Thursday, May 22, 2008

Internet at a snail's pace

Once again I find myself in the position of trying to apply for
something over an agonizingly slow and intermittent internet
connection. I did about 95% of my grad school applications and
correspondence over dial-up in RFC, and it's not something I would
advise for anyone.

Today I went to three internet cafes to try to get online with my
laptop. The first one was completely empty except for the
receptionist, which I should have immediately realized was a bad
sign. I was told their network is down and won't be working again for
about a month. Bummer, as that's the most convenient place. She told
me to try the post office.

The second place said I couldn't connect my laptop, so I should try
across the street. I went across the street to the third place and
asked if I could connect my laptop. They said no, because it would
compromise their protection against viruses to have other people
connecting their computers. I tried to say that I have a Mac and it
doesn't get viruses, but I don't think he understood. He didn't know
any other places where they would let me connect my laptop, so I
decided to just check my email on one of theirs. Wow, it took a long
time. The screen was also displaying type about 50 characters behind
what I was typing, so I just typed without worry about typos since I
couldn't see them to correct them until two sentences later. Overall
a very frustrating experience. I'm going to stick with my habit of
visiting the internet cafe at the upmarket touristy complex where my
language classes are held. It's more expensive, but not much so and
the speed and ability to connect my own computer make it well
worthwhile.

I've decided to apply to a multidisciplinary program at my university
because they have some openings that can be filled by continuing
students. I've been corresponding with Herb and another professor to
figure out if I should apply. I'm not entirely sure how it will fit
with my plans, but I'm going to try to figure that out and apply this
week. I've been talking about it with Helen, whose intended project
is quite multidisciplinary. I should get to work on that now...

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