Computers & IT

See the subpages to set up your IT accounts at TUDD, to  install TS group software, and for software How-To (user guides & troubleshooting).

Computer Use Standards
Computers are the most-relied-upon tool in the sciences. They won't get you a PhD, but they will get you there much better once you learn how to use them efficiently. On the flip side, bad computer usage is as time- and resource-wasteful as bad lab practice; losing access to / overview of data (file management) or communications (email) due to sloppy organisation is as bad as working at a pigsty bench or losing your lab-book.

* Learn to Type. Finish your work better by investing in a few days of skills training. Check your speed: if it's less than 60 WPM then use a trainer (it's not only about time: bad typing technique will hurt your hands - don't find this out when writing your thesis).
* Keep Data Organised. (1) Process raw data as it comes in (NMR, bio, UV). (2) File processed data by project/type/date-description with conclusions included, and copy processed material to a summary folder you can share with colleagues to discuss.  (3) Maintain a high-level graphical or table-format overview of each project (Excel results or ChemDraw schemes) at the top of each project folder. Li's Rule: If you can't show "it" in 30 seconds when needed, then you need to fix your system. Use group standards (handout).
* Keep Mail Organised into folders and subfolders using a mail client (Exchange, Mail, Thunderbird, etc). With inbox >100 you've lost your overview of what needs to be done and what has been done; email search is not good enough. Apply Li's Rule as above.
* Learn about image formats, image quality and compression. Images should look  good (crisp, vectorial, text-searchable), and should not take up megabytes or make programs crash. E.g. showing text in a .jpg, .png, or .tiff file is wrong by definition.
* Think how a computer "reads" to help manage your data. Example: Use dates in computer format, ie. "20180913" instead of September 13th 2018 (eg. Cortisone/Analysis/CDSpectra/20180913_MX13frac4 260nm) - the filesystem now chronologically orders your folders for you.
* Microsoft Office is rarely the Answer. Word is for documents where formatting the layout for printout to paper is needed. To read on-screen, use a text-only filetype (no into-page formatting). Plain text (.txt) from Notepad or TextEdit are tiny (0.2 kB), load on all operating systems, sync easily, never crash, and are compatible forever. Rich text (.rtf) has enough basic formatting for on-screen notes. Powerpoint is a talk presentation tool, not a project data organisation system. Excel is only ok as a 2D spreadsheet program; build vectorial PDF graphs using graphing software (Prism, Igor, Origin) instead.