ESTERDAY I moved between apartments. I have lost a much-appreciated ‘high view’ on the city, but I’ll get used to my new environment, which quite sadly, feels like a step back.

This Thursday (or perhaps Friday) my site will be moving to a newer, better, and more reliable Linux server. As a result, the site will be down for approximately 8 hours. I don’t yet know if another personal site, othellomaster.com, which resides on the same shared server, will be affected.

Lastly, my movement to Netscape.com as a social bookmarking platform has angered a few Digg regulars (I’m listed at the bottom). Some hostility (see comments) is still in the air while my colleagues find a spot under the limelight. Fortunately, some people fully understand those who ‘defected’. They are very supportive.

will be in London all day today, which is why I am up so early in the morning/night. A Structure and Function meeting will take place and encourage discussion about some recent research among our inter-site collaboration (Manchester, Imperial College, University College London, Oxford).

The journey to London will be roughly as long as the stay, which is somewhat disappointing, if not a real pain. It is also quite disruptive to the normal daytime activities, so I will go to sleep late at night. It is definitely going to be a heck of a long day!

Like many others, I prefer using my baby
picture as a personal blog/site identity

HEM….

This will be my last blog post for a while, the reason being absence. I am leaving for Easter later tonight (yes, well ahead of the holiday itself). Frankly, I am filled with anticipation. I am off to America where I shall present our medical imaging research in an international scenery for the first time. I will be back within a couple of weeks and I expect little or no ‘on-line time’ in the interim.

I dread the impact of spam whenever I’m oblivious to cyberspace and am almost aloof. Nevertheless, experience shows this to be beyond manageable. I suppose could, as a matter of principle, post some blogs items whilst I’m away. It would be slow and cumbersome though, so it beats the purpose.

I would like to wish a joyous holiday to all the regular and errand readers!

The Maths Tower (right), which is adjacent to Computer Science (left) and was recently demolished

ATER this evening I shall attend a lecture, which will be delivered by an honourable guest: Irving Wladawsky-Berger. It takes place immediately after my meeting with the Supervisor, who happens to head the Department.

I don’t go to public talks as regularly as I used, but it’s probably because it no longer is a must. Attendance is not mandatory and absence is rarely frowned upon. I sometimes look back at them days when I attended lectures and exams. I have no yearnings whatsoever. My bad and sporadic sleeping habits had me fall asleep in virtually any early lecture. Examination has proven to be no-one’s favourite either.

The last exam I took dates back to June 2003. I remember this date rather vividly because, rather than celebrating this milstones, I prepared for an job interview that I had scheduled for the following day. At that stage, I was not at all nervous about exam. A quick ‘session’ involving Seinfeld episodes (I had all episodes on my hard-drive) become almost a must right before any exam, as a deliverer of light entertainment.

Either way, today I shall return to the Department of Computer Science to be part of what should be a fascinating presentation. As I slept 3 times today already, there is little or no chance of me falling asleep. Fingers crossed.

suppose that could have said that “I leave to go on holiday” or “take a vacation” this afternoon. To me, it does not feel as though these expressions would be suitable though. They bear a positive connotation. “Taking a break” sounds like a better fit, but experience suggests that information anxiety and Internet addiction will take their toll. This time (for a change) I promised myself to remain off-line until February.

I reluctantly look forward to my Easter break, but it seems like pressure will again be associated with presentation of our work. It will possibly supersede the joy of some sunny days with family in Florida. I am yet to discover if I can still enjoy vacations. I once committed myself to avoiding them if possible. It was a new year’s resolution even.

Previous breaks (pessimistic/melancholic):

• my past experiences
• Autumn Vacation

I tried not to offend anyone by choosing banners that make no direct mentioning of Christmas, only implicit (see below). Today, however, is the day for those of us who celebrate Christmas. Some will be enjoying the sweetest day of all, yet often it is also among the most boring days. Different stokes for different folks.

More holiday greetings:

• Text to Church Sign Convertor
• Holidays Site Banner

I will not be going on vacation this Christmas, even though I did last year. I wouldn’t describe a wintry vacation as one which is anywhere near optimal. Instead, I will take my vacation in late January when flights get cheaper. The fare somehow makes up for the desire (or lack thereof) to travel.

This month I will attend 4 formal Christmas events. As usual, this proves to be the most social time of the year, which happens to incorporate a diverse professional and recreational ‘hattery’. I will be going parties involving my following affiliations:

• IT Services
• Manchester Computing
• Health Club (Midland Hotel)
• Research Division (namely Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering)

The parties are spread compfortably throughout the month of December. The celebration of Christmas, on its own right, will be quite costly this year. And yet, perhaps needless to mention, I very much look forward to it all.

Technical note: those who still use Internet Explorer (which is buggy) will have the tree rendered wrongly, position-wise. Version 6 still fails to cope with images alongside itemised lists (bulletpoints). Admittedly, I am through being kind and tolerant to Explorer bugs because they hinder Web development world-wide.