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Submission + - $819 Crutches 1

Submitted by
SandwhichMaster
SandwhichMaster writes: "Prior to my foot surgery I needed to pickup a set of crutches. My insurance was charged $100 for the crutches and $719 for the "Physical Therapy", which basically consisted of setting the crutches to my height. The whole visit was at most 15 minutes. I called both the hospital and my insurance company, but both refused to do anything. My insurance covers about 90% of the cost, and I'm not really that concerned about the $80, but the whole process still seems ludicrous.

Is there anyone I can report this to? Are U.S. health care costs really this out of control? Has anyone else had similar experiences?"
Image

Denver Bomb Squad Takes Out Toy Robot 225

Posted by samzenpus from the I-feel-safer-already dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A robot met its end near Coors Field tonight when the Denver Police Department Bomb Squad detonated the 'suspicious object,' bringing to an end the hours-long standoff between police and the approximately eight-inch tall toy. From the article: "'Are you serious?' asked Denver resident Justin Kent, 26, when police stopped him from proceeding down 20th Street. Kent said that he lived just past the closed area, but was told he would have to go around via Park Avenue.'"

Comment Its not just giant ships... (Score 2, Interesting) 595

by SandwhichMaster (#34323942) Attached to: One Giant Cargo Ship Pollutes As Much As 50M Cars

Its not just giant ships that are a problem. Planes, recreational boats, and even lawn mowers spew largely unfiltered exhaust into the air too. I never understood why the U.S. is so strict with car emissions, but so lax on other things that make significant contributions to air pollution.
Earth

40 Million Year Old Primate Fossils Found In Asia 91

Posted by samzenpus from the look-who's-coming-to-dinner dept.
sosaited writes "It has been widely believed that our ancestors originated out of Africa, but a paper published in Nature by Carnegie Museum of Natural History scientists puts this in doubt. The paper is based on the fossils of four primate species found in Asia which are 40 million years old, during which period Africa was thought to not have these species. The diversity and timing of the new anthropoids raises two scenarios. Anthropoids might simply have emerged in Africa much earlier than thought, and gone undiscovered by modern paleontologists. Or they could have crossed over from Asia, where evidence suggests that anthropoids lived 55 million years ago, flourishing and diversifying in the wide-open ecological niches of an anthropoid-free Africa."

Comment Re:Where is the fun? (Score 1) 854

by SandwhichMaster (#34029108) Attached to: Are Games Getting Easier?

In multiplayer.

Have you played the new Medal of Honor? If the fun is hiding in the multiplayer, I have yet to find it. The game's "difficulty" might have inspired this article, but really it should have been the game's "crappiness". $60 officially wasted.
Image

Supersizing the "Last Supper" 98

Posted by samzenpus from the a-meal-fit-for-a-king-of-kings dept.
gandhi_2 writes "A pair of sibling scholars compared 52 artists' renditions of 'The Last Supper', and found that the size of the meal painted had grown through the years. Over the last millennium they found that entrees had increased by 70%, bread by 23%, and plate size by 65.6%. Their findings were published in the International Journal of Obesity. From the article: 'The apostles depicted during the Middle Ages appear to be the ascetics they are said to have been. But by 1498, when Leonardo da Vinci completed his masterpiece, the party was more lavishly fed. Almost a century later, the Mannerist painter Jacobo Tintoretto piled the food on the apostles' plates still higher.'"

Comment Re:Why am I not surprised. (Score 1) 941

by SandwhichMaster (#31190162) Attached to: PA School Spied On Students Via School-Issued Laptop Webcams

Schools are out of control. Between this and "Zero Tolerance" policies, I'm scared for kids. Kids as young as 12 are getting fined for things as stupid as being tardy, and ARRESTED for doodling on desks. What posses someone to think its a good idea spy on children, or to arrest a 12 year old girl? Schools need to mind their own business, and realize that kids get into trouble. Mischief and stupid mistakes are part of growing up.

Comment Re:Electric Zambonis nothing new (Score 1) 356

by SandwhichMaster (#31158552) Attached to: "Green" Ice Resurfacing Machines Fail In Vancouver

I've played in many rinks, and on more than one occasion, I've seen a rink temporarily evacuated because of fumes. I'm guessing its because the Zambonis weren't functioning right (some are kept in service a long long time). Its not common for fumes to be a problem, but it definitely happens.

As for electric ice resurfacers being such a problem to make, I don't agree. The weight issue doesn't seem to be a problem. I used to drive battery powered forklifts that easily lasted an 8 hour shift (moving around 1,500+ pounds). And I've seen many electric resurfacing machines, dating back at least 15 years. Some rinks don't even need a battery (or much of one). They just run a really long "extension chord" from the ceiling down to the machine. Since the ice resurfacer doesn't exactly need to go far, it seems to work fine.

I can't comment on overall cost savings, but I can tell you that here in Minnesota, many of our rinks operate year round and are used from ~5am-11:30pm every day. My local facility uses 2 Zambonis for 3 rinks. A modest estimate of 20 floods/day per machine is still over 7,000 floods in just one year. A savings of $2.75 per flood for many years definitely has potential.
Science

Israeli Scientists Freeze Water By Warming It 165

Posted by timothy from the you-must-become-the-frozen-water dept.
ccktech writes "As reported by NPR and Chemistry world, the journal Science has a paper by David Ehre, Etay Lavert, Meir Lahav, and Igor Lubomirsky [note: abstract online; payment required to read the full paper] of Israel's Weizmann Institute, who have figured out a way to freeze pure water by warming it up. The trick is that pure water has different freezing points depending on the electrical charge of the surface it resides on. They found out that a negatively charged surface causes water to freeze at a lower temperature than a positively charged surface. By putting water on the pyroelectric material Lithium Tantalate, which has a negative charge when cooler but a positive change when warmer; water would remain a liquid down to -17 degrees C., and then freeze when the substrate and water were warmed up and the charge changed to positive, where water freezes at -7 degrees C."

Comment Re:Safety Critical (Score 1) 913

by SandwhichMaster (#30981238) Attached to: Toyota Pedal Issue Highlights Move To Electronics

This is a good reason to buy a stick instead of an automatic.

I couldn't agree more. I've always felt that manual has so much more control than automatic, especially for scenarios like snow and steep inclines. Every care I purchase only has 4 major requirements.

1. Quality
2. Good MPG
3. I need to fit in it (I'm 6'4")
4. Manual

Unfortunately, you'd be surprised just how difficult it is to find a car that meets these simple requirements. Many cars don't even have a manual option anymore (ex: Camry).

Comment Only $529! (Score 4, Interesting) 568

by SandwhichMaster (#30660158) Attached to: Google's Nexus One Phone Launches

Is anyone else sick of this contract subsidizing excuse? Yes, I realize you can't sell a phone like this for $25, but all these phones have an insane price if you buy them out of contract. I have a hard time believing these things cost anywhere near $500 to build. For example, the ipod touch starts at $200, which is obviously sold for a profit. Meanwhile, the iphone (a pretty damn similar device), is $500. Its not like you get a reduced monthly price if you bring your own phone.

Comment Re:REALLY now? (Score 1) 290

by SandwhichMaster (#27587099) Attached to: Google Losing Up To $1.65M a Day On YouTube

But... there is also new servers, storage, replacing broken parts, web design/maintenance, and paying the people, and paying for the stuff they use who take car of all of that, the power bill, legal battles, etc...

Will these costs lower over time? Storage prices are constantly dropping, web design isn't a daily need, google is known for interesting power solutions, etc.

Comment Re:It's based on the game (Score 1) 763

by SandwhichMaster (#26931109) Attached to: Do Video Games Cost Too Much?

I agree that its based on the game. I'll pay more for a game with high replay value. Starcraft, CoD 4, etc.

$60 for a HL2 mod seems ridiculous to me. 4 characters, 4 levels, very limited weapons, and about 4 hours to get bored with it.

Maybe the reason so many people bought this at $25, is because they knew it wasn't worth $50 or $60.

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