Yes a mig welder could be miniaturized further but you wouldn't want it. For the best quality work you will want to be running gas shielded not flux core wire and thus need rather large tanks since this will probably take a while. Now add in that you need a good transformer for the welder as well as good tensioners and drive motors and it isn't going to be getting much smaller. There are already some cheap crappy ones available and while they may work out of the box the question is if they will work for any length of time. Good welders are rather large and heavy, the one I have is about as small and light as one can be made and not be trash and I have the add on gas kit.

The problem is that while a finer wire can produce a smaller weld bead it is still rather substantial compared to the wire that was used. Go with too fine of wire and the resistance will get to high and you will just vaporize the wire and foul tips. For example really fine wire (what I use for automotive sheet metal work) is .024" in diameter and there is still a fair amount of work to clean it up so you would never know the weld was there.

That sounds like the annual cultural sensitivity training we receive at work, I had forgotten about the Carlin bit it has been a while. Once you strip out the garbage that only applies to managers and HR people you can get that 3 hour course down to one simple statement:
Don't be a dick.

I would prefer that Brahma sit in for Vishnu, he has a much better poker face.

Much like anglicans.

One battle at a time.

The other problem is that people of prior generations were expected to be able to deal with their own emotions in a mature manner and generally weren't as stressed-out as Americans today are.

So almost none at all? Heh.

Thing is, sodas are typically sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. Only the liver can metabolize fructose. Personally, I drink water and only occasionally have a carbonated drink. There are lots of good reasons to avoid sodas; sugar is only one of them. Once you get used to drinking water, you'll wonder how you were ever satisfied drinking what is basically syrup.

If you gradually switch from "eating more calories than I would have ever needed" to "eating about the right amount, give or take" I strongly doubt you'll have this problem. At least that wasn't my experience. The studies I have seen were all concerning unsustainable fad diets that you could not continue using for the rest of your life.

"Eat less" isn't the same thing as saying "eat nothing or nearly nothing while failing to obtain the nutrients you need".

"Blame" is also a small-minded concern. When I personally needed to lose some weight, there was no concern with fault or blame. I (get this) *took responsibility* for my own condition and made some adjustments to it. Some sustainable, permanent adjustments that did not involve neglecting the nutrition I needed. It was never a problem after that. In fact it was one of the easiest things I've ever done. That's because I took responsibility and accepted that the power to change it was within myself, the exact opposite of victimhood. This is exactly what I never see from fat people. They're victims and they are hostile to the idea that they don't need to be. That's because they don't understand the difference between fault/blame and responsibility/power. That's the part that is "not that easy" for so many because we have such a shallow, small-minded culture that doesn't like to think too deeply about much of anything no matter how much better life can be.

All you are saying is that doing something the stupid and careless way won't yield a good result. This was already known.

What's the point of mentioning this? You said these were 30 healthy men. "Healthy" implies they were not obese. They had already balanced their calorie intake against the rate of burning calories. Naturally, adjusting an already healthy balance is going to create problems.

This says nothing whatsoever about what happens when obese people reduce their calorie intake. Obese people got that way because they were consuming more calories than they burned. For them, reducing caloric intake sounds like a good idea (although an instant 50% cut sounds drastic - if that were me I'd make more gradual adjustments).

But your Starvation Experiment doesn't address this at all. Again what was the point of posting it?

I've always found it both disgusting and a bit amusing, the way people get so angry and upset when you dare to suggest that maybe they are not victims, maybe they actually could assert some control over the problem they're having. The earlier posts in this thread did not deserve a "-1, Troll" moderation. Stating what you actually believe in a sincere manner is not trolling. It's not a "-1, MakesMyDenialUncomfortable" mod for fuck's sake.

Everyone I know who successfully lost weight and kept it off for years did it by making permanent, sustainable, healthy changes in their lives. A few of them learned to like veggies and other healthy foods. Others did that and also formed the habit of regular exercise. The point is to consume fewer calories than you burn until you reach a new equilibrium. Like so many other things that upset people, this works every time it's properly tried.

I have and the company even got a sale because the ad words the bought from Google did a better job of matching my search than Google's search engine. Granted I was looking for a company to do titanium nitride coating on a project I was working on so not something that most people search for.

I find the following seems to work to varying degrees:
1. Write, e-mail, and call them, let them know what you think and what you want them to do. Do this even when you agree with their stance on an issue, they need the pat on the head just like a dog. When writing to them don't be a partisan hack and name call (I have responded to a rather patronizing letter from one of my senators like that but never with the initial contact on an issue)
2. Show up at one of their town hall meetings (my stupid rep to the US House like to have phone ones) and ask hard questions on the topics you care about framed to make them look bad if they don't answer in the way you want.
3. When their supporters or they themselves are out door knocking during the campaign season have a list of issues you think they screwed up on and why and thus will not be voting for them. Also mention that you have informed you neighbors about it and actually do so ensuring that they hear the same issues several times.
4. Write letters to the editor in you local paper calling out their action or lack of action.
5. Become active in their campaign (or that of their opponent) and in the local political machine so you can help direct the platform and their thinking.

Granted all of that does require putting in some effort instead of being a simple voter, but does seem to garner reasonable results.

Personally I would go with Amishnet, high latency but never underestimate the bandwidth of a horse drawn carriage loaded with microSD cards. As an added bonus you know they lack that ability to do deep packet inspection.