Interesting Links for 27-10-2011
Oct. 27th, 2011 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrewducker- There is "disagreement" over whether an independent Scotland would be part of the EU
- Will Britain get its EU Referendum after all?
- Nokia launches Windows Phone range. Looks shiny, but too locked down for me.
- Ken Clarke in rift with Theresa May over knife-crime children. Playing Good-Tory/Bad-Tory?
- The Three Musketeers: Incompetent Mass Murders of the 17th Century
- I hadn't realised that the Green Party had come out against homeopathy and in favour of stem cell research.
- The revolution will not be televised - because the media cut off when the teargassing started.
- Gene regulatory protein is reduced in bipolar disorder
- Mood, cognition and sleep patterns improve in Alzheimer's patients after cataract surgery
- Longevity Shown for First Time to Be Inherited via a Non-DNA Mechanism
- BT given a fortnight to block Newzbin
- Hands On with India’s $35 Android tablet
- Why Economic Models are Always Wrong (Well, one of many reasons)
- What depression feels like (for one person, obviously)
- Chicks With Guns. Not quite what you're expecting.
- When goths grow up.
- The latest answer to US debt - charge Canadians for visiting
- The Rules of Effortless Parenting
- Men underrepresented in binge eating research
- Hear the one about men being funnier than women? Study shows its kinda true.
- Discover What’s New in CSS 4
- US government blocking research into marijuana and PTSD
- Disastrous IP Legislation Is Back – And It’s Worse than Ever
- How the Patriot Act strips people of their free-speech rights. This is pretty terrifying.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 11:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 11:50 am (UTC)If they adopted some of the Pirates' pro-govt-transparency and personal-privacy ideas I'd be happier too. I don't really see an ideological clash between Green and Pirate, just a difference in what they focus on.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 11:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-28 10:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 12:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 02:01 pm (UTC)This looks like a piece of scaremongering by conservatives (small-c and Capital-C) who don't wish to see the UK break apart. There is simply no precedent whatever in EU law for a declaration of autonomy or independence by a territory or region which is part of an existing Member State; it does not therefore automatically follow, as the article claims, that the newly autonomous or independent state would be regarded as a candidate country which has to undergo a complete accession process. Indeed, the newly independent country would already be party to the acquis, through the signature of the Member State from which it was seceding; it would therefore already be compliant with all applicable EU law. In such circumstances, therefore, it is more likely that there would be short transition process in which the newly independent country signed its own acquis documents, ratified the Treaties in its own Parliament, and nominated its own Commissioner. "Short" in this case could be as little as a year or two.
I suspect that the conservatives claiming that Scotland would have to be treated as a candidate country are well aware of this, but are using the eurozone crisis as camouflage for their real fears (that the UK might break apart). A similar elision is present in David Gow's article, where he refers throughout to "Britain" but quite clearly means "England", which has always been the most resentful of the three countries about the "burghers of Brussels". (Four countries, if you count Northern Ireland -- indeed, Gow's is a double elision, since he's using "Britain" as short-hand for "UK". Perhaps a geographically-challenged sub-editor is to blame.) You can bet your bottom dollar that if there was referendum on a revised Treaty, and there was a majority vote in England to leave the EU, not just Scotland but Wales and Northern Ireland would also be clamouring for independence from England so that they could remain as Members.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 02:37 pm (UTC)The way the politicians are adamant that we won't get a referendum on whether or not we should be part of the EU. Like they know the people would vote no, but it's infinitely better for us to be part of the EU than out of it.
Which means they really need to do a better job of explaining to we, the people, exactly why being in Europe is a very good thing indeed.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 01:40 pm (UTC)And I've heard (sorry, lost the source which is a shame because I think it was in a spectacularly good video about Deaf culture and not putting deaf people into a marked state) that old people people aren't stigmatized in Deaf culture. At the time I thought that it simply meant a different culture could have different-- and better-- values, but it might be that old people who sign are in better mental shape because they're less likely to lose social contact.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 01:52 pm (UTC)My observations of my son and my father-in-law, who both have hearing impairments, supports the idea that people who cannot communicate properly (when their aids are not functioning) will withdraw.
Of course this is not the only cause of dementia, but it may make it worse. I seem to recall reading that mild dementias are often related to things as fixable as medication side-effect - it makes sense that sensory impairments could be a factor.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 01:53 pm (UTC)I have a day off today and I was so glad to see this huge list of interesting things to consider!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 02:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 02:15 pm (UTC)god, that's good.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 02:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 02:45 pm (UTC)I have very often gotten this confused with the downside of my obsessive disorder, but very recently I had a powerful moment of clarity:
drum rehearsal. I'm late because I feel like absolute shit. I have no energy, no desire, I'm going because I said I'd go. I can hear the pattern clearly from outside, but I don't know it [I have lacked the energy or enthusiasm to actually learn this stuff properly].
I go in. I see my fellow drummers playing, some cheery, some frustrated. I feel absolutely nothing.
I start playing. People cheer at my arrival. I'm one of the better players, and am very loud. At least two other bassists watch me for cues 90% of the time we play. I pick up the pattern instantly, begin playing.
I feel, physically, freezing cold. There's no emotional connection to anyone there [some of whom are my closest friends], no pleasure at all in playing. I have to take my top off because I'm sweating.
Another pattern, one I don't recognise. It's horrible. It makes no sense. It sounds shit. It's overly complex and it'll take me weeks to learn.
I learn it instantly. My mind is completely clear. There's no thought, no emotion. I'm not mentally there, and nothing matters except this drum pattern.
One of my close friends notes my... mood? and asks if I feel ok. I give a very brief shake of the head: negative. Very much not OK.
She stops playing, starts giving me a shoulder massage. I can feel it happening, but that's it. She keeps going for a while, then gives me a massive hug from behind. I still feel nothing. I start playing another pattern. She stops the hugging, tells me everything'll be fine very soon.
I recognise her words, and their meaning, but I know that if I let myself feel anything, I will break. I remain ice.
the only thing I can do, other than stand and breathe, is drum. So that's what I do. I can't speak, can't look at anyone. If I do I'll break.
The session ends. My friend asks me if I'm ok to carry on. I tell her I don't know, and I break.
I grab her and cry. I tell her I'm painfully close to quitting. I just cannot fucking do it. Life is a nightmare, and I can't see a way out.
she says that's ok. They'll manage without me, but not nearly as well. I should take a couple of days out to think it over.
everyone else goes to the pub. I get on my bike and head home, blurred vision the whole way, shaking constantly.
I get home and collapse on the couch, and cry till I can't anymore.
next day I go to uni, remain the walking dead.
the weekend I ask myself a very simple question: will I feel better or worse if I quit.
the answer: this is not the problem. it's just the easiest thing I could possibly control.
the fact I can think that is a massive breakthrough. A few years ago, that thought would have been impossible.
I keep going, not because the drumming is important or good or worth the effort, but because *not* going will fix absolutely nothing.
if I feel dead, I may as well be a useful corpse
the rest of the world can just carry on not existing for a little while.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 02:57 pm (UTC)which, of course, means it would be jolly good if mind-blowingly massive political donations had *no affect whatsoever* on the legislature.
methinks Occupy Wall Street has a couple more streets to occupy
[or more precisely: Dear US Govt. - please start passing laws in favour of *people*, rather than *corporations*. That would be awesome. Thanks]
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 04:35 pm (UTC)Given a curve from 0 to x1, I can approximate it with a series. But then there are tons of other series that fit it too -- but each of them different beyond the x1 point.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 04:39 pm (UTC)Sod that. If it's not doing what either http://lesscss.org/ or http://sass-lang.com/ can do it's not worth it.
Less
Date: 2011-10-28 01:16 pm (UTC)Re: Less
Date: 2011-10-28 02:10 pm (UTC)The additional complexity you'd get for adding variables to CSS would be bad enough - but can you imagine how "interesting" it would get when your JS interacted with CSS variables?
Re: Less
Date: 2011-10-28 03:24 pm (UTC)Re: Less
Date: 2011-10-28 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 07:04 pm (UTC)