While I think Michiel did a great job creating a flyer for a PhD public defense announcement/invitation in Microsoft Word, I think the world can use a Pages’08 template as well. So, based on Michiel’s work, I present the flyer template.
This is the first template I ever built in Pages, and I am much indebted to these nice guidlines on macworld.com. Of course, the template probably needs some polishing, so updated versions might become available in the near future.
I have submitted my PhD dissertation — titled ‘Three pitfalls in Java performance evaluation’ — to the Faculty of Engineering who convened on February 20th, 2008 and decided I was to be allowed to the first (internal) defense. I have sent my dissertation to my jury members, who are (alphabetically ordered):
Basically, the internal defense amounts to a two-hour session in which I have to answer a barrage of questions from my jury. If I pass this test, I will be allowed to the public and second defense. April 11 is D-day for now.
I love to ski, in fact, I have been on a skiing trip since I was 6 up to when I turned 19. Since then I only had the occasion to go skiing once. So the last time I let the adrenaline kick in when rushing downslope for a km descent into a valley was — if I remember correctly — six years ago, when I went to Les Gets with a group of friends. With two kids, and a lot of money that needs saving, trips like that are not easy. But, with a little bit of charming my parents-in-law, who agreed to babysit Nathan, and Elias being old enough to be enrolled in the school (for kids over 3 years old), we finally decided to rob our bank account and go play the dangerous game of not breaking bones. We rented an appartment in Zell am See, which was quite spacey, with two large bedrooms and a nice living room. Plenty of storage room for a buggaboo, suitcases and backpacks.
We were quite succesful in the no-falling department, Veerle fell twice, I think, I did not fall (well, I almost fell a few times, but these don’t count). We also managed to avoid bumping into other people — at times the slopes were quite crowded. After noticing a lot of people, who were arguably going slower than we were, wearing a helmet, I almost bought one myself, but finally decided against it, due to monetary reasons. €100 for a good helmet and after a single crash you can buy a new one. I do plan on getting one for next year though, should we go back.
For most of the time, the sun was shining. We had snow on Wednesday and Thurday, which was really good. A nice layer of fresh cristals really feel awesome, and makes it easier to ski on as well. Here’s Veerle riding up the mountain on the Areitbahn II.
And here’s a view on the main slopes going down to Zell am See and the little village higher up in the valley — Schmitten.
The above picture was taken on the slopes leading down to the Sonnenalm station, red with a lot of really nifty bumps. To get there from the summit, you need to ski along a little road providing a really cool view of the vallet below:
Here’s a little video of yours truly going down a slope with a 40 – 50 degree angle. It was a red slope which I did not know before (having been to Zell am See 4 or 5 times in the past). It was not too difficult, not at that moment anyway. The video was taken on the last day we were skiing there, so the risk of falling down was a bit larger than usual. After the video ends, I nearly fell over, getting my ski stuck in a patch of snow while turning to look upward.
I really hope we can assemble enough funds to take a new trip next year. Especially since Elias has been enjoying his ski lessons a lot.
