Zompist Bboard Again

doctor shark wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:44 am

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 8:38 pm

doctor shark wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 10:51 am (c) you're giving me an impression that this supervisor will definitely be good to work with, and this isn't an easy thing to find.

Indeed, this is probably the biggest factor for me. There is one opportunity I’ve found in Australia but the supervisor doesn’t seem nearly as good to work with.

(I have talked to a former student of his already; she had nothing but positive things to say about him.)

Great sign! Probably the clearest of all. Though you may also want to ask what life is like in Glasgow.

Yes, I did. (On that note I’ve also been talking to alice via PM, as well as one other Glaswegian I know elsewhere.)

(a) if you do want to move for studies/research, now's a perfect-ish time

Hmm, why?

Mobility as an earlier stage researcher is always much easier than at later career stages. Less of a need to move a family is a big thing, plus also you have a lot more flexibility in terms of going into new topics and fields.

Oh, I thought you meant it in a different way. I have considered moving to an adjacent field (especially CS), but in the end I decided to stick more or less in the same area — though I talked again to the supervisor and it sounds like there should be options for exploring some different areas during the PhD.

Another small thing to be aware of is that the visa for study in the UK is very expensive: £490, plus a healthcare fee of £776/year. That shouldn't be the deciding factor, but just bear that in mind (and see if/how the university can support you if the need arises). Though if you have a claim to British/Irish nationality, on the other hand...

Ah, OK. I don’t think that should be a huge impediment, but good to keep in mind.

(In Australia we have public healthcare and I’ve heard we have some sort of mutual agreement with the UK in that regard; that might affect the healthcare fee but I’ll need to look into it.)

Glasgow is close to my hometown, Edinburgh, which is also a major city in Scotland. One of the most negative aspects of own current PhD is the sometimes somewhat erratic supervising so, if you have good news about the supervisor, that is important. The June and July temperatures are similar between Glasgow and Sydney as is the total precipitation. The climatic differences are the December-January temperatures and the rainy days.

Indeed, my own contradictory feeling (a free first world problem) is about a potential trip to Scotland: my wife has suggested we go to my home country on holiday. On the massive negative side, we would have to go by plane from Réunion and so use up tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Also, it would cost money. And I am not sure whether I shall have to continue working on my thesis at that point. On the plus side, I get to meet family, the few friends over here I kept in contact with, get to visit and buy things llike libraries, bookshops, restaurants, museums, gardens. Also, for my wife, it would be her first ever holiday outwith the island. And, if our childbearing plans go well, we shall not necessarily have the opportunity to go at another time.

MacAnDàil wrote: ↑Sun Mar 30, 2025 10:45 am The June and July temperatures are similar between Glasgow and Sydney as is the total precipitation.

This is quite ambiguous… do you mean June–July temperatures in Glasgow are similar to June–July in Sydney? If so that’s actually quite a difference, because that’s winter here but summer there.

The climatic differences are the December-January temperatures and the rainy days.

Yes, this is what I’m more worried about, though I’m sure I’ll cope. Of course it’s hard to know until I actually experience it for myself…

her first ever holiday outwith the island

Unrelatedly, I still find ‘outwith’ endlessly amusing. It’s not a preposition I ever heard before I started talking to someone elsewhere from Glasgow.

bradrn wrote: ↑Sun Mar 30, 2025 7:53 pm

MacAnDàil wrote: ↑Sun Mar 30, 2025 10:45 am The June and July temperatures are similar between Glasgow and Sydney as is the total precipitation.

This is quite ambiguous… do you mean June–July temperatures in Glasgow are similar to June–July in Sydney? If so that’s actually quite a difference, because that’s winter here but summer there.

Yes, a bit like the difference between here in Réunion and Edinburgh.

MacAnDàil wrote: ↑Sun Mar 30, 2025 10:45 am Indeed, my own contradictory feeling (a free first world problem) is about a potential trip to Scotland: my wife has suggested we go to my home country on holiday. On the massive negative side, we would have to go by plane from Réunion and so use up tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Also, it would cost money. And I am not sure whether I shall have to continue working on my thesis at that point. On the plus side, I get to meet family, the few friends over here I kept in contact with, get to visit and buy things llike libraries, bookshops, restaurants, museums, gardens. Also, for my wife, it would be her first ever holiday outwith the island. And, if our childbearing plans go well, we shall not necessarily have the opportunity to go at another time.

Very understandable negatives, indeed. (The cost and my dislike of flying are among the reasons why I normally don't go to the US but once per year.) That said, if you haven't been in many years (and, indeed, if you don't get the chance otherwise), a one-off visit, especially if you'd be travelling for three to four weeks, might be "worth it", or more compensatable elsewhere. And the main source of the cost/greenhouse gas emissions would probably be the long domestic flight from La Réunion to Paris. Funnily enough, once you're in Paris, you could go by train onwards quite easily: Interrail passes do cover the Eurostar between Paris and London without too much pain (just a bit of planning needed); Paris to Edinburgh is about 7-8 hours by train, so not super bad, plus you can then add in some visits in France and the surroundings; and having an Interrail pass can be quite useful in the UK given how expensive the trains are there.

Plus, thesis writing can be manageable while on vacation (that's what long train rides were for).

bradrn wrote: ↑Sun Mar 30, 2025 7:53 pm Yes, this is what I’m more worried about, though I’m sure I’ll cope. Of course it’s hard to know until I actually experience it for myself…

I've moved between a lot of climactic zones, and I actually like the not-extremely-hot summers in Europe, especially when compared to the summers in most of the US; the winters are also quite a bit milder. (Winters can get cold, but not US-level cold; if you were in Paris around wintertime, think something like that, maybe a bit cooler and wetter.) That said, though, to my father's wife (who's barely been outside of Tex-ass), where I am right now would probably feel like the North Pole to her.

doctor shark wrote: ↑Mon Mar 31, 2025 6:28 am

bradrn wrote: ↑Sun Mar 30, 2025 7:53 pm Yes, this is what I’m more worried about, though I’m sure I’ll cope. Of course it’s hard to know until I actually experience it for myself…

I've moved between a lot of climactic zones, and I actually like the not-extremely-hot summers in Europe, especially when compared to the summers in most of the US; the winters are also quite a bit milder. (Winters can get cold, but not US-level cold; if you were in Paris around wintertime, think something like that, maybe a bit cooler and wetter.) That said, though, to my father's wife (who's barely been outside of Tex-ass), where I am right now would probably feel like the North Pole to her.

Yeah, you’d be used to the winters, coming from the US. But I come from Australia.

(Well, really I was born in Vancouver… except I have no memory of it at all, since we moved to Sydney when I was four years old.)

Conversely, my own view of Australia is how can human life exist there in the summer? (Of course, I am used to the climate of Wisconsin, where it is unusual to have temperatures above 95 degrees F, and even in the middle of the summer the temperature outside is usually well cooler than that.)

Travis B. wrote: ↑Mon Mar 31, 2025 10:31 am Conversely, my own view of Australia is how can human life exist there in the summer?

Well, air conditioning helps…

Also, the entire country is built to keep heat out. It makes a big difference: for instance, I was surprised when I experienced how hot 25 °C felt in Paris, because it’s instead built to keep heat in.

bradrn wrote: ↑Mon Mar 31, 2025 8:45 pm

Travis B. wrote: ↑Mon Mar 31, 2025 10:31 am Conversely, my own view of Australia is how can human life exist there in the summer?

Well, air conditioning helps…

Also, the entire country is built to keep heat out. It makes a big difference: for instance, I was surprised when I experienced how hot 25 °C felt in Paris, because it’s instead built to keep heat in.

And presumably you've developed ways to deal with all the wildlife which is constarntly trying to kill you, and not just in the summer

Isn't Australia almost the size of the Lower 48 in the USA, with only a small fraction of the population? So, arguably, human life doesn't survive there, at least not to the same extent as in other places of comparable size.

bradrn wrote: ↑Mon Mar 17, 2025 10:01 am I got a PhD offer!

After thinking about it and talking to as many people as I could, I accepted this offer yesterday. Thank you to everyone here who gave me advice! Of course, I’m still feeling very contradictory about it, but I’m determined to make the most of this opportunity.

(Climate is genuinely my biggest concern, since it’s the biggest unknown for me. A few nights ago I had a dream where I was walking through a city and it was -20 °C, and I think I ended up falling off a cliff into the sea and being frozen into an ice block…)

Congrats Brad!

We moved today, and fortunately the new modem arrived. I then spent some ungodly amount of time attempting to install AT&T's "Smart Home Manager" app, which the modem pointed to as the next step. It wouldn't install on my wife's iPhone, nor on my iPad. Apparently to connect to the Internet, you need to have another Internet connection, which is crazy. I was resigned to waiting for the new phone I'm supposed to receive. (I had to get a new phone in order to keep the phone number we had. Which also sounds crazy but I'm not going to argue with AT&T.)

Why can't I just use a network name and password, like the old modem? Finally I looked at the thing again and, lo, the modem actually has these. I tried to hook up the PC and it didn't work.

Then, on a whim, I tried it on the Mac. It was happy as a clam and I had Internet again. Don't need "Smart Home Manager" at all.

I was a bit confused because the Mac asks for a password, but the PC asks for a "network security key", which I was afraid was something else. A reddit post suggested that this is the password. I went back to the PC and re-entered it... this time noticing that the caps lock key was on. (It's constantly turning on when I don't want it on; it's right next to Shift.) Now it accepted the password and here I am.

And yes, I am an unfrozen caveman and this stuff frustrates me. But it's done now.

zompist wrote: ↑Thu Apr 10, 2025 1:06 am We moved today, and fortunately the new modem arrived. I then spent some ungodly amount of time attempting to install AT&T's "Smart Home Manager" app, which the modem pointed to as the next step. It wouldn't install on my wife's iPhone, nor on my iPad. Apparently to connect to the Internet, you need to have another Internet connection, which is crazy. I was resigned to waiting for the new phone I'm supposed to receive. (I had to get a new phone in order to keep the phone number we had. Which also sounds crazy but I'm not going to argue with AT&T.)

Why can't I just use a network name and password, like the old modem? Finally I looked at the thing again and, lo, the modem actually has these. I tried to hook up the PC and it didn't work.

Then, on a whim, I tried it on the Mac. It was happy as a clam and I had Internet again. Don't need "Smart Home Manager" at all.

I was a bit confused because the Mac asks for a password, but the PC asks for a "network security key", which I was afraid was something else. A reddit post suggested that this is the password. I went back to the PC and re-entered it... this time noticing that the caps lock key was on. (It's constantly turning on when I don't want it on; it's right next to Shift.) Now it accepted the password and here I am.

And yes, I am an unfrozen caveman and this stuff frustrates me. But it's done now.

The app is just a ploy to harvest (and sell) your personal data.

Congrats, Brad!

I then spent some ungodly amount of time attempting to install AT&T's "Smart Home Manager" app, which the modem pointed to as the next step.

Ugh. I wish they'd retire these useless apps already! (My printer 'requires' some cumbersome HP app, which turns out to be entirely unnecessary too...)

Congratulations, bradrn! Congratulations and commiserations, zompist!

zompist wrote: ↑Thu Apr 10, 2025 1:06 am We moved today, and fortunately the new modem arrived. I then spent some ungodly amount of time attempting to install AT&T's "Smart Home Manager" app, which the modem pointed to as the next step. It wouldn't install on my wife's iPhone, nor on my iPad. Apparently to connect to the Internet, you need to have another Internet connection, which is crazy. I was resigned to waiting for the new phone I'm supposed to receive. (I had to get a new phone in order to keep the phone number we had. Which also sounds crazy but I'm not going to argue with AT&T.)

"Please visit our website to learn how to connect to the Internet!"

"Capitalism - where customer satisfaction is more important than anything else!"

Congratulations bradrn!

And zompist, congrats on the move, and IMO all these 'apps' everyone tries to push can collectively die in a fire.

Congrats to bradrn!

also, I agree with Travis on that one. they all just want to sell your info.

bradrn wrote: ↑Wed Apr 09, 2025 11:04 pm

bradrn wrote: ↑Mon Mar 17, 2025 10:01 am I got a PhD offer!

After thinking about it and talking to as many people as I could, I accepted this offer yesterday. Thank you to everyone here who gave me advice! Of course, I’m still feeling very contradictory about it, but I’m determined to make the most of this opportunity.

Congratulations! We look forward to seeing you over here in due course.

bradrn wrote: ↑Wed Apr 09, 2025 11:04 pm (Climate is genuinely my biggest concern, since it’s the biggest unknown for me. A few nights ago I had a dream where I was walking through a city and it was -20 °C, and I think I ended up falling off a cliff into the sea and being frozen into an ice block…)

As long as you stay away from St. Andrews in the winter you should be able to avoid this.