Statistics of PhD Awarded in 2008

There are 48802 PhD graduated on 2008.
1/4 is life science. 1/6 is physical sciences. 1/6 is engineering. 1/6 is social sciences. There is a big increase in PhD awarded from the first three disciplines, but not from social science.
1/3 is US citizen or resident. 1/10 is from China and 90% will stay is US. 5% is from India and 88% will stay is US. 3% is from Korea and 65% will stay is US. 1.4% from Taiwan and 53% will stay in US.
50% get BS in same field. 75% get MS degree. 60% of parent get advance degree.
After graduated: 59% academe, 6% government, 16% industry, 5.4% nonprofit
Primary activity: 42.4 teaching, 28.8 research, 16.2 administration, 11.1 service
Secondary activity: 19.2 teaching, 32.9 research, 9.4 administration, 7.4 service

Source: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10309/

Mac PowerPoint vs. Windows PowerPoint

Apple的使用率在美國還挺高的, 尤其在學界
可是Mac跟Windows 兩個作業系統的PowerPoint的相容性, 實在是不敢恭維
最大的問題是, Mac上的 PowerPoint不會自動轉換多媒體格式, 導致在Mac上做的 PowerPoint移到 Windows上時會沒辦法顯示
就算在 Windows上裝了QuickTime也不能解決

為了看到上課的 slide, Google了一下這個問題
解法如下:
1) Save PPT as Webpage
2) Search for pcz-Files
3) unpack pcz-Files by Gzip or WinRar
4) extract and add extension .pict to the files
5) convert PICT-Files into JPG (QuickTime is needed to be installed)
6) reinsert into PPT

粉麻煩, 但至少有解. 感覺這是 Microsoft在 PowerPoint裡留下的伏筆, 讓 Mac 到 Windows上做簡報變的很難

Speeding Up Matlab

Java 'Out of memory' errors
修改或新增下列程式碼於 'java.opts' (in $MATLAB/bin/win32/java.opts)
-XX:PermSize=72m
-XX:MaxPermSize=72m
-Xmx256m
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote
除此之外, 可以參考 Sun JVM的微調參數, 做更進一步的調教

Java Virtual Machine (JVM) Matlab
修改系統變數 MATLAB_JAVA
更換Matlab內建的 BLAS函式庫
先找出你CPU對應最佳化Basic Linear Algebra Subroutines (BLAS)函式庫, 然後修改 BLAS_VERSION這個系統變數, 去使用最佳化函式庫
理論上, 這對舊版的 Matlab 6有奇效, 因為舊的 Matlab並沒有使用最佳化的函式庫, 改用新的至少會快兩倍
以下是 Intel 最佳化函式庫 9.1.2版的對照表 (最新版是 10.1)
mkl_p3 Kernel optimized for Intel® Pentium® III processor
mkl_p4 Kernel optimized for Intel® Pentium® 4 processor
mkl_p4m Kernel optimized for Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor
mkl_p4p Kernel optimized for Intel® Pentium® 4 processor with SSE3 Instructions
可以用 LAPACK_VERBOSITY=1 來檢查 BLAS的版本

Optimized Elementary MATLAB Functions
用在 PII以上, 可以快上兩三倍

Transforming a Unused Laptop into a Secondary Monitor

Install ZoneScreen and make the desktop extended to the virtual monitor.
Then, use the ZS Wizard to set up a screen server on my Windows. Run the the client mode of ZS Wizard via Wine on my Linux laptop and connect it to the Windows box.
Note:
1. The latest ZoneScreen 1.0.11.0 did not show virtual monitor on my Windows XP and the SC Wizard did not show the cursor. Version 1.0.10.0 worked fine.
2. TightVNC 2.0.2 did not support projecting only secondary monitor to the VNC client (remmina 0.8.1 with libvncclient). UltraVNC 1.0.8.2 did not show my cursor in the client. RealVNC 4.1.3 refused to make connection.