Blog Archives: September, 2004
MSc (Oxon.)
Lego person wearing Oxford sub-fusc I received word today that I have passed all of the examination requirements for my master’s at Oxford and thus have completed my degree. So I will receive an MSc in Mathematics and Computer Science, and will be able to refer to myself as the “wonderful Douglas Stebila, BMath, MSc (Oxon.)”. The “wonderful” part doesn’t come with the Oxford degree, it’s just a fact. And the “(Oxon.)” after the “MSc” is just for Oxford degrees: Oxon. stands for (Academia) Oxoniensis; Oxoniensis is the Latin word for Oxford (or perhaps Oxfordshire, I’m not sure which). I won’t actually be able to use the designation until I receive my degree, which won’t be until I go to a graduation ceremony some time next year, but it’s the thought that counts.
And with my MSc in hand, I will now be able to formally enroll in my PhD program here at Waterloo, so perhaps I should mention briefly what that’s all about. I’m doing my PhD in the Combinatorics and Optimization department, under the supervision of Prof. Michele Mosca; I’m also a member of the recently-formed Institute for Quantum Computing. My PhD is supposed to take between 3 and 4 years. I need to complete some course requirements (8 courses), a written and oral comprehensive exam, and my thesis, the subject of which will be quantum cryptography. This term I’m taking 3 courses: Algebraic Enumeration with the venerable David Jackson, Mathematics of Public Key Cryptography, and Advanced Quantum Mechanics. In the future I’ll try to write a little about quantum computing and cryptography so you have an idea of what I actually do, other than read comics all day.
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Fun at the Weather Network
This morning I did some exploring on the website of the Weather Network and found some fun and exciting things. Sure, they’ve got the simple weather forecast for Waterloo.
My real reason for going there, however, was to check out the allergy report; my south-western Ontario allergies are back in action: it’s great to be back! (And for the record, it seems that I’m allergic to ragweed, currently showing up at “moderate” levels in SW Ontario).
While I was on the site, I discovered the fall colour forecast, reporting on the changing of leaves across the country. That’s pretty cool; fall is my favourite season in Waterloo. I decided to check out the forecast for Cape Breton, where I’m going for Heather Murray’s wedding in a few weeks:
Large rolling hillsides meet the shining waters of the Bras d’Or Lakes and provide a spectacular view. Maple and birch hardwoods intermingle with dark green spruce. Summer green is clinging stubbornly to the hillsides, but when frosty nights and warm autumn days combine, the result will be a breath-taking panorama of blazing autumn colours sandwiched between the azure blue of lake and sky. Stay tuned.
Which basically says “Leaves still green.” Now take a look at the Toronto forecast:
No significant colour change as yet.
Makes Toronto sound idyllic, doesn’t it?
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Climbing again
We were there Since I was in Europe for the past year, I wasn’t really able to conquer any worthwhile towers. I mean, sure, I climbed the Eiffel Tower and went up to the tops of a bunch of cathedrals, but those are piddly “old world” climbs. So it’s time to conquer the tower again. On October 21st, I’ll be joining Laura to climb the CN Tower again in the 2004 CN Tower Stair Climb for the United Way. If anyone is interested in sponsoring me, just let me know and I will send you an email with the link to sponsor me online.
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Back in Waterloo
Hi everybody! (“Hi Douglas!”) Guess where I am? (“Where are you, Douglas?”) I’m back in Waterloo. Enough talking to myself. My folks and I got back to Windsor on Thursday night, had two short days of packing and then a move to Waterloo. My arrival back in Canada was a bit upsetting. I flew into the new Terminal 1 in Toronto; some of you may recall my tradition of visiting Tim Horton’s when I arrive in Toronto. But the new and allegedly improved Terminal 1 has a Starbucks instead of a Tim Hortons. Definitely not an improvement. I mean, why not just go back to the stone ages and make things airborne by running a whole bunch of buffalo off a cliff instead of using jet engines?
I’m settling in here, but things still feel hectic. I’ve had to deal with lots of administrative stuff the past few days, some of it complicated by the fact that I won’t actually be registered until October because my Oxford paperwork won’t be ready until then. And I had a close call at the WatCard office – they wanted to charge me $20 to get my graduate WatCard because I didn’t have my old undergraduate WatCard from two degrees and 16 months ago. But it worked out in the end. And in 3 days back I’ve only been drafted onto 1 committee so far. Once things calm down here I’ll try to get some pictures up from my trips with Glenn and my folks.
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Waiting in Heathrow
Good afternoon from England. Pretty soon my blog will be switching back to Eastern time and my email won’t be bouncing around computers in dusty basements of 16th-century Tudor halls. I’m in the Air Canada lounge in Heathrow awaiting my flight back to Canada, albeit through the breakaway republic of Quebec (London to Montreal to Toronto to Windsor… grrr…). “Yeah” for free Internet access (although “boo” for no wireless). If all goes according to plan, I’ll be in Windsor on Friday and Saturday and then move up to Waterloo on Sunday to start school on Monday. And by Tuesday I will never want to pack or unpack again. Never again.
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Viva done
Yesterday I had my viva for my dissertation and I didn’t break down in tears during the questions, so it wasn’t a complete failure; I won’t get the result until later this month. My folks and I are in London right now and will be flying back on Thursday. Bye for now!
