Long multiplication interestingness. From Cathy :D

11 months ago · 13 notes

One lego printer. Click through to the video link to see the maker of awesomeness.

2 years ago · 1 note

Q&A by mental health bloggers

I hold most of the writers in high regard, so I expect this to be good. Questions already asked include:

  • “I have my first ever appointment with a psychiatrist soon. What is going to happen? Do I need to take anything with me?”
  • “I’ve just found out that my best friend has depression. What the hell do I say?”
  • “I have recently been diagnosed with depression and I have been hiding everything from my friends/family/partner and putting on a brave face. I fear they won’t understand or believe me. How do I tell them?”

2 years ago · 0 notes

Mental: A History of the Madhouse

atwas:

Shocking enough there was a time when lobotomies and electro-convulsive therapy were routine treatments for mental illness. Even more shocking that it was common in Britain as recently as the 1950s, until the advent of pharmacological approaches- although ECT is still sometimes used today.

In some ways things have certainly improved compared to the Victorian-era lunatic asylums Emilie Autumn alludes to her works and music but in other ways, there’s still a long way to go.

I think it’s not quite so one-sided, but I’m sure the documentary will explain this. ECT is proven to work, with much stronger data than a good chunk of anti-depressants. Asylums, when with the anti-mental illness stigma were awful places but towards the end (1980s) became well, real places of asylum for people with mental illness. The removal was a budget-driven thing and not altruistic: we now get the case where acute cases require hospital admission and cannot get it due to a shortage of beds. There’s obviously a balance between the two somewhere, and I don’t think we’re there yet.

I recommend looking at these guy’s cartoons if you’re interested in this topic… here is the one on ECT

http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com/2010/02/electroconvulsive-therapy.html

2 years ago · 2 notes · Source · Reblogged from atwas

"10 Obscure Elements That Are More Important Than You'd Think"

I’m hoping to be able to sleep soon, but currently unwell and that’s keeping me awake. I need to actually find something dull though, rather than little interesting things like this.

Edit: f-yeahchemistry ran this a few hours after me… and it’s hit the radar as it’s awesome. However, it wasn’t viral beforehand, so I sense some foul-play… *looks around suspiciously*. 

2 years ago · 1 note

A little thought can make life a lot less distressing for people with dementia

A common problem for someone with dementia being cared for in a home is that they will want to go home to their husband/wife - the problem being is that said spouse died years ago. This can lead to locked wards, restraining, even routine sedation: not good at all. Link leads you to an interesting solution created in Düsseldorf: A fake bus stop outside the hospital. Wait for a while, and then the person forgets why they’re there, and will be very happy to follow a nurse back inside after the offer of a nice drink. If you follow through to the original talk there’s more detail.

2 years ago · 0 notes

youmightfindyourself: You’re going to study at Kyoto University and not quite sure how you’ll afford housing? How about Yoshida-ryo, a rundown dormitory built in 1913 that charges 2,500 yen a month. At the southern edge of Kyoto University’s Yoshida Campus in Kyoto lies a tree-shrouded, sprawling and ramshackle wooden building. It is decrepit and sometimes even interweaved with overgrowth. But this building is no ruin. It’s the Yoshida-ryo dormitory — a bewildering anachronism in a city based on the idea of living history. Nearly a century old, and looking every day of it, Yoshida-ryo is very likely the last remaining example of the once common Japanese wooden university dormitory. This building was built in 1913. Organized from the very beginning to be self-administering through a dormitory association (寮自治会), the students themselves have been responsible for selecting new applicants for residency. This autonomy, however, came under full-scale assault in 1971, when the Ministry of Education began a policy of regulating or closing dormitories, which were seen as “hotbeds for various kinds of conflict.” University authorities first tried to close Yoshida-ryo completely in 1979, and after failing to overcome opposition over the next 10 years finally closed the Western Yoshida-ryo across the street. With the death of Japan’s violent student activism, the campaign to close the dormitory subsided for a time, but in the aftermath of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake there were new calls to replace the poorly aged building, which had already seen its maintenance neglected for decades by a university that had wanted to demolish it. At present, the future of the dormitory is unclear. While residents have performed some minor upgrades over the years, such as the haphazard stringing of Ethernet cables through the halls to each room, they have only recently begun discussing the possibility of performing serious repairs themselves. There has even been some discussion of bypassing the university and applying for historical building preservation funds, although the building may be considered too far gone for proper restoration, particularly while still being lived in. The university has recently been fairly insistent on their plan to replace it with a new, safer structure, which fits in with their aggressive earthquake-proofing campaign. But the current administration seems unlikely to take extreme action along the lines of Tokyo University’s demolition of Komaba-ryo in 2001, when its residents were literally dragged out of the building by over 570 private security guards and university staff in the midst of a raging typhoon. Originally only housing male undergraduates, Yoshida-ryo went coed in 1985, started accepting foreign students in 1990, and since 1991 has accepted any sort of Kyoto University affiliated student, including graduate students, with some current residents living there from their freshman year all the way through the end of graduate school. While the facilities are sub-par by modern standards, the unbelievably low rent of ￥2,500 per month (technically ￥400 rent, ￥1,600 utilities and ￥500 to fund the Yoshida-ryo Residents Association) and bohemian atmosphere make it an attractive living place for financially challenged students (including a large number of self-financed students from China). Visiting Yoshida-ryo Yoshida-ryo is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Higashiyama and Konoe Streets in Kyoto City. As Yoshida-ryo is a working school dormitory and not a museum, visitors should not wander around the interior of the buildings, but students hanging out near the main entrance are often willing to give a quick tour of the public areas if asked politely. For the frugal and adventurous traveler, it is often possible to sleep on the floor of one of the large (and admittedly pretty filthy) common rooms for a nominal fee of ￥200 per night, although at the beginning of the semester these areas are sometimes used to temporarily house new residents before rooms are assigned and may not be available for guests. (via Yoshida-ryo dormitory at Kyoto University | CNNGo.com)

youmightfindyourself:

You’re going to study at Kyoto University and not quite sure how you’ll afford housing? How about Yoshida-ryo, a rundown dormitory built in 1913 that charges 2,500 yen a month.

At the southern edge of Kyoto University’s Yoshida Campus in Kyoto lies a tree-shrouded, sprawling and ramshackle wooden building. It is decrepit and sometimes even interweaved with overgrowth. But this building is no ruin. It’s the Yoshida-ryo dormitory — a bewildering anachronism in a city based on the idea of living history.

Nearly a century old, and looking every day of it, Yoshida-ryo is very likely the last remaining example of the once common Japanese wooden university dormitory. This building was built in 1913. Organized from the very beginning to be self-administering through a dormitory association (寮自治会), the students themselves have been responsible for selecting new applicants for residency. This autonomy, however, came under full-scale assault in 1971, when the Ministry of Education began a policy of regulating or closing dormitories, which were seen as “hotbeds for various kinds of conflict.” University authorities first tried to close Yoshida-ryo completely in 1979, and after failing to overcome opposition over the next 10 years finally closed the Western Yoshida-ryo across the street.

With the death of Japan’s violent student activism, the campaign to close the dormitory subsided for a time, but in the aftermath of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake there were new calls to replace the poorly aged building, which had already seen its maintenance neglected for decades by a university that had wanted to demolish it.

At present, the future of the dormitory is unclear. While residents have performed some minor upgrades over the years, such as the haphazard stringing of Ethernet cables through the halls to each room, they have only recently begun discussing the possibility of performing serious repairs themselves. There has even been some discussion of bypassing the university and applying for historical building preservation funds, although the building may be considered too far gone for proper restoration, particularly while still being lived in.

The university has recently been fairly insistent on their plan to replace it with a new, safer structure, which fits in with their aggressive earthquake-proofing campaign. But the current administration seems unlikely to take extreme action along the lines of Tokyo University’s demolition of Komaba-ryo in 2001, when its residents were literally dragged out of the building by over 570 private security guards and university staff in the midst of a raging typhoon.

Originally only housing male undergraduates, Yoshida-ryo went coed in 1985, started accepting foreign students in 1990, and since 1991 has accepted any sort of Kyoto University affiliated student, including graduate students, with some current residents living there from their freshman year all the way through the end of graduate school.

While the facilities are sub-par by modern standards, the unbelievably low rent of ￥2,500 per month (technically ￥400 rent, ￥1,600 utilities and ￥500 to fund the Yoshida-ryo Residents Association) and bohemian atmosphere make it an attractive living place for financially challenged students (including a large number of self-financed students from China).

Visiting Yoshida-ryo

Yoshida-ryo is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Higashiyama and Konoe Streets in Kyoto City. As Yoshida-ryo is a working school dormitory and not a museum, visitors should not wander around the interior of the buildings, but students hanging out near the main entrance are often willing to give a quick tour of the public areas if asked politely.

For the frugal and adventurous traveler, it is often possible to sleep on the floor of one of the large (and admittedly pretty filthy) common rooms for a nominal fee of ￥200 per night, although at the beginning of the semester these areas are sometimes used to temporarily house new residents before rooms are assigned and may not be available for guests. (via Yoshida-ryo dormitory at Kyoto University | CNNGo.com)

2 years ago · 20 notes · Source · Reblogged from youmightfindyourself

Of all the people in human history who ever reached the age of 65, half are alive now.
—  The shock of the old: Welcome to the elderly age (via zachklein) (via dubliner) (via neonloneliness) (via lemdi)

2 years ago · 98 notes · Source

Absinthe Fact and Fiction

Examines the history of Absinthe and provides some interesting nuggets of information about whether it really does cause hallucinations.

2 years ago · 0 notes

B&W P5 headphones: “first impressions” review

rolphus:

I was in the market for some new headphones. My Sennheiser PXC450s have worn all around the earcup, and they don’t make a good seal around my ears with glasses on anyway. I’ve been looking at various alternatives, chief among them the Sennheiser MM450 headset, because it’s bluetooth, and the sound quality is really good considering what they have to deal with. I gave them a good test (as my girlfriend has them) by taking them on the tube last time I was in London. The sound quality isn’t quite up there for me (although it’s remarkably good, with particularly tight bass), and more importantly, they don’t isolate well enough.

When I heard about B&W moving into headphone production, and aiming for a really well-made, high-end set which was designed to be used with portable devices, I was naturally interested. Upon investigating more and reading a couple of reviews, I thought I’d give them a go. After all, if I don’t like them after a week, I can always return them.

They’ve turned up today. 

Read More

I’m reblogging this for the few audiophiles in my followers list. And seeing as at first glance I can’t see a link to the actual product, have a link to it here.

2 years ago · 6 notes · Source · Reblogged from rolphus

An interesting look into sexuality in prison

@DrPetra:

RT @carmenego BEN’S PRISON BL0G - 1. Stereotypes and Myths prisonerben.blogspot.com/2010/03… <discusses issue of sex in prison

The most notable one: there doesn’t appear to be a strategy to teach the “facts of life”, including general relationship education to child prisoners - something which, if done right could reduce reoffending.

2 years ago · 0 notes

This 'heat freezing water' article popped up on my radar (I just get too lazy to shut it and figure that banana man is cute) and so I read it

macmankev:

livfm:

It sounded interesting enough, and it was although I don’t know why freezing water using heat would be helpful because the techniques they described sounded more complex than just buying a giant freezer. Anyway it just annoyed me because it seemed blatantly obvious nobody had read this article, and those who had wouldn’t have liked/reblogged it because it was just a bunch of chemistry with two interesting sentences. What I’m saying is that I want that fruit person again but made of a mandarin and not a banana.

It’s interesting science, but I think you’re right, no one actually read the article. I think many people were even thinking about heat as temperatures above freezing when in fact it’s just supercooled water being heated up. The water itself still has a temperature below the freezing point. The part I actually find more interesting is how the charge effects the way the water freezes.

And I agree, we need more fruit people.

This reminds me of this particular encounter from a few months ago.

Me: “I learnt about high temperature superconductors today! It’s really cool.”

Rolphus: “Wow, how warm? and how do they make them?”

Me: “Well, they can get up to 120 Kelvin! Isn’t that fantastic?”

Rolphus: “Er…”

2 years ago · 5 notes · Source · Reblogged from macmankev

venndiagrams: fuckyeahvisualdata: Senior UK Politicians’ Voting Records on Gay Rights (via mkandlez) This pretty much sums up why I vote the way I do. I&#8217;m of the pro defence spending and pro gay rights crowd. I know that&#8217;s fairly unusual - hey, maybe I&#8217;ll get a venn diagram about that some day&#8230; What would be interesting would be to collate data on the &#8220;absent&#8221; people in such votes, and what party they belonged to: if an MP doesn&#8217;t tow the line and has been advised against voting on a bill, do they vote anyway? Glancing over &#8220;theyworkforyou&#8221;, older Tory MPs tend to, as they&#8217;re &#8220;old school&#8221;, newer Labour party MPs do not, which is a shame. It would be nice to quantify this at some point.

venndiagrams:

fuckyeahvisualdata:

Senior UK Politicians’ Voting Records on Gay Rights (via mkandlez)

This pretty much sums up why I vote the way I do. I’m of the pro defence spending and pro gay rights crowd. I know that’s fairly unusual - hey, maybe I’ll get a venn diagram about that some day…

What would be interesting would be to collate data on the “absent” people in such votes, and what party they belonged to: if an MP doesn’t tow the line and has been advised against voting on a bill, do they vote anyway? Glancing over “theyworkforyou”, older Tory MPs tend to, as they’re “old school”, newer Labour party MPs do not, which is a shame. It would be nice to quantify this at some point.

2 years ago · 6 notes · Source · Reblogged from venndiagrams

This is a good read

@DrPetra:

Toby Young doesn’t like the sexualisation report very much blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/to…

Pros:

  • Does identify the leaps and bounds made for sexual offenses in the past 20 years. (rape now includes penetration of the mouth) if however ignoring the sloppily written bits (will not get into now).
  • Does show that domestic violence has gone down in the past 20 years: yay!
  • Does show the report is a load of nonsense.

Cons:

  • Discrediting a researcher should not include their choice of specialist subject in some reality tv quiz.

Edit:

Have the Guardian’s slightly more moderate feeling (but more constructive) take on this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/26/sexualisation-children-parental-guidance-editorial

2 years ago · 0 notes

Minimal: As I grow older I want things to be simpler...

This is going to be one my rants…

I’ve noticed something interesting lately: As I grow older I want things to be simpler.

Let me explain.

Back in the early 90’s when Linux came out I jumped straight into it because I grew up using UNIX and I felt right at home - plus I always thought DOS ad…

This feels familiar.

2 years ago · 21 notes · Source · Reblogged from mnmal