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japanesebonustrack  ·  2407 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hey Hubski, do you use any alternatives to caffeine?

Yerba Mate is absolutely not caffeine-free. Not even technically. It contains caffeine. Mateine is simply a marketing term for caffeine (source).

Additionally, a lot of Mate sodas, for example Club-Mate, have a caffeine warning on the label.

Anecdotally, it's ridiculously caffeinated, but in a good way, I guess. But I was not prepared for the levels of stimulation it gave me the first time I drank it, after a sleepless night.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Learning to Love Low Bit Rates

It's like film grain vs digital noise. One is appealing, the other appalling.

Well, it's a mental illness, there's no rational reasoning. His arrogance reaches new heights. He has all these great ideas that he has to implement immediately. He has all this energy which would be great if he could channel it correctly, but he can't and he just does everything rushed and half assed. He always needs help for his crazy idea of the day. He becomes delusional, imagining things, convinced of things that haven't happened. He's accusing people of things that they haven't done. He's intimidating people by telling them things that he himself hasn't done (but not even lying, because he probably believes them). Alcohol doesn't help.

It's pretty insufferable during the mania. My uncle has it, and it, coupled with him not being the most pleasant person anyway, is pretty tasking. You don't even have to live with him, there will be countless urgent phonecalls and visits, and he'll be just running around town ruining the day for everyone weather he knows them or not.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3129 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Vi Hart: On Gender

This is exactly how I feel. I just don't understand how gender can play such a big role in peoples lives, even so much so that some feel the need to change it. I don't feel like gender defines people and I hate male/female generalizations (and generalizations in general, hehe). Same reason I dislike feminist movements, I'd rather see more humanism and egalitarianism (but more of an equal opportunity instead of forced politically correct equal distribution e.g. in academic/professional fields or in media/advertising).

japanesebonustrack  ·  3139 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Russians Demand Permanently Ban Windows 10 Because it Spies on Users

Yeah I know, I'm using f-droid, but it's pretty lacking in selection (not really their fault, but there is a fair share of open source apps that are on play store and github but not on f-droid). I'm currrently getting half of my applications from the play store, but not through the play store (*puts on the tinfoil hat* I don't have an account), I sideload the play store APKs. Sometimes I download the compiled APKs from XDA or github, if they're available there. Very small percentage of my apps are from F-Droid.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3139 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Russians Demand Permanently Ban Windows 10 Because it Spies on Users

>Facebook and Google do everything they can to make temporary opt-outs as difficult as possible. But those are still web services. If it's the OS, though?

Android is an OS though, and if you use Google apps on it in is pretty ruthless in regards of your privacy. Comparable to, if not worse than, Windows 10.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3142 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I Asked Atheists How They Find Meaning In A Purposeless Universe

Experience is the return you get for living a life. Experiences make life worth living for me. Death doesn't cancel out past experiences, it just prevents further ones. After death I won't be there to worry about the impermanence of things. If I accept that there's no reason for me to worry about it now, I have better things to do.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3142 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I Asked Atheists How They Find Meaning In A Purposeless Universe

>For all the love and joy and pleasure we might receive, in the end, none of it matters. The beautiful works of art will eventually be corrupted or die.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3144 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Do you have creative theories about existence, space and time?

Your "resetting" reminded me of this radiolab story about a girl who got lost in her backyard.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3150 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How long does it take you to prepare dinner everyday?

I'm gonna try the lentils. I like the taste of them but I never know what to add to them.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3150 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I Asked Atheists How They Find Meaning In A Purposeless Universe  ·  

I don't understand the assumption purposed in the headline and the introduction. First of all, atheists are not nihilists. Second, why would a life be more meaningful if there is an afterlife than if there isn't? If anything life should be more meaningful without an afterlife. Because then you can live your life and take it for what it is, instead of dreaming about afterlife, thinking of this life as a chore that you must to do to get the compensation. Seriously, I have a friend who can't wait to die, because he wants to see what's next. How is he living a more meaningful life?

Life's meaning should be derived from the life itself instead of what does or doesn't follow it.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3150 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: August 10th: What are you reading this week?

Just picked up American Gods (apparently the 12,000 word longer "author's preferred text" edition). Only finished the first charpter last night before sleep, so don't really know what to think yet. I'm just hoping it will live up to the expectations.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3150 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What's your hobby/passion?

I don't know, it was pretty much a test roll. None of the photos really stand out. I'm just happy I got the exposures right and had no light leaks.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3151 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What's your hobby/passion?

I have a trouble sticking to hobbies, I pick up a thing, thinking "alright, now I'm really gonna do this", do research, invest time and money in it, but it quickly ends up gathering dust either on a physical or a methaphorical bookshelf. Drawing, graphic design, photography, programming, DIY electronics, robotics (a combination of the former two), amateur game development, you name it! I'm not in the mood for it, I tell myself I don't have time for the hobby right now (even though I have plenty of time to waste on the internet and to consume various forms of entertainment).

This summer I have picked up road cycling. To be fair, I have ridden bicycles since I can remember myself, but this year I bought an old 10 speed. Initially I picked it up just for commuting to work, but it's so fast effortless on longer distances that I have grown to love it. Now I join a casual group ride on Fridays, made some new friends there, and do longer solo rides on Sundays. Cycle to the beach after work occasionally. Haven't bought a bus ticket in the longest time. Good physical workout, combined with a fun activity. Longer distances on desolate roads can get mesmerizing. I tried running before, I didn't hate it, but couldn't really stick to it. Yoga too, but I want to try that one again.

I also started carrying an old 35mm film camera with me. Actually the same camera that has been gathering dust, never used by me, since my last photography phase. Just developed my first roll (ever). It's fun and the quality of images produced by the cheapest 60s Soviet camera combined with expired film while blindly sticking to the Sunny 16 rule really surprised me. It's more of a solitary hobby, unless you're either shooting people or involved in online photography communities.

These aren't my passions, I don't raally have a passion. These are things that I like doing for now, and I just hope that I can stick to these ones longer than my previous attempts.

Yeah, I have used linux in the past for about a year, and now I'm seriously considering of upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Debian instead of Windows 10.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3152 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 135th Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately" Thread

Health's new record Death Magic is fantastic.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3160 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: That Coca Cola Infographic Filled with Fallacies.

Thought out article with scientific facts and sources?

On buzzfeed?

japanesebonustrack  ·  3165 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why babies in medieval paintings look like ugly old men

Thank you, this is hillarious! In fact that whole tumblr is a goldmine.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3166 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Will you be upgrading to Windows 10 on Wednesday?

I'm sort of worried about the privacy concerns. I might wait a bit and see if there's a way to disable all the, for a lack of a better word, spyware that is integrated in it. I mean some of that made sense in the insiders program, for feedback and bug reports, but on the RTM version, to me it's ethically unacceptable.

EDIT: Microsoft’s new small print – how your personal data is (ab)used

japanesebonustrack  ·  3168 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How Animals See the World - Issue 26: Color - Nautilus

I can't answer your question, but you might be interested to know that humans can actually see polarized light. Okay, more like sense/detect. And this is how the phenomenon looks like.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3168 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Every state flag is wrong

Most of them are bad flags, but not for the reasons listed. Here's a nice episode of the podcast 99% Invisible on this topic (and also a summarized article, if you don't want to listen). Essentially the principles of a good flag design are:

1. Keep it simple

2. Use meaningful symbolism

3. Use two to three basic colors

4. No lettering or seals of any kind.

5. Be distinctive

japanesebonustrack  ·  3170 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Europe to America: Your love of air-conditioning is stupid

Over here (part of EU) every modern commercial building (let's say built or renovated within the last decade) has air conditioning, but pretty much no residental building has them, maybe excluding the seriously riches. The funny thing is, I wouldn't work in an uncoditioned office, but at the same time wouldn't even dream about having AC at home (well... okay, I'll admit, I dream about it on some summers).

japanesebonustrack  ·  3170 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: A question to Hubski iPhone users: To jailbreak or not to jailbreak?

What's a good ad blocking solution for a jailbroken iOS device?

japanesebonustrack  ·  3170 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: A question to Hubski iPhone users: To jailbreak or not to jailbreak?

I jailbroke my iPod touch last week (finally, I was waiting for a jailbreak for iOS 8.1.3-8.4 for quite some time) and I'm very happy with it. It just gives you access to a bunch of small things, but those add up to a real improvement. I also have a rooted android phone. You have to be considerate about what you install, some tweaks that affect the same areas might result in conflicts, but other than that I don't think the risk is too big. If something causes glitches, just uninstall it. If you're not happy with the jailbreak altogether, just restore firmware. Though I'm a person who has always rooted/flashed/unlocked his devices, partly for fun, partly for ownership like you mentioned, so don't take my word for it.

japanesebonustrack  ·  3174 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski, what's your wallpaper?

Nice, this is now my wallpaper too!

japanesebonustrack  ·  3177 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Doctors Whose Patients Are Already Dead

This reminded me of some other great articles about handling dead bodies, but told from morticians' standpoint instead of pathologists'.

Confessions of a Mortician

My First Mistake. In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”

japanesebonustrack  ·  3178 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Do you know any deep, dark, disturbing, experimental "games"?
japanesebonustrack  ·  3178 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Eminem's "Lose Yourself" in American Sign Language

I always liked how big of a part facial expressions play in sign language conversations. I mean they're like regular expressions (hehe) turned up to eleven.