FAQs
#1. How can I be a physicist too?
That’s simple. Come and talk to one of the friendly members of the Physics department and we will be glad to help you fulfill your life dreams.
#2. Is it normal to be a closet Physicist?
This is perfectly normal. During the course of studying physics, people develop an uncontrollable urge to perform physics experiments late at night while their friends are watching Jerry Springer or sleeping somewhere. Most people try to keep it a secret because they do not want to share the pure joy and pleasure associated with discovering something new. Note that this is also the source of the ‘mad scientist laugh.’
#3. How safe are the files on the University
computers?
They are as safe as we can make them. However, there is always the possibility of a virus being on a computer. The safest thing is not to download your school files onto your home computer. Keep the files, disks, and zips separate. Also, do not open strange attachments in email messages.
#4. How can I view some of the strange files
that people send me over the internet?
Here are a couple of the more common ones.
GhostView:
The freely available PostScript interpreter is GhostScript. Coupled with the viewer GhostView, it allows one to view PostScript on Unix/X-windows, PC/Windows, and Macintosh.
The home page for Ghostscript and Ghostview is at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost. The ftp site is ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/. Ghostscript is also a good way to bitmap PostScript, which is occasionally useful for authors with very large Postscript figures. I like this viewer; it allows you to view .ps, .eps, .pdf and other file types. I find this handy to have on the computer.
Adobe Acrobat Reader:
Fully functional PDF readers are freely available from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html or starting at http://www.adobe.com/. Many platforms are supported, including many Unix variants, PC's running Windows, and Macintosh.
AUDIO and MOVIES:
For audio and visual files: real player basic (http://www.real.com), Shockwave (http://www.shockwave.com), Quicktime (http://www.apple.com), and Microsoft Multimedia Player (http://www.microsoft.com).
FILE TYPES:
Here are the conventions you should use for your files:
Last updated: September 20, 2000.
Direct any comments/suggestions to K. Vos