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This is a picture taken at my favorite location in the Berkeley area, Highly recommend that you check it out if you get a change, its called

Marina Park Pathway, its in Powell St. Emeryville

AI DEBATES

Selected Articles from Professor DR. MATT MIGHT

"Feeling gloomy about your latest reviews? Re-read them in light of the 9 classes below.

Lick your wounds. And, then try again. (And again.) "

THE 9 TYPES OF REVIEWERS OF YOUR PAPER, WHO are you ?!

"For young scientists, peer review can be a frustrating process. (Actually, it's frustrating for older ones too.) While peer review tends to work well in the long run, its quirks and oddities can bewilder in the short run.

Sometimes, it's so absurd that all you can do is laugh (and try again)."

The Soldier

Not an expert in your area, but not ill-equipped to understand it, the Soldier will plod through to produce an honest and (mostly) correct review.

But, not being an expert in your area, they won't have much passion; they won't argue strongly for acceptance or rejection.

They'll fall in line with the experts.

Most reviewers are soldiers.

The Demoman

Right from the title, the Demoman knew your paper had to be rejected.

If the review must exceed the length of your manuscript to accomplish this, so be it. Your paper is simply too dangerous to publish.

It must, and will, be stopped.

More a treatise on your incompetence than a traditional peer review, this tome leaves no nit unpicked.

Papers that receive the Demoman's gentle touch must be identified through dental records.

The Sniper

The Sniper reads only until the first (perceived) mistake.

Headshot. Reject. Next.

The Medic

The Medic wanted to save your paper.

But, they ended up killing the patient.

Rife with suggestions for improvement, the Medic's review somberly concludes that "even though I enjoyed the paper, it would be premature to publish these results at this time."

The RED Heavy Weapons Guy

The Heavy Weapons Specialist is the expert in your area, hates your paper

He either eviscerate your paper.

When he unleash's he reviews, it will be intense, focused and unstoppable.

The BLUE Heavy Weapons Guy

The Heavy Weapons Specialist is the expert in your area, likes your paper

He will champion your paper.

When he unleash's he reviews, it will be intense, focused and unstoppable.

The Engineer

Engineers love experimentation.

In fact, the Engineer never met a paper that couldn't do with more.

"It's a promising idea, but your experiments are inadequate."

The Scout

The Scout delivers a flawless summary of your abstract.

The Pyro

Reviews from Pyros need to be held in oven mitts.

Your topic is out of scope.

Your writing is terrible.

Your problem is not worth solving.

Your idea sucks.

Your solution doesn't work.

Your theory is broken.

Your experiments are hopelessly flawed.

Plus, you're duplicating the classic result from [Smith and Jones, 1955].

The Spy

The Spy is working on exactly the same problem.

Remarkably, they had the same idea for a solution.

Fear not--your idea will appear in print!

Just not with your name on it.

Classroom Fortress: The Nine Kinds of Students -- Dr. MATT MIGHT

The Soldier

Quiet, obedient and consistent, the Soldier charges into every assignment and stops only once enough damage is done to get the desired grade.

Soldiers don't show off.

Soldiers don't ask questions.

Soldiers don't complain.

Soldiers just get the job done.

Trademark question: "What will we be graded on?"

The Heavy Weapons Guy

The Heavy Weapons Guy isn't the swiftest.

To compensate, he unleashes a near-aimless fusilade of effort in class, at home, in office hours, on the newsgroup, over email and with the TA.

The trademark behavior of these students is doing everything the hard way.

The Heavy Weapons Guy usually grinds his way to a solid C.

The Demoman

Nothing can satiate the Demoman's thirst for knowledge.

The Demoman is the student that aces all the assignments, nukes all the tests and earns all the bonus points.

The trademark maneuver of the Demoman is blasting the curve into orbit, leaving behind only the charred remains of his classmate's grades.

The Sniper

Snipers excel at acing tests, but are almost nonfunctional for any other task.

Since they lie virtually motionless for most of the semester, they tend to surprise the crap out of the instructor when grading exams.

[In my courses, your grade is either your project grade or your final exam grade, whichever is higher. Every year, a Sniper with a solid F on the project makes a headshot on the final to emerge with an A.]

The Medic

The Medic answers questions for classmates in the classroom, on the forum and in person.

Medics usually get their grades bumped up by half or even a whole grade.

When a Medic attaches himself to a Heavy Weapons Guy, the instructor is often so grateful that the Medic earns an A.

The Engineer

Engineers create infrastructure that makes labs and assignments easier.

Having a couple Engineers in a class improves everyone's grades.

In computer science, the Engineer corrects bugs in assignment specifications, provides test cases, builds testing frameworks, and gives away helper scripts.

Like the Medic, the exceptional Engineer often bumps his grade by a half or whole letter grade.

The Scout

Not really prepared for (or interested in) a difficult course, the scout sits in on the first week of several classes, and drops anything that looks it might require more than showing up and staying awake.

Scouts that fail to identify and drop a difficult course end up charging ahead to map out the territory at the bottom end of the curve for everyone else.

Trademark question: "Do you expect students to work hard in this class?"

The Pyro

The Pyro loves to flame the instructor, the class, the assignments, the tests, the textbook, his partner and pretty much anything that isn't himself.

Pyros can and will complain about everything.

Pyros will challenge every point lost on an exam or assignment.

The only redeeming quality of the Pyro is that their unyielding sense of injustice drives them to turn in any Spies they uncover.

Trademark statement: "It's not fair to grade me on that."

The Spy

The Spy, of course, attempts to cheat their way through.

The redeeming weakness of the Spy is that students too stupid to pass the class are usually too stupid to cheat without getting caught.

Trademark statement: "Oh, I didn't know that was considered cheating."

PTC - THe 3 qualities of successful Ph.D. students: Perseverance, tenacity and cogency

Which is your Favorite ?

Every fall, we all get a fresh crop of Ph.D. students arrives. We get the same question a dozen times every year: "How long does it take to get a Ph.D.?"

This isn't the right question. "Ph.D. school takes as long as you want it to," Prof. Matt Might tells them. There's no speed limit on how fast you can jump through all the hoops. A better question to ask is,

"What makes a Ph.D. student successful?" Having watched Ph.D. students succeed and fail at four universities, Prof Matt Might infers that success in graduate school hinges on three qualities: perseverance, tenacity and cogency.

If you're in Ph.D. school or you're thinking about it, read on. (Coming Soon

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