Something funny my online math instructor said.

"Remember, we are here to learn HOW not to get correct answers."

Huh.  That makes my life way easier.

A few years ago I had a job offer for a position in technology.  Since this was what I wanted to do at the time, it seemed like a great idea.  It also seemed like a great idea because I would be getting a raise.  I interviewed and decided that it was a go from my end.  After a few days, I thought instead of keeping it a secret (one of my beliefs is secrets are stupid), I decided to tell my boss.  This was before I knew it would work out, so I was taking a chance.  However, I thought that if my boss wanted to keep me, this was the time to do it.  At the time, I believed this was not, in any way, going to happen.  Let's just say wages were frozen at this point.

Anyway, he said he would talk to the president.  The next day he came back with a better offer than the other company.  I was absolutely shocked.  "Wow," I thought, "they must think I do good work here."  Now, before I explain why I think this thought of mine is wrong, please understand that I'm a realist.  I do my best to see the truth rather than focus on the negative or the positive, in other words, I do my best to stay objective.

So, a few months later, I was discussing this situation with my boss.  I can't remember exactly how we arrived at this point, but he began explaining the events that transpired from his end.  Apparently he told the president, in other words, that if I left, he would have to do my job, and if he couldn't do the job, then the president would have to do it.

Your first reaction might be, "Why on earth would your boss tell you that?!  That's insane!"  a) I don't know and b) I'd have to agree with you.  Keep in mind this company is rather small, the president started the company over thirty years ago, and my boss was the first employee.  Still ...

"Wow," I thought to myself, "glad I stayed here."  Sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm

No, my friends, yours truly is not wanted because of his skill, his intelligence, his integrity, his passion, or his leadership skills. No, he is wanted so that his boss's boss doesn't have to get his hands dirty.  Huh.  Sure you couldn't, ya know, HIRE SOMEONE ELSE!

Recently there has been considerable controversy over whether children should be vaccinated for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) viruses.  This controversy has arisen primarily from one paper written by Dr. Andrew Wakefield.  In this paper he speculates that there is a possibility the vaccine for these viruses can cause the pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) autism.  Since this paper was published, there has been a growing amount of research that has found no causal connection.  Additionally, Wakefield’s ethics concerning the supporting research have come under scrutiny.  After reviewing the statistics for the number of cases of MMR in the U.S. over the last century, it is obvious that allowing Wakefield’s paper to decrease the administration of the vaccine for MMR would be disastrous.  In summary, although some have speculated that autism is caused by the MMR vaccine, this claim is unsupported by the scientific evidence and should be discarded as a reason to withhold the MMR vaccination from children.

In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, with thirteen of his colleagues, published a paper that suggested the MMR vaccine may cause autism.  In this paper Wakefield states that he and his team had identified a “chronic enterocolitis in children that may be related to neuropsychiatric dysfunction” (1998, p. 641).  In most cases, the parents of the twelve children investigated had indicated most of their children developed symptoms after the MMR vaccination had been administered (1998, p. 641).  This observation led to what Wakefield thought could be a causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism and to an international dispute over whether the MMR vaccine should be administered to young children.

However, the evidence that suggests the MMR vaccine may cause autism is speculative, at best.  In 2001, DeStefano and Chen published a paper reviewing the research for this supposed connection and concluded that it was not persuasive.  Specifically, they point out that in Wakefield’s study there was no control and experiment group (p. 832), the test for causality was false (pp. 835-836), and subsequent experiments by other researchers with control and experiment groups found no correlation between the MMR vaccination and autism (p. 833).  In one particular study, 498 individuals diagnosed with autism and vaccinated with the MMR vaccine were investigated for some indication of a connection between the two (Taylor, 1999).  The conclusion was simple:  there is no connection (Taylor, 1999, p. 2029).  Even those who support the work of Wakefield agree that the connection is speculative (Hendrickson, 2002, p. 2052).  Based on these findings it’s difficult to understand how one researcher could determine a connection in 12 out of 12 cases when these other researchers were unable to find a connection in hundreds of cases.  Indeed, the entire medical community seems to be saying that there is no connection.  Finally, Andrew Wakefield was summoned for a hearing before the General Medical Council (GMC) for ethical malpractice regarding the research that supports the paper in which he suggests there is a possible causal connection between the MMR vaccine and autism (General Medical Council, n.d.).  Why would the GMC have reasonable cause to conduct this hearing?  Surely, there has to be something questionable about Wakefield’s behavior for this to occur.  If his ethical behavior is under scrutiny, perhaps his results should be as well.  In any case, the scientific community agrees that the results of Wakefield’s study and his ethical behavior are on shaky ground.

This leaves one last point to be made:  not vaccinating for MMR is not worth the risk.  Of these three viruses—measles, mumps, and rubella—measles is the only one that is fatally dangerous.  According to A. Parker (2009), the number of reported cases of measles in the United States has decreased from 894,134 in 1941 to fewer than 150 each year since 1997.  With such a dramatic decrease in the reported cases, it is obvious the MMR vaccine works.  Sadly, measles continues to be a leading cause of death among young children worldwide (World Health Organization, 2008).  As a result, it is widely agreed among medical authorities that vaccinating for MMR must continue to maintain reduced deaths caused by the measles virus.  In fact, the American Red Cross, World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and United Nations Foundation formed a partnership to reduce the number of measles related deaths worldwide (Center for Disease Control, 2009).  Autism, on the other hand, rarely, if ever, causes death.  Arguably, not vaccinating for MMR makes little sense when the consequences are considered.

After reviewing the evidence and the scientific community’s collective opinion, this author has concluded that there is no credible scientific evidence to support the claim that the MMR vaccine will lead to autism.  In fact, even if the vaccine caused autism in very rare cases, not vaccinating for MMR is not worth the risk of MMR spreading through unvaccinated children and resulting in many deaths.  Therefore, the very remote possibility of causing a neuropsychiatric dysfunction, such as autism, by vaccinating children for MMR should not be used as a reason not to vaccinate for MMR.
 

References

Center for Disease Control. (2009 May). Measles mortality reduction and regional global measles elimination - program in brief- 508 compliant. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncird/progbriefs/downloads/global-measles-elim.pdf.

DeStefano, F. & Chen, R. (2001). Autism and measles-mumps-rubella vaccination: controversy laid to rest?. CNS Drugs, 15(11), 831-837. Retrieved July 28, 2009, from MEDLINE with  Full Text database.

General Medical Council. (n.d.). General Medical Council Press Office. Retrieved July 30, 2009, from http://www.gmcpressoffice.org.uk/apps/news/events/detail.php?key=3657.

Hendrickson, B. & Turner, J. (2002, June 15). MMR vaccination, ileal lymphoid nodular hyperplasia, and pervasive developmental disorder. The Lancet, 359(9323), 2051-2052.  Retrieved July 30, 2009, from MEDLINE with Full Text database.

Parker, A. & Uzicanin, A. (2009). Measles (rubeola). Retrieved August 2, 2009, from http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-2/measles.aspx.

Taylor, B., Miller, E., Farrington, C. P., et al. (1999 June 12). Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence for a causal association. The Lancet  353(9169), 2026-2029.

Wakefield, A., Murch S., Anthony A., et al. (1998). Ileal lymphoid nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and regressive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet 351(9103), 637-641.

World Health Organization. (2008). Measles. Retrieved August 2, 2009, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/index.html.

I consider myself to be a simple person.  I hadn't realized I was a simple person until I started to take notice of other people which was around twelve years of age.  Now it is true that I noticed people before I was twelve, but in much the same way as one notices a chair or foot rest.  Around this time I started to realize that people are not simple; people are complicated, much like a ball of yarn that has been unwound then tangled by a kitten is complicated.

For example, take coffee.  I like to drink it black and warm.  Not scaldingly hot.  Not filled with additives.  Just coffee.  Why, you ask?  Because I just do.  See?  Simple answer.

I do think that there is an art to brewing good coffee.  I've had great coffee and I've had coffee that was only a hair better than drinking urine.  I suppose one could argue that this is complicated, but it doesn't mean I have to know how to do it.  Just that somebody does, and that I get to drink it.  Nice and simple.

Recently, as in five minutes ago, I perused http://coffeegeek.com.  Very complicated website.  Could I find a simple, easy recipe to brew great coffee?  Didn't look long enough to find out.

In essence, I suppose I think that there is a recipe for The One coffee brew.  The One will taste perfect in every way, will not need any additives, and generate long-lasting memories of the experience.  It seems people just want options so that they have options.  I don't mind options as long as I can eliminate them.

If I could just avoid human contact while still doing medical research, then I think it would work out. Problem is, I don't know how I could get a degree in pathology without human contact.

Can you tell I'm bored with my job?

Yea, so maybe I was on the fence before about the whole medical/pathology thing.  I am no longer.  I just tried to watch a lumbar puncture on youtube and nearly passed out.  PASSED FREAKIN' OUT.  I'm a loser.  Why does that happen?  Is it genetic?  I know my aunt following injection of any sort would pass out five to ten minutes later.  As I watched, I didn't have any negative thoughts.  I wasn't scared.  I didn't feel panicky.  I just noticed I started to sweat a little bit and get light-headed.  It was weird.  It must be psychological, but I wouldn't know how to counteract it since I didn't have any thoughts about it.  Maybe that's the problem ... I should think more???  In any case, I think for now, med school is off the list of things to do.

In case you haven't heard, I'm currently enrolled at DeVry University in their B.S. program of computer engineering technology.  I've nearly completed (90%) my first two courses!  I'm currently holding about 98% in both, so I'm pleased.

Ok, onto the topic of this post.  Apparently to my brain this wasn't enough.  Instead, it decided to remind me of my childhood dream of becoming a pathologist.  "That sounds like a great idea!", I said.  So, I did some research into what I would need to accomplish this lofty goal.  The results look like this:  four years of a bachelor's degree, probably in biology; four years of medical school; four years doing research for a doctorate; four years in residency for my specialty, pathology.  Is it possible?  Maybe.  Would it be worth it?  Yup.  Would I do it?  In a heart beat.  Should I do it? Nope.  Why not? Well, that's complicated, but it boils down to these following reasons.  Currently, my life is busy.  Family, work, church, band stuff, and school work take up my time.  This makes online learning basically the only option.  Since biology would be an onsite thing, it would take some nifty maneuvering to accomplish this goal, not to mention med school.  Next there's educational reimbursement.  My employer is paying for 100% of a given course if I receive an A for that course.  The only catch is that the degree to which the course applies has to be blessed by the president of the company.  Since the company is a contract manufacturer for electronic assembly, I don't see biology or med school entering that picture.

So, I decided that if things don't pan out for computer engineering, I'll give biology a shot.  Besides, my dream job is research scientist which could be fulfilled along this computer science path.  I'm also considering the master's program of electrical engineering DeVry offers, which would involve research.

I guess for now I've chosen the easier and more practical route, but I'm keeping my options open.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm involved in too many things ... let's check.

• Taking two classes online through DeVry University
• Working at least forty hours a week
• Have a wife and two kids
• Ride my bicycle at least 100 miles per week
• Go to church
• Play and practice with a Church Worship Band
• Play and practice with a Math Metal band which occasionally has shows
• Read books such as Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy

I thought I'd post here news of my accomplishment of my first century ride. Actually it ended up to be one-hundred and twenty miles. I felt good the first sixty, which I expected since I had previously done sixty with no problems. However that was the half-way point and I had another sixty to go. My legs really wore out after that. I managed to keep my speed around seventeen and eighteen miles per hour on the flats though. My average speed turned out to be fifteen point nine which isn't bad I suppose for my first century ride. Overall it was a blast. The weather was absolutely perfect and I didn't have any mechanical problems.

This will definitely be happening again.

If your linux distribution doesn't automagically install this plugin, it can be a slight pain to get it working properly. I document the procedure I used here.

Prerequisites:

• nspluginwrapper is installed
• acroread from http://get.adobe.com/reader/ is installed

Installing acroread should have installed the nppdf.so library. Finding this can be troublesome. On openSUSE 11.1 it's located here /opt/Adobe/Reader8/Browser/intellinux/.

Once you've found it, go to your home directory and cd into the .mozilla directory and create a plugins directory if it's not already there. So,

	$ cd $HOME/.mozilla
	$ mkdir plugins

Now, create a soft link to the library.

	$ ln -s $PATH_TO_NPPDF

Restart firefox, and you should be able to view pdfs embedded!

In the a previous entry I explained how I setup LJ and my mail client for email posting to LJ. If you're posting in a text only way, you have to include the HTML tags for formatting.

This is all well and good except that LJ still does Auto-Formatting on the post. The reason this is bad for me is that it turns any line breaks into <br /> tags. Thankfully, LJ makes it easy to turn this feature off in HTML mode. Simply use <lj-raw> before and </lj-raw> after the text which you want Auto-Formatting disabled.

I've got to say, Live Journal is awesome! Not only do they facilitate posting via email, they also provide public key verification!

Since I use the alpine mail client, this proved a small amount more difficult than most clients available these days. But no worries.

Here's how I did it.

A prerequisite:

First I uploaded my GPG public key to LJ. To do this, I logged into my account, went to the userinfo section, and clicked on Account. Of the tabs at the top, I clicked on Mobile. Scrolling down to Email Posting, I entered my email address from which I'll be posting and checked Send errors? since I want any errors reported back to me. Then I navigated to this link. I exported my public key in ascii-armored format and pasted it into the box. LJ is now ready to accept clear signed email posts.

To configure alpine, I added /usr/bin/gpg --clearsign to Sending Filters. Then sent a test email to ihilt+PGP@post.livejournal.com

This, for me, is a pretty neat feature. Let me know what you think of it!

So today was the first day since November of last year that I rode my Cannondale Synapse Sport to work and back. It was enjoyable … well, pleasant … mostly … ok, ok: for the first three quarters of the way to work my bronchial tube felt like it would burst into flames any second. Other than that, it was great. It definitely wasn't one of my faster rides, but it was steady and strong I think.

You may ask, "Why cycle?". Good question. Answer: because I like it. It's just one of those things. I've tried rationalizing it (look at how much gas and wear and tear it's saving) and tried saying it was fun (Freedom and the wind in my hair), but when you strip all that away, I'm left with the fact that I just like it. Period. I'm sure you may have something that's similar, such as a sport, collecting something, selling something, getting a little somethin' somethin' … uh, nevermind. Anyway, that ends this post. Happy cycling!

No, I'm not saying that technology has anything to do with death. cadaver is a command-line tool for accessing WebDAV servers reminiscent of ftp(1) and smbclient(1).

Accessing servers is quick and painless. Thus,

    ihilt@sys-2:~> cadaver https://mydisk.se/ihilt
    Authentication required for User: ihilt on server `mydisk.se':
    Username: ihilt
    Password: 
    dav:/ihilt/>

It offers a whole host of commands,

    Available commands: 
     ls         cd         pwd        put        get        mget       mput       
     edit       less       mkcol      cat        delete     rmcol      copy       
     move       lock       unlock     discover   steal      showlocks  version    
     checkin    checkout   uncheckout history    label      propnames  chexec     
     propget    propdel    propset    search     set        open       close      
     echo       quit       unset      lcd        lls        lpwd       logout     
     help       describe   about      
    Aliases: rm=delete, mkdir=mkcol, mv=move, cp=copy, more=less, quit=exit=bye

If you're familiar with ftp, then you're already familiar with most of these commands. Apparently, WebDAV is designed to enable access for multiple users to the same "collection" while protecting the files from being opened by more than one user at a time. Thus the lock and unlock commands. (Don't worry, it does it automatically, but gives you the option of doing it manually ... ah, the beauty of Unix.)

Interestingly, version allows you to setup version control for a collection. I haven't tried this out yet, so if you do, let me know if it's useful.

set allows you to set different variables controlling the experience of the cadaver user. For instance, it has an editor variable so that you can open files on the WebDAV server in your editor-of-choice.

Like ftp, it has the capability of using the .netrc file to automatically sign-in to machines. However, I've not been able to get this working. Any tips would be great!

Overall, a nice little tool, and as far as I can tell, well designed.

Have you ever not wanted to install a particular plugin, but every time you visit a particular web page utilizing that particular plugin, firefox distracts you from why you're really there by moving the entire page down by about a half inch?

Yea, me, too.

So I did something about it. Pretty simple once I decided I'd had enough.

Go to the address bar and type in "about:config". Ignore any message about this possibly voiding your warranty, unless of course, you are more interested in that than in having a sane browser … ok, didn't think so.

In the filter input box, type in "plugin". This will filter it down to a few. Look for "plugins.hide_infobar_for_missing_plugin". When you find it, double-click on it, unless it already has true in the value column, which if it did, you wouldn't be upset because firefox was fiddling with your web browsing experience. Anyway, this should do it. Now, you can live in freedom knowing that firefox will never bother you again because you hadn't installed a particular plugin.

If you want firefox to return to it's irrational previous behavior, go back through the above procedure. This will change the value to false.

As an aside, I think the drop down is useless because if firefox can't display something on the page, it replaces what would be there with a box that says something like "Click here to download plugin". So why the drop down??

In case anyone is using alpine 2.00 under open Suse 11.1 and wonders where the heck it looks for the pass file, look no further.  It's $HOME/.pinepw.  Weird, huh?  On Ubuntu 8.10 it was $HOME/.pine-passfile.  Oh well.  Hope that helps somebody.

PCA gets a kick in the shorts.

An interesting twist to this story comes from a possible connection between the ConAgra salmonella contamination a couple years ago and the current PCA outbreak.  This news article describes what could be a link between the two.  However, nothing has been confirmed and it seems the source is still PCA for the time being.

In case any of you out there are wondering how to get the BIOS to work, look no further.  All your questions are answered here.

First of all, you'll need a copy of the Windows 98 SE installation CD.  If you don't have that, I can't help.

Do a vanilla installation.  After you've logged in made sure everything else is working, look in the Device Manager.  The BIOS should be in fail-safe mode.  Update its driver.  When it asks whether you want to search or display drivers, select display.  Click on PCI bus.  It will complain, but let it know who's boss.  It will then reboot.  You'll probably run into a general protection fault.  This is OK.  Reboot.  From the Boot up screen, select command prompt only mode.  Then at the prompt, type win.  This should take you into the GUI and windows should identify everything.

After I did this, some other weirdness happened.  Like, it couldn't find a bunch of files.  But I rebooted (the salve that soothes all microsoft's ailments), and went through "Add New Hardware" wizard for the RealTek card.

vnetsup.vxd, vredir.vxd, or dfs.vxd are no where to be found and when it goes into the gui, it says it can't find msnp32.dll.  Other than that, flawless.


UPDATE

I found out that re-installing Windows Client Networking fixed the above problem.  To do that, go to Control Panel -> Network.  Then remove Client for Windows Networking.  Reboot.  Do the same thing except add a Client.  Then from the menu, pick Microsoft on the left and client for Microsoft Networks on the right.  This should install all the missing files.