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stooliepidginon The first study of individualized brain stimulation to treat severe depression

I'm having TMS done for 9 weeks starting at the end of this month for treatment-resistant, endogenous depression. Wish me luck.

I'm considering doing a ketamine treatment too.

stooliepidginon Sunlight affects whether languages have a word for ‘blue’

You're conflating a range of colors with a single color.

"In the middle" is red. Red is red. It's not red-orange. It's not red-blue.

stooliepidginon We need to take CO2 out of the sky

Regardless of Ethiopia or #TeamTrees, trees are not fast or permanent enough to sequester anything substantial.

Not all tactics will be equally effective. It's worth investing in the approach(es) that are most effective in proof-of-concepts trial runs guided by a first principles perspective. That's how to maximize change. GMO kelp and phythoplankton for oceanic BECCS seem like the leading candidates.

stooliepidginon We need to take CO2 out of the sky

That's a rosy, invalid assumption and equivocation. Climate drying, and effectively biome changes in the direction of desertification, across much of western North America and other parts of the world due to climate change isn't conducive to replacing biomass lost to forest fires caused by multi-year droughts.

stooliepidginon Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

Yeap. Lots of specialists. Many areas are under investigation.

One is activation of the There is a possibility of an autoimmune disease like lupus or MS causing dysautonomia. I also have inappropriate sinus tachycardia and hypertension without obvious causes. All roads point towards the autonomic nervous system.

stooliepidginon Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/85/1/6/4649294

stooliepidginon Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

And no to that too. RDAs try to be one-size-fits-all guesstimates.

For Vitamin D3 in particular:

"The model developed for UL derivation was summarized in 1998 (IOM, 1998), and it acknowledged that the lack of data would affect the ability to derive precise estimates." [0]

Furthermore, an RDA and a UL doesn't work for D3 because the ranges across people don't harmonize to specific "safe" or "adequate" numbers for a given demographic. 1000 IU is too much for some people. [0]

Blood tests trump RDAs. I need over 10k IU per day, but this could cause hypercalcemia, calcification of tissues, and/or calcium kidney stones in other people.

0. https://www.nal.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fnic_uploads//T...

stooliepidginon Only 2% of US adults have high literacy

That's what the minimum bar of excellence should be, and it's the same standard for everyone.

Americans are more illiterate overall and have a level 5 rate comparable to the global average (which is low compared to top-performing countries). America's literacy problem has nothing to do with IQ and everything to do with poor education stemming from anti-intellectualism.

stooliepidginon Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

How would someone control their cortisol levels? Maslow's hierarchy of needs, medical/pharma interventions, and/or something else?

stooliepidginon Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

Incorrect. The RDA and TUL amounts for vitamin D are wrong. 10k IU/day is safe. Dr. Fauci takes 6k IU/day.

My levels of 25(OH)D3 are optimal. It takes slightly over what the real average TUL should be because of my mass and apparently poor absorption.

Edit: Cortisol levels are fine. I also had a complete HPA/G/T workup by an endocrinologist. The results were unremarkable. I even had testing for pheochromocytoma, although this does not rule out other types of adenomas.

stooliepidginon Sunlight affects whether languages have a word for ‘blue’

White text on a blue background are what we used for Wordperfect for DOS in the ye olden days specifically because the white popped out of the background. If this is paradoxically worse, then maybe there is an actual problem. But I would look at white console text on a blue background on a computer monitor first before reaching any conclusion.

stooliepidginon Only 2% of US adults have high literacy

See the stacked bar graph at the bottom of the article. The US is near the bottom and Japan is at the top. I doubt the average American or Japanese person is any more or less intelligent.

stooliepidginon Sunlight affects whether languages have a word for ‘blue’

Maybe related: Why do "red" products (i.e., dyes, paints, markers, pencils, pens) from China appear red-orange? Does it have something to do with language?

stooliepidginon Sunlight affects whether languages have a word for ‘blue’

It is very difficult/impossible to focus on blue images because the focal plane of the eye and blue cones (2% of cones) are out of alignment.

https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/30600/why-cant-t...

stooliepidginon Clean environment could become U.N. human right

In the US, TSCA grandfathered-in thousands of chemicals without any evidence of safety for purely economic reasons. Also, new substances aren't required to be tested for safety beforehand, so it's a "closing the barn door after the cow escaped" situation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_Substances_Control_Act_o...

stooliepidginon Only 2% of US adults have high literacy

I was shocked when I saw this figure. I assumed it was 8-15% at a lower limit. What this implies is that you can have a substantive intellectual conversation with only roughly 1 in 50 Americans.

Update: Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. - George Carlin

stooliepidginon Clinical trial shows that the use of Vitamin D supplement improves sleep quality

My vitamin D level is only optimal when taking an average of 11000 IU / day (D3 + K2). It hasn't improved my sleep quality. As an example, I woke up at 3:30 am this morning and feel like I haven't slept at all.

stooliepidginon We need to take CO2 out of the sky

TeamTrees vs REALITY!!

https://youtu.be/gqht2bIQXIY

Doing "something" is futile if it's ineffective, not permanent, and not scalable.

stooliepidginon We need to take CO2 out of the sky

Oceanic BECCS is the likely superior route. Kelp and/or phytoplankton farming. Genetic modifications could improve efficiency.

Reforestation is a feel good pipe dream as explained using logic by Phil Mason. Dry weather = fire hazard = no sequestration.

stooliepidginon Is 40 the New 60?

This is also true. Definitely can't slack off on the couch with a hand in their pants. Even someone with little experience can become perpetually stuck starting at the beginning of their career in low performance if they don't push themselves towards excellence. Slacking off at any point leads to a downward spiral of decay.

stooliepidginon Why are American houses so flimsy and poorly built?

The single-story house I grew up in in south San Jose, CA had a stucco exterior. This is essentially a concrete-like material spread over chicken wire (hexagonal poultry netting) that is tacked onto the structure. An artistic texturing of the surface is applied as a final step. After drying, it is primed and painted.

The structure was about 30 years old when it became infested with subterranean and flying termites, and required fumigation and major repairs to sill joists and pilings. It took a lot of time, money, and effort to repair it. The land was formerly a cherry orchard.

stooliepidginon Is 40 the New 60?

I started in tech at 17 with my own consulting company so an exhaustive, over-sharing resume would make me appear nearing retirement. What I do is conceal my true age (early 40's, M) and experience through creative resume sculpting. It helps that I look 10 years younger so I will experience delayed-but-inevitable discrimination until the marketing wank that is a resume can no longer maintain a too much plastic surgery, Botox facade.

Coincidentally, it may help that I am involved in an age gap relationship with a gorgeous, lovely woman in her early 20's. My Machiavellian plan is to drag her to any and all work and coworker gatherings to reinforce that I'm not a ye olde farten just yet. You can get more social currency by demonstrating you're in a relationship with someone and more so if they're attractive.

stooliepidginon Is 40 the New 60?

One has to adapt to the biases and reality for survival. Lie about your age if it ever comes up. Lie downward about your experience too. Fuck their discriminatory bullshit.

stooliepidginon Is 40 the New 60?

It's as if the industry doesn't want competency to have a career and a retirement.

stooliepidginon Is 40 the New 60?

Ageism is real. It's not some sour grapes of under-performers who let their skills decline, or move or think at a dotard pace. It's essentially "We don't want anyone old because old = bad, new = good."

stooliepidginon Phrack Issue 70

We're puttin' the band back together.

https://youtu.be/4yECgXi3Y_8

stooliepidginon Hermit Programmers Are Dead

Honestly, I thought the term was "cowboy coder," but maybe my vernacular is archaic.

Not to pile-on, but I don't understand the bizarre disparagement of computer science. There are far too many programmers, hermit or otherwise, who don't know what big-O notation is, which data structure(s) to choose in a particular scenario based on requirements, algorithm design, or the Church–Turing conjecture. I would also add variations of software engineering methodologies are obligatory knowledge of a professional programmer for situations like using strict, formalized waterfall development in life-safety systems. Credentialed Professional Engineers supervising and/or implementing critically-important code are also Good Things in such situations too.

stooliepidginon DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

> what basis do you have for products containing both CBD and THC to only being effective as a placebo

Read the article. Because without carrier molecules, cannabinoids cannot be effectively absorbed to do much more than provide minor, dermal-area effects. There's no getting high, and not much deep penetration of anything.

> CBD isn’t truly effective without THC.

Truly what? Based on what evidence? 10 mg of pure CBD in a lipid sublingual tincture is calming if you've ever tried it. Easily distinguishable from placebo.

stooliepidginon Gangs on e-scooters targeting GPS farm equipment

Mostly Trimble Navigation Ltd. gear. They're built like tanks and well past IP67 because they're also used in mines on enormous equipment.

Disclaimer: I used to work on the TRIMMARK and TRIMCOMM series firmware in the radio group. With kinematic (moving differential-capable) corrections plus a fixed base station, horizontal accuracy is sub cm (10 mm) and vertical is sub meter. Two receivers, one on either side of the vehicle, can be used to accurately guide the side-to-side angle of plowing, grading, or other activities.

stooliepidginon DMV approves Cruise and Waymo for commercial service in parts of Bay Area

Driverless cars with passengers operating on the streets with pedestrians, insane taxi drivers, and the prototypical BMW cell-phone-shouting suit with a buzz-cut who just drive around everyone like they're not there. How could this possibly go wrong?