User:Rhodescus

I added a 3rd party educational link to the Hazmat page. 9/22/2006

I added a section on the mechanics of using screws. I'm a little uncertain about that one, because of a lack of references. The addition concerns trade knowledge on how to avoid stripping screws, nuts and bolts. I cannot find an online reference to cite, and I know of no paper references. None of my mechanics books delve into that topic (the closest one being to back off a cutting tool on a mill each time to seat it properly!) I hope it doesn't get removed, as the greatest thing noone seems to learn about bolts, nuts and screws is how to fasten them without ever stripping them (unless you learn from a master tradesman.) I've actually been told what I wrote more than once. 9/23/2006

http://www.cellphonehacks.com/viewtopic.php?t=19127 contains this text (but it is an anonymouse user :( 16.) Put back the screws. Don't over tighten them, use a quality screwdriver, not your pocket knife. (Tech-Trick: When replacing a screw, put in the screw, put the driver in it and while lightly pressing, turn the screw as if you are removing it 'till you feel it "click". This is the threads "dropping" into place. Then continue to tighten the screw. This "trick" prevents stripping the threads.)

Hah, here's a better source: When replacing screws in plastic do it like this - if you turn the screw backwards you will hear a series of clicks as the tip of the screw rides the thread up and then drops down. Just after a click and a drop, screw it in - it should go in easily, do not overtighten. You don't want to be forcing another thread because two threads is basically no thread. If you took the door off like I did for the photographs just click it back in once all the screws are tightened. From: http://photo.net/equipment/hitachi/mp3microdrive/ , an article on the modification of an mp3 player.

Another one, . I always rotate the screw backwards to let it fall into the original thread, then slowly start turning forwards. I'm in the habit of doing this with all screws, but threads cut by a self-tapping screw, in plastic or metal, are the easiest to mess up. From: http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv008.cgi?read=17614

Again: When you replace the screws, try to remember to re-use the threads in the plastic. If you don't, after a few insertions, the plastic in the hole will be shredded, and the screw won't hold. Push the screw gently into the hole, and turn it backwards while pushing gently inward. You should expect to feel a bump when the threads align. Only now should you tighten the screw. Experience and judgment will tell you how tight it should be. (For those with really-big tool budgets, there are torque screwdrivers!) From: http://www.xnumber.com/xnumber/alex_knight.htm

More: Insert screw in hole, and gently turn it backwards until you feel a distinct "click" then reverse direction and the screw should go in easily. (A caution not to over-tighten might be advised too.) From: http://www.massena.com/darrin/pilot/luiz/item1.htm#Case%20screw%20comments

I'm not sure how in the world to cite all these, and that would make the page messy. But this research shows that technically minded people back their screws up before tighting them, to align the screws. So it is verifiable. Didn't think it would be that hard, did I? Took close to ten google searches, and nine pages into the last search to get just that many references. I'm sure there's a paper reference somewhere, but that'd take years to find, I'm sure.

Comment on Hybrid Drives

Added a comment on the hybrid article. I think it should be deleted until an engineer with the appropriate materials can rewrite it. A bunch of fluff. Rhodescus 21:48, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Added to the discussion page on Phytic Acid

I just realized I didn't add an edit summary to either of my previous comments. That phytic acid page strikes me as a plug by the soybean industry. But I added a lot of links to the discussion page about research on phytic acid. I'm done for the day though, I have to try and get some work done. Rhodescus 21:48, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Minor Edit on disambiguation page for "Tea Party"

In a rather amusing coincidence, the subject involved was marijuana.

Plantago Major

Added a reference that covers most of the article. Added content about allantoin and acubin. Not a full discussion of plantago major's chemical constituents and herbal uses. Should be a good starting point for the article.

I noticed that the page on allantoin is poorly divided, it seems. Allantoin was the first or one of the first, plant compounds to be synthesized for medical use. It is used in over the counter scar cream and prescription herpes medications.

Allantoin is produced from brain trauma, I believe. Many plants are high in allantoin, including comfrey and plantain (plantago major). Weightlifters may ingest comfrey or plantago major as a means of 'bulking up' quickly without the use of steroids or other dangerous drugs.

Allantoin breaks down more quickly at high temp. Unbalanced PH (high or low?) speeds allantoin breakdown, and there is a patent related to storage of allantoin in an appropriate medium.

Sexual Identity

I was reading an article in the NY Times, and was steered over to wiki to read about some guy, "bailey". This led me to the most horrible wiki article (Blanchard, Bailey and Lawrence Theory page) I've seen yet. I added a "Synthesis" tag and some suggestions.

More Sex ID

And more on the sexual identity subject. Someone added a couple of references. One is the transexual site, and the other is a pdf copy of the article on bailey's book and related matters.

The issue is very divisive, it seems. It revolves around some supposed genetic influence to sexual identity. The "Blanchard, Bailey and Lawrence Theory" is about a refutation of this idea.

Of course, the idea that there are genetic influences to sexual identity is still just a theory. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f97/projects97/Newman.html says that the genetic influence of male homosexuality is about 50%. It also says that there is no genetic influence found for females.

This actually makes a certain sense, since males share female genes, and females don't share male genes. As such, any genetic influence to sexual identity should be expected to produce homosexuality in males only, in a perfect sense. The real questions might be, are the genetics related to scent, aural or visual cues?

Face response is genetically defined, as facial mimicry most probably is. If visual, do males have a 'boob' gene? Transexual identity assertions go further than any other theories of genetically influenced identity theories do.

Basically, other theories, and probable facts, human and animal, indicate that environmental cues influence behavior, social and sexual. This relates to a straightforward concept of genetic behavioral influence. The transexual theory goes further and states there is some genetic influence on how a person views themself, that their perceptions are genetically modified.

This idea is different from theories of animal sexual behavior, human sexual behavior and even homosexual behavior as they are all linked or thought to be linked to genetics. Thus springs the reasonable refutation of the idea of alternate sexual identity, as it just doesn't work like other things. It requires a new model, which is not present in modern genetics.

That's Blanchard's theory, that the need for a sex changes is driven by homosexuality or fetish. Transexuals don't want the stigma of either, and prefer the 'alternate sexual identity' theory. There's some legitimacy to genetically driven sexual behavior.

It all comes down to a social stigma. Genetics make it a medical condition, and sidesteps 'moral' disapproval. Homosexuals are completely natural, probably an expression of the female genes that 'dominate' the male sexual genotype (most of the sexually dimorphic genetic material is passed maternally, I don't mean mendelian dominance), and thus medically legitimate, a legitimacy Dreger claims transexuals crave in their own right.

And the idea that fetish drives body modification, wow, that brings no legitimacy in the mainstream! It is even rightly tinged with immorality, as you are 'lying' in a rather intimate way. No wonder this is such a divisive issue.

On the other hand, Bailey is a freak for asking for eugenics for what he basically thinks are homosexuals. Sieg Heil!!! is Bailey's motto, it looks like he is a closet nazi? At least according to the transexual site I visited.

I won't write this on the talk page for the theory, or on the page itself, of course. It wouldn't be appropriate, and I'm not sure it is appropriate here. These ideas aren't complete either, but I do have a degree in psychology, from a very good school, and the ideas here do not misrepresent anything to my knowledge.

On the other hand, I have an opinion now!  :)

Struts

The last sentence on the strut page is a torturous read. It probably needs to be deleted, as the concept is laid out in the first paragraph.