Scary tales of going to grad school

A brutal story about going to graduate school and never ever finding success or even a place in life
"[...] what happens to graduate students by saying, distantly, "there are no guarantees." But that phrase suggests there's only a chance you won't get a tenure-track job, not an overwhelming improbability that you will.
...
There should be a special place in hell for the professors who—at the end of an advisee's 10-year graduate program with no job in sight—say, <<well, academe is not for everyone.>>"
http://tinyurl.com/lifeofmind

And an horrifying news item about one such graduate - a biology professor, Harvard-trained Dr Amy Bishop at University of Alabama Huntsville campus. Dr Bishop shot 6 colleagues last Friday, fellow professors and a staff member. Three professors are dead, and one is in critical condition. Prior to the shooting, professor Bishop has learned that she had been denied a promotion and her position at the University of Alabama was coming to an end.

http://tinyurl.com/facultyshooting

re-posted from Door64.com - Austin Hi-Tech OnLine

Facts of life about self-promotion

An interesting article about marketing yourself, gender differences, and what it takes to be successful and have a shot at changing the world: "A Rant About Women" by Clay Shirky

A fact of life - "... self-promotion will be a skill that produces disproportionate rewards".

Another fact of life - "There is no upper limit to the risks men are willing to take in order to succeed, and if there is an upper limit for women, they will succeed less. [Women] will also end up in jail less, but I don’t think we get the rewards without the risks."

re-posted from Door64.com - Austin Hi-Tech OnLine

Dates not to miss in 2010

• February 21: Hug An Indie Mac Developer Day
• March 13 is Hug an Engineer Day
• May 23rd: Hug Your Designer Day
• The last Friday in July : Have you hugged your SysAdmin today?
• The 256th day of the year (the largest binary multiple possible in a year), has been officially declared Programmer's Day. So give a hug to a programmer you care about.
• November 5th is official DBA Appreciation Day: give your DBA a big hug
• Ubuntu: the next Hug Day is scheduled for Thursday, December 10
• December 11th: "Hug Your Security Professional" Day

re-posted from Door64.com - Austin Hi-Tech OnLine