Climb to the Shrine, Right What Is Wrong

Thatcher, Liberator by Andrew Sullivan

R.I.P.

So this site lists two tables of traits common in Asperger's females. I know hotlinking is often disliked by webhosts, so I'll just link to the page and tell you to click through.

(Do note that not all traits are true for all females with Asperger's, just as not all traits are true for all males with Asperger's, etc.)

*winces* However, even in the absence of diagnosis... Damnably on-target, damnably on-target...

(I'm greatly relieved at the "Will not do well at verbal instruction - needs to write down or draw diagram" and "May have many androgynous traits despite an outwardly feminine appearance. Thinks of herself as half-male/half-female." bullet points. Oh good. That's not abnormal.)

[Copied over from the original friends-locked lumiere42  with permission]

Baggs, the nonverbal US autistic activist from "In My Language" and Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking, has long had medical issues with gastroparesis (stomach paralysis). It has progressed to the point where it forces her to live on an entirely liquid diet.  It also frequently causes her to aspirate fluid into her lungs, which has given her several recent life-threatening bouts with pneumonia.

The standard treatment for gastroparesis with these complications is having a feeding tube put in.

Baggs entered the hospital, Fletcher Allen Health Services, on Thursday. According to her and her DPA:

-FAHC attempted to deny Baggs entry unless she had an aide from developmental disability services with her there at all times (despite never having required this when Baggs was in that hospital before).

-FAHC tried to release Baggs the next morning, despite her clearly still being quite sick.

-Despite a feeding tube being standard best practice, FAHC staff have been continually delaying the procedure, with...interesting...excuses (i.e. saying they need to consult her old doctor when it's not necessary).

-Baggs says that, when she told a nurse she wants all measures necessary taken to save her life, the nurse responded by laughing (!)

-Baggs' advocate says personnel tried to claim Baggs was only having "sensations" of aspiration, despite CAT scans clearly showing aspirated crud in her lungs.

-Baggs and her advocate both say that, this morning, a staff member (med student) tried to talk them out of the feeding tube procedure (despite acknowledging that it's standard best practice).

As of Sunday afternoon, Baggs says the staff are discussing the feeding tube procedure again (mostly due to her advocate's pressure).

Baggs' account of these events:
http://youneedacat.tumblr.com/post/46772...henmorning

Her advocate's account:
http://webmuskie.tumblr.com/post/4675516...henmorning

Folks, it looks like they've been trying to avoid giving Baggs care she needs to not end up dying of starvation or aspiration pneumonia. This is TOTALLY unacceptable.

It'll probably really help Baggs' case if FAHC gets tons o' negative feedback about this:

Web contact form:
https://www.fletcherallen.org/about/news...ontact_us/

http://www.facebook.com/fletcherallenhealthcare

http://fletcherallenblog.wordpress.com/

Phone: 802-847-0000 (main) or 802-847-2000 (FAHC Clinical Ethics Office)

Anyone who wants to send Baggs supportive messages can reach her at http://youneedacat.tumblr.com

*painfully accurate, and I don't even have ADHD... I think*

This may be a very useful categorization system. I'll have to try it out before I can pass judgment.

All of the random generators you could ever need.

Comes with:

Fandom-Relevant Generator Index
Browse a list of popular fandoms to find generators relevant to your interests, be they Doctor Who, The Avengers, Sherlock, Dungeons & Dragons, or many, many more.

Worldbuilding-Relevant Generator Index
Browse a list of random generators useful for building worlds and cultures.

Name Generators
Names for characters, places, and more.

Human & Humanoid Character Generators
Profiles and descriptions for humans and things mostly resembling humans.

Non-Humanoid Character Generators
Profiles and descriptions for non-humanoid characters - eg, pets, dragons, etc.

Character Detail Generators
Bits and bobs like abilities and personal details.

Genre, Plot, & Story Prompt Generators
Plots for everything from short stories to novels.

Item & Artifact Generators
Generate fictional feelies and/or crafting and art ideas!

Costume & Wardrobe Generators
Clothing and fashion for your characters.

Location & Setting Generators
Places for your story to happen in.

Other Generators
Generators that don't warrant their own category yet.

Randomly-Chosen Random Generator
Let random chance take you to your destination!

Impossible/Impractical Random Generator Requests - And Where You Should Go Instead
Every now and then, I get someone looking for something that's really not doable because it's either too broad or too narrow, so I've created this page to help people find something that should suit their purposes.

Quick Character & OC Creation Kit
A page with links to the pages I use most when creating new characters, particularly OCs. Figured if I found it helpful, so would others.

Check it out! *pins as App Tab* *continues painfully enthusiastic (mental) squealing*

EDIT: Credit to aikaterini for linking to an article elsewhere on that site that led me to that page.
"or maybe she's a deliciously frigid frost giant or a beautiful were-alpaca -"
It's worth a read.

Computer Fraud And Abuse Act 2013: New CFAA Draft Aims To Expand, Not Reform, The ‘Worst Law In Technology'

"“The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is the most outrageous criminal law you’ve never heard of,” Tim Wu, a Columbia law professor and pioneer of network neutrality, wrote in the New Yorker. “It bans ‘unauthorized access’ of computers, but no one really knows what those words mean.”"
...
"But what’s perhaps most troubling to Internet freedom advocates is how the new CFAA even expands the law to include accessing information for an “impermissible purpose,” which means even if you have the right to access the information in the first place, it’s still considered a crime if someone deems you are misusing your access in some way."
Which effectively means that they can lock you up on a whim, and strictly means that if you've ever read, listened to, or seen the YouTube video of something online for an "impermissible purpose", you're going to jail. For up to 20 years. You think I'm kidding?
"Here’s an example of the extreme nature of these recommended punishments: Aaron Swartz, who illegally tapped into and downloaded millions of scholarly papers from the digital journal archive JSTOR while visiting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, faced four charges under section (a)(4) of the CFAA, with a maximum sentences of five years per charge, for a possible total of 20 years in prison. While many lawyers and experts have recommended reducing these penalties or removing them entirely, the new draft actually increases the maximum for each charge under (a)(4) to 20 years, which means Swartz could have gotten 80 years. NYU law professor James Grimmelman on Monday called this notion “simply obscene.”"
Fanmixers, fanficcers, fananythingers - anyone who might just so happen to use data in a way not explicitly permitted by Those On High - you're going to jail if this thing goes through. Or maybe not. It all depends on the whim of your overlords.

SPREAD THE WORD TO TUMBLR!
And signal boost! Please, signal boost!

Well, this should give you an idea of who we're dealing with - once you know that he once made his rep as a Frodo/Sam BNF. Dearie me, someone who used to be a Frodo/Sam fangirl spewing his hatred of fangirls with an utterly straight face? Why, that -

Oh, it turns out he did change his identity. Multiple times. Okay, so he is kind of the fandom Voldemort.

And he acts like it, too. Complete with loooong, dramatic speeches, half of which is utter bullshit. (That son is a sparrow, in case you're wondering what he's talking about. Yes, he IS Mr. "His Son? A Sparrow", if you remember that.)

Oh, and also the part about drawing vulnerable and lost people into his cult of personality, leeching off of them, and throwing them aside like garbage moving on whenever his reputation has caught up with him. Can't forget that one.

Generally, if you should see anyone matching his writing style or behavior patterns cropping up in your fandom, run like hell. He's apparently made ventures into the Supernatural fandom, so SPN fans? Prepare for boarding.

(Also, if any of his rants make him seem sympathetic? Close the tab immediately. He's made a long career of preying upon people's sympathies. And he is known to slander all prior associates whenever he moves on from them, so don't believe any tales of his tragic past or claims of remorse. In fact, it's frankly at the point where Thanfiction's hatred comes across as a solid recommendation. Keep that in mind if you follow links to any posts in which His Fictionness speaks.)

Here you go.

Apparently the man's characters could have done with a few crates of smelling salts. Hideous, nameless, antiquarian smelling salts, mind you.

The Wordle, for the more visually-oriented, is here.

Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.

- Hugh Latimer (before his burning at the stake in the Marian Persecutions in 1555)

Because someone has to mention this.

Hundreds of monks are getting locked in. And for what? Because one of their number dared publish a book about some Tibetian monks setting themselves on fire as a form of protest against the Chinese authorities.

Signal boost, or at least give thanks that you live in a country in which you can signal boost in ways other than "lighting such a candle".

Today's XKCD is painfully accurate. Particularly the "Job Interview Quicksort". *cringes* (And "Bogosort" is entertainingly sociopathic.)

But since you're not reading this post for that... Onwards to MedicalXpress!

Single gene might explain dramatic differences among people with schizophrenia
Epigenetics mechanism may help explain effects of mom's nutrition on her children's health
Havoc in biology's most-used human cell line: Genome of HeLa cells sequenced for the first time
Genomic screening to detect preventable rare diseases in healthy people
Scholar looks to genes to make sense of the dollars you invest
Discovery of human genetic mutation could lead to new treatments for type 1 diabetes

First of all, I subscribed to several RSS feeds, having stumbled onto this feature while trying to figure out how to fuse my LJ Friends page with my Dreamwidth Read page. That has nothing to do with trying to move off LJ and everything with trying to starve out my distractibility by giving it only one page to check every five minutes. As a result, I am now viewing Lifehacker, Calvin and Hobbes reruns, and XKCD. ...And Fandom Wank.

Second of all, I came across a ridiculously good Alternate History by the name of Now Blooms The Tudor Rose. It diverges at the point of "What if a Tudor heir had been born in Elizabeth I's place?", and continues to have... some pretty ridiculous, hilarious, and impressive divergences. For one, strangely, Don Carlos wound up getting slightly better genetics through the butterfly-effect, and is now an deformed and eccentric yet highly-intelligent prince, rather than... well, a mentally and physically malformed psychopath. (It helped that he never took a short walk off a long flight of stairs.) For another, Catherine Howard gets an exciting life as a mercenary spy for everyone willing to pay her gambling debts. CATHERINE HOWARD. And these are just the divergences that aren't major spoilers.
I just spent all day reading this AH on my cellphone. I SERIOUSLY recommend it.
(Links to individual posts given here. I think the discussion is highly entertaining and informative, too, but you may wish to just get to the meat of it.)

Third of all, am I the only reader of Fandom Wank who initially thought “We don’t know how to handle money; PLEASE SAVE US BY GIVING US MORE MONEY” was a wank having to do with the Federal Government? I am? Hm...

Third-point-five of all, that may be the only time I've seen the disclaimer [PARAPHRASED] 'We judge the organizer Not Guilty on the grounds of crippling stupidity.'

Fourth of all, I'm actually using my List Maker... demi-hemi-semi-app. Which is good. The Dragon Fighter mini-app included with it proves mildly entertaining. If I had more spare time, I'd be seeing if I could upgrade it to some sort of low RPG (tossing the app into a 'battle' function and having the character wander around a single screen getting into random battles, with EXP and money being introduced on later updates), but I don't have the time. Alas.

Fifth of all, I'm trying to actually pay attention to my many and sundry How To Draw books for once, so I may somewhat improve on that front... provided that I keep that up.

Sixth of all, 25 days into Codecademy, I have successfully completed the Web Fundamentals (HTML/CSS),  (basic) JavaScript, and (basic) jQuery courses. This stuff is fun. :D And if I concentrated on my actual schoolwork in the same manner, I'd probably have already graduated. Confound it...

Seventh of all, I'm actually going to take up exercising again. I have less than virtuous grounds for doing this. Basically? I've noticed that my brain does better on a diet somewhat higher in sugar and fat than I've been consuming. Given that I am desperately willing to take any brainpower boost I can get, and that I am also very much against going from 'moderately chubby' to 'Henry VIII's twin sister', I'm left with no choice but actually exerting some effort. On the bright side, I do have more energy this way, so I might actually be able to commit to this...

Eighth of all... I hope you've all had a good weekend! Mine's gone pretty well indeed. :) Eight cheers for actually doing things!

x^3-D^3=(x-D)(x^2+Dx+D^2)
x^3+D^3=(x+D)(x^2-Dx+D^2)
(x+D)(x+E)=x^2+(D+E)x+DE
Likewise, (x+D)(x+D)=x^2+2Dx+D^2
x^2-D^2=(x-D)(x+D)

sin(x+y)=sin(x)cos(y)+sin(y)cos(x)
cos(x+y)=cos(x)cos(y)-sin(x)sin(y)

And we may derive the solutions to Ax^2+Bx+C=0 (A=/=0, for obvious reasons) as follows:
( If you know the Quadratic Formula, just ignore this, obviously. :P )

Pessimistic people live longer and are healthier
When good habits go bad: Neuroscientist seeks roots of obsessive behavior, motion disorders [*sourly* It's not being 'less flexible', it's being 'more consistent'! >:B ]
Children with autism show increased positive social behaviors when animals are present
'Network' analysis of the brain may explain features of autism [So, out of curiosity, when do we get the studies declaring that 'neurotypicals have multiple redundant long-distance connections across distant areas of the brain at the expense of adjacent links, consistent with neurotypicality's classic cognitive profile - a child who excels at integrating various disparate subjects, but who suffers at specific, focused tasks like memorizing streets'? ...*dodges bricks* I'm just saying - the wording is more than a bit biased here! ]
Team discovers potential blood test for autistic patients
Neuroscience shows why not everyone learns from their mistakes

Study finds children with low self-esteem are often praised for personal qualities instead of efforts
[*snort* I believe the Tumblr phrase is GPOY...]

((Since I keep advertising it but seem not to have remembered to describe it... >_>))

Codecademy is a site that offers free courses in various kinds of code, including HTML (and thus CSS), Javascript, Python, and Ruby. No, it doesn't bombard you with ads or malware - as far as I can tell, it's a genuine power-of-the-people effort.

The interface is easy and enjoyable. It introduces you to a concept, has you do a simple exercise, and then goes onto the next concept. The only problem so far is that the HTML course occasionally glitches up and doesn't respond to the Submit button properly, but it's not grading you, so you don't have to worry about that affecting anything. And yes, you can go back and review a previous exercise at any time - it's pretty well laid-out, so you'll be able to find your way back.

It also has a little scoring system so you know how many exercises you've done today and how many days you've been going at Codecademy without interruption. So, if you're feeling competitive, you can work on racking up as many points as you can in any given day. :P Wonderful procrastination tool...

Apparently I've been on there for twelve days and done very little in that time.

Why do I recommend it for the casual LJer/Dreamwidther? Because it will enable you to actually read CSS stylesheets without it all looking like Greek (er, or... Chinese or something, in aikaterini 's case >_>), it will allow you to program up short little things for your own entertainment and use, and because it's a browser-game-like site that will actually increase your knowledge and be useful in the future. I mean, with all due respect to Dragon Cave, GPXPlus, and the like, mass-clicking doesn't benefit you in the long run. Learning programming languages will - even if it's as a side hobby and the most you do with it is create custom journal layouts and run amusing little text programs.

So please do check it out, if you have a minute. I promise that you won't regret it.

I know I'm getting repetitive, but - it really is fun. And useful.

Behold! I have a button!

Let's kill it AGAIN, shall we?

( Read more... )
Also, again, if you're not doing Codecademy yet, you should be. If you've ever had to bludgeon LJ/Dreamwidth's HTML into place, you'll know half the material for the HTML exercises already. >_>

Free website dedicated to teaching people how to code in-browser. Teaches HTML, jQuery, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and more!

I just found my new "But it's productive, really!" procrastination site. :D

An "urn model" in probability is a certain kind of model for random walks using urns. (Please don't call me Captain Obvious.) Typically, you have r red balls and b blue balls [be mature about this, darn it!] in an urn which are evenly mixed together, and you pull one ball out at random and, depending upon the color of the ball, do something such as changing the color of the ball and putting it back in, adding a given number of balls of a certain color to the urn, or performing an operation on another urn. At the end of the process, you change the state of a certain system depending upon your results, and repeat the process.

A simple example would be having two balls in an urn, one red and one blue, picking one ball, and moving a token one space further or one space backward on an infinite line depending upon whether the ball chosen was red or blue, respectively. Then, you put the ball you chose back in the urn, and repeat the process.

Hypothetically, if not for the crazy two-RN hit chance, you could model a Fire Emblem attack sequence [without counterattack] as follows: 
(Hit chance is X%, crit rate is C%, attack strength is A, and enemy HP is E.)
Put X black balls and 100-X white balls in Urn 1 and C red balls and 100-C blue balls in Urn 2. Then, remove a ball from Urn 1. If it's white, end the process there and do nothing. If it's black, proceed to Urn 2; if the ball chosen is red, subtract 3A Hit Points from E and end the process - otherwise, subtract A Hit Points from E and end the process. Repeat until enemy keels over. :B

Modeling the average-of-the-two-RNs would require weighting the balls, methinks, and that kind of ruins the point. D|

Alternatively, you could model an NPC randomly moving about by having A red balls, B white balls, C blue balls, and D green balls in the urn, then moving up if the ball picked is red, left if the ball picked is white, down if the ball picked is blue, and right if the ball picked is green. You get the idea.

The usefulness of this is that it gives you some way to model weirder transition chances in a way you can grasp. Say, for instance, that you have r red balls, b blue balls, and g green balls in the urn, and you pick one ball and, before replacing it, pick another ball - moving the state up a notch if you pick the same color of ball twice, moving down if you pick red and then blue (or vice versa), and staying constant if you picked green and then a different color (or vice versa).

Then, your transition probabilities are as follows:
Moving up: (r(r-1)+b(b-1)+g(g-1))/[(r+b+g)(r+b+g-1)]
Not moving: (2rg+2bg)/[(r+b+g)(r+b+g-1)]
Moving down: (2br)/[(r+b+g)(r+b+g-1)]
...You wouldn't know quite what to make of those if you ran across them in another context, would you? :P But this way, you actually have some way of understanding what crazy stuff is going on. And it would get more complicated if you performed actions based upon your results (such as changing a ball to blue or green depending upon what the color of the first ball you picked was) before proceeding onto the next step, of course...

 Brownian motion refers to one-dimensional random motion of a particle that is homogenous in time, homogenous in space, and independent in increments.

This basically means that the particle's motion isn't affected by which direction is which, what time it is, or what it's done previously. So it's sort of like a Too Stupid To Live protagonist. :P

In equations. the random variable X(t,w) giving the probability distribution of the particle being displaced by w units at time t has the following properties:
X(0,w)=0 for all w (the particle has not moved at time 0)
X(t,w)-X(s,w)=X(t-s,w) (the displacement of the particle between time s and time t only depends on the time elapsed between time s and time t)
X(t), X(t+e-t), t(t+e+e2-(t+e)), etc. are all independent variables ( the particle's behavior during at interval of time is not dependent on its behavior during any other period of time)
X is normally distributed with mean 0 and variance t (it goes to the left or right with equal probability, and... I'll get back to you on the variance)
With probability 1, t->X(t,w) is continuous (the particle is not a Portkey, and cannot teleport)


...Don't mind me - just studying . :) (And I said I'd share info with the f-list...) Now, let's just hope I didn't make any typos.