[constant thinker]

Not all video games are bad. I play SimCity 4, which builds critical thinking and planning. It's a pretty hard game. I admittedly play First Person Shooters sometimes though. Those are only good for reflexes. Don't worry though, my life isn't dedicated to games. It's a conglomerate of a lot of things.

[Edit] I made a typo. It's bold now what I fixed. When I was younger though, I used to always play video games all the time.

[Borek]

my life is dedicated to games

For about 5 years I was playing something like 10 hours a day. Day by day. And I was paid for that

[Borek]

Hey I'm going to be in your neck of the woods in June.

You mean this side of the pond, or close to Warsaw?

[silkworm]

This is horrible. Our irrational fear is causing even more ignorance.

[constant thinker]

Right now I'm kind of an internet junky and a drum junky (I love my drums). As soon as I get some more money, I'm going to purchase glassware and glass tubing so I can build a better lab.

[pantone159]

For about 5 years I was playing something like 10 hours a day. Day by day. And I was paid for that

My last 3 jobs were programming for games.  That is definitely an interesting job (and one where knowing calculus is actually important!) but it can be stressful.  The industry is very volatile - most projects end up being cancelled, often with job cuts.  There are way too many long days, too.

[limpet chicken]

Things are getting hot over in the UK, I got woken up by swine, oinking around the other day, looking for red phos, although I made it clear "get a warrant, or piss off", they didn't have a warrant


The whole thing is making me paranoid as hell though, I'm thinking I might bury everything off-site, and dig up whats needed, when its needed.

[woelen]

Fortunately there still is a lot of freedom in the Netherlands. Over here, we do not really have to worry from the government, but from the public opinion. We can get almost every chemical we want (although some effort in needed in finding a source for it), even things lime red P, I2, NaCN, P2O5, CHCl3, etc. can be obtained. On the other hand, people are really afraid of everything, which has a long and difficult name, and they associate it with poison, explosive, instant death in a bottle. That is the sad thing for home chemists over here....

[constant thinker]

On the other hand, people are really afraid of everything, which has a long and difficult name, and they associate it with poison, explosive, instant death in a bottle. That is the sad thing for home chemists over here....

That's a problem here too. I'm thinking that anything people are unfamiliar with they just naturally will not trust.

[hmx9123]

The CPSC has been trying to shut down consumer fireworks for a long time.  They are now going after the raw materails in a hope to gain an edge on fireworks in general--sadly it will take home chemistry with it unless you know how to make the raw chemicals yourself.  I think this is on Mitch's blog someplace.

Anyway, the CPSC is taking their liberties with the chemical suppliers based on this post 9/11 'security' crap.  It's really sad to see how such an event can kill our freedoms here at home.

[redbaron]

Fortunately there still is a lot of freedom in the Netherlands. Over here, we do not really have to worry from the government, but from the public opinion. We can get almost every chemical we want (although some effort in needed in finding a source for it), even things lime red P, I2, NaCN, P2O5, CHCl3, etc. can be obtained. On the other hand, people are really afraid of everything, which has a long and difficult name, and they associate it with poison, explosive, instant death in a bottle. That is the sad thing for home chemists over here....

There are a couple people that I talk to regularly in the Netherlands. Your government has a great philosophy- letting people watch out for themselves- I wish they would adopt that concept here in the states. I would love to be able to just get my Potassium Nitrate, Chloroform, or Marijuana without the paperwork and legal paranoia.

[Baseball_Fan]

When I was a child, one birthday gift was a chemistry set in a box. It came with small plastic bottles filled with different chemicals, some plastic tubes, and a book of experiments. I remember talking with friends, trying to see if there were more interesting experiments we could do, that were not in the book. We got tried quickly of making volcanos.

I guess today, those kinds of conversations would be illegal.

I do remember in highschool a friend got a copy of the anarchist cookbook. I took a glance at it, and most of it looked like BS or dangerous. But it wasn't possible to buy a chemistry set, so people interested in backyard chemistry started looking for other sources of information.

I remember one experiment, and it was a stupid one! I was not around for it, but a friend tried to dissolve styrofome into gasoline in his garage. He wanted to see if he could make napalm. It did not work out like the anarchist cookbook said it would. But even if he was able to make it, what could he use it for? I guess curious people will do whatever experiments they find, just because they want to see what happens. 

My point is, it's better to have books written and sold in the open, so what is dangerous experiments can be avoided. Otherwise children will download ideas from the interent, which could be very dangerous.

There was a movie called October Sky, about a young child who became fascinated with making rockets. He eventually went to work for NASA. But what he did is illegal today. The government would arrest anyone who tries to make a home made rocket.

I guess it is the world we live in. It is a shame, because I think interest is cultivated when young.

[hmx9123]

It was mentioned earlier that there is nothing to fear if you're doing everything legally.  That is not true.  If you are doing things legally, you can still have your property seized if you are searched, legally or illegally.  Usually it's up to you to prove that the search was illegal, which costs you money.  You ask not to say anything if you don't have experience.  I do.  Firsthand.  Back in Missouri, nothing ever happened to me because no one really cares what you do there.  Here in California, however, it has been a different issue.

I can't afford to live in a nice part of town; I just moved to a different town, but while I was in the bay area, I lived on the Berkeley Oakland border.  This is a pretty crummy area of town.  My car is old and sort of beat up, plust it's a Caprice, so it looks like a gang-banger's car.  I didn't have a driveway or off-street parking, so I had to park it in the street.  Imagine my feeling when I walked back home one evening to find my car gone.  I thought it had been stolen at first, but when I called the police, they said that my car had been towed.  I asked them why, they had no answer.  They towed it late on a Friday afternoon, too, so there was no chance I could call and ask them why.  I spent the entire weekend trying to get my car back.  I was finally told that my car had been towed because the license plates had expired.  I was shocked--my plates were current through 2007 and had the stickers on them to prove it.  Then they wouldn't release my car to me until I showed them the current registration.  I told them the registration was in the car, which was impounded.  After a lot of cajoling and much calling and frustration, I was finally allowed in to get my registration out of the glove box.  I was flabberghasted to find that my car was not only unlocked in the lot, but it had also been tossed (searched).  The contents of my glove box were all over the front seat and floor of the car, my ashtray had been dumped all over the car, and to top it all off, my registration was sitting on top of the pile, meaning that they had DEFINITELY seen it!  Upon closer inspection, the Berkeley PD had left a screwdriver in my car that they had been using to take apart the panels under my dash (which were off when I got there).  When I asked about this, they told me that they were allowed to 'inventory' the car for valuable items.  This is simply a legal method for them to search your car.  Sorry, inventoring my car does not include tearing it apart.  Then, I showed them my registration.  They then said that they didn't know for sure that the license plates of my car had the stickers on them, so I had to go back to the impound, take pictures of my plates and print them out to show that the stickers were indeed on my car.  Only then did they release my car to me.  It was infuriating.  The whole reason they searched my car was because they thought it was a gang-banger's car and that it might contain drugs.  I did nothing illegal and had nothing illegal in the car, but I had it illegally towed and searched anyway.  On top of that, they were still going to charge me $250 for towing and storage until I pulled out a tape recorder.  Then they were very nice and had a nice sergeant come and waive my fees.

So, yes, if you're doing nothing illegal, you might be OK in the long run, but you'll definitely have a huge headache, and a waste of time and money.  In some states, if they confiscate material, even if it is legal to have, such as your red P, they may not have to give it back if it can be used to make drugs.  You should be very careful with it.  Some cops are cool, others, like those here in Kalifornia, are not.  In Kalifornia, if they police take a firearm that is legally owned by you, for any reason--even just to test it or as part of search, legal or not, you have to petition the state to give you your gun back--and they don't have to give it to you!

Also, there is the federal drug statute.  Say your friend is riding in your car and he has a dime bag of weed on him.  If the cops pull you over for a routing traffic stop and happen to find weed on your friend, they can seize your car.  Even if the search is thrown out, they are not obligated to give you your property back--you have to sue them to get it back, and you'll only get it back if the search was illegal--even if your friend didn't tell you about the drugs and you had nothing to do with them.

[AfromOz]

The Decline of Secondary Chemistry

Have been teaching chemistry in Australia for over 10 years.

Each year, I see more chemicals and experiments banned due to potential hazards.

If it continues in this manner, it won't be long before a lab "experiment" will consist of the kids sitting in their chairs with seatbelts and safety glasses watching someone dissolving sodium chloride into tepid water on a DVD.

Cheers,

Adam

[constant thinker]

Each year, I see more chemicals and experiments banned due to potential hazards.

That must be pretty annoying. Educate the people that are banning the experiments. Show them what safety precautions you take.