rolranx

I have a friend who has 3 children, one girl almost off to college and two younger sons ages 10 and 6. I met this friend relatively recently, half a year ago maybe, but for various reasons I have been helping her with something and have developed a very close relationship with her and her kids, just not a romantic one.

The mother wants me to give 'the talk' to her oldest son eventually, and i'm completely open to it, I think it's important to do and I want to have him comfortable coming to talk to me about *anything*. However, while he and his brother clearly latched on to me and are quite excited for me to visit, they still have only known me a little while. The older son is a little shy/sensitive and has been known to avoid talking about things that that he was embarrassed about, so I see having this talk with anyone as potentially being very awkward/uncomfortable for him. I don't think I've been in their lives long enough yet for him to be ready to be so candid with me, and I know he isn't really interested in this conversation yet, and he is young enough that there is no reason to rush it either.

So, until he is a little more ready for a full discussion what can I do to pave the way? How do I get him to feel comfortable talking with me about things like puberty, sex, sperm, and yes even masturbation? How can I make sure he feels comfortable enough, rather then embarrassed, to actually discuss this stuff with me, whenever the talk does happen.

I've had a women ask me to look at the STD results of a third party (why is sort of a long story, but a little investigation and google will probably answer if you really want to know).

His test results are all negative or within normal levels except for two things. he is positive for HSV1 an he his test for Hep B Surface Ab shows as "past immunity". he was tested for Hep B Surface Ab, Hep A Ab, Total, and hep c and all were negative.

I presume that the hep B test simply means that he was vaccinated? However, I wanted to determine if it could be an indication of past infection instead, and if there is any way to distinguish between the two forms of immunity? I'm sure in either case he isn't infectious, but it could be relevant for other reasons if he had previously had Hep B.

I also presume the presence of HSV1 is a non issue, wouldn't pose a threat if caught or place a pregnancy at risk etc. I'm pretty sure I know that answer already; but good to ask to be certain :)

I have a friend who's looking to get a vasectomy reversal. They are looking at a very cheap doctor they would fly to. However, I'm concerned when he only said that he had a "very good" chance; when I know for a fact he has at best an 80% success rate (the best possible rate for ideal circumstances quoted by the doctor) and if my research is correct success rates for vasactomy that is 4 years old is lower then 50%. I'm concerned they may be paying a large expense without knowing the actual risks and I am not certain I trust the doctor to provide them.

Is there a way for me to get specifics about his surgeries and successes myself, rather then going through him? If I can get the raw data from some source I can parse it and infer the information I want, but how do I get the raw statistics if he won't provide them?

Also, is there a way to get statistics for multiple doctors in order to try to calculate who the best doctor is for them?

I am helping a friend through a messy divorce and her husband and the husband just released 'evidence' that includes a bunch of photoshopped images. Which is really a godsend for us because once we prove they are photoshopped his credibility is going to plummet.

i have looked at the photos myself and they are clearly photoshopped, I can recognize the signs, so I know it wouldn't be hard to get others to agree. However, I'm a friend who's only credentials with photoshop is "I'm a geek and you sort of run into it", which is hardly enough to make me a legally trusted authority that the judge would listen to.

So while I know they are photoshopped...what is the best way to *prove* that to a judge such that he will have no doubt at all of the validity of the statement?

I friends kid is desperate for an IPod for his birthday, as much for the games and apps as for the ability to play MP3s. However, I make no secret that I am rather displeased with apple as a company. I don't like that they charge so much for products that are sold far less by other companies; but more to the point I am *very* displeased with their tendency to limit what you can do with the hardware you already purchased, preventing jailbreaking, pushing you to use their software etc etc. Both for cost savings and to avoid encouraging what I consider to be rather...undesirable practices I would prefer to encourage them to look at cheaper alternatives elsewhere.

Can anyone else suggest an MP3 capable device with similar game playing/app alternatives? All I can think of is Zune, which I don't know what their apps/games are like, and a smart phone, but he is too young to pay the monthly fee to use it as a phone. I assume you can't install apps on a smartphone if your not paying for the data plan lol. Still, I assume there is a viable competitor out there somewhere?

I currently donate blood like clockwork every 2 months, but I know it's also possible to donate plasma more regularly. I don't care about the money gains (much, I suppose I can donate the money to charity) but I am interested in which helps the most people. I'm wondering if someone could give me a rundown of the pro's and cons of the two methods. in particular

1) can I donate blood and plasma at the same time? I know I have to wait at least 60 days after donating blood to donate plasma, but it sounds like donating plasma for the 20 days between when I'm allowed to donate and when I next donate blood is possible?

2) can I do more good donating plasma then blood if I just give up on blood donation entirely?

3) how flexible are plasma collection locations to work around my job commitments? and how logn does it usually take?

4) how much do they pay, for my charitable donations! ;)

5) odd questions I know, but would the added strain on my body from plasma donation decrease fertility? My assumptio is "yes, but by a negligable amount" but have to ask lol.

In general though I want to chop up my body into as many pieces as possible (I'm also a bone marrow and organ donor, already 'misplaced' a kidney lol) and hand them out in the way that does the most good. If I can use plasma donation as a viable way to do more good I would like to, if I knew how without it interfering with the good I already do donating blood. Any information is appreciated.

Compared to most species out there humanity seems to have a hard time conceiving. Even if a couple perfectly times donation with ovulation and does everything else exactly they still have at best a 25% chance of success, while many other species seem to be able to always conceive on the first try. I'm trying to figure out why it's harder for us humans.

Specifically if you time it right and egg and semen are introduced at the correct time, why doesn't conception occur? does the sperm not find the egg? does it reach the egg but fail to enter it? Does a fertilize egg fail to implant? What is the cause of the failure?

In a related note if you have to people with 'normal' fertility who is the major deciding factor in pregnancy? is the most important factor the quantity of sperm, quality of sperm, or females body/eggs?

Thanks for anyone that can either answer the question directly or link to something that provides the answer. It's proven surprisingly difficult for me to Google the information.

Compared to most species out there humanity seems to have a hard time conceiving. Even if a couple perfectly times donation with ovulation and does everything else exactly they still have at best a 25% chance of success, while many other species seem to be able to always conceive on the first try. I'm trying to figure out why it's harder for us humans.

Specifically if you time it right and egg and semen are introduced at the correct time, why doesn't conception occur? does the sperm not find the egg? does it reach the egg but fail to enter it? Does a fertilize egg fail to implant? What is the cause of the failure?

In a related note if you have to people with 'normal' fertility who is the major deciding factor in pregnancy? is the most important factor the quantity of sperm, quality of sperm, or females body/eggs?

Thanks for anyone that can either answer the question directly or link to something that provides the answer. It's proven surprisingly difficult for me to Google the information.

I'm in charge of a fund of about $15,000 worth of money to be donated to charity. I have desecration in choosing where this money is donated and am looking for good charities to donate the money. However, I want to make sure that the money is used in the most efficient method possible for ensuring the most good is done with the least amount of money. This excludes a number of potential charities with otherwise respectable goals. For instance I will not be spending any of the money to assist Japan because, although I would like to aid them in the current crises, a quick investigation into similar natural disasters in the past suggest that so many others will be donating money that there will be an influx of money allocated to disaster recovery but no logistical infrastructure in place (due to the temporary nature of the disaster) to ensure the money is spent wisely once it reaches the disaster area.

I'm looking for examples of charities that not only have a good stated goal, but also can be proven to meet these goals in an efficent manner. Since I may not be aware of ever single charity in the world I'm looking for help finding potential charities worth considering for the donation.

Incidentally as someone that likes and volunteers with children I personally lean towards organizations and charities that work with children; but at this point I'm looking for the name of any respectable charity. The charity must be recognized as a charity by the United States due to the legal nature of the fund.

so..any suggestions for good charities?

I was just talking about a 'barbaric' aspect of another culture, specifically the old practice of infanticide when a female child was born by cultures that favored male children to pass on family names, and it got me thinking what aspects of our culture might others look at as barbaric? I would be even more interested in hearing a good 'devils advocate' argument for why the accepted practice you listed could be considered barbaric to others.

Lets exclude anything that some would consider controversial or often argued about in todays society, as well as practices which aren't at least somewhat mainstream. So abortion and portions of the LBGT community/issues are out, as our current culture cant agree on them (plus I'm already offering up enough flame bait without puring gasoline on the topic). However, the amount of sex/premarital sex we have is in because while frowned upon it is (compared to many cultures of the past) fairly common and far more openly done according to national statistics. Keep in mind I'm looking for an example of how others could look negatively on your own culture, not issues you have with another's culture.

I'll even start with an example, birth rates. Here in the US we encourage pregnancy and birth and have nothing against a family having four or more children. In a world that is heavily populated and straining to provide resources for those already living on it a strong argument could be made that it is irresponsible to knowingly choose to have half a dozen children that will further strain the earth's ecosystems. It could be called short sited, selfish (the prosperous countries having more children and thus 'hogging' more of the worlds limited resources) and harmful to the children (who will have to be raised in an even more populated and stressed world then the one we already live in).

I think the question says it all, but I am curious. I understand that humans have a higher rate of miscarriages as a side effect of our upright posture, but I'm more interested in the difficulty in conceiving then the frequency of miscarriage.

Most animals can conceive from a single sexual encounter, even encounters that last only seconds. So 'getting pregnant' isn't difficult in itself. I know most species have better methods of indicating fertility, but even when we use methods of timing insemination with ovulation the odds of conception are still around 25% per month, so why so low? If the sperm and egg are introduced at the same time why do they have such a hard time connecting and why would humans evolve in this manner?

When I think of animals with similar low odds of conception I think of creatures where females actively evolve methods to lower odds of conception (usually species that practice forms of forced conception) and highly promiscuous species. While I admit primitive man probably was not monotonous, and had incidents of rape, it doesn't seem that we are so prone to promiscuity and/or rape to evolve such low conception rates due to them. I know Bonobos have very low conception rates and that this is likely due to the frequency of sex and the use of sex as a bartering method by females, and I could definitely see primitive man (errr..women?) using sex as a reward to get something she wants; but I'm still don't see this as sufficient explanation for evolving low conception rate.

anyways enough rambling. My point is that we have a far harder time conceiving then many mammals and I wasn't able to come up with an explanation for this fact that satisfied me. can anyone give me a hand figuring this out?

Since there is nothing to do where I live atm (I'm working on moving away!) I decided a few months ago to try taming a few of the feral cats that wander my complex. I currently have two kittens and an older male that I assume is their father coming to me when I call them for food (meat too old or fatty for me to eat personally). The older feral cat is still rather cautious with me, but since the two kittens have known me for nearly all of their young lives they have grown very trusting of me; in fact I literally have them eating out of my hands. They also allow me to pet them, know their names, and even have learned the importance of taking turns and sharing. I think I did pretty well considering I was rarely go out to see (when I have food to get rid of or am really bored) and have only been half-heartedly trying to earn their trust.

However, I did the math today and realized that it's been 3-4 months since I first started my attempts at domesticating them. At the time they were with their mother, but were old enough to be coming out and exploring on their own; which I believe means they should be getting close to sexual maturity. This doesn't bode well for the female kitten since the only unaltered toms with the immediate vicinity of her 'home' are her brother and her father. The complex I live in already has far too many stray and feral cats, so it would be best for everyone if she was spayed before she went into heat.

Is there a good way to arrange this? She trusts me enough that I could probably pick her up and throw her in a cage to drag her to the vet before she had time to realize she should be upset, but I really don't want to ruin all the trust I've built up with my half-hearted attempts at taming her by doing that. I'm also not inclined to go through the pain and hassle (and expense!) of doing it. Is there another way to arrange to get her spayed..preferable one that is convenient for someone who really isn't certain he care enough to bother ;P