Careless or ignorance?

About several days ago,I settle down the basic direct current control simulation problems of three-phase PWM rectifier.And these days, I am trying using SVM modulation method.But first,I am focused on triangle modulation method.This time,the current control loop is based on d-q rotating coordinates ,with the angular speed same as that of the sinusoidal voltage source .Because if we want the unity input power factor,we set Iq reference value to zero.And if we get Id well controlled,and we get output voltage well controlled.We call Id as the active current component and Iq the reactive current component.In other means, we control these two current components,we are actually get the active and reactive power controlled.Maybe,this way is commonly used in SVG and UPFC,which is my final target.

The three-phase rectifier control model under d-q reference frame is far simple and easy to understand.There exists three control loop.In order to control output voltage,we build a outer voltage loop.The inner current loop are Id/Iq control loop.Outputs of these two current loop are Dd and Dq,which are switch duty-circle under d-q reference frame .In order to control the conduction of the IGBTs,we need to inverse transform the duty-circle under d-q reference frame to abc coordinates.In steady state,the abc duty-circle changes sinusoidally.Be careful that if the sequential signal which we used as carrier, repeats from 0 to 1,then make sure the abc duty-circle waves are in this range.If not,just use a proper gain and do some shift to make this condition satisfied.

After building up the simulation model,problems follows.The big problem is that I can not get Iq controlled.I changed the PI parameters again and again,and I failed again and again.Out of patient,I turn my help to my roommate also teammate,sir Xialixun.He helped me checking if there exists any errors.Without detecting any problems,he is also confused,so he copied his simulation model to me to let get a detail comparison.After check and comparison ,I finally found the problem.It is the problem of the three-phase voltage sources.The three-balance voltage source I set the phase angles are 0 degree,-120 degree,120 degree,But his are 90 degree,-30 degree,210 degree.After about server minutes' thinking,I think the problem come from the coordinates.As plot showed left,the three-dimensional static abc coordinates represent the ABC phase's spacial position.Alpha-beta is two dimensional plane.But d-q is the rotating coordinate which here we assume at a speed same as voltage source.The abc-dq transformer I used in my model based on the initial angle starts from alpha axis.But actually when Va=Vm*sin(0),Vb=Vm*sin(-2*pi/3),Vc=Vm*sin(2*pi/3),the real start point is from beta axis!There exist 90 degree difference and no wonder Iq can not be controlled.I had to confess that this is not because of my careless,but my ignorance.I didn't think about this question before. After I fixing this problem,the model works.Although the control performance is not that good because of the controller parameters.Any way,I have made a little progress forward.Next step,I need to review my control theory textbook.I really need to occupy the skill of controller design method.
It has been getting hot these days.The cold winter has left us,and the warm spring really comes.Today's temperature is round 30 degrees.

I watched a new movie named Ghost rider yesterday night.Its chief actor is Nicolas Cage,who is the ghost rider of the death god in this movie.The protagonist,Johny(casted by Cage),was a acrobatic motor bike rider that succeeded from his father.But one day by accident,he finds his father got cancer.He did not know his father was sick before.He went to his working place and death god showed.Death god knows everything about Johny's situation,and promise to cure his father if he is willing to sign a contract,a contract makes man ghost rider and works for death god. Not out of viewer's surprise,Johny does sign it.The whole process like a dream when Johny wakes up and finds his father a healthy man.But unfortunately that day,death god let his father die of the show accident.Death god drives Johny from his friends,his lover,his family,hoping make Johny a cool-blood man. But because of Johny's strong spirit,he is not totally controlled by death god.He still keeps his girl in mind and loves her very much.Finally,because he becomes more and more famous,he met his old lover again,now who is a news reporter. The presence of his old lover ignites his fire of love,and he decides to amend the relationship between them.They do get together but fighting time-the most fantastic part of this movie-comes.Death god orders Johny to kill another evil people,who was expelled by angels from heaven.The story ends with Johny completing his mission,and enjoying love with his girl friend,but not willing to be back to a normal man because he wants to end the contract at him. Sincerely speaking ,I like Nicolas Cage some much,his fantastic performance attracted me deeply.The first time I know Nicolas is from Face off.I watched Some other movie like Lord of war,Firebird,National Treasure,Con Air,etc...All these movies made Nicolas Cage the best actor of the world.

Funny thing is that,I registered 6 new blogspot site,just don't hope these URLs registered by others.

Damned PWM rectifier

I have focused on the shit PWM rectifier for several days.And now,I got problems down.I simulated my three-phase pwm rectifier model which is based on my Power electronics technology textbook on the Matlab/simulink platform.The principle of this model is very simple.The control aims include outputting a constant DC voltage,and input current must be sinusoidal without phase shift with respect to the input voltage.So PWM rectifier, compared to conventional diode rectifier and phase-controlled recitifer,which is famous for owning unity power factor.It does not pollute the power-supply network.But things seems not that easy when I started to simulate this model on simulink.My matlab version is v2006,this version of matlab is a resource-consuming monster for my celeron(R)1.7Ghz,256M memory machine.It wasted lot of my time starting the software,waiting it free memory etc...What's more,the model I thought is simple enough,will not have any problem.But the simulation results disappointed me deeply.The output voltage can not be controlled.Voltage compensator saturated all the time.The most strange thing is,what I built is a three-phase boost rectifier,but the output voltage just only can be adjusted downward,not upward.It made man mad.Lasting for several gloomy days,I nearly gave it up.I tried to find my answers in those IEEE papers.But not out of my surprise,no one will post articles based on such a simple model using a most basic hysteresis modulation method.Nearly all of the paper have one or two creative point,such as from topology to algorithm.I have no idea then but to turn my help to fundamentals of power electronics ebook.This book the master piece of Colorado power electronics center,which most concerned DC/DC converter.This book is really good,but it does not related much to three phase system.

After last virus attack,I reinstalled my system,and of course,I had to reinstall my matlab.This time I did not install version2006 but version6.5,a lower version but a resource saver.This afternoon,I rebuilt the pwm rectifier in my matlab6.5,after debuged some algebra loop errors,I got my model worked.Out of my surprise,it works so great,and the simulation result is very right!It is hard for me to interpret why it works on Matlab6.5 but not on 2006.Here I got the simulation results screenshots:
Output DC voltageInput voltage/current
The simulation result above is based on the parameters listed below:
Three phase balanced AC voltage source peak amplitude:100V,frequency=50Hz
Input inductance:1e-3H.
Input impedance:1ohm.
Output filter capacitance:1e-3F.
Load resistance:100ohm.
Reference output voltage:400V.
PI controller of voltage loop:kp=0.01,ki=1,output ranges from-100 to 100.
Current hysteresis regulator band:0.01.
PS:The relay submodel should be concerned carefully. It should output zero when switch on and output one when switch off.
Yesterday night,I watched the new movie-Eragon.At first,I thought the movie's name is "Dragon".There is only one letter of difference.Actually,Eragon is the name of a dragon rider.I think the film producer intentionally use this word as the name of the protagnist.It allude dragon,of course.

All U.S. movies basically have the same common:the bright side beat down the dark side finally,and so is Eragon.I really do not know how to introduce the episode of this movie,and I am not sensitive to those names of roles and tribes.So I searched my answers on wikipedia,And I copied them down. Forgive my laziness.^_^

Eragon takes place in a land called Alagaësia, most of which is ruled by the despotic king Galbatorix. He is a Dragon Rider who went mad after his dragon was killed by Urgals and he was denied another by the Dragon Riders' council. The Dragons were once involved in a partnership with the elite Dragon Riders, and together they kept peace in the land. Galbatorix, along with a treacherous group of Riders known as the Forsworn, destroyed the order of the Riders during the Dragon War. The dragons are now largely believed to be extinct.

Eragon, a 15 year old boy, lives with his uncle Garrow and cousin Roran on a farm on the outskirts of a small village, Carvahall. While hunting in The Spine, a local range of mountains, Eragon is surprised to see a polished blue stone appear in front of him. After failing to sell or trade his find, Eragon witnesses a baby dragon hatch from the "stone," which was in reality a dragon egg. He questions Brom - the elderly town storyteller - about the Dragons and the ways of the Dragon Riders. After this talk, Eragon names the dragon Saphira. He raises the dragon in secret until two of Galbatorix's servants, the Ra'zac, come to Carvahall looking for the egg. Eragon and Saphira manage to escape by hiding in the forest, but Eragon's uncle Garrow is killed, and the house and farm are destroyed.

Eragon becomes a Dragon Rider through his bond with Saphira. He decides to seek revenge on the Ra'zac, accompanied by Brom. On the journey, Eragon learns swordfighting, magic, and the ways of the Dragon Riders from Brom, who is something of an expert in these areas.

They travel through several cities, and Eragon is shocked by the way that the Empire is harming the land and its people. Finally, after obtaining information in the town of Teirm, Brom concludes that the Ra'zac reside in Dras-Leona, a city. There, Eragon, Saphira, and Brom are lured into an ambush by the Ra'zac. Although they are rescued by a stranger, Murtagh, Brom is gravely injured and dies shortly after — but not before revealing that he was a Dragon Rider whose deceased dragon shared Saphira's name.

The new company Eragon, Murtagh, and Saphira travel in search of the hidden leagues of the Varden, a strong rebel faction which Brom had mentioned on their journey. On the way Eragon has dreams of a beautiful elf, all of which feature her suffering great pain. Eragon is captured and imprisoned in the same prison that holds the elf. Murtagh and Saphira stage a rescue and Eragon escapes with the unconscious elf. During the escape Eragon and Murtagh battle with a Shade, a body controlled by spirits. The fact that a Shade is walking freely in the land deeply disturbs Eragon and he suspects that Galbatorix is planning something terrible.

After escaping, Eragon, Saphira, Murtagh, and the elf go in search of the Varden. After the elf did not wake after a week, Eragon becomes increasingly concerned and tries to reach her using a form of telepathy. He finds out her name is Arya and that she has been afflicted with a rare poison. She tells Eragon she has put herself in a self-induced coma, to slow the poison, but tells him if they do not reach the Varden within 3-4 days she will die.

Eragon and his party are pursued by an army of strong Urgals, named Kull, as they travel to the Varden's fortress, hidden deep within the Beor Mountains. When they reach the Varden, Arya's condition is very serious. She is given the antidote just in time and recovers soon after. Meanwhile, Eragon learns of the pact between the dwarves, the elves, and the Varden and how it was that Saphira's egg was magically teleported to the Spine. The group is at last able to rest, although an invasion by the army of Urgals is imminent.

When the battle finally begins, the Varden, and dwarves are pitted against an enormous army of Urgals. During the battle, Eragon faces the Shade, Durza, whom he had recently encountered. Eragon receives a serious disfiguring wound on his back during the fight. Durza is about to kill Eragon when Saphira and Arya create a distraction, diverting the Shade's attention long enough for Eragon to stab him in the heart (the only way to kill a Shade). After the death of the Shade, the Urgals have a spell lifted from them, and begin to fight among themselves. This gives the Varden a chance to counter-attack, routing the surviving Urgals. Eragon passes out, but during his unconsciousness he is contacted by a stranger who wants him to come to him for training.

This movie,as I think,is some kind of like Lord of the ring.Dwarfs,elfs,human and orcs,these four races are involved in this story.The only speck of this movie maybe it is too short,only last for about 100 minutes,which is not competitive to Lord of the ring that lasts almost twice the time.This directly cause that it did not show us a detailed description of some plots.However,it is a nice movie worth my words here.

Nothing serious to say...

This site seems got blocked,I can not visit here these days without tor.Maybe the DNS server is down,Maybe the GFW(great firewall) did have this site blocked.There was precedent that this site got blocked.I have no comments about China's Internet censorship.I am tired of these things.

Although I can visit this page by using Tor, its surfing speed is intolerably low.What is hell wrong with GFW?I don't mind you block porn site,I don't mind you block counter-political site.But why Google?I just want to post my dairy and trifles of my everyday life here.What the hell does Google did wrong?Seems everything got related with Google will not have good destiny in China.Writely,now the Google docs and spreadsheets,can't be visited sometime,Blogspot,of course the same situation.Sorry for breaking my promise.I should never have any of these complaints.

I am crazy about these fucking things.What is more,I really hate those people ho do not reply a word when I say hello or good morning to them on instant messenger.This kind of rudeness make me outrageous.Does it so hard for you to type "Hi or morning"?What the hell do you think you are?What will you feel when somebody treat the same to you?Are you my friend?Oh,shit!I really want to delete such guys from my buddy list,but I will not.

This morning,I got a call from my elder sister(Mrs yan).She inquired how I am and asked lot of things about my school life.This is totally a call full of care from long distance.Family love is always the warmest,everyone should cherish this kind of love for a lifetime.

Oh,god!What the hell had I write down?Forgot it,Need to work now...

Planning a PhD Thesis(HowTo)

The link below maybe useful for those planing a PhD thesis:
Click me
Avoiding for this webpage maybe invalid some day,I've copied the whole page down.

Planning a PhD Thesis

By: Niall McMahon,
School of Computing,
Dublin City University

Structuring and Writing a Dissertation

[ Skip to Links and References ]

Oftentimes, when new acquaintances hear that you are, for example, an amateur astronaut, their first question is "how do you get into being an astronaut?". It's always a difficult one to answer. If you're interested in something, learning about it, learning how to do it, well, it just happens; in my experience, it's easy to learn when you're interested. In Colin Powell's experience, the important thing when you're stuck is to do something. He's right, of course! Start reading about how to do it, start watching how others do it, start doing it ('learning-by-searching', 'learning-by-interacting' and 'learning-by-using' the three types of learning used to varying degrees by the Dutch and Danish wind energy industries).

Applying these ideas to structuring and writing a thesis, you could do worse than to take a sample of dissertations written by people you know and respect. Flick through them and note down the structure. Or you could start by reading published advice. Paltridge, in his paper Thesis and dissertation writing: an examination of published advice and actual practice, presents an analysis of fifteen doctoral theses from a range of disciplines and the advice given in eight recent publications from around the English-speaking world (listed in the bibliography below). From these books he identifies four generic thesis structures: Traditional Simple (IMRAD: Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion), Traditional Complex, Topic Based and Compilation Based (see Table 1 below). Of the fifteen manuscripts examined, six were tradtional, four complex, four topic based and just one was compilation based.

My own sample of eight PhD manuscripts from the School of Computing here at DCU was interesting. Of the eight, five were of the traditional complex form and the remaining three were structured as either traditional complex or topic based (making the distinction was difficult based solely on chapter titles). None of the theses used the traditional simple form. This may be because of the nature of computing dissertations; the IMRAD format is possibly too constraining. Partridge writes "The traditional: simple type thesis ... was more common at the master's level than at the doctoral level where students either carried out more complex types of study, or ones which were more appropriately reported on in a different kind of way". As with most things in life, there is a balance to be struck. Almost any type of scientific or engineering study can be presented using the IMRAD structure. At the same time, it may be that a more complex form will better present a particular project. The important thing is to communicate clearly and credibly. Norton's concluding advice about scientific report writing applies equally to the art of writing a dissertation: "... the purpose of the report should be to carry some fact or theory so interestingly ... so clearly that the busy world will stop to read it, and having read it will pause to think, for the ability to make men think in a new way should be the aim of every writer".

I find Hardy Hoover's Essentials for the Scientific and Technical Writer very useful. There is a pleasant parallel between the advice offered by Hardy and Syd Field's suggestions in The Definitive Guide to Screenwriting. Both recommend getting the structure, your story, right before setting out: the long way around being the shortest way home, to cliché a little. They're both correct. Hoover's four rules for defining the structure of a piece of writing should be followed: (1) Include Every Topic Required by the Subject, (2) Exclude Every Topic Not Required by the Subject, (3) Working from the Top Down, Divide Each Topic into All Its Subordinates, and (4) Order Each Group of Coordinates Properly. Both Hoover and Field recommend using three-by-five inch cards for organising thoughts and storyboarding. I find a text editor works just as well.

There is much online advice of varying quality about thesis structure. As far as I can see, all fall into one of the categories defined by Partridge and most advocate the traditional simple (IMRAD) approach. Some of the better sites that address the issue of structure include (linked inline and also from the references listed below): How To Write A Dissertation or Bedtime Reading For People Who Do Not Have Time To Sleep; PhD Thesis Structure and Content, A [perfect] PhD Thesis for London University / Computer Science UCL (an odd number of chapters is recommended, this is something I have to admit I found odd); The Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing, MIT (IMRAD recommended); Thesis Writing Manual, Rensselaer (IMRAD recommended); How to Write a PhD Thesis, The University of New South Wales (IMRAD recommended); The Researcher's Bible, The University of Edinburgh (recommends IMRAD/Complex); A Structured Approach To Presenting Phd Theses: Notes For Candidates And Their Supervisors, The University of Queensland (recommends IMRAD/Complex); Advice for Finishing that Damn Ph.D., University of Waterloo, Canada (IMRAD/Complex); there can be only six..., MIT (IMRAD). The objective of thesis writing is neatly summarised by the University of Queensland's Student Support Services in Putting it All Together as "Once upon a time researchers believed that ... (literature review); But then I thought that maybe ... (aims); so, what I did was ... (method); and I've discovered that ... (findings); which changed the way we ... (contribution to knowledge)". Bunton's article, The structure of PhD conclusion chapters, provides a good basis for structuring the final chapter(s).

From Australia again, I came across an interesting paper by Allyson Holbrook et al., Investigating PhD thesis examination reports. The authors took a sample of 301 dissertations from across a range of subjects and looked carefully at the examiners' reports. Of relevance to thesis structure and writing are the criteria that the authors conclude differentiate high-quality and low quality theses. To summarise their findings: high quality dissertations often deal with significant and challenging topics, take an original approach and realise a significant contribution to the field, display an expert use of the literature in the design of the study and discussion of its results, report clearly and incisively on the literature, and are eminently publishable. Low quality theses may be of questionable integrity, with inadequate literature reviews (in terms of focus or coverage) containing inaccuracies and omissions, and may have manifest editorial inadequacies. Credibility is very important. About 9 of the the 301 dissertations studied were rejected. This represents an overall failure rate of close to 3%.

Finally, be sure to check local requirements. Dublin City University's regulations and requirements for completion of a degree through research are online.

Table 1: Paltridge's Four Thesis Types

[ Back to Top ]

Traditional Simple (6/15)

  1. Introduction
  2. Literature Review
  3. Materials and Methods
  4. Results
  5. Discussion
  6. Conclusions

Topic Based (4/15)

  1. Introduction
  2. Topic 1
  3. Topic 2
  4. Topic 3
  5. Conclusions

Traditional Complex (4/15)

  1. Introduction
  2. Literature Review
  3. (Background Theory)
  4. (General Methods)
  5. Study 1
    • Introduction
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
  6. Study 2
    • Introduction
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
  7. Study 3+
    • Introduction
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
  8. Discussion
  9. Conclusions

Compilation Based (1/15)

  1. Introduction
  2. Background to the Study
  3. Research Article 1
    • Introduction
    • Literature Review
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusions
  4. Research Article 2
    • Introduction
    • Literature Review
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusions
  5. Research Article 3
    • Introduction
    • Literature Review
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusions
  6. Conclusions

References

Books used in Paltridge's Study

[ Back to Top ]

Davis, G.B. and Parker, C.A., 1997. Writing the doctoral dissertation: a systematic approach (2nd ed). , Barron's Educational Series, Woodbury, NY

Evans, D., 1995. How to write a better thesis or report. , Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.

Madsen, D., 1992. Successful dissertations and theses. A guide to graduate student research from proposal to completion (2nd ed.). , Josey-Bass, San Francisco.

Mauch, J.E. and Birch, J.W., 1998. Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation. Conception to publication. A handbook for students and faculty (4th ed.). , Marcel Dekker Inc, New York.

Phillips, E.M. and Pugh, D.S., 1994. How to get a PhD (2nd ed.). , Taylor & Francis, London.

Preece, R., 1994. Starting research. An introduction to academic research and dissertation writing. , Pinter, London.

Rountree, K. and Laing, T., 1996. Writing by degrees: a practical guide to writing theses and research papers. , Longman, Auckland.

Sternberg, D., 1981. How to complete and survive a doctoral dissertation. , St Martin's Press, New York.

Other Books

[ Back to Top ]

Field, Syd. 2003. The Definitive Guide to Screenwriting, Ebury Press, ISBN: 0091890276

Hoover, Hardy. 1980. Essentials for the Scientific and Technical Writer, Dover Publications

Powell, Colin L. Persico, Joseph. 1995. My American Journey: An Autobiography. Random House, New York.

Online

[ Back to Top ]

Wind turbine development 1973-2000: A critique of the differences in policies between the Netherlands and Denmark, Linda M. Kamp, Wind Engineering, Volume 28, Number 4, June 2004, pp. 341-354(14) (doi:10.1260/0309524042886414).

The Art of Writing Scientific Reports. Norton, F.H. 1921. NACA Technical Memorandum No. 7. Reprinted from The Scientific Monthly, December 1920. Notes: Available online at the NACA archives (UK Mirror linked).

Thesis and dissertation writing: an examination of published advice and actual practice, Brian Paltridge. English for Specific Purposes, Volume 21, Issue 2 , 2002, Pages 125-143 (doi:10.1016/S0889-4906(00)00025-9).

How To Write A Dissertation or Bedtime Reading For People Who Do Not Have Time To Sleep, Douglas E. Comer, Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, Indiana.

PhD Thesis Structure and Content, A [perfect] PhD Thesis for London University / Computer Science UCL, Christopher D. Clack. 1997. Department of Computer Science, University College London.

The Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing, Section 2.9.3, Leslie C. Perelman, Edward Barrett, and James Paradis, Mayfield Publishing Company, Inc., 1280 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041

Thesis Writing Manual, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 110 8th St., Troy, NY 12180.

How to Write a PhD Thesis, Joe Wolfe. 2005. School of Physics, The University of New South Wales, Sydney

The Researcher's Bible, Alan Bundy, Ben du Boulay, Jim Howe and Gordon Plotkin. 2004. School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh.

A Structured Approach To Presenting Phd Theses: Notes For Candidates And Their Supervisors, Chad Perry. 1995. Paper presented to the ANZ Doctoral Consortium, University of Sydney, February 1994.

Advice for Finishing that Damn Ph.D., Prof. Daniel M. Berry. 2001. University of Waterloo, Canada.

There Can Be Only Six..., Lorin Wilde and Andy Lippman. 2002. MIT Media Lab.

PhD ... First Thoughts to Finished Writing, Student Support Services, University of Queensland. 1997.

The structure of PhD conclusion chapters, David Bunton, Journal of English for Academic Purposes Volume 4, Issue 3 , July 2005, Pages 207-224 (doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2005.03.004)

Investigating PhD thesis examination reports, International Journal of Educational Research, Volume 41, Issue 2, 2004, Pages 98-120 Allyson Holbrook, Sid Bourke, Terence Lovat and Kerry Dally (doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2005.04.008)

Bibliography

[ Back to Top ]

Wikipedia: Doctor of Philosophy , Wikipedia. 2005.

Writing a Dissertation , Brian Stone, Dublin City University. 1998. Notes: very useful and complete advice.

How not to get a PhD .., Estelle M. Phillips and Derek S. Pugh. 2002. Guardian Newspapers Limited. Notes: "Discover how to avoid failure in this extract from Estelle M. Phillips' and Derek S. Pugh's How to get a PhD".

Useful Things to Know About Ph. D. Thesis Research, H.T. Kung. 1987. Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University. Notes: Prepared for "What is Research" Immigration Course, Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University, 14 October 1987.

How Theses Get Written: Some Cool Tips, Dr Steve Easterbrook. 2003. Dept of Computer Science, University of Toronto.

Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation, S. Joseph Levine. 2005. Michigan State University. Notes: There are also Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic versions at this location.

Using LATEX to Write a PhD Thesis, Nicola Talbot. 2004. School of Computing Sciences. University of East Anglia.

Useful Advice for Graduate Students, John J. Grefenstette. 2003. School of Computational Sciences, George Mason University. Notes: Collection of links. See also Organization of a Dissertation Proposal

Panel Discussion on GP thesis I wish I had written, William Langdon. 1997. University of Birmingham. Notes: Wednesday, 16 July, 1997, 11:30 - 12:30 pm, Genetic Programming (GP97), Stanford, California, USA

How to do Research At the MIT AI Lab, (a whole bunch of current, former, and honorary MIT AI Lab graduate students), David Chapman, Editor. 1988. Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

So long, and thanks for the Ph.D.!, Ronald T. Azuma. 2003 (v. 1.08). Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Notes: The Feynman Problem Solving Algorithm: 1) Write down the problem. 2) Think very hard. 3) Write down the solution.

How to write a thesis statement, Writing Tutorial Services. 2004. Indiana University.

On Being A Scientist: Responsible Conduct In Research, Committee On Science, Engineering, And Public Policy. 1995. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. Notes: Text version.

John Swales as mentor: The view from the doctoral group, English for Specific Purposes, Volume 17, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 67-86 Margaret Luebs, Kirstin M. Fredrickson, Sunny Hyon and Betty Samraj (doi:10.1016/S0889-4906(97)00030-6) Notes: This paper discusses John Swales (a well known linguist) as a supervisor. Some interesting insights into students' and supervisors' expectations.

How (and How Not) to Write a Good Systems Paper, Roy Levin and David D. Redell, ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review, Vol. 17, No. 3 (July, 1983), pages 35-40. Notes: General observations about the faults evident in conference submissions.

Burnout Prevention and Recovery, MIT Views, 1994. Notes: This document's path looks far from secure for the future, read while you can [August 2005].

How to Do Research, Silvia Miksch. 2005. Information & Software Engineering Group, Institute for Software Technology and Interactive Systems, Vienna University of Technology.

Countdown and Thesis Examination, Draft Report. Guilhaus. 1998. University of New South Wales.

FLL Thesis Format, Foreign Languages and Literatures Thesis Format Adviser Web Site. 2005. Purdue University. Notes: From FLL Thesis Format Helps, "The document entitled "Curling the Quote Marks" tells how to replace straight or typewriter quote marks with curled or typographer's quotes (also referred to as "smart" quotes)".

Form of the Doctoral Thesis, The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 2000. Harvard University.

Hints for PhD Defenses, Henning Schulzrinne. 2003. Dept. of Computer Science / Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University.

Olin Shivers' Dissertation Advice, Olin Shivers. Maintained by Robert Marks, Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales.

Link Collections

[ Back to Top ]

Advice Collection, Tao Xie and Yuan Xie. 2005. Department of Computer Science, University of Minnesota. Notes: A very complete collection of useful links.

Research and PhD, Internet Studies @ Curtin University. 2004. Notes: Useful links.

© Niall McMahon, August 2005.

Having a English class today.

Heard about the advanced English writing class starts from this week,a roommate and I ,two people climbed up the XingHou building N0.614,to have this class as auditors.I thought there would be a lot of people there,so we arrived in the class room nearly 30 minutes early.To our surprise,there was nobody there yet when we got there except one getting nap on the desk.After minutes of waiting,we started to doubt if we got the wrong place.But at this moment,a white old people with a heavy package came into the classroom.We were sure we got the right place,and this guy must be our teacher.When this white people unpacked the bag,to my surprise,all things he packed in his red bag are books!It must be heavy.

The class began at 2:30.Our teacher,Michael,spent 50 minutes letting us ask him questions what we want to know about him.Through these questions,I know he is from Perch,western Australia.He introduced quite a few Australia famous cities to us. He had been lots of countries.And this is the third time he comes to Changsha.He really knows a lot about China,even sometimes use some Chinese words in his sentence.So it sound humorous and bring us lots of fun.

Next 50 minutes,he started his lecture.The class name is Advanced English Writing,So his main task is to teach students to manipulate the techniques in writing English essays.During the margin time--time before class is over--,he played games with us by counting numbers,so that all of us can take part in.First,he said add one,then first student started with one,and the following student added 1 one by one.At first,I despised this kind of kindergarten game.But when he said adding 17 each time,I was confused.It was not easy as I thought.

From this class,I felt impressively the difference between Chinese teachers and foreign teachers.From my feeling,foreign teacher is full of enthusiasm in the classroom,at least Michael is.Not like most of Chinese teachers,who read textbooks and pay little attention to the students.

Anyway,it is interesting today.Maybe next Wednesday I will go to listen his class again.

I got Ubuntu6.06 install CD.

one thing worthing my words here is that I have changed my MSN account.I don't really like the former hotmail account I applied long ago.I take my Gmail address as my live passport,and I chat with my friend through live messenger using my Gmail account now.I always like Google especially the e-mail service.

And another thing that made me surprise today is that I got Ubuntu6.06 install CD from abroad,Netherlands. According to the timestamp,it had arrived the delivery's room on Feb.27,but I got the package today by accident.The package had been unfolded by someone.Here I must give my thanks to the girl who found this package in the delivery's room for me,otherwise,I will never got the CDs.

I ordered these install CDs from Ubuntu official website about 2 months ago,it includes five CDs for 32-bit PC,three for 64-bit PC and two for Mac. I did not bear much hope that they will deliver these CDs for free,so I finished the form,then almost I forgot it.But today,I got these real CDs!

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Debian.I like it most among all the Linux distros.What's more,it provides free install CD."Ubuntu is an operating system consisting of free and open source software.With Ubuntu you can surf the web,read email,create documents,spreadsheets ad more!Ubuntu gives you power and flexibility for business,education and home use."

"Ubuntu" is an ancient Africa word that means "humanity to others".This Linux distribution brings the spirit to Ubuntu to the software world.

fashion in China

is a new initiative from Windows Live™ Messenger. Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. We've set no cap on the amount we'll donate to each organization. The sky's the limit. There's no charge, so join now and put our money where your mouth is.
The words above is adopted from Microsoft official website.According to the introduction,Microsoft has started a new charity program.The game is simple:you put some specific code in your MSN nickname or personal message,then it will show a small green "i'm" symbol.The specific code is different according to different organisations.Every time someone starts a conversation using i'm, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with nine organizations dedicated to social causes.The table below lists all nine organizations and the respective codes:
*red+u American Red Cross
*bgca Boys & Girls Clubs of America
*naf National AIDS Fund
*mssoc National Multiple Sclerosis Society
*9mil ninemillion.org
*sierra Sierra Club
*help StopGlobalWarming.org
*komen Susan G. Komen for the Cure
*unicef The US fund for UNICEF
Some of my classmates had already got involved,and so did I.Although this project is eligible only in United States now,it is of fashion here anyway.
(PS:The code will not take effect if the MSN version is below version8.1 formal. Click the link below,and you are involved.)

Bad weather,Bad mood.

It has beening raining for nearly two days and I am at a bad mood these days.It takes me two days to recover my system.Two days of non-study made me feel so guilty.I totally underestimated this virus.I had reinstalled my OS,but this did not terminate all troubles.All the exe setup programs I backuped for a preserving use has been infected,and I did not realize this before.Out of question,this unfortunate newly installed system was infected again.I turned my help again to the Internet.By searching the Internet in Google,I find some key information.In order to be inmuned to this virus,I had to create some fake virus files with the same name with those the virus would create.This method is simple,and effective.For windows, no two files could have the same name in the same directory.It is rightly based on this mechanism .Consequently ,it prevent the virus process from creating virus files.The detailed step is that, after I terminating the virus processes using IceSword,I first created two files named autorun.inf and pagefile.pif in each root directory of each disk,then another two files name lsass.exe and csrss.exe in %system%system32\com directory.The world is peaceful now.But the final cleanup work is not that easy as I thought.So many exe files were infected,I could not tolerate to delete them one by one,also I am not sure which files were infected and which were not.So I turn to anti-virus soft wares.Actually I hated anti-virus softwares before,because they occupy too much system resources,slow the system down,and more importantly,it is useless to newest virus.It is always following the steps of virus,but couldn't make one's system inmuned.But this time,I have no other choice.I need it to disinfect my infected files.I downloaded a kaspersky from Internet,and scanned my computer.Not out of my surprise,this stupid software did not disinfect none of my files but delete those infected.So,after scanning,I uninstalled the kaspersky as soon as I can.And now,everything back to normal except some application software.

Black friday

Today is a misfortune day for me.This does not happen to me for a long time.My computer is down.

This morning,I woke up a little late.When got to my laboratory,it is nearly ten o'clock.In order to makeup my lost time because of my laziness,I wanted to start reading the ebook Fundamentals of power electronics as soon as possible.But when I had my computer powered on,I found the evil MS windows was down:it showed me a blue screen said that there is something wrong with my computer,maybe hardware caused,maybe some newly installed software.I was shocked,this is a bad omen.I tried reset power,then the same blue screen with the same error message showed me again.Without losing my patient,I reset the power and try to enter safe mode.This time end with the same consequence.I have no effective measure to deal with this issue,because I could not get into the OS.There were two ways for me to choice:Totally newly install an OS or repair this old one with my installation CD.I am regret for the choice I made then.I choose to repair the OS,because I was thinking that it is bothering to install other application software if I install a new one.When I inserted my installation CD,and this was the moment troubles began.Although the repair process was completed successfully,the blue screen problem was solved also.But I found it was intolerable slow to login into my system.And more strange was that I could not install my Graphic card driver.The driver did not work after my installation.By accidentally,I found there existing some strange files on my disks.My computer was infected by virus.I tried to kill these virus first,so I searched Internet to get resolutions.After the work of a whole afternoon's time,the graphic card worked,but the system was still slow.The hidden file named pagefile.pif on all of my disks seems indelible,they came out again when I deleted them.I was crazy then.I tried all the way I know,but the virus is more stronger than I thought.I terminated all suspected processes,the system seems back to normal,but when I launched a new exe application,the virus process was started and came out again.What was the fucking reason,Where is origin virus file,I asked god.After wasting nearly 8 hours fighting with the virus,and the system seems had endless problems,I was patient less and decided to give up.I reluctantly reset the power and insert my installation CD.At the moment of my posting,the installation process is still going on.

What does happy really mean?

These days,I was thinking about a question:am I happy now?I do not know.This question reminds me of a same question our English teacher asked us:What does happy mean to you?I still remember that my mind was empty when my teacher asked this question.Unfortunately,she called my name and asked me to make a impromptu speech at the platform in front of my whole classmates.I was embarrassed then because I really don't know what say.Forgotten to say hi to everybody before I began my speech:
"In my mind,happy is simple.For me,funny stuffs can make me happy..."
I didn't say much words before I got down.And my teacher seems unhappy for my behavior.Maybe she was stocked that I hardly had any deep feeling about happiness.
After the recovery of my ailment,I start to know that happy means different to different people under different circumstances.Happiness is some kind of abstract feeling.A man of healthy will never feel the happiness of being a health man,but a patient just recovered can;Someone who live with his parents will never feel the happiness of being unite,but someone who just stay with their parents one or two days a year can;A fat feel happy to become slim;A poor feel happy to be rich,etc...
For me,right now,I would be happy if I had my paper published successfully.

Missing home...

I have been back to school for nearly half a month since the winter vacation is over.But I find a little lonely in deep bottom of my mind.I don't know why,but I miss my mother,miss my little cute nephew,and still be in joyance and happiness of spring festival.My heart seems reluctantly to follow me back to school...

In this new semester,there is a super task I had to accomplish:finish the graduation publishing paper.This sick school has a fucking rule that every postgraduate student must have at least one paper published before he or she can graduate successfully.My research content is about power electronics and electrical drives.Before the winter vacations came,I had written a paper about Indirect torque control based on space vector modulation,but it was thought as a piece of junk by my mentor because it is lack of stability analysis and detailed controller design information. Unfortunately,I know less about switch modeling method,so there is no way to go deep research.In order to make up my weakness,I am focused on a book named Fundamentals of Power Electronics, written in English.This book covers mainly on DC-DC converter.It shows detailed explanations about steady-state converter analysis,steady-state equivalent circuit modeling,state-space averaging method,circuit averaging method and controller design method etc.This is the very book I need.Hope it can promote my special knowledge to a new level.