I think I just might have found my next work laptop. Imagine the surprised and definitely jealous expressions as you plonk down your new Hello Kitty laptop at that next power meeting or important research discussion. Marvelous!
Click on the image for the accompanying site (found via engadget.com).
We all know that homeopathy is really stupid, just like most alternative medicine. However, when I saw this “lecture” by Dr Charlene Werner, I was astounded by the depths of stupidity that she is able to attain. It’s almost like she’s a kind of Superheroine of Stupidity, with the special power of creating a singularity of stupid. This is of course stupidity that’s so extreme that it tends towards infinity and temporarily makes all reason disappear into a black-hole of scientific incompetence. Wow.
I almost forgot to mention over here that the first open source release of DeVIDE is now available. See the relevant DeVIDE news blog posting for more information and links to yet more information!
… with Vienna.
As mentioned elsewhere, I’m in Vienna at the moment for ECR 2008. Tonight started with a heavenly dinner at the Vital Images party in the Sky Bar. By 22:00, my night was already more or less perfect, mostly due to great company and beautiful food. However, we (an intrepid group of Medical Delta scientists from Delft, Rotterdam and Leiden) decided to go to Der Roter Engel in the Bermuda Triangle, mostly because I insisted that the night would only be complete after some cocktails. Their Long Island Tea was delectable. All of them, as a matter of fact.
It’s really nice when it happens, it’s even nicer when you really don’t expect it. Our DeVIDE paper won the SimVis 2008 best paper award! Read all about it in the relevant DeVIDE News Blog posting.
More or less every two years, I am overcome by uncontrollable lust.
Lust for some fresh computing hardware, that is. YEAH!
1.5 years ago it was the HP NC8430 laptop, 2 years before that my beloved HP NC6000, and slightly short of two years before that the infinitely heavy stoeptegel-1 (I still think there’s a mini-blackhole in there somewhere).
Last year I acquired this:
So I could go here:
… with some exceptionally cool individuals.
Thanks to one of these individuals who has developed the amazing ability to stop time in his close proximity and, as if that wasn’t enough, to possess a pair of the coolest spectacles this side of the equator, you should be able to find me on the photo to his left.
My blood has cooled down enough for me to write this now, it was positively boiling an hour or two ago. Tonight Netwerk, a documentary on one of the Dutch national channels, reported on the AIDS vs sangoma situation back in South Africa.
Those of you who understand Dutch can read this compact summary.
In short, sangomas (witch doctors) have a huge amount of sway with the local population. So when someone is infected with HIV and it manifests as AIDS, they go to the sangoma, who then coolly explains that they’re sick due to the interference of the spirits of their forefathers and claims that they know exactly how to remedy the problem (usually with some typically ineffective mystical ritual, also involving giving the patient lots of laxatives, thereby exacerbating the symptoms). The sangomas often actively discourage AIDS sufferers from going to the clinics where they would be treated with proven AIDS retardant drugs such as AZT.
I grew up on a healthy mix of Marvel, DC and other super-hero comics, but the Iron Man made a particularly deep impression on me. The idea of fabricating and donning an almost-invincible metal suit and then flying around and kicking idiot ass all over the show really appealed to my nerdish sensibilities.
If the trailer is anything to go by, the 2008 movie is going to rock so incredibly hard. Robert Downey Junior is the male lead, which is already a good indication, but the fact that they’ve actually went and used Black Sabbath‘s Iron Man in the sound track is a sure sign that someone knows exactly what they’re doing.
Dear readers, although you remain anonymous, I now know quite reliably that there are slightly more than two of you. This knowledge makes me insanely happy. Thank you very much for taking the time to glance at my posts every so often.
I’ve added three hopefully useful plugins to my WordPress (best blogging software EVAR) setup:
I have one more confession: It seems that I’m completely addicted to reading (especially personal) weblogs. At the moment, there are almost 60 that I track, but I’m always open to suggestions. Lemme know in the comments if there are any that I should subscribe to.