Five days without web access has been the longest stretch I have experienced in about two years. It is amazing how utterly useless a computer now seems when it isn’t connected to the internet. First came the abandonment of gaming, in favour of blogging and chatting with friends by instant messenger. Then came the general abandonment of print media for online news sources (though I have hung onto my print subscription to The Economist). Finally, there was the selection of a research area where sources are virtually always available online. My transition to the web-embedded side was complete.
Hopefully, I have managed to keep my sanity. Quite possibly, doing so will involve painting an image resembling Slashdot onto a volleyball with a little painted Skype window in the corner. The other members of the retreat will probably be wondering who I am speaking to.
I went to an open house for a master’s program and they talked about the thesis option.
“If you are thinking about going on to do a Ph.D. you might want to save the thesis, the isolation, the wanting to kill yourself, for later.”
Ashley,
The paradox of the thesis is that you don’t know enough to be able to write one until you have actually done so.
Personally, I am about 80% of the way there.