Ref Tech Rob

There was an interesting article in the New York Times today about health research and data sharing in the cancer research field ( Cancer Data? Sorry, Can’t Have It - New York Times ). The article discusses the reluctance of many researchers to share valuable data with other researchers. It seems to me that in an age where people collaborate to crack the genetic code, it is irresponsible to withhold data that could be used to help people suffering from cancer. It's this kind of selfish thinking that can contribute to our early extinction.

I had big high-tech plans for today: a few new blog posts, writing an online book review, adding some tutorial documentation to my online presence, doing some editing of our system's reference manual wiki.... Instead, it appears that I will be snaking out the main drain line of our house. Normally (isn't that a funny word in this scenario?) we would borrow our friends electric drain snake, but that one's out of commission, so we decided to rent one. However, the local hardware store decided they weren't going to rent tools anymore--I found out at 6 this morning when I showed up, bleary-eyed, looking for their rental department. So, instead of Home Depot, I decided to try Lowe's tool rental department, but those slackers don't get going until 8 o'clock. So here I sit, blogging about sewer lines with a cup of tea in my hand, waiting for Lowe's to open their doors so I can spend my morning snaking out a drain. Once I'm done with that, I get to go to wor...