Almost There

Last week I reworked my first paper regarding the Contraction Approximation and managed to get the majority of the previous work and theory in order. Unfortunately, I could not complete the results section and beyond due to some unexpected issues with my collection of charts, graphs and images - some missing headers, some were under the wrong header and others I don't remember drawing.

This week I will be sorting through those images and gradually adding them into the paper, followed by a continuation on the multi-matching and how that affects the contraction approximation. My aim is to speed this out as quickly as possible so I can begin to look at dynamic graphs a bit more.

For the dynamic work, I have looked at a small example I will use to identify the behaviour of such a system and outline some development ideas for future use. The example is a model of an expanding auction site, with pages and entire sections being added and removed constantly. As this is just an example and a website is only one of many data collections which could be used, I am looking to implement some unexpected behaviour which I have yet to choose and investigate.

For my own enjoyment, part of this be a god mode which will add hundreds of vertices with edges between all pairs, to the graph.

The benefit of this example is that I will be able to use a data collection gathered by one of the University students when the algorithm is ready - without needing to test the algorithms progress. Why don't I just use the students work? The data I am expecting of them, is larger than I would like for a simple testing example, therefore I would prefer to use an example which is easy to manage to begin with.

These are all just plans though; the real work might turn out very different. For now, I want to finish my papers.

General Update

An unimaginative title for an unimaginative post.

This week I have made good progress on paper 1 with a start on paper 2 (mostly copying and pasting remnants from previous attempts at writing), but sadly, have been once again called back to the academic world with the requirement of organising plagiarism offences and finalising marks. But not all bad, it should only take the rest of the day... and I also have cookies.

So... What next? well, I will be finishing my paper (hopefully) by the end of the week with copies sent to the supervisors (this sounds very similar to previous plans...), with a continuation of the muddy half-eaten homework which is paper no.2 once I have rid myself of no.1. From there I can continue my attmepts at implementing multi-matching/clumping and can progress into the shallow and ambigious world of dynamic graph drawing.

For now, I must continue with the academic work then roll on to the research work tomorrow - horray! Time for a cup of tea.

Writing Away!

Surprise! I'm doing real work this week and its a weird feeling. I should clarify, "real work" is "phd work" and not that overly-stressed business-filled work those outside (and some inside) of the academic bubble have to deal with.

Over the past two days, I have been applying changes to my first paper based on the comments of my supervisors, and will be continuing today. I am surprised it is taking so long for me to make these changes (you may be less surprised at this point) but reading through it again is helping me become more aware that my writing is awful, and therefore I am rewriting vast quantities of it

Now, for less useful news: It's skills week at the CMS school this week so students are preoccupied and CMS Seminars begin today (mine being during mid-March). Also, Wikipedia is down as part of the SOPA-blackout.

Not much else to say today but I will update again when I have finished making changes to this paper and begin the experimentation for the second paper. Have a fun Wednesday...

Oh no, its still here...

...the marking that is. It seems it was designed to be the worst peice of marking in recorded history, with every bit made painstakingly long and tedious to get through. Thankfully on the reports to go, which is the short bit.

Progress has not been made this week, even after being given notes on my sad attempt of a paper. Fortunately, next week is Skills Week for our beloved students, which gives me an entire week of PhD focus, so I'm planning to greatly improve on my first paper and start my second during those few days of happiness.

Other than that, I have been avoiding invigilations and hiding from addition tutorials in an attempt to focus after the christmas break... its not helping as much as I thought it would. Weirdly enough, the enthusiasm and will to do work is here, but everything else is against me doing work.

This madness will have to stop soon anyway, im beginning to see the half way mark on the horizon (which should be time for my MPhil to PhD transfer) so I will need my papers finished by then with some part of my thesis drafted. Time is running out! Which makes this game a lot more challenging, interesting and most of all, fun :D


See you on the other side (of the weekend)!

Well, that was a nice break

And after a nice break, comes the storm that is everyone going back to work.

As can be expected, work will no doubt be slow this week to cope with getting back to normal, therefore, this week shall now be known as Marking Week! That's right, a week dedicated to marking those courseworks submitted over the Xmas period; aren't I lucky.

If the marking is completed before the end of the week, the remaining time will be dedicated to making changes to my paper regarding the Coarsening/Contraction Tree Approximation which you may have noticed, I spent the past few months researching (exciting). What if I complete that too, you say? Amongst the world ending and winning the lottery, I will move straight onto the paper regarding how multi-matching affects the CA, which will bring me to the end of the week, or the end of my sanity, whichever comes first.

As you can probably tell from the manner I am typing this in, I am still partially on holiday mode, so for now, I will leave you knowing that I did survive the winter, and you will get to read more of my nonesense later this week; aren't you lucky.

Hope you had a good Xmas and New Year!