Difference between revisions of "User:Woozle"

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== Stuff ==
[[Category:Contributors]]This is Woozle's "internal" page, for making notes on things; you are welcome to poke around in this area all you like, but most of it probably won't mean much to you.
*[[User:Woozle/Right_Now|What Woozle Is Doing Right Now]] <nowiki><-- answer to popular question</nowiki>
 
*[[User:Woozle_To-Do|To Do List]]
'''Woozle's "external" page for general public consumption is [[Woozle|here]]'''.
*[http://wiki.sluggysquad.com/index.php/User:Woozle me @ SquadWiki]
==Practical Stuff==
*[[Anna Nikola|The Anna Page]] for family consumption
* [[/help needed]]
=== Birthday eCards 2005 ===
* [[Woozle's Projects]]: outdated page
*[http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=PE22994792 from Aunt Jeannie] in California
** [[Woozle's audio projects|audio projects]], with lots of free downloads
*[http://www.hallmark.nl/ecardOphalen.aspx?k=LSokXnRKImw%3d from Sinaasappeltje] in the Netherlands
* [[:category:woozle|Woozle]] category: writings, pictures, stuff, things.
=== Essays ===
===Pages to Keep Track of===
* Scribunto stuff:
** https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Scribunto
*** https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Scribunto/Lua_reference_manual
*** https://www.lua.org/docs.html
** [[Module:Blog]] - place where I was going to put the blogging code
** [[Module:Demo]] - sandbox
===Somewhat Esoteric Stuff===
* [[Anna Nikola|The Anna Page]] for family consumption ([[:Category:Anna Nikola]] has all the pictures)
* [[:Category:Woozle]] has images and links to other Woozle-related stuff
* Apparently David Oates played one of my comedy bits on his WUGA radio show, [http://www.wuga.org/great_apes.html Great Apes]. Who knew.
* [[/tabdump]]: where I put links to web pages I don't have time to file properly
===Somewhat Outdated Stuff===
* [[/archive]]: stuff that's no longer current/needed but is being kept for reference
* [[/notes]]: place to ditch bits of text I don't want to delete
=== Other places to find me ===
* [[htyp:User:Woozle|HTYP]]
* [[issuepedia:User:Woozle|Issuepedia]]
* [[Squadwiki:User:Woozle|Squadwiki]]
* [[wikipedia:User:Woozle|Wikipedia]]
* [http://www.wikocracy.com/wiki/index.php/User:Woozle Wikocracy]
 
==Essays==
*[[The Hyperfamily Idea]]
*[[The Hyperfamily Idea]]
*[[User:Woozle/Childrearing|Childrearing]]
*[[/Childrearing|Childrearing]]
== Projects ==
See also [[issuepedia:User:Woozle|Issuepedia]], where I've written a lot of stuff, and the [[:category:woozle|Woozle]] category.
* Operational
==Bookmarks==
**[http://issuepedia.org/ Issuepedia]: an Encyclopedia of Issues (5/4: no content yet)
Most of my bookmarks get filed in [[HTYP]] or [[Issuepedia]], but sometimes I just don't have time to file everything and I dump them here so I can close tabs in Firefox.
**[http://wiki.sluggysquad.com/ SquadWiki]: online community with Niftyness!&trade;
===Media===
**[http://vbz.net vbz.net]: online store ([http://wiki.vbz.net wiki site])
* [http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse/chapter-14-assets-demographics The Crash Course: Chapter 14] (so I can close the tab, which insists on reloading itself every minute or two)
* Under Development
* [http://www.archive.org/details/Gary_Webb2 Gary Webb: In his own words (2004)]
**Software
====already watched====
***[[HyperMoney]] accounting database program: (4/15) usable for balancing checkbooks, but no Nifty features working
* [http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/126361340/intellectual_passion.php] links to video of Digby defending progressive politics
***[[HyperMail]] email management database program: (4/15) working out kinks in Thunderbird import code
* [[googlevideo:3505348655137118430|The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis]]: 1987 Bill Moyers documentary
***[[HyperFile]] file and media management database program: (4/15) in design phase; tables and some code written
* http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html
***[[HyperPlayer]] media database/jukebox which allows browsing & playing audio (and eventually video) by artist and album, eventually also by songwriting, performance, and production credits.
===Archives===
**Back Burner
* [[/2008]]
***[[Open Security System]]: using information technology and [[FOSS|open source software]] to provide higher-quality home security for less
===2009-03-21===
**Other
* '''2003-06-29''' [http://www.apa.org/releases/driving_workload.html MORE COMPLICATED MENTAL TASKS INTERFERE WITH DRIVERS' ABILITY TO DETECT AND DISCRIMINATE AMONG VISUAL TARGETS]
***[[CyberLife]]: where I hope I'll be living in a few decades
* '''2006-12-26'''
* Trivia
** [http://theopinionmill.wordpress.com/2006/12/26/the-blighted-bookshelf-or-the-ten-most-damaging-winger-books-of-all-time-6705/ The Blighted Bookshelf, or, The Ten Most Damaging Winger Books of All Time (6/7/05)]
**[[Epigram]] word silliness program
** [http://theopinionmill.wordpress.com/2006/12/26/united-scatinos-of-america-8205/ United Scatinos of America (8/2/05)]: I thought I already filed something which made a very similar argument... find it, and tie it together with this
=== Technical Gripes ===
* '''2009-01-19''' [http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/the-curmudgeons-amendment/ The Curmudgeon's Amendment]
* Why don't OCR programs ever let you open an existing image for OCRing? (This includes the XSane front-end and every Windows OCR program I've ever used, which is one program, but it was also buggy. What's XSane's excuse?)
* '''2009-02-14''' [http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledeen/2009/02/14/were-all-fascists-now-ii-american-tyranny/ We're All Fascists Now II: American Tyranny]: something JERS forwarded; try to figure out what its argument is. There was some email discussion.
* An email program which pops up a dialog box whenever it has trouble connecting, and thereafter ceases to attempt connections, is annoying. Unfortunately, my current email program does this. This is only one of many reasons I'm [[HyperMail|writing my own]].
* '''2009-02-21''' [http://www.businessinsider.com/the-housing-chart-thats-worth-1000-words-2009-2 The Housing Chart That's Worth 1000 Words]: a history of home values
* RSS has the potential to let a user "subscribe" to a particular [[MediaWiki]] page or author, only being alerted when that page is updated or that author makes an edit -- but of the two RSS (or Atom) readers I've tried, neither one lets you filter by these attributes. You can set up a temporary filter for word-in-article-title, but it only does "name contains", not "name is" or anything more sophisticated. The MediaWiki software could get around this by offering pre-filtered feeds (e.g. there should be an RSS feed for each page's "history" tab) as well as for "my contributions" for each user.
* '''2009-02-24''' [http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/02/house-prices-real-prices-price-to-rent.html House Prices: Real Prices, Price-to-Rent, and Price-to-Income]: blog may be worth following too
== Interesting Sites ==
* '''2009-02-25''' [http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/what-should-government-do-a-jindal-meditation/ What should government do? A Jindal meditation] by Paul Krugman
*(2005-04-21) [http://www.ipnsig.org/ Interplanetary Internet Project]
* '''2009-02-28''' [http://entequilaesverdad.blogspot.com/2009/02/happy-hour-discurso_27.html En Tequila]: I attempt to ask What's So Terrible About Socialism in a comment
*(2005-03-27) [http://newvoyages.com/ Star Trek New Voyages]: fan-produced, freely downloadable episodes of new stories from the 4th and 5th year of the original 5-year mission. Maintains the look-and-feel (and -sound) of the original series, but with CGI effects.
* '''2009-03-03'''
*(2004) [http://opencyc.org/ OpenCyc]: a project to put basic "common sense" into an open-source database.
** [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/john-yoos-legal-groundwor_b_171552.html John Yoo's Legal Groundwork for Subverting the Republic]
** [http://www.lessig.org/blog/2009/03/me_google_re_change_congress.html Lessig @ Google]: '''video''' to watch
** [http://entequilaesverdad.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-one-of-biggest-tax-cuts-in-history.html En Tequila] post has comment by me followed by WOWZOMGBBQ insanely long comment from Anonymous. Worth anything?
* '''2009-03-16''' [http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2009/03/16/how-rich-countries-die/ How Rich Countries Die]
* '''2009-03-18''' [http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/18/wilkerson-cheney-evil/ Colin Powell's former chief of staff: Cheney is "evil", his fearmongering is "assisting" al Qaeda]
* '''2009-03-19'''
** [http://www.cnbc.com/id/29769858 What the Pros Say: US Is Now 'Bankrupt']
** [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090319/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_guantanamo_wrongly_held Ex-Bush admin official: Many at Gitmo are innocent]
** [http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/video/clips/president-obama-319/1067541/ Obma on The Tonight Show] (video)
* '''To contact for Josh''':
** <s>[http://www.lssp.org/how_to_get_help.html Legal Services of Southern Piedmont]</s>: done 2009-03-22
** [http://www.aci-nc.org/dnn/ContactACI/tabid/62/Default.aspx Autism Community Initiative]
** [http://www.rsi-nc.org/contact%20us/contact_us.htm Residential Services, Inc.]
** [https://www.spectrumresourcesofnc.net/Family_Consultation.html Spectrum Resources - Family Consultation]: possibly explain the situation to them and see if they can offer anything worth our time?
* '''File on HTYP''':
** [http://www.evilesq.com/about/ EvilEsq]: The Bar Association for Evil Attorneys
*** [http://twitter.com/EvilEsq Twitter channel]
** [http://www.lssp.org/what_we_do.html Legal Services of Southern Piedmont]
** [http://renu.citizenre.com/ CitizenRe]: rent your solar power
** [http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/duc.ducpp19300401WC0339/pg.1/ Duke West Campus under construction]
** [https://www.spectrumresourcesofnc.net/ Spectrum Resources of NC]
** [http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS9634061300.html Linux-based wall-wart computer]
** [http://www.kosmix.com/ Kosmix]: sort of a 3G search engine?
** [http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/index.html Child-Autism-Parent-Cafe]
* [http://www.doodle.com/ Doodle]: online polling and scheduling
* [http://politicalcompass.org/iconochasms Iconochasms]: some quotes to check and file; also file the site under [[issuepedia:Political Spectra]]
* [http://scienceblogs.com/strangerfruit/2009/03/are_you_a_progressive.php Stranger Fruit]: commentary on the "are you a progressive?" test
* http://www.thejesusmyth.com/whoever-is-not-with-me-is-against-me.htm - can I swipe their social bookmarking bar?
* [http://www.atheistview.com/ Atheist View]
* [http://www.tirerack.com/ TireRack.com]: spare wheel rim for minivan
* '''embeddable players''' - to investigate:
** [http://flowplayer.org/#scripting Flowplayer]
** [http://www.osflv.com/Documentation/flv.html OS FLV]: open-source embeddable FLV player
* [http://www.avs4you.com/AVS-Video-Converter.aspx AVS Video Converter]
* [http://seasteading.org/stay-in-touch/blog/3 Seasteading: Captain's Blog]
 
===2009-02-13===
* '''2009-01-05''' [http://suicidegirls.com/news/geek/23482/ An Open Kindle] by Mur Lafferty: an unexpected security hazard...
* '''2009-01-26''' [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,482264,00.html Scientist Teleport Matter More Than Three Feet]: headline is worthy of the National Enquirer when compared to the content, but article still seems to include some technical-ish details
* '''2009-02-02'''
** [http://www.physorg.com/news152812170.html Neurobiologist Proposes 'The End Of Sex As We Once Knew It']
** [http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/02/the_end_of_the_culture_war.php Roe and the Culture War]: Ross Douthat, ugh ugh ugh... I think this is a link that Progressive Conservative posted for me to read
** [http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123353276749137485.html How Government Prolonged the Depression]: more right-wing talking points packaged as a WSJ editorial
** [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/01/AR2009020102247.html?referrer=emailarticle Seeking Help for Autistic Kids] "Va. Parents Want Insurers to Pay for Therapy, but Critics Worry About Costs"
* [http://www.ptua.org.au/myths/lightrail.shtml Myth: Heavy rail costs too much; we should build light rail instead]
* [http://web.blogads.com/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=8e277d60ee076bb421efd69710f5f4e6 Create ad / 9/11 Blogger: Standard]: not sure what I was thinking of advertising; Issuepedia, maybe?
* [http://www.bordeauxgroup.com/documentation/install-guide Bordeaux for Linux 1.4 Install and Usage Guide]: might want to buy this and try it; also list in HTYP under WINE add-ons
* [http://www.thevoiceofautism.org/ The Real Voices of Autism]: autism social network using Elgg
 
* [http://entequilaesverdad.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-progressive-conservatism-seems.html The Great Progressive Conservative vs. Rational Liberal Debate @ ETEV]
 
===2009-02-12===
* [http://www.idealist.org/en/about/firsttime.html idealist.org]
* [http://www.disabilityrightsnc.org/pages/70/What-We-Do/ Disability Rights NC]: to investigate for Josh
* [http://www.fullsteam.ag/2008/12/our-brewery-has-arrived/ Full Steam Brewery]
* [http://www.indabamusic.com/ Indaba Music]
* '''2008-09-17''' [http://cujo359.blogspot.com/2008/09/of-foxes-and-hen-houses.html Of Foxes And Hen Houses]
* '''2009-01-21''' [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/coyne09/coyne09_index.html DOES THE EMPIRICAL NATURE OF SCIENCE CONTRADICT THE REVELATORY NATURE OF FAITH?]
* '''2009-02-04'''
** [http://cujo359.blogspot.com/2009/02/reality-dawns-why-congress-loves-banks.html Reality Dawns: Why Congress Loves The Banks]
** [http://www.tnr.com/story_print.html?id=1e3851a3-bdf7-438a-ac2a-a5e381a70472 Seeing and Believing]
** [http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/04/autism.resolution/index.html Teen's family transformed after autism intervention]
* '''2009-02-08''' [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/opinion/09krugman.html The Destructive Center]
* '''2009-02-09''' [http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123413741814261521.html Time to Reinvent the Web (and Save Wall Street)]
* '''2009-02-10''' [http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/02/10/first-100-days-harness-the-genie-of-citizen-engagement/ First 100 Days: Harness the genie of citizen engagement]
* '''2009-02-11''' [http://blog.jamendo.com/2009/02/11/copyright-term-extension-no-thank-you/ Copyright term extension? No thank you…]: includes video
===2009-01-22===
* '''2009-01-22'''
** [http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/president.tension/index.html Balance of power trying to find balance]: about tension between Obama and Congress Democrats
** [http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/guantanamo.order/index.html Obama signs executive order to close Guantanamo Bay]
** [http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/22/acid.attacks/index.html Afghan girls maimed by acid vow to go to school]
* '''2009-01-21'''
** [http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2009/01/downvote-bots-fight-propaganda-war.html Downvote Bots Fight Propaganda War]: this would seem to illustrate the importance of having a tool like [[issuepedia:InstaGov|InstaGov]]
** [http://www.acandidworld.net/2009/01/21/obamas-political-dynamic-the-shape-of-things-to-come/ Obama’s Political Dynamic & the Shape of Things to Come]
* '''2009-01-20'''
** [http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2009/01/20/ben_stein_and_history/index.html Ben Stein: Please eat your hat]
*** Other articles on [http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/?last_story=/tech/htww/2009/01/20/ben_stein_and_history/ this page] may also be of interest
** [http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=9122 Barack Obama's Inaugural Address]: for an eventual collection of reactions to the address
* '''2009-01-17''' [http://entequilaesverdad.blogspot.com/2009/01/eric-holder-does-not-believe-in-24.html Eric Holder Does Not Believe In 24. Neocon Heads Explode]: Holder confirmations, neocons still believing in torture, John Cornyn needs a dunce cap
* '''2009-01-12''' [http://www.acandidworld.net/2009/01/12/the-equal-protection-of-the-laws-gender-segregated-dorms/ The Equal Protection of the Laws: Gender-”Segregated” Dorms]: polygamy as the stalking-horse for gay marriage
* '''2009-01-08''' [http://mises.org/story/3283 The Dangers of Disputing Warming Orthodoxy]: global warming conspiracy theorism
* '''2009-01-03''' [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123093987596650197.html Why We Keep Falling for Financial Scams]: I think I emailed a critique of this to JERS
* '''2008-12-30''' [http://entequilaesverdad.blogspot.com/2008/12/bloody-horrible-mess.html A Bloody, Horrible Mess]: see comments section for links about Israel using cluster bombs, and links on the Gaza situation in general
* '''2008-12-29''' [http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/12/29/gilad-atzmon-eine-kleine-nacht-murder-how-israeli-leaders-kill-for-their-peoples-votes/ Gilad Atzmon - Eine Kleine Nacht Murder: How Israeli Leaders Kill for their People's Votes]
* '''2008-12-22''' [http://www.lessig.org/blog/2008/12/end_the_copyright_war_now.html End the [copyright] war: NOW!]
* '''2008-12-19'''
** [http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=15088 Why Ahmadinejad Fears Khatami]
** [http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1179.htm Iran Warns Of Bilderberg Plot To Plunge World Into Total Chaos]: rather conspiracy-ish, but may have some interesting sources (also links above article on other topics)
* '''2008-11-30''' [http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-gabler30-2008nov30,0,635817.story The GOP's McCarthy gene]
* '''2000-05-28''' [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20000528/ai_n13949725 Lockerbie: CIA witness gagged by US government; Lockerbie trial]
* '''1997''' [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/old/351609.html A Rational Consensus Model In Group Decision Making Using Linguistic Assessments]: is this gobbledygook, or something usable?
* '''Guttmacher''' (search for "education"):
** '''2007-05-10''' [http://www.guttmacher.org/media/presskits/2007/05/10/sexed.html Changing Direction: Support Sex Education That Works]
** '''2001-03-01''' [http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2001/03/01/newsrelease4101.html ALL BUT POLITICIANS SEEM TO AGREE THAT TEENS NEED MORE THAN ABSTINENCE-ONLY EDUCATION]
* '''Wikipedia''': [[wikipedia:Presuppositional apologetics|Presuppositional apologetics]] ought to be linked from somewhere (Christianity?)
* [http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5767 Subject: Slaughter of the Canaanites]: how religion justifies slaughter
* [http://www.vuletic.com/hume/at/12.html The Tale of the Twelve Officers]: answers to the "problem of evil", told as a parable


== Bookmarks from Other People ==
==Customization==
* (2005-05-11) [http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/55463 BYU Article] about nitpicky religious discrimination -- possible Issuepedia fodder?
''see [[project:Configuration]]''
* (2005-05-11) [http://www.amconmag.com/12_15_03/feature.html American Conservative article] about Bush's "free-speech zones" - a conservative article criticizing Dubya??
* (2005-05-01) [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/30/AR2005043001119.html Computer Rage Article] - my dad thinks I should be working in this field; I think they've figured out how to franchise it, so there really isn't space for independent operators anymore (if there ever was). Plus my time commitments make it impractical to be "on call", even if I could stand to answer the phone for a living.
* (2005-04-22) [http://www.missyhiggins.com/ Missy Higgins] - Australian singer recommended by Yaira. Songs available for continuous lo-fi listening but no downloads.
== Shiny Technology ==
*(2005-06-13) [http://www.klear.org Klear]: site was way slow when I first tried it...
*(2005-05-21) [http://engadget.com/entry/1234000067044168/ Vinyl Burner]


== Miskallaneeyus ==
==Notes==
* (2005-06-14) [http://tom.acrewoods.net/node/201 this] is an interesting bit of philosophizing, and so is [http://tom.acrewoods.net/node/39 this].
===Homeopathy===
* (2005-06-10) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality Hyperreality]: not sure if this relates to anything, but it's... interesting.
''from when Tene asked for the theory behind homeopathy; there isn't really anything scientific, which may mean it's all bunk (and indeed that's the prevailing sentiment), but...''
:(02:33:22 PM) Woozle: Ok, theory...
:(02:35:21 PM) Woozle: (And I'm not claiming this is scientific, just maybe a place to look.) Reality is generally more complicated than the models account for. We think of molecular movements in a gas or liquid as being "random", but there are probably patterns at some level.
:(02:37:34 PM) Woozle: Things vibrate. Things have resonances. It seems maybe a little unlikely, but couldn't it be that the particular shapes of the molecules present would influence those patterns in some way? The deadly problem with that idea is that once the influence is removed, you'd think that the patterns would deteriorate back to the default pretty quickly.
:(02:37:44 PM) Woozle: So maybe that doesn't work.
:(02:38:49 PM) Woozle: The other area to look is in quantum theory, which new-agey people love to use as an explanation for everything -- so I'm hesitant to bring it up -- but it seems possible to me that there may be some kind of pattern-retaining effect there.
:(02:41:25 PM) Woozle: The main thrust of my personal advocacy for homeopathics, though, is on two fronts... (1) it is kind of a "chew toy" (placebo, if you prefer -- though I *swear* I came across an article throwing serious doubt on the "placebo effect"... maybe I dreamed it, because I haven't been able to find it again) which prevents people from using our poorly-run healthcare system;
:(02:41:40 PM) Woozle: (Well, not *prevents... I guess I mean "pre-empts")
:(02:42:05 PM) Woozle: (except in emergencies, when it's really needed... thus applying the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it")
:(02:43:41 PM) Woozle: (2) homeopathic doctors tend to be much more in it because they want to help people, rather than in it for the paycheck -- so even if 90% of the time they're giving you treatment which actually has no effect, it at least isn't the latest sample from Glaxo which might actually be harmful... and they're more likely to pay attention to what's going on, and direct you to conventional treatment *if needed*.
:(02:46:14 PM) Woozle: (3) people should have the right to make their own mistakes. It seems to me that we do far too much protecting people from their own mistakes by "controlling" substances or outlawing them completely, when what we should be doing is educating and tracking. The big (mainstream) drug companies seem to want to make the situation worse; the homeopathy movement is fighting that tendency, even if it's actually making money off snake oil.

Latest revision as of 17:29, 5 January 2023

This is Woozle's "internal" page, for making notes on things; you are welcome to poke around in this area all you like, but most of it probably won't mean much to you.

Woozle's "external" page for general public consumption is here.

Practical Stuff

Pages to Keep Track of

Somewhat Esoteric Stuff

Somewhat Outdated Stuff

  • /archive: stuff that's no longer current/needed but is being kept for reference
  • /notes: place to ditch bits of text I don't want to delete

Other places to find me

Essays

See also Issuepedia, where I've written a lot of stuff, and the Woozle category.

Bookmarks

Most of my bookmarks get filed in HTYP or Issuepedia, but sometimes I just don't have time to file everything and I dump them here so I can close tabs in Firefox.

Media

already watched

Archives

2009-03-21

2009-02-13

2009-02-12

2009-01-22

Customization

see project:Configuration

Notes

Homeopathy

from when Tene asked for the theory behind homeopathy; there isn't really anything scientific, which may mean it's all bunk (and indeed that's the prevailing sentiment), but...

(02:33:22 PM) Woozle: Ok, theory...
(02:35:21 PM) Woozle: (And I'm not claiming this is scientific, just maybe a place to look.) Reality is generally more complicated than the models account for. We think of molecular movements in a gas or liquid as being "random", but there are probably patterns at some level.
(02:37:34 PM) Woozle: Things vibrate. Things have resonances. It seems maybe a little unlikely, but couldn't it be that the particular shapes of the molecules present would influence those patterns in some way? The deadly problem with that idea is that once the influence is removed, you'd think that the patterns would deteriorate back to the default pretty quickly.
(02:37:44 PM) Woozle: So maybe that doesn't work.
(02:38:49 PM) Woozle: The other area to look is in quantum theory, which new-agey people love to use as an explanation for everything -- so I'm hesitant to bring it up -- but it seems possible to me that there may be some kind of pattern-retaining effect there.
(02:41:25 PM) Woozle: The main thrust of my personal advocacy for homeopathics, though, is on two fronts... (1) it is kind of a "chew toy" (placebo, if you prefer -- though I *swear* I came across an article throwing serious doubt on the "placebo effect"... maybe I dreamed it, because I haven't been able to find it again) which prevents people from using our poorly-run healthcare system;
(02:41:40 PM) Woozle: (Well, not *prevents... I guess I mean "pre-empts")
(02:42:05 PM) Woozle: (except in emergencies, when it's really needed... thus applying the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it")
(02:43:41 PM) Woozle: (2) homeopathic doctors tend to be much more in it because they want to help people, rather than in it for the paycheck -- so even if 90% of the time they're giving you treatment which actually has no effect, it at least isn't the latest sample from Glaxo which might actually be harmful... and they're more likely to pay attention to what's going on, and direct you to conventional treatment *if needed*.
(02:46:14 PM) Woozle: (3) people should have the right to make their own mistakes. It seems to me that we do far too much protecting people from their own mistakes by "controlling" substances or outlawing them completely, when what we should be doing is educating and tracking. The big (mainstream) drug companies seem to want to make the situation worse; the homeopathy movement is fighting that tendency, even if it's actually making money off snake oil.
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