think that based on my records, I started my Ph.D. on “Tuesday 23rd September, 2003″ or maybe that was just my first meeting (21st September was likely my first day). I wrote this report a week later. Prior to that I had met or “interviewed” – if that’s the right term – 3 people in that department regarding a project and/or supervisor (I think that was Jim, Sue, and Chris).

I’m glad, in hindsight, that I chose Chris. Despite him being a demanding perfectionist (months later a student of his, Gareth, committed suicide), he did inspire or encourage certain traits I still have. I remember a prior student, Kate, complaining about his attitude in a dinner, saying he’s “always right” (cynically, something to that effect), but his track record or credentials compensated for this attitude.

Having high expectations can be a burden on others.

23 years later Chris is still alive (in his 80s) and shows up in fairly new videos of the same university where he studied and worked for about 60 years. He’s still professionally active, at 80 or above. That part of him I really appreciate. I hope that I too can do the same things 40 years from now.

Chris was always a heavy drinker of coffee, who clearly didn’t get enough sleep. This seems not to have shortened his life. He did what he loved.

IRC was created 38+ years ago

t would be absolutely impossible for me to know when I began using IRC unless I somehow, miraculously, manage to have found the receipt for my modem purchase. My mom bought it for me. She probably won’t remember it anymore (I spoke to her in length yesterday, I still love her even if she has scarce understanding of what I do, she says I am “activist who focuses on battling corruption”).

I am pretty certain that it was a 14,400 bps (14.4K) Dynamode modem and I think my mother discarded the PC that I personally (manually) installed this on. I think I was 13 or 14 at the time (after I had begun programming). I will never forget how awful I felt when I tried to install a hard drive (I think it was a year later) and caused it to blow up/burn (rancid smoke) due to stupidity/sloppiness. It wasn’t new, it was just about 50 megabytes in size (compared to my 170 megabytes main drive), and I paid not much for it (a friend sold it to me at school). I didn’t ask for a refund, I think I paid only about 10 pounds, maybe 20+ pounds in today’s money.

I think this was the first time I installed hard drive using my bare fists and a screwdriver. We didn’t “google it” (this predates Google and you’d need a modem to read the Web) and there was no YouTube. Cable television had no show in the programme that said, “watch how to install a hard drive or modem.”

The modem installation was a lot easier (fewer bits to plug in) and they say you only ever learn from errors. At age 19 I fixed my own laptop; it cost me 1-2 pounds (components from RS Components) instead of over 200 pounds at the repair shop.

IRC was one of the first things I used once connected at home and about 32 years later I administer IRC at a fairly large network.

I still love IRC. It’s not perfect. As a grownup, last year and this year I got to explain to High Court judges what IRC is and how it works.

Thanks, mom, for buying me that modem. I’ve been on the Net since then! And that no longer hijacks the phone line at home.

Not laptops

began my school days with a notebook. Then notebooks. Pupils like myself learned how to read and write. We used notebooks. We had a blackboard, later a whiteboard (for health reasons). It generally worked. It can still work.

Earlier this year I used a notebook extensively to take notes. This week I begin turning those notes into digital articles. It’s not about copying the thing word by word. Typing is faster than writing and gives more time to consider one’s choice of words or which words are most important to capture.

Nostalgic. Yes, but it works.

Time flies

can’t believe it’s almost mid-September (in a month with 30 days 15 is halfway). We’ll be in 2027 within 3+ months and it already feels cold.

2026 was exceptionally productive for me – probably most productive since I was a teenager.

The other day, on the way back home, I recalled all the many activities I did when I was 15. I can’t believe I managed to squeeze in TV, computer games, tennis etc. into my day/s. It’s not that these recreational activities were “gainful” (probably a waste of time more than anything else), it’s just that I didn’t let school and homework take over my life. I did that in moderation. I even used to work out in school (with the facilities available). Towards the end I swam there.

I think my efficiency is peaking right now.

Many people still remember how they first heard about it (and where)

still remember how I found out about the 9/11 (2021) attacks. I was likely on a plane at the time, flying back to Manchester. After I had landed and picked up my suitcase the cab driver told me that a plane hit a building in the US. I assumed it was 1) a small plane (one person); 2) only one collision; 3) an accident.

When I arrived home I began to realise what happened. Maybe some of the collisions happened after my landing^*. I never checked and compared the times; the media focused on entirely different aspects (not the exact times).

That was 25 years ago. I was a student at the time. The world has changed profoundly since then, and not at all for the better.

____

^* If the air crew (onboard in English airspace) knew about what happened, then they chose not to tell passengers. That’s understandable. Panic is a safety hazard.

Death came

ur next-door neighbour died this weekend. She was almost 80. We didn’t get along (almost nobody got along with her, both past and present), but at times like these we must all be human beings and compassionate towards grieving relatives. This was not shocking or surprising because this past year the ambulance came here a lot and there was gradual deterioration, often very loud screaming and doors being slammed.

My thoughts about this situation are very complicated. I don’t believe people suddenly become saints or impermissible to criticise because they die. But common sense or popular sayings urge us to keep quiet if we have nothing positive to say.

Rianne will pray for her. We hope her husband can cope.

Look ma, no Facebook!

allery has been installed in this site since 2012 or 2013. This past week it passed 8 million views for pertinent pages, now clocking at 8012k.

Gallery is hardly maintained anymore, so the gallery we have installed here will need format-shifting and exporting some day.