PITTSBURGH (AP) – A San Francisco man claims he was high on a double dose of medical marijuana cookies when he screamed, dropped his pants and attacked crew members on a cross-country flight, forcing its diversion to Pittsburgh, the FBI said Wednesday.
12 years later and some real progress is finally being made on this stupid crap.
A prominent British medical journal on Tuesday retracted a 1998 research paper that set off a sharp decline in vaccinations in Britain after the paper’s lead author suggested that vaccines could cause autism.
Why did he do it? Possibly to make himself rich.
But an investigation by a British journalist found financial and scientific conflicts that Dr. Wakefield did not reveal in his paper. For instance, part of the costs of Dr. Wakefield’s research were paid by lawyers for parents seeking to sue vaccine makers for damages. Dr. Wakefield was also found to have patented in 1997 a measles vaccine that would succeed if the combined vaccine were withdrawn or discredited.
But the ramifications of this man’s behaviour are still being felt far and wide. He was the spark that started a much larger wild fire.
But the retraction may do little to tarnish Dr. Wakefield’s reputation among parents’ groups in the United States. Despite a wealth of scientific studies that have failed to find any link between vaccines and autism, the parents fervently believe that their children’s mental problems resulted from vaccinations.
[...]
In the United States, anti-vaccine groups have advanced other theories since then to explain why they think vaccines cause autism. For years, they blamed thimerosal, a vaccine preservative containing mercury. Because of concerns over the preservative, vaccine makers in 2001 largely eliminated thimerosal from routinely administered childhood vaccines.
But this change has had no apparent impact on childhood autism rates. Anti-vaccine groups now suggest that a significant number of children have a cellular disorder whose effects are set off by vaccinations.
It never ends with these people, it’s not their child that’s flawed, it’s gotta be somebody’s fault.
When you buy a qualifying FASST radio system.
Here’s the pertinent parts:
Receive a second R603FS receiver (a $119.99 value) for $10 when you purchase a FASST 3PK or 4PK 2.4GHz system.
and
Receive a second R617FS receiver (a $124.99 value) for $10 when you purchase a FASST 7C, 8FG, 10C, 12FG, 12Z or 14MZ FASST system.
If you have a couple RTR RC cars and are thinking about upgrading your radios to a single 2.4 Ghz, high end radio this is a pretty good deal. Both the 3PK and 4PK radios are solid systems, which I recommend to anybody looking for something that offers greater control and the security and ease of use of a 2.4 GHz signal.
Read the fine print though:
This offer is available only at participating hobby retailers in the U.S. and Canada from February 1 through April 30, 2010, or while supplies last. This is not a rebate offer and it is not retroactive. You will receive your $10 receiver at the point of sale. There are no substitutions.
So make sure your local hobby shop is supporting this promotion before you lay out the cash.
Three years after I started playing it I have finally finished Halo, the first one, on the original Xbox. It is one of the most aggravating games of all time. Between the stupid and constant arena death traps and the ridiculous vehicle controls and physics I can’t see why anybody thought this was a great game when it was released. Maybe the multiplayer or co-op was more fun, I don’t know. But I didn’t enjoy the single player campaign, hence why it took me so long to beat it. The only reason I kept going back to it is just so I could say I’ve finished it.
Graphically it’s still a decent looking game, back in the day it was great looking. The musical score was excellent, the Halo theme is iconic at this point, the sound effects were ok, and the voice acting was pretty good. The story was alright, but not strong enough to keep me engaged.
Basically, if you haven’t played it yet, you aren’t missing anything, don’t worry about it.
Now on to Halo 2.
The Losi Highroller family is now complete. Take your pick and get it in 1/10th scale, 1/36th micro scale, or in the new 1/18th mini scale.
The Mini Highroller is a fully assembled RTR 2wd monster truck with a tubular styled, narrow chassis, very similar to it’s larger 1/10th scale brother. It’s driven by a RS280 motor controlled by an electronic speed control. Also included are a 2 channel, 2.4 GHz DSM radio; an 1100 mAh NiMH rechargable battery, a wall-wart charger, and some AA alkaline batteries for the transmitter. It will be available in 3 colors, blue, orange, and green and should be on your local hobby shop shelves some time in March.
This little guy is the spittin’ image of it’s larger, older brother, the 1/10th scale Highroller. It looks to be some good fun for those times when the weather outside is frightful and your garage or basement are your only options. Check out the video below.
Researcher Who Sparked the Vaccine/Autism Scare “Acted Unethically”
The MMR/autism hypothesis took off in 1998 with the publication of a study of 12 autistic children by Canadian gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield’s study found traces of the measles virus in the guts of children he tested. He concluded that the virus derived from the MMR vaccination, and suggested that it caused inflammation possibly related to the children’s neuropsychiatric dysfunction.
Since then study after study has debunked Wakefield’s research.
This anti-vaccine hysteria that is being promoted by and through celebrities and psuedo-scientific nonsense has got to stop.
(Formerly the KDZA Kool Kustom Kar Show)
Just posting this because I haven’t seen the info anywhere but on the Colorado State Fair’s events page.
Team Associated’s stable of 1/18th scale cars has just grown by one. Hot on the heels of their awesome looking SC18, AE has dug deep and come up with the RC18 Late Model. It’s an RTR with a 2.4 GHz radio, built on the new SC18 belt driven chassis. Just like the SC18 it seems that batteries and a charger are NOT included, you’ll have to supply those yourself. MSRP is $279, street price will likely be closer to $180, the release timeframe is March of this year. Here’s a link to Team Associated’s press release (PDF doc).
Team Losi has a 1/18th Late Model car as well, so this class will be gaining some momentum in the coming months. AE now needs to get a sprint car to market and the classes will be complete. Dirt oval as a whole, I believe, is under-represented in this hobby.
The 1/18th scale sector of the r/c hobby keeps growing despite the fact that some industry “insiders” see it as just a fad. Everything is getting smaller, cars, boats, airplanes, helicopters; simply so people can find more places to use them. The days of needing a huge empty lot are at an end, nearly everybody has a backyard, basement, or garage big enough for these small vehicles.
I’m not a huge fan of RPGs. Those that manage to keep my attention for longer than a cursory glance are few and far between. The few that have managed to keep me playing have been of the tactical variety. Games like the Shining Force series, X-COM, and Silent Storm are examples of tactical rpg games that I’ve played and enjoyed over the years. Konami’s Vandal Hearts series has been my favorite though. Shining Force got me started in the style, but Vandal Hearts made me love it. Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is the third installment in the series. It’s a digital download only, available on the PlayStation 3 through the PSN store, and on the Xbox 360 through the XBLA. As a download only title that sells for $15, how well will it stack up to it’s predecessors? I’ll find out. But first, here’s my first impressions of it after playing through the first act.
The essential core to any tactical rpg is the battle system. Everything else is secondary. Vandal Hearts’ system is well intact, with some improvements over the previous entry. Tactical planning is rewarded and setting up battle encounters with allies results in multiple potential bonuses. Environment and position bonuses also add to the necessary planning of battles. So far I’m happy with it.
Graphically Vandal Hearts is a bit underwhelming for being a PlayStation 3 title, it looks more like a pumped up PS1 or maybe a decent PS2 title. The models and environments are all very low poly-count. I imagine that was a choice made to keep the size of the download small. The special effects aren’t that special, just simple lighting and particle effects, nothing fancy there. The few cut scenes are drawn in a very cartoony comic book style. It’s quite nice looking, but I don’t know how well the style fits with the theme of the game. The music, sound, and voice overs are all well done, again, nothing spectacular, but it all gets the job done.
The PlayStation 3 version has 12 trophies, one of which is a gold, ready to be earned. A few are gimmes just for playing the game, others require accomplishing certain feats in battles.
My only complaint so far is that the level of difficulty seems to be pretty low. Battles go by fairly quickly and with little challenge. Hopefully they get tougher as time goes on.
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I’m a little late to the party on this one. Braid has been out for a while now on various platforms, but I only just picked it up during the Playstation Network 10 for 10 sale. At $14.99 Braid was considered a good buy by most critics, at the sale price of $7.49 it is an absolute steal.
This puzzle/platformer will have your noodle twisted up in all kinds of different ways. Using time as one of the key elements to solving all the puzzles, Braid is a truly unique experience. There aren’t many puzzlers of this sort out there that leave a lasting sense of accomplishment after figuring out each obstacle. The difficulty of the puzzles makes for a lasting challenge, most people won’t run through this game in one session on the first play through.
The story is told through books in between worlds and seems to be a very touching story of lost love. It’s not just puzzles that are affected by time, the story is as well. A very different twist, demonstrated through game play, rather than story telling, takes place at the end (beginning?) of the game that reveals the true nature of the story and it’s protagonist.
Graphically Braid is stunning. It’s water color style visuals and the special effects are quite a sight to see. The animation is smooth and all the graphical elements are very appealing. Braid’s music is excellent and fits the theme and style of the game very well.
The controls are simple and taught in the early levels. As new mechanics are introduced through out the game, small, in game tutorials demonstrate their use and effects. For the Playstation 3 version there’s 12 trophies to be earned. Five of them bronze, seven silver. All but one are easily obtained just by completing Braid. The final trophy is earned by completing a speed run, which is a play option unlocked after the first successful play through.
It’s kind of a short game, and if you’re better at puzzles than I am, it’ll be even shorter for you. But at $7.49, or even full price, it’s still a must have game. Get it for the PS3, XB360, or PC (Windows or Mac)
My one piece of advice about this game, take short breaks from it periodically, or it’ll jack up your brain. I didn’t, I played it for hours over two days and even after completing the game, my brain was still stuck on the idea of time manipulation. It kept wanting to rewind time in real life to redo things such as read and reread paragraphs. Or not spill the soda I had dribbled on myself. All kinds of crazy stuff was going on. So take breaks.
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