h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks muchly. It's not that much more difficult than studying anything else, really. Except that this one is really getting me for some reason. I taught myself Esperanto a few years back - and promptly forgot the majority of it as there was no one to talk with - and it wasn't so tough as this. Ah well, I'll crack it.

There is A LOT of random knowledge in the Atelier. Munchers (Munchkin is you see him around) did his doctoral thesis on nanites, for example. That just blew me away! Then Z and the medical studies, the numerous computer gurus, yourself as a graduate student... There are days I feel quite outclassed.

Of course, then I remember a detail of trivia that turns out to be vastly important to a conversation going on and I realize that I fit right in.

that's rough aqbout the esperanto. I used to have some franglais ability, but that died quickly once I stopped speaking it. There's a first year here who just finished a stint in Germany, she's hanging out with the Euro club to try to not lose her german. The postdoc in our lab is korean, and he's worried b/c his daughter can't really speak korean anymore (she's ~5 yrs old). They might go back to Korea (S) when he's done here, so I think he feels bad about it.

The beauty of the guide/atelier is that we don't have to worry about RL, so degrees and other nonsense don't really matter. it's more pure knowledge,expression & reason - which is why I like it so much. You get into an academic setting, and all of a sudden ideas are only as good as their sponsor *shudder*. I really, really hate that. Grad school has really brought home to me how "political" academics can be

But I'm trying not to be political - putting up the good fight so to speak.

BTW as a nigh shifter I'd love to hear how you manage, given that I may be joining you soon...

Continue the good fight! Politics - anywhere - are a slippery slope, and once you start... Well, you know.

Two words on surviving night shift: blackout curtains! Seriously, they help in terms of the sleep. The rest of it - social life, hobbies, etc - well, it's all possible, but takes a lot of juggling. That's why I haven't even tried for the social life yet since moving here two months ago. Oh, and another hint: try to keep close to the same schedule on your days off as well. Otherwise, all your down time is spent recovering fromswitching sleep patterns...

Parlais vous Francais? I used to - at least a little - as well. Depending on how far I go with my Psych degree before vearing off into criminal justice, I am considering doing a paper on languages. It is my contention - and I'm not sure how I'd test this, but I REALLY want to - that we actually form new neural paths when we learn languages. It would explain why children learn languages easier and faster, why people talk about "thinking" differently when they are fluent in another language, and why we forget languages that we don't practice regularly. Somehow, I don't see getting a grant for that one though.

You are absolutely right about the Atelier. It is all about give and take, which is why - I think - we all feel comfortable there. We've all got something to contribute to just about any conversation, be it information or peanut gallery style commentary.

I like the blackout curtain idea - that will be key I think. I'm going to try to get my day/night sensitive experiments grouped into a block. The maybe I can do a week of night shift, get it over with, and then go back. Might be painful though.

Je ne me souviens pas francais maintenant. I like your theory on the neural paths. Have you ever read some neuroscience? They do a lot of cool things these days. You might want to look into that too

I've considered neurosciences from time to time, to tell the truth. They are facinating! However, they do not have the same allure for me as does profiling.

So, since the topic has yet to go anywhere on the Atelier as of yet, what are the books on your "well-read" list?

hmmm, I was thinking about that. I basically ended up just listing some books I'd read recently. I don't think I'm well read enough to make a good list. Here's the couple I was thinking of, no particular order

Grapes of Wrath
Down and Out in London and Paris
Dhalgren
The Hobbit
The Great Gatsby
Heart of Darkness
I, Claudius
Microserfs
I, Robot
Our Dumb Century

I honestly can't say that those books are generally important to read - I guess I can only say that they were important to me. That would have been the better question - what are the 10 most important books you have read?

I think it's more important that the books be important to you than that they be important to everyone. Having said that, I'll compose two lists:

Important in General:
Beowulf
Canterbury Tales
The Art of War
Narnia Chronicles
Hamlet
Alice in Wonderland
The Great Gatsby
The Hobbit
I, Robot
Farenheit 451

Important to Me:
Tailchaser's Song
Narnia Chronicles
Those Who Hunt Monsters by Robert Ressler
The Hobbit
Hamlet
MacBeth
The Illuminatus Chronicles
Chaos by James Gleick
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit by Ray Bradbury
Demon in the Freezer

Or something like that.

excellent list! I totally forgot about Ray Bradburry - Farneheit 451 is great. I've never reading Tailchaser's song, but I read another book by Tad Williams that I enjoyed a lot.

Did you ever see the Onion article "I, rowboat"...it actually got me to look up I,robot and see what it was about. It had the three laws of row-boatics
http://www.theonion.com/onion3326/irowboat.html

Tad Williams has long been one of my favorite authors. I should probably have something by Neil Gaiman in my list as well, but I just couldn't choose which of his work to include!

I had not read the I Rowboat before, but that is lovely! Thanks so much for sharing the link with me.

Two things:

1) Love the water fight! Just warn me next time so I'm not wearing white.

2) Get on a messenger software - just about any will do - and join us in random chats.

Just a thought.

white? hmm...ohhhh. white. Gothca

Sounds good bout the messenger software. I'll work on it. Work has been crazy lately, now that my stuff is working I've got to really go with it. My boss is intensely interested in it, so my days of no accountability are gone

I got ICQ, is that workable?

I understand all about crazy work! Databases are our friend, databases are our friend, databases...

ICQ works just fine. I went ahead and put all my contact names/numbers up on my user page, for easy access. ICQ doesn't actually work from, well, work, but I've got it at home, so no biggie. (Some day I'll tell you of the Russian Mafia and you'll understand it all. )

ICQ doesn't actually work from, well, work, but I've got it at home, so no biggie. (Some day I'll tell you of the Russian Mafia and you'll understand it all. )
Rather like
MSN doesn't actually work from, well, work, but I've got it at home, so no biggie. (Some day I'll tell you of the Italian Mafia and you'll understand it all. )





Many a true word said in jest

eh?