Simulation methods: Simulations with COMSOL

Finite element calculations are methods in numerical mathematics, which are used, to solve different kinds of mathematical equations.

This method is very powerful, because it is also possible, to numerically solve equations, for which other calculation methods fail.

It is possible to simulate problems in thermal phyiscs, electromagnetism, hydrodynamics, but also in biology or medicine; but also a lot of other applications, especially also in mechanics or chemical process engineering.

There are several excellent software packages available, with which an engineer or scientist can solve such kinds of problems himself.

Here I give only some informations about one of them - COMSOL

Have a look at their website:
http://www.comsol.de/

To get a good overview, what problems can be sovled, look at their Model Gallery at:

http://www.comsol.de/showroom/product/

Comsol has also excellent tutorials

http://www.comsol.de/products/tutorials/

and a lot of free webinars:

http://www.comsol.de/events/webinars/

I think, that the website of Comsol gives quite a good overview, how powerful numerically simulation methods are nowadays and that an engineer or scientist should master such methods, if he is interested to solve application problems. Because then it is not possible, to use too simple models for the reality.

Concept for: an advanced spreadsheet "Information Cube"

The spreadsheet programs of today are still based on the principles of the first one ( Visicalc from Apple). But this concept could be much more powerful, if it would be thought through from the basics and if all possibilities of newer software would be integrated:

A modern spreadsheet program should have following features, which could be classified for usage to beginners, advanced and professional; so that nobody gets overwhelmed with the available features. That means also, that excellent new kinds of tutorials will have to be developed:

• use of several dimensions, using ordered tuples of numbers, not combinations of letters and numbers. ( as is has been developed in mathematics for matrix calculus for instance.
• use mathematical formulas, as written in mathematics
• present the spreadsheet of several dimensions, in some standard forms, but also allow the customer, to define the presentation himself. Cuts through the information cube; different sequences of cells. ( look at  http://www.thebrain.com/    to see,  how an elegant and intuitive navgigation in large amounts of information can be realized nowadays )
• indexing all cells, so that each piece of information can be found easily. The information cube can contain all kinds of information, like numbers, words, texts, pictures etc.
• expand the number of cells, so that a spreadsheet can have as many cells, as the computer of the user can store or the network of computers, to which he has access.
• use better, much more detailed colour schemes, so that cells can be better differentiated.
• supply add ons like:

•      Statistics and distribution functions; Monte Carlo Simulation
•     simulation of industries, social systems and economies, according to the      method of industrial dynamics, as  developed by  Forrester
•  differential equations or any other kind of equations
•  memorising methods, according to the flashcard principles

How to: take super panorama photos with the gigapan robot system

If one needs a panorma-photo of a landscape, a building or a large production machine, then in many cases one touches the limits of photography, because it is not possible, to get the total object into one  photo and get also a very high resolution.

Also the panorama feature of a camera may not help, because the picture of the object gets distorted and it is only possible, to use the panaorama either horizontally or vertically, but not in both directions.

In such cases the gigapan-system is an optimal solution. This is a small robot mount, with which the camera is turned horizontally around up to 360°, then turned a bit vertically and again turned around horizontally. All the quite small sections of the photo get stiched together by a software program, which is part of the offer.

The robot mount is fixed on a tripoid ( not part of the offer ) and the electronic camera is fastened in the robot mount.

Photos of that kind can be extremely large ( many gigabytes ) and it takes quite some time, to make them ( hours ), but it is very impressive, how many details are shown, which one can check by  zooming in and out.

Have a look at the website of gigapanstems:

http://gigapansystems.com/epic-product-page.html

and have above all a look at those photos, like for instance a photo of Dubai:

http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/48492/

How to: convert pdf to epub format

When I write a report or a book, I use  following work flow :
 ( I have tested that only with the mentioned programs. If you use others, then you have to find out yourself, how it functions ):

• create an  outline with a mind map program like MindJet
• write the unformatted text into the notes at each branch of the mind map
• if the first draft is o.k., then  transfer the mind map  to Microsoft Word

• in Word format the text and add diagrams, photos, hyperlinks etc.

• thereafter transfer the document into pdf

The pdf formatted document can get distributed, because now the format will be kept and can be read  with  most operating systems. If the content should be kept secret, then it is wise, to encrypt it, either  using Adobe Writer or an encryption program or an email provider, which encrypts emails. For business purposes this is a must nowadays, because it is easy, to spy out unencrypted documents, which are sent in the internet.

But nowadays many people use also electronic ebook readers and for those readers the pdf format is not ideal.

For that purpose the epub format is much better.

At present there are not many converter programs available.

But for a limited time, one can download for free a  pdf to epub converter program at:

http://www.pdftoepub.com/

Edmond`s Scientific Method

Edmond, the founder of Edmond Scientifics, investigated the relevant literature, to find out, what ingredients are important for a succesful scientific solution method.

He gives permission, to use freely his findings and distribute them, so that many people can learn and apply this method, to improve the living conditions of us all.

Here follows a copy of his findings. More detailed informaton is given on his website:

http://www.problemsolving.net/ps10-4of4.html
________________________

cited from Edmond:

"    Here Is the Best Problem Solving Model,
      the Most Important of All Problem Solving Strategies for Complex Problems.

The literature shows, that thousands of model formulas have been offered for the mental activity stages of problem solving. After a thorough review of the literature and selecting features from the best of them, a formula - SM-14 - is now available for creative problem solving.
It consists of 11 steps or stages and 3 ingredients.
It is complete and practical. It is long enough to cover the major steps or stages and ingredients, but not so long as to be impractical for use and for teaching problem solving.

Creative Problem Solving Model: SM-14

Step or Stage 1 - Curious Observation

Step or Stage 2 - Is There a Problem?

Step or Stage 3 - Goals & Planning

Step or Stage 4 - Search, Explore, & Gather the Evidence

Step or Stage 5 - Generate Creative & Logical Solutions

Step or Stage 6 - Evaluate the Evidence

Step or Stage 7 - Make the Educated Guess (Hypothesis)

Step or Stage 8 - Challenge the Hypothesis

Step or Stage 9 - Reach a Conclusion

Step or Stage 10 - Suspend Judgment

Step or Stage 11 - Take Action

      Supporting Ingredients:

Ingredient 12 - Creative, Non-logical, Logical, & Technical Methods

Ingredient 13 - Procedural Principles & Theories

Ingredient 14 - Attributes & Thinking Skills

"

_________________________________________________

How To: scope with stress

Stress is a severe health problem in industrial nations. If not taken care of, it can cause   the  "burnt out syndrom".
Stress can be caused, if several problems come together at the same time and we either have no solution for them  or  not enough time,  to solve them all in due time,  like:

• Financial pressures
• too much work pressures
• problems with family at home

How can we reduce the stress ?

1. prepare  a  to  do list with  all tasks and problems
2. analyze the problems one by one and develop several concepts, how to solve them. Use a problem journal,  into which you write all relevant information and solution ideas.  Review it every week.

3. discuss these concepts with others and apply the most promising one.

4. plan at least 1 hour each day, when you relax and don´t think about your problems. Just enjoy life and do, what you enjoy to do

5. if stress is caused, because your life situation will change ( job, family etc ), then write down, what causes fear to you. Is it only some diffuse fear of the unknown future or are there some real problems, which future could bring. Develop again several concepts, how to clarify these future problems and solve them if they really should occur.

6. reserve one day per week for relaxation and at least one weekend per month for relaxation.

7. train relaxation methods, like

• autogenic training
• Yoga
• TaiChi
• and do some sport like walking, swimming etc.

How To: copy the content of a computer screen with ScreenShotCaptor

For writing reports it is very useful, if one can include in the report, what is shown on the computer screen.

Oftenly one has to include  photos, CAD-Drawings, Excel-Data sheets and parts of text documents  in a new report or send it per email to a partner.

And now and then it is not possible, to include interesting content from a website, because one cannot copy it.

All that work can be done with screen capture programs.

There are several commercial ones available. Here I recommend one, which is free ( the author asks for a donation and I think, that it justified, to support them, because that program is really good ).

You can download it from:

http://www.donationcoder.com/

You have to register, so that you can download it. Then an email with a registration key is sent to you, which you have to paste in, when you open the program the first time.  A bit unusual, but no problem.

The program is really free,  even if you don´t donate, but then you have to get a new registration key after 6 months and again after 12 months.

But I think, that a reasonable donation is only fair. Good work should be supported.

Internet Video conferencing

Internet video conferencing has got  quite affordable now.  For private use, some suppliers  offer it for free. But for business purposes,  one has to pay some money.

There is quite a large range of prices, depending on the offered features and how many participants can take part in a meeting.

For 4 to 8 participants the price range is between 10 to 40 dollar per month.

Some guidelines should be used, to get a good result:

• A video conference should be prepared at least as carefully as a face to face meeting, otherwise time is wasted.
• All participants should follow some agreed rules, how to prepare for the video conference and how to behave during it.
• send an invitation to all participants of the video conference, with detailed meeting agenda.

• each participant should be well prepared for the meeting.
• the moderator must master the software and check with each participant some time before, that he also masters it.
• nobody should move around during the meeting.

• everybody should speak clearly and slowly. At each time only one person should speak.
• at the end of the meeting the moderator should give a short review and announce the next steps.
• a meeting report is sent to all participants and they should either send modifications back or accept it.

____________________________________

Here are links to 2 companies, which offer internet video conferencing services with many features, which are useful, for a moderate price.

A:    ivisit

offers its service, which covers the most needed features, for quite a low price, but without encryption, for up to 8 participants for 46 dollar per year

http://www.ivisit.com/


B. gotomeeting
is focusing onto larger audiences, starting with up to 15 participants for 468 dollars per year.  Its most important advantage, compared with ivisit, is its strong encryption with 128 bit, which may be very important for business purposes and justify the 10 times higher price, compared to ivisit.

http://www.gotomeeting.com/

Checklist: How to earn money as a technical freelance writer

Because of the advances in technology there are many opportunities for technical writers, which are also well paid.
Technical writing is quite different from other writing projects. An article should be only as long as really needed.  The text should be  supported with drawings, diagrams and tables.

The main steps are:

1. collect information
2. structure the information using mind map software

3. write direct to the point and easy to understand

4. use diagrams, flowcharts and tables

5. use internal and external hyperlinks


An excellent ebook about this topic is offered at:

http://www.fabjob.com/welcome.asp

Checklist: How to do Video Marketing

1: Keep your videos short: 2-3 minutes is good.
2: Post videos on your sales pages.
3: Choose your keywords carefully.


4: Have a clear purpose & structure

5: Look at the camera so you talk directly to your viewers.

6: Create a clear call to action based on a single option or offer


7: Encourage comments on your video

8: Write articles, forum posts and blogs

9: Make linkages with other content and social sites


10: Use time twice by re-purposing and repackaging your videos


information source:
Jay Allyson
Article Directory:

link:      http://www.articledashboard.com/

Checklist: How to convert text to videos using AVR

1. Follow The Video Sites' Guidelines

2. Script Your Written Articles

3. Pace The Voice-Over Talker

information soucre:

Peter Bostonn
link:    http://www.articledashboard.com/

Checklist: How to sleep well and overcome sleeping problems

1.     Avoid

• drinking tea, coffee, alcohol and smoking late at night
• Avoid taking exercise in the evening
• Avoid paying bills and similar jobs just before sleep

2.    sleeping habit

• 
  
  Go to bed at the same time each night so that you set a routine
• 
  
  Only use the bed for sleeping and sex
• 
  
  Try using affirmations

3    how  to overcome sleeping problems

• If you can’t get to sleep after a while, do something boring until you feel sleepy
• Try a herbal tea
• Put the essential oils lavender on your pillow

source of information:

20 Tips For A Great Night’s Sleep
24.09.2010
Author: Karizma
Posted in Self Improvement  
link:    http://www.articlerage.com/?p=11589