Just needed to be heard for a little while

Pyxis

Waves_and_Smiles wrote: »

I am quite excited but I have also managed to chew my nail down to the point of bleeding, typical me!

Look at it this way - what is there to lose? Nothing! It's all plus, plus, plus. Worst case scenario is you don't like that course..........so you've learned from the experience, and can try a different course! It's all win win.

Waves_and_Smiles

I didn't, JM (Morning JM!)! I shall have a look at those today, I am always eager to find something new to learn. One thing I have never lost is my curiosity.

I figured that as I spend a lot of my days looking up any amount of odd subjects (50 million year old fish species, anyone?) that it wasn't such a huge step to formalising it slightly to where I am actually given the material rather than hunting it down. I am currently drifting between yay! I am going to learn something on a course! to omg! what have I done? and there goes another fingernail.

whitewing

No chocolate at the moment. I have lost over 1 stone since I changed medication. I am eating less now. I have also cut out a lot of the coffee since I discovered I liked the green tea. So perhaps it's caffeine withdrawal that I am getting used to.

I am so pleased that you are signed up for a course, WaS. I agree that you can't lose - you will either enjoy it and carry on, or you will be inspired to try something else.

Solarjunkie

For all you people out there who have time on their hands, use of a computer and a desire to make a contribution, go and check out Zooniverse!
https://www.zooniverse.org/
Humans can spot things that machines miss, so you could be looking at pictures of plankton or stars and looking for patterns. You don't need to worry about making a wrong judgement either, as everything is cross checked. Oh, it's also fun and involving!
Here's some things about it -

Many projects have produced unique scientific results, ranging from individual discoveries to classifications that rely on input from thousands of volunteers. As of today there are 60+ papers listed on the websites publications page, many of which have made the news.

In the first two weeks after Galaxy Zoo’s launch, registered citizen scientists classified more than a million galaxies. Each volunteer was presented with an image from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and asked to classifiy the galaxy as belonging to one of six categories: elliptical, clockwise spiral, anticlockwise spiral, edge-on, merger, or unsure.

But citizen scientists weren’t simply labeling galaxies, they were helping astronomers to answer crucial questions and raise new ones about our current understandings of galaxy evolution. One significant finding showed that bar-shaped features in spiral galaxies has doubled over the latter half of the history of the Universe. This confirms that bars signify maturity in spiral galaxies and play an important role in shutting down star formation.


And here is how you could help birds (it takes a person to read a number on a tag at an angle, a machine can't do it)

We need you to look at some photos of condors taken by our motion-activated cameras. By identifying the tag number of each condor and their behavior around the feeding carcass, we can judge if the bird's eating or social problems can reveal lead poisoning

You could be part of something very big, with no cost or commitment, an hour every day or ten minutes a fortnight.

Waves_and_Smiles

Oh, well done on the weight loss! My anti-psychotics caused quite a lot of weight gain immediately, a lot is fluid as is shown by the fact my legs swell by the end of the day. I take diuretics but it still piles the water on as do the steroids. Caffeine withdrawal can make you feel down, I am so used to caffeine that I don't seem to get any reaction from it at all but I certainly know when I haven't had any.

I think I am pleased about the course too, inbetween small bursts of panic. As you say if this one isn't right I can choose another, there are hundreds available. The point now is that I am actually doing something new which is a huge leap for me.

Oh, solar that is fascinating! Thank you for posting it! I quite like things like that where I am being useful so will definitely give it a try, I love that you can do as much or as little as you want. It suits me perfectly!

Plus stars and birds are something that I am interested in! Every year I watch a pair of hawks on a webcam raise their young until they fledge and I run SETI at Home on my laptop. I will be the one to find alien life!

jobbingmusician

Solarjunkie wrote: »

For all you people out there who have time on their hands, use of a computer and a desire to make a contribution, go and check out Zooniverse!
https://www.zooniverse.org/
Humans can spot things that machines miss, so you could be looking at pictures of plankton or stars and looking for patterns. You don't need to worry about making a wrong judgement either, as everything is cross checked. Oh, it's also fun and involving!
Here's some things about it -

Many projects have produced unique scientific results, ranging from individual discoveries to classifications that rely on input from thousands of volunteers. As of today there are 60+ papers listed on the websites publications page, many of which have made the news.

In the first two weeks after Galaxy Zoo’s launch, registered citizen scientists classified more than a million galaxies. Each volunteer was presented with an image from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and asked to classifiy the galaxy as belonging to one of six categories: elliptical, clockwise spiral, anticlockwise spiral, edge-on, merger, or unsure.

But citizen scientists weren’t simply labeling galaxies, they were helping astronomers to answer crucial questions and raise new ones about our current understandings of galaxy evolution. One significant finding showed that bar-shaped features in spiral galaxies has doubled over the latter half of the history of the Universe. This confirms that bars signify maturity in spiral galaxies and play an important role in shutting down star formation.


And here is how you could help birds (it takes a person to read a number on a tag at an angle, a machine can't do it)

We need you to look at some photos of condors taken by our motion-activated cameras. By identifying the tag number of each condor and their behavior around the feeding carcass, we can judge if the bird's eating or social problems can reveal lead poisoning

You could be part of something very big, with no cost or commitment, an hour every day or ten minutes a fortnight.

Thank you for this, SJ - I will forward it to DH! I'm pretty sure he knows about Galaxy Zoo, but I have never heard of the condors before, so perhaps he hasn't either!

whitewing

I did some of the ocean floor ones.

jobbingmusician

Ooops, I also meant to say a tremendous WELL DONE on the weight loss. (Shameless request for validation - I am doing the 5:2 diet and have been on it over a year without missing a single day's fast! My holiday last week was the ultimate test - but I still managed it!!!!)

Waves_and_Smiles

Well done JM! Really impressive, especially on holiday!

My teacher friend is doing the 5:2 diet, not because he needs to lose weight but because he believes fasting/restricting food is good for your health. He keeps saying that I should try it but I am not sure how it would fit in with Hypoglycaemia. If I don't have carbs or proteins every 3-4 hours I keel over!

Pyxis

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Ooops, I also meant to say a tremendous WELL DONE on the weight loss. (Shameless request for validation - I am doing the 5:2 diet and have been on it over a year without missing a single day's fast! My holiday last week was the ultimate test - but I still managed it!!!!)

Well done Whitewing and JM.

I am doing the 5:2 regime too, and intend to do it for ever, even after I get to my required size, because of the health benefits. Unlike you, though, I haven't been able to do it on holiday, mostly due to quite a lot of meals being included, although to make me feel better, I did 4:3 the week before going away! Also there was a month when I had a lot of recurring illness, and wasn't up to thinking about it a lot of the time, although I did still manage some.

It would be something to discuss with your doctor WaS. Might be better to do that than just launching into it. Also, some meds need to be taken with food, so it gets tricky on the fast days. Worth discussing it, though! It certainly wouldn't be good for the hypoglycaemia, particularly as the 500 calories allowed on fast days doesn't allow for many carbs, and shouldn't really be eaten in dribs and drabs anyway, as the idea is to keep blood insulin levels down.

Actually, you know, have you ever seen a nutritionist? Because there's so much going on in your body, it might be good to get a nutritionist's view.

I'll shut up now before I get Happy Feet tapping away at me!