Mission Ten: Running statistics
I voted today! Remembered just in time on the way out of the Union. I've spent the last few days banging my head against the Internet (which apparently doesn't have any clues as to which neuroimaging tracer is better, [11C]Raclopride or FP-CIT, and isn't going to give me any clues either) and so I was a bit frazzled and not terribly up on current affairs.
I'm also having to make a big decision in the next couple of weeks. I'm going to bite the bullet and get a graduate loan, as well as exploring other funding options, and do a Masters. The two options that look the most appealing are either an M.Res here at St Andrews, which is like a booster course for a Ph.D: research skills, taught statistics and methodology. Like a practice Ph.D. The other one I'm eyeing is a taught M.Sc at York University, which is in Cognitive Neuroscience and will specialise in neuroimaging techniques, which will be a valuable tool for research and study construction. The York one looks like more new things (and pretty amazingly interesting), but the M.Res might be better for a Ph.D. And also would be a hell of a lot cheaper.
I keep telling myself: just graduate. Do that first. Sort the rest out later.
Okay, so it's probably fairly obvious I like zombie-based things. I think it's simply another manifestation for my fascination with apocalypse survival stories, which I have loved (and by which I have been freaked out) since the age of six or seven. Zombies strike a nice balance of a survival challenge that can be defeated by strong, resourceful people, unlike the usual stuff (nuclear holocaust, etc).
So I tried watching Walking Dead the other day. I got through two episodes, but I had to give it up after that. It is a soap opera with zombies, and normally while I would be all for introducing zombies into Coronation Street, this struck me as... I don't know, really pandering, and a bit insulting. Maybe it gets better! I mean, I only saw the first two episodes. And hey, I love the bits with Whatshisface the cop guy. It was all the other stuff I couldn't be bothered with. She's his wife! And there's a kid! But oh noes, she likes this other dude! In the special way! But is her husband dead!!1!
And there was one thing that stuck out like a sore zombie. It really, really annoyed me. In the second episode there's this bit where there's a whole bunch of zombies trying to get into a locked-off mall to try to eat some yummy humans. They're sort of banging at the security glass. A few of them have picked up rocks and are using them to try and break the glass.
Let's break the wrongness of this down, shall we?
1) ZOMBIES DO NOT USE TOOLS. They are not tool-using creatures. That is the whole point of zombies; they do not have any form of reasoning left in them. They are little more than shambling scavengers. They do not possess the mental faculties to be tool users. All the other animals in the animal kingdom that use tools are kind of held up as a big deal; as indicators of very specific types of intelligence, like otters, chimps and orang-utans. They use tools and biologists tend to freak out over it, because bigod, it's an indication of a specialised set of cognitive processes: I want something (to eat ants). I cannot eat ants with my fingers because they will bite me. I will therefore understand cause and effect to the extent that I know using a stick instead of my fingers will allow me to achieve my goal.
Zombies don't get this. If you have a tool-using zombie, there's a human still in there somewhere; the brain is still firing beyond basic stimulus-response. There's activity in that thar frontal lobe. And that means there's still a person somewhere in there.
And if a zombie can locate a chunk of rock, lift it with both hands, apply force and direction and try to use it as a battering object, then they should be able to understand a firearm (point + squeeze trigger). They might not be a good marksmen, but they will understand the principle. The last thing we need is zoms with guns.
2) That's tempered security glass. The kind of glass they put in skyscrapers that will withstand a person running at it full-pelt. A bunch of howling, moaning zombies with empty palms and the occasional chunk of rock is not going to make much of a dent, unless they've got enough brains to apply the force of the rock properly (see point 1).
3) It's a mall in a major American city centre. I refuse to believe the security had time to lock the security doors, lock the entrance doors, and not lower the metal window gratings.
Pff. Hollywood.
I honestly thought it had a lot of promise; it was well done, handled the gore with aplomb, and even if the main characters were a little too psychologically healthy for the situation... well, it's mainstream, you can't hope for everything. I might come back to the show after my exams. I have a paid part time job in the research lab for June and July whilst I sort out my Masters stuff, and I'll probably have a fair bit if free time if I can't find another part time job to pair it with.
It's also probably for the best I don't get into a new show right now; I'm on series 6 of the US version of the Office (not as good as the UK version, but still highly entertaining), and I only started watching it about two weeks ago. Oh, pressure valves, how I love you. And how you eat into my time.
Anyway! New zombie run today. The story revolved a supplies mission whilst running around a University campus, so it felt weirdly meta as I pass my lab, the Union and many, many department buildings en route.
Mission Ten: Statistics summary
Time: 29.05
Kilometers: 4.58
Avg. speed: 9.36 km/h
Zombie hordes evaded: 3
Supplies
Sports bra x3
Underwear
Tool box x2
Kensaido manifesto
Shorts
Pain meds
Bandages x2
Trousers
Bottled water
Batteries
9mm ammo
First aid kit x3
Tinned food x3
Box for Dr. Meyers (?)
Abel Township
Start population: 60
Last population: 179
New population: 193
Building development
Hospital: 3
Comms: 3
Armoury: 2
Housing: 3
Recreation: 2
Food: 3
Image credit
I'm also having to make a big decision in the next couple of weeks. I'm going to bite the bullet and get a graduate loan, as well as exploring other funding options, and do a Masters. The two options that look the most appealing are either an M.Res here at St Andrews, which is like a booster course for a Ph.D: research skills, taught statistics and methodology. Like a practice Ph.D. The other one I'm eyeing is a taught M.Sc at York University, which is in Cognitive Neuroscience and will specialise in neuroimaging techniques, which will be a valuable tool for research and study construction. The York one looks like more new things (and pretty amazingly interesting), but the M.Res might be better for a Ph.D. And also would be a hell of a lot cheaper.
I keep telling myself: just graduate. Do that first. Sort the rest out later.
Okay, so it's probably fairly obvious I like zombie-based things. I think it's simply another manifestation for my fascination with apocalypse survival stories, which I have loved (and by which I have been freaked out) since the age of six or seven. Zombies strike a nice balance of a survival challenge that can be defeated by strong, resourceful people, unlike the usual stuff (nuclear holocaust, etc).
So I tried watching Walking Dead the other day. I got through two episodes, but I had to give it up after that. It is a soap opera with zombies, and normally while I would be all for introducing zombies into Coronation Street, this struck me as... I don't know, really pandering, and a bit insulting. Maybe it gets better! I mean, I only saw the first two episodes. And hey, I love the bits with Whatshisface the cop guy. It was all the other stuff I couldn't be bothered with. She's his wife! And there's a kid! But oh noes, she likes this other dude! In the special way! But is her husband dead!!1!
And there was one thing that stuck out like a sore zombie. It really, really annoyed me. In the second episode there's this bit where there's a whole bunch of zombies trying to get into a locked-off mall to try to eat some yummy humans. They're sort of banging at the security glass. A few of them have picked up rocks and are using them to try and break the glass.
Let's break the wrongness of this down, shall we?
1) ZOMBIES DO NOT USE TOOLS. They are not tool-using creatures. That is the whole point of zombies; they do not have any form of reasoning left in them. They are little more than shambling scavengers. They do not possess the mental faculties to be tool users. All the other animals in the animal kingdom that use tools are kind of held up as a big deal; as indicators of very specific types of intelligence, like otters, chimps and orang-utans. They use tools and biologists tend to freak out over it, because bigod, it's an indication of a specialised set of cognitive processes: I want something (to eat ants). I cannot eat ants with my fingers because they will bite me. I will therefore understand cause and effect to the extent that I know using a stick instead of my fingers will allow me to achieve my goal.
Zombies don't get this. If you have a tool-using zombie, there's a human still in there somewhere; the brain is still firing beyond basic stimulus-response. There's activity in that thar frontal lobe. And that means there's still a person somewhere in there.
And if a zombie can locate a chunk of rock, lift it with both hands, apply force and direction and try to use it as a battering object, then they should be able to understand a firearm (point + squeeze trigger). They might not be a good marksmen, but they will understand the principle. The last thing we need is zoms with guns.
2) That's tempered security glass. The kind of glass they put in skyscrapers that will withstand a person running at it full-pelt. A bunch of howling, moaning zombies with empty palms and the occasional chunk of rock is not going to make much of a dent, unless they've got enough brains to apply the force of the rock properly (see point 1).
3) It's a mall in a major American city centre. I refuse to believe the security had time to lock the security doors, lock the entrance doors, and not lower the metal window gratings.
Pff. Hollywood.
I honestly thought it had a lot of promise; it was well done, handled the gore with aplomb, and even if the main characters were a little too psychologically healthy for the situation... well, it's mainstream, you can't hope for everything. I might come back to the show after my exams. I have a paid part time job in the research lab for June and July whilst I sort out my Masters stuff, and I'll probably have a fair bit if free time if I can't find another part time job to pair it with.
It's also probably for the best I don't get into a new show right now; I'm on series 6 of the US version of the Office (not as good as the UK version, but still highly entertaining), and I only started watching it about two weeks ago. Oh, pressure valves, how I love you. And how you eat into my time.
Anyway! New zombie run today. The story revolved a supplies mission whilst running around a University campus, so it felt weirdly meta as I pass my lab, the Union and many, many department buildings en route.
Mission Ten: Statistics summary
Time: 29.05
Kilometers: 4.58
Avg. speed: 9.36 km/h
Zombie hordes evaded: 3
Supplies
Sports bra x3
Underwear
Tool box x2
Kensaido manifesto
Shorts
Pain meds
Bandages x2
Trousers
Bottled water
Batteries
9mm ammo
First aid kit x3
Tinned food x3
Box for Dr. Meyers (?)
Abel Township
Start population: 60
Last population: 179
New population: 193
Building development
Hospital: 3
Comms: 3
Armoury: 2
Housing: 3
Recreation: 2
Food: 3
Image credit