I don;t know what happened with all those smileys; I didn't add that many! I'm not a smiley nutter.

Jewel: I learned my lesson. I don't mind a bit of give and take, but when it's all take, I decided to tell him to bugger off. Was a good feeling too!

Sounds like you got what you want. Calm down!

Hoi Rick,

Ik heb een beetje Nederlands geleerd, maar wanneer ik de taal spreken, Nederlanders lachen (een ook mensen van Belgie, natuurlijk)

In April woon ik een vergardering in Amsterdam bij; ik moet mijn Nederlands verbeteren...damn those moeilijk reflexive verbs!

Jewel, I thought it was dodgy too (not to mention rude).

Sorry Rick, I think I used your post as an excuse to rant...he was "een akelig ventje", as I believe the expression is.


I can't see what's wrong with asking the secretary to check spelling etc, and I think if you know a wise and friendly professor it would be daft not to ask their advice (just thank them profusely in your acknowledgment).

I have known one Ph.D student (who spent 3 months in our lab as an exchange student) who had one person doing his prep-HPLC (me, sucker that I was), someone else doing his mass spec, someone else doing NMR, and so on. He then collated all the data and wrote it up it as his own. When we pulled him (and his supervisor) up, they were both adamant that it was acceptable for a student to receieve "help" of this nature, and that as it was for a thesis, not a paper, he did not have to acknowledge other labs I'm not sure if that's true, but it's certainly unethical.

Most people I know have had analyses done by someone else (usually because the instruments were not working in their own department) but they always acknowledge that in their final thesis.

I thought the regulations were that you only had 2: first and second supervisor? I also have an informal industrial supervisor who makes requests and gives lots of invaluable advice, but I only have the two offical supervisors. I think you run the risk of being pulled in too many directions if you have more than that.

http://www.yetisports.org/

Once you've started you won't be able to stop. Worth registering for (it's free)

Well, good on you for doing that stuff. I have stuff to do but I seem to get distracted (mainly by this froum).

Pea, if you like anglo-asian literature I think you'll love "What The Body Remembers" by Shauna Singh Baldwin (if you haven't already read it). It's based around a Sikh family during Partition, but the real story is how the arrival of a second wife affects the relationship between the man and his principal wife. Good stuff.

Hello again Claudia! Where have you been?

(or have I not been reading enough threads?)

My favourite is the trilogy by Louis de Bernieres that starts with "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts". Never read anything else quite like that (a mixture of South American mythology and English toilet humour). He's coming to give a talk at my uni in December; booked a ticket already!

shanghaichica, I've read Saving Fish From Drowning. I liked it but it's totally different to all her other books.

Empress Orchid was really good, one of those stories that sticks in your mind for months afterwards.

Did anyone see the list of top ten unreadable books? I was suprised to see one of my favourites (Vernon God Little) at number one.

I've come up with one for the university pigeon population though:

"Leicester Pigeons: Shitting From New Heights"

Well, I'm still trying to come up with a good one. "Overdeliver", maybe. I usually try to give a bit of extra information to that which I'm asked for. But that isn't always a good thing.

And when I was in in industry we low-level technicans gave our company a new statement: "Assume the Position" (cos they would screw you given half a chance)