As promise to Venkat Subramaniam, here the photo of our groovy manifest outside our office (unfortunately our colleague Davide wasn’t present that day), here the same photo with some notes.

Papp comes clean.

Joe Papp fell off his bike, a casualty of the doping culture in cycling.

His interview with Myles McCorrym for Pezcycling is probably the best story I’ve read about how and why a rider crosses the line. You get all the angles, the rationales, naiveté, remorse and the painful aftermath wisdom that comes from first hand suffering.

We first discovered Joe Papp a few years ago when he wrote an engaging racing diary for cyclingnews. He wasn’t a famous rider competing in the big monuments of the sport but he was passionate about bike racing. He wrote well and had a skill for taking us inside the races, the personalities, the life of a pro racing gypsy, turning up in Cuba or Turkey or a smaller stage race in Italy or Spain.

So it was a mild shock to read he’s been doping for five years before he was caught and came clean. By the time of his failed drug test, he was doing his best to support the entire pharmacological industry — EPO, human growth hormone, testosterone, insulin, steroid and amphetamines. No doubt he popped a few aspirin, too.

The drug deal reached over 100 products, a  program carefully managed by his Italian team — which would later deny any role or knowledge of Papp’s athletic enhancement. It feels like a very old story that never changes — from the Festina Affair to Operacion Puerto.

One of the ironies about Papp is that reading his diary entries, he seemed like such a straightforward, honest guy. The opposite of Alejandro Valverde or Alexandre Vinokourov, the Spaniard loaded down with doping allegations, the Kazak defiant and unrepentant after his two year suspension. But when you hear Papp describe the rocket boost in performance, you understand the intensity of the temptation.

“At first it brought me back up to my previous level of competitiveness, but the more I took that’s when I moved up a level- it felt amazing. 12 or 13% — enough of a difference to block out any ethical or health issues. Enough to win.” When a rider as thoughtful and articulate as Papp decides to dope, you realize how easily a younger athlete is lead to the needle.

It also nearly killed him. While awaiting his B sample test results, Papp crashed hard in the Tour of Turkey. At the hospital they removed “a mass of EPO-damaged sludge” from his left buttock. Doctors back in the states told Papp the blender mix of blood thinners and EPO could have easily killed him. That was certainly the terminal effect on his cycling career.

Once caught, Papp hoped lawyers would somehow locate the Hail Mary loophole but the endgame was not different than Floyd Landis or Tyler Hamilton: destroyed reputation, broken marriage, financial hardship and depression. A UCI ban was the least of his problems. It’s like the old Neil Young song — “I’ve seen the needle and the damage done. A little part of it in everyone. But every junkie’s like a setting sun.”

UCI anti-doping queen Annie Gripper says they’re winning the war on doping. Articulate and  visionary team directors like Garmin’s  Jonathan Vaughters think the biological passport is a huge step toward clean cycling. It’s a long hard climb, maybe tougher than Alpe d’Huez. “You can change behavior quickly but the deep culture will take a few more years yet,” said Gripper.

In an article about Lance Armstrong in this week’s New York Times, there was a reminder of that pervasive culture. “Five of the eight riders who shared the Tour podium with Armstrong in his winning years served doping bans at some point in their careers. Another two were allegedly tied to doping rings.” Those are not percentages you build a cleaner sport on.

We wish Joe Papp well. Like the NFL players who sell their ligaments, bones and risk life long damage from multiple concussions to make a living, Papp found himself caught in the grinder. He seems like a good guy that loved cycling too much. He wanted to be at the front of the climb and decided there was only one way to do that.

Spanish rider Eladio Jiménez Sanchez was suspended by the UCI after testing positive for EPO at last summer’s Volta a Portugal.

Doping violations are as we note a daily occurrence on the pro cycling circuit, but anecdotally it seems that Spain is more represented in recent months than any other nation. Not to implicate Spain’s most accomplished pro, Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, but it does make one wonder.

"We want our kisses back."

Another kiss gone bad. The romance of cycling sullied again.

The UCI announced Monday that it had provisionally suspended Eladio Jimenez Sanchez for doping. EPO was discovered in his urine sample at the Volta a Portugal on August 12, 2009. Sanchez won that race’s stage 6 from Barcelos to Santo Tirso. What’s oops in Portuguese?

In a separate action, podium girls Beatriz Munoz and Daniela Viegas are suing Sanchez for defamation of character. “We don’t want to be known as stupid sexy girls who kiss dope fiends,” said Munoz. “He told me his bladder was full. Yes, with drugs. Disgusting.”

Viegas was as upset as her podium babe partner. “I gave him a real smooch, not a fake one. I even pushed my breasts into his sweaty jersey. And now, it’s like my kisses are worthless. We are sexy party girls and we deserve better,” she added.

Spaniard Eladio Sanchez rides for the tongue-twisting Portuguese Continental Centro Cilismo De Loule – Louletano team. He declined comment on the legal action by the podium girls.

A recent trend in pro cycling, podium girls are now bringing their own lawsuits against doping violators who undermine the credibility of sexy girls who kiss winners.

Ah, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? My friend Jeff at The Air Vent asked me if I’m giving up. I understand the appearance of this, given my lackluster performance (or more accurately, zero performance) as of late.

Before I present a chart of the EPO Index, which most of us probably don’t care all that much about anyway (if we’ve even heard of it), I have a few random observations:

1) To Docattheautopsy: Ha! I told you! (Check out comment #6 here: http://digitaldiatribes.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/el-nino-is-back-with-the-fury-of-a-woman-scorned/#comments). Good thing, too, because I get enough spam. Anyway, as complex as climate is, it is actually kind of amazing that so much of the simplicity can be missed among the complexity. I know it doesn’t always hold, but there are some rules of thumb that stand up pretty well. La Nina in spring/summer ==> cold Wisconsing Winter. El Nino in Spring/Summer ==> mild Wisconsin winter. It’s not really rocket science. So, each of the last two years gave us frigid temps and lots of snow, and so far this year we have above average temperatures in November. It’s supposed to cool off soon, but nothing unusual. I admit I was nervous in October – it was a very cold and wet October, but November has been beautiful.

2) Climategate: I love it. I don’t “love it” in the sense that it should have ever happened. That part ticks me off, because it’s simply a blight on the scientific process and public trust, and a validation of the more underhanded aspects of the whole thing – it’s about money, politics, control and power. That’s a major shame. But I do “love” the fact that this has been exposed. It may well be true that much of their analysis doesn’t change, and they may actually believe their conclusions. But what is lost in making that simple argument of dismissal about the relevance of the situation is that there are other scientists who have reached different conclusions who were essentially shut of of the public debate, and in doing this it led to a global, incessant mantra that brainwashed policymakers and citizens alike. It’s not whether or not their studies are meritorious, it’s about the fact that the full debate and scientific process was not implemented, and the full range of views were shut out of attaining credibility through reprehensible methods of collusion and intimidation. And really, it just shows the overall poor character of the participants in these exchanges, which also leads to a lack of trust.

3) Where are the temperature charts? Well, I’ll get back to them. I really wanted to spend time on the Oscillation Data, so I’m continuing down that path at the moment. The trends don’t change so much from month to month, and I am in no way avoiding it due to recent uptick in temperatures. I don’t do that, even if Phil Jones and Michael Mann may suggest implementing a trick to disguise the uptick, if they were skeptics.

And so, with that, let me explain the following chart: The Eastern Pacific Oscillation Data are available since 1950 (link to the right) and is just another one of the Oceanic Oscillations. It’s not one we hear about much, and may well not be highly important in the climate discussion. That’s OK. By plowing through the different indices, I hope to isolate the ones that do have an apparent oscillation pattern, because it seems to me that this is an indication that the Oscillation is a driver of temperature, rather than the other way around. The interesting thing about most of the oscillation patterns is that they tend to cycle on a longer time period. Even ENSO, with its shorter term spikes (not on particularly predictable intervals, it seems) has a longer term cycle. The EPO index suggests something else – an 8.9 year cycle.

Caveat: there are no December values in the data set. I have adjusted this by using the average of the November and January values. I have sent an e-mail to NOAA seeking an explanation for this. If I receive a response, I’ll either comment about it or update the post.

EPO Data as of 200910

It’s hard to say how much impact this metric has on global temperatures, and I probably won’t know until I can do a full correlation analysis of all the oscillations, solar index, and CO2, at minimum. But it may have some impact. There is almost no linear trend whatever on this, and the index seems well-centered around a zero anomaly.

There also does seem to be a very shallow 40-year cycle, if I expand the analysis out to look at that, but nothing worth more than a note. The driving cycle is the shorter-term one.

Hope all is well with everyone. If I find I cannot get to data analysis, I will try to do better at posting some fluff just to let you know I’m still here .

Five years ago it was testosterone boosting. Last March it was blood boosting (EPO). Now Christian Pfannberger, a two-time Austrian champion, is banned for life.

Let that be an example to all you pros out there who think once is enough and promise never ever to do it again.

No, of course I’m not being serious.

Papers and outlines for the presentations given at the conference, New Horizons for Civil Justice in Europe: Towards the “Stockholm Programme”, held November 5-6, 2009, at the ERA Congress Centre, in Trier, are now available.

Here is the conference program. Here are background documents for the conference. Here is a list of the presentations, many of which deal with legal informatics issues:

• Diana Wallis, From Tampere and The Hague to the Stockholm Programme;
• Burkhard Hess, Minimum standards in civil procedural law;
• Salla Saastamoinen & Paolo Pasqualis, Mutual recognition of documents: Civil status documents; Legalisation of authentic documents;
• Salla Saastamoinen & Ulrike Janzen, Abolition of exequatur: pros and cons;
• Alexander Layton, Speeding up cross-border debt recovery: Attachment of bank accounts; Transparency of debtor’s assets;
• Etienne Pataut, Drafting new conflict of law rules for business: Company law; Insurance contracts;
• Guillermo Palao Moreno, Pressing the “blue button”: the CFR as optional European contract law?
• Jacek Garstka, Providing easier access to justice: E-justice; Electronic order for payment and small claims procedure.

As I have recently found out, to remotely view the McAfee Agent logs in ePolicy Orchestrator 4.5 you need to enable it from the Policy Catalog.

First log into ePO 4.5, navigate to the Policy Catalog and select the product as McAfee Agent. The catagory is General and then select your policy and click “Edit Settings”

On the “General” tab untick “Accept connections only from the ePO server”

Click on the “Logging” tab and then tick “Enable remote access to log”. Click save and off you go.

You will need to wait for the policy to apply through ePO to the McAfee Agent on the machine you are trying to view and then you should be all done.

When fellow journalism post grad student and sport blogger, Josh Pettitt, came up with the idea of having a ‘best sports icon of the noughties’ blog debate, I wanted to do something different.

Who is a viable, yet thought-provoking candidate, I thought? After considering Ronnie O’Sullivan with his marvelously-idiosyncratic approach, and (the original, portly, R9) Ronaldo, I decided this was not an accolade to be given to someone whose greatness must be explained in detail. It must be fairly self explanatory.

It is for this reason that I feel the greatest sportsman of the naughties is seven-times Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong.

His achievements in cycling are well documented, as are his past medical struggles; yet there is a suspicion, due to cycling’s endemic doping problems, that he is somehow undeserving of our esteem.

Firstly, rather than extoll his illustrious, yet well documented career, I feel I need to snare this elephant in the room, shoot it, and use its tusks to murder anyone still pedaling this pathetic, xenophobic myth.

Lance Armstrong is undoubtedly the most tested athlete in the world. So why hasn’t he been caught?

To my mind the only answer is: he’s innocent. High profile doping cases such as Marco Pantani and Ivan Basso have tarnished the name of the sport, but the practice is by no means uniform. The only real evidence to suggest Armstrong dopes is his imperiously-consistent form. Oh, and the constant whining from the French that this yank dare beat them over the Alps and Pyrannees.

The second argument against his coronation as the noughties’ best sportsman concerns his team.

For anyone unfamiliar with road cycling, the Johan Bruyneel managed US Postal service team (which later became Discovery), held a masochistic-like dominance during Armstrong’s reign.

Super domestiques (a cycling term meaning blokes who bust their lungs for their leader, only to by dropped in the final miles and finish last) like George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Roberto Heras, and Floyd Landis, many of who went on to be team leaders themselves, would take turns at the front of the peleton, turning the screw under which their competitors crumbled.

From this launch pad, with his rivals cracking, Lance would launch. The fittest men on the planet attacking each other on the world’s steepest mountains in one its most tactical sports is, at its best, unrivaled in drama. In this, Lance was king.

Surely then, this team advantage negates any claim of Armstrong’s individual greatness? Not quite.

Just as Mark Cavendish has proved he is currently the fastest man in road cycling despite needing his team to get there, Jan Ullrich, Lance’s closest competitor for most of his career, was also backed by the flashy T-Mobile team which delivered his own Maillot Jaune in 1998.

Although his team were an inexorable facet of his dominance, the Texan was still chosen as the best: the man capable of converting all this team work when the final explosion to the line was required.

His status as an icon can hardly be quarreled with either. As active in his charity work as he ever was in the saddle, his story from 40% prognosis to legend is one of the most remarkable in modern sporting history.

If, on top of his seven tour wins and remarkable 3rd place comeback this year at the venerable age of 37 (despite being ordered not to attack team leader, Alberto Contador), you are in need of any more convincing, here are my top three Armstrong career moments.

1) “The Look”
At their best, there are few sporting occasions quite as dramatic as the top road cyclists in the world attacking each other on a steep climb. In 2001, Lance Armstrong was looking for his 3rd tour win. He looks his career nemesis, Jan Ullrich, in the eye in a display of concrete self belief before annihilating the German’s Tour de France aspirations for another year.

2) Off Road
2003, Tour de France Stage 9. Armstrong and ace climber Joseba Beloki are chasing Kazakhstani, Alexander Vinokourov. Beloki’s tyre glue melts under the intense speed and 50 degree heat of the day and what follows beggars belief. It may seem like it gives Armstrong an advantage, but try riding through a field on a finely tuned road bike and see how, if by any miracle you don’t crash, it affects your race momentum. This is true bike-handling class.

3) Sestriere
In 1999, this was one of the first times the world had seen Armstrong’s post-cancer form. He simply blows the field away, eventually winning the tour by a staggering 7mins 36secs.

Here are the other candidates for greatest sporting icon of the noughties:
Roger Federer by Josh Pettitt
Ryan Giggs by Alain Tolhurst
Usian Bolt by Mike Brown
Michael Schumacher by Tom Victor
Zinedine Zidane by Rob Goodman
Shane Warne by Thomas Mooney
David Beckham by Will Gilgrass
Cristiano Ronaldo by Joe Curtis
Adam Gilchrist by Nick Moore
Henrik Larsson by Vincent Forrester

EPO’ 2009
il salone dell’antiquariato e del lusso contemporaneo.

La prima edizione di EPO’ avrà luogo a Napoli, presso la Mostra d’Oltremare dal 4 all’8 dicembre 2009.

EPO’: nasce a Napoli il primo salone dell’antiquariato e del lusso contemporaneo

Alla Mostra d’Oltremare, dal 4 all’8 dicembre, una rassegna al passo coi tempi che coniuga l’arte dell’antiquariato con il design e l’arredamento di alta gamma, per offrire agli operatori ed appassionati una vetrina di eccellenze, e momenti di business importanti.

Esaltare e promuovere l’antiquariato, che oltre ad essere sempre più un reale investimento economico è soprattutto uno scrigno di culture e tradizioni di inestimabile valore storico, è la filosofia che anima il nuovo ed esclusivo salone di EPO’.

La rassegna, organizzata dalla Progecta dal 4 all’8 dicembre, documenterà le novità del settore, contribuendo al confronto sulle nuove tendenze di un mercato sempre di moda.

“L’antiquariato e l’arredamento di lusso sono oggi un binomio molto forte – spiega Angelo De Negri Presidente della manifestazione – EPO’ nasce per dare ai visitatori la possibilità di ritrovare, in un unico salone, tutte le novità di un’offerta sempre più ricca e diversificata. La fiera – aggiunge – sarà rivolta al pubblico di curiosi ed appassionati, che i dati danno sempre più in aumento, e naturalmente agli addetti ai lavori”.

Per questa prima edizione, si prevede la presenza di circa cento espositori, quali collezionisti, commercianti di opere d’arte, importanti antiquari tra cui già spicca il prestigioso nome di Altomani & Sons, e grandi aziende di arredamento di alta gamma. Il padiglione 9 della Mostra d’Oltremare sarà trasformato, infatti, in una vera e propria galleria d’arte ed il livello dei pezzi in mostra sarà di altissima qualità artistica, per offrire il meglio a tutti gli arredatori, architetti, galleristi e visitatori che amano ornare con valore gli spazi della propria vita.

Spaziando dall’antico al moderno, durante i cinque giorni di lavori, i professionisti ed i cultori dell’antiquariato potranno, quindi, ammirare oggetti meravigliosi e concludere affari vantaggiosi, sfruttando la vasta esposizione di mobili di tutte le epoche, di complementi d’arredo di lusso, di pregiati tappeti ed arazzi, di magnifici gioielli, di libri antichi, e non mancheranno bellissimi quadri, preziose porcellane, orologi ed argenteria da collezione ed eleganti sculture.

Le premesse per un’altra manifestazione di successo, targata Progecta, ci sono tutte.

A partire dalle stesse date, in prossimità del Natale. Napoli sarà, infatti, la cornice ideale per lo shopping, coinvolgendo non solo l’interesse degli operatori campani e dei galleristi delle varie regioni d’Italia, ma attirando anche numerosi turisti stranieri.

EPO’ il nuovo salone dell’antiquariato e del lusso contemporaneo ha tutte le carte in regola, quindi, per affermarsi come un evento di primo piano, in grado di fungere anche da indotto turistico per tutta la regione.

La fiera si potrà visitare venerdì 4 dicembre dalle 15 alle 20.30, gli altri giorni dalle 10,30 alle 20.30

Per maggiori informazioni www.eponapoli.com

Ufficio Stampa EPO’

Domanda del giorno: come posso cambiare il layout della tastiera nel modo più semplice ed economico possibile per scrivere in Esperanto? Semplice: con setxbmap.

Ho aperto il terminale e

setxbmap epo

Perfekte! Mi povas skribi la ŝo, la ĝo, la ŭo, ktp. Poste…

setxbmap it

E tutto è tornato come prima.

la guerra è finita. almeno per me. odio quelle canzoni che ripetono nel primo verso il titolo della canzone, quindi a rigore dovrei odiare questo post e invece lo amo, lo amo alla follia….perché citando il noto gruppo di montepulciano, oggi per me si è conclusa una guerra. ragazzuoli, lettori o semplice utente delle tre w, bene la fille de poche è una GIORNALISTA PROFESSIONISTA, sì quella cosa per cui ha lottato per cinque e passa anni, quella professione di cui si innamorò leggendo i libri di storia di indro, quella professione che nonostante le (poche) speranze occupazionali è rimasto sempre un suo sogno….quella professione che ha amato grazie al manga Reporter blues. sì avete capito quello sulla reporter toni, bellissima capelli rossi e rigorosa giacca verde, che fa la giornalista a parigi…io amavo professione reporter, comunque un cartone animato che adoravo e forse scoraggiata da una lezione di prova di scherma, l’unica cosa che poteva accomunarmi a lady oscar, vista l’impossibilità di ricreare oggi la rivoluzione francese, che mi fece capire il significato della parola acido lattico, allora decisi di lasciar perdere il fioretto e di dedicarmi allo studio matto e disperato per diventare quello che sono ora, una giornalista, una giornalista in formato tascabile, anche perché citando uno dei miei detti calabresi preferiti sono ancora ai peri ra ‘nchianata, ma, di fronte a me ho il mortirolo, ma non avrò paura di affrontarlo come avrebbero fatto fausto e gino facendo incazzare – soprattutto quest’ultimo i francesi – senza l’aiuto della trasfusione eterologa o dell’epo. poco importa se qualcuno non sarà felice – e credetemi sono un cospicuo gruppo – citando un altro proverbio calabro: cu non voli mi si sciorba. cioè chi non vuole vedere, che diventi cieco. cieco come la mia nonnina – che adoro – e di cui vorrei avere la forza. sono dal 27 giugno del 2003 che da lassù mi guardi qualcuno che vigila su di me. l’angelo custode che credi che ti segua – come farebbe un bodyguard, ma con più grazia nei momenti della vita, credetemi non è fanstascienza, non è neanche scienza, allora che cos’è fruttella…..oh yeah!). ormai è tutto finito, via con falò di libri stile nazismo e non solo….adesso so una piccolissima porzione di scibile umano…..non è immodestia….è vero credetemi…adesso vi lascio, sono troppo stanca….sto diventando insonne (20 giorni coricandosi alle 3 si fanno sentire)…..e la mia scelta ricava ovviamente sulla posttrack. vi lascio ai baustelle e alla tiziana chioma di tony, la donna che avrei voluto essere giornalista che suona il sax….la cosa bella è che forse a toni le somiglio davvero.

“Oh, quanta strada nei miei sandali

quanta ne avrà fatta Bartali

quel naso triste come una salita

quegli occhi allegri da italiano in gita

e vai che io sto qui e aspetto Bartali

scalpitando sui miei sandali

da quella curva spunterà

quel naso triste da italiano allegro“

Paolo Conte – Bartali

bisoux,

la fille de poche

(originally posted on: 21/09/07 – modified on: 24/10/09)

The Israel Patent Office hosted a seminar featuring examiners from the European Patent Office. The focus was on examining chemistry and genetic applications, and presentations covered examining Markush type claims, oppositions and unity of invention.

The presentations were fairly pedestrian and not very exciting. We learned that there is a two year deadline for filing divisional applications, but instead of explaining that annuities were required retroactively, which for the inexperienced can be a nasty shock, or giving useful tips, the presenter labored the straightforward 24 month point with examples! The cakes provided as refreshments were good, but the coffee and tea were Elite Instant, Botz (Turkish-’mud’ coffee, and Wissotzky blue label cheap and nasty tea bags.

One of the examiners spoke briefly in Hebrew albeit with a very strong French accent. the crowd applauded his efforts. Tomorrow, the same presentation is being presented at Haifa university and in Tel Aviv.

In terms of the content, not very interesting and perhaps not worth attending. However, the seminar did provide an opportunity to see the new patent office premises which are very impressive. The lecture theatre seats 120 on leatherette seats. There are good acoustics and nice projector equipment. We hope that the seminars for Examiners only will prove informative and that will improve examining standards.

One clear advantage of the Patent Office hosting seminars for the profession is that people from the different offices feel that the activity is for them, whereas many practitioners feel uncomfortable attending events organized by rival firms. A necessary consequence of official patent office patronage of IP seminars is that controversial and therefore, potentially more interesting topics are avoided.  Indeed, we think that for the patent office to become involved in anything beyond procedure, such as say discussing the scope of patentable material or other gray areas may be problematic as there is a conflict of interest between the profession and the patent office. Like all IP seminars aimed at the profession, the event provided a good opportunity to catch up with acquaintances.

Prima LEpo,

poi Lapo,

e ora LApe

Igår var jag till sjukhuset.. för min sista behandling med cytostatika i droppform.. så nu kommer jag att varje tisdag fotografera mig.. för att visa hur mitt hår utvecklas veckovis under ett år… så ni får hålla tillgodo.. just nu är jag mer eller mindre flintis.. ett och annat litet vitt hår spretar iväg… men det är för lite att fotografera.. och de kommer inte att synas på kortet ändå… Första inlägget om hårväxt kommer v. 43.. håll tillgodo…

Sen pratade jag med min sköterska igår om att jag skulle på återbesök till min “kära” onkolog den 16.. istället för den 2 november.. och efter ett tag kom hon och frågade om jag efter behandlingen kunde stanna kvar och träffa onken.. vilket jag kunde.. eftersom onken inte är där på fredag.. och dessutom var det så att den tiden jag hade från början hade någon annan fått… och nästa tid var den 10 november.. och då är jag bevisligen inte anträffbar..

EPO sprutan slapp jag.. då mitt Hb var 116 och de vita blodkropparna var 3,6.. så det rör på sig åt rätt håll..

Så fick jag då träffa honom, min kära onkolog.. som idag faktiskt var mycket trevlig och faktiskt (kors i taket) inte svor en enda gång…

Min behandling i framtiden ser ut så här.. jag ska ta cytostatika i tablettform i 14 dagar.. sen har jag en vilovecka.. och så 14 dagar cyto igen.. dessa kommer jag att få i en 14-dagars dosett från sjukhuset (bild kommer när jag fått den).. och jag kommer att få ta blodprover för att se hur mina värden är.. det är så mycket man kan läsa av hur en kropp mår bara genom ett litet blodprov.. håret kommer som jag sa tidigare att växa ut.. men jag kommer att få lite andra biverkningar av denna cytostatika.. men inte alls i den omfattning som jag fått nu… men det är inte så konstig när de har kört in en massa idegran i kroppen på mig.. det kan ta död på den starkaste.. så inte konstigt att min kropp har förfallit så till den milda grad som den har..
Jag ska en gång i månaden åka till avdelning 73 och mina älskade cytotjejer.. för att få benstärkande…. och det lär jag få göra livet ut… men vad är väl det.. för jag väljer ju livet.. och inte döden.. och då är ett besök på sjukan ingenting i sammanhanget..

Det mest fantastiska är att jag får åka till Göteborg.. vilket jag var tvungen att fråga onken om först innan jag sa något till någon.. För jag visste inte om mina metastaser kunde strula till det för mig.. Jag fick ju kallelsen för en vecka sen.. men har inte velat läsa eftersom jag inte visste om jag var godkänd för det.. men jag har fått OK från onkologen.. så jag reser…

Vad ska jag då göra i Göteborg.. jo, jag ska besöka Sahlgrenska.. för den 10 november blir jag opererad…
Jag ska äntligen få mitt nya bröst.. kan ni förstå.. jag ska bli två tuttad.. efter att ha gått enbröstad sen den 14 augusti 2006.. så ska jag bli HEL.. Jag ska bli en hel kvinna.. jag ska inte gå omkring med ett bröst.. och en äcklig silicon imitation av mitt riktiga bröst… Jag ska bli HEL.. jag är så lycklig så tårarna trillar och tankarna var tvungna att stillas och jag landa i tanken på allt detta.. och jag kunde inte skriva det igår.. för då hade ni inte förstått någonting av mitt svammel.. men nu har jag landat.. men jag kan inte riktigt förstå att det är på gång.. att jag har fått en operationstid.. att jag ska bli hel.. att jag ska bli två tuttad igen… ni kan säkert läsa min lycka i texten.. Jippie-kay-ejji… Tjohoo.. och jag vet inte alla glädjeyttringar som fälldes igår.. och jag klarade även av att hoppa jämfota.. inte så högt men ändå.. jag klarade det…

Kan ni fatta.. jag ska bli hel…

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om pysan, cytostatika, dropp, hår, utvecklas, veckovis, inlägg, onkolog, återbesök, bevisligen, EPO, Hb, vita blodkroppar, svor, behandling, tabletter, dosett, blodprov, värden, biverkningar, Idegran, benstärkande, död, livet ut, Göteborg, Sahlgrenska, operation, nytt bröst, enbröstad, två bröstad, hel, landa, tankar, glädjeyttringa, hoppa jämfota, fatta

Transition might be dominating our thoughts but life goes on and Sian is now 5 weeks in to her CLAIT and Sign Language courses. As I had expected, Sian  is finding CLAIT quite easy. Her IT skills are pretty good already so she’s able to jump ahead. I’m surprised how much she is enjoying herself and starting to feel part of the group. Sian and Graham have just finished the basic signing course and will progress to the level 1 course in January. Sian is picking it up quickly, Graham is a bit slower! At least they have each other to practice on.

Sian’s plan to do some voluntary work hasn’t yet got off the ground, despite her best efforts. She contacted the local volunteer bureau back in the summer and had hoped to persue a couple of opportunities – one helping out in the classroom in a primary school and the other doing some admin work with a local youth organisation. The admin vacancy has been filled and the school is not wheelchair accessible. Sian is continuing to look at the do-it.org website but I suspect we will end up having to use our network of contacts to help her find something.

Fortunately we have now found a second person to work with Sian under the Direct Payments scheme, bringing her hours up to 8 per week.  These are social hours, not care hours, allowing Sian to go out and about without one of us in tow. It’s working brilliantly and helping to fill the gap in Sian’s week.  If you add in the inevitable hospital appointments there really isn’t much free time left at the moment.

Il braccio del pallone d'oro

Fabio Cannavaro è campione del mondo, pallone d’oro, ed è pure bello, ha gli occhi azzurri. Ha fatto innamorare gli italiani durante i mondiali di Germania, invalicabile muro difensivo, uomo ovunque della nostra area. I tifosi del Parma e della Juve non lo dimenticheranno facilmente, quelli dell’Inter e del Real forse sì. Il Cannavaro interista era un difensore pasticcione, confuso, a tratti lento. A fine anno Moratti lo vende al primo che passa (Moggi) in cambio di un portiere di riserva e un pacchetto di patatine. Alla Juve la rinascita, che lo porta al mondiale come il miglior difensore italiano in circolazione. Lo era anche a Parma, a dire il vero. Cosa avranno mai queste due squadre in più? Un bell’ambiente, può darsi, una società serena, probabile, una sostanza magica, seguro.

Nel 1999 Rainew24 mandò in onda un video del pre-partita della finale di Coppa Uefa in cui era impegnato il Parma, con Cannavaro sorridente che si spara un qualcosa per endovena. Fosse stata anche una semplice fisiologica, non è molto bello da concepire. Se a tutti i bambini che giocano a calcio dicessero che prima delle partite si fa una puntura, addio calcio italiano. Alla juventus la musica pare non cambiare, è di ieri la notizia dell’inchiesta della procura Antidoping per del cortisone non dichiarato a dovere. Cannavaro è stato punto da una vespa e ha dovuto assumere tale sostanza, che è illegittima se non presa per curare qualcosa. Il caso è già stato archiviato, però serve a ripensare  ai fasti della grande Juve di Lippi, che negli anni ‘90 vinse tutto. Merito di Lippi, certo, che è pure campione del mondo grazie a Cannavaro che come detto nel 2006 correva il doppio più veloce che nel 2005. Ma merito anche dello staff di Lippi, tra cui il medico Riccardo Agricola, di cui si occupò anche Report qualche anno fa. Il dottore bianconero è stato condannato per aver somministrato Epo (il medicinale che prendevano negli sport dei “dopati”) ai giocatori, che in effetti sul campo dimostrarono, con le loro vittorie, di avere una marcia in più. Dietro di loro uno dei migliori direttori sportivi dell’epoca, quel Moggi che comprava i migliori giocatori, rinsaviva quelli in punto di morte, e teneva contatti telefonici assidui con le istituzioni.

Intendiamoci bene, Fabio Caccavaro non si tocca. Lui è il capitano, lui ha alzato la coppa al cielo. Lui è il ministro della Difesa Italiana. Il prossimo giugno difenderà la coppa del mondo dall’assalto straniero, e come ogni leader italiano avrà tutto il suo popolo a guardarlo in tv. C’ha avuto i suoi guai, ma insomma, chi è senza peccato scagli la prima pietra. Mica è come quel disgraziato di Cassano, che gioca solo se si diverte e quando non gioca ingrassa come uno normale.

One of the famous incidents in all of sport (despite the fact that baseball is almost exclusively American) is the case of Barry Bonds. This is partly because Bonds now holds the all-time home-run record, and partly because of the case’s association with the now infamous BALCO scandal. On August 7th 2007, bonds hit his 756th home-run, thus surpassing Hank Aarons record of 755 set on July 26th, 1976. At the time of this absolutely incredible achievement, Bonds name had already been smeared by doping allegations. Conjecture had crept its way into supposed ’serious’ media – speculations about Bonds’ physical alteration throughout his career, from a rather slight base-stealing athlete to the perceived lumbering, muscle-bound oaf – a physique which he still maintains to this day:

http://usss.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/bonds2.jpg

However, Bonds is not fat or overweight:

http://images.wikio.com/images/p/39c1/barry-bonds-case-could-hinge-on-a-single-word-knowingly.jpg

So, in his 30s, he has a sudden massive increase in home-runs, and almost inevitably, walks and intentional walks. So what’s the problem?

Apparently, the majority of people seem to think that steroids didn’t exist in the 1970s – when Hank Aaron hit his massive 755th HR. What most people don’t realize is that at this very time, Arnold Schwarzenegger was chalking up is 6th Mr. Olympia title, and Arnie freely admits to taking copius amounts of steroids since the mid-60s. Since 1970, In almost every sport, there has been a vast reduction in athletic times and a vast increase in athletic distances achieved (and weights lifted etc). So, almost inevitably, Aaron’s  enormous haul of HRs would one day be surpassed, in keeping with improvements in diet, sports technologies and actual gear (like boots etc) and consistent with the improvements in other sports. After all, records are made to be broken, aren’t they?

The evidence is quite significant (though still unproven in a court of law – well, obviously a court of law, its not going to be a court of tennis) that Bonds took steroids – or some kind of performance-enhancing drug. However, serious drug-testing only came into force in baseball in 2003 – several years after Bonds’ chameleon-like transformation. So why doesn’t Aaorn’s record come under scrutiny? I mean, this record wasnt broken for 30 years – if anyone was juiced it was Aaron! there was NO regulation whatsoever – mass spectroscopy hadn’t been discovered/invented, and in many ways performance-enhancers were in their infancy – leaving those who indulged to be part of an elite group of super-athletes.

Regardless, many big names in baseball have come forward and admitted to steroid-use. The list is luminary – Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens, Mike Mcgwire, Gary Sheffield and most recently, Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez (who will probably surpass Bonds). Clearly, coming out and admitting to steroid-use is dis-advantageous in terms of career posterity. Having one’s name smeared with ‘drug-use’ is clearly a dis-incentive to admit ‘the truth’ as one’s place is the coveted Hall-of-Fame could and would be jeopardized. So it brings us to Bonds. Personally, I don’t doubt his ‘guilt’, but I firmly believe that in pre-testing days, many pitchers were at least as ‘juiced’ as Bonds – throwing upwards of 100mph pitches. It is significant that in pre-testing days, an athlete need only go on a few cycles of steroids to increase muscle-mass and get stronger. The athlete could stop taking them after a couple of years (or just in the off-season) and they would never be found out. Ever. This has been evidenced more recently by the exposition of the Bay Area Lab Co-operative (BALCO) who allegedly supplied tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), informally known as ‘the clear’ or ‘the cream’, to Bonds. BALCO gained notoriety (or infamy) when the ‘world’s fastest couple’ Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, were exposed as users and were stripped of their medals. Several samples of the drug had been leaked to the authorities – and with the samples, a comparitive measure was introduced and NMS and other chemical testing techniques could be employed. The fact is, had it not been for anonymous samples, ‘operation world-record’ may still – and probably is -be in effect. Look at the recent winners/record-setters in the 100m sprint: Carl Lewis, Ben Johnson, Justin Gatlin, Dwayne Chambers, Linford Christie have all suffered the ignominy of being publically exposed as ‘cheats’. The reality is there is a kind of pharmacological ‘brand’ warfare going on. It could be idle conspiracy-theory bullshit, but maybe not!

It’s not confined to baseball or sprinting, of course – several prominent cyclists – most notably Danilo Di Luca (Giro d’Italia 2007) and Marco Pantani (Tour de France ‘98) have come forward or been exposed. The list is staggering:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling

In a sport riddled with steroids, a triple-cancer survivor emerges out of the ashes and wins 7 consecutive Tours de France. I’m sorry, but it’s too good to be true. Far too good. Lance Armstrong all but embodies the American dream – overcoming adversity, being the best and he gets the girl (Sheryl Crow, who he later dumps). The fact is, 4 of his victories came before ‘the clear’ had been discovered – but in reality, he was probably just blood-doping using EPO which basically causes the haemoglobin in your blood to increase its affiliation for oxygen, carrying it to the muscles in your body. Here’s an interesting article on the matter:

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/11/effect-of-epo-on-performance-who.html

The reality is, who knows what drugs are out there? The mythical heuristic (tautology?) of the athlete – whose body is worth millions of dollars in many cases – lying in squallor guessing as to where he can get a vein, with a belt strapped around his arm injecting himself with performance-enhancing drugs. In reality, it is bent doctors who are administering the drug, complicit in the illegality and not to mention the violation of the hippocratic oath. Or is it? I have scoured the web for statistical or experimental evidence on the health effects of steroids and find almost all are out-of-date experiments from the 80s. After all, how can one ethically justify ‘damaging’ a human body for the sake of research? and obviously animals are incomparable in terms of metabolism etc (and you can’t force a chimp to cycle or lift weights)

The fallacy here comprises the belief that if an average(ish) athlete takes steroids he can become the best (although Michelle Smith does give credence to this case!) To become the best requires unbelievable natural talent. Moreover, it requires incredible dedication and meticulous, often tedious training. It is insulting to my intelligence to imply that Barry Bonds isn’t an incredible athlete – that he simply ‘cheated’ and doesn’t deserve credit. Everyone else was taking steroids and yet he still wiped the floor with them all. I think it perfectly fair to infer that Aaron was probably on steroids – and probably every big hitter in the 30 year wait for the record to be broken.

Det var den näst sista.. och det känns faktiskt i kroppen att jag har fått en massa skit.. för jag har mina sovdagar… och jag går på mina vätskedrivande… och jag fryser om huvudet när jag går ut.. så nu är det varma mössan som gäller..

De vita låg på 2,6 igår.. så det var på gränsen för behandling.. den ligger på 2,5 och hade jag haft 2,5 så hade jag inte fått behandling.. så jag hade tur som sjutton..

Mitt blodvärde låg på 116.. så jag slapp EPO sprutan.. tjohoo.. alltid blir jag glad att slippa sticka mig själv.. för det är ju det jag gör.. varför ska hon sticka mig.. när jag kan själv..

Annars så gick allt som en dans.. förutom att jag någon gång under dagen tappade mitt mobilsmycke.. det där från Rosa Bandet som jag fick förra året av min moder… och nu är den puts väck.. och jag blir så ledsen.. och jag vill ju ha en ny… *gråter hjärtskärande*… för här har vi inte guldfynd.. då måste jag till den stora staden i söder.. och dit kommer jag inte.. har svårt att åka tåg själv.. och buss är det för mycket bakterier på.. och jag vet inte hur det är med mina medresenärer.. vad de har för sjukdomar.. jag kan bli smittad och jättesjuk.. speciellt om mina vita ligger så lågt… Alltid är det något…

Dessutom låg det en kallelse till mig när jag kom hem.. till den årliga mammografiundersökningen.. och jag blir så less.. varför i herransnamn kan de inte göra en varning i datorerna på det där stället som skickar ut kallelser.. att jag redan är inne i systemet… nä.. det ska gå genom automatik.. Vi är ca 7000 kvinnor som varje år får en bröstcancerdiagnos.. av dem dör ca 1500.. varvid det är ca 5500 som överlever… jag vet inte riktigt siffran av hur många som lever med en bröstcancerdiagnos men det är över 100000 och alla dessa får en kallelse till den årliga mammografin… vilka pengar sjukvården hade sparat i papper, kuvert och porto till alla dessa.. om de hade haft en varning på att de redan är inne i systemet och nyligen gjort en mammografi… för det är åtskilliga kronor.. och då hade de kanske sluppit att avskeda folk.. eller kunnat anställa fler inom sjukvården.. så inte tyngden hade blivit så stor på de som jobbar.. ett par extra nävar är aldrig fel.. eller tänker jag fel nu?

Nu ska sonen och jag iväg och hämta våra biljetter till Göteborg…

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om pysan, kallelse, behandling, mammografi, sjukvård, spara, anställa, Rosa Bandet, mobilsmycke, EPO, blodvärde, vita, gräns, näst sista, tjohoo, Guldfynd, Göteborg, biljetter

I’ve posted a great deal on the green benefits of using DC power in the data center. In this post, I’ll discuss how data center DC power effects safety and offers an alternative to the bane of data center managers, the Emergency Power Off (EPO) button.

The EPO has its basis in the National Electrical Code, Article 645. In a nutshell, the EPO allows emergency responders to deenergize the facility to safely deal with fires and such. The EPO is not required for data centers that don’t take advantage of the goodies in 645, but how can you argue with the safety of emergency crews?

The problem with EPO is downtime due to accidental or malicious operation. Since the buttons are required to be easily available, this is an ongoing problem with EPO equipped facilities.

So, how do DC power plants eliminate the need for the EPO and keep emergency crews safe? Most DC power plants have the ability to operate the battery disconnect breaker with a separate control circuit. Simply tie this circuit to the facility fire alarm panel.

If the fire alarm panel trips due to smoke, heat, or alarm pull events, it automatically disconnects backup power (the battery string). The facility continues to run until emergency crews make the decison to interrupt the AC power (as they would in any normal circumstance) and be sure ALL the power is off.

There’s fire but the alarm panel hasn’t tripped? Simply activate a pull station for the same effect. No more hunting for the battery disconnect breaker.

Since this is a two part process, the nuisance trips of the single part EPO are eliminated, there is confirmation there is definitely a problem before any activation, manual shutdowns are still available but no longer with uncontrolled access, and there’s no more electrical hazard in an emergency. Also, removing backup power no longer means a forced full shutdown.

Green, reliable, and safe, who would have thought.

Vern, SwiftWater Telecom

data center, web hosting, Internet engineering

In a shameless move today The Hudson’s Bay Company rolled out it’s line of Olympic clothing. Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Canadian culture will immediately see that the HBC fashion designers have blatantly based their new line on the personal look of Bob and Doug Mckenzie.  This is not homage – it’s fromage. Bob and Doug McKenzie are Canadian cultural icons. Who’s next? … Bruno Gerussi ….Gump Worsley? This is cultural appropriation at it’s worst – it must stop and it must stop now. Remember Bob and Doug’s heroic legal battle when Bob found a mouse in his bottle of Canadian? Their David vs Goliath struggle with that corporate giant was unsuccessful but I’ll bet that they’ll come out on top this time.

They’re going to get a lot of HBC blankets from this lawsuit. If they’re smart they’ll take a page from HBC’s history book and trade them for beaver.

"I take responsibility."

An apology from a cyclist suspended for doping? How unexpected. Like a sausage manufacturer actually, finally admitting there are pig eyes ground into the hot-dogs. You know, unexpected, bizarre, not the cycling norm. What a breathe of fresh air.

Dutch cyclist Thomas Dekker admitted to using the blood booster Erythropoietin (EPO). And then, wait for it … he apologized. Yup, he fessed up, dumped the needles in the trashcan and sold his centrifuge on ebay.

He “acknowledges that he has made a mistake, he takes full responsibility,” his lawyer Hans Van Oijen said in a press statement. “Thomas Dekker regrets his mistake; he will apologize and be held accountable, where possible.”

Here’s what Dekker had to say in his own words: “I don’t look for excuses. I was wrong. I will accept the punishment and then start again,” said the Dutch rider. What a non-Vino thing to say.

Good things Dekker instantly accomplished by coming clean and not denying the test results: He saved himself a hundred grand in legal fees that wouldn’t have over-turned the suspension. Just ask Floyd Landis how much of his life savings he dumped down the hole.

He doesn’t have to spend each week working with a sleazy lawyer who makes a living defending riders with positive drug tests. He also won’t be shuttling back and forth to various court dates. This is handy because sometimes there are no bike racks out front.

He avoids the stress, personal embarrassment, and crushing hypocrisy of lying for the next few years. Nor does he have to invent wild conspiracy theories to explain the positive A and B sample results. Pro riders are amazing athletes but conspiracy stories are best left to Hollywood.

He doesn’t find himself lumped in with the other violators like Di Luca, Astarloza, Schumacher, Rebellin and Vinokourov who continue to deny everything. Nobody, especially the UCI and WADA, likes those guys and they hate wasting their operating budgets convicting them. Dekker earned himself some leniency points.

As a corollary, Dekker keeps himself out of the doping news. Journalists love an on-going investigation, the drama, the twists and turns, the claims and counter claims. Nothing irritates a writer more than a liar — doesn’t matter whether it’s a politician or an athlete. Dekker gave himself a vacation from the press hounds. He’ll serve his suspension in relative quiet and come back with some money still in the bank account and his ethics on the mend.

Thomas Dekker, you’re a slease-ball, and yes, we salute you.