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>> 31.03.05

Sup(p)er work, Dr Ben
It's hard, you know, and this diary has occasionally hinted at how hard it can be. Postgraduate study, that is, not being a celebrity. It's not rocket science. Though — on occasion — it can be. I've decided to bail and feel much better for it, but plenty of people soldier on, sacrificing a great deal, including their sanity, their friends, their ability to communicate, their ability to sleep, their ability to do anything but work, their ability to eat, their ability to earn a decent wage, their ability to... {>>}

>> 18.03.05

TeX on OS X
Around six months before starting my postgraduate studies, I bought an iBook, the idea behind it being that I could do some of my work on it, especially writing-up papers and the thesis using LaTeX. At least, that's why I told myself I needed an iBook. The reality had been very different to the theory: all of my computer work is done in the "office" and I use my iBook, exclusively, for everything other than maths. The main reason for this was the seeming impossibility of getting LaTeX to work... {>>}

>> 14.03.05

Second draft submitted
Last week proved to be quite an intense period concerning my studies, working hard to try and get a decent second draft together for the paper I'm working on with my supervisor. As noted previously, the first draft had been fairly naff and was in need of a major overhaul. Although it took a great deal of juggling about and plenty of decisions concerning when to introduce things and when to leave it to a later point, the finished draft — which I handed in on Thursday — was something... {>>}

>> 03.03.05

Second draft
Following on from the submission of the first draft of the paper I'm working on at the moment, my supervisor had a nice meeting with me pointing out the very many ways in which the paper can be improved. The single biggest issue was one of structure, which was something I was expecting. The work we have completed so far takes one major breakthrough (thought of by my supervisor and on which he has written, submitted and had accepted for publication a paper) and extends it for various different cases.... {>>}