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[2011-09-30 16:18:05] - http://reason.com/blog/2011/09/30/ron-paul-and-gary-johnson-amon I'm wondering if anybody here has any thoughts on the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki. -Paul
[2011-09-30 15:19:41] - a: I think he meant he's not a big fan of philly in general, not just the travel distance. - mig
[2011-09-30 15:14:53] - xpovos: philly isn't very far imo. i guess i'm ~15km closer than you are though. ~a
[2011-09-30 12:27:31] - paul: no. he just knocked on the door. ~a
[2011-09-30 10:58:52] - My sister-in-law asked me to pass this along. I think it sounds cool, but I find the idea of having to go to Philly abhorrent. Maybe you guys are less disinclined to travel? http://www.meetup.com/PhiladelphiaAdventure/events/32650862/ -- Xpovos
[2011-09-30 10:24:51] - only to find it's the magic 'third paycheck of a month' no health care deductions. Now my brain is rejecting all kinds of things, and it will certainly impact how I view the actual pay raise when (if) it finally comes. We can definitely fool our brains with faulty first information. It's a reason why indoctrination is important/successful. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-30 10:23:24] - Here might be a relevant real-world example. I've been in salary negotiation for what seems like months. Today I see my bank account has a noticeably larger pay deposit. I assume it's the pay raise that's been in the works. I run calculations to determine how much it is, then go to the pay stub to verify [...]
[2011-09-30 10:11:41] - Aaron: Ah, ok. That makes sense. I would like to think that I wouldn't hold it against them, but I'm sure a part of me would. I've read articles that the human brain is terrible dealing with new information which contradicts a previously held belief. -Paul
[2011-09-30 10:09:59] - a: Ok, but wouldn't he introduce himself as a food delivery guy immediately? -Paul
[2011-09-30 10:09:00] - i mean, not "yeah" i hold it against the guy, but "yeah" that's a good example! ~a
[2011-09-30 10:08:42] - aaron: sure yeah! ~a
[2011-09-30 10:08:24] - paul: and ok, for the sake of maximizing the "yes" answer, let's say instead of a friend, it's someone you just met. and for me, the answer is that yes, i kind of forge a semi-permanent first-impression during the first few hours i spend with a person and it's pretty tough to change, even if i know it's incorrect - aaron
[2011-09-30 10:07:01] - paul: ok how about this. you agree to meet a friend for happy hour at 5:00 pm. they show up an hour late, and they don't apologize, and you think, "wow this guy's a real jerk" but you keep it to yourself. when you get home, you check your e-mail and realize you had agreed to meet at 6:00, not 5:00. adrian's asking, do you still hold it against the person - aaron
[2011-09-30 10:05:20] - obviously i explained this incorrectly. maybe i left out an important sentence or something? before she finds out that it was just a food-delivery guy, she thought that "guy" was showing up at her house uninvited. ~a
[2011-09-30 10:01:36] - a: I guess I don't understand what the dating guy has to do with it. She thinks the food delivery guy is a creepy stalker, then realizes he was mistaken? And so.... what's the end point? I guess I don't get it.
-Paul[2011-09-30 10:01:04] - mig: yes, that's a good example. less of an emotional example though since your affinity for ghosts won't really elicit any visceral reactions. ~a
[2011-09-30 10:01:02] - Now if I had somehow convinced myself that some person I was seeing was possibly an axe-murderer, and then find that to be refuted, then yeah, I think "is she really not an axe-murderer" will linger in my subconcious. - mig
[2011-09-30 09:51:43] - I suppose it depends on the emotional attachment is for being "right"? Like if I was convinced that ghosts in SC2 were bad and had no use, then for the hell of it try it for a few games and demolish my opponents. Then my opinion of ghosts will change and I will start using them more. I don't think my subconsious will think ghosts are still bad or whatever. - mig
[2011-09-30 09:38:11] - hmmm. i guess i didn't explain the situation very well. "guy" and "food-delivery-man" are two unrelated people. do you guys at least understand the premise: human is given incorrect information, then is corrected. ~a
[2011-09-30 09:20:27] - aaron: Oh, so the guy she dated is also the food delivery man? -Paul
[2011-09-30 09:15:35] - a: i think it varies from person to person but personally, i usually hold that kind of stuff against people. but situations in the real world aren't so clear-cut that they absolve them of responsibility 100%, like in your scenario, so i think it's usually fair - aaron
[2011-09-30 09:14:25] - mig: she thinks that she gave him her address, and he showed up to her door ASAP, presumably because he was either desparate or a stalker or something - aaron
[2011-09-30 08:59:22] - or is it the food devilery guy she thinks is a creep? - mig
[2011-09-30 08:58:45] - a: so she thinks the guy she dated was a creep because .... she thought he might have called in a prank food order to her place? - mig
[2011-09-30 00:39:17] - i feel like i have another hypothetical along the same lines, but i forget the situation. ~a
[2011-09-30 00:37:57] - before girl finds out it was a wrong-address, she is horrified that guy is a total creep. in fact, since it's late at night, girl is seriously frightened. after finding out it was a wrong-address / coincidence, she is relieved that all is well. but, wait, did the human brain resolve the correction? deep in her psyche does she still think guy is a creep? ~a
[2011-09-30 00:35:11] - how does the human brain deal with incorrect information after a correction? here's a hypothetical: a guy and a girl go on a first date. a week later a second date is planned, and girl needs to send her home address to guy. coincidentally, 10 minutes later, a food delivery man shows up at her door. ~a
[2011-09-29 10:44:00] - so apparently this is john walters!
~a[2011-09-29 10:03:20] - http://www.imdb.com/media/rm129875200/nm1706767 so apparently this is jonah hill? - aaron
[2011-09-29 09:03:05] - my favorite quote "On the shore was Elaine, who professed to like me but wasn't about to let me so much as cop a feel, while out here was Ruby, who would happily screw my brains out but happened to be the wrong species." ~a
[2011-09-29 08:59:15] - since it's scrolling past the bottom of the page, i'm reposting xpovo's link we talked about last night. nsfw (no pics, but the text is graphic). ~a
[2011-09-28 21:34:32] - or instead they could use the ron paul message: i don't think aaron understands freedom. you should have the freedom to maximize your benefit. the more sodas a day your purchase the more xp you get. it's unbounded! also, exponentially increasing. ~a
[2011-09-28 15:42:26] - as a parent/dietician/whatever, i'd probably want the MW3 promotion to be more like, "a 20-ounce soda gives your character a 24-hour XP boost" or something like that - it just sends a healthier message. "drink a soda, play our game, but you don't have to drink 24 sodas a day to maximize your benefit" - aaron
[2011-09-28 15:41:18] - mig: it's like, compare it to mcdonalds. mcdonalds happy meals typically have about 6 different toys, and toy cycles last about 1 month. the implication there being, "your kid should probably eat mcdonalds about 6 times in a month, then he'll get all the toys". i know it's a stretch, but comparatively, what kind of message is this MW3 promotion trying to send? - aaron
[2011-09-28 15:39:25] - mig: i kind of see his point there though, if you're giving someone a 15-minute boost for a 20-ounce soda, there's a subtle implication that it's acceptable to drink multiple 20-ounce sodas in a day... again, i'm not disagreeing with you, but i definitely see the author's point that the promotion is encouraging unhealthy habits - aaron
[2011-09-28 15:37:49] - mig: i agree, there's a difference between paying for a privilege, and paying for a convenience. somehow, the author seems more outraged by the latter. but i think it's really just that he's more outraged by the idea of tying games to non-game-related commercial products, which i can somewhat understand - aaron
[2011-09-28 15:33:14] - and I have a sneaking suspicion that the author doesn't really care all that much about gaming fairness but rather wanted a "won't someone think of the (fat) children" angle per the last bit of the article. - mig
[2011-09-28 15:31:33] - Although truth be told I am not that familiar with how MW3's XP currency things work, but exclusive weapons and items seem to me to be much more game-breaking than just "levelling up" faster. - mig
[2011-09-28 15:29:29] - aaron: I have to disagree with the author. I'd be much more annoyed with the pre-order weapons and items than I am with the XP business. - mig
[2011-09-28 15:09:19] - a: the way the money system works, after about 4 games you can buy one "rune" and it takes about 30 runes to max out your stats in a certain way. you can't pay money for runes directly, but by paying for IP boosts you can get runes faster. you can see how the incentives are there, you want to play a lot of different characters because different characters are fun. - aaron
[2011-09-28 15:06:08] - a: they already let you do that, a 1-day boost is like $2.00, or a 10-win boost is like $5.00. i haven't paid for it, but i've thought about it. i've got some money stored in the game which i'm not using for anything - aaron
[2011-09-28 13:51:06] - aaron: joking or serious? would you pay hard-cash for an IP boost in lol? ~a
[2011-09-28 13:45:46] - http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/09/28/modern-warfare-3s-pepsi-cross-promotion-steps-over-the-line/ i'd buy 24-packs of diet shasta if it meant an IP boost in League of Legends - aaron
[2011-09-28 13:44:33] - xpovos: yeah, for some controversial people like tom cruise it doesn't display it. i don't understand the algorithm either - aaron
[2011-09-28 12:51:11] - a: Excellent point, which makes Spacey an even worse choice given that it is 'controversial'. I still haven't hit anything on dead people, but that makes sense at least. But I guess then it has to make a multi-level fact check. Bool isDeceased; . If isDeceased = True ( return(isGay()); -- Xpovos
[2011-09-28 12:27:03] - xpovos: it probably has to worry about material about living people since living people have an easier time creating a defamation lawsuit. ~a
[2011-09-28 12:24:03] - aaron: I'm really curious about what twigs their algorithm, though. It's not obvious to me how it determines whether to put in the data. http://www.google.com/search?q=is+Kevin+Spacey+gay Maybe it needs a 'strong' source? -- Xpovos
[2011-09-28 12:15:07] - aaron: The height thing has been there for a while, I used it at the bachelor party for some basketball players. I like that it sources the information as well. It's smart enough to figure out what you're asking, answers it, and then backs it up. Simple stupid facts now, complex facts to come. Hadn't tried with religion or sexuality, though. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-28 12:01:16] - it'll also guess their height, religion, etc... - aaron
[2011-09-28 11:58:13] - http://www.google.com/search?q=is+jesus+gay apparent it's programmed into google to guess people's sexual orientations now... that sounds fun! - aaron
[2011-09-28 10:20:57] - paul: if you do put your pictures up somewhere, send me the link please?
~a[2011-09-28 09:46:21] - paul: youtube is fine but they have some annoying restrictions on uploads (must be < 2gb, < 15m length), although they can handle videos being up to 1080p now. I would also recommend picasa (where your G+ photos go, btw) over flickr since flickr has some restrictions on it as well unless you pay them for a pro account. - mig
[2011-09-28 09:43:50] - Paul: I think I'm too far behind the curve. Since I mostly buy my new music from Amazon, that's my best fit. But I have accounts with Spotify and Music.google.beta. But they mostly go unused. Whereas my home collection and iPod get a pretty frequent workout. For me, it's about where the music is, and how hard it is to move it. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-28 09:22:24] - Does anybody store their videos/photos/music online? I'm wondering if I should upload a bunch of my videos to youtube (to access when away from my computer) or my pictures to Flikr/Picasa/G+/Facebook or if I should try Google Music or Amazon Cloud Player or use Spotify or something. -Paul
[2011-09-28 09:20:24] - a: Heh, I saw him on Stossel once and I think he did (completely randomly and off-topic) mention his visit to the View... or maybe Stossel brought it up. I can't remember. -Paul
[2011-09-27 17:39:50] - and he won't shut up about it. i swear, he talks about his visit to the view on every episode. he hates those women so much and i think they may have broken his brain. ~a
[2011-09-27 16:22:04] - mig: He did go on the View... -Paul
[2011-09-27 16:13:50] - daniel: hmmm, didn't know that. Well I'm not surprised Jon would be a guest on O'Reilly, but Bill doesn't strike me as someone who would venture outside comfortable territories. - mig
[2011-09-27 16:10:04] - mig: I think Bill O and Jon both go on each others shows and have a fairly good working relationship because they know they are good for each others ratings. -Daniel
[2011-09-27 16:03:28] - btw, tonight's guest on tds - Bill O'Reilly. that is surprising. - mig
[2011-09-27 15:57:53] - aaron: unfortunately the entire interview wasn't aired yesterday (though it's probably up on the show's website rigth now) but what was aired was interesting. - mig
[2011-09-27 14:58:28] - http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/184067-ron-paul-and-jon-stewart-joke-about-media-coverage-war-on-drugs for those who missed ron paul on the daily show yesterday, he had some good quotes. "I hate the war on drugs a lot more than I fear drugs themselves, and I hate drugs" - aaron
[2011-09-27 12:13:19] - aaron: It's interesting that on half of them you can't even really tell. Apparently directly centered and symmetric images are really popular for video game covers. Also interesting is how much my brain is filling in on the ones I'm most familiar with. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-27 12:06:39] - aaron: southern methodist univ. - mig
[2011-09-27 11:49:36] - http://freaky.imgur.com/the_art_that_is_called_haah_waaw mirrored video game covers; the mega man one is pretty disturbing, looks like a monkey taking a dump. but there's a lot of gems in here - aaron
[2011-09-27 11:47:20] - paul: 3 of them; apparently at Texas A&M, W&M and in some place called the "SMU", which i sadly only recognize as the "super mario universe?" - aaron
[2011-09-26 16:53:07] - g: Yeah, in fact, if you search for bake sale on the message board, I believe Miguel links to two of them back in 2003. -Paul
[2011-09-26 16:51:29] - g: I wouldn't say it's common, and I don't recall them ever being big front page news, but I remember hearing about them a decade ago (man, we're old). I think I even debated somebody about it on the message board before. -Paul
[2011-09-26 16:49:02] - g: I have no idea. Probably not, since it's more to make a statement then to actually sell anything. - mig
[2011-09-26 16:47:50] - mig: but do people actually buy things? I mean yea its to make a statement more than anything... but they will still have food right? ~g
[2011-09-26 16:34:48] - g: yeah it's not really a new idea, but it's mostly news now because of the location (Berkley) and the pending legislation. - mig
[2011-09-26 16:34:27] - g: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IGfe2tAUbM -- Xpovos
[2011-09-26 16:30:17] - paul: really? Ive never heard of these bake sales before... I dont think. ~g
[2011-09-26 16:29:50] - xpovos: havent heard of it... ~g
[2011-09-26 16:24:08] - As a result, I'm forced to wonder how much of that is people just not getting satire (they frequently don't, it seems) and how much of it is some latent racism where because it's a black man saying it they dislike it, but if it were a white man they'd get it. I normally don't think about racism in those terms, but for that story it seemed to follow naturally. Odd. -- X
[2011-09-26 16:22:51] - g: Have you heard about this viral video where a man raps about abusing the welfare/food stamps program? It apparently got a lot of conservatives really angry thinking that he was demonstrating (and promoting) the abuses of the system, but he claims (and seems pretty obvious to me) that he's making satire. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-26 16:20:24] - feel free to invite him. ~a
[2011-09-26 16:16:19] - g: "Officials at The College of William and Mary in Virginia cut off a cookie sale" Where is Tim when we need him? Those kind of bake sales are old news, though. I remember them going on in other colleges back when we were in college. -Paul
[2011-09-26 16:14:16] - mig: i'll try to watch it tomorrow morning so we can talk about it
~a[2011-09-26 16:05:53] - I should clarify i think it will gets Berkely students talking more than a Republican hosted event on campus would... ~g
[2011-09-26 16:03:44] - Extremely NSFW. The things my wife sends me during the day. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-26 15:53:08] - http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/26/us/california-racial-bake-sale/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 I think this drives home a point and will get people talking much more than a political discussion. ~g
[2011-09-26 15:47:29] - ron paul is going to be on the daily show tonight, apparently. - mig
[2011-09-26 14:07:23] - a: I know! I was thinking... Who do I want to make feel left out... ~g
[2011-09-26 14:06:53] - a: eh, I guess I never noticed being able to edit guests on other peoples invites before... Although I know I can add people for work invites (we use gmail). ~g
[2011-09-26 13:43:34] - sometimes people get angry when they don't get invited to things
you could ruin my friendship with somebody. ~a[2011-09-26 13:42:34] - g: ok . . . what brought about that? is it weird that you can delete guests? ~a
[2011-09-26 13:01:16] - a: I think I might be able to delete guests from your invite... Not that I will try
~g[2011-09-26 12:27:38] - amy: Planking (fad) - aaron
[2011-09-26 10:17:01] - i'm sad they didn't have any all stars! but it sounds like it was a great show anyways, i'm really jealous! - aaron
[2011-09-24 20:10:23] - currently at the SYTYCD show. pretty decent so far. Daniel
[2011-09-23 13:08:38] - Release the Kraken! -- Xpovos
[2011-09-23 12:23:47] - http://i.imgur.com/6nYON.jpg this stupid comic has been making me laugh at inappropriate times all day - aaron
[2011-09-23 10:12:46] - aaron: weeeee! i've taken the day off so i think i'll start this wonderful morning by seeing if hulu has last night's office yet. ~a
[2011-09-23 10:00:28] - Thanks, frisbee peeps. Now we have enough people for frisbee... we just have to hope the weather holds up. -Paul
[2011-09-23 09:52:24] - amy: the new office season started last night - aaron
[2011-09-23 09:52:06] - Speaking of Ultimate, don't forget to respond to the invite on whether you are coming to frisbee this weekend. -Paul
[2011-09-23 09:47:20] - (with subs) - aaron
[2011-09-23 09:47:14] - a: yeah, i was impressed by how fast he ran at some parts too, or how his teammates dove for even short passes (like when they were handing it back and forth by the end zone with short passes, and his teammate suddenly had to dive). i guess you can devote a lot more energy when you've got 10-15 people on a team - aaron
[2011-09-23 09:34:09] - a: fine whatever you want to call it. - mig
[2011-09-23 09:25:29] - mig: +LIKE. ~a
[2011-09-23 09:12:41] - a: sounds like we need a +1 feature for posts. - mig
[2011-09-23 01:03:11] - +LIKE. very good video. the camera shake was kind of annoying at the beginning, but eventually it was easier to ignore. a few of those grabs were sweet; i love that feeling. ~a
[2011-09-22 19:09:39] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjqnAyCXyDQ ultimate frisbee in first person (audio) - aaron
[2011-09-21 13:55:29] - mig: you mean like a href="blah"? hmmm, i don't think it's a bug or a feature really. i dunno, i haven't thought about it. really the bugs i'm more worried about: words with numbers embedded should be ignored (like dxuiut5qnig). also new words that are used twice in a message get mentioned twice; i don't like that either. ~a
[2011-09-21 13:26:37] - xpovos: paul and I discussed this a bit last night, we were similarly amused at the rhetoric hurled by the prosecutors. - mig
[2011-09-21 12:33:03] - s/can/scan
[2011-09-21 12:32:35] - so the "new words" apparently will also can in tag attributes inside a message. bug or feature? - mig
[2011-09-21 11:19:43] - Calling Phil Ivey "the game's biggest superstar" may be a bit much. But, then again, the U.S. government just called a poker site a Ponzi scheme, so there's probably some fact checking left off somewhere. Ponzi Scheme! Ponzi Scheme! Ponzi Scheme! -- Xpovos
[2011-09-21 10:43:13] - Inside baseball for me, but I'm curious if this has any interest value for other people? Either the actual changes, or the complete ignorance of them in general. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-21 10:41:52] - Paul: Ah, I doubt I can do that. Sorry. But cool concept. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-21 10:25:54] - rather take locally that is... and I dont want to register if I am not going to complete it. ~g
[2011-09-21 10:24:58] - I think its uber cool that stanford is offering about 13 classes online... I kinda want to sign up for them but I also feel like there are probably classes I would rather take... ~g
[2011-09-21 10:15:15] - Xpovos: http://www.precentral.net/99-touchpads-return-market-september-28-assuming-you-re-hp-employee I want a cheap touchpad.
-Paul[2011-09-21 10:05:06] - Paul: Not directly, but I have some (extended) contacts. Why? -- Xpovos
[2011-09-21 00:44:32] - mig: my email from 2003 only refers to paul and unni, the TA. "Hi Adrian, You have one of the homeworks (HW5) that is not graded. I think you missed to mention the URL for the code of the Decision Tree learning algo. If you can't meet me during my office hours, could you let me know the URL and the scores on the previous questions so that I could assign a grade..." ~a
[2011-09-20 17:39:55] - Anybody here know somebody who works for HP?
-Paul[2011-09-20 16:18:36] - a: *ahem*. - mig
[2011-09-20 15:51:08] - paul was in my intro to AI class. ~a
[2011-09-20 14:35:41] - I am thinking of signing up for http://www.ai-class.com/ one of stanford's free online classes... I figure I could always use more learning
~g[2011-09-20 14:23:12] - aaron: It replaces the 'a was here 18h ago' line when a new word does appear. Unfortunately, calling attention to it and posting again removes it. -- Xpovos
[2011-09-20 13:52:26] - hmm why don't i see the "new words" thing? i feel a little bit dxuiut5qnig
- aaron[2011-09-20 13:25:09] - yeah i was surprised by that too. ~a
[2011-09-20 13:11:31] - Are you kidding me? Masturbate is a new word? -- Xpovos
[2011-09-20 12:44:51] - sometimes i drink beer in the shower. i call those "bowers". if you masturbate while drinking a shower beer it's called a "jack bauer"
[2011-09-20 12:34:41] - *** Paul is a brat and forgot to sign his previous message
[2011-09-20 12:34:18] - /me is a brat
[2011-09-20 12:20:33] - BLAH yes I did mean to... And I noticed it after but figured only someone who was a brat would bother to comment on it as it was totally obvious what I meant to do! ~g
[2011-09-20 12:04:15] - g: Did you mean to press the shift key? You had a "9" and then a closing parenthesis...
-Paul[2011-09-20 11:54:49] - I got the coolest gmail error ever! "Did you mean to attach a file? You said see attached but have no attached files." 9I may be paraphrasing slightly as I closed the error message) ~g
[2011-09-20 11:48:25] - http://erickbrockway.com/2011/09/16/new-ford-ad-blasts-gm-and-the-obama-bailouts/ new ford ad is not kind to bailed out competitors. i love it. - mig
[2011-09-20 09:51:24] - "new words: dxuiut5qnig" Wow, you learn something new everyday.
-Paul[2011-09-20 09:13:47] - http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/09/19/jimmy-buffett-rule/#content nothing in this article is particularly surprising, except that it's 1. on foxnews.com 2. in favor of something barack obama suggested 3. in favor of a tax increase on the upper class - aaron
[2011-09-20 09:06:01] - a: that's cool. i was aware that java had a rather surprising amount of support for concepts like "infinity", "nan" and "negative infinity" for its Double/Float types, i just wasn't sure when it used each one, or if it would use them in its primitives - aaron
[2011-09-19 20:05:42] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxUiut5qNIg Tetris meets Pump It Up (yes it's a step chart. no i can't pass it, but i got about 54 of them) - aaron
[2011-09-19 17:03:28] - http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20108427-1/boogie-to-tetris-on-a-dance-dance-revolution-mat/ Tetris meets DDR. -Paul
[2011-09-19 16:47:59] - g: my android phone was hanging. some 3rd party open source code said diffNeededLat = (float) reqLatSpan / curLatSpan curLatSpan was zero and so then while (cur <= diffNeededLat) ... wasn't quite working
~a[2011-09-19 16:42:33] - a: how did you stumble across that? ~g
[2011-09-19 16:10:38] - well i wouldn't have gotten this correctly by guessing. neither of you are correct. but aaron is much closer. it prints out "Infinity" i.e. Float.toString(Float.POSITIVE_INFINITY). ~a
[2011-09-19 16:00:18] - a: "NaN" is a good guess. Since its taken I'll go with Runtime Error? -Daniel
[2011-09-19 15:57:13] - a: hmm, my best guess is "NaN?" - aaron
[2011-09-19 15:35:23] - without using a compiler, guess what this does (java): System.out.println((float) 1/0); ~a
[2011-09-19 13:17:59] - aaron: joking... ~g
[2011-09-19 12:56:01] - http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2011/09/if-the-irs.html Is it me, or is this more complicated than the original? -- Xpovos
[2011-09-19 12:49:49] - mig: it decreases the chance of transmission. it may do more, i forget. ~a
[2011-09-19 12:45:25] - does the HPV vaccine actually treat the condition or does it only prevent it? - mig
[2011-09-19 12:43:48] - i skipped a step there, which is that theoretically you could have sex with people until someone told you, "i tested positive for HPV", and then you get a vaccination only when you need it. but that seemed unrealistic. that's what my "trust/communication" thing meant; i guess [i]theoretically[/i] you could skimp on vaccinations in the latter scenario - aaron
[2011-09-19 12:40:27] - a: so my point being, the HPV vaccination is a better approach to the problem if you're talking about non-committed partners, and the HPV test is a better approach (or at least a better complimentary approach) if you're talking about monogamous partners - aaron
[2011-09-19 12:39:55] - a: well, from a cost-analysis perspective; if you have 10 monogamous people, and 1 of them has HPV - then you'd only need to pay for the cost of 10 HPV tests and 1 vaccination. if you have 10 nonmonogamous people, and 1 of them has HPV, you'd need to pay for 10 vaccinations (depending on trust/communcation) - aaron
[2011-09-19 12:24:04] - aaron: how does that solve the problem? an HPV test will tell you that you should break up with your single committed partner? ~a
[2011-09-19 12:22:23] - g: serious or joking? - aaron
[2011-09-19 12:21:58] - a: http://crystalcastles.com/tour/ crystal castles is playing in richmond on friday october 28. it's like a 2-hour drive, but it's hmm. their performance in DC was insane, easily the #3 or maybe #2 best concert i've ever been to (next to polysics and andrew W.K). i think i want to go. - aaron
[2011-09-19 12:19:57] - a: sure, theoretically the vaccine also makes reproductive sex with a single committed partner more safe, but an HPV test is more cost-effective at solving that problem (i would guess) - aaron
[2011-09-19 12:06:20] - a: yea paul said he wanted us to adopt just yesterday... ~g
[2011-09-19 11:57:58] - g: can you relate?
~a[2011-09-19 11:56:59] - "i don't think either side is particularly irrational" i guess i don't see either side as irrational either. i do disagree with one side though. yes, assuming the vaccine isn't super expensive, and assuming we can decrease the incidence of cancer by leaps and bounds, i'm not sure why it isn't a good idea. something like 80% of the population eventually gets hpv. ~a
[2011-09-19 11:52:29] - http://notalwaysromantic.com/fat-chance-fathead/18359 ~g
[2011-09-19 11:51:33] - aaron: "something which makes non-reproductive sex with multiple partners more safe" heh, it also makes reproductive sex more safe. and you have to look at it more generally: it makes the majority of the population more safe. ~a
[2011-09-19 11:45:55] - I didnt read the article but would probably be fine with govt covering it due to it being very widespread in addition I doubt that if it wasnt mandatory guys would bother... They have it and carry it but it doesnt affect them, right? Only hurts females... ~g
[2011-09-19 11:42:31] - i guess my opinion would depend on the cost of the vaccine, the infectiousness/deadliness of the disease, and how significant of an effect a vaccine would have. like, if we could wipe out HPV, and it was cheap to do so, sure, mandatory vaccinations for everyone. i think i understand both sides though and i don't think either side is particularly irrational - aaron
[2011-09-19 11:41:14] - a: i think it's a rational view. i wouldn't want the government to pay for condoms, and one could argue that an HPV vaccine is a similar luxury; something which makes non-reproductive sex with multiple partners more safe. i'm not sure if i share that view or not, hmm. i think i kind of agree with ricky, or at least see where he's coming from - aaron
[2011-09-19 11:40:56] - a: I used to see all sorts of articles that Ricky and Meg posted, and I enjoyed it, but now I don't see them any more and I don't know why. Stupid facebook. -Paul
[2011-09-19 11:40:42] - and by HPV, of course i'm referring to the vaccine! i don't actually think anybody is arguing for HPV being mandatory.
~a[2011-09-19 11:39:52] - mig: both. ricky was arguing that both HPV should not be paid for by public funds and it should not be mandatory. ~a
[2011-09-19 11:35:29] - a: are you sure the argument was who should pay for it or whether it should a vaccine should be mandatory? - mig
[2011-09-19 11:33:03] - paul: i missed the argument too. it mostly happened over the weekend on something meg posted. ricky was arguing that TB (since it's infectious and isn't an STD) should be paid for by the government and HPV (since it's infectious but is an STD) should not be paid for by the government. i was wondering if anybody holds a similar view. ~a
[2011-09-19 11:08:24] - i guess i just learned i'm in favor of some kind of government-run health care, at least as an alternative to public health care, it seems like the simplest way to encourage people to get common vaccinations while ensuring hospitals don't take advantage by inflating their costs. idk. - aaron
[2011-09-19 11:05:26] - a: honestly i think the government should provide their own public facilities for people to obtain the vaccines. if they merely subsidize the cost of the vaccines, i'd worry about health care providers artificially inflating the costs - aaron
[2011-09-19 11:03:00] - a: hmm. because they're infectious... i guess by definition there's a common interest at hand. so i guess the government would want to take a similar stance to how they handle pollution, stuff like that, hmmm..... - aaron
[2011-09-19 11:01:42] - http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/16/7802623-gamers-solve-molecular-puzzle-that-baffled-scientists gamers solve molecular puzzle that baffled scientists - aaron
[2011-09-19 10:42:27] - a: Ugh, I hate Facebook. How have I managed to miss this being discussed on there? So, you're saying that if somebody wants to get an HPV vaccination (for instance), but can't afford it, the government should pay for it? Agree or disagree? -Paul
[2011-09-19 10:02:57] - [i know this has been discussed ad nauseam on facebook: i want the msgboard's take on the subject] who disagrees: in general, the state should at least try to pay for the vaccinations of infectious diseases including (but not limited to) hpv. ~a
[2011-09-16 14:06:16] - Yay! ~g
[2011-09-16 13:58:56] - g: I'm coming. I RSVP'd as "Maybe". -- Xpovos
[2011-09-16 13:58:35] - g: I
[2011-09-16 12:34:38] - ME. not sure if i rsvped. i'll try to be on time this week (or fashionably late). ~a
[2011-09-16 12:16:34] - g: i'm coming - aaron
[2011-09-16 11:49:50] - g: not me
-Daniel[2011-09-16 11:31:03] - are other people coming to poker tonight? who havent rsvped? ~g
[2011-09-16 11:30:41] - a: she did that awhile ago... Not sure why. ~g
[2011-09-16 09:21:19] - wtf? why did dee's last name change on facebook? ~a
[2011-09-15 13:31:08] - g: i guess. I dunno, is there really not much liability for that sort of stuff post interview (your employment status would be kind of hard to not know at that point)? - mig
[2011-09-15 10:06:10] - Which is designed to protect the hirer from being susceptible to frivilous discrimination claims ~g
[2011-09-15 10:05:14] - Its interesting that when people do the social networking background check (there is a company that provides this, I think we spoke about it previously) they remove all indication of skin color, appearance, and I think even gender... ~g
[2011-09-15 09:55:02] - mig: yea I was wondering about that too, do you think unemployed is no job or on unemployment? Because I have friends who just take a year off at times, they have the money saved up so it doesnt really affect them badly. ~g
[2011-09-15 08:57:18] - mig: For some reason I read 'resume' as 'name' or 'last name', which took me right back to the racial profiling thing. Ha. I think the issue though is that it's one thing to see a person is unemployed; another to search only within the subset of employeds. If you see the resume to see he's unemployed, you might see something else too, which is the purpose of a resume. -- X
[2011-09-14 16:35:01] - g: wait a minute, wouldn't it be easy to tell if someone is unemployed just by looking at their resume? - mig
[2011-09-14 16:20:13] - man criticism is a really fun word to type. criticism. criticisiticism. criticisiticisiticisiticisiticisiticisiticism. you dvorak kiddies are missing out - aaron
[2011-09-14 16:19:39] - g: ohhhh okay, huh, i think you're right, because later in the article it mentions "...also criticized", implying his earlier quotes were also criticism. his lines were probably spoken with some kind of sarcastic subtlety which doesn't translate well to print. - aaron
[2011-09-14 16:06:15] - Whoops, I guess my comment is late to the party. Nevermind. -Paul
[2011-09-14 16:05:11] - Aaron: I'm confused. At first I thought that WAS a quote from Obama because you said "obama's own words", and then later said "[obama] said this provision", but the article seems to indicate that it's a quote from Gohmert. -Paul
[2011-09-14 16:05:09] - aaron: I think you might have still misread it, the Texas Rep was saying it was a bad idea because its might cause 14 million lawsuits which would give trial lawyers more work, but it was supposed to be a bad thing. ~g
[2011-09-14 16:01:41] - aaron: yea, I didnt see it as him saying anything about new jobs at that point. Just saying that well even if it causes 14 million lawsuits at least trial lawyers will get more work and discriminated against unemployed people might get a payout. ~g
[2011-09-14 16:00:10] - g: ohhhh okay. i see my mistake. it's a quote from Rep. Louie Gohmert (R), i was skimming too fast and, i guess i'm just genuinely surprised that a republican from texas would speak out in favor of a jobs act put forth by a democratic president. go texas apparently! - aaron
[2011-09-14 15:58:23] - g: oh i see. yeah i may have read too much into his quote, i assumed he was implying that this legislation would help unemployment/underemployment because of the trial lawyers who would have new lawsuits to work. it was one of those moments where it's like, "yay more jobs... to... deal with lawsuits stemming from... legislation of dubious benefit" - aaron
[2011-09-14 15:52:13] - aaron: also you said new trial lawyers, which I didnt understand... I really was trying to clarify. ~g
[2011-09-14 15:51:35] - aaron: I thought you were saying it was a direct quote from Obama, and I wasnt sure if I had missed it or if it was from another article... ~g
[2011-09-14 15:47:49] - oh i see you cited the think about 14 million new court cases yourself. it sounds like what you meant to say was, "i saw that part in the article but you paraphrased it incorrectly", that's fine. it's less frustrating for me if you're direct with that kind of stuff, rather than pretending you didn't see anything about that in the article. - aaron
[2011-09-14 15:44:24] - g: [obama] said this provision... would "help trial lawyers who are not having enough work," ... "That's 14 million potential new clients that could go hire a lawyer and file a claim because they didn't get hired even though they were unemployed," - aaron
[2011-09-14 15:20:54] - mig: no but its the same thing with gender bias, its hard to prove. ~g
[2011-09-14 15:03:36] - g: that is true, but that won't stop people from making or following through on legal threats. - mig
[2011-09-14 15:01:55] - aaron: I saw the Texas guy saying that it was potentially 14 million new court cases... But really all the hiring staff has to do is not ask about current employment status. Just like not asking someone's sexual orientation or medical status at an interview... ~g
[2011-09-14 14:35:50] - aaron: I didnt see that part in the article... ~g
[2011-09-14 14:23:19] - http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/181323-obamas-jobs-plan-would-make-it-illegal-to-discriminate-against-the-unemployed oh dear. a part of me is happy like, "cool we just talked about unemployment discrimination yesterday", and the other part is sad because obama's own words are that, "14 million new trial lawyers can find work" ummm... ok cool? - aaron
[2011-09-14 14:15:26] - g: i agree, i wonder if the accuser had been there in person and stated his interpretation of what was suspicious, if things would have gone better. there's not a lot of detail (obviously, since the story's from her perspective) but, i would expect the police would want to speak with the person who reported the behavior to understand exactly what was suspicious - aaron
[2011-09-14 14:01:38] - One article I read even said that initially it was stated that the girl and guy were trying to join the mile high club, but the feds clarified that this was not true and that the girl and guy were never in the bathroom together. ~g
[2011-09-14 14:00:25] - AFAIK there were 2 cases on 9/11/11 where jets were scrambled to escort planes. I think taking precautions such as that are fine, but you dont need to make a spectacle and essentially accuse specific people in front of a plane full of people on the basis of ... weak suspicion. ~g
[2011-09-14 13:59:19] - after landing, I think questioning would be sufficient and that could be handled in a much different manner... She said she didnt even get up. ~g
[2011-09-14 13:58:44] - I did read about it from multiple sources... Humiliating three people on the basis of them sitting near each other and 2 of them having gone to the bathroom in quick succession? In my opinion not suspicious enough to warrant the response in that manner. ~g
[2011-09-14 13:57:45] - it makes me angry because its a first person view on what her perspective was, and honestly I dont think its fair. I have had friends who were treated badly by strangers because of their skin color and frankly it makes me very angry. ~g
[2011-09-14 13:56:43] - ugh so I might have missed the conversation on it, but it makes me sad because it was racial profiling/discrimination... TSA treats people badly but they treat everyone the same. ~g
[2011-09-14 13:53:29] - http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/txt/al.html einstein's theory of relativity in words of four letters or less - aaron
[2011-09-14 13:21:16] - (fixed) some states like california have overcrowded prisons, even though the prison system is mostly government run. although it's possible legislation supported by CCA contributed to the problem, but it indicates it's not the only problem i guess - aaron
[2011-09-14 13:18:21] - mig: yes, apparently CCA spent about $14.8 million lobbying from 2003 to 2010. apparently they operate in 19 states and the district of columbia. oh, wikipedia has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrections_Corporation_of_America#Private_vs._public_partnership|an article]] touching on private/public prisons in the US - aaron
[2011-09-14 13:11:55] - so apparently doodle or die is eat poop you cat played asynchronously with strangers over the internet. you draw stuff in a little MSPaint app, or you have to caption what other people drew. example - aaron
[2011-09-14 13:10:53] - aaron: and yeah 2 million is a lot for one year but there are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying_in_the_United_States#Lobbying_expenditure_by_sector".clearly much bigger players in the lobbying biz</a>. - mig
[2011-09-14 13:08:58] - mig: sure, i'll agree with that. i think it would make a big big difference but, you'd eventually need cooperation from the DEA, local law enforcement, policy changes, etc - aaron
[2011-09-14 13:07:22] - aaron: Certainly I see the argument for eliminating for-profit motives, and I think yes, there is a case to be made that the population problem may improve. The author here seems to imply this is the magic bullet solution, and of that I have my doubts. - mig
[2011-09-14 12:56:58] - mig: it's hard to tell; it's a big company, which has spent a lot of money, and a lot of legislastion, spent over a long long period of time. it's really hard to measure the impact a company like that has on america. i can't even estimate it. - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:54:27] - mig: i think i understand your point (that a government-run prison system would still be like, we were given $60B last year, give us $120B this year so we can get even more prisoners! yeah!) but, i think moving the prison system away from a profit-driven model will get rid of the problem (bringing US prison percentages in line with the world average) - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:52:49] - And I think the CCA's influence in the war on drugs is probably being overstated. There are plenty of other players who benefit immensely from keeping it going (DEA, local law enforcement, etc). - mig
[2011-09-14 12:52:44] - mig: if prisons are privately-run, then prisoners are a commodity. if prisons are government-run, then prisoners are an expense. there is currently financial pressure to reduce the budget of government agencies; there is currently no financial pressure to reduce the budget of the prison system. - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:48:54] - I'm not sure that if the problems with prisons is something you can get ever truly get rid of. Even government agencies hold some sway over how laws are enacted (they have their own budgets and union members to protect after all). - mig
[2011-09-14 12:36:09] - Paul: Yeah I think we are not that far off in opinion here. I'm not saying it was good or justified - just not terrible. I think the strip search was bad but that just makes me curious about rules for that. Like if someone is arrested for drunk driving can the cops give them a strip search? -Daniel
[2011-09-14 12:33:50] - And with that, I gotta run. Have to use my lunch break to clean up in preparation for mattress delivery later today. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:32:57] - Daniel: I mean, if I went up to a cop on the street and told them that somebody looked shifty and they might have stolen a wallet and hidden it in their underwear, I absolutely wouldn't expect that cop to demand the person be strip searched based solely on my whims. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:31:17] - Daniel: I guess we'll have to disagree, then. I understand terrorism is serious business, but considering the situation (flimsly accusation, completely non-resisting and apparently cooperating passengers), I feel like it could've been done in a much better way. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:29:44] - Aaron: I don't know if it couldn't be for-profit for sure (again, haven't thought much about it), but I don't have a good answer for how to prevent private prison companies from lobbying the government to make prison sentences longer and whatnot. Even a libertarian government would have the ability to determine what is illegal and how illegal it should be, after all. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:28:10] - -Daniel
[2011-09-14 12:28:09] - Paul: I didn't give it any context since I was trying to type quickly earlier but I posted a link (http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/news/story.aspx?id=662176) that gives another perspective on the story. It is still pretty flimsy but enough that an F-16 got involved. So I think I would agree it was an overreaction but for an overreaction I don't think it was that bad.
[2011-09-14 12:26:44] - paul: yeah that makes sense to me. prison definitely seems to me like it can't be a for-profit enterprise, i'm glad you agree - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:25:42] - paul: i agree the strip search probably crossed the line, although it really depends on the thoroughness of the strip search, which wasn't clear to me. and yeah i agree with everything else you said. - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:24:55] - Aaron: It's defiitely a huge problem, and something I would be strongly against. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:24:27] - Aaron: I will say, though, that the concerns about close ties between private prison operators and the government would be something that I would be strongly against, as it reeks of crony capitalism where businesses try to use the government to it's advantage. -paul
[2011-09-14 12:23:10] - Aaron: Honestly, it's not an issue I've read much about. Prison management would seem to be a legitimate function of government (at the state level, at the very least), and privatization of prisons would definitely be near the bottom of the list for a Paul Paul presidency. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:20:16] - and if not, what is wrong with america's approach to the privatization of prison systems? could we have privatized them in a way so that companies wouldn't be financially motivated to incarcarate 100% of the population? - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:19:59] - Aaron: It's one thing if somebody accuses another person of cutting their arm with a pocketknife and somebody else is running away. It's another thing entirely if somebody just said "they look suspicious" and the person in question is sitting quietly and not resisting. I think they deserve different types of responses. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:19:24] - http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/kf9bc/im_theamazingatheist_ama/c2jsp3f i thought this was a pretty interesting read that crosses a lot of our beliefs; it's basically about the fundamental problems from privatizing america's prison system. i'm kind of curious what paul and miguel think about this, should prisons be managed by the government? - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:18:43] - Aaron: I guess what I'm saying is that I think racial profiling is hard to get rid of, but it would be more palatable if it just meant some questions, maybe a second run through the metal detector, as opposed to strip searches and guns in the face and handcuffs for people who just looked suspicious. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:15:47] - Aaron: Maybe. I just think this went a little over the line with the strip search. Based only on the people next to her acting oddly? What did they expect to find? If she had a bomb hidden somewhere, wouldn't she have set it off on the plane? -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:13:03] - Aaron: No, I understand that technically it was followed, I was more referring to a state of mind where law enforcement would approach these three people as if they were innocent instead of guilty. I don't think it's normal to strip search somebody who you assume is innocent. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:12:51] - paul: see that's a good example, for false rape allegations a lot of times those things do too far, like they'll go to court or someone will lose their job or hire lawyers and stuff. if this kind of case had gone to that level i'd have more sympathy with the "innocent until proven guilty" kind of argument, i just don't think that argument applies here - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:11:52] - paul: not totally unreasonable to follow up on an accusation of terrorism. they weren't detained overnight, there weren't any formal charges. i think the accomodations should have been nicer, hopefully they were recompensated and there was some form of apology, and i agree, it's really frustrating if it were race-based but it's a tough problem to solve - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:10:52] - And it goes back to the other things Aaron mentioned, like false rape allegations. It seems hard to get rid of those, but at least we could try not to overreact and (again) presume innocence, as opposed to what happened in things like the Duke Lacrosse players or DSK cases. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:10:50] - if goes to a cop and says, "help officer, that guy cut my arm with a pocketknife and he's running away", you can't be like, "well, i can't prove he's guilty... so i guess i won't run after him". obviously in this case, it seems really unfair to detain someone for 4-6 hours and take them off a plane and search their belongings, but really on its surface it's - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:08:31] - paul: well, "innocent until proven guilty" is still pretty much in force, they didn't technically "arrest anybody". you can take innocent until proven guilty too far
[2011-09-14 12:07:55] - I mean, I guess it makes a strange sort of sense considering how much hassling Americans largely seem to be willing to put up with by the TSA based on zero suspicions at all, but I feel like the reaction could've been something a little less than "Strip Search!" -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:07:51] - so we know that stores overcharge for cables, apparently monoprice is the place to go for that stuff, like you can get a 10ft USB to mini 5-pin B (for your PS3) for $1.27 - aaron
[2011-09-14 12:06:51] - I don't think the problem with the story is necessarily that somebody was suspicious of 3 non-white people (I read in another article that the other two people were doing some "suspicious" things, so maybe it was warranted), I think the problem is that based on these suspicions alone, law enforcement decided to treat them so harshly. -Paul
[2011-09-14 12:05:13] - I dunno, it seems like a good start to a fix is to just have less over-reaction by law enforcement. Maybe go back to the whoel "innocent until proven guilty" thing? -Paul
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