Graph Paper Generator - PDF

Not really a blog but, still very useful site for generating customized graph paper in pdf fromat.

How to be a STUDYING JUGGERNAUT

The purpose for writing this entry is that hopefully you find something in here useful and maybe I can save you some time as you can learn from my mistakes.

I have dyslexia and have struggled with it for most of my life. As an adult it's lasting impact was to make it very hard for me to read and comprehend information. This in itself isn't a terrible thing, all it means is that for every hour a normal person reads it will take me about 2-3 times as long to get the same information from material. So I have had to learn to be very efficient at what I spend my time on or just not bother. My weakness was always reading, studying and test writing, my natural strength has been hands on knowledge. I have a very acute three dimensional perception and understanding of objects if I can take something apart and get my hands on it. For me studying was very hard. At one point I had someone tell me that all I knew how to do was write exams and was only book smart ... it wasn't meant as a compliment but I took it as one and figured I must be doing something right :)

I feel very happy with my progress studying lately. Two of the biggest hurtles for me has been to:

1. keep from cramming before writing papers and
2. retain the information after I have written an paper.

Like allot of people who are writing power engineering papers, I would setup an exam date then plan for the studying, usually cramming the last couple of weeks before exam. After the exam would loose most of the knowledge gained from cramming until the next time I wrote an exam similar and had to re-learn the information once again.

I wasn't happy with this way of studying for exams but didn't have any real way to change my approach up until now. Knowing about reviewing periodically and all the other studying bits of knowledge didn't really help me get focused enough at the start to make me take advantage of spacing out my studying.

By starting early and spacing out studying for my next exam I will avoid cramming and retain the information. Ideally I want to be able to not study extra at all for the exam but rather just go in for the exam on exam date.

How am I doing this? By making up study flash cards from the material right away, then using a modified Leitner approach, spacing out repetitions based on how confident I am with my answer. Following some simple steps that work very well done on a daily basis:

My body is my temple

I have found that studying is a very intense thing to do, which tends to increase stress greatly so have found that if I make sure I am well rested, have eaten and exercised I don't get bogged down as easily.

One key is to study right after exercising, John Ratey has stated that the brain is more capable of learning right after exercise up to 2-3 hours depending on the intensity. Weight training tends to increase growth of new cells and intense cardio solidifies the new cells and information that was associated with learning. Ideally a cardio exercise that involves using deterity and not just a droning treadmill, elliptical etc.

REVIEWING Previous Cards according to date due (for warm up)

Essentially these are long term cards that I know but come up for review on a regular basis. The schedule depends on the confidence I have in the card. Essentially for every right answer (e^(4 * % correct * % of 5) )* 1.7 . If a card is incorrect I review it the next day, if not it is delayed by so many days. The more right and more times asked the longer the delay. The idea is to use a leitner type study system.

These cards have been asked before and are usually correct the last time.

REVIEW previous DAYS new flashcards to solidify new material

Memorized the card by looking at the card and writing down everything I can without looking at the back.... a formula sheet can be used as this will be memorized as well. Look at back of card to see if correct, make note of any errors quickly then repeat. Make sure not to have any answers visible and write down answer again quickly after looking. Do this until the card can be written out without error. If I am having problems remembering then draw on the back/highlight words etc, anything to make more sense of the information.

If done right the basic knowledge will have been digested overnight so remembering it will be allot easier.

Learn NEW cards - usually no more than 10-15 cards

This is done only while my mind is fresh. Walk through the information step by step making sure to understand each piece of information and why it is on the card. Make notes on the back, highlight etc to make more sense of the information.

Don't even try to memorize the information, just make sure it all makes sense. I only do a max of 10-15 new cards. Depending on how detailed they are it could be only 5-6. It really depends on how fresh I am and if I am getting frustrated.

STOP when things stop making sense

Reducing stress greatly improves learning and retention, so if I am getting frustrated I know I will be undoing any learning I do, so I quit for the day.

SPACE out repetitions to prevent overload and retain information

This is done using the review step, but to me this was the hardest step to do as it involves prior planning and daily review in small amounts to prevent cramming before an exam and forgetting after the exam.

I accidentally found out that If I took new cards one day, went over them till I understood them but didn't try to memorize them, then the next day set to memorizing them that I could digest much more new information than I had before and not be stressed about learning. This opened my eyes to spreading this system out over time and eventually, feeling confident that I would know all the information before exam.

The last exam I wrote, I crammed ... but had started this process and saw how well it worked I wanted to start right away for the next exam and test my theory.

So instead of procrastinating about studying then at the last minute cramming I have started a daily routine that is very manageable and with luck will allow me to not have to cram (I really don't want to do any cram type review before the exam) and hopefully be able to keep the info after.

As for the mechanics of the cards I use google docs to enter correct or not correct answers using a form to spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is set up to dynamically compile all the information on all the answers as I go so when I enter an new question it is part of the system without having to pre-program question numbers. This leaves it very flexible. The forms are pre-populated with current time and question number for review. As well all notes, questions, and forms have links for easy data entry. Essentially leaving me with only worrying about making flash cards and answering them. If I am away from the internet, I print off a list of questions and enter them when i get back.

As for the cards I use FastStone Capture to directly clip images of the question/answer into word using a full page per question split in the middle and exported to PDF for printing / reference online. I print off a copy and leave one on google docs linked to spreadsheet.

The cards are kept in sequential order since I review them based on when they are due on the spreadsheet.

I use a presentation folder to keep notes/formula sheets in as these have no rings, have a hard plastic cover and clear plastic pages to insert full page sheets of paper inside. Very compact and clean.

As for notes I use the cornel system for taking notes from books/lectures etc then summarize on one page each chapter / topic using mind mapping. The key is to keep only key points on mindmap and similar to the formula sheets only basic information. The idea is to draw associations with other items not to fully explain, that is done on the cornel sheets. Placing the cornel sheets behind the mindmap in the presentation folder so that only mindmaps are showing on one side keeps it simple and clean when reviewing.

When I study a card I write out the full answer, if it is a problem type question I do every step as if it were my answer on the exam. This way I am in the habit of writing out full questions.

I hope that this has been helpful

Resume - Dennis Hay

RESUME - Dennis Hay

dennishay [at] mac.com 250 500 1788

Box 2465 - 4205 51st Ave East, Fort Nelson, BC V0C 1R0

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Second Class Power Engineer (paper 1A3 and 1A2 on first class) 2007 - 2010 Shift Engineer (Spectra Energy, Fort Nelson Gas Plant) Along with operating as powerhouse operator, following responsibilities: maintaining plant operation in environmental limits (emissions and effluent), vacation scheduling, employee work scheduling, safety meetings, time cards, material requisitioning, overtime meal orders, filing, work scheduling, employee training, mutual trades. Responsible for updating and publishing Safe Work Procedures for Fort Nelson Gas Plant. 2004 - 2007 Powerhouse Operator (Spectra Energy, Fort Nelson Gas Plant) Operate water treatment (hot lime softener, sodium zeolite water softener, Activated Sludge Effluent treatment), boiler operation (3 Babcock and Wilcox Power for Industry Boilers operating at 700 k/lb/hr total @ 450#), Power Generation (4 Turbo Alternators, 4160V, 480V & 13.8KV switchgear), Effluent Plant for gas plant (Activated sludge 800 m^3/day), Sulphur Plant (modified Claus, Sulphreen, Thermal oxidizers@ 850 T/day sulphur). OFA level 3 First Aid. 2002 - 2004 Chief Engineer (Canfor - Polarboard OSB, Fort Nelson ) As well as operating as below also responsible for training, permitting, work orders, safety tours, communicating with Boilers Branch, participated as northern representative on regulation review on BC safety regulations. Created job safety analysis for all positions at Polarboard. Responsible for team safety audit of other Canfor mills (Fiberco, Uneeda, Polarboard).OFA level 3 First Aid. 1995 - 2002 Operator (Canfor - Polarboard OSB, Fort Nelson ) Operated Wellons wood combustor, Electrified filter bed (emmission control), wafer dryers, thermal oil system and fines screening (2564 m^2 surface area), wax resin area, warehouse and OFA level 3 First Aid. 1995 Forest firefighter (Initial Attack, Fort Nelson) 1987 - 1994 Infantry (Canadian Scottish Regiment - Port Alberni) 1985- 1994 Forest firefighter (Unit crew, Port Alberni)

Frank Chimero: 10 Principles That May Make Your Work Better or May Make It Worse

10 Principles That May Make Your Work Better or May Make It Worse

This article was originally written for Antonio Carusone’s wonderful site Aisle One. It can be read in its original resting place here.

I hate the word “tip.” It implies that there’s something that you don’t know. Some secret little gem that, when sprinkled on your work, your creative process, your diet, or your sex life will magically make it all better. They promise to make all of it effervescent, and float above everything, defying gravity above all those poor folks who didn’t happen to stumble upon Dumbo’s magic feather like you did.

Tips are easy. And shallow. Principles, though, now that’s something worth talking about. If tips are puddles, principles can be oceans. They can be deep enough to hold intrepid adventures, yet tame enough to provide a significant bounty to nourish a creative life. They can serve as a north star and a rallying point. More than anything, they can be an inspiration. Sailors will always sing about the sea.

Antonio asked me to map my own ocean and to document a few of my guiding principles. They may be of assistance to you. They may not. But then again, it’d be a shame if we were all working off the same map, looking for the same treasure.

1. Be honest.

Be honest to your audience. An open path of communication is built upon trust. This idea is relevant to every other form of communication, and I think it applies to visual communication. Honesty isn’t just about audience. Be honest to yourself as well. Do the things you’re passionate about. Avoid the things that you hate, if you can.

2. Consistent voice is more important than consistent style.

Voice is about what you say. It’s content. Style is about what you’re wearing. It’s aesthetics. The prior informs the latter, not the other way around. Clothes don’t make the man. They don’t make your work either.

3. Does it have heart?

If it does, make it. If it doesn’t, why spend the time on something that doesn’t have spirit?

4. Have modest expectations.

Spend a lot of time choosing that one thing that a piece of design or an illustration should try to do. Then, work your ass off trying to figure out the absolute best way to do that one thing.

5. Don’t be scared of your tools.

Use them, don’t fear them. For instance, while sketching, I recommend using cheap paper. If the paper’s cheap, you won’t feel bad documenting your bad ideas. Getting the first, awful ideas out of the way is crucial: very rarely does any one hit it out of the park on the first try. If I had a sketchbook filled with nice, expensive paper, I’d feel obligated to make the first idea I sketched brilliant. That pressure would paralyze me. Tools should be enablers, not disablers. If something is more intrusive or intimidating than it is useful, get rid of it. It’s not a tool, it’s a toy. Or worse, a creative boogie man that you’re inviting through your front door.

6. Embrace the subconscious.

In the studio, I have a sofa for naps with a couple pillows. The pillow is kind of comfortable, but mostly not. Just soft enough to relax you. But, just stiff enough to keep you from falling fully asleep. Right before you fall fully asleep, your brain is making all sorts of connections between all of the unrelated thoughts in your brain. There’s no filter from your conscious mind saying “This makes sense. This other idea doesn’t.” Without that filter, you can consider more possibilities. So, grab something to write with, fill your head to the brim with research and what you already know. Then, take an almost-nap and get ready to document the ideas that find you.

7. Edit.

Delete unimportant things. Even if you love them. If it isn’t spectacular, it gets cut. Kill your darlings. Be a cold-blooded killer. Ruthless. Delete. Refine. Improve

8. Being too comfortable is dangerous.

Most creatures die in their sleep. Keep moving, or get eaten. The only things you should be absolutely comfortable with in your creative process are your tools.

9. There is nothing keeping you from doing the sort of work that you wish.

What do you want? It’s a hard, yet crucial question. We all do creative work to get happy. It’s why we let it beat us up, and it’s why we keep crawling back to it. Figure out precisely what you want, and realize that if no one will pay you to make it, you can still make it for yourself. And you still win, because you’re happy.

10. Execute.

An idea on the page is worth 100x more than an idea in the mind. You can only judge and be judged by work that’s executed. Eventually, we all realize that most of the ideas that look great in our mind look dumb once they’re real. But, at least you now know.

Get any book for free

Fort Nelson Public Library, just get a library card and you can request any book they have or any book they can get access too .. all the way to vancouver.

First Class Power Engineering Syllabus

Trying out the embedding ability of google docs to view a pdf. What I would like to share is my flashcards but embedded.

Uniquely Tag Items using Day and week of the year

This came about because I was trying to create a filing system that used a unique serial for items regardless of system. What I came up with was day of the year with 24 hour clock and week of the year. This is more as a solution to how do I refer back to some notes/information in the future and adding onto normal note taking styles. Pile of Index Cards or PoIC is another possible solution but find I am space limited and wanted a generic system to work on cards, email whatever.

9225:1134 This represents 225th day in 2009 at 1134, the assumption is that you won't come up with more than one item per minute (if you do the use A..B etc) but have found for all practical purposes there isn't any need to. This serial number can be referred to using any reference system and every number is unique, right from collecting your mail to thinking of something to surfing the web, email etc it all works. With indexed searching like spotlight and google desktop you can search for these terms across your files/ email etc / blog whatever. What now ties these items together is a unique number a 'key field'. If you combine index number with color coded shorties you get a simple but effective system.

9w30 30th week of 2009 .. this is used for a weekly bring forward file or tickler. Just tag something with this code and make sure you check / search for the key term on sunday or monday of the week and it will come forward as well.

The current DOY and TIME as well as WOY.

PE1A1 Thermodynamics Flashcards

For the most part the questions used in Thermodyanmics are in three parts (Reed's, BCIT and PanGlobal books), for now my review is focusing on Reed's Volume 3 - Thermodyanmics and the reference numbers are for questions in that book. As there is so much material and it is all in the same book I didn't make actual flash cards but refer to questions out of the book.


Here are the actual card stats.

PE1A1 Thermodynamics Flashcard Stats

Here is the summary spreadsheet I use to track and record flashcard stats, roughly speaking it tracks using a Leitner style study technique. The most recent is here.

Five Classic Ways to Boost Your Note-Taking [Back To School]

Five Classic Ways to Boost Your Note-Taking [Back To School]: "

If your note-taking skills are suffering from summertime rigor mortis, now's as good a time as any to throw a new technique into the mix. Let's take a look at some new and old tools for improving your ballpoint repertoire.

Photo by JasonRogersFooDogGiraffeBee.

The Cornell method

This oldie is a highly-regarded, very common system that makes it especially easier to retain information. By reviewing things as you go, you might even get away with less studying.

Divide your page into two columns. The left one (which could also just be the back of the previous page in your notebook) is narrower. You're going to jot larger ideas in this column: the 5-dollar-words and big bullet points. In the right column, you're going to take down as much information as possible. The right column is allowed to be messy, have pictures and tables—it's not necessarily organized. To some students, it's just regular notes. But as you go, record the main corresponding idea in the left column.

Every so often, cover the detailed notes on the right and just examine the main points and new vocab. See how much you can recite and explain in your own words. Then remove your hand and see how you did. Depending on the teacher, you might do this during lulls in the discussion or after class.

Some versions of the Cornell system leave the last few lines on each page for summarizing the whole page. Since what's on a given page doesn't necessarily group together nicely, I don't recommend doing it. But summarizing can help you with wading through piles of pages when studying time comes.

For a more in-depth look at the Cornell method, take a look at our previous guide to taking study-worthy lecture notes.

Go visual

It's tough to enter a classroom with colored pencils and still expect your fellow students to take you seriously. But unless you try it, you'll never know if it works better for you. Forget the status-quo and try something visual. Color-code with different pens, pencils, and highlighters. You might not have seen a web-style map of ideas since elementary school, but mind-mapping is hailed as quite an efficient way to group data. It needn't even be a rigid classification system—anything is better than doodling in the margins.

Switch mediums

For how tech-savvy our generation is, I still see surprisingly few laptops in classrooms. Try it out a few times and see if you like it. Particularly, if you're the type who outlines, computers let you go back and organize information on-the-fly. Laptops also let you and your classmates AIM with real-time questions about the opposite sex the lecture. There are also programs made just for taking notes, sharing them, organizing them, etc. Wikipedia has a great table that compares them all, or you can take a look at Lifehacker reader's favorite note-taking tools.

On the other hand, if you already use a laptop, try the pen-and-paper route again. Let loose a bit and see how that goes. Try scribbling out mistakes and drawing arrows everywhere. Or try one of the visual techniques above, most of which are difficult on a computer.

Shorthand

Notes are probably the only place in the classroom where internet slang is commendable. Trying some new shorthand is a really geeky way to slightly tweak your engravings and get you amped about taking notes again. Here are a few resources to get you started:

A Guide to Alternative Handwriting and Shorthand Systems
Shorthand Shorthand Shorthand

My favorite method is called Teeline—anyone can look at this one and learn a few things. It's mostly based around removing unimportant letters and making complex letters easier to write quickly.

Instead of converting entirely to shorthand, you might try translating just some of your most-frequently used words into a shorthand 'language' that takes less time to write.

If you're taking notes on the computer, supercharge your repetitive typing with tools like our very own text-replacement application Texter (Windows) or TextExpander (Mac).

Don't

Oh goodness! Don't take notes? How controversial!

Well, it couldn't hurt to relax every once in a while. Especially in small classes and seminar situations, staying engaged through discussion and questions might do you better than scribbling every word.

Here's another way to avoid taking notes: Record your lectures. Digital recorders can capture hours of audio. Sit back and just listen. After class, you can play it back at double-speed and take notes in half the time. Take that, engineers!

The school-bound productivity nuts at weblog HackCollege will be joining us all week to offer their perspective on making the most of your Back to School regimen.

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DESPERATE GROUND

well, I'm at it again ... PE1A1 Thermodynamics on 19 Oct 09. I need to study 7hrs a day till then to be able to write a 3.5 hr exam and feel confident I will pass.


-- Post From My iPhone

Why do I only stay at a job for 9 years?

Expert - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I ran across this in Wikipedia suggesting that an expert is someone who spends 10 years or 10,000 hours deliberate practice ... maybe I'm not an expert but tend to get severely bored @ the 9 year mark... hmm

SHARED PDF's GOOGLE DOCS

I just found out that pdf's on google docs can be shared. My first set of flash cards for my 1A1 course is in PDF format PE1A1-1 FLASH Rankine and Brayton Cycles.

Stationary Engineer First Class Paper 1 - Applied Thermodynamics and Plant Cycles

Well here we go again. I'm not making a mistake about saying we either, Ang has supported my exam frenzy before... my exam date for this one is 19 Oct 09 @ 8:30 am in Dawson Creek.... 92 days away... the application has to be accepted by the Safety Authority (1-866-566-7233) by 29 Sep 09. The format is similar to the third class B1 paper and all the second class papers basically 7 question, answer 5 in 3.5 hours and get 65% or more to pass.

I am fortunate to be able to study while at work (so long as things run well)... this helps greatly as I will be working for about a month straight.

BCIT offers the correspondence course and primarily covers Pan Global's First Class Books and Reed's 3 with some extra questions added in from current exams.

The syllabus for 1A1 is Rankine and Brayton Cycles, Thermodynamics of Steam, Steady Flow Process Calculations, Thermodynamics of Perfect Gases, Expansion and Heat Transfer and Refrigeration Calculations.

My approach has been to study the principles in the Reed's and Pan Global books then practice definitions and questions using flashcards with Leitner system for review scheduling. Once I understand the principles the flashcards are just a mechanical brute force memorization... I put flashcards into the 8.5 x 11 paper format on PDF (each question per page folded in center (question on top, answer on bottom) this allows me to print off all questions with regular printer in card format... currently Flashcard exchange doesn't allow this but will in the future.

Recently I wrote 1A3 Boilers, Water treatment, corrosion and found that the BC Safety Authority supplies the Casio fx-260 calculator, so it was handy to pickup my own from office depot for $12.49.

Power Engineering in BC is regulated by the Safety Authority using the Safety Standards General Regulation and Power Engineers, Boiler, Pressure Vessel and Refrigeration Safety Regulation. Nationally SOPEEC is responsible for examination standardization.