The Dreaded Waitlist...
So things obviously did not turn out the way I had hoped - I am on the waitlist with several other potential applicants. Remaining the eternal optomist, I guess I could have ended up with a rejection letter instead! It makes me smile when I read my former post, because, really, it is more about whether you tried and failed than not having tried at all.
On a lighter note - looks like I will spend my birthday playing on-line Enemy Territory and Starcraft with a bunch of friends. It will be nice to get some of the old gang together. It will also be nice to keep my mind off of the wait!
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Friday, May 06, 2005
Do I even dare to speak, to dream, believe?
(Buck, Mills, and Stipe)
Well, today is the day. The calls are already happening and several people have already reported getting in - but not me - not yet. I just thought I should save this moment by blogging it - regardless of whether I get in or not. The title of this post comes from the R.E.M. song 'Around the Sun' and I thought it was quite appropriate for this moment. You feel like you will never make it yet there is this chance - no matter how little.
Do I dare? Of course I do. Three years preparing, and a genuine desire to pursue this dream will never go away. All, I can say is that I hope I look back at this moment and realize that I could have been that person who never experienced this feeling of anxiety and pleasure for having tried. Don't let your dreams die a premature death. Dare to dream and to pursue those dreams with your whole heart!
(Buck, Mills, and Stipe)
Well, today is the day. The calls are already happening and several people have already reported getting in - but not me - not yet. I just thought I should save this moment by blogging it - regardless of whether I get in or not. The title of this post comes from the R.E.M. song 'Around the Sun' and I thought it was quite appropriate for this moment. You feel like you will never make it yet there is this chance - no matter how little.
Do I dare? Of course I do. Three years preparing, and a genuine desire to pursue this dream will never go away. All, I can say is that I hope I look back at this moment and realize that I could have been that person who never experienced this feeling of anxiety and pleasure for having tried. Don't let your dreams die a premature death. Dare to dream and to pursue those dreams with your whole heart!
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Pursuit of the DREAM
The pursuit continues! Finally the DREAM is out of my hands, and into a committee's hands! After much preparation and prayer, I have finally completed the last stage of the DREAM. It is going to be difficult to now sit back and wait on others to decide the fate of the DREAM, but there is no sense worrying about it now!
Sure, I know it is a little cryptic leaving out the specifics, but hey - this DREAM thingy is hush-hush for now until I know whether it will become a reality...
The pursuit continues! Finally the DREAM is out of my hands, and into a committee's hands! After much preparation and prayer, I have finally completed the last stage of the DREAM. It is going to be difficult to now sit back and wait on others to decide the fate of the DREAM, but there is no sense worrying about it now!
Sure, I know it is a little cryptic leaving out the specifics, but hey - this DREAM thingy is hush-hush for now until I know whether it will become a reality...
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Hmmm... what flavour of Linux do you use?
Although I believe that it is probably silly to post what distro one uses, since it probably is dependent upon a variety of factors such as hardware, needs, and prior experience, I still wanted to post my thoughts on the issue as I think I have found the ONE (at least for today anyways).
So to get the hardware issue out of the way, I am currently using a Dell Inspiron 8600 with an additional bluetooth module, and using the Nvidia graphics chipset. A really great laptop I have to say, and I have used many!
My needs are reasonably simple: have fun in a productive environment that includes education and research, with a little gaming and blogging on the side. I also wanted to be stable and to use as much open software as possible.
Finally, my prior experience: well, I have used computers since first programming by pencil on cards that were sent through the card reader, and have never really stopped : unix/PDP-11, TRS-80, Commodore Pet, in the early beginnings up to today.
So what have I chosen and why? Well, I first had my ear turned towards Linux from a co-worker at the University Microstore, who told me about Linux back in 1995. He seemed convinced (for a physicist) and he planted the seed. After many years of debating the Mac vs. Windoze debacle, I finally settled on a very early version of Red Hat. It did not take long to realize this was really something. I eventually began to have different requirements, in particular, a system that could be quickly configured as I tended to wipe the system for another flavour on a regular basis. After trying many more distros such as SuSe, Mandrake, College Linux, and many more, I finally thought I had something with Xandros. Well, it just was not quite there, and I do not like proprietary anything, so I finally thought, lets check out Ubuntu.
Well, I think I am finally there. Ubuntu has done such a great job with my hardware, from wireless networking to the video card (which takes a little work with apt to get going at the start - very minor stuff). It has taken care of the battery monitoring issues and the special keyboard keys so easily I am amazed. Finally, it is gnome-based which I find to be less windozy, and more cozy.
Well, I could rant for ever, but there are my thoughts.
Although I believe that it is probably silly to post what distro one uses, since it probably is dependent upon a variety of factors such as hardware, needs, and prior experience, I still wanted to post my thoughts on the issue as I think I have found the ONE (at least for today anyways).
So to get the hardware issue out of the way, I am currently using a Dell Inspiron 8600 with an additional bluetooth module, and using the Nvidia graphics chipset. A really great laptop I have to say, and I have used many!
My needs are reasonably simple: have fun in a productive environment that includes education and research, with a little gaming and blogging on the side. I also wanted to be stable and to use as much open software as possible.
Finally, my prior experience: well, I have used computers since first programming by pencil on cards that were sent through the card reader, and have never really stopped : unix/PDP-11, TRS-80, Commodore Pet, in the early beginnings up to today.
So what have I chosen and why? Well, I first had my ear turned towards Linux from a co-worker at the University Microstore, who told me about Linux back in 1995. He seemed convinced (for a physicist) and he planted the seed. After many years of debating the Mac vs. Windoze debacle, I finally settled on a very early version of Red Hat. It did not take long to realize this was really something. I eventually began to have different requirements, in particular, a system that could be quickly configured as I tended to wipe the system for another flavour on a regular basis. After trying many more distros such as SuSe, Mandrake, College Linux, and many more, I finally thought I had something with Xandros. Well, it just was not quite there, and I do not like proprietary anything, so I finally thought, lets check out Ubuntu.
Well, I think I am finally there. Ubuntu has done such a great job with my hardware, from wireless networking to the video card (which takes a little work with apt to get going at the start - very minor stuff). It has taken care of the battery monitoring issues and the special keyboard keys so easily I am amazed. Finally, it is gnome-based which I find to be less windozy, and more cozy.
Well, I could rant for ever, but there are my thoughts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
