Hey, look, Firefox remembered my slashdot password!

Actually, expanding your point further, prostate cancers vary in how aggressive they are, and some are very slow growing. For low grade prostate cancers on biopsy, especially in patients who are likely to die of something else well before the prostate cancer would get them (which is rather a lot of the time), urologists are now often advising "watchful waiting" - checking the PSA levels 6 monthly or so, and only looking at going further if they start to rise fast. By screening regularly, investigating those with raised levels but offering appropriate treatment based on the results, you catch more of the nastier prostate cancers earlier, and don't over-treat the slow growing ones.

Firstly, either you're seeing bad doctors, or you have a seriously warped perception of how the doctors are approaching things. I work in general (family) practice, and see far more children and adults with viral infections that I give symptomatic advice (and often a certificate for work) than I do apparent bacterial infections that I give antibiotics for. I do have a lot of people ask for antibiotics where I think it's unnecessary, and they don't get scripts.

Secondly, I don't answer questions via email for a few reasons. Most email is not secure enough to meet the standards required for confidentiality/privacy (although a lot of doctors are using specific, approved secure email systems to send letters/reports). Legally I could be on "interesting" ground if I gave you advice regarding a condition without seeing or examining (as appropriate) you. Finally, with the system in my country I get paid exactly nothing for any time spent on emails - which would be in addition to all the unpaid time I currently spend fielding phone calls from patients and other doctors they may be seeing, dealing with paperwork, etc. Mercenary I know, and I'm happy to do a degree of work that's unpaid, but emails would add significantly to it and add in other concerns.

Too true, I see too many diabetics (mostly middle-aged guys) who get serious once they lose a toe or two. Actually, I've found that emphasizing the stroke risk over the MI risk works better, a lot of people think "meh, the heart attack will just kill me ... but the stroke will actually seriously screw up my life"

My favorite was 3am while working in a rural hospital in a common vacation area - you had testicular pain for 3 days, came on holidays then decided to see me at 3am?! Ah, I was so glad to get back to suburban practice ...

One thing I've found with k/ubuntu (had it with both, for the last several releases) is that they use up all of a CD. To the point where a lot of CD-Rs (esp if cheap) have issues booting/installing the LiveCDs. My solution is to burn it onto cheap DVDs, works like a treat.

If you haven't already, you might want to check out the new series of Doctor Who, the new companion is a rather attractive and feisty young redhead. While she doesn't wear a slave outfit, her policeman's uniform is decidedly not regulation ....

My wife was a teacher for a few years. She started in a (admittedly difficult) public school, but left after a year because of all the fighting between students and other disruptive behavior.

She got a job at what was supposed to be a really good private school. There she found less physical bullying ..... but a hell of a lot more psychological bullying, some of it really nasty stuff.

The real problem was the private school had no real disciplinary back-up ... she'd send a kid to the time-out room, where they'd get a slap on the wrist. Because the parents were paying so much for their kid to go there, if their kid got more that a slap on the wrist they'd march in there and start yelling about how their poor little innocent was wrongly punished.

My wife is no longer a teacher.

Know what motorcyclists are called in emergency departments?

Organ donors.

Well, the only time I've ever been in a car/bicycle collision the cyclist was on the footpath. My car was completely stationary at the time, I was sitting in my driveway waiting to turn onto heavy traffic, and had been for a few minutes. The cyclist rode almost a block uphill before hitting my car and sprawling across the bonnet, surprising and amusing myself and my wife.

He didn't even see my car .... thanks to the girl in the short skirt on the opposite footpath.

It works if we clarify the difference between "geek" and "nerd" and then use them appropriately. As a friend puts it, a geek is a nerd who's "gettin some"

I have a step 4: see if this guy has reviewed it.

His style is very critical and sarcastic, but I find it usually gives a very good idea of a games strengths and weaknesses. I've bought games that he's trashed, but knowing why he's trashed them and having a different opinion on what style of games are fun. It's especially useful to weed-out the games that are "good concept, buggy as hell"

Yes, but less weight will hopefully reduce how quickly they get even more fucked

YIAAD

I'd also suggest Tame Impala - another Aussie band with an old-style rock sound, with influences from Cream, Led Zep and the Beatles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHu62ASuoOg

There, fixed that for you