And why should anyone care about "recommended" levels of anything?

God, I hope you're not a pharmacist.

I have never seen any study suggesting that

And I have never seen Australia, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

participants who drank pop daily had shorter telomeres

I didn't know I had telomeres until about five minutes ago.

And wait a minute, when they say, "pop", are they talking about any carbonated beverage? Is the problem the carbonation or the crap they put in pop to make it sweet and neon-colored and buzz-causing and impervious to going bad for 500 years?

I need to know, because I've become enamored of my Sodastream machine, which turns water into fizzy water. I can't drink pop because I play the chromatic harmonica and any kind of drink with sugar or caramel color will foul up the reeds and valves. But fizzy water is perfect because it's refreshing, and it wets my whistle (which is important for playing the chromatic harmonica) and allows me to belch "When the Saints Go Marching In". Seriously, I love those carbonated belches. I keep them on the down-low when I'm around others, but I've scared the hell out of the cat a few times with a belch that registers 6.4 on the richter scale. It doesn't startle the dog, but she does wag her tail as if to say, "nice rip, bro".

So, does this research mean that the fizzy water I drink (no added flavor, except occasionally I'll add a little spearmint or hibiscus tea) is going to give me stubby little telomeres? And does the length of my telomeres matter as long as they have sufficient girth? I need to know right away.

Yeah. I wasn't sure about all the complaining of the militarization of the police until I noticed that one of the items the Department of Defense was sending police departments was silencers.

There is no appropriate use for a silencer in police work. Not one. A silencer is an assassin's tool. Not law enforcement.

One example? Do you know how much psychological research is being done?

Just check the Slashdot frontpage over the past few weeks and you'll find a lot more instances of con men in Physics. Does this mean that the "current state" of physics research is rife with fraud?

How about economics? Biochemistry? You want con men? Parapsychology is a more rigorous discipline than economics.

Oh, you're right. Sorry. I misread it and thought it was a branch of the mounties for aboriginal regions.

Never mind.

Psychology research since the mid-90s has actually become one of the more rigorous scientific disciplines. I don't know if you're thinking back to the mid 20th century, but I'm not sure where you're getting a notion that there's something wrong with the "current state" of psychology research.

If you're a military, you don't ask what it costs.

Except in this case, their not military. Police have different requirements than the military, not the least of which is sticking to a budget.

Despite what you see with US police departments, police forces don't need the latest military hardware.

Canada is significantly colder than Sweden and Norway.

Parts of it are. Considering the very wide range of temperatures across Canada, if the government is looking for one rifle to handle any conditions, and cost is a factor, they're better off with wood laminate stocks.

If they've stuck this long with the Lee-Enfield, it's a pretty good indication that they're more concerned with reliability over many decades and standardization than they are with the latest tech.

You can't tell that from the logo.

Sure you can. Tell me one product with an Apple logo that does not have an Apple proprietary chip.

Yeah, I'm wondering if they're going straight for 3D gesture and voice control type stuff.

They've already got the mind control covered.

an Apple proprietary chip is involved in that

I kinda figured that from the logo.

What's wrong with using the iPad as a second screen

Portable music production means not having to carry two devices when one device will do.

All of the compelling uses I read about for something like the Surface have boiled down to pretty niche uses that are really not sustainable.

Music production, NFL sidelines. Those are two pretty high-profile niches.

It's nice that you like your Surface now, because it's not going to be around for many more years.

"Nyah, nyah!"

For music production, a hybrid tablet would be great

I use one every day. It's called "Surface Pro". Full ProTools, full plug-in support, full peripheral support, touchscreen and power to spare.

You know, that mark you get as an extra when you pay to turn ads on /. off.

Interesting that you bring that up. I'm a long-time subscriber to Slashdot, but a few months ago, the subscription page stopped working for me. I simply cannot add money to my subscription. When I try to click the radio button for "Buy subscription for Pope Ratzo" nothing happens.

I've got Slashdot whitelisted in all of my blockers and Privacy Badger and Disonnect and I've tried it in Chrome and Firefox. It just does not work any more.