I’ve started a new job at Cornell University as an “Analyst Consultant for Data-Driven Science” after seven years at the University of Pennsylvania supporting email and web services. The new job has given me a chance to reflect on the past and speculate on the future of my career.
My time at Penn was spent keeping up with the digital “Jones”, a constant race to follow the evolution of technology. Every year was different. I was afforded the opportunity to reinvent my role and keep learning about topics ranging from networking to security to software development to customer service. When asked about my job at Penn, I used the metaphor of being a “digital plumber” that fixed problems as they arose, was sometimes involved with installing new systems, and understood that a job well done was when nobody notices. The day-to-day work kept me interested like a series of puzzles that needed to be solved, some of which I could solve in an hour, and others that took multiple years. My job was not always idyllic, but supportive management and the opportunity to collaborate with smart coworkers made even the most daunting tasks surmountable.
If my old job was being a “digital plumber”, my new job could be described as a “digital shepherd”. The position attempts to address the problem that scientific data is being created in great quantity, and at an unprecedented rate. Resources need to be dedicated to ensure that researchers have sufficient tools to analyze the large volume of data and provide a path to preserve the data for future generations. Our team is tasked with identifying needs and applying creative solutions to this problem.
In between my old and new job I worked part-time for a Cornell research group. The project involved a working next to a gigantic magnet (leave your wallet at the door, or your credit cards will get wiped!), terms like “quantum mechanics”, and a lot of people with PhDs. The researchers I worked with were terrific, but working with such foreign topics was intimidating at times. Even lacking familiar with quantum mechanics and things like Electronic Spin Resonance, I was still able to make progress by relying on my skills and keeping an open mind.
At Penn, my job was keeping the trains running; at Cornell, I’m working with individuals that are trying to discover an entirely new way of traveling. The move from traditional Information Technology to Research Computing will be exciting for me as I learn new technologies, help the community accomplish their research goals, and have fun along the way.
Today I’m happy to announce that I’ve accepted a position to work at Cornell with the Discover Research Service Group (DRSG). It is an exciting opportunity to work with researchers to address the problems of working with increasing larger volumes of data.
I figured out how to connect an old desktop computer to our television and get rid of our cable TV! We can watch the same programming that we had before and only pay for internet access.
We decided to not get cable tv after we moved to save money. (Okay, I decided not to get cable because my fiancé was never part of that lobby in the first place.) I watch a lot of trashy cable television programming and was worried that I would go into tv withdrawal. Cable tv has been replaced by Hulu and Netflix.
The setup involves and old desktop computer that has a DVI output, an older plasma TV with a DVI input, and internet access. It looks something like the following: cable internet connected to the computer, computer connected to the tv.
The computer is running Windows XP (still works) and has a mouse connected via a long USB cable. When we want to watch a show we turn the TV into a giant monitor for the computer and watch Hulu or Netflix. This works better than using a dedicated solution like Boxee, Windows Media Center, or Apple TV that would be more tied to specific media or an existing television connection. It is also an upgrade from watching Hulu/Netflix on a laptop screen There are limitations, some programming like “Mad Men” is locked away, but downloading and watching via iTunes might be a future option.
The setup is convoluted, but FREE. Until cable is cheaper or there is less need for saving this works for me
Recently our old laptop decided to give up the ghost. The hard drive had stopped working, a common problem with older laptops. I saved the laptop by installing Linux on a USB pen drive and turning it from a hunk of metal destine for the recycling bin to a usable computer for checking email and playing Gnometris!
The process of saving the laptop started with taking an inventory of USB drives that we had in the house. The laptop hard-drive was dead, but it is possible to run Linux completely off of a USB pen drive. The cards I had ranged in size from a 512 MB “Geek Squad” key-chain to a 4 GB microSD card for my phone.
I opted to go with the 1 GB “Pennsylvania state of innovation” USB drive, a freebie from a conference that previously held a 3 MB PDF document (tax payers dollars at work).
After a couple of false starts involving different Linux distributions, I ended up with Xubuntu. Here is it with Firefox.
A Word Processor.
Gnometris!
Now we have a working laptop ☺ The laptop is also a lot quieter without a noisy hard drive. Hurray for Linux.
Google recently published an article with the tag “Let’s make the web faster.” They should have called it “Let’s make the web faster and save the planet.” A fast website is the Toyota Prius of the web. Slow websites waste energy delivering content.
When we were in school we learned that efficiency is a measure of how much energy is put in compared to how much is created. For cars we often think about efficiency in terms of MPG. An efficient car gets 30 MPG; a “gas guzzler” gets 10 MPG. How do we measure an efficient website?
An efficient website is measured by how quickly it loads. The less time it takes you to view the page the less energy it takes to deliver the page to you. Every time you visit a web page there are many computers involved in displaying the page on your screen. There is the computer sitting in front of you that has to render the page on your screen, there are the computers between you and the website that pass packets of data to deliver the page contents, and there are the computers that publish the web page that are waiting for each request and sending them out. The longer it takes for each computer to deliver the web page means that each computer is doing more work and wasting more energy.
On the other hand, slow doesn’t always mean bad. When I go to my deli they can make my sandwich quickly, but when there are a lot of customers it takes longer. Websites are the same; a busier website could mean that they are handling a lot of traffic or a myriad of other technical reasons.
How can I save the planet? If you have a website, think about how you can make it faster more efficient by checking out Google’s article. A faster website, like a more efficient car, can save you money. Whether you are an individual like me trying to maximize the value in your dollar store web hosting plan or a multinational company taking over the world, faster websites mean more money.
I saved money on web hosting from switching from using PHP to static HTML. I was getting frustrated with waiting for pages to load while using PHP. This started me thinking about paying for more expensive hosting that promises more resources for the customer, but then I asked whether I could do more with less. Static HTML allowed me to display the same content faster and not have to pay for the expensive web hosting. I still use PHP for this blog because maintaining a blog with static HTML isn’t practical, but I do use best practices of caching to make it faster. Spread the word, “Let’s make the web faster and save the planet.”
We’re moving to Ithaca, NY in Aug., 2009. Hello Upstate NY! Emily will be starting a program at Cornell.
We’ve found a lovely apartment in downtown and looking for tips on:
Tasty places to eat
Interesting places to go
Fun places to bike
I’m also looking for a j.o.b. in computer programming / software development / web development. Drop me a line if you have any suggestions/leads. Our 2 bdrm apartment in Philly will be available if you know anybody that is looking to move.
There are limitations, some programming like “Mad Men” is locked away, but downloading and watching via iTunes might be a future option.
