Frustrating web design #1: AT&T

Earlier today I was trying to see whether the pre-paid phone plan that my inlaws are using during their visit here would allow them to send texts to the UK. A quick trip to a page on AT&T's website almost, but not quite, revealed the necessary information. 

The box highlighed in red says Text to Mexico, Canada & 100 countries. In order to find out what those other 100 countries are, I tried mousing over the question mark symbol. This short video shows what happened next:

That's lovely AT&T, make me have to copy a URL by hand and type it in. Because the web is much more efficient that way. 

Toilet graffiti at UC Davis

I came across the following piece of toilet graffiti on campus today. It says a lot about UC Davis, that even conversations penned on to the wall of a toilet are of such an academic nature.

For clarity, I have transcribed the exchange between two individuals, and added that below the photo.

Click to enlarge photo.

Gender differences in UC Davis VetMed students (1952–2011)

Sometimes I find myself walking down corridors on campus where you can see the graduation photos for past years of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. I'm struck by how much the gender balance has changed. In 1952, the oldest year for which a photo is shown, there are no women at all. I'm sure this is probably true of many other academic departments from this era, particularly in STEM subjects.

Fast forward 50 years or so, and the situation is very different. The latest graduation photo, from 2011, shows that 102 of the 125 students are women. Quite a reversal. I wonder how many other departments or schools have seen such a dramatic switch.

Here is how the gender balance has changed over time.

Heinz tomato ketchup...not as nature intended?

I just noticed that on the back of our bottle of organic Heinz tomato ketchup is a slogan that reads:

Just as nature intended...

This raises two issues:

1. Do Heinz really think that nature "intended" for tomatoes to be smushed together with vinegar, sugar, and various flavorings?
2. Does this imply that Heinz's regular — i.e. non-organic — ketchup is not as nature intended? Perhaps the best selling ketchup variety in the world was an unintentional accident, and is secretly loathed by Mother Nature as the black sheep of the processed-tomato-products family?

Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry

Ever wonder what happens if you make a Caenorhabditis elegans nematode angry? Well you shouldn’t make a nematode angry, you wouldn’t like them if they are angry. Especially if they have harnessed the power of gamma radiation:

Before & after comparison:

First nematode image taken from uu.nl. Green bean taken from my kitchen.