Atualizando com muito atraso...o meu niver tava maravilhoso! Com a presença de algumas das pessoas mais importantes pra mim! Só tenho a agradecer! :D

At work today (the very last day) we continued to deal with the listeria stuff and there were other pressing issues that were, seemingly, incredibly important.  I mostly focused on an over-flowing 'poop lagoon' and a publicized hobo spider bite, because "poop lagoon" and "hobo spider" are fun to say.  However, I couldn't fritter the day away giggling at poo, and ended up dramatically editing a chart (glorified list!  my favorite!) that I'd previously set up.  And it was utterly destroyed by the person doing the editing.  My contribution was entirely erased, aside from the fact that the chart was still in chart format and had lines and headings.  That was bummer number one.

Bummer number two was when I realized I wouldn't any bueno relaxo time on my last day (which is supposed to be about sloth and cake!) to do what I normally do: procrastinate.  I ended up getting into work a half hour early, took a 30 min lunch, and actually did work.  THE HORROR.

Tonight my Google Reader is showing 1000+ unread items.  Someone please tell me that the significance of this is appreciated! I've read probably 500 items and marked as unread (apartment therapy, *yawwwnnnnn* I'm looking at you) and still, 1000+ items.  I blame the unforgiving and relentless Huffington Post (404 unread items and counting).  So I think, instead of packing or panicking I'll spend the next 3 days trying to get my unread items taken care of.  Sounds reasonable, right?

That or more beer.

Copyright © 2008 WrappedUpInBooksBlog. All rights reserved.

For anyone who has worked, or is currently working on a dissertation in ANY subject, often you find yourself wondering to yourself, "Who the heck is honestly going to read this sucker once I'm done?" I guess it depends on the novelty of the dissertation work, as some people have highly referenced dissertations, and some have dissertations with 2 inches of dust in their university library. Of course, this sort of sentiment has been captured well by the talented, Jorge Cham in this comic:

Now, you might be asking yourself, how does any of what I wrote above have anything to do with the history of near infrared (NIR) analysis?

Plenty actually!

Given that I'm doing a fair amount of writing relating to just the basics of my area of study, I thought that perhaps I should make a synopsis of what I've been writing the subject of a few posts for all of you inquiring minds out there.

A Brief Historical Synopsis of Near Infrared (NIR) Analysis

Since the discovery of this region of the electromagnetic spectrum, the near infrared (NIR) was long neglected for most analytical purposes. Compared to the mid infrared (MIR), a region of sharp, well-defined fundamental vibrational bands whose spectra were easy to obtain with little material, the NIR’s region offered broad peaks whose origins were made up of combinations of MIR bands and fundamental overtones which required greater sample amounts for a useful spectra. A perfect example of this overtone broadening behavior can be seen in water’s O-H overtone that is close to 5150 cm^-1. Water’s asymmetric and symmetric O-H stretches are quite broad for the MIR region, but the NIR overtone of these two stretches is even broader.

The origins for NIR overtone and combination bands relate to anharmonic behavior of molecules. To better understand anharmonicity in molecular vibrations, a basic knowledge of where anharmonicity originates from is needed. The normal mode approximation, there is an assumption that excitations of a molecule result in vibrational transitions whose potential energy versus atomic nuclei distance resembles that of a quadratic parabolic curve, with no coupling of the of the normal coordinates of the atoms. This parabolic curve, more commonly called the harmonic oscillator model spawns from Hooke’s law.

Classically, this harmonic oscillator model has been applied to diatomic molecules, or if one isolates two atoms vibrating within a polyatomic molecule, with few problems. However, in focusing on a polyatomic molecule as a whole, the harmonic oscillator model breaks down; especially as the atomic nuclei distance either decreases or increases and the potential energy moves up the sides of the drawn curve. The potential energy will be affected by electron withdrawing or donating effects of neighboring atoms causing the potential energy curve to askew from a perfect parabolic shape as seen below:

Image from K. Lim and W. Coleman in “The Effect of Anharmonicity on Diatomic Vibration: A Spreadsheet Simulation” in JCE, 2005 82 1263.

As shown in this figure, the energy spacings do not remain constant as the potential energy curve travels along. The energy spacings decrease as the potential energy increases. Therefore, in order to describe this anharmonic oscillator behavior, more complex equations are required to describe this change in spacing as the potential energy increases.

Those equations which explain anharmonicity in the potential energy curve are also the source of understanding vibrational-rotational energy transitions. Transitions from an energy level in the anharmonic oscillator model to the next energy level above, (i.e., the vibrational quantum number ν = +1) are considered fundamental transitions and are allowed transitions. Overtones are transitions which begin from the ground state (ν = 0) and move up into other energy levels greater than one above them (e.g. ν= 2, 3, 4, etc.), while none of the other quantum terms (such as the rotational quantum number J) are involved. Combination bands occur not only when there is a transition with ν, but when there is a transition in another quantum number state (e.g. ν = 1 and J = 1, ν = 2 and J = 1, etc.). While these states are classically forbidden, it is the anharmonic nature of molecular interactions which allows these overtone and combination bands to appear in spectroscopic regions like the NIR. Therefore, the NIR’s ability to pick up on these classically forbidden transitions have been harnessed by chemists in order to better serve their needs.

A Day in the Life of Stu: (Created by me from same comic)

A Day in the life of someone else we know, let's call him subject A: (Created by Stu from same comic)

Thanks to Phd Comics and its brilliant art work for making last Friday afternoon a lot easier to bare!

Questa é la classificazione che viene data dai PhD Comics:

Il mio amico  Alex si é preso la briga di indagare nel web e ha scoperto che:

Gli esperti e gli osservatori dissentono fra di loro sulla relazione fra i termini nerd e geek. Qualcuno vede i geek come dei nerd meno abili tecnicamente. Alcune fazioni sostengono che i nerd abbiano sia capacità tecniche sia capacità per inserirsi socialmente, mentre i geek manifestano capacità tecniche ma sono incapaci socialmente. Altri tengono una posizione opposta: i geek hanno la funzione di controparte socialmente inserita rispetto agli asociali nerd, e si autodefiniscono geek con orgoglio.

Può esistere una differenza nell'uso dei due termini a seconda delle zone degli USA. Alcuni affermano che sulla costa ovest sia preferito il termine geek a nerd, mentre sulla costa est è il contrario. Altri, della costa est, dissentono sostenendo di aver trovato esclusivamente ricorrenze dispregiative della parola nerd rispetto all'uso benevolo di geek. In Inghilterra si tende ad applicare quest'ultimo punto di vista: nerd ha una connotazione molto più offensiva di geek, che appare spesso usato affettuosamente dagli inglesi (con una valenza simile ad anorak, altro termine slang usato per definire un innocuo eccentrico, generalmente fissato con un argomento futile).

La parola nerd divenne di uso comune a partire dagli anni cinquanta al momento in cui fu notato che diversi studenti non erano visti propriamente come dei fichi a scuola. Quindi nasce come dispregiativo, sebbene oggi sia considerata da alcuni un complimento, mentre geek divenne diffuso più tardi, negli anni ottanta, e ha evitato molte delle sfumature di significato negative. Geek si può applicare come versione attenuata di nerd a una persona insignificante, mentre nerd si riferisce maggiormente a un inetto.

Anche se Alex non mi ha chiarito cosa siano i Dork e sono allibita per il fatto che esistano esperti ed osservatori per quest'argomento, io dovrei rientrare nella categoria dei Geek. Facciamo un salto su Innergeek e facciamo il Geek Test: sono un Geek Maggiore con un grado di geekositá ≥35%...

Pensavo peggio...

O________O posso pure scaricare un banner per questo blog che dice che sono un Major Geek... Wow! (Guardate fra i miei bottoni nella colonna a destra :D)

This is so true, it feels like home.

And that kind of makes me doubt about the purpose of it all:

PS: I miss having the freedom of writing my own html script when posting. No tags allowed anymore?!

This.  Hits.  Home.

American Studies is probably the most vague field there is.  Some people legitimize or rationalize it by saying they have a "focus" in American History, American Literature, American Foreign Policy, or American Film.  But some people in American Studies actually look at pop culture.  Even if it isn't your "focus," it tends to creep in.  Case in point: me.

I wrote a stunning essay on the American family using Home Alone in my senior year.  I also wrote an essay on the pornography of violence in Law and Order SVU.  I wrote a term paper on the evolutions of American paranoia in all three versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I wrote a paper on Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and the glories of televangelism.  I studied identity politics in the film Philadelphia.  Just this year I wrote an essay on the ethnic status of the "redneck," and one on representations of Irish American masculinity in Boston-based "Southie" films like The Departed.

Have I ever used the words "heteronormatism," "problematizing," "otherizing," and "homosocial?" Of course I have!  "Otherizing" is probably on my list of Top 10 Most Used Words.  You think that makes me weird?  Don't otherize me, bro!

Is any of my work "relevant?"   Gosh, I don't know, I guess it depends on your definition of "relevant."

Aside: It's a good thing "relevant" has its own noun form, otherwise we would have to invent "relevantness" and end up with sentences like this:

The nonrelevantness of the subject invalidates the heteronormativity of otherized individuals, problematizing the underlying homosocial viability within the construct of nonrelevantism.

Honestly, I think my work has value.  I find it enlightening and relevatory to take MY culture and MY surroundings to the next level.  I think other people find it interesting too.

And if you think pop culture is too "pedestrian" to be relevant, then I challenge you to have an interesting conversation with someone who never went to college.  How relevant is your knowledge of biochemistry, Jane Austen, or eighteenth century religion now?

I believe in the relevance of our cultural atmosphere, today, and ourselves, now.  And if you don't, well... (I'm going to throw a well-known, colloquial phrase at you, hopefully you've heard of it.)

Suck it.

Thank you to Mike for the link.

Muito bom. Especialmente as palavras inventadas. Me identifiquei aí.

(Credits : www.phdcomics.com)

they can do that indeed...

bem assim...orientadores simplesmente somem!

And now for some Low Brow entertainment:

Blue sent this to me. Hat tip to The Edge of the American West.

El último post fue acerca de dónde se sentaba en el salón, pertenece a una tira de caricaturas absolutamente excelentes, que me he propuesto firmemente leer. Son 8 años de caricaturas, y ya vamos 4 adelante. Me he reido y me he sentido identificado un sin número de veces, por la ironía de ser un "Grad Student". Bueno, en el facebook un amigo (muy bueno por cierto, y con el que tomé clases de francés) puso en su status que su historia era calcada de la última entrega de PhD comics.

Creo que no sólo la de él, la de muchos expatriados, de muchas partes del mundo, que por básicamente las mismas razones terminamos acá. Esta caricatura resume ese proceso. Para ir al website de los comics, haga clic en el vínculo de abajo.

F1 visa

[ที่มา: PHD Comics]

1.5 years of effort which actually followed the 80/20 principle as far as work was concerned... i could manage to do only 20% of the work in the first 80% of the time and I did the real work (80%) in just 20% of the remaining time. I guess that reaffirms it as a universal principle now. So let's see how and why that happened.

Research in the field of networking, and more specifically in the field of wireless networking...and even more specifically in the area of wireless ad hoc networks is really a very promising and booming in terms of the amount of money and innovations done. So how did that become the reason ? Well...simply put, something that is touched by so many people is bound to divert you in all possible directions. Looking for an unexplored area when 9/10th of the area is already explored and beaten to death, understanding that itself takes so much time, that by the end of it you are too exhausted to think anything new.

I must have read a zillion research articles, journals, papers etc just to find out that 'it's already done'. Not until 80% of the time was over that I could see the some light at the other end of the tunnel. Finally shooting in the dark seemed to have paid off. But again, adviser has to be convinced that its credible enough area to be able to publish a paper in. Another problem!! :( then try and read up a zillion other papers around that idea. Now what? Adviser and I cook up a 'novel' scheme (which is apparently scheme #1 for him while I think it's the final scheme) and I am to code it. I am all high and I already see myself in the graduation ceremony, accepting my degree from the dean. I code it in a week!!. I even code all the scripts around it so that i can automate the simulation process, and I can leave the simulation overnight and come back in the morning and take the results. (I have no help whatsoever. I have to do it on my own. Thank God I have the programming experience from working for 2 years before I thought of doing masters.)

The graphs look awesome to me, but adviser has a different point of view and a different idea. Another round of 3 hour meetings to cook up new idea. I try as much as possible to implement it by modifying the old code. I introduce a million 'wild hacks' and flags in the code......This goes on and on during that 20% of the remaining time....the code is getting messier and messier...and I am getting lost in my own code. I suddenly forget to disable the flag and I get really weird results. I panic. I think the problem is somewhere else. I try to change that. I mess it up more. Oh..no..I forgot to take the backup... but thank God i still remember where I changed it. I change it back to the old code. (you see..we do not have CVS set up as yet..we are too busy with research...as it's always research with a deadline for us)

A lot of iterations and messups later we have something that definitely looks like a 'novel' protocol. The results have improved a lot. Comparative analysis show that 'we are much better than them''. I can now see two things... a research paper(s) with my name and the dean handing me the degree. Wow..I love it. Finally coding work is over. I am so excited to write the thesis book. Adviser shows the first appreciation. I feel great!. Adviser: "We have a new post-doc coming and I want you to handover everything you have done to him. Before that I want to see all the documentation on the code and the simulation HowTo" Man..!!! i didn't see that coming! When will I write my thesis?? How will I be able to start my new job. Documentation and handover will take time. I need to write it in the form of my thesis...not as a ReadMe file so that someone can use it. I could have done that later. I was so excited to start writing my thesis book :( For the next week I try to manage both. I get threatening mails. Well, I don't have much of a choice, do i? I am trying my best to do 3 things at a time. collect results, handover and write my thesis. Happy that i am going to be done in a month, but the phase is bad!

Suddenly I seem to be enjoying this pain. Maybe its because subconsciously I know i am done and I have really done some good work. Something changes my outlook. Looking back I see that I have actually amazed myself by doing so much work in so less time. I feel great! I have tested my own limits and I survived. That gives a huge boost of inspiration to work harder and push myself even more. I learned a hell lot more in my thesis research than I did with all the courses, collectively. I feel more confident about the subject. I feel like I know so much about. I want to show off. ...( maybe I'll save that for the thesis defense :))

Well, wrapping it up, here is what I learned from the "Research" experience. -- "Always focus" "Converge, don't diverge". (maybe that can be the epigraph in my thesis book)

It also left me with an unanswered question
"as a masters student (and not a phd) should I go for a completely unexplored area (which might result in me putting in an effort and time equivalent to a phd research but still get a masters degree) or to look for a tiny unexplored portion of a large explored area (which might result in me putting in lesser effort because of help and literature already available, but still might take equally long, or even longer, to find that tiny area)"

Whatever might be the answer, I am really happy I chose to take up the thesis option and not the comprehensive exam option, to get my masters degree. I wouldn't have had this sense of satisfaction of being a Masters if I had gone in for the latter. The latter itself makes so sense. It's like repeating Bachelors from Pune University all over again. ;)

Signing off with another comic strip that i am a huge fan of, the PHD comics.

Siddharth Khimsara

Tip: I highly recommend starting from scratch by reading the Archives.