Comment not to be too sensitive but... (Score 1, Insightful) 79
Does anyone find a little sick irony in naming a crash site after an astronaut who perished in a crash?
Comment Fully accepting personal responsibility (Score 1) 1651
is the ONLY way I'd advocate for revoking helmet laws, whether they are for bicycles or motorcycles. If you're willing to give up any and all rights to any assistance to cover your medical or other expenses due to injuries that could have been prevented had you worn a helmet, then I'm good with it. That includes not only public assistance, but private (insurance) assistance as well; unless you're willing to pay significantly more given the additional risk you're willfully taking.
I used to have the same attitude that many of the posters have regarding speed and helmets while skiing. That was until a very good friend of mine, who is an expert-level skier, caught an edge while traversing a blue ski run and self-arrested on a rock. By the time I reached him, a halo of blood had formed. Fortunately we were able to get him off the mountain quickly enough that he survived and was able to make a full recovery.
I have another friend who was skating at a very slow speed and was clipped by another skater coming in the opposite direction. He wasn't as lucky, and has permanent brain damage.
You want to ride/skate/ski/whatever without appropriate protective gear, fine, but don't expect me to foot the bill for your stupidity.
Comment brilliant marketing plan (Score 1) 149
By proxying searches/browsing/etc, they instantaneously gain profiling data for every user that uses the service. I can't imagine that data won't be mined/used for remarketting purposes. Of course, like Comcast has told me on numerous occasions, using my email/browsing data simply allows them to improve my overall Internet experience...
Comment How sad is it (Score 1) 107
that we've gotten to a point where we can't even spend time with our children without feeling the need to check for email or facebook updates?
Puzzle In xkcd Book Finally Cracked 90
An anonymous reader writes "After a little over five months of pondering, xkcd fans have cracked a puzzle hidden inside Randall Munroe's recent book xkcd: volume 0. Here is the start of the thread on the xkcd forums; and here is the post revealing the final message (a latitude and longitude plus a date and time)."
Breaking the Squid Barrier 126
An anonymous reader writes "Dr. Steve O'Shea of Auckland, New Zealand is attempting to break the record for keeping deep sea squid alive in captivity, with the goal of being able to raise a giant squid one day. Right now, he's raising the broad squid, sepioteuthis australis, from egg masses found in seaweed. This is a lot harder than it sounds, because the squid he's studying grow rapidly and eat only live prey, making it hard for them to keep the squid from becoming prey themselves. If his research works out, you might one day be able to visit an aquarium and see giant squid."
Living In Tokyo's Capsule Hotels 269
afabbro writes "Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 once offered a night’s refuge to salarymen who had missed the last train home. Now with Japan enduring its worst recession since World War II, it is becoming an affordable option for people with nowhere else to go. The Hotel 510’s capsules are only 6 1/2 feet long by 5 feet wide. Guests must keep possessions, like shirts and shaving cream, in lockers outside of the capsules. Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas says, 'It’s just a place to crawl into and sleep. You get used to it.'”
Hand Written Clock 86
a3buster writes "This clock does not actually have a man inside, but a flatscreen that plays a 24-hour loop of this video by the artist watching his own clock somewhere and painstakingly erasing and re-writing each minute. This video was taken at Design Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach 2009."
Comment the good new is... (Score 1) 282
that Twitter's systems will get completely overwhelmed and the cost of remaining in 'business' will finally become obviously unjustified.
Want to Eat Chocolate Every Day For a Year? 158
Scientists from the University of East Anglia are studying the potential health benefits of dark chocolate, and need 40 female volunteers who would like to eat chocolate every day for a year. The chocolate loving 40 must be post-menopausal and have type 2 diabetes so it can be determined if the flavonoid compounds in chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease. Dr Peter Curtis, of the UEA's School of Medicine, said, "Our first volunteers are about to return for their final visit to see if the markers of heart health - such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels — have changed. A successful outcome could be the first step in developing new ways to improve the lives of people at increased risk of heart disease."
