Disas-tea-R at dawn

This was bound to happen sooner or later, given my addiction to tea and sleepless nights, so I eventually managed to spill a cup of tea over my Mac… I had been working for a few hours in my hotel room in Philadelphia, completing an ABC paper with Jean-Michel Marin and Robin Ryder. We had been running experiments in R with Jean-Michel over the past days and I wanted to check some details with him about some graphs he sent me, so we got into a Skype conversation. At the same time, I was running an alternative R code to compare with his, and starting a new ‘Og entry about a current campaign against road accidents. And drinking my fifth or sixth cuppa of the morning. I suddenly realised dawn had come and stood up to raise the blinds next to my desk. Completely forgetting about the earphones on my head. The obvious then occurred: the earphone cord stretched, pulling the teacup over and I turned back to see the keyboard covered with tea… Disaster! I tipped the computer over and grabbed the hotel hairdryer to try to dry it as quickly as possible (apologies to the next room neighbour!). Contrary to all advices, I did not turn the Mac off but kept running the R program instead to add to the heat of the dryer. In retrospect this was quite silly and I am lucky to get out with only two keys not working!

Invitation au voyage

“Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.”
Charles Beaudelaire, Les fleurs du Mal.

In preparation for a series of plane trips over the coming months, I ordered (and received) a noise-cancelling headphone. Although they are definitely pricey, I picked the Bose QuietComfort 15 Headphones and they are definitely upscale! The noise reduction provided by those headphones is almost frightening and some people who tried those headphones found the effect too strong for their taste! (As I usually add earplugs to my (old Sennheiser) headphone when I fly, I am not worried about this type of side-effect!)  I only tested the noise reduction with the traffic on the periphérique flowing through my open office window in Porte Dauphine and it reduced to a slight hum… The design is also very well-done, with the audio cable easily detachable and the battery fitting in one of the headphones. The only “negative” aspect so far is the absence of volume control on the cable, but since my primary goal is to use these headphones to sleep and relax in a plane, this is minor. (Obviously, the around-the-ear fit also gets uncomfortable after a while with high temperatures, again an unlikely combination with long distance flights…)