Russians, re-reading Crime and Punishment. Celine's Death on the Installment Plan is still a favorite. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "One of my favorite novels is [The Chosen](http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/dp/0449911543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262527783&sr=1-1) by Chaim Potok.\n", "score": 3 }, { "body": "It's not really a classic, but Tom wolfe's the electric kool-aid acid test is really awesome if you like 1960s subculture. And it's a classic in my collection.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Best seller: \n\n* http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonbeard/3699602899/sizes/o/\n\n\nCouple of personal favorites: \n\n* http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonbeard/3695946353/sizes/o/\n* http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonbeard/3760511128/sizes/o/\n* http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonbeard/4200960935/sizes/o/", "score": 19 }, { "body": "I like [this one](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3382/3255314632_99bdce5c74.jpg) ([Flickr Link](http://www.flickr.com/photos/guruant/3255314632/sizes/o/in/set-72157613363783928/)) of Glasgow Necropolis taken way back in February. It's just down the road a little from my work, and this was taken one evening in light snow and a little fog, as the fun was setting.", "score": 14 }, { "body": "[This](http://www.flickr.com/photos/dynamitedotorg/3981618600/in/set-72157622391821753/) is probably my favourite of the year.", "score": 14 }, { "body": "Here are a few from a month long camping journey of the Pacific North West.\n\n[\"Bows and Arrows\" Ruby Beach, WA - 971 sec @ f/8 ISO100 55mm](http://i.imgur.com/1paS8.jpg)\n\n[\"Reflections of a New Day\" Cannon Beach, OR - 8 sec @ f/8 ISO100 45mm 6 Frames](http://i.imgur.com/fmmMD.jpg)\n\n[\"Sand Spirits\" Antelope Canyon, AZ - .6 sec @ f/14 ISO100 25mm](http://i.imgur.com/QqhkB.jpg)\n\n[\"Thousand Finger Falls\" Dunsmuir, CA - 1.6 sec @ f/14 ISO50 25mm](http://i.imgur.com/rxLaJ.jpg) \n\n", "score": 12 }, { "body": "[Here's](http://imgur.com/rI29Y.jpg) one of mine from the current school year. I photograph a lot, and with a wide variety of formats as I'm learning all I can...but this one in particular (from what is currently on my computer) does something nice for me", "score": 9 }, { "body": "[Most Fave's on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/10584397@N00/4002907834/)\n\n[My Personal Fave](http://www.flickr.com/photos/10584397@N00/3474683546/)", "score": 8 }, { "body": "I took this one of my [friend's fiancee smoking a cigarette](http://www.fluidr.com/photos/boyghost/3043666276). According to the flickrs, it's my best shot of 2009.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "I actually had a lot of fun looking back on my pics from the year. The one that is catching my eye right now is [this one](http://www.flickr.com/photos/harrisonvw/3636552694/sizes/l/)", "score": 8 }, { "body": "I went to New York in September and [this](http://www.flickr.com/photos/joyork/3884553962/) was one of my faves (silly I know).\n\nEarlier in the year I went to Bristol (UK) and [this photo](http://www.flickr.com/photos/joyork/3522331575/sizes/l/) seemed to get the most feedback from people.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "[This lion](http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomb0y/3937389179/sizes/l/in/set-72157618016284625/) shot that I took in Kenya and [this cockchaffer](http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomb0y/3528762953/in/set-72157618016284625/) taking off my dad's fist.\n\n", "score": 7 }, { "body": "[I think this might be my favorite](http://henrikdons.dk/files/gimgs/9_boksning-7.jpg)\nIt's of a female boxer right after training", "score": 6 }, { "body": "My favorite photo is this panorama/multiple exposure I took from a hotel room balcony overlooking San Francisco Airport of two Southwest airplanes landing at the same time on parallel runways.\n\nhttp://i.imgur.com/TTBPd.jpg", "score": 6 }, { "body": "[This](http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsmpm/3496629457/in/set-72157617860347875/) is my personal favorite. The judges at the Iowa State Fair didn't even give it honorable mention, but I still love it.\n\n[This](http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsmpm/3814961834/in/set-72157617860347875/) is the shot my wife convinced me to enter at the fair, and it won a blue ribbon.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "2009 was my first year with a DSLR. [This one](http://www.flickr.com/photos/jyrionni/3979150983/sizes/l/) was my favorite. Taken close to Karasjok Norway.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I'm seriously being put to shame after all the talents in these replies :) kudos guys really impressive stuff.\n\n[Here's one of my favourites of the year, new photographer](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4227349688_499e88534d_b.jpg)\n", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Here's mine: \n\n[Photo 1](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2765/4170863145_4e8c67478e_o.jpg)\n[Photo 2](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4170861213_bd74302cb1_o.jpg)\n[Photo 3](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2767/4130032111_69d3d7da51_o.jpg)\n[Photo 4](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/4127126541_83cb4c28b4_o.jpg)\n[Photo 5](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3888223251_6297b98019_o.jpg)\n[Photo 6](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2506/3790334040_48c91f84e2_o.jpg)\n\nMy [flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/acermate433s) site.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Here are some of my favorites from this past year:\n\nBirds/Wildlife/insects:\nhttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2269/3544576690_ba93376057_b.jpg\nhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3560/3511360925_6295b48dd9_b.jpg\nhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/3557569392_7db736a63d_b.jpg\nhttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/3557194641_94bb9c8fbb_b.jpg\nhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3401/3544587182_75ac8530fd_b.jpg\nhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3410/3557591568_3f75d54ace_b.jpg\nhttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2579/3930379704_349c56ffbf_b.jpg\n\nLandscape/other:\nhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3625/3482382208_df758e368c_b.jpg\nhttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/3864509353_b5ec3d6db0_b.jpg\nhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/3248287321_5263cfdfb7_b.jpg\nhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3488/3864102396_8bfe8e58cb_b.jpg\nhttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2591/3670099117_a0c6e68121_b.jpg\n\n", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I think [this one](http://www.flickr.com/photos/t_al_nakib/3717101115/) is very high on my list of 2009.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Awesomest Landscape http://www.flickr.com/photos/stupidlogic/3647093579/in/set-72157620020753301/\n\nAwesomest Strobing/Small lights session\nhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/stupidlogic/3616479036/in/set-72157619586698804/\n\nAwesomest moment (due to it having set the tone to my 2009, this was shot on 2nd January 2009!) http://www.flickr.com/photos/stupidlogic/3271118094/in/set-72157612092051127/\n\nAwesomest model I've shot\nhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/stupidlogic/4133379525/in/set-72157622750830039/", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Personally I like [this (Catalunya, Spain)](http://h0er.deviantart.com/art/Pals-143911818) one, but I think [this one(Barcelona)](http://h0er.deviantart.com/art/La-Boqueria-143043011), [this one(Belgium)](http://h0er.deviantart.com/art/Autumn-s-Grief-143897543) and [final one (Barcelona)](http://h0er.deviantart.com/art/Mare-Magnum-148333171) aren't bad either. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I think that this is my favorite. It's a shot of my gf. \nhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/planza/3737239964/\n\nThis is my most interesting (according to flickr)\nhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/planza/3786943758/", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Just going by what Flickr ranked as my most interesting of the year (and honestly, I probably couldn't pick otherwise) it'd be this one:\n\nhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ejpphoto/3287923194/in/set-72157600237128268/\n\nAnd just because, here's some others I like:\n\nhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ejpphoto/3470377911/\n\nhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ejpphoto/3926099088/\n\nhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ejpphoto/3808185908/", "score": 3 }, { "body": "My best of 2009, and most popular. ND grad, polarizer and tone-mapping (hopefully not too much). Not the shot I was going for, but just noticed the pattern of clouds as I walked by, and got lucky...\nhttp://radiowavesurfer.deviantart.com/art/Visions-and-revisions-129456101", "score": 3 }, { "body": "* This shot of a [staircase in the Vatican](http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwilcock/3906342413/) was my most popular photo.\n* This [\"secret doorway\"](http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwilcock/3772694660/) was also pretty popular.\n* This shot of [Sydney's Red Dust Storm](http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwilcock/3945174185/) was probably my favourite though\n* This [photo of my wife](http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwilcock/3686745140/) is my favourite portrait. Also [this one from our wedding day!](http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwilcock/3329158679)\n* My favourite live music photos: [The Grates](http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwilcock/3569340275/) | [Jarvis Cocker](http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwilcock/4166347878/) | [Metric](http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwilcock/3969406790) ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Corporate personhood is an abomination and mutually exclusive with just law or liberty for bona fide persons.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "congressmen should patch the logos of the companies sponsoring them on their suits, like formula indy race drivers. So, we would know how hypocrite one would behave.\n\nat the same time, one has to teach ethics to them and the judicial system has to praise ethics, moral and character over money and lawyers.", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "If you find loneliness beautiful, well... I think we must be experiencing very different types of loneliness :)", "score": 3 }, { "body": "No, don't be absurd. \r\n\r\nNo state of being in inherently beautiful. It's what you make of it that counts.\r\n\r\nIn that frame of mind, being mopey and trying to get reddit to make your decisions for you does, in fact, show that for you, there is no beauty in loneliness. If there were, you wouldn't ask. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Well, since everyone seems not to like the mouth very much, I took the liberty of [editing it a little](http://imgur.com/0B82k). I hope you don't mind. I have a comparison [here](http://imgur.com/cvvT6)\nEdit: I just changed the links a little", "score": 110 }, { "body": "It looks sweet, I'm just not too comfortable with the grin. And don't worry about the crown, it's easy to see it's an upvote arrow. :D", "score": 14 } ]

[ { "body": "If your CP reveals a physical manifestation that can be noticed, (for example, if someone were to notice that you were struggling to open your hand), which would offend you more: if that person were to ignore your struggles and converse with you as if they hadn't noticed, or if that person were to ask you what you were doing?\n\nI tend to try to ignore these things, but sometimes curiosity gets the better of me, and I'd be very tempted to talk to you about it.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Do you play video games? If so which ones? I too have mild cerebral palsy on my right side. Got a Wii for Christmas last year. Finding first person shooters to play is difficult. Beginning to get the hang of Conduit.\n\n", "score": 5 }, { "body": "What percentage of the general population speak to you like you're retarded when they first see/hear that you have CP?", "score": 4 }, { "body": "My daughter, who is 8 months old was diagnosed with CP four months ago. (I document it at tallerthanmidgets.com). \nI have a couple questions: Does the same activity feel differently on your left side? (Example, running a comb up/down your arms)\nDo you have a hard time distinguishing between an orange and a baseball if you hold the objects in your left hand?\nAt what age did you learn to speak? Talk? Walk?\n", "score": 4 }, { "body": "My two-year-old son has CP - spastic dyplegia. He is now 2 1/2 years old and cannot yet sit up on his own or crawl. He appears to have absolutely no cognitive/intellectual impairments. I know you are hemiplegic, not dyplegic, but do you know how your condition affected your motor skills when you were 2 or 3 years old?", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Do you have much interaction with the CP community, or others with more severe forms of CP? I ask this, because I recently received a 3000$ grant to develop a means of making computers more accessible for people with CP. Do most people have certain muscle groups they can control, and others which are less controllable, or is it completely random which areas are affected at a given time? I have lots of questions so bear with me, and thanks for the post!", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I also have CP, but it's less severe than your case. My lower extremities are affected; left side moreso than the right. But my upper extremities are completely unaffected. Good answers so far ... it's not very often that I get to compare notes with other mild cases. It seems that everyone I have met with CP has an extreme case.\n\nI'm curious about a couple of things that I've noticed in myself:\n\n* Does alcohol ease the symptoms at all? It always seems like getting buzzed always loosens my muscles a bit, but maybe that's because I'm on my way to getting drunk. :-)\n* Do you have any unusual skin sensitivity? I've found through the years that I really don't like people touching my spine. It's just too ... intense. I've never heard about this symptom being related to CP, but figured I'd ask.\n* How about caffeine? Does it exacerbate your condition?", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I try to be realistic with my expectations and I try to convine my partner to be that too. I've found some subs have such high expectations that they are never happy.\n\nI try to be human first and I try to take life as it comes.\n\nBut then I've been told on occasion that by taking the attitude I do I don't appear dominant at all and that can break the spell. I was never much good at the lifestyle theatre some couples seem to play...\n\nI do know that dominance isn't about meeting the idea of a dominant but about insisting that your idea is right for you and sticking by it. In some sense of the word I'm far too much a realist to be considered a dominant. But then that it is the way I wanted it.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Hmm.. Maybe you could try to start small? As in: not immediately trying to go back to the fulltime D/s that you had, but beginning again with simple rules that are not easily disturbed by daily life. Also, I think, those rules should have a confirmational aspect, making both you and her feel connected and happy.\n\nPerhaps a nice first thing would be to ask her to come up with a daily (short!) e-mail on actions and rules that would make her feel safe, confirmed and happy, asking her to come up with at least two concrete and directly implementable proposals each week, or something (the other e-mails can then be about past experiences, or things for the longer run). \n\nConcrete things can be things as simple as having her sleep with a handkerchief tied around her wrist on which she gets to spray some of your after shave/ deodorant, whenever you're not around. Or maybe have a little goodnight-text-ritual where she texts you a special phrase each night before she goes to bed (and you send her one in the morning, or something).\n\nThat might encourage her to feel that she is both working on her own wellbeing as well as on the relationship, and you get good fresh input for your power exchange. It would be nice if you could somehow show her after a while what you have done with her e-mails; maybe you could write a response back, or adapt one of her proposals to your liking - stuff like that. \n\nGood luck! ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I am by no means someone who can fix this for but one idea I did want to offer..\n\nYou said \"A large part of the problem is not living together (30 min drive away, 5 minutes from my job though). It seems that every time things are going well, when she's away from me for more than a day, something will happen in that time to get her upset and feeling neglected again.\"\n\nI know for me I often feel a bit abandoned when Mistress doesn't keep regular contact with me. To help combat that we text/email each other quite often through out the day. Maybe what she needs is little meaningful contact here or there. A text like \"Thinking of you\" or some task you want her to perform for you while you're apart.\n\nHope it helps", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Count me amoungst the quitters..i'd rather go into a grocery store and buy a assortment of fruit, bread and cheese than spend a buck on a taco.", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Oh man, tell me about it. At Staples, they were doing this 'pick and mix' type of deal with paperclips and binderclips. They even provided a sturdy little round tub to fill it all up with. I went crazy and bought three tubs. I never ever use binder clips and very rarely paperclips, but now I'm set for life with colourful clips of all shapes and sizes!", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I have a lust for pens that would probably be best described as a fetish. Same with notebooks. Spiral-bound off-white graph paper with 5x5 squares.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I've been secretly waiting for this post to happen. Ever since I started school when I was 4 I would ALWAYS stand in the office supplies aisle at the grocery store and just stare at *everything*.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I used to work at a grand and toy (like staples) and we had this one guy who was like you. Really cool but totally obsessed with office supplies. When our store closed down we had a \"fill your bag full of crap we couldn't sell before for 5 dollars\" sale and I think it was the happiest I'd ever seen someone while shopping for stationery. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "So, to sum up:\n\n* you've dated this girl before\n* you broke up because of her parents, not either of you\n* you text each other all the time\n* she has told you she would have sex with you\n* she is sending you pictures of herself\n* she is entirely ALONE\n\nAnd you're not sure what to do because...? Just ask the girl out. It looks like she'd say yes.", "score": 11 } ]

[ { "body": "How is \"Researchers have found...\" any different from \"Scientists say...\"? It still uses a generalized, plural subject to imply authority and consensus.", "score": 34 }, { "body": "Aside from \"new research indicates,\" those are all appeals to authority. Unless you're intimately involved in a field, knowing who did the research doesn't really provide much information (it never really does, aside from generally knowing whether people dotted their i's and crossed their t's).\n\nPeople have generic biases about the sources of science (\"if it's from Harvard, it must be good!\"), and very little of that is based in reality. No one university is good at every type of research, and no one researcher has a terrific insight in every field of study.", "score": 10 }, { "body": "Aw man, my dad is notorious for this sort of crap. It's not uncommon for him to tell me things like: \"Scientists have proven that the soul exists.\", \"Scientists have proven that God exists\", \"All scientists have proven that the theory of evolution is false.\", etc. \r\nWhen I ask him what \"scientists\", or how they \"proved\" it, he answers \"I read it [on the internet].\"", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I think what you're looking for is that all wealth comes from actual products being produced and services rendered. In the case of many products, these are produced in China or other places today. However, any wealth increase from these rudimentary aspects comes from technological development and increased efficiency (industrialisation, division of labour and all that), which our service economy excells at.\n\nSo, you get the hands-on wealth by industrial production and services rendered, but the fact that we optimize this by improving technology, labor division or new lines of thoughts and ideas to solutions, this all creates wealth too by letting us make more products cheaper and render services more effectively. ", "score": 16 }, { "body": "Short and sweet summary:\n-----\n\n**Wealth comes from farming** {EDIT: And [here is some sound evidence](http://www.visualeconomics.com/100-years-of-consumer-spending/) } -- and increased REAL wealth comes *primarily* from innovations that increase the productivity and/or reduce the costs of agriculture. (Best recent example would be [Norman Borlaug and the \"Green Revolution\"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution) ).\n\nInnovations -- both major and minor -- in mining, refining, engineering, manufacturing and even transportation & information distribution can -- as a *secondary* thing -- greatly enhance the relative productivity gains of agriculture (at least half of Borlung's Green Revolution was due not simply to dissemination of new seed-crops, but of the *knowledge, information, and techniques* needed to grow them properly). And certainly everyone can understand that engineering innovations leading to better machinery can reduce the costs of growing crops, improve the distribution system, etc.\n\nVirtually ALL the rest of the work people do is at best, a *tertiary* phenomenon -- meaning they are innovations that improve the productivity of the *secondary* sectors, which then \"trickle down\" and improve the productivity of the *primary* agricultural sector.\n\n---\n\nLonger more explanatory...\n-----\n\n**Why is agriculture PRIMARY?** Simple: because everyone has to EAT -- and the *lower* the percentage of the population (and the less \"effort\" and/or resources) that are needed to grow, harvest, process and distribute the foodstuffs ...then the *larger* the percentage of the population that can devote itself to additional innovations in either the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels (which ideally form a positive feedback loop and further increase the productivity of the other levels).\n\n**The truth is that we have reached a point of diminishing returns.** Each new innovation (for example the combination of GPS technology linked with inexpensive computers on-board farm tractors -- while a technological marvel that *has* produced productivity gains -- cannot come anywhere NEAR rivalling the gains produced by the switch from horse-team powered farming to the later steam, gasoline, and diesel traction equipment and bulk transportation vehicles).\n\nAnd likewise, a lot of OTHER innovations are seeking \"replacements\" for existing (dwindling) resources. For example, a lot of innovations in the energy sector are necessary simply to MAINTAIN the level of energy resources that are otherwise dwindling, disappearing, or becoming more expensive to produce. So the net \"increase\" here tends to go \"unseen\" because it is actually the REPLACEMENT and thus prevention of LOSS of productivity that would otherwise result from a reversion to previous (less productive) methods.\n\nBut, the vast majority of a \"service\" economy is -- simply by virtue of what it is -- UNLIKELY to produce any huge gains. Sure, having someone else around to inexpensively mow the lawn or do the laundry CAN free up some time for people working at the *tertiary* level of innovation, but the increase in productivity and wealth creation will be relatively minimal.\n\nSo, in most cases of a \"service economy\" the benefits are not very \"focused\" on production -- for example would anyone have known (or bothered) to realize that back in circa 1998 that doing the laundry for Larry Page and/or Sergey Brin might free up a few hours of time each week and as an ideal result might bring about the Google phenom a few weeks or months earlier? But would that *potential* benefit really be worth providing \"free laundry\" for everyone? And how else would one foresee and \"focus\" the benefit to where it would be useful? (And furthermore is there any guarantee that even DOING something like that would be a good idea? Often enough it is the LACK of a \"service\" that drives innovation -- if there had been an uber-excellent paper-based document archiving/retrieval service available at CERN -- where at the \"snap\" of his fingers he could have had ANY document he wanted -- would his superiors have *bothered* to buy Tim Berners-Lee that NeXT computer and let him fiddle around {yet again} with his funky \"web\" idea? The \"web\" might still have come into existence, but perhaps a year or even a decade later, and in a slightly different format/manner.)\n\nThe point is that **unless a \"service\" does something phenomenal** -- either in scale (saving a small number of people/companies a tremendous amount of time/cost), or in scope (saving a LARGE number of people/companies a small but important amount of time/cost) -- then it is unlikely to gain us as a society all that much as far as improved productivity.\n\nThat is NOT to denigrate non-agricultural innovations -- certainly the world has been made a *more enjoyable place* by the innovations of Video tape, DVD's, etc. (and in some tertiary ways these have increased productivity -- and therefore wealth -- by being an increasingly *inexpensive* and *wider* way of disseminating technical information).\n\nAt the same time -- a lot of it depends on what you mean by \"wealth\" -- if you define it in ways OTHER than productivity, then video tape and DVD's (and etc) have made a LOT of us very wealthy; back in say the 1960's the only people who could afford an in-home projection room and a \"library\" of movies were extremely wealthy people like Howard Hughes -- but today, even relatively low-income people (virtually anywhere in the world) can have not only a \"large screen\" but a whole library of movies -- and at a very affordable level).\n\nAnd likewise, things like \"Ebay\" and \"Craigslist\" -- as \"services\" -- have made it far cheaper/easier to link-up people with resources.\n\nBUT, such things are relatively few in number -- the vast majority of \"service economy\" is a relatively flat phenomenon -- simply because innovations in them do not garner multiple \"orders of magnitude\" improvements. \n\nAnd valid arguments can be made that a significant number of \"services\" area actually a drain on the resources and productivity of society. (Does the proliferation of gambling casinos *really* improve society? Or does it act as a \"parasite\" siphoning off resources and channeling them into activities that -- at best -- have marginal utility even as entertainment?)\n\n**In your example** of a company improving it's supply chain and lowering its costs; **IF** you have either a) decreased the sale cost of the item, and/or b) increased the availability of previously scarce goods... and yes, your actions MAY affect your competitors in a similar fashion... then you (and your competitors) *might* have increased the wealth of society (in a slight manner) by either \"improving the life experience of customers\" AND/OR by decreasing the time/effort/money that the various customers buying those goods will need to expend to get them (meaning they can then expend their time/effort/money on other items -- a small percentage of whom MAY then as a result create some innovation which will further increase our overall productivity as a society).\n\n**But -- and here's the key -- every level that we go in degree AWAY from the primary (agriculture)** the ROI impact of innovations becomes less and less, and it becomes harder and harder to properly quantify whether they are a positive, neutral, or in some cases even a negative (wasteful) phenomenon.\n\n\nThe world is a complex place, and one never knows what \"odd\" and seemingly unimportant innovation (a perfume mister for example) might lead years or even decades later on -- to someone else repurposing it into a significant and entirely unpredictable innovation (the carburetor and internal combustion engine); which then opens the door to everything else (from cars and tractors to powered flight).\n\n---\n\nNevertheless, it still comes down to people having enough FOOD so that they can then \"tinker\" and \"innovate\" in other areas... hence the primary source of \"wealth\" and civilization itself... is ultimately agriculture (everything else is just contributory).\n\nHope that helps.", "score": 10 }, { "body": "I wouldn't discuss this in terms of \"wealth\", but in terms of *value*. When people talk about \"value for money\" what they are really talking about is how their money translates into the goods or services that they desire, and then how these goods or services fulfill the needs or wants that they have.\n\nAt the end of the day, you convert your time into money with a job. This is based on your salary, so if someone earns more than you for the same amount of time, even though the loaf of bread still costs £1, it costs you more than it costs them, because of the time conversion. This then means that each and every person has a \"relative cost\" they incur each and every time they consume. So often, even if you aren't producing \"original value\" items (goods or services that translate directly to the needs or desires of consumers) if you are able to effect the relative costs of the value, you are still contributing to the system. Essentially, we are all affecting everything around us, and it either contributes or costs according to absolute or relative value.\n\nThe value of *money*, for example, is greatly ignored by the vast majority of the population, but if your wage doesn't at least match inflation, you are actually *losing value*. That is why I am so skeptical about the system, because I believe that in general, the people who have so much money that they can actually use their money(value) to create more money(value) then devalue the money that is already in the system - and I believe it is deliberate, so that people can't become powerful and free themselves simply by saving.\n\nTo be honest, most people never even get to that stage, because before you save, you usually concentrate on cutting costs, the main one being houses... and ofc most people don't own their own home for the vast majority of their life... so its an ongoing treadmill...", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Seems like the definition of 'wealth' needs to be defined. Some would say that 'value adding' is not the creation of wealth. I have heard some say that wealth is only created when resources are placed in commerce. In other words: mining, agriculture, manufacture of products, milling, etc .", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Primary production.\n\nMineral and energy extraction from our environment.\n\nFood production is a subset of, and massively dependent on other energy extraction.\n\nYou can have iron ore extraction without the Internet, or natural gas production without modern agriculture; bit not the other way around.\n\nIt is a set of tiers, that's why they call it 'primary' production.\n\nThe service sector is a lubricant that produces efficiency gains in the flow of goods and money, and thus is awarded a 'cut' of those gains, as without it, a greater proportion of material would be wasted (economically speaking).\n\nPhysically speaking, this is swamped by the inefficiencies created by producing consumer goods with no \"genuine\" market demand, reliant exclusively on emotionally driven advertising, chewing up 'discretionary' spending at the cost of consuming resources that could perhaps be better used elsewhere.\n\nI'm not promoting subsistence living, but there *is* a moral difference between the transaction involving a cute dress-up suit for your dog, and the one involving penicillin, and because our annual resource flows are finite, the production and sale of either raises the price of the other.\n\nAt the moment, we all have enough money to buy both, especially as we often give little regard to savings, and many service industries exist to make sure that we are aware of the dog suit, that it's in a nearby location, in this season's movie character, and that we have a credit card to help us along.\n\nWealth can be defined, even in the absence of currency, as the ability to obtain and use resources. This is dependent first and foremost on primary production.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "The idea that efficiency creates wealth seems specious to me.\n\nAt its most basic, \"wealth\" is \"created\" by improving some material good through the expenditure of energy. Growing food, cooking a meal, building a house, clearing a forest, making a tool, etc. (Edit: added the following.) The only way that efficiency can contribute is by making it possible to produce the same output for less input energy or raw materials. It's hard to imagine how this could have a significant, sustained multiplier effect > 1.0 on an economy.\n\nEverything else seems more like an accounting trick to transfer the created wealth from one set of hands to another. The real world seems to bear this out; with the increases in efficiency during my life time alone it should have been possible to maintain the same lifestyle of less and less work expended whereas for the population in general this has clearly not happened. In fact, the opposite is true for most.\n\nWhat seems obvious to me is the dramatic increase in wealth over the last century and a half or so is due mainly to the injection of vast amounts of energy into the economy, mainly chemical energy in the form of petroleum. One gallon of refined gasoline has the same potential as 26 man hours of labor. Whatever efficiencies we've gained are due mainly to the use of this energy. There's been some progress on making energy use more efficient, but it has been *vastly* more productive to simply increase the available energy by increasing the rate of extraction of oil.\n\nWe're eager to credit financial innovation and various socioeconomic philosophies with the vast increase in wealth when it seems much more likely these are the side effect rather than the cause (or at most a minor contributor). Rather, it's the massive increase in input energy we can thank and the financial and political contribution has been largely to figure out to concentrate the wealth into the hands of an oligarchy.\n\nAt least, that's my opinion.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "In the Debenhams example all of the actions you suggest would create wealth. More efficient supply chain means lower prices for customers, therefore letting them consume more. Keeping finances in order would allow you make your business more efficient and lower prices for consumers. Hiring a marketing agency allows you to make people come to the realization that they will be better off if they buy your goods. This again, improves the wealth of your customers (otherwise why would they buy your stuff?) If the business chooses not to lower prices but to turn the efficiency gains into extra profit then a competitor can do the same thing, lower their prices and steal away all of your customers, making those customers effectively wealthier.", "score": 3 }, { "body": ">But have I created wealth? For myself yes, but for the economy?\n\nIn this situation wealth has been created, so you answered your own question. How that wealth gets distributed depends on a number of things.\n\nFor instance, you are assuming that after lowering your costs, the prices of goods stay the same. Well, you've got competitors, and they're doing the same thing. So it's quite likely that your prices will come down, delivering some (or all) of that created wealth to consumers in the form of lower prices.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Wealth is created when there is a difference between the minimum price a seller will accept for an item and the maximum price a buyer will pay for an item. The agreed upon sale price results in some non-negative amount of producer or consumer surplus and that amount is the \"wealth\" that is created during every transaction.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Cleaning lady comes in your house. Performs the service of cleaning your house. Your clean house is now more 'worth' than your previously dirty house.\r\n\r\nDoctor comes to see your kid. Performs the service of diagnosing your kid with pneumonia and prescribes the necessary cures. Your healthy kid is now more 'worth' than your previously ill kid.\r\n\r\nResearcher goes into ITER lab. Performs the service of figuring out how to make energy from fusion. Your country with a cheap supply of electricity is now more 'worth' than your previous country that had to import oil from fascist bastards.\r\n\r\nNeed more examples? ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "My roommates and I have an agreement that you don't knock on a closed bedroom door. If you want to invite someone to get some food or something, send a text message. If they don't reply, leave without them.", "score": 10 }, { "body": "Everyone watches porn.... all guys that is and don't be fooled when girls say they do not watch it..... they do! In a research study from University of Montreal researchers tried to decipher the habits of men who had never been exposed to pornography with regular users. But their project hit a hurdle before it began because they failed to find one guy who had never indulged. Not. One. Guy. Married or straight!\n\nRead more: http://www.momlogic.com/2009/12/proven_all_men_watch_porn.php#ixzz0bY30DKTn", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Not me.. People used to tell me off all the time for looking at porn, but I've realised that they are just prudes who are trying to ruin the fun. Now there's no secrecy to my porn viewing habits, and I'll happily look at porn on the bus, library, my little sisters ballet classes, planes, etc.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I have to be really quite and sneak into the computer room late at night. I shut and lock the door behind me, and turn the volume down so no one can hear any videos. I guess I don't really have to do all of that, since I live alone, it's just more fun that way!", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I was told by a friend of mine who is some sort of sleep specialist to schedule sleep in blocks of 3's. Meaning sleep for either 3, 6, or 9 hours straight. Apparently the full sleep cycle happens every 3 hours and if you break one of the sleep styles you actually wake up more tired than if you didn't. I tried it and it seemed to work for me. It also gets your body on a sleep schedule.\n\n\nAnother thing I did when I had trouble sleeping was I bought unisom tabs and took them an hour before I actually wanted to get to bed. Eventually my body got accustomed to getting tired at a certain time and that put me on a normal sleep cycle.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Do you exercise regularly? I find it's much easier for me to get into a normal sleep schedule if I have a regular exercise schedule.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Get up at the same time every day. Eventually you'll adjust and start falling asleep at the appropriate time.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Sex/masturbate before bed and don't oversleep! The more you sleep the more tired you'll be. Try for 7 1/2 hours a night and when you wake up eat an apple. They are good to help you wake up. \n\n\n\nHope that helps :)", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Be careful about what you eat. Chocolate has caffeine, as do cola drinks. Don't drink anything with caffeine in it after 12 noon - you'd be surprised but sometimes it can still keep you awake late that night (at least for me).\n\nDarken the room. Even the glow of an alarm clock bothers me. \n\nDo you have pets? Keep them out of the room - my cats used to jump on the bed, walk around, beg for food.\n\nMinimize noise. If there is street noise, get a white noise machine or a fan and run it to flatten out the sounds.\n\nIs anything stressing you ... job, family, finances? My son had a drug problem so I was constantly worrying, which kept me awake. Now he's clean and doing well, so I'm not up all night thinking about it.\n\nIf you're finally falling asleep but still tired when you wake up, check that you don't have sleep apnea. If anyone lives with you ask them to tell you if you snore a lot or gasp for air in your sleep. This is a bad thing and must be treated.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Well secure empty trash does a 7 pass wipe of files. Disc utility will do a secure erase of already deleted files. Just open up DU highlight the drive you want, choose erase, then Erase Free space, and you can do a Zero out, a 7 pass, or a 35 pass wipe. Also srm (terminal app) will do a 35 pass erase by default, but won't do a free space erase. Open your terminal and \"man srm\" for more info on that.", "score": 10 }, { "body": "There has been much debate whether a multi-writer-over is really better than to write over once. There is a challenge called \"the great zero challenge\" that challenges anyone to come forward with evidence that one write-over is not enough. 7 times should be very safe.\n\nAlso, you can erase free space (any deleted files) with disk utility.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "[Penis sculpture](http://tomrowland.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/2369978100_2eac011a1a.jpg) from A Clockwork Orange", "score": 7 }, { "body": "[Those awesome paintings from Royal Tenenbaums](http://www.neublack.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/the-royal-tenenbaums-art-01.jpg).", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Han Solo Frozen in carbonite, I would place him on the wall of my bedroom near my bed. So i could high-five him after achievements, like having sex while owning Star Wars memorabilia in the bedroom. ", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Occasionally, I'll upvote a DAE even if I have never experienced what's being described. This is one of those occasions.", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "There are three usability differences that always infuriate me when I'm using windows:\n\n1. Windows have to be focused before you can use the mouse wheel to scroll them.\n2. No support for highlight and middle-click.\n3. Windows don't snap to borders.\n\nThese are all really really tiny things that just drive me insane. I forget how to do things too, but they're not so bad because I can just look them up.", "score": 33 }, { "body": "I have trouble using Windows, period. It's all too often counter-intutitive. I've been using it for about sixteen years now, and Linux for twelve years, and as far as usability goes, Linux wins hands-down. Case in point: do you want to add a networked printer in Microsoft Windows? Nope, it's not a \"network printer\", it's a \"local printer\". I have Linux computers that only get rebooted a few times a year (only when kernel updates require it), but I can't let my Win XP computer go without rebooting more than a couple of weeks or the memory leaks will cause it to thrash the disk drive swapping virtual memory pages. What a turd.", "score": 18 }, { "body": "Yes. I miss:\n\n* virtual desktops (how can they miss out on something so essential and so basic...)\n* select=copy for easy middle-click pasting\n* a decent terminal and shell (i use zsh in urxvt on linux)\n* conky (windows sidebar widgets miss the elegant simplicity of conky)\n* decent package management\n\nYes, I know there are 3rd party apps/hacks to get at least some of these. But these things should be included by default.", "score": 9 }, { "body": "It's trying to program in Windows that sucks. In Linux you just look up a function and you can use it fairly easily, in Windows you have to convert strings to dumb wide formats all the time.\n\nI hate LPTCSTRs...", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I've been using Linux since 1997, Windows since 1995 and Mac since 2005. I honestly don't have any problems jumping in between operating systems. I mostly use a browser and a media player.\n\nMy personal preference is the Gnome desktop, I find that I miss things like file manager bookmarking, the shell and all the GNU tools.\n\nI do not want to force friends and family onto Linux, people should use what they are comfortable with and most people have enough problems with computers so they're not using time to learn a new operating system every couple of years.\n\nHowever, if people are curious... I am more than happy to help them out :-)", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I kept pressing the Compose/left Windows key and using the mouse wheel, expecting the Compiz zoom feature to kick in...", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Start>Control Panel>Printers and Faxes>Add printer...>Local Printer>Standard TCP Port (local, fucking windows is retarded)>plugin necessary info.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "My brother was reinstalling Windows XP on his comp the other day. Supposed to be easier than linux right? Wrong. When he gets to his audio driver, nothing he does makes it work. He reinstalls it over and over, gets a new one off the manufacturers web page, etc. The sound card isn't being recognized. After searching the internet for 3 hours he finds an obscure patch that works for him. \n\nI thought this kind of stuff was supposed to be something only linux users deal with.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Hunter basics:\n\n[Hunter class forum](http://elitistjerks.com/f74/)\n\n[Hunter online spreadsheet](http://femaledwarf.com)", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Accept that you are a creature of habit. Almost everything you do is dictated by habit. So instead of setting out for some big goal (get fit! write a book!) seek instead to merely establish the habit that leads in that direction (go for a walk three times a week, write 400 words a day).\n\nIt's easy to make a deal with yourself to go swimming twice a week for six weeks than it is to commit to swimming twice a week for a year.\n\nYou'd be surprised at how little time it takes to form a new habit. Soon you'll be swimming twice a week and it doesn't even occur to you to think about it. ", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Defensive driving to the max. Note what other drivers are doing and take caution. Also, put down the fucking phone and ipod and whatever else. You're driving a 2000 pound death machine.\n\nFurthermore, use the same proactive driving skills to save yourself time and money. Don't speed up and break at the red light, hit it while you are still cruising a little. Don't sit in the right lane if you can sit in the left lane, that way, you don't block potential right-on-red turners. \n\nCarry matches in your wallet. Never know. Carry spare emergency cash there too. Don't touch it for casual purchases. Keep a sleeping back and coat in the trunk. ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "When I get a task, at work, in life, at home, whatever, I still mentally go through the 8 [Troop Leading Procedures](http://tinyurl.com/yjvjgx4) in my head. I remember when I was learning them, at the time it just seemed like one more silly mnemonic device to learn (RIMS R Cool In Summer), but I quickly learned that there is almost no situation in which having a plan of attack is not favorable to not having one. Don't get me wrong, a bad plan now is better than a good plan later, but having a method to creating that bad plan is awesome. ", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "If you react fast, stick to walls and corners, its easy.\n\nBots however are dumb as nails and don't rescue people or properly dodge the tank. Its near impossible to do any of the harder levels with bots. ", "score": 19 }, { "body": "No idea, but the people online are all total assholes. And if you're not at their level will constantly try to kick you and complain about how you're not very good.", "score": 12 }, { "body": "I found l4d2 much harder than l4d1 when I first got it, however after a month or so, I find it's simply a case of learning the levels, weapons and enemies better and changing my play style.\n\nBut as already mentioned, the bots are generally a pain in the ass, but their very good aim can come in handy in every now and again.", "score": 11 }, { "body": "Are you playing single player? The bots are designed to be basically retarded, but normal should be possible even with bots. Any particular place you're stuck?", "score": 7 }, { "body": "The part in Dark Carnival, where you have to open the turnstiles and run down a corridor and around a bend in a U shape to get to the safe room...\n\nAfter we died the 6th time, on Normal, we gave up. I got to the safe room, finally, opened the door, and I shit you not-- witch. I said \"fuck it\" and gave up.\n\nL4D2 can be ridiculously, frustratingly, mind-numbingly difficult.\n\nEdit: this was with three humans and one bot.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "The AI seems a lot slower at rescuing you from the special infected in L4D2. I'm still planning on playing through once with the AI so I know the levels a little and can play online without embarrassing myself.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I've found that L4D2 is only as hard as the company that you keep. The more the play it, the better you should become in regards to understanding how to deal with each situation. However in expert runs and expert/realism runs one bad player will ruin your day in a hurry. Same goes for VS and scavenge, although its a little easier to counterbalance that. That's the crux of the game though. I'd suggest just firing it up and doing a ton of runs. Beyond that just observe what your other team members are doing and you might pick up some things you didn't previously know. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "If you think it campaign is hard on normal, just wait till you try versus mode.\n\nSome tips: \n * stick together \n * when more than one person is snatched by infected priorities, save chargered & huntered first then jockey & finally smoker. \n * use your medkits wisely, dont heal on yellow unless... \n * there is a tank where you need to be on full health to avoid going down in 2 hits \n * speaking of tanks, shotguns are best get them out in the open so they cant surprise you round corners. \n * pistols are pretty useless always take a melee weapon.\n\n\n ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Im not a pro, but up to now i have finished 3 of 5 Campaigns on Expert. I would probably have the other 2 already if i hadnt discovered the versus mode. Ever since i havent played campaign once, which i would have to in oder to get the last achievments for finishing swamp fever and dead center i think it was.\nSo the game isnt so hard. You gotta remeber to keep your back to wall, while fighting hordes, to reduce the number of directions infecteds can hit u from. Furthermore stick with ur teammates. \nAlways stay teamed up with at least one other player, so help is close once the special infected hit u.\nUSE MELEE WEAPONS. They are so fucking strong. The police baton for example kills a tank in seconds! Melee Weapons should be quickly switched to by pressing q, once u get in a tight situation. They knck back numbers of enemies and quickly give u room to start ur counterattcks.Aditionally it saves you a lot of ammunition. My personal Favorite loadout is the combat shotgun plus baseball bat. Also practice the rythm of hitting and pushing back enemies - it will save u lots of hp on your way through a chapter.\nTheres plenty of other tips, but u will find out for urself i´m sure.\n\nLast but not least, already been mentioned ,l know, a good team is crucial. u can do it with three bots, but its hard cause u have to work around their flaws all the time. Find yourself a number of good players online and invite them to your friendslist. Maybe create or join a public group on steam. L4D2 will be massively more fun to play!\n\nHope this helps! Good Luck.\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "It MIGHT be this one: \n\nhttp://www.paulgraham.com/hamming.html\n\nRichard Hamming on \"You and Your Research\". ", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "> I have been to some pretty black places\n\nIt's the same place, you are just perceiving it differently. Remember that.", "score": 41 }, { "body": "I am bi-polar, was diagnosed 2 years ago, at the same time I was diagnosed with testicular cancer.\n\nWas going through a divorce at the same time when the (soon to be) ex wife at age 34 overdosed on meth and got caught fucking a 15 year old. \n\nso I now have full custody of the now 4 year old, one testicle, and am bipolar/ocd. Ask me anything.\n\n(wish I was trolling. really, really do.)", "score": 22 }, { "body": "im 20 yrs old australian guy who got diagnosed with bipolar last year - except the bulk of it I think turned out to be the marijuana/ecstasy I was taking along with a bad breakup (3yr + relationship with a psycho girlfriend) and so I stopped the drugs (and the lithium etc.) and ended up back to normal pretty quick, except I still get the hypomanic phases.\r\n\r\nanyway questions lol:\r\n\r\ni) how old r u?\r\nii) do you go hypomanic, or fully delusional manic? (or somewhere in between)?\r\niii) when you felt the high coming on, do you get the rush, know the feeling, then think 'oh fuck but bring it on?'\r\niv) when you get in that 'high' state of mind (i know it well), and you start seeing the world in a different colour, do things ever happen that seem significant (i.e. various things with very low chances of occurrence happening at times that seem to 'mean' something to you?). \r\n\r\nI could think of a hundred examples where v) has happened to me, but one is that I mix electronic music and love music in general. I stayed up till about 4am (weekday with work next morning) on a massive high writing this song because I was convinced I was the next greatest music superstar, and it was the turn of spring which is like my 'set-off' time of the year. The entire time I feel high though, it actually feels like the world is just 'working' for me and everything is effortless, all you do is go along for the ride and you feel like you are destined for greatness. Anyway, this particular night I produced and mixed the whole song in one night and it was the best thing I'd ever written electronically, and I called it \"The Sky is Falling\". The next morning, I swear on my life, I woke up and looking out my window and the sky was blood red. I was rubbing my eyes, going wtf, and I didn't even think about my song name I was wondering wtf is going on. I thought I'd gone colour blind. It turns out, in the whole east coast of Australia that day we had the most severe dust storm on record in history, out of nowhere, that discoloured the entire sky.\r\n\r\nI was still high that day at work and buzzing about the energy and song, but holy fuck right at that key point I name my song that, then that happens. Shit like that happens all the time, but only when I'm 'high'. Sorry about the long story but does anything like that ever happen to you? Which leads me onto my next question:\r\n\r\nv) do you have a creative talent that flourishes when you are high?\r\nvi) what is the single most crazy story of something you did when you were high? please tell in detail if that's okay\r\nvii) what country are you from\r\nviii) what medication are you on now? does it help? why/why not? if it prevents your highs, do you miss them?\r\nix) did you spend more time high or low?\r\n\r\nanyone else is free to ask me whatever they want too\r\ncheeers", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Have you also been diagnosed with Borderline Personality disorder? \n\nI'm sorry to be rude. I work in a mental health institution, we treat people with bi-polar, schizophrenia, depression, drug addiction, you name it. I've even seen (from what the MDs say) a true DID patient. From this experience, I know that most people afflicted by bi-polar are also relatively normal when on the proper dose of medications. I also know that most people with bi-polar are ordinarily diagnosed with depression for a reason. \n\nThe reason for this is because during manic phases, people often feel extremely useful / productive / popular / etc, which means they rarely see it as a problem. Only the extreme cases are the ones who will go without sleep or lack the ability to complete their ADLs due to being manic. \n\nThe depression side of the disorder is often the one people seek help for, which is why you are diagnosed with depression. It really is as simple as that.\n\nAlso, what medications are you on, just for reference? They obviously differ from patient to patient, but I'm just wondering. Also, what medications were you on for depression that obviously didn't work out for you?\n\nAs for my original comment, I ask that because it was my first impulse upon browsing through the original post and replies from the OP. I don't mean to be mean, exactly, just more or less irritated by attention-seeking behavior. But, then again, I shouldn't browse the internet nor go to school or work if I didn't want to experience that. ", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I am a bi-polar and have been for as long as i remember. I have always refused medication cos i am scared of becoming \"flat\" or loosing some of the things that i think define me as a person. And apart from doing stupid shit i really enjoy the manic times. So knowing how stupid this sounds my question is. Is it really worth it going on meds, cos in my mind this is something i want to be able to control on my own without medication.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I have a very similar story and was wondering how you got misdiagnosed with depression and what exactly it was that made them take a second look to get correctly diagnosed. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I am bi-polar also. I can't afford my meds. (lithium (and another one to help sleep), which actually fucked me up good, but *helped* me out in other places, now I get ocassional what the doctor says panic attacks, I hate those attacks, feels like your going crazy, I mean **really** insane.) or Dr. visits anymore. I am coping. My question to you is: Have you been without your meds and Dr. visits for over 8 months and faired well? If so, how did you cope?", "score": 3 }, { "body": "* How does it affect your family?\n\n* Are you looking for a relationship? \n\n* Do you have bipolar-related problems with relationships (promiscuity or drinking when manic, eg)?\n\n* Does your son have bipolar disorder? How does he cope when you're having a bad spell? \n\n* Are you manic or depressed now?\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Good game! The tournament standings have been [upated](http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t1BoIODBV3g1maHuqcoPacg&output=html). (Or click on the 'Reddit Poker Standings' in the information section on the right.)", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Note to self: do **not** register 2 minutes before the tournament starts if you don't feel like you can bring your A game.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Ugh, in the middle of the night. :(\n\n... not to mention that I haven't gotten the green light for rakeback yet, so I don't have a cent on FTP.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Well I'll be there looking to take this down again. Looks like no one else yet though, does it still count as a win if I'm the only one who enters :P", "score": 3 }, { "body": "My short report\n\nI'm completely card-dead for the first 40 minutes or so. Manage to (re-)steal a few blinds during this period, but can't do much more than establish a tight image. Still, somehow I manage to arrive at the final table at #4 (or #5). There I finally start getting some cards to play with.\n\nGot very lucky against MrEyer/Iamthelolrus, both all-in on a 10 high flop, my 10-9 vs. his A-10, and I hit a nine on the river. Woot, I'm chipleader ! \n\nFrom then on it goes pretty good. Now I have some chips to throw around, so let's not waste them. I win back-to-back all-ins with AKs. 3 people left. I have 13K+, the other 2 have 4K+ combined. Feeling pretty good (and tired)\n\nA couple of hands later, I'm HU (12K+ vs 5K+) against my arch-nemesis layzice, the only one who managed to win big pots from me in this tourney, including a sneaky rivered A-high straight with KJo when we were all-in pre-flop :-) \n\nThis is the moment when it all starts to go wrong for me. 25 or so hands later it is over and I take 2nd place. I like to think I got unlucky in a few spots, but to be fair, he/she played better than I did. \n\nOh well, as the only European in this tourney I was outnumbered 11-1 by you Americans (and 1 Canadian?), so I can't be too unhappy with this result :-) \n\nI really enjoyed playing against fellow redditors. See y'all next time. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "It is futile striving. A pointless flash of life between two eternities of nothing. Think that anyone will even know your name in a 150 years? Think that anything you own right now will still exist in that time?\n\nBut this is the only lighted room you're flying through as you pass from one darkness to the next. There is nothing else so you may as well enjoy what you can enjoy, take your fun where you can find it, do some good things for the world from time to time, fuck thing up from time to time and try to appreciate being alive.", "score": 221 }, { "body": ">I read because I want people to think how smart I am;\n\n\nI read because I enjoy it\n\n\n>I get better at guitar so people will think I'm a cool guy; \n\n\nI played drums because I enjoyed it (notice the \"ed\", I stopped playing when it stopped being fun)\n\n\n>I work at school so people will respect me and I can make money that I won't really need. \n\n\n\nI chose to do engineering because I enjoy it and I can make a lot of money thus allowing me to retire early and enjoy life. Though I plan to enjoy my job too (doubt that will go well though).\n\n\n\nIt seems to me you're doing things for the wrong reason. That doesn't mean other people are.", "score": 126 }, { "body": "My home caught on fire back in 1998 (or was it 1999?). Anyway, I wasn't sure I would get out before I got asphyxiated and for a few seconds I contemplated my life. It happened without warning and it was an incredible few seconds. My life flashed before my eyes and I understood what was important to me, immediately.\n\nYet I continued doing what I was \"supposed\" to be doing. And while I was successful up to that point, I began to fail, inexplicably. I no longer had the same perspective. The blinders were removed and I could not go back to who I was before. In about a year or so after the fire, I could no longer reconcile my belief system with what I was doing day after day (work, play, whatever).\n\nSo I changed my life. You are on the right track to finding your true happiness--you have now recognized the problem. \n\nNow your free time should be spent pursuing anything and everything until you find your bliss.\n\nI am sure you have heard it before and it has become cliche, but the journey is the joy, not the destination.\n\nWhen your family and friends question your activities because you are not meeting their expectations, make a game of it: see how long you can last being true to yourself. You will have lapses where you fall back into what is comfortable. Don't worry about those, just dust the real you off and pursue whatever you find internally rewarding.\n\nAnd please, do not fall into the trap of \"I will just pursue these artificial goals for x amount of time and THEN I will become my true self.\" That's folly and you are lying.", "score": 108 }, { "body": "__The investment banker and the Mexican__ \n \nAn American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. \n \nThe American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked, \"How long does it take to catch them?\" \n \nThe Mexican replied: \"Only a little while\". \n \nThe American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? \n \nThe Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. \n \nThe American then asked, \"But what do you do with the rest of your time?\" \n \nThe Mexican fisherman said, \"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.\" \n \nThe American scoffed, \"I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.\" \n \nThe Mexican fisherman asked, \"But, how long will this all take?\" \n \nTo which the American replied, \"15-20 years.\" \n \n\"But what then?\" \n \nThe American laughed and said that's the best part. \"When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.\" \n \n\"Millions.. Then what?\" \n \nThe American said, \"Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.\"", "score": 55 }, { "body": "I'm surprised more people aren't saying it. The entire system of relationships in our culture, the \"dating game\", is complete bullshit. Designed to maximize distraction and the amount of money we spend, directly, and indirectly. It's at the core of our extremely expensive and unsustainable lifestyle. It won't last.", "score": 53 }, { "body": "It sounds like you're defining yourself and your life too much in terms of other people's judgment. That's the real conditioning our society has imposed on you, that *what other people think of you* should be extremely important to you.\n\nWhen someone first taught this to me (several authors, actually, Campbell, Watts, Postman) the idea itself sounded strange: *of course* I should worry what other people think, that's how the world is, what a strange thing to think. But as a I grew I learned, especially being out in the work world for almost 20 years now, that most people are deeply self-absorbed, and ironically spending lots of time worrying what everyone else is thinking of them.\n\nSo here we all are, living in a world that has conditioned us to be completely self-absorbed all the time **by worrying about what other people think of us**! Now that's fucked up. You think you have been taught to \"strive\" but what you have really been taught is to fear the judgment of people who have earned neither the trust nor the authority to judge you, and who are all solipsistically paranoid about the same judgment coming from you.\n\nTo move past this, stop defining yourself and your life in terms of other people and their judgments. Find work that is meaningful *to you*, not that brings prestige and positive judgment from other people. (If you can find work that does both, makes you happy and draws respect from others, fine. But the respect of strangers and acquaintances should measure very, very lightly in determining the value of your work to you.) Do things because you find doing them to be fulfilling, not because they are regarded as admirable by a consituency. (So what if you like to read People magazine or watch reality TV? You like what you like, and while I certainly won't be enthusiastic to dissect the Tiger Woods scandal with you, I'm sure lots of willing conversation partners can be found no matter what your interest.)\n\nIn short: define yourself by your actual, experienced daily reality and use that to measure your happiness and success. No one lives your life but you, and you have no choice but to spend every second of your life inside your own head, so I always make sure that I am making choices I like first, and only then start to worry about the collective reality that starts just outside my head.", "score": 44 }, { "body": "Different life strategies work for different people. Some people enjoy working hard, some like making money, some even like having fun.\r\n\r\nMany people don't like working hard - but they do. Many don't enjoy making money - but they do. Some even don't like having fun - but they go out and try anyway.\r\n\r\nThe biggest mistake you can make is not sitting down and figuring out what works for you. Different strokes for different folks buddy.\r\n\r\nHTH", "score": 41 }, { "body": "I don't know quite how to explain it, and so I won't. But this thread has really just saved my life. Thanks. ", "score": 31 }, { "body": "One way to think about this is that natural selection has selected us to be successful.\n\nIf we weren't successful at our striving and competing for resources and power, we wouldn't be attractive to potential mates. Only individuals who are able to attract mates and have successful offspring are able to copy their genes down through the generations. The end result is that if your ancestors weren't good at this \"pointless striving,\" you wouldn't be here.\n\nSo much of life is about being attractive to potential mates. It has been said that all of civilization is really just an exercise in attracting the opposite sex. Much of the energy and time we devote to climbing social heirarchies, educating ourselves so that we can have good jobs to accumulate resources, etc.\n\nA fascinating book on this is:\n \n\"The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature\"\nhttp://www.amazon.com/Red-Queen-Evolution-Human-Nature/dp/0060556579\n\nBottom line is that what is in our best interests as individuals and what is in the best interests of our gene lines are not always the same thing.", "score": 25 }, { "body": "I get you man. I am 23 as well and have the same thoughts about life and the point of my living. Personally the more I learn and know the less I actually understand how anything works. What I have learned is that reality is utterly incomprehensible to human beings. Bits and pieces become apparent to everyone, but no one understands everything. Do what you love and love what you do. If you don't love it there is something else out there for you, and even that may change with time. Reality is in a constant state of flux my friend and anyone who tells you differently, well, they have a different perspective ;)", "score": 25 }, { "body": "Don't you know? We're all supposed to be millionaires with three children. That's the *only* thing we can be, or else we're just taking up space.\n\nHop to it!", "score": 20 }, { "body": "This has been a thought that has plagued my mind for years. I tend to put it with all the other philosophical thoughts I have like, is your red my red, or is reality completely different for you, or are we just bags of chemicals striving to reproduce like all other things on Earth. It's a question that has many answers that are not based on fact but more on speculation and personal reasoning. Forget the hard questions. They do nothing but confuse you. Just enjoy doing what YOU like to do and live life. It's infinitesimally short so why bother with \"circle\" questions? Well that's my view on it anyways :)", "score": 16 }, { "body": "[This](http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html) Ted Talk is relevant, I think. ", "score": 16 }, { "body": "\"Happiness is someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.\"\n-Chinese proverb (also attrib. T. Bodett, S. Freud, A. Chalmers) ", "score": 16 }, { "body": "It's better to go through life and never have such thoughts. First World societies will make your life a living hell if you don't agree with the four main goals of existence: career, marriage, mortgage, kids.", "score": 13 }, { "body": "I think you are reaching the \"awakening\" which many of this generation are getting to. \r\nYOu are asking questions others before us had no thought to answer.\r\n\r\nKEEP GOING. Keep looking. \r\n\r\nIt is not an existential crisis, but it is existential.", "score": 12 }, { "body": "This is why I'm building a houseboat much like this:\n\nhttp://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2008/11/07/schwimmhaus_CMyem_69.jpg\n\nAnchoring it near whatever coastal city I feel like exploring at the time, and using a dinghy of some kind to get to shore. I'm done trying to prove anything to anyone and I shouldn't have to sell myself just to exist. I just want my own space.", "score": 10 }, { "body": "I've come to the same conclusion. The next problem is \"What's the alternative, and will it make me happy?\"\n\n\nStill haven't figured that one out.", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Have you ever read \"The Rebuplik\" by Plato? If not, I'd recommend reading about the cave - stepping outside of society in search of what is real can make the illusions of society seem pretty pointless.\n\nI think trying to deal with reality head-on can be challenging. Most people use short-cuts and follow the games of society, which are not necessarily going to help them find what they want - it just makes things easier. Kudos on seeing the contradictions!", "score": 9 }, { "body": "I think that this thread points to something that everyone has thought about fairly often (some more often than others). I admire the engineers in this thread, and the ones I know in real life (I'm almost done an engineering education myself) for their ability to be ... well, simple in dealing with questions like this. They kind of focus on whatever they will be doing that's fun that night/weekend, the fact they feel good about their achievements, etc.\n\nWhat do I have to contribute:\n\n1. We all are affected by what you are talking about - we do things because of the way that other people react to it - (the money and the bitches or whatever you get - all of it is based in social relationships) BUT* you can't think of it that way. For some reason, trick of psychology, if you spend a lot of time thinking about it... it leads to a sort of paralysis by analysis problem. It's actually kind of better not to think of it at all and to act as if it's not there - because then you won't spend the time fixating on the mechanism and you'll instead operate in the mechanism, receive good feedback, and feel better (superficial things will make you feel good, and they do matter)\n\n2. You should be opportunistic with your skills and abilities. Most of the time, the people I meet who tell me that they love what they do are simply quite good at what they do and well connected within what they do. Everything is interesting when you go deep enough - was that Feynman? Most of \"I like this\" or \"I don't like that\" has to do with the good and bad feedback I receive along with my reactions to that feedback. I think the entire mechanism is pretty complicated, but I think that you should do things that you receive good feedback for and you should pursue those things in a strategic way to receive the most that you can with the least amount of 'active effort' (by that I mean the kind of effort that makes you stressed and takes away from life balance - I meet people that do a lot of work but they're happy bc they are in a state of relaxed work [flow or whatever] when they do it)\n\nThose are my thoughts - I'd love to hear disagreements if there are any - and best wishes to everyone here - cheers!", "score": 9 }, { "body": "At the risk of sounding like a total knob... read or play guitar because you like doing it. Make as much money as you think you need (or can).\r\nQuit worrying about how people look at you. Life is too short.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "i go through periods of not believing there is anything before or after my ~75 years on this planet. during those periods, everything seems fruitless and unnecessary and that it's just a race to zero. \n\nthen there's the little voice in my head that, amongst other things, tells me that it's impossible for there to be nothing before or after. \n\nthen i just drink and try to forget everything.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I think there are a few major things we look for in life, and if you think about it, everything we do is in aid of achieving these things. \n\n-Comfort\n-Distraction(Entertainment)\n-Reproduction\n-Survival\n\nComfort also encompasses popularity, because really, popularity is only a comfort to us that other people aren't going to hurt us (emotionally or mentally)\nAnd you are right, everything we do is in aid of these things.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Life oscillates like a pendulum between desire and boredom, the striving itself, limitless and meaningless.\n\nThank you, Schopenhauer.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I would like to see different countries. I would also like to live with my dog in relative comfort - being able to take him to the vet or buy him toys to chew up. I want to treat myself to different cuisines and enjoy coffee with friends. I don't have parents who are willing to pay for me to do this, as they can't, and I'm really too old for them to anyway. So, I work hard. I am looking to get a a job that feels fulfilling and at the same time allows me to make the money it takes to do the things that take money to do....like flying to Scotland...or buying a new bicycle to ride with the pup or paying rent. I strive for that. It doesn't seem pointless to me. It's all I have. I could theorize all day about the whys of it, but I don't want to. THAT won't make me happy. Making sure my dog is healthy and sightseeing in a new place and meeting new people does, though. I may not ever have the perfect family and the perfect job. I may not ever be exactly what I'm told to be. But I would lying to myself if I did not acknowledge that money is a HUGE factor in my happiness. Without it, I would not have my apartment, my dog, my hobbies (paint supplies and traveling cost money, maybe not a lot, but they do), etc. I don't want all that much, but what I do want is not free. ", "score": 5 }, { "body": "May get downvoted to the nine hells for this but: \n\nI read not because I want people to think I'm smart, but because I enjoy it. I was playing guitar a lot too and then stopped BECAUSE I realized I was just forcing myself because I wanted people to think I'm cool. I worked at school and got good marks without trying because I never cared about most of my subjects in the first place. I'm pretty sure that we can enjoy what life has to offer, but at the same time work towards our own betterment, instead of listening to what society tells us will make us happy. \n\nReading what you've said OP, it seems like you live your life based on other people's expectations, maybe you should work on that and you'll realize that you can ignore \"encouragement\" to do pointless striving. If you live your life based on other people's expectations, of course everything you strive for is bound to decrease, because you're not really doing it for yourself, you're doing it because people EXPECT/WANT/ENCOURAGE you to do it. \n\nI guess what I'm trying to say is that I know you think for yourself, but I think you let plenty of other people control your life. If you break free from that control and start doing things for yourself it's possible you won't feel like what you're doing is pointless striving.\n\nIf I made the wrong assumption, I apologize, I'm only going by what you've written yourself. ", "score": 5 }, { "body": "I work to earn money to buy booze and smokes, I went to college cause I thought it would be interesting, I read cause I enjoy it. I drank heavily while playing Civ4 for nine hours cause it was fun. Reduced to the individual, it is striving, but calling it pointless is a matter of perspective, both for yourself and those who's opinions you value. In the grand scheme of things and on a long enough time line, you (and I) most likely will not matter in the prolonged endeavor of humanity, so do whatever, just don't be a dick (all the time).", "score": 5 }, { "body": "it is perfect that the huxley thread (http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/aktsj/im_starting_to_think_huxley_was_rightcomic/) is also on front page at the same time. also i just saw this pic: http://i.imgur.com/hpSeT.jpg (snorgtees) ", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I totally agree. It's rare to find someone that shares this viewpoint, and I find myself constantly trying to coach those around me into this way of thinking, to mostly no avail. I believe you should simply do what makes you happy, that's it.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Money is good. Really. People encourage you to make money because having no money can be pretty fucking miserable, especially when you're old.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Great question, but I'm going to skip the comments because I know how depressing all the materialists are going to be. Also, I agree. Also, by consciously breaking down and evading the ego continuously you create conditions for sensitivity and love-- and these are things that are much needed in this world.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Have you seen Into The Wild? If you don't stop this line of thinking you'll be dead from eating a digestion-stopping plant within ten years", "score": 4 }, { "body": "yeah, when it comes down it, many of us are just searching for various forms of validation. some of us realize it more than others, some will never realize it. ultimately, i think that's okay.\n\n\nit is kind of pointless, but i like it when people like me, or think that i'm nice looking or smart, or like the work that i've done. at the end of the day, it's shallow validation that reinforces to some degree who i am that i am likable and its stupid little shit like that that makes me a little happier. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "yeh, it is all pointless. purposelessness is the fate of conscious existence. do something you love, surround yourself with love.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I've found the ideas of living for success or living for happiness to be kinda shallow, I subscribe to the belief that what humans really look for is meaning.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Determine your own standards. I know this is difficult to do because all of us live in societies with particular value systems. I'm 28, and when I was in my early 20s, some of my friends were very interested in careers, long term relationships, mortgages, etc. They quickly got their 9-5 jobs, a couple had mortgages at 22, and were well on their way to being married by their mid 20s. Me? I worked part-time jobs that I enjoyed and allowed me to live a decent life and save up enough to travel for months at a time. That's what I chose to do because that's what made me happy at the time. The point is, figure out your own standards and live by it. If you don't care for having a fancy car, or plasma TVs, or a large home, that's ok. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "We're told to live in a sterile baby factory (suburbia) and to go to a job that we derive no enjoyment or satisfaction because someone has rigged a system where you will starve to death if you don't join in.\n\nLife itself if something amazing, but the culture that we live in is barely keeping a point on existence, most of us only exist to pass our genes onto the next generation, only a few of us will make an impact to the world that will live in a lasting memory.\n\nSo I've decided to re-adjust my life's goals and I now strive to be happy over anything else. I'm still stuck with a job, a mortgage and the rest of the crap that keeps us stuck in the rat race, but everything I do is to try and make my life and the lives of those around me happier. It's made my life better.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "asdfman123, in the words of Neo: woah.\n\nI've been considering creating a VERY similar post to you for the past few days. I'm also 23 years old, am constantly working on my guitar and I do the same with school. However I have a part time job right now that I actually enjoy.\n\nThe fact that I'm going to be 24 in February has really hit home with me. I think back to when I was a teenager and all these plans I had for myself. I'm well on my way to completing them but when I was a teenager I somehow had some idea of how I'd be transformed at this age. I don't feel that way at all and it leaves me asking myself many things.\n\nWhat if I never transform myself into this idea I have in my head? Why have I wasted so much time doing X and Y when I should be doing Z?\n\nI've taken on all these adult responsibilities like working and living on my own, working towards a degree, etc. yet I still don't feel like my life has even started yet. I've really been considering what I want to do from now on. I have always had a million different ideas and the impression that I have the potential to do these things. Should I dedicate myself to these things? Or will I end up unsatisfied wasting all my time with these things and should I instead work on finding a meaningful relationship?\n\nI even googled \"how to live your life\" the other day and wasn't very impressed by the results. Bah.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I love to read, so I'm gonna recommend books that allowed me to completely reshape the way I view career and wealth.\n\n* [Fight Club](http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Club-Novel-Chuck-Palahniuk/dp/0393327345/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262553406&sr=1-1) - It really articulated what exactly I was unsatisfied about.\n* [The 4 Hour Workweek](http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Expanded-Updated-Cutting-Edge/dp/0307465357/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262553791&sr=1-1) - I don't buy into everything he says (since I don't hate work the way he seems to), but it's a good way to look at productivity. The rich and the poor all have 24 hours in a day, and since we're all fairly prosperous, gains in leisure time happen to make us happier than gains in wealth. Chasing a dollar is futile if it doesn't mean we have more time in the day.\n* [Create Your Own Economy](http://www.amazon.com/Create-Your-Own-Economy-Prosperity/dp/B002XULWOS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262553466&sr=1-1) - Despite its title, it really is mostly about the autistic brain and how the strengths of autistics are well suited to the information economy. The point isn't about money, but it's about really learning to be comfortable with your strengths/weaknesses. The \"create your own economy\" is about creating utility (in the economic sense) within your mind. The richness of your experience has very little to do with what you buy, and everything to do with your state of mind.\n\nFind what you love by doing things. The first 22 years of my life, I had never been further than a mile from pavement, but then discovered at 23 that I loved mountaineering, backpacking, and camping. And if you (like me) discover that what you love can't be turned into a career, find a career that allows you to do what you love. Right now I'm saving up money so that I can quit work for a few months while some friends and I do a road trip from the Arctic Ocean to Tierra del Fuego. Some of my friends and family think I'm crazy, but hey - I'm not doing it for them. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus\n\n>much of our life is built on the hope for tomorrow yet tomorrow brings us closer to death and is the ultimate enemy; people live as if they didn't know about the certainty of death; once stripped of its common romanticisms, the world is a foreign, strange and inhuman place; true knowledge is impossible and rationality and science cannot explain the world: their stories ultimately end in meaningless abstractions, in metaphors. \"From the moment absurdity is recognized, it becomes a passion, the most harrowing of all.\"", "score": 3 }, { "body": "ok, i was going to make some choice comments here about what a dumb ass you are for doing things like reading and playing music for reasons other than enjoying them, but after reading your second edit, i think you should go and be a buddhist monk for a few months and see how you like it. in fact, wanting to let go of the ego and striving to let go of striving and want is a really buddhist concept. it's not just a 'non' religion that the atheists here seem to have no issue with, at the heart, it is a religion about the philosophy of removing all earthly desire.\n\nmaybe you wont want to go so far as being a monk, but i definitely encourage reading up on it if thats how you really feel.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "To the ego, the present moment hardly exists. Only past and future are considered important. This total reversal of the truth accounts for the fact that in the ego mode the mind is so dysfunctional. - Eckhart Tolle.\r\nDude is no quack, he is a sage. Live in the present, think, what problems are actually affecting you and plaguing you right now? what are you doing to fix it? People tend to worry endlessly about the thousands of things they could do to improve their lives in the \"future\" instead of taking one immediate step towards a solution for their present problem. Remember, there is only the eternal present, the *right* *now*.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "If your dream does NOT involve making tons of money, people think there is something wrong with me.\n\nI live on land that has passed through several generations of my family, im a single parent for my son, there is a lot more IMPORTANT things than striving to get more money/a better car/etc.\n\nSo yes sometimes it seems like running the rat race is a pointless sham of an existance, but if you truly feel that way then just think of it as a means to an end, a way for you to finance the things that really ARE important to you in this life.\n", "score": 3 }, { "body": "You are asking an important question that a lot of us have spent time pondering, often recurrently at different stages in the lifespan. You are wondering which, if any, of the influences surrounding you are trustworthy. Who should you listen to or look to for inspiration and guidance -- peers, parents, teachers, coaches, literary figures, philosophers, employers, and further down on the list of credibility, advertisers, military recruiters, TV preachers, politicians, etc. \n\nProbably no one on earth has THE answer for you. We're all on a journey, and we can never tell where the train will lead our own selves ultimately. But I've been very near the same spot you seem to be in at the moment, and I'd like to point you to a few resources that might provide some comfort at least, if not direct answers.\n\nI would start here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4\nIt's a short video that is long on wisdom of the late Alan Watts, and it has a lesson I think you will appreciate.\n\nThen there are two short books: \"Siddhartha,\" written by Hermann Hesse, the literary Nobelist, and \"Man's Search for Meaning,\" authored by Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and holocaust survivor. The former work should convince you that your situation is universal and isn't just about \"mainstream Western society\" per se. \n\nThe second book should resonate with you because it does provide some answers. A basic premise of the book is that if you try to make your own happiness the ultimate purpose of your own life, by constantly striving for more money, more sex, more thrills, or even for more awards or more accomplishments, then you'll destine yourself to misery, because it will all get old really fast. You'll wind up on an emotional treadmill, where regardless of how much you acquire, you'll just find yourself back where you started: always wanting more.\n\nAlso, I want to mention that some fine and useful research has been done in the past decade in the new area of positive psychology. Unlike much of the self-help psychobabble you can find in bookstores, positive psychology employs empirical methodology to address questions related to well-being. I would urge you to familiarize yourself with the field. Here is a start:\nhttp://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-good-life/200805/what-is-positive-psychology-and-what-is-it-not\n\nIn summary, let me say that as someone in my mid-forties, I think you are completely correct in being suspicious of the messages (and many of the messengers) that you encounter daily in this society. A lot of people who are trying to influence you are doing so without regard for what YOU really need; instead, they are trying to sell you on something -- a product, a service, an ideology -- strictly for their own purposes. Keep that in mind, and keep looking for answers. I am convinced you can always find the truth if you keep looking.\n\nOne final thing: it's ultimately all about relationships. By that I mean that the psychological research, as well as my own life experience, has led me to conclude that a sense of purpose, meaning, and well-being are the outcomes of strong personal relationships. Make sure to develop them.\n\nBest wishes.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Quick note: an mp3 of the interview can be had here:\n\nhttp://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/thinkaboutscience_20080417_5382.mp3\n\nEdit: now that I've figured out where the mp3s are for this series, I've submitted [a list of them all](http://www.reddit.com/r/PhilosophyofScience/comments/al23p/cbc_radio_philosophy_of_science_series_how_to/).", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I think I read somewhere that sony was saying it's a 7 year cycle.\n\nxbox360 was 2005, ps3 was 2006, so you've got til 2012-13. It's worth noting that\n\n1. the best early games are cheaper now\n2. later games improve as the console ages, because developers work out how to optimize it. ", "score": 42 }, { "body": "Neither Microsoft of Sony seem to want to go through the trouble of releasing anything new for a while. They seem committed to just adding things to what they already have. Both should have a few more years left in them.", "score": 25 }, { "body": "It's actually a horrible investment, your $1000-$2000 would be better suited in a CD or high yeild saving account.", "score": 19 }, { "body": "I'd say this is the best time to get a 360. It's gotten at the lowest price I think it'll get before the next generation comes out, and there are more awesome games for it than you can finish until that time as well. ", "score": 17 }, { "body": "I'm seeing a lot of 360 owners saying how although you have to pay for it, Xbox live is a better experience than ps3's online service, can anyone explain for what reasons?", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Go for a 2 good gaming PC's and get a wii. if you like games, you can play the PC, if you wanna play with your friends, you play wii, and if you want a nice screen to play movies on, you still get the flatscreen.\n\nit'd be a little more, but it'll last you longer and you'll get a good computer in the process.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "There are very few games on 360 that you can't get elsewhere, I recently bought a shitload of games on steam including bioshock, l4d, prey, braid and others so I'll get to play all the stuff I couldn't on the ps3. If you have a pc and ps3 then you're pretty much getting everything except halo3 and gears2.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "If you're looking for investment, and I'm probably going to go against popular opinion here, the best investment is in a gaming PC.\n\nGames are generally $10~$20 cheaper on PC, you don't need to spend $1000 on a nice TV when you can spend $500 on a top quality monitor, and a PC costs about $500 to make one that will run every recent game at high quality. \n\nYou'd probably save enough on the monitor vs TV to make up for the cost of the PC vs. that of the console, and in the long run the games will save you hundreds as well (Too bad you missed this epic Steam sale, though).\n\nThis whole plan is obviously void if you and your roommate plan on gaming together, in which case I'm going to say get a PS3 for investment. Games cost the same, you'll save $50 a year from online costs, you get to have multiple people online at the same time without paying extra, and 2010 looks to be a promising year for the comeback of the PS3.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I have a PS3 and a 360, and the PS3 spends most of it's time as my Blu-Ray player. I personally prefer my 360, and with the amount of great games on it, and with the current price of that console, I would say go for it and get a 360.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Get what your friends play, you'll have more fun than watching fanboy's getting red in the face while they downvote each other.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I realise you already got your story, but you might want to read localroger's [The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect](http://www.kuro5hin.org/prime-intellect/). \n\nMore singularity fun!", "score": 11 }, { "body": "If you like this kind of story I recommend Accelerando by Charles Stross. It's about three generations of a family living through the beginning of the singularity.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Tangentially related, [The Adolescence Of P-1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adolescence_of_P-1) is a classic AI novel, IMHO. I've never found an online version, but its cheap on Amazon second-hand, and worth a read. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Mike: So how long do I wait to call?\n\nTrent: A day.\n\nMike: Tomorrow.\n\nSue: Tomorrow, then a day.\n\nTrent: Yeah.\n\nMike: So two days?\n\nTrent: Yeah, I guess you could call it that, two days.\n\nSue: Definitely, two days is like industry standard.\n\nTrent: You know I used to wait two days to call anybody, but now it's like everyone in town waits two days. So I think three days is kind of money. What do you think?\n\nSue: Yeah, but two's enough not to look anxious.\n\nTrent: But I think three days is kind of money. You know because you...\n\nMike: Yeah, but you know what, maybe I'll wait 3 weeks. How's that? And tell her I was cleaning out my wallet and I just happened to run into her number.\n\nCharles: Then ask her where you met her.\n\nMike: Yeah, I'll ask her where I met her. I don't remember. What does she look like? And then I'll asked if we fucked. Is that... would that be... T, would that be the money?\n\nTrent: You know what. Ha ha ha Mike, laugh all you want but if you call too soon you might scare off a nice baby who's ready to party.\n\nMike: Well how long are you guys gonna wait to call your babies?\n\nTrent, Sue: Six days.\n\n**************************\n(And my advice? I just call the next day.)", "score": 14 }, { "body": "You were a typical guy and waited 2 freakin' days to call her. You should have called her that same day or the next day. Girls don't like that stupid waiting game. Never do it again.", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Just call her. The more you think about it instead of being excited to hear her voice and what it is that she actually says and feeling it, the more lost you get.\n\nI know. Getting so excited that you lose composure. You get stuck in that loss and you never recover. That's the fear.\n\nIf you trust that she is human (She is, right?) and that she likes hearing from you (And why wouldn't she?) she's going to pick it up perfectly that you fucked up. So, when you get that tension, you realize that you see it together, and then you can play with that, too. Or, there is glossing over the potholes because you two want to get to something else.\n\nYou are thinking about the right way because the uncertainty of perfect opportunity is creating a desire to guarantee some particular outcome. Those outcomes are distracting you from seeing what is really there bubbling from te fountain right in front of you that you have never experienced before. The outcomes are expectations that never fulfill as they should but if you look at them as pedals around the flower where the center is where it blossoms, and you just look at it, she's there!", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Call the next day, say something like, \"I had a great time last night.\" Suggest a specific date at a specific place on a specific day at a specific hour, preferably a few days in advance. If she accepts, say, \"Great! I'll meet you at (time previously specified) at (time previously specified). I look forward to seeing you again.\" If she suggests an alteration to the plan, try to accommodate, and be very pleased that she's going to the trouble--this is a good sign. If she declines, be polite; don't ask further questions. \"That's a shame\", \"have a nice evening\", et fin.\n\nCall the next day, respect her time by keeping the conversation short, and suggest a specific date which she can accept, alter or decline.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I think you did fine. Calling is always better than texting, at least for the initial contact (girls know it's ballsier), and when you got voicemail you were stuck with leaving a message.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "when you get a number, DO NOT CALL. Seriously. \n\nText her instead. Some people think texting someone to set up a date is rude, but it is actually all around better than email. \n\nWhy? a couple of reasons: \n\n1. A Phone call with someone you barely know is actually an Awkward Moment Machine designed to ruin things. There's so much that can go wrong with a phone call. It can catch her off-guard. It can produce awkward silences. If you leave a voicemail, it now puts the ball in her court, and she may be sweating it over callnig you back (due to all the issues here). \n\n2. It's a bigger deal than texting. The goal when you meet someone new is to make everything you two do together to not seem like a big deal; it's just a little bit more than what you previously did. Because the bigger a deal it seems to be the more thought she'll have to put into it, the more nervous she'll get, and the more likely she'll not say yes. \n\nTexts are way more casual than calling someone and doesn't put them on the spot, so it's much easier to flirt and to ask her out via text. And this is a perception thing: a date is a date whether or not it's set up via phone or text, but it seems like it's more casual when it's done through text than a phone call. \n\nThis is the key with escalating anything with a girl. You just make every move seem like it's not a big deal and only slightly more advanced than the previous move. ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I call her immediately, like before she's even gotten out of the parking lot. This makes her laugh at how bad my game is. I say, \"I know I'm violating various dating by-laws by calling so soon, but I just wanted to tell you what a great time I had tonight. I can't wait to see you again. OK, bye.\"\n\nThat way, I've 1) let her know I know those dumb rules exist but I don't give a fuck, 2) relieved her mind of the purpose of this dumb rule, which is to make her feel insecure about whether I liked her, and 3) made her feel good: having someone sincerely say \"I liked spending time with you\" is a great feeling.\n\nThen I call her in a day or a week or whatever makes sense schedule-wise, because the lack of insecurity-suspense makes the timing so much less of an issue.\n\nI'm not great looking, but I've had a dating career I can look back on with satisfaction because I've been straight with all the women I've ever been with and did my best to make them feel as awesome as I generally thought they were.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Why don't you check out [this](http://www.reddit.com/r/relationship_advice/comments/akv8d/when_you_call_a_girl_what_do_you_talk_about/) thread.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Well... sometimes we have no intention of hanging out if we've given you our number. If she didn't call you back, she's probably not into you. Sorry bud, better luck next time.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "give her time to wonder if you're going to call her, then call her. be brief and know what you want out of the conversation ahead of time--a followup date, which you've already planned (it shouldn't be an \"i dunno, what do you want to do?\" conversion so much as \"i was thinking we could...\"). you're not calling to chat or converse, just to make a plan and get off the phone. oh, and be charming.\n\non a side note, though, a lot of girls give out their number (or even just A number) as a polite way of getting rid of you. so definitely don't call more than once, especially after leaving a message.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "> What are some people's thoughts on this?\n\nMy thoughts on this is that this is the new generation of women's way of easily coughing up their number to a dude that they may not be interested in at all. Pretty frustrating.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "How's your diet? I'm pretty sure nutrition plays a role in the growth rate of your hair. I don't know specifics but I'm pretty sure there are vitamin supplements you can take for this. ", "score": 6 }, { "body": "My wife takes pre-natal vitamins. Her hair (and nails) grow quickly. \n \nI think the vitamins for expectant mothers contain growth-encouraging vitamins to help the baby develop... \n \nI have no idea why, but she's a nurse and her hair grows fast. \n \nEdit: She's not pregnant. \n ", "score": 4 }, { "body": "An age-old belief has been that massaging the scalp will help your hair in every way, including helping it grow. \n\nEven if it doesn't really help, massaging your scalp with a small vibrator can feel heavenly.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Carl Sagan, representing our quest to understand outer space\n\nDavid Attenborough, representing our love for life on this planet\n\nEinstein, representing our quest to understand the physical universe\n\nGhandi, representing our quest for political and spiritual peace\n\nRick Astley, to remind people not to take this too seriously", "score": 45 }, { "body": "**/r/atheism:** Darwin, Dawkins, Hitchens, Randi\n\n**/r/politics:** Chomsky, Franken, Clinton, Obama (he'll earn it give 'em time)\n\n**Reddit:** Narwhal, Caruso, Bacon, ಠ_ಠ\n\n**4chan:** Pedrobear, Boxxy, EFG, Trollface\n\n", "score": 41 }, { "body": "GEORGE W BUSH - OUR GREATEST LEADER\r\n\r\nDANE COOK - OUR GREATEST ENTERTAINER\r\n\r\nBILL O'REILLY - OUR GREATEST NEWS ANCHOR\r\n\r\nBARRY BONDS - OUR GREATEST ATHLETE", "score": 12 }, { "body": "Probably the same as it is now, [but everyone has these on](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/317NRl5OKkL._AA280_.jpg)\n\nAnd there's more guitar solos", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Gary Oldman, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, and Gary Oldman as Zorg.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "* [Norman Borlaug](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug) - advanced agriculture leading to more efficient crops, saving probably a billion lives in the process\n\n* Gandhi - for showing nonviolent resistance is a viable method of effecting political change\n\n* Tesla - the reason you have electricity in your home, on which almost every other aspect of modern life depends\n\n* I can't think of a good fourth person. I think it should be someone from the field of medicine. Germ theory is probably the most important advance of the past 500 years there, but it doesn't look like there's any single person responsible for it, maybe just a carving of a [germ](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2HGrH2NTd9c/Svr-B2oAvvI/AAAAAAAABvo/uuzrXCIwAyk/s200/cartoon+germ.jpg)", "score": 6 }, { "body": "Politics - Abraham Lincoln\r\n\r\nScience - Albert Einstein\r\n\r\nPeace - Gandhi\r\n\r\nArt - Leonardo Da Vinci", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I'd leave those faces right where they are and add a lower level of children from the third world gazing up with plaintive and starving eyes.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I put up a big shroud so no one can see it until I'm done, then make a giant Darth Vader because FUCK YOU WORLD.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Limbaugh. \n\nThen I would build a paintball trebuchet and charge $100 a shot. $200 prize if you get it up Cheney's nose. ", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Thats the way these sports games are. They hammer out one each year with very few things changed. You'd have to buy 2010.", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "There are many things that I enjoy about smoking, but there is *nothing* like some weed that truly creeps and then plows your senses like a freight train.", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "I found it kinda funny that Thiago Silva's Anderson Silva impersonation almost worked (if he had not had gassed out).", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Sam Stout vs. Joe Lauzon was awesome. Fight of the night IMO. Stout's game has improved immensely. He is becoming a well disciplined fighter. Would love to see him fight the likes of Sanchez, Florian and Penn in a couple of years.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "Did anyone see Hazelett getting knocked out like that? That was the biggest shock of the night to me. Of all the fights I was almost positive Hazelett was going to make Daly tap. I guess that's why they fight the fights.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I find it telling that the first real combo Thiago threw, Rashad got put on his back.\n\nRampage is gonna murder him if he comes in shape.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Rashad fought like a punk, I got the impression he trained to win that fight on points; no damage at all. If Thiago hadn't acted like a douchebag in the 3rd round, I would have given him a 10-8, and made it a draw.\n\nOther than that, a decent card.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Hmm, I could be wrong but I think Dan Lauzon tapped because of the kimura and not the triangle. Well, looked like it to me anyways.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I suppose I could say a bit more about them, since I've listened to them all...\n\nMy favourite is the Simon Schaffer interview. He talks about his studies of science as a social institution, and the controversy that generated. His best line, in my opinion, was something like (quoting from memory here): \"It didn't seem to us remotely plausible that Newton believed that there is an inverse square law acting between the centers of distant bodies in empty space because there is an inverse square law acting between the centers of distant bodies in empty space, and Liebnitz disagreed because he's German.\"\n\nI found Ian Hacking interesting first because he's a Canadian like me, but also because he took a very hands-on approach to his study of science which, I find, gives him a bit more credibility in some senses.\n\nJames Lovelock's description of his Gaia theory opened my eyes to the fact that it's a reasonably proper scientific theory, and not just a new-age metaphor. He also had some very black predictions for the future of the human race that are hard to ignore.\n\nThe Rupert Sheldrake interview was fun, but I have to say, I tend to agree with his detractors who think he's a bit loopy.\n\nBrian Wynne shared some dramatic stories of the intersection between politics and science involving nuclear power in Britian.\n\nPeter Galison had some interesting perspectives (mentioned in [another submission](http://www.reddit.com/r/PhilosophyofScience/comments/al1m4/can_two_very_different_scientific_paradigms_share/)) on Kuhn, and a more nuanced view of incommensurability.\n\nThey were all quite good, but those were the ones that made an impression on me.\n", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "I'll put it to you straight as I can.\n\nShe *is* a sexual person. She still masturbates, and she broached the subject of an open relationship. She had a male friend she flirted with, though nothing came of it. \n\nThe problem is either one of the following:\n\n- she is just simply not attracted to you in that way...i.e., lack of chemistry\n- you aren't very good in bed\n\nAs for the first, well, there are worst marriages. She seems to have reconciled this in her own head. She'd rather be married to her very best friend. She does love you. She is willing to open up your marriage. It's up to you whether you can live with this sort of marriage. That is between you and her alone. I wouldn't judge. \n\nAs for the second, you are each others' first partners, so it is not unusual. Everyone is bad in bed initially. It takes practice to get better. Of course, she has to be willing to practice with you, tell you what would make it better (instead of just saying she doesn't like to kiss etc). It may be difficult since you are also her first. You're married so there is just too much riding on all of this, to be candid. The unfortunate truth about marriage! A sex therapist might help. And honestly - being with other people may also help, if the two of you can navigate the emotional implications. \n\n", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Of course they talk faster, their thoughts are more collected and they seem classier - it's scripted.", "score": 68 }, { "body": "Absolutely not. One of the worst things about recorded media is that it absolutely decimated the variety of American accents and dialects that existed just a few decades ago. Almost every corner of America had it's own accent and dialect. Few people know that in Manhattan every neighborhood even had it's own accent. There's was a lower east side accent, a Chelsea accent, upper east side, etc. In fact it's what defined most of those neighborhoods. Then the boroughs had their own accents within them too. \n\nNot to mention southern accents which weren't homogeneous either. The new orleans accents is now one that only exists in memory and had elements of the many cultures that came through the New Orleans port. \n\nThese accents started to disappear at the time of recorded media. As Hollywood was glamorized people wanted to imitate that glamor as they do now. Slowly we started to homogenize around what the Hollywood standard was/is and the accents disappeared. \n\nNow only a few American accents remain. The Boston accent (one of my favorite) is likely to be gone a decade or two. You'd be hard pressed to find a young person in Boston who says 'winda' instead 'window' non-jokingly. There's a few in NYC, but as more outside influences come these disappear. The Brooklyn accent is completely decimated. More modern 'Southern accents' remain, but this seams forced and retarded to me because the 'southern accent' is the same in Georgia as it is in Juno, Alaska (David Cross has a bit about this). \n\nNow as far as words go, yeah vernacular changes from day to day. I think i heard Alec Baldwin say \"OMG\" in a movie trailer the other day. WTF seriously... \n\nedited for grammar \n\nEdit #2 - So a lot of people have asked me to cite my sources since I do drop a lot big claims here. I recommend checking out there articles below for further reading. Some talk about the effect of mass media in other cultures, but I think this is just used to help explain that the same is happening in America. Also, to those who question this further any text about mass media, mobile-culture, globalization, etc. and it's effects on linguistics will cover this topic. \n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_dialect\n\nhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/fashion/03accent.html\n\n", "score": 60 }, { "body": "According to my dad: My grandmother used to get peeved at how people in older movies would talk because it was nothing like how people actually spoke at the time. She grew up in Chicago during the 40's and 50's.", "score": 21 }, { "body": "[Here](http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3317) is a speech by FDR. It has that half-British pronunciation. I think it was a fairly common upper-class speaking style. Somewhere in the 60's, they stopped talking to the rest of us -- so we have no idea what they sound like today. Must have been something we said. As for your crush on Bergman, aww, she won't even give ya the time of day.", "score": 19 }, { "body": "The studios required actors to take speech lessons to get rid of regional accents. \n\nThe breakup of the studios in the '50s, location shooting, and method acting techniques resulted in more naturalistic movies.\n\nNotice how in classic films, you can always hear the dialog clearly, because it's being shot on a sound stage with trained voices. Unlike movies nowadays, *Public Enemies* comes to mind, where you're leaning over to your partner to ask, what did he just say? ", "score": 17 }, { "body": "I just think it's weird that in the 1930s movies, they're always making dates to have dinner at eight. I'd be super hungry if I had to wait until 8 to eat. ", "score": 12 }, { "body": "I think screenplays from that era were closer to the theater tradition -- lines that were supposed to be \"performed\" as semi-literary art. Similarly acting hadn't yet undergone the \"method revolution\" or whatever, and was not intended to be naturalistic at all. \n\nOne reason a lot of people disliked the movie [*Brick*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_(film) is that it was written and performed in that 1940s fast-talking \"noir\" style -- despite being set in a modern high school. I loved it, of course! ", "score": 11 }, { "body": "According to the \"Deadwood\" TV show i've been watching, Americans used the \"Cocksucker\" word quite a bit.", "score": 10 }, { "body": "I dated a Jewish girl from Rockaway who sounded like: \"Dyou wanna cupppa kawfee? Oh my gawd, it only cawsts uh qwuatuh!\"", "score": 9 }, { "body": "Languages and dialects always evolve over time, even such short time as 50 years (as I can notice very much from old Swedish films). Just think of how relatively fast American English has become very distinct from British English.", "score": 7 }, { "body": "People in the 30s and 40s probably looked back at the letters wrote by Civil War soldiers and asked themselves the same question.\r\n\r\nI think a lot of it has to do with a lot of the lower class back then not knowing how to read/write earned enough money to send their kids to school to learn how to read/write. But they didn't go to the same schools as the upperclass where they learned what you might call the proper english language. They just learned enough to get by. And after a couple of generations of most people speaking the lower class form of english we got to where we are today, a mix between newspeak, text acronyms, ebonics, and a very very small hint of the proper english language.\r\n\r\nSo odds are, if you're like me and only have an okay grasp on the language, (enough to maybe order food at a restaurant \"I want Ham!\") then 100 years ago we'd be illiterate and working in a factory of some sort.", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I was born in 1942. And movie speech of the period didn't seem unusual to me at the time...gosh, we all spoke like that!\n", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I actually speak like that. See, I grew up watching those old films. My dad loves them. So, basically, I thought that that was how everyone talked. Around 3rd grade, I learned that it was **not** how children are supposed to speak. I temporarily dropped the accent in favor of my inherited slight Southern drawl. But, now that I'm in high school, and I can speak however the hell I feel like, I have resumed speaking in the Transatlantic accent. Everyone loves it. So, I'll stick with it.\n\nBut, to answer your question, that is how people talked. Not the specific accent, but the style. Faster, more thoughtfully, and yes, classy. It's a refreshing sound to hear when you walk home from hearing \"Yo, bra. Dawg, yous gots ta pay me latuh, aight?\"\n\nWhy can't we all speak like those wonderful old pictures?", "score": 6 }, { "body": "I don't know why, but oration has become something of a lost art since WWII. Even a talented speaker like Obama is rather dull after listening to speeches made prior to WWII.\n\nPersonally, I blame television (and more recently the internet) for the constant drive to appeal to the lowest common denominator. rofl.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "My US History teacher let us listen to tapes of FDR's and JFK's inauguration speeches\n\nAnd yea, they sound a lot classier and idk why :(", "score": 4 }, { "body": "[speech by Teddy Roosevelt](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv-VNTtUYZo)\n\n[speech by Willam Taft](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEG0xT7fddw)\n\nThey may not be exactly as a common person would have spoken, as they are well-educated and using a good public speaking voice, but they're probably fairly close to the speech of people from about a century ago.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "There was a 'TIL' here on reddit about this very subject several months ago, but I'm not able to find it at the moment. The movies of the 'classic' era were scripted for a very specific form of English, which sounded more British. If I recall(original link was to wikipedia maybe?), the purpose of writing the dialog in this way made the characters seem more elegant. Perhaps British accents were \"in\" during this time?", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Language is forever changing and there's little reason to think that old films do not accurately portray how Americans talked at the time they were made.\n\nSurely there are some voice coach lessons and theatrics behind some of the accents, but in general, I would think that the way people speak in old movies is a reliable gauge. However, then, as now, there was an attempt to neutralize any hint of an accent unless the role called for one.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "\"Perhaps history, this century, thought Eigenvalue, is rippled with gathers in its fabrics such that if we are situated, as Stencil seemed to be, at the bottom of a fold, it's impossible to determine warps, woof or pattern anywhere else. By virtue, however, of existing in one gather it is assumed there are others, compartmented off into sinous cycles each of which come to assume greater importance from the weave itself and destroy any continuity. Thus it is that we are charmed by the funny-looking automobiles of the '30's, the curious fashions of the '20's, the peculiar moral habits of our grandparents. We produce and attend musical comedies about them and are conned into a false memory, a phony nostalgia about what they were. We are accordingly lost to any sense of a continuous tradition. Perhaps if we lived on a crest, things would be different. We could at least see.\"\n\nfrom V by Thomas Pynchon.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Enterprise was fun with several interesting characters, Tripp being my favorite. The continuity freaks seemed to have multiple issues with this show, but my biggest problem with it was the god-awful opening theme.\nEnterprise probably comes closest to capturing the feel of the new movie. When you are ready for another series, I would recommend Deep Space Nine. It's my favorite of the trek series, and a good chunk of it was helmed by Ronald D. Moore, the genius behind the Battlestar reboot.", "score": 11 }, { "body": "I've never really figured out why Enterprise gets such a bad rap. IMO it's a much better show than Voyager. I had a hard time liking Bakula (and still wonder if the show would have benefited if another actor had been captain) but the rest of the characters were well written and well played for the most part. They got a bit bogged down in the Xindi thing but came out of it very well, as others have said their fourth season is the best.", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop_Mode_Tools\n\nhttp://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Asus_Eee_PC_900A#CPU_frequency_scaling\n", "score": 11 }, { "body": "I'm no expert with Linux on laptops but you might start here:\n\nhttp://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/", "score": 7 }, { "body": "After traveling back across the country (Florida -> California) a week and a half ago, I wrote up [some tips](http://unethicalblogger.com/posts/2009/12/5_tips_traveling_tux) that I used to extend my battery life while in the air.\n\nThe screen brightness and bluetooth are relatively minor, the largest consumer of your battery power is going to be the CPU. I usually use the `powersave` utility to kick my CPU down to \"powersave\" mode which underclocks it around 1/3 power. That helped more than anything.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "If you are using gnome, add a cpu applet on your toolbar. Then click on it and chose lower frequency. If you have dual cpu, add 2 CPU applets and configure them to work with different cpu1 and cpu2.\n\n", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I've often searched for the same thing, but for books. It would be excellent for films as well. I'm sure the information is out there, but having it all in a Wikipedia like fashion would be excellent. I am considering doing this as a winter project.", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I would imagine that you could use some kind of collection of CNOT gates to create entangled particles partially in the way you imagine it.\n\nHowever, that is not strictly what you are asking, but you rather seem to be wanting two things:\n\n* Copying the properties ( ie. quantum state ) of a particle onto an ensemble of particles\n* Superluminal signaling between two people by using entanglement.\n\nIf that is what you are after then these are not possible. The first one is due to the No-Cloning theorem and the No-broadcasting theorem. The second one is a bit more complex, but essentially the No-communication theorem. I'm going to refer you to a book, namely Nielsen and Chuang.\n\nHowever, if you have some familiarity with quantum teleportation - which I assume you do since you are asking this question - then I can paragraph one special case where it is obvious to not be possible.\n\nThe basic idea is that you have a setup s.t. you try to teleport a particle which then the receiver will measure to get your message. The crucial point here is that there will have to be some classical signaling, since there is an ambiguity in the outcome. The last step in teleportation is receiving the classical message of her outcome and correcting it by a final measurement to get the particle that is desired. This can then be measured and determine what her message was, but since this require classical communication, then superluminal communication is not possible. This is obviously a pretty crappy explanation of it all, so do go and read Nielsen and Chuang ( but also use the index since it's a brick). \n\nReading list:\n[Quantum teleportation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_teleportation), \n[No-cloning theorem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-cloning_theorem), \n[No-broadcasting theorem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-broadcast_theorem), \n[No-communication theorem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-communication_theorem)", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "How many drivers go around the stop sign that pulls out when you open the doors?\nAny interesting stories?", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "DealExtreme imports Chinese products and sells at pretty good prices in the US.\n\nhttp://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx/search.dell%20battery", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "As someone who did the opposite, and moved from a trailer park in New Brunswick to Toronto, I can definitely say you've made the right decision.", "score": 46 }, { "body": "How's the view out your front door? \n\nEver sit out on your deck and drink coffee / read the paper? Are your neighbors mad you can read?\n\nYou sound a llittle reverse-snobbish, do you think people who enjoy SUVs and granite are lesser than you in some way? \n\nDo you have kids? If not, do you think you would do the same if you did?", "score": 24 }, { "body": "You don't live your life paying off interest. If you have a job as respectable as you say you do and no kids you'd be done in five to ten years. Easy living. Very little worries. And unless you're picking up and moving your trailer every month, you're as free as the rest of us. ", "score": 18 }, { "body": "A \"rich\" lady living in the slums and mocking the people she lives with? Does someone else find this just a strange ego rub?", "score": 15 }, { "body": "Upvoted for being one of the few who can resist the capitalist consumerist bullshit that we're spoon-fed on a daily basis. my best of luck to you, i hope you inspire many.", "score": 15 }, { "body": "you and i would get along well. i'm just a whisker south living the same lifestyle.\n\nmy family lives in an affluent area in southern new england and they think i'm crazy. i couldn't be happier. no worries, very few bills, no traffic or rude people. i can go into any restaurant in town dressed however i want and not get a second look. \n\nthis is the life!\n\n\n\n ", "score": 8 }, { "body": "Canada? \n\nHow do you deal with such cold weather? When I was in one freezing pipes was always a problem in the winter, and I lived in North Carolina at the time.\n\nAre you in a large typical shady trailer park? I only ask because in N.C I was in a very small, private park with a lot of land per \"home\" and it was the first and only time I've ever seen this. I've never been to Canada, but I can imagine it having quite a bit of country land.\n\nAre there any fat ladies in your park that feel the need to check their mail in the bra? I hate that.\n\nEdit - Also, what type of trailer? Do you guys have your own Canadian manufacturers or are you in like an Oakwood, Redman, etc? ( I've owned a Redman, piece of junk ).", "score": 6 }, { "body": "You've mentioned drunk neighbors riding around on ATVS at night, neighbors playing music really loud, and a guy running a bar from his trailer (I haven't decided whether this rocks or sucks). The last thing aside, this is why I wouldn't want to live in a trailer park. Mind you, if this kind of behavior occurred in a traditional suburb, I wouldn't want to live there either.\r\n\r\nWhy did you decide to live in a trailer park? Why not buy a modular home/trailer on a couple of acres? I understand that you don't mind the stigma but doesn't the noise get to you?", "score": 5 }, { "body": "If I may ask what east coast province are you in? I grew up in rural New Brunswick for twenty years and I am plenty aware of how accurate the trailer park boys can be. Actually the trailer park boys, while from nova scotia, have filmed episodes in the hemp fields in Woodstock, New Brunswick, a relatively small city not far from where I grew up. Regretably I never went to watch a set.\n\nIronically (yes, ironically) I moved to Toronto to get away from east coast Canada. I've been in Toronto for the past three years floating around in different shared housing establishments, going to school and working. I love it. The lifestyle is definitely more expensive but I find the benefits far outway the costs.\n\nDid you meet your husband in east coast Canada or Toronto? How weird was it having complete strangers wave to you as you're driving down the road? What differences do you see between Torontonians and east coasters? Why haven't you bought a four wheeler or ski-doo in the very least!?\n\nAnyways, props to the lifestyle. I'll be finished college in a year and I don't plan on tieing myself down financially either. If I were to find a decent girl who wouldn't mind living in the east coast I might move back there some day too. But right now... well, this naive country boy still has a lot to experience in the big city. ;)", "score": 5 }, { "body": "My parents decided to buy a caravan (this is Australia, thats what we call them) about 5 or 6 years ago when they realised that their savings would get eaten up in about 2 or 3 years if they stayed in their house. So, they put most of their stuff in storage, gave some of it away (we got the table! Woo!) and sold the rest, and bought probably the second largest caravan you can buy with the money they had from the sale of their house and car, and bought a Land Rover to tow it.\n\nThey have since spent the last 5 years touring around Australia, stopping with friends, staying in caravan parks or free parks, and generally having the best time of their life. They are completely self-sufficient in the van; with gel batteries and solar cells they can run all of the equipment for a few days (if they are careful) without any sun at all, or indefinitely with strong sunlight. They have a backup generator, and a reverse cycle air-conditioner, gas fridge and stove/oven. I set up a 3G+Wifi router so they have always-on internet throughout Australia (in most areas they stop) using Telstra's network and a high gain antenna.\n\nThe crazy thing is, the van cost lest than 100k to set up. The Land Rover was another 60k or something, which they kind of need to tow it. Their site fees can be covered with rent assistance if they are smart and stay for longer than a week at each site, and they pick sites where the cost is covered by rent assistance.\n\nThey pay no land rates, power is usually included, water is usually included, they pay very few taxes. Basically they're not saving money, but they're not draining their savings either - they've reached equilibirium on a couple of small pensions.\n\nThis gets me thinking, often, about getting a caravan and moving out of my nice apartment and living in one for 3-4 years to save money to afford a house. Paying rent on saving for a mortgage is just impossible. My wife doesn't work, though I'm well paid, I just find it really hard to do here in Sydney.", "score": 5 }, { "body": "Do you ever take the trailer out for a vacation? Just for a temporary change of scenery? Or are you fairly set where you are.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Do you get tornadoes in Canada? I live in Texas and spend quite a few terrifying hours every year in the closet when the sirens go off and wish I had the money to buy something permanently affixed to the ground. ", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Firstly: I envy you a lot of such an awesome lifestyle! :)\n\nAnd questions... \nWhat are your neighbors like? Mostly living in trailers as a choice, or rather forced by some money issues? \nAlso, strange activities! Name some!", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I did something similar this year, my girlfriend and I bought a ranch house in a city that is looked down upon, in a neighborhood that is working class poor, when we could have easily purchased a house twice the price in an upper middle class neighborhood (I work in IT and my GF owns her own business). We love our neighborhood and the seedy working class bar at the end of the street. We have a ridiculously low mortgage payment, very low taxes and drive a 12 year old Subaru. We wouldn't change a thing! Good for you!!!!", "score": 3 }, { "body": "My grandfather used to live in two different trailer parks depending on the season.\n\n\nHe lived in Canada (Shirkston) just off of Lake Eerie during the warm half of the year, and trecked down to Tampa for the colder months. It was constantly 70-80 for him all year, and he loved it.", "score": 3 }, { "body": "I have actually considered buying into a trailer park as a good starting point. I don't think that there's anything actually wrong with it, and I've been in some that were quite nice. Just don't buy in tornado country and your good! :D", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Kudos to you. I live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. I bought a bungalow here a couple of years ago and I'm thinking I should have just done what you did. What would you say are the best trailer parks around Halifax?", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I feel like I repeat this in every thread about determinism, but free will is no prerequisite for moral responsibility. The ability to choose is. Under determinism, all actors can be able to choose, it's just so that their trajectory of choices will be given by the configuration of Nature.\r\n\r\nThere's no need to institute a notion of free will to make people morally responsible. There's only a need for the ability to choose. And this is not incompatible with determinism. It's the ability to choose differently from all the choices you will make in your life which is incompatible - but this does not really threaten a notion of moral responsibility as such a notion can be counted as inputs which will change the trajectory of choices in the determined universe.\r\n\r\nYour thought experiment isn't really about free will, it's about intended and unintended consequences - which basically boils down to availability of information and the ability to predict outcomes. The argument that you are not morally responsible in this case is based on you not being able to comprehend the consequences of your actions, so while your intended consequences were benign the unintended consequences were malign. It's unreasonable to hold agents morally responsible for actions they had no intention of setting about, under the constraint that they at least should have tried to inform themselves of the consequences beforehand and such.\r\n\r\nEdit: corrected spelling", "score": 14 }, { "body": "There is no free will.\n\nMoral responsibility isn't about judging the character of others, but refining one's own character to become more autonomous.\n\nIt is also about pragmatism: kill the destructive, aid the constructive.", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Determinism doesn't destroy morality, it illustrates it; just as it illustrates everything else. It isn't a *thing*, it's a framework.", "score": 3 } ]