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Comment Re:Reverse causation (Score 1) 512

by mlynx (#29225015) Attached to: Depression May Provide Cognitive Advantages

Nope, I'm pulling the "shouldn't drive nails with a screwdriver" thing. Maybe for /. "shouldn't use Windows 98 as an edge router".

The goal of the meds, as explained by my doctor, psychologist and counselor are to get me to where I know what "well" feels like. Then consider slowly coming off them. They're a means to an end, not the end itself. A lobotomy tends to be the end. Maybe we'll disagree on this point, but I'm okay with that.

You mentioned that there's a chance that one medication isn't the right thing and that it's a coin toss. I won't argue that. I have a friend whose bipolar meds effectively turned him into Rip Van Winkle, which wasn't so good for his family life. However, when the medication works, it works great! That's the piece that so many folks miss because of the scary stories or comparisons made with a lobotomy (which tends to be very final).

Comment Re:Reverse causation (Score 5, Insightful) 512

by mlynx (#29217917) Attached to: Depression May Provide Cognitive Advantages

This may be more than I should post in a public forum, but I'm tired of the horror stories over antidepressants. I bought into that for nearly 20 year and just about lost my life for it.

When I started taking my meds, my blood pressure was 200/140. I was significantly overweight and also had no energy. I would tell people that I was not a morning person and sleep until noon or later. I had no self confidence and no social life. I would cry unconsolably for the most minute things. I was a mess and there wasn't really anything that I could do to break the cycle.

Today, about a year and a half later, I have normal blood pressure (it dropped to normal during the first month!). I regularly get up at 5:30/6:00. I have interest in going places and doing things, I even got out and sang karaoke in public. I feel great, I have lots of energy and am losing weight. I've even gotten back into some of the interests that have waned over the years. In short, my life has been improving despite very trying circumstances (my wife decided that she would be better off without me in January and filed for divorce after 11 years and 5 children).

Certainly not a lobotomy. I'd say anyone experiencing that is on the wrong medication and needs to find something that works.
Social Networks

Submission + - Chinese court fines User in 'cyber-violence' case (iht.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: HONG KONG: In the first case involving cyberviolence and a "human flesh search engine" in China, a court has fined a Web site and an Internet user for posting personal and intimate details about an unfaithful husband, his mistress and a spurned wife who committed suicide. While the fines in the case were small, legal scholars said the ruling could carry a wider significance as the Chinese government and the Communist Party search for ways to police the Internet. A recent rise in online vigilantism could lead the authorities to issue more dramatic restrictions on Internet users and Web sites...
Businesses

Submission + - Abit to Close Its Doors Forever on Dec 31, 2008 (xbitlabs.com) 1

Submitted by ki1obyte
ki1obyte writes: Earlier this year, Abit, once leading-edge maker of computer mainboards and other components, was slated to shut down motherboard production by the end of 2008 and focus on consumer electronics devices. X-bit labs reports that Abit will cease to exist entirely starting the first of January, 2009, as the owner of the brand — Universal Scientific Industrial — is in the process of restructuring and cutting down the costs.
Displays

Submission + - Lenovo's new ThinkPad: 2 LCD screens, 11 pounds (computerworld.com)

Submitted by ericatcw
ericatcw writes: With many users now used to having multiple monitors at home or work, you had to figure someone would try to offer a 'desktop replacement' laptop that offered the same. Lenovo is the first. Its new W700ds laptop will offer a 10.6 inch LCD screen in addition to the 17-inch primary one, reports Computerworld. The W700ds also sports a quad-core Intel Core 2 CPU, up to almost 1 TB of storage, and an Nvidia Quadro mobile chip with up to 128 cores. A Lenovo exec called this souped-up version of the normally buttoned-down-for-business ThinkPads the "nitro-burning drag racer of ThinkPads." There is even a Wacom digitizer pad and pen for graphic artists, who are expected to be the target market, along with photographers and other creative types who are willing to trade shoulder-aching bulk (11 pounds) and price (minimum of $3,600) for productivity enhancements.
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA Claim of Stopping Suits "Months" Ago (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "According to a report on Wired.com, the RIAA spokesman claimed that the RIAA has not filed any new lawsuits 'for months', and according to the Wall Street Journal report discussed on Slashdot recently the RIAA stopped filing mass lawsuits 'early this fall'. Knowing that the RIAA has a problem with telling the truth, I did a little investigating, and found out that the RIAA had, in fact, commenced a wave of lawsuits just last week. Why would anyone believe anything their spokesperson says? This is an organization that has a tendency to mispeak a lot, if you know what I mean, even when under oath."
Idle

Submission + - 130,000 Bank Accounts "stolen". Hungry dri (wiredwings.com)

Submitted by
Moritz Bartl
Moritz Bartl writes: "One of the largest "identity thefts" in German history turned out to be a bizarre christmas story: Account data of 130,000 customers of the Landesbank Berlin (LBB) was delivered to the Frankfurter Rundschau (a German newspaper) on December 10th — allegedly even including PINs.

How did this happen? It was all about Stollen, a traditional German christmas fruitcake.

The courier service charged with delivering this highly sensitive material to the Landesbank Berlin had another delivery to make: A parcel containing German Stollen, addressed to the Frankfurter Rundschau. The two drivers were hungry, so they ate the Stollen. Left with an empty parcel, they somehow came up with the brilliant plan to take one of the six packages meant for the Landesbank and deliver it to the newspaper instead, to cover up the fruitcake theft."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - SPAM: Expert says: A baby can read and write

Submitted by KOG!
KOG! writes: Yes your baby can read and write based on an expert research of infant development and research, Pediatrician and a psychologist. All of them signify the same sentiment. Dr. Robert Titzer research has been published in scientific journals and has captured the interest of educators, researchers, parents, government agencies, and the media worldwide. He says the current practice of starting to teach reading skills in Kindergarten is too late. "A child has only one natural window for language, from 3 months to age 5. The earlier a child is taught to read, the better they will read and the more likely they will enjoy it. I believe this is the key to success throughout their lives."
Link to Original Source
Security

Submission + - Watergate 'Deep Throat' Mark Felt Dies at 95

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "W. Mark Felt Sr., 95, associate director of the FBI during the Watergate scandal, better known as "Deep Throat," the most famous anonymous source in American history, died today at his home in Santa Rosa, California. Felt secretly guided Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein pursue the story of the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate office buildings and later revelations of the Nixon administration's campaign of spying and sabotage against its perceived political enemies. "It's impossible to exaggerate how high the stakes were in Watergate," wrote Felt in his 2006 book "A G-Man's Life." "We faced no simple burglary, but an assault on government institutions, an attack on the FBI's integrity, and unrelenting pressure to unravel one of the greatest political scandals in our nation's history." No one knows exactly what prompted Felt to leak the information from the Watergate probe to the press. He was passed over for the post of FBI director after Hoover's 1972 death, a crushing career disappointment. "People will debate for a long time whether I did the right thing by helping Woodward. The bottom line is that we did get the whole truth out, and isn't that what the FBI is supposed to do?""
Enlightenment

Submission + - Dinosaurs: A Bunch of Mister Moms (scienceblogs.com)

Submitted by
grrlscientist
grrlscientist writes: "Oviraptors ("egg seizer") were given their name because their fossil remains were first discovered on top of a pile of eggs. Because of their close proximity to clutches of dinosaur eggs, it was initially assumed that these dinosaurs were eating them. However, in his 1924 paper, their discoverer Henry Fairfield Osborn presciently cautioned the scientific community by writing that the name Oviraptor "may entirely mislead us as to its feeding habits and belie its character." And in fact, this is the case because newly published research indicates these dinosaurs were incubating these eggs, rather than eating them. Further, it is probable that it was the father who was caring for the eggs and young, instead of the mother."
Portables

Submission + - Samsung Notebooks Finally Arrive in the US

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Samsung has been making notebook computers for a long time, but up until October 2008 they were not available in the US. This probably had more than a few people in the US thinking that Samsung didn't make notebooks (aside from their UMPC that is), but that's all changed now that the electronics giant is entering the market with five different notebooks and their NC10 netbook. In this review we'll be looking at the Q310, a 13.3-inch thin-and-light notebook that, at $1250, should be one of Samsung's most popular models.
Yahoo!

Submission + - Yahoo promises to anonymize and limit user data (wsj.com)

Submitted by
quarterbuck
quarterbuck writes: "While Google is saying that personalization is the key to search, Yahoo is taking a different view of the topic. Yahoo announced plans to retain user data for no longer than 90 days and to anonymize data. Even if Yahoo is not your favorite search engine, it is a good move in the direction of online privacy if it will force others to follow suit."

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