Thesis work and wikis

I’ve been able to complete most of the analysis for my Ph.D. thesis work, at last. I need a few runs more but I am arranging to work at a location of one of our research partners, as I don’t have a powerful enough computer to handle the calculations (apparently, 1Gb of RAM isn’t enough). At least the results I have look promising. Now all it’s left (and that’s not an easy task, heh). is to write them down in the “thesis summary” (deadline: June 30th) and then in the thesis itself. I’m already studying a bit on the topic and papers are quickly piling up on my desk.

Also, in order to be more productive I started using a wiki for laboratory notes (though I also keep my lab book next to the computer). Currently I’m using DokuWiki and it’s been good so far: I have a “diary” with daily notes and separate sections with analyses and my own comments. With a few plugins I’ve also been able to insert the CSV files I use directly.

This is for more organized data. I’m keeping BasKet Note Pads for quick code snippets and random notes I have to take.  I have to thank Mike of Bioinformatics Zen fame for the suggestion he posted on using a hyperlinked documents as bioinformatics laboratory books.