Accidentally in Code

Tag: Organization

  • 15 Tools to make University Easier

    Subtitle: Things that Universities should tell you about, but often don’t.

    I’m in my 6th year at university now, and over the course of it I’ve assembled my suite of tools that maximize my productivity. When I meet people from outside of Computer Science, I’m always amazed that they haven’t heard of so many of these; so I’ve been inspired to create a list of things that I find really useful and hope you will too. If there’s anything you feel I’ve missed out – post it in the comments!

    Collaboration Tools

    Chances are, at university you’ll be doing some group work. You’ll spend ages trying to find a meeting time that works for everyone, someone won’t turn up, and at the end of the meeting you’ll wonder why you bothered having it in the first place. Unless – you use the internet to collaborate online, synchronously or asynchronously and minimize meetings whilst keeping everyone on the same page. Here are some things that can help.

    1. Online calendars. Google Calendar allows you to share with others – when you’re trying to coordinate your schedule for group projects or voluntary work you’ll be grateful for this.
    2. Google docs. Again, great for collaboration. Also, check out the widgets in the spreadsheets. You can create the awesome gapminder charts as seen in this great video from TED. It’s easier than making your own wiki (but that’s an option too).
    3. Google Wave. This will revolutionize communication and collaboration. It’s hard to get in right now but put out the word you’re interested and hopefully when someone you know gets an invite they’ll pass it along to you. If you need it now, LifeHacker has a list of alternatives here.

    Organizational Tools

    Poor organization is a big time sink. Staying on top of things will make your life much easier, promise! Here are some things that can help.

    1. Zotero is awesome for keeping track of your references and things you’ve read. Universities will often tell you to use Endnote or Ref Works because it’s “free”, but it’s not! When you graduate you’ll have to either find an alternative or loose everything. Zotero is free as in “free and open source”. And free as in cost (unless you end up needing extra storage).
    2. Todo Lists. There are loads of great, free tools out there to help you manage what you need to get done – Remember The Milk is a popular one. I find it helpful to set recurring daily tasks such as “Read a paper” so that I stay on top of what’s happening in my field.
    3. Open Office. Need an office suite? Open Office is a great substitute for MS Office and what’s more – it’s free (and open source). Whatever you’re using, though, learn what a cross-reference is and use it – once you know it, it’ll save you time and you won’t hand anything in with two “Figure 3″‘s.
    4. Keynote. If you’re giving presentations on a mac, don’t use Powerpoint! Keynote makes much nicer slides. I’ve spent too much time at university sitting through bad presentations loosing the will to live. Don’t do that to your peers. Take the time to read Presentation Zen, buy Keynote, and start impressing people. Given the low bar, it won’t even be that hard.

    It’s What You Know – Information Gathering

    I know, it can be hard just to keep up with the stuff we have to do for class etc. However, dedicating a little time every day to keeping on top of what’s going on will pay dividends in terms of being better informed, having more to talk about, and more ideas when put on the spot to think of one. I.e. instead of spending a week before your job interview reading all the career advice you can get your hands on, why not read a little bit a week? Rather than spending days thinking of a project for class, why not spend a little time keeping up with your field and keeping a list of ideas that you’d work on, given time?

    1. Blogs are an easy way to keep up with what people in your field are doing, and often people blog before they publish. What about other topics you’re interested in? Blogs can be a valuable resource for career advice or other fields that you’re interested in. Keep track of them on Google Reader or similar.
    2. Amazon. The Amazon recommendation system is phenomenal; it will recommend good books for you on the basis of what you’ve read (and will say what it’s basing it on). Read around your subject, and read books that aren’t strictly relevant – they may be really useful! Recently I’ve read Freakonomics, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and Presentation Zen. None of them are particularly relevant to what I work on but they’ve all been helpful in their own way. You have time – if you make it – reading a chapter a day won’t take that long and will get you through a lot of books.
    3. TED Talks. These are by leaders in their field and are under 20 minutes. There’s no excuse not to find time to watch some of these. Go to www.ted.com and get watching! Particularly good ones. – Hans Rosling on stats that blow your mind, Ken Robinson on how education kills creativity. and Clay Shirky on social media making history.
    4. Are you in business but not reading Business Week, or The Economist? Are you in Science and not reading Nature? Why not? Are you reading something else instead?
    5. Google Scholar. Searches academic papers, includes the ones hosted on researchers personal websites etc so you can get draft versions before they’re published. It searches the portals like ACM and IEE, so there’s no need to visit them all individually. Also, you can import references from Google Scholar straight into Zotero.
    6. Twitter. Keep up with leaders in your field and other people you find interesting in 140 characters or less. You don’t have to tell people what you’re having for lunch, and you can talk about what you’re working on, and ask questions. I find Twitter particularly useful for crowd-sourcing the news that’s worth reading through services like TweetMeme, and following people whose opinion I respect.

    It’s Who You Know – Managing Your Online Presence

    Accept that when you apply for a job (or even just go on a date) you’re going to be Googled. What will they find? Your Facebook summary with the profile picture of you getting drunk last weekend? Or have you built up a professional profile that will show up as well? Facebook is fine – although I would rethink that photo…

    1. Brazen Careerist and LinkedIn. Set up profiles and start building your contact list and recommendations now, not when you need a job.
    2. Do you have your own blog? WordPress is easy to use and has some lovely designs. Blogger is good too. If you’re a grad student especially, it’s a great way to share what you’re working on. If you’re a student group, it’s a great idea to use a blog to keep in touch with your members. Check out our blog for uOttawaWISE as an example.
    3. Twitter (again) – what are you sharing on Twitter? Useful and interesting articles relevent to your industry? Good for you!

  • Week in Brief

    For this week my goals were:

    • Clubs week for WISE
    • Organize movie night (try and delegate)
    • TA in French, don’t meltdown
    • Incorporate giant pile of papers into Introduction
    • Polish introduction such that I can send it to my supervisors
    • Coding: phase 1 ended up coding something different, but I’ve made significant progress on it
    • Assignment 1, Combinatorial Algorithms
    • Finish reading Presentation Zen
    • Read 6 papers from “the pile”
    • Fix CSS on portfolio website
    • 2 blog posts
    • Get a hair cut (having a Bad Hair Life right now)

    I also:

    • Met with my core team from WISE, talked about managing expectations and outlined plans for two important events coming up.
    • TA’d my first lab (on a Saturday, it was dull)
    • Blogged more than usual.
    • Got into Google Wave (it’s awesome!)
    • Went swimming, for the first time since I wrecked my knee

    Things are starting to settle down and I’m hoping next week I’ll run around less. Also, I’ve been setting completely unrealistic goals for the week so I’m going to have a go at being more realistic.

    • Finish coding current mini-project
    • Write more on thesis, get to the point where papers can be integrated
    • Finish Combinatorial Algorithms assignment
    • Meet with CA prof to talk about project
    • Read 4 papers
    • Read thesis – “Networking in Everyday Life”
    • 2 blog posts
    • Portfolio website – add all pages and finish home page
    • Write overview for soon to be announced WISE project
    • Write blog post for project

  • Week in Brief

    So last week I put up a list of things I hoped to get done last week. I did not achieve all of them, or anywhere near.

    • WISE Speaker event
    • WISE Coffee social (bake!)
    • WISE Self-defense seminar – Questionable whether I can check this off, it was a disaster.
    • Organize meeting for WISE, outline the plan for Women in Academia event – Again, debatable. Only 2 of the exec turned up.
    • TA in French, don’t meltdown
    • Incorporate giant pile of papers into Introduction
    • Polish introduction such that I can send it to my supervisors
    • Finish reading Presentation Zen (making progress, 1 chapter a day though)
    • Finish reading 60 page chapter
    • Read 4 more papers from “the pile”
    • Fix CSS on portfolio website
    • Finish CRM blogpost (already done!)
    • One other blogpost from “the list”

    I also:

    • Ended up in hospital with my knee
    • Had a BBQ with my friends and assorted medication from the hospital
    • Saw the Trailer Park Boys movie – it was weird, but me going to it made my boyfriend happy
    • Built some links within the university for WISE
    • Attended a WISE event at Carleton (it’s amazing what they’ve achieved in a year and a half – but we’re catching up fast!)
    • Took care of my neighbors cat (who happens to be a Web Design guru, and is willing to help me fix my CSS)

    Two of our events for WISE went really well. One of them was a complete bust – I was horribly embarrassed and felt like a total failure. Going forward I have some lessons to learn: students don’t do stuff that’s not free, at the weekend, off campus on a Sunday afternoon, even if it could save their life (is one – slightly bitter – one I guess). We need to be more on top of registration procedures and for this kind of thing people really need to pay in advance. Also, I need to be more prepared to kill things. I was worried we wouldn’t have a good enough turnout, but I worry about that for every event. This one I should have taken care to be more certain about. I also need to get the exec on board to rejig things a bit, and clear up communications and event responsibilities.

    For the coming week:

    • Clubs week for WISE
    • Organize movie night (try and delegate)
    • TA in French, don’t meltdown
    • Incorporate giant pile of papers into Introduction
    • Polish introduction such that I can send it to my supervisors
    • Coding: phase 1
    • Assignment 1, Combinatorial Algorithms
    • Finish reading Presentation Zen
    • Read 6 papers from “the pile”
    • Fix CSS on portfolio website
    • 2 blog posts
    • Get a hair cut (having a Bad Hair Life right now)

  • Time

    Being so busy this week has got me thinking about the concept of “having time”. We all have 60 minutes in each hour and 24 of them in each day for however many weeks, months, years or – hopefully – decades we have left on this planet. We just can’t know how long that is.

    I feel like “making time” is a better expression. Life is like packing – it expands to fill the time you have for it. I don’t have time for anything right now, but I make time for the things that matter. Things for WISE, my boyfriend (I don’t make enough time for him – thankfully he’s understanding), my TA position, my research.

    Despite being really busy, because time is tight I appreciate it more; I make the most of it. The winter semester this year I had so much time, and I wasted it on, I don’t know what. Walking around in the snow because the buses were on strike. Being miserable because I was living somewhere where it was -30 and the buses were on strike (for months – how was that allowed?). I worked ineffectively, and wasted my energy on people who took – but never gave anything but grief. I slept a lot.

    Now I’m flat out, the people who are around are the people who give – they come around and help me bake, show up to events they aren’t interested in (with tea!), and are sympathetic when I panic about how much I’m trying to do/event organization/event turnout/TA-ing in French. So – three important realizations: 1. people who only take, really drain my energy. 2. When you have relationships where you give, and they give, you build each other up and achieve more than you thought you could (and have more confidence, because you know you have people cheering you on). 3. That saying, “if you want something done, ask a busy person”? So true. I’m more productive than ever. And it’s satisfying because things are coming together, and I can see where we’re going with WISE, and I feel like our goals are a) achievable and b) worthwhile. My thesis is really exciting to me. Hopefully I’ll be able to put up more of what I’m working on here soon.

    The only thing is, though, is that I need to do some writing on my thesis. There are some things that I can do in small chunks of time, but writing is not one of them. I take a long time to get into writing, and knowing I have something on in 2 or 3 hours, or really at any point that day just seems to leave me feeling blank and overwhelmed. I’ll keep working on it, though!

    Thanks to everyone who’s supported and helped me this week – I couldn’t do it without you!

  • Manic Monday

    I’ve wasted a chunk of the afternoon having a bit of a panic attack. This morning I had physio on my knee, followed by an hour of time hanging out in SITE waiting to meet with the guy who’s course I’m TA-ing (I read some of the 60 page book chapter I’m carrying about with me at the moment). After which it was lunch time, and I gave myself some time to go to my favorite sushi place and start thinking in English again.

    WISE has 3 events coming up this week. I need to be at all of them. Plus I have a scholarship – which means I need to make significant progress on my thesis, every week. I also have an algorithms course (I’m so over theoretical computer science, but have to meet the requirements for my MSc) and I’m TA-ing. In French. Starting tomorrow – but I still don’t know what time, or where. Plus I’m spending about 3 hours a week in physio and have to go and get a brace for my knee and x-rays. It’s all causing me to feel a little “arrrrgghh!”. Of course panicking about it doesn’t get any of it closer to being done.

    I read Sacha Chua‘s blog, she writes about web 2.0 so it’s interesting from the perspective of my thesis. It’s also interesting from a personal perspective as she also seems to be another woman in technology, juggling a lot of stuff. I’ve noticed her posting her goals for the week and whether or not she achieved the last week’s goals (and why). I think in the spirit of 43 things – putting your goals in public makes you work harder to achieve them.

    So here, in no particular order, are my goals for this week. Note – these are all fairly high level, I’m not going to include the smaller tasks that occur on “The List” every day, or the small but numerous things I need to take care of to keep WISE running on a day to day basis.

    • WISE Speaker event
    • WISE Coffee social (bake!)
    • WISE Self-defense seminar
    • Organize meeting for WISE, outline the plan for Women in Academia event
    • TA in French, don’t meltdown
    • Incorporate giant pile of papers into Introduction
    • Polish introduction such that I can send it to my supervisors
    • Finish reading Presentation Zen
    • Finish reading 60 page chapter
    • Read 4 more papers from “the pile”
    • Fix CSS on portfolio website
    • Finish CRM blogpost (already done!)
    • One other blogpost from “the list”

    Wish me luck!

  • I <3 Google Docs

    Check out the video from Google, below.

    I thought it was really cute. Google docs is a great, free alternative to MS Office, but that’s not where the real power of it lies. For collaboration, for any document that anyone else is going to use, it’s such a better alternative.

    During the summer, I was working for a company that was sending spreadsheets about. Seriously. One of my colleagues and I said “this is ridiculous!”, because it was, and put what we needed into a Google doc. Our job was made exponentially easier and it took less than half an hour.

    I’m President of uOttawa WISE (Women in Science and Engineering), and we’re working hard to get things set up for the start of term. There are a myriad of organizational documents, but I think I’ve only emailed one – which was heavy on formatting. I have one spreadsheet on my computer – because it’s confidential. Anyone involved can see what we’re doing, and any new volunteer can be directed to our Google group where she has access to everything she needs to get up to speed. I had to train two volunteers in how to use docs, but given the time and effort it saves us this was an hour well spent.

    Google docs has some little differences from MS Office, and some things are a little trickier – you can’t right-click to insert multiple rows in a spreadsheet, for example. But some aspects of it are actually better.

    The video below is amazing. And those cool moving graphs? You can make them in Google docs, using the Google Gadget Motion Chart. There’s a quick guide how to here.

  • The Indecision of Crowds

    At the moment, I’m reading The Wisdom of Crowds. It’s a really interesting book, all about how crowds can organize themselves to achieve great things… and how sometimes they organize themselves in such a way that things go horrifyingly wrong. I picked this book to read next in part because of an experience I had with my “crowd” the other week. Trying to find a restaurant to eat at wasn’t as simple as it should be… I think what this conversation shows is that – our crowd has varying levels of information and interest, and needs more leadership. Or perhaps it just shows that making restaurant decisions by committee is pointless! But you can decide for yourself…

    Cate

    12 May at 16:06

    So for this Friday I’m wondering if people are up for hot pot in China town?
    Other suggestions welcome 🙂
    D
    12 May at 19:27
    hmmmm thinking of ideas…..
    S

    12 May at 21:04
    hmm. good idea but I am not sure if i am in town!

    S

    12 May at 23:25
    There’s only one place to have Hot Pot in China Down. That’s Yantzee and I’ll be up for it..
    S
    12 May at 23:27
    D, you know you want in for Hot Pot! It is good…
    K
    13 May at 07:34
    I will probably be missing in action until at least next weekend. Pray for mojo

    A

    13 May at 14:53
    Yeah, I’m up for Hot Pot
    D
    13 May at 20:25
    Just and FYI for everyone I ran Yangtze in the food inspection reports. It was found NOT to be in compliance with the health regulations.Including:

    Critical Issue:

    -Food protected from potential contamination and adulteration
    ->Store food 15 cm off the floor to prevent contamination

    And non-critical issues:

    -Floors, walls, and ceilings clean and in good repair
    ->Ensure floors are kept clean and in good repair

    -Mechanical ventilation operable where required
    ->Maintain ventilation system in manner not permitting health hazard

    R

    13 May at 20:28
    aah D why would you do that, i always assumed no restaurant followed code ever
    R

    13 May at 20:29
    i am not in town this weekend!
    D

    13 May at 20:30
    There are plenty of places that pass inspections. 🙂
    R

    13 May at 20:31
    why would one want to go there? gotta have some risque in life bratha
    D

    13 May at 20:33
    Seriously man they failed “don’t store food on the floor”
    R

    13 May at 20:34
    yaa that was the best part of the deal..i am surprised it didnt say store food in containers
    Cate

    13 May at 20:34
    OK that’s a veto on Yangtze. New location, anyone?
    D

    13 May at 20:35
    Well you can go have a meal there then.
    R

    13 May at 20:35
    ooh cmon cate
    Cate

    13 May at 21:39
    They failed at don’t store food on the floor AND the floor was dirty! A refuses to eat there too and we all know that adorable creature though he is his standards are quite low. New location!
    Y

    13 May at 22:08
    LOL – this conversation is hillarious
    Cate

    13 May at 22:19
    NEW LOCATION!!!!!
    S

    13 May at 23:10
    Okay, after that D no more Yantzee. Even my low standards are failed by that. How about Mongolian Hotpot? They’re by Bank/Billing Bridge area?
    S

    13 May at 23:30
    Hey D, how did Maru do?
    Cate

    14 May at 07:42
    Mongolian is ok but hard to get to?
    D

    14 May at 07:57
    Maru has not be inspected since the new system was launched.As for Mongolian Hotpot it has been inspected 3 times in the last few weeks (they come back if there are major problems)

    On April 28th they were cited for nine things (3 critical, 3 non critical):

    -Separate raw foods from ready-to-eat foods during storage and handling

    * Store raw foods separate and below cooked / ready-to-eat foods

    (apparently they corrected this one during the inspection)

    -Food protected from potential contamination and adulteration

    * Cover all food in storage
    * Store food 15 cm off the floor to prevent contamination
    * Store foods in containers that can be readily cleaned and sanitized

    -Toxic / poisonous substances (chemicals/pesticides) to be stored separately from food

    * Store all toxic / poisonous substances below / separate from food

    [and the non critical ones]

    Food contact surfaces properly designed, constructed, installed and maintained

    * Ensure equipment / utensil(s) / dishware are readily cleanable and in good repair

    –Equipment, non-food contact surfaces and linen are maintained, designed, constructed, installed and accessible for cleaning

    * Ensure all surfaces are clean and maintained in good repair

    Food contact surfaces washed / rinsed / sanitized after each use and following any operations when contamination may have occurred

    -Frequency of garbage removal adequate to maintain the premises in a sanitary condition

    * Provide sufficient garbage containers of durable / leak proof / non-absorbent material
    * Remove and store garbage as necessary to maintain sanitary conditions

    -Floors, walls, and ceilings clean and in good repair

    * Cleaning required around, under, and behind kitchen equipment, counters, and baseboards
    * Ensure walls are kept clean and in good repair

    -General housekeeping is satisfactory

    * Maintain the premises in a clean and sanitary condition

    [so the inspector came back the very next day!]

    and found 2 criticals and 1 non-critical

    Food protected from potential contamination and adulteration

    * Cover all food in storage
    * Store food 15 cm off the floor to prevent contamination
    * Store foods in containers that can be readily cleaned and sanitized

    Toxic / poisonous substances (chemicals/pesticides) to be stored separately from food

    * Store all toxic / poisonous substances below / separate from food

    [they corrected that during the inspection..]

    [and the non critical]

    Floors, walls, and ceilings clean and in good repair

    * Cleaning required around, under, and behind kitchen equipment, counters, and baseboards
    * Ensure walls are kept clean and in good repair

    [and the inspector came back May 4th for another go at this mess]

    This premise was found to be in compliance with the Ontario Food Premises Regulation.

    Cate

    14 May at 10:27
    Ok veto. Jadeland in Chinatown?
    D

    14 May at 10:46
    Jadeland is somewhat better…although it did not pass eitherCritical:

    Separate raw foods from ready-to-eat foods during storage and handling

    * Store raw foods separate and below cooked / ready-to-eat foods

    (corrected during inspection)

    Non-Critical:

    Mechanical ventilation operable where required

    * Ventilation system requires thorough cleaning

    S

    14 May at 11:12
    where do you get these info?
    D

    14 May at 13:10
    S just tried to hit me over the head with a conference phone box and then proceed to explain that me an Cate are going to be the first to die in a super bug outbreak.
    S

    14 May at 13:22
    I did try to hit D. But I did not say Cater and D are going to die with the superbug. I just say that these places help boost your immune system and make you stronger in case of the Beef Flu.
    Cate

    14 May at 13:43
    Boys, play nice!!D can you search for places that got good assessments?
    Cate

    14 May at 13:43
    Btw does this service have an api?
    R

    14 May at 14:08
    hahaa…aah what an optimistic bunch looking for a restaurant in china town that passes health inspection..
    K

    14 May at 14:11
    Ha ha ha. I think we have the winner of the thread! :p
    Cate

    14 May at 14:13
    How about just in Ottawa?
    D

    14 May at 14:22
    I don’t know restaurants in Chinatown…But it is really easy to search *all* the restaurants in a particular city ward.

    FYI there are a number around the uni such as father and sons, Royal Oak etc…that seem to pass.

    Cate

    14 May at 15:47
    OK… not wild about pub food but if that’s all that’s safe to eat in town…
    K

    14 May at 15:52
    And here my restaurant choices usually involve walking past a place and saying oh I’d like to try that. 😮
    S

    14 May at 17:36
    Seriously… many of us has eaten at Chinatown for months/years now without contracting serious illness like food poisoning or herpes, it should be safe.
    Cate

    14 May at 18:01
    Yep and I spent nearly 3 months in china and didn’t die. But I didn’t *know* what was going on!
    S
    14 May at 18:11
    exactly, lets just do it.. what’s the worst? food poisoning or herpes..
    Cate

    14 May at 18:23
    Tell ya what S, you can go if you like. I won’t be there! Who’s with me?
    S

    14 May at 18:30
    I don’t want herpes so I won’t go. We’re with ya Cate. Just tell us where to go….
    S

    14 May at 18:30
    and I’m with Cate…
    S

    14 May at 18:37
    I’ll suggest Koreana, I’ve checked and nothing bad…
    Cate

    14 May at 18:47
    OK!
    G

    14 May at 18:59
    You guys are impressive!!!
    I got tons of emails for a day, BUT seems got a place to eat at the end.
    A suggestion: Don’t think and research much before you go a restuarant, especially Asian ones. This will hep you enjoy the food 🙂
    D
    14 May at 19:03
    S how did you find that one in the registry…I can’t locate it
    R
    14 May at 19:11
    i suggest sterling in hull or foundation in the market ! i am quite confident there shouldnt be a problem with inspection with either of these two
    D

    14 May at 19:28
    Hull is annoying to get to and from and foundation is a bit pricey IMHO…this is why I was suggesting something a bit simpler and more conventional such as a pub or simple restaurant.
    S

    14 May at 20:19
    Now I found the reason why I always feel sick for 2 days after I go to a restaurant in chinatown! lol
    Cate

    14 May at 20:30
    hahahaha don’t you wish you didn’t know? 😉
    Cate

    14 May at 20:40
    Right to resolve this situation I’m going to cook tomorrow night. You’re all welcome but please I need to know numbers and any dietary requirements. Food will not be gourmet but I can assure you that anything below 15 cms from the floor invariably goes in the bin.
    Y

    14 May at 20:56
    Cate, you shouldn’t cook for all of us. I’m sure we can find a decent restaurant in Ottawa.
    Cate
    14 May at 21:17
    No it’s fine I’ve decided. Dinner will be ready a bit after 7 but feel free to be early.If you feel really bad, I like tulips 🙂
    D

    14 May at 21:25
    You know what…why don’t we just pick a pub?It is simple, easy, cheap, laid back, fun, and we might even be able to sit on a patio since it is a nice day tomorrow (depending on time as well).

    Plus we don’t all feel guilty about Cate doing all the work.

    S

    14 May at 21:34
    Cate: I’ll be there, and I feel bad now 🙁
    S

    14 May at 21:34
    Cate: Tulips or Vitamin Water?
    S

    14 May at 21:38
    Seriously Cate, we can find a resturant. Next time be dictatorial and say X is final!
    D

    14 May at 22:02
    Father and Sons
    The Royal Oak
    The elephant and castle
    The highlander
    The Pour House
    The Hard Rock Cafe
    Darcy McGees
    Cock and Lion

    I can keep going….

    Cate

    14 May at 22:36
    My place is final.Tulips and vitamin water are both fine. S, I expect both from you :-p hahaha