NeuroSci Dominated Post

After a bit of neglecting to post anything (caused by to much running around), here's a random post. It's snowing outside, again, so I'm in no hurry to go and sort books, again. I'll start off with the more serious note concerning the future of the NeuroSci track as suggested by the brainstorming session of last Wednesday (to which 4 students, 1 ASIC member (doubling as 5th student) two teachers and a head of department showed up to). The 235 is suggested to be adapted and turned into the 100 level (using the book currently used for the 200-level). The 300-level works as it is, though there is still some question as to how HUM 333 fits in. A new 235 needs to be created, using a more advanced text book, going into more depth. A finding on the side is that the course outlines of the courses as they are offered at present, are promising, with the courses being a little disappointing.

Less serious - Links:
Finally - why women can't read maps
NOTE: It's a New-Mexico study, published in NeuroImage. Can't find the online article, so trustworthiness of the research is not determined.
It's the end of the world as we know it... again
As suggested: site on apocalyptic doom scenarios. This century the world would supposedly end a number of times, there's a nine page overview here.
How to do a psychological test - BOFH style...
When Rorschach and words association tests go bad...

First Day of the Last Semester

Breakfast: Good start - no bread. The bread truck had a (nervous?) breakdown and didn't make it to Campus. Whether there will be bread at lunch is still uncertain. Makes a nice change from the time they hit the water mains at the pedestrian gate during construction and campus didn't have water for a day. Maybe it's going to be one of 'those' semesters...

German: Enough said.

Lunch: Record queues (exit queue back up until entrance). There was bread. And Chaos.

Internet Order: Arrived after student desk told me there wouldn't be any new post today (the day on which I could mark my order as missing - as I did, only to cancel that status an hour later).

Credit card machines that don't accept credit card: After some calling and repeat calling, it finally became clear that we really did have the wrong machine. The issue can be resolved tomorrow at the earliest unfortunately. Probably that means Wednesday.

Not being in for deliveries: A (different than the usual) transport company tried to drop of some books when we weren't in. That means that we have to be there tomorrow, or go and get then ourselves.

Booksales: Queues for the first time. Wrong books sold. Some cases of sheer stupidity, others cases of the teacher not being able to decide on which book to use. Also getting yelled at, even by phone.

It is definitely starting to be one of 'those' semesters...

Last Day of the Break

It's been quiet at the book sales. Aparently a large number of people went on the ski trip. That means, with one day to go, that it will be busy today. But anyway, it's my last semester (if all goes to plan) here, so doing the sales, preparing the elections, starting my courses (German 200, Immunology 300, Multimedia 100 (instead of NeuroSci 300 - want to live a little, 5 Sci 300 levels is enough, and the council adds enough workload) and being annoyed by some people who take things rather lightly and could teach one or two things to veteran slackers is all a bit more bearable. Except for the fact that most likely I have to come back for the September sale. Too bad I don't get paid, 60 hours over the last week alone...
...And of course the PIN-machine that would accept credit cards doesn't. Aparently the supplier doesn't want us to make money for them. Customer service is a word that quite a number of companies have never heard of in this country.

Anyway: a quick news update:

Italian dies in 'Romeo' tragedy
A husband in Italy who lost hope of his wife waking from a four-month coma has killed himself - only for his beloved to regain consciousness hours later.
Why some people entice mosquitoes
Scientists believe they have discovered the reason why mosquitoes find some of us more tasty than others.

I'm working on getting images onto the blog. As I didn't get along to well with services such as Hello and Flickr, I'm trying other places. The current attempt is ImageShack. The test section is at the bottom of the blog.

A little bit of... too many small topics

This is going to be somewhat random. As time is quite short (okay, spending 12 hours a day in the dining hall lounge for the booksales is contributing to that phenenomon quite a lot...) only short little snippets.

• First of all: The best of luck to Sabrine, who is taking her driving test today at 13:00.
• Booksales: The shop area is reasonably tidy, admin is nearly up to date, the pin machines are charging (.... a bit late maybe, but we'll see). The only things missing are bags and extra paper for the pin machine.
• Randomness: 'One does not simply walk into Mortor' (Animated Gif, 1.5Mb). Hosting of the file is somewhat haphazard so it seems, so bear with me if the link dies.
• Useful: PDF creator. Open source programme that acts as a printer, but rather than printing saves the file as pdf. Advantage: works with just about any programme that has a print option. I'll add it to the other open source links in the sidebar soon...

That's all for now, 4 hours of book sales and more hours of book work to go...

On a Lighter, but not too Light, Note

The previous quiz posted was one in which you could find out what random object best represents your inner self (that was posted here). Ever since I have been meaning to post the somewhat more serious test based on the Jung Typology test. This is a short version consisting of 72 yes/no questions. Aparently this test is also used as an example in one of the psychology courses here at college as well. This one does give answers that are fairly accurate, or at least the descriptions that I have seen matched the people getting them very well. You can take the test here.

The Never-Ending Book Sale Story Part IV

A reasonably pleasant surprise to start of with: The delivery list (that arrives before the actually delivery) was longer than expected. Unpleasant surprise: Old editions with a new edition ISBN barcode sticker on the back being delivered rather than actual new editions. Stats for today:

• Requested Books: 1593 (Unavailable books deducted from last count
• Arrived So Far: 1322 (83.0%)
• Books in New Delivery: 831
• Netto Weight of New Delivery: 916.73 kg

Package assembly has not yet started (no time and no bags). Sales scheduled to start Friday, possibly even Thursday. Negotiation with the supplier about mislabeled books is due to take place.
Until that time only an official dinner and some other stuff to do...

The Never-Ending Book Sale Story Part III

This time, due to the improved overview of things, I can actually keep track of books more easily. That allows for the use of statistics! Anyone still awake after that sentence; the situation is as follows:

• Requested Books: 1671
• Arrived So Far: 491 (29.4%)
• Titles Misdelivered: 3 (Not used in other stats)
• Titles Over-Stocked: 4
• Highest Over-Stock: 43 (530%)

The computer system threw up a minor bug, which has now been fixed. The sales system should be running smoothly, extra tests will, however, take place to ensure a more accurate and hopefully faster handling of sales.
Today will probably see the computers being moved upstairs. The council site will probably go offline for a few minutes in the process, so quit hugging the chat! (okay, I admit, nobody ever uses that).

North Korean War on... Long Hair?!

Yes, indeed, North Korea is waging a war on long Hair. To quote the BBC News article:

North Korea has launched an intensive media assault on its latest arch enemy - the wrong haircut.

A campaign exhorting men to get a proper short-back-and-sides has been aired by state-run Pyongyang television.

The series is entitled Let us trim our hair in accordance with Socialist lifestyle.

The full article can be found here (opens in new window).

On another note: the blog now renders identically on Firefox and IE 6.0 (normal and smaller fontsize respectively) (Okay, ignoring differences in line breaks).

Political satire flashback

Even though the issues covered are a little out of date (well, the US has now declared that the search for WMD is over - without finding anything), they are still worth posting.

The first one to note is a Bush and Blair remix (.mov, 8 MB) of 'Gay Bar' (original clip (divx .mpg, 6MB)) by Electric Six. It's quite well done, and adds a touch to the song.
The second is a scene for a Canadian TV show 'Royal Canadian Airfarce'. This is posted by request - for the others it may clarify a few things. The U.S. presidential debate, Airfarce style (requires realplayer).

More fun when I find it. Now I'm back to tweaking the sidebar - and figuring out why the page renders differently in Firefox and IE...

And then there were only four...

Unfortunately one of the five members of the council has seen no other option than to resign. Roni will not be acting as academic representative this coming semester. An official statement, also giving some indication as to what the motivation behind this is, will be mailed to all the UC students soon. In the meantime it will suffice to say that it is not due to the 'personal reasons' the board has been known to cite - the decision to stand down is not directly related to academic or council matters. Most likely new elections for a modified position will take place February 1st. More info soon.

UPDATE: Official statement available - Click here to show
Click here to hide

Dear Students,

It is with great regret that I inform you of my resignation as ASIC's Academic Representative. Due to personal circumstances beyond my control, I must complete my studies at UC during the Spring and Summer terms, which will require that I take a full load of classes, effectively making me unable to resume my duties at ASIC. During the second week of spring an election will be held for the position of Academic Representative. I will help ease the newly elected ASIC member into his/her position, and will continue to help ASIC in any way that I can.

Over the past semester, I have both learned from and enjoyed my position at ASIC. I feel as though we have managed to change UC for the better. I have full confidence that the situation at UC will continue to improve, with ASIC at the forefront of these changes. I would like to thank anyone and everyone who helped me in fulfilling my duties, and to the student body as a whole for your patience and support.

Sincerely,

Roni Strompf

A message from ASIC:

Dear Students,

Roni's letter speaks for itself. During the last semester, Roni has tread new ground, being ASIC's first Academic Adviser, following UC and ASIC's structural changes. In defining this new role within ASIC, he has truly lived the ASIC spirit. He planned the Brainstorming Sessions, which were held at the beginning of the academic year. These have had significant impact upon communication between Students, Teachers, Tutors and the Head of Departments. Additionally, Roni has contributed his time to other projects which are coming together even now, including among others, the Interactive Classroom and the Statistics Assistants. Above all else, Roni has contributed towards ASIC's image and atmosphere.

We all regret Roni's necessity to leave the Council. All of us wish him the best,

ASIC

On a Lighter Note...

Aparently I most resemble toilet paper. Meaning:

"You are used and taken advantage of by a lot of people, including your friends. They make you be the one to clean up their messes in their life. But the only reason that this happens is because of your kindness and commitment. These are the qualities most members of the opposite sex look for, which makes you hot. Yes, toilet paper is hot. But be careful that your lover doesn't use you to their advantage, and be sure that they are not seeking too much control. Remember: Toilet paper is used by many, but is most often considered valuable when it is not there in time of need."

Seeing as I don't even know or see all the options in the answers, results may differ from reality. Find out what random object represents your inner self here. I am most compatible with socks.

The Never-Ending Book Sale Story Part II

It ended up being a waiting game. Some quick communication between the suppliers and the council in the morning and a quiet early afternoon. Unfortunately I already knew that we would be getting a third of the books at most on this round. Next Tuesday the next lot will come in. It did mean that we could actually build a storage from the books. It's amazing how many books fit into the small lounge, when you stack tables against the walls and use them as shelves.
In the meantime the USE students were literally breaking down the door of the DH, feeling justified to do so because the XS-card that they got from who-knows-where refused to let them in (as it should!). A quick shout that there was no food, and there wouldn't be any for two weeks as far as they were concerned, moved issues along a little.

The Never-Ending Book Sale Story Part I

Ahhh, new semester new chances, new unit mate (still to come, probably) and of course a new booksale. Tomorrow at least part of the books should come in, so the counting can begin. This time not in the BP area, yet in the lounge. The lounge that has, in accordance with the new security madness that we have started surrounding the booksale, just got brand new locks to which only two people have the key. The way I see it, it means that if you have one of the keys, you're probably going to be doing the most work. Interestingly enough, I have a key.

But, the confirmations have been compared with the order export, and all of them are still there. The scripts that should trace the books are done, and we have control of the lounge. Tomorrow between 09:00 and 17:00, it should all begin. Though last year that was what they told us before showing up at 08:00.

Well..., it's a start.

So, some more people on exchange, nearly as many new blogs of them keeping the world back 'home' updates. The other way round, however, seldomly happens. The last attempt I had at this reverse kind of blog stranded due to lack of maintenance, and due to having a whole lot of other things to do. So don't get your hopes up just yet, even though chances are better as this is a just type and okay it thing - no worries about layout, uploading and other issues. When I feel up to that, I'll start that, but no sooner.