1

Geek Speak / Can you recommend a YouTube video downloader?

« on: 05/07/2018 12:10:28 »

Can anyone recommend a YouTube video downloader. The free one I used before worked great, was fast, easy, but then they put  restrictions on any video longer than 3 minutes.
Thanks

2

Technology / Are there indoor solar Christmas tree lights?

« on: 18/11/2017 04:17:49 »

Last spring I bought a string of solar "fairy lights" to hang on my deck for the summer, and  this morning I took them down and piled them on the kitchen counter. When I turned off the light tonight to go to bed, I noticed they lit up.  I thought solar lights would only charge in sunlight,  not incandescent, that they needed UV or something. 

Then I started to wonder why they don't make indoor solar Christmas tree lights. The only problem with my particular string of lights is that they only turn on in the dark, so I couldn't actually use them for Christmas tree lights unless the room was almost totally dark. But is it possibly to make solar lights that that will light up even in when it is not dark? This seems like a really good idea, because you would not have to mess with extension cords and plugs and things. In a sense, the energy would be free, so to speak, because you'd be using daylight and room light to power the lights on your tree. The tiny panel for my fairy lights is about the size of 2 by two inches, which you could easily place near any room light or window.  Why isn't this a thing? I tried to google it but didn't find anything for indoor solar lights. It also seems like a good way to capture and re-use light for other purposes (night lights, closet lights, etc. )

3

Geek Speak / How to remove browser hijacker?

« on: 22/01/2017 06:49:45 »

My Samsung s4 my Chrome browser got hijacked and I finally ended up uninstalling it. I switched to regular Google but  then  it too became hijacked. They direct me sites saying I've won some lottery prize or my battery has been damaged.
One is a site called "clickdothypermobileworld" It won't let you do anything without clicking on some box or just closing everything down. I've googled this and can't find a solution. Tried clearing cache and history and cookies. Any advice?

4

Technology / Why didn't fusion pan out as an alternate energy source?

« on: 30/11/2016 01:26:47 »

My brother and were recently arguing about politics and global warming (he's a skeptic; I'm not) and he claimed that fusion is what we should really pursuing. To be honest, I don't know much about it. Is  it or is it not a potential alternative source of energy?

5

Just Chat! / missing forum

« on: 15/11/2016 04:31:26 »

I visit a few different science forum to get different views on topics. Besides the Naked Scientist, one I like thescienceforum,com which has been awol for several weeks. Does anyone know why? I just get a message that says data base error or something.

6

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Why don't I like my siblings as much as I should?

« on: 19/09/2016 07:10:49 »

It's been a stressful summer - my dad died, and we had to put mom into assisted living, which meant spending much more time with my siblings beyond the occasional holiday. Lying in bed one night, it occurred to me that in all honesty, I like my sibblings no better, and sometimes a great deal less, than total strangers I might meet on the street. We seem to have no more or less common, as far as interests go or shared beliefs.
 That is an awful thing to admit.  But how can this be right? They are  not terrible  people - that is not what I mean.  But shouldn't I prefer them much more, because they share my genes? Shouldn't I feel a natural protective feeling or longing to be near them,  like my child?

How do siblings act in other primate groups?

7

Geek Speak / Why did I lose stereo sound after updating to windows 10?

« on: 06/04/2016 07:07:41 »

After I updated to Windows 10, my HP laptop sound only plays in mono. Is there a setting I can adjust or is it more complicated?

8

Just Chat! / Is Hawking right about Capitalism

« on: 01/03/2016 07:19:55 »

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-hawking-capitalism-robots_us_5616c20ce4b0dbb8000d9f15

In a Reddit "ask Me Anything" Q&A, a reader asked Hawking whether robots would eventually replace most workers and what he thought the consequences would be. He responded "If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality."

This does seem to be the direction things are going. The push for an increase in minimum wage results in threats/plans to automate more services. With or without an increase, I don't doubt that I will walk into a fast food restaurant in the near future and find the cashier replaced by a touch screen for ordering.

When I first started working in a lab in the 80s, literally half my day was spent transcribing numbers on to reports manually, phoning results to doctors, and other clerical tasks, all of which have been replaced by computers. The testing as well became faster, more efficient, and more automated, even in microbiology. But even though advances in technology vastly increased my output, it didn't increase my wages, or decrease my hours of work. I'm sure this was true in other fields as well.

Society seems unlikely to abandon the Puritan work ethic any time soon and will be loath to pay idle citizens for doing little or nothing indefinitely. Will a large segment of the population be forced to suck it up and accept their post industrial peasant status?

Or do you see some other means for individuals to access and utilize technology, either to be self sufficient or in some sort of underground/barter economic system?

9

Geek Speak / What is the FBI asking Apple to do?

« on: 18/02/2016 06:43:50 »

I've read several articles about the controversy surrounding the FBI, Apple, and the locked Iphone of the San Bernadino shooters. It's not clear in these articles exactly what the FBI is asking Apple to do, or even if the tool or method currently exists that would actually allow them to open or decrypt the phone. Some articles suggest they can, but if they make an exception, countless other requests will inevitably follow. Other articles suggest that "it just doesn't work like that." Can someone clarify all this?

10

Chemistry / Can lemons be alkaline?

« on: 08/02/2016 18:09:31 »

I have a friend who believes the Natural News spiel about changing your body's pH wth food, cancer won't survive in alkaline conditions.

But setting aside acid base homeostasis and things like how kidneys work for the moment, is there any way that lemons are really alkaline or have an alkalizing effect on the body? I would assume that its pH is largely determined by citric acid and lemon juice is something like 2 or 3. He says that when lemons are fully metabolized, its "dissociated minerals" are alkaline. Is there any compound in lemons that is alkaline? I don't know if that includes eating the rind.

11

Just Chat! / Are autonomous weapons a good or bad idea?

« on: 29/07/2015 05:23:38 »

I was listening to the cbc on the way to work and they were talking about a UN report calling for moratorium on autonomous weapons or "killer robots."

"According to the report, the United States, Britain, Israel, South Korea and Japan have developed various types of fully or semi-autonomous weapons.

In the report, Heyns calls them 'lethal autonomous robotics,' or LARs for short, and says: 'Decisions over life and death in armed conflict may require compassion and intuition. Humans — while they are fallible — at least might possess these qualities, whereas robots definitely do not.' "

Aside from that aspect, which I'm not sure I entirely agree with, what would be the other problems or risks? Hacking? A robot intelligent or moral enough to decide you shouldn't win this war? Rogue robots as in "I,robot"?

12

Geek Speak / What laptops still have cd/dvd drives

« on: 16/07/2015 03:47:44 »

My daughter needs to purchase a new computer and I was surprised to find that laptops don't seem to include dvd drives any more. Why? When I googled it, the comments in articles were "everything is digital." But for folks without highspeed, downloading stuff is expensive or inconvenient. (We live a rural area with cellular internet, so if we have something big to download we have to use the library's wifi) Plus, it's nice to watch movies on a lap top. Is there any brand of laptops that still include dvd players? How complicated and expensive are external drives?

13

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Are there any inexpensive telescopes that connect to iPads or PCs?

« on: 09/05/2015 16:42:50 »

My brother is interested in back yard astronomy. I was wondering what was available for capturing images cheaply.

14

Geek Speak / Why is my lap top tellling me my version of windows is not legit?

« on: 23/04/2015 13:41:07 »

It's the version that came with it. What should I do? And how do I know the message is legit?

15

Just Chat! / Who knew there were so many ways to be biased?

« on: 02/04/2015 05:03:04 »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

I thought this is an interesting list from wikipedia. What's your favorite?

A few I liked were Frequency Illusion,impact bias, outcome bias, and pseudocertainty effect.

It's an interesting list, as it not only describes biases that pop up in forum discussions, but Ithe list summarizes nearly every frustrating experience or bad decision people ever make in their entire life. I'd argue that this list is worth more than any self help book ever written.

16

Geek Speak / What is this stuff??

« on: 26/03/2015 05:09:27 »

It popped up on my computer after a message about not being able to read script or something. It goes on a lot longer.





/*!CK:2143043583!*//*1427333068,*/

if (self.CavalryLogger) { CavalryLogger.start_js(["1bsOM"]); }

__d("CreditCardTypeEnum",[],function(a,b,c,d,e,f){b.__markCompiled&&b.__markCompiled();e.exports={VISA:86,MASTERCARD:77,DISCOVER:68,AMERICANEXPRESS:65,DINERSCLUB:64,JCB:74};},null);
__d("P2PChannelType",[],function(a,b,c,d,e,f){b.__markCompiled&&b.__markCompiled();e.exports={TRANSFER_STATUS_CHANGED:"P2P\/TransferStatusChanged"};},null);
__d("P2PPasswordProtectionParam",[],function(a,b,c,d,e,f){b.__markCompiled&&b.__markCompiled();e.exports={STATUS:"status"};},null);
__d("P2PPasswordProtectionStatusTypes",[],function(a,b,c,d,e,f){b.__markCompiled&&b.__markCompiled();e.exports={NOT_SET:0,DISABLED:1,ENABLED:2};},null);
__d("P2PPaymentCreditCardsTypes",[],function(a,b,c,d,e,f){b.__markCompiled&&b.__markCompiled();e.exports={SENDING:1,RECEIVING:2};},null);
__d("P2PPaymentLoggerEvent",[],function(a,b,c,d,e,f){b.__markCompiled&&b.__markCompiled();e.exports={ACTN_ADD_CREDIT_CARD:"Actn_AddCreditCard",ACTN_UPDATE_CREDIT_CARD:"Actn_UpdateCreditCard",ACTN_REMOVE_CREDIT_CARD:"Actn_RemoveCreditCard",ACTN_UNLOCK_CREDIT_CARD:"Actn_UnlockCreditCard",ACTN_TRANSFER_MONEY:"Actn_TransferMoney",ACTN_ACCEPT_MONEY:"Actn_AcceptMoney",ACTN_DECLINE_MONEY:"Actn_DeclineMoney",ACTN_SET_PRIMARY:"Actn_SetPrimary",ACTN_WITHDRAW_MONEY:"Actn_WithdrawMoney",ACTN_AUTH_FOR_SENDER_REVIEW:"Actn_AuthForSenderReview",ACTN_COMPLETE_SENDER_REVIEW:"Actn_CompleteSenderReview",ACTN_COMPLETE_RECEIVER_REVIEW:"Actn_CompleteReceiverReview",ACTN_COMPLETE_SENDER_VERIFICATION:"Actn_CompleteSenderVerification",ACTN_COMPLETE_RECEIVER_VERIFICATION:"Actn_CancelReceiverVerification",ACTN_CANCEL_SENDER_VERIFICATION:"Actn_CancelSenderVerification",ACTN_CANCEL_RECEIVER_VERIFICATION:"Actn_CancelReceiverVerification",ACTN_CANCEL_SENDER_RISK:"Actn_CancelSenderRisk",ACTN_CANCEL_EXPIRE:"Actn_CancelExpire",ACTN_CANCEL_FOR_SAME_CARD:"Actn_CancelForSameCard",ACTN_CANCEL_BY_CUSTOMER_SERVICE:"Actn_CancelByCustomerService",ACTN_CANCEL_RECEIVER_REVIEW:"Actn_CancelReceiverReview",ACTN_CANCEL_SENDER_REVIEW:"Actn_CancelSenderReview",ACTN_ADD_PIN:"Actn_AddPIN",ACTN_UPDATE_PIN:"Actn_UpdatePIN",ACTN_REMOVE_PIN:"Actn_RemovePIN",ACTN_RESET_PIN:"Actn_ResetPIN",ACTN_ENABLE_TOUCH_ID:"Actn_EnableTouchID",ACTN_VERIFY_TOUCH_ID:"Actn_VerifyTouchID",ACTN_DISABLE_TOUCH_ID:"Actn_DisableTouchID",UI_ACTN_INITIATE_SEND:"UI_Actn_Initiate_Send",UI_ACTN_CANCEL_SEND:"UI_Actn_Send_Money_Cancelled",UI_ACTN_INITIATE_ADD_CARD:"UI_Actn_Initiate_Add_Card",UI_ACTN_CANCEL_ADD_CARD:"UI_Actn_Cancel_Add_Card",UI_ACTN_CONFIRM_CARD_DETAILS:"UI_Actn_Confirm_Card_Details",UI_ACTN_ACCEPT_WITH_CARD:"UI_Actn_Accept_With_Card",UI_ACTN_ADD_CARD_SUCCESS:"UI_Actn_Add_Card_Success",UI_ACTN_
ADD_CARD_FAIL:"UI_Actn_Add_Card_Fail",UI_ACTN_CONFIRM_SEND:"UI_Actn_Confirm_Send",UI_ACTN_SEND_SUCCESS:"UI_Actn_Send_Success",UI_ACTN_SEND_MONEY_CANCELLED:"UI_Actn_Send_Money_Cancelle

17

Physiology & Medicine / Are antibiotics over prescribed?

« on: 25/03/2015 04:54:40 »

In response to a  facebook post from Natural Newa about "super bugs" several people commented on the unnecessary use and over use of antibiotics. If you google the topic, you will see other main stream media articles besides the (in my opinion) discreditable Natural News source, claiming much the same thing.

But I'm still skeptical. I have a hard time imagining a doctor or nurse practitioner prescribing
antibiotics with no culture results or no symptoms indicative of a bacterial infection, based on their clinical experience. I can easily imagine a doctor prescribing broad spectrum antibiotics to a very sick person when they aren't immediately sure what's wrong, or prophylactically for some types of surgery. I don't see that kind of risk management as wrong, since you can't always "wait and see how it turns out." But it's been my experience working in a clinic, that for mild respiratory illnesses, doctors usually go with "it's probably viral" unless they have a good reason to believe otherwise. I doubt, too, that doctors are bullied into writing antibiotic scripts by aggressive patients, or for placebo effect.

In the discussion mentioned above, I argued that resistance in bacteria  is a consequence of natural selection and likely to result even if antibiotics are used appropriately. If I'm wrong, who are all these mystery doctors  supposedly overprescribing antibiotics and why do they do it?

18

Just Chat! / What do you think of old posts?

« on: 12/03/2015 04:35:53 »

I wasn't sure what  to titled this, or what section to put it under. Occasionally I will search old posts looking for a link some shared or comment they made. And at the same time I will review an old discussion and things I wrote. Most of the time, I still agree with my own comments, but some times I now view things a bit differently or think I could have stated something better. Occasionally,  reading my old posts is almost like reading the comments of someone I don't know, because my views have changed that much. I'm just curious if anyone else has this experience.

19

Geek Speak / Where would I find recent news about Anonymous?

« on: 03/03/2015 00:00:15 »

I don't have any specific reason, I just find them kind of interesting. I look at their youtube announcements from time to time, and followed the Steubenville controversy a few years back. Do any journalists or bloggers cover them on a regular basis? If they aren't strictly speaking "organized" how do people know what actions or statements are authentically theirs?

20

Just Chat! / Science project

« on: 26/01/2015 19:07:19 »

I have to admit, that's funny.