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Comment Blood chemistry changed by TB medication (Score 1) 183

In February 2000 at 20 years old I was diagnosed with a lung infection called Mycobacterium Kansasii. It is in the family of Tuberculosis and treated with a nearly identical pharmaceutical regimen.

I took:
Isoniazid:
myambutol
rifadin (turns your urine orange)
vitamin B 12 (for liver health)
Pyrazinamide for about a month until they ruled out Active TB.

I was on this regimen for 18 months, a while after I was declared cured myself, my Dad and my Brother walked to a local park to watch a total lunar eclipse. My brother and Dad ended up leaving early because they were getting bit so bad but I could walk into a cloud of mosquitos and they would disperse and I did not get bitten a single time.

Fast forward to now over a decade after being off of these meds and I might get 4 mosquito bites in an entire summer.

I havent ever found documented cases from other people where this happened, but the doctor who diagnosed and treated me said he had heard it in passing a few times.

Comment Alloy Research (Score 2) 223

I always wondered if there are alloys that could be made in microgravity that simply are not feasable to produce on earth due to the weight and density differences of the source metals.

Maybe that should be the first focus, what materials can be made in space that cannot be made on Earth, which asteroid supplies the most of said materials.

Comment Patch (Score 5, Interesting) 416

Plan A:
1) Pump all the fuel out of it.
2) If there is a hole in the down side of the hull patch it from the inside.
3) Patch any holes on the top side of the hull.
4) Get as many pumps as possible pulling water out of the thing. while you gradually inflate large air bags under it.
5) Ship pops back up, tug it anywhere you want.

Plan B:
Hundreds of millions of ping pong balls.

Comment noise (Score 1) 520

Every on board sound I have ever tried while using headphones I could hear some sort of static noise with every action I made. Wiggle the mouse? acoustic noise happens right along with it, open or close a folder, a different tone of noise. My newest motherboard from about 2007 (Asus Striker extreme) had this problem.

Comment party system is dumb (Score 1) 1530

Political party affiliations are too much like religion. Democrats think they are 100% right and the saviors of the nation and everything good that has ever happened to the country is because of Democrat lead Congress.br> On the flip side Republicans think they are 100% right and the saviors of the nation and everything good that has ever happened to the country is because of Republican lead congress.
So no matter who endes up with a majority or has the best ideas and makes progress it will eventually be destroyed and reversed by a group that thinks they are smarter and better than the other side. Not to mention I doubt even 50% of the population of any county or state could name both candidates in the election or name a single piece of legislation supported by or submitted by same. They just see red or blue and vote red or blue.
This is why I have gotten to the point where I don't care who the president is or who controls the house and senate. In the long run it doesn't matter, your vote is simply a choice between getting screwed now or screwed later.

Comment Aeron Chairs (Score 1) 405

I have a hard time believing there is anywhere remotely close to $500-$1300(new Aeron) in materials and amortized research and development in the cost of those chairs. They are priced prohibitively high.

There is no doubt in my mind if they reduced the prices the chairs 1/4 to 1/3 of the current prices, the company would still turn a descent profit on each unit, and sales would explode.

Image

Justice Department Seeks Ebonics Experts 487

In addition to helping decipher their Lil Wayne albums, the Justice Department is seeking Ebonics experts to help monitor, translate and transcribe wire tapped conversations. The DEA wants to fill nine full time positions. From the article: "A maximum of nine Ebonics experts will work with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field division, where the linguists, after obtaining a 'DEA Sensitive' security clearance, will help investigators decipher the results of 'telephonic monitoring of court ordered nonconsensual intercepts, consensual listening devices, and other media.'”

Comment Re:Yeah, but where does this get ME? (Score 1) 973

Well, let's see. The movies Armageddon and Deep Impact came out, what, 10 years ago? We are not close (nor will we be in the next 50 years) to being able to save the inhabitants of this planet from a catastrophic event like a meteor, asteroid or comet (or a biological experiment on the planet gone wrong). Let's see - this could effect YOU, your CHILDREN, or your GRANDCHILDREN. And let's forget about all of the valuable minerals, metals, etc., that could be harvested from the asteroid belt, and the energy resources that could be brought down TO Earth from space. But alas, we are so short-sighted now, with our entitlement mentality (mostly unearned), that we are spending all of our money (and going further into debt) here on issues, many of which shouldn't exist. At the same time, the human population of the Earth and the US is supposed to double by 2100 (your children and grandchildren will still be alive then -- maybe). Parts of the US are already overcrowded, and although there is room to expand, most don't want to be rural. Where are we going to put new landfills for 600,000 people? Science fiction has given us many useful ideas, including telecommunications satellites. But one of the easier, most anticipated ideas, travel to Mars and other planets in our own solar system, will probably never be realized due to the short-sighted entitlement culture. Yep, I'd check off a $1000 donation for true space exploration on my tax return, but I won't willingly give another dollar to those that think they have earned it just by existing. We are doomed to die on this rock, and I'd agree with Hawking, it probably won't take 100 years.

I was trying to think of something to post but you said it better than I ever could. Well done. It always seems people in small numbers can and do care for eachother, but when it gets to the scale of billions you don't. We hear about a Tsunami that killed 100,000+ people and find it tragic, but only a tiny fraction of a percent of us go help out or donate. (I didn't either). The Haiti earthquake relief seemed more of a fashionable thing to do than real honest concern for fellow man. I also wouldn't be surprised to learn if a handful of people pocket most of the donated money and only pennies on the dollar ever go to real actual rebuilding.

Comment Re:Yeah, but where does this get ME? (Score 1) 973

Actually, rule of thumb for a standard 30-yr fixed rate mortgage is that 28% of your gross pay is the maximum mortgage payment you should be making. That's a bit more than 25% of your take-home.

I find it absolutely absurd that we as a people let it get to the point that it takes 25% of your monthly income for 30 years (not including maintenance and utilities) to have a house.

Comment Re:Prius (Score 1) 1141

What about 6 foot 8ers. I would need a shoe horn to get into a Miata and the jaws of life to get back out of it. I've ridden passenger in a Fit and my knees hit the dash. My brother has a Prius, anything more than about a 20 minute drive in that driver seat would leave me in pain. I had a Sentra as a loaner car once and could barely drive it. I can reasonably fit into a ford escape hybrid, but its mileage savings for the extra hybrid cost is far from worth it. Currently have an 08 Altima and am looking to ditch it for something bigger because if I sit with good posture for my back I can barely see because I'm looking through the tinted strip at the top of the windshield. Oddly enough a lot of the big 3 rows of seating vehicles have garbage for driver seat room too because the designers were so worried about the comfort of those 3 rows. I really have no idea what vehicle to get next. Any new large SUV have absolutely absurd costs. Even 7 year old giant SUVs with 75k+ miles are more costly than a new Honda Fit.
Idle

Iron Baby 139

When Iron Baby wants O's, Iron Baby gets O's.

Comment 6'8" 240 (Score 1) 365

I avoid flying because I cannot afford/justify the price of first class and because I am 6'8" 240lbs. Those small planes with 1 row of seating on one side and 2 on the others are uncomfortable in ANY seat. Larger planes I pray I can reserve or trade for the bulkhead or emergency exit seat. Another issue is my clothing is simply larger, I cannot fit nearly as many sets of clothing in a carry on or checked bag as most people so if a long trip I'll end up paying more for bags. The size of 38/38 jeans and 15 shoes adds up quickly. I have also been on planes where I physically couldn't do the little exercises to avoid blood clots due to how crammed in I was.

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