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Tinypliny's Journal

tinypliny
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02/24/2012 13:55 #56124

NSAIDS are not exactly good for you.
Category: science
I keep hearing about how NSAIDs are projected as the next big thing for preventing cancer in combination with other drugs/supplements. I find it odd that it conflicts so directly with my background information from medicine and actual medical practice.

It's fine and all that we are desperate to find cures for cancer but it's also time to stop and think about what we know from the clinics. Do I think that people should start taking low dose aspirins (an NSAID) willy nilly because it might, at some vague point in the future, reduce their chances of cancer? In all good faith, I cannot support this view.

NSAIDs are no friends of your gastric lining. Doctors have known this for ages. They have the potential to induce gastric lining damage. Late last year, a study threw some light on the prospective dangers of chronic NSAID use (yes, not even abuse. I said, regular use.)

See ::READ PDF::

The study has been running for several years and women in the study fill out questionnaires and mail it back at regular intervals. The researchers looked at spans of use and followed up on these women, including who ended up with cancer and who didn't. They found that women who reported taking more NSAIDs in their daily life over several years were more likely to be diagnosed with renal cancer.

Why doesn't this surprise me? All that we know about the "good effects" of NSAIDS come from cross-sectional studies that take a snapshot of a section of population at any given time, ask them what they are eating and what disease they have. They are poor representations of what happens to our bodies over a long time. NSAIDs, among several other drugs are metabolized through our livers and kidneys - two main excretory organ networks in vertebrate living systems. Thus, long term use are more likely to impact these organs.

So short term or acute doses could damage your gastric lining. Long term use impacts your kidneys and livers. Do we still want to push this "golden drug" beyond the very rare as-and-only-when-really-really-needed basis? I think it's short-sighted at best. Sometimes, it's important to make reality-checks with medicine. In this particular situation, I don't see any of that essential precautionary measure.
tinypliny - 02/24/12 17:13
Maybe you should try that and document the results just in case that is the next big thing to do to prevent cancer.
paul - 02/24/12 15:37
What if you crush and snort them or just shoot em up? Just kidding.

02/24/2012 13:05 #56123

Buffalo needs a happy song today.
Category: music
The constantly dragging workload and grey skies are getting to me. What I need is this happy song from Boney M to pick me up and accelerate on my work so I can clear some more hurdles (read: chapters).


Lay your problems on the floor, clap your hands and sing once more.

02/24/2012 12:05 #56122

Analyzing blame
Category: linux
For a LOOOOONG boot-up time. Seriously, I could put the kettle on and have it reach a boil, or be halfway on my way to my office by the time the login screen comes up.


systemd-analyze blame
61002ms sm-client.service
60146ms sendmail.service
24223ms iscsi.service
17281ms udev-settle.service
4148ms fedora-loadmodules.service
4050ms systemd-vconsole-setup.service
2578ms fedora-readonly.service
2556ms media.mount
2513ms dev-mqueue.mount
2492ms dev-hugepages.mount
2472ms sys-kernel-security.mount
2471ms udev-trigger.service
2452ms sys-kernel-debug.mount
1426ms systemd-remount-api-vfs.service
1419ms remount-rootfs.service
1163ms systemd-readahead-replay.service
992ms udev.service
975ms fedora-storage-init.service
820ms fedora-storage-init-late.service
775ms systemd-sysctl.service
709ms NetworkManager.service
555ms avahi-daemon.service
535ms rsyslog.service
531ms chronyd.service
531ms sys-kernel-config.mount
412ms systemd-logind.service
390ms ip6tables.service
386ms mcelog.service
384ms console-kit-log-system-start.service
381ms sshd-keygen.service
374ms iptables.service
374ms abrt-vmcore.service
364ms auditd.service
363ms irqbalance.service
326ms dbus.service
325ms abrt-ccpp.service
324ms boot.mount
296ms livesys.service
295ms home.mount
281ms netfs.service
266ms iscsid.service
234ms systemd-readahead-collect.service
172ms mdmonitor-takeover.service
154ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
81ms lvm2-monitor.service
76ms fcoe.service
47ms fedora-wait-storage.service
44ms sandbox.service
39ms systemd-user-sessions.service
31ms console-kit-daemon.service
29ms livesys-late.service
6ms accounts-daemon.service
2ms rtkit-daemon.service
0ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount



Why on earth does the sendmail service need to run? I don't even run a mail server.
tinypliny - 02/24/12 17:24
hey, I am not messing with anything right now. Some recent updates have not been so great. Gnome Shell keeps consuming memory till it reaches 2GB or more after a few hours and it brings everything to its knees. I found out that my Wacom tablet not functioning is not the fault of the stylus or the tablet but because of some crazy stuff that gnome-shell is doing - probably being a memory whore.

Anyway, the point of all that is rebooting solves several issues. It clears up the memory once more, the stylus works once more, R does not crawl etc. But of course then I have to face a 2 min boot sequence.

I am going to just take your advice and not do anything. But yeah, instead of messing with the system, I actually think I am going back to vanilla ubuntu after I am done for good.
heidi - 02/24/12 16:16
I love (e:Paul)'s advice!
paul - 02/24/12 15:49
You can turn off sendmail but I wouldn't start messing with your machine services right now. Just live through the 60 seconds boot time until you dissertation is done. Otherwise, you are bound to fuck it up and have way more downtime. Here is a great overview of working with systemd :::link:::
paul - 02/24/12 15:44
I lied mine says it took 50 seconds, I swear its faster than that. Maybe the last boot was slow, I did have a kernel update.
paul - 02/24/12 15:43
you can disable whatever services you dont want. This is even more interesting systemd-analyze plot > graph1.svg
paul - 02/24/12 15:38
That is so crazy. My system boots in like 10 seconds. Maybe its worth investing in an SSD.

02/24/2012 03:04 #56118

Weird business names
Category: the odes
And in the category of weird business names, I got this email today:

"Price Protector is now Eyeona"



Eyeona?
Eyeeeeeeyyoooooonnnaaaa?

Like in a wild hyena laugh? What does bargain-hunting have in common with hyenas? Is that supposed to be a riddle? I know I can follow the links on that email and read the back-story and all that in the time it has taken me to write this out here. But really, first impressions are the worst and the most fun.

02/18/2012 07:52 #56082

The useful Android app list
Category: android
In addition to the default apps that came with the Nexus one phone, I have the following additional ones installed:.
  1. estrip
  2. ezPDF Reader
  3. File Expert
  4. GNotes
  5. Opera Mobile
  6. Pomodroido
  7. Maildroid
  8. Quickoffice
  9. Wifi file transfer


Out of that list, I see these as apps with a ton of access and with the potential for troublemaking
  • Wifi file transfer
Access:
Storage (modify/delete SD card contents)
Network communication: full internet access, view network state, view Wi-Fi state
  • Maildroid
Access;
Your location (coarse- network-based location, fine GPS location
Your personal information: read contact data, read sensitive log data
Storage (modify/delete SD card contents)
Network communication: full internet access, view network state,
Phone calls: read phone state and identity
System tools: prevent phone from sleeping, automatically start at boot
Hardware controls: control vibrator

MAN! that is a hell of a lot of permissions. But this app is SO useful because it keeps me updated about my work email - a paleolithic MS Exchange server 2007 based system

I think these came with the phone. I don't use them and want them out. Someday, I will root this phone and chuck them out.
  1. Amazon MP3
  2. Car Home
  3. Facebook
  4. Goggles
  5. Magic Smoke wallpapers
  6. Music Visualization Wallpaper
  7. Twitter

Huh? What do these even do?
  1. HTC Radio Info
  2. KickBack
  3. Google Backup transport
  4. Google One time Init
  5. Google Partner Setup
  6. Pico TTS
  7. SoundBack
  8. TalkBack