| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Gregory L. Hansen" |
| Date: |
15 Apr 2004 09:18:08 AM |
| Object: |
A note on notebooks. |
I was looking through old notebooks for a measurement that I'm sure I'd
made about two years ago, but haven't found it. Doesn't do much good to
write it down if you can't find it. So I've started writing a partial
table of contents in the back of my lab books. Not the day to day drudge
like which parameters I tried on some run. But some things, like a
measurement of the thermal time constant of the target, the value of
some precision resistors, or important changes to the apparatus, are the
sort of thing that might be needed later, and is the sort of thing I'll
reference.
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
--
"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
-- Benjamin Franklin
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| User: "Edward Green" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
16 Apr 2004 05:11:30 PM |
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(Gregory L. Hansen) wrote in message news:<c5m5j0$j5c$4@hood.uits.indiana.edu>...
I was looking through old notebooks for a measurement that I'm sure I'd
made about two years ago, but haven't found it. Doesn't do much good to
write it down if you can't find it. So I've started writing a partial
table of contents in the back of my lab books. Not the day to day drudge
like which parameters I tried on some run. But some things, like a
measurement of the thermal time constant of the target, the value of
some precision resistors, or important changes to the apparatus, are the
sort of thing that might be needed later, and is the sort of thing I'll
reference.
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
Of course it does. Writing a table of contents is drudgery. It is
clearly unnecessary when you have only a small volume of notes, and
remember basically everything you have. So you don't perform needless
drudgery ... until you reach a state where it becomes needful
drudgery: which is detectable the first time your old search methods
fail.
The human lifetime is finite, but seems to be long enough the art to
learn: or maybe it is that having learned the art is accepted as the
state of wisdom and experience aquired by older professionals, since
that's as much art learning as we are going to get. As Mati once
said, professionals are those who have already made all the mistakes
at least once. Perhaps for some perfectly adaptive reasons, we don't
believe our own analyses of possible mistakes -- don't invest
resources in prevention -- until there has been a cost.
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| User: "Gregory L. Hansen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
16 Apr 2004 08:45:03 PM |
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In article <eca320d0.0404161411.7e013eea@posting.google.com>,
Edward Green <spamspamspam3@netzero.com> wrote:
glhansen@steel.ucs.indiana.edu (Gregory L. Hansen) wrote in message
news:<c5m5j0$j5c$4@hood.uits.indiana.edu>...
I was looking through old notebooks for a measurement that I'm sure I'd
made about two years ago, but haven't found it. Doesn't do much good to
write it down if you can't find it. So I've started writing a partial
table of contents in the back of my lab books. Not the day to day drudge
like which parameters I tried on some run. But some things, like a
measurement of the thermal time constant of the target, the value of
some precision resistors, or important changes to the apparatus, are the
sort of thing that might be needed later, and is the sort of thing I'll
reference.
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
Of course it does. Writing a table of contents is drudgery. It is
clearly unnecessary when you have only a small volume of notes, and
remember basically everything you have. So you don't perform needless
drudgery ... until you reach a state where it becomes needful
drudgery: which is detectable the first time your old search methods
fail.
The human lifetime is finite, but seems to be long enough the art to
learn: or maybe it is that having learned the art is accepted as the
state of wisdom and experience aquired by older professionals, since
that's as much art learning as we are going to get. As Mati once
said, professionals are those who have already made all the mistakes
at least once. Perhaps for some perfectly adaptive reasons, we don't
believe our own analyses of possible mistakes -- don't invest
resources in prevention -- until there has been a cost.
Actually, it wasn't something I'd avoided. It was something that just
dind't occur to me until I saw a need. Nobody I'd directly worked with
seemed to do it, but it turns out some people I work near but not with do
it.
So I mentioned it just in case some young student might be clued in a
little sooner than I was.
--
"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive,
difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of
mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it. "
-- Gene Spafford, 1992
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
17 Apr 2004 05:04:50 AM |
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In article <c5q26v$v0l$1@hood.uits.indiana.edu>,
(Gregory L. Hansen) wrote:
<snip>
So I mentioned it just in case some young student might be clued in a
little sooner than I was.
Or an old student ;-).
/BAH
Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
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| User: "Robert J. Kolker" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
15 Apr 2004 09:23:04 AM |
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Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
Can we be of service?
Bob Kolker
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| User: "Gregory L. Hansen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
15 Apr 2004 09:30:37 AM |
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In article <cVwfc.43107$_K3.210284@attbi_s53>,
Robert J. Kolker <robert_kolker@hotmail.com> wrote:
Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
Can we be of service?
Bob Kolker
Sometimes, by the time you know the question, the answer follows
trivially.
But I always like to read about people's job experiences. That doesn't
seem to get a lot of bandwidth, though, compared to Einstein was wrong,
quantum mechanics is wrong, bomb the Muslims, and my aether theory is
better than your aether theory.
--
"A nice adaptation of conditions will make almost any hypothesis agree
with the phenomena. This will please the imagination but does not advance
our knowledge." -- J. Black, 1803.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
16 Apr 2004 04:48:35 AM |
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In article <c5m5j0$j5c$4@hood.uits.indiana.edu>,
(Gregory L. Hansen) wrote:
I was looking through old notebooks for a measurement that I'm sure I'd
made about two years ago, but haven't found it. Doesn't do much good to
write it down if you can't find it. So I've started writing a partial
table of contents in the back of my lab books. Not the day to day drudge
like which parameters I tried on some run. But some things, like a
measurement of the thermal time constant of the target, the value of
some precision resistors, or important changes to the apparatus, are the
sort of thing that might be needed later, and is the sort of thing I'll
reference.
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
It takes everybody a long time to think of those. That's one reason
I used to watch experts. Their little shortcuts are the best
handmedowns.
Whenever I was writing something that I thought I might need or
have to deal with later, I'd star the left hand margin. Bless
the person who thought of leaving continuous white space. Others
I worked with used colors. That was too complicated for me because
then I only had one ear for pencil storage (the other ear wasn't
configured to hold a stick after the first footstep).
Double underlining was also used by some but I didn't like messes.
JMF and TW would use IBM cards to keep one word notes to themselves
but that only works if you can tie the card to your notebook in your
case.
/BAH
Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
15 Apr 2004 01:34:48 PM |
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In article <c5m5j0$j5c$4@hood.uits.indiana.edu>, (Gregory L. Hansen) writes:
I was looking through old notebooks for a measurement that I'm sure I'd
made about two years ago, but haven't found it. Doesn't do much good to
write it down if you can't find it. So I've started writing a partial
table of contents in the back of my lab books. Not the day to day drudge
like which parameters I tried on some run. But some things, like a
measurement of the thermal time constant of the target, the value of
some precision resistors, or important changes to the apparatus, are the
sort of thing that might be needed later, and is the sort of thing I'll
reference.
Yes, good thinking.
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
That's what experimental training is. You can't get this from courses
and textbooks.
Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
meron@cars.uchicago.edu | chances are he is doing just the same"
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| User: "Timo Nieminen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
15 Apr 2004 11:59:27 PM |
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On Thu, 15 Apr 2004, Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
I was looking through old notebooks for a measurement that I'm sure I'd
made about two years ago, but haven't found it. Doesn't do much good to
write it down if you can't find it. So I've started writing a partial
table of contents in the back of my lab books. Not the day to day drudge
like which parameters I tried on some run. But some things, like a
measurement of the thermal time constant of the target, the value of
some precision resistors, or important changes to the apparatus, are the
sort of thing that might be needed later, and is the sort of thing I'll
reference.
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
One solution is to store anything you might want to reaccess
electronically. Just put each note in a plain text file, keep them all in
a single location. grep is your friend.
Of course, you lose the simplicity of just writing things down in a book,
but that's the way things are. Unless, of course, you can pay somebody to
electronicify your notes.
Back when I took over the spectrometer lab from my predecessor, his old
lab notebooks made for some interesting reading. The best part was his
documentation of his war against the ants. Seemed they like the warmth of
the disk drives ...
--
Timo Nieminen - Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/
Shrine to Spirits: http://www.users.bigpond.com/timo_nieminen/spirits.html
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
16 Apr 2004 04:51:59 AM |
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In article <Pine.LNX.4.50.0404161451580.28497-100000@localhost>,
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
<snip>
Back when I took over the spectrometer lab from my predecessor, his old
lab notebooks made for some interesting reading. The best part was his
documentation of his war against the ants. Seemed they like the warmth of
the disk drives ...
Did he ever win? I recall reading about a story (don't know if
it was a troll) of a woman whose laptop kept failing. She opened
it up and found ants. I didn't quite believe that one because
those critters had to go out for a drink once in a while.
/BAH
Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
.
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| User: "Edward Green" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
16 Apr 2004 05:14:59 PM |
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wrote in message news:<407fc9a8$0$16451$61fed72c@news.rcn.com>...
In article <Pine.LNX.4.50.0404161451580.28497-100000@localhost>,
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
<snip>
Back when I took over the spectrometer lab from my predecessor, his old
lab notebooks made for some interesting reading. The best part was his
documentation of his war against the ants. Seemed they like the warmth of
the disk drives ...
Did he ever win? I recall reading about a story (don't know if
it was a troll) of a woman whose laptop kept failing. She opened
it up and found ants. I didn't quite believe that one because
those critters had to go out for a drink once in a while.
Oh *****. You've just given me the extra incentive to go down to the
corner store and buy a can of bug killer to wipe out the stream of
small ants I have been watching with academic interest for a week now:
coursing through a hole in the wall behind my computer.
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
17 Apr 2004 04:56:32 AM |
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In article <eca320d0.0404161414.7dcc44c7@posting.google.com>,
(Edward Green) wrote:
jmfbahciv@aol.com wrote in message
news:<407fc9a8$0$16451$61fed72c@news.rcn.com>...
In article <Pine.LNX.4.50.0404161451580.28497-100000@localhost>,
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
<snip>
Back when I took over the spectrometer lab from my predecessor, his old
lab notebooks made for some interesting reading. The best part was his
documentation of his war against the ants. Seemed they like the warmth
of
the disk drives ...
Did he ever win? I recall reading about a story (don't know if
it was a troll) of a woman whose laptop kept failing. She opened
it up and found ants. I didn't quite believe that one because
those critters had to go out for a drink once in a while.
Oh *****. You've just given me the extra incentive to go down to the
corner store and buy a can of bug killer to wipe out the stream of
small ants I have been watching with academic interest for a week now:
coursing through a hole in the wall behind my computer.
Where do they go? I've taken to dumping my cigarette butts
along the foundations during the spring and summer. I guess
that wouldn't work in a city. I've also read that raw egg
shells will discourage them but I've never been able to
find a configuration to test it.
/BAH
Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
.
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| User: "Timo Nieminen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
18 Apr 2004 07:28:15 PM |
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On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 wrote:
spamspamspam3@netzero.com (Edward Green) wrote:
Oh *****. You've just given me the extra incentive to go down to the
corner store and buy a can of bug killer to wipe out the stream of
small ants I have been watching with academic interest for a week now:
coursing through a hole in the wall behind my computer.
Where do they go? I've taken to dumping my cigarette butts
along the foundations during the spring and summer. I guess
that wouldn't work in a city. I've also read that raw egg
shells will discourage them but I've never been able to
find a configuration to test it.
The borax-based poisons seem to me to be the best. Low toxicity. Messy,
though. Brand name "Ant-Rid" is what we get here. I tried making my own
out of borax and honey, but the ants didn't go for it; seems the
commercial product has some extra attractants in it.
Borax powder or concentrated borax solution around the foundations might
work well. Or, for the environmentally unfriendly, used sump oil. Mix with
borax and get the best of both worlds.
--
Timo Nieminen - Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/
Shrine to Spirits: http://www.users.bigpond.com/timo_nieminen/spirits.html
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
19 Apr 2004 04:39:38 AM |
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In article <Pine.LNX.4.50.0404191023530.22872-100000@localhost>,
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 wrote:
spamspamspam3@netzero.com (Edward Green) wrote:
Oh *****. You've just given me the extra incentive to go down to the
corner store and buy a can of bug killer to wipe out the stream of
small ants I have been watching with academic interest for a week now:
coursing through a hole in the wall behind my computer.
Where do they go? I've taken to dumping my cigarette butts
along the foundations during the spring and summer. I guess
that wouldn't work in a city. I've also read that raw egg
shells will discourage them but I've never been able to
find a configuration to test it.
The borax-based poisons seem to me to be the best. Low toxicity. Messy,
though. Brand name "Ant-Rid" is what we get here. I tried making my own
out of borax and honey, but the ants didn't go for it; seems the
commercial product has some extra attractants in it.
Borax powder or concentrated borax solution around the foundations might
work well. Or, for the environmentally unfriendly, used sump oil. Mix with
borax and get the best of both worlds.
You don't mix the borax with anything wet! The ants get it on their
legs and feet, carry it back to the nest, and then try to clean up.
Poof. Ant and nest are gone. My mother claimed that borax in her
attic worked; but I thought it disappeared with the heat, IIRC,
104F or so.
/BAH
Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
.
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| User: "Timo Nieminen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
19 Apr 2004 05:20:35 PM |
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On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 wrote:
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
Borax powder or concentrated borax solution around the foundations might
work well. Or, for the environmentally unfriendly, used sump oil. Mix with
borax and get the best of both worlds.
You don't mix the borax with anything wet! The ants get it on their
legs and feet, carry it back to the nest, and then try to clean up.
Poof. Ant and nest are gone. My mother claimed that borax in her
attic worked; but I thought it disappeared with the heat, IIRC,
104F or so.
I think it's quite heat resistant. Do the experiment!
Anyway, the commercial borax-based things are borax in a sugar syrup.
Doesn't matter so much whether or not the ants eat it on the spot or take
it back to the nest, as long as any ants that don't make it back to the
nest are scavenged by their fellows.
I was thinking that borax solution around the foundations might be a good
way to get it into small cracks.
--
Timo Nieminen - Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/
Shrine to Spirits: http://www.users.bigpond.com/timo_nieminen/spirits.html
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
20 Apr 2004 02:46:07 AM |
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In article <Pine.LNX.4.50.0404200816350.29450-100000@localhost>,
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 wrote:
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
Borax powder or concentrated borax solution around the foundations
might
work well. Or, for the environmentally unfriendly, used sump oil. Mix
with
borax and get the best of both worlds.
You don't mix the borax with anything wet! The ants get it on their
legs and feet, carry it back to the nest, and then try to clean up.
Poof. Ant and nest are gone. My mother claimed that borax in her
attic worked; but I thought it disappeared with the heat, IIRC,
104F or so.
I think it's quite heat resistant. Do the experiment!
Anyway, the commercial borax-based things are borax in a sugar syrup.
Doesn't matter so much whether or not the ants eat it on the spot or take
it back to the nest, as long as any ants that don't make it back to the
nest are scavenged by their fellows.
I didn't think that ants ate their own. My kitchen once was
a dumping ground for their trash. That included carcases.
I was thinking that borax solution around the foundations might be a good
way to get it into small cracks.
I've also been spraying liquid dish detergent around the foundations.
/BAH
Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
.
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| User: "Double-A" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
20 Apr 2004 03:30:11 PM |
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Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote in message news:<Pine.LNX.4.50.0404200816350.29450-100000@localhost>...
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 wrote:
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
Borax powder or concentrated borax solution around the foundations might
work well. Or, for the environmentally unfriendly, used sump oil. Mix with
borax and get the best of both worlds.
You don't mix the borax with anything wet! The ants get it on their
legs and feet, carry it back to the nest, and then try to clean up.
Poof. Ant and nest are gone. My mother claimed that borax in her
attic worked; but I thought it disappeared with the heat, IIRC,
104F or so.
I think it's quite heat resistant. Do the experiment!
Anyway, the commercial borax-based things are borax in a sugar syrup.
Doesn't matter so much whether or not the ants eat it on the spot or take
it back to the nest, as long as any ants that don't make it back to the
nest are scavenged by their fellows.
I was thinking that borax solution around the foundations might be a good
way to get it into small cracks.
I have found that a mixture of half borax and half powdered
confectionary sugar with a little dry yeast mixed in works well for
some kinds of ants, but not for others.
Double-A
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| User: "Timo Nieminen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
18 Apr 2004 07:03:07 PM |
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On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 wrote:
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
Back when I took over the spectrometer lab from my predecessor, his old
lab notebooks made for some interesting reading. The best part was his
documentation of his war against the ants. Seemed they like the warmth of
the disk drives ...
Did he ever win? I recall reading about a story (don't know if
it was a troll) of a woman whose laptop kept failing. She opened
it up and found ants. I didn't quite believe that one because
those critters had to go out for a drink once in a while.
Sure. He took the cover off the drive and liberally sprayed insecticide.
That was, iirc, the 3rd round in the war. His earlier attempts just
involved spraying the outside of the drive and the ant-paths.
--
Timo Nieminen - Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/
Shrine to Spirits: http://www.users.bigpond.com/timo_nieminen/spirits.html
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
19 Apr 2004 04:34:52 AM |
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In article <Pine.LNX.4.50.0404191000160.22872-100000@localhost>,
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 wrote:
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
Back when I took over the spectrometer lab from my predecessor, his old
lab notebooks made for some interesting reading. The best part was his
documentation of his war against the ants. Seemed they like the warmth
of
the disk drives ...
Did he ever win? I recall reading about a story (don't know if
it was a troll) of a woman whose laptop kept failing. She opened
it up and found ants. I didn't quite believe that one because
those critters had to go out for a drink once in a while.
Sure. He took the cover off the drive and liberally sprayed insecticide.
That was, iirc, the 3rd round in the war. His earlier attempts just
involved spraying the outside of the drive and the ant-paths.
Did the disk and the drive survive?
/BAH
Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
.
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| User: "Timo Nieminen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
19 Apr 2004 05:16:25 PM |
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On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 wrote:
Did the disk and the drive survive?
It was still working many years later. IIRC, he only sprayed the inside of
the outer case. This was a big chunky twin 8" floppy. One floppy for the
OS, one floppy for data. The filesystem was somewhat primitive. Space
that had been occupied by deleted files was not reused automatically; all
new files went onto the disk after the last existing file. Every so often,
one would need to run the disk-packing program which would take out all of
the empty space in the middle of the disk.
--
Timo Nieminen - Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/
Shrine to Spirits: http://www.users.bigpond.com/timo_nieminen/spirits.html
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| User: "Tom Potter" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
22 Apr 2004 08:26:03 AM |
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"Timo Nieminen" <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.50.0404200812200.29450-100000@localhost...
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 wrote:
Did the disk and the drive survive?
It was still working many years later. IIRC, he only sprayed the inside of
the outer case. This was a big chunky twin 8" floppy. One floppy for the
OS, one floppy for data. The filesystem was somewhat primitive. Space
that had been occupied by deleted files was not reused automatically; all
new files went onto the disk after the last existing file. Every so often,
one would need to run the disk-packing program which would take out all of
the empty space in the middle of the disk.
The old North Star DOS worked that way,
and maybe it wasn't so bad.
I suspect that it might be better
to append files to the end,
and run a packing program in the background,
rather than
stringing data all over memory,
and then having to run a defrag program
when the disk gets too slow.
--
Tom Potter http://tompotter.us
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
22 Apr 2004 07:11:04 AM |
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In article <c68h8p$97pao$1@ID-151067.news.uni-berlin.de>,
"Tom Potter" <tdp@earthlink.net> wrote:
"Timo Nieminen" <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.50.0404200812200.29450-100000@localhost...
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 wrote:
Did the disk and the drive survive?
It was still working many years later. IIRC, he only sprayed the inside
of
the outer case. This was a big chunky twin 8" floppy. One floppy for the
OS, one floppy for data. The filesystem was somewhat primitive. Space
that had been occupied by deleted files was not reused automatically;
all
new files went onto the disk after the last existing file. Every so
often,
one would need to run the disk-packing program which would take out all
of
the empty space in the middle of the disk.
The old North Star DOS worked that way,
and maybe it wasn't so bad.
I suspect that it might be better
to append files to the end,
and run a packing program in the background,
rather than
stringing data all over memory,
and then having to run a defrag program
when the disk gets too slow.
HUH? WTF are you talking about?
/BAH
Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
.
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| User: "Gregory L. Hansen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
16 Apr 2004 09:29:34 AM |
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In article <Pine.LNX.4.50.0404161451580.28497-100000@localhost>,
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
On Thu, 15 Apr 2004, Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
I was looking through old notebooks for a measurement that I'm sure I'd
made about two years ago, but haven't found it. Doesn't do much good to
write it down if you can't find it. So I've started writing a partial
table of contents in the back of my lab books. Not the day to day drudge
like which parameters I tried on some run. But some things, like a
measurement of the thermal time constant of the target, the value of
some precision resistors, or important changes to the apparatus, are the
sort of thing that might be needed later, and is the sort of thing I'll
reference.
It's simple and obvious, but sometimes it takes me a long time to figure
out these sorts of things.
One solution is to store anything you might want to reaccess
electronically. Just put each note in a plain text file, keep them all in
a single location. grep is your friend.
Of course, you lose the simplicity of just writing things down in a book,
but that's the way things are. Unless, of course, you can pay somebody to
electronicify your notes.
Plus there's the sketches and photos, graphs both printed and hand-drawn,
the math, photocopied excerpts like 3He vapor presure versus
temperature... Way too much work.
I'd thought of an electronic index, but decided that would be too annoying
and ephemeral. So I'm just putting in a partial table of contents at the
back of the current book, and marking important sections in old books,
when I find them, with post-it notes.
Back when I took over the spectrometer lab from my predecessor, his old
lab notebooks made for some interesting reading. The best part was his
documentation of his war against the ants. Seemed they like the warmth of
the disk drives ...
Did he ever get it debugged?
--
"The preferred method of entering a building is to use a tank main gun
round, direct fire artillery round, or TOW, Dragon, or Hellfire missile to
clear the first room." -- THE RANGER HANDBOOK U.S. Army, 1992
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| User: "Timo Nieminen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
18 Apr 2004 07:13:09 PM |
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On Fri, 16 Apr 2004, Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
One solution is to store anything you might want to reaccess
electronically. Just put each note in a plain text file, keep them all in
a single location. grep is your friend.
Of course, you lose the simplicity of just writing things down in a book,
but that's the way things are. Unless, of course, you can pay somebody to
electronicify your notes.
Plus there's the sketches and photos, graphs both printed and hand-drawn,
the math, photocopied excerpts like 3He vapor presure versus
temperature... Way too much work.
I'd thought of an electronic index, but decided that would be too annoying
and ephemeral. So I'm just putting in a partial table of contents at the
back of the current book, and marking important sections in old books,
when I find them, with post-it notes.
Electronic index to physical books has its good side. Firstly, searchable
on keywords. Secondly, searchable on keywords. Thirdly, if the result is
just a single measurement or number or observation, the electronic entry
can include this. Otherwise, reference to Book VII, Post-it Note 12, etc.
Finally, permanence. While the electronic version is, in a sense,
volatile, it is also easily backed-up and copied. Also portable, so when
you move elsewhere, you can take it with you.
In principle, the sketches etc could be scanned, but that's rather
meaningless for a keyword search. Possibly worthwhile for back-up
purposes, but this might not justify the effort. Unless you are doing some
serious procrastinating.
Back when I took over the spectrometer lab from my predecessor, his old
lab notebooks made for some interesting reading. The best part was his
documentation of his war against the ants. Seemed they like the warmth of
the disk drives ...
Did he ever get it debugged?
Sure did; details elsewhere in thread.
--
Timo Nieminen - Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/
Shrine to Spirits: http://www.users.bigpond.com/timo_nieminen/spirits.html
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| User: "Tom Potter" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
19 Apr 2004 09:40:49 AM |
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"Timo Nieminen" <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.50.0404191005070.22872-100000@localhost...
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004, Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
One solution is to store anything you might want to reaccess
electronically. Just put each note in a plain text file, keep them all
in
a single location. grep is your friend.
Of course, you lose the simplicity of just writing things down in a
book,
but that's the way things are. Unless, of course, you can pay somebody
to
electronicify your notes.
Plus there's the sketches and photos, graphs both printed and
hand-drawn,
the math, photocopied excerpts like 3He vapor presure versus
temperature... Way too much work.
I'd thought of an electronic index, but decided that would be too
annoying
and ephemeral. So I'm just putting in a partial table of contents at
the
back of the current book, and marking important sections in old books,
when I find them, with post-it notes.
Electronic index to physical books has its good side. Firstly, searchable
on keywords. Secondly, searchable on keywords. Thirdly, if the result is
just a single measurement or number or observation, the electronic entry
can include this. Otherwise, reference to Book VII, Post-it Note 12, etc.
Finally, permanence. While the electronic version is, in a sense,
volatile, it is also easily backed-up and copied. Also portable, so when
you move elsewhere, you can take it with you.
In principle, the sketches etc could be scanned, but that's rather
meaningless for a keyword search. Possibly worthwhile for back-up
purposes, but this might not justify the effort. Unless you are doing some
serious procrastinating.
I see in the news
that someone has come up with a system that
searches on graphic segments.
Combine this with Google's searches,
and you have a pretty good system.
I used "data mining" about 20 years ago
to have fast access to business information,
and my old programs still have a couple of
features that Google does not have.
I applied for a patent on the system,
but didn't follow though, as
I decided to "drop out" and enjoy life.
I am considering updating my old DOS code
to Windows, and adding the graphic search feature, ,
as I think this would be a "killer application",
but considering the success of Google,
and the fact that Microsoft, Yahoo, and others,
are aggressively researching data mining
and search techniques,
this might be a waste of time.
--
Tom Potter http://tompotter.us
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| User: "Gregory L. Hansen" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
18 Apr 2004 08:24:13 PM |
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In article <Pine.LNX.4.50.0404191005070.22872-100000@localhost>,
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004, Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
One solution is to store anything you might want to reaccess
electronically. Just put each note in a plain text file, keep them all in
a single location. grep is your friend.
Of course, you lose the simplicity of just writing things down in a book,
but that's the way things are. Unless, of course, you can pay somebody to
electronicify your notes.
Plus there's the sketches and photos, graphs both printed and hand-drawn,
the math, photocopied excerpts like 3He vapor presure versus
temperature... Way too much work.
I'd thought of an electronic index, but decided that would be too annoying
and ephemeral. So I'm just putting in a partial table of contents at the
back of the current book, and marking important sections in old books,
when I find them, with post-it notes.
Electronic index to physical books has its good side. Firstly, searchable
on keywords. Secondly, searchable on keywords. Thirdly, if the result is
just a single measurement or number or observation, the electronic entry
can include this. Otherwise, reference to Book VII, Post-it Note 12, etc.
Finally, permanence. While the electronic version is, in a sense,
volatile, it is also easily backed-up and copied. Also portable, so when
you move elsewhere, you can take it with you.
Ephemeral in the sense that there's no way I'd be sufficiently motivated
to actually do the work of an electronic index. And if I started it, it
wouldn't take long for me to quit. I was also concerned about making the
database available to whoever needs it, and transferring it when I leave
the project.
It's not a journal database. I'm on the 11th notebook in a series
stretching back to 1997 or so.
I do plan to write up an operator's manual before I finish, I think that's
sorely needed. And it would put all the important information in one
place. It's a neutron radiometer, and as it is, all information about it
is contained in the lab books or handed down by oral tradition. Not all
of it even exists on paper. And that's really not good enough. I've had
to deal with lost peices of tradition, and it's a pain to have to take
things apart and trace through circuits to figure out what should be
plugged in where, and look through computer code to figure out what to
name things. And when the next person comes in, I won't even be in the
same state.
--
"In any case, don't stress too much--cortisol inhibits muscular
hypertrophy. " -- Eric Dodd
.
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| User: "Edward Green" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
19 Apr 2004 02:51:22 AM |
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(Gregory L. Hansen) wrote in message news:<c5v9nt$mkq$1@hood.uits.indiana.edu>...
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004, Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
I'd thought of an electronic index, but decided that would be too annoying
and ephemeral. So I'm just putting in a partial table of contents at the
back of the current book, and marking important sections in old books,
when I find them, with post-it notes.
Electronic index to physical books has its good side. Firstly, searchable
on keywords. Secondly, searchable on keywords. Thirdly, if the result is
just a single measurement or number or observation, the electronic entry
can include this. Otherwise, reference to Book VII, Post-it Note 12, etc.
Finally, permanence. While the electronic version is, in a sense,
volatile, it is also easily backed-up and copied. Also portable, so when
you move elsewhere, you can take it with you.
Ephemeral in the sense that there's no way I'd be sufficiently motivated
to actually do the work of an electronic index. And if I started it, it
wouldn't take long for me to quit.
You are confirming my economic analysis of the thing, though earlier
you seemed to reject it:
Actually, it <writing an index> wasn't something I'd avoided.
It was something that just dind't occur to me until I saw a need.
All such projects are drudgery, and we will quickly abandon them
(maybe rationally) unless we continue to see a need -- i.e., a return.
Ok ... until it occurs to us, we can't even reject the drudgery on
economic grounds. After it does, _then_ we can procrastinate. :-)
I do plan to write up an operator's manual before I finish, I think that's
sorely needed. And it would put all the important information in one
place. It's a neutron radiometer, and as it is, all information about it
is contained in the lab books or handed down by oral tradition. Not all
of it even exists on paper. And that's really not good enough. I've had
to deal with lost peices of tradition, and it's a pain to have to take
things apart and trace through circuits to figure out what should be
plugged in where, and look through computer code to figure out what to
name things. And when the next person comes in, I won't even be in the
same state.
Of course not. By then you may have decayed. ;-)
.
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| User: "Gregory L. Hansen" |
|
| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
19 Apr 2004 10:08:11 AM |
|
|
In article <eca320d0.0404182351.7e815d1a@posting.google.com>,
Edward Green <spamspamspam3@netzero.com> wrote:
glhansen@steel.ucs.indiana.edu (Gregory L. Hansen) wrote in message
news:<c5v9nt$mkq$1@hood.uits.indiana.edu>...
Timo Nieminen <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> wrote:
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004, Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
I'd thought of an electronic index, but decided that would be too annoying
and ephemeral. So I'm just putting in a partial table of contents at the
back of the current book, and marking important sections in old books,
when I find them, with post-it notes.
Electronic index to physical books has its good side. Firstly, searchable
on keywords. Secondly, searchable on keywords. Thirdly, if the result is
just a single measurement or number or observation, the electronic entry
can include this. Otherwise, reference to Book VII, Post-it Note 12, etc.
Finally, permanence. While the electronic version is, in a sense,
volatile, it is also easily backed-up and copied. Also portable, so when
you move elsewhere, you can take it with you.
Ephemeral in the sense that there's no way I'd be sufficiently motivated
to actually do the work of an electronic index. And if I started it, it
wouldn't take long for me to quit.
You are confirming my economic analysis of the thing, though earlier
you seemed to reject it:
Actually, it <writing an index> wasn't something I'd avoided.
It was something that just dind't occur to me until I saw a need.
All such projects are drudgery, and we will quickly abandon them
(maybe rationally) unless we continue to see a need -- i.e., a return.
Ok ... until it occurs to us, we can't even reject the drudgery on
economic grounds. After it does, _then_ we can procrastinate. :-)
Exactly! Before, I didn't even realize the need. Now that I see it, I
can make a conscious decision to do nothing about it. And thus a certain
sense of order enters Greg's life. How many people are plagued by
problems that they didn't even realize they could decide not to solve?
I do plan to write up an operator's manual before I finish, I think that's
sorely needed. And it would put all the important information in one
place. It's a neutron radiometer, and as it is, all information about it
is contained in the lab books or handed down by oral tradition. Not all
of it even exists on paper. And that's really not good enough. I've had
to deal with lost peices of tradition, and it's a pain to have to take
things apart and trace through circuits to figure out what should be
plugged in where, and look through computer code to figure out what to
name things. And when the next person comes in, I won't even be in the
same state.
Of course not. By then you may have decayed. ;-)
Don't make jokes. I've been working on this stupid thing long enough that
I'd started to doubt there was such a thing as life after grad school.
--
"The polhode rolls without slipping on the herpolhode lying in the
invariable plane." -- Goldstein, Classical Mechanics 2nd. ed., p207.
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
19 Apr 2004 02:14:18 PM |
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In article <c60q0r$68u$3@hood.uits.indiana.edu>, (Gregory L. Hansen) writes:
In article <eca320d0.0404182351.7e815d1a@posting.google.com>,
Edward Green <spamspamspam3@netzero.com> wrote:
...
All such projects are drudgery, and we will quickly abandon them
(maybe rationally) unless we continue to see a need -- i.e., a return.
Ok ... until it occurs to us, we can't even reject the drudgery on
economic grounds. After it does, _then_ we can procrastinate. :-)
Exactly! Before, I didn't even realize the need. Now that I see it, I
can make a conscious decision to do nothing about it.
Now, that's reasonable.
And thus a certain
sense of order enters Greg's life. How many people are plagued by
problems that they didn't even realize they could decide not to solve?
The worst is when they can neither decide not to solve, nor decide to
make the necessary effort to solve.
I do plan to write up an operator's manual before I finish, I think that's
sorely needed. And it would put all the important information in one
place. It's a neutron radiometer, and as it is, all information about it
is contained in the lab books or handed down by oral tradition. Not all
of it even exists on paper. And that's really not good enough. I've had
to deal with lost peices of tradition, and it's a pain to have to take
things apart and trace through circuits to figure out what should be
plugged in where, and look through computer code to figure out what to
name things. And when the next person comes in, I won't even be in the
same state.
Of course not. By then you may have decayed. ;-)
Don't make jokes. I've been working on this stupid thing long enough that
I'd started to doubt there was such a thing as life after grad school.
There isn't, really. It is more of the same.
Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
meron@cars.uchicago.edu | chances are he is doing just the same"
.
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| User: "Edward Green" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
25 Apr 2004 12:02:14 PM |
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wrote in message news:<eyVgc.25$25.4859@news.uchicago.edu>...
In article <c60q0r$68u$3@hood.uits.indiana.edu>, (Gregory L. Hansen) writes:
In article <eca320d0.0404182351.7e815d1a@posting.google.com>,
Edward Green <spamspamspam3@netzero.com> wrote:
...
All such projects are drudgery, and we will quickly abandon them
(maybe rationally) unless we continue to see a need -- i.e., a return.
Ok ... until it occurs to us, we can't even reject the drudgery on
economic grounds. After it does, _then_ we can procrastinate. :-)
Exactly! Before, I didn't even realize the need. Now that I see it, I
can make a conscious decision to do nothing about it.
Now, that's reasonable.
And thus a certain
sense of order enters Greg's life. How many people are plagued by
problems that they didn't even realize they could decide not to solve?
The worst is when they can neither decide not to solve, nor decide to
make the necessary effort to solve.
Yes ... that is true procrastination. I was going to define it as
"putting off the decision of whether or not to make a decision", but I
see you've captured that -- except maybe that "putting off the
decision" is too decisive.
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A note on notebooks. |
25 Apr 2004 02:42:47 PM |
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In article <eca320d0.0404250902.2be7be11@posting.google.com>, (Edward Green) writes:
mmeron@cars3.uchicago.edu wrote in message news:<eyVgc.25$25.4859@news.uchicago.edu>...
In article <c60q0r$68u$3@hood.uits.indiana.edu>, (Gregory L. Hansen) writes:
In article <eca320d0.0404182351.7e815d1a@posting.google.com>,
Edward Green < > wrote:
...
All such projects are drudgery, and we will quickly abandon them
(maybe rationally) unless we continue to see a need -- i.e., a return.
Ok ... until it occurs to us, we can't even reject the drudgery on
economic grounds. After it does, _then_ we can procrastinate. :-)
Exactly! Before, I didn't even realize the need. Now that I see it, I
can make a conscious decision to do nothing about it.
Now, that's reasonable.
And thus a certain
sense of order enters Greg's life. How many people are plagued by
problems that they didn't even realize they could decide not to solve?
The worst is when they can neither decide not to solve, nor decide to
make the necessary effort to solve.
Yes ... that is true procrastination. I was going to define it as
"putting off the decision of whether or not to make a decision", but I
see you've captured that -- except maybe that "putting off the
decision" is too decisive.
Well, how about "being undecided about whether to put off the
decision"?:-) That's getting to higher order corrections here.
Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
meron@cars.uchicago.edu | chances are he is doing just the same"
.
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