Stuart Thomas Journalist Profile

Articles

Low-dose Alcohol Self-administration in Freely-moving Rats and its Effect on the Firing Rate of Ventral Tegmental Area GABA Neurons

Oct 26, 2024 | scholarsarchive.byu.edu | Stuart Thomas |Scott C. Steffensen |Brigham Young

Keywordslow-dose alcohol, self-administration, rats, ventral tegmental area, GABA neuronsCollegeFamily, Home, and Social SciencesAbstractEach year, more and more people become the slaves of addiction to narcotics, alcohol, and nicotine. These addictions destroy families and ruin lives. The brain’s chemistry is influenced by these drugs. This study aimed to evaluate how alcohol and other drugs affect the brain’s chemistry and identify potential avenues for therapy.
Sicily, Volcanos and Vocabulary

May 13, 2024 | medium.com | Stuart Thomas

By Stuart J Thomas Image created by author I am not proud of how I approach being a tourist, I increasingly place too much faith in various Google apps and I rely on the fact that many people who don't speak English as their first language, often have a good, if not excellent, level of fluency in it. What I lack in variety of other tongues, I over compensate for by repeating the few words I have learned, usually...
Tales From the Guitar Shop (Part 3)

Apr 2, 2024 | medium.com | Stuart Thomas

Tales From the Guitar Shop (Part 3)Wherever I’ve worked, there’s always been an “us and them.” It doesn’t matter how benign or benevolent the service is; it’s as though we all need a common enemy; sometimes, it’s another team within our organization or a similar nearby business. I bet even Buddhists talk about the people at the temple down the road because they wear the wrong shade of orange.
EXCLUSIVE: "There's an App for That!"

Mar 26, 2024 | ffnews.com | Lauren Towner |Stuart Thomas

We asked one informed user of wealth management apps to give us his Top 3. These are tech guru Stuart Thomas’ picksOnce upon a time, there was an app called ‘I am rich’ by German software developer Armin Heinrich. It cost $1,000 and did nothing but display the message ‘I am rich, I deserve it, I am good, healthy and successful’. It’s long since been removed from the app store along with all imitation apps. Apps that define you as being rich are now in short supply.
Tales From the Guitar shop (Part 2)

Mar 20, 2024 | medium.com | Stuart Thomas

Tales From the Guitar shop (Part 2)Image created by AuthorDuring the late 90’s I worked in a small guitar shop with a close friend of mine, we had a number of regulars who spent lots of time, and very little money there. Even the most excruciating time-wasters were welcomed and offered a cup of tea or coffee, due mostly to my boss’ enduring determination to part them from their money. My friend and I were complicit in creating the…
Tales From the Guitar Shop (Part 1)

Mar 9, 2024 | medium.com | Stuart Thomas

A Notion of ShopkeepersIf you’re a guitarist and you haven’t “made it” yet, then you probably need a day job (unless you’re privileged enough not to need work, in which case, sadly, you can’t produce meaningful art because you don’t understand the struggle). As a struggling artist, I needed money, and getting a job in a guitar shop sounded like a pretty good way to make ends meet, so in an attempt to bring my ends together, this is what I did.
Just Get to The Chorus

Mar 2, 2024 | medium.com | Stuart Thomas

Verses as Vehicles“Thank you for coming home” croons “Spandau Ballet’s” Tony Hadley, in his warm, rounded tenor voice, it’s a great opening line, it sets up expectations, who’s come home? Where have they been? Why is he so grateful? A strong start, I’m hooked, tell me more Tony. “Sorry that the chairs are all worn”What? Why is he singing about chairs now? All the promise of that opening line, now chairs? Okay, maybe he can rescue it; surely the third line will pull it together.
Confirm That You’re Not a Robot

Feb 29, 2024 | medium.com | Stuart Thomas |David Todd McCarty

I struggle with repetition and following simple instructions, I find it surprisingly difficult to perform a repetitive task without making mistakes. You’d think that doing the same activity repeatedly would get easier and lead to fewer errors but if anything, the longer I try to do the same thing, in the same way, the more likely I am to mess it up. I first encountered this when I worked in a photocopier factory, during the summer holidays while I was at university.
It’s Alright, I still Got my Guitar

Feb 29, 2024 | medium.com | Stuart Thomas

The culture of six stringsWhen discussing the appeal of guitars, a friend once said the difference between guitars and pianos is, “You can be cool on a piano, but you can’t be cool with a piano.” While you may be an amazing pianist, you can’t run around a stage and jump in the air with a piano. Although you could ram a piano into a Marshall stack, it would be a less spectacular and far more time-consuming climax to a gig than Jimi Hendrix’s legendary 1967 Monterey performance.
About Me - Stuart Thomas

Feb 15, 2024 | medium.com | Stuart Thomas

Most of life’s problems can be solved by stretchingI am a traitor to my younger self. As a teenager I defined myself by all of the things I didn’t want, namely; marriage, children, a mortgage, a car, full-time employment. Despite my lack of ambition in these areas I have since achieved all of the above.