Ah sure - it'd be gas!
You'd be telling someone on the Facebook "such and such is a right b**ch!" and then you find out you've been talking to that person on Facebook all along! Double identities waheeey!

To be honest, I'm a member of one or two other forums and this one has to be one of the more polite and respectful ones (some of the other ones are just slagging-fests)

None taken dude - besides, would have deserved a talking down anyways for that display of sad nerdiness. I really have got to stop being so suave and debonair :p

Have a good one yourself and leave the office behind for a few days ... Utd v 'Pool tomorrow with "The Worlds richest club" v Chelsea on Sunday - not bad viewing for the hangover!

Ok, was a bit of a generalisation but just assuming that if doing a PhD you'd have the grey matter to get the basics quick enough from doing even a basic search on google ... it was more of a statement of belief in yer abilities, young Grasshopper!

Sorry for the nerdiness ... broke or not broke, I am off out to get a life this weekend!

Kipo - that ranking is a load of c*ck as it will not tell you the main things i.e. what is your supervisor like to work with, what the area is like etc. Not saying it is an entirely bad thing but personally, I would start emailing the universities where you would like to be located and then work from there. Being happy in your location is worth much more than going to a top notch college who focus on getting publications rather than actual research and getting PhD's done.

It might sound as if I am lazy, but these rankings don't tell the whole story. Looking for the right place demands a bit of hard work and actually contacting potential supervisors in person. A few searches of websites and a few diplomatically worded emails works wonders. You will have to do a bit of travelling to see the potential campuses (think of yourself as being a young soccer player considering the big move to the new club ... something akin to Julio Geordio from the fast show :p

It really does come back to what you want and realistically most colleges will deliver what you want. Remember - you will probably be stuck in your PhD for 4 years, so ya gotta get the important things right. I would use the ranking to eliminate colleges at the bottom end, but bear in mind, many colleges are branching out into new areas so would have a low ranking anyways. These colleges may have enthusiastic staff which is priceless and more enjoyable to work in.

A few people may disagree with me, but that is the nature of the forum I suppose. Good luck with the searching and don't let the ramblings of a bitter ol' man put you off - I just think that basing your decision on the rankings is not advisable.

Timefortea - in a related topic, you can set up MS Word to automatically save your documents at set intervals. Although it can be annoying as it as good as stalls the machine if the document is large, it can be beneficial (if set at 30 mins intervals, you could time it for the 5-10 min break). That said, the improved AutoRecovery functionality does help in the event of a system crash

Also, as regards general backup, if set up correctly, a simple batch file could take care of performing the backup procedure with one mouse click (DOS still has its uses!!). Anyone with two iotas of logic could compile a quick Copy program, copying from a standard location on C: drive to a USB key. Place a short cut to the program on the desktop and just click on it and it will work away in the background.

People,
Besides going into the rights and wrongs of giving up ciggies, has anyone got stories of successful methods to get rid of them? The research environment is one where the temptation of going back on them is ultra-strong (between the numerous breaks and the nights out ... three pints in and its the looking for shrapnel time for the ciggie machine)
Any tales of success would be appreciated. About a month off them now and feeling the benefits but this usually goes belly-up the next real bad day in the office.

No offense to the non-smokers, but I know the bad side well enough. But unless you have smoked, you don't know the urge just to say "To hell with reason - I NEED this ciggie now!", so looking for actual proven ways.

The reduced intensity of the few hangovers I have had since giving up has been one reason

Phdbug - get it down to one/two sentence explanation and stick to that ... otherwise most people will tune out. Basically, the main area in lay mans terms and then a sentence or two explaining your unique slant (but again in non-research terms). It used to annoy me but just got it down to a 4 line explanation and generally stick to that - sad, but you must remember that most people are asking out of courtsey and just want to make sure you are doing fine (in fairness, how many job descriptions would sound exciting?)

Failing all that, just say "You know that tunnel in Switzerland with the photons going about like a Scaletrix set?" ... then, wink casually as you hit your thumb on your chest and then take another drink from your pint as your audience picks up their collective jaws from the floor.

Phdbug - Yeah, would be willing to sort something out alright, but would need to be a few more and would need to keep it someway reasonable. Will be back in the office tomorrow and will get the thinking cap on. Any other people interested - it can count as your good deed for the day and its tax deductible!

One more tip people - be happy at your limited resources, as in the words of Frannie Coppolla

"We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane".

I thought that Starbars were replaced by Peanut Moro? It was good to see the return of Catch bar though!

Tricky - methinks we are not in the same domain of dominion (although regardless of region, Snickers rules!!!)

Catalinbond - how is the PC acting these days? If not going well, please check before you chuck it out ... "Man killed by Windows flying through window"

Noel_lee - I'm a Paddy so no bothers to answer some of the questions, but it would be from my perspective. I won't get defensive and say we are well-regarded because we are not, but we do have potential.

Ireland is probably seen as a bad destination mainly due to bad or no PR. True, the weather is dire, but considering we are essentially a mossy rock in the middle of the Atlantic, we haven't done too bad.

College-wise, I would say that there is no difference between the college experience between here and the continent, although campuses tend to be smaller here. Colleges tend only to advertise in Irish papers (Times, Independent or Examiner) or their own websites. Generally, most research posts come about from word of mouth so don't be afraid to get the hands dirty and write a few emails. Check up the websites of the colleges you would think would be applicable. The college I am in has a good education dept. and a few links to other like-minded colleges. Funding is generally hit-and-miss depending on the specific departments (with the credit crunch, its more miss these days)

If you want to send a private message, I can answer specific questions as best as I can.

TimeforTea - it really does depend on a few factors
1. The quantity of data you are saving - Are you just using the PC for Word, Excel and EndNote or running data intensive programs like CAD or simulation applications
2. How much work you have done so far - Obviously the more work you've done, the more important backup becomes.

Before I go any further, your dept. should be able to reimburse any costs that you incur - its your work, therefore they are responsible.
I would do the following
1. Decide on a time that you will back up all your information - I would suggest once every two days at a specific time.
2. Get at least 2 (if not three) USB keys initially. Have one of the USB keys in the office and carry either of the other two about with you. Back up the information to at least one of the USB keys (alternating them each time, storing the latest one in the office)
3. When your files grow, get an external hard drive. Store all your information on the external drive but still use the USB keys to store the more important files
4. On your PC or laptop, organise your work so that it is in distinct folders (have an overall one for PhD material and it is then a straight forward Copy & Paste operation to back up the files)
5. Don't forget to backup your Endnote records (or whatever bibliography application you are using)
6. If working on an important document, send it to one of your email accounts once finished working on it for the day - it'll only take two seconds (File - Send To - Mail Recipient (as Attachment)) and also handy if you are working remotely.

There is probably a dearth of other tips - the main thing is getting into the habit of backing up and maintaining it. Hope this was someway helpful and if stuck on anything, gis a shout. That's it in a "Nutshell" ... which, coincidentally I am currently listening to at the mo (AIC forever!)

People - I smell an opportunity here ... why should we give this advice for free??
Only joking, but it is a great idea and perhaps as a further improvement on the forum that such advice boards are distinct from the forums themselves (otherwise they would be lost and repeated needlessly amongst all the old threads. Most of what is said already is true but as most of us are only learning ourselves there would never be a definitive list.
PhdBug - Might be interesting to actually get a few people together for this. I know I'd spare an hour or two every week to admin a website (only problem is quality control - ah sure put up a big Caveat Emptor sign and denie everything).

Here is my wedges of wisdom though
1. If corporately sponsored, get the project specification down on paper as quickly as possible and in a binding format - if there is a corporate reshuffle, you don't want your project being changed as a result. It does happen!
2. Take minutes of meetings, specifically supervisors. Have a template document for these and email them to the supervisor once meeting is over
3. If reading a paper, journal article, record ALL the details within Endnote (preferably before reading). This includes linking the record to the soft copy downloaded from the websites. It might mean you have a lot of records but redundant ones can be deleted.
4. If priniting the papers, put the Endnote number on the printed copy and store them in order of record number. It cuts down on reprinting of papers and is also a quick way of finding them (look up the EndNote record # in the software)
5. If wondering what are the most relevant journals, use the Impact Factor to decide.
6. BE RUTHLESS! You are here for a specific reason - don't let others stand in your path to glory! Sell your family into slavery, kick that single parent family out of that bedsit .... oh oops medication time! Only kidding - Don't be ruthless and don't ever forget why you are doing the PhD. You will need to remember that from time to time. The PhD process isn't Butlin's but it isn't meant to be like a Siberian Salt mine either. Get a good balance between the work and your outside life (take this as an opportunity to get a new hooby). The PhD is like a job, albeit a very low paid one, so try to keep perspective.

PhDBug - Obviously you can understand that we are constrained for time to elaborate on some of the points but I do think that a website (or a money making book ... don't lie, we're all in it for the money :p ) would be a great idea to focus this further. I would deffo give some time to it if needed. If anyone else interested, we could try something.

Hope the research is going well and enjoy those extra long "coffee" breaks of first year

I LOVE computers!!!
Eight years ago, I got 2 grand into me back burner and a Les Paul guitar (which I will master some day!) protecting ye lot as ye got pished bringing in the 21st century ... god knows ye were screwed if anything did go belly up!

Imagine if you will, the setting is CERN, Switzerland/France (location depending on whether its a success or huge failure). They are just about to bring the two particle beams together when ... "Illegal Operation: Your PC requires a restart. All applications will be closed" pops up on the screen of the main controller ... now that would be funny!