Fire alarm, electrial tests and safety issues - a guide to the UK

One day had to be the day I was going to write about this topic.. It is not the first time I write posts about the British life and lifestyle (like this one and this one). I mostly criticize it and even joke but I can't help it.. some things are freaking weird!!

The exaggerated safety issues is something that worries me a lot and is critically disconcerting. One would think how can that be?? People may think that safety and safety concerns are something good, and they are, but just until a certain extent... From a certain point on it becomes obsessive and it is damaging!


Starting with the FIRE ALARM. There are smoke detectors everywhere!! I am obviously expecting hospitals and universities to have smoke sensors and fire alarms as well as office buildings and other institutions with many people that would be difficult to evacuate otherwise because it would be difficult for everybody to notice the fire and so on.. but c'ommon, I live in a maisonette, which is like a big studio with two floors but no walls and I have, not one, not two, but THREE smoke detectors inside!! And now you think, I live in a flat in a quite big building, that's true, but wait!! I used to live in a 5 room's house where again, there were....wait, ready???  8 fire sensors!!! And now comes the funny part, here in the building since I moved in there were uncountable fake fire alarms, guess what happens? The first one I walked outside, the second just checked through the window and talked to the neighbour next door who told me about the frequent occurrence of fake fire alarms and how annoying etc... the third time I just stayed alert but barely moved, the further ones I couldn't be bother anymore, and the bad thing is obvious.. if there is a REAL fire, nobody would probably check on me because they would rely on the power of the fire alarm to drag me out to the street.. I am currently more or less immune to the fire alarm and I can sleep through without  a problem (and my boyfriend put the earplugs on)... Conclusion: IT BECAME POINTLESS!

Ok, to be fair the fire alarm might be quite useful, yet it goes off far too many times without a reason and I think that makes people disregarding it. If it would work properly it would be just great!


There is one TINY but funny safety thing about electricity, that (probably) only happens in the university (perhaps in other big institutions too, I don't know) which is called the "electrical safety test". This is some kind of test (I know nothing about it), that all the equipment has to pass in order to be used.. Like I buy a kettle or something else which is technically ready to use but I can't use it before that it goes through that electrical test, whatever that is and for whatever that exists for... I wonder if that's just a way to employ more people! 

The last thing that I remember related to crazy obsessive safety issues has to do with a very bad experience I had a while ago and which I don't intend to detail specially because it is so sick that it would make you throw.. believe but never mind.. It has to do with radiation.. basically being in the biomedical research field some of my work involves working with the radioisotope P32. This is a very hazard reagent and obviously requires a lot of caution, which I perfectly understand. Radiation can cause serious damage to the human being including malformations and cancer when one is exposed for long periods to very high levels of radiation. End of story but no, in the university people go crazy about that. It is beyond understand.. they employ freak odd people to check on people who handle radioactivity and to use their personal frustrations to importunate the normal and simple life of scientists like me.. But in the end these same idiotic people throw extremely elevated levels of liquid radiation in a normal sinks, in the running water and say to my astonishing surprise that sometimes when they walk around the fields carrying a geiger counter (device to measure radiation - but who is the freak who randomly carries one anyway...), they can spot radioactivity!!!
I dont know but to me it really does not make sense... it's like so many concerns, so many rules, so many tests, but in the end who is worryed about who?

The point I want to raise is that in the end, to me, nobody cares about my safety or anything, they just want to make sure they are not charged in case anything goes wrong, basically they just want to wash their hands!!! Fire alarms?? yeah insurance requisites, they decrease the price of the insurance.. Electrical safety tests, fire lectures at the university, yes again insurance issues.. Radiation concerns?? yes avoid local trouble with the environmental agency but does not matter if a certain field across the university is fully radioactive as long as the inspectors cannot smell it inside, nothing else matters..

Therefore I question, am I really safe here? I don't feel so...

How to enjoy your research?

Or how to enjoy your academic research?
Does anybody know the answer to this question?


Personally I googled it, and unlike the usual google wasn't able to give me an answer!!! This never happened before! However, I am not totally surprised that there are no answers to this question. There are certainly many tips on how to enjoy your job and work and those can be used for academic research but they are common sense tips and motivators that do not simply respond to the question!


I know my today's post topic goes back to the recurrent topic of my life.. my research and my PhD. I feel particularly sad today. After a lot of effort and time spent to get some results, there are things that simply don't work..This is, as one can imagine, very frustrating, when you plan everything, spend hours putting a lot of effort, work after hours and over the weekends and in the end there is no result meaning that all that effort was in vain.. No one cares about negative results, that cannot be published and cannot figure in a PhD thesis, so upon failure one feels that has to catch up with the time "lost" which was the time spent working a lot but resulting in nothing, and the story repeats over and over again. I cannot enjoy this! How to enjoy this?


When I left the lab today I roamed through the corridors got to the lift then went back to the lab again to check on my cells (I am a bit worried with a cell line I bought yesterday, costed almost £600 and I am afraid to death they die before I freeze them). Then I left the lab again and again roamed towards the lifts and, as usual, stared a bit at the scientific posters on the walls.. Some of them aren't good or pretty or promising or interesting but regardless of that I always wonder how much time and effort (and money) was spent to do the research that's presented there..

The fact is I just can't see the light right now, or there's no shine in the dark for me now when it comes to research (or perhaps there should be). One day there is one thing that works just fine sooner followed by a set of frustrations... and that's the vicious cycle of research, I cannot see any amusement there!
Not to mention that (quite obviously actually) , there are people that, possibly under despair, fabricate data and publish fake results in order to move on, get funded and successful, and I don't know, but I guess sometimes it must be really complicated...


I guess I was just not born for this. I am a very hard worker and I usually enjoy working a lot, having results, achieving something, I like getting compliments for my effort and so on and so on.. With research I just feel that I am in a battle with myself everyday, testing how many hours I can work in a row without collapsing in order to compensate for the frustrations. I end up doing several additional less relevant experiments that I know they work fine mixed in between the tricky ones to cope with the disappointment  (its like giving myself a carrot, although I already know that..).. And if in the end I would at least offer something great to the world... but no, I know that my contribution to the universal knowledge is smaller than a sand grain. It is sad but it is just a purely academic dissertation about a very academic topic with inexistent applicability to the humanity..

However, if you know the answer for my question, please tell me, I can't hold it much longer...

"better to be fond of beautiful girls than gay" Silvio Berlusconi today

There were a few times today I wanted to post something, and I had something to post about, but as usual my day is so busy that I just kept postponing it until now I finally got home.

I sat in the sofa and checked the news (I hadn't had time for that before either).
It was with suprise that I discovered that the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was confronted today during an interview with a question about being allegedly involved with a 17 year old girl in a private party, and to which he replied saying, in a well humoured tone (I think): "better to be fond of beautiful girls than gay" or in Italian  ''Meglio appassionati delle belle ragazze che gay".
I couldn't help but laugh!! How bad is to be gay?? Apparently the gay community was quickly prompted with anger and replied "Better gay than pig!" LOL, And they could continued and see who is worse than who.. but lets see how can a prime minister say something like that? Its quite shocking treating homosexuality as disease.. I found it very irresponsible..


Being portuguese I listened to the original video and obviously I can't believe he really said that.. Check it out:

 

I have no problem with people who say what they think, but that was a little too much, and gay people do not hurt anybody!!

HTC desire .. FAULTS .. A great phone turning into a huge deception

Unfortunately I feel I have to write about this topic as to publish my experience with my HTC desire phone since many of you may consider buying one, or because it was released a few months ago and is probably already a too old model, you maybe facing the same or similar troubles as me, then I am sharing my disappointment..

I bought this phone in April, not even 6 months ago, it was a planned decision as I had thoroughly looked into several models before I decided to buy this one.

It was absolutely alright for the first 3 months, with the exception of the battery that would not last a whole day if I would be using the phone for a bit more than phone calls, like to play a game or surf the web. In those cases it was like taking the phone from the charger at 8.30am and then at 8.30 pm it would be switching off, death without any battery, but ok..

Then it comes the SERIOUS problems..
first the volume rocker wouldn't allow me to decrease the volume but only increase it.
This fault was followed by the "track ball" button not working at all as for opening an app for example.
Then on top of that the phone started to switch off by itself without a reason! From time to time, once or twice a week I would find out that my phone was off inside my bag although I didn't touch it or it run out of battery. I would restarted and it would work normally except for the faulty buttons..
Following these already very annoying faults, it came the worst one: the automatic rebooting!! Basically that consisted of every time I was starting the phone it would go into a loop of booting without stopping, unless I just press the track ball button during the booting process (something Pedro discovered). On top of that this would also happen spontaneously, as like my phone being on my desk and all of a sudden starting the rebooting loop non stop! Freakish right?

Confronted with so many faults and trouble I went to the Vodafone shop where I had bought it from and it was sent for repairing.
It took a month before it was ready and today I went to the shop to get it back, where I was told that it was a big fault and basically all the hardware had being replaced and I was getting a "new phone".
I came home, charged the device, then switched it on and it seemed to be alright.

track ball working - check OK
Volume rocker - check OK

didn't do any of the freakish stuff.. - OK

but when I was reinstalling my apps, probably just 30 minutes after switching it on the volume rocker stopped working as well as the track ball. I tried to restart the phone and all I got was a white screen with some sort of "code"!! and it was totally frozen! Now I can't reboot it, it just shows that white panel with code and nothing else, nothing works at all!!!
How frustrating and disenchanting is this? I am really pissed off with this phone and it is very unlikely I will ever buy another HTC in my life!

Besides, after this happening today I browsed the internet for similar problems with "HTC desire" and found an enormous number of people complaining about the same problems!!!

I question.. is it only about doing fancy phones... that last what, 3 months?? We are yet there, I believe...

Sailing for life

Hello everyone,
There is always a big gap between my posts and I really dont like it. When I started this blog was because I had the will to write and the pleasure of course. However, with time part of that pleasure vanished mostly due to my routine (crazy as very very busy, focus on my bloody PhD, which is killing me, I just want to see the end of it.. and although I see it, because I have to, as I am almost running out of funding, and I know I have to finish, bla bla bla, it almost seems impossible to do it.. its a truly nightmare, and perhaps I wish I would have never decided to do it.. but the thing is.. I still do not know what I want to do for living.. I really mean it, I dont know what I want to do to support my life financially, there is nothing appealing around me, and I get frequently bored of any task or job, as it seems that as soon as I handle it - what happens very fast - it loses interest - its like a bit of a challenge in the first day, then I learn, specialize, master it and then.. its boring.. and now I may have to finish this parentheses to come to the topic of today.. which is in line with what I just said though :P)

OK so given the situation I think I found a really nice and exciting challenge that will keep me busy and happy, and eventually I may be able to turn it to a profitable business and live from it:

A while ago my boyfriend Pedro came out with this idea of sailing.. mostly (I believe) because we are in England and having a boat just sounds perfect as the sweetest escape out of the country back to our dearest Portugal. I fantasised many times us waving goodbye from the boat in incredible excitement and happiness with our mission accomplished and with our diplomas from our PhDs towards a brand new awesome prosperous life back home (ideally).

However, and although this idea still sounds great to me, I thought that having a boat could give us a lot more, and after us being wondering and dreaming about many possible sailing trips there was A one trip that could JUST really fulfil my adrenaline addiction and challenge hunting dependence - the ultimate challenge that someone possessing a boat could think of: CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE WORLD obviously!

.. And that is the plan.. Step-by-step the plan is becoming true, and since me and Pedro just had idea a relatively short time ago, everything is still in the beginning. We have so much to do.. obviously we need to learn how to sail, and we are starting that in January, already got enrolled for the day-skipper course, next we have to take an open see cruiser course, and eventually a third one, we are looking for a decent affordable sailing boat, and we frequently read and search for information on the topic. Right now one of our major issues is the budget...

Very recently Pedro added some adverts to his blog http://towardsnothing.blogspot.com/
we know it is not going to buy us the boat but any little helps, so if you like the idea (or you're simply nice to us), you could just go there and click in one of the advertising links ;))

As for the record I feel that this challenge will change my life forever and hopefully will make it better, brighter and more exciting :)) So that is why I am going to sail for life.

PS: I am also currently looking for some kind of spounsership.. we have a few plans to generate money and attract investment but if by any chance you would like to embrace this dream - or you know of who would like to -  please help us, donations, suggestions and basically any recommendations are very welcome!  

The world cup 2010 songs and the ugly truth

On the other day I was in the car listen to the radio and I heard what I thought it was the official World cup 2010 song, I though it was great and I love the song:



Ooooooh Wooooooh, Ooooooh Wooooooh
Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud
In the streets our heads are lifting, as we lose our inhibition,

Celebration, its around us, every nations, all around us
Singing forever young, singing songs underneath that sun
Lets rejoice in the beautiful game,
And together at the end of the day.

We all say

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag
When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag

So wave your flag, now wave your flag, now wave your flag
Oooohhh, Oooooooooh wooooohh, Oooooooooh wooooohh

Give you freedom, give you fire, give you reason, take you higher
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud
In the streets our heads are lifting, as we lose our inhibition,
Celebration, its around us, every nations, all around us
Singing forever young, singing songs underneath that sun
Lets rejoice in the beautiful game,
And together at the end of the day.

We all say

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag
When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag

So wave your flag, now wave your flag, now wave your flag
Now wave your flag (4x)

Oohhoooohh Woooh Ohohooooh Wooohoooh
We all say

When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag
When I get older I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag

So wave your flag, now wave your flag, now wave your flag
Now wave your flag (4x)

Oooooh woowoo ooh Wooo ooohh ooohoh

And everybody will be singing it
Oooooh woowoo ooh Wooo ooohh ooohoh
And we all will be singing it

Later after some hard research on the internet my boyfriend told me that this song is the official COCA COLA song for the world cup and not the REALLY official one which is from Shakira and which is very nice as well





You're a good soldier
Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up
And dust yourself off
And back in the saddle

You're on the frontline
Everyone's watching
You know it's serious
We're getting closer
This isnt over

The pressure is on
You feel it
But you've got it all
Believe it

When you fall get up
Oh oh...
And if you fall get up
Oh oh...

Tsamina mina
Zangalewa
Cuz this is Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa

Listen to your god
This is our motto
Your time to shine
Dont wait in line
Y vamos por Todo

People are raising
Their Expectations
Go on and feed them
This is your moment
No hesitations

Today's your day
I feel it
You paved the way
Believe it

If you get down
Get up Oh oh...
When you get down
Get up eh eh...

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa


In one of my attempts to download the first song from K'naan (waving flag), I came across another version of the song, which I confirmed that it is its original version. The funny thing is that this now popular song which everybody recognizes around the world as the world cup song was originally written as an African manifesto bringing up the big issues present in the continent and most importantly in my opinion (and what makes it more ironic), the fact that the "white" countries always manipulated the "black" ones specially with lies and fake promises. I am hoping this time the world cup in South Africa brings some prosperity to the continent though it has already been criticized that there is very little involvement of African people in the world cup so it smells like the continent is used and explored once again without African people getting any rewards, but I dont entirely belive it to the contrary I have the good feeling that things are changing for good and I cant wait to visit Africa soon (I hope it will be my next trip .. Sao tome e principe or mocambique? ) :))



Next is the original song and lyrics, now compare!!





When i get older, they'll call me freedom
Just like a Waving Flag.

[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
but Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Except no defeat, surrender retreat,

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we'll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It's not far away, so for now we say

[Chorus]

So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that's what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.

But we struggling, fighting to eat,
And we wondering, when we'll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day,
It's not far away, but for now we say,

[Chorus] 2x

(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And everybody will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And you and I will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And we all will be singing it
(Ohhh Ohh Ohh Ohh)

[Chorus] 2x

When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag,
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag

PhD Advice, possibly the best advice one can get before starting a PhD

I decided to write about this topic now that have some experience in the matter. I started this blog more or less a few months after started my PhD and now I am on my third year, so roughly 2 years are gone.

Over these two years many things happened, good and bad things, and obviously I have been realizing that I added a lot of knowledge not at the academic level alone but I am talking about living experience knowledge. This post will be all about life experience and almost nothing about the scientific content of my PhD, although it quite annoys me too...

Basically I wish I was aware of certain things I am now before I decided to start this PhD, and I hope that if you are reading this and considering doing PhD you will remember my advice :) or otherwise do not complain! ;)

First rule: Get to know your group first! This is so important, and I have been told about that, but for one reason or another I ended up forgetting to know more about the group I was going to be part of. It is really important that you like the group where you work, remember you will be there at least 3 years, the whole day, sometimes 7 days per week, you will possibly need to ask for help or one or two favours, you will be pleased to have colleagues that help you, that you identify yourself with, that you can hang out with, even if they are not or will never be your best friends, you will like to talk to them and enjoy the conversation. Remember that your supervisor must be a nice guy, in the end everything goes down to him, and he will be the responsible for you and your work, so your supervisor must be the guy that you will never feel angry with or have any problems.

So, to know the group is even more important than the subject of your PhD (actually the subject is not very important but I will come to that later). It is more important than the institution, it is more important than the place in the world. I believe that to feel happy at work with the people around it is already a very good help to get the work properly done, because you enjoy to be there, and best is when people work as a team and not like a bunch of selfish guys trying to see you is better like in a race where in the end things do not work and one feels very unhappy.

So do not forget, try to spend some time in a lab before you decide to stay there for you PhD, then you can make sure you are in the right place :))

Second rule: Supervisor success! I already said that the supervisor must be a nice guy, which is absolutely fundamental, you may not believe but that are really freaking supervisors around that can make your life a real nightmare, so be aware! Next important thing about your supervisor is he's rate of success at several levels but most importantly with publications. This is something very easy to track down, as in www.pubmed.com you can search for your potential supervisor's name and see which publications does he or she have. Be careful!! Sometimes there are people with the same name, so a quick look may make you overlook things, make sure the publications are all from the same person by for example checking the institution and the other people in the paper you will be able to track down who is working with etc... Obviously if your potential supervisor has been publishing like crazy in really good journals it is very likely that your project is going to be a success and you will probably enjoy it (but do not forget to check if the guy is nice.. it can be that he is a rubbish bastard scientist that slaves everyone in the lab to get all those papers out). By checking advisor's publications you will also be more aware of the work that is done in the lab, the techniques and methods in use, animal work and so on, so be sure that you don't chose a group that does something you are against or do not enjoy at all. Also very important is to know how many PhD students your supervisor had so far and if they all were ok, passed and published (in case there was a failure I would never go there, but that's just me)!

Third rule: Meeting with the boss! The meetings with your supervisor are very important moments of your PhD, so this advice is more for post-PhD beginning, but I decide to include it here because it is very very important. First, PhD students always think that the supervisor is watching them, or is thinking that they are not good enough maybe a bit stupid, basically in the beginning we all feel a bit overwhelmed by our supervisors, but everything we think is a myth and sooner or later we realize that... In fact our supervisors do not care that much about us.. and that's a problem because they do not remember what we discussed before, for example in the previous meeting, etc.. so meeting with your supervisor should be something very natural. please always feel or try to feel very confident when you talk to your boss, that will make you believable and you advisor will have a great (very temporary) impression of you, and probably will trust you sooner (meaning totally forget about you, which has the pro of at least you dont feel stupid anymore but the cons that you will have to run after your supervisor to have a meeting with him, otherwise he will never come to you). Most importantly, do not disregard these meetings as they are a confirmation of your success (hopefully), and usually your supervisor will guide you (if he is good) and give you ideas and tips that otherwise you would take a very long time to figure that out, and time is quite precious as it runs so fast..

Forth rule: Number of people around you! It sounds like what? but it is quite important that you are not isolated but also that you are not in a crowd all the time, so the amount of people you work with in a daily basis must be something balanced, so great enough for you to have choice, choice of friends, not to feel alone, it also helps to cope with the peer pressure, enough people to compare results with and to entertain the supervisor. On the other hand it is convenient that there are not too many people which could shadow you, or that your supervisor will be so busy taking care of them all that he will not have time for you.

Fifth rule: Institution/place in the world: Well this advice is very general, in fact the best place in the world is where you feel good, but you dont know before you stay there, so it is difficult to predict. Sometimes the most appellative place turns to be horrifying and vice versa, so here it will be very random and thats why the group is so important, because no matter where you are, if you are surrounded by the right people and nice people you will always be alright and feel good :) The institution matters a bit in terms of career for the future, so I would always look for the best ranked institutions first.

And there are some literature about it that you may want to read:

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php gives you an idea of how painful can this life be

How to get a PhD : a handbook for students and their supervisors / Estelle M. Phillips and Derek S. - gives you an extensive list of tips and advice on this topic.

Good luck and remember to be sure before you start, because then you commit to a three year nightmare or spend time till you decide to give up and start again or change your life. Nonetheless I can promise you it is not going to be easy even if you take all the advice possible!

Scientific Conferences

After a very long break in my blog writing I decided to come back at least I wanted to post something about conferences. Since I started my PhD (back in March 2008) I have attended now two conferences:
one in October 2009, in Lisbon
another one just two weeks ago in Vienna.

The second reason why I chose this topic was not really to report that but to highlight some aspects about the conferences in general..

Basically there are two aspects about them that intrigue me:
1. the people that go to the meetings!
2. the reason why people go to these meetings!

So obviously among quite a few thousand scientists all over the world, not everyone go to conferences, therefore there seems to be a criteria behind the people that choose to go, and indeed there is:

1. first type: the most common people you find at conferences are the ones that love to socialize and know that at work it does not happen that often therefore they feel the need to meet the other ones that also need to socialize. Then they attend the conferences to meet up people, to drink, gather friends and collaborations (then they have more and more excuses for further travelling). They bullshit a lot (meaning talk about everything with maximum confidence even when they are not saying anything really). I feel that I fit here! Usually in these group you also include people from industry and medical doctors. Not so often there are some supervisors and head of the lab here too.

2. second type: The super shy people that go to conferences because they have been sent by supervisors or bosses or the ones that fight the shyness of leaving the lab just because they are extremely interested in a certain topic that is being discussed at the conference. These people never hang out during the conference, they simply sit apart all the time, avoid talking, and when someone seems to be approaching they quickly manage to move or pretend to be very concentrated reading something. Usually they are not even that noticed and no one cares. They never ask questions, simply take notes, go to bed, come back next day, avoid the socials and in the end go back home, where half of them forget the conference entirely and some will remember the one talk that they thought was supposedly going to safe their life but in the end the speaker changed it or discussed it differently... These are the general frustrated ones, most of them look extremely geek.

3. third type: The super geek ones that stand out. These are usually the bosses/supervisors that think they understand everything that is being discussed, therefore they always ask questions out loud to the audience in the end of the talks. Their clothes and outfits are usually appalling, and the hair is usually forgotten to be cut or combed. However they are quite social among themselves. Do not interact very well with the first type (and obviously not with the second and no one does) but they usually criticize them because of their coolness. These are also the talkers themselves, they think they are the elite as they move the things forward having the best achievements and the best publications (which is many times true). They command and rule the conference. Eventually they show up at the socials but just to talk about science and gather with people just the same. Other type of conversation beyond science will be usually avoided unless it is extremely necessary to start a new collaboration or get some funding to the lab.

And there is no forth type, this is everyone you get at the conference, obviously there will be some mild phenotypes of each type, but you can easily spot these major ones then you go for the one that suits you best ;)

More personally I like going to conferences and I do really encourage everyone to go because it is a very good way to take the things forward (being in type 1 or 3 of course).
We cannot forget that beyond the journal papers and the editors there are people to be pleased and having good relationships with them as well as with other people, having collaborations and everything will make the life a lot easier when trying to get funded or go through the peer review process (as it is likely that the reviewers will be your friends than it is certain that your paper will go through).

Basically do not stuck in your lab forever trying to make the things work out just because you work a lot. Get out there, be social and you will find half of the work done for you ;))

And most importantly you get to travel for free and if your are lucky enough you may find a conference in Hawai :)



Poster session (my poster is the red one), Vienna, Feb 2010

The break and vote for the song of the summer 2009

This post has got the title "The break" because as you may have realized I made a break on my Blog writing up. Many of you might have thought that I gave it up, and somehow I did, but truth is that I just didnt feel like doing it, many things happened that couldn't have got my attention here but it just didnt feel like.. However, since last week I felt like sharing some other feelings and thoughts that came out to my mind, therefore I felt the will to write up here again and here I am :)
Basically last week I was away on holiday and spent a wonderful time with my boyfriend in Mallorca. The trip itself has several things to write about and I will soon detail it here, specially I have to post some criticism to the place and share some funny stuff but I dont want to rush it too much.

So I skip up the details of the break itself (if there's any) and go straight to the second part of my topic - the survey to vote for the song of the summer 2009.

This "survey", completely unofficial of course, comes from the fact that during the past week on my summer holiday I heard a lot of songs and might be good candidates for "the song of the summer 2009", so I am putting them here, I think this is a good way to start over again, a bit of an empty message, but if you´re bored just listen to them, relax and have fun ;)

1. Number One


2. Poker Face


3. Right Round


4. Takin' Back My Love


5. Boom Boom Pow


6. Any song from Michael Jackson, e.g.



Vote!

Where am I going this Friday?

Yes I am going to fly.
Yes I am going out.
Yes I am going to be happy.
Yes I am going to be home.





A to B and B to C followed by :D and yeahh and wiiii and ohhhh (Pedro!!) but wii again ;)

25 !

This post is a bit delayed because although its called 25 and today is actually the 25th this post belongs to the 23rd when I celebrated 25 years of existence (understood?!)..

Back on the 23rd, I felt very moody in the beginning but end up reasonably well. I woke up sick and tired feeling like staying in bed mourning the whole day. Physically sick, my stomach was terrible, my head dizzy and heavy, I was so depressed with being 25 that I was more in the mood of non celebration and avoid the confront with happy people saying happy birthday, like there was any reason to be happy about it...
Fortunately for the sake of me and everyone around me this mood was temporary (not as much as I would like too unfortunately though) but by the late afternoon (after two beers I may say) I stop being miserable and become happy :)

Pedro said something very true that I want to cite:
"the 25 is the best age because one is not to young so that is taking serious by everybody but also not too old to not have the excuse to misbehave a little bit ;)"

I do not only agree as I feel it and thats the real reason why I got so sad because I know, I can feel that I am currently living the best time of my life at least the most funniest one where I have got enough responsability to hold up an adult life but I still feel somehow protected by my parents as when I was younger or I feel I can still go out to every club and drink a lot and dance and party, nobody relies on me, life tastes too good, I feel that I am too passionate to my own life, therefore I just want to make sure that it is going to last forever (and I know it wont!!!) so thats my worries coming then... On the other hand all the wise elder people say that all the ages have their good points so I am hopeful that it is going to be all fun and one thing I am pretty sure is I will always try to get the most out of everything :)

Have fun, I do!

Snow trip part II

The first successful 2 meters standing up skiing:

See how unsure I was about the position of the legs and what to do with the sticks...

Trying to have a little bit of style now that I could safely stand up..



It always looks easy from the bottom but when one gets to the top... it appears like a cliff... you can find Wally on this picture too



On top of the mountain, that means that the only way to go home is to come down the hill rather skiing or randomly rolling down...

Mission accomplished!!

Thank you Pedro, it was really good fun, I loved it, I am addicted now, and I have to wait almost a year now for another time like that :) Skiing rules!