community detection software: igaph and CFinder

Two software for community detection: igraph and CFinder. 
igraph includes several algorithms for community detection. I just tried to use two of them, igraph_community__edge_betweenness, and igraph_community_fastgreedy, which are based on edge betweenness and modularity, respectively.
CFinder is designed for Clique Percolation Method(CPM). It's very easy to use.

Interested in American History recently

Recently, I am interested in American history. I love to discover interesting stories happened in human history.

During the summer, I was listening the VOA Special English. They have different topics for each day in a week. I always managed to listen the episodes on American history. It was so interesting to learn that there was a war between America and Spain in 1800s.

Recently, I found a great book about American history, "Introduction to the United States" by Jeff McQuillan and Lucy Tse. Actually, it's a course provided by ESL Podcast.  According to its webpage (http://www.eslpod.com/eslpod_store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=431) -- " Introduction to the United States is a course that answers your questions about the United States in a new and exciting way. This course uses the 100 questions from U.S. naturalization test, the test that people take to become a citizen of the United States. It focuses on how the U.S. was formed and how it works, who the important people are in its history and in the current government, and the different parts of this very big and diverse country"

By listening to the audio of this book, I learned a lot of interesting things, such as how US government operates, how America was founded, how US expanded its territory from the original 13 states to 50 states now (such as Louisiana Territory Purchase), how African American/women fought for their rights during Civil Rights Movement/Women's Rights Movement, and so on. Dr. Jeff McQuillan's and Dr. Lucy Tse's explanations are great! They both did a great job, but I prefer Jeff's voice.

After I started to listen to this course, I was so eager to keep listening that I finished all 100 lessons in two months. I think I will go back to listen them again. This time I will focus on learning English as well as enjoying the stories.

my Friday night schedule

1) Buy some food, fruits from Food Lion.
2) Cook a nice meal, have dinner.
3) Listen/Practicing English (30min-1h).
4) Do yoga (30min-1h).
5) Take a shower.
6) Learn English Writing (2h).
7) Zzz....

Bibliography of Academic Writing Guides by Wendy Belcher

In case I couldn't find it later, just post it here. This is from Wendy Belcher.

Bibliography of Academic Writing Guides

(this list is a bit dated now, many books have newer editions)

Recommended
Boice, Robert. 2000. Advice for New Faculty Members: Nihil Nimus. Allyn & Bacon.
The best work by the best writer on academic writing. "Nihil Nimus" means "nothing in excess." This advice is based on Boice's finding that moderation is the single-most reliable predictor of success in academic life. The book is full of practical rules for combining teaching, socializing, and brief, daily sessions of writing. "It is the first guidebook to move beyond anecdotes and surmises for its directives, based on the author's extensive experience and solid research in the areas of staff and faculty development," says an Amazon.com review.
Robert Boice. 1992. The New Faculty Member: Supporting and Fostering Professional Development. Jossey-Bass Publishers.
An earlier excellent text by the leading authority on academic writing.

Boice, Robert. 1990. Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing. Stillwater, Oklahoma: New Forums Press.
An extremely helpful practical guide by the leading authority on academic writing. Includes an extensive diagnostic questionnaire.
Writing for Publication
Cantor, Jeffrey A. 1994. A Guide to Academic Writing. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Useful focus on publishing strategies rather than writing. Includes chapter on writing for professional journals. Advises on writing conference papers and grants. Deals at length with book publication, including contracts, prospectuses, and textbooks.
Luey, Beth. 1995. Handbook for Academic Authors. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A comprehensive book on academic publishing. Includes only twenty pages on writing for journals. Includes a useful chapter on revising a dissertation into a book. Discusses at length how to work with publishers. Addresses submission mechanics.
Matkin, Ralph E. and T. F. Riggar. 1991. Persist and Publish: Helpful Hints for Academic Writing and Publishing. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
General methods for increasing "productivity and achievement in the publish-or-perish academic world." Many useful figures and tables. Includes twenty pages on writing for journals.
Day, Robert A. 1998. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th ed. New York: Oryx Press.
Specifically for those in the sciences. Amazon.com says "each edition of this witty and practical guide to writing, organizing, illustrating, and submitting scientific research for publication in a scholarly scientific journal has become an instant bestseller."
Parker, Frank, and Kathryn Riley. 1996. Writing for Academic Publication: A Guide to Getting Started. Superior: Parlay Enterprises.
Broad advice on writing academic reviews, book reviews, abstracts, conference papers, and articles rather than concentrating on journal articles.
Silverman, Franklin H. 1999. Publishing for Tenure and Beyond. New York: Praeger.
"Provides graduate students who intend to pursue a career in academia and tenure-track junior faculty with candid information about developing an adequate publication record … [and how to] maximize the likelihood of having their articles accepted for publication by peer-reviewed professional, scientific, and scholarly journals." For graduate students and junior faculty, it focuses on journal article publication and the large picture-what content is selling today
Moxley, Joseph M., and Todd Taylor. 1997. Writing and Publishing for Academic Authors. 2nd ed. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
Collected volume of essays by various authors. Broad book on academic publishing. Little on journal article publishing.
Huff, Anne Sigismund. 1998. Writing for Scholarly Publication. Sage Publications.
Not focused on journal articles and devoted largely to prewriting rather than revising.
Germano, William. 2001. Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Written by the publishing director of Routledge, this long-time academic editor details why editors chose some books and decline others, how the publishing process works regarding books, how to read a contract, and other details of publishing a book.
Staying Motivated and Sane
Bolker, Joan. 1998. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis. New York: Henry Holt and Co.
Excellent and very popular text on the psychological aspects of writing your dissertation. For writing a dissertation, not academic articles. Focuses on the emotional management of graduate school writing. Well written and to the point. She is a clinical psychologist who has spent the past two decades at Harvard exclusively helping blocked dissertation writers, so it is not surprising that she brings real skill to her task.
Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
This now fifteen-year old book represents an insightful analysis of why most academic writing is so terrible and a personal reflection on the task of writing. More motivational than concrete. For social science only.
Peterson, Karen E. 1996. The Tomorrow Trap: Unlocking the Secrets of the Procrastination-Protection Syndrome. Health Communications.
Good advice on avoiding procrastination.
Zerubavel, Eviatar. 1999. The Clockwork Muse : A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations, and Books. Cambridge: Harvard Univ Press.
Focused on time management of long projects.
Caplan, Paula J. 1994. Lifting a Ton of Feathers: A Woman's Guide to Surviving in the Academic World. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
A useful book for anyone, male or female, in the academy about its "unwritten rules,"twenty-seven "myths," and fifteen "catch-22s." Gives some general principles for coping with these myths and gives specific suggestions on dealing with specific challenges. Extensive bibliography of guides for non-dominant groups in the academy.
Goldsmith, John A., John Komlos, and Penny Schine Gold. 2001. The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career: A Portable Mentor for Scholars from Graduate School through Tenure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gives advice on how to manage graduate school-working with mentors, writing a dissertation, and landing a job-as well as how to handle being an assitant professor, teaching and doing research, getting tenure, and how to combine work and your personal life. Written as a conversation among the three authors.
Writing Well
Williams, Joseph M. 1997. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. 5th ed. New York: Longman.
The famous book on how to write clearly. Now in its fifth edition. His advice is based on the concept that articles, paragraphs, and sentences have a story to tell through "characters" and "actions." Clarity results from "mapping characters and actions onto subjects and verbs" (101). Excellent advice on cohesion as well.
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. 1995. The Craft of Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Largely for undergraduates, but a good refresher on how to pick and pursue a topic.
Strunk, W., Jr., and E. B. White. 1979. The Elements of Style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan.
Still the bible of elegant, clear writing.
Nonnative Speakers of English Guides
Feak, Christine B., and John M. Swales. 1997. Academic Writing for Graduate Students : Essential Tasks and Skills : A Course for Nonnative Speakers of English (English for Specific Purposes). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Another useful book for anyone seeking extremely specific advice about how to write graduate-level research papers. Aimed at students for whom English is a second language, this guide is useful for anyone not entirely sure about what is expected in various parts of an academic paper.
Oshima, Alice. 1998. Writing Academic English; A Writing and Sentence Structure Handbook for International Students. 3rd ed.: Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Style Manuals
Style manuals give detailed instructions for the preparation and publication of academic materials. Since authors and editors from around the world in various fields have different trainings and therefore present information in widely varied ways, style manuals are attempts to standardize these presentations. By setting rules on matters of taste and choice, style manuals insure that all the articles in a journal or book are presented in a uniform manner. For instance, while everyone agrees that a period should appear at the end of a sentence, should a footnote number preceed the period or follow it? There is no right or wrong answer, but since regular patterns increase readability, it is helpful if the editor can make sure that the number always appears in the same place throughout your article and the others in the volume.
Each style manual represents particular conventions of standarizing punctuation, spelling, foreign languages, capitalization, abbreviations, headings, quotations, numbers, names and terms, math, tables, figures, notes, and reference citations in text and references. Some of the most common manuals are listed below.
American Psychological Association. 2001. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Commonly called the APA, this manual is the standard for those in the social sciences, not just psychology. It focuses on the preparation of journal articles, not books. It provides more advice for authors on writing than some style manuals as it was originally designed for first-time authors. In addition to technical matters of style, it addresses designing and reporting on research, structuring articles, writing clearly, following ethical standards, avoiding bias in language, and converting the dissertation into a journal article.
Gibaldi, Joseph. 2003. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America.
This manual is the standard for those in the humanities, and particularly for those writing on literature or language. It can be used to prepare either articles or books. Like the APA, it is more addressed to authors than editors. In addition to technical matters of style, it addresses selecting a journal or publisher, wading the minefield of copyright issues, and writing for a particular audience.
University of Chicago Press. 2003. The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Commonly called Chicago, this manual is the standard for the preparation of books. That is, it has a focus on books, rather than journal articles, and is oriented toward editors more than authors. It gives almost no advice on writing, but is much more comprehensive than any other style manual about technical matters. It includes an entire section on printing issues, such as composition and binding.
Hale, Constance. 1999. Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age. Rev. ed. New York: Broadway Books.
Leading guide to the presentation of material related to the internet. Includes dictionary of relevant technical terms.
Connolly, William G., and Allan M. Siegal. 1999. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative Newspaper. New York: Crown Publishers.
Not for the preparation of academic articles.

Goldstein, Norm. 1994. The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Not for the preparation of academic articles.

Dictionaries
Schwartz, Marilyn. 1995. Guidelines for Bias-Free Writing. Indiana University Press. Findings of the Task Force on Bias-Free Language of the Association of American University Presses.
Gives clear advice on how to avoid disparaging, exclusive, or otherwise incorrect usage.
Maggio, Rosalie. 1991. The Dictionary of Bias-Free Usage: A Guide to Nondiscriminatory Language. Phoenix: Oryx Press.
Now out of print, but still useful advice on writing without discriminating.
Merriam-Webster. 1993. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster.
Some dictionaries are more equal than others. Webster's is the standard dictionary for academic writing and is particularly recommended for use with the Chicago Manual of Style.
Writing for a Particular Discipline
General
Kirszne. 1994. The Handbook on Writing in Disciplines. 3rd ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
Art/Music/Film
Barnet, Sylvan. 1989. A Short Guide to Writing About Art. 3rd ed. New York: HarperCollins.
The Short guides are specifically aimed at undergraduate students and address a largely undergraduate problem: coming up with a good idea.

Wingell, Richard J. 1990. Writing About Music: An Introductory Guide. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Psychology/Education/Behavioral Sciences
Kupfersmid, Joel. 1996. An Author's Guide to Publishing Better Articles in Better Journals in Behavioral Sciences. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Silverman, Robert J. 1982. Getting Published in Education Journals. Springfield, Ill.: Thomas. Social Science/Sociology/Social Work
Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cuba, Lee. 1993. A Short Guide to Writing About Social Science. 2nd ed. New York: HarperCollins.
Johnson, William A. 1997. The Sociology Student Writer's Manual. New York: Prentice Hall.
Political Science
Martin, Fenton. 1997. Getting Published in Political Science Journals; A Guide for Authors, Editors and Librarians. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association.
Scott, Gregory M. 1997. The Political Science Student Writer's Manual. 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall.
History
Hellstern, Mark E. 1997. The History Student Writers' Manual. New York: Prentice Hall.
Marius, Richard. 1989. A Short Guide to Writing about History. 3rd ed. Reading: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers.
Philosophy and Religion
Graybosch, Anthony. 1997. The Philosophy Student Writer's Manual. New York: Prentice Hall.
Watson, Richard A. 1992. Writing Philosophy: A Guide to Professional Writing and Publishing. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Other
Gannon, Robert. 1996. Best Science Writing : Readings and Insights. Oryx Press.

Adding Books to This Bibliography
If you have a book that you would like to recommend be added to this list, please contact me.

来美一年半

（这是一篇写在纸上转抄过来的小短文。）

Nov. 3rd 2010.
提笔良久，却终难落笔。 太久太久没有静静的想发生的事情，竟变得不敢去想，不能去写。于是时光真的如水，流过无痕。

转眼之间，来美近一年半。这段时间里，你收获了什么？学到了什么？又失去了什么？

来这里是读PhD的，可惜至今研究没有好的结果。总是不喜欢自己所做的，总是一开始满怀憧憬，慢慢深入又变得沮丧。沮丧于复杂的问题不能解决，沮丧于自己的想法没有新意。在这种令人压抑的循环中，投了两篇paper，一篇被拒在修改中，另一篇怕是在被拒的路上吧。这样的结果越发让人怀疑自己是否能够做研究。想来是不喜欢读PhD的，中间的过程又这样艰难，如何支撑我继续走下去？降低对自己的要求，待在心理舒适区，混日子， 从来不是永远不是一个解决的办法。相信唯有不断的学习，不断的尝试、挑战，才能发现真正的宝藏。事业如此，生活更是如此。读PhD，这是在NC State的几年生活的重心。这种自我的否定，自我的怀疑，会不断出现，希望可以战胜这种心理的挑战，积极地面对这些难题。

当然生活还是有很多的东西。英语，让人爱又让人恨。 来美半年后发现英语毫无进展，惶恐中去上了一门英语课。课让人自信心大增，期末考试系里的评估结果却又让人再次回到现实。于是这学期继续上了发音的课，平时也更多的注重去学习英语。到现在依然在英语中挣扎并快乐着。学英语这种发自内心没有外来压力的学习，着实比做research轻松有趣的多。

生活似乎平静却慢慢趋于平衡。吃饭依然是个让人头疼的问题，难以彻底解决，却偶尔也在其中获得乐趣。穿衣花钱趋于大手大脚，有把这当作发泄压力出口的趋势。朋友圈子依旧小的无法与国内比。 想念家人，却碍于时间、金钱的关系无法回国。和小毛在一起的大部分时间里，感激有人陪我走过这一段人生岁月，偶尔也吵的要闹翻天，感谢这一切让我学会包容成长。

始终怀着美好的愿望，更加脚踏实地的学习工作。无论生活还是学习，规划好时间，平衡好自己的人生，享受当下。

（后记：最后草草收笔，实在是不好，有机会再补好。）

Three secrets to success

Several days ago, I watched a short video that the name tag "Scott" talked about the important skills for success on a TV show. I can't agree him more. So here are the three things I should keep in mind for a successful career, and life also I think.

No. 1 Don't be stopped by not knowing how.
"How" is overrated. What we need to know is "why we are doing it?", "why is it important?".

No. 2 Idea is free. Execution is priceless.
Without execution, idea is no more than illusion.

No. 3 Commitment is not enough.
You need visually remind people of your commitment. Otherwise, people won't listen to you.



In my past life, I was stopped by not knowing how. Because I did not know how to do that, I postponed to do it or just quit. What a pity! If I started do something right away even without knowing how, I may find out the solution through exploring the problem. That really reminds me of my high school time. When I took math exam, sometimes, I found that I have no idea how to solve a problem. But when I began to write some equations and derivation from what I knew and some possible method, I surprisingly got the right method to solve the problem. At that time, I always knew that you must at least try even without knowing how. The early, the better.

Keep these three things in mind. Start doing your work immediately. Hold on especially when things become hard. Keep going!

ps. The link of the video I mentioned above.
Scott, the Name Tag Guy, Has 3 Secrets To Success

who am I?

As my first blog, I think I should introduce myself a little bit.

"My name?" -- Yujin (I know it's hard to pronounce for Americans. But it's not the boy's name Eugene, nor is it a popular Korean girl's name.)
"From?" -- China
"Occupation?" -- Student in North Carolina State University.
"What's this blog for?" -- Anything I would like to share with everybody.

Happy Holloween!