The Akashic Field Chronicle

Pictures while jogging around campus

I remember running around the University of the Philippines Diliman Acad Oval while I was doing my masters (good times) and even joining a short race (thanks to Wilson). Sad to say though, apart from 1 or 2 times when I first arrived at UCLA, I haven’t really ran that much since I got here. Come to think of it, I haven’t done any sort of physical activity .

And I feel it. You know that feeling you get when you’ve been sleeping the entire day after not sleeping the entire night and then having to get up because you’re really really hungry (having skipped all the usual meals)? Sort of like that, but for months. So I decided to try and get back into shape by running around the UCLA campus more regularly. Boy, did it feel good!

Since I was always more of a ‘geek’ than a ‘runner’, I decided to tech it up and make my running route Google Maps style. I dunno why, but making routes that passed through unofficial roads were tough on Google Maps. It’s either roads only, or manual trails only. Good thing they have a great API and some guy was able to make this webapp just for making running maps. Here’s mine:

Around the campus (7km only?!) My apartment is on the DOT

I have to say, this webapp is really nice, especially for guys like me without a GPS device. It gives you km markers (or miles if you want to be English about it). It even gives you calories burned (if you’re interested in that kind of stuff). I was shocked to find that the entire UCLA campus is barely 7km! I’d bet that’s a tiny fraction of the UP campus. Then again, land prices in this part of LA are steep, being so close to Beverly Hills. To compensate, UCLA is building upwards.

What’s different?

So last week was my first time to run this route. Some key differences I noticed compared to running around UP Campus:

• Freezing - I know it’s spring already, but it’s still cold in the afternoon (the only time I can run). I had to wear a jacket wile running. And here I was thinking that Manny Pacquiao was just trying to look cool.
• Tough Terrain - UP is generally flat. UCLA = Hills. So most of the time, you’re either sweating profusely while climbing up a slope or trying to prevent yourself from going downhill too fast.
• Anytime Running - here’s one weird thing I immediately noticed when I got here. People run here anytime of the day. In the Philippines, only the crazy guys run at noon (heat stroke anyone? skin cancer?)

Here’s one similarity though, both campuses look stunning at dusk. Too bad I didn’t have a camera the last time (so un-yuppy-like of me). Hopefully next time, I can snap some photos. My plan is to try a different route every time so that I get to see the entire campus in a few months. Besides, I don’t want to get bored of running the same route every single time. Wish me luck on sticking to my schedule.

Quick-ees:

• I passed Prelims! woohoo! (Quoting the email: We advise you now to concentrate on your research). Hehehe. I guess I have no choice
• Passed the english for teaching exam – will probably be TAing next year.
• Prof. Joel Marciano (UP EEEI) presented our paper entitled: “Combining Parallel Sequence Spread Spectrum (PSSS) with OFDM – Concept and Simulation Results” this week in IEEE WCNC 2010 in Sydney, Australia.

Click here to read other Pick-of-the-Week (POW) entries

As promised, I’ll be trying to blog with a little more semblance of regularity. I figured, what better way to get back into the zone than by bringing back a regular blog segment. Fortunately, I had just the thing in my archives, the AFC Pick-of-the-Week (P.O.W)!  But a weekly segment seems completely unrealistic at the moment. Perhaps bi-monthly sounds a little more practical (we’ll see). Anyway, it’s still a week and I still pick something, just not every week, so there.

This week, I’m picking…

Beamer

LaTeX Beamer to be exact. What’s Beamer you ask? Well technically it’s just another LaTeX package, but a pretty awesome one if you ask me. A friend introduced it to me while I was doing my MS at  UP Diliman and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.

It’s basically a package (i.e. an extension) to LaTeX in order to make presentation slides using standard LaTeX syntax. If you already write papers or dicussion notes in LaTeX and you’re familiar with its syntax then Beamer is definitely for you. If not, then it’s a perfect opportunity to start learning LaTeX. I previously wrote about how useful it is in this post, and I still believe so.

Why Use Beamer

Here are some reasons why I’d recommend using it:

• LaTeX – It’s built on top of LaTeX and if you think LaTeX is great (esp. for rendering math) then this reason is pretty self-explanatory.
• It Looks Great – It’s hard to sell this claim, esp. to people who are obsessed with PowerPoint. But you have to see it to believe it. Here are some great Beamer examples:
  • A Sample Presentation by Till Tantau (creator of the Beamer class)
  • Demo of different features
  • My MS thesis defense presentation (ok, maybe it’s not great, but it has sentimental value)
• Portability - A Beamer presentation is essentially a PDF file so it will work almost anywhere (and preserve ‘animations’).
• Reusability - the LaTeX code in your paper, discussion notes, book or whatever, is exactly the same code used in Beamer. Including the structure (section, subsection, etc.). This means formulas will render perfectly whether you originally used it on a paper or a presentation. If you’re cramming a presentation, you can even make it straight from your paper (just put \begin{frame} … \end{frame} on certain segments)
• Structure - Beamer, without messing with the nitty-gritty, enforces a certain style to your slides as you will see if you look at the examples I have above. Some PPT users might see this as very limiting, but after a while you begin to realize that this actually forces you to adhere to certain rules (font size, image placement, margins, etc.) that actually make your presentations look very professional.
• It’s Free - and not the ‘illegal’ kind of free

Did I mention they look great?!

Who Should Use Beamer (and who might not want to)?

If you regularly write research papers and make presentations (Faculty, Grad Students, Researchers, etc.) then I definitely recommend you at least try it out. If you’re already familiar with LaTeX then I recommend it even more. Also, if you find yourself rendering mathematical formulas very often, then the LaTeX equation rendering is the best there is.

Still, there are some who might not see the point of using Beamer and might not necessarily benefit from the things I listed above. These include:

• People who can’t invest time learning LaTeX - I admit, the learning curve is a little steep and for some people it just isn’t worth it.
• People who want their presentation to focus on the animations – although beamer has some animation capability, it won’t give you that nasty ‘Swivel” animation. Sorry.
• People who need their content to  be accessible to their superiors - and by this I mean, people who are expecting their bosses to re-purpose their hard work to please their respective bosses (you know who you are). You can’t expect the bosses to learn LaTeX. Sorry.

How can I learn?

I won’t go into a tutorial of Beamer, much less LaTeX. Fortunately, Google is your friend. To save you a little effort, here are the tutorials I really like:

• A Beamer Quickstart – this should get you started real quick (huh? wait?)
• Beamer v3.0 Guide – the most comprehensive one I’ve found besides the user manual (also, it’s made with beamer)
• Beamer User Guide – the manual
• LaTeX Tutorial – by Eudean Sun, presented (using beamer!) in a seminar sponsored by the UCLA Graduate Students Resource Center. Specially targeted to Grad Students.

So there. Start making professional looking presentations and make your adviser think you’re actually making progress on your research

Click here to read other Pick-of-the-Week (POW) entries

Man. This blog hasn’t been updated in a while. It’s become almost a quarterly thing. Based on the dates of the past entries, it is. I wish I could update it more often. I read the following somewhere (forgot where) edit: well well well, it seems I saw it on Stellify.net, who quoted it from Andrew Sullivan:

A blog is less a publication and more a broadcast…

The point is, without regularity, a blog is useless. I think, writing short entries, but with good regularity would probably make it a bit easier. On the extreme case there’s twitter (which I haven’t really tried). edit: using it now, follow me!

I want to keep this blog alive (I’m not sure why), but it would take substantial effort on my part to keep it that way. On the one hand, nobody is forcing me to do it, but on the other hand, it’s a really great way to release stress (call it therapeutic). Besides, with grad school occupying the majority of my time, it’s one of the few ways to exercise that other part of the brain (left or right?).

A long long time ago, when I started this blog, I also had a lot of stuff to do, but I still managed to post once or twice a week. Once you start getting into the zone (i.e. post regularly) it becomes easier. So right now, I’m way way out of the zone. I think a couple of short posts at least once every week should fix that.

So without further ado… I’m announcing that I’ll be making this a more regular “broadcast” rather than a quarterly “publication”. Not so much for the audience (which right now is probably close to 0, except for the feed reader & facebook folks who will be forced to read it), but as an outlet for stuff I’m thinking about. Once I get myself back on a more regular schedule, I guess we’ll see where it goes from there.

Some Updates:

1. Tomorrow I’ll find out the results of the PhD prelims (nervous) – It’s this exam. Very important and given once a year, so if I fail, it’s a year long wait.
2. Done with course work – basically it’s all research from this point on (hopefully until I graduate).
3. Taking the TOP exam tomorrow – It’s this exam. An oral English test for those who want to apply as a TA.
4. I got my MS diploma! – thanks to Ate Mimi (UP EEE) for helping out
5. I miss home – I won’t be going back to the Philippines for at least 8 months (Christmas Holidays). Sad.

That’s about it, if you read this post, please do look forward to my next one (hopefully within a week or so – oooh, that’s quite a commitment, oh well).

Oh my! Talk about a blogging break. Lots to write about since my last post on August 3, 2009 (Which according to the site stats is currently the most read post in TAFC to date). The short of it is:

1. I’m done with my MS
2. “Fund the Pinoy” was successful beyond my wildest expectations
3. I’m here at UCLA doing my PhD
4. and, I survived my first ever quarter.

Now, for the long version…

Fund the Pinoy

Knock and the door shall be opened to you. When I went to The Interwebs and asked for Php 364,000 (~$8,000), I knew it was a long shot. Never in my wildest dreams, (those who know me well would probably say this isn’t such a hard feat), would I have imagined such an overwhelming response to such a simple call for help. I could honestly say that this has been one of the most amazing surprises/blessings/experiences I have ever had in my entire life.

In the first night alone, a few hours after posting my plea, I was able to raise more than half the amount. In a few weeks time the total pledges have exceeded my target (although eventually I got exactly what I needed). It was simply amazing how ready people were to help. I was even helped by complete strangers (oh the power of social networking).

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank these people who have given me so much. You know who you are (and of course I do too, since I owe you big time), but I won’t ruin it with a list. If you didn’t get my make-shift certificate on your inbox, please inform me at fundthepinoy-at-urriza.net. It is my wish that your kindness will not go unrewarded and that any hopes you might have for this undertaking of mine be satisfied in due time.

UCLA

The place is gorgeous (which is a lot more than I could say for the rest of LA). I have been here for a little over 3 months (1 quarter) and the place is simply amazing. They say a picture paints a thousand words so:

UCLA Powell Library

This is a picture of the undergrad library which I think is stunning on the outside (wait until you see inside). Here’s a picture of where I live:

Weyburn Terrace (Grad Student Housing)

Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of taking that many pictures. Apparently, I also do not have the luxury of blogging for too long . So I will have to cut this one short and continue it some other time. Anyway, I’m staying here for the holidays (sad, I know) so I’m thinking I’ll be able to blog a little more in the next few days.