tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29238540637400846912024-02-02T16:11:44.001+00:00Foonyor Barzanean ex-pat bløgFoonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.comBlogger676125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-8514834898386561842014-05-17T17:21:00.001+01:002014-05-17T17:21:12.650+01:00SummerIt's been more than 18 months since I updated this page, but I suppose late is better than never! Summer has arrived fully in Cambridge this week, with temps in the low 20s (that's the mid 70s to Yanks), but it feels even warmer than that in the sunshine. We've been busily planting flowers in our back yard, and generally sitting outside and enjoying it. I'm sure the beaches, parks, etc in the UK are rammed with people today, so it feels nice to relax at home in the peace & quiet!Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-40280363196157353082012-09-05T02:35:00.003+01:002012-09-05T02:35:50.690+01:00Life in four currencies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbTWUu_kpnc7RSvh6veJzA8M81cn1yBGEiMI9AdT55DgMM5lWYRjJ6aVKzHUxOwO8SmOWTGrrslyzOwiHyfYsDRG30YUHL65jRPXEURlF-NYO8doeYFPl-s2o8Y-keChqc_Y_cYalthSE/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbTWUu_kpnc7RSvh6veJzA8M81cn1yBGEiMI9AdT55DgMM5lWYRjJ6aVKzHUxOwO8SmOWTGrrslyzOwiHyfYsDRG30YUHL65jRPXEURlF-NYO8doeYFPl-s2o8Y-keChqc_Y_cYalthSE/s320/photo+(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I'm about to return to the UK after two weeks on the road which have taken me through two weddings and four currencies. I flew from the UK to Geneva, where I picked up a rental car (and <a href="http://amrys.wordpress.com/">Am</a> & Paul) to drive to <a href="http://scottosphere.org/">Scott</a> & Freddie's wedding in Villard de Lans, France. After an amazing time with the A-side crew I got a few relaxing days with Helena, my love, back in Geneva.<br />
<br />
From there I flew 'home' to Boston for Chris & Laura's wedding in Milton, back where it all started. After another lovely service and fantastic party (and after-party, and after-after-party) I spent a nice couple of days with friends and family before ending up here in Logan, preparing to fly 'home'.Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-85432156642117588952012-08-12T14:44:00.001+01:002012-08-12T14:44:59.651+01:00Olympics maniaWell, London 2012 is wrapping up today, and I have to say that I've been caught up in Olympic mania more than I ever have before. The teams I've been rooting for made it easy: USA has won more than 100 medals (44 gold, at least one more almost certainly coming via the Men's Basketball), Team GB sits comfortably in 3rd place in the gold count (28), headlined by amazing stories like Mo Farrah's 5K/10K double, and even Ireland's Katie Taylor won a lightweight boxing gold.<br />
<br />
But even more fun than that has been seeing how awesome London has been as a host city, and how much fun Brits have had at the games. Jonathan Freedman summarizes it beautifully in an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/10/london-2012-glimpsed-britain-fight">op-ed in the Guardian</a>: Britain in 2012 is a multi-cultural place to be proud of, full of people who can achieve great things, and dancing, smiling, shouting volunteers helping to make it happen.<br />
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Before the games started the overwhelming sentiment was about how LOCOG, or the government, or British ambivalence, or the weather would ruin the games. The feeling now that it's over is succinctly summed up by a facebook post from a friend of mine: "Back in London after 10 days away and complete strangers are talking to each other on the train. What's happened????!!"Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-85079718777901130512012-07-20T13:00:00.001+01:002012-07-24T18:28:40.665+01:00Redefining productivityThe long wait for my second post on GTD is over (I'm looking at you, Scottogroom). It's been nearly a year since I tried GTD and quickly fell off the wagon. I'm planning to give it another go in earnest soon, but even without the full system I've incorporated a lot of useful ideas into my daily life. Read more about it over at my <a href="http://wp.sanger.ac.uk/barrettgroup/?p=608">work blog</a>. You can also add our RSS feed to your web-o-stream if you care what I do all day.Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-52934277720152992662012-07-17T16:34:00.002+01:002012-07-19T10:04:22.546+01:00Dealing with Lion's screwy wifiI've now twice had to deal with Mac OS 10.7.4 (Lion) having real problems with connecting to either of the two wifi networks at the University of Geneva. One is a standard setup with a captive portal, and the other is the EU shared "eduroam" infrastructure. In both cases Lion's handling of certificates gets somehow messed up (the web has many opinions but no obvious solutions as far as I can see). Anyway, after twice spending an hour searching for a solution the only thing I've come up with so far which seems to work (but then again, ask me tomorrow) is:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Disable wifi.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">rm </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Completely switch off and reboot (NB: choosing "restart" from the apple menu doesn't seem to work).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Re-activate wifi.</span></li>
</ol>
C'mon Apple. Sort yourselves out!<br />
<br />
<i>UPDATE: This doesn't actually seem to work all the time. I did </i>finally <i>find a more technical explanation of what exactly is going wrong, as well as another solution (currently working) <a href="http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/37829/why-wont-my-macbook-pro-connect-to-wi-fi-networks-that-use-a-sign-in-page-capt">here</a>.</i>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-77539998291712188062012-06-30T22:43:00.001+01:002012-07-01T14:37:53.659+01:00Breakfast guest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcva7rHxGrefTf4EYQ-s4d3Bqvs09IQwwWpjhOqrmQSXBkBvemI_1tnje7jwz17iNwQJvAGfcUBqV09U74yvmCJNihPD7kXd5lvYN_qW4SJqNAeqHxd-9sn7uOSM07Hn6Ty1laEcECrHk/s1600/owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcva7rHxGrefTf4EYQ-s4d3Bqvs09IQwwWpjhOqrmQSXBkBvemI_1tnje7jwz17iNwQJvAGfcUBqV09U74yvmCJNihPD7kXd5lvYN_qW4SJqNAeqHxd-9sn7uOSM07Hn6Ty1laEcECrHk/s320/owl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I was making coffee and toast this morning when I heard some thrashing outside on the balcony. Imagine my surprise when I saw this fellow peering back at me. I'm not sure what drew him to my porch, but he couldn't manage to get back out again. He kept hopping up in the air and trying to flap <i>through</i> the glass at the edge (you can see some smudge marks from previous attempts in the photo).<br />
<br />
Initially I wasn't sure whether he was injured or just confused, but eventually I decided (after some remote teleconferencing with Helena) that I needed to mount a rescue operation. I donned a hoodie and some leather gloves and tried to get him to climb onto a roughly 2.5m piece of metal tubing I had handy. After a few evasive hops, he acquiesced to sitting on the end of the pole while I lifted him over the glass. He sat for a moment, swiveled back to look at me (I imagined a silent 'Thank you.') and then flew off.Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-38104936021585981072012-05-08T09:47:00.000+01:002012-05-08T09:47:41.343+01:00I took a bad position in the currency marketsYesterday I withdrew 10,000 Malawian Kwacha (about £40) for walking around money. Today the president <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17982062">announced</a> the currency was being devalued by 1/3. Oops.Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-72553100980566290292011-12-09T00:37:00.001+00:002011-12-09T00:55:35.256+00:00The effects of 8 time zonesI flew from LHR to SAN yesterday to come to an NHGRI workshop on "Genomic Opportunities for Studying Sickle Cell Disease", which looks like a really cool meeting (starting in 5 mins). It's a long flight, which I thought would be OK because it was a "day" flight departing at 15:50...but of course when you land 12 hrs later it's 4AM according to your own clock. I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, to get from the tarmac to a taxicab in less than half an hour (!). The non-US citizen immigration line looked long and depressed, though: yay dual citizenship!<br />
<br />
I had a beer at the hotel and hit the sack around 9PM. I managed to sleep (albeit fitfully) until around 5:30, which was another big relief. This morning I worked (during UK office hours) and then went for a walk around San Diego before the meeting kicked off. I had the best sushi I've had in years at 11:30 AM (the waitress generously did not look at me funny for having sushi before noon). It's a bright sunny day, which made the experience surreal, since my body was expecting that darkness had arrived hours earlier. It's also the first time I've been here since ASHG 2007, and seeing bars where I was hanging out 4 years ago while walking around the streets solo has put my mind in a contemplative (in a good way) place.<br />
<br />
I'm hoping for a good recharge, both scientifically and personally on this trip, and maybe 8 hours of jetlag is just what I need...Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-7269550936833327692011-10-08T22:02:00.003+01:002011-10-08T22:02:31.512+01:00Bob Dylan liveLast Thursday night I crossed an item off my <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bucket_List">bucket list</a> by seeing Bob Dylan play live (though presumably the real time pressure is <i>him</i> kicking the bucket rather than me). Dylan is easily my all time favorite artist, and I've been thinking for a while that I want to see him live before he retires or dies. Carl and I left work around lunchtime and bringing only the tickets, my passport, wallet and toothbrush, flew to Dublin (on Ryanair, which turns out to be essentially the only way to get from England to Dublin. Horrible.). We checked into a hotel room and then headed to a pub where we had a couple of pints of Guinness and took a conference call. We grabbed some dinner and then headed for the main event.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
The O2 in Dublin is a big but not massive venue in the quays area of the city. Mark Knopfler (of <i>Dire Straits</i> fame) was actually the opener, which was pretty cool. Somewhat self indulgently he didn't play any <i>Dire Straits</i> tunes, but he did display some pretty amazing guitar skills.<br />
<br />
Dylan himself appeared on stage wearing a dark suit with brass buttons and a wide-brimmed white hat. Apparently this is his default performance get-up nowadays, but I didn't recognize him at first when he took up his position behind the keyboard. The setlist was a great mix of stuff from his whole career (see below), and included my favorite of his latest album, <i>Spirit on the Water. </i>While<i> </i>I knew every song he played, which isn't something I've experienced at a live show before, many of the songs had been rearranged, occasionally to the point where it was hard to recognize right away. Another <a href="http://www.johnheronproject.com/wp/?p=956">blogger</a> who saw him recently characterized it as "bluesy mid-tempo", and I think that's about right.<br />
<br />
As the set went on, it became apparent that his voice is completely shot to bits: he almost barked, rather than sang, many of the songs. Dylan is famous, of course, for having an unorthodox, gravelly singing style, but this was far beyond that (confirmed by listening to some of the original recordings of the same tracks). It wasn't terrible by any means (it even added an interesting feel to some tunes), and his voice is still immediately and unmissably recognizable, but there was less melody in the vocals than I'm used to. He also missed a couple of verses during <i>Tangled Up In Blue</i> (segued from "we'll meet again one day" through the chorus, and then straight to "handed me a pipe"). Carl thought he was just shortening the song for a live performance (it is, like, six minutes long) but given that it's a ballad and the storyline is so important to the song I thought he might just be losing his marbles a bit (he is 70 years old, after all).<br />
<br />
But despite all that, it was an absolutely amazing gig -- by far the most enjoyable live performance I've ever been to. For one thing, it was Bob Fucking Dylan, and there won't be too many more opportunities to see him play. But even beyond the hero-worship, he did occasionally still tear it up (for instance, kicking off the chorus of <i>Like A Rolling Stone</i>, which the audience then started singing along with). The man can also still wail like you wouldn't believe on a harmonica. Leaving the gig (and heading out for a night out in Dublin) I was thinking that if I had a TARDIS I'd definitely pay at least one visit to Greenwich Village in '61 to see him play <i>Blowin in the Wind </i>on an acoustic guitar in a smoky bar.<br />
<br />
<b>Set List:</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #dddddd; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
<ol style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="first" style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Don't Think Twice, It's All Right</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Things Have Changed</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Tangled Up In Blue</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Beyond Here Lies Nothin'</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Spirit On The Water</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">The Levee's Gonna Break</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Desolation Row</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Highway 61 Revisited</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Forgetful Heart</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Thunder On The Mountain</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Ballad Of A Thin Man</li>
<li style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Like A Rolling Stone</li>
<li class="last" style="clear: both; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">All Along The Watchtower</li>
</ol>
Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-68515826602640378162011-10-06T10:39:00.000+01:002011-10-06T10:39:10.814+01:00Words to live by<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."</span></blockquote>
-Steve JobsFoonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-60809427974700062382011-10-05T16:57:00.001+01:002011-10-05T16:57:38.742+01:00Humility and ScienceI was intrigued (as people from all scientific disciplines were, I imagine) when scientists announced last week that neutrinos had traveled from CERN to Gran Sasso faster than the speed of light. I'm skeptical of the result, and look forward to seeing the physics community scrutinize the results. What struck me even more, however, is the humble way in which the authors presented their results.<br />
<br />
Many scientists discover something (apparently) groundbreaking and hold press conferences declaring that they've rewritten the rules (<i>c.f.</i> the Arsenic Life debacle), and start reading up on the protocol of how to address the King of Sweden (especially at this time of year)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. By contrast, Ereditato and colleagues <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15017484">readily admit that this result could be caused by an undiscovered error in their analysis</a>. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">We wanted to find a mistake - trivial mistakes, more complicated mistakes, or nasty effects - and we didn't. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">When you don't find anything, then you say 'well, now I'm forced to go out and ask the community to scrutinise this'."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I just found it so refreshing to hear from someone with a remarkable result who didn't immediately think they were the greatest scientist in the world. A lesson all practicing scientists should take to heart:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"we are not claiming things, we want just to be helped by the community in understanding our crazy result - because it is crazy"</span></span>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-43908371903552202132011-08-17T10:13:00.004+01:002011-08-17T12:42:38.648+01:00Getting Things Done: PrologueI recently read David Allen's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done"><i>Getting Things Done</i></a>, motivated proximally by the Fisher Files (see last post) and distally by my longstanding distress at the disorganization of my life. It's a well written book, and while it does have some repetition it avoids the vacuous sloganeering common to self-help books. The system itself is relatively simple:<div><ol><li>Create "buckets" for all the "stuff" that flows into (any aspect of ) your life. Everything must come into a bucket that's part of your trusted system (see below).</li><li>Regularly process your buckets into a system, typically consisting of some combination of calendars, to do lists and project folders. The details of how you push paper or computer files are largely up to you, but the key is that you develop an inherent trust that nothing will be "lost" from the system.</li><li>Develop a mode of working focused on "next actions": the next physical, visible actions that you can do to make progress on your projects.</li></ol>The goal of this system is to free up the time and energy your brain is unconsciously devoting to keeping track of all your "stuff". Even people with partial organizational systems (probably most of us) are affected by the amorphous, nagging feeling that there is something else we should be doing now. What's remarkable is how a system focused on the nuts and bolts of everyday life can have positive effects on much broader and long term aspects of life, such as career planning, personal growth, family life and a sense of purpose in the world.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I've just started GTD, and I'm planning to blog my experiences for my own benefit and hopefully for anyone else looking to increase their flow and reclaim their lives. I'll try to touch on both my specific implementation and these bigger questions about why I'm making this change. Here goes!</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-62292946801326224182011-08-04T11:34:00.002+01:002011-10-22T13:29:28.902+01:00The Fisher Files<div>
MIT Physics professor <a href="http://web.mit.edu/physics/people/faculty/fisher_peter.html">Peter Fisher</a> (with whom I took 8.033 12 years ago) produced two seasons of podcasts back in 2007 called the <a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/">Fisher Files</a>. Unfortunately something disastrous happened to the stylesheets or something because the website is basically unusable in its present state. I had stumbled across this a few months ago but was put off by the wreckage of the site. TFazio recently mentioned it and this time I put the effort into downloading all the actual podcasts. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The podcasts revolve around the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done">Getting Things Done</a> philosophy of how to collect and organize the myriad daily tasks which make up our lives. Fisher nicely applies GTD ideas to many specific scenarios of academic life, making the ideas more directly applicable to me. He also goes further than just discussing ways to be productive, though, and tries to bridge the gap between accomplishing today's tasks and the almost spiritual goal of loving one's work and balancing it with other parts of life. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm so glad I went to the effort of grabbing them, because they're incredibly relevant to me right now. And in the hope of making them more widely available, I've collected the links below. I hope others will enjoy them as much as I have begun to!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Season 1 (largely about GTD)<br />
<div>
<ol>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/48/0/FisherFiles_1_Intro.m4a">Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/50/0/Buckets_2_19Feb2007.m4a%20http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/50/0/Buckets_2_19Feb2007.m4a%20http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/50/0/Buckets_2_19Feb2007.m4a">Buckets & Weekly Review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/52/0/Projects_3_23Feb2007.m4a">Projects</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/53/0/ToDo_4_4March2007.m4a">ToDo</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/54/0/Calendar_5_10March2007.m4a">Calendar</a></li>
<li>Putting things together [broken link]</li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/56/0/Email_7_22March2007.m4a">Email</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/57/0/Files_8_29March2007.m4a">Files</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/58/0/Feeding_9_6April2007.m4a">Feeding the Bad Wolf</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/59/0/Gadgets_10_15April2007.m4a">Gadgets</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/60/0/Multitasking_11_23April2007.m4a">Multitasking</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/61/0/Reading_12_23April2007.m4a">Reading</a></li>
</ol>
Season 2 (the academic life)</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/67/0/Imposter-II.1-21June2007.mp3">Impostor!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/68/0/Screwed-II.2-21June2007.mp3">Screwed!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/70/0/Thesis-II.3-11July2007.mp3">Thesis</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/72/0/PostDoc-II.4-24July2007.mp3">PostDoc</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/73/0/Travel-II.4-24July2007.mp3">Travel</a></li>
<li>Vacation [broken link]</li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/74/0/JuniorFaculty-II.6-5Aug2007.mp3">Junior Faculty</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/77/0/Talk-II.7-15Aug2007.mp3">Giving talks</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/90/0/Tenure-II.8-8Sept2007.mp3">Tenure</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/91/0/Teaching-II.9-13Sept2007.mp3">Teaching</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/94/0/Work-II.11-24Sept2007.mp3">What to work on</a></li>
<li><a href="http://scripts.mit.edu/~podcast/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/95/0/Summary-II.12-2Oct2007.mp3">Summary</a></li>
</ol>
</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-38545610195401729142010-07-28T18:25:00.006+01:002010-07-28T18:31:58.428+01:00Yay, America!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7z8bebqgWLxoTHX5J6QEf1b552lcFD4T74kiEHcLEZjoBkmiDm5ovJ_LWxaCEl8-dmRLscSByv9bOnY7S-atelyViWrQ4rn1Y265Hacj-C3lUdOreErw4rB-zeFaYpbUjm6uk9YyjPOA/s1600/us-treasury.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7z8bebqgWLxoTHX5J6QEf1b552lcFD4T74kiEHcLEZjoBkmiDm5ovJ_LWxaCEl8-dmRLscSByv9bOnY7S-atelyViWrQ4rn1Y265Hacj-C3lUdOreErw4rB-zeFaYpbUjm6uk9YyjPOA/s320/us-treasury.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499009953715416482" /></a><br />Annoyingly, and unlike any other country I know of, the IRS requires me to file a US tax return every year declaring my foreign income. I'm currently below the (reasonably generous) exclusion threshold which means I don't have to pay any US tax on said income. I will probably eventually cross that line, however, meaning I'll have to go through the tedious process of calculating my US tax burden and then claiming deductions from that based on my UK taxes. For once it's convenient that British taxes are heavy!<div><br /></div><div>That future irritation has briefly faded from my mind however, because I received a check today, out of the blue, from the US Treasury, for $248.62. Apparently I'm entitled to the stimulus tax credit (Making Work Pay) even though I paid $0 in US taxes last year. In honor of the goal of the stimulus, I hereby promise to spend it on something frivolous in the good old US of A.</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-12975156538521351102010-06-20T11:36:00.004+01:002010-06-20T11:48:24.315+01:00Impersonal responsibilityThe furore over <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/us/20spill.html?hp">BP CEO Tony Hayward's decision to watch a yacht race</a> this weekend highlights the desire to pile the blame on somebody who should be in control when, in fact, the events are out of <i>anybody's</i> control. Don't get me wrong, if it turns out (as seems increasingly likely) that the blowout on Deepwater Horizon (or "Deep Horizon" as one of the inquisitors from Congress kept calling it) was due to BP's negligence then Hayward should be horsewhipped with a horsewhip. In the meantime he should be directing his company's sizable resources toward stopping the leak and cleaning the spill, but that doesn't mean he should be personally sucking oil out of the gulf with a straw, or forced to watch the live spill-o-cam 24 hours a day. Similarly, President Obama himself can't don a wetsuit and become a human 'junk shot' into the pipe, but the public acts as if his personal willpower is all that's required to plug the leak. <div><br /></div><div>Finally, I think the members of Congress grilling Hayward should STFU until they've divested themselves of all campaign oil dollars, and the general public should follow suit until they are willing to pay 9 bucks a gallon for gas.</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-1462421534114076752010-06-19T13:21:00.003+01:002010-06-19T13:35:19.059+01:00England-Algeria-Slovenia-YanksE-A-S-Y was how the tabloids greeted the news months ago of England's World Cup opponents. One thing that has become clear while watching this WC is that the English have an incredibly self centered view of the football world. The team's struggles so far are only a reflection of some internal collapse and have nothing to do with the opponents they've faced. Events in other games are only discussed with respect to how they affect England. There's an overriding attitude of entitlement against opponents viewed as not being in the same league (despite empirical results). It's funny to see this attitude so prominently displayed here when it is so often ascribed to Americans in other arenas. A few choice illustrative quotes:<div><br /></div><div><b>Wayne Rooney, English striker</b></div><div><i>Before playing Algeria:</i> "Against Algeria we can not be at our best and win the game."</div><div><br /></div><div><i>When asked what he knew about his opponents: </i>"Not much. Belhadj from Portsmouth, but I don't really know much more about them. I'm sure the manager will point out their strengths and weaknesses to us."</div><div><br /></div><div><i>When booed off the field after a 0-0 draw:</i> "Nice to see your home fans booing you. That’s loyal supporters."</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Roy Hodgson, Fulham manager and commentator</b></div><div><i>When asked what effect the Slovenia-USA draw would have on England: </i>"I don't think it matters, to be honest, since England are clearly the best team in the group."</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Chris Waddle, former England winger</b></div><div><i>When asked whether a problem exists in the English locker room: </i>"In qualifying we beat Croatia [ranked 10th in the world] twice and Ukraine [23rd] once. They are both far better than the USA [14th] and Algeria[30th], so there must be something wrong."</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-18121289883099637922010-06-18T14:31:00.002+01:002010-06-18T14:31:43.790+01:00Getting prepped<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWDimVviv7HmZEy2VgOntmMbVlOitSOGAQwo-f65xbQpThSp45W163hF1dJz-yJjtOH0UFyyYFAe2lmgly3C2lFeeCV5vC3bvOWVn8iA-7kTjuv46XcYsu2cOT4t_D1zaJpU7TmO4eVc/s1600/IMG_0042.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWDimVviv7HmZEy2VgOntmMbVlOitSOGAQwo-f65xbQpThSp45W163hF1dJz-yJjtOH0UFyyYFAe2lmgly3C2lFeeCV5vC3bvOWVn8iA-7kTjuv46XcYsu2cOT4t_D1zaJpU7TmO4eVc/s320/IMG_0042.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484105804800242930" /></a>My office today before the kickoff of USA-Slovenia.Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-72059773458361857822010-06-18T14:29:00.004+01:002010-06-18T14:31:05.251+01:00St. John's Ball<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRIVpWbB6VX6-nFd1hz5lPmPPW8vLR5KmZlbDZt-pz1YfihtNmHL39b9wM5RZazFj2mvu6twSMBqsFXa04oxmTP2Oo95qXJQ8nxkVuN0NGbMnZParH_W3CD1Osnmh-SsvBPNcwcDxd1ts/s1600/IMG_0039.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRIVpWbB6VX6-nFd1hz5lPmPPW8vLR5KmZlbDZt-pz1YfihtNmHL39b9wM5RZazFj2mvu6twSMBqsFXa04oxmTP2Oo95qXJQ8nxkVuN0NGbMnZParH_W3CD1Osnmh-SsvBPNcwcDxd1ts/s320/IMG_0039.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484105459283479442" /></a><br />Daniel managed to secure me a ticket to my first Cambridge may ball (all confusingly held in June), at St. John's college. It was a great time, with fireworks (above) and lots of other entertainments, bands, food and drink. I think Daniel has a photo of me in my tux, which I'll try to find and post.Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-81704332064051435082010-06-17T21:44:00.002+01:002010-06-17T21:52:17.736+01:00Ole, ole, ole, ole!What a win by Mexico tonight. I went to watch <i>Les Bleus</i> chez Plagnol tonight, so it wasn't a jubilant atmosphere. The first goal was beautiful, especially because you have to understand the offside rule to fully appreciate it. The timing by Hernandez to break the offside trap was perfect, and he didn't panic when faced with a one-on-one against the French keeper, Lloris. Now I'm super nervous about the USA-Slovenia game tomorrow, working out all possible group standings depending on results. Bottom line is the USA needs a W.Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-10414418854993116432010-06-10T19:41:00.003+01:002010-06-10T19:45:37.584+01:00On Abbreviations and GamblingI'm trying to maximize interest in the World Cup by placing bets on it in various ways, including:<div><ol><li>Taking the USA to beat England on Saturday at an actual bookie (I stupidly placed this bet too early, and got 9/2 odds. All the goobers here betting on England have run them up to 13/2.)</li><li>A sweepstake at work where teams are randomly assigned to people. I got Switzerland and Greece, so there's a fiver down the tube.</li><li>A fantasy league (still negotiating the amount).</li><li>A group stage bracket prediction pool</li><li>Hopefully some random side bets on various games being watched chez Carl on his giant TV.</li></ol>In all the correspondence on these topics I've been told to abbreviate it as the CdM (Coupe de Monde) because apparently WC doesn't show enough respect for the game.</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-77510492875721924282010-06-10T17:31:00.004+01:002010-06-10T17:45:09.927+01:00A new hobby<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFSwO0e3F8Z0rNC16CLiwr7PtHA_V0-3A1sy2E-2VIlRIXVD9RFeUxKBBGS30JJVwMh-KYV7Pj-61RwNz0ymUO5-IUAobW057rkS-dMBHx5EbRsZyZsGaHHBkJR5HS0E8CVUHPgpjls8/s1600/IMG_0194.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFSwO0e3F8Z0rNC16CLiwr7PtHA_V0-3A1sy2E-2VIlRIXVD9RFeUxKBBGS30JJVwMh-KYV7Pj-61RwNz0ymUO5-IUAobW057rkS-dMBHx5EbRsZyZsGaHHBkJR5HS0E8CVUHPgpjls8/s320/IMG_0194.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481183544647147186" /></a>The Sanger Cricket Club plays in an intramural Cambridge league with other teams from University departments and similar entities. The level of skill is highly variable from former top-tier University and county players to complete amateurs. <div><br /></div><div>I quickly adopted cricket as my preferred local 'watching' sport when I moved to the UK, and last year I lurked on the cricket email list and watched one of the matches, but never actually held a bat or ball in anger. This year, however, I decided to enlist a bunch of friends as encouragement to actively participate, and have thus been attending practices for the last couple of months along with four other Human Genetics newbies (one of us is actually a ringer, but the others have either never played (me) or last played as kids).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZYuxtw7fJjUH_DRCy6ubuJ4yHU3Do4kppysgaq4wJGufE2RTvw7-RDp3WoxRHDeVFYnw5XobvjVmXW_Bo8uKB6JK_U5aIlOhJNXcC_fU5wUklCyDagO6n3Zp_QWK_2TCollKqzcR47w/s1600/IMG_0195.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZYuxtw7fJjUH_DRCy6ubuJ4yHU3Do4kppysgaq4wJGufE2RTvw7-RDp3WoxRHDeVFYnw5XobvjVmXW_Bo8uKB6JK_U5aIlOhJNXcC_fU5wUklCyDagO6n3Zp_QWK_2TCollKqzcR47w/s320/IMG_0195.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481185931805918866" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm still pretty terrible, but I've been really enjoying competing in a sport for the first time since youth soccer, approximately 20 years ago. All five of the HumGen boys were selected for our second match last week, so a bunch of other people in our department turned out to watch, since the home pitch is on the Sanger grounds (founding director and Nobel laureate Sir John Sulston insisted that the institute should have a pitch on site). In order to give the spectators a show, but to the detriment of our team's chances, Carl and I (pictured above) opened the batting.</div><div><br /></div><div> I was super nervous as I stood in to face the first bowler, but after a couple of prods which rolled straight to the fielder at short mid-wicket I managed to slap a shot forward of square leg to the boundary (which scores four runs). Because it's a limited over game and since Carl and I weren't exactly racking up runs after the first couple of overs, I started slashing at pretty much everything and edged it to the keeper during my second over.</div><div><br /></div><div>We managed to set a pretty decent total (149) after our 20 overs, so we took the field and put the game in the hands of our string of decent bowlers including two (Tejas and James) from the HumGen crowd. I spent most of our fielding innings in the doldrums of deep square leg and deep point, but did make a couple of decent plays at long stop. Carl made the catch of the game playing in cover, and our boys generally took wickets at a good pace. The opponents had only racked up about 100 runs with three overs to go, so our captain handed me the ball to bowl an over. My first two balls were nervously wide, but I settled in and managed to get through it while only yielding a few runs (bear in mind I was facing the very tail end of their batting order).</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, it was awesome, and last night should've been my second appearance, but was rained out. More updates soon!</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-39845414070731980032010-06-06T23:27:00.003+01:002010-06-06T23:36:36.057+01:00MultitaskingLast week someone tweeted a link to <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2010/05/how-and-why-to-stop-multitaski.html">this article about giving up multitasking</a>. I have been thinking a lot lately about how to maintain focus (or 'flow') better at work, and how to lower my overall stress level, too. This piece is not only about both obviously distracting multitasking (reading emails while on the phone) but less obvious cases like thinking about work while talking to your kids. It didn't reveal much that I didn't already know, but the author nicely summarized his experience in giving up multitasking with six observations which all resonated with me (see the article for full exposition):<div><ol><li>He was better able to enjoy the good things in life.</li><li>He made more progress on challenging projects.</li><li>He was less stressed.</li><li>He lost patience for activities which were a waste of his time.</li><li>He gained patience for worthwhile activities.</li><li>He lost no productivity by eliminating multitasking.</li></ol>Reading it made me realize how much of the day I spend with random thoughts and distractions buzzing around in my head (again in addition to more obvious things like frequently checking email on my phone). There's a whole change of attitude possible here: take each moment and just do whatever you're doing in that moment. Today I stopped to listen to a thunderstorm, and was tempted to check mail while I was standing there, but I consciously resisted and kept with just one simple thing: listening. It may sound fruity, but it's a lot less stressful.</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-37271336985926188292010-04-24T15:09:00.006+01:002010-04-24T15:15:06.503+01:00Patriot's Day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzhLefpVrsrkMuumdxRoeTLllGbgJQRcBQPwHrgZ19kQRJypayTEKc0g4crNLyEvaViZWZVfD6qLYHZ-9kW45U-SY_8ABOqoQHqpdyVIpkLVtiG7bwimf4lmQ6KDnb94q27XyiI_sB8U/s1600/IMG_1154.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzhLefpVrsrkMuumdxRoeTLllGbgJQRcBQPwHrgZ19kQRJypayTEKc0g4crNLyEvaViZWZVfD6qLYHZ-9kW45U-SY_8ABOqoQHqpdyVIpkLVtiG7bwimf4lmQ6KDnb94q27XyiI_sB8U/s320/IMG_1154.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463706361453672978" /></a><br /><div>April 19th is the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, celebrated as "Patriot's Day" in Massachusetts by giving people a day off to watch the Boston marathon. While I haven't had the chance to do that recently, it nearly coincides with April 20th, the anniversary of my arrival in the UK. <div><br /></div><div>This April 20th was my fifth anniversary in the UK, so I celebrated by barbecuing on my 5th floor deck and flying the stars and stripes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Patriot's Day, and happy anniversary to me.</div></div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-66350895457390005152010-01-22T13:54:00.004+00:002010-01-22T14:28:11.129+00:00Teabaggers, Socialists and Health CareScott Brown's Senate victory in my home state (or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(U.S._state)">Commonwealth</a>, to be more precise) has left me feeling more disconnected from the United States than ever before. For nearly 5(!) years I've been hearing people make derogatory comments about Americans being loud, fat, obnoxious, etc. My standard reply has always been to point out that the United States is a huge place with 300 million people, and making generalizations is silly.<div><br /></div><div>Specifically, I come from the urbane, sophisticated, cosmopolitan part of the country, and I'm more at home in the UK than I would be in, say, rural Mississippi. But now the same <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_party_protests">teabag</a> unrest that has been burbling in those "other" parts of the USA has helped propel a no-name Republican into the seat held by Ted Kennedy for 46 years. After a few days of despondence I've come to see Brown's victory as the result of a perfect storm of three main factors: (1) the tendency for voters to blame the continuing bad economy on the incumbent party, (2) the Republican choice of an engaging everyman vs. the Democrats' effete product of the Boston political machine who couldn't connect with a phone jack, and (3) the strange nature of special elections.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, where does this leave the Democrats' struggling attempt to reform the American health care system? I won't bore you with me thoughts, but point you to an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/opinion/22krugman.html">excellent op-ed</a> by Paul Krugman which summarizes them perfectly.</div>Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923854063740084691.post-63116709918326940822010-01-08T10:51:00.001+00:002010-01-08T10:52:50.447+00:00More on airline security<blockquote></blockquote>Bruce Schneier is generally awesome, but <a href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/01/airport_securit_12.html">this piece</a> neatly summarizes my feelings on an appropriate response to the crotch bomber.Foonyorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12458254797414606366noreply@blogger.com0