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Comment Re:Up is down and hot is cold... (Score 2) 217

Drugged up is drugged up.

LONG-term effects of marijuana

        Reduced resistance to common illnesses (colds, bronchitis, etc.)

        Suppression of the immune system

        Growth disorders

        Increase of abnormally structured cells in the body

        Reduction of male sex hormones

        Rapid destruction of lung fibers and lesions (injuries) to the brain could be permanent

        Reduced sexual capacity

        Study difficulties: reduced ability to learn and retain information

        Apathy, drowsiness, lack of motivation

        Personality and mood changes

        Inability to understand things clearly

I thought these were all side effects from reading Slashdot.

Comment Re: Human Subjects (Score 1) 91

So the mortality rate is not 90% - the media is, as usual, misquoting the figure. They actually quote was something more like "a mortality rate of up to 90%" because one outbreak has had a mortality rate this high. This particular outbreak, as of yesterday, only had a mortality rate of 51%. Other outbreaks have different rates depending on local conditions, such as how good the care the patients receive is. I think the cumulative for all outbreaks since the 70's is about 65% IIRC.

And that number is likely to be higher than reality since people who aren't very sick will be unwilling to present for care and, given the poor state of public health infrastructure in that neck of the woods, population surveillance is very hard.

They will have a better idea in the upcoming months when they can screen for Ebola antibodies in the general population.

Comment Re:Super-8 home movies (Score 1) 635

I gave my dad's K&E slide rule, used on Apollo 10 and 11 launches, to my nephew who is an engineering major in college. His friends think it's the coolest retro thing they've even seen. I'm pretty sure it's the only real professional grade aluminum slide rule they've ever seen.

I remember when I used that thing in high school and college.

I'll just water the lawn now.

Comment Re:There have been worse outages (Score 1) 133

Or maybe this guy was going to die no matter what. This sort of thing happens. While our modern infrastructure is important and we should angst about major fuckups (especially if they involve TWC and friends), even the old unbreakable Bakelite phone / POTS system screwed up from time to time.

The other thing to realize about the current 911 system (at least in the US) is that it is a fairly robust, fairly smart system. In the 'old days' when we had to make sure that paths were clear of T. Rex and raptors, it was often hard to find an address because the caller didn't know where they were. "Rock lane! No Boulder Boulevard! No, Flintstone Freeway!" No we can just look at the map.

But stuff like this is going to fail, Murphy sees to that (genuflects). If somebody actually dies because of a 911 delay, their prognosis is pretty grim anyway.

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