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August 18, 2006
Peter Frishauf, I'm talking to you, as well as all Terra Sig readers who were so helpful on the CD ripping issue last week. So, if I may be so bold (heck, it's my own blog, right?), I'd like to ask my tech geek readers another two questions because I can't make heads or tails from the Palm Treo…
August 17, 2006
Just cleaning out the day job e-mail account early this morning and came across something, I should've posted this a month ago when FDA sent me this release. There are obvious problems with US federal regulation of dietary supplements related to lack of proven efficacy, bioavailability of purported…
August 15, 2006
So, we're finally turning around some of the darkness that has surrounded this blog since late June. I'm deeply appreciative of all who've come out to support my student and former lab intern, Jen, who is riding in her brother's memory in the Philadelphia LIVESTRONG 100-mile bike ride for the Lance…
August 14, 2006
She could've joined the lab of a Nobel laureate at Yale. She picked me instead. This is my thank you. Regular readers may recall my post earlier last month about the tragic, heart-wrenching loss of the brother of my former student, Jen, a Morehead Scholar and sophomore at the University of North…
August 13, 2006
Before we embark on another edition of The Friday Fermentable, the Pharmboy and everyone at Terra Sig sends out their best wishes to actor, Robin Williams, and his family. Mr Williams' publicist announced earlier this week that the Academy Award-winning actor and brilliant comedian has checked…
August 11, 2006
Welcome feminist bloggers and commentors from Coturnix's guest post at Echidne of the Snakes. Howdy, folks. Let me introduce myself. I'm the guy who got this discussion started at Terra Sigillata, where Coturnix's home blog is hosted by ScienceBlogs.com. Short story is that I asked a rhetorical…
August 10, 2006
A quick question while my brand science has me staring either in a microscope or at my navel: What is the forecast for this year's Perseids meteor shower around the world? Of course, I'm personally more interested in the northern hemisphere but I am blessed with a good number of colleagues and…
August 8, 2006
Everyone remembers something different about him. I remember his beautiful long hair. He was a good ol' boy. A man's man. The goodest of the good ol' boys. His was the pickup you wanted to see if you were broke down beside the road. He could fix any damn thing. But he also had beautiful long…
August 7, 2006
...all without being perceived as capitalistic, misogynistic, or otherwise demeaning to women? This is an open thread for y'all because I have to go to a funeral and won't be able to oversee the discussion today. I brought this point up over the weekend with my ScienceBlogs.com colleagues and it…
August 6, 2006
This week's focus: What to do with all of that extra tequila lying about, especially during a nationwide heat wave. Well, I've been out of touch with PharmMom and PharmStiefvater as of late, so this edition of The Friday Fermentable is dedicated to them in their new, year-round home in the Land of…
August 6, 2006
My dear techie peeps, for those of you Windows folks, what CD ripping software do you use to put stuff on your iPod and why? I've got a ton of CDs I have yet to rip and wanted advice before I get started. One is always tempted to use the .wma default application, but I've tended to like .mp3 apps…
August 5, 2006
Driving back home from the beach yesterday through the very red part of the state that surrounds my very blue hometown/county: License plate on white Mazda Miata: THX GOD! Bumper sticker on said Miata: "Support the Troops, IMPEACH BUSH" Perhaps they just need to pray a little harder?
August 3, 2006
Thanks to all for coming over and sharing your MTV memories earlier this week. Our SciBling editor and cat-herder, Katherine, came across with a very vivid list of great memories and Orac was able to bitch about being ever so slightly older than me. Then, Karmen surprised me by intimating that…
August 3, 2006
Let me just say that I love Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend and Pandagon. "I'm black, I'm a lesbian, I'm in the South, and I have lived in the North. I represent different constituencies that aren't well-represented in the blogosphere," says Spaulding, an information technology specialist with…
August 2, 2006
SciBlings Alex Palazzo (The Daily Transcript) and Mike the Mad Biologist have both held forth recently on Robert Weinberg's editorial in Cell. Weinberg, one of the big daddies of early oncogene research and mentor to some of the best cancer researchers of my generation, expressed his fears that…
August 1, 2006
While I'm procrastinating on a really important herbal medicine post and this other thing they call a 'day job,' I just learned via my bud at the New York Daily News, Michael Huff, that today is the 25th anniversary of the launch of MTV, the pioneering US music program on cable television. There…
July 31, 2006
Interesting timing: former US National Cancer Institute director and current acting FDA commish Dr Andrew von Eschenbach is about to go before the Senate tomorrow regarding his nomination for the permanent position. You know that he was going to get reamed over FDA's delay of over-the-counter…
July 30, 2006
After being prompted by GrrlScientist and Prof John Lynch, I took this test again remembering that I scored in the 79th percentile before we joined ScienceBlogs.com. The results page states further that, "it's time to apply to MIT," but after the Tonegawa/Karpova thing, I'll stay with my land-…
July 30, 2006
If posting frequency is any indication, regular readers might be able to tell that the last two or three weeks have not been the highlight of my life. And, thankfully for you, I've kept much of it off-blog because of the unique personal identifying characteristics than prevent me from being too…
July 30, 2006
I very rarely post directly on issues of politics outside of science policy, biomedical research funding, or political interference in the scientific process. However, the came in last night from frequent Terra Sig commenter and all-around kool lady, Anjou: This is great... THIS IS A MUST WATCH…
July 28, 2006
Welcome to our 2nd installment of The Friday Fermentable, Terra Sigillata's Friday fun-blogging feature. You can read our mission statement at the original post last week, but the goal, briefly, is to celebrate the particular class of natural products that result from the yeast-based fermentation…
July 26, 2006
This week's 'Ask A ScienceBlogger' focuses on reports such as those in National Geographic and DailyKos that global warming is having, and will progressively have great influence, on wine grape-growing. The idea is that grapes grown for premium wine production are much more sensitive to climate…
July 25, 2006
If you read any sort of science blogs, you may remember when Pharma Bawd at Moment of Science burst on the scene in Feb 2006 at with her pathway of metabolism of evolution information. Reading about enzymes like Respectful Insolence Discreditase and PZ Myers' Professional Smackdownase literally…
July 24, 2006
There was really nothing more I could add last week regarding all of the turmoil at/about the US Food and Drug Administration in the aftermath of the much-debated survey results, as covered by my SiBlings and elsewhere last week. A good many of us have colleagues and former classmates who work at…
July 23, 2006
Reading the paper this morning reaction to murder charges being brought against a New Orleans doctor and two nurses post-Katrina makes me want to read a little more into the facts of the cases. However, my SiBling, Prof Shelley Batts at Retrospectacle, points out correctly that the circumstances…
July 21, 2006
Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Friday Fermentable, the end-of-week fun feature of Terra Sigillata. As I was on vacation and sick last week, I did not accomplish my goals of wine and beer tasting to share with you specific recommendations this week. So, let us take this week to explain…
July 20, 2006
Being part of a family with a high penetrance for both depression/anxiety and migraines, I can't tell you how many times I've asked docs and pharmacists whether it is safe to take a "triptan" class migraine drug (e.g. Imitrex, Zomig) while taking maintenance doses of a SSRI or SNRI class…
July 20, 2006
Is it me or does anyone else feel like Terra Sigillata is becoming ScienceBlogs.com-version of the obituaries section of your local newspaper? This just in from the NCI Cancer Bulletin: Dr. Robert B. Dickson Dies at 54 Former NCI investigator Dr. Robert B. Dickson died on June 24, in Kensington,…
July 19, 2006
While we're on the topic of death and acknowledging that 70-ish is a life well-lived, I'd note that experimental pharmacologist and legendary gonzo journalist, Dr Hunter S Thompson, would have been 69 yesterday. His widow, Anita, keeps a blog at their fortified Owl Farm estate and posted this…
July 19, 2006
This is growing tiresome and painful. I have a wonderful physician-scientist research collaborator who, God bless her (or your own personal God-equivalent), takes care of little people with cancer. You'd think that a person who chooses this line of work would get a frickin' karmic break, right? I…