Have been meaning to write more on the pharma industry, but have been preoccupied with mini-adventures that have so far prevented me. In lieu of some thing considered on that front, here is a random smattering of stuff I've been reading, looking at and trying out:
Reading Margret Atwood's Oryx and Crake at the moment and enjoying it for the pessimistic attitude towards technology and the stupid industry I'm in.
Then The Moose linked me to this article saying that most research is false. I've printed that for further bathroom (my new library) reference. Read it.
A colleague at work showed me one of the news article about this, which gave me hope that what some people in the industry do is worthwhile. But then I got depressed about pills; about big pharma business eking out only a couple of months for patients from their profits...
I've mucked around with Facebook and I just have to say that it is a little bit scary no matter what Morgue says! I'm also thinking that the social networking sites like Facebook facilitate a move towards what I have already talked about somewhere (can't remember where) where not only will we tie up far too much importance on computing technology to get 'together' but it will also widen the gap between those with the technology and those without. * searches for what he thinks he wrote a long while back * Ah ha! Here it is!
Anyway pet project number one has been the whole can I get to work and back without relying on public transport. It has involved much oohing and ahhing and a hell of a lot of hand wringing about the distance - something more than 22 miles (I'm still not sure - but suspect an upper maximum would be 25 or 26 miles). Doesn't sound too bad on paper - but realise folks that that is a MARATHON!
Anyway, my lovely girlfriend has been totally supportive about me buying a bike and just trying it out, and what sage advice that has been. The bike has been great for getting around in the city. But I've been too scared, I mean I've deliberated and not tried the work ride... until now!
And I can report that it was a bloody good ride. I forgot how easy it is to chew up distance on a bike when the main enemies to momentum, namely wind and hills, aren't present. And so, door-to-door, it's an one hour and twenty five mins... That's not too bad for a traffic free ride to work especially considering the train is one hour and five mins door to door. The only pain is the time lost in having to change, which I'm gonna have to work on, cause it still feels as if I've come home and hour later than usual.
Anyway, to aid answering how long the work commute is, I've created a My Maps at google maps. I have mapped out part of the route into nifty straight line segments and then worked out a way to grab the coordinates of my markers so that I can calculate the distance between them to add up to a journey total (all this for an error improvement on 4 miles!!!). Of course I will need some math to help me work out how to get the distance from markers A to B to C etc. and from a quick foray into the interweb I suspect it is here, but crap, I just rode 22+ miles and I can't quite get my head around it yet!
That is all for now. I've just had some exercise, can you tell?
Reading Margret Atwood's Oryx and Crake at the moment and enjoying it for the pessimistic attitude towards technology and the stupid industry I'm in.
Then The Moose linked me to this article saying that most research is false. I've printed that for further bathroom (my new library) reference. Read it.
A colleague at work showed me one of the news article about this, which gave me hope that what some people in the industry do is worthwhile. But then I got depressed about pills; about big pharma business eking out only a couple of months for patients from their profits...
I've mucked around with Facebook and I just have to say that it is a little bit scary no matter what Morgue says! I'm also thinking that the social networking sites like Facebook facilitate a move towards what I have already talked about somewhere (can't remember where) where not only will we tie up far too much importance on computing technology to get 'together' but it will also widen the gap between those with the technology and those without. * searches for what he thinks he wrote a long while back * Ah ha! Here it is!
Anyway pet project number one has been the whole can I get to work and back without relying on public transport. It has involved much oohing and ahhing and a hell of a lot of hand wringing about the distance - something more than 22 miles (I'm still not sure - but suspect an upper maximum would be 25 or 26 miles). Doesn't sound too bad on paper - but realise folks that that is a MARATHON!
Anyway, my lovely girlfriend has been totally supportive about me buying a bike and just trying it out, and what sage advice that has been. The bike has been great for getting around in the city. But I've been too scared, I mean I've deliberated and not tried the work ride... until now!
And I can report that it was a bloody good ride. I forgot how easy it is to chew up distance on a bike when the main enemies to momentum, namely wind and hills, aren't present. And so, door-to-door, it's an one hour and twenty five mins... That's not too bad for a traffic free ride to work especially considering the train is one hour and five mins door to door. The only pain is the time lost in having to change, which I'm gonna have to work on, cause it still feels as if I've come home and hour later than usual.
Anyway, to aid answering how long the work commute is, I've created a My Maps at google maps. I have mapped out part of the route into nifty straight line segments and then worked out a way to grab the coordinates of my markers so that I can calculate the distance between them to add up to a journey total (all this for an error improvement on 4 miles!!!). Of course I will need some math to help me work out how to get the distance from markers A to B to C etc. and from a quick foray into the interweb I suspect it is here, but crap, I just rode 22+ miles and I can't quite get my head around it yet!
That is all for now. I've just had some exercise, can you tell?
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