I have no problem with the proposal to eat rats. The problem is the numbers of people to which this pertains. Insects are another untapped, highly nutritious food source that disgusts people. But the point is, no society can prosper while the people are malnourished. Though it needs to be thoroughly researched how a reduction in the rat population will affect the area. Natural balances are quickly and easily disrupted by human activity. - ·[•_•]·
I bet they would taste pretty good wrapped in bacon ;) - Earl E Morningwood
Also, I wonder whether these rats will be "cultivated." The big problem with rats is that they are full of exciting diseases (beyond the knee-jerk "Eew" factor). - Steve Spalding
How much meat do they get from a rat? - Morton Fox
Anyone tasted a rat? Might already taste like bacon :) - ·[•_•]·
I was just following rule #1 everything tastes better wrapped in bacon. - Earl E Morningwood
Might have well said "India's poor urged to eat poop." - Sean McGee
If true, i'd think city rats are the more diseased of the species. But i'm guessing the disease thing is probably mostly a hold-over from bubonic plague. @Earl it is true. Swine FTW - ·[•_•]·
Perhaps they're quite tasty if done like Bombay Duck? - Ian May
depends on the type of post. I generally do on political, cultural discussions. If it's a question asking for response or a jokey post, I might just spit out my utterance and then check afterwards. That's what I'm doing on this thread. - Jason Toney
LOL. Yes, I created a question which actually obviates any necessity to click the more comments link. Pretty funny really. - AJ Kohn
For whatever reason it doesn't taste so bad to me. - Steve Spalding
so when i foolishly decided to drive back from NYC to Dallas - without stopping - it boosted me somewhat. For the record, I ended up sleeping at rest stops where the truckers were. - Ruth Ferguson
I had it once and I couldn't sleep for days. It really frightened me, and I'm enough of a caffeine addict as it is. I also remember going to this commerical Rave at the Cow Palace back in early '94 and my (at the time) boyfriend and I picked up something called "Herbal Ecstacy". My heart raced for hours after taking some of that stuff. It really freaked me out. - Helen Is SOOO Not Of Troy
Redbull is Grand as a matter of fact it's SUPER!!! - Gordon Swaby
mmm red bull is delish. wish I could afford it - Noah David Simon
I don't like it, nasty taste. I don't drink any kind of soda anyway, Doesn't make me feel any different either. Energy is best derived from proper food. - Ian May
Not even with vodka, like the kids do it?? ;-) - Lisa L. Seifert
it's just perfect for allnighters and hackatons. - Mladen Srdić
Me neither, tastes awful. Also, +1 Ian, damn right. Once I dropped all sugared colas I actually had far more energy - Mo Kargas
I like it with vodka, never straight. Sugar-free Monster is my energy drink of choice. - Matt Musgrave
I still think the taste is like licking a light pole, but it does wonders for keeping me awake when I need (with the addition of vodka of course). - Far
My brain will reside in a jar at the Central Brain Bank while my AI avatar cavorts with extraterrestrials in the galaxy-wide virtual HoloNet. Either that or I'll be Tivo'ing reruns of "Golden Girls" in Miami. - Sprague D
Now the better question is can you have both? - Steve Spalding
See I'm optimistic about the future. - Geoff Schultz
the oil's gone.there is no more plastic, no more artificial fertilizer, no more pharmaceutical feedstock. we live in an agrarian world after a convulsive and traumatic period of famine, epidemic, war, and population die-off. the internet is a distant memory; children don't believe it ever existed. same with private passenger cars and commercial aviation. - Nathan Rein
@Nathan Malthusian check then agrarian utopia? It might take a bit more than 20 years without a very, very serious "booboo" in the near future. - Steve Spalding
@Geoff I have you have a half-robot baby too. ;) - Steve Spalding
Remember when you thought up YouTube twelve months before it launched? Yea, that's what I'm talking about. - Steve Spalding
I actually thought of DVR-style tech when I was a kid... not so much for recording and archiving, but more for the buffer to be able to pause something (TV or radio, movies, etc) or rewind it a little in case you happened to just miss something, needed to go to the bathroom, etc. That was...a long time ago now. :| I even put together a really bad demo with a tape recorder, gave a presentation to my class for show and tell... Yeah, I was a geeky kid. - abacab
I am pretty sure me and my brother came up with a treatment for Survivor on the way to South Florida about a year and a half before it aired. It had a bit more of a Lord of the Flies feel, I'll admit. - Steve Spalding
In 1995, I fell in love with Myst & was spending a lot of time socializing on the internet. Talking to a friend, I had an idea: what if you could get online & play an interactive game like Myst, with great visuals, but it was a multi-player, social environment, like a MUD. My friend said, "Do you have any idea how hard that would be? How much server space you'd need?" Disheartened, I gave up on the idea. Idiot! - Joshua M. Neff
I sent an email to Sony that suggested putting a web tv into a playstation (back when the first one was out). Of course, they don't accept unsolicited suggestions. - Brian Norwood
Chomsky: "This is even sometimes discussed. You can find it in the strategic analysis literature. Take, say, the invasion of Iraq again. We're told that they didn't find weapons of mass destruction. Well, that's not exactly correct. They did find weapons of mass destruction, namely, the ones that had been sent to Saddam by the United States, Britain, and others through the 1980s. A lot of them were still there. They were under control of U.N. inspectors and were being dismantled. But many were still there. When the U.S. invaded, the inspectors were kicked out, and Rumsfeld and Cheney didn't tell their troops to guard the sites. So the sites were left unguarded, and they were systematically looted. The U.N. inspectors did continue their work by satellite and they identified over 100 sites that were systematically looted, like, not somebody going in and stealing something, but carefully, systematically looted." http://delicious.com/simonstud... - Noah David Simon
i had the idea to cover the annual Lincoln Presenters (impersonators) convention in 2001. Before I could act on it, there was a feature story in the Atlantic Monthly. I wept. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc... - rochelle <3man
I thought up TripIt well before it launched -- went to a family programmer with the idea and he pretty much told me it was dumb. Well, TripIt got another $5 million in round B funding in April... - Shey
A common thread seems to be that X thinks idea Y is stupid so we don't do anything about it. - Steve Spalding
Heated ice cream scoop. Would have sold like gangbusters. - Shawn Farner
I think I saw one of those on an infomercial a few nights back. - Steve Spalding
Go through phases. Have just come off of a few weeks of contacts and now wearing glasses all the time. In a few weeks will most likely go back to contacts. No rhyme or reason behind this whatsoever. - Patricia Hanrahan
I wear glasses more often but I have really sensitive eyes and allergies. - Trish R
Contacts. I had a bad habit of never taking them out so my doctor switched me to night/day ones that I can wear and not take out for 30 days then dispose. I still don't take them after 30 days though, I'm on 6 months with the ones I've have in now. I don't switch them unless I get a tear or they scratch my eye. Healthy :) - Matt Musgrave
Be careful, Matt, I got a nasty eye infection a few years ago from wearing contacts too long. - Trish R
Trish- Thanks. I know, my doctor always yells at me and I definitely need to take better care of my eyes. I was in a bar once and they were bothering me so I took them out and threw them in an ashtray (when people were still allowed to smoke in bars). Later in the night I decided to put them back in because I couldn't see so I dug them out of the ashtray, rinsed them off with beer, and put them back in. Blah. - Matt Musgrave
Contacts. I wear 30 day extended wear disposables. 30 days on, then out and sleep overnight int he mornign I put a fresh pair on. Absolutely no trouble and none of the risks of surgery but none of the hassles of glasses :) - Soulhuntre via twhirl
I just move what I am reading farther from my eyes ;) - Earl E Morningwood
I just enjoy being blind instead of wearing either ;-) - ChangeForge via twhirl
contacts, except the moments before and after sleep - RAPatton
Contacts. My glasses are too thick and embarassing to be worn outside my house. - Rochelle
@Matt LOL. Rinsing them off with the beer was the winning touch! :) - David Young
Akiva is serious about "always contacts". So serious that in 7 years, I've never seen him wear his glasses. - Rochelle
glasses occassionally - never owned a pair of contacts - Ruth Ferguson
I'm near sighted in one eye and far sighted in the other. Have glasses to correct the near sighted eye but rarely wear them. - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)
Glasses... I need them, I'm almost half blind without them! :D I hate contacts. :( - Ron
“Some day you Californians are going to get a quake that separates you from the U.S. and destroys all your Internet and phone access. THEN WHO WILL BE ON TOP?!”
The rest of the US will not...they will have just lost the most productive farmland in the world and the 5th largest economy in the world. - AlexScoble(Robert'sBro)
I don't know, but I have a feeling that it'll be a Scoble of some sort ... - ::Kristen::
Give me farmland ANY day over the "holier-than-thou" attitude of most Californians. (EDIT: of course, I've only visited LA and Monterrey. PPL I met gave me a horrible impression...of course, they probably weren't Friend Feeders.) - Sean McGee
Most populous, rich and diverse state in the nation with the most progressive smog laws. You better believe that they are better than you. I used to think like that, but I'm an Oregonian now. - AlexScoble(Robert'sBro)
@Alex: at "Most populous..." I tend to stop there...I hate populous...My dream state is Wyoming or Montana...I could not STAND the amount of people in California...and then a bunch of them decide to move to Austin and "crunchy" up my Texas Hill Country.... :( - Sean McGee
That's called diversification and redistribution of wealth...it's a good thing Sean, particularly if you own a home in the area. Although personally, you can have Texas and the whole south to yourself. It gets way too hot down there for my tastes...which is why I'm in Oregon and not CA...oh and I can afford a house here, unlike in the Bay Area. - AlexScoble(Robert'sBro)
We should give names to earthquakes, like hurricanes have. - Denton Gentry
@Alex...I agree about the heat...that's the one thing I hate about Texas...But, I just hate crowds...when we went to Yosemite National Park, my expectations were quiet surroundings, solitude, nature. All I got was nature...when we got there, we had to que up and wait in line to get in...battle international tourists jostling for position on the trails...and it was [sarcasm]lovely[/sarcasm] sitting, staring at El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridal Veil Falls with a bunch of screaming kids @ the next picnic area - Sean McGee
Sean - you can live up in Redding or someplace if you want space. It's like 5 hours from San Francisco to the Oregon border. Lot of land up there. - Hutch Carpenter
Yeah, but where are you gonna get your silicon chips? Oh yeah, they're manufacturered overseas now. Never mind. - Ontario Emperor
Friendfeed is there. Can't happen. Hundreds immediately in re-hab - Charlie Anzman
Still loving Chrome. I've had no issues with it at all. I love the simple interface and it beats the pants off of Firefox for speed. - Squirrel Girl
I've set it as my default browser on the Windows PCs I use. That said, I love the combination of Firefox 3 and Ubiquity on my Mac too much to consider changing over on that when the OSX version is available. - Martin Bryant
I'll still be hard pressed to give up my extensions but I agree with you on the speed thing. - Steve Spalding
Still mostly on it now. It won't replace firefox because of the lack of extensions, but it's easier to quickly pull up and browse around because of its speed. - Nick Munson
@Beth that's what I do. @Mark I think you might be being a wee bit humble Mark. - Steve Spalding
Are we talking Ph.D. level? World's foremost expert? If not, then I would go with sports history. - Julian
Steve: if I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. Everything I know has been taught to me by others, so there isn't anything I think others don't know. - Mark Trapp
i am an expert at knowing a little bit about a lot of things. - rochelle <3man
@Mark and that, my friend, is "something" if I've ever heard it. You'd be surprised at how few people have that particular skill. - Steve Spalding
@Julian I wouldn't take it that far, just something you think you know really, really well. - Steve Spalding
visual art, and only better than folks who didn't learn it the way I did. fellow artists tend to be on par. - Kamilah Gill
I'd have to admit that my knowledge of the oevres of UK actors/actresses verges on the strange and uselessly comprehensive. - Bran Mydwynter
New Media - I've been producing indie/new media for more than half of my life. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
@Mark Good call Mark, I think you bring up a good distinction -- for things like New Media there are plenty of people who "know" it and only a tiny fraction who Know it. - Steve Spalding
As in dealing with the cousin from halfaway around the world who wants to do the eulogy for you dad's funeral. That sort of thing. I'm good at handling the weird people-ish sort of things that happen at funerals (because I used to sing at them alot). - Ryan Deschamps
Books. Libraries. Research. Of course other librarians are good at these things too. :) - Squirrel Girl
@Ryan that's actually really interesting. @Squirrel Heh. - Steve Spalding
As the daughter and granddaughter of morticians, I might have to join Ryan with the funeral dynamics skill set. Also, I know a lot about Progressive Era librarianship, cookie baking, and psychological warfare against siblings! - Katy Southern
Biographies of Sylvia Plath and memoirs by mentally ill people. - Laura Xett
My internal landscape. Ain't no shrink managed to get a handle on it yet! - Slippy Lane
It's really heartening to see how diverse the answers have been, keep them coming. :) - Steve Spalding
Mango Fruitista, dress down Friday with untucked dress shirt all day, Chinese chicken salad at House of Chu, performance compliment from the boss, and listening to iTunes on my iPhone at work - Pete Delucchi via fftogo
Replacement laptop battery arrived four days early, got an email from an old friend, mum offered a loan for new laptop, live-in carer came home from work in a good mood (happy for her) and ... my dog, but then he always makes me happy :) - Timothy Griffin
my daughter's laugh, time spent sitting on the porch watching the rain while drinking a really rich latte, The Daily Show rerun, Dr. Horrible on my iPod (until I sang along with it at the grocery store) and a most delicious cup of pistachio gelato. - Abby Martin
Bagel Friday at the office; having a hurricane slide by us and not into us; listening to my three kids tell me how their day went when I got home; my wife's cooking; learning a new command in AutoCAD that will make my life so much easier. - JA Castillo
Not being in Florida, not having to work, my yummy iced caramel swirl latte from Dunkin Donuts, spending the day with my sister, and spending a chunk of the day prepping for tomorrow's festivities. - ::Kristen::
My daughter, my wife, breakfast at La Note in Berkeley, finally being a peace with losing DeSean Jackson in my fantasy draft because of a computer glitch and working from home. - AJ Kohn
playing in the creek with my puppy, getting a secret love note, remembering to put the trash out, recovering my missing car key, yogurt w/blueberries & honey. - Sarah Vela via twhirl
Pete Delucchi for his commitment to posting the "5 things that made you happy today," Knowing so many of my fellow ffers are also Peppers (YES!!!), Watching white doves fly in the sky, Debi Faris-Cifelli, and http://www.gardenofangels.org/... - Anna Haro
Laughter at work with my coworkers, preparing for Mimi's return from Ottawa, carb loading for the workout tomorrow, making plans for drinks with a new friend and having a goofy phone conversation with my mom. - Jennifer Leggio
I can come up with one - I woke up with a pulse - Steven Hodson
Cherry Icee, new books, getting a new blank journal in the mail, ideas for a new story, bedtime soon. - Evangeline
bosses out early on friday afternoon; catching a bargain shopping at long lunch hour; spending time with ppl I enjoy; trying new things; my dogs being beside themselves when i pull into the driveway as they look out the bay window. - Ruth Ferguson
my kids, my kids, my kids, my kids, and when my wife came home from work and took over with the kids - Nathan Rein
Morning coffee, ninjas, robots, midgets, rainbows, butterflies, you know - the usual. - Mona N.
Oatmeal, laptops, lasers,tacos and tacos - Steve Spalding
Teaching at my Dojo. Seeing both of my girls, a good relationship with my clients, my new cell phone interface (SPB Powershell) and the "asian+miniskirt" search on Flickr. - Soulhuntre via twhirl
my wife, the kids, getting checks from clients, living in Arizona, being right. in that order. :) - Jason Shultz via twhirl
Most definitely my wife and beautiful children, recovering some essential lost data today (after many hours of effort), taking my son and his friend to get some ice cream with the 100% spelling test Sonic gift certificate reward, actually winning a game of foos at work (uncommon for me), and it's Friday! - Jeremy Hall
defeated Joomla hackers, promoted a fellow Virtual Assistant in need, finished several projects, connected w/ Mona, enjoying a quiet evening - Cheryl Allin via twhirl
John: My heart goes out to you and your family. :-( - Mathew A. Koeneker
The friendfeed crew, Thomas Hawk's awesome photography, The Cycle on bassdrive, my awesome array of podcasts to listen to, oh and last but not least shout out to Princess Bacon A.K.A my favorite Wookie MONA N - Cecil Sandus
John: how awful. My condolences. Strength to you and yours. - Nathan Rein
Strawberry EAS AdvantEdge shake, realizing it's Friday, my cats, my venice happy hour buddies, and the fact that I am alive and well. - mortisha
be strong, John, and condolences to you and yours; may the many happy memories of your dad help will you through this - Pete Delucchi
"Yea, I still can't get used to using Gimp for anything complicated. Though Gimpshop does a world of good. If you haven't tried it yet, you should." - Steve Spalding
Is Gimpshop still being maintained? The last time I looked, Moschella hadn't done anything with it. I just eventually got used to regular old Gimp. - Paul Reynolds
I think it's an older version of Gimp but in my case I only have limited need for graphic design / photo editing so it works out fine. - Steve Spalding
tried out gimpshop and while I loved that it brought features and stuff from Photoshop (which I'm much more used to), it was somewhat unstable on my computer and constantly gave me problems. Coupled with the fact that it's not being maintained as far as I can tell, I just went back to normal Gimp, too. - Chieze Okoye
It did really strange things on my old computer, but worked pretty well on my new one. Maybe it's configuration issues. - Steve Spalding
Last I checked, Gimpshop had not been updated in...years. Still true? - abacab
@abacab I think so, like I said earlier I have limited design needs and the most recent version of Gimpshop takes care of those. On my other computer I run Gimp along, which works really well but I still like to fall back on the familar interface for some things. I'm weird. - Steve Spalding
one of the best features of gimp is it sits nicely in the right-click menu for quick photo editing jobs - like resizing or cropping, etc - Simon
I agree, it's really nice for certain tasks. - Steve Spalding
I use Gimp on a couple machines that can't/don't have PS on them. And while it's different, I've adjusted... but as much as I've wanted to like Gimpshop, it never really worked right for me, or was off enough from PS that I decided I needed to simply live with the two extremes instead of confusing myself with some middle-ground experience. - abacab
Gimp always crashed on my Windows machine. Works fine on Ubuntu. Wonder if Gimpshop wouldn't crash. Will give it a go. - Beth Tribe
