Using Org-Mode for Project Management

In one of my last blogs I talked about using Org-Mode and Remember-Mode to organize your projects. Here is an example of one of my org-files for my PhD-project (I am working on transport models). The first line tags everything that is in this file with ‘PhD’. This is helpful if you want to search for all your entries in your org-files with a certain task. As you can see there are headings at the first level (blue). I usually have headings like ‘Tasks’, ‘Journal’, ‘Calls’, ‘Ideas’. I am working on a transport model and have my to do’s filed
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More options for working with several buffers

For those who do not like to use the ibuffer, there is another nice feature in Emacs: Just use Ctrl+Left Mouse and you will see a buffer menu appearing which shows all the buffer modes that are active. If you click on one of them all buffers opened are shown (in the image you see the R-files opened at the moment:
Another nice key shortcut is Ctrl + Right mouse. Depending on the mode you are in it opens a menu with all the commands you can use in that mode (the next image shows you the commands that appear
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Ibuffer for looking at your buffers in Emacs

Navigating in Emacs if you have a lot of buffers open, can be done in different ways. The most basic one is using the key combination Ctrl+x Arrow Right or Left for the next or previous buffer. If there are a lot of buffers open, this is not an option. Another option is using the buffer list C-x C-b. The buffer list contains all the open buffers, but finding the one you are looking for might take some time.
I prefer to use ibuffer which offers you many possibilities for looking at your buffers. It is part of Emacs since
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Capturing todo’s and notes in Emacs

Often when I work on a model or a statistic problem in Emacs I make a note that I have to correct or add something to the code whenever I have the time for it. I used to work with Outlook or with a piece of paper, but both have disadvantages. Writing on a piece of paper or with outlook disrupts my work flow and I have to write down to which part of my work the note relates. Emacs can be a great tool for keeping track of notes or todo’s and links them directly to the file you
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Elasticities in estimated linear models

Ever wondered how your estimation of a linear function relates to the elasticities of the estimated model? I always seem to forget, especially if I have taken the logarithm on one or both sides of the equation. Here are the four cases you can have:

Linear:
The function has the following form (if you have more variables on the right hand side, this doesn’t change the story):

 

[math]Y=a + bX[/math]

 

The elasticity is given by:

 

[math]\epsilon= \frac{dY}{dX}\frac{X}{Y}=b\frac{X}{Y} [/math]

 

and the coefficient b is the change in Y from a unit increase in X.

 

Log-linear

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