Lost from Civilization Part 2

Halo guys! sorry for the lack of presence from the internet these days. Been covered head to toe with work.

No.1
My desktop has limited memory ( RAM ) so cant run simulation and do ANYTHING else at the same time. Also, cannot log into internet for security reasons while using simulation program.

No.2My home laptop has been infected with a super sneaky and vicious and irritating virus/spyware. Its soooo well hidden, that after using 2 virus scans and 5 different types of anti-spyware software, the ROOT is still undetectable. all i can remove are its fruits. So no internet for me at home too. I just recieve icq msgs from my lab mates whom sent them to me LAST WEEK regarding work. hahah... too late...

No.3 Yesterday, my whole world crumbled and fell. Happily walking back to lab, it suddenly struck me. All the data i have using in simulation are all Engineering Properties, and are different from the True properties. Engineers usual uses Engineering properties to do calculations and all, and these calculations has certain assumptions which makes things a lot easier to do. Actually, a lot of calculations for buildings, machines and things we use and live in today using these simple assumptions which makes work a lot easier. ok, enough of the physics lessons. Simply put it, i used engineering properties in simulation while i was suppose to use TRUE properties because at high deformation of 0.8 strain. The TRUE stress experienced is a big difference from the engineering one.

to keep things even simplier. I HAVE TO REDO ALL MY SIMULATIONSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! (which was 80% done after 2 wks of running the computers overtime). Like i said, my whole world came crumbling down.

Luckily, i had 3 tons of epoxy glue with me, and after a whole night of video therapy, i managed to glue it back together. sigh.... wat to do, gotto delay my submission of first draft to April liao. Sounds so freaking familiar this story.

Thanks, guys out there who are concern about me. But i am OK! I have experienced too many downfalls to let this one take me down. Will FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! Like the mad scientist said, MUST BE STRONG! YEAH!!!

Ok, Alpha Oscar over and out!

Seeya guys in about a month or 2 time.
*Crawls back into cave*

Paying to be Overworked
~THATS ME!!!~

Lost from Civilisation Part 1 was published in 30th Dec 2004

tots

Problems are things everyone will encounter. But to fall into dispare is a choice that people make.

So when man faces problems that is beyond their power to solve, what do they do?

Medical Bills are expensive

I just send my precious digital camera for repairs yesterday. And guess wat, it will cost me $60 just to send it in for checkup, and extra for whatever repairs it needs!! Forget about Wallstreet, Nanotech and Biotech. The money is in customer service man! For doing nothing, they get paid $60!!! I still had to go all the way down to harbourfront myself to send it in for repairs... and it will take them 2 weeks to get back to me.... -_-"

ArrrrrgGGggggg!!!!

Anyway, its done, just see how it goes bah. . .

Another frustrating thing is that the equipment i need to use to get the rest of my data before i can run the rest of my simulations has been reserved by a bunch of FYP students! arg! And its booked all the way up till end next week!!! arg!!!! I NEED IT!!! its the bottle-neck of my results now. I CAN write part of my thesis first la, but the simulations are the more time consuming part. And i still need to write a discussion based on the simulation results... oh man...... >_< meanwhile, i just have to b contented with trying to do the outline and plan for my last few chapters on results and discussion. . . .

OH! i got a Small Nalgene bottle! Isnt it the coolest thing!! ^_^
HAahha i feel like a kid with a new toy >_<
T_T too bad no digital cam to take photos of it to put online to brag... :(

The first time i saw monkey. It was love at first sight ^_^  

Thesis so far...

is not done yet. OBVIOUSLY! If it IS, i wouldnt be here typing this blog. I would either be in town shopping to my heart's content, or nuaring at home watching anime or japanese drama, OR be at some beach lazing in the sun!! -_- unfortunately, i have not YET completed my theiss.

As i have mentioned, I am doing simulations now. Much better then that data processing phase, but ironically more busy. But busy is good. At least things are going. At the Data processing phase, i was just brain dead. Not knowing how i should go about selecting 7 curves out of 70. Its just like asking u to choose out of 70 people, which 7 should survive in a amagadon level disaster and represent MANKIND. Who is better, WHAT is better. >_< ArgggH!!!

Luckily, that phase is over. Now, all i have to do, is to troubleshoot and get the simulaiton running as i want it to, and smoothly. And of course, some MORE data analysis and experiments cos i just found out a BETTER way to attain the results. OK! dont panic! it wont take forever, this is just the LAST batch i will redo... hmm... sounds familiar doesnt it. Oh well, really, this WILL be the last batch of experiments i will do. Anyway i am out of SnPb solder. Cant believe i ACTUALLY used up all 3Kg of flux-free solder wire. >_<

So for now, its twigging with simulation, and when its running, i will do more machining, experiments and data processing for subsequent simulation. Things are moving like clock-work now. A few hick-ups along the way, but generally moving.

Although some of you might notice my absence from msn recently, thats cos when my simulation is running (7-8 hrs each run), i have to turn off alll other applications on my computer. Cos I need to squeeze out ever single drop of RAM i can get my hands on. Limited RAM la, only 256MB (which is just peanuts in today's computing world).

Ok ok! enough of this, back to work! Wait for my good news.....(in 3 wks or so) and then, FEEDOM!!!!!

My precious is unconscious!!!

She didnt wake up with my gentle touch.
I tried to shake her awake, but she didnt respond.
I even tried to slap her awake, but was in vain.

MY DIGITAL CAMERA WONT TURN ON!!! >_<

Argg!!!! Its was discovered that my Canon Powershot S45 couldnt regain consciousness last thursday morning. When i was thinking of taking a few shots of the water droplets on the car's windscreen. Something seems loose inside. But its been like that since THE DROP! and survived well for the pass 8 months or so. Why!!?? So WHY did it stop working now??

I never tot i would miss her so much till she stopped working. I guess i have always took her robust-ness for granted. And also, i never realised how much i relied on it. She's always be my side. Using her to capture kodak moments, or what i HOPE would be kodak moments. Be it trying to improve my photography and composition skills or just taking some photos for memory-sake, i have always relied on her. And now that she is down, i am at a lost.

I guess i will bring her down to the hospital (Canon customer service center @ habourfront) one of these days to put her under observation. I hope i have enough money for the operation. >_< Lets hope its not a heart-transplant of need any replacement of major organs.....T_T

My precious!!!! come back to me......S45!!!!!!!

Horay!!

Horay!!!

My simulation results finally seem normal. Phew!

Ok, will try to sound as lay man as possible.

You see, after doing the simulation, i need to extract the strain data from the simulation to compare it with my experimental data of the same setup, expect it is the real thing. The reason why i wanna do simulation is so that i can use the simulation to test out the material properties of the 3 types of solder i have experimented with, to see if it can be used to predict the results of the actual experiment. If it indeed can, then its a success! If it can't, well then too bad. Edison tried thousands of materials to be the filament for his lightbulb before succeeding didnt he? haha.

Anyway, i digress. So the simulation was giving me rubbish strain results!!! the strain output from the simulation resembles something like a 1 yr old trying to draw something... anything. just zig zagged lines. rubbbish (although recently, some elephants in thailand has developed the skill of painting with their trunks. and the painting was auctioned at a price of S$60,000, isnt it better to be an elephant these days?) I digress again, so the funny thing is, the stress value is however very nice, very similar to what i expected the shape of the graph to be like. Which doesnt make sense!! Coz,

Stress = Strain X Young's Modulus
and since Young's Modulus is defined to be a constant in my simulation, then the Stress history graph should have the same shape as the strain!!! But it doesnt!!!

But after me and 3 other PhD students brainstormed for a while, we finally found out its because we had to change this setting for the calculation to be at double precision rather then single precision! >_<

Thus, to keep the long long story short, with a click of a button, my life seems so much less bleek out of a sudden.

Hor!!!
Breakthrough!!! Motivated now liao!!!
Work work work!!!!

Rain! Finally! . . . . . its a rainy day... very rainy.

After a dry spell, bush fires and smokey skies for the pass month, it has finally rained!! No more smokey smell of burnt ashes in the morning, nor misty foggy skies. Ahh!! Its sooo good to breathe and see clearly again.

Its just after lunch, and i just cannot imagine starting work. The inertia must weigh a few million tonnes. >_< Cos during lunch, i just calculated the time i need to do that 54 simulations (note that i REcalculated the number of simulations i would be required to do, twice! and it still adds up to 54. -_- arent the numbers suppose to go down everytime you count it? Ah! maybe i got it confused with my wallet -_- )

Calculation process:. . . . . . . . .

3 Different Materials,
3 Different Microstructure per Material
3 Different Striker Velocity per material per microstructure
AND!
2 Different dependence PER material, PER microstructure, PER striker velocity. . . . . . . . . .

-_-"

= 3 X 3 X 3 X 2= 54. . . . .

time taken PER simulation. NINE HOURS!

Total time taken for ALL simulation = 54 X 9 = 486Hrs
Number of Days to run simulation = 486/24 = 20 1/4

i need almost 3 WEEKS to run that 54 simulations on ONE computer!!!!
Lucky i got 2.. but still... its like a minimum of 11 Days!!!!!

-_- and i still havent been able to start yet... Hahahahaha....

This is SOOO FUN! >_<

 

 

1st of March!

I cant believe it! its the first of march, ITS MARCH ALREADY! and i am still here. where? nowhere! The word Depression sounds like wonderland for my present mental state now. >_< I kept thinking that I would be able to complete this by end of Dec after my Japan trip. I didnt. I TOT i was going to complete it by end of jan or by cny, but i DIDNT! And then i told myself, "no worries I will complete by end feb", guess what? I DIDNT! >_<

Siighhh.... now i hope to complete it by end of march, hopefully before my birthday. Although the data processing is done, I am about to start doing the simulations, which leaves the simulations, and the rest of the thesis writing (simulation, results, discussion and conclusion) but it seems FOREVER!!! Can i do it in time? CAN I?!!!?? ARgg!!!! I hands itch to hit some heads. and mind to get some rest....-_- Moan~~~~