Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Thursday, 6 October 2011
2-Oct BUPA Great Edinburgh Run
Sunday was the BUPA Great Edinburgh Run. I have been running for months, as part of getting back in shape and benefitting from the distance between work and home, as well as enjoying seeing some other parts of the city. I think at some point I had mentioned doing a charity run, and sure enough Taran saw a billboard for the BUPA run soon after. The official run is a 10k, but I wasn't sure I wanted to do that, though I've done some longer runs. I signed up for the 5k, and signed the kids up to do the 1.5k mini-run. Specifically, we signed up to sponsor The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, known more commonly as "Sick Kids." The Sick Kids Foundation provided t-shirts and documentation, and we duly raised about £60. Some people get very involved in fundraising for various charities-- there were runners who raised £1000 or more. But this was really something to do as a family, since Lynn and I would also both run with the kids in the mini-run.
The week leading up to the run boasted unusually good weather in Edinburgh-- the temperature broke 70F on at least two if not three days, and all was bright and sunny. On Saturday clouds arrived, and by evening a few sprinkles were falling. We hoped for the best.
Sunday morning I got up just before 7am, and sure enough, rain was pouring down, and heavy fog obscured everything more than a mile or so away. Because the race went through the city center, the bus schedule had been significantly disrupted, so taking a bus wasn't even a very helpful option, and I most assuredly was not going to take a taxi. I got the kids started on their day, and soon after Lynn was up for breakfast. I geared up my running clothes, along with a half-dead umbrella that could, in good conscience, be abandoned if circumstances required. It was about a 35 minute walk to Holyrood Park, and the umbrella made more of a difference than I expected, as only my shoes, socks, and jogging pant cuffs were soaked by the time I arrived. I found the Sick Kids tent, sorted out safety pins for my race number, used the loo, hung up my jacket in the tent, and went to the starting area. Despite the rain, the organizers had us lining up 20 minutes before the start of the actual run. There was a good group warm-up effort, accompanied by music that was far too loud, and then a short delay, apparently because there was a fire truck on the race route somewhere.
The runners were divided into either 2 or 3 waves-- I was in the second wave. The first group left, and about a minute later we were sent on our way. It was crowded at the start, and many people hadn't heeded the suggestion regarding hanging back if they planned to walk. A certain amount of bobbing and weaving was required at times.
The race route wound past Our Dynamic Earth and the Palace, and then turned South until the Cowgate. I'd started a stopwatch roughly when we got going, because I was concerned adrenaline would cause me to run the first 2 km too quickly, especially as those were the uphill segments. Sure enough, at the 1km mark on the Cowgate I clocked in at 5.30. But I felt relatively strong, and I was following a small group that seemed to be pacing just about what I wanted to run at. We ran along the Cowgate under the George IV bridge and a U-turn in the Grassmarket and then up Candlemaker row past GreyFriars to the Y intersection at the old Medical School. At the 2km mark I was just under 12:00, which was still 11:30, a bit fast since it had been uphill. But, again, I felt pretty good and was staying with the pace group. There we turned around to return on the George IV bridge, across the Royal Mile and then down the Mound. That was where we'd agreed Lynn and the kids would be if weather permitted. The rain had actually stopped just as the race started, so I wondered if Lynn would have brought the kids out, and whether I'd be able to spot them in the crowd. As it turned out, Lynn didn't drag the kids out of the warm dry house into the rain, and there were absolutely no other people there watching the race either. I raced down the Mound, the big downhill on the course, and hit the 3km mark around 17:30. At that point I stopped looking at my watch and just ran. The pace group had broken up into a couple different groups of ones and twos. I actually passed most of them on the slight uphill from Market Street to Jeffrey just before getting back onto the Royal Mile. I had wondered if I'd be able to pick up the pace in the last km. I saw the mile market and heard the bagpipes, and the last part of the Royal Mile towards the Palace is downhill, so I was able to go a bit faster. I sprinted when I saw the finish line, and, according to the race timer, finished in 25:32, which was much faster than I had planned, expected, or guessed. I felt good, picked up my goodie bag, a bottle of Powerade, a banana from the Sick Kids tent, and headed back home.
At 1pm we headed out to catch a cab for the mini-run. For once, the cab was late-- and 10 minutes made a big difference. The cabbie did a good job getting us almost to the Palace as quickly as possible, and we half-ran to the starting area, where the warm-up was already finishing. We got the kids into their trainers, I sprinted to the Sick Kids tent to drop off our bags and jackets, and then back to the starting area, and pretty much at that moment the race started.
Initially I was running with Taran, but we had assumed that Kenna would need more help (ie, carrying), so after a bit Lynn went with Taran while Kenna and I played dodge'em through the crowd. Kenna ran a funny race-- she would walk, then run, then jog, then complain about being tired, then race ahead, weave through the crowd (and it was a crowd), and then we'd hold hands and walk a bit. But she really did jog most of the race, except the block or so that I carried her, and she ran the very end to the finish line. Taran and Lynn had caught up with one of Taran's classmates, Sophia, and Kenna and I had briefly walked with Sophia's sister Elena and father Kiean, but Elena was tired and Kenna wanted to go faster, so we nearly caught up with Taran and Lynn. After the race we went back to the tent, had bananas and water, stomped through the mud pit that was the Holyrood Park field, posed for pictures for the Sick Kids Foundation Facebook page, and then started the long walk home. It was actually a really nice walk, though going the short way took us through the city streets rather than over Calton Hill, but the kids were tired enough to be predominantly cooperative, and I gave them some chocolate as incentive a couple times.
The biggest disappointment is simply that I put the kids' numbers on the backs of their shirts, partly because Kenna complained about having the number on the front and partly because I though the Foundation wanted the advertising of the shirt front. The disappointmnt is that the race organizers took lots of photos during the race, but they label them by bib number, and so we can't access them online. There were a half-dozen photos of me in the 5k, but although I know Kenna was photographed a couple times, and presumably Taran might have been as well, we can't access those.
Both kids say they want to do another run, though I don't know how much donation soliciting I'm game for. There's the "Fun Run" 5k around Holyrood Park on 23-Oct, right after we get back from Oban. That one has no age restrictions. And then there's a 5k Winter run with a 2.5k junior run that Taran could enter.
The week leading up to the run boasted unusually good weather in Edinburgh-- the temperature broke 70F on at least two if not three days, and all was bright and sunny. On Saturday clouds arrived, and by evening a few sprinkles were falling. We hoped for the best.
Sunday morning I got up just before 7am, and sure enough, rain was pouring down, and heavy fog obscured everything more than a mile or so away. Because the race went through the city center, the bus schedule had been significantly disrupted, so taking a bus wasn't even a very helpful option, and I most assuredly was not going to take a taxi. I got the kids started on their day, and soon after Lynn was up for breakfast. I geared up my running clothes, along with a half-dead umbrella that could, in good conscience, be abandoned if circumstances required. It was about a 35 minute walk to Holyrood Park, and the umbrella made more of a difference than I expected, as only my shoes, socks, and jogging pant cuffs were soaked by the time I arrived. I found the Sick Kids tent, sorted out safety pins for my race number, used the loo, hung up my jacket in the tent, and went to the starting area. Despite the rain, the organizers had us lining up 20 minutes before the start of the actual run. There was a good group warm-up effort, accompanied by music that was far too loud, and then a short delay, apparently because there was a fire truck on the race route somewhere.
The runners were divided into either 2 or 3 waves-- I was in the second wave. The first group left, and about a minute later we were sent on our way. It was crowded at the start, and many people hadn't heeded the suggestion regarding hanging back if they planned to walk. A certain amount of bobbing and weaving was required at times.
The race route wound past Our Dynamic Earth and the Palace, and then turned South until the Cowgate. I'd started a stopwatch roughly when we got going, because I was concerned adrenaline would cause me to run the first 2 km too quickly, especially as those were the uphill segments. Sure enough, at the 1km mark on the Cowgate I clocked in at 5.30. But I felt relatively strong, and I was following a small group that seemed to be pacing just about what I wanted to run at. We ran along the Cowgate under the George IV bridge and a U-turn in the Grassmarket and then up Candlemaker row past GreyFriars to the Y intersection at the old Medical School. At the 2km mark I was just under 12:00, which was still 11:30, a bit fast since it had been uphill. But, again, I felt pretty good and was staying with the pace group. There we turned around to return on the George IV bridge, across the Royal Mile and then down the Mound. That was where we'd agreed Lynn and the kids would be if weather permitted. The rain had actually stopped just as the race started, so I wondered if Lynn would have brought the kids out, and whether I'd be able to spot them in the crowd. As it turned out, Lynn didn't drag the kids out of the warm dry house into the rain, and there were absolutely no other people there watching the race either. I raced down the Mound, the big downhill on the course, and hit the 3km mark around 17:30. At that point I stopped looking at my watch and just ran. The pace group had broken up into a couple different groups of ones and twos. I actually passed most of them on the slight uphill from Market Street to Jeffrey just before getting back onto the Royal Mile. I had wondered if I'd be able to pick up the pace in the last km. I saw the mile market and heard the bagpipes, and the last part of the Royal Mile towards the Palace is downhill, so I was able to go a bit faster. I sprinted when I saw the finish line, and, according to the race timer, finished in 25:32, which was much faster than I had planned, expected, or guessed. I felt good, picked up my goodie bag, a bottle of Powerade, a banana from the Sick Kids tent, and headed back home.
At 1pm we headed out to catch a cab for the mini-run. For once, the cab was late-- and 10 minutes made a big difference. The cabbie did a good job getting us almost to the Palace as quickly as possible, and we half-ran to the starting area, where the warm-up was already finishing. We got the kids into their trainers, I sprinted to the Sick Kids tent to drop off our bags and jackets, and then back to the starting area, and pretty much at that moment the race started.
Initially I was running with Taran, but we had assumed that Kenna would need more help (ie, carrying), so after a bit Lynn went with Taran while Kenna and I played dodge'em through the crowd. Kenna ran a funny race-- she would walk, then run, then jog, then complain about being tired, then race ahead, weave through the crowd (and it was a crowd), and then we'd hold hands and walk a bit. But she really did jog most of the race, except the block or so that I carried her, and she ran the very end to the finish line. Taran and Lynn had caught up with one of Taran's classmates, Sophia, and Kenna and I had briefly walked with Sophia's sister Elena and father Kiean, but Elena was tired and Kenna wanted to go faster, so we nearly caught up with Taran and Lynn. After the race we went back to the tent, had bananas and water, stomped through the mud pit that was the Holyrood Park field, posed for pictures for the Sick Kids Foundation Facebook page, and then started the long walk home. It was actually a really nice walk, though going the short way took us through the city streets rather than over Calton Hill, but the kids were tired enough to be predominantly cooperative, and I gave them some chocolate as incentive a couple times.
The biggest disappointment is simply that I put the kids' numbers on the backs of their shirts, partly because Kenna complained about having the number on the front and partly because I though the Foundation wanted the advertising of the shirt front. The disappointmnt is that the race organizers took lots of photos during the race, but they label them by bib number, and so we can't access them online. There were a half-dozen photos of me in the 5k, but although I know Kenna was photographed a couple times, and presumably Taran might have been as well, we can't access those.
Both kids say they want to do another run, though I don't know how much donation soliciting I'm game for. There's the "Fun Run" 5k around Holyrood Park on 23-Oct, right after we get back from Oban. That one has no age restrictions. And then there's a 5k Winter run with a 2.5k junior run that Taran could enter.
Monday, 19 September 2011
The best citation EVER...
Check out the list of authors for this very cool published paper-- the online version doesn't have the full list but the published paper does...
Online
http://www.nature.com/nsmb/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nsmb.2119.html
Full paper:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/zoran/NSMBfoldit-2011.pdf
"Crystal structure of a monomeric retroviral protease solved by protein folding game players"
Firas Khatib1, Frank DiMaio1, Foldit Contenders Group, Foldit Void Crushers Group, Seth Cooper2, Maciej Kazmierczyk3, Miroslaw Gilski3,4, Szymon Krzywda3, Helena Zabranska5, Iva Pichova5, James Thompson1, Zoran Popović2, Mariusz Jaskolski3,4 & David Baker1,6
Online
http://www.nature.com/nsmb/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nsmb.2119.html
Full paper:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/zoran/NSMBfoldit-2011.pdf
"Crystal structure of a monomeric retroviral protease solved by protein folding game players"
Firas Khatib1, Frank DiMaio1, Foldit Contenders Group, Foldit Void Crushers Group, Seth Cooper2, Maciej Kazmierczyk3, Miroslaw Gilski3,4, Szymon Krzywda3, Helena Zabranska5, Iva Pichova5, James Thompson1, Zoran Popović2, Mariusz Jaskolski3,4 & David Baker1,6
Education is not a commodity...
A week or so ago the University of Edinburgh announced, following the lead of all the major universities in the UK, that it would be charging £9,000 per year for undergraduates. This is technically a bit more complicated, because that fee applies to UK students NOT from Scotland, and there is also a special arrangement in place for EU students to attend free via an exchange arrangement, so in effect this discriminates against English and Welsh students, but all that's part of a more complex political situation I'm not going to discuss.
All I wanted to note was that students have been protesting the move, which represents a significant shift for all UK higher education institutions, which used to be free to all admitted students per national policy and funding. And at Edinburgh, in the building next to the Business School, there has been a booth set up where students are handing out flyers and trying to encourage people to protest the tuition situation.
And hanging from the front of the table was a sign that stated "Education is not a commodity," which struck me as a slightly ironic message to send, when they are trying to argue that people shouldn't have to pay for it, or that different people shouldn't have to pay different amounts for it... especially next to the Business School and across the street from the Economics Dept. But maybe it's just me....
All I wanted to note was that students have been protesting the move, which represents a significant shift for all UK higher education institutions, which used to be free to all admitted students per national policy and funding. And at Edinburgh, in the building next to the Business School, there has been a booth set up where students are handing out flyers and trying to encourage people to protest the tuition situation.
And hanging from the front of the table was a sign that stated "Education is not a commodity," which struck me as a slightly ironic message to send, when they are trying to argue that people shouldn't have to pay for it, or that different people shouldn't have to pay different amounts for it... especially next to the Business School and across the street from the Economics Dept. But maybe it's just me....
Sunday, 18 September 2011
The difference between Mommies and Daddies
According to Kenna:
Kenna said: "Daddies do all the cooking. Mommies cuddle their children and never work."
After reading the Berenstain Bears "Good Better Best" book in which the Bears compete in Olympics games and the only one Papa Bear wins is sleeping longest: "Daddy isn't the best sleeper. Mommy is."
Kenna said: "Daddies do all the cooking. Mommies cuddle their children and never work."
After reading the Berenstain Bears "Good Better Best" book in which the Bears compete in Olympics games and the only one Papa Bear wins is sleeping longest: "Daddy isn't the best sleeper. Mommy is."
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Corporations and colleges, and one administrator looks a bit foolish...
The full article is worth reading, but just read to the bottom to see one college administrator look very very silly...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/business/at-colleges-the-marketers-are-everywhere.html
IT’S move-in day here at the University of North Carolina, and Leila Ismail, stuffed animals in tow, is feeling some freshman angst.
A few friendly upperclassmen spring into action.
But wait: there is something odd, or at least oddly corporate, about this welcome wagon. These U.N.C. students are all wearing identical T-shirts from American Eagle Outfitters.
Turns out three of them are working for that youth clothing chain on this late August morning, as what are known in the trade as “brand ambassadors” or “campus evangelists” — and they have recruited several dozen friends as a volunteer move-in crew. Even before Ms. Ismail can find her dorm or meet her roommate, they cheerily unload her family’s car. Then they lug her belongings to her dorm. Along the way, they dole out American Eagle coupons, American Eagle water canisters and American Eagle pens.
Ms. Ismail, 18, of Charlotte, welcomes the help. “I’ll probably always remember it,” she says.
American Eagle Outfitters certainly hopes so, as do a growing number of companies that are hiring college students to represent brands on campuses across the nation.
This fall, an estimated 10,000 American college students will be working on hundreds of campuses — for cash, swag, job experience or all three — marketing everything from Red Bull to Hewlett-Packard PCs. For the companies hiring them, the motivation is clear: college students spent about $36 billion on things like clothing, computers and cellphones during the 2010-11 school year alone, according to projections from Re:Fuel, a media and promotions firm specializing in the youth market. And who knows the students at, say, U.N.C., better than the students at U.N.C.?
Corporations have been pitching college students for decades on products from cars to credit cards. But what is happening on campuses today is without rival, in terms of commercializing everyday college life.
Companies from Microsoft on down are increasingly seeking out the big men and women on campus to influence their peers. The students most in demand are those who are popular — ones involved in athletics, music, fraternities or sororities. Thousands of Facebook friends help, too. What companies want are students with inside knowledge of school traditions and campus hotspots. In short, they want students with the cred to make brands seem cool, in ways that a TV or magazine ad never could.
“We are the people who understand what kinds of things the students will be open to,” says Alex Stegall, a Carolina junior who recruited about 20 members of her sorority for the American Eagle promotion. “It’s marketing for the students, by the students.”
It’s a good deal for the student marketers, who can earn several hundred to several thousand dollars a semester in salary, perks, products and services, depending on the company. But the trend poses challenges for university officials, especially at a time when many schools are themselves embracing corporate sponsorships to help stage events for students.
Just how far one big company — Target — has permeated this university was evident at freshmen welcome week in late August, at what students and administrators alike characterized as a touchstone party for the class of 2015.
As part of the official university program, Target sponsored a welcome dinner on a Friday. Then, on Saturday, for the first real social event for freshmen, it hired buses to ferry students to a Target superstore in Durham for late-night shopping, says Winston B. Crisp, the university’s vice chancellor for student affairs.
From the school’s point of view, Mr. Crisp says, the excursion is both social and practical. It’s a convenient way for freshmen to pick up last-minute items. Equally important, he says, is that shopping at midnight keeps freshmen away from alcohol-fueled parties on their first weekend. University administrators supervise the event, he says, and control the marketing messages.
But Mr. Crisp says he was unaware of the American Eagle effort on his campus. He worried aloud that students and parents might mistake such promotions as having the university’s imprimatur.
“They are not supposed to be using the opportunity to help people move in as a way of forwarding commercial ventures,” he said, standing near the cash registers at Target that evening, as upperclassmen handed out free VitaminWater, Combos and packages of macaroni and cheese. He added: “So it’s a bit of a dilemma.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/business/at-colleges-the-marketers-are-everywhere.html
IT’S move-in day here at the University of North Carolina, and Leila Ismail, stuffed animals in tow, is feeling some freshman angst.
A few friendly upperclassmen spring into action.
But wait: there is something odd, or at least oddly corporate, about this welcome wagon. These U.N.C. students are all wearing identical T-shirts from American Eagle Outfitters.
Turns out three of them are working for that youth clothing chain on this late August morning, as what are known in the trade as “brand ambassadors” or “campus evangelists” — and they have recruited several dozen friends as a volunteer move-in crew. Even before Ms. Ismail can find her dorm or meet her roommate, they cheerily unload her family’s car. Then they lug her belongings to her dorm. Along the way, they dole out American Eagle coupons, American Eagle water canisters and American Eagle pens.
Ms. Ismail, 18, of Charlotte, welcomes the help. “I’ll probably always remember it,” she says.
American Eagle Outfitters certainly hopes so, as do a growing number of companies that are hiring college students to represent brands on campuses across the nation.
This fall, an estimated 10,000 American college students will be working on hundreds of campuses — for cash, swag, job experience or all three — marketing everything from Red Bull to Hewlett-Packard PCs. For the companies hiring them, the motivation is clear: college students spent about $36 billion on things like clothing, computers and cellphones during the 2010-11 school year alone, according to projections from Re:Fuel, a media and promotions firm specializing in the youth market. And who knows the students at, say, U.N.C., better than the students at U.N.C.?
Corporations have been pitching college students for decades on products from cars to credit cards. But what is happening on campuses today is without rival, in terms of commercializing everyday college life.
Companies from Microsoft on down are increasingly seeking out the big men and women on campus to influence their peers. The students most in demand are those who are popular — ones involved in athletics, music, fraternities or sororities. Thousands of Facebook friends help, too. What companies want are students with inside knowledge of school traditions and campus hotspots. In short, they want students with the cred to make brands seem cool, in ways that a TV or magazine ad never could.
“We are the people who understand what kinds of things the students will be open to,” says Alex Stegall, a Carolina junior who recruited about 20 members of her sorority for the American Eagle promotion. “It’s marketing for the students, by the students.”
It’s a good deal for the student marketers, who can earn several hundred to several thousand dollars a semester in salary, perks, products and services, depending on the company. But the trend poses challenges for university officials, especially at a time when many schools are themselves embracing corporate sponsorships to help stage events for students.
Just how far one big company — Target — has permeated this university was evident at freshmen welcome week in late August, at what students and administrators alike characterized as a touchstone party for the class of 2015.
As part of the official university program, Target sponsored a welcome dinner on a Friday. Then, on Saturday, for the first real social event for freshmen, it hired buses to ferry students to a Target superstore in Durham for late-night shopping, says Winston B. Crisp, the university’s vice chancellor for student affairs.
From the school’s point of view, Mr. Crisp says, the excursion is both social and practical. It’s a convenient way for freshmen to pick up last-minute items. Equally important, he says, is that shopping at midnight keeps freshmen away from alcohol-fueled parties on their first weekend. University administrators supervise the event, he says, and control the marketing messages.
But Mr. Crisp says he was unaware of the American Eagle effort on his campus. He worried aloud that students and parents might mistake such promotions as having the university’s imprimatur.
“They are not supposed to be using the opportunity to help people move in as a way of forwarding commercial ventures,” he said, standing near the cash registers at Target that evening, as upperclassmen handed out free VitaminWater, Combos and packages of macaroni and cheese. He added: “So it’s a bit of a dilemma.”
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Today at work...
I did absolutely nothing that was on my "to-do" list. Instead, there was a rapid response requirement on a grant application, an administrative hangup on a course I'm teaching in January, scheduling dissertation supervision sessions for undergraduates, a variety of other random administrative emails, and so on. To be clear, I enjoyed the day, but it was fascinating to see the hours go by while hitting "Dismiss" on the various to-do reminders I'd set up for the day...
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