The Perils of NSF FastLane

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The Perils of NSF FastLane

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Feb. 4th, 2005 at 11:26 PM

Well, the proposal is done, but guess what?

Fingolfin's net services and NSF FastLane both went down just 6-10 minutes before I went in to upload the final revision and push the button. Well, I've been using HoTMaiL for 2 weeks, as most of you know, due to the instability in the CIS mail system, but FastLane I couldn't do anything about. In fact, it's still down right now. Our assistant vice provost of research sent an e-mail to NSF while

istari_ala and I went down to my lab to reboot Fingolfin. They should extend the due date, but I'm keeping a timestamped (pre-17:00 CST) copy of the version I was going to submit.

Oh, and a pre-proposal I was a senior person on was held up in the crash, too. These were the two being submitted this aftenroon. Is it a good sign when you're on all the (held-up) proposals?

--
Banazir

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Music:Eric Clapton - Layla (Live)

( 10 comments — Leave a comment )

kaisilverfire

Feb. 5th, 2005 06:31 pm (UTC)

Aiee! Not good. Sounds like you're handling it well (and the documented timestamped copy definitely won't hurt just in case)

*crosses her paws that everything will be okay*

-Kai.

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banazir

Feb. 5th, 2005 08:21 pm (UTC)

Computer problems

Oh, I handle all computer problems well.

Even the time I hotplugged a SoundBlaster and shorted out my hard/floppy drive controller - sparks and flames in the chassis and all! ($25 to replace the controller instead of a goodly $300 it would have cost to replace the motherboard, and the sound card wasn't even damaged. I was just lucky.)

--
Banazir

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kaisilverfire

Feb. 5th, 2005 08:45 pm (UTC)

Re: Computer problems

I think only time I freaked out with a computer problem was when my last one bit the dust. The power supply was being wonky, so I was giving it the typical "Well, I'll just try to flip it on one more time before I throw my hands up, admit defeat, and take it to CNS. Well... when I flipped it, I heard a pop and then smoke started billowing out the back. Just sort of watched it for a second, then realized it wasn't just dust... electrical fire. Emptied probably half of my fire extinguisher into the back of it. When all the smoke and extinguisher dust cleared out, I cracked open the case, praying that my hard drives were still intact. Opened the smaller one that was further away from the power supply... the disk was melted. And so my meltdown began.

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banazir

Feb. 5th, 2005 10:56 pm (UTC)

Smoke on the water

Oi! OK, you win. That's a worse fire than mine, and no mistake. :-P

--
Banazir

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sze

Feb. 5th, 2005 08:02 pm (UTC)

hotmail?! you should use gmail. i have about 50(!) invites if you want one...! just gimme an email and i'll send an invite :)

sorry bout your proposal submit snag... durn server gremlins.

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banazir

Feb. 5th, 2005 08:34 pm (UTC)

I've got GMail!

Hehe... thanks very much for the generous offer, but I have:

My regular GMail (banazir)

My alternate, secret GMail that I keep forgetting (rizanab)

My sooper-secret GMail

My kuduk GMails, Labingi, Galbasi, Brandagamba, and Razanur (Tuc being too short for the service to allow)

Three invitations on banazir that I just donated here

A bunch more on the others that I will give here (at GMail4Troops)

I have GMail coming out of my ears!

The thing is - HoTMaiL users have 250Mb now, and there's grandfathered-in httpd access. GMail only got POP3 just a couple of weeks ago. I really prefer IMAP, but I'll make do with HTTPD and POP in a pinch. I'm just paranoid about using POP because I almost always forget to check the "leave a copy of messages on server" box that is off by default Outlook or Outlook Express, and it causes me to permanently download messages to one system. I think they can be moved back (by dragging to an IMAP folder), but MSOE does something that munges the headers (received dates) and whatnot. So, I'm waiting until GMail has IMAP before I commit.

Eh, what can I say? Computers hate me, and sometimes it's mutual. :-P

--
Banazir

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atomistictheist

Feb. 6th, 2005 05:23 pm (UTC)

I was trying to remember the name of that service. I remember fastlane was a pain in the arse. I tried to get an NSF fellowship several years ago. Good Luck!

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banazir

Feb. 12th, 2005 09:30 pm (UTC)

NSF Graduate Fellowship?

How'd you do? I got honorable mention twice, and NSF never could come up with a halfway decent (or consistent) ranking or scoring system.

I actually have no problem with gender and racial equity programs, sanctioned under Affirmative Action or not; I just want them to state their policies up front. If I'm required to jump a bar, it's only fair to let me know how high it's going to be set.

I should mention, though, that getting passed over for an NSF Grad Fellowship made me more determined to:

a) get funded as an RA and earn my Ph.D. - check
b) work for NCSA, which doled out the consolation prize of 50 supercomputing service units (about 50-100 CPU hours, which was chump change) - check (I was there for a year as a research scientist)
c) help lots of my proteges get them - check (so far I have had one success)

So, as I illustrated recently in

grantwriting: if at first you don't succeed...

--
Banazir

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atomistictheist

Feb. 12th, 2005 09:36 pm (UTC)

Re: NSF Graduate Fellowship?

I heard that on average that most people who get an NSF grant fail 5 times.

I didn't even get an honorable mention. I believe that what I was doing was too humanistic and not scientific enough and that I didn't have good enough GRE scores, honors, etc. Basically, I'm just not NSF material I'm afraid. That's fantastic that you got honorable mentions! That'll look good on a vita or a resume.

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