A landmark?

So I achieved one of the landmarks of my year. I have (finally) submitted my PhD thesis. This is not the end of the story as I still need to be assessed by a couple of people to become a fully qualified Doctor of Philosophy. I am felling like the Horse that just jumped the final hurdle and still needs to get to the finish line. But if I am the horse who the hell is ridding me? I suppose the examiners. So much for this brill analogy. Replace horse by runner or something like that. Like being awarded the penalty-kick, but I still need to score to capitalize all the hard work (or a dive if you are Liedson).

Anyway here is the front cover:

 

It means that now I need to start thinking what to do next. To start I have already sent an email to a company that I have visited last year. Kind of throwing the bate to the fish, in a good way. This bate analogy normally doesn't have a good connotation, because the Fisherman is trying to deceive the fish in going for the bate. The end of the deal for the fish is not exactly the one that the fish had anticipated... my analogies are really coming through very well (yes I could delete them but I like them anyway).

I already pulled a list of possible places to apply, both post-docs, positions in industry and ones that involve industry and academia. Quite a few different places: Budapeste, Jerusalem, Leuven, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Manchester, london, Madrid, another in Czech Rep, Greece, Singapore, a few more...

I also need to work on a paper to be submitted until the end of the month, that should be easy taken in consideration that all the info is probably in my thesis. 

I might plan a visit to Portugal in the coming weeks (if Amy lets me go).

Maybe I will read a book, maybe I will buy Super Mario Galaxy 2, maybe I will learn the guitar, maybe I will learn a bit of web skills, maybe...

Turquia 2010 - Olu Deniz

um sol como o caraças

é o que tem estado aqui em Bournemouth no Sul de Inglaterra onde agora passo os meus dias.

HAM! short

SPEED Painting of John Locke. Fantastic photoshop skill



Mais do mesmo Autor aqui http://nicodimattia.com/

Ping

Naturally Obsessed: The Making of a Scientist

I had this link on my favorites for quite some time now.

If you are a Scientist you should see it. You will probably relate to it.

If you are not a Scientist you should see it as well. It will help you to understand the day to day of a scientist.

I leave you with a small exert of the film.

Dear Blog

Sorry for leaving you alone for soooooo long.

A lot of things have happened in the past months.

I hope to catch up with you soon...

Pomplamoose

I have rediscovered Pomplamoose from a feed that I received from my Printscreen (a very good recommendation from Pedro Telles).

I love their sound. Lovely! you can see and ear their videoclips on the youtube page or you can download some free songs on their Myspace page.

I leave you with a cover of a very well known song by Michael Jackson. Amongst my favorites is their version of Nature Boy.

I hope you like it!

running fairbot on Mac OS X snow leopard

This tutorial was created from the post of AlistairH on its blog.

This will try to explain how to run fairbot, on a Mac OS X 10.6.X

You will need:

1. a copy of Crossover

2. a copy of Fairbot (I used the latest version)

3. a copy of some dll w$ XP libs, you can get them here. extract them to a temp folder on your desktop.

note: you can use the trial versions of crossover and fairbot.

STEP 1. install crossover

STEP 2. instal fairbot, through crossover. i.e.

open crossover -> Configure (on menu bar) -> install software ->

install unsupported software -> continue -> new bottle (name it Fairbot) -> create new bottle and continue ->

click install-> and locate fairbot.exe (that you got from 2.)

STEP 3. replace DLL

On crossover menu bar -> Configure -> manage bottles -> select Fairbot bottle -> advanced -> click "make this the default bottle" -> Open c: drive in Finder -> go to Windows/system32 folder -> drag and drop all files from the temp folder you created to the system32 folder. close folder.

STEP 4. override DLLs

On the manage bottles menu -> Control Panel -> launch winecfg ->

go to Libraries tab -> on the dropdown box type and add the following:

msxml3

shdocvw
shlwapi

-> Apply -> OK -> close Wine configuration -> close Manage bottles

STEP 4. add dll to registry

On crossover menu bar -> Programs -> Run Command... ->

(make sure fairbot bottle is select) -> Open Shell (it will open a Terminal Console) ->

run the following commands (one line at the time):

wine regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll
wine regsvr32.exe msxml4.dll
wine regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll

Close all.

Now you are ready to run fairbot, via the programs tab on crossover, or just use spotlight to trigger fairbot.

put your betfair username and password and you are ready to roll.

Note. I have tried it and the only problem I could find with the software was on the graphs. When in ladder mode, after opening a graph, I could change the event only once, then I needed to close and open the graph again. i.e. if I open the graph for one horse, I could change the horse only one time.

Hope this would come in hand to some people.

Impossivel não gostar

Rodrigo y Grabriela

Research paper

Descoberto a partir de um tweet de Detig

CLICAR NA IMAGEM PARA VER.



Para mais coisas giras ver aqui http://www.ashersarlin.com/

Cumps

I love omelettes!

A propósito de um post do ZP no Humanoides mas não como nós, lembrei-me de quanto gosto de omeletas, são boas para vegetarianos e para os comuns dos omnivoros. Party friendly!

Depois de alguma procura encontrei um bom video sobre como fazer as ditas! Aqui vais! Bom apetite!

Return to UK

Depois de 1 mês em terras lusas regressei (regressámos) ao Reino Unido.
A primeira paragem foi Bristol. O motivo: uma já há muito devida visita à familia Beedell.

Ainda que a visita tenha sido curta, achei Bristol um cidade interessante. Com um "ambiente" um pouco distinto do de Nottingham. Claro que as casas ainda são iguais, ainda há chavs etc etc, mas pareceu-me haver mais "identidade" e não apenas as mesmas lojas que se encontram em todas as cidades e vilas deste país. Para muito contribuiu a visita ao St. Nicks Market.
Visita obrigatória à ponte suspensa de Bristol, depois de uma viagem pelo canal.

Obrigado aos anfitriões pela boa hospitalidade. Na foto em baixo vemos Jonh B a abrir uma garrafa de Cidra cuja validade dizia Best before 1992. Verdade é que a cidra estava ainda boa (ninguém ficou com caganeira).

De regresso a Nottingham especialmente para o aniversário do leo. re-encontramos assim a "malta" toda numa só ocasião (nice!).

Agora há que pensar em perder uns quilitos, e escrever umas linhas da tese (já estou a dever muitas páginas a esta causa).

Como cereja no topo do bolo (aka fim de semana) recebi um email do boss a confirmar que fui aceite para uma comunicação oral no encontro da Sociedade Britânica de Gastroenterologia. Pois é agora é que vou ser "atirado" aos lobos! A ver se o mesmo acontece para a DDW2010 que vai ser em Maio em New Orleans (tava a tentar escrever em Português mas não me lembro como é). Mas isso é coisa para se descobrir só para o fim de Fevereiro!

inté à próxima!

Nota enófila

Desde que regressei a Portugal tenho bebido pelo menos um vinho tinto diferente por dia (já lá vão quase 30 dias). Embora não beba uma garrafa por dia, a média deve cifrar-se mais ou menos nesse valor :)

O que eu queria deixar aqui registado é a qualidade do vinho, fazendo claro uma comparação com o vasto mercado de consumo que encontro a maior parte do ano no Reino Unido.

Das garrafas que bebi poucas foram compradas acima dos 7 Euros (excepto os vinhos comprados à mesa do restaurante e uma ou outra garrafa mais carota. De facto a maioria dos vinhos deve estar entre os 3 e os 5 euros.

Uma outra curiosidade é que salvo uma ou outra excepção, comprei quase sempre vinhos que não conhecia (alguns admito que tinha os selos da selecion mondiale :P, um outro vinha recomendado pelo NYTimes).

Veredicto quase final: Não bebi nenhum vinho que me fizesse sequer pensar: este vinho é mais ou menos (normalmente quando isto vem à cabeça é sinal é mais de menos do que mais ou menos!!).

E sendo assim brindo aos vinhos portugueses! (hoje com um copinho da herdade do Enforcado!

Cumps

IX Grandioso Encontro de Bioquímicos do Algarve Fora do Algarve - Almeirim e Santarém

A foto-reportagem já está disponível no Facebook, basta clicar neste link. Beijinhos e abraços para todos e bom ano!

No Último dia da Decada

O obrigatório Post de Fim de Ano.

Quem me conhece sabe que não desejo mal (por norma) a ninguém.

No entanto fica sempre bem desejar um Bom Fim de Ano e um excelente 2010 a todos. Espero que seja um ano marcante para todos (nem que seja pelo o número 2-0-1-0).
Para mim vai ser o ano que marca a passagem de uma vida académica que se tem pautado pela descontração do dia-a-dia, pela ausência de "alguma" responsabilidade, para provavelmente algo mais exigente. Será concerteza um ano interessante!

Acima de tudo divirtam-se, mas com juízinho!

Cumps

Responsibilities of 21st-Century Scientists

Acabei de receber um tweet do Biological Science (@BiolSciNews) sobre um texto com o título "Responsibilities of 21st-Century Scientist" escrito por Thomas E. Lovejoy (aqui).

Gostei de ler este texto, fala sobre a responsabilidade dos Ciêntistas saberem comunicar a ciência de forma simples para o público em geral e também de forma concisa e relevante para "decision makers"

Cito: "We certainly have a responsibility to share knowledge with public officials and other leaders. Otherwise how can we possibly expect policies that logically derive from the work? That requires very different language, i.e., simple and straightforward, whereas our normal implication is to present things with great complexity with all kinds of ifs, buts and maybes."

Outro ponto que achei interessante, e que é uma coisa a que, embora para mim seja uma questão de idoneidade e de etica pessoal para outros não representam nada, tenho prestado especial atenção depois de ler o livro "Bad Science" (Ben Goldacre) e de seguir os seus blogues e tweets. Refiro-me não só aos investigadores que se baseiam em falácias e em falsos estudos ou estudos mal-feitos , como também aos criticos crónicos de tudo e mais alguma.

Citando Lovejoy outra vez: "Almost all coverage helps. An exception is the deliberately incorrigible contrarian. In my view trying to address or correct their misstatements often draws more attention to them."

com votos que a Ciência seja mais transparente no ano 2010

Cumps

G

Hobbits reconhecidos como espécie humana

Afinal o Senhor dos Aneis não é apenas uma obra literária do Universo Fantástico. O senhor Tolkien acabou por descrever nos seus livros algo muito parecido com os Homo floresiensis. Deixo-vos com a transcrição do press-release que podem confirmar aqui!

"Hobbits" are a New Human Species - According to the Statistical Analysis of Fossils

Homo floresiensis Not Diseased Sub-Population of Healthy Humans

Researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York have confirmed that Homo floresiensis is a genuine ancient human species and not a descendant of healthy humans dwarfed by disease. Using statistical analysis on skeletal remains of a well-preserved female specimen, researchers determined the “hobbit” to be a distinct species and not a genetically flawed version of modern humans. Details of the study appear in the December issue of Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society, published by Wiley-Blackwell.

In 2003 Australian and Indonesian scientists discovered small-bodied, small-brained, hominin (human-like) fossils on the remote island of Flores in the Indonesian archipelago. This discovery of a new human species called Homo floresiensis has spawned much debate with some researchers claiming that the small creatures are really modern humans whose tiny head and brain are the result of a medical condition called microcephaly.

Researchers William Jungers, Ph.D., and Karen Baab, Ph.D. studied the skeletal remains of a female (LB1), nicknamed “Little Lady of Flores” or “Flo” to confirm the evolutionary path of the hobbit species. The specimen was remarkably complete and included skull, jaw, arms, legs, hands, and feet that provided researchers with integrated information from an individual fossil.

The cranial capacity of LB1 was just over 400 cm, making it more similar to the brains of a chimpanzee or bipedal “ape-men” of East and South Africa. The skull and jawbone features are much more primitive looking than any normal modern human. Statistical analysis of skull shapes show modern humans cluster together in one group, microcephalic humans in another and the hobbit along with ancient hominins in a third.

Due to the relative completeness of fossil remains for LB1, the scientists were able to reconstruct a reliable body design that was unlike any modern human. The thigh bone and shin bone of LB1 are much shorter than modern humans including Central African pygmies, South African KhoeSan (formerly known as ‘bushmen”) and “negrito” pygmies from the Andaman Islands and the Philippines. Some researchers speculate this could represent an evolutionary reversal correlated with “island dwarfing.” “It is difficult to believe an evolutionary change would lead to less economical movement,” said Dr. Jungers. “It makes little sense that this species re-evolved shorter thighs and legs because long hind limbs improve bipedal walking. We suspect that these are primitive retentions instead.”

Further analysis of the remains using a regression equation developed by Dr. Jungers indicates that LB1 was approximately 106 cm tall (3 feet, 6 inches)—far smaller than the modern pygmies whose adults grow to less than 150 cm (4 feet, 11 inches). A scatterplot depicts LB1 far outside the range of Southeast Asian and African pygmies in both absolute height and body mass indices. “Attempts to dismiss the hobbits as pathological people have failed repeatedly because the medical diagnoses of dwarfing syndromes and microcephaly bear no resemblance to the unique anatomy of Homo floresiensis,” noted Dr. Baab.

Full Citation: “The geometry of hobbits: Homo floresiensis and human evolution.” William Jungers and Karen Baab. Significance; Published Online: November 19, 2009 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-9713.2009.00389.x); Print Issue Date: December 2009.

David vs Golias

25 days of Movember