- Author: Robert Bringhurst
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Hartley and Marks Publishers (October 9, 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN: 0881792063
September 29, 2006
The Elements of Typographic Style
Ideaspotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea
- Author: Sam Harrison
- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: How Books (April 12, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN: 1581808003
Friday and we’re flocking ….
Today read about what happens when birds fly in a V formation, and the effects of the downwash and upwash. Not completely sure what upwash is at the moment, but will try to find out. Took notes, and will aim to write it all up.
Fully aware that I’m only looking at “popular science” level resources at the moment, but I need to go through these to “buy my entry ticket” to the more hardcore literature. I quickly looked through a paper I’d requested yesterday, and realised that without this initial introduction reading period of almost-layman level resoruces, I wouldn’t stand a chance of working out what it all meant!
Also realised I haven’t done anything on wingtip vortices, which I need to factor in.
September 28, 2006
Notes from meeting with Will, 28-Sep-06 (TC) …
- Report writing
- “Iterative” is the word to focus on
- get the first draft complete
- try to cover everything (breadth) in some level at this point
- then look to revisit and improve v1.1, v1.2, etc
- Deciding on who to follow
- Would Bayes theory and probability be useful here?
- Look for connections between this and particle swarm optimisation — who does the swarm know who to follow, for example?
Thursday went slowly …
Not the greatest of days today…. Proceddings were not helped by me waking up and finding ~15 wasps in my bedroom this morning, who’d obviously come in to find somewhere warm to spend the night! Needless to say, this morning I had to spend 30min as Head Wasp Slayer before trapsing in.
And then when I came in, I spent a large amount of time battling with Adobe, in a bid to correctly download the electronic versions of documents that had been sent to me. I finally got there, but it took an awfully long time to achieve. However, I think that between the journals I have currently, and a quick sortie to a local university library, I should have pretty much all the information I need to make a reasonable stab at the write-up on drafting, which will take place later on today and continue into tomorrow.
September 26, 2006
Nature’s flyers book …
Nature’s Flyers: Birds, Insects, and the Biomechanics of Flight
Tuesday: Vortexes …
A quick update, as I realise I haven’t done any for the last few days:
- yesterday I wrote up and reviewed my previous notes on drafting
- today I took notes on what vortices are
- however I’ve come over some really good aerodynamic pages which start to help me see the bigger picture.
- I think I need to understand the different types of drag in more detail, as this will help explain how drafting works — i.e. how induced drag interferes with form drag, etc. That piece is next to do!!
September 21, 2006
Notes from meeting with Will, 21-Sep-06 (F2F) …
Some quick notes …
- Question about how to prove that drafting is actually taking place?
- i.e. how can you show that agents are drafting and making use of the benefits?
- Methods of measuring drafting:
- really, how do you measure the effects of drafting on a lobster?
- this is so you can have a model of drafting and show that it works when compared with the real world
- (why do things draft?)
- why do things draft in the real world?
Misc. points:
- toroidal — think a Pac-man-esque world
- shapes to consider
- flocking that takes place inside a 3D cube (that’s toroidal)
- internal space of a 3D sphere
- what is the critical density for flocking to occur?
- start learning Jython
September 19, 2006
A quick Tuesday note …
Very quick today: did a bit more on the plan, to a degree that I’m willing to share with Will for his input/feedback.
September 18, 2006
Monday: new version of the plan! …
Today came up with a new version of the long-term PhD plan, and gut feel says it’s on the right track. Now just need to get it reviewed, and I should be away. Getting it peer-reviewed by some of the guys at work to see what they make of it, and will then pass it on to Will for further review and comment.
Also done some filing of printed articles — it appears I’ve been hoarding a stack of them which I’ve never even read! Dropped it down from 10 a day to 5 a day, but should have them filed in a few weeks time. The issue is I remember reading them … but not what’s in them! I think I may need to correct these issues over the next few weeks, once filed. (I think it may be a case of leaving them for the time being, and capturing key content as I go through the sections of the transfer report, as per the project plan)
Ordered a thumb-drive over the weekend, which will be used to backup material as well, which should help things a lot. Might consider seeing if I can get Ceedo or some other pen drive OS thing to run off it at some point.
Ana analogy hit me over the weekend: I play hockey as a hobby, and during every match, there is always a 5-10min period where no matter how well the team is playing, everything looks a lot messier, more jittery, more uncomfortable etc — holding on to the ball is harder, passes aren’t as crisp, etc. It feels like I’m in one of those phases with my studies. However, the key in hockey is recognising the problems, and then doing something about it — i.e. working harder for one another, focussing on keeping the ball, and so on. I think with my studies, I’ve recognised there is an issue, ans have already started to correct any slippery slope I’m on to “losing the match” (!) by getting a project plan sorted.
