congrats @XanderHenderson, time for a new PLAQUE on your door!

@amWhy very shuài! (帅=handsome in chinese)

@CalvinKhor I think that you just explained many moments of Firefly to me.

@XanderHenderson I've not watched :P would it be hard to explain to me?

@CalvinKhor I think that is the one I'm thinking of.

There is a lot of Chinese-derived slang in that show.

Oh, wait! No! I'm thinking of Barry Allen's kid in the Flash, who uses "shway" as a slang.

Not Firefly. Flash.

They both start with F.

Therefore they are isomorphic.

would you reccommend one watches Flash? (yes I'm under a rock)

@CalvinKhor I mean, it's a stupid super hero show, but I enjoy it.

And now I need to go watch My Little Pony.

I got bored after the second season. Too much time jumping for my taste

lol. I like silly superheros :) just havent bothered to keep up. thanks ppl

@XanderHenderson that's very SE. But unicorns, don't forget the unicorns.

@quid what is it with Unicorns and SE?

Hello everyone

Please pray for Lebanon🙌🙌

@OmarS I heard in the news there was some terrible explosion in Beirut. I hope you are safe.

May God save his creatures from death and oblivion, may there be peace and less causality in Lebanon.

@Knight Less causality?

I suppose you mean casualties (singular casualty)?

By the way, did you get the strange problem solved with your phone service provider?

@user21820 Oh sorry! I wrote what I didn't want to mean.

No problem. I was just confused for a few seconds before I guessed the intended word. =)

@user21820 Thanks for asking, I factory reset my phone so as to remove anything suspicious and asked service providers to look into the matter.

Ah, so after the factory reset you stopped getting deductions?

Yes, I think it's been 5 days and I have got no deductions till now. It was like a weekly deduction.

I see. Let's hope the problem is resolved!

:)

@user21820 Why some exams are highly comptetive? Some students perform very well in comptetive exams, and universities accept only those good ones. Where should students like me (if there are any except me) should go?

I think the first sentence doesn’t even make any sense.

*competitive

Well, you don't have to go to a top university to do well in life.

Why are*

I think my mobile phone have some problems, autocorrect feature is auto-wrong

Weird

In fact, there is reason to believe that it is easier for most people to have a fulfilling life if they are not at the extreme end of the competitiveness spectrum.

Can't be too slack, but shouldn't be too competitive either.

Not healthy.

@OmarS I hope you're doing alright 🙏

My prayers also go the whole of Lebanon 🙏🙏

It feels like being outcasted

In my opinion, it is best to always try to improve yourself rather than trying to outdo others.

@user21820 facts

But society is so crude sometimes

Yea.

They don't give a damn what you achieved unless you satisfy them which is so absurdly weird

Makes $\ln(1)$ sense

Lol!

I tried hard, really did it with sincerity but consequences are still the same.

As long as you and your parents are happy with the result, @Knight I don't see any reason to satisfy others

@user21820 I would argue that you shouldn't go to a top university (as an undergraduate), unless you are fairly exceptional.

@XanderHenderson Even if you are exceptional, going to a not-quite-top university would help you better than going to a top university where you might end up struggling to float.

“Might end up ...” means?

do they end up in mutual competition in top notch universities?

@user21820 It depends. There are a very small number of people who are going to be the rock stars of academia (think Terence Tao in mathematics), and are likely to benefit from the connections and opportunities provided by top universities.

For the other 99.99% of us, these things don't much matter.

Really appreciate that

@Knight Definitely yes. People don't stop competing after they go to a top university. If you cannot be really the top of the top, it might be that you end up struggling.

My standard advice to a random undergraduate is: spend two years in a community college, then transfer to a state school. If you do well there and want to continue in academia, apply to your top choice PhD programs, and a bunch of masters programs.

@user21820 amen!

If you don't get into a top choice PhD program, get your masters, and reapply in two years.

Yes (I thought of starring every message but then @quid will come and frown upon me lol)

So ultimately, just choose the right college for you, don't care what anyone else thinks and go with it, right?

@sai-kartik Yes. Choose one where you think you will feel at home.

@sai-kartik That is how one should life their life, in my opinion.

Great! @Knight I hope you got sufficient advice now

Hey @quid!

Also @XanderHenderson how was your first day as a mod so far?

@Knight Also, not all folks fully bloom by 16, or 22 or even by 28. There's no age race to fulfilling one's potential.

Hello @sai-kartik, and see you! (I'm not really here.)

@XanderHenderson There are also places which are considered elite, but which may benefit certain people. For example, there are a number of folk at Ivy League institutions who are not particularly academically qualified, but they are planning on getting into the law or politics or business, and will benefit from the people they meet there.

@quid hmmm, I guess I'm not really here either!

So, to summarize: top universities are for the truly gifted, and sociopaths.

@XanderHenderson Hah! ;D

@sai-kartik I've spent most of the day packing (and trying to get my daughter to pack her stuff).

@XanderHenderson How old is she?

8

Wow! So, she can be, perhaps, in 2nd Grade?

@XanderHenderson Where are you going? Oh that's right, you're coming to the beautiful state of Wisconsin?

@XanderHenderson hmm.. what about your experience on this site? Now that you're a mod, I believe you'd have seen a newer perspective of MSE...

@amWhy someone's really proud of their state ;)

@sai-kartik You're darn right!! ;D Though come winter, I'm going to head down to Xander's place in CA!!

@amWhy when was I not ;)

Interesting!

But I have a ton of exams to give to get into an undergraduate program soon enough

@amWhy what I meant to convey in more detail is that I made a final tour before going of line and noted @Knights ping.

So I don't think I'll be moving anywhere now except for college

chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/55161650#55161650 Xander doesn't know I'm coming yet!!

I'm not strict regarding starring here.

Wow suddenly there seems to be a big crowd.

:P

@user21820 ikr!

@quid That's how dedicated you are. But I'm not here!

@quid can we have some stars on this message, please?

@sai-kartik I'm the only star you need ;D

@amWhy :o

And I'm the moon.

I'll see all the glory of your starring sprees when I come back.

Wait can I be the sun :p

Sure.

@amWhy Northern Arizona.

@quid starting now

Northland Pioneer College.

@XanderHenderson Wow. Like packing for good?

@amWhy Yeah, I'll be there for at least the next year.

I'm going to have another go at the job market in the fall.

@XanderHenderson Wow! Great? Where is Flagstaff wrt to the College? I have a good friend in Flagstaff.

I didn't have luck on the tenure track last fall, and the 'rona wiped out the post doc market.

@amWhy Flagstaff is about 90 minutes to the west.

Gallup is about 90 minutes to the east.

I like how you still call it the 'rona😂

But the Painted Desert is only 20 minutes away.

Sounds like what Shakespeare would say ... "Thou hast the 'rona"

This may be a little dark, but presuming that university funding recovers, the job market might be okay in two years---I know a number of faculty who are planning on taking early retirement (they don't want to teach online).

@XanderHenderson This has been a horrendous year for most of us!

@amWhy totally

@XanderHenderson No doubt!

@amWhy For whom has it been a good year so far?

Students were affected as bad as teachers

@amWhy Yeah, but lots of folk have jobs already.

This was not a great year to finish a phd. :\

@Safdar only those who got 100% in January mains😂

@XanderHenderson Indeed, not at all.

Were you one of them btw @Safdar?

@sai-kartik Even for them, no IIT for until next year..

I'm thinking of trying to convince my PhD advisor to come out to the middle-of-nowhere, Arizona to hood me at the community college commencement next year.

@sai-kartik haha.. 0.2 percentile behind..

@Safdar at least they can chill and not study, right?

@Safdar 99.8? ?! Wow!

@sai-kartik You think that would happen? All of them are focusing on Adv and not mains.

@XanderHenderson I think that's a great idea! No doubt, he will!

@Safdar not like they need to study much, they're pretty much set...

@XanderHenderson What are you doing a PHD on? Not like i'll understand but still,,

@sai-kartik Their mentality is crazy.. They don't stop studying..

@Safdar He's finished defending his thesis on riemann zeta fractal functions ig

@Safdar well...bad for them

@Safdar I finished my PhD. The thesis title is "Fractal Zeta Functions in Metric Measure Spaces".

@sai-kartik There is a relation to Riemann, but it is really a different thing entirely.

@XanderHenderson So what were you planning to do after this?

@XanderHenderson Hmm I remember reading that in your bio, so that's what came up to my mind :p

if not for the 'rona'

@Safdar The hope was to get a tenure track position at a small private liberal arts college, or at a masters granting institution (in the style of a Cal State).

The usual path for such a thing is PhD -> 3 year post doc -> tenure track.

If you're lucky.

@sai-kartik Just thought of it. Rona in hindi means to cry.. This year has made a lot of people cry.

@FakeMod Thank you.

@XanderHenderson Hey congrats..

@Safdar hmm true

I haven't come on MSE yet.. seems to be too advanced for what I know.

@XanderHenderson We shall all feel humbled, by the presence of your Eminence, dear Moderator! :P

@amWhy I mean, if you want. Personally, I wouldn't.

Also @XanderHenderson congratulations!!

(Again)

@XanderHenderson I jus' jokin' ;D

I very much dislike power dynamics based on one's job (e.g. I get tired of telling students not to call me Mr / Dr / Professor Henderson.

@amWhy I figured.

@XanderHenderson That's something I appreciate about you!

My father was very good at being "Dr Henderson". I don't know that I'll ever be entirely comfortable with the idea. :\

@XanderHenderson For some, it is a polite way to begin an acquaintance with someone though.

@Safdar Then you can address me as "Madam". No, on second thought, don't do that! ;D

@Safdar Sure, if you don't know a person, you start of "на вы", but that can be discarded pretty quickly.

On the other hand, I doubt that I will ever call my advisor anything other that "Dr Lapidus".

@XanderHenderson So are you technically a Dr. now? like is the PhD completed?

@FakeMod I believe that there used to be swag for hitting 100k XP, but that went away.

Namaste is always a respectful greeting!

@amWhy Namaste is pretty formal though.

@Safdar I'm not even just "technically" a doctor; the degree is posted. I am certified doctor of philosophy.

It says so on my diploma.

@Safdar I wasn't sure. But is it not proper upon first meeting?

@XanderHenderson How is the PhD philosophy? It is math right?

@Safdar The "Ph" in "PhD" stands for philosophy.

@Safdar PhD stands for "Doctor of Philosophy", no matter the discipline it is earned in. It dates back historically, and is a tradition in academia.

I have a PhD in mathematics.

@amWhy First meeting with elders or someone senior to you in stature maybe and that too in the northern parts on india.. Others can correct me if i am wrong.

@amWhy I always wondered what the Ph stood for.. Never thought about what it could be.. knew D stood for Doctor.

@Safdar Thanks. I did not know that.

@XanderHenderson Dr. Xander works?

@Safdar ...or just "Xander".

@FakeMod We don't have that where I live.. It is pretty chill on that front..

@Xander does this ping you?

@Safdar yup

Ugh... I'm pretty disappointed at the lack of a commencement ceremony this year. I don't generally go into that kind of pomp and circumstance, but I was really looking forward to walking in my great-grandfather's doctoral robes. :\

@FakeMod yup

@Fa for etiquette

@FakeMod Once I get a professorship, sure!

SO you need three letters to ping someone?

@Safdar I learned it in Yoga, to mean "The Divine spirit in me acknowledges the Divine spirit in you." (spoken while bowing). Perhaps this has been culturally misappropriated.

@amWhy That statement is incredibly formal..

You are linking to someone else spiritually. If I understood that right.

@Safdar Yes it is, but it is also a gift of acknowledging respect to those you address.

@FakeMod How did you know? My religion is kept under lock and key :D.

Anywho, I need to get more boxes packed. :\

Laters.

@XanderHenderson Bye.

@XanderHenderson Latering...

@XanderHenderson Latered.

@Safdar, @FakeMod, I did not intend to start cultural wars. What I was taught may bee all wrong. But I like the idea of having a way to greet any other human being with respect for their personhood.

@amWhy You've said nothing wrong. no such offence taken..

Thanks, @Safda, and @FakeMod!

@amWhy Also, I do not have that culture to begin with where I live. So..

@amWhy Where are you from?

@Safdar The U.S. In Wisconsin, though I studied in St. Louis Missouri for close to a decade.

@FakeMod So how is the situation there?

Before I go further is politically related stuff allowed.

No, I was asking in general.

@amWhy So what do you do know?

@Safdar What do I know about what?

@amWhy think you missed a "do"..

I know a lot of things about a lot of things, but I don't know a lot about a lot of things.

@amWhy How are you currently occupied with your time? [to paraphrase the Q].

@amWhy So you know something about everything?

@Safdar No, that would be too much for me to claim!

@Safdar I teach and I research, and I am an aunt and a sister, and a cat-owner!

@FakeMod Do bans last over chat rooms?

@FakeMod math-logic, and algebra.

@amWhy What is math-logic?

@Safdar Chat bans are temporary. Let's not engage in this. Even if a user is banned from chat, they can still visit a room and read comments and the chat's transcript.

@Safdar mathematical logic.

@FakeMod Maybe you're more familiar with "abstract algebra"? I focus largely on group theory.

@amWhy So the same group theory used in molecular modelling?

@Safdar Yes, it has wide applications!

Y'all were rather well behaved as regards the starring. I am almost disapointed.

@quid $\star \star \star \star \star \star\;\;$...

@amWhy I could've guessed who is the one that is not well-behaved. ;D

@quid :P ;D

@quid I didn't want to disappoint! ;D

@amWhy very well.

@XanderHenderson Flagstaff, the staff for the flags, viz. a moderator.

@quid Flagstaff is in Arizona. Where is Suspendstaff located?? And Warningstaff?

@XanderHenderson Indeed they should not dare to address you by name. O tempora, o mores. Or did you mean something else?

@amWhy Suspendstaff maybe Alaska.

@quid Or Siberia??

@amWhy that's from the third onwards.

@quid Hah! ;D

@quid I guess ultimately, it leads one to Mars!! Or Jupiter!! or Out of the Milky Way altogether!

Speaking of Siberia I receive an email in Russian...

@quid Do you know the language?

@amWhy no

Seems like spam at last semi-spam, maybe an invitation to publish in a journal.

@quid Did it refer to your work? Or was it generic-ish?

Seems generic

But often the personalized ones are worse.

@quid That's true. But in any case, be somewhat cautious.

Seems like a promotion of a publisher.

Maybe not dangerous but not really useful.

@amWhy I've been to Siberia!