Boxers by the Bay

Sara, Tomme and I made a trip to Baker beach a few weeks ago and we "met up" with a bunch of other SF Bay Area boxer owners for a romp in the sand and water. It was a blast for Tomme and a lot of fun for us too. Here are some pics of Tomme and his new friends:

Magnify

Control Panel > Display > Appearance > Font Size > Extra Large Fonts > put magnifying glass back in your pocket so you don't look like this guy in public

You know they are good doughnuts when...

Roger Ebert's thoughts on God

Just a quick link. Mr Ebert shares some interesting thoughts on theism and critical thinking:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/04/how_i_believe_in_g.html

I think most Americans (at least most of the Americans I know) fall into this category. Most people have the feeling that religion isn't much more than very old snake oil, but they just can't shake the desire to believe in some kind of deity or at the very least, some unifying human essence (spirit?). From there, most of us decide to tolerate the snake oil to one degree or another, or we decide to leave the whole topic on the shelf and religion/spirituality largely becomes irrelevant. It seems to me that Mr Ebert is riding the uncomfortable fence between those two options.

Thoughts from a first time homeowner: part 1

It never occurred to me a man could become so enraged at something as seemingly innocuous as a sprinkler.

Science and the Gift Horse

I learned a valuable lesson in the past month. I've been banging away at my postdoctoral project now for almost a year. About six months of that I've spent trouble shooting one very simple (and what should be routine) assay. I've wasted a lot of time doing so, but it had to be done. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was going wrong. So, one-by-one I began replacing reagents and changing conditions. I had people show me how to do the experiment, watch me perform the experiment, give suggestions and repeat. Nothing worked.

Finally, I remembered that one of the reagents that I had been using was given to me by a coworker. He had ordered extra bottle and thought I might need some. I should say at this point that this individual is a very helpful person. He has been an invaluable resource and a good friend and I have no reason to think that he would ever knowingly cause trouble for me or anyone else. But... as soon as I replaced that one gift everything started working.

The lesson, as I see it, is that in science (maybe true for other fields as well) it's just not worth your time to trust anyone else unless you must. Order your own reagents, do the experiments yourself, and if you must take a gift then make sure it is what they say it is. Most people have good intentions and 9 times out of 10 you will be fine. But, that one time can cost you 6 months or more. Your time is worth too much.

Why I do not "tweet"

I love this post.

My favorite reason not to use twitter: "You don't see the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise engaged in anything analogous to tweeting, do you?" -James Hrynyshyn. 'nuff said? I think so.

Seriously, why do we need yet another way to get news? If you feel like you have something to say, then start a blog. If it's interesting, then I'll probably find it and read it. If it's not... well... have you seen blogger.com, wordpress.com or livejournal.com lately? You won't be alone.