I was thinking. So, the Blood Bank. They come to my workplace with the blood bus probably every other month. I usually sign up to have my blood drawn because a) it's sort of fun, b) free cookies and juice, and c) nothing is new on Reddit. I did it initially because neither I nor my parents could remember my blood type (O+). The first time was a bunch of scary forms and people asking me if I'd had sex with any men recently. Now I have a card, and the whole process takes about 15 minutes (they still ask about the men, though).
My thought is: they have to test the blood, and for liability purposes, they have to be able to source the blood back to its donor (in the event that the donor lied about any communicable diseases, etc.). This means complex systems in place associating bags of blood and a database of users. I don't care so much that they have my information, it's necessary, and I volunteered it. What would be cool, however, is if they had a system in place to, say, email you whenever your blood was used.
I'm fairly sure there's an "expiration date" on donated blood, and in all likelihood, my blood expires before it ever gets used in a hospital (there's nothing special about my blood type). It would be fun, though, to know if it was used, if for nothing else than to solidify the association in people's minds that donating blood has an effect, and every time you donate, you might get a short email saying that your blood was used.
Preface: This is for IDKFA eyes only. PLEASE NO FACEBOOKERY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!
Hey friends, Happy February!
Just wanted to let you know, there is a special date to note in the coming year...
September 4th, 2011: The family brood grows by 1!
Yep, I'm preggo. We are an excited bunch here in Casa de Laurance, and I just wanted to share the news with our friends across the internets. I'll be letting my boss know this week, and then the news goes public on Facebook at the end of the weekend. Until then, mums the word ;).
Love ya all,
Katy and JD
If you have a TAM card, I'll meet your terms if you help me on Friday from 6pm-8:30pm ish. Message me through facebook or something.
CatLady! I need your help! Can you teach me how to make some mini pies (www.etsy.com)? WANT TOASTER OVEN SIZED PIE NAOW. Look at the adorable!
I started using Google's RSS Reader yesterday and am currently being flooded with tons of news along with reddit and other funnies. Of particular interest (besides Fallout: New Vegas DLC comming to the PC, woot!) I saw this today: Google Vs. MS(Bing) (techcrunch.com) the nut of it is Google claims they caught Microsoft stealing Googles search results. Microsoft is claiming that users that have opted-in in IE to allow this, so it really wasn't stealing. Apparently there has already been twitter name calling and posts on their respective blogs. Should make for an interesting "fight"
One thing I did take away from this though, is check your settings! Programs like IE will have these things turned on automatically, with a small checkbox during the install that you have to uncheck to not allow data mining. I'm sure Google does the same thing with all their services as they have google-analytics and a couple of ad sponsoring agencies. This goes back to the geeky tech side of me in which i spout my love of Firefox and extension like Adblock Plus and NoScript. Noscript has lots of user interaction which not everyone will like, but AdblockPlus really does remove 90% of the ads on the Internet and has no interaction once installed and configured.
/end rant
sexretary, do you have a TAM card? I need a volunteer with a TAM card. Ask Catlady for my # or email....
Heinrich the rat has been contained by raising his cage too high to jump. But I woke up two nights ago with a garter snake wrapped around my leg. And now it is missing.
In better news, I have a Crock Pot! Please, Allison, share your tortilla soup recipes! And any other delicious soup. My usual standby is vegetable garlic miscellany and I need an alternative.
Flow cytometry is like giving satan an old fashioned. Your arms even hurt after your done.
Beer is going to taste so good when this day is over.
Email correspondence with a coworker, who we'll call "Qentamungus":
Subject: Who's next?
Check out [chick]'s ring finger.
Subject: RE: Who's next?
You sly fox you! Detective Qentamungus ;)
Subject: RE: Who's next?
Erik,
Not totally true, but thanks. She said, “I am in a good mood” and held it out to see. I took it from there. Did tell her not to expect flowers quite so often.
Qentamungus is also fond of saying, "Don't let this happen to you..." whenever a conversation discusses family, marriage, pets, etc. Awesome.
It's true. Today is my Birthday. I turned 0, 34 years ago today. I hope people will be going sledding this weekend! Also I don't really expect gifts, but gift certificates are always good if people do want to give some thing.. places I like are Amazon, Threadless, Steam/Valve, Title Wave.
Catherine is having her birthday on the 2nd as well, so hot sledding action is where it's going to be at! Also make sure everybody has a good sled and warm clothes. If you didn't see the email, this site (scribbit.blogspot.com)had a pretty good write-up of the sledding hill.
Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Engineers week is just around the corner; February 20 to 26. Among others, one of the national level sponsors this year is ConocoPhillips!
The purpose of the whole thing is to encourage K-12 students (with a focus on middle schoolers) to pursue STEM careers. What's STEM mean? Why, it means Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Thanks for asking!
It kicks off with the Bayou Bash on Friday, February 18, where $15 gets you bottomless beers and a homemade Cajun buffet! Door prize drawings will be held through the night.
Throughout the week, School Presentations will be happening in Anchorage schools, where engineers volunteer to give presentations. Don't know what to present about? There are canned presentations on the E-Week website! All the hard work is already done for you!
CANstruction will be happening concurrently at the University Center. Vote for your favorite sculpture with cans in the bins placed at every sculpture! All cans, including those in the structures, go to Food Bank of Alaska! Coffman has a team with a very advanced, hi-tech, secretive design! Go see it anytime between Feb 19 through March 5!
Friday, February 25th, high school seniors can sign up for a trip to H2Oasis to get a tour of all the engineering spaces, followed by a luncheon at UAA where they can sit with practicing engineers in the community to learn what it means to really be an engineer.
Saturday, February 26 is the big final day. K-12 students can participate in the Student Competitions at UAA, which include an Egg Drop, Paper Airplane contest (winners in longest distance and best time aloft), Tower of Power, and Floatable Moatable, among others!
The big finale is the Awards Banquet, where high school seniors are awarded scholarships, MATHcounts teams are celebrated, K-12 teams display their LEGO Robotics creations, and the 2010 Engineer of the Year is awarded. Also, this year, we bribed convinced Mr. WhiteKeys to come out of retirement and educate us on the wonders of engineering. Seating is limited, make your reservations early! $50/ticket, tables seat 10, plated dinner options. Participate in the scholarship raffle to win door prizes!
"Starbucks launches largest mobile payment program in the US"
http://www.techspo...gram-in-the-us.html (www.techspot.com)
I haven't been in a Starbucks for a good long while, but I like where this is going.
Josh, didn't you think about doing this at one point? Or was that someone else? I definitely remember someone on idkfa talking about paying for their tuition in dollar bills or coins or something as a form of protest. I saw this and thought of that... http://www.nytimes....ion.html?src=twrhp (www.nytimes.com)
Libby picked out a cat; I guess it's black with some lighter stripes (I haven't seen it). Anyhow, after brainstorming names, it's going to be one of these two:
I know which one Josh would choose.
I've discovered the band Kamelot recently. Simply put, they kick ass. They're a power/symphonic/progressive metal band from Tampa. The rub is that they are huge in Europe and South America, have a former opera lead singer from Norway, a keyboardist from Germany and mix in the occasional hot soprano from a northern European country. I know Aaron and Erik have heard of them, but the rest of you should check them out. Their live album "One Cold Winters Night" is particularly good.
