Interesting Links for 22-07-2013

[andrewducker]

• Six Brain-Damage Scourges That Cripple IQ in Sub-Saharan Africa
  (tags: africa intelligence )
• The Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements
  (tags: vitamins health science )
• Scientists discover the molecule responsible for causing feelings of depression (Kinda. Maybe.)
  (tags: chemistry psychology depression )
• An amazingly awesome trailer for

Comments

[tobyaw]

So you approve of AAISP… but do you use them?

[andrewducker]

Last time I checked out the options they were about twice the price of Virgin (and there was no fibre option). Next time I move I'll reconsider the various options.

It looks like the maximum speed they'd be able to offer me is about 17MBit though, which is under half of what I actually get through Virgin.

[tobyaw]

I suppose the nearest equivalent to cable is FTTC, if that is supported in your area.

In St Andrews we’re stuck on ADSL with no options for fibre or cable, so AAISP are as good speed-wise as anyone else, and certainly have better service and product features.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, if it was ADSL or nothing then their Home::1 product looks quite good - particularly after reading so many blogposts about them making BT do their damn job.

[danieldwilliam]

The article on sub-Saharan IQ is a salutory lesson in not reading below the line.

Makes me think that places like Western Europe must have been affected by similar issues in the historical past. Disease, parasites, consanguinity and malnutrition seem to have widely affected Western Europe before the 20th century and in some places well into it.

Which makes me feel optimistic (still and again) about Africa.

[andrewducker]

Oh God, yes, the comments were awful.

And yeah, Africa is already improving a lot, get the basic infrastructure to the point where it's self-sustaining and things should get better even faster.

(Nice piece here on how fast things are getting better: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/26/ian-birrell-emergence-new-africa?mobile-redirect=false )

[danieldwilliam]

Gar! The comments. My Eyes. My Eyes!

African states sorting themselves out and getting wealthier is a bit of a six-pointer in football parlance.

Less for us to do in terms of charity and state aid and in keeping ourselves safe from some of the lunacy kicking about there and more ability from those African states that are doing okay to sort out their neighbours one way or another and buy lots of lovely things from us.

Funny that that article should mention Ethiopia. I had a look at the Failed States Index and there was Ethopia sitting right at the top or bottom and then it gets a mention in the Guardian article as an example of how things are getting better. Things are complex.

[apostle_of_eris]

There were people for tens of thousands of generations before there were vitamin supplements. Imnsho, this strongly suggests that you can get along with a pretty good diet pretty well. Not to say that deficiencies aren't to be considered, but my diet in Chicago has no resemblance to the diet of an orphan in Burkina Faso.

And a quarter pound of vitamin C a day is some sort of therapeutic? I'll need a LOT of convincing.