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Gathering weird statistics of Spidweb board members in General
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Thursday, September 1 2005 20:55 Profile Homepage #33
Alec.

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Thursday, September 1 2005 20:28 Profile Homepage #39
Time zones, remember? I was changing around 12-1 pm my time the past two days. It's now 3:30 pm as I post this, on account of the fact that I only just got home from university. Still once a day. :P

My current name, Monkey Glands, refers, of course, to the early-20th-century fad for surgically implanting slices of monkey testicle in older men, in the hope of restoring their youth and virility. I hope it comes as no surprise to anybody that this didn't actually work, although it was very popular in its time.

(Actually, even going by forum time, this was still posted the day after the previous name change.)

[ Sunday, September 04, 2005 23:45: Message edited by: Fenfluramine ]

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Thursday, September 1 2005 13:56 Profile Homepage #36
quote:
Originally written by SupaNik:

quote:
In the 1950s it was found not to significantly reduce the risk of miscarriage or premature birth, but continued to be prescribed for another two decades.
Why? Did they not know about the side-effects?
Since the side effects only affected a small proportion of children whose mothers were given DES, it took a while for them to become completely obvious to the point where continuing to sell the drug was likely to get people sued.

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Weird Vahnatai in The Avernum Trilogy
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Thursday, September 1 2005 03:26 Profile Homepage #37
Mmm, vahnatainis -- the alcoholic drinks made with gin, vermouth, and a twist of chitrach webs.

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Thursday, September 1 2005 01:52 Profile Homepage #30
The problems caused by DES aren't hereditary as such either. The reason a third generation was affected was that the abnormalities in the reproductive tracts of women whose mothers had been treated with DES led to problems with the foetal development of their own children. Since those problems (mostly premature births and neurological abnormalities) don't generally affect the reproductive system of the child, it's not expected that the fourth generation will experience any problems.

[ Thursday, September 01, 2005 01:53: Message edited by: Diethylstilbestrol ]

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 21:43 Profile Homepage #26
Probably because they both cause birth defects? :P

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Favourite Compliment in General
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 21:41 Profile Homepage #0
If a stranger were to pay you a compliment, what compliment would you most like it to be?

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Assign titles to other members in General
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 21:38 Profile Homepage #35
quote:
Originally written by Ephesos:

Okay, I just have to ask... who was Elfy McSpamalot, and what did they have to do with the discussion?
That's Arancaytar. Djur dubbed him that because his name sounds kind of elfy, and... well...

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 18:22 Profile Homepage #20
quote:
Originally written by Eldibs:

quote:
One of the five digits of the hand, especially one other than the thumb.
That would imply that a finger is a digit on the hand other than the thumb. Which would mean that the thumb is not a finger at all.
"Especially" does not mean "exclusively". :P

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 17:54 Profile Homepage #24
Worse. At least DDT worked for its intended purpose. :P

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 17:28 Profile Homepage #22
Something like that.

Diethylstilbestrol is a synthetic steroid that was prescribed from the late 1930s to the early 1970s to women with a history of miscarriages and premature births, in the hope that the drug would reduce the rate of these events. In the 1950s it was found not to significantly reduce the risk of miscarriage or premature birth, but continued to be prescribed for another two decades.

Diethylstilbestrol was found to be associated with cancers and other abnormalities of the reproductive system in female children whose mothers had been given the drug. Recent research has found that these abnormalities have led to problems in the next generation of children as well.

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Do you live in America? in General
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 13:01 Profile Homepage #2
Er, this isn't a very good poll. If one isn't American, there's no way to not give an answer to the second question.

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Hypothetical Time in General
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 04:52 Profile Homepage #13
quote:
Originally written by Drew:

There are definite legal answers to these questions; they aren't questions of ethics.
Surely you're not arguing that the legal answer to a question and the ethical answer are necessarily the same? Statutory law is just a bunch of decisions made by groups of people elected from among a very limited subset of the population, and common law is just a bunch of decisions made by a few people who happened to be judges in cases when the law wasn't yet clear. I don't see why that gives their opinions any special authority.

My point, really, was that although situation A is a situation where almost everyone thinks Mr C should return the painting to Mr A's family and situation C is one where almost everyone thinks Mr C has no need to compensate Mr A's family, it's possible to think of an almost limitless number of situations that lie somewhere between the two, where neither the legal nor the ethical situation is so clear. The recent debate in the USA over reparations for Native Americans and the descendants of slaves is an obvious example.

[ Wednesday, August 31, 2005 04:57: Message edited by: Gastric Freezing ]

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Weird Vahnatai in The Avernum Trilogy
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 04:46 Profile Homepage #25
Actually, there's only one H in "vahnatai". :P

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Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
chadwick prison in Geneforge Series
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 04:35 Profile Homepage #1
It's part of the pro-rebel plotline. You get put there for trying to bump off Lord Rahul.

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MMMMM in General
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 02:42 Profile Homepage #14
quote:
Originally written by Lt. Sullust:

You could've used either a V with a line over it or IMAGE(http://home.att.net/~numericana/answer/5000.gif).
See, the thing is that neither of those is on my keyboard. :P

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Finals Fever in General
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 02:33 Profile Homepage #36
What exactly are the terms of the contract, anyway? The impression I got from the news is that the AFL has to agree to the contract in order to be able to host games at the MCG. Can the AFL just choose to end its contract with the MCC, hold no games at the MCG at all and thereby avoid being bound by the MCC's restrictions?

[ Wednesday, August 31, 2005 02:34: Message edited by: Gastric Freezing ]

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 02:26 Profile Homepage #8
quote:
Originally written by kuc:

Disagree. For one, the law is supposed to uphold human rights, moral decency, and all that bs. You know, the "justice" line.
The very fact that you say the law is "supposed to" uphold human rights and moral decency implies that the law holds itself as being subject to ethical judgement, not a source of it.

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Wednesday, August 31 2005 02:13 Profile Homepage #6
quote:
Originally written by kuc:

Apart from that, if you're going to make a moral/ethical hypothetical situation, you shouldn't make it so directly applicable to common law. The case scenario isnt a particularly exceptional one, and thinkgs would pretty much play out as I outlined above, to the extent of my knowledge (and if the said parties followed such courses)
Bringing a legal argument to an ethical debate is like bringing a gun to a boxing match. :P

Now, another twist on the problem: suppose that during his lifetime, Mr B manages to sell the painting on the black market and gives the money (along with all his other possessions) to his friends and family (who know nothing about the theft -- as far as his family knows, he's just moving his assets around for tax purposes). Suppose that Mr B is discovered to be the thief and Mr A's family wants compensation. The painting is nowhere to be found, and Mr B has no assets, because his home and personal effects have been transferred into the names of family members.

What should be done in this case? Does it matter whether Mr B is alive or not at the time he's found to be the thief? Does it matter whether Mr B has a source of income with which to repay Mr A or his family, or can reasonably be expected to have one in the near future? Does it matter whether the money has been spent by the people it was given to?

[ Wednesday, August 31, 2005 02:29: Message edited by: Gastric Freezing ]

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Tuesday, August 30 2005 22:56 Profile Homepage #0
Yep, it's another of those hypotheticals designed to exercise your brain and test your ethical system. Today's hypothetical focuses on the subject of stolen property.

Mr A owns a painting by a famous artist. It isn't insured, and its value has never been formally assessed, but it's certainly highly valuable and irreplaceable. Mr B breaks into Mr A's house and steals his painting. Mr A reports it as stolen to the police, but the painting is never found. Meanwhile, Mr B hides the painting under the floorboards in his house, hoping to find a way to sell it once the publicity about the theft has died down. Unfortunately Mr B dies before he has a chance to sell it, and the painting is forgotten about for many years.

One day, Mr C, the sole surviving descendant of Mr B, decides to renovate his house. The floorboards are pulled up and sure enough, there's the painting. He takes it to an art dealer to have it valued. The dealer immediately recognises it as the stolen painting, and informs him of this fact.

Mr A has long since died, but Mr A's family hears about the discovery of the painting through the news, and would very much like to have it back.

Situation A) Suppose Mr C wishes to keep the painting. Do Mr A's family have a right to demand that it be returned to them?

Situation B) Suppose Mr C sells the painting at auction. What percentage, if any, of the proceeds of the sale are Mr A's family entitled to?

Situation C) Suppose the painting has been mostly destroyed by moisture, mould and rats during its time hidden under the floorboards. Does Mr C owe Mr A's family any financial compensation for the destruction of the painting?

Situation D) Suppose Mr A is still alive when the painting is discovered. If it's Mr A himself who's asking for the return of the painting or compensation for its loss, do any of your answers to the above three situations change?

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Tuesday, August 30 2005 22:34 Profile Homepage #12
quote:
Originally written by Ash Lael:

Violent Anal Dilation is a good one.
So it is. Reflex Anal Dilation is pretty good too, now that you mention it -- and probably a better example of an actual medical blunder rather than merely an outdated technique.

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Tuesday, August 30 2005 18:02 Profile Homepage #4
Okay, the awful truth comes out; I want people to ask me what these things are so I can both educate the public and raise my post count.

Gastric freezing is commonly used in medical statistics classes as an example of why you need a proper placebo control group in a clinical trial. It was an old treatment for stomach ulcers, where the patient swallowed a small inflatable bag connected to a tube; the bag was then filled with ice-cold water, the idea being that cooling the stomach this way would reduce inflammation.

Sure enough, the treatment reduced ulcers compared to patients who received no treatment at all, and for a few years it was the treatment of choice for stomach ulcers. Eventually, though, someone came up with the idea of a placebo-controlled study using a placebo treatment that filled the bag with room-temperature water instead of cold water. It turned out that gastric freezing didn't work any better than this placebo treatment, and as a result gastric freezing quickly fell out of favour.

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Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Tuesday, August 30 2005 17:51 Profile Homepage #0
In celebration of my 5000th post (post number MMMMM, in Roman numerals), I declare September to be Monumentally Monstrous Medical Malpractice Month!

Every day from now until the end of September, my name will be a different medical device, procedure or drug that's now recognised as discredited, fraudulent or just plain ill-conceived. Let the hilarity begin!

[ Tuesday, August 30, 2005 18:20: Message edited by: Gastric Freezing ]

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Years in Blades of Avernum Editor
Thuryl
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Member # 869
 written Tuesday, August 30 2005 17:46 Profile Homepage #5
quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

EDIT: Unless you use a pre-made party and do something that may be described, er, elsewhere.
*cough* *splutter* *Lyceum* *gasp* *cough*

My, what a nasty cough I have today.

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Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Years in Blades of Avernum
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Tuesday, August 30 2005 17:46 Profile Homepage #5
quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

EDIT: Unless you use a pre-made party and do something that may be described, er, elsewhere.
*cough* *splutter* *Lyceum* *gasp* *cough*

My, what a nasty cough I have today.

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Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00

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