Rant – as published in Craccum

After an impromptu rant at someone at an on-campus cafe, I thought a message from myself and other caffeine addicted souls might be appropriate. With concern to dealing with ordering and queues at cafes and coffee shops, a few, helpful tips and as I see, common courtesy.

Join a queue. Don’t make one up and don’t hover around pushing through people with your oversized backpack trying to see what foodstuffs are on display for your consumption. Just join the end like everyone else, at some point you’ll get to look at those anaemic looking sandwiches and sullen salads waiting for you.

After joining the queue, it may be a good time to start deciding what you want, how you might pay and whether you want to have it ‘in’ or ‘out’. Really! Don’t stand there and talk to your girlfriends or stand there aimlessly texting and grunting occasionally; and that text book in your arms? Get rid of it! Put it in a bag or get someone else to hold it, so that when you do finally get to ordering, there’s no fumbling trying to juggle two trim lattes and that muffin—which wasted another three minutes of my life changing your mind and pointing your finger at the exact one you wanted.

Once you get to the till—after having decided what you want—order clearly! Don’t mumble at the person serving you while trying to get positive confirmation on what you’re ordering from your equally disorganised friend. Tell them what you want, how you want it and whether you’re eating there or takeout. If you’re with someone, decide before you get to the till, and if you’re by yourself then get some self control and hurry up.

Of course, the requirement of you getting the goods is the successful transaction of cash, or that glorious word ACCEPTED. While waiting why not have some money ready, or at least something to pay with ready, and if there’s any doubt that your card might decline, check before entering the building, don’t stand there trying card after card, or looking through your purse for loose change.

On completion of the purchase, collect what you’ve ordered with your free hands and move quickly away to allow the next person to order. Especially in peak times, get your act together, be polite and don’t waste other people’s time and patience— caffeine requiring their morning fix are known not to have the best patience at times.

If your time management skills are so bad that you can’t do at least one of those things in the five minutes of mine you’ve just wasted then good luck with finishing your degree.

The drugs don’t work

Following the misleading headline in the New Zealand Herald ‘Anti-depressants don’t work – study’ I am surprised that the following findings of the MHRA’s 4 year investigation of drug company GalxoSmithKline haven’t yet made headlines here.

The MHRA [UK regulator for medicines] recently completed an investigation accusing GSK for hiding adverse test results for the drug Paroxetine commonly known as Aropax.After looking at nine undisclosed studies performed by GSK, they found that the drug was ineffective in treating depression in youths under 18 and increased the risk of self-harm and suicidal thoughts in adolescents. Currently pharmaceutical companies have to provide all research, both positive and negative when applying to licence a drug for use. However, they do not have to disclose all studies on drugs if they’re not applying for a license.

In this case, studies that investigated the negative impact of using Aropax with adolescents were withheld from the MHRA and consequently from the medial profession and the general public.The regulator (MEDSAFE in New Zealand) is there to regulate the pharmaceutical companies, not the medical profession. A licence enables the drug companies to market the drug to medical professionals, in other words, allowing the drug companies to advertise the drugs to doctors.

A licence is not a restriction on what the drug can be prescribed for or to whom – including adolescents. Medical professionals use their own discretion whether or not they choose to do so, based on available research performed either by the drug companies or by independent studies.

Ultimately this is where the issue lies. How can doctors make an informed decision about prescribing patients—specifically adolescents—when studies remain undisclosed?

Whether this recent development makes its way in to the Herald tomorrow is yet to be seen, though if it does I’m almost certain that it will be lacking the sensation that the Feb. 27 headline was granted.

Just something I’m interested to see unfold.

26-02-2008 Initial Severity and Antidepressant Benefits: A Meta-Analysis of Data Submitted to the Food and Drug Administration

27-02-2008 Anti-depressants don’t work – study

02-08-2004 European agency spreads Aropax suicide warning

11-03-2008 Interview on Radion NZ National – Nine to Noon

Nothing like a bit of self promotion

Coming up on Good Friday [21 March], Musica Sacra is giving its annual presentation of Music for Good Friday.

This year Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri. The work was composed in 1680 and is a cycle of seven cantatas; the text the poem Salve mundi salutare written by medieval poet Arnulf of Louvain.

The work is a fantastic piece of writing, expressive, exciting, and in parts modern for its time. More information about the work can be found on the Wikipædia; details of the upcoming performance are below.

Good Friday, 21 March
TWO performances: 3:30pm and 8:00pm

St. Matthew-in-the-City

BUXTEHUDE: Membra Jesu Nostri

Pepe Becker, soprano
Kate Spence, alto
Iain Tetley, tenor
Hadleigh Adams, bass

Graham McPhail, Iselta Allison, violins
Helen Polglase, cello
John Middleton, bass
Dr John Wells, chamber organ

With choir Musica Sacra conducted by Dr. Indra Hughes
See musicasacra.org.nz for more details

NOTE: I sing in the tenor section of choir, hence why this is self-promotion rather than just promotion ;)

Was he winking at me?

Apparently not.

Japanese researchers are refining a technology that allows consumer devices, specifically the iPod, to be controlled by a person winking.

I’ll leave you to read about it here, but say that it’s controlled by a camera mounted to headphones monitoring a persons eyelid movements.

Essentially this is another hands-free technology designed to make our lives easier by allowing remote control of consumer devices. This is not the first attempt and follows technologies such as voice recognition and touch screens.

While hands free usage may be convenient, this seems to me just another trivial feature to list on the box rather than an enhancement to the primary function of the device, in the case of the iPod – playing music.

It is also interesting that the new generation iPod Touch is completely controlled by a touch screen. Of course, this makes it virtually impossible to control the device without looking at it, making this blinking control really just another technology to overcome the shortcomings of another.

I do like to see this kind of advancement in technology and think that human interaction with devices will need to change to allow further practical usefulness, however until then do we really need another piece of technology only to fix the shortcomings of another and ultimately invading social interaction?