The Gaming Den

FrankTrollman wrote:

Maxus wrote:Other interesting bit:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/this- ... /19344145/

It sounds plausible, from what I remember about cells and how things enter cells.

Science for the win.

Unfortunately, even cancers that are associated with the RAS switch only demonstrate high RAS activity in about one cancer patient in three.

Th sad fact is that "cancer" is not one disease or even one symptom, it's a range of problems that collectively involve cellular proliferation that is bad. Daily Finance is trying to play it up as having found a silver bullet that kills "cancer" but really all they are doing is finding a trick that, if it works, has a good chance of sending certain specific types of cancer into remission.

-Username17

I figured that they were playing it up but it did perk my mood up anyway, I've lost four or five (sadly, I'd have to ask around and count) family members to cancer and I don't really want to see that happen more--to anyone.

So, any progress for treating cancer is good progress.

Investors Recruit Terminally Ill To Outwit Insurers on Annuities

I have to hand it to him -- that's clever.

Surgo wrote:Investors Recruit Terminally Ill To Outwit Insurers on Annuities

I have to hand it to him -- that's clever.

Copy-paste text of the story por favor?

You can just Google the opening phrase: "Terminal Illness? $2,000 in CASH, Immediately Available."

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp& ... 278f68e4a4

Yeah, I don't think paying people to defraud companies is really cool. We ought not to need specific laws for each of these products to say that company Joe ought not be able to buy these products for tom dick and harry and then kill tom dick and harry; or hire people to pay them their insurance policies.

It's just outright fraud they're running on people. Neither the ailing pay nor benefit from these scams, so why should the policies even be valid?

It's called a straw buyer. It's like when you buy cigarettes for kids or cars, houses or forged checks for some third party.

-Crissa

CatharzGodfoot wrote:(Broken link to an article that you can find by searching on Google, or clicking here.)

Wow. That school district is gonna get hammered. And they deserve every bit of it, the bastards.

EDIT:

BoingBoing wrote:the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.

Crissa wrote:Yeah, I don't think paying people to defraud companies is really cool. We ought not to need specific laws for each of these products to say that company Joe ought not be able to buy these products for tom dick and harry and then kill tom dick and harry; or hire people to pay them their insurance policies.

It's just outright fraud they're running on people. Neither the ailing pay nor benefit from these scams, so why should the policies even be valid?

It's called a straw buyer. It's like when you buy cigarettes for kids or cars, houses or forged checks for some third party.

-Crissa

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the life insurance companies didn't have to cover them if they didn't want to? They could have refused coverage, right? (I read this article while I was on the pot, so my memory may be poor.)

If they're prevented by law from refusing coverage then, yeah, there's a really big problem and that's fraud. If they aren't, then they should suck it up because they made a bad decision.

And the ailing do benefit. They get an instant $2k out of the deal.

Some random good news:

Tests came back, and it looks like my dad does not have Lupus. So it's as we always knew: it's never Lupus.

Koumei wrote:Some random good news:

Tests came back, and it looks like my dad does not have Lupus. So it's as we always knew: it's never Lupus.

Game on,
fbmf

Update on that laptop-spy lawsuit.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/s ... s/19363794

They're trying to claim the laptop remote-controlled cam feature is to help find lost/stolen/missing laptops.

Harriton High School declined to comment on the case, referring calls to the Lower Merion School District's public relations manager, Doug Young.

"We can categorically state that we are -- and have always been -- committed to protecting the privacy of our students," Young told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We have referred this matter to our attorneys for appropriate legal action and plan to communicate with parents and students with more information as it becomes available."

Which is sort of nulled out by an earlier paragraph:

A 10th-grader at Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pa., Blake Robbins, brought his school-issued laptop home with him on Nov. 11. The next day, however, he says Harriton's vice principal, Lindy Matsko, confronted the student about what she considered inappropriate behavior in the boy's home. As evidence, Matsko produced a photograph taken inside Robbins' home by the laptop's webcam.

If the laptop was not reported lost, what was the school doing turning the webcam on?

They can claim whatever they want, no judge is going to buy that story. I expect them to settle as soon as they can agree on how much money the school district gets to pay out.

I hope that fucking school district crashes and burns.

There's got to be room for some felony charges in there somewhere.

I kind of want to know what the "inappropriate behaviour" was. I'd be super pissed if my Vice-principal filmed me masturbating in the sanctity of my own room.

If it was that, and they had a photo, I imagine this would be the a police matter and it would fall under the heading of "possession/manufacture of child pornography: go straight to Jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200"

Jilocasin wrote:I hope that fucking school district crashes and burns.

There's got to be room for some felony charges in there somewhere.

I can only hope that it's the individuals responsible who get prosecuted rather than the school district (i.e. local taxpayers).

Yes, that would be ideal.

[edit] If anyone is curious, here's the complaint.

Clicky clicky.

CatharzGodfoot wrote:I can only hope that it's the individuals responsible who get prosecuted rather than the school district (i.e. local taxpayers).

Good chance of that. Turns out the FBI launched its own investigation the day the news broke.

Unless the laptops are somehow used for video conferencing when the student may be at home sick to be able to still get stuff about class form a teacher, there is no need for a fucking camera on a students school-use laptop.

Have these retards never heard of GPS, and the ability to triangulate a wifi signal to locate a missing laptop?

Why did these laptops not just have a security feature to completely disable them in case of loss of theft like pagers used to have?

This is above and beyond the call of duty in the WRONG direction, and there should have never been a camera on them to begin with, and the school should have never had access to it. It is the same as locker searches, but the school just deciding to go into the students home without permission, to see if the student owns anything that the school would not allow them to bring to school or some shit.

I hope the school board, and principal or vice or whoever was looking at the camera feed gets brought up on federal charges.

I also hope the FBI confiscated the network form the school in order to see what "other" images the school had captured on the laptops that they should not have been taking and each such image brings with it federal charges as well.

What is next putting cameras in locker rooms and showers in case a student slips so someone can always watch and be ready to rush to aid them or some shit?

Totally fucking horseshit, and someone needs their ass beaten for coming up with the idea in the first place as there are many other ways to locate a missing laptop.

I mean how would the camera even help? Do they hope someone will be walking by and see and address when leaving a building while the laptop is on for the camera to work? What if the battery had died, then how would the camera even help with finding a lost or stolen laptop?

Who the fucks retarded ass came up with this shit, ratheer than just lojacking the fucking laptops?

shadzar wrote:Have these retards never heard of GPS, and the ability to triangulate a wifi signal to locate a missing laptop?

Wait, what? I don't think laptops are generally fitted with GPS transceivers. Wifi signals as well, they are weak (though you can build special antennas that get you a lot of distance) -- has anyone managed to find a missing laptop via triangulation of wifi signals ever?

Surgo wrote:

shadzar wrote:Have these retards never heard of GPS, and the ability to triangulate a wifi signal to locate a missing laptop?

Wait, what? I don't think laptops are generally fitted with GPS transceivers. Wifi signals as well, they are weak (though you can build special antennas that get you a lot of distance) -- has anyone managed to find a missing laptop via triangulation of wifi signals ever?

you can located a mac address, but the lo-jack style device could have easily been installed with an RFID or some other form to be able to find a lost or stolen laptop.

I never said it was a best case ability to find a wifi device, but you CAN. They could have easily replaced the cam with something else for a security device. The chose to implement some half-assed idea for low cost, and should now pay the penalty for it.

GPS is also only receivers for the most part, but the wifi itself would be able to assist in finding it, should they have both in them.

The point was they didn't think about what they were doing and had many other options...well probably not sense they were using Apple and its proprietary hardware/software nature but...that too is their fault.

Jilocasin wrote:If anyone is curious, here's the civil suit.

Clicky clicky.

Just for the record, that's not the "civil suit", that's the complaint filed by the plaintiffs. The defendants presumably also have some things they would like to say before they get gaveled in the head.

Gelare wrote:Just for the record, that's not the "civil suit", that's the complaint filed by the plaintiffs. The defendants presumably also have some things they would like to say before they get gaveled in the head.

Oh, but it would be funny. My mistake, sorry I used the wrong term.

Remember that Belgian guy in a vegetative state who people claimed had miraculously recovered and was now able to communicate by being a human ouja board? He's Still In a Vegetative State.

Such a mild correction for the Washington Post. Turns out that Rom can't describe any object his speech therapist can't see, and all you can say is "Additional study has shown the method doesn't work in his case"? For shame.

Everyone with a brain knew it was fraud the moment it came out, because we know assisted communication is fraud! You got these "pro-lifers " making literal meat puppets out of people to mouth their own opinions while soaking the credulous family for hard-earned Euros, and all you can say is that additional study shows that it doesn't work in his case? So the next time someone sticks their hand up a paralyzed man's ass to make them into a political soap-box-Kermit you assholes are just going to eat it up again?

The fuck, media? What the fucking fuck?

-Username17