Does anyone know why homoeopathic remedies are so common in India? Even my very educated Indian friends seem to use them with a surprising frequency, sometimes over actual medicines.

In India, homeopathic remedies are considered to be in the same category as herbal medicine and any discovery of effectiveness of some aspect of herbal medicine is counted in favor of all 'alternative' medicine. Many of these herbal remedies do contain an active ingredient, and so such discoveries are frequent. Vague stuff like turmeric being anti carcinogenic also reinforces the idea that there are secret remedies in nature far more effective than the stuff man makes.

In addition, primary health care is poor in India, so everyone knows of a story of some member of the family having a poor experience in the organised health care sector. This leads to many people's search for 'something better' at a time when they're particularly vulnerable.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention that at least some degree of cultural chauvinism is responsible. To some, the West has ignored Eastern knowledge of medicine, and there is, at least among some, a belief that there are secrets unknown to modern science.

My parents are surgeons in India, and while what I've said is my opinion, it is derived in part from what I remember to be their experience.

"This medicine is effective because it contains salicylic acid, which suppresses the activity of cyclooxygenase (COX), an enzyme that is responsible for the production of pro-inflammatory mediators."

versus

"This plant is effective because it's 100% natural!"

7 out of 10 times, people will go for the explanation that's easier to understand.

Salicylic acid is natural! It comes from the bark of the willow tree. It has been known since ancient times, presumably they used to consume willow bark. We then figured out the active ingredient in willow bark. However, asprin is acetylsalicylic acid, which is produced form salicylic acid to remove the side effects of salicylic acid.

I didn't choose that example by accident ;).

If I didn't know better, "salicylic acid" sounds like one of those chemicals that scientists keep putting in our food as part of their ongoing efforts to KILL ALL OF US, while "willow bark" sounds oh-so-natural and wholesome and makes me think of green meadows and chirping birds. So despite the fact that we know aspirin is a lot more effective than willow bark, I'd still feel a lot more comfortable eating willow bark. If I didn't know better.

Basically, evidence-based medicine faces a big marketing problem, thanks to the "evidence" part.

My be because there are many government homeopathy colleges and hospitals.

I am from India and I also am a regular user of homeopathy. In case it was all placebo and fools your brain in thinking that you are actually taking some real stuff in and not just sugar and water and you see the effect physically on your body then you would have found mention of this in Ayurveda and Yoga since both stress on meditation which is a way to control your own energy and mind state and by doing meditation you would have been able to cure your body of every disease.

And allopathy is a major money earner for a lot of corporations and they go to every effort to tell the people that any other medicine system be it unani, ayurveda, acupuncture, acupressure, homeopathy, etc are false and bad.

In case you have not tried homeopathy then give it a go for small illness like fever, diarrhea, body pains, etc and test it for yourself. Also go to a doctor who is recommended by someone. Doctor's knowledge is the most important part in homeopathy as it is in all other non-allopathic systems.

>And allopathy is a major money earner for a lot of corporations and they go to every effort to tell the people that any other medicine system be it unani, ayurveda, acupuncture, acupressure, homeopathy, etc are false and bad.

Incorrect to a large degree. If alternative medicine was proven to work, then it would just become medicine. (or "allopathy" as you call it) We are always studying alternative medicine and some make the cut and get promoted to medicine. Some don't have enough research yet, and we are working on it. Is asprin "allopathy"? Well it was derived from an ancient practice of chewing/eating bark from a willow tree. We found the active ingredient, and isolated it. Now it is just known as medicine.

That being said, there are political and economic reasons to treat/not treat study/not study, but that isn't the 100% norm.

Microsoft didn't "give away" MS-DOS. Try making something useful out of it and you'll be sued faster than you can say MikeRoveSoft.

I wonder where the future of 'social' is going. If history is any guide, Facebook will soon be out of the 'cool' factor and younger, nimbler startups with take over. It's not clear to me though what kind of experience these will provide, i.e., what features will attract the next generation and form that critical mass. I do like the social app ecosystem to be fragmented though, it makes for good options and interesting new ideas to be tested.

I think Facebook is already out of the 'cool' factor and has been for a long-time. It has become, as Zuckerberg also likes to point out, a utility. Cool things and fads die out (a la MySpace).

Isn't doing this against the law in the US or Japan? These things are just not acceptable. Karpeles needs to go to jail for a very long time

Didn't the founder of Bitcoin himself dub Bitcoin as money?

Nice! IMHO, New York would be my city of choice for crypto-currencies to take off, not that we need one city to be a model. I am just saying because the author is right - as much as I absolutely adore SF, New York as a city can offer a much broader system in which to exist.

If only someone told you the difference between an online exchange and online wallet. Tell me again how I shouldn't use a centralized exchange but should use blockchain.info to .. buy Bitcoin?

Well, technically, you can use them as a hosted wallet, too.

We really need more transparency in Bitcoin exchanges, and this needs to come from within the community. The days of 'playing around' are gone, this is serious business now. Industry leaders should at least form a consortium that handles these kinds of issues and at least does an audit of funds. In addition, exchanges should prove they have the said funds. It's a public ledger folks, we need to demand more openness and honesty.

You mean.. like put regulations and oversight into place?

How delicious.

What does regulation have anything to do with what I wrote? Do you know you can demand things as a consumer? As a group? As a community? As a market participant?

Target 'leaked' 70m+ credit card details and there was no regulation that would have forced them to disclose it. But yeah, lets make all the regulation in the world for Bitcoin exchanges, because, you know ...

Are you being pedantic about forcing them or are you unaware that most U.S. states have notification laws that apply when a data breach involves personal information?

Yep. Fun fact: libertarians don't want the world to be the wild wild west forever. We believe in regulations and oversight, we just think it need not be at gunpoint. Hopefully the Bitcoin industry gets to it before the government does and we'll find out how it compares.

No, he clearly did not mean regulation. He said demand, as a customer may do, rather than coerce by force, as a government must do.