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the ambiguous headline kind of suckered you too, i think

3 days ago on US seizes and freezes funds at biggest Bitcoin exchange

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I’ve seen Google Docs—or rather, Google Drive now—used to make stuff like that. Once you’re in Drive, click the “Create” button and choose “Drawing”. It’s fairly user-friendly.

5 days ago on Best software for making a poster?

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your wearyingly repeated use of the phrase “glass box” is, I feel, an obtuse if unintentinional denigration of the significant architectural chops and serious structural engineering firepower required for any such project of this kind and those individuals who delivered it in this case in particular
aesthetics are always debatable, but you are kind of being a tool

8 days ago on Is One World Trade Center really the tallest building in the West? 4 replies 27 recommends

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it’s as diverse as it ever was, but some parts (most particularly Williamsburg) have been so thoroughly colonized by hipsters that “Brooklyn” is now synonymous, in the minds of many, with mustachioed, tattooed gadabouts in deep v-neck t-shirts, scarves and suspenders, riding fixed-gear bikes &c &c.

10 days ago on Donald Trump backs a Kickstarter rip-off to save crowdfunding from the hipsters

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Surely you then realized it was sarcasm? Only a media outlet owned by Trump would ever seriously describe him thus

10 days ago on Donald Trump backs a Kickstarter rip-off to save crowdfunding from the hipsters

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It is indeed economic, but not in the way you are thinking.
http://www.tufts.edu/~skrimsky/PDF/DSM%20COI.PDF

15 days ago on Federal institute for mental health abandons controversial 'bible' of psychiatry

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You guys.
He didn’t say fish oil outperforms antipsychotics, he said it had outperformed antidepressants in a study. And it’s not a lie, but it’s not the whole truth—the truth is that antidepressants are 9 times out of 10, no more effective than placebo (sugar pills, fish oil, what have you). It’s the 1 time out of 10 that needs to be studied, because right now neither you, your professors, the people at Merck, Pfizer et al., the DSM board, or NIMH really have any idea, neurologically, why that guy got better on his antidepressant than he would’ve if you just, say, made him eat fresh fruit and take a walk every day. Nor do you know when best to take him off it.
As far as antipsychotics, I can’t argue that they’re less effective than anything else, seeing as how they’re no more and no less than mild neurotoxins, amphetamines, etc.; it’s hard to understand why you would want something more effective…
Oh and psychiatric medications have a lot fewer adverse effects than a lobotomy?! Now that’s glowing praise! /s

15 days ago on Federal institute for mental health abandons controversial 'bible' of psychiatry

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what it is supposed to be and what it is used for are two different things, it seems.

15 days ago on Federal institute for mental health abandons controversial 'bible' of psychiatry

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It may not be the wrong direction per se, but by your own statements, it is impossible to support the position that it represents any kind of progress whatsoever.

The problem is that without a more rigorous, scientific, and non-consensus based approach to diagnosis (which in the editing departments of the APA can amount to little more than researchers emailing each other saying essentially “you approve my diagnosis, I’ll approve yours”), there will always be “10 different opinions”; this is not science. And the end result is that billions of dollars are going to psychopharmaceutical companies’ pockets (a lot of which comes from your and my taxes) spent on medication that most people really don’t need, and are often better off without; and some people who really do need help aren’t getting it, or not the right kind. I’m very happy with NIMH’s new tack.

15 days ago on Federal institute for mental health abandons controversial 'bible' of psychiatry

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how come I can’t edit? that © is really bothering me.

15 days ago on UNICEF says Facebook 'likes' won't save children's lives 1 reply

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Like for-profit higher education? lol.

The for-profit education biz is ripe for being shat on, but this is apples and oranges.

He’s not talking about making non-profits into for-profits (although there have been discussions of that—weird transhumanist stuff about commoditizing the public welfare—ie., pie in the sky). Using a more rational cost-benefit approach to a non-profit’s money is not the same as a for-profit entity bending all efforts towards the profit margin.

Also, something like 90% of the income of for-profit education institutions in the US comes from the federal government via student loans (less than half of which is ever going to be paid back). A 501©(3) is, by definition, always going to get most of its money from the public.

15 days ago on UNICEF says Facebook 'likes' won't save children's lives 1 reply

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Self-harm is still harm. Why the pretense of ethics.

19 days ago on Drugs, porn, and counterfeits: the market for illegal goods is booming online 3 replies 3 recommends

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I lol’d

24 days ago on Tim Cook teases 'exciting new product category' and 'more surprises' from Apple in the fall

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Actually, you would be hard pressed to find a neurologist who can identify exact “neurological and bio-chemistry based aspects of the brain” accounting for more than the broadest aspects of human behavior. Like, is the person asleep, awake, comatose, mentally retarded…I might not go so far as to call it pseudoscience, but it’s a science that’s all theory and no proofs.

25 days ago on Controversial update to 'bible' of psychiatry fuels debate over foundations of mental health

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You’re saying one guy got shot so no one should use Craigslist to sell phones? That’s a bit of a stretch. How many violent robberies take place each day in the US? How many are part of Craigslist-facilitated transactions? This is one of those logical fallacies. Base rate neglect, or something.

25 days ago on HTC does what Google wouldn't: sell an LTE phone that sidesteps AT&T 1 reply

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the home invaders were wearing “SWAT shirts”

Wait what?

I hear SWAT, I think of the guys in the feature shot up top—flak gear, lots of padding. Not “shirts”. I think some people might be kinda gullible. Then again, if someone has has an AK I’m liable to do whatever the fuck they tell me, whether they have a shirt, flak jacket, tutu, or are butt naked.

25 days ago on Meet 'swatting,' the dangerous prank that could get someone killed 1 reply 5 recommends

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I don’t have numbers, but I’m pretty sure vigilantism isn’t really very popular. Who wants to be the next George Zimmerman?

25 days ago on Meet 'swatting,' the dangerous prank that could get someone killed 3 replies 5 recommends

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It is very subjective.
This is one of the major problems with psychology as a whole, to my mind

29 days ago on Controversial update to 'bible' of psychiatry fuels debate over foundations of mental health 3 replies 4 recommends

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Problems with the DSM and have existed since its inception. In the earliest revision, homosexuality was a disorder. Obviously, it has evolved since then. However today, nearly all of the practiticioners involved in the science-by-committee process by which standards are entered into the manual also serve as highly-paid consultants to pharmaceutical giants like Roche, Pfizer, Eli Lilly etc etc., leading to obvious conflicts of interest, especially in light of the trend toward lower thresholds for diagnosis.

29 days ago on Controversial update to 'bible' of psychiatry fuels debate over foundations of mental health 2 replies 6 recommends