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Comment Newsblur + Reeder with "Bionic Reading" (Score 1) 181

by Lord Satri (#65571694) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Who's Still Using an RSS Reader?

I'm surprised many others mentioned Newsblur, that's what I use as well. But I don't use the Newsblur app or website, but rather the Reeder Classic app (the newer Reeder version is subscription-based, which I avoid at his point).

Reeder Classic is nothing really special, except maybe for its 'bionic reading' support. Despite the pompous name, I actually love 'bionic reading', which essentially is method to add bolding to some letters in words, which greatly helps and speeds reading (especially those long Slashdot summaries). See what it looks like here: https://bionic-reading.com/ . Hope this is useful to some of you :-)

It might show my age, but RSS still works for me. (A) Easy to get only the summary or details from the original source if I want to, and (B) managing which RSS items are dismissed or kept for a later deeper dive is very efficient. Works great in my case.

Submission + - Fluoride At Twice the Recommended Limit Is Linked To Lower IQ In Kids (apnews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A U.S. government report expected to stir debate concluded that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children. The report, based on an analysis of previously published research, marks the first time a federal agency has determined — “with moderate confidence” — that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. While the report was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoride in drinking water alone, it is a striking acknowledgment of a potential neurological risk from high levels of fluoride. Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

The long-awaited report released Wednesday comes from the National Toxicology Program, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. It summarizes a review of studies, conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico, that concludes that drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter is consistently associated with lower IQs in kids. The report did not try to quantify exactly how many IQ points might be lost at different levels of fluoride exposure. But some of the studies reviewed in the report suggested IQ was 2 to 5 points lower in children who’d had higher exposures.

Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water, and for five decades before the recommended upper range was 1.2. The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5. The report said that about 0.6% of the U.S. population — about 1.9 million people — are on water systems with naturally occurring fluoride levels of 1.5 milligrams or higher. The 324-page report did not reach a conclusion about the risks of lower levels of fluoride, saying more study is needed. It also did not answer what high levels of fluoride might do to adults.

Comment Haze forecast: PM2.5 and PM10 interactive maps (Score 4, Informative) 77

If you want to interactively view the surface PM2.5 which comes from the RAQDPS-FireWork model from Environment Canada, here you go: https://eccc-msc.github.io/msc...

The same but for PM10: https://eccc-msc.github.io/msc...

This tool enables you to interactively view the associated forecast across for North America, and create video animations . There's actually a lot more content suitable for plenty of different weather events (over 8,000 weather & climate layers in there). Enjoy!

Comment Moria, Angband & TOME.. good old memories! (Score 2) 45

While I never played NetHack, I have lots of nostalgia and good memories for having played so much Moria and its successor Angband and TOME. That story on Slashdot made me find out Tales of Maj’ Eyal (successor of TOME) https://te4.org/ Is still pretty active, nice!

However, with over 30 years that has passed since when I started playing Moria and roguelikes, I unfortunately don’t want to play on a computer anymore (I already spend my workday in front of it) and there doesn’t seem to be a mobile version.

Those games might not have the best graphics (hey, they were 100% ASCII for so long), but I don’t mind, they were a lot of fun, and this is was a game should be about :-)

Submission + - Slashdot Alum Samzenpus's Fractured Veil Hits Kickstarter

Submitted by CmdrTaco
CmdrTaco writes: Long time Slashdot readers remember Samzenpus,who posted over 17,000 stories here, sadly crushing my record in the process! What you might NOT know is that he was frequently the Dungeon Master for D&D campaigns played by the original Slashdot crew, and for the last few years he has been applying these skills with fellow Slashdot editorial alum Chris DiBona to a Survival game called Fractured Veil. It's set in a post apocalyptic Hawaii with a huge world based on real map data to explore, as well as careful balance between PVP & PVE. I figured a lot of our old friends would love to help them meet their kickstarter goal and then help us build bases and murder monsters! The game is turning into something pretty great and I'm excited to see it in the wild!

Comment No restrictions on Canada's free weather data APIs (Score 1) 111

Meanwhile, there's no restrictions on Canada's free weather and climate data access: https://eccc-msc.github.io/ope...

And yup, the Canadian weather radar layers include all of North America... see it for yourself: https://eccc-msc.github.io/ope...

Hope this is useful to some of you :-)

Comment Add affordable automated audio mastering to it... (Score 1) 137

I wonâ(TM)t claim algorithmic audio mastering is equal to a seasoned professional one, but itâ(TM)s very affordable, about 10-20$ per track, and the result is actually not so bad at all (and itâ(TM)s not just me saying this).

The two main online audio mastering tools Iâ(TM)m aware of are landr.com and cloudbounce.com . I personally prefer Cloudbounce because you can choose amongst several mastering settings. With such mastering, you end up with an more enjoyable listening experience. Though it wonâ(TM)t turn crap into a masterpiece obviously.

You can skip the following shameless plug, in which I used those services in my latest bestof album âstarsâ(TM) and compare the exact same tracks from my first albums which didnâ(TM)t get any mastering, the difference is stunning to me; satri.bandcamp.com

Comment Re:Sigh (Score 1) 116

by pudge (#59580488) Attached to: Amazon Threatens To Fire Employees Who Speak Out On Climate Change

I don’t know if she did, and don’t care. She was great and we were sad to see her go.

I left because the company was bought, and the new owners laid off some of its more expensive long-tenured employees, since they were putting the site effectively into maintenance mode, trying to sell if off. They just wanted to keep ThinkGeek and didn’t care to improve the other properties. I was forced out, but I was there a long time, and it was good for me to move on when I did.

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