Tinypliny's Journal

08/12/2010 00:56 #52418

What are the right questions?
Category: science

How do you know you are asking the right questions in research? I was in a fascinating meeting with a brilliant basic science researcher at Roswell recently. I went in with my ideas and background and after the discussion, came out with a virtual unique-coloured lens that lends an entirely new perspective to what I thought I knew before.

There are infinite ways to look at a problem. And of course, there are infinite problems. So in the midst of all this infinity, how do you pick the one problem, the one perspective that really will go forward and help the patients? How?

If you trawl through NIH RePORT website

you will be amazed at how many billions and billions of dollars have been awarded to the vast landscape of researchers and institutions across the board. Research has become an industry. But what are the products that this industry is so industriously producing? How many of these generously funded projects are actually making any tangible positive impact on what an average patient with cancer is going through? Are we even thinking of this patient?

Is it possible to think of the patient when you are dabbling in population research and you can't really say anything with a lot of certainty about any one individual? I thought about all of this after the meeting. There are so many ways I could dissect what I know. How would I really know which approach is the correct one that will perhaps lead me a smidgen closer to my personal objective? Time will tell - but I wish there were some kind of certainty today and at this very moment.

I could present a counter argument to my own thoughts that Science is always a quest towards the unknown - and so it is perhaps prudent not to look at the ends too much. But I am conflicted about treating Science as an abstract entity. I want to be involved and productive in Science that has a tangible practical impact on people who need it the most. I am just not clear about the path to this personal Nirvana, though. This lack of clarity worries me... I need to work out a way to cut through some of this smog of consciousness.

Meanwhile, I am loving this speech by Atul Gawande.

Even more entertaining are the comments. Spot on!

You don't know where the solar plexus is? Really? It lies tangent to the velluvial matrix, just below the avorial passages.

08/11/2010 23:14 #52417

Amazing.
Category: the odes

I have seen the swallow-dance incorporated into so many films and videos, but I think this is probably right up there among my favourites.

08/08/2010 14:39 #52397

My blender jar just shattered
Category: eating in

I was expecting the motor to give way before this happened.

I knew this day would come, with all the torture I put it through but it's depressing, nevertheless.

tinypliny - 08/10/10 01:35
You mean you wonder what happened to her from the ill-effects of using the plastic blender before you? She broke up a pop band from Liverpool.

Maybe (e:Mike) needs to be warned now...

tinypliny - 08/10/10 01:30
It's probably the smell from the friction between the metal of the motor against the plastic base. You can't escape it even in glass blenders. In India, you get this blender called the "Mixie" - which is 100% stainless steel and can grind the most stubbornly hard spice into pixie dust. I don't think they sell them here. I really want on of those rather than a replacement to what I had... They are so hardy and make cooking so much more easier.

libertad - 08/09/10 10:39
How sad. I want a new blender. Mine is plastic and has always smelled funny but I use it anyways cause it is all I got. My friend Yoko gave it to me and I wonder what happened to her.

tinypliny - 08/08/10 21:26
The spoon looks like it was attacked by a T-rex. Plus of course, I would now need to get new blender attachments. What a completely avoidable inconvenience!

tinypliny - 08/08/10 21:25
Neither. I foolishly forgot to take out the spoon I was using to put in the cheese I was blending with the milk and saffron. I started the blender and it was too late. :(

paul - 08/08/10 19:10
Were you mixing hot food in a cold blender or vice versa.

08/06/2010 23:06 #52378

Lights. Art. Music!
Category: art

The gorgeous opening sequence of the Pillars of the Earth.

::Download Flash Video::

With an awesome score by Trevor Morris.

Without the SFX

::DOWNLOAD SOUND::

tinypliny - 08/14/10 20:01
MAN! They killed one of my favourites! What is this? The medieval version of Spooks?!

tinypliny - 08/12/10 12:57
Ohhhh - you mean the ridiculous Macbeth-like premonition dream?! Yeah, too melodramatic and too Shakespearean... I wish they had not put that in but they use it as a plot-device to fake-garrote the redhead. Apparently, that didn't happen in the book where people didn't have Hamlet-like scenes and their dead-uncles preaching to them through a curtain of blood streaming down willy-nilly.

tinypliny - 08/12/10 12:51
Well... I don't think you need your tongue to project your voice into a tune. Think about it. Birds do it all the time. There is no enunciation required - just adjustment of the air columns for the right frequencies. Also, I think the stones singing is an analogy - as he explains to the Earl's daughter. He follows the hollows and thickness of the stone to find the right carving line. Many of the ancient sculptures in India are carved out of natural stone that could not be moved and the technique of "listening" to the stone was widely used for carving in many temples across the country. So I guess Follett did his research well when he wrote the book. The red haired bloke is able to carve his father because his mum describes that singing scene to him and the rest of the bunch in detail - remember? I thought the carving was intentional.

I am sure no one else is religiously watching the series on here as both of us seem to be. ;-) So what is the biggest one?? And I don't really care about spoilers. I am more inclined to watch things if I know something. Heh.

metalpeter - 08/11/10 19:55
There are a few super natural things going on, but I guess they could be called Miricales not that they have been called that. Guy with no toungue (witness) sings and somehow his son who doesn't know about it makes the statue of it. It is as if some how the rock (or something else) talks to him and that is how he makes it. The Biggest one I can't mention cause it is to much of a spolier (4 episodes so far for me but not sure when the newest one airs so...)

jenks - 08/10/10 08:03
book. not back. ugh.

jenks - 08/10/10 08:02
ooh, I've always been meaning to read that back... didn't know they've made it into a show!

tinypliny - 08/10/10 01:15
I am caught up as well and can't wait for the next ep!

All the whingers on the net seem to be nitpicking about the book-screen discord; some even going to the lengths of saying that the story is incomprehensible. I can only say, what a herd of blind sheep bleating in discordant unision! Have they even heard of the term artistic license and variation? Besides, a novel is not really a play. You can't really translate any book to screen word for word. Everyone interprets each book and its characters differently. It's an impossible task to please everyone. I guess, not having read the book is an advantage in this case.

I think the series, by itself, is beautifully made. The acting is spot on because the villainous bunch are creeping me out and the good guys are getting some empathy - always a good sign. I remember some of the other costume dramas in the past which have been so hilariously off-track and so badly acted that I have laughed through "tragedies" and "tortures".

I agree, it does have an old school look about it. I actually like that there is no crazy supernatural omg-what-the-hell-was-that stuff going on. That is probably what is hilarious and off-tune about some of the other period dramas. I am not counting the Austen dramas of course - even ordinary plots in them are so unbelievable that they are unnaturally hilarious.

metalpeter - 08/09/10 19:53
I'm kinda caught up, I watched 4 episodes. With out giving anything away the story seems good with a lot of twists and turns but maybe that is just me, but I have no idea if it follows the book or how closely. The battle scenes are good. In terms of look it is kinda dark and kinda looks like a movie you might have seen in school, not that it is a bad thing, kinda looks like and older style. It could also be that since it is supposed to be england that it is dark and gloomy and so that effects the look, I like it so far.....

tinypliny - 08/07/10 11:45
that is strange. I can still watch the video. Can you watch it on my channel --> :::link:::

metalpeter - 08/07/10 10:56
Hoping to watch this this weekend sunday, you tube pulled the video or atleat on here they did

08/04/2010 22:34 #52365

French Press Mesh Vs. Permanent Mesh Filter
Category: the odes

The wikipedia entry on the French Press reads...

A French press consists of a narrow cylindrical beaker usually made of glass or clear plastic, equipped with a lid and a "plunger", made of metal or plastic, which fits tightly in the cylinder and which has a fine wire or nylon mesh filter.

Because the coffee grounds remain in direct contact with the brewing water and the grounds are filtered from the water via a mesh instead of a paper filter, coffee brewed with the French press captures more of the coffee's flavour and essential oils, which would become trapped in a traditional drip brew machine's paper filters.

So does this mean that using a mesh filter instead of paper filters will produce better coffee in a regular coffee maker?

Reviews for this gold mesh coffee filter on Amazon don't really address the question of taste.

Has anyone tried the mesh filter instead of paper and noticed their coffee tasting better?

tinypliny - 05/28/11 18:44
That was very insightful! Thanks so much, (e:Elmware)! I broke my entire coffee filter soon after this post so buying any sort of filter didn't make any sense. ;-) But good info to know for my next coffee machine!!

And WELCOME to (e:strip)!!! :-))

Elmware - 05/28/11 18:39
I found that with mesh filters, the finer grinds get through leaving this chalky bit in the bottom of the cup. I also found that if you buy a filter for dripping, the ones with a solid bottom are best instead of having the mesh on the bottom because if you are brewing less than 6 cups of coffee, the water from the coffee maker just pushes the grinds to the side and drip straight through the mesh instead of the coffee resulting in weak coffee. I prefer the paper over the mesh if I grind the coffee myself, however, the mesh is fine medium to coarse ground coffee.

tinypliny - 08/05/10 15:48
I didn't think of that! That's a good point. Maybe its all about contact time. I am trying to determine why exactly all these coffee snobs prefer the press.

jenks - 08/05/10 08:32
disclaimer- I am not a huge coffee connoisseur. That said, the differences I notice when using the gold filters are-
they let more sediment through. So you have more 'stuff' in the bottom of your cup.
you have to, obviously, wash them, instead of just throwing them out, which is a bit of a pain. But, more environmentally responsible.

I haven't noticed any big difference in taste, though. I think what makes french press different is more that the grounds stay in the water longer, than the filter being mesh.