Author: cdwan

Kittens.

Most yard tasks can be accomplished using:

* Sledgehammer
* Axe
* Shovel
* Wheelbarrow
* Much sweat

The last bit there is the key. Time spent thinking about how to remove a stump is time not spent flailing at it with an axe.

It was an adventure filled day.

First, a car burned to the ground in front of us

Stolen from too many sources to count.

1. Open up your media player or winamp or ipod or whatever, set it to shuffle
2. Skip through the first 25 songs and list them.
3. Add “in my pants” to the end of each song title.
4. bold your favorites.

I omitted all the classical selections, because while “Vivaldi in my pants” or “The Rite of Spring in my pants” make me giggle, I don’t think that that’s really in the spirit of the thing.

The List

Pope Cap from Bob the Angriest of Flowers.

You go looking for something on the internet, you find it: Pope betting odds.

Here’s what I’ve learned about travel to China and India. We’re making good progress on getting the letters of invitation, after which I begin FedExing my passport around.

Both countries require that you obtain a visa before your trip. There are no facilities at the points of entry for granting visas, and travelers arriving without one will be deported at their own expense. In each case, I need a “Business Visa,” which permits me to do business with a “sponsoring organization” in the country.

India:

One can obtain a visa to visit India either by visiting the embassy (Washington DC) or a consulate (New York) or by mail. If you show up in person, you can get your papers back the same day. If you mail it in, you should expect processing to take 2-3 days, plus whatever time your passport spends in the mail.

Required:
– Filled out form (available as PDF)
– 2 passport photos
– original passport
– fee, no personal checks. Cash or money orders only. No large bills. For a six month Business visa, the fee is $60. For a ten year business visa, the fee is $150.
– A letter from the sponsoring organization indicating the nature of the business and the duration of stay.

China:

One must go to the correct consulate. In our case, New York. Documents will be ready on the fourth working day. For $30 extra, they offer same day pickup. Applications are not processed by mail. You are instructed to “entrust your documents to a representative” if unable to come to the consulate in person.

Required:
– Filled out form (available as PDF)
– 1 passport photo
– original passport
– fee, no personal checks, no credit cards. Double entry is $75. 6 month $100. 24 months $150.

Oh yeah: Any person suffering from mental disorder, leprosy, AIDS, venereal diseases, contagious tuberculosis or other such infectious diseases shall not be permitted to enter China.

Singapore requires only a US passport. Singapore is therefore equivalent to Canada.

It’s the last verse that gets me, today.

Lyrics here

You won’t find it on any newsstand, but if you go to a sufficiently geeky conference, you might find a copy of Cluster World. Look at the March issue, and there’s my article!

A Roll-Your-Own Bioinformatics Grid
Chris Dwan
Sometimes you just need to roll up your sleeves and get it done. A small bioinformatics research group did just that when they needed more cycles for their users. Join Chris Dwan as he shares his experience building and running a grass roots bioinformatics grid.

Interesting that I never saw a pre-print or anything like it. Come to think of it, I never saw my check for the article either. Excuse me, I need to go bust some heads.