Weekly Status Update #13: Abbreviation Bonanza

It’s the Weekly Status Update – Early Saturday morning special, courtesy of my recently acquired inability to sleep in. Slow news week, but this week featuring:  5iler, ESSO34, CMOS, DFQ and D3. I’m sorry the update items are so incredibly disconnected this week and I can’t find a way to make it coherent or bridge the items, but it is what it is:

Weekly Status Update #12: Emacsochism

It’s weekly status update time! And what an eventful week it was, this was the week in which I quit Facebook with mixed results. In other news, this weekly status update features: the  Meez, performance night, The Online Anatomical Human, emacs and deadline chasing (again):

FacebookFree – On quitting Facebook for a week

Last week I ran a little personal experiment of quitting Facebook for a week. As a PhD student who is behind a computer all day, it is alI too easy to ctrl+t facebook.com when the going gets tough or when the going gets really boring. The goal of this post is not to come off as a holier than thou person who judges others for what they do on Facebook, but to self-reflect and hopefully learn from the process. I would like to summarize some personal experiences and things I learnt here.

Weekly Status Update #11: A robot renegade cop

Weekly Status Update incoming! A short one this time as I have a paper submission deadline tomorrow at midnight and a house to clean ;). It seems like I say it will be a short one quite often, but it almost never is ^^ We’ll see! This week featuring: writing, submission, video, zucchini babies and ultraviolence:

How scientific conferences are like music festivals

Fresh out of the nightly brainfart department, a short look at the similarities between scientific conferences and music festivals as well as some tips and tricks that apply to both:

  • The bigger conferences often feature parallel sessions not unlike how music festivals can have multiple stages and concerts at the same time.

    Tip:  Take a look at the schedule beforehand and choose the talks/concerts you really must see beforehand, so you don’t miss out on anything important during the event.

  • The keynote speakers are like the headliners at a festival: big names in the field who are allowed more time to present their work.

    Tip: Keynotes and headline shows got that spot for a reason, while there are exceptions, in general you can expect high quality content and good delivery, so be sure to attend.

  • Big conferences and festivals can span multiple action-packed days and therefore be really exhausting.

    Tip: Eat and drink well to maintain your energy levels and just hang in there. Big conferences/festivals only come around once a year and you might not get the chance to go every year, so make the most of your time there!

Weekly Status Update #8: Fortarock Review

A bit later than usual, but a weekly status update nonetheless! It’s a little different this week, because my week was also a little different, featuring: Fitbit, Blood Ceremony, Ghost, Behemoth, Gojira and Dimmu Borgir. Before I get started, a little more context. This week only featured 3 working days followed by 2 compulsory days off and 1 festival (Fortarock in Nijmegen). So for the highlights of the week I’d like to write about this festival to change things up a little.