Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>> You think you're failing at what you're doing now anyway, yes? So fail 
>> at something bigger.
> 
> LOL. Riiiight...

I'm serious. You're way too worried about this stuff.

Don't spend much money. Just get funding and go. You have no obligations 
right now. It's the best time in your life to start something questionable 
like this.

>> Plus, you'll meet girls. :-)
> 
> Oh. My. GOD! >_<
> 
> You cannot *possibly* expect me to take anything else you say seriously 
> now, can you? :-P

Know what? My wife has a PhD too. Know where I met her?

> Heh. Actually, a few weeks back I did look at MSRC. But I couldn't 
> figure out what they were talking about. I surmised this probably means 
> I'm too stupid to be there. :-}

No. It means you haven't done any sort of PhD work.

It's like saying "I don't want to go to school to study mathematics, because 
every time I read a math paper I don't already understand it."

> Much as it would be fun to meet the legendary Simon PJ, I rather doubt 
> they have any PhD openings to do with Haskell right about now. Sure, 
> lots of people are working hard on GHC, but most of it is not "new" in 
> any way, it's just getting around to applying techniques known from 
> other compilers. It takes a while to alter a codebase that huge.

You never know. That was just one example, since you seemed to like Haskell.

>> All but one job I had since I got my PhD was through knowing people I 
>> met while I got my PhD. I had a couple of job offers guaranteed by the 
>> time I finished, because I was doing just what they wanted and they 
>> knew I could do it.
> 
> That's pretty impressive, right there.

But that's how it works. By the time I started actually writing the thesis, 
I'd already published papers in three or four journals, been to two 
countries on the school's money presenting the papers, and peer-reviewed 
other papers about vaguely similar topics. You meet people at these things, 
and they're expensive, so you get the school to pay for it.

> Other than my lecturers, I didn't meet *anybody* during my degree.

Wrong degree! That's why it's "A Doctorate of Philosophy, oh by the way it 
had to do with computers."

> Hmm, time to track down all those Haskell papers which I carefully 
> linked from our Haskell group for safe keeping. 8^D

Exactly.

>> 4) Profit!
> 
> Anybody know the origins of this curios meme?

Late-night three-easy-steps guides to getting wealthy?

I'm sure South Park was mocking reality in that bit.

> Taking a PhD for no apparent reason is slightly crazy, but I'm gradually 
> coming around to the idea. Leaving the UK is an absurd idea. :-P

It's not "no apparently reason."  Think of it like taking a job doing 
something fun, for not quite as much money as you might like, but probably 
still more than you're making now. :-)

Why is leaving the UK for a few years absurd?  Not that I'm necessarily 
recommending the USA, mind. We've kind of got our heads up our asses here 
the last few years.  But I'd guess most anywhere in the EU would have decent 
schools.

As far as doing a full-time job while getting your PhD, consider doing that 
if the company you're working for will pay for the PhD.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Ouch ouch ouch!"
   "What's wrong? Noodles too hot?"
   "No, I have Chopstick Tunnel Syndrome."

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