The opinionated fool declareth:

Future Perfect

2012-01-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

Hi. Been a while since I've posted. No doubt many people who visited, laughed and mocked my posts over the years still constantly visit to continue their ingenious, enjoined rejoinders.

Maybe I'll pick this back up.

Ecce zebrafish:

2008-05-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

Quick picture from earlier today. I inverted the colors to make it look even more awesomer:

Pushing into true 3D gameplay

2008-01-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

Wow, this is stupifyingly (spelling?) awesome.

Asus Eee PC

2008-01-20T23:03:00.000-08:00

Got one. It's my new toy. I really only have a passing need or use for its functionality, but it's highly customizable, and really sweet.

(It's basically a micronotebook computer: about the size of your average hardcover book, or a couple of DVD cases on top of each other. Wiki entry - you know that's hot.)

We have a medicine to help you with that...

2008-01-02T00:25:00.000-08:00

Ah, nice. It looks like there may be a work-around for lowered sexual desire experienced by some women: linky-poo.

Brilliant. What do you do when birth control's artificial hormones and anti-depressant regimens obliterate the body's chemistry?

YOU TURN UP THE VOLUME! More hormones.

One of the side effects that you can read about on the label of most hormone based contraceptives is a decrease in sexual appetite in women, which is painfully ironic, considering the nature of the drug and it's presumed use. That a second hormone should then be created, tested and marketed is par for the course. Afterall, it's the least they could do, so that the women can at least feel like they're not getting ripped off for buying their birth control pills.

At what point does it start to simply look like not interfering with the system and needlessly inserting X number of artificial re-checks and re-balances in our bodies is better than the alternative?

I wonder if women will get those nice thick and curly man-like hairs where they rub the testosterone ointment on their shoulders? Better safe than sorry - be sure to do it in a place where people won't see it!

2007-11-28T10:33:00.001-08:00

Hey Government, back the fuck off!

moar poastage

2007-10-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I was waiting for the ran to slowly inch by so I could cycle up to work, and I cam across the following story at BoingBoing.net: Italy considering gov't regulation of bloggers.

I have no idea if this would have any support in the Italian government, and I know free speech isn't as precious in Europe as it is here in the U.S., but sheesh, that seems like such a bad idea to me (understatement).

Hurray for the media!

2007-09-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Where else can you find hard-hitting stories about toilet paper theft that's going on in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin?

From CNN, of course.

I feel great!

2007-09-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah! I feel great!

Okay, I wrecked out my beater-car last week, so I have no car. But now I'm thinking that I may not actually bother to find a replacement car right away. I would have never thought that I'd say this, but living 10 miles from my place of work actually doesn't require a car. I've come up with a great way to save money, not have a car, and get in some bitchin' exercise, all from biking to work. I'll be rich and good-looking, right?

Here's a Google Maps version of the route that I take to/from work: Google Map.

View Larger Map

This yields about 1-1.5 hours of good aerobic activity (depending on how hard I ride) for every day that I do it. Now that I'm really trying to eat better in order to lose "the man-bewbs," this is a really great thing, and will complement the evening lifting I've been doing in the garage with Eric's weight bench.

The negative to all of this (actually, there are a few things): it takes about 30-40 minutes to bike in (which isn't that big of a net loss of time, considering a 15-20 minute car ride, then a 10 minute walk in from the Stadium lot on the far West side of campus to the lab) and about 10 or 15 minutes to cool off and another few minutes to use the shower that we have here in our lab. The bike seat also starts really hurting after 15 minutes, which makes the 2nd half of each ride a bit uncomfortable and, ahem, cuts off circulation *down there*. Just have to shift around, stand on the pedals, etc... still, a serious annoyance. The other thing is that it requires an extra change of clothes each day, which I have to carry in in a backpack. Oh well, more laundry. I need to figure out where I can hang my towel here at work without cluttering up the office I share with the undergrads.

Hugo Chavez

2007-08-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

It's almost official: Hugo Chavez is a despotic dictator.

Telegraph story

Sex and intelligence.

2007-08-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

We all know that I'm a virgin, right? Well, if anybody has evidence to the contrary, step forward. :P

Here's more proof of my virginity. Haha.

Interesting, to say the least. They don't really establish causality, as it would be most difficult to do so, but, yeah. Interesting nonetheless.

(Link from slashdot's site.)

Collusion

2007-07-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

This song: Collusion, by Psycorps...

...that's what I need for my Friday night.

Is it quiet?

2007-07-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm tired of giving out my opinions on things.

ha - ha - ha

2007-06-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

I laughed.

....well, friend, that's too long.

2007-06-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't updated in 2 weeks. Sorry. I know - being the coolest freakin' guy on the planet, everybody has probably been biting their nails wondering that the heck Chris has been up to.

Not much, really. Things are copacetic. Trying to work more, get a side project finished here in the lab by the end of summer so my name will actually return a hit on PubMed.com. Also trying to get the pwg stuff back in gear.

WoW play is in effect, but under control, unlike a while ago.

My iPod is broke, and being an incredibly dumb idiot, I waited until it lapsed from it's 1-year-warranty to register a repair request with Apple. Now I'm sending it to a third-party company for repair. Probably going to be a hundred bucks to get it fixed. Good thing I'm filthy, stinking rich.

I'm going to buy another soccer ball. The Feroni isn't holding air anymore.

In case you're wondering, The Feroni is a soccer ball that I stole from a 10 year old a few years ago. I believe I was in the middle of my summer rotation when one day a few of us decided to walk out to someone's car and take an off-campus lunch. As we enter the parking lot, which is bordered on one side by a bunch of soccer fields (these are heavily used by soccer camps for little kids during the summer), I find a soccer ball sitting between some cars. Instead of punting it back to the kids like I should, instead I pick it up and decide to have some fun dribbling it as we walk to the car, thinking I'll toss it back onto the field when we get back from lunch.

When we got back, the soccer camp kids were gone. I feel pretty bad about it, since some poor kid named Ted (I think the name on it said "Ted Ferone") probably got bitched out by his parents for not being responsible enough to keep track of his dang ball, so anyway, the next day I decide I'll take the ball and see if the kids are back. They weren't.

Heck, I even looked up the name on the soccer ball to see if there were some telephone numbers or something - I could never find anything. So yeah, I wound up keeping The Feroni (we changed the name as an inside joke, basing the new name loosely on one of our friend's names) and I've kept it in my car (both the Volvo and the Taurus) for almost three years now.

Man, wasn't that story intensely interesting?

Frakking sweet new video display...

2007-05-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

Last week Sony debuted a new, flexible, paper-thin display system.

Take a look at it here. That is damn sexy!!

Global Warming (is bullshit)

2007-05-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

NewScientist has published and made available online an article "debunking" 25 misconceptions that muddy the waters of discussion on whether or not global warming is an actual phenomenon or not, and whether or not at it's root cause lies Human activity.

You might want to read it here.

Then, you might want to watch The Great Global Warming Swindle, which contains an interview with the former headman of NewScientist. This video is over an hour long, but it strongly changed some of my views on the reality of man-made global warming.

(As always, it's important to remember that as new information gets made available, we can find out more about what's actually going on. This video convinces me that, at this time, it does not appear to be a human-driven process. But one of the good things about this video also is that it frankly allows for the discovery of new information, making the point that it appears to be the "global warming" advocates that are jumping to conclusions.)

2007-05-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

The NY Times has a pretty moving story that you may want to read. Love is weird, am I right? Weird, but strong?

We didn’t want another baby, I told them. We wanted our baby, the one sleeping right over there. “She’s our daughter,” I said. “We love her.”

Hope everybody has a bitchin' Tuesday.

May 10th, Supplemental

2007-05-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Not sure if anybody else heard about this, but there was an extremely intriguing research report and analysis released last month that suggests (lack of) Vitamin D and it's related pro-forms (D2, D3, D4, etc.) has a very high correlation to increased risk for several cancers. Specifically, this report showed that, of a study of 1200 women, there was a 60% reduction in the appearance of cancer in subjects taking Vitamin D supplements compared to those not taking supplements. I believe I heard on NPR news that this 60% difference is actually a higher level of difference between similar cancer-rate studies comparing people who smoke to those that do not. Interesting to say the least.

Anyhow, I was reading up about it (again, because I'm supposed to be working on a data set... and we all know that frequent breaks help facilitate brilliance and creative thinking) and found another, older, but interesting article about how cancer patients respond much better in the summer than winter following cancer procedures, presumably because the increased sun exposure in the summer allows the body to more easily create higher levels of the 'activated' forms of Vitamin D, which (might? probably?) act as an anti-cancer agent.

Might be time to start taking some D Vitamin supplements.

Brownback is awesome.

2007-05-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

While sitting here (ideally to work on making a kick-ass phylogenetic tree for a meeting with the Bosserino tomorrow morning) eating some Smartfood popcorn (the best freakin' popcorn ever - oddly enough, I have this memory of going to the waterways in downtown Las Colinas for some carnival and getting free bags of the stuff... this was probably when I was in elementary or middle school) I happened upon an ArsTechnica article about the ominous July 15th date for the royalty hike that's supposed to be introduced, and kill, Internet streaming music. (For some backstory, check out this Wiki entry on the proposed changes.

I was pleasantly surprised that the bill to overturn this royalty hike - which is unreasonable, and should be overturned - was introduced by one of my favorite politicians, Sen. Brownback (of pro-life fame/infamy).

I like that dude.

So, good job, Mr. Brownback.

Pro-life bombings.

2007-04-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

This CNN article makes me pretty mad.

It's such a paradox, that someone who is pro-life should attempt to kill another to achieve their "pro-life" ends...

Although there is some logical appeal to the argument that killing is justified during war, and in this case, the thousands of abortions each day constitute a war on the unborn... ultimately I think this notion has to be rejected, since the 'battle' isn't so blatant as to be fought on any declared battlefield with any declared enemy. As corny and stupid as the term sounds, it's more of a 'spiritual battle' that needs to be prayed for, actions taken within the system to decrease and eliminate either 1.) the need for thousands of abortions each day (ie - giving mothers a respect for their unborn fetus, providing them aid during and after pregnancies, etc) 2.) end the legal option that parents possess today to abort their unborn.

As it is, bombings and loud, yelling protest have very distasteful (to understate it quite a bit) and, dare I say negative, outcome regarding changing hearts and minds of the large portion of the public that aren't firmly for or against abortion rights.

LOOK OVER THERE!!!

2007-04-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

Don't look, actually - or else you'll get bitch-slapped by reality as the EU passes legislation covering all 27 member-states making it illegal (1-3 year jail sentences) to "incitement to violence or hatred “against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin."

You see, the iron fist reaching out to bitch-slap you and enforce measures against thought-crime and cerebral-immorality cometh not from the ultra evil Jesus-loving Right of cowboy America but the friendly and subtle and sophisticated and oh so enlightened leftist European elite.

Trent Reznor is wrong about who we need to fear.

Gaming nostalgia...

2007-04-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

This was my finest gaming hour.

This is my old guild - Forsaken Deathknights (FDK)- killing Ragnaros back in November '06.

It's hard to grasp the scale of this fight (and the video capture is done through a different player) if you don't play World of Warcraft very much, but there are 40 of us FDK members in there all killing the huge fire-demon in the middle. You can see the damage spells hitting Ragnaros from all directions.

Matt will laugh at this, mostly because Ragnaros, the final boss in Molten Core, was pretty much extremely easy for most advanced guilds (such as Skull Squadron) long before FDK even stepped foot in the Molten Core area. Yet we worked our way through it as a casual guild over the course of 5 or 6 months, working a steady 1.5 nights each week, and this progression and the teamwork, drama, bitching and moaning, more drama, dealing with prima donnas, strategy-learning and even more needless social drama that all went into making this boss kill was really, REALLY fun.

On this particular night, we made a few half-assed attempts at making the kill, but things just weren't going well. We didn't have a decent second tank (the "tank" is the player that stands in front of the bad guy(s) and takes all the damage while getting massive heals and doing his or her best to hold the attention of the bad guy while the other players who are more fragile beat the ever-loving snot out of him) - anyhow, we didn't have a second tank available for after the periodic knock-back, so we were pretty dejected. After a while, though, we got angry enough and everybody got to concentrating on doing their jobs - the absolute best feeling of being part of these 40-player raids is when all the different players do their jobs during these hard fights: the tanks take the damage, the damage folks unleash max carnage, the healers are on top of healing their assigned players, etc. - and we finally killed Ragnaros.

Another really great part about this encounter was that Ragnaros was about 5 seconds away from "resubmerging" and sending out more of his Sons (the smaller fire guys that you see about 2 minutes into the video), which there was no way we were going to be capable of handling for a second time until Ragnaros came out again. On our voice-chat server that we used to communicate with each other, just about every person that was logged on was shouting and braying with excitement... I remember getting the order about 15 seconds before Ragnaros was finally dead to blow all of my mana on damage instead of healing, since we needed a last burst of damage to burn him down. My description may sound somewhat exciting, but I'm telling you, the excitement of that night really couldn't be written down very well - we were on the cusp of killing this bastard that had been FDK's goal for the past 5 months and we were so close!

I hardly play WoW these days because of the enormous time-sink that it is, but when I do, I think back and wish for the good 'ol days of FDK.

After Ragnaros died, I was honored to get the first (and only) pair of pants for my class that he ever dropped for us. The character I was playing during this boss fight still wears them. :)

Virginia Tech Massacre

2007-04-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

It seems like this tragedy will be history-making. My heart and prayers go out to my friends in Virginia, to those 31+ killed by the gunman, and especially for the gunman who was killed (or killed himself)... what a terrible waste.

Now, finally to get up to school and work.

A letter to my Congressman - John Culberson

2007-04-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, Dan. You might not like the content of this communication with my Representative, but worry not - I jotted this down between lab activities (aka - "work") a few minutes ago.

Dear Representative,

Howdy from Rice University! I'm a graduate student studying vertebrate embryology here at Rice. I'd like to first thank you for your part in funding our lab's research! Being in my position, I have a keen understanding and appreciation for the funding of our country's great scientific programs.

However, I am writing to you this morning to let you know my strong disagreement with the bill that was just passed by the Senate allowing for funding of embryonic stem cell research.

It seems like this bill (or this issue, in some form) is likely to be brought before Congress again in the near future.

I believe that embryonic humans should be in full possession of their human rights, starting immediately at conception. Since somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) cloning produces fully functional embryos, I am also firmly convinced that such scientific endeavors are not in our society's interest in the long run either.

Oddly, proponents of stem cell research often propose a risk-management strategy, whereby they indicate that because some therapies might be developed from embryonic stem cell research that wouldn't otherwise be available through adult stem cell studies alone, we owe it to those who need the therapies to pursue embryonic stem cell research. However, when it comes to the equally important question of when life begins, that risk-management suddenly becomes non-existent - they simply assume and speak with authority that the embryos are not in any meaningful capacity "human." Quite a double standard. I am convinced that, just as in the case of a sleeping person, if you give the embryo 9 months, or the sleeping person 9 hours, they will manifest themselves as very human even though initial observation might suggest otherwise.

For these reasons, I'm asking you to represent me by doing your best to prevent such embryonic stem cell research bills from becoming law. I believe that what makes this country so great is that we have the ability, and often choose to exercise this ability, to protect and serve those who need our help. It seems that those who cannot speak for themselves must rely on those of us who can speak for them.

Thank you for your service, both for Houston and our country. Have a great day and sorry if this letter got a bit long.

-Big Chris

It's a good early morning for Espers.

2007-04-07T03:11:00.000-07:00

You know, Espers.

2007-04-03T01:41:00.000-07:00

Kind of interesting that the Supreme Court ruled within the last week that the Bush administration is not in violation of the law regarding holding suspects at Guantanamo, then followed that with a ruling that the EPA has the authority independent of the administration, to regulate carbon emissions. So no restriction, followed by some restriction.

Not interesting per se, one merely hopes that conspiracy theorists might take heart that the Fascist and Evil Regime of Furher Bush (!!!) is being checked in some ways by the courts.

April Fools?

2007-04-02T04:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I was out at a pizza parlor with "The Eric and Katie Duo" and got a call from my sister. She'd called a couple times before, and then when she said she "had news" and then told me she was pregnant, I made a whooping noise, did a high-five with Eric and yelled "I'm gonna be an uncle!!" which made a few people around us look over.

So then I sat back down and realized it was April 1st after Jennifer said, "Just kidding!"

Apparently nobody else believed her the entire day. Oh well - I'm happy to be there for you, sister, as a gullible sucker! Hehehe.

Okay -

2007-03-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Here's something you haven't heard for probably 5 or 6 years. Maybe 8 years, I don't know:

What's Going On - by Four Non-Blondes.

Heh.

Oh, the '06 Tax Return Present gets shipping "beginning of this week." So I'll hopefully have it by Friday. Saving money to spend on car repairs? That's for suckers.

As expected:

2007-03-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

Rioting by "youths" hit a major Parish train station today. (Warning: FoxNews link - here.)

But this is only to be expected. The last I heard, there were parts of the Paris suburbs that were so hostile to non-Arab police officers that the police began refusing to even enter those areas to attempt to quell rioting and general lawlessness that has persisted since the beginning of the rioting in 2005.

If you don't go in there and root out the problem, it's just going to spread. The same goes with ignoring the problem, or pretending that there is no issue to be dealt with.

If they continue to be big do-nothings regarding the latent racial/religious tensions, next year it won't just be burning cars and smashing windows.

:)

2007-03-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

Made a nice purchase online today while at work. Expect me to show it off in a couple of weeks!

Notice:

2007-03-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

To the angry, white Toyota Carrolla driver out there on N. Sheperd street:

Hello. I'm sorry I did... whatever it is that I did that so upset you. You see, I didn't do anything on purpose to make your drive-time commute more difficult than it had to be, so I didn't understand why you floored your crappy 4-block piece of shit car to "zoom" past me while giving me a dilapidated and weak middle finger, which at first, with your wrinkley hand up in the air next to your rawhide face and frizzled $8 hair-style made me think that the Cryptkeeper was driving next to me, until you opened your mouth to yell something to me (sorry, I didn't catch it because there's 20 feet and two pieces of pneumatically-sealed glass between us) and I saw your ugly and small pointy teeth and realized that it was some feeble old lady trying to tell me I was doing too well of a job trying to drive slowly and carefully home from the supermarket.

Life's too short to be that much of a bitch, sweetheart.

2007-03-18T04:21:00.000-07:00

watch the sun,
as it crawls across a final time
and it feels like,
like it was a friend.
it is watching us,
and the world we set on fire
do you wonder,
if it feels the same?

and the sky is filled with light
can you see it?
all the black is really white
if you believe it
as your time is running out
let me take away your doubt
you can find a better a place
in this twilight

dust to dust,
ashes in your hair remind me
what it feels like
and I won't feel again
night descends
could I have been a better person
if I could only do it all again

and the sky is filled with light
can you see it?
all the black is really white
if you believe it
and the longing that you feel
you know none of this is real
you will find a better place
in this twilight

-NIN's "In This Twilight"

Agnus Dei...

2007-03-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

Two things happened today:

I found a man dying (more than likely already dead) of a heart attack in a parking lot at the gun range. This poor guy was face-up sprawled out on his back when I pulled into the range. At first I was dreading finding someone who'd shot themselves and hit by an accidental discharge or some freak accident while putting some guns into his car, but there was no blood, just an older-looking man lying peacefully on his back. His name was Michael, he was 53, and he rented a place from Gary, the gun store owner and worked at the range. I went in and got some help, someone started CPR as we called 911, they came fast and got to work on him, but he didn't make it. It was his time to go.

The saddest part is that he has no family. His story was apparently a pretty rough one, although the last part of his life he had essentially got everything worked out, he had a rough early adulthood, it sounded like. At the least he had friends that cared about him.

I hope he was ready to go. It's times like this that I feel a need to pray for God's mercy.

On a lighter note, depending on how much of my tax return I get to keep after a car repair, I'm going to be acquiring an AR-15. The AR-15 is all kinds of awesome.

2007-03-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

How long do you let someone treat you without respect before you dissolve the friendship from your end?

2007-03-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

NIN's new album, Year Zero, so far sounds like it's going to be amazing. They have this theme for the album - almost a concept album - where in 2022, some kind of rightwing fundamentalist Christian politik has taken over America. They put stuff in the water to subvert the people. And this... thing - called "The Presence" - which is some kind of Hand of God - reaches down from the sky, and the only people that can see or feel it are (if I understand correctly) those that aren't taking the medicated water.

At any rate, the music sounds like it's going to be top notch. I was a bit worried after With Teeth because there were really only 3 tracks on the album that I really enjoy listening.

That's it.

2007-03-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'm designing the rest of these primers at home, where there is terriyaki beef jerky and cold Diet Rite Tangerine soda.

Cut that mullet:

2007-03-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

I cut my hair. Not too short. And, no, Dan, not to be like you.

By the way - how did it get to be 6:40am? I mean, the equivalent of 5:40am? Got a lot of work to do tomorrow.

Today I:
*repaired my pair of sandals using a high-power staple gun, a hammer, and a dinner fork - in that order
*cleaned the Beretta 92FS 9MM. Such a pretty gun, I really need to keep that baby cleaner, like she deserves. Who knew so much gunk could get stuck in there?
*started watching Rome season II. Really damned good. So far it's not quite as entertaining as season I, but that's like saying the second ribeye steak wasn't as good as the first when in reality you didn't need two steaks, you fatty
*and speaking of steaks, I weighed myself and discovered I'm getting fatter
*cut my hair to a reasonable length
*stayed up way too goddamned late!!

2007-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

In other news, I feel like queuing up some Tool and going for a ride in the automobile. Maybe out I-10 west of town, or I-45 south towards Galveston.

Dark highways are good for the soul.

See ya later.

Well damn.

2007-03-07T20:46:00.001-08:00

I didn't win $50 million. Three bucks wasted!

Big Lots!

2007-03-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so I went to the bookstore, then to Big Lots (then back to work.)

And here I am, busting out my new phosphor-electro-sparking multi-colored glass electro-swirly-sculpture and my new 4x4 LED color pattern generator. Together less than $20, these babies will bring me endless joy here at work.

You, reader, have little or no understanding of what I'm saying, do you?

Well, here's a link to the LED Color Cube thing from Homedics (I paid just $6 for it!) and here's the Mini Electra lamp.

The best part about this? Whoever the hell is reading has absolutely no interest in all of this!

Fun with Google Maps:

2007-03-02T23:37:00.000-08:00

Plane wreckage on some island

A capsizing luxury boat

And in Utah, the satellite picture captures some kind of missile (ICBM?)
mid-flight.

It helps if you zoom out a little bit to get more context, but still - pretty fascinating.

Friday night roundup.

2007-03-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

If you're going to be using Windows Vista, here's a great article to show you how to configure that 'pewter to use less electricity.

Meanwhile, I'm going to be here late tonight developing an RNA blot because I'm just starting the washes and it's already past 5pm. But that's cool - I mean, what else would I have to do on a Friday night besides do high-stringency salt washes and antibody detection?

Now to get some Metallica copied onto the music player so I can rock out with my science out.

Folks,

2007-03-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

There's only one thing that's going to happen for sure, and that is the purchase of additional RUSH albums.

Get ready:

2007-02-25T14:12:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is going to be the big day when James Cameron holds a press conference and declares that he's found the tomb of Jesus, Mary, Mary Magdalen, Jesus' son, and a couple of the Apostles.

Good. I'm glad we got it all cleared up now, that Jesus' claim to fame was bunk, the Ascension never happened and Christianity, like all other religions, is bullshit. Good work, James.

St. Augustine says:

2007-02-21T10:07:00.001-08:00

One can say: "I will, but my body does not obey me"; but not: "My will does not obey me."

2007-02-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

From Wesley J Smith:

A baby has been born at one day less than 22 weeks gestation, has survived, and is doing well. This birth may have significant ramifications for abortion law because it reduces the time of viability to just over half a normal gestation period. It may impact futile care theory and the occasional attempts to refuse wanted life-sustaining treatment for prematurely born babies. The birth could affect personhood theory, at least for those who refuse to depersonalize born infants, because it could materially alter their moral view of the moral worth of later stage fetuses. So, welcome to the world Amillia Sonja Taylor. Your birth might become a significant event for expanding the perception of who qualifies to be in the human family.

In other news, I'm back from Siberia (New York), my sister's wedding was great, she's in the Dominican Republic now on her honeymoon, and after this afternoon my progress review document will be completed, turned in, and I can return to the land of the living.

Poetry.

2007-02-14T22:45:00.000-08:00

Somewhere in the dark
A shadow moves 'neath another
Purchase upon tenable ground
Is slowly found
And with the slightest sound
A gasp, perhaps,
And a sigh,
And then a pale light
To cut through the distance
And a means
A purpose
A purchase
Which is to say, direction
Towards that means
Or the result
And somewhere in the dark
A shadow moves 'neath yet another
A different form
A difference found
And the tenable ground
With only the slightest sound
Yields to inevitability
Disappearing down
No, not underground
But above
Where a Dove may be found
Purchasing with pale wings
Against the thin air
Above the ground
A hard way
Perhaps the only way
And yet still in the dark it may sing
For against the coming dawn,
No victory can any bring
Except that which the Dove doth sing.

2007-02-10T18:49:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 6pm today, after sleeping more than 14 hours. It was dark and I thought it was 6am. Went and bought some TacoBell and more NyQuil (CVS-brand Nighttime Multi-Symptom Syrup). The NyQuil works so good I feel like I need to sleep another 14 hours, even after a giant cup of Baja Blast Mountain Dew while watching Clerks II.

It feels like today isn't real. Goodnight, people.

Mouse - it's what's for dinner.

2007-02-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

So Snakey McSnakerson just accepted and wolfed down a mouse that I thawed out yesterday, then forgot about until just a minute ago. I'm blaming it on the fact that I've been dosing with NyQuil during the day, something that probably isn't recommended. Don't get me wrong - relief from whatever I have (cold/flu?) is great. But leaving mice thawed out on the kitchen counter (don't worry, it was on foil, not the counter) isn't that fun to discover.

I swear my snake is a bit blind, too. He struck at the prey and almost completely missed it... from about a half-inch from his face. Then he came wheeling back around with his mouth wide open and managed to barely miss his own neck coming back towards himself. Then he grabbed the mouse across the mouse's ribcage and stomach, between an arm and a leg. I guess because snakes don't have hands and don't use utensils, he had to spend about 5 minutes working his jaws slowly around to the head. Not your most impressive display, Snakey.

I'll keep you, my good reader, updated with Snakey's disposition towards his, shall we say, well-thawed meal and let you know if he tries to give it back.

2007-02-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

I didn't get invited to any Super Bowl parties. Heh.

Melting on a Saturday Night.

2007-02-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

Just set that plastic soul on fire - and watch it melt!!!

Life is good, a rocket sled utopia
A self-imposed myopia
You gotta love this place

Life is fast, a million winners everyday
You tell me, is this work or play?
I'm never really sure...

I'm alive, now you watch me go
A tickle inside my brain
Where it comes from i don't know
But I'm laughin' in the flames

It's just a look in your eyes
I feel like I can fly
And then sometimes I dig it so much...
I could die
I'll never make no more complaints,
'Cuz I don't care...

-M.M.

Screenshots

2007-01-31T23:20:00.000-08:00

Enough talking, here are a few screenshots (click for full-res versions):

First one is just my basic desktop with background. The widgets are on the right, there's a clock face and below that is a little picture frame that, depending on how you set it, sifts through a folder (or folders if you specify) and changes the picture displayed. So you get a little miniature, changing picture frame. Nifty, eh?

(Click for high res image.)

This is shows how it pops up a little mini-view of the minimized window to preview before you restore it up from the taskbar to the desktop.

(Click for high res image.)

And finally, that side-view option that lets you see all the windows that are open. You click on the one you want to come forward to the front, then they zoom back in.

(Click for high res image.)

Well, I guess it's time for bed.

Et cetera:

2007-01-31T22:29:00.000-08:00

Oh, more coolness - when you mouse over a minimized application in your taskbar, up pops a mini preview of the window.

Also, there's a window fetcher button - basically you click on the button, and all the open windows and applications fall back a few feet and you look on them from a 45 degree angle in perspective, allowing you to see the content of all the windows when your desktop gets crowded. Then you mouse over and click on the window you want to bring to the front and it all zooms back in. Does the fact that I think that's really bitchin' mean I'm a dork?

Furthermore, and this is kinda silly, but I'm really enjoying the sample music files that come in the music samples folder. A few good electronica songs, some cool world music and jazz and classical songs in there. The new Windows Media Player looks like a decent program.

Damn sexy.

2007-01-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

This post is being brought to you by Windows Vista™.

Been a loo-oo-oong time since I've gotten the rush of using a new OS. It's great. Goodbye, Windows XP! The user interface is nice and shiney, everything is responsive and peppy. My "Windows Experience Rating" was 4.1 out of 5. Apparently 1-2 is good for web surfing, and 4-5 is good for gaming. Ha. The Radeon 9800Pro still got a really high rating though, so I have all the eye candy turned on here and it looks, well, just really pretty.

There are a bunch of great features that should have been in XP - widgets for the side of the screen, hard-drive disc-imaging, advanced power settings, file run settings that make it easy to request permission for new applications to open and install (always a good thing) and - of course - sexy 3D user interface goodness.

Don't you wish you had a free copy of Windows Vista™?

Walking the Line

2007-01-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

Johnny Cash's version of Hurt

That's June (his 2nd wife) behind him in that video. I love this video so much.

Urbandictionary.com

2007-01-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

Some high-quality urbandictionary.com definitions randomly observed:

guitar face: the face you make when in pain, ecstasy or passing massive amounts of gas. (bonus link HERE - am I the only one that laughs?

safety buzz: The amount of alcohol (or other substance) intake neccessary to provide a reason to try and make a move on someone. If this person is not receptive to the advance, then he/she can later claim that it was the substance talking and not them. However, if he/she welcomes the advance, there is nothing to worry about.

break the seal: The point at which you first piss after you have been drinking your favorite alcoholic beverage and at this point you will be pissing every ten minutes.

unprotected sleep: turning off your alarm clock and immediately going back to sleep; risking not waking up for a job, class, or other daily task.

Urbandictionary.com: usually crude; always entertaining.

AoA

2007-01-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

Now for some Army of Anyone. I don't know if this track gets radio play or not, but I'm sharing it nonetheless. Decent stuff, I suppose.

So: It Doesn't Seem To Matter and Disappear - both by Army of Anyone

More from the C&C Music Factory.

2007-01-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

This is more Coheed and Cambria, and this is The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut

Rush/Pink Floyd/Mars Volta.

Awwwwzyeah

2007-01-18T20:57:00.000-08:00

I (being most excellent) just discovered how to use the 2gigs of free web space Rice gives its graduate students.

I can now upload excellent new Coheed and Cambria songs like this one and there's not a damn thing you can do about it, slacka! Listen to those baby sounds! This track sounds so lush. I love it.

(If you're interested, you should read up on your C&C lore to see exactly what those kids are, why they're happy, and why he's talking about waking up. If not, the music is still lush and excellent.)

I'll throw up another tomorrow, now that I'm winning at "t3h internets" again.

Here's a test picture of Tokyo at night using a photography method called High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) - which increases light contrast ratios to make ordinary pictures look totally awesome, and totally awesome pictures look like heaven. (Right click and select "View Picture" for the full picture. *EDIT: That only works in Firefox (which you should be using) but I changed it to where you can click on the image to see the full picture.*

2007-01-17T22:34:00.000-08:00

I just watched Princess Mononoke - excellent, excellent movie! I loved it. Really intriguing.

How many animated movies have you seen where feudal Japanese towns engage animal gods in combat?

Anyhow, next on the Blockbuster list is Shaun of the Dead. :)

"I can probably put the time to better use."

2007-01-16T23:52:00.000-08:00

(EDIT: Read the post before this before reading this.)

What exactly does this mean anyhow?

I said the last post would be the last post before bed, but I got curious about that "time" and the idea of "better use" ... so I tallied up my logged time across all the characters on my account.

Keep in mind that my playing time is probably somewhere around average:

111 days, plus change.

That's days, as in 24 hours increments of time.

Multiply by 24 to calculate hours played, and you get 2,664 hours.

Two thousand, six hundred and sixty-four hours. At a computer. Killing electronic demons in a fantasy land called Azeroth with other people using voice-chat software to help us communicate.

Since World of Warcraft was released right before Thanksgiving, 2004, I'm going to estimate the total amount of time to have passed since then to be roughly 790 days. (Two years from Thanksgiving '04 to Thanksgiving '06, then 30 days for November to December and another thirty for December to January, so 365+365+30+30 = 790 days) This equals 18,960 hours, of which 2,664 were spent playing WoW.

2664/18960 = 0.1405, so I've spent 14% of the last 2 years playing a game.

I mean, at least I'm not on the streets dealing drugs or in the lab working on my PhD thesis, you know? Gotta keep it in perspective.

So - can I put this time to better use? I'm not sure - man is nothing if not naturally lazy and averse to work. But I do know that my productivity at work and at home goes up when I don't play. I also know that I've turned down at least one date because I was too busy with scheduled raids (for those who aren't WoW-addicts, a "raid" is a massive 40-man activity in World of Warcraft... some fights require 40 people to work together to take down bosses - miss too many of them and you'll get kicked out of your guild). Scary how the priorities get altered, huh?

***As a parting thought, I'll humbly submit to the reader that, in fact, there have been two distinct periods of time where I have stopped playing WoW... so if I were to try to be more accurate in determining a "WoW density" quantification, those 2664 hours of playtime were really compressed into less than 1.5 years (not 2 years and 2 months)... or maybe even a little bit tighter. I wouldn't be surprised if my total amount of playtime (adjusted to take into account only the time passing during those periods when I'm actively subscribing to play the game) inflated to near 20-25% of total time during those periods. That's a quarter of my existence.***

One more post tonight.

2007-01-16T23:37:00.000-08:00

I'm not buying the Burning Crusade (World of Warcrack expansion software). I've thought about it a few days. Well, at least one. I can probably put the time to better use.

Anyhow, Dan and other committee members or faculty who frequent this blog, I hope this means I can get more work done faster in the lab.

Raw Garlic.

2007-01-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

I like it.

Thoughts?

2007-01-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

Laugh a little: Link.

Snakey McSnakerson

2007-01-12T22:49:00.000-08:00

is going through a molt following his recent feedings. The other day I noticed a slight ruddy color on his ivory-white underside, and now today his eyes are cloudy and most of his body is a faded color. Sometime soon he'll start doing his hiding and molting thing.

I'm pretty happy about this, because sometimes molts can take a long damn time to happen. After his last molt (October), Snakey got in the bad habit of extending up and wedging himself on a glass lip under some aluminum screening that I'd stapled on the top of the tank lid. Every time he'd try to get out from under the screen, he'd end up scraping his dorsal scales and for the last couple of months his scales were pretty beaten up. No wounds or anything really wrong, it was just an aesthetics issue.

Anyway, now he's got a solid wooden tank top and (soon) a shiny coat of armor, so he'll be more impressive.

30 gallon fish tank....

2007-01-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

Cichlids incoming. More later.

Beard accident!

2007-01-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

So I was just going to do a bit of face maintenance before going into work (late... :( ) so I busted out the shaver.

Long story short, after repeated salvage attempts, I had to shave off everything.

The one good part was that I made a Fu Manchu mustache to enjoy for a brief while before shaving even it off. No pictures, sorr.

Sad, because I got a compliment on it just yesterday.

???

2007-01-09T23:55:00.000-08:00

From a Ball Python FAQ list:

Q: Help, My snakes eye has a dent in it!
A: Don't panic. This occasionally happens and can be attributed to the snake being a little dehydrated. Make sure it's got fresh water and a bowl that it can soak in. The dent should be gone with the next shed cycle.

A dented eye? Gotta hurt.

I like my python more and more each day. :)

I also discovered the binomial name for ball pythons is Python regius, which translates to "Python King" from Latin, which is why my random habit of calling my snake "Lord McSnakerson" (his real name is Snakey McSnakerson) is surreptitiously cool.

So Bill Gates emailed me:

2007-01-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Chris:

Congratulations, you’ve learned how to build well-connected, visually stunning applications with Windows Vista, and now your free, full-licensed copy of Windows Vista Business is on its way.

Please be patient. We cannot ship your gift until Windows Vista Business is released to manufacturing. Your free software should arrive in six to eight weeks after RTM. If it doesn't arrive after eight weeks, please contact a customer service representative at Windows Vista and Office Kit Order Admin. Be sure to have your confirmation number XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX on hand.

Microsoft

So I got in on this deal a few weeks ago where I registered with Microsoft to watch some webcasts through one of their education websites about how to use their new operating software (Windows Vista) and Office 07 Suite.

So I got a free copy of Windows Vista Business.

Realization

2007-01-08T23:39:00.000-08:00

People who are friendly to you aren't always your friends.

2007-01-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

Because I know after the last post, you do, in fact, yessiree want more...

How terrible of me not to include a link to the story so far!

Give me more

2007-01-08T22:05:00.000-08:00

of this good stuff: Coheed and Cambria

(Another, if you want more.)

Coheed and Cambria are a music group that sound like the Mars Volta but are a bit less experimental and a bit more ballady/rock-ish.

The band released a comic along side their albums, and the two bodies of work complement each other and create an entire mythology in a distopian sci-fi fantasy universe.

It's really quite interesting, and I've liked the music I've heard so far, to say the least.

Abortion counter

2007-01-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so that little flash doohickey that counts abortions...

I really like it.

Correction - it's useful - of course I hate what it represents.

When I added it to the sidebar, it was under 57 million. The counter I was using now says 59.2 million.

Ah, but time marches on - and either 2 million completely morally-neutral surgeries have taken place or 2 million small children have been killed. It's all about perspective, and what you personally decide you believe. (No, I'd never be comfortable pushing my beliefs about 2 million child non-incidents and/or child killings on anyone. Only a maniacal religious zealot would do that.) Unfortunately, some of the earliest of that 3 million-strong number aren't able to be reached for their opinion. But as I said - it's all about perspective, right? Oh, and power to enforce your perspective.

Yes, kind reader - I digress.

Anyhow, when I added the HTML code to display it, I copy/pasted it from 1way2god.net. I'm happy they made it available, but I'm not sure what I think about everything posted on their website, so I'm removing the link to their site, so as to somewhat distance myself from them.

Just thought I'd let it be known - since people may have in the past clicked over there and then thought I was endorsing their website.

And right now I'm going to switch it now to show total number of abortions worldwide since 2001.

If you're interested to know, or flabbergasted at the number, the data comes from a 1999 report from Planned-Parenthood/Guttmacher Institute and from the CDC and the UN's World Health Organization.

I'll finish this post off with some Creedence Clearwater Revival:

Long as I remember, the rain's been comin' down
Clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground
Good men through the ages, tryin' to find the sun
And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain.

I went down to Virginia, seekin' shelter from the storm
Caught up in the fable, I watched the tower grow
Five year plans and new deals, wrapped in golden chains
And I wonder, still I wonder who'll stop the rain.

Heard the singers playin', how we cheered for more.
The crowd had rushed together, tryin' to keep warm.
Still the rain kept pourin', fallin' on my ears.
And I wonder, still I wonder who'll stop the rain.

DAMMIT

2007-01-06T22:49:00.000-08:00

A reaction messed up. Work down the drain.

Lots of time and reagents wasted.

Trust me, the three clicks it takes to get to and view these is worth it: (con't)

2007-01-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

While waiting on my gel to, well, gel, I watched some more of these wacky TV clips of the Iranian national TV station.

The videos archived over at MEMRI range from the unbelievably stupid: (LINK) - watch out! Pepsi stands for Pay Each Penny to Save Israel! Oh, and Coke plans to topple Iran!!! (No, I'm not kidding!)

...to the scary: (LINK) - check out 9:30 into this video clip, where Ahmanijad says point blank that "America and England are the enemies of the Iranian Nation" followed by chants from the many thousands of spectators of "Allah Akbar! Death to America."

The few clicks it takes to see these videos is worth it.

If you want to watch more, here's a smorgasbord of stupidity for you to wallow in.

Iran says they won't develop a nuke... unless they need to!

2007-01-06T21:40:00.000-08:00

“We oppose obtaining nuclear weapons and we will peacefully use nuclear technology under the framework of the Nonproliferation Treaty, but if we are threatened, the situation may change."

That coming from the mouth of an Official of the state of Iran, a country whose leader has sworn to "wipe Israel off the map."

Even the Iranian leadership isn't too stupid to understand that once they are threatened it will be too late to develop a nuke...

I suppose this is good, since at least now it looks like Iran has stopped pretending like it will never attempt to produce nuclear weaponry.

And facing reality, while ~~not always~~ never fun when dealing with a fundamentalist, religious idiot sworn to "annihilate" his religious adversary (a secularized Jewish state) is always good.

Oh! Wait just a second, Mr. or Mrs. Reader Person - I can hear your gears a-twerlin' up there in your head! You're like, "Quick, didn't Bush say something similar about the Axis of Evil or something?!?! Didn't he...?!" To which I respond: show me where Bush swore to annihilate and wipe off the map the countries that he said were in that Axis of Evil (whether or not I approve of that Axis term is irrelevant to my point) and I'll concede the point that Bush is a terrorist, fascist, fundamentalist dictator.

And while we're at it, take a look at what the Iran state-run TV medium consistantly broadcasts and decide yourself whether or not Iranian policy makers think producing a nuclear weapon is in or out of line with their stated goals.

LGF link

From a book I'm reading...

2007-01-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Abba Pambo asked Abba Anthony, "What ought I do?" and the old man said to him, "Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach."

Right on.

2007-01-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

I really don't feel like going back in to work.

I guess things like this build character. Or maybe I could run up to school and around the loop. I haven't run in about a year.

But I just aced off a Lean Cuisine™ spaghetti dinner with mountain dew, followed by ~8 little Hershey's chocolate bars, so I'm all food-filled and lethargic.

I guess I still need to come up with a New Year's resolution, too. Is "to stop drinking so much @(!$ing soda" a legitimate resolution, or is that poser? Wait, is it poser to wonder if something is poser?

I better just stop here.

Oh wait, another thing, I now have a hand-crafted and fitted, fully-latching top to the Snakey Pit. It's high quality, and I can tell already that Snakey feels like a million bucks snaking around inside of his tank now. Ordinarily, such wanton displays of materialism would disappoint me a bit, but in our conversations, Snakey has told me that he's really not out to impress anyone - it's more like he takes pride in his owners fine craftsmanship. (Well, Eric helped also. And the big dude at Home Depot that helped cut the lumber. But hey, that's hardly the point.)

Bwahahaha

2007-01-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

Bwahahaha!

I mean, they didn't really have to throw in the gay stuff, but overall it's still pretty funny.

NBK

2006-12-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

Nothing like watching Natural Born Killers to put you in a really, really weird mood.

Ecce draco...

2006-12-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ah, how fun it is, especially during Advent and Christmas to attempt to mock and deny God! Act now and get a free DVD!

Rational people will disagree that just by saying the words, "I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit" (oh no, I just said it in my head!) that it is possible to damn your soul to hell - real blasphemy against the Holy Spirit probably requires a lifetime of sin to cement. For whatever reason, I seem to recall that the Church teaches that the ultimate blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is prideful unwillingness to ask for forgiveness rather than a single utterance. Even the holiest person over the course of their life is grossly unworthy to ask for forgiveness, and we use our free will to choose what we desire, forgiveness or self-righteousness... we are unworthy of either. God doesn't prevent us from rejecting him, because how worthwhile would a slave's relationship be? We aren't slaves to God - we're either willing servants of or willing enemies with Love.

Anyway, enough blathering - back to the point:

If you don't believe in the Christian dogma, the truly rational thing to do is to go about setting straight what you think is wrong. In this case, atheists should stress their positivist/naturalist logic, because that's probably the most appealing argument you can make against the existence of God.

But that's hardly what they're doing. Things like this are born from contempt and mocking, and an immature desire to rebel against... something... God? Sure. Authority? Why not. Tradition? Hell yeah. Gotta try to fill the unhappiness with a smug YouTube video, because that'll kick ass!

They're attempting to satisfy a need to justify their rejection of God, because life genuinely without God is tiresome and empty, with no reason to look forwards or backwards - ultimately human existence is a null-sum, a simple, ongoing chemical reaction. Reduce humanity to that, and humanity becomes a false word. Without variance, atheism in all forms converges to nihilism. There can be no purpose other than animal satisfaction if we are mere animals that are self-aware by some odd neurological evolution.

Not surprisingly, RichardDawkins.net and other atheist sites are behind the success of this BlasphemyChallenge.com site. I guess all faiths require proselytizing.

The whole semi-jest perspective that most people must see this "blasphemy challenge" in brings to mind the idea that Satan is most powerful when he convinces people that he doesn't exist. Sites like this aren't really evil... they're mainly just really stupid. It is tempting to see them only as harmless fun. But they are symptoms of evil and testify to the fact that the enemy is real and is always looking for more teammates to choose his side.

And God is always pro-choice, I suppose.

New discovery:

2006-12-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how much of each I added, but I made about 3 large glasses-worth of intensely delicious smoothy using:

Limeade (from concentrate)
Orange juice
Strawberries
Blueberries
Strawberry yogurt

Now to shower and go map pwg at school.

Now for the paint.

2006-12-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

I no longer have holes in my walls from the dumbass smoke-detector-installing guy. I do have spackling in my hair though. Dry wall repair for the win!

2006-12-20T07:23:00.000-08:00

I am SUCH A HUGE IDIOT. I forgot to feed the fish last night. Oh man, I'm going to be in trouble. Yeah. Good morning.

Friday night lights

2006-12-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

My hosting service is still MIA. Obviously the things I'm hosting there still are being served (for example, you can see my "The August" picture above, and still download that Iron Maiden song on the right over there), but I can't connect using my FTP client to either download or upload new files.

I'm about to grab some food and head back up to the lab - the Northern blot is developing as we speak. Why couldn't I get a strong 5-minute signal? Why the 2-hour exposure shenanigans? Surprisingly, I don't really care about having to go back up to school - work has been more exciting recently, and I really want to see what this Northern is going to tell me.

I realize:

2006-12-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

One of the things the public thinks of scientists is that we do experiments to discover certain things and that these experiments always work. If it turns out one way, we know something. The experiment turns out another way, we know something else. We do this for a few hours each day, then go home.

The fact of the matter is that experiments contribute to anxiety and unhappiness through three major pathways:

1.) They don't work. That's right. Most experiments just don't work. You did it all the way you were supposed to, but you forgot to do the voodoo dance, or you didn't understand that when the protocol you're holding says "incubate five minutes at 65 degrees" that actually your boss's copy, or your colleague's copy of the protocol, that line is scratched out and now reads, "incubate at 40 degrees for 6 hours." You didn't know that, and you didn't do it, and your experiment failed. Good luck digging through and finding out why.

2.) The experiments work just well enough to look like they worked, but don't work well enough to clearly interpret what they are showing you. Is that really a secondary DNA fragment that was amplified in that gel lane, or is it just a blip of ethidium bromide that didn't dissolve well in the gel and now just looks like a DNA band? Choose wisely, if you ignore the band and it was real, you'll mis-genotype 5,000 fish, miss the recombinant that was a mapping breakthrough, adding an entire year to your PhD. Good luck trying to repeat the experiment - if you have to spend the next day fitting in the repeat experiment to your already-busy schedule, the boss will yell at you, and it'll just look like crap the second time, too. Go with your gut, and pray to Sweet Jesus™ that you choose wisely.

3.) The experiment works, but tells you something that disproves, or makes completely useless, your PhD thesis or the research you've spent a half-year doing. That's right. You spent 6 months purifying milligram quantities of your protein of interest, attached it to an affinity column in order to see what proteins bind to it in a pull-down assay, and then discover that your protein interacts with at least four hundred and fifty-seven different late golgi proteins. Then you do a two-hybrid experiment and get the same 457 positives. Just walk away from that one, hombre. It's tough, but it's like a doomed relationship: it might be all you have, but it's absolute garbage.

And then you become a post-doc and this crap somehow doesn't happen to you, or you get smart enough to avoid projects involving mind-numbing problems like these.

Snip, snip

2006-12-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

Circumcision may decrease HIV transmission rates in males by up to 50%.

In other news (but not newsworthy enough to be reported), remaining chaste still has a HIV-prevention rate of close to 100%...

(Yes, I realize a good part of the 'African problem' involves women being raped, but still, a crate full of zipped-up zippers would probably help an African nation more than a crate of latex rubbers and bananas to practice on. Well, maybe if they ate the bananas...)

OKAAAAY DAN!!! YOU GOT IT DOOOOD!!!

2006-12-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

Gotta love it when the boss looks at you and says "Don't fuck this up, man!" before you've started what you're doing.

I stifled the first thing that came to mind, which was to reply in kind with a similarly patronizing smirk and say, "OKAY DAN, BE SURE NOT TO CRASH YOUR CAR INTO A BUS ON YOUR WAY HOME! THAT WOULD BE BAD! DON'T FUCK UP YOUR RIDE HOME!"

Really, what kind of asshole says something like that?

It reminds me of another time probably 2 years ago when Dan gave me a tube with a DNA sample and said, "Don't contaminate this." He wasn't joking, he was absolutely serious. Like he maybe thought I thought I could, or would, or was planning to contaminate the sample... maybe I was about to... by shoving it up his ass! What a smacktard I work for!

It's hard to work where your boss has absolutely no regard for you (other than thinking you're going to "fuck this up, man.") At least I'm not the tired and depressed guy that goes around sighing all the time and yelling "mother fucker!" randomly. Gotta keep it all in perspective.

Reyes is a *@&!ing idiot.

2006-12-12T19:31:00.000-08:00

GetReligion delivers again.

This smacktard clown (Reyes) is Chair of the House Intelligence Committee...! He doesn't even know the most basic thing about Al Qaeda! It's a fundamentalist Sunni organization. No wonder we blunder and mess things up "over there."

And even worse than him not knowing such a basic question, is the fact that he actually tried to lie, and act like he knew what he was saying. Arrrrrgh!

Australia gets progressive...

2006-12-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

I read a story like this and I think to myself about how and why they chose 14 days as the limit. Think about it. It's completely arbitrary. Why not 15 days? Or 16? Or 20? Or 30? Or 100? Or how about 270 days? Wait, that's nine months. That would be barbaric!

Really, the only thing that changes is the look of the human after conception. Wouldn't want to allow embryos to be farmed at 15 days! Oh, no! That would be bad! Maybe even... murder! Wait, when does it become murder? After it's born? Or wait, maybe right before it's born... hmm... but nothing changes in the 10 minutes it takes to exit the womb... so it's gotta be before that. Well, 6 months it looks too baby-like, like an actual person, and it cries and squirms as it gets ripped apart during abortions... so maybe like 3 months, or 9 weeks... yeah, something like that. Let's go with 14 days, because it's really small then and doesn't have arms or a head yet. Sounds good. We can all be comfortable with that.

Oh, and bonus points for the DUMBEST GODDAMNED POST EVER by some retard that goes by the alias "BirdDoggy" on the Slashdot forums, commenting on this article, saying:

Using the term embryo conveys a level of development not present at up to 14 days of development. At 14 days, we're talking about a blastocyst. Technically, it needs to be 3 weeks old before it can be considered an embryo.

I swear, sometimes the level of pigheaded idiocy that people throw around makes me want to forget all about these issues. And if it weren't for the fact that the stakes are so high, believe me, I wouldn't even try to get involved in them.

W A R N I N G ! ! !

2006-12-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

Only click THIS LINK if you have, say, 5 or 10 minutes to look through a bunch of kids absolutely terrified of Santa Claus.

If you don't have time to really enjoy these super hilarious pictures, fuggehdabowditt, eh!

PS - How do you make it to where there's a separation between the picture on the left and the text on the right so that the text isn't right next to the picture. I added a "border=30px" but it made the picture have a solid 30pixels of white around it, and 'bordercolor="clear"' didn't work to make it transparent... any help?

2006-12-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire.

How's your drive-time commute? I need a saga. What's the saga? It's songs for the deaf - you can't even hear it!

Alternate forms of communication

2006-11-30T22:01:00.000-08:00

No, not body language. If you email cholterhoff01 -at- sprintpcs -dot- com, I'll get a message. It's one of those things that's pointless but kinda cool.

I still want to set up Orb on my PC and start streaming vids to my phone... because that's even more pointless, and way more "hawt," "tubular," or possibly even "righteous."

Sony

2006-11-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

It looks like Sony is getting (as we say) WTFPWNED.

One prediction has them having to sell 30 games per console sold just to break even.

"But it's really fast!"

Killing the Unwanted Monsters

2006-11-29T16:01:00.000-08:00

There's an almost impossibly great article written by the dad of a Down-Syndrome baby at the Times Online: LINK.

Ostensibly it's about what it's like being the father of a Down Syndrome child, but I think it's really more about being a father to any child. I especially liked the way he framed the imagination of the horrors that would come if they kept the kiddo and the way he contrasts that with his actual reality and experience.

Dream

2006-11-29T13:53:00.000-08:00

Just remembered my dream last night, it was pretty awesome. I was being chased by two guys, one of whom had a shotgun. My first thought when I woke up was, "Wow, what a good dream." Total-immersion entertainment.

2006-11-29T05:35:00.000-08:00

Don't call yourself Rosa Parks when your behavior more closely resembles Louis Farrakhan.

As actual truth would have it, it wasn't just a case of "Islamaphobia" that lead to those six Imams delaying and being yanked from a flight last week: they were being stupid assholes. No doubt a calculated attempt to be removed from the flight and then decry the move as racist/ignorant. Well, sadly enough, it worked since they made national headlines last week, and this week now that the truth is out it doesn't seem to be making a splash.

And because Islam is associated only with highly peaceful people, isn't it interesting how so many people who were interviewed for this story refused to give their names? Why's that?

From another story:

But Rabiah Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said Muslims "have to walk around on eggshells in public just because we don't want to be misconstrued as suspicious. You have to strike a balance between legitimate fears which people may have, but not allow passengers to have so much discretion that they can trigger a process that would violate a traveler's basic civil rights."

Not really. Just avoid yelling ALLAH AKHBAR! and purposefully sitting with other men who just got done yelling ALLAH AKHBAR! with you in a pattern typically used by terrorists to hijack planes while stowing the seat-belt extensions (pieces of fabric with metal clips at the end, swung as a weapon or used as a garrote by other terrorists in the past).

Craigslisting it.

2006-11-28T04:14:00.000-08:00

1.) Level up some World of Warcraft toons and win at the internets.
2.) Own some n00bs.
3.) ???
4.) Profit.

(I have no idea if it will sell.)

One of my friends committed suicide.

2006-11-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

One of my old elementary/middle/high-school friends shot himself in Kansas last night.

Robert O'Conner was an Iraq War veteran, working in Kansas for Army recruiting. He had told one of my other friends that he was feeling a bit down a couple of weeks ago, but talking to his mom on Thanksgiving he said he was feeling better. A lot of his stress was induced from the higher-up brass pushing the grunt-level recruiters to get higher numbers enlisted. He had previously served a tour in Iraq and although he did see some combat, as far as I know, his depression wasn't caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but the pressure to recruit.

Pretty sad all the way around. Never really understood how hollow and empty and pointless suicide is until now.

Robert used to be known as the group outsider... always had this dark side. He was very smart, and ended up making up a lot of stories and tall-tales, to which we always rolled our eyes and laughed at his stories. (During one late night IHOP outing, he once said that Fort Knox had at least a dozen nuclear warheads - he used the term 'thermonuclear' which only added more drama - set to blow up if someone were to try to steal the gold... to this day nobody is sure if he was bullshitting us or trying to deliver the joke deadpan. We still laugh about it.)

So yeah, don't hurt yourselves, guys. Life's already hard enough and short enough.

Bless his soul, and may he find his way to you, God.

(Pictures are from MySpace since I'm having problems getting my FTP working to host those pictures.)