It's a stupid meme now.

I'm still waiting for Mail Pouch Tobacco barns to make an appearance...

Would you rather they bring up the Lisa?

Are you sure? Every Android thing I've connected to my TV, for years, has supported Amazon Instant, my old Visio CoStar, Roku, even my Blu-ray player.

As far as I can tell, they've supported a wide variety of Android devices from smart tv's to streaming boxes longer than the service has been called "Amazon Instant".

As it happens, it works even when people know they're receiving a placebo. Weird, isn't it?

Even stranger, there are measurable physiological effects. It's not just patients reporting on their subjective experience.

Not really. All you can do is fail to find an effect, which is why you don't see papers claiming that they've "proven" X was ineffective.

This is pretty basic stuff that I'd expect a high-schooler to be able to explain.

Seriously? That clown? I thought he'd be in jail by now, you know, for the identity theft and fraud.

More to the point, Randi's silly little nonsense challenge doesn't "prove" anything about the claims made by any group. That you could believe such ridiculous nonsense tells me more about Randi's followers than it does the homeopathic hucksters.

If you need an analogy: Randi is to science what faith-healers are to medicine. If you care about science, as many of Randi's flock claim, you should distance yourself as much as you can.

I find that particularly odd, considering how many of them already believe that the mind can harm health.

Of course. Though you need to keep in mind that you're not dealing with scientists, but with "science cheerleaders" -- people with no scientific education fighting against ... something ... with as much vigor as they can muster.

Fortunately for us, they're just a noisy minority. They'll die out just like the logical positivists, for the same reasons.

You had me thrown there. That would be horrible! Why would you just accept that?

Anyhow ... I'd say 'FYI' here but this benefits the people near you more: You can still disable all notifications by sliding the notification mode to “none”. There's also an app called "SoundHUD" that will quiet your chatty phone.

From what you're saying, you may want to take a look at Blackberry. Windows Phone isn't exactly big on contrast, but could be worth a look. FirefoxOS, naturally, would be a good fit thanks to Haida, though if you're technically inclined you could always customize Gaia to suite your tastes.

Ah, I figured you were an autodidact. It explains SO much.

Anyhow, I'm sorry that you're so disadvantaged.

Since you missed it:

I would recommend you take some time to look in to the history and philosophy of science. It's quite enlightening. If you can't afford a proper education, I can make some reading recommendations for you.

That should be "She's dead". Do you think only "idiots" study history as well?

Speaking of history, you'll find that many of histories greatest minds were theologians. You can even still see that influence in modern science.

I hate to break it to you, but those skills transfer really, really, easily.

Do you struggle with, say, bounded iteration every time you learn a new language? I seriously doubt that!

I've always maintained that anyone can learn how to program. Equally, I've never wavered from my conviction that it doesn't matter what language you learn first, the essential skills easily transfer to other languages. (Though some languages, and paradigms, are admittedly more beginner-friendly than others, with imperative languages leading the 'ease-of-use' charge. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what language they learn first.)

Uh, oh. Sounds like *someone* only has a single skill and is worried about their future job security!

Yes, those kids will be disadvantaged. Programming and related skills offer numerous advantages regardless of their future career or station in life.

I'm a firm believer in the value of interdisciplinary study. Even if those kids never touch a computer again, that experience will undoubtedly enrich future learning experiences, creative exercises, and other aspects of their lives.

I wouldn't. While 7 is unusually young, a lot of Slashdotters weren't much older when they (on their own) learned to program. Under 10 is pretty common. I was around 9. I've seen several people here say they were about 8 when they started programming.

Kids are pretty damn amazing. Don't be so quick to underestimate them.