Author Archives: Cath@VWXYNot?

About Cath@VWXYNot?

"one of the sillier science bloggers [...] I thought I should give a warning to the more staid members of the community." - Bob O'Hara, December 2010

In praise of bike room buddies and other secret societies

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

“I just found out who you are!” announced my buddy-whose-name-I-don’t-know. “There’s a photo of you on the alumni wall of my lab! You have different hair and a different name, but it’s definitely you!” This conversation took place in the … Continue reading →

Posted in career, cycling, personal, publishing | 35 Comments

Always wait for the (2/2)

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Mr E Man and I were lucky enough to get hold of a pair of tickets for last night’s Canucks-Predators game*, and had a great time watching the good guys cruise to a 5-1 victory over a team that frustrated … Continue reading →

Posted in silliness, sport, technology | 6 Comments

Separating the l33t from the graph

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Were you ever explicitly taught which graphs to use to represent different types of scientific data? I remember some very basic lessons on this subject in high school maths (and possibly biology), but once I reached university it was never … Continue reading →

Posted in career, communication, education, English language, science | 25 Comments

Hockey Pool, Week 2

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Apologies for the delay – we’ve been having problems with our internet and cable TV service that seem to be getting worse every few weeks, so we haven’t had any internet all weekend (I’m jonesin’, man!) Shaw’s tech support number … Continue reading →

Posted in hockey pool, technology | 16 Comments

Science Crossword Quiz

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

As I mentioned on Friday, while tidying my desk at work last week I found a new and miraculously untouched science puzzle from last year’s desk calendar! It’s in the form of a crossword, and after trying and failing to format … Continue reading →

Posted in competition, English language, science | 28 Comments

Frittering

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Friday Twittering – is there anything finer? In other news, while tidying my desk today I found a new and miraculously untouched science puzzle from last year’s desk calendar. I’ll post it tomorrow (or possibly on Sunday) for your geeky … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, Canada, competition, family, meta, silliness | 6 Comments

Bragging Rights Central: New Archive Post

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

October 2011 – March 2012 Ricardipus has been dominating recently; the rest of you clearly need to comment more. Comment(s) of the week Oct 7 2011:  Chall for “I’m in. Somehow I don’t think it will go worse than the … Continue reading →

Posted in meta | 7 Comments

The Teacher Feature

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Writing my last (proper) post reminded me that way back in 2009 I started a series on my most influential teachers, and that I’d intended to include my PhD supervisor in the list. However, given that it’s World Teachers’ Day … Continue reading →

Posted in career, communication, education, music, personal, science | 6 Comments

Our notice has escaped!

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

  At least, I assume there used to be something worth translating in this box… given that I found it near the elevators on the top floor of a hospital, hopefully it wasn’t anything about dodgy elevators or level 4 … Continue reading →

Posted in photos, silliness | 9 Comments

Dr. Strangehabits, or: how I learned to stop procrastinating and write my thesis

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Athene’s recent post about how students write their PhD theses (plus frequent keyword search hits to my blog on the same subject) served as a long-overdue reminder that I’d promised to share my own thesis writing experiences. Some of the … Continue reading →

Posted in career, education, personal, science | 30 Comments