* Posts by scarshapedstar

322 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Apr 2010

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Need a needle in an artery? Move over, doc, there's an app for that

scarshapedstar

Explained

Well, he doesn't need to, because he's not drawing from the artery at regular intervals, I hope. (Pardon me, but out of curiosity - hemochromatosis?)

The point is that you have two arteries running to your hand, the radial and the ulnar. In healthy people one can take over for the other for a while if someone blocks it with strong pressure or an arterial line (used to measure blood pressure in critically ill patients on pressors, stroke patients with a very specific blood pressure goal, etc).

In people with say vascular disease or variant anatomy, the hand needs both and will die otherwise. So you have to put your line elsewhere.

It probably should be performed before arterial blood draws because it is possible, albeit rare, to really mangle an artery. But hardly anyone does this because usually the one drawing the blood is a panicked, sleep deprived physician in training who is under a lot of pressure to get that blood immediately.

T-Mobile US CEO calls his subscribers thieves, gripes about 'unlimited' limited tethering

scarshapedstar

Oh please

I have grandfathered unlimited data from Verizon, and I tether frequently, but only when wifi isn't available for my tablet. Needless to say my plan doesn't support tethering. They probably know since I'm rooted and have done nothing to mask it but I don't torrent with it or whatever they did to reach 2TB in a month. Don't feel like begging them to drop me since I'm not on a contract or anything.

So what the BLINKING BONKERS has gone wrong in the eurozone?

scarshapedstar

Yawn

"Franklin D Roosevelt was so cocking the US economy with ill-thought out interventions that, while leaving gold helped, it didn't actually solve all the problems.

Yes, I know, that's not the way the story is normally told: but Roosevelt's thrashing around extended, rather than solved, the Depression."

This is charitably true if by "thrashing around" you mean "giving in to the conservative pipe dream that a balanced budget makes rainbows and ponies spout from the earth and cutting stimulus in 1937-1938, thus predictably causing a double-dip recession that was later fixed by going back to ignoring the Austerians and actually putting people back to work".

Just as with Obama, the lowest point of his presidency was when he actually did what a Republican wanted. He then learned his lesson, which holds very much true today: ignore the Austerians whose solution to upturns, downturns, and anything in between is to scribble out the Laffer Curve on one more napkin, declare that we're still to the right of the X, and grin as if it isn't the eleventy-fucking-billionth time we've heard that joke.

Apple Watch 'didn't work on HAIRY FANBOIS, was stripped of sensor tech'

scarshapedstar
Trollface

Don't worry, Apple!

There's still time to patent "a method for NOT monitoring vital signs on a wearable device". Reverse innovation, bitches!

Microsoft to bring back beloved 1990s super-hit BATTLETOADS!?*

scarshapedstar
Trollface

It's already been out on the Wii for years...

Antarctic ice at all time high: We have more to learn, says boffin

scarshapedstar
Facepalm

Surface area != volume

If the author believes that it's impossible for a reduced actual volume of total ice - you know, the important part - to coexist with a larger thin layer of sea ice, he must be perpetually BAFFLED when he opens a seemingly large bag of potato chips to find that it's only about 1/3 full.

Speaking of, if the author sends me $10,000 I will reciprocate with a box containing $1,000,000. Don't bother actually counting them all; the box will have a transparent lid through which an upper layer of bills will be visible, which should suffice as proof that the entire box is full of money!

Apple: SO sorry for the iOS 8.0.1 UPDATE BUNGLE HORROR

scarshapedstar

On the plus side, this spares users from having to interact with it.

Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 claimed lives of HIV/AIDS cure scientists

scarshapedstar

Re: So sad

Welp, if Putin and/or the rebels are truly innocent, they should have immediately cordoned off the area and said "nobody's getting here until the experts who will exonerate us because we didn't do this." It's not like Putin doesn't have the means and the motivation, unless - brace yourselves - he knows an unhindered investigation will in fact confirm precisely what he's been denying.

Picking credit cards off corpses like medieval bandits and carting away bodies like Slavic Eichmanns is, how you say, incriminatory by definition. Every Sgt. Schultz excuse offered thus far by the totally-not-Russian-allied rebels - our leader's Twitter account is actually a fake, the phone calls are fake, these missile launchers fell off a truck and Obama sent them anyway, any photographs of Russian officers among the "rebel irregulars" are men who've had plastic surgery, we don't know who's messing with the bodies, we don't know who's driving the trains, we saw nothing, we heard nothing, we are not even here today! - is like listening to a garden variety pathological liar, if not a genuinely brain-damaged confabulator.

scarshapedstar

Re: So sad

Why are the rebels limiting access to the crash site and carting away evidence?

scarshapedstar

Re: So sad

Ah yes, the nutball Occam's Razor: the most convoluted explanation is usually correct.

Apple SOLDERS memory into new 'budget' iMac

scarshapedstar
Trollface

Re: Unacceptable

"an ample amount considering the dual core CPU"

Whoa, Apple's up to two whole cores?!?!??!

Glassholes beware: This guy's got your number

scarshapedstar

I generally prefer tethering 4G over using some dodgy public wifi anyway, and that probably won't change if or when I become a glasshole.

Google's driverless car: It'll just block our roads. It's the worst

scarshapedstar

Re: Platoooooo0n - HALT!

"What do you think blind and disabled people do now if they want to go anywhere, sit at home depressed because they can't?"

No, I think they roll their walker out to the Cadillac and then cruise around at 25 in a 70 like all the other grandmas, because they can't see over the steering wheel.

If these things can get even 10% of the elderly off the roads they're a blessing. Other disabilities are pretty much invisible to me, but jesus, old people...

Archos ArcBook: An Android netbook for a measly hundred-and-seventy clams

scarshapedstar

Terrible display...

Google forges a Silver bullet for Android, aims it at Samsung's heart

scarshapedstar

Re: Well, it was only a matter of time......

Yes, it's not just an ugly homescreen, it's also crippleware. Whee!

scarshapedstar

Welp

Maybe if the other OEMs didn't spend so much time licking carrier balls and churning out flawed phones with bootlocked straitjackets to hold in all the crapware and UI crippling, they wouldn't have to worry about Google saying "here's how you build a good phone, see?"

Terminator-maker 'Cyberdyne Inc' lists on Tokyo stock exchange

scarshapedstar

Ah, so they don't make terminators, just robot skeletons.

Hey, wait a minute...

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/superfun/files/2013/12/terminator-exoskeleton.jpg

Google wearables: A solution looking for a rich nerd

scarshapedstar

Well

I used to always wear a watch, until I had a cell phone and it became superfluous. I do kinda miss it, so I'm quite excited to have an excuse to wear a watch again, because I am indeed a nerd. The fact that it's (theoretically) fully customizable in how it looks and behaves is a pretty big deal to me. People talk about how in the future we will wear smart clothes that can show movies or some junk, but a DIY watch face is a decent start.

Pay-by-bonk? YEP, it's an Apple patent now...

scarshapedstar

Oh boy

Another fine RetroInnovation* from Apple!

*A future Apple trademark, used with permission

AT&T's sponsored data plan: Who, us, violating net neutrality?

scarshapedstar
Facepalm

Fix what? The "data shortage" is a hoax; the only thing they're "fixing" is that people use data more than voice and text and thus they need to find a new way to print money - first they capped the subscribers, now they're gonna shake down content providers.

Offering unlimited data to certain sites is about as naked an admission they could possibly make that their infrastructure is more than capable of dealing with it.

One-minute Koch-blocking earns attacker two years, massive fine

scarshapedstar
Trollface

Backtraced eh?

Clearly they dun goofed and consequences will never be the same. Were the Cyber Police involved?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYrlj9VE2fg

John McAfee punted from Portland party pad

scarshapedstar

$1200 a month

...that's actually not a lot. I guess it depends on your definition of 'at least'.

Ditch your boring iPhone for a hot Android piece, says Google's TOTALLY UNBIASED Eric Schmidt

scarshapedstar

H! T! C! 1!

Seriously, I'd much rather have my HTC One than those things. Droid Ultra? Is he fucking high?

Okay, okay, so it is technically kinda his product since they own Motorala... but still, what a piece.

Here's what YOU WON'T be able to do with your PlayStation 4

scarshapedstar

Re: Commentards are xBots?

I use my PS3 to stream movies from my media server all the time. *raises and waves hand around*

Strange how all the people saying that these are the worst features imaginable and deserve to be axed weren't writing Sony to complain and demand that media server and external drive support be removed from the PS3...

scarshapedstar

Re: CD support is an issue? Really??

I think it's just a basic principle of expecting the newer iteration to do more as opposed to less. It's pretty clear that they actually went out of their way to disable bog-standard features that can be found on any modern smart toaster oven - why? Sure, you can use a Chromecast, but why should you have to?

Microsoft Patch Tuesday: The '90s called. It wants its 'Ping of Death' back

scarshapedstar

Ah, Winnuke

Greetz to Hound Dog!

Leaked photos of iPhone 5C parts portend ugly Google legal battle

scarshapedstar

The C is for Crappy

I thought the whole selling point of the iPhone is that it's supposed to be, like, good.

Typical! Google's wonder-dongle is a solution looking for a problem

scarshapedstar

Shrug

Just played with one for hours last night with some friends - the Google Music support is great, and viral videos are still fun.

Deal with it.

Google Chromecast: Here's why it's the most important smart TV tech ever

scarshapedstar
Linux

Re: Games?

It's already been rooted and used to run a Game Boy emulator. Not sure what "purely streaming" means exactly but it's not the case.

http://phandroid.com/2013/07/29/how-to-root-google-chromecast/

scarshapedstar
Gimp

Re: Games?

I'm talking really simple stuff, think Pong as a proof-of-concept. I still think they will do a future iteration with more power, and with things like Steam for Android, I could see a new indie ecosystem popping up... time will tell.

scarshapedstar
Paris Hilton

Re: I was really interested, until I saw this ...

I suppose you are also using one of those brick-sized cell phones from the '80s?

scarshapedstar
Headmaster

Re: Somone pass me the hype-shovel....

For young folks, there are some times (often involving bongs) when people fight for the privilege of showing their favorite funny videos du jour. One neat thing the chromecast does is it supports multiple devices that can add to a common viewing queue, so you can have 4 people searching for cat videos at once.

Progress! Okay, not exactly inspiring, but that's at least one unique use case. One could argue that Apple TV is similar (though I don't think it supports a queue) but it's platform-specific.

It's also easy to just throw it in your backpack and carry it around , and it does have some legit educational uses - my school has meeting rooms with digital projectors and it will be cool to use them wirelessly.

Overall, it's not that different from the apps built in to game consoles that most people presently use to watch youtube, netflix, etc. on their TVs, except that it costs one tenth as much as a console and has an infinitely better interface. There's also a lot of hidden potential with the Chrome mirroring. Really, we just need somebody like Johnny Lee (the famous and beloved Wii remote hacker) to figure out something with a cool factor exceeding $35.

scarshapedstar
Paris Hilton

It could be a news video that you're really more interested in listening to.

scarshapedstar

Games?

I can't think of any reason why you couldn't make games for Chromecast. I don't know if anyone else has thought of this, but it seems to easily duplicate the main selling point of the Wii U - you have one screen everyone can see, and you can show different things on the tablet screens. Neat for card games, battleship, scrabble, etc - not that the big common screen necessarily adds that much in those cases, but the potential is there. I have no idea what the limits of the present hardware and SDK are, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if Google came out with a $200 game-centered version with some serious mobile processing power.

I mean, the thing doesn't even need a screen or a battery. They could easily make something with as many computrons as the Galaxy S4 for a fraction of the price.

Chromecast: We get our SWEATY PAWS on Google's tiny telly pipe

scarshapedstar
Unhappy

My Samsung smart TV has a wretched web interface, and I think it's by design, to force you to use their apps instead. It also auto-updates every time I turn it on, which can take upwards of 30 minutes.

Chromecast takes 5 seconds and I don't even have to find the fancy TV remote with the trackpad and keyboard that are, likewise, light-years behind a touchscreen and Swype.

scarshapedstar
WTF?

Re: play videos stored on your device

Oh, and also, it plays fullscreen if you just click the ChromeCast extension. Not sure where this windowed rumor is coming from.

scarshapedstar
Boffin

Re: play videos stored on your device

Works flawlessly for me. Depends entirely on wifi signal, I guess - yay for single room apartments!.

scarshapedstar
Holmes

"There's also a Chrome extension that lets your TV mirror your browser window, but that's about it."

And what if I happen to have an .avi or .mpg open in my browser...?

scarshapedstar
Devil

" If you were hoping for a device that would let you stream the MKV files of TV shows that you downloaded from ---BitTorrent--- authorized sources to your TV, this isn't it."

Unless you were to, say, upload them as private vids to your Youtube account...

SPEARS joins the 19-mile-high club: Intimate snaps

scarshapedstar
Trollface

Can you swing by and take a picture of the melted north pole for that idiot Lewis?

Apple KILLER decloaked? Google lovingly unboxes Nexus 7 Android 4.3 slablette

scarshapedstar
FAIL

Love to, but...

...it doesn't exist.

Al Gore: Stop using the atmosphere as 'an open sewer

scarshapedstar
Trollface

Re: I expect to hear the MMCC co2 believers now

Must be a hell of a lot of sunspots to have the #1 and #2 worst hurricanes ever in the same decade, just like those annoying liberal eggheads predicted - because it's unpossible for scientists to know what the fuck they're talking about, amirite?

scarshapedstar
FAIL

It's called math

You do realize there's a difference between an ecosystem that's solely in equilibrium between autotrophs and heterotrophs, and one in which we're constantly adding to the atmospheric carbon side by burning coal, oil, etc. right? Or were you dropped as a baby?

scarshapedstar
Thumb Down

Re: I expect to hear the MMCC co2 believers now

"Remember how at the time of Katrina, the same people promised us a decade of worsening hurricanes? Instead it's been pretty quiet."

Uh... I'm assuming you don't actually live in Murica, because you may recall this little thing called Sandy that leveled fucking New Jersey, which is rather unusual.

Study: US iPhone owners tend to be rich, educated, white

scarshapedstar
Trollface

Re: iPhone economics

Well, also, OWF's don't know a damn thing about technology and don't know what they're missing out on by entering the Apple playpen.

Microsoft offers free keyboard covers for Surface RT

scarshapedstar
WTF?

$120? Seriously?

Reports: New Xbox could DOOM second-hand games market

scarshapedstar

Re: Interesting times....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS_s9gyjYcQ

Highly recommend this video series on why the used game market is lame.

Climate change forces women into prostitution - US politicians

scarshapedstar
Pint

I always wondered why David Vitter was such a fan of Big Oil...

Actually, if you really want to freak out the Republicans over this, just convince them that more female prostitutes means fewer rentboys - Lindsey Graham will personally hug a tree.

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