Getting brownie points with boss, 1991: Being the only person wearing tie & suit In 2021: Being the only person to join manager by turning on camera in dept. Zoom call.

Physics Photo Of the Day: This is an actual picture of a molecule taken by IBM, created by using a technique called Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM).

New insights on fingernail sizes from IBM (h/t Dick James 𝐷𝑟. 𝐼𝑎𝑛 𝐶𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 )

The positive side of “impostor syndrome” has you cackling like a supervillain when given a prestigious opportunity to speak.

Anyone else, in preparing a talk, spend weeks perfecting the diagrams explaining the concept on first few pages, and like, zero time actually rehearsing it?

TFW reading a PDF of a technical paper, gaining respect for it in one minute of reading, and instinctively moving cursor to find the “upvote” button.

“Big Bang Theory” showed that nerds can be hot and high emotional intelligence, or have very low emotional intelligence. I’ll take this over all the cop shows who portray the lab geeks as barely able to function and not people you’d allow in your house for dinner.

I’ve got a SEM with an automated stage that can go further than that!

Courtesies that are in fact not courtesies: 1) Holding open the door for an infirm or elderly person who’s still on the sidewalk. In winter. 2) Every single person in a Teams call typing a chat to thank the meeting organizer.

Interviewer: prove you have metallography skills Me: unable to register thumbprint with iPhone Touch ID. Interviewer: hired!

A technical society scrubbing the web of all references to prior call for papers isn’t a good thing. Some may be planning experiments for a conference exactly 13 months away.

Teams messages to the entire large group are the modern equivalent of ReplyAll fiascos

In the next season of Big Bang Theory, would have loved to see a scene where Penny spending a month reading product literature is able to pwn her male friends on a topic actually related to her own field.

Often we have a quick two week lab session to try to prepare results for papers. Sometimes wondered about the artificial rush of this. Then I was reminded of how the Beatles produced albums in the Get Back film.

There is no use of a speaker phone when by yourself, in an office environment, that is not grossly unprofessional.

“Why didn’t you place the Figure after the paragraph which mentioned it?” is the “Why don’t you get a job?” of scientific publishing.

#MM2022Portland Be sure to stop by to see our two “late posters” at M&M! On AFM and EBIC, hopefully some day soon to be in the event Scribe app!

TFW you’re interrupted from making last edits to an overdue sort by a recruiter’s cold call email, and are tempted to respond harshly, until you realize the exact topic of the job is the same as the one you’re attempting to write about.

EBIC

When somebody points out their PhD credential, respect it for what it is—demonstrated expertise in a narrow topic within a particular field. It is not, however, I license to claim expertise in everything, even within the same field. A PhD is a 33 mm wrench, not a multi-tool. 1/2