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For a long time i thought I might be staying in Pitt for an additional year after my defense to pursue a project with some tasty NIST money. It now looks like no matter what, that is not likely to be an option. So I have started packing up my apartment, and doing all the final experiments and simulations for my thesis.
Come February, I will be moving out. Don't know yet what I am doing next, but I have started the job interview process. Maybe albequerque. |
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Some of the entries in the DDR series have a 'workout mode' where you enter your weight, then do the songs (without failing no matter how bad you do). As you go through, the system will estimate the calories you have burned based upon what steps you make, how quickly they are made and your weight. I'm sure that any formula which neglects to take into account heart rate has its flaws, but it can't be THAT far off. So, I turned on the function.
I was actually surprised at the number of calories that get burned per hour even with 'light' songs. I expected the thing to be a giant disappointment, and say i only burned about 50 calories per hour, but its more like 400-500. So, I think i'll keep the thing running.
In other news: stone and pain are gone. woot! |
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They have scheduled me for another surgery tomorrow. Day surgery. (Hopefully) no cutting. But pain.
Worst 4 day weekend ever.
Learned something new: extreme pain can cause your heart rate to plummet. My rest rate is normally low to mid 60s (beats per minute). Since the stone, it has been high 30s, low 40s. It was so low they had trouble getting the machines to acknowledge that I was alive. Joy. |
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Another stone. Been in hospital past three days, which is lame, but the food wasn't too bad. There just is not enough of it, and doctors are hesitant to allow patients to eat or drink.
Am now on meds in apt. Will go back to hospital if vicodin is insufficient to keep pain at bay.
One surgery down, at least one more to go. This september officially sux. |
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So, the fundamental flaw with exercise is it makes you hungry. But, eating negates any of the positive benefits of exercise. Whereas, if you hadn't exercised, you wouldn't be NEARLY as hungry.
Don't exercise -> gain weight
Exercise -> eat more -> gain weight
So, you train yourself to eat less. But, for people who remember human anatomy:
Eat less -> body thinks its starving and panics -> gain weight
Eat more -> gain weight
Well, why not simply eat food that has much volume, but no calories / fat?
Eat plastic ->...lose weight?
Will try this. |
| » back to the city of smells |
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Am heading back to STL for a week in October. I know I have announced this before, but it wasn't a sure thing, given how poor my boss is. I couldn't actually get him to commit to paying for conference registration until this week. Part of the agreement is that I stay with friends and pay the airfare. Given that, I should have gone longer. If anyone is going to be in STL around Oct 10-17, tell me so we can meet up.
Oh, the paper I will be presenting (or partially presenting, or whatever) has been nominated for Best Paper Award. It is just a piece of paper, but it would be a nice piece of paper; which means that I am sure my boss will steal. So I will have to make a copy or something before he gets his grubby little mitts on it. That might sound paranoid, but he stole the trophy my partner and I won in 2007. Seriously! He came into the office one day and took it off my desk when I wasn't around.
So, other than working in a broke lab that fires its students (yes, there have been firings, which I imagine are much scarier for people who are no where near being done with their theses), everything is about the same. Writing grant proposals in addition to papers is only a minor change. Got two grant proposals and three papers in the works, hopefully all submitted by december. After that will be purely writing on my thesis until my defense, which I am aiming to do in late april or early may. That way I can walk in may and my family can come and cheer!
After that; one year break. I will be traveling. Give me a heads up if you wish to join me at any point.
Aug. 18th, 2009 @ 09:14 pm
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| » Goin home!!! |
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Headin home tomorrow for 2 weeks. WOOT.
Now, if only i didn't have a paper due in 6 days.... blargh.
Jul. 9th, 2009 @ 12:22 am
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| » (No Subject) |
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I will likely be going to STL in October for IROS 2009 (www.iros09.mtu.edu/). The conference is from the 11th to the 15th. Is anyone gonna be around then?
Jun. 11th, 2009 @ 11:22 pm
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| » Softball |
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so, i joined the mech-e grad student softball team. I am proud to say that I am the weakest link on an already severely corroded tin-foil chain. My goal; to end up middle of the pack by the fall.
Jun. 1st, 2009 @ 09:44 pm
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| » On papers, proposals, and passports |
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Revising a journal paper this week. When it gets published, it will be THE paper on my micro-robot work. Afterward, will start work on several papers, both short and long, and two proposals.
So, to pay for research, you write proposals. That being said, i haven't yet worked on one, only read some of the others done by people in my lab. This will be my first. I have about 6 weeks to work on it, and it will essentially be the same as my thesis proposal, just cut down to 25 pages or less (from about 110). I have some confidence in this getting accepted, because the person running it wanted our group to personally try for the funding. If we do win, it could mean up to 1.5 mill into the lab over the next 3 years. While i won't be around to enjoy most of that, it could make my remaining time a whole lot more bearable...
Getting into/out of the country wasn't nearly as bad as I had worried. There was no extensive scrutiny and no cavity search. The customs forms were kinda funny, but all the warnings i saw online proved .... overblown. ::shrugs::
The next 7 months should be... interesting.
May. 28th, 2009 @ 11:18 pm
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| » Day 9 |
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The voyage home:
Instead of taking a bus back to Osaka-Kansai, I instead went to Kobe airport (on a huge artificial island) and took a ferry from one airport to the next. It only took 30 minutes (as compared with 70 by bus) and was quite enjoyable. Woot for water travel.
Arrived at the airport with enough time to be 3rd in line for NWA awaiting their opening (they fly so few flights that the booth isn't always running). Wandered around the airport for a while then flew to tokyo.
Once in tokyo, had to go through customs, which was not actually that bad (they don't mind you LEAVING their country). 13 hour flight tho. THAT was an ordeal. On the plus hand, it was a 747, and only half full, so everyone could spread out some. On the negative hand, they air conditioned it like it was overflowing, so it was freaking COLD. I honestly worried about getting ANOTHER cold. Was so cold, covered myself with multiple blankets head to foot while trying to sleep.
Left my hotel at 8.30 am on monday, got back to the pitt at 7.30 pm on monday. Went back to apt, watched duckman slept. Mission complete.
May. 20th, 2009 @ 10:54 pm
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| » pictures... i think |
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Okay... i think if you follow the link, it takes you to pictures... http://s358.photobucket.com/albums/oo23/flinx333/Japan%20Trip/
I'll upload more in days to come
May. 19th, 2009 @ 10:42 pm
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| » Day 8 |
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A canceled tour, an unexpected trip
So, I was SCHEDULED to go on a tour of several universities and visit labs associated with robotics. This would be useful for networking purposes, because a couple of the labs were in fields I'm interested in (micro, medical, and haptics). But, as mentioned in a previous rant, the tour was CANCELLED because ONE DUDE got sick. After having dressed nicely and racing to the meeting point (and skimping on breakfast so I could be on time) I find out the damn thing is canceled. (No, they DID NOT send an email.)
So, i turn around and head back to my hotel. On the train ride back, I actually had a pleasant conversation with a guy from Imp. Col. London who does work in medical robots and actually knew of my work (I was shocked).
Once in the hotel, I tried to plan my way to get to Kyoto, but I just had way too much trouble trying to get google to be in english. SO, instead, I simple went to Sannomiya (the central train station area) and hoped for the best.
I managed to get on a train heading out to Kyoto semi express, so it only took about an hour to get there. Kyoto is a very large city (second largest in Japan after Tokyo I think) and cannot rightly be explored in the half day I had left. From talking with others, I was told the best places to visit were the temples in the eastern part of the city. So, I wandered around the subway station looking for a map. I found one, which was partially in english, and stood there trying to decode the damn thing for about 5 minutes. Then I hear "May I help you?". A station hostess type person who spoke english had decided to come over and help the poor lost foreigner. Hence, I was able to get to the east side.
Okay. First, understand there are about 1 million temples/shrines/statues/parks/mini-castles/etc in eastern Kyoto. There was NO WAY i could visit them all. So, I tried to walk by as many as I could in the time I had and take pictures.
Unfortunately for that plan, it had two major drawbacks: (1) It was a dreary, rainy day. (2) After a week of 12 hours days on my feet, i was freaking exhausted (and I think my shoes had been worn to death).
Suffice to say, I was not in the mood to pay for any of my visits, so I only took exterior shots of non-free things. Also, after about 5 hours, I was just too tired to continue, even after only visiting 2 or 3 major and 5 or 6 minor locales. If anyone plans on visiting, go with a tour group, or plan out your days well in advance, because its just too much to walk to ALL the good temples in a short time. 3-5 days would probably be a reasonable amount of time.
I did buy a couple of souvenirs (of course), grabbed some food, and explored (for a short time) Kyoto's underground mall system. But mostly I wanted to get back, get off my feet, and relax before packing up to leave the next day.
May. 19th, 2009 @ 09:43 pm
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| » Japan Photos |
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Okay, I am uploading pics to photobucket. I am not sure how to make them appear here. Somebody IM me and please explain. Otherwise, i guess you can visit my photobucket place (I'm not sure if those are open or not)?
I'm new to this, so give me time and/or advice.
May. 19th, 2009 @ 09:17 pm
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| » An atemporal observation |
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If you are wondering why I have been so verbose in these postings, it is because a large part of my days are spent in almost complete silence with NO ONE to talk to aside from vendors (which, as i mentioned early, is as much gesturing as actual talking). This is especially true on days when I go sightseeing. So, when i get back to the states, I should return to my normal, infrequent, and short entries.
-S
May. 17th, 2009 @ 10:18 am
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| » Day 7 |
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A rainy half-day in Osaka
I got to sleep in a bit because the first talk i wanted to attend was not until 9.30 (as opposed to 8.30 when the conference sessions start). This was a medical robotics talk by a guy I met at the NSF dinner. I had actually seen his work in previous years, as it includes small scale robotic manipulators.
Shortly after that talk plus a couple of micro-robotics talks, i headed out to Osaka via the subway system. From a subway standpoint, Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto are all part of one large super city, with vastly interconnected lines and the ability to travel amongst all three cities for low cost. Though, if you want to travel from the heart of one city to the next in a timely manner, you REALLY need to catch an express. With trains leaving every couple of minutes (all on time of course) expresses are about every 10-20 minutes, making this a reasonable proposition.
THe first goal on the trip was the Osaka aquarium, which apparently has some of the largest tanks in the world. Plus; whale sharks!!! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark) Its a 5 or 6 story building. You start at the top and descend the various levels, seeing ever more impressive sites as you get lower and lower into the water. They had penguins, dolphins, whale sharks, seals, otters, sharks, rays, whale sharks, jellyfish, coral and everything else you could imagine, including whale sharks. They even had a tank featuring creatures from the deep sea which were slowly introduced to the surface. These included super large crabs that just stared at the tourists. I took as many pictures as was practical, given the low lighting conditions and the 10 billion children. Also, there was an audio tour IN ENGLISH!!!
In the area outside the aquarium, there was a mini mall, street performers and a large crowd. Oh, there is also the BIGGEST FERRIS WHEEL I HAVE EVER SEEN. I literally cannot estimate how tall it was because my mind balked at the site. It had dozens and dozens of cages. There MIGHT have been over a hundred. Gigantic, you can see it for miles. I watched for a bit before heading off to the Osaka castle, the other site i wished to see in Osaka.
Himneji Castle (which I had visited a few days ago, if you wish to review) was largely in its initial state, and visiting was a trip to the past. Osaka castle, on the other hand, is a gigantic tourist trap. Also, the grounds are MUCH larger. Osaka castle occupies several city blocks, and the grounds are perhaps a mile and a half across, as compared to Himeji, which was perhaps a quarter of that. In addition, there are TWO moats, an outer one which encompasses the entire grounds, and an inner one which secures the keep and a couple of fields. Osaka has a garden as well, but i didn't think I would have time to visit, so did not buy a ticket.
Just walking to the keep from the outer wall took 10 minutes. Once inside, each floor is dedicated to giving the visitor some history on the castle and its rulers. I took as many pictures as I could, but some floors filled with artifacts prohibited photography. I arrived fairly late in the day, and could only spend about an hour and a half exploring. Within these limitations, I took as many pictures as I could of the (fairly limited) exhibits. If I could only have visited one castle, I think Himeji is better overall. Less touristy, more real. I stopped at the museum shop before heading out. On the plus side for Osaka, the stairs are manageable, and the uppermost level has a ledge one where one can walk entirely around the building, seeing the whole city. You can easily see the ferris wheel, though it is miles away. (HUGE ferris wheel.)
Cultural note: There were several gift shops in the castle, on different floors. Unlike similar shops in america, each shop had a DIFFERENT selection of gifts, none of which appeared in the main shop on the lowest level. The moral of the story; GRAB GIFTS WHILE YOU CAN. When i figured out the main shop was missing some items, I wanted to run back up and grab them, but it was too late, and the hostesses did not want anyone going back in.
After the castle keep, I wandered the grounds for a while, intending to circle back to the train station by a different route. But... I got a bit lost and had to back track. That misadventure took about an hour. On the plus side, I was able to stop at several souvenir shops around the grounds and pick up toys and books.
On the way back to the subway station, I stopped by the underground mall. (I finally figured it out, malls are underground, and proper businesses are above ground. Any city with a subway has an underground mall.) It was bigger than the one in Kobe, so I only explored a portion of it. I stopped at a Mosburger (as suggested by a good friend), which was pretty good. I had heard that Osaka night life is an amazing thing, but as it was raining, there was hardly anyone lounging about on the streets. The underground mall was bustling, but it was filled with mall-like activity (people buying things) and not adventure-y type stuff.
I bought some cake (at this wonderful little kiosk that sold assorted slices of miniature cake. I decided on strawberry, lemon, choco, and surprise-me.) and headed back to Kobe. I then headed to bed early for the planned campus tour of Osaka University the following morning.
May. 17th, 2009 @ 09:26 am
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| » Day 5 Addendum |
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Dinner and Karaoke
Forgot to mention a dinner party that was held at the end of day 5. This was done for all the students who received NSF funding to attend the conference and Japanese students who are likely to attend a similar conference in St. Louis in October (IROS). I met some very interesting and enjoyable people and hope to see them again in October.
After the dinner and socializing, there was karaoke, and one of the guys at my table was AMAZING! He did "Take me on" by A-ha that was completely on key (think about it, no small feat). Towards the end of the evening, yours truly may or may not have done "I will survive" by Cake. There was even a giant group rendition of "Sakura" (with the words in Hiragana, so I could read it and join in!).
Got back to the hotel around 11.00
May. 17th, 2009 @ 08:05 am
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| » Day 6 |
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Why I hate computers
At the conference I had two major responsibilities; to present a paper I helped write on the water runner, and to present a video I had nothing to do with for a friend in the lab who could not attend.
The main reason I was able to attend this conference with its pricey flights and pricey hotel is that I applied for and received a scholarship from NSF (National Science Foundation). This scholarship will pay for my flight and (in theory) part of my hotel stay. The requirements are that I document my trip (hence the lengthy blog entries) and visit some labs in japan (scheduled for day 8). As such, my advisor magnanimously decided I could go to the conference. (Otherwise, he would have had to present ~ 8 papers).
The video was first in the morning, scheduled for 9.50. I wanted to make sure my computer worked, so I checked the video at the hotel and everything was fine. I then went to the room where videos were presented, arriving about 1 hour before I had to go. To be cautious, i re-checked my computer to make sure the video would play. It did BUT the keyboard was not responding. Uh oh. Well, strictly speaking, I didn't NEED the keyboard to present the video, but such a failure prevented me from making an intro slide (which all the other video presenters seemed to have). To try to fix the problem, I wildly looked around for an outlet, so i could restart my computer (it doesn't like to restart without power).
Technological note: Japan uses 60 Hz, 120 Volt (RMS) power, just like the united states. They also use 2 prong outlets, very similar to many in the states. What they DON'T have is 3 prong outlets, which is what EVERY AMERICAN COMPUTER REQUIRES. I DID NOT have an adapter (there is one in my hotel room, which is how I am able to write these cheerful stories). I had just assumed the conference ppl would make sure there was 3 prong outlets. My mistake.
So, i could not plug in my computer, so i could not restart it, so i could not use the keyboard. So, i decided to simply present the video.
My time arrived, and I went up in front of everyone (about 100 ppl) and plugged in my computer to the projector. Nothing. I tried to get it to send its signal to the screen, but that function requires the keyboard. Blarg. I quickly explained to the moderator who asked if anyone in the audience would allow me to transfer my video to their computer. Someone offered, and we moved on to the next video.
I transferred my file to a zip stick i had with me and shifted it to her computer. The video played and had sound. Wonderful. After the next talk, I went back up to try again.
Another technological note: Playing a video on your computer screen and playing it to an attached screen require different amounts of processing power (depending on relative screen size, refresh rate, video size, etc.). While the video played fine on the small 10 inch screen of the volunteer's computer, it DID NOT play well on the 100 inch projector screen. The video (which was done in full 720 HD because the author has an obsession with images and movies looking great) jumped and skipped the entire time because it was simply too much for the little computer to handle. Whatever, not my problem. Just goes to show that newer IS NOT always better. I answered some questions, then sat down.
After the videos, I went to a room covering micro-robotics and plugged in my computer (this room DID have a 3 prong outlet) to let it charge up while i reset it. NOW everything worked fine. Whatever. Got my presentation ready and watched presentations until after lunch.
My presentation STARTED well. The videos played, the keyboard worked, all good. But, about 10 minutes in, my computer decided to turn off. My battery was drained. It went from 100% power to 0% in 10 MINUTES. Methinks the battery needs to be replaced. Luckily, I had the presentation on a zip stick, and a friend in the audience (the australian guy). Unfortunately, his computer was not running, and it took most of my remaining 10 minutes to start up. While the audience waited for the computer to start up and for my presentation to load, I answered questions about what i had presented (thank god for a great memory, huh?). When it was rolling again, I quickly wrapped up and the session moved on.
More presentations, a long bull session with some guys from switzerland (near those freaky baby seal robots ::shivers::), and a run to Nankin-machi for more sesame balls. MMMmmmm.
The moral of the story: computers hate me, and that is why I hate them in return.
May. 17th, 2009 @ 07:01 am
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| » Another minor continuiety break (with a rant too) |
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Okay world, listen carefully:
Stop. Take a breath. Think.
Right now, I am SUPPOSED to be on a tour of several university labs near Osaka. Instead, I am sitting in my hotel room. The reason? Japan has ONE (yes, 1) case of swine flu, so they canceled all tours in the conference. In a nation of 130 million ppl, ONE PERSON GETS SICK, and there is widespread panic.
Really? REALLY?
World; stop over-reacting. So far, the mortality rate is about 1% on average, less in first world countries. Society does not need to come to a crashing halt.
I just hope flying back into the country is not complicated too much by this nonsense.
May. 16th, 2009 @ 08:57 pm
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| » Day 5 |
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My first real conference day
I'll skip over the details of the sessions I sat in on and summarize by saying they revolved around micro-robotics, multi-robot control, and dexterous manipulation.
I'll instead focus on the booths that were there. These included keepon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPdP1jBfxzo), some anime style human sized robots, some 6 DOF haptic devices, and THE CREEPIEST ROBOT IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE. This was a baby seal robot intended for 'therapeutic' reasons. The thing sits there, blinking, mewling, and occasionally flapping, and its eyes will follow you if you are close enough. The main power cord ends in a pacifier, but the thick cord just made me think the seal had been intubated. It was creepy. It kept looking at me. I hate it. But for some reason, the micro-robot sessions were always near it, so i had to keep walking by it. ::shivers::
Oh, because it was japan, there was also a naked woman robot (no skin) and a creepy humanoid robot made to test facial features. The presence of these robots led to the classic discussion about the accuracy of simulacra and how comfortable ppl are with robot. Essentially, if you start with a very mechanical looking robot, ppl aren't comfortable interacting with it. As it becomes more human, people like it more up to a critical point. Then, the comfort level plunges to well below zero, and people hate the thing. We tried to decide which (if any) of the robots were near or past the critical point.
After conference stuff, brief run to Nankin-machi for more sesame balls. :) Then back to the hotel to get ready for presentations.
May. 16th, 2009 @ 10:00 am
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