Comment cold war just got hot (Score 2) 47
this is clearly a premeditated act of war by the russians. I propose we attack Uzbekistan.
Comment will machines be more common? (Score 4, Insightful) 107
i love pinball, but finding a machine is rare! let's hope bars/arcades start stocking them instead of that stupid bowling/golf thingy
Comment who needs hard drives?! (Score 1) 163
I just have a bunch of chinese kids memorize sequences of zeros and ones
Comment april fools? (Score -1, Offtopic) 88
the prize is a $200 gift certificate to a website i hate.
this must be a joke.
Comment Re:3D printers will not be popular at any price (Score 1) 170
they already have injection molding machines that do that; they've had that for decades (since the 90s at least)
i remember going to brookfield zoo, and having a gorilla made to order in '90 and then again in '03
i could probably go and get another one once the zoo opens
Comment Re:Never underestimate the appeal of cheap junk (Score 1) 170
don't these printers take hours to make even small things? doesn't seem like a good investment for someone trying to make a living in a over-priced tourist town
Comment Re:sounds like someone just wants a kickstarter (Score 1) 96
my other questions are still relevant
also, $500 is definitely low enough to fund via traditional means (grant writing, etc)
Comment sounds like someone just wants a kickstarter (Score 0) 96
$5000?!
the great thing about kickstarter is there's no accountability.
You want to get funding to write a C++ book? Start doing some grant writing.
Your school doesn't provide any hosting space? Why can't you put it up there?
Also, there are already tons of online resources for c++. What will make yours unique?
Comment Re:Already exists, its called The Web (Score 1) 96
Agree'd
learning the syntax of a language is easy. the challenge lies in learning concepts like linked lists, or object oriented programming
if you want to do something useful make a 2-page cheat sheet on the language, and then host a website with coding challenges (or just donate to project euler)
Comment what do you want to do? (Score 1) 7
if you can't think up stuff that you want to do, maybe you should reconsider your desire to get a hobby? i mean, I can think up a dozen things I wish I had time/money to explore!
taking an adult education class, and learn how to cook, dance, paint, throw clay pots, etc.
learn how to work different tools in a machine shop, then get a part time job (or just rent time) in a machine shop and make cool stuff
learn to sail
take up drinking
start an herb garden
Comment all on one page?! (Score 5, Funny) 303
impressed that it's all on one page, instead of spread out with one tip per page, and advertisements after every 5 pages
Submission + - FDA approves bionic eye (fda.gov)
jehan60188 writes: FTA: "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, the first implanted device to treat adult patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The device, which includes a small video camera, transmitter mounted on a pair of eyeglasses, video processing unit (VPU) and an implanted retinal prosthesis (artificial retina), replaces the function of degenerated cells in the retina (a membrane inside the eye) and may improve a patient’s ability to perceive images and movement. The VPU transforms images from the video camera into electronic data that is wirelessly transmitted to the retinal prosthesis.
RP is a rare genetic eye condition that damages the light-sensitive cells that line the retina. In a healthy eye, these cells change light rays into electrical impulses and send them through the optic nerve to the area of the brain that assembles the impulses into an image. In people with RP, the light-sensitive cells slowly degenerate resulting in gradual loss of side vision and night vision, and later of central vision. The condition can lead to blindness.
“This new surgically implanted assistive device provides an option for patients who have lost their sight to RP – for whom there have been no FDA-approved treatments,” said Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “The device may help adults with RP who have lost the ability to perceive shapes and movement to be more mobile and to perform day-to-day activities.”
The Argus II system is intended for use in adults, age 25 years or older, with severe to profound RP who have bare light perception (can perceive light, but not the direction from which it is coming) or no light perception in both eyes, evidence of intact inner layer retina function, and a previous history of the ability to see forms. Patients must also be willing and able to receive the recommended post-implant clinical follow-up, device fitting, and visual rehabilitation.
In addition to a small video camera and transmitter mounted on the glasses, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System has a portable video processing unit (VPU) and an array of electrodes that are implanted onto the patient’s retina. The VPU transforms images from the video camera into electronic data that is wirelessly transmitted to the electrodes. The electrodes transform the data into electrical impulses that stimulate the retina to produce images. While the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System will not restore vision to patients, it may allow them to detect light and dark in the environment, aiding them in identifying the location or movement of objects or people.
The FDA approved the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System as a humanitarian use device, an approval pathway limited to those devices that treat or diagnose fewer than 4,000 people in the United States each year. To obtain approval for humanitarian use, a company must demonstrate a reasonable assurance that the device is safe and that its probable benefit outweighs the risk of illness or injury. The company also must show that there is no comparable device available to treat or diagnose the disease or condition.
The FDA reviewed data that included a clinical study of 30 study participants with RP who received the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Investigators monitored participants for adverse events related to the device or to the implant surgery and regularly assessed their vision for at least two years after receiving the implant.
Results from the clinical study show that most participants were able to perform basic activities better with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System than without it. Some of the activities tested included locating and touching a square on a white field; detecting the direction of a motion; recognizing large letters, words, or sentences; detecting street curbs; walking on a sidewalk without stepping off; and matching black, grey and white socks.
Following the implant surgery, 19 of the 30 study patients experienced no adverse events related to the device or the surgery. Eleven study subjects experienced a total of 23 serious adverse events, which included erosion of the conjunctiva (the clear covering of the eyeball), dehiscence (splitting open of a wound along the surgical suture), retinal detachment, inflammation, and hypotony (low intraocular pressure).
Three government organizations provided support for the development of the Argus II. The Department of Energy, National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation collaborated to provide grant funding totaling more than $100 million, support for material design and other basic research for the project.
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. is based in Sylmar, Calif.
"
I for one welcome our new cyborg overlords
RP is a rare genetic eye condition that damages the light-sensitive cells that line the retina. In a healthy eye, these cells change light rays into electrical impulses and send them through the optic nerve to the area of the brain that assembles the impulses into an image. In people with RP, the light-sensitive cells slowly degenerate resulting in gradual loss of side vision and night vision, and later of central vision. The condition can lead to blindness.
“This new surgically implanted assistive device provides an option for patients who have lost their sight to RP – for whom there have been no FDA-approved treatments,” said Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “The device may help adults with RP who have lost the ability to perceive shapes and movement to be more mobile and to perform day-to-day activities.”
The Argus II system is intended for use in adults, age 25 years or older, with severe to profound RP who have bare light perception (can perceive light, but not the direction from which it is coming) or no light perception in both eyes, evidence of intact inner layer retina function, and a previous history of the ability to see forms. Patients must also be willing and able to receive the recommended post-implant clinical follow-up, device fitting, and visual rehabilitation.
In addition to a small video camera and transmitter mounted on the glasses, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System has a portable video processing unit (VPU) and an array of electrodes that are implanted onto the patient’s retina. The VPU transforms images from the video camera into electronic data that is wirelessly transmitted to the electrodes. The electrodes transform the data into electrical impulses that stimulate the retina to produce images. While the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System will not restore vision to patients, it may allow them to detect light and dark in the environment, aiding them in identifying the location or movement of objects or people.
The FDA approved the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System as a humanitarian use device, an approval pathway limited to those devices that treat or diagnose fewer than 4,000 people in the United States each year. To obtain approval for humanitarian use, a company must demonstrate a reasonable assurance that the device is safe and that its probable benefit outweighs the risk of illness or injury. The company also must show that there is no comparable device available to treat or diagnose the disease or condition.
The FDA reviewed data that included a clinical study of 30 study participants with RP who received the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Investigators monitored participants for adverse events related to the device or to the implant surgery and regularly assessed their vision for at least two years after receiving the implant.
Results from the clinical study show that most participants were able to perform basic activities better with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System than without it. Some of the activities tested included locating and touching a square on a white field; detecting the direction of a motion; recognizing large letters, words, or sentences; detecting street curbs; walking on a sidewalk without stepping off; and matching black, grey and white socks.
Following the implant surgery, 19 of the 30 study patients experienced no adverse events related to the device or the surgery. Eleven study subjects experienced a total of 23 serious adverse events, which included erosion of the conjunctiva (the clear covering of the eyeball), dehiscence (splitting open of a wound along the surgical suture), retinal detachment, inflammation, and hypotony (low intraocular pressure).
Three government organizations provided support for the development of the Argus II. The Department of Energy, National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation collaborated to provide grant funding totaling more than $100 million, support for material design and other basic research for the project.
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. is based in Sylmar, Calif.
"
I for one welcome our new cyborg overlords
Comment so what should i do? (Score 2) 50
avoid banking at work? i always figured that was more secure than at my own home (shared wifi with two room mates- neither seem tech savvy, but you never know.; WPA2 but short password)
it sounds like if my room mates computers are compromised, i can get phished with the method?
Comment flashcards, art, exercise (Score 1) 279
vocabulary flashcards (either "college words" in your native language, or a new language)
listen to a song
smoke a cigarette
do 10 lunges
doodle, or paint (i like doodling on my tablet, but i also carry watercolors and a stack of 3x5 notecards)
Submission + - anti-molecule-patent petition on white house website (whitehouse.gov)
jehan60188 writes: "Recently, there has been a lot of attention on the awarding of patents for chemicals, genes and DNA that occur naturally. Chemicals that are not man-made should be considered "public domain" items that are unable to be patented.
These molecules can serve mankind in an uncountable number of ways, and are a major starting point for a lot of our pharmaceutical drugs. The purpose of this petition is not to outlaw the methods, tools or equipment of manufacture or replication. Nor is it to outlaw the patenting of specialized "recipes" that contain these chemicals. It is to remove patents on the molecules themselves.
By solidifying these natural chemicals as public domain items, it paves the way to lower costs of research, and the amount of time needed to bring a viable treatment to market."
These molecules can serve mankind in an uncountable number of ways, and are a major starting point for a lot of our pharmaceutical drugs. The purpose of this petition is not to outlaw the methods, tools or equipment of manufacture or replication. Nor is it to outlaw the patenting of specialized "recipes" that contain these chemicals. It is to remove patents on the molecules themselves.
By solidifying these natural chemicals as public domain items, it paves the way to lower costs of research, and the amount of time needed to bring a viable treatment to market."
