Gelato

When did that start? I downloaded it a year ago, that computer crashed so I'm trying to download it again. I only want to use it on my own computer, I don't need to share or find more info or anything. I used it a lot last year, but actually this year I've been using Adobe Reader X a lot more... the 10th version highlights and comments, which is my main attraction to Mendeley vs the other free options. Plus, when using Mendeley I had the problem that it uses links to my files , so if I move the file, Mendeley can't find it without help. (but now I want to quickly get the titles from 27 pdfs, so I finally downloaded Mendeley again.) Any thoughts? (Sorry to start a new thread, it's a specific question that I hope has a quick specific answer and then this thread can die a quick death ! )

ok, sending you a PM with contact info. (anyone else?)

Okay everyone. It's vacation time and I still have sooo much to do~ pre-reading for next semester, finishing up a paper with an extension. (Two years ago at this time I was struggling to finish up SOP's). But what am I actually doing? YouTube, Bejeweled, News, etc. T_T Some people tell me that my best solution is to turn off the computer and do things offline. It's a good idea, but I resist this with every fiber in my computer addicted body. Mainly because most of my work is done on a computer, reading pdfs, writing papers, etc. So the only solution that works? Sometimes, working with other people. Or getting a babysitter so I don't do the above timewasters. Not even Leechblock or StayFocusd can work all the time. But even so sometimes people aren't looking over my shoulder... at least I'm not watching YouTube with sound, but maybe I'm reading the news instead of writing. The only thing that really works is getting my friends to have a window with my computer screen on it so they can voyeuristically know what I'm looking at, at all times. Unfortunately, they are not motivated to help me 100% of the time. Therefore: would anyone else be willing to partner up and babysit Each Other's Screens? I'll share my entire screen with you, and you can give me yours if you need a babysitter too. The only programs that I know can do this are the latest version of Skype, and Google Plus (Hangouts w/ Extras). My request is simply to keep me on task, I am too embarrassed to play games when other people are watching, or if I think other people are watching. "My" desktop can be minimized on the other computer, just the possibility that they might check on me is sufficient to keep me off those websites. And a gentle, (less) judgemental reminder to go back on task every so often would be enough. I feel pretty lame and immature that I don't have the self discipline to do this myself... but these papers are incredibly overdue, and I am pretty desperate. I'm kinda hoping that others are in the same boat and we could help each other. So add to this thread if you want to be in a pool to help each other out, so we can see each other. Then we can privately exchange skype addresses or google plus contact info. p.s. Anyone interested in doing this now-ish? (or after dinner).

Hope you all have joined the new facebook page for the new CIPA class! https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_232698243423200 For those of you in China who can't access Facebook, there is also a QQ group. I don't know the number off the top of my head though. If you can't find it in a search, let me know and I'll find out. Welcome! Looking forward to meeting you. -Debbie

So, along with Impostor Syndrome (which I was grateful to discover here and know that what I was feeling was normal) I also have been suffering from... well, debilitating procrastination and perfectionism. It was so bad that I actually turned in two final papers a week late, one on the day that grades were due. I scraped by, barely, but I was advised to have a chat with a counselor. Really? A counselor? But I'm not depressed or in danger of anything. I'm cheerful and positive. But obviously I had some issues since I spent the majority of the week when I was "writing my paper" websurfing or playing Bejeweled. So I went. surprise to me: Did you know Perfectionism is actually a psychological issue?????? If you have big issues with procrastination or perfectionism, do yourself a favor, look up perfectionism. I found myself written on those pages. Better yet, find out if talking to a counselor at school is reasonably priced, if so take advantage. It's been kind of shocking. I'm still in the middle of the process, but actually knowing that my procrastination is rooted in perfectionism and how I was brought up and everything is an eye opener. I'm hoping to resolve the source of my issues and not just tackle the symptoms of procrastination. Some perfectionism is ok, and good for high achievers, who know when to say when. I am bordering on neurotic perfectionism. As a friend is telling me, it's difficult because these habits worked for you in the past, but they're not working now (two papers turned in late). So you really have to question whether being a perfectionist is helping or hindering at this point. I just googled Perfectionism and Graduate School... can of worms... I'll have to go to bed now and read all of those tomorrow. Seriously, I think this is a big issue, especially for us.

Second all those that say Trust your Gut! disagree with all those that say you are over-reacting! Like you said in your follow-up, you've probably had similar-sounding (on paper) interactions with other guys but this one gives you the creeps. Best case scenario: Let's say he is being completely harmless and friendly. which means, if he really is that nice, then he would be appalled to hear that his behavior seems threatening to someone else, and would probably appreciate an opportunity to mend / become aware of his behavior! right? In which case, you would be doing him a favor by bringing this to his attention so he doesn't come across with bad vibes to people in the future. agree with all the people who say that, as a culture, women are socialized to ignore bad behavior. A guy would have no compunctions in getting back in someone's face, and not worry about being seen as "nice." The bad news is, women also penalize other women for unfeminine behavior. (Sorry, I am just reading "Women don't ask" by Babcock & Laschever, which I strongly recommend, it's very readable.) So, I would search on my campus for either a women's affairs office, or else the academic or general counseling office. They should be able to respect your wishes for confidentiality, or at least keep this file anonymous. And talk to them about a situation you are having with someone in your department. And how you might respond more assertively and get the personal space you need, perhaps without offending someone's friendly overtures. Here, randomly, are two links on Indiana University. (I have no idea where you are, but a quick look at Meet and Greet had IU floating on top with a bunch of posts, so I picked that one with the most posters.) Office of Women's Affairs http://www.indiana.e.../resources.html and Counseling and Psychological Services http://www.indiana.e...aps_whatis.html "challenges in interpersonal relationships... some of the concerns students often address through counseling." and pick up some ways and wordings you can use in your situation. alternatively, I googled a bunch of words like coworker uncomfortable bad vibes creepy, and there's quite a lot of stuff out there. (not all of it useful, some people out there will say it's friendly behavior and the ladies are over-reacting, or even yeah that's bad, you should ignore it or avoid those siutations... that's kind of scary in itself how tolerated the questionable behavior is.) Put it this way, guys, if this was you, and your intentions were innocent, would you want the woman to continue to feel creeped out by your friendly behavior? You'd be willing to adjust, right? So, instead of asking robot_hamster to ignore this, what would be a good way / script for her to bring this to your attention where she can be assertive and effective but not insult you? Good luck. Definitely do something. ps. Meanwhile, start jotting down when, where, what. At the very least, you will convince yourself that this is consistent uncomfortable behavior that needs to be addressed.

Hey all, Did anyone fork out money and just get Adobe Acrobat? I've just downloaded Mendeley for my PC and also my Linux netbook (haven't gotten around to installing that yet), and while the highlighting and sticky notes are great (and I'm still in my first week so I haven't gotten to use the citation stuff yet), there are still some things I can't do, ie, scribble a note, underline something, and highlight (or box) if it is a scanned pdf and not a words pdf. So I'm wondering if anyone uses Acrobat, and their thoughts on it. Or did you decide not to go with it because it was $$? Thanks!

Hey matcha, I spoke to a second-year in our department, he's actually the president of the department's student club. We have a Facebook page.... in fact, there are ~three~ groups on fb... this one is the one with the school logo. They are also using Google Wave for the dept. which has some good information on it as well. There's a link and email address on FB that you can email to ask for an invite. Anyway. Yes, our department is encouraged to wait until speaking to an adviser. Supposedly they say that CIPA classes won't fill up so there's no worries about that. However if you are concerned about classes outside the department filling up that you think you must take, perhaps you'd tentatively register for a couple of things, and just know that your schedule might change after speaking to your advisor. I did a frustrating amount of research in the last twenty four hours so if you want to drop me an email or skype me if you want to talk live, contact info in our last email exchange Unfortunately I'm out of the country so the phone number won't work. Then again, I'm in the same boat as you, so if you want to find someone who's a year ahead of us, the president was really good about responding to emails. -Debs

My two cents and experience: As an international policy prospective, I visited Tufts (Fletcher) and UCSD (IR/PS), and at both places current students gave me a school logo business card with contact info and offered to answer questions. I've had my own business card for years because I do freelance work, and it's useful to give out as contact information. (For comparison, I also visited Monterey, Cornell and Columbia and didn't get the same offer of business cards. Though I didn't meet students at Columbia.)

Purple: haha, I was totally going to ask you where in California you were and if I could send stuff with you!! As for mailing, I intend to mail all of my stuff good old U.S. Postal Service. According to their website it takes about 8 days to ship. You can send a box, which, between 30-50 lbs is about $1 a pound. (So a 50 lb box was $52 and a 30 lb box was about $32.) Also, I am sending one or two boxes by "Media Mail" which is only books, papers, and CDs. (No computer stuff.) And that is about $32 for a 50 lb box. I'm budgeting about $500 for 2 boxes of books and five 35-lb boxes of clothes and stuff. OH, and, this cost is for shipping from my zip code in the Bay Area to the house in Ithaca. I will probably add $200 worth of insurance for each "stuff" box for $2.75, which will also let me track the boxes. Anyone else have similar / different experience/advice? Cornell's Off Campus Housing Office has a lot of useful links. At the bottom of this page is a list of phone numbers if you click on the Important Numbers links, and it includes cable and electricity and stuff. http://dos.cornell.e...ents/moving.cfm Last but not least: Is anyone flying into Newark, New Jersey / NYC? I am spending a few days there with my cousin, and I have rented a car for driving to Ithaca. I'll be going early on Saturday August 21st. If you are flying into New Jersey (or NYC and willing to take the train to Newark (easy)), then perhaps you'd like to share a lift to school with me? It would be nice to have some company on the 4 hour drive! pps. re: the Grad Cafe meetup-- I imagine we will all be pretty busy the first few weeks, but I'd still like to make sure our meetup happens, so let's all remember to check back here the days leading up to it! Tentatively Sept 2nd or 3rd (second Thurs/Friday), pending anyone with greater experience and knowledge

Did you guys get an email to check enrollment date/times? So are we supposed to choose our classes and get in them now? I'm a bit overwhelmed by the choices, I thought we would have a sit down with our advisor to help guide us thru the process when we get there for registration on August 23rd? Can anyone shed light on this? By the way, in case you haven't seen, here is some generic info on Grad Orientation: http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/?p=41 Also, this is for the undergrads, but there are a few nuggets of info, which I presume we could crash? And if not, it will tell you where the undergrads and their parental units will be and what places to avoid. http://newstudentprograms.cornell.edu/orientation/PDFs/OrientationGuide2010.pdf Still confuzed! Sigh.

*grumble*vent* Sometimes the departments are toooo autonomous. I sent in a transcript, just to be nice. It's from the community college where I was taking refresher courses for my pre-reqs. I got my bachelor's several years ago and ~that~ transcript was sent in before my application. According to my notes it was sent directly to my department I'm applying to. Well. The grad school office (the general one, not my specific dept) just wrote to say they received my transcript but it doesn't have a bachelor degree. I wrote back and was like, well, duh, you already have that transcript. He writes back and says, can you please have your undergraduate school send that transcript please. Are you serious? How did I get into this program without an undergraduate degree clearly stated? Obviously the community college wasn't going to be giving me one. You can't find my application with the transcript?? You can't Walk Upstairs to my department In the Same Building on the floor above yours and ask for it? Or better yet just call and have them confirm it's all good?? Sorry. I know I'm ranting unreasonably. It seems to me that there needs to be a helluva lot more communication and streamlining in this university... this isn't the first time something like this has happened to confuse and irritate me, that's why it set me off. It just seems completely ridiculous to request something a second time. It smacks of disorganization and unprofessionalism. (I'm also ranting because I'm about to go on a trip overseas until basically registration so I won't have time to fulfill her request. But transcripts are due Aug 25th so I'm totally going to leave this until I get to campus. Or ask my dept to fix it when they come back from vacation next week.) grrrrrrrrrrrrrr thanks for listening to me.

re: Meetup Let's see. I'm reluctant to do a weekday lunch because some people might have or be preparing for classes. And yeah, weekends might be a lot of trips good point. How does this sound? I haven't been so someone may have to tweak this. We did this for a CouchSurfing meetup, a few people who are committed to getting there early, arrive someplace (ie BRB) with a small sign to put on a table that says "GradCafe.com", so that we can find each other. Then all that's left is to pick a time. I'm checking out the calendar for BRB, http://exchange.corn...=gradbigredbarn Do we want to avoid the TGIF with loads and loads of people? In which case maybe we could meet on a Thursday afternoon Like Sept 2nd, say 4-6pm? Does BRB have dinner or snacks? We could be there during International Coffee Hour. (Wait, does that mean they serve Int'l Coffees or is that for Int'l students??) Or evening, after dinner, 7 or 8-10pm. Or do we want to be there with a nice large crowd so that we can come and go? If that's the case then we can come during TGIF like during Sept 3rd, 4:30-7pm, and stake out a table early? Input from current or former Cornellians, pls! . . In other thoughts, how are y'all getting your stuff to Cornell? I just got an email from Ship2School advertising a shipping thing... but it's like $400! Um, no thanks... I'm sending my stuff USPS through Media Mail $21. Even regular / non media mail is like $52 for 50 lbs. Time to start packing and shipping!! EEK. -Debbie

Got a couple of thoughts to add.... let me organize it in my head and share. Biggest one first: We should do a real life GradCafe meet and greet! What do you guys think? I have no idea when or where or how, but it would be awesome to put a face to our online handles. Maybe a brunch on the second Sunday after class begins? Or else a BRB meet? But how would we find each other? Anyway throwing the idea out there if someone (red crayons!) more familiar with Cornell and Ithaca wants to suggest some stuff Hey DJLamar, 1- I think the bursar bill is due in August along with everything else. 2- The gyms are spread out... you can look up the maps. And they also list which gyms have which fitness classes. I decided to wait until I got on campus to pay for this... I'm feeling a bit poor this month after paying two months' tuition. What do you usually do at the gym? I usually attend classes (it's a regular structured time so I'm more likely to go) or do the elliptical machine. Maybe we should be gym buddies to keep each other going haha. Any other joiners? Oh, thanks for the clarification! Well I'd probably treat it like a credit card, which in my world gets paid off every billing period (in theory) because the parents always made me pay it each month to avoid the interest. Dude, I know!! And totally agree. It's very sketch. Having said that, I find this to be the case for a lot of Cornell things, there is a ton of information out there, but you can't find a lot of it, mainly because it is so spread out. And even after perusing all the info that I think is out there... I am still missing what I consider fundamental answers, like to the questions that I've been posting here. Good luck all! See you in about a month! *excited* ~Debbie

Hey, little tip for y'all. I was starting to write a question, but the bursar picked up the phone while I was typing so I have the answer to my question. I thought I'd just give it to you guys since you may be just as confused as me So I tried to sign up for Net.Pay and Cornell Installment Program, but could not for the life of me figure out what my 7 digit student ID was. So sign in with your Net ID to the Student Center studentcenter.cornell.edu (which is the same place you update your emergency contacts) and then check under Demographics. There, you should get your student ID number. Good luck!!! Debs