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I'm dressed in two layers, with two more layers of blankets on top of me, and I can barely stop shivering. I'm not sure if the temperature in the apartment is to blame, or if it's the cold that's slowly creeping up on me in the form of a sore throat, slightly running nose, and complete lack of appetite. Yeah, I'm whining. Sorry. I'm tired, and sick, and crabby. And tomorrow will be more of the same. But Friday should be better--at least then I'll be sick (and hopefully warmer) at my parents' place surrounded by loving, younger siblings who can fetch warm drinks and acetaminophen for me. ;)
(no subject)
Dec. 20th, 2004 11:46 pmThe water is still off in my kitchen, but not in my bathroom. It's very strange, and since it's been like that all day, it looks like I'll have to call the incomprehensible (but otherwise decent) super tomorrow. Maybe while I have him on the phone, I'll mention that the apartment is bloody cold and find out if there isn't some way the temperature could be raised just a bit. I'm all for sitting wrapped in blankets all day if it helps the environment, but I need to be able to feel my fingers to type. At least my laptop is pretty good at keeping me warm.
On a completely unrelated note, does anyone want to recommend a good tech/gadget or art magazine? I'm still gift shopping for some friends...
On a completely unrelated note, does anyone want to recommend a good tech/gadget or art magazine? I'm still gift shopping for some friends...
(no subject)
Dec. 16th, 2004 04:47 pmWe're now two hours into the four hour department Christmas party, and I'm sitting at home trying to decide if I have time to make an appearance. On the one hand, lots of free food, unlimited free booze, and a bunch of people to whom I made promises that I'd attend. On the other hand, a major unfinished project, a supervisor who is undoubtedly getting increasingly irritated, and the possibility that if I don't finish, I simply won't be here next year. Decisions, decisions...
Since I posted about it earlier, I should add that I got my laptop back, fully functional and with all files intact. As I understand it, all they did was take the RAM out, dust it off, and put it back in. Apparently parts sometimes move or collect dust and that's what happened here. I'm still not impressed that it broke down after only six months, but I got everything back and didn't have to pay, so I'm moderately happy. And very relieved.
And now back to baking cookies as a way of avoiding the work I'm supposed to be doing.
And now back to baking cookies as a way of avoiding the work I'm supposed to be doing.
(no subject)
Dec. 13th, 2004 10:12 pmI was at a student government meeting tonight when an interesting issue came up. The representative from another department brought up what she perceives as a problem in her department--the start of a major, SSHRC-funded research project that's being done in partnership with a company that draws a substantial part of its profit from the Canadian military. Apparently many of the students in the department are in an uproar about it, and are trying to protest it.
Corporate influence in academia can be a major problem. Corporations should not dictate either the direction or outcome of research, and too often they do (especially in areas like pharmaceutical research--sociology tends not to be a popular target of corporate research). That, however, does not seem to be the source of the students' objection. In fact, they seem to have acknowledged that a corporate partner of some sort is necessary here, and are encouraging the project to find a different corporate partner. The company in question does not manufacture weapons; they're responsible for developing flight simulations. The research being done has nothing to do with weapons; it's about the use of technology in learning. So far as I can tell, no one is being forced to participate in that project--it's entirely voluntary. There may be other issues that I haven't heard about it, but right now the sole source of objection seems to be the belief by some graduate students that doing anything remotely related to the military is inherently unethical. I'm still processing it, but I find this attitude utterly fascinating, and I'm curious now how widespread it is.
Corporate influence in academia can be a major problem. Corporations should not dictate either the direction or outcome of research, and too often they do (especially in areas like pharmaceutical research--sociology tends not to be a popular target of corporate research). That, however, does not seem to be the source of the students' objection. In fact, they seem to have acknowledged that a corporate partner of some sort is necessary here, and are encouraging the project to find a different corporate partner. The company in question does not manufacture weapons; they're responsible for developing flight simulations. The research being done has nothing to do with weapons; it's about the use of technology in learning. So far as I can tell, no one is being forced to participate in that project--it's entirely voluntary. There may be other issues that I haven't heard about it, but right now the sole source of objection seems to be the belief by some graduate students that doing anything remotely related to the military is inherently unethical. I'm still processing it, but I find this attitude utterly fascinating, and I'm curious now how widespread it is.
(no subject)
Dec. 8th, 2004 12:52 amMy laptop died on me this afternoon. Naturally, I hadn't backed up any of the work I did on the weekend, so I'm waiting with my fingers crossed, hoping that the material hasn't been lost. I should find out tomorrow what's wrong with it, and if the tech gods smile down on me, I may have it back by the end of the week. In the meantime, it's back to my trusty and much neglected desktop. Fortunately (in a manner of speaking), the students wrote their second test tonight, so I'd be spending most of the next couple of days off-computer marking anyway. And I'm sure that without the ability to check email, I'll get it done that much faster. (Positive thinking is the key. Definitely. The new, upbeat me.)
The day wasn't all bad. Check out my spiffy new user pic, courtesy of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
librisia. Very, very cool in a geeky and entirely appropriate way.
The day wasn't all bad. Check out my spiffy new user pic, courtesy of
librisia. Very, very cool in a geeky and entirely appropriate way.
Busy weekend
Dec. 5th, 2004 11:26 pmOn Friday, I went to a tree decorating party hosted by FrenchWriter and AmericanAnglo. I'm not terribly fond of large gatherings of people where I don't know many people, so I found the start of the party somewhat stressful. The later part, however, which featured a smaller group of people I actually knew, was immensely enjoyable.
On Saturday, I didn't manage to crawl out of bed until noon, despite having gone to bed no later than 2 the night before. The day kind of passed in a kind of a haze. I got a bit of shopping done, and I'm really not sure what happened to the rest of the day. Somehow it passed.
Today I got up and went running in an attempt to throw off the fatigue that's been haunting me for the past week or so. It helped a little, but didn't make the day any more productive. The afternoon was spent having brunch with MacGuy, who was in town from Victoria, and the evening was spent with my family celebrating my brother's birthday.
Since I got nothing productive done today, I know feel compelled to stay up late and do something, even though I'm once again completely exhausted.
On Saturday, I didn't manage to crawl out of bed until noon, despite having gone to bed no later than 2 the night before. The day kind of passed in a kind of a haze. I got a bit of shopping done, and I'm really not sure what happened to the rest of the day. Somehow it passed.
Today I got up and went running in an attempt to throw off the fatigue that's been haunting me for the past week or so. It helped a little, but didn't make the day any more productive. The afternoon was spent having brunch with MacGuy, who was in town from Victoria, and the evening was spent with my family celebrating my brother's birthday.
Since I got nothing productive done today, I know feel compelled to stay up late and do something, even though I'm once again completely exhausted.
The United Church of Christ (not to be confused with the United Church of Canada, although the two do bear some resemblance to each other) recently produced a 30-second television spot highlighting the fact that they welcome all people, regardless of ability, age, race, economic circumstances, or sexual orientation. NBC and CBS are declining to air the ad because apparently, it's too controversial.
According to CBS: "Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations, and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks."
I realize that the networks aren't required to accept ads, and that the church has other ways of spreading its message, but...wow. I wonder when the Religious Right will rise up to denounce this newest example of anti-Christian behaviour by the secular media?
(From a post in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
feminist.)
According to CBS: "Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations, and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks."
I realize that the networks aren't required to accept ads, and that the church has other ways of spreading its message, but...wow. I wonder when the Religious Right will rise up to denounce this newest example of anti-Christian behaviour by the secular media?
(From a post in
feminist.)iTune, uTune
Nov. 24th, 2004 03:13 pmAfter my problems with WMP 10, I've begun experimenting with other media players. Right now I've got WinAmp, Media Player Classic, and iTunes going. Overall, I think I prefer WinAmp, but iTunes has the distinct advantage of giving me access to thoughtfreely's music whenever the two of us are hooked into the department network at the same time. Each of us has over six days worth of music with virtually no overlap, so that's a dramatic expansion of available listening material and great exposure to a bunch of stuff I've never heard before. So far, I'm liking Aztec Camera, which is far more cheerful than nearly anything I own, and Belle and Sebastien, who I'd heard before but not at length.
The big survey project plods onwards. Last night I pre-tested the interview segment with AmericanAnglo, who kindly sacrificed over an hour of Final Fantasy adventure planning time to answer questions about who he knows, where he goes with them, and what he does online. There were a few rough spots, especially since some of the household questions were clearly intended for a parternship situation rather than a roommate situation, but I think those will be ironed out after our retreat on Friday when we go through and interview each other. We're planning to do the second round of pre-testing next week. Ideally, I'd like to interview my grandmother for this to expand our age range and get someone who's non-techy, but still uses the Internet. (Oddly enough, the friends of Internet freaks--i.e., virtually everyone on the survey team--skew towards the tech side of things.) However, I'm not sure I'll have time to get up there, so if any local people want to volunteer to be interviewed, let me know...
thoughtfreely's music whenever the two of us are hooked into the department network at the same time. Each of us has over six days worth of music with virtually no overlap, so that's a dramatic expansion of available listening material and great exposure to a bunch of stuff I've never heard before. So far, I'm liking Aztec Camera, which is far more cheerful than nearly anything I own, and Belle and Sebastien, who I'd heard before but not at length.The big survey project plods onwards. Last night I pre-tested the interview segment with AmericanAnglo, who kindly sacrificed over an hour of Final Fantasy adventure planning time to answer questions about who he knows, where he goes with them, and what he does online. There were a few rough spots, especially since some of the household questions were clearly intended for a parternship situation rather than a roommate situation, but I think those will be ironed out after our retreat on Friday when we go through and interview each other. We're planning to do the second round of pre-testing next week. Ideally, I'd like to interview my grandmother for this to expand our age range and get someone who's non-techy, but still uses the Internet. (Oddly enough, the friends of Internet freaks--i.e., virtually everyone on the survey team--skew towards the tech side of things.) However, I'm not sure I'll have time to get up there, so if any local people want to volunteer to be interviewed, let me know...
(no subject)
Nov. 11th, 2004 02:15 pmI was unusually grumpy when autumn first arrived. It's usually my favourite season, but for some reason, this year it just seemed too cold. Now, however, I'm loving it. I went running this morning and it was beautiful out--not too hot, not too cold, and leaves crunching underfoot everywhere.
I've decided that one of the features I would really like in Windows (or some alternate OS) is a project view. At the moment, I'm dividing my time between three separate projects, each of which requires multiple windows (e.g. OneNote for rough notes and outlines, a couple of Word files for previous and ongoing drafts, and Firefox for library searches). I like being able to jump back and forth between projects as I get bored or frustrated, but right now that means I either have to keep opening and closing the appropriate files, or leave everything open all the time, which is confusing and tends to leave my desktop uncomfortably cluttered. What I want is to be able to assocate a group of windows together and then hit one button and have it bring up all of the grouped windows while minimizing all of the others so that I can't see them.
In other geeky news, I finally got around to hooking up my LCD monitor to my laptop. I'm enjoying the extra real estate--double the screen space, double the pleasure. Well, maybe not double and maybe not pleasure, but I'm sure my productivity is up by a good ten percent. It would be more, but I'm spending quite a bit of time figuring out the most effective use for the extra space.
I've decided that one of the features I would really like in Windows (or some alternate OS) is a project view. At the moment, I'm dividing my time between three separate projects, each of which requires multiple windows (e.g. OneNote for rough notes and outlines, a couple of Word files for previous and ongoing drafts, and Firefox for library searches). I like being able to jump back and forth between projects as I get bored or frustrated, but right now that means I either have to keep opening and closing the appropriate files, or leave everything open all the time, which is confusing and tends to leave my desktop uncomfortably cluttered. What I want is to be able to assocate a group of windows together and then hit one button and have it bring up all of the grouped windows while minimizing all of the others so that I can't see them.
In other geeky news, I finally got around to hooking up my LCD monitor to my laptop. I'm enjoying the extra real estate--double the screen space, double the pleasure. Well, maybe not double and maybe not pleasure, but I'm sure my productivity is up by a good ten percent. It would be more, but I'm spending quite a bit of time figuring out the most effective use for the extra space.
Moving to Canada
Nov. 9th, 2004 03:37 pmSlate has a short questionnaire to help Americans determine whether they really want to move to Canada.
I was amused.
I was amused.
Anime & tech
Nov. 7th, 2004 06:47 pmRecently, I've been experiencing a strange desire to watch anime again. Not any anime, but the shows that I watched when I was in high school and during my first two years of university. Ranma 1/2. El-Hazard. The Vision of Escaflowne. Rurouni Kenshin. Slayers. Key the Metal Idol. Combustible Campus Guardresses (terribly silly, I know, but fun). All fairly passe now, I think, but I'm sure there's some new stuff out there that I'd like too. Maybe I'll have to host an anime night while Jeph is back for one of his visits. We can do retro anime or something. Or...any recommendations on new stuff?
In other news, Windows Media Player 10 has decided that it would be fun to drive my CPU usage up to 100%, slowing the rest of my system to a crawl. Yes, I know that I should probably just download another player (which I've done), but this thing is tightly integrated into Windows, and so the resource drain becomes a problem one way or another.
In other news, Windows Media Player 10 has decided that it would be fun to drive my CPU usage up to 100%, slowing the rest of my system to a crawl. Yes, I know that I should probably just download another player (which I've done), but this thing is tightly integrated into Windows, and so the resource drain becomes a problem one way or another.
(no subject)
Nov. 1st, 2004 10:30 amI've got two meetings today. One runs over lunch (11:00-2:30) and one runs over dinner (6:00-8:30). I suppose that works out after a fashion--late lunch followed by a late dinner--but I'd really like to know why people as this university have such a fondness for scheduling things during meal times.
Happy Halloween
Oct. 31st, 2004 08:00 pmI've been feeling singularly uninspired when it comes to updating lately. Not that I haven't been doing things--I just haven't had a lot to say about them. Here's a quick summary of the last few days:
1. I took on another exec position for another student society...I think. We never quite got around to clarifying who was holding which position, but I don't think anyone else wanted that one. I'll see what shakes out in a few weeks.
2. I saw Van Helsing on Friday. Hugh Jackman was sexy as always--even with the hair extensions--and managed to make his character seem almost plausible, but otherwise, it was a fairly dreadful movie. The story background was poorly explained, the effects often ridiculous, and the characters shallow and predictable. It wasn't boring, exactly, but it's not something I would recommend to anyone.
3. I saw Hero today. Lots of bright, pretty, moving colours; beautiful cinematography. Mostly worth watching for the visuals.
Oh, and then there's the work, but I don't feel like recapping that. It's work, it goes on.
1. I took on another exec position for another student society...I think. We never quite got around to clarifying who was holding which position, but I don't think anyone else wanted that one. I'll see what shakes out in a few weeks.
2. I saw Van Helsing on Friday. Hugh Jackman was sexy as always--even with the hair extensions--and managed to make his character seem almost plausible, but otherwise, it was a fairly dreadful movie. The story background was poorly explained, the effects often ridiculous, and the characters shallow and predictable. It wasn't boring, exactly, but it's not something I would recommend to anyone.
3. I saw Hero today. Lots of bright, pretty, moving colours; beautiful cinematography. Mostly worth watching for the visuals.
Oh, and then there's the work, but I don't feel like recapping that. It's work, it goes on.
(no subject)
Oct. 23rd, 2004 11:50 pmI took the day off from work to do household stuff: I cleaned the kitchen and living room, did some filing, paid some bills, picked up some groceries, did my laundry, and made orange-chocolate chip muffins and pumpkin apple streusel muffins. The last batch of pumpkin muffins is just about ready to come out of the oven, and the apartment smells wonderful.
Tomorrow it's back to the grind. I think I may seek out some comfortable publc space that isn't my apartment or the department to work in. And then tomorrow night isslice_yoink's debut at Second City, which I'm really looking forward to.
Tomorrow it's back to the grind. I think I may seek out some comfortable publc space that isn't my apartment or the department to work in. And then tomorrow night is
slice_yoink's debut at Second City, which I'm really looking forward to.Meetings, meetings, meetings
Oct. 22nd, 2004 10:14 pmThe last few days have been very busy.
Wednesday we "elected" the new executive for the Graduate Sociology Students' Association. As usual with such things, it wasn't so much an election as doling out positions to the handful of people who bothered to show up for the meeting.thoughtfreely is our new president, MasseyPrincess decided she didn't want to return, and I'm back in my old position of Graduate Student Union rep.
Last night was the big lecture by Claude Fischer. He spoke about how to raise the public profile of sociology and bring sociological ideas to the public so that they can be used in solving problems. He described what was in some ways a very activist approach to sociology, but he managed to do it without making it seem like the pure knowledge people are wasting their time, which many activists do not. I have to agree that it would be nice if sociologists could get some of the respect currently accorded to economists. I was joking with a friend today that economics is rather like a cult--leaders make all sorts of predictions that later prove to be completely wrong, and people just shrug and cling even more closely to the doctrine.
This morning was the grad student breakfast with Claude Fischer, followed by class, the NetLab lunch with Claude Fischer, and a presentation on the possibilities of GIS for sociology. Lunch went really well. Professor Fischer was surprisingly enthusiastic about my work, as was the Chair of our department, who was also at lunch with us. It was almost enough to make me think that maybe my idea really is worthwhile--if I can find a way to get data.
Wednesday we "elected" the new executive for the Graduate Sociology Students' Association. As usual with such things, it wasn't so much an election as doling out positions to the handful of people who bothered to show up for the meeting.
thoughtfreely is our new president, MasseyPrincess decided she didn't want to return, and I'm back in my old position of Graduate Student Union rep.Last night was the big lecture by Claude Fischer. He spoke about how to raise the public profile of sociology and bring sociological ideas to the public so that they can be used in solving problems. He described what was in some ways a very activist approach to sociology, but he managed to do it without making it seem like the pure knowledge people are wasting their time, which many activists do not. I have to agree that it would be nice if sociologists could get some of the respect currently accorded to economists. I was joking with a friend today that economics is rather like a cult--leaders make all sorts of predictions that later prove to be completely wrong, and people just shrug and cling even more closely to the doctrine.
This morning was the grad student breakfast with Claude Fischer, followed by class, the NetLab lunch with Claude Fischer, and a presentation on the possibilities of GIS for sociology. Lunch went really well. Professor Fischer was surprisingly enthusiastic about my work, as was the Chair of our department, who was also at lunch with us. It was almost enough to make me think that maybe my idea really is worthwhile--if I can find a way to get data.
(no subject)
Oct. 18th, 2004 08:52 pmI made salmon with a Dijon-maple sauce for supper tonight. It turned out quite well, unlike the couscous-crusted salmon I made two days ago that was only so-so. I really didn't like fish when I was a kid, but I'm developing a taste for it as I get older (although spread liberally with guilt over the depleted fish stocks).
I toldthoughtfreely recently that I've never tried cod. As a native Newfoundlander, he was completely shocked and immediately offered to cook up a cod dinner for me one day so that I could try it. I have to admit that I'm a tad suspicious about whether this offer was actually made for my sake. In the midst of our discussion, he casually mentioned that he'd have to cook it at my place because his partner (also a Newfoundlander) hates the smell. But hey, it still sounds like a win-win situation. And since MasseyPrincess also hates the smell, she can hang out at thoughtfreely's place.
I finally got my scholarship applications in. I have zero interest in the topic I wrote about, but at least it's done. I still need letters of recommendation, though. I fear I haven't used my first year here wisely--I don't have connections with faculty who might be inclined to vouch for me. I asked my nominal supervisor (who is very pleasant but barely knows me) to write a letter since it's more or less expected that the doctoral supervisor say something. He's agreed to do it, but wants me to send him a draft of a letter which he can use for the basis of his letter. I have absolutely no idea what to include in such a letter, so I'm putting off writing it. I'll have to think of something tomorrow, though. Hopefully this won't be repeated next year.
I should be working now, but I only got about four hours of sleep last night, so I'm too tired to be efficient. Plus, I really really don't feel like working. I think I'll go to bed early tonight and hope tomorrow is better. But first, "Monday Report." Right now they have Pierre Burton demonstrating the proper way to roll a joint. Hilarious!
I told
thoughtfreely recently that I've never tried cod. As a native Newfoundlander, he was completely shocked and immediately offered to cook up a cod dinner for me one day so that I could try it. I have to admit that I'm a tad suspicious about whether this offer was actually made for my sake. In the midst of our discussion, he casually mentioned that he'd have to cook it at my place because his partner (also a Newfoundlander) hates the smell. But hey, it still sounds like a win-win situation. And since MasseyPrincess also hates the smell, she can hang out at thoughtfreely's place.I finally got my scholarship applications in. I have zero interest in the topic I wrote about, but at least it's done. I still need letters of recommendation, though. I fear I haven't used my first year here wisely--I don't have connections with faculty who might be inclined to vouch for me. I asked my nominal supervisor (who is very pleasant but barely knows me) to write a letter since it's more or less expected that the doctoral supervisor say something. He's agreed to do it, but wants me to send him a draft of a letter which he can use for the basis of his letter. I have absolutely no idea what to include in such a letter, so I'm putting off writing it. I'll have to think of something tomorrow, though. Hopefully this won't be repeated next year.
I should be working now, but I only got about four hours of sleep last night, so I'm too tired to be efficient. Plus, I really really don't feel like working. I think I'll go to bed early tonight and hope tomorrow is better. But first, "Monday Report." Right now they have Pierre Burton demonstrating the proper way to roll a joint. Hilarious!
