a couple things Aug 11, 2010

I listen to Pandora in the lab at work regularly as I'm running my experiments. I have quite a variety of artists in my playlists, but I made a new one based on Dave Brubeck, and I love it so much that I haven't listened to anything else. I like Pandora, but I love what they offer in the Dave Brubeck genre. They play plenty of Brubeck, but also other great stuff. Music I can leave on in the office and the lab all day that no one gets sick of, yet.

After I finished last night's book report, I dove into the next one by Bradley Wright, a sociologist at my alma mater, UConn. His book is Christians are Hate-filled Hypocrites...and other lies you've been told. I hated statistics when I took at UConn, but I use them at work now, and I love a book full of statistics, like this one. In pharmaceutical trials, my company has to recruit thousands of volunteers in the 3rd phase of drug development, to prove to the FDA and other regulatory bodies around the world that the effects seen in smaller trials are indeed reproducible in larger populations. This is called statistical power. Whereas, headline grabbing statistics about the demise of Christianity are underpowered, Wright presents data from large studies that track over decades. Stuff like that gives me warm fuzzies. As the title suggests, the headline grabbers, don't necessarily agree with the very large religious surveys. He has a great blog as well.

I love this recipe I found in a jiffy to get the skunk stink off my dog. The short answer, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, some dish soap, and warm water. She's still outside on a very short leash drying off right now. Has someone invented anything to spray in the air around the house?

Composed while listening to some great piano jazz.