(Lack of an) Online Presence

Blogs and forums have always been first on my list for preferred methods of web-based communication and especially outreach/information sharing. It's often hard to keep track of though, and can require quite a large amount of effort. Afterall, a 140 character tweet can be drafted, proofed, and published before you have boiled the kettle. I can only imagine the quantities of tea/coffee that content creators like Kurtzegast, Smarter Every Day, and Periodic Videos go through for each video.

Being fair to myself and the lack of effort I have put into blogging (or the various online projects I have initiated and never followed through on) I have had my hands tied by PhD work. The good news there being that I am submitted, viva voce-d, and to graduate any day now.

I would really like to get involved in science web content, it has been a desire in the back of my mind for a long time. The work with the Physics Society DIT, lab demonstrating, teaching hours, tutorials, talks, posters, conference dinners, discussions over tea, general academic life, all of this does really help grow a broad perspective. I've been very lucky to sit on tables with experts and attend talks by award winners, it's nice to share that for anyone who is interested. I realise there are plenty of staffers out there who do this, but there's always room for one more eh?

I wanted to put up a five minute blurb as a getting-back-to-it. As usual if you read this and want to comment I'd love to hear from you, but for the time being this is for myself I suppose.

#WhatDidScienceDoToday

Nearly finished with September 2012 already

Isn't the world ending soon? I really do never get enough time to finish what I start..
I never even get a chance to start half the things I want to start really.

College term is beginning again, final year of my PhD, the start of my 21st year in education, my 8th year of graduate physics and coming up on my quarter of a century.
More than this, much more than this.. (hur hur) one brother is starting his leaving cert courses (5th year), another has moved to San Diego for his PhD in UCSD, one sister is starting schooling (5 years old) and another is going to be moving to England to continue her graduate level architecture. Really crazy to think, I find it hard enough to believe that little Alannah is 5, let alone that Josh isn't going to be living in Ireland for at least the next 5 years. Feels very odd indeed.

Listening to Interpol on my headphone in the office, just G and myself in the office at the moment, I like Interpol sometimes. What do you like to listen to when you're working? Do you not get to listen to music when you work? I hate it when that happens, I never work right without music. I remember my first job, it was just a summer job in a primary school (1st level of education) near where I was living. I had just finished my leaving cert and my dad sorted me out with a few weeks repairing and upgrading the computers he had sold them years before. I spent about the bulk of it just formatting machines, fresh install of the latest Windows and all that.
I would walk down to the school each morning, stop off in the shop and buy an Irn-Bru and a pack of Crispy M&Ms. I had brought a set of PC speakers (the same set I have in my office now, had them for about a decade [harman/kardon HK195]) and was blasting Eagles of Death Metal while I worked alone in the computer room. The school was basically empty except for me and the odd teacher who was dropping by to grab this or that from their rooms. Just me, spinning on office chairs and checking the HDDs, dusting out machines and replacing power supplies that had lived their lifetime. Was a fun couple of weeks considering I was getting paid to do it.
I like that memory.

June is Ending

View from Sandymount/Sydney Parade across Dublin bay towards Howth head.

I just saw Terry Pratchett, watched a live stream of his talk at Science Gallery and then went over for a coffee at, funnily enough, the exact time he was leaving. Oh how coincidental, you'd swear I planned it >.>
Unfortunately I didn't bring the Discworld book I'm currently reading for him to sign but I wouldn't really have wanted to bother him, he was already surrounded by fans anyway.

Same old life other than that, data analysis, finding and reading papers about Z-pinch experiments, the latest EUV results and the odd few laser ablation papers with novel setups. So many papers, my Mendeley (highly recommend for citations, paper arranging and backup etc.) is ever stocking up. Somehow I've managed to put 9,841 scientific papers, books & manuals on my office computer... Luckily with Mendeley I could sort these and so not get perpetually lost in information when trying to cite someone specific.

Also my, I say my because it's the laser I've used most for the past 3 years and I love it, Surelite Nd:YAG seems to be fixed once again. Looks like it was just a faulty flashlamp, I had replaced it as pretty much the first response to the initial failure but it looks like the new flashlamp wasn't up for the task. In any case it looks to be working now, will run it again later on and tomorrow to make sure it's functioning, maybe take an energy measurement and burn pattern too. Will need it working perfectly for my next experiment in August.
There are lots of other things I really need to sort for this experiment too, fingers crossed I can get it all to slot neatly into place. If anyone knows who that guy I talked to at a conference about the cheap EUV filters his group made was, please tell me. It's this reason everyone should make up business cards (not that I have any), I can never remember names.

Honey dressed up for the day by her fabulous stylist Odette.

Odette & I had the lovely Honey as a house guest for this last weekend gone, a big dog in a small cottage. Could be a good book. The accursed Irish summer weather in all its undependable glory meant we didn't take her on a walk at all (the poor pup) but we did dress her up! That makes it so much worse right! Hahaha. Odette got better pictures of Honey sat in an armchair with a beret on, she really is a patient dog.

Otherwise I don't have a huge amount to report, I am loving Post Crossing and trying to get more people to get into A Show with Ze Frank (and the Finishing Stamp mission). Cooking with Odette lots, she has restarted her cooking blog and is continuing her YouTube channel. Kevin has started an instructional cooking blog too.
'Tis the season I guess! (whatever convinced me to get back blogging at the same time)
I feel like this post looks like a very poorly edited wiki page of someone's conversation to the demons in their head.
Send help.

View east along the Liffey from Grattan bridge showing the Millennium bridge & Ha'penny bridge.

View from the bridge over the duck pond in Saint Stephen's Green.

Tide in at Sandymount/Sydney Parade (not exactly the same location as the 1st image).

All pictures from now on will be mine, do with them as you will, pretend they are yours, email me a picture of you and I will photoshop us both into them and we can say we once hungout in Dublin... with Elvis.. and a llama.

The gig I missed

Well QOTSA played a few meters from where I sleep and I didn't get to see them play.

I did hear every beat though, which rocks, and I got (bad) pictures of them. It was Josh Homme's birthday yesterday, so I guess he left earlier than the others to nurse a hangover maybe. The guy beside me got Joey's drum sticks, right in front of my eyes. I also got to talk to Joey which was epic (although brief). The gig that never was, for me anyway. Or maybe half was is more accurate. Next time eh?