Comment Re:Oh ffs (Score 1) 622
I like my Nissan Versa, you insensitive clod!
But seriously, it fits my needs and my budget much better than the Porsche. There's a reason it is more popular.
Comment I wish the problems were purely physical... (Score 1) 96
... and could be solved by a high-tech, or even a bunch of low-tech, devices. But electronic monitoring can only go so far.
If the elderly person cannot interpret what they are told by a screen (or a disembodied voice reading it), a human caregiver must be present. In a timely manner. _Every time_. A familiar son or daughter over the phone is not enough for someone with a form of dementia, or a case of Just Plain Stubborn. There is no substitute for being there.
As many commenters pointed out, eldercare will be monumental challenge for the next couple decades. Nursing homes, assisted living, and group homes will clearly evolve, as there will be more folks who need care, and fewer who can provide it.
Comment Re:Semantics? (Score 1) 254
You like this!
Comment Re:Printing out people (Score 1) 72
This idea was central to the plot of Think Like a Dinosaur, by James Patrick Kelly. Great story.
Comment Wake me on 10-Nov-2014 (Score 1) 81
That will be Day 16384. Much more suitable for a geeky celebration.
The New Reality of Gaming 122
Hugh Pickens writes "Video games used to be about fighting aliens and rescuing princesses, writes Rohin Dharmakumar in Forbes, but the most popular games today have you tilling your farm, hiring waiting staff and devising menus for your restaurant or taking your pets out for walks while maintaining cordial relations with the neighbors. 'Reality, it would seem, is the new escapism.' Video games of the pre-social network era were mostly played by boys or young men but 'now the core audience of social network games are girls and young women,' says Alok Kejriwal, founder and CEO of games2win, an online gaming company. The tipping point in the US came in 2008 when women outnumbered men on the Internet. Combined with millions of parents and grandparents who're new to the Internet, the traditional face of the gamer is changing from that of a 25-year-old male to a band stretching from 16 to 40 years comprising men and women in almost equal numbers, says Sebastien de Halleux, one of the co-founders of Playfish, who predicts that someone is going to create a social game very shortly that pulls in a billion dollars a year. Gaming for this new set of players is less about breathtaking graphics, pulsating sound or edge-of-the-seat action and more about strengthening existing real world relations through frequent casual gaming. 'Think of these games as a sandbox where everybody has the same tools, yet everyone achieves different results,' says de Halleux."
One Night Stands May Be Genetic 240
An anonymous reader writes "So, he or she has cheated on you for the umpteenth time and their only excuse is: 'I just can't help it.' According to researchers at Binghamton University, they may be right. The propensity for infidelity could very well be in their DNA. In a first of its kind study, a team of investigators led by Justin Garcia, a SUNY Doctoral Diversity Fellow in the laboratory of evolutionary anthropology and health at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has taken a broad look at sexual behavior, matching choices with genes and has come up with a new theory on what makes humans 'tick' when it comes to sexual activity. The biggest culprit seems to be the dopamine receptor D4 polymorphism, or DRD4 gene. Already linked to sensation-seeking behavior such as alcohol use and gambling, DRD4 is known to influence the brain's chemistry and subsequently, an individual's behavior."
Comment Remember the /. Mantra (Score 1) 287
Correlation != Causation. Apply twice to Idle articles.
Comment Enter Sandman (Score 1) 147
I hope these are ready for the inevitable remake of Logan's Run!
Comment Misleading headline (Score 1) 449
Bummer. I thought this story would be about a classic Oscar-nominated film being released without DRM.
Comment Re:Fraudulent catching of fraud (Score 1) 148
3. Stock drops like a rock due to the SEC investigation.
4. Cover your short before anyone can figure out that there's nothing to investigate.
You left off "5. Profit!!!"
That's my fear as well. Greed would be one possible motivation. What about personal vendettas or blackmail? If an individual can submit info that brings a CEO or company down, even for a short time, there really should be some accountability in the system.
Comment Re:NEVADA GAMING COMMISSION has the code to slots (Score 1) 247
Um... they can and they do.
When the FDA auditor is sitting in your office and asks, "May I see the source code?", it's time to paraphrase Winston Zeddemore: When someone asks you if they can see the source code, you say "YES"!
Comment Re:4 months? (Score 4, Interesting) 194
Propecia on the other hand (the stuff for baldness) has been shown to help the prostate.
Not surprising at all. Proscar, a prostate medication, had the side effect of making people grow extra hair. So Merck marketed a lower dose of the same substance, and called it Propecia.
Comment Re:heresy (Score 1) 165
Interestingly this comes just a few days after I read an article supporting the theory that Descartes was actually assassinated for his controversial views and his influence on Queen Christina of Sweden, by his own priest to boot.
Yes, it was very sad. The assassins sent some wild stallions to trample him. I guess that's why you should never put Decartes before the horse.
Comment Re:Yeah, and Blackwater is now called Xe. (Score 1) 356
No, that will totally screw up the slashdot tag system. How will we know that a post is NOT about the company, !!Xfinity ?
