Skinner › Comments

"The most important aspect of this work is that it (seemingly) establishes a new cryptographic primitive that completely removes the danger of rubber-hose cryptanalysis — i.e. obtaining passkeys via torture or coercion. It also gives you deniability: If a judge or policeman orders you to hand over your password, you can plausibly say that you don’t actually know it." - Skinner

"Human trials of Bio-Retina are slated to begin in 2013 — but like Second Sight, US approval could be a long time coming. It’s easy enough to hop on a plane and visit one of the European clinics offering bionic eye implants, though." - Skinner

Caused "religious feelings" in a skeptical study group. - Skinner

The St. Petersburg Times referred to the Sea Org as "a fraternal order of Scientology staffers who adhere to military-style rules and sign billion-year contracts, believing they will live many more lives." - Skinner

via the indomitable Strawsburg - Skinner

The man who found out (coffin) - Skinner

Public Domain Golden Age Comics - Skinner

As with all opioids, there have also been reports of illicit use on the street, where it is (incorrectly) known as "morphine lollipops", and in the US as "perc-a-pop", and sells for between $5–25, depending on its dose. - Skinner

(Japanese soldiers kept alive POWs for meat.) - Skinner

From Rob S.: - "He was dubbed the "Vacuum Kitten Killer" by a Facebook group started in December 2010 to track down the man responsible for posting a video on YouTube of the kitten deaths." - "On what appears to be his own website, Magnotta defends himself as a victim of cyber stalking." - Skinner

Symptoms: - Hyper-flexible joints - Unstable joints that are prone to: sprain, dislocation, subluxation and hyperextension - Chronic degenerative joint disease - Swan neck deformity of the fingers - Stretchy ligaments and tendons - Skinner

When in doubt, staple an airplane to the roof. - Skinner

"Milton (1973) warned of the impact of the delivery of a prognosis, and how many of his patients, upon receiving their prognosis, simply turned their face to the wall and died an extremely premature death: "... there is a small group of patients in whom the realisation of impending death is a blow so terrible that they are quite unable to adjust to it, and they die rapidly before the malignancy seems to have developed enough to cause death. This problem of self-willed death is in some ways analogous to the death produced in primitive peoples by witchcraft (“Pointing the bone”)."" - Skinner

Blackhall fodder: Original source for Fagin. (Hobart, and back, and then back again.) - Skinner

Cattle and horses may become habituated to locoweed and seek it out, even when good forages are available. [...] Affected animals exhibit ataxia, emaciation, staggering, and proprioceptive deficits. - Skinner

According to the laboratory's Dr. Markus Kuhn, it was "impossible" for the card to detect anything and it had "absolutely nothing to do with the detection of TNT". The card could not be programmed, had no memory, no microprocessor and no form of information could be stored on it. Despite the high cost of the devices, the cards were worth only about two to three pence (3–5¢) each. Kuhn commented: "These are the cheapest bit of electronics that you can get that look vaguely electronic and are sufficiently flat to fit inside a card. - Skinner

[W]as employed against the Nez Percés in 1877 - Skinner

The best way to drink hand sanitizer is straight, like whisky, and down it “like a shot,” explains Tyler, a Grade 10 student who lives in Toronto. Undiluted, the alcohol-based liquid tastes a little like “vodka and bug spray,” he adds. - Skinner

A bag of wild ideas, worth future consideration, as passed along by @HumeSpeaks - Skinner

Stolen from Dave, of @WritersPodcast/RTP fame. - Skinner

Catch the Westbound: to die - Chuck a dummy: pretend to faint - Skinner

Sometimes the poor could be persuaded to part with good teeth. In 1783, a dentist advertised in a New York newspaper, offering 2 guineas each for sound teeth. But people had to be desperate to sell their teeth. The dead did not need persuading. For the discerning patient, teeth from the battlefield were the best they could hope for. It was not always what they got. Many second-hand teeth came from mortuaries, the dissecting room and the gallows. The biggest purveyors of teeth were the "resurrectionists" who stole corpses to sell to medical schools. Teeth were one of the perks of the job. Even if they dug up a body too far gone for the anatomy classroom, they could still pocket a tidy sum by selling the teeth. - Skinner

If the man was not interested in joining the regiment, the king resorted to forced recruitment and kidnapping — his agents kidnapped tall priests, monks, innkeepers, etc., from all over Europe. Once they even tried to abduct an Austrian diplomat. He even forced tall women to marry tall soldiers so they could breed more tall boys. - Skinner

A locate event to partake in, as suggested by RHarron. - Skinner

fodder - Skinner

From R. Harron - Skinner

Via Rich the Time Traveler - Skinner

As provided by @andrewfulton via @Inkybat - Skinner

Suggested by @poorbrenton - Skinner

Stolen from DBJ/@TheCharredTree - Skinner