Archive of posts filed under the Interests category.

Topics on my particular interests.

“Australian seniors ask Pirate Party for help in accessing right-to-die sites”

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This is exactly why organizations like the Pirate Party or Wikileaks need to be kept around — because even if they espouse illegal or semilegal behaviors, or provide a safe haven for whistleblowers to air the proverbial dirty laundry, they act as a check to governments and the corporations that essentially run them. If they …

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“USC scientists figure out how to turn t-shirts into body armor”

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More of science emulating science fiction: in Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series (the second book, if I remember correctly), the protagonist is shot several times at point-blank range with a large-caliber handgun. He survives with nothing more than extreme bruising and a wound to his arm, thanks to a set of “bulletproof underwear,” which …

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“Enhancing the Placebo”

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I find the placebo effect to be utterly fascinating. It’s almost certainly responsible for the successes of shamans, faith-based healers, and homeopathy. And, on the other side of the coin, the documented successful witch doctors’ curses. But it’s literally all in your head. Which means that everyone who has ever been affected by any of …

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“New road made from pigsh*t in Missouri”

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When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you lakes of pig waste, make… roads? (I used to live near Six Flags in Missouri. There’s a good chance that I’ve driven over that particular stretch of road. Which gives me a decidedly odd feeling… I’m not used to having places I’ve lived make …

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“Does tech lean left or right?”

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This article may sound insightful, but it isn’t. Tech companies, like all large and successful publicly-traded companies, “lean” whichever way the political winds are blowing… if it looks like party X is going to win, they back party X, regardless of their personal opinions, because the X candidate is most likely to be the one …

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