It wasnt really my intention to stop blogging but after handing in the thesis text most of my time has been on the mundane tasks of academic work: lecturing, meetings & administration. Anyway hopefully Im back. The waiting until the thesis seminar on Wednesday is a bit like being a kid waiting for Christmas eve.
Academia
Done
After being laid low by strange fever for almost 24 hours (no, not avian flu) I have just spent the last 18 hours in front of the computer.
Never mind. Its 4 am. Its Monday. Its cold. But more importantly its in. I have delivered 200 pages or 97995 words (thats + 2,892 for those of you who are still counting) on deadline. Next major hurdle is on the 15 March when the seniors get to sit down and tear it apart in front of me.
Two days
The biggest deadline ever is on Monday. Today I have continued editing and I met my supervisor for another round of comments. The total for the day is 95103 words which means that the document has grown with 134 words. Saturday and Sunday will be a non-stop orgy of editing – does life get any better than this?
3 days left
Now its only Friday, Saturday & Sunday left to work on the thesis. I have spent most of the day (and night) editing the thesis. To be able to find many of the small errors I have missed despite several readings of the text I am now using the text to speech tool on my mac and following on a printed version on the text. Editing by listening is a very, very effective method of catching out the small typos. I have done half the text in this way and will do the other half tommorrow. The editing has resulted in the removal of some text but I still have increased it by 88 words (total 94969).
I will also meet my supervisor tommorrow afternoon to get his final thoughts on the text so that I can spend the weekend editing. On Monday morning I can finally let go of the text for almost two whole weeks. So tired…
“Lunch Hour” by Joseph Hirsch 1942.
then there were five days left…
Cool – I can literally feel the tension. Tomorrow I am giving a guest lecture on the Impact of Internet Technology on Human Rights which is fun but as any good supervisor will tell you – this is not the time for fun…
The thesis is still swelling – maybe I should see a doctor? Sorry that was an aweful joke. Today has added 1363 words to make the messy total at 94 881. This late addition was the addition of a larger conclusion in the form of implications of this work.
I also received an interesting book package today including Rampton & Stauber’s book “Trust us, we’re experts” – more info here, and the incredibly cool book by Torbjörn Tännsjö “Du skall understundom dräpa!” (translated: thou shallt sometimes kill!). Tännsjö is a very interesting professor of philosophy at Stockholm University.
Tobias Skog
Tobias Skog’s licenciate thesis Ambient Information Visualization (University of Göteborg) is available. It deals with various issues regarding informative art, everyday displays as well as their utility and evaluations.
The thesis question is “What issues are of central importance when designing ambient information visualization?”
Great work Tobias.
6 days
Panic! I have not looked at the thesis for a whole day. Only six days to go. I need to reread for spelling & maybe write a better conclusion.
Photo from www.istockphoto.com
Reading tip of the day? Joel Zetterström “A Legal Analysis of Cheating in Online Multiplayer Games” a cool topic for a masters thesis in law (University of Göteborg 2005)
7 days to go…
Another 355 words have been added to the thesis (today’s total is 93518). Are you all bored yet? With only seven day s to go the tension here is mounting…
The reading tip of the day is Bohn (et al) “Living in a World of Smart Everyday Objects: Social Economic and Ethical Implications“, Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp 763-786, October 2004.
Day 10
So much for the short break. Cant keep away. Also I have been getting some early feedback from some people. The new count is + 650 words (93163). Also the reading tip of the day is Savirinuthu “Open Source, Code and Architecture: Its the Memes Stupid” International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, Volume 19, Number 3 / November 2005 pp 341 – 362.
Which unfortunately is not available for free but the library should have a copy. Another reason to support open access!
In addition to this I have news that my examination committee has been chosen. I cannot write about them but I am happy with the choice. For you gender studies people the committee will consist of 1 woman & 2 men.
This is not the Committee!
day 11
Yesterday I handed my thesis (all 92 513 words of it) over to my supervisor for his final reading before I submitt to the internal reviewer. This means that I am taking a break from the thesis for a few days. But not many – the clock is still ticking…
And if anyone wants to read a copy and send me their comments – just contact me…