ColdINK Forums

Weekly Dump, V

DranoK — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:17:27 GMT

I haven't been posting my dumps here any more. I worry that I'm boring y'all to hell ;) So I'll try to stick to more infrequent postings of the better stuff. I also figured I'd give them names. I'm lame like that.

Hitchhiker's guide to the mountains

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Nobody and Noone vs. the Cyclopes
Larger version available if you click it

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Not so happy with the Cyclopes, but fairly happy with the two characters ;) Plus, they finally have names!

Nobody loves Noone

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Cliche vampire is cliche

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Blue synth

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Anyway.

Socialized healthcare

DranoK — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:04:14 GMT

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10324

My fears, exactly.

Quote:

The actuarial firm Lewin Associates estimates that, depending on how premiums, benefits, reimbursement rates and subsidies were structured, as many as 118.5 million people, roughly two-thirds of those with insurance today, would shift from private to public coverage — or be pushed. Businesses would have every incentive to dump their workers into the public plan. The result would be a death spiral for private insurance. In the end, the vast majority of Americans would have no choice. They would be stuck in a government plan, putting the government in charge of which doctors they see or which treatments they could receive.

I'd go further. If the system starts to fail, people will need someone to blame. So just like Canada, we'd probably force doctors to see public plan patients and suffer a pay cut. Everything will be rationed due to financial, not material, scarcity.

This is exactly why many Canadians cross the border to pay for things like hip replacements out of pocket rather than waiting years or more for free care. They'd gladly pay for it out of pocket in Canada, but alas that isn't legal.

Whatever healthcare solution we ultimately decide upon, it must not diminish the level of service provided by today's top-tier plans.

Foot bridges picdump

LiQUiD_X — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:50:19 GMT

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Notice: This post contains 36 large images. If you are not on a high speed broadband connection we recommend Viewing the gallery instead.

Link Soup for June 2009

ColdINK — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:00:04 GMT

This is the Link Soup for June 2009

TED Talks - Gecko Science and Robotics

Ratha — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:19:26 GMT

This TED video talks about how geckos are able to climb walls, and looks at their physiology and various adaptations with regards to its feet, and tail for use with maneuvering in extreme circumstances. It also briefly shows and discusses how some of these things are being applied to new technologies.

Its a bit long at 12 minutes, but this video had some rather fascinating footage of what gives geckos this special ability of theirs, and how they use it. It also shows off some attempts to emulate this behavior which could be applied to a whole range of uses. Some of the things seen in the video of some new devices including robotics, and wall climbing technologies, as well as footage of geckos flying and maneuvering in the air.

The video covers a bunch of different topics with a centralized idea that we can learn a lot from natural design, but ultimately, that we can and should build upon doing so.

YouTube - Robert Full: Learning from the gecko's tail

DeadGod Survival Game - Cycle 49

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:00:02 GMT

Registration Period

Welcome to the DeadGod Survival Game #2! Registrations are now open. Please visit http://www.deadgod.net/dsg within the next 48 hours to register for this cycle.

After the registration period is over, a single staging day will happen. When you are satisfied with your selection of items, visit http://www.deadgod.net/dsg to say you're ready for the next event to happen.

Every four hours a script will run to check if all players who registered are ready. If all players are ready and at least 16 hours have passed since the last event the next event will run. Players have 48 hours to signify they are ready, otherwise the event will run regardless. All registered players will receive a reminder email every 4 hours after the initial 16 hours have passed if they have not said they're ready.

At this point you can change your items around again. Once satisfied, you must visit http://www.deadgod.net/dsg and verify you're ready for the next event cycle.

This is much simpler than it sounds. Just visit http://www.deadgod.net/dsg after buying your items and you will be guided through the process.

This may be a good time to learn more about the game.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to post it here. Communication is a critical part of solving the DSG puzzle.

Good luck!

Time-lapsed Shinjuku

DranoK — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:07:12 GMT

YouTube - static : pulse (Tokyo time lapse)

Stop Theft Now!

DranoK — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:26:18 GMT

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6212504.html

Also known as: Piss off your paying customers so even more turn to piracy.

Fucking 'tards.

Credit card woe

DranoK — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:41:32 GMT

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/credi...dit_cards.html

I wish people would take responsibility for their own actions. Some of these comments make me want to lol.

Basically, Chase is increasing the minimum payment due each month from 2% to 5% for some customers. Hilarity ensues. I know I shouldn't be laughing at people less fortunate than me. It's their unapologetic I-did-nothing-wrong attitude that makes me not care.

Quote:

My monthly payment from my 4 accounts will go from 961.00/month to 2394.00/month. Needless to say I will not be able to make these payments and will end up defaulting on my accounts and probably claim bankruptcy. I have been a loyal customer for well over 15 years, never late and have paid more than the minimum many times.

Other sites says while it is immoral and unfair it is legal to do.

Is immoral really the right word to use? And apparently you're citing fairness when you have nearly $50,000 in credit card debt?

Quote:

What did they do with their Stimulus money? I'm going to ask Mr. Obama, Max Baucus, my Senators, and my Congressperson and the New York Times. Perhaps they can explain it to me.

What did they do with their money? They stupidly gave it out to people like you who figured they could use their credit cards to ratchet up their standard of living.

Quote:

This will increase my payment by about 475 a month, an outrageous amount!! I am also trying to qualify for a home loan, and this will of course, put my debt to income ratio completely out of the ballpark to even be considered for a loan - that is, if I can actually make the payment!!

Here's a helpful hint: If you have so much credit card debt that you're paying the minimum each month then maybe you shouldn't be thinking about buying a fucking house! Where does this stupidity come from?

Holy shit there's like 30 pages of these. I'm going to read them and chuckle in peace.

Healthcare debate

DranoK — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:25:59 GMT

Question: Given that some medical diagnostic procedures, surgeries and treatment options are simply too expensive to provide for everyone, why is it "unfair" to think that those with more money should have access to a higher level of care?

I'm not talking about resource scarcity such as transplants -- no sane individual could argue that these should be distributed based on wealth. I'm only talking about things that are limited by their sheer cost.

My primary concern with socialized health care is how doctors could be persuaded to join it. Today many doctors simply don't see medicare patients or limit them to a very small percentage of their client�le. With current costs it's simply impossible to raise taxes enough to provide everyone with healthcare equivalent to the better employer-offered plans (or even government employee plans).

The standard argument is that the government would be able to negotiate lower prices. Maybe. But hell, my private dental insurance (which is comparably fairly good) still uses "standard price" quotes that are over a decade out of date. Nor do they take into account the California inflation tax. Government prices would be even lower.

If there's a public plan absent of significant tax increases it would almost certainly reimburse doctors and clinics less than private plans do. This is already the case with medicare / medicaid payments.

Which is why so many doctors refuse to take them.

Why wouldn't this be the case with a public plan? And if so, how do you prevent the vast majority of doctors refusing to participate? Force them to (which is basically forcing them to take a pay cut)? God I hope not.

So how about this. Children notwithstanding (all of whom I think should get the absolute best health care for free from private companies paid for by public taxes regardless if they come from a rich or poor family), why would it be unfair to limit the treatment government-insured adults can receive?

CT scans can cost over $1000 each. Frequently (possibly too frequently) they are given when the doctor thinks there's a very low chance of it finding something. For people with private plans they pay for this is profitable. With public insurance (currently) it's not. Doesn't it make sense to withhold such a test until the probability of success is higher?

If newly-released medicine has sky-high costs a public plan can't afford, why is it unfair that only privately insured individuals have access to them?

Doesn't it make sense that those who can pay for a higher level of care should receive it?

Health care reform is needed, agreed. And a public government-run plan is probably part of the solution. My fear, however, is that such a plan will lower the level of care and options provided for people who are willing to pay for private insurance.

Father's Day Ad

DranoK — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:36:40 GMT

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I'm not sure this came out as intended..

Grand unified cutlery

LiQUiD_X — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:51:29 GMT

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DeadGod Survival Game - Cycle 48

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 05:00:02 GMT

For Dranok:

DeathCharms — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:33:16 GMT

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I fell out of my chair laughing, no lie.

And proceeded to tell him how awesome his guild name was. :yawn:

Android Augmented Reality

DranoK — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:02:26 GMT

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I want this, kay?

http://the-mobiler.com/layar-the-fir...eality-browser