Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Submitted Abstract to Conference



Today I submitted an abstract to a conference.

The research was from my masters. It felt good to have something out there even if it is not related to my current research.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Wiki

Did a mini Wiki  Demo last week for supervisor.
Good support

Already in soft release. Multiple people using the 'Getting Started' Printer setup page.

Continuing to add pages and information for release to the group next week.

New Machine

Software

Matlab 2013b
Google Chrome

Google Drive
Evernote
Evernote Web Clipper for Chrome
Endnote V7
Spotify

Google Chrome

  • Linked mainly to my PhD Google+ account. 
  • Will know that I also have a Google Account
  • Will never be used for Banking, PayPal, government interactions.

Storage

Online Backup

One of the extra tasks I have taken on for the group is to look at storage and online backup. 


Storage

Document Storage


Options
1.     GoogleDrive / GoogleDoc through GoogleApps
2.     University hosted file sever costing 250  per 1Tb

Recommendation

1. GoogleDrive / GoogleDoc through GoogleApps             
·      Currently provided by GoogleDoc and Google Drive.
·      Everyone seems confortable with.
·      Main issue  is there is no encryption security provided

Large data set storage


Currently students using the largest Datasets. They have access to a Earth Science hosted database for their work. Leave for later date.

Version Control Repository

Why – good practice to store versions of software.

Options
1.     Git:
             GitHub
·      Uni has a evangelist, who would help with introduction
·      I have used it.
·      Private Repository hosted in the Cloud by reputable GitHub available to education groups free, but further investigation shows there are quite a few hoops
Bitbucket
·      Uni has a evangelist, who would help with introduction
·      BitBucket allows unlimited Private Repositories with up to 5 users
·      Other Departments use it.
2.     Subversion :
·      PIK uses it
·      I can administer it
·      We would need have a box,
o   Upfront costs
o   Location issues.

Recommendation
1.  BitBucket unless likely to have more than 5 users.


Wiki

            Why – great way to communicate with in the Phd group.
Particularly as a single point for new comers to get established, record any issue or work arounds
           
Recommendation

Google Sites included as part of GoogleApps Education


Laptop Backup


Important Consideration

·      Off Site
·      Cost
·      Size
·      Encryption Security
·      Longevity
·      Ease of Use
·      OS Support (Windows , Mac, Linux)
·      Organisation Solution

 Uni does not support or have a recommended solution

Dual solutions provide best disaster plan.
            Regular Manual Hard disk / USB backup
            Online Automated Backup
Reasonable bandwidth
Ability to turn off when in a low bandwidth situation.


Non Free Solutions
            SpiderOak     
~$5 per month per user  200Gb (e)
            iDrive             
from $25 per year for 150Gb (e) individuals
 also org. pricing need further investigation,
start with 5Gb free
            CrashPlan     
~ $5 per month per user 
                        need to investigate educational discounts
                       start with 2Gb free

           
Free

 

Mega

GoogleDrive

iDrive

Size

50Gb
30Gb
5

Encryption

No
No
Yes

Longevity

Unknown / Could be issue
Good
Good

Windows

yes
yes
Yes

OSx

no
yes
Yes

Linux

no
yes
Yes

Org Sol

no
somewhat
Upgrade

Location Choice

yes
no
Yes

 

Distributed Computing (CPU) power

Not Considered



Monday, February 10, 2014

Day 32

Day 32

Received my laptop today.
It is not the model I expected.

I have to load all my favorite software.
Try not to make to much of a mess
And determine if I have sufficient RAM for my programming requirements.

Just to prove what a fuss pot,  I am I also want to complain about the keyboard response.
Perhaps I have spent to long as a programmer in a previous life.

One of the things I learnt from my Master is the importance of keeping a record of all the paper that I read. This has been complicated recently by EndNote v7 for OSX crashing. I have been using EndNoteWeb and Google My Library as a stop gap until my new machine arrived.

EndNoteWeb is more labour intensive than Google My Library.

Google My Library is well integrated into GoogleScholar,

  • does not link my marked up version of papers
  • does not allow my notes to be stored
  • has unfriendly UI for adding labels to entries.