JibJab vid

I love those JibJab original videos. Now, they're letting people put faces into them, which can make it a little more funnier. In the spirit of the coming election day, I stuck a head-shot of my Dad (taken while working outside) into a Obama-McCain one...

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This sounds too good to be true...

And the sound of angels singing is heard...


(and, congrats to the Phillies for winning the World Series, bringing the title back to the National League)

Basketball is back!

It was great to see basketball starting up again last night (with real games that count). I'm more of a college hoops fan than NBA, but I'll watch NBA if it is on and I like reading the box scores to see how former college stars did.

Too bad for the Trailblazers...one thing to get pasted by the conference champs. Another to have the franchise center go down (again) with injury. It looks like Oden is out 2 weeks...I'm sure they're taking it easy with him to try and prevent him from turning into another Sam Bowie. They're still looking like a fun team to watch, as Rudy Fernandez was strong off the bench in his NBA debut.

The fighting LeBrons leading the champs in the first half before faltering down the stretch wasn't a big surprise.


It was nice to see the Bulls win their first game, even if it was against the lowly Bucks. Although I'm not a huge NBA fan, the Bulls are the NBA team I root for, as I grew up in Illinois and watched His Airness. I was shocked to see Sefolosa (sp?) started next to Rose instead of Hinrich. Maybe there was a reason I didn't catch, but their backcourt off the bench of Hinrich/Gordon is an excellent one. I'm looking forward to watching Rose mature this year - he was a stud in leading his Chicago high school team to back-to-back state titles. He would have been my pick for the top draft choice over Beasley.

Here's a few season predictions, to "put to paper"....
-The Bulls will be over 0.500 and be one of the last Eastern Conference teams to make the playoffs.
-The Rookies will beat the Sophmores in the All-Star challenge (going way out on a limb there).
-Rudy Fernandez will have a better year than Jarryd Bayless, coming off the bench for Portland.
umm....I'm not so good at making risky statements. ha.
-Philly won't have the resurgence as predicted. They are playoff material, but won't get out of the first round.
-Deron Williams will finally make the All Star game, thanks in part to reduced effectiveness of Steve Nash.
-The Utah Jazz will finish 2nd to the Lakers in the Western Conference.

We'll see how many of those are worse than my prediction that Okafor would be better than Howard. haha.

Here's looking forward to the start of college hoops.....

Information management - for future reference

For my own well-being, I wanted to bookmark a posting at Pondering Blather on information management tools. There are some great tips in here that I want to come back to at some point in the future.

Giving Back

I've always had the thought that once I'm making a good salary that I would give some serious change (> $10k) to my grade and high schools. The focus, of course, would be on enhancing their science and/or technology offerings. Especially at the high school, I'd want to help more kids see the fun aspects of science and engineering and to consider it for college. That time (of having excess $$) is still a ways off, but I think about it occasionally.

Yesterday, I came across a great way to help out teachers, a little bit at a time. I think I've heard of the DonorsChoose website in the past but hadn't done more than maybe look at the site. Looking at it further today, I like how you can find small programs from teachers that target a specific course type and age group. With that in mind, I looked at engineering-type programs in high schools and found to to help out. A project to use engineering design that was suggested elsewhere caught my eye, as did a local project teaching kids about electricity which hits home close to my electrical engineering undergrad degree. I hope that the projects are successful! I'll have to keep an eye on those programs and the website for future opportunities.

Shaq as GM?

I saw this morning that Shaq and Grant Hill are interested in buying the Orlando Magic if they are ever available for sale. That would be beyond awesome. Shaq as GM? The decisions may not be the best, but I'm sure we'd all know what he's thinking. I'm sure he'd work hard to keep Dwight Howard in town. And, Grant Hill as a CEO seems like a perfect fit for the Duke-educated player. I doubt it'd happen, but it is interesting to think about, and I'm sure they'd be more successful than His Airness has been in Washington and Carolina.

Grad School Demotivator #3

This is a better demotivator than the second demotivator. This one (slightly) over emphasizes the pressure put on students by themselves and their advisors - sometimes one screw-up can seemingly add years to a research project.

I think I can come up with a better title for this one also. We'll see...

Picture from the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Used without permission.

Demotivator #1
Demotivator #2

Grad School Demotivator #2

This isn't quite a "demotivator" with that sub-title, but I thought it came together well. Perhaps it is more of an indicator of the more prevalent collaboration that occurs in grad school. I'll have to see if I can think of a better title.

Picture from the Duke University Office of the Provost. Used without permission.

Demotivator #1

Blog commenting...

This is just a personal accounting of comments I've made on other blog posts. If I do more than the current occasional comment, I'll probably lose track of this.

11/6/08 - Review of College Basketball Prospectus (Big Ten Geeks) - left comment 11/25/08

10/29/08 - Five-year trends - Illinois (Big Ten Geeks)

10/15/08 - Let Us Now Praise Our Advisors (FemaleScienceProfessor)

10/10/08 - Bo Ryan and the Amazing No-Foul Defense (Big Ten Geeks)

Good hoops day

I finally got back on track, playing hoops yesterday. In recent weeks, my jumper hasn't been falling, which has a way of affecting the rest of my game as well as my interest in playing. Last night, though, I was on. In the first 3-4 games, I must have shot ~50%, taking a decent number of shots each game. In the last couple of games, I didn't hit much, but that was OK as we were all tired and dragging - and shots felt good when I released them.

Funny how sports are so mental. You get in a good rhythm and things seem easier. Just one hitch or pause in a motion, due to overthinking or not paying attention, and nothing may go right. And, it is a continuous cycle where performing well generates more playing well. For me, I seem to have extended runs of shooting the ball well followed by periods of hitting few shots. It is funny when I transition into not shooting well, as I usually still feel good from past days of making shots....when some don't fall as they usually do, I force things and it goes downhill. Finally, I get to a night, like last night, where I took pressure off myself and was playing with some good guys where we knew each other's games. They found me when I was open, and I did my part by knocking down shots. In one game, we knocked off a STACKED team that had us outsized and outmanned at each position - but we played smart, took the open jumpers...and hitting 2's really helped.

Hopefully (I'm planning on it), the next time I play, my confidence remains high and the shots keep falling...

Time to get back to working on this grant application...

Pick-up Elitist

I guess I'm a pick-up ball elitist. (my own words)

I'm a solid player, depending on the competition. I've certainly lost something over the years. But, as a guy who played organized ball, watched a ton of games and done some coaching, I have a decent idea of how to play the game. I know that I play best when I'm in a group of guys who know what they are doing - move and cut, set screens, play help defense, pass the ball around - as opposed to with players who are clueless, just running around disorganized, or streetball types who like one-on-one play with matador defense.

It is hard to get into a game and be fully competitive when you've got guys bumping into each other, hogging the ball, or not setting any screens AT ALL, etc. Plus, in the back of my mind, I don't want to get hurt in some meaningless pick-up game. After my second knee surgery, it is rare that I drive to the basket or do a lot of jumping for rebounds under the basket.

So, when I see that a game or upcoming games are going to have some crap players, I'm less interested in playing. I guess I still get a good workout. But, my effectiveness and enjoyment falls off, and that is frustrating. Yeah, there is some selfishness here. I'm always happier when I've played well...and if I don't get many shots or they're crap then that's less fun too. Suppose that's the same for anyone...it is just often frustrating being too aware of the players and how a game will go (my engineer mind showing itself)

I wish I had a regular group to play with, who "knew" what they were doing. No games where most players are 6"+ shorter or guys playing in pants or there need to be 3 balls for all the hogs. I guess beggars can't be choosers when I'm at the gym at the Division III school that I'm at. There are certainly stars, but also often too many undergrads (when we need players) who are better off in front of a computer. We've got regulars, but there's always the other types - sometimes too many like today.

Just another reason why I've gotten more attached to running - I can compete with myself without relying on anyone else.

/end of rant

Grad School Demotivator #1

Grad School Demotivator #1
Originally uploaded by phdballer

My department grad student association (or at least the editors of the semi-regular student paper) are having a mini competition in which students are to submit demotivational posters related to grad school. Figured I'd see if I can think of any good ones. I'll stick them here if/when I do. This is the first one, which has got to hit home for some of the longer-tenured grad students.

Picture from Juneau Bloggers article about Alaska Fairbanks graduation. Used without permission. The 'happy' student happens to be a neuroscience visualization masters recipient - not too far from my area of study (apparently), so this is appropriate.

Rejection

Not too long ago I wrote about resubmitting a manuscript. That was the second submission of that document, after a different journal had rejected it.

It took the initial journal 8 weeks to find two reviewers and get back to me with the letter above. Problem is, none of the reviewer comments are the type that scream out "poor science" or not-worthy-of-publication. It was fairly clear, though, that the clinician reviewers didn't have a full understanding of the material. So, apparently, the manuscript was rejected due to lack of fit and/or space, as the specifics aren't spelled out. Similar material has appeared in this clinical-focused journal - they must have been unable to use our recommended reviewers who would have understood the relevance. For my first publication, I received plenty of reviewer comments that were far more critical than what this journal gave me...and there was no doubt they were going to use my paper.

That's life. I don't regret submitting to this journal - it has the best citation record in the field. It just sucks that 8 weeks of the paper's life were wasted. I've no doubt that the second choice journal will publish the paper - as it is a regular for similar material from our lab and our peers. Well, at least I've been able to give talks at two conferences on this material.

Guess I've been inducted into the world of academic rejection.

Semi-work

Is it a bad thing when I spend as much time surfing the web and looking at background templates for this site as I do doing productive work? Ahh...such is grad school. I'm in one of those semi-lulls, with cycles of motivation. If only I had experiments to do (and results to analyze), but it is out of my hands. Slowly working on a micro-managed grant application (not due till 2/09) is hard to constantly stay on top of.

At least I got to hit the gym for an hour. Spent part of the time playing fight/21 with some first-year law students. As they said, they weren't very good. I got a good workout, but did just enough to let one of them win - putting up the most total points, but getting tipped several times. Always funny when someone asks if I play on the school team (Div III) and I laugh and say no, not close. How they look compared to me is about how I look compared to the team players. Perhaps if I was 10 years younger and hadn't had knee surgery twice over...and then I'd still need work. Good workout, though, along with that morale booster.

Looking forward to having more pressing work...

Kicked to the curb...

da boot
Originally uploaded by phdballer

Yet another Cubs season has come to an end....and all I feel like I've gotten out of it is a worthless, discarded boot....and maybe a kick in the butt.

I have been a Cubs fan since 1984 - at least that is the earliest that I can remember. This year was among the most painful of all the early finishes. Such an apparently talented team. It sure seemed like they could go far. The regular season ended up just being one big tease. Not only did they not get out of the first round, they were swept and played extremely poorly in doing so. They played like an 80-win team that squeaked in as the wild card, instead of a 97-win team with the league's best record and offense. What a joke. It is hard to want to watch any of the remaining playoffs. It'll be a long winter, Cubs-wise. And, it'll be hard to put as much faith in this team come next summer.

Good thing there is a ton of exciting basketball (hopefully) to come this winter....
(the Trailblazers sure looked fun last night, in pre-season NBA)

Hooping with Dad

On the way back to campus-town I spent Sunday night with the parents. A highlight was playing basketball with my Dad. He 'runs' an open gym that has been going on since the 80s. I've played in it off and on since junior high in 1991. It is in the small gym that I played grade school ball in. Over the years, the talent has really fallen off, from a mixed group of 20-40 somethings to a few decent players and a bunch of young 20-somethings who aren't all that they think they are. The court size is good for any older guys...less room to run. And, two standards of play there have been using zone defense in all games and 'call it if you do it'.

The zone is a good idea, to limit younger players from running older guys like crazy. But, of course, most players these days don't know how to play zone. 2-3 is the standard and is simple enough. But, when the middle player wants to roam up to a 1-2-2 and back...it creates chaos. Funny how some players don't realize how their actions can have an effect on other parts of the game....roving out top kills the rebounding underneath if a guard gets in the middle - also leads to an easy 3 on 2. It seems like playing a zone in pick-up is the best way to tell which players played organized ball at all. Most who didn't play organized ball don't get the concept of staying in a region, providing help side in the right way, and talking. Rebounding is always a joke...in zone players just think to turn around instead of boxing out the nearest opponent. Oh well...just pick up.

And the 'call it if you do it' is a funny code of honor. Sure, it prevents people complaining that they didn't commit a foul. The problem is that people have different ideas of whether their contact is a foul or not. And, then you get people complaining sometimes that they feel they were fouled. Can't really win either way. My problem is that everywhere else I play is call it if it happens to you. So, it is also hard to remember to call it if I commit it.....and these guys seem to have a lower threshold for fouls. Makes for an interesting time. Certainly much different pace than the quick run-n-gun and man-to-man I'm used to when playing on campus with the undergrads, law and med school students and several DII/DIII ballers.

The highlight though...playing with my Dad, even if we were on different teams. Impressive that a 60 year old can get up and down the court with players half his age. He isn't that quick, of course, and never could jump. But he can shoot 10-17 foot "jumpers" with the best of them. Being a crafty lefty helps also. I sure hope I can get up and down the court like him when I'm his age. Who knows how long he'll be playing, so I always try to join him on the court.

Not playing in 1.5 weeks played its toll....as did eating out several days in a row at the conference. Gaining several pounds sucks. Looking forward to getting back on the court, and doing some running again, now that I'm back in the regular rotation.

Conference Day 2

Day 2 of the conference was a long one. Even though I was giving my second conference talk, I still spent most of the time thinking over my slides. The talk went well, though 2 slides in, my right leg started to shake. It wasn't noticable, but was in the back of my mind as I spent most of the remainder of the talk standing on one leg so that I wouldn't feel like I was shaking. ha. It is always amazing how it is a 'relief' after the talk is over. Certainly a build up of adrenaline.

After my talk I spoke with a prof at another institution. My advisor sure must have sold me well, as the conversation was pretty much him selling his work and institution. It seemed like he did everything but flat out offer me a post-doc job. How sweet was that. I've got a standing offer to come visit some time in the next 6 months, to give a talk and look around. As that institution is just a several hour drive from mine, he even mentioned the possibility of me being shared between the two, half the week in each...My advisor must have indicated fairly strongly that he'd like to keep me around for a bit also. I need to have a real conversation with him on that...there are the occasional hints, but I'd like to hear specifics!

My session had several of those presentation gaffs. One person must have saved his talk with built-in timings. Shortly into the talk, it started moving forward when he didn't want it to. After several minutes of messing around, he finally just ran the presentation from the editing window. Another person arrived later into the session, so it took a bit to load his talk. Adding to his initial lateness, he wasn't timely and had to get the near-hook from the moderator. Why can't people plan better??? I guess it shouldn't be too unexpected, being around a bunch of engineers, that some have a lack of awareness/planning.

Today will be more touristy stuff, with brief times spent at the conference at the start and end. After the talk/"networking" yesterday, I feel that I've done my part here and don't feel bad about not being involved as much.

Live from the conference - day 1

Conferences are mentally draining, and I've only been here a few hours. Why is it that people dive right into their talks w/ minimal introduction? Sure, the audience may be generally aware of your field, but most don't know the exact basis for your work.....stuff like that tends to lose me quick if I can't place the relevance of what someone is talking about. Makes me feel better about my talk tomorrow, as I think I give a reasonable intro.

I talked briefly to researchers at another institution that are our competitors. Their PI trained mine before going there. Now, we are basically doing the same work but not collaborating while leap-frogging each other. Doesn't really make sense why it is like this...in our lab we reman secretive on some things so that we don't get scooped. Politics of academia are annoying, at times. Oh well. There's definitely more on that topic.

Time to roam posters....

Off to another conference; Ball with Dad

I'm heading off to my 3rd conference of the calendar year. Like at an August conference in Vancouver (loved the city), I'm giving a talk.....pretty much doing the same one since the audience will be completely the same. But, a research "competitor" will be giving a similar talk, probably giving the same conclusions (based on his paper) in a talk the previous day.....hope I don't get questions asking about differences between our studies (story there). Thoughts on the conference as it goes on...

First, though, is a drive through the BS alma mater and a night staying at my parents place. Leaving the conference, I'll stay at home again. And, play basketball with my Dad. How many 60 year old guys play ball once a week? With people 40 years their junior?? That is amazing....I sure hope I am able to do that at his age. It is an interesting group, that has changed over the years. It is affiliated with their church. Used to have a lot of good 20-30 somethings, but talent has left area and been replaced by mainly 20somethings that aren't as good. It is probably the only "open gym" that you'll find in which people play zone on both ends (allows the few older ones to keep up). Also, it is a "call your own fouls - if you commit it, not if others fouled you/violations" place. Even though I've played in it intermittently since '91 (early 8th grade), I have problems with the calling as I've been wired to do it differently. Either way, I'm looking forward to hooping with my Dad, who shoots (seriously) about 80% from 10-15 feet. Should be fun.....