Who are you?

I do find personality testing things quite fascinating in a 'but I don't put too much faith in them kind of way'. According to Personal DNA (how could I resist a title like that?!) I'm a considerate analyst. The different coloured blocks (see below) represent the degree to which certain traits apply. Thus, scrolling over them tells you I have, apparently, 'low spontaneity', 'slightly low femininity', 'average masculinity', and 'average confidence'. None of those surprise me particularly, but I don't know what people who know me would make of it.

Considerate Analyst

I came across another test via a science site the other day that tries to assess the extent to which your character resembles that of someone with some degree of Asperger's syndrome. Starting from the premise that scientists/geeks seem to have an inclination towards that direction.

The results to this one don't come in a pretty chart but were quite interesting, yet unsurprising, nonetheless. I scored 22, which ranks me below 'Average Math contest winner'(24) but higher than Average male or female computer scientist (21), Average male scientist, and average male or female physicist (19) Average man (18) Average female scientist (17) Average woman, and average male or female biologist (15).

So essentially, neither of these results told me an awful lot about myself that I hadn't already surmised, although I do think of myself as being fairly self aware, which is a trait in itself. I guess these sort of things could be useful (other than in a procrastination capacity) if you felt you didn't know a lot about yourself, or had changed a lot (I know I would have answered some questions rather differently a few years ago), but these sort of things only take a snapshot of a person outside of the context of some of their environment. Essentially, I think if you like the results one can say, 'How true', and if not, then happily take them with a pinch of salt! Who a person is will never be completely uncovered by a quiz, and I think it's important to define oneself by a number of other things...

Other collections of everyday minutiae

One of my reasons for starting my street review guide was to celebrate the minutiae of life. To highlight the little things that people accidentally miss, deliberately ignore, take for granted or consider not worthy of comment. I've been on the lookout for others with a similar mindset. Here is some of what I've found (Health warning: some of the following may not be suitable for nerd-allergy sufferers)

10,000 Birds (yes, ornithology, in case you were worried)

A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down (Reviews of all things biscuity)

Art of the State (I'm hoping they'll help me identify my mystery graffiti)

Bog Blog (yes, really)

Boring Postcards

Classic Cafes

Cupcakes Take the Cake (I know someone who'll like that one!). And also Blognut (all about doughnuts)

Ghost Signs

History of the Button ("Tracing the history of interaction design through the history of the button, from flashlights to websites and beyond.")

Literally, A Web Log

London Review of Breakfasts

Passive-Aggressive Notes

Smells of the Day

It takes a certain type of person to devote themselves to recording such things. I'm not sure what sort of person that is, but I had assumed that I was one of them. Having said that, it seems my focus is positively broad and unspecialised compared to some! Here's to all those who care!

Ginger

PS. I should also namecheck Grow a Brain who/which(?) I found by Googling 'unusual blogs' and pinched a couple of these sites from their archives.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

But who can say that they've ever needed a device to turn their electric hand whisk into a power tool?

One of many wonderful offerings from a blog I discovered today that seems to chronicle a history of bizarre inventions. Have a look at Modern Mechanix, and have a chuckle.

Slow progress

BBC NEWS Entertainment Queen star set to hand in thesis

Oooh. Hope for me yet.

Something to work on

As the first anniversary of starting my PhD draws very close (gagh!), I've realised that, whilst I am committed to what I'm doing, I still have a long way to go as far as being a good technician goes. There's certainly a bit of a discrepancy between what I write in my lab book and what it will need to look like in a paper one day. For example:

"Sample X – not entirely great

Slide messy – wash went a bit awry "

Precision. Yes, that's what's needed.

Ginger's Guide to London Streets: Photos

It occurs to me that if I carry on being as snap-happy as I have been for the last couple of installments of my guide, it won't be long before I reach the limits of how much I'm allowed to upload onto this blog. So I've decided to set up a Flickr photostream to accompany the series. It can be found here. Happy browsing.

Not so white coats

People go into scientific research for different reasons. Some people in response to an intellectual obsession. Some because they want to Make a Difference^TM. Contrary to what old horror films would have you believe, few people go into it for nefarious purposes. So I did feel some degree of pity when I learnt about the unfortunate Thomas Midgely Jr., an American scientist who not only developed CFCs, but also put the lead in petrol!

It's quite something to make one discovery that has damaging consequences, but two is a little excessive. (For the uninitiated, CFCs are the refrigerants that have damaged the ozone layer, and leaded petrol contributed to air pollution). Mind you, whilst Alfred Nobel's regret that his invention of dynamite earnt him the moniker 'The merchant of death' prompted him to create the famous peace prize, Midgley didn't seem to do much to extricate himself from promotion of leaded petrol, even though he himself experienced the negative health effects. Ironically, it was one of his other creations that resulted in his death; having contracted polio, he created a pulley system to aid him in getting in and out of bed, which unfortunately resulted in his strangulation a few years later.

It can be difficult to predict the future implications of scientific endeavour which appears to be morally and technically sound at the time. I feel that scientists do, however, have a responsibility to try to act if it turns out that unexpected harm is a consequence of their work; to tame the monster they have created, as it were. Midgley didn't seem to try, and this is one of the reasons that, for all the technical validity of his major works, his is not the sort of career one should look to when wanting to find examples of good scientific practice.

Granny knows best - wrap up well.

BBC NEWS UK Call to stop patio heaters sale

And quite right too.

Morrrrny Stannit...

Ah, you've got to admire The Evening Standard's ongoing love of doom. You just know that one of their headline writers cannot wait for the day of the apocalypse, just so they can send out 'The End is Nigh'. In the meantime, however, they have to satisfy themselves with this.

The day the (independent) music (shop) died...

Gagh! Another loss to music retailing!

Following the recent closure of Fopp it seems that another of my favourite music shops is ceasing to be. Essential Music in Greenwich Market is set to close. It was time for its lease to be renewed, and the management were only offered the option of a 10-year lease, and decided that they couldn't commit themselves to such a long period in a changing marketplace.

Part of the blame has been directed towards internet music sales. The irony for me is that Fopp and Essential Music were pretty much the only places that weren't websites where I would still purchase CDs, having gone off a lot of the other music retailers. In fact a trip to Greenwich Market rarely lacked a visit to Essential Music, and coming away empty-handed was even rarer.

Sigh. Things change I guess. A sad day for independent record sales south of the river.