PhD writing tools

The end is nigh! ...or at least in sight! After four years, my PhD is nearing completion. The plan is to to deliver and defend my thesis sometimes this autumn. In these years, I've used several (free) tools that others might find useful doing the same, or similar, kind of work:

* Zotero - a Firefox-plugin that help me organize papers, citations, web-pages and other resources. All papers/notes are saved in "the cloud" for easy access across multiple terminals (...or Firefoxes). A great tool that enables you to tag, add notes, cross-link papers, add comments to/highlight text in PDFs, etc.

The Zotero Firefox plugin.

* Freemind - a mind-mapping tool. It was the best (open source) mind-mapping tool four years ago - and I believe it still is. Its written in java, so some slowness is included. It has great export functionality as shown in this HTML exported mind-map with the topic "FLOSS development".

Freemind mind-mapping tool.

* Dia - to create professional looking figures for use in papers.

* Dropbox - to sync all my resources (PDFs, papers, presentations, etc) across multiple computers. I might switch to Ubuntu ONE later - but Dropbox works, and it works well.

* OpenOffice (LibreOffice) Draw - to create PhD-posters. Read my howto here.

* I write all my papers in Emacs with the AUCTeX LaTex mode and RefTex to create the TOC speedbar (see screenshot below). For notes I use xpad, and all revision control is done in Subversion (papers, documents, figures, presentations, code).

The desktop manager is Fluxbox with a bunch of key-bindings, bfpager, and gkrellm with bfm-plugin for system monitoring (I like to watch my system resources). Its the same setup I've used for years:

Screenshot of my current workspace: Fluxbox with gkrellm, Emacs, 2x xpads and 2x terminals.

A professional looking resume made in Latex

Some time ago, I needed an updated resume (and no, I could not "just send a Linkedin link"). I started editing it in OpenOffice, and was (again) struck by how terrible it is to edit, format and align a nice layout. I wanted to use something else - something like Latex.

I've been trying out some Latex resume templates, but none have been good enough (they often have terribly layout). I stumbled across the resume to Martin Michlmayr, and immediately spotted that it was created using Latex. It was nice, clean and looked professional - just what I was looking for. One email later, and he sent me the template he used. He has used and modified res, originally developed by someone else (Michael DeCorte in 1988 according to the header).

If you're interested, you can find the files here:

• Latex template from Martin: http://www.larsstrand.no/CV/res.cls
• Latex resume (slightly modified): http://www.larsstrand.no/CV/LarsStrand-resume.tex
• The compiled resume in PDF: http://www.larsstrand.no/CV/LarsStrand-resume.pdf

The only thing missing now is to include a profile picture. I tried a quick and simple includegraphics, but the picture did not float where I wanted, so I have to look into this later.

Update: I also need to check out the ModernCV Latex template: http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/moderncv/

Update: I've added support for a profile picture (April 2011).

Proper paper formatting with Latex and IEEEtran

Many scientific papers use Latex for formatting. There exists a Latex class called IEEEtran which "produce high quality typeset papers" (example here). Besides from being nice, it is also a requirement for many conferences/journals to submit papers using this class. But how do we install it on Ubuntu/Debian?

I re-installed one of my workstation with Ubuntu 8.04 here the other day. On it, I also need Latex with the IEEEtran class. To my surprise, installing it was easier than I though:

First we install the required Latex packages:

  # apt-get install texlive-latex-base texlive-latex-recommended texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-pictures texlive-science texlive-science texlive-latex-extra

Now, instead of manually installing the IEEEtran class, its already available in apt:

  # apt-get install texlive-publishers texlive-publishers-doc

Installed with documentation! Full read here:

  $ evince /usr/share/doc/texlive-publishers-doc/latex/IEEEtran/IEEEtran_HOWTO.pdf

and

  $ evince /usr/share/doc/texlive-publishers-doc/latex/IEEEtran/IEEEtran_bst_HOWTO.pdf

Now its just to install Emacs with my favorite Latex-mode:

  # apt-get install emacs23 auctex emacs23-el

Ready for writing!