Cath
Representin' Vancouver, BC
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Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Grant on Regrettapalooza
- Cath@VWXYNot? on Regrettapalooza
- Cath@VWXYNot? on Regrettapalooza
- Cath@VWXYNot? on Regrettapalooza
- Cath@VWXYNot? on Regrettapalooza
Latest posts from Occam’s Typewriter
Girl, Interrupting
Am I having impact?May 20, 2013The End Of The Pier Show
Dogsplaining #3May 20, 2013Athene Donald's Blog
Muddled Mess or Merely Work in Progress?May 19, 2013Science: Occam's corner | guardian.co.uk
UK science is falling behind in the global race | Matthew BrownMay 17, 2013No Comment
After the stormMay 17, 2013Reciprocal Space
Impact factors declared unfit for dutyMay 16, 2013The Occam's Typewriter Irregulars
Seen in DevonMay 14, 2013Not ranting - honestly
I blame the parentsMay 10, 2013Mind the Gap
In which things flow naturally forwardMay 9, 2013Adventures in Wonderland
My old new little friend – the Voigtländer VF-101May 6, 2013Trading Knowledge
MDPI – another OA publisherApril 25, 2013Confessions of a (former) Lab Rat
Keep on runningApril 21, 2013Science behind the Scenes
Pregnancy? If you ask me, we’re doing it wrongApril 16, 2013Deep thoughts and silliness
Off to the other side of the worldApril 8, 2013Blogging the PhD
Margaret McCartney at Skeptics in the PubApril 7, 2013City Limits
Silent Spring: WarblersOctober 17, 2012
Bragging Rights Central
VWXYNot? Comment(s) of the week:
Nina and Grant for the following exchange: Nina: "Life should be a conference, everyone wearing nametags all the time, with their first name, last name, nickname, country of origin and country of residence. Birthdate optional."
Grant: Nina, I’m sure tech types will suggest we’ll all be bumping cell phones to exchange names in a few years. (Eurgh.)
One more: you know that thing where the person can’t quite read your name tag and leans in close over your chest to read it…
Nina: "ok, how about tattooing your name onto your forehead?"
Grant: "How about a sub-dermal name implant invisible when not active that glows when triggered by trained neural signals beaming your name to the people opposite you?
Failing that we could all wear electrode scalp caps that carry a flip up sign… (Taking as my cue the brain-computer interfaces emotiv and others are marketing.)"
[NB as a chronic tartler, I approve of all the above methods]
Alyssa for "It’s cloudy again
We see it’s cold and dreary
But – we have windows!!!"Ricardipus for "Bugger me, the grant’s
Finally done. Thank goodness.
Now back to fun stuff."Bean-mom for "I just clicked on the article on circular RNAs–I’d seen the headline earlier but hadn’t yet read it–and just as I expected, I’m all WTF?! MicroRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, now we’ve got circular RNAs. . . I feel like someone should just write a review titled, “RNA: WTF?”"
Nina again for "edit: my advisor has improved his standing desk further by standing on a wooden board that balances on a small (but sturdy) plastic tube, to make him wobble while standing, so to keep working those balancing muscles, or something like that. The tube comes from one of my experiments. I will miss that “wtf I’ll create my own standing desk – pilates work-out” attitude, I must admit."
Bob O'H for "Reminds me of my youth playing boardgames. There was one called Civilisation, which a friend described as “almost as long as the real thing”."
Chall "it surely looks like the Leafs MIGHT go to play offs for the first time in 7 years…. if I didn’t jinx it by saying it here of course. That said, I find myself wondering how bad it will be to end 5th place if Boston stays 4th. It sort of feels better to play the 3rd (Capitals right now) than Bruins but right now I’ll settle for PLAYOFFS and miracle :)"
[the Leafs making the playoffs is a miracle indeed]
KJHaxton for "Good question! I’d put:
– occasional baker of cakes for meetings
– fair to moderate tolerance for bullshit
– low tolerance for unfairness and willing to get very cross about it (folds arms and glowers at the screen)
– best selection of tea bags in desk drawer (8 kinds at last count)
– prone to wearing scarves and shirts that don’t matchAh well, I’m not sure I’d find a new job on the basis of those :)"
Ricardipus again for "Pros:
- rarely swears in public
- has few friends, so unlikely to have loud, belly-laughing conversations on phone or in person
- capable of speaking at length about (a) race cars, (b) cameras, or (c) bad scienceCons:
- occasionally swears in public
- has few friends, so likely to have poor social interactions with co-workers
- capable of speaking at length about (a) race cars, (b) cameras, or (c) bad scienceI’d also probably include “easily suckered into serving on irrelevant committees” into each category, too."
Bean-mom again for "–Friendly.
–Doesn’t bake, but if you have a potluck I’ll bring killer spring rolls (both crispy fried pork ones, and the vegetarian fresh rice-paper ones).
–Doesn’t bake, but husband bakes. Occasionally, you may be a recipient of his talent.
–Will cheerfully listen to other people’s dramas, but won’t cause any of my own. Not at work, anyway."
and Nina yet again for "As I may have mentioned before, I’m pretty sure my cv point “Love baking (chocolate) cakes” earned me my PhD position, and it definitely often raised questions in interviews (“so, how often do you bake cake? What kind of chocolate do you use?”)"
Post(s) of the Week: Beth Snow for "Modern conveniences" (how on earth did we survive, let alone study and write theses, before Skype and cloud computing?!)
Steve Caplan for "Science education: the generalist vs the specialist" (are 3 year or 4 year degrees better for students?)
Bean-mom for "Leaving scientific research... again" (science SUCKS sometimes)
Eva Amsen, writing at the Occam's Typewriter Irregulars for "The two ideas to fix the gender balance that do not make me cringe" (the panel pledge and the Finkbeiner test)
Bob O'Hara for "Making reviewing boring stuff less boring" (would a stripped-down manuscript format work better for the, um, less exciting papers out there?)
Alyssa for "Just the pants, thanks" (absolutely hilarious take on the modern clothes shopping experience)
Eva Amsen again for "My self-updating address book" (how LinkedIn can be useful)
CromerCrox for "Plagues" (how's God been cursing you lately?)
Prof-like Substance for "If you don't talk to your kids about it someone else will" (anticipating school-yard talk about religion and other big issues)
and CromerCrox again for "Conferences" (the problem of sexism at conferences)
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Category Archives: politics
Fight the Future
Last Saturday was my second time at Vancouver Change Camp and, just like the first time, it was a day full of very thought-provoking sessions about how ordinary people can change their world for the better. The last event took … Continue reading
Losing your research funds down the back of the Sof(i)a
About 18 months ago, I posted about some accusations of seriously compromised grant review in Bulgaria that were brought to the international community’s attention via a news article in Nature. Several readers commented that they were disappointed to have missed … Continue reading
Radical reform of peer review and research support, or rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic?
OR More on the proposed reforms at the CIHR, which I first blogged about last month after taking my first look at the discussion document they published. I’ve since read the document in much greater detail, and also attended an … Continue reading
On having a heart and using my voice
I recently updated the photo on my UK drivers license, and had the new card sent to my parents’ address. They received it a few weeks ago and couriered it back to me (along with the original marriage certificate I’d … Continue reading
CIHR: Canada Innovating to Help Review?
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is this country’s major source of government funding for biomedical research – the equivalent of the US NIH. They’ve just released a document describing some proposed changes to their grant mechanism portfolio and … Continue reading
Bucket List and 2012 Resolutions
Bucket List The plan is to add at least one new item every time I tick one off! Write at least one book (and get it published) Run for political office (and preferably win) Own a boat large enough to … Continue reading
A change would do you good
My involvement in the municipal election a couple of weeks ago left me with a buzz of positive energy that inspired me to keep the momentum going and get out and do something constructive again as soon as possible. Luckily … Continue reading
Scrutiny on the count, eh?
(Long post alert! Sorry!) Regular readers will know all about my passion for politics, a passion that was dampened only slightly by seven years of voteless pre-citizenship residence in Canada and that has ramped up again recently thanks to a … Continue reading
A week in grant wrangling
Following Frank’s excellent example, it seemed like a good week to present a week’s worth of daily bulletins about what I actually do for a living. As I alluded to in my last post it’s the busiest time of year … Continue reading
This.
(“Federal scientist unfairly silenced, union says” – CBC News) I wonder how long this whole social media experiment of direct communication with The People will last… (My favourite comment on the cat photo album: “Please don’t eat this one, Prime … Continue reading
