One more typo correction on Stavros's otherwise excellent answers: Jeju-do really should be spelled 제주도, not 재주도.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 12:40 AM on May 23, 2008

Thanks for all of your comments, everyone! I see that there are a lot of issues for me to consider... I'm not sure that I will be able to pick the best answers until I've had more of a chance to think about what I should do.

is this for the Penn program? If so, I attended years ago and had a blast. good luck!

Actually, I am applying to a Canadian university (I'm Canadian). But, the Penn program looks very interesting, too --... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 1:18 AM on January 28, 2008

For what it's worth, I got into the summer school program! It takes place next month, and I am very much looking forward to it.

Thanks for all your help, everyone. I'm marking every comment as the best answer, as I ended up doing a little bit of everything (i.e., aiming for a short statement and then cutting down brutally).
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 6:15 PM on May 1, 2008

OP here. I was surprised that the application did not ask for my abstract, either. Then again, maybe this is how they select applicants -- by removing people that do not bother to find out what kind of information they should include.

I am going to school now, so I will most definitely drop by their office and ask.

Thanks for the responses so far -- keep'em coming!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 9:13 AM on April 21, 2008

OP again. I followed all of your advice, and ended up getting that travel grant! Thanks for your help, everyone!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 6:06 PM on May 1, 2008

Sounds like you were primed!

A not-so-excellent article on wikipedia: Priming in psychology refers to activating parts of particular representations or associations in memory just before carrying out an action or task. [...] Conceptual priming is based on stimulus meaning and is enhanced by semantic tasks. For example, when primed with the word table, the subject will show priming effects on the word chair, because table and chair belong to the same category.A much more... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 2:01 AM on March 20, 2008 marked best answer

I've helped organize similar get-togethers with some professors and students in my program. It required very little planning, although two or three people always arrived early to save some tables.

How large is the bar? Unless it is extremely small, you could probably get away with saving maybe three tables ahead of time. Assuming four people to a table, this arrangement could accommodate 12 people. If fewer than 12 people show up, then just give up a table. Conversely,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 4:15 PM on March 15, 2008

Seconding the RA suggestion. Find a lab you like at a nearby university, and see if you can find a position there.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 7:50 PM on February 20, 2008

blueyellow, I just sent you an e-mail. Please do keep me/us posted!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 1:07 AM on January 31, 2008

This used to happen frequently with my assignments back in early high school (I'm Korean). I think the discrepancy arises from the fact that Korean characters are typically of the same height, whereas English characters have varying heights (i.e., capital letters are much taller than lower case letters). From my understanding, other languages with characters of constant height (e.g., Chinese and Japanese) have similar issues with line spacing.

To fix this problem, all... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 1:17 AM on October 6, 2007 marked best answer

Here is a screenshot describing what I mean.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 1:34 AM on October 6, 2007 marked best answer

What other people said, especially JonahBlack's excellent answer. So, I'll just address this one point.

I'm constantly trying to "look" at the corners of my eyes to see how I actually see things that I'm not looking at.

While an interesting exercise, I don't believe that seeing out of the corner of your eyes is actually a good simulation of what it is like to see out of rods. What you're describing is a case of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 2:42 AM on October 2, 2007

I don't think that the XOR is the correct answer. The XOR (exclusive OR) is like the "or" that we normally use in English.

e.g., "Use the hammer or the screwdriver."
This sentence implies that you will use either the hammer or the screwdriver, but not both.

I think that jak68 is asking for the inclusive OR, which allows the possibility of using both the hammer -and- the screwdriver, as well as... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 1:29 AM on September 15, 2007 marked best answer

I'm white, male, 26, geeky, shy, and somewhere between mildly and quite dyslexic
If anything, that is all the more reason to take up dancing (the geeky and shy part, not the other parts).

I started taking ballroom dancing classes at my university's dance club two years ago. I was feeling a little bit uneasy about it at first, but my geeky, computer scientist/physicist boyfriend recommended it, and being a geeky, shy person myself, I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 10:28 PM on August 18, 2007

I am not the OP, but I was just recently rejected from something that I had very, very high hopes for. Reading this thread helped me see things in a new perspective and pull myself out of self-pity -- thanks, everyone, for your replies, and thank you, nasreddin, for posting this question!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 11:40 PM on April 3, 2007

In a similar vein as what L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg recommended, how about the cast of Simpsons in manga/anime style, or the cast of Futurama? If people are familiar with either of those shows (and I think they most likely are), being able to compare the original Matt Groening style with the manga style might be helpful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 5:07 PM on March 17, 2007

I was in your position just a few years ago. I constantly worried about what people thought about me, imagining how they might find me annoying or harbour other negative thoughts towards me, and simply putting up with me because they had no other choice. This is embarrassing to say, but I used to frequently ask my PI if he was disappointed in me and my work, and I felt nervous about every little thing I did.

Having said that, I think there are two issues to address here.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 2:45 PM on March 9, 2007

Yikes. I'm Korean, and even I find that I find the smell of kimchi too strong at times. I'm afraid that I don't have a sure-fire method for helping dissipate the smell quickly, but I agree with the other people that you should definitely let your boyfriend try kimchi!

I guess the best bet you might have, aside from a room with open windows, is to avoid letting the kimchi ferment for too long. You could definitely use young kimchi; also, you could try is pack some kimchi... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 3:17 AM on February 27, 2007

Both answers are perfect. Thank you!
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 2:04 PM on November 11, 2006

Mr. Gunn, I was actually talking about the actual Google Toolbar. But I find that arcticseal and Dataphage's solutions work almost just as well, as I can still use the keyboard shortcut to search on Google.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 4:59 PM on November 11, 2006

I have similar problems with coffee, and this thread's been immensely helpful. I don't have much to add, except that certain coffee brands, such as Starbucks, tend to cause more problems for me than other brands.
posted to Ask Metafilter by tickingclock at 11:53 AM on October 6, 2006