Over the weekend I have made massive improvements to my blog. I chose a theme and applied it quite well. I made a logo which is not really a logo but the name of the site using my AltSci font. I'm not too thrilled about the splash part on the main page but I'll figure out what I should do later. The comment system is working (I even caught a bug in Django while I was at it). The quote system is up on the front page and the About page. So what's new on the Brazilian front? I have downloaded 64 PDFs and 72 MP3s from Busuu and am turning them into a study guide for myself. At some point I intend to compile this data from my mind into lessons for English speakers. It could also be used for Brazilian Portuguese speakers to learn English. I'll have to see if I meet anyone who can test it out. Currently my setup is 2 pages and I have enough data for 5-10 pages. I plan to only bring 5 pages with me though. I'll be traveling light to keep only one bag. If I was more confident of where I was going and how I could get there I would probably take a light duffel bag. Having carried it enough trips I don't want that extra weight. Since my wrist is broken I won't be able to switch hands which would be annoying if I carry anything heavy. Limits are not necessarily bad. My website is limited by the time I have available. Though I could have saved time and made it a copy of my other blog, I decided that I need a bit of Python on my website.
Now seems like as good a time as any to advertise my other blogs and my projects. Currently I have a really cool project that is already making some steps. It's also written in Python Django and has about 105GB more data than this blog. Almost none of it is original, but don't let that stop you from visiting Philisophical Transactions. A blog post here wouldn't be complete without a link to my normal blog and my previous travel blogs: AltSci Europe and AltSci Japan.
Read more »I've talked with two Brazilians (Brasiliero) today and both encourage me to visit the Northeast. While my original plan was to just visit São Paulo I am now thinking that I'll find the easiest way to visit as much of the country as I can. Since Brasil is nearly the same size as the continental US, I suspect that there is a lot of diversity among Brasil's many areas. I think I will not plan travel within Brasil until I get there. I currently have bigger things to be concerned about and I have little mind to waste if I want to learn every word I'll need in Brasil.
A look at Brasil's history (Wikipedia is great, isn't it?) today shows just how unstable their country has been since its inception. Though I think that is a good thing, I also think about how short a time the US has been a constitutional democracy. It's really a matter of time before we change dramatically. The industrial revolution that made the US wealthy is changing dramatically and our political system is honestly strained by the inherent weakness of representative democracy. Without strong checks and balances, the systems of governance and justice are as tyrannical as lesser systems of government. What does this have to do with Brasil? Brasil's young democracy has had serious problems in the recent past. Corruption and economic injustice are problems both countries are continuously fighting. As we learn to combat these problems we can improve our societies by sharing our ideas.
Since this is my first post I want to keep it short. I'm learning a ton of Brazilian Portuguese with Busuu and I intend to finish the B2 training before I leave in 1 week. That will make me an intermediate Portuguese speaker in about 3 months of learning over 1 year. The podcasts help and the PDFs should come in handy at some point, but of course the two things that really made learning fun for me was talking to native speakers and the writing exercises which are corrected by native speakers. Amazing really. I enjoy learning but this makes my day every time I go on Busuu someone new is making me work hard for my conversation. Brazilians are so friendly.
Read more »No explanation need. Javantea out.
Subject: Questions to Monette Anderson From: David Larsen <DavidLa@psbc.org> To: "jvoss@altsci.com" <jvoss@altsci.com> Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2011 09:24:17 -0700 multipart/alternative Return-Path:<prvs=42335e34ac=davidla@psbc.org> X-Original-To:jvoss@altsci.com Delivered-To:jvoss@altsci.com Received-SPF:Pass (sender SPF authorized) identity=mailfrom; client-ip=67.137.147.144; helo=mail4.psbc.org; envelope-from=prvs=42335e34ac=davidla@psbc.org; receiver=jvoss@altsci.com Received:from mail4.psbc.org (mail4.psbc.org [67.137.147.144]) by mail.altsci.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4AF1E63C06D for <jvoss@altsci.com>; Fri, 9 Sep 2011 09:48:06 -0700 (PDT) Received:from pps.filterd (mail4 [127.0.0.1]) by mail4.psbc.org (8.14.4/8.14.4) with SMTP id p89GLRU4027139 for <jvoss@altsci.com>; Fri, 9 Sep 2011 09:24:18 -0700 Received:from cen-exht1.psbc.org (cen-exht1.psbc.org [10.246.1.58]) by mail4.psbc.org with ESMTP id yq1nrrv37-1 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=AES128-SHA bits=128 verify=NOT) for <jvoss@altsci.com>; Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:24:18 -0700 Received:from Cen-EXMB1.PSBC.ORG ([::1]) by Cen-exht1 ([127.0.0.1]) with mapi; Fri, 9 Sep 2011 09:24:18 -0700 From:David Larsen <DavidLa@psbc.org> To:"jvoss@altsci.com" <jvoss@altsci.com> Date:Fri, 9 Sep 2011 09:24:17 -0700 Subject:Questions to Monette Anderson Thread-Topic:Questions to Monette Anderson Thread-Index:AcxvDHrqxVceW4anQpSlY3s3n7MRaAAAFG8w Message-ID:<FF508ECD49A8C844B83E5AFC1B13B507F7DE9810@Cen-EXMB1.PSBC.ORG> References:<07D34C50E99BAC42A792033D6C925E1902E8B50F3F@Cen-EXMB1.PSBC.ORG> In-Reply-To:<07D34C50E99BAC42A792033D6C925E1902E8B50F3F@Cen-EXMB1.PSBC.ORG> Accept-Language:en-US Content-Language:en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: acceptlanguage:en-US Content-Type:multipart/alternative; boundary="_000_FF508ECD49A8C844B83E5AFC1B13B507F7DE9810CenEXMB1PSBCORG_" MIME-Version:1.0 X-Proofpoint-Virus-Version:vendor=fsecure engine=2.50.10432:5.4.6813,1.0.211,0.0.0000 definitions=2011-09-09_06:2011-09-09,2011-09-09,1970-01-01 signatures=0 X-Proofpoint-Spam-Details:rule=notspam policy=default score=0 spamscore=0 ipscore=0 suspectscore=1 phishscore=0 bulkscore=0 adultscore=0 classifier=spam adjust=0 reason=mlx scancount=1 engine=6.0.2-1012030000 definitions=main-1109090162 Status:R X-Status:N X-KMail-EncryptionState: X-KMail-SignatureState: X-KMail-MDN-Sent: text/plainDear Javantea/Mr. Voss,
Thank you for your email to Monette Anderson on the subject of blood doping. The response to your specific questions follow.
Q: Is there any way for a person who is legally allowed to purchase blood from PSBC?
A: No. We do not sell blood to individuals. Puget Sound Blood Center (PSBC) is an independent, nonprofit organization that combines Western Washington's community-based blood bank with an integrated Research Institute. We operate the world's largest centralized transfusion service for patients in more than 70 hospitals and clinics across 14 counties. Patients undergoing surgery or receiving therapy for leukemia, cancer, burns, hemophilia and traumatic injuries -- as well as for tissue and organ transplantation -- depend on us.
Q.: Are all units of all types of blood accounted for under all circumstances?
A: Yes. The FDA has rigorous standards around blood and blood product supply, safety, inventory, chain of custody, record-keeping and accountability.
Q: Do you use double-entry accounting to ensure that no blood is disposed of by a corrupt medical janitorial service?
A: Our blood and blood product inventory management protocols meet rigorous FDA standards.
Q.: Do you sell blood to hospitals that are engaged in blood doping?
A: No.
Q.: Do you sell l or give blood to the military?
A: Yes. We provide blood to the US armed forces, and conduct blood drives at military facilities. Blood and blood products are used for exactly the same medical, emergency and therapeutic purposes as occurs at civilian hospitals.
Thank you for sharing your views with us. I hope you will reconsider your decision not to donate blood.
David A. Larsen
Director of Communications
Puget Sound Blood Center
Tel:(206)233-3358|Mobile:(206)498-6826
DavidLa@psbc.org<mailto:DavidLa@psbc.org>
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Aug 25, 2011
The past week and a half I have been having a bit of fun. I've been planning a party with music and guests. It isn't easy but it isn't exactly rocket science. Getting musicians to play requires advance notice usually and as time goes on fewer and fewer people are available. Fans as well require advance notice and getting the word out is not a trivial task. I mean, if a person wants me to go to their show they practically have to e-mail me on a day when I want to go. Alas that doesn't always work either. NWTekno was a great place to find events and sometimes still is but lacks tons of shows that simply don't post their show. In fact the show linked above simply will not be posted there.
Moreover, sound is an important element to any party. Going to Guitar Center and buying $700 of sound gear will give you decent sound but have you heard of their 15% return policy? If you play 2 shows before you return the gear, $700 * %15 / 2 = $52.5 per show. Of course Guitar Center probably doesn't want you to do that. Don't let anyone spill any beer or blow your speaker.
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