These are my annotated tweets for the week of 21 September 2008. Follow my microblog on Twitter at http://twitter.com/conrad_halling, then come here for the expanded version.
The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
2008-09-21: I finally finished listening to an audio book of The FountainHead, by Ayn Rand. I just can’t buy into Rand’s fatuous philosophy.
This was a long book, actually written pretty well. But nobody acts like that, and nobody should.
Current Bioinformatics Projects
2008-09-21: I worked 68 hours this week and managed to finish a BIG project. Now I’m only four weeks behind in my work. Postponing vacation….
I’m Too Close to My Neighbors
2008-09-22: At 4:30 AM, the next door neighbor is puking in his bathroom with the window open, waking up the entire neighborhood. So delightful….
Was it something he ate? Or was it something he drank? I still don’t know.
Autumn Running
2008-09-22: I did a good three-mile run this morning, my first run in three weeks. Autumn is perfect running weather.
I’ve been working too much lately to have time for running. Work-life balance has been difficult lately.
I’ll Always Be A Graduate Student
2008-09-23: Pizza for lunch today at work, provided by the company. My graduate student training — free food! — kicked in, so I’m still full.
When I was in graduate school at Berkeley, our lab was just down the hall from the seminar reception room. I never missed coffee and cookies at 3:30 PM on Wednesday afternoons.
Don’t Try To Do Your Own Bioinformatics Or Statistics
2008-09-24: @tharris @neilfws Too many research groups try to do their own bioinformatics and statistics without really knowing what they’re doing.
Printing Problems At Home
2008-09-24: Printing at home has become a disaster. Old HP 6MP AppleTalk printer won’t connect to network, and newer LaserJet has become unreliable.
2008-09-27: I got my old HP 6MP AppleTalk printer back on the network today by sacrificing two goats to the AsanteTalk Ethernet to LocalTalk adaptor.
We own an old HP 6MP printer that has an AppleTalk network interface. When my last Mac with an AppleTalk port died, I bought an AsanteTalk Ethernet to LocalTalk adaptor so I could plug it into the network. The adaptor is flaky and often won’t initialize itself correctly.
The solution was to disconnect the adaptor from the network and connect it directly to my MacBook Pro via the ethernet port. This let me initialize the adaptor by setting up the printer on the AppleTalk network, after which I plugged the adaptor back into the main network.
Housing Prices
2008-09-25: Housing prices are falling nationwide, but zillow.com‘s model says houses in Somerville and Cambridge, Mass., are holding their value.
Anathem, By Neal Stephenson
2008-09-25: I’m the last nerd in my neighborhood to buy Anathem, written by Neal Stephenson. I’ve read 18 pages, and it’s as good as everyone says.
Somehow Leo Laporte got a copy before the publication date. Some of us just have to wait.
Registration Fees For Races
26-Sep-2008: active.com is unpleasantly greedy. They increased their processing fee when I made an extra contribution while registering for a race.
I registered for the Somerville Homeless Coalition 5k, and I decided to contribute an extra $100. active.com increased the registration fee for the contribution; they must work on a percentage basis.
Beer As A Cure
2008-09-26: I felt crummy all day at work. Tonight we went out for beers and now I feel fine. If only I could have had a beer at 10:00 a.m….
Learning JavaScript
2008-09-27: I need to learn JavaScript for a project I’m working on. The question is, which JavaScript library to use? jQuery looks promising.
