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The story I remember is that at the time she worked for Mars (developing the Mars ice cream), so one of the tabloids had the headline:

"Woman from Mars goes to space!"

I used to use this (still do really) as a technique when starting undergraduate lectures. They’re there, ready to listen, but chatting away and need a moment to focus their attention.

*SO* let me tell you further fun facts about carbonyl chemistry…

Works. Those Anglo-Saxons knew what they were about.

Surely this is gross professional misconduct? If one of my postdocs did this they would be at risk of being fired. I would certainly never trust them again. If I let it get through, I should be at risk.

As a reviewer, if I see the authors lie in this way why should I trust anything else in the paper? The only ethical move is to reject immediately.

I acknowledge mistakes and so on are common but this is different league bad behaviour.

Well yes, but just because that’s bad doesn’t mean this isn’t far worse.

Perfect. Right up there with, "but are you a Protestant Muslim or a Catholic Muslim?"

You know I wondered who those guys throwing spears at the busses were. Thought they’d just come doon the watter.

I have a chloroplast for you on line two; can you hold?

I also wasted a lot of my youth playing Elite, so much fun. Check out the page--it also has annotated source code for Elite (a few different versions up there).

Check out the Open University then. It’s the real thing and online. It costs and there are time constraints but they are the experts in remote teaching

Yes, exactly! Just plot all the bloody data and be done with it. No one is doing this by hand anymore so it is no extra work.

To my mind, if you have a genuine EDA attitude you plot it all.

It's the same resource--he gives it away for free, but you can buy the book if you want (I did).

Really pleased to have a play with this--I've so often read comments that the agenda, the calendar, on this thing was better than almost anything since, it was interesting to go and have a look. I can see the point, the year view is really good in a way that my current calendar (fantastical) doesn't quite match.

And on some cases sugar sugar not syntactic sugar.

And Charlie Stross is not a particularly common name so you could hope for it to be more accurate then for most.

My name is somewhat more common (although not the full John Smith) and apparently:

1. I'm a multitalented artist ... "is not only a successful actor, but he's also a singer, songwriter, dancer, and businessman. He's released several music albums and singles, and he's also starred in numerous films and television shows."

2. And I'm also a style icon... "is known for his stylish fashion sense. He's always on point with the latest trends, and he's not afraid to experiment with different looks. He's also a fan of streetwear and luxury brands."

And so on.

For the record, I'm not even monotalented and my personal style is closer to cosplaying last of the summer wine than anything else.

The author was an interesting character (and a very prominent scientist--some of his work on enzymes is still taught to undergraduates) and a committed communist. Many of his essays were first written for the a newspaper. I think it was the Daily Star.

Yes, a Swiss Micros DM42. Why? Mostly because I like it, but I justified it to myself by using it in the lab, where having are having a more expensive screen is not wise.

They are also useful for teaching.

Any chemists around should read his 'Delta Star' set in the CalTech Chemistry Department. Apparently he was buddies with Harry Grey and spent some time around the school. Grey, the only non-fictional character in the book, spoke highly of his work ethic (something like 'he turned up to all of the classes, which is more than most of our students do').

That's a good reminder though. I subscribe and don't want to cancel but I would like a discount. Let's see how I get on.

Check out "Street-fighting mathematics" and excellent (free) resource. It's so good I paid for a copy (and his other one) after reading the free version online.

And that’s just the staff; imagine how the students feel.

And rather cutely, the only place in the UK that's given its name to a chemical element.

Don’t be too hard on yourself! Keep it up, have fun and remember it’s a long game.

This is true, and they are valuable. But a students union is best thought of as a very distinct sort of organisation; they are not the same as a labour union.

(You obviously know this, but it may help prevent some misleading comparisons down the line…)

Email predates the web; I got my first email account in 1993, but first opened a browser (Mosaic) the year after.

Thanks for the tips guys. I’ll check them out. I also pulled a copy of Box’s essays off the shelf, and while he is obviously mainly interested in experimental design he does drop in a few references to oldish books on SPC.

This is a great article, but is there a good modern source (say an introductory text book) on these ideas?

I've a vague memory of doing this as a first year undergraduate, but that was a long time ago. And stupidly, I didn't think I'd ever need them...

Wasn’t this the plot of an Ian Banks novel? Canal dreams. Imagine die hard, with the Bruce Willis part being a middle-aged, female, Japanese cellist.

There a link to the (open access) paper, so if you want the grizzly details they’re all there for you.