Readit News logoReadit News
hrpolice commented on Digitized minutes of Royal Society meetings taken between 1686 and 1711   blogs.royalsociety.org/hi... · Posted by u/gruseom
benbreen · 7 years ago
Short answer is that, on a very long time horizon, I think drug laws probably are just a phase that will go away. But socially- or religiously-enforced policing of conduct is as old as human culture itself, so even if drugs become decriminalized, the tendency to proclaim some substances or actions "taboo" is unlikely to ever disappear. The specific actions/substances in question can change fairly quickly, however.
hrpolice · 7 years ago
Maybe criminalizing religions would be an answer. It is fascinating how perception of drugs changes over time. Even the Dutch royal family had a cocaine manufacturing site last century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nederlandsche_Coca%C3%AFnefabr...

hrpolice commented on Snapchat weighs what was once unthinkable: permanent snaps   reuters.com/article/us-sn... · Posted by u/rayvy
lwhi · 7 years ago
All this confirms to me, is the fact that the app space is mainly a battleground for highly evolved corporate entities to fight for attention and profit.

Being unique or solving a purpose that's genuinely useful to its audience, doesn't seem to be a primary aim of businesses like Snapchat.

hrpolice · 7 years ago
Well my grand-mother has an account on Snap and she keeps complaining she cannot find the account of Donald.
hrpolice commented on Parmigiano-Reggiano: Italy's 'practically perfect' food   bbc.com/travel/story/2019... · Posted by u/MiriamWeiner
woodpanel · 7 years ago
As a European this whole American microwaved cheese on noodles thing was always a prime cliché example of classless American quisine (I think for Americans too).

Boy am I happy to have gotten over that snobbishness! Apart from many American dishes that blew me away macaroni and cheese wasn’t one of it (since it’s not served in US diners ... i think). So I tried it out at home (leftover noodles and some cheese) and I have to say: it was really good. The melt is perfect. I don’t know of any technique capable of merging noodles with melted cheese in such an immersive way other than with a microwave (radiating oven heat will have a different effect).

hrpolice · 7 years ago
You probably haven't tried Indian food served as an all you can eat buffet in the USA. Those places are legendary for their exquisite taste palette.
hrpolice commented on Digitized minutes of Royal Society meetings taken between 1686 and 1711   blogs.royalsociety.org/hi... · Posted by u/gruseom
benbreen · 7 years ago
Tons! Some examples show up in my dissertation, which is available here [1]. Best way to find them is to search "royal society" in the PDF.

One of the more interesting examples is Robert Boyle's list of "desiderata" for future scientific discoveries which includes entries like "Potent Druggs to alter or Exalt Imagination, Waking, Memory, and other functions, and appease pain, procure innocent sleep, harmless dreams" and "Freedom from Necessity of much Sleeping exemplify’d by the Operations of Tea and what happens in Mad-Men."

[1] https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/46...

hrpolice · 7 years ago
Impressive knowledge displayed in the document linked. I wonder what your opinion is from a historic perspective on drug legislation. Is the war on drugs a phase we experienced like the alcohol prohibition in the 1920-1930 era or are we just getting started?
hrpolice commented on Why free software evangelist Richard Stallman is haunted by Stalin’s dream   factordaily.com/richard-s... · Posted by u/jrepinc
oska · 7 years ago
I am a big fan of RMS and his remarkable prescience. However the logic he gives here for using other people's mobile phones seems a bit suspect:

> To surrender my freedom in this way was failing to defend a free society. This is why I do not have a portable phone. I refuse to carry a portable phone. I never have one and unless things change, I never will. I do use portable phones, lots of different ones. If I needed to call someone right now, I would ask one of you, “Could you please make a call for me?” If I am on a bus and it is late and I need to tell somebody that I am going to arrive late, there is always some other passenger in the bus who will make a call for me or send a text for me. Practically speaking, it is not that hard.

Isn't this a little hypocritical, relying on other people carrying a mobile phone when he refuses to? OK yes, they have already made their own choice to carry one but he appears to be making use of their privacy limiting choice to protect his own privacy.

Not meaning to attack RMS in this comment, who as I said above, I admire. I know he's done a lot to advance and protect other people's freedom. Just questioning his logic in this instance.

hrpolice · 7 years ago
We should ask him if he carries a rolodex with him all the time or he just text to his secretary to forward his messages during his busride.
hrpolice commented on Documents Are Everywhere   mongodb.com/blog/post/doc... · Posted by u/metheus
hrpolice · 7 years ago
Very strong answer of MongoDB CTO Eliot Horowitz on the question if MongoDB is obsolete since the introduction of DocumentDB by AWS.

u/hrpolice

KarmaCake day-3January 22, 2019View Original