For the Tongkat Ali believers

This is the worst example I've seen recently of the mainstream media completely mangling scientific findings - not only exaggeration in this case but a complete reversal of the facts. You know I normally like theSun but which ever reporter wrote this story got it completely backwards:

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http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=24775
Untreated erectile dysfunction can cause death, says urology specialist

KOTA BARU: Men suffering from erectile dysfunction must seek treatment fast as leaving the problem untreated for two years can be fatal.

Subang Jaya Medical Centre urology specialist Prof Datuk Dr Tan Hui Meng said a scientific study found that men with erectile dysfunction risk getting chronic heart diseases which can cause death in one or two years.

"Erectile dysfunction is closely linked to the health because it is the heart which does the pumping so that men get excited. Men who have difficulty keeping their partners sexually satisfied carry early symptoms of cardiovascular diseases," he told reporters at the 2nd Sexual Health Conference here today.

"Most men aged 40-45 years have this problem. It can only lead to death in two years if it is a continuous problem and left untreated," he said.

However, men aged 20-30 years-old need not worry as the erection problem is only temporary and not over a continuous period.

He urged men with sexually linked diseases to refer to doctors quickly to avoid more serious diseases.

Those suffering from diabetes and hypertension should control their food intake and seek treatment to prevent it from worsening as it can lead to erectile dysfunction. -- BERNAMA

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*bang head on table*
I have seen articles on the same topic from other news agencies in the past (can't be bothered to look them up right now). The REAL story that doctors are advising older men on is that HEART DISEASE can cause erectile dysfunction, not erectile dysfunction causes heart disease. This Dr Tan's comments are slightly unclear as quoted but it still completely boggles my mind as to how the reporter got it completely backward. This is a gold mine for anybody selling Tongkat Ali, fake Viagra, etc.

Anyway...I wrote to my dad about this...I dunno what his and my mum's sex life is like and I don't want to know but I thought I'd give him a heads-up since he's a pastor and people tend to forward a lot of silly stories to him, and sometimes he uses me for fact-checking.

Lots of "tampon"

I found a Western blot protocol on our French postdoc's bench in which the word "tampon" appears a lot. Naturally intrigued, I looked at it for a minute and came to the conclusion that "tampon" in French must mean "buffer".

It looks like I was correct and not only does it mean "buffer" in the chemical sense, but also the computer science sense. (Babelfish is not much help because these are technical jargons. Google Translate, however, gets it right.)

I'm tempted to re-label all the bottles in the lab to make the American guys uncomfortable.

For a while we had Fetal Bovine Serum tubes labeled not only "FBS" but also "SBF" (suero bovino fetal) and "SVF" (sérum fœtal bovin)...the joys of working in a multicultural lab. It's also very cute to hear D (Colombian lab tech) and W (the French guy), who are a couple, talking to each other in broken English.

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You know, I could just go and write 胎牛血清 (tāi níu xuè qīng) on all the tubes...

Leaky pockets

OK I've finally done my accounts again for the first time in more than a month. My credit card and cash accounts are nicely balanced, but according to Microsoft Money, my checking account is $200 less than what sanity and Chase.com say it should be. The virtual money went MIA some time in June - I've traced some of it to MS Money downloading the same transaction twice in several instances, especially for cash, but I'm really baffled. I've looked through my checkbook several times and can't find any checks unaccounted for, so I'm sure it's not some long-forgotten check ready to bite me in the backside (that happened a couple of times during my freshman year of college when I was new to the world of having more than $5 per week pocket money).

Remember my New Year's resolution to match all spending on non-essentials with donations to secular humanitarian and Christian organizations? I'm still trying to decide whether or not to include the $400 I spent on my stolen bicycle in that. =(

If I do, I have no hope of keeping that resolution. If I don't, I'm doing pretty well.

Still have to match spending on the cat with donations to animal welfare and wildlife conservation though...Princess Hairball got some vaccinations and heartworm preventative in May that cost quite a bit.

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I'm still sad about the bicycle, and I still look at all the bicycles I pass every day to see if one might be mine.

Critical reading

I don't think I've EVER seen or heard a better piece of advice on reading religious literature:

It is Truth which we must look for in Holy Writ, not cunning of words. All Scripture ought to be read in the spirit in which it was written. We must rather seek for what is profitable in Scripture, than for what ministereth to subtlety in discourse. Therefore we ought to read books which are devotional and simple, as well as those which are deep and difficult. And let not the weight of the writer be a stumbling-block to thee, whether he be of little or much learning, but let the love of the pure Truth draw thee to read. Ask not, who hath said this or that, but look to what he says.

- Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, First Book, Chapter V

In case that didn't all sink in, let me break it up into bullet points and add italics:

• It is Truth which we must look for in Holy Writ, not cunning of words.
• All Scripture ought to be read in the spirit in which it was written.
• We must rather seek for what is profitable in Scripture, than for what ministereth to subtlety in discourse. Therefore we ought to read books which are devotional and simple, as well as those which are deep and difficult.
• And let not the weight of the writer be a stumbling-block to thee, whether he be of little or much learning, but let the love of the pure Truth draw thee to read. Ask not, who hath said this or that, but look to what he says.

I looked like this two years ago

A: Check this out, man. This is what I looked like two years ago.
me: No way.
A: I'm not kidding! I was ripped two years ago and now I'm a fat ass.
D: Because of the adenovirus?
A: Er...yeah! (a few days ago A and B found out that Ad-36 is linked to obesity.)
me: I still don't believe that's you. The face is too blurry. (NB: face cropped out in the above pic obviously.)
A: It is! Look, I'm even wearing the same shorts.
me: [types furiously] OK, this was me two years ago.
A: OOOOoooh. My penis hurts.

More personality tests

Occasionally (months apart) I'll find myself taking a batch of personality tests. Sometimes the results are surprising. Of course Internet quizzes aren't the ultimate evaluation of one's character but I find myself doubting my self-image more than the test-writers because the results are so surprising. Here are my results from one on OkCupid:

The Tri-Variable Personality Test
The Eccentric - You scored 30Artist, 45 Philosopher, 25 Scientist!
You live in a world of vast abstraction and color. You are hardly interested in the mechanics of real life; you are preoccupied with the substance of existence (the story and narrative, the symbolism), and the form and shape which life itself takes. You mix the mystical with the rational, like St. Thomas Aquinas, you find inroads between the sublime and the tangible ... you might have a propensity to let yourself go, though, in different ways. Everyday chores and responsibilities are not high on your list of passions; neither is any kind of "daily ritual" most likely. Your ideal work involves something that combines a medium for self expression (such as writing), with the inherent rationality and inquisitiveness of your philosophical side. You are very youthful in your demeanor. You are a true representative of modern culture and society; with its shifts toward new systems of spirituality which combine ancient mysticism with classic reason. You are not preoccupied with wealth most likely. Examples of Eccentrics: Timothy Leary, Stanley Kubrick, Socrates. Quotes from "Eccentrics": "I am a little unusual, a little different and very unique."

This one is even more surprising:

The IQ Adventure Test
(the 4 scores given by this test were verbal, math, spatial, and social)
Your highest IQ is math
High math scorers excel in quantative reasoning, logic, and analysis. You did well here because you are able to quickly calculate sums and understand the relation of the part to the hole, which is particularly useful on a dating website. If you're not an OkCupid member already, you should sign up (it's free!) We could always use more smart people.

Math is also the rarest of the strengths. While most people assume math skills are inborn, and this area of intelligence causes the most frustration in the general population, it is possible to hone this part of your brain. Your skills are already strong, but even doing simple things like calculating the restaurant tip in your head and memorizing phone numbers instead of typing them into your cell will develop your natural ability further. If you're in college and not already studying something technical, you should seriously consider it. People with high aptitude in this area usually get the best jobs and make the most money.

social is your second strongest area
Those with high social intelligence excel, in short, at reading people. They are able to sense the motivations, the attitudes, and in some cases the inner thoughts of those around them. On the IQ Adventure test, we tested for body-language and lie-detection, as these are the most important specific skills. We've found, after correlating scores here with the known patterns of our user-base, those who score high on social intelligence form the most and longest-lasting inerpersonal relationships. Verbal high scorers have a slightly better response rate on messages sent, but social high scorers have by far the better success rate with real-word dates.

Social intelligence is the most practical of all the subjects we measure. Your interpersonal skills are tested hundreds of times a day, and far more can depend on even the most routine conversation that on, say, a word problem or logic puzzle. Interestingly, the savant phenomenon is almost unknown in this intelligence dimension. It appears that up-bringing and practice are the only ways to develop exceptional social ability. It cannot be inborn. This group's power of empathy andIn short, ability to sense (and sometimes manipulate) other people's desires provides a broad foundation for professional and social success. In short, having this type of intelligence enhances all of your other abilities.

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Anybody who knows me will ROFL at the idea that I have good social skills.

BSG s01e07 37:01-08

OK...there are RED LIGHTS glowing along Sharon/Number 8's spine when she and Helo are having sex. I'm sure it's supposed to be something under her skin and not ambient light, since they're in the forest. Why the frack?

I guess they never go doggy-style otherwise he would have been more suspicious.

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me: According to Battlestar Galactica, two out of three blondes* are evil.
Steve: And one hundred percent of Asian women.

* Number Six and Colonel Tigh's bitch wife. The non-evil blonde being, obviously, Starbuck.

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Also, there is a Cylon in Wisconsin.

The marvellous limp

Steve told me a story about Honda's ASIMO robot, I don't know if it's true or perhaps applies to another humanoid robot, but it sounds entirely plausible. The robot was being shown off at some expo or another; in particular, its ability to climb stairs. Halfway up, one of the servos in a leg froze, and it fell over.

Then I thought: wouldn't it be amazing if someone designed a robot that could limp?

This isn't as stupid as it sounds at first blush. Limping, when you think about it, is an amazing behaviour. It's the ability to circumvent almost any non-critical musculoskeletal damage or defect in the legs and pelvis (chassis?) and keep going.

It is not something we think about consciously, which is amazing. If you get a rock in your shoe and don't have time to take it out, you will automatically alter your gait to put less pressure on that part of the foot. You can sprain your ankle and thereby limit its range of motion and the load which that leg can bear, or you can even fracture an important structural element like the foot or the tibia and if the situation is important enough, you will keep walking.

Even something as small and stupid as an ant, if you break off one of its legs, will go where it wants to go instead of wobbling around in a circle as a six-legged robot would.

OK...I just Googled it...robot limping has been looked into. We really need to know more about this if robots are ever to function usefully "in the wild". ASIMO will not be useful for taking care of housebound old folks if itself is also prone to falling down the stairs and lying there helpless.