noodlemaz's posterous

Hello everyone

If I have directed you here it's essentially because I'm lazy and don't want to keep explaining this lots of times; sorry that's rather impersonal but I figure this will save me some time and a bit of stress; both useful.

You probably know I'm (still) doing my PhD and it's coming to its end, finally. I don't have much time left and still have a lot to do, as is usually the way with postgrads.

Now I am trying to send off an article about the work I've been doing for the last 2-and-a-bit years, hopefully get that published while I'm writing my thesis, which needs to cover what I've been doing since 2007.

As you can imagine, that's a lot of stuff and to say I've been worried about it for a long time is a huge understatement.

I've had various things to deal with since I finished uni and people know about those to varying degrees- I'm not going into detail here as it's not the place for it. Suffice to say when this is done, it will be just about the biggest relief and sense of accomplishment I've ever felt. I'll invite you to one of the many parties, I'm sure.

I'm not trying to say that my problems are the biggest out of anyone I know, that would be completely untrue, nor that I really require tonnes of sympathy; I'm alright! Just a bit of understanding.

The point is, please don't be offended if I decline invitations, snap or am otherwise uncharacteristically rude, get a bit rubbish at replying to things etc.

I am going to try to knuckle down over the next few months - I have no choice in the matter! And this will mean reducing my socialising significantly. Not entirely, as I don't want to lose all my marbles. But what I do do will be what I decide is most enjoyable (and distracting)/interesting and, importantly, easy to get to and back from.

I don't live in central London any more so apologies that crashpad is no longer available!

In summary: I'm really stressed. Please don't be offended by my silence/shoutiness/hermit lifestyle. It will pass, I hope, by mid-late Summer.

As usual email is quite a good way to get me, or facebook, text, twitter. I might have a twitter break at some point actually.

So yes - I'll be re-sending this to everyone who asks me what's up, why can't I attend X and so on.

Cheers!!

M x

OK for nearly a week [edit: over a month now, still adding new texts/calls in the comments bevlow] I've been getting a load of spam texts from 'various' loan companies and the like, it's really getting on my nerves now.

It's always a different number so I can't just block it. This post suggests forwarding them to your network provider for free (to 7726) but you need to add the number and when you have tonnes of messages, this is as tedious as receiving them.

I deleted the first 5 or so, then kept them. Here they are:

(Obviously my name is neither Lisa nor Laura. Edit: Ms Walsh of Coventry Street, if you exist, your typo or deliberate entering of a 'fake' number is slap-worthy. I despise you from afar.)

Sat 7/01/12 17:29

+447742616210

Hi its Katie. Did U know we at PLF have been voted Best Unsecured Broker 2011. Visit www.PLFinder.co.uk use Ref3041893 to see what lenders have accepted your loan

Sat 7/01/12 19:16

+447742616243

Lisa laura, your loan is still accepted visit www.PLFinder.co.uk use Ref:3041893 to see who can offer you your loan

Sat 7/01/12 19:47

+447742616220

Hi its Katie. Did U know we at PLF have been voted Best Unsecured Broker 2011. Visit www.PLFinder.co.uk use Ref3041893 to see what lenders have accepted your loan

Sun 8/01/12 07:21

+447742616283

Lisa laura, its Katie. PLF has lenders who can have finance in your account in 1hour, view your loan results now at www.plfinder.co.uk use Ref: 3041893

Sun 8/01/12 08:54

+447742616286

Hi its Katie. Did U know we at PLF have been voted Best Unsecured Broker 2011. Visit www.PLFinder.co.uk use Ref3041893 to see what lenders have accepted your loan

Sun 8/01/12 14:48

+447624812967

Finalise your loan application, please visit 247Moneybox.com and enter your Personal Load Code HGKHSF – If received in error or to optout txt STOP

Mon 9/01/12 12:33

+447547117663

Hi Lisa Laura, Get your £100 - £1000 funds today only. No checks, No fees. Visit www.cashrunner.co.uk

Mon 9/01/12 13:32

01618502618

Hi Lisa laura, It’s Sam. I have great news! Pls ring 0161 850 2618 ASAP so we can complete your loan. This is for Cash Finance Direct. txt stop 2 end

Mon 9/01/12 14:47

01133207454

Hi Lisa Laura, call 0113 320 7454 immediately please. We received your application and need to speak with you now to complete your loan. txt stop to end.

Tue 10/01/12 10:01

+447414526361

Hi Lisa Laura, pls visit www.cashcow4.co.uk/cwppt immediately regarding ur recent loan application. Valid for 24 hrs. txt STOP 0176 2 end

Tue 10/01/12 11:07

+447707268966

URGENT: Records passed to us show you are entitled to £2370 in compensation for the mis-selling of PPI on your credit cards and loans. For details reply PPI

Thurs 12/01/12 13:53

01143032427

Hi Lisa Laura, It’s me James. Pls ring 0114 303 2427 ASAP. I have good news about your loan. This is for Cash Finance Direct. txt stop 2 end.

 ---

There appears to be some kind of CFD staff member on this thread

but I absolutely refuse to send my number thus confirming the existence of my phone and probably encouraging them to spread my number around further. For now I will forward them as spam and hope they get bored soon. Groan.

Edit: http://www.plebble.com/listing120666/cash-finance-direct-horizon-finance/

One posts suggests contacting them via their email address. I do not particularly want my email inbox to be filled with their spam as well.

OFT licenses these companies? Why can't we complain about them even if we *haven't* been stupid enough to run up huge phone bills by calling these numbers? What a crock. 'Just check your messages to see how to opt out, which could take up to 5 days' - no I am not texting STOP or STOP YES to anything. There must be a way to sort this out.

I know I keep saying I shouldn't read the Metro because it makes me angry.

Well, I did it again, and I got angry. Again.

This time it was an article about the horrible murder of Joanna Yeates and one of the defences her murderer has apparently put forward.

Miss Yeates invited Tabak – a neighbour – into her flat after he walked past her window

OK, sometimes people do this, if they've been out, and they'd like to have a conversation. Pretty normal stuff.

Their meeting, like that night, like what followed, was unplanned and it was pure chance.

Well I'd argue that strangling someone to death isn't "chance", it's a conscious decision - not even a split-second one really, but whatever. The article describes a situation in which he moved in to kiss her, thinking that's what the whole thing was about. It wasn't, she refused, she apparently screamed (though this also seems fishy to me but I'm not on the case so won't go on about it).

Now: "normal" person is naturally immensely embarrassed. You apologise, probably talk some nonsense, then likely go home. Or if you're better acquainted, maybe move past it - something to that effect.

In this case, in his "panic" he ends up strangling her.

I've been talking with some people about this article and the way it's phrased. From the headline down, it just seems like it's making excuses for him.

Oh, men these days don't know what to think! Silly girl inviting someone into her house for goodness' sake. Why wouldn't he think she wanted something more than a chat?

That might fly up to a point. But what happened after all that is the issue here - he killed her. Trying to kiss someone is not a crime, but that most definitely is.

Someone commented:

Misreading sexual interest has absolutely no bearing on the actual crime at hand. This guy isn't some misunderstood victim - with all respect to poor Joanna Yeates, it's irrelevant and it's a f*cking smokescreen. Poor guys, being misled by women, they never know where they stand. One minute she's leading you on, the next minute, you're so confused and panicked by her not wanting to kiss you that - Oops! You've killed her! But hey, it's OK. You misread the situation. - L. Hearts

Indeed.

What I'm thinking is that Mr Tabak is lucky we're not living in Texas, or California during the depression. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie is a heavy-handed man with the mind of a child. He always ends up killing his pets. He "don't mean 'em no harm" but he causes suffering and death because he doesn't know any better. He even accidentally kills someone's wife; she wouldn't stop screaming when he scared her.

Spoilers: in the end, they shot him, because he was a danger to himself and to others.

Well, Tabak ain't no Lennie, he needs to take responsibility for his actions, which are pretty unjustifiable as far as we can see, and the media need to stop acting like Ms Yeates is somehow, in any way, to blame for what happened to her.

All too often we see women blamed to varying degrees for the crimes committed against them. Whether it's a stoning for extra-marital rape, a poster telling women to be careful when they're drinking because 'alcohol is involved in x% of rapes', your friend's friend saying "well she was wearing that sexy outfit and was all flirty"...

These are not reasons or excuses for violence against women and please, British media, stop pretending that they are, stop blaming women for what befalls them, perhaps then, slowly, the culture will begin to change and we'll start blaming and reprimanding the people who are actually at fault.

Edit: and this is why I read other papers that make me far less angry (most of the time).

Hello internets.

I'm wondering if you can help me out with something here.

First a bit of background, then the task I shall set you...

---

So, back in August I went to Beautiful Days festival with my sister. We went for the first time last year and absolutely loved it so we decided to make it our summer camping, music and boozing trip.

Having had a pleasant stop-off in Exmouth beforehand, which involved immensely tasty mussels and a rather painful 11-mile cycle ride, we set up camp at Escot Park, Devon, ready for the musics and cider.

Sadly, having chosen a place almost exactly where we were the year before, some teenagers decided to pitch their tents next door to us.

They turned out to be the most annoying bunch of little wankers I've ever had the misfortune of encountering.

Clearly on one of their first trips away from the parents, they decided to sit at their tents all day drinking cans of nasty beer and saying inane things that to them probably passed for conversation.

Now, people can festival however they like, of course. But this went on until 4-6am every night well after everyone else had gone to bed. Beautiful Days is a family-friendly festival with specific areas for people who want to be noisier (near the main stage), people with babies and so on. They were in the general bit.

Last year we had no trouble from anyone; the screaming children were non-existent (anyone whose parents take them to a folk/punk/rock festival are going to turn out a bit cool, methinks) and the teenagers were few and pretty inconspicuous.

This lot, however, thought it was brilliant to smoke so much weed they couldn't even be sure how much they'd had (amg drugs are so awsm! I bet it was actually just grass in their case most of the time, people'd see them coming a mile off), and get so drunk they ended up sleeping with each other in a variety of combinations and leaving stuff around the tents I'm not going to describe because it was very nasty.

Again, I don't really care what people do in their tents to be honest, but they had to announce it to everyone at the tops of their voices in the middle of the night

It's ok, our tents are soundproof! HAHAHAHA

No, you dick, they are not, nor are you in any way amusing.

We ended up having to sleep in the Tea and Empathy Festival Welfare tent (which is brilliant; books, newspapers, cushions and a table of multicoloured nail-polish, plus free tea/coffee if you want it and some nice chatty people around making sure you're alright) because we got next to no sleep thanks to this lot.

You ruined my festival quite significantly, you bastards.

---

So, internets, here is your challenge.

This group of ingrates were local (heard them saying about parents coming to pick them up) so Devon, Exeter/Honiton/Feniton sort of area.

They had names like Imogen, Owen and so on, and one of them (who ended up in various tents from what I could tell) was called Molly Jacobs.

One of them ended up sleeping outside the tent in a camping chair in her shorts, long socks and a hoodie - while it was August, it was freezing and by the morning she was covered in dew and, I presume, developed some mild hypothermia. Can't say I was particularly sympathetic, mind.

Please find these people for me. All of us (apart from a few people who shouted/swore at them in vain) are too English to go and kick the shit out of them as they well deserved at the time, so I want to shame them in this way instead.

When you grow up, boys and girls, maybe you'll find a festival you can go to where you can, you know, listen to some bands? When you're fed up of puking 'til you pass out and hangovers and the shame of shagging your ugly little classmate the night before, you can join the rest of us in the real world.

Thank you for your assistance, internets - it's been a pleasure working with you.

OK there's a silly article doing the rounds at the moment saying that some research group has found the cure to cancer and it's a simple, freely-available chemical that messes with aerobic/anaerobic respiration.

The article is mostly nonsense, with some bits of basic biology thrown in that make a small amount of sense on their own, but not in the way they're cobbled together here.

I wrote this on a friend's facebook post after they called me to come and have a look:

1. glycolysis does not immortalise cells by switching off the apoptosis (cell death) mechanism, that's BS.

2. cells become transformed (potentially cancerous) for very many reasons, the mitochondria aren't usually directly involved, though suppression of apoptosis is one of about 7 conditions that need to be met for cancer to occur.

3. Metastasis (the process of cancer cells leaving the original tumour and travelling to elsewhere in the body, forming new tumours) is not due to lactic acid production. This is crap.

4. mitochondria aren't 'human cells', they are human cell organelles; there are many within our cells. They produce our energy. Wikipedia can tell lots on those but whoever wrote this clearly doesn't have a clue

5. DCA may well be a useful chemotherapeutic agent in some cases, but one paper showing it kills some cancer cells in a dish and maybe shrinks rat tumours is not enough to trumpet to the world that there's a cure for cancer. Our lab wrote a similar paper last year; it's just one of many findings that needs to happen before a drug gets taken seriously, and if something is widely-available and non-patentable, it may not be grabbed up by Pfizer and co. but that doesn't mean other people won't still work on it (see curcumin/turmeric, for example).

---
Overall, the article is rubbish, ignore it!!

---------------------------------------------------------

Let us not forget that many people are living examples that we can and do cure cancer. Particularly some forms of leukaemia, breast cancer, skin cancer - surgical techniques, chemo and radiotherapy have come a very long way in the last 50-60 years, since DNA was discovered and we started to learn a lot more about this hugely varied set of diseases.

There is no cure-all, however, no magic bullet. Cancer is hugely complicated and depending on where it is (what kinds of tissues and cells are involved), what caused it (cancer can have a hereditary - genes inherited from parents - basis but it can also be completely due to the environment, but most often a combination of the two) and which mutations are involved, amongst other things. It's not one disease but many. Some forms like certain brain tumours, pancreatic and ovarian cancer are still very deadly. Others aren't necessarily a death sentence.

People are working all over the world on all the kinds of cancer we know about, from understanding things at the cellular level up to making and optimising drugs and testing them on people, all the way to surgeons, doctors and nurses looking after the patients.

Everyone is affected by it, and recently I commented on a post by Hayley Stevens about how offensive it is when the alt-med conspiracy crowd accuse 'the man' of suppressing cancer cures.

There are some, they're out there. We're looking for better ones. But be wary of miracle cures; they're a waste of time and money.