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COMMENTS SHOULD BE FIXED....
oohh, i have a capslock key.

Ouch - we love sounds is $92, :(

KMH is playing on june 30th aswell, she's only $25 @ tivoli... hmm

Katharine Kerr's new book is out aswell, so I just spent $32...

I need to be a pimp on the side I think.

So. for the last 4 years I have worked on my PhD. The whole idea was that VZV or Varicella Zoster Virus (chicken pox / human herpes virus 3) blocks our immune system. The immune system works in different layers, I deal with the primary response, or the innate immune response. The innate immune response uses many 'cytokines' (natural antivirals/antibacterials i guess) to stimulate a change in the cells natural process. This stops the cell growth, and therefore stops the growth of the virus etc.
It's known VZV blocks interferon, the main cytokine of innate immunity.
My role was to identify the mechanism, and hopefully find the specific gene(s) that cause it.

I used a screening system to identify sections of the VZV genome that triggered this block. I then used a crapload of methods to identify what gene it was. I found it, so I think, and I analysed how. gradually accumulating data till it looks conclusive.

Over the weekend a dud from the US National INstitute of Health (govt funded lab, lots of money etc) published that VZV ORF63 (immediate early gene 63) blocks interferon alpha ?(a type of interferon). It's a crap paper, and he doesn't know how... only speculates from some very loosely accumulated publications. The guy that published just happens to be a guy that I asked for the VZVORF63 mutant virus he had, since it inhibited interferon. He said he'd give it to me. In the end I never got it, since I probably wouldn't have time to use it.. He never entioned then he was investigating a similar thing at the time, if he was then. He seems to have put this publication in rather fast.

Anyway, that is science for you. watch your backs. you will get screwed over.
* I don't know if he looked at orf 63 because of me, or if he was already looking at it. It's impossible to prove. I think it would have been anice courtesy for him to tell me he was lookig at it though.
At least my paper will be more conclusive, and hopefully have a proper mechanism (when I publish it), even though it won't make as good a journal now.

WOW - I haven't ranted on my blog in a while.

- merlo coffee warehouse - james st fortitude valley (take away only, you can only have a sit down coffee if buying beans).* [merlo]

- Denim, Southbank [lavazza]

- urban grind, west end- three monkeys, west end (depending on staff member) [vittoria]

- dolci saporro, sandgate rd clayfield [di bella]

- bay swiss, queens plaza, brisbane city

- cibo, chermside (most staff members) [their own blend]

- cafe xs, chermside (some staff) [di bella]- west end coffee house, west end [di bella]


* there are a lot of places that sell merlo coffee, some are horrible, others awesome. Try the different blends from the factory outlet and see.

Anywhere else you love to get your coffee from? There are others I can't think of atm...

occasionally god smiles one us all - twin rainbows -

No comments:

now that season1 is over (us) ... what am i going to do as my weekly procrastination.

so, the manager at Dick Smith city store asked me to bring in some media etc to display on the laptops. Keep it interesting, without using the generic MS stuff.
So I brought in a demo, the trailer for the new Harry Potter OotP game and a parkour VCD.
The VCD I took in was of "Jump Britain", a funky doco about parkour in britain, on some monumental buildings etc. The usual crew. Anyway, it attracted a lot of attention. Several people staying and watching large chunks of it.
Towards the arvo (sat) I was wondering why it wasn't playing.... Some PUNKS had STOLEN it.
they seriously stole my burnt VCD from the drive of a laptop on display.

So... if anyone is considering buying an XBOX 360 in the near future... let me know first.
My XBOX 360 from MicroSoft should arrive this week. :)

more tutoring on straddy. Labwork is crappy, over the PhD. Not long now though.
I dig this song.

An amazing short vid that summarises decades of science. Animated view of life inside the cell. I've seen it before, bu thought I'd share.

Who has my requiem for a dream DVD???

p.s. baltika 7 pilsner is quite nice.
p.p.s. HD SBS rocks.

For those of you that don't know BT, You should give him a try. His latest album, This binary Universe, has been out for a while but I have not really listened to it until now. It's somewhere between electronica and classical.
You will probably know his music from movies (the jackal, go, gone in 60 secs, tomb raider, fast'n'furious, american pie, zoolander, blade 2, the core, monster, stealth, domino) rather than albums (Ima, ECSM, movement in still life, Emotional technology, R & R, this binary universe).

Apparently I have not been keeping up to date with my net-side of life.
This update is basically for the sake of updating.
I haven't logged into myspace for like 2 months, DA for 3 months, same with flickr. Haven't submitted a photo in a bloody long time.
Life is busy. My microsoft job has virtually finished (2 extra days in may). I am supporting myself atm via a casual job for the IT staff here at the DI and just got a new casual computer sales type job. plus a few random bits on the side.
We have both been working lots. Labwork is almost done.
Very soon I will lose my mind as I write continuously.
The joys of a PhD.
It's dan's birthday today - happy b'day Dan.
I am tired.

It's a... Sony

so, I picked up my W880i today.

Just the first of my shots from sandgate.. tired. can't be bothered looking at any others yet.

Canon zoombrowser won't view photos across the network, only on th local machine, so I have to view them each manually in PS CS2.

They should have let the marriage go ahead - the boy would have slept with both his stepmother, and his step-sister then, instead of just mother and daughter.

So... a new computer (box only) running vista..
firstly - the comp.
Pentium D dual core 2.8Ghz (2mb cache x 2)
Gigabyte mobo - 800mhz FSB, 8channel realtek HD audio, intel GMA 950 graphics, gigabit lan.
1.5 gig DDR2 PC-4200 ram
18x super-multi DVD burner with lightscribe.
250gb seagate SATA 16mb cache.
random "deluxe" case.
Evil computer - $666.
good enought to write a thesis anyway.
so yeah, free windows Vista home premium, live onecare and office home and student c/o Microsoft Expertzone..

Vista installed fine - everything was compatible. All software I installed works fine (firefox, photoshop, itunes,etc).... except. Nero 6 and powerDVD 6 that come pre-loaded with the DVD burner aren't compatible. No patch instead you can upgrade ($30ea) to version 7 which supports vista. - pirating pursued.
My netgear router was not compatible with the combination of vista and Windows live messenger... turns out it needed a firmware upgrade. (A flaw thwt XP overlooked but vista caught)... RANDOM.
Only other issue was my new USB HDTV receiver (officeworks, $79 -sale finished now). Works fine in media centre but hss issues with the packaged software.. c'est la vie.
so yeah.. getting it sorted... now time to sort through my old pile o junk.

So i put a few Pictures up of my sister's wedding. Some are on Photoblog haven't looked through the rest yet.





While you are over at Photoblog, heck out Shez's wicked Le Parkour Shot.

The delay in posting is due to setting up my new computer ...

Office Ultimate 2007 for $75

So... microsoft has decided to try and wow the students of Australian Universities into buying MS Office 2007 ultimate. To do this, they can purchase it for $75 from www.itsnotcheating.com.au All thats required is a credit card and a university student email address.

$25 if you want a 1 year licence instead of a permanent licence. Single install only - unlike academic pro versions (3x)

I guess it is somewhat impressive that thy are offering a 95% discount for 3 months or something, since Ultimate costs $1150 RRP.

The question is why? - maybe they are trying to use uni students as a form of mass advertising. I know from my personal experience with office 2007, that once people start using it, and get use to it, they won't go back. It is actually damn impressive and so much easier.

Free 60 day trial is available from the microsoft website or the uni's It department (well i know UQ's ITS dept has it)

Maybe its just a way to force universities to accept office 2007 and support it... either way I think it will work.



While I think the new office is actually hot shit, I will be honest. this blog post is mainly to enter their viral-like competition. I want to win either the scooter, HP laptop or the phone (since my samsung D500 died last week and they won't repair it).

Spread the word - and get me a new phone!!!!!!

So on saturday i found out about the new harder regulations for traffic offences. Like failure to stop completely at a stop sign (for a second) is now $225 and 3 points.