How to Edit Like You Have a Ph.D. in Computer Science

Our brains are fabulous pieces of work. The brain loves filling in gaps. This ability can be helpful when we’re trying to solve problems and what not. However, what can be considered a gift in one context, can be considered a curse in another. Case in point: writing. How many times have you, thoughtfully, put together a writing masterpiece only to find that you’ve left critical words out of some sentence?? “One way to (missing words) algorithm, is through memoization.” And not only do our brains love to fill in gaps, they also love to delete what’s there too! “What causes causes Quicksort’s worst runtime?

So, how do you fix these kinds of issues? Read what you’ve written OUT LOUD. This is fine advice, and some search engine results will espouse the same thing. However, the reality is that by page 2 (okay maybe 3, :o), you will be reading in your head again without even knowing it. Well, if somebody else were to read it to you, that would be awesome wouldn’t it? Huh? What was that? You don’t know some loser who is sitting around all day waiting for you to ask him to read your document out loud to you? Then what can you do?

Dun, Dun, Duuuuuun! Text-to-Speech (TTS) to the Rescue!

On a Mac, do the following:

1. System Preferences --> Speech
2. Choose the System Voice You Want (there are male and female voices)
3. Choose the Key Combination You Want to Activate TTS When You Highlight Text On Your Computer

Now your computer can be your flunkie! After you write a document and you want to proof it, try having your computer read it out loud to you. I guarantee you’ll save yourself all kinds of embarrassment.

FYI: I eradicated 3 different errors in this post alone using this strategy. The proof is in the pudding.

Windows Users: I don’t know if Windows has a similar TTS built into the OS (leave a comment indicating how for Windows if there is a way to activate TTS). If there’s no way for Windows to do it, then there’s plenty of vendors that make TTS software for Windows. Note that Web-based alternatives may be undesirable if the information to be proofed is sensitive.

How To Feel & Be Impressively Educated

The Problem
Ever forgot something that you knew really well? Like back in school when you were taking courses, you totally dominated the class, but if, right now, you were asked anything but the simplest questions on the subject you’d experience the “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomenon, or worse, the “WTF!” phenomenon. Ever been in a course where the professor assumed you remembered EVERYTHING from some previous course? Didn’t turn out well did it? I used to hate when professors did that. I’d think, “just do a little review, I’ll catch on...damn, now I gotta go brush up on this!” If this stuff is in my major, I shouldn’t have to go back and “brush up on this.” I should know it like I know 2 plus 2 is 4! So what’s the remedy?

The Solution

Review the subject material regularly. Review the subject material regularly. Review the subject material regularly. In case you missed it the first, second, or third time: Review the subject material regularly. Oh, I can already hear the whiners, “Oh, it’s going to take too much time to review a course’s material. We did learn it over an entire semester!” While it is true that you may have learned a course’s material over an entire semester, it’s untrue that your review of that material will take time commensurate with the time it took you to initially learn the material. When you’re really ready to rock a final exam, can’t you review an entire course worth of material in far less than a day? Why is this possible? Well a big part of the answer is that as the material becomes more and more ingrained in you, you get faster and faster at reviewing the material because your brain is able to chunk so much of the material. The material no longer resembles a vast palace, but a miniature castle that can fit in the palm of your hand. How long would it take you to review material from an Algebra course? Thought so.

The Mechanics of Reviewing

There’s no one right way to review. Do what works for you. If you’re like most people, you’ve probably thrown away many of the materials from your different relevant courses. No worry. Simply build up your knowledge base from scratch. But this time, make it question driven. Start with something that you sort of remember but should totally remember as a person with a degree (or will soon have a degree) in field X. As you find out the answer to this question, more questions will start to come to you. I’m a big fan of the questions driven model to reviewing. Why? Because via this method, you actually start to *really* feel educated. There’s something deeply satisfying about answering your OWN questions.

I like taking my notes in a modified Cornell Note-taking fashion. This way, I can cover up the answers that are on the right side of the page, and quiz myself with questions that are on the left side of the page. My version of the Cornell Note-taking system has no summary section at the bottom of each page.

In the Final Analysis

It only makes sense to put effort toward remembering material you so assiduously toiled to obtain. You paid the price to acquire the material through time, effort, frustration, and money. To forget the material is to flush it all down the toilet. And if you were just going to flush it all down the toilet, why’d the hell did you learn it in the first place?!? Yes, I’ll concede that at times you’re forced to learn things that have no applicability to you and your life (at least in your opinion). But what about that stuff that you “know” IS relevant to you and your life? Do you know that stuff cold? Then shoot, I say give yourself that gift.

How to Solve Really Hard Problems

Interested in the secret to solving really hard problems and understanding tough concepts?  It's really simple.  So simple, in fact, it can be summed up in a single word.   Instead of calling problems you encounter in papers, class, problem sets, exams, or research "hard," call them "INTERESTING." 

This single, seemingly insignificant, change in word choice is one commonality I notice in faculty and many sharp graduate students.  I can recall many times being in a graduate course, and a Professor would describe a hella tough concept as being really interesting.  In my head, I'd think "nooooo, that's really hard, what you mean is that it's really really hard--why do you insist on calling this interesting??"  However, the professors knew better than me.  They knew that if they described problems/concepts as "hard" it would shut down parts of their brain they needed to actually wrap their minds around the problem/concept.    

It really hit me, when I was going over an Algorithms problem set with an advanced graduate student that had been through the course a year or so prior.  He was extremely skilled at Algorithms even though that wasn't his area of focus.  There was a ridiculously contrived and difficult problem I was having issues with solving, and his off base approaches to solving the problem showed that we were in agreement in how ridiculously tough the problem was.  Neither one of us actually solved the problem.  However, he insisted the problem was interesting.  I looked at him as if he was crazy.  He seemed enamored by the problem.  I didn't get it then, and I'm not sure I fully get the whole being enamored part even now.  Nonetheless, running into this problem with him gave me the key insight: people who are really skilled at solving hard problems, describe them as interesting.  

You now know the secret. 

The Invisible Grad

You have come into contact with this person ... you think. They are that one person in your department who you recall seeing once or twice, but you never saw them again. The next time you see this individual (maybe 6 months to a year later), they have good news to report of presentations, publications, and candidacy.You begin to ask yourself, "How are they able to have so many spectacular achievements, yet I never see them in the department?". The reason that they get so much work done is due to the fact that you never see them.

Introducing the Invisible Grad

Once a certain point has been reached within your research as a PhD student, one should become relatively autonomous and not need to come into the lab as much as your less experienced colleagues. Who would want to come into the lab anyway? It's counterproductive and full of distractions. In the office, my days would typically end up looking like this:

9:00 - start work

11:00 - fire drill

12:00 - get dragged out of your lab for lunch with other students

1:30 - return from lunch

3:00 - department seminar/lecture

5:00 - time to leave! (after all, you HAVE worked an 8 hour day)

* Note: i haven't even factored in teaching/office hours for those of us who have classes as well as other graduate student popping into the lab to "shoot the breeze".

Away from the lab (perhaps at home, a coffee shop, library) these distractions are virtually non existent allowing more time to concentrate on the real reason you are in grad school, to do research! Take some advice from the Invisible Grad, and disappear from the distractions and emerge with PROGRESS !!!

Getting Residual Value Out Of Reading Technical Papers

If you're getting a Ph.D., reading technical papers is a necessary part of the process.  And when you first dive into a research area, getting up to speed may seem like an insurmountable task. Take heart; it isn't :o). 

It just takes a hella long time.

Doesn't it suck when you've read a paper some time ago, but can't quite recall what it was about?  Me too.  So here's a nice time saver you can implement.  Consider it "The Reader's Digest Method" for your research area.

A typical bib entry might look something like this:

@Book{abramowitz+stegun-64,
author = "Milton {Abramowitz} and Irene A. {Stegun}",
title = "Handbook of Mathematical Functions with
Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables",
publisher = "Dover",
year = 1964,
address = "New York",
edition = "ninth Dover printing, tenth GPO printing"
}

Using The Reader's Digest Method, the above bib entry would look something like this:

@Book{abramowitz+stegun-64,
author = "Milton {Abramowitz} and Irene A. {Stegun}",
title = "Handbook of Mathematical Functions with
Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables",
publisher = "Dover",
year = 1964,
address = "New York",
edition = "ninth Dover printing, tenth GPO printing",
tags = "TERMS TO CLASSIFY THIS ENTRY",
summary = "PROBLEM ADDRESSED, APPROACH, WERE THEY SUCCESSFUL?",
analysis = "DRAWBACKS (IF ANY) OF THIS WORK"
}

I imagine it's immediately obvious why the additional three elements at the bottom of this bib entry are useful.  But something tells me that the tags entry *may* deserve some elaboration.  Remember that your .bib files can grow pretty large over the years you're doing your Ph.D.  And you'll want to be able to quickly search for papers that are classified differently in your research area (e.g., I need to find all "Intrusion Detection" papers I've read). Tagging helps you find these papers quickly. 

Imagine if your .bib file was full of these extra bib elements!  You'd rarely have to go back and reread an entire paper!  So give this method a spin.  Get some residual value out of all the hours you spend reading a paper for a change.

Visiting Graduate Programs

College seniors are now making their visits to institutions they've been admitted to for graduate school.  At a visit, invariably these students have meetings scheduled with an array of faculty members. And, invariably students rarely know what to ask these faculty members.  So graduating seniors, this post is for you.

Believe it or not, the first questions you pose are not to a faculty member, but to yourself.  The Ph.D. is something you pick up on your way to putting your full dent in the universe.  So the million dollar question you must ask yourself is: "What the hell do I want to do AFTER I get the Ph.D.?"  For some of you, I'm sure, this can be answered without thinking. However, I'm willing to bet that for most of you, asking this question will produce no meaningful answer.  Hence, for the rest of you, the hundred thousand dollar question you must ask yourself is: "What the hell do I NOT want to do AFTER I get the Ph.D.?"  Although it's possible that you may not arrive at a definitive answer, this 2nd question at least narrows the answer space to viable alternatives for the 1st question.

Once you've answered one of the above questions, read the faculty members' websites.  You'll often find that faculty members actually have advice for students looking to work with them on their Websites.  So please, please, take notes on all faculty members you'll meet based on their Websites. Review your notes before the meeting.  Your preparation should show in your meeting.  Beyond earning you brownie points, it may earn you a Research Assistantship (among other things).                

Ask if there are any current students you can speak with.  Notice that I say "students" and "speak." Not "student" and "email."  Talking to students is critical because one student's opinion can vary dramatically from another student's.  You never know what underlying drama may be present. So by talking to as many students of a faculty member as possible you increase your chances of discovering the truth.  Speaking to these students is critical because graduate students are busy (or at least think they are) and can very well ignore your emails.  It's far more difficult to ignore a living, breathing human being standing in front you.  Lastly, when speaking with someone, you can detect physical ques that may clue you in to things that "just don't smell right." 

Do NOT forget to ask if there is anyone they've graduated that you can talk to. It may not be possible to speak with these folks, but if you can, absolutely talk to them!  Why?  THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO LIE TO YOU.  They already have their Ph.D.s.   You see, professors usually have contracts that require they produce some artifact.  And this artifact tends to the be the result of their students' effort.  If the faculty member has no students coming in to work with him/her, the member may "HOLD ON" to their current students (i.e., postpone current students' graduation timeline).  This creates an incentive structure where students may be less than forthright with you if it might mean you not working with their advisor. 

Although these are not all the things you should do and ask, they should give you a hell of head start!  Good luck!

The Definitive Guide to Spending Less Time on Facebook

The first thing you must cultivate is a strong disdain for lots of information.  Let's face it, Facebook (FB) has gobs and gobs of information.  Just silently tell yourself that all the information that FB bombards you with is highly undesirable.  Got it?  Now we can move on with the guide.

• Ignore the "Live Feed" option.  Pretend that it's not even there.  If you want a live feed, go to Twitter, the originator of live feeds of people in your network.  The Live Feed will only steer you into trouble so treat it like a bastard stepchild...because it is.

• Look at only your "Home Feed."  FB has an algorithm to try to bring certain things to your attention.  Let FB's algorithm do its thing.  Yes, it kind of sucks at finding interesting things in your network, but so what?  What's the most you'll miss?  A new hiking trip photo album from your roommate in college?

• "Hide" ruthlessly.  If you find there are certain line items that cause you to engage FB more than you want, "Hide it" from your FB feed.  If there's an item on your Home feed that generates even a hint of disgust, you must hide it.  You don't want that negativity clouding your thinking for real work.    

• Reply from your email when you can. FB has integrated the ability for you to reply to comments from your email account.  USE IT!  If you respond from your email, you'll be less tempted by all the other candy dancing around FB.

• Get off other people's schedules.  People tend not to be on FB Friday afternoon through the evening.  The same can be said for Saturday afternoon through the evening.  If you want to get on FB and stalk people, these are the times to do that.  There won't be much ongoing activity to keep you on there very long.  I know what you're thinking though.  "If everybody does this, then won't people be active on FB and make this an ineffective strategy."  Theoretically, yes everybody could read this article and start putting this strategy into practice.  However, the chances of this happening is about the same as getting struck with lightning 10 times...under water.

• Batch process the "FB pulls."  The folks at FB are pretty smart.  They send you numerous emails to engage you in FB (e.g., messages, comments on your wall, comments on your posts), and I refer to them as "FB pulls" because they try to pull you back into FB.  Good thing FB isn't your boss--whew!  You can respond to those FB pulls whenever you damn well please.  Exercise that power!  A corollary of this point, is that if you have no FB pulls, you have no business on FB.     

Hopefully, with the above points as guides, your time can be a little less FB-filled.  Cheers!