Elyot

I've heard that the correct way to answer these questions on AMAs is something like "Your mom."

So I guess that would be it. Your mom.

They all suck.

Honestly, I've never really found a language that I liked all that much, I think just about every language I've used over a long period has some irritating feature that I think really hurts productivity.

Lately I think python is among the better languages I've used recently. I personally chose it for the Prismata server, even though I'd never used it before, because we could get things up and running ridiculously fast using twisted (which is a great framework BTW).

The hardest decision ever.

I loved my research, but I hated all the other crap... the teaching, writing, travelling to present, giving talks, making slides, reading papers, refereeing, etc.. Really what I learned doing a PhD was that the only part that I actually enjoyed was solving hard math problems. Everything else felt like needless busywork.

I pretty much knew that I didn't want an academic career, so it was mostly a question of "is quitting now going to damage my future"? I basically decided that the experiences I'd get running my own company would probably be just as valuable, if not more valuable, than the PhD. So I'm happy with the decision.

LOL guys this is Mike, he is a poker pro. He's asking this question in a bit of a tongue-in-cheek fashion. I told him I was doing this AMA so he's come here to troll me I guess.

I'm really awful at rock-climbing: I have weak, useless arms and huge legs from playing way too much DDR.

Your mom.