The loneliest graduate

[Thylacoleo Gal]

I think I like Xue Yifan. Her picture went viral a little while ago ..

A Class Without Classmates
UPDATED: June 30, 2014 NO. 27 JULY 3, 2014
www.bjreview.com.cn/nation/txt/2014-06/30/content_626567.htm
Xue Yifan posted a picture of herself online. In the picture, she stands alone in front of the Peking University's massive library in her graduation attire, looking solemnly into the camera. The photo would have been unremarkable were it not for one detail: She was the only graduate of the paleontology program at the Yuanpei College of Peking University this year.

One would think China would invest a bit more in palaeo as a subdiscipline of the Earth sciences.
Palaeontology has a role to play in coal, gas and oil exploration - that's a commercial application worth developing, surely? Besides, palaeontology gives us profound insights into our planet's past and hence warnings for our future. Palaeontology revealed the mortal danger posed by NEOs, for one thing. Moreoever, the subject offers insights into the the likely nature of life elsewhere and its evolution. Are we alone in the Universe? That is a question worth seeking answers to.

I would not say palaeontology is a frivolous pursuit with no practical applications in the "real world".

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Whoops! I'm not too sure if this post belongs here or in the 2nd board. I rely upon our feared Moderators' judgment in this. Great Dane?

Speaking of whom, were is the Dane of late?

[vincent]

As I recall, there's at least one region of China which is considered a hotbed of fossil finds. Perhaps that isn't mentioned enough in the popular press to fire the imagination of young students.

[greatdane]

Jul 1, 2014 5:35:14 GMT 10 Thylacoleo Gal said:

Whoops! I'm not too sure if this post belongs here or in the 2nd board. I rely upon our feared Moderators' judgment in this. Great Dane?

Speaking of whom, were is the Dane of late?

So nice of you to "miss me", Debbie, but I´m back as of today! and I even have some comments on threads developed during my absence Give me a couple of days.
I´ve had great technical problems since I went for Windows 8.1. I have solved these problems for now, at least sort of. I´ll PM you!
I have really, really missed this bright and knowlegedable community - Yeah, I´m addicted

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Yaaay Dane! Welcome back. And of course I missed you.




PS: Windoze 8.1? I've heard nothing but bad reports about all versions, 8.x. I upgraded to W7 when XP had its plug pulled: it's stable and expected to remain supported for the "foreseeable". Which, hopefully, may mean about 5+ years?

[vincent]

Jul 2, 2014 19:08:09 GMT 10 Thylacoleo Gal said:

Yaaay Dane! Welcome back. And of course I missed you.




PS: Windoze 8.1? I've heard nothing but bad reports about all versions, 8.x. I upgraded to W7 when XP had its plug pulled: it's stable and expected to remain supported for the "foreseeable". Which, hopefully, may mean about 5+ years?

I upgraded to 8.1, when I bought a new 'puter a couple of months ago just before they stopped supporting XP. It's working ok. I never use their fancy tile system; I found a way around that. I still haven't made the effort to make it work with my old printer, so I keep my old computer on my desk to print stuff. I'm getting too old for all this change.

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Printers are so cheap in Aus - about $40 for a combo 1200dpi printer/scanner - that it makes better sense to turf the old printer and buy a new one, as soon as one of the cartridges runs dry. These economic calculations probably don't do a lot for carbon footprints, conservation and landfill.

Greenies be outraged!

[mingle]

I stuck with XP for around 10 years and have nothing good to say about it. I only swapped to Win 8.1 when I got hold of a free copy to try out.

The best thing I found (to avoid issues) was to do a clean install and not an upgrade. Then set the option to go straight to desktop and
install Classic Shell, which brings back 90% of the XP 'feel'.

It actually runs faster than XP did on the same hardware (my PCs are all s/h Core 2 Duos, about 4 years old).

If you want to ditch Microsoft all together I recommend Linux Mint 17 - a perfectly useful alternative, unless
you're glued to specific Windows-only applications.

Cheers,

Mike.

P.S. Sorry for going even more off-topic!

[vincent]

Jul 3, 2014 10:13:12 GMT 10 mingle said:

P.S. Sorry for going even more off-topic!

Perhaps the topical graduate might find this forum and this computer guidance interesting and useful. Debbie, have you contacted Xue Yifan and invited her to participate in this forum?

[vincent]

Jul 3, 2014 8:45:30 GMT 10 Thylacoleo Gal said:

Printers are so cheap in Aus - about $40 for a combo 1200dpi printer/scanner - that it makes better sense to turf the old printer and buy a new one, as soon as one of the cartridges runs dry. These economic calculations probably don't do a lot for carbon footprints, conservation and landfill.

Greenies be outraged!

That's exactly what I'm doing. I had installed a new ink cartridge just a few days before buying the new computer, so I'm now waiting for that cartridge to run low. It could be awhile, because I don't do much printing.