What to say on the eve of my coming of age as a hobbit? I stumbled across my post that I wrote this time last year in which I expressed my like of the number 32 and less so of the number 33. However, that second number does have the Middle Earth significance, which is good, and as such I'm going to have a little hobbit celebration tomorrow by going to watch the final Hobbit at the Picturehouse in Cambridge with Dr K after a curry somewhere in town (perhaps Cocum, the South Indian restaurant up Castle Hill. The other hobbit influenced celebration will be at work where there is a tradition of providing some sort of stackable sustenance on your birthday. I'm going to provide second breakfast in the form of some crunchy nut cereal and then second lunch in the form of mince pies with cream.
We had a mini early celebration at the weekend by watching the new Christopher Nolan film Interstellar at the IMAX in the Science Museum. it was a really good film and thoroughly enjoyable, but sadly I was suffering from a severe migraine so was a little throwy-uppy (the sick bay had kindly given us a couple of sick bags to make use of). The science museum itself looked most exciting and it was a shame we didn't have more time to enjoy it. We will have to go back soon.
Tonight has been a nice evening. After cooking a vegetable rich evening and updating the Christmas tree with an additional set of lights (LED fairy lights, nice but a bit cold overall), I had a good potter in the shed fixing Dr K's puncture and swapping both her tires out for new Continental Gator Hardshell Duraskins which will hopefully hold off the sharp flints of Cambridgeshire slightly better. She's had a very bad run recently with multiple changes on some days. I also gave the old girl a clean and de-grease (by which I mean her bike). Mine is in need of some desperate cleaning and TLC but that will have to wait as instead we settled down in the lounge to watch the new Black Mirror by Charlie Brooker. It was yet again an excellent piece on the future of the future including a small warning flag for the smart home.
2014-12-16
Showing posts with label asteroid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asteroid. Show all posts
Mahusive Phahesis
Today it all began. This is the beggining of the end. Today I opened TeXnicCenter and created my thesis document and wrote a few lines in it. I hear that writing the first line in any document is the most difficult so with that done the rest will be a breese, surly.
It will be alright won't it?
It has begun
It will be alright won't it?
It has begunNick Bailey's Asteroid Research
If you ever wanted to know what my research was actually about you can now read a New Scientist article online about it. Follow the link above.
asteroid, asteroid+impact, neo impactor, University of Southampton
asteroid, asteroid+impact, neo impactor, University of Southampton
Last Minute Planetary Defence
So the conference today was a bit of an experience. Preferably one not to repeat again. Quite frankly it near enough put me off continuing in my field of research.
I arrived for breakfast with a pretty bad headache and the organiser asked if I'd be able to expand my poster presentation (2 minutes) up to a full 20 minute + 10 mins of questions job. Like I could refuse. Knowing it's all for the good of my research I agreed and then proceeded to spend the whole morning sessions writing an entirely new presentation. All the talks today were totally related to my work and I could really have done with giving it my full attention. Throughout this my headache didn't abate and rather got worse. In fact I know realise it was a migraine as I threw up in the toilet three times before lunch (one of which I didn't quite make it to the basin). Unlike a standard sickness this didn't make me feel any better so after finishing the slides (not having eaten any lunch) I found a sofa outside the conference room to take a nap in waking up just before I was due onstage.
By now I was feeling more stable and not sick but the head was nicely pounding. With a few prayers sent ahead I got onto the platform and begun, actually feeling quite clear while I was up there. I also felt I spoke reasonable clearly with only a few problems of not knowing what was on the slides (as I'd hardly seen them myself). Having not prepared anything I wasn't clear enough in introducing the actual results, so when I got to them I was immediately interrupted with a question from the floor. Then another. And I think there might have been a third. They pointed out that my results were void as the object I had simulated impacting should never have made it through the atmosphere (according to the research presented earlier in the day). This helped enormously as you can expect. But I think I answered their questions and continued onto the rest of the results and reached the end of the 20 minutes (surprisingly - I was expecting to fall short).
Then the questions started. Quite frankly I can't remember what was said but the first question was valid and all the others simply laid into me tearing my research to pieces. By the time I escaped the podium I was just about in tears and spent the next hour holding them back and hoping nobody would come and talk to me as that would have tipped me over the edge - especially if anyone had offered me any encouragement.
So that was all a bit shit and as I said it's totally destroyed any interest in me continuing in this research. I'd take a years postdoc if offered but only as a filler.
The ironic thing is that the final talk (and some other points made previously) highlighted how damn old the people in this field are and how they need to attract new people. The final presented said something to the effect that it's too insular and very hard for newbies to break through and present their work. I agreed and would quite definitely favour moving to the world of climate change as that is something I care far more deeply about.
So tomorrow I'll have to show my face again (though i might have a shave - I think this was one of my biggest mistakes, I should have shaved before to make myself look younger and less knowledgeable) and see if I can extract the wreckage of my research and dignity from the feasted remains. I'll also try hard not to get angry at one of the old gits who was quite horrid today.
Planetary Defence Conference 2007, asteroid impact, Washington DC
I arrived for breakfast with a pretty bad headache and the organiser asked if I'd be able to expand my poster presentation (2 minutes) up to a full 20 minute + 10 mins of questions job. Like I could refuse. Knowing it's all for the good of my research I agreed and then proceeded to spend the whole morning sessions writing an entirely new presentation. All the talks today were totally related to my work and I could really have done with giving it my full attention. Throughout this my headache didn't abate and rather got worse. In fact I know realise it was a migraine as I threw up in the toilet three times before lunch (one of which I didn't quite make it to the basin). Unlike a standard sickness this didn't make me feel any better so after finishing the slides (not having eaten any lunch) I found a sofa outside the conference room to take a nap in waking up just before I was due onstage.
By now I was feeling more stable and not sick but the head was nicely pounding. With a few prayers sent ahead I got onto the platform and begun, actually feeling quite clear while I was up there. I also felt I spoke reasonable clearly with only a few problems of not knowing what was on the slides (as I'd hardly seen them myself). Having not prepared anything I wasn't clear enough in introducing the actual results, so when I got to them I was immediately interrupted with a question from the floor. Then another. And I think there might have been a third. They pointed out that my results were void as the object I had simulated impacting should never have made it through the atmosphere (according to the research presented earlier in the day). This helped enormously as you can expect. But I think I answered their questions and continued onto the rest of the results and reached the end of the 20 minutes (surprisingly - I was expecting to fall short).
Then the questions started. Quite frankly I can't remember what was said but the first question was valid and all the others simply laid into me tearing my research to pieces. By the time I escaped the podium I was just about in tears and spent the next hour holding them back and hoping nobody would come and talk to me as that would have tipped me over the edge - especially if anyone had offered me any encouragement.
So that was all a bit shit and as I said it's totally destroyed any interest in me continuing in this research. I'd take a years postdoc if offered but only as a filler.
The ironic thing is that the final talk (and some other points made previously) highlighted how damn old the people in this field are and how they need to attract new people. The final presented said something to the effect that it's too insular and very hard for newbies to break through and present their work. I agreed and would quite definitely favour moving to the world of climate change as that is something I care far more deeply about.
So tomorrow I'll have to show my face again (though i might have a shave - I think this was one of my biggest mistakes, I should have shaved before to make myself look younger and less knowledgeable) and see if I can extract the wreckage of my research and dignity from the feasted remains. I'll also try hard not to get angry at one of the old gits who was quite horrid today.
Planetary Defence Conference 2007, asteroid impact, Washington DC
Up All Night - 5
Time really does seem to be escaping me. I'm stuck into doing data manipulation so that I can find out what my results are actually telling me. Then I need to tell my paper what the results have told me. Maybe a beer will oil the cogs...
A very nice ale
Up All Night - 3
Security arrives at last. 1:48 am this nice security guard called James (at lease I think it was James, it was a beige-yellow name at least*) stopped by to check my Out of Hours form was in order. Therefore I am now authorised to be here all night. It's getting late (or is that early?) surprisingly quickly. It's 2 am already and I've not really got much started yet. (No, it's not too much blogging - time just flies when having fun)
*turns out it was Steve - a more yellow name than I was expecting
Southampton University, PhD Research, Security Guards
*turns out it was Steve - a more yellow name than I was expecting
Halt! Who goes there?
Southampton University, PhD Research, Security Guards
Up All Night - 2
Bloody hell. I did actually find yet another bug in my simulation which was acting as a memory leak. That is now fixed but I'm going to be working on slightly more coarse data due to time limitations. I'm currently building my second data set for comparison.
In the last hour I've mostly been fiddling in order to get my iSight built in webcam to work as a video camera so that I can hopefully take you on a little stroll of the building later in the night. I've also drunk a pint of crysantemum tea. Not much to report really. Though oddly enough security have not come past yet (usually they seem to turn up at about 12:30).
Southampton University, SES, PhD Research
In the last hour I've mostly been fiddling in order to get my iSight built in webcam to work as a video camera so that I can hopefully take you on a little stroll of the building later in the night. I've also drunk a pint of crysantemum tea. Not much to report really. Though oddly enough security have not come past yet (usually they seem to turn up at about 12:30).
Asteroid simulations running
Southampton University, SES, PhD Research
Up All Night - 1
So the night begins. It's now gone 11. Yikes, it's just gone 12. Where has that last hour gone?!?
You join me tonight as I proceed to work throuhg the night writing my paper for an upcoming conference. Today I finally made the breakthrough which allows me to generate the results for said paper. Meaning I can now get on an actually write the results and conclusion (the into and methodology are done).
But quite frankly that's of no interest to you. No. Me neither for that metter. No, what will be more interesting and really cook your noodle, is what will happen over the course of the next 7-10 hours. What will I learn, what crazy things can I find to do in this building in the wee small hours. Can I find any other friends to make? I'll try and blog each hour with a photo if I can.
For one thing I've already found that my office is 16 leaps from the toilet - can I beat this target?
Who needs LSD when you have an imagination like mine?
late night engineering, Southampton University, asteroid impact research
You join me tonight as I proceed to work throuhg the night writing my paper for an upcoming conference. Today I finally made the breakthrough which allows me to generate the results for said paper. Meaning I can now get on an actually write the results and conclusion (the into and methodology are done).
But quite frankly that's of no interest to you. No. Me neither for that metter. No, what will be more interesting and really cook your noodle, is what will happen over the course of the next 7-10 hours. What will I learn, what crazy things can I find to do in this building in the wee small hours. Can I find any other friends to make? I'll try and blog each hour with a photo if I can.
For one thing I've already found that my office is 16 leaps from the toilet - can I beat this target?
The story begins
Who needs LSD when you have an imagination like mine?
late night engineering, Southampton University, asteroid impact research
Coding Late at Night
A little ale to help the late night coding run smoothly. They talk of beer goggles and the beer scooter - well I'm trialing the beer coder.
black sheep, real ale, coding
Shhh!
black sheep, real ale, coding
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)