I've tracked the *success* (in terms of traffic) of this blog with Google Analytics. It's a very cool and comprehensive tool to monitor traffic on your website. And, it's FREE! Google Analytics gives you an enormous amount of information about web surfers.
I've had like 60% increase of traffic lately and it appears that my most popular post is about 'coloring SEM images'! So, I'm guessing that people are in dire need of practical tools (or codes) more than anything else. :)
I also received a lot of feedback from readers: People have been emailing me and asking me to give more advice rather than commenting on papers. Also, some readers want more scripts or codes. Some people asked me to comment on certain specific topics. Well, it's all good and I will try as far as possible to accommodate certain requests, but please bear in mind I have limited time (like everybody else!).
A number of people have requested that I allow anonymous commenting, as opposed to registered users. Typically, this opens doors to spammers, but I'll give it a shot anyway as from today. If it looks like the site is being nuked, I'll disable it.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Hack Proof your Network with RSA SecurID®
People have often asked me if it's possible to add an extra layer of authentication when tunneling (SSH) to a Linux server containing sensitive information. The problem comes from users who adopt weak and/or reusable passwords that hackers can easily retrieve.
Well, there's a very good solution: Purchasing RSA SecurID® authenticator(picture below) and software.
RSA SecurID® two-factor authentication is based on using your usual password when accessing a system, followed by input of some random number generated every 60 secs by an authenticator.
So, basically even if a hacker manages to guess a user's password, he must have the authenticator hardware at hand to get in the system. This makes it much harder for hackers to gain access to your network.
Worth the investment if you have to access classified information remotely!
Well, there's a very good solution: Purchasing RSA SecurID® authenticator(picture below) and software.
RSA SecurID® two-factor authentication is based on using your usual password when accessing a system, followed by input of some random number generated every 60 secs by an authenticator.
So, basically even if a hacker manages to guess a user's password, he must have the authenticator hardware at hand to get in the system. This makes it much harder for hackers to gain access to your network.
Worth the investment if you have to access classified information remotely!
Friday, May 14, 2010
On why it is important to maintain good relationships with people!
This post is an extension of the previous one on networking.
In academia or industry, influential people and talented people are all connected to each other. With this said, it is important to maintain very good relationships with everybody.
I always see people burning bridges with their former employees, grad students cursing professors, employees sending angry letters to companies who rejected them, researchers sending unprofessional emails to editors of scientific journals who trashed their articles, etc...
This is not good! You will realize that the top performers will always maintain a professional behavior. For instance, even if professors do not like each other, they would always be very polite and act with decorum. The top performers know very well that influential people are connected to other influential people, and unprofessional behaviors might "come and bite them in the ass later on"(the American expression for it!).
What I mean is that there might be a situation where you step on the toe of Mr X. Two years later you apply for a job and your hiring manager is Mr Z, who's connected to Mr X via Ms Y. And, you find out that they decline you you dream job, following a call from Mr X! I can cite countless examples like this.
Be always courteous! Try to have good working relationships with your colleagues, advisor, boss and everyone around you. Get genuinely interested in people. There will always be people who have difficult personalities, but you should never lose your cool or do something irrational that you might regret later on. Practice empathy and try to understand difficult people. But always smile and maintain a professional behavior!:)
Along the same lines, be a good Mensch, like Guy Kawasaki would put it!
In academia or industry, influential people and talented people are all connected to each other. With this said, it is important to maintain very good relationships with everybody.
I always see people burning bridges with their former employees, grad students cursing professors, employees sending angry letters to companies who rejected them, researchers sending unprofessional emails to editors of scientific journals who trashed their articles, etc...
This is not good! You will realize that the top performers will always maintain a professional behavior. For instance, even if professors do not like each other, they would always be very polite and act with decorum. The top performers know very well that influential people are connected to other influential people, and unprofessional behaviors might "come and bite them in the ass later on"(the American expression for it!).
What I mean is that there might be a situation where you step on the toe of Mr X. Two years later you apply for a job and your hiring manager is Mr Z, who's connected to Mr X via Ms Y. And, you find out that they decline you you dream job, following a call from Mr X! I can cite countless examples like this.
Be always courteous! Try to have good working relationships with your colleagues, advisor, boss and everyone around you. Get genuinely interested in people. There will always be people who have difficult personalities, but you should never lose your cool or do something irrational that you might regret later on. Practice empathy and try to understand difficult people. But always smile and maintain a professional behavior!:)
Along the same lines, be a good Mensch, like Guy Kawasaki would put it!
The Art of Networking
I attended Peter Fiske's seminar at MIT recently. For those who do not know him, he is a well-known columnist for AAAS and he writes on career development for young scientists and engineers. He recently wrote a book entitled "Put Your Science to Work: The Take-Charge Career Guide for Scientists - Practical Advise, Proven Techniques".
One of the things that he talked about is the right way to network and this is exactly what I've been doing for years: He mentioned that many people have the misconception that networking means to contact everyone or influential people that you know when you are looking for a new job and asking if they know of any job openings!
I know people who would introduce themselves briefly to others and immediately flaunt their resumes. This is the wrong way of networking and the most likely outcome is that the other person would trash your CV.
Networking begins long before a job search. In reality, networking means that you have to get out of the lab and attend professional meetings or conferences, and meet people. Most importantly, you must have a genuine interest in the people that you meet (ask about their background, culture, hobbies, etc...). Also, you have to get interested in their work. It is important that you really want to know them personally and without expecting anything in return.
Once you've established a connection, you may keep in touch by sending an email from time to time. Send relevant articles or give a phone call!
Typically, if you have a genuine connection with people, they would help you when you need help. I always have a genuine interest in people and helped others (without expecting anything in return) whenever I could. And, this kind of attitude has always reaped rich rewards!
One of the things that he talked about is the right way to network and this is exactly what I've been doing for years: He mentioned that many people have the misconception that networking means to contact everyone or influential people that you know when you are looking for a new job and asking if they know of any job openings!
I know people who would introduce themselves briefly to others and immediately flaunt their resumes. This is the wrong way of networking and the most likely outcome is that the other person would trash your CV.
Networking begins long before a job search. In reality, networking means that you have to get out of the lab and attend professional meetings or conferences, and meet people. Most importantly, you must have a genuine interest in the people that you meet (ask about their background, culture, hobbies, etc...). Also, you have to get interested in their work. It is important that you really want to know them personally and without expecting anything in return.
Once you've established a connection, you may keep in touch by sending an email from time to time. Send relevant articles or give a phone call!
Typically, if you have a genuine connection with people, they would help you when you need help. I always have a genuine interest in people and helped others (without expecting anything in return) whenever I could. And, this kind of attitude has always reaped rich rewards!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
NPGS Dose Matrix Calculator
For the folks using Nabity's NPGS and building dose matrices for ebeam lithography, they know that some calculations are needed to figure out the real dose value of each element in the matrix.
I am sharing a small script which will simplify this process of doing these redundant calculations and which will allow users to focus more on the task at hand (i.e. the lithography process!).
Before running the executable file, the text file *array_calc.txt* has to be modified. rows,cols,start(%),end(%),start_dose need to be altered while preserving the "::" spacers.
The output file of the script will yield the dose allocated to different elements of the dose matrix and will reveal the dose variation. This script saved me a lot of time.
Hope you enjoy it!
[dose_matrix_dist_20100508.tar.gz]
I am sharing a small script which will simplify this process of doing these redundant calculations and which will allow users to focus more on the task at hand (i.e. the lithography process!).
Before running the executable file, the text file *array_calc.txt* has to be modified. rows,cols,start(%),end(%),start_dose need to be altered while preserving the "::" spacers.
The output file of the script will yield the dose allocated to different elements of the dose matrix and will reveal the dose variation. This script saved me a lot of time.
Hope you enjoy it!
[dose_matrix_dist_20100508.tar.gz]
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