That's the thing I don't understand. Why some developers are so prone to the naive following the latest fashion... I mean really.
Look, why to spend any time writing software that might be just killed overnight by a big faceless corporation? The same Apple Fan Boys who hate Adobe Flash because it is "closed" and not html5 "standard" as were told by their guru are at the very same time so heavily invested in Apple Corp closed eco-system that is just so much worse than anything that Adobe does.
I'm not sure if too many people nowadays take Psychiatry and Psychology seriously. Most problems they label as illnesses are legitimate issues people have that need resolution not pills.
I had severe allergic reaction to shrimp. Ended up at the ER where I was treated with Epinephrine, Prednisone and Diphenhydramine (Benadryl administered directly to bloodstream though).
Guess what, I had serious panick attacks for another2 days. When the following day I showed up at the ER, I was told by a Doctor who originally treated me day before that I clearly have mental issues because this reaction shouldn't last so long. Psychiatrist didn't even ask questions and prescribed me anti-depressants. Obciously, anxiety diminished on its own next day. FDA.GOV confirms that all 3 medications I was given may cause anxiety (severe) and panick attacks. Including benadryl that does cause anxiety in me. This was widely studied and is believed to be caused by liver enzymes. So, all in all I had never had mentall issues before, never had issues after. But had 3 days of panick attacks and severe anxeity causeb clearly by medication. Hey, but I'm considered depressive, anxious now. It is in my medical records. Just amazing how fast they are to label you and how difficult it is to clear the record. All result of ignorance, but what can I do? Recently I went through cholestycomy procedure outside my insurance, just because I didn't want to be treated by medical stuff with suspicion.
I don't believe psychiatrists now at all. I mean this is some type of witchcraft, not science for sure.
Please note that Psychiatry and Psychology are very different fields, despite the common associations between them. In most countries, psychologists may not prescribe drugs, while psychiatrists, as medical doctors are allowed to do so.
Incidentally, I highly recommend reading the DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders) and figuring out which disorder you show the most signs of. Myself, I meet all the criteria for ADHD, and if I had been born some years later or in a different place, could easily have been diagnosed with it.
I'm not really suggesting that people self diagnose, I just thought it might be interesting for non-professionals to read the diagnostic criteria to get a sense of how easy it is to be diagnosed on these bases. Unfortunately, due to the way the american insurance system works, I can't see DSM ever being rolled back to a semblance of sanity (with pun intended)
Just in case someone doesn't, there are two diagnostic assertions in choro12's statement: low self-esteem, and sociopathy. This just goes to show that we as a society are dependent on psychiatric labels, even if we profess to hate them. We need them because they help us understand human behaviour. I'm not saying that this is good, and we should not try and develop an understanding of ourselves which goes beyond simple taxonomy, but that we should not be so hasty to disparage those who formalise and act on these categories, because we all do it, and we have always done so.
Anti-psychiatry (wiki explains their position in good detail) says that basically the very moment we stopped believing in magic, witches and wizards, psychology/psychatry surfaced as 'sciences' with exactly the same role - to root out people who are too non-compliant with the system from the society.
USSR and communistic states (I used to live in one of them) are great example. All dissidents were automatically labeled 'insane' because anybody doubting communism had to be crazy in communist view of the world.
Some people process drugs very slowly. I am one btw (I usually cut down medications to 25% of less of the recommended dosages, except for antibiotics where that's a really bad idea). I haven't tried protodrugs like vicodin but I would assume they probably wouldn't have much effect on me.
But hey, they call that a "Cytochrome P-450 defect." All because my body doesn't work the way the pharma companies would like.....
Psychs (both types) who are funded by medical insurance are the issue. They're being effectively paid commission from the insurer to find anything that could be wrong with you so they can eat. The moment you get sick in the US, you are a landgrab for cash. It's just wrong.
Here in the UK, the free ones on the NHS are pretty good! If you don't want treatment, noone is going to lose any money (in fact they're saving cash) so you're fine.
EDIT: Missed the bit about the psychiatrist not asking questions, sounds like an encounter with a bad psychiatrist.
You were prescribed anti-depressants by a medical doctor (most likely without even the most rudimentary training in mental health), and you blame psychiatrists? How does that make any sense?
You may as well blame mechanics for the bad advice you got on fixing your car from the guy at the bicycle shop.
If you complain about psychological things to a medical doctor, on of the first questions they should ask is "have you been on any medication, or used any other kind of drug?". Psychiatrists should be asking the same thing.
I know this. The reality is once you behave crazy as I did (because of the meds), they just assume things and put their assumptions before the process.
Then I did complain to the Doctor that I think the meds are causing this, but she refused telling me that she administers them frequently to the patients and never has seen reaction like this. According to fda.gov about 1% population has paradoxical reaction to Benadryl (i.e. people get anxious like I did instead of calming down). The paradoxical reaction is cause by liver enzymes working differently in my body. She just didn't know. When I said this she looked at me even more suspiciously.
Once they set their mind on you being crazy, that's it. The more you tell, even being right and correct, will seem more crazy talk making them more convinced of your mental issues.
I thought with psychiatrist will be better, but he was even worse. Treated me like child & crazy person right from the door step.
I'm so glad the anxiety stopped on its own day later and that my suspicion of medications causing it turned out true.
I mean they were able to convince me that I'm crazy. I'd believe them... that's how bad the system is.
> You were prescribed anti-depressants by a medical doctor (most likely without even the most rudimentary training in mental health), and you blame psychiatrists?
Psychiatrists are medical doctors. Many of them work in hospitals. Why are you assuming he was prescribed antidepressants by a medical doctor who isn't a psychiatrist?
EDIT: He even says it was a psychiatrist: "Psychiatrist didn't even ask questions and prescribed me anti-depressants."
You had a bad experience (and it was a bad experience) with one doctor, and you're writing off two professions?
A simpler course of action would have been to write a gentle complaint letter. In England you'd start by getting advice from Patient Advice and Liaison (PALs) who help you through the process.
"genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat". Reading: they can stop anyone for any reason anytime at any place. EU is not much better than US. I hold Polish, German and US citizenships. Europe is actually worse because they think that they treat people better when in reality they are much worse it just doesn't get as much attention because it is not US.
Funny, I'm an American working in the EU and my experience has been loads better than when I go back to the US. Growing up in the places I have you learn to say as little as possible to authorities (ie, don't give too much rope to hang yourself).
In every country I've visited it's known your flight number, know your hotel address, know your return date, and if anyone asks, you are just visiting. Getting into specifics just invites more and more questions.
> Growing up in the places I have you learn to say as little as possible to authorities (ie, don't give too much rope to hang yourself)
It's very true. There's a reason that, when your Miranda rights are read upon a rest, they say "...anything you say can and will be used against you.."
I'll leave it up to the viewer to judge this video with a defense attorney talking about why it's never good to talk to the Police: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc
How do you have german citizenship and two others at the same time? I thought germany was a one citizenship state. Or is it in practice that you can avoid that rule fairly easily?
In some country you are given the nationality of your father, in germany it is the mother and in the US it is the country. My brother has three nationalities because of that. I have two but not the US nationality.
There are now also agreements between some european countries that you don't have to drop your previous nationality when you adopt a new nationality. So I should get three nationalities in a few months.
The Germans I know when asked to compared Germany now to Germany from 70s or 80s always say that it used to be MUCH better. The same goes with my friends in the USA.
Europe is no longer divided. I can travel around. Pay in a single currency. War is a distant memory. Infrastructure is much improved. Even the environment is better now. Rivers are cleaner. Air is cleaner. The political conflicts are less. There are huge market opportunities for our companies. Right next to us it takes decades of growth to improve East Europe's living standards and economies.
Old people always say that; I wouldn't read too much in to it. Trivial but revealing example: ask people how they think the murder rate is compared to 15 years ago, and compare it to the statistics.
Polish people tend to always think that protesters are right just because they protest and the Government is wrong just because it is the Government. Hence, I wouldn't worry too much about this what the Government will tell to the public about the protesters. The public will know better as it always does in Poland.
Actually, this is just one of the reasons why I live in Poland even though I'm an US citizen. People just distrust the Government and the media here so much. It is fantastic!
I'm Polish myself and I'm not sure I can fully agree with your optimism as there have been a few cases under the current administration in which controversial laws managed to pass thanks to the government's ability to "properly" depict their target groups (the football stadium ban is one example). You might be right that it might not be effective in this case. Still, my point was that there are many lawful ways to bring the media's attention to the problem. In the case of SOPA, shutting down Wikipedia and other sites for one day was a great example. It not only had a major impact on many people's lives but actually was an argument in itself (What would a post-SOPA world look like?). What point does killing a bunch of .gov websites prove?
As I see it, the point of the attack is to get media attention. This way you get public attention. And thus you raise awareness - and the number of participants in incoming protests.
So yeah, I'm actually really happy these takedowns took place, as long as it generates a lot of buzz in the media.
Just saying... I remember the time in 90s when Polish coal miners didn't get guarantees from the Government regarding their pension plans. Well, they basically went to Warsaw and started riots. Real riots. As far as I remember they literally kidnapped member of the Administration or two. They destroyed a few government building in Warsaw. They terrorized and paralyzed the Government.
Next thing you know, the Government agreed to each and every one of the protesters requests. As I said: I love Poland Man.
They fought hard with the police and caused some real damage to some of the government buildings, but there was no kidnapping, or terror. Poland is not some wild, crazy country.
Also, most of the society was against the protests and was literally pissed off on miners and on government (for the fact that they indeed agreed to most of the requests of the miners).
That's exactly what I meant by terrorized. The miners did occupy Government building and they did destroy some of them and yes they did terrorize some of the high level Government officials by locking them up in their own offices and not allowing to get out.
Yes, Poland IS a wild country. That is its biggest strength. Poor Americans just have to deal with whatever laws thrown at them by their Government. Here, in Poland - not really.
US citizen living in Poland here. Here it is how providing the 'real name' will work in local circumstances here: Let's say I want to register piratebay.shark. I go to a nearby bum and for a small fee get his passport, IDs, etc, provide it to GoDaddy for registration. Good Luck ever finding out who I'm.
This may work very well in the US, but not in other places in the world where people had to deal with laws limiting their rights for decades.
Great article. Would like to point out an interesting fact though. $50 in 1951 was worth 1.5 ounces of gold. The article claims that currently collectors pay 100 times more for it in USD terms, aka 5,000usd. Which is 2.5 ounces of gold. In other words in the real value the set appreciated about 75% even though 100 times in nominal terms.
In the same timeframe price of oil in gold stayed the same for that example. Even though it is also 100 times more in USD terms.
Sorry, but you're wrong. 50 dollars in 1950 would be worth $447.81 in 2010, roughly ten times moer. The dolar value of the toy increased roughly 100 times. Therefore, the true value of the toy increased 100/10 = 10 times. The price of gold is irrelevant. All you showed is that gold would have been a better investment.
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. Calling gold an investment is akin to calling USD or Swiss Franc an investment. It might be but its first and most important function is this of money. Think store of value and not profit.
Currently, an ounce of gold buys you a nice suit in New York. Two hundred years ago 1 ounce of gold was enough to buy a nice suit in London. And 2,000 years ago 1 ounce of gold was enough to buy a nice toga in Rome.
Price of oil in gold fluctuates around 15 barrels per ounce since World War 2.
The list continues... the point is that gold is an excellent store of value reflecting real prices increases much more accurately than government figures (a.k.a. CPI).
Gold is money. Historically, gold has been the best indicator and instrument to gauge inflation. The CPI numbers from Government don't even come close.
At the end it all really boils down to: is the Government provided CPI number or gold better instrument to gauge inflation?
My take is that if something has worked great to gauge inflation for the last 5,000 years then it probably still measures it pretty well.
The CPI number from Government that has vested interest in underreporting inflation? (because of debt). Thank you, buy I firmly believe that is has been grossly understated for for the last 60 years, ergo my numbers probably illustrate the real increase in value of the set better.
But gold isn't the only store of value. You could have used silver or copper. And, the value of gold fluctuates wildly in response to fears of future inflation. This creates a lot of noise. Finally, you should know that most economists consider the CPI to overstate inflation due to substitution bias:
http://www.frbsf.org/econrsrch/wklyltr/el97-16.html
Gold isn't money, and it's not a store of value, any more than any other tangible asset is.
I don't know ANY STORE ANYWHERE that takes gold as payment. That means it's not money. You can pawn it or sell it, which exchanges gold for actual money, which you can then use as payment.
Look, why to spend any time writing software that might be just killed overnight by a big faceless corporation? The same Apple Fan Boys who hate Adobe Flash because it is "closed" and not html5 "standard" as were told by their guru are at the very same time so heavily invested in Apple Corp closed eco-system that is just so much worse than anything that Adobe does.
I just don't get it.