Tweet of the month

is happy because the documents finally arrived! 8:36 PM Aug 21st, 2008

Founded on a rock

Founded on a rock



"And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, because it was founded on a rock."

WALL-E

WALL-E



Axiom's Captain: "I don't want to survive! I want to live!"

The Last Crusader

The Last Crusader by Louis de Wohl
(spanish version)


Fray Juan de Calahorra:
"
I know the books you read about knights errand and great deeds (...)

When you want to be everything - you must go where you are nothing. When you want to have everything - you must go where you have nothing. (...)

God is everything and to Him belongs the universe. Unite with Him and you are everything and everything is yours.
"

--

Historical Romance set in the XVI century and about Don Juan de Austria, Charles V, Phillip II of Spain (I of Portugal), Pope Pius V and, of course, the Battle of Lepanto.

Information overload

Sometimes the amount of information pumped to your eyes through the Internet can become overwhelming. Especially in regard to email and feeds.

In all of this it's very important to note the following: "Don't let the tail wad the dog!", meaning that the Internet exists to serve you and not the other way around.

However I know the feeling of not reading all your mail and worrying about missing that one special thing that would be all-important for your work.

I've come up with a strategy for keeping track of my interests without having to go through all information items and without the "guilt" of not doing it.

In email, I'm using Mozilla Thunderbird and its search folders feature. It allows you to create virtual mail folders (virtual because they don't duplicate storage) that are the result of searching other mail folders for a specific search term like 'Auto-ID', 'automatic identification', etc.


In feeds, I could also use Thunderbird's search folders, but I'm using Google Reader. It, of course, includes Google Search technology to help find the feeds actually worth reading. Unfortunately, Google Reader doesn't have anything similar to search folders, so I have to search manually every time. Still, it's faster and less tiresome than to read all the items.

Three Engineers, Hundreds of Robots, One Warehouse

Erico Guizzo, in "IEEE Spectrum", July 2008
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jul08/6380

This article presents Kiva Systems' innovative warehouse operation technology. The following picture (from the company's web site) gives you a notion of how their automatic warehouse works: multiple robots fetching racks of products and navigating using barcodes.

You can also see the following videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdmtya8emMw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWsMdN7HMuA

I have one suggestion to Kiva: why not create a miniature toy set for their technology? It would make any robot fan go wild with it... myself included :-)

AI Landscape

Leake and Gary, in "AI Magazine", Summer 2008 issue

This poster available at AAAI's site, http://www.aaai.org/Magazine/ailandscape.php, is a great way to spread the word about modern, state-of-the-art AI!

It's certainly more interesting (and eye-catching) than the IA perspective I got in my undergrad course back in 1998...

For more information on some of the most interesting IA research currently underway at IST, check Joana's page and contact her.

AI as a child

I, Rodney Brooks, Am a Robot
Rodney Brooks, in "IEEE Spectrum", June 2008
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun08/6307

The article describes the four basic capabilities any true Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) system would have to possess, described in terms of what children can do:
- The object-recognition capabilities of a 2-year-old child (observe a variety of objects, categorize them)
- The language capabilities of a 4-year-old child (engage in dialogs, handle irregularities, idiomatic expressions, noisy environments, accents, incomplete utterances, and interjections; make corrections)
- The manual dexterity of a 6-year-old child (grasp new objects, manipulate flexible objects, pick up flat and thin objects, manipulate unknown objects inside a bag)
- The social understanding of an 8-year-old child ("theory of the mind" about the self and others)

The author also stresses the importance of coupling AI systems to bodies.

A very interesting read, inside the special report about the Technological singularity.
Also check out the magazine's singularity index.

How to talk like a salesman

...assuming you want to ;-) (my addition to to the title)

Carl Selinger, in "IEEE Spectrum", June 2008
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun08/6262

The article presents some interesting tips for engineers to integrate sales and marketing in their careers:
- Build a relationship with the sales and marketing staff
- Get the terminology straight
- Segment the market
- Use focus groups to study target groups
- Observe how customers behave with new products
- Read competitor's ads
- Use a venture-capitalist model to develop products

Putting wireless power to work

Sandra Upson, in "IEEE Spectrum", June 2008
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun08/6254

This article discusses works-in-progress to allow smart sensors to harvest their energy from radio-frequency energy.

"The concept was once dismissed as unfeasible because of the rapid dissipation of electromagnetic waves as they travel from their source. But even microwatts, (...) can be enough to power some sensors (...)."

"Typically, wireless sensors are designed to observe environments in a more flexible way than wired ones can. (...)"

"(...) A sensor's power supply is the most confounding problem. Each option has its limitations: a battery alone has a short lifetime, and solar cells (...) can't soak up photons from inside an airplane's wing."

"The technology for harvesting wireless power is essentially based on (...) RFID. A transmitter can both recharge and query RFID-based sensors."

According to the article, a key development is a steady growth in tag communication distances (now up to 100 meters and increasing). One essential problem remains: a reliable source of RF energy is not always available. The solution might be hybrid power supplies, where a sensor can make good use of different tentative power sources, like temperature changes or mechanical movements.

Zipf drive

Robert Lucky, in "IEEE Spectrum", May 2008
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may08/6173

This article talks about the omnipresence of power-law statistics in natural and social phenomena.

"A good example is Zipf's Law for the usage of English words, named for the 20th century linguist George Kingsley Zipf."

"The most common word, the, is used twice as often as the second most popular word (of) and three times as often as the third (and). The nth most popular word has a relative frequency of use of 1/n."

"All the most common words are short, resulting in very efficient transmission of information"

[If Zipf's Law didn't exist] "it would be almost impossible to learn a foreign language".

This indeed is an interesting insight.

The new economics of semiconductor manufacturing

Christensen, King, Verlinden & Yang, in "IEEE Spectrum", May 2008
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may08/6179

This article describes the application of the Toyota Production System (TPS) for the automotive industry to semiconductor industry.

The authors of the article cite Spear and Bowen to distill the TPS into four rules:
"
(1) Highly specific activities
(2) Clearly define the transfer of material and information
(3) Keep the pathway for every product and service simple and direct
(4) Detect and solve problems where and when they happen, using the scientific method
"

"Toyota designs work according to a rigorous process to examine the current state of production and generate hypothesis on how to improve it, together with a highly specified expected outcome."

This final statement is one of the reasons why these principles are not easily applied to software engineering. It's difficult to have highly specified outcome without having solved the problem already...

"It's an empirical approach based on iterative experimentation."

Is it worth adapting to software engineering?

English vocabulary

Tomorrow I'm going to do the TOEFL exam. It's the Test of English as a Foreign Language, recognized by most American colleges .

During my study, I discovered new English vocabulary. Some words I didn't known at all, while others have a different meaning than I previously though (because the similar Portuguese words have different meanings).

Here is the vocabulary list:

abate, v. to decrease or diminish. For three terrible days, the heat of the sun never abated.
abet, v. to help or aid. The stranger abetted the lost child by taking him to the police station.
abhor, v. to hate something. Everyone abhors war and the loss of life it causes.
accost, v. to bother or threaten. A woman walking alone in the city can be accosted at any time.
accru, v. to build up over time. As a result of his wise investments in stocks and bonds, he had accrued a fortune by the age of 60.
acrid, adj. having an unpleasant, irritating quality. The acrid smoke from the factory burned his eyes.
adroitly, adv. with easy skill and ability. A great soccer player like Figo could adroitly pass the ball to a teammate.
apex, n. the highest point. At the apex of his career, he had great wealth and power.
assuage, v. to ease or to relieve. His mother tried to assuage his fears by holding his hand and whispering that everything would be alright.

bewilder, v. to confuse. He was bewildered by many of the difficult questions asked in the test.
blandishment, n. something that tends to coax or to allure. The star player was offered many blandishments to sign a new contract.
blight, n. disease or curse, or a run-down condition. The blight of many of our inner cities is caused by poor economic conditions.

callous, adj. having no feeling. The hangman's job forces him to be callous.
castigate, v. to strongly criticize. The politician was castigated for having lied about the love affair.
chasm, n. a deep hole. The explosion caused a chasm in the side of the mountain.
cogent, adj. convincing or persuasive. His speech was so powerful and his ideas so cogent that everyone agreed that his plan was best.
compulsory, adj. required, necessary, or mandatory. Compulsory education in the U.S. requires every child to attend school until the age of 16.
concoct, v. to create by mixing things together. He concocted a bad-tasting drink by mixing milk and apple juice.
condone, v. to approve of or to forgive an action. The judge condoned the woman's actions by saying she acted in self-defense.
congeal, v. to change from liquid to solid. The milk that was left in the glass overnight slowly began to congeal.
congenial, adj. friendly or pleasant to be with. They were congenial people that everyone wished to attend their parties.
contingent, adj. likely but not certain to happen. Payment of the money was contingent upon delivery of goods.

deprecate, v. to criticize or belittle. Thomas Edison's efforts to create a light bulb were deprecated by many experts until he achieved success.
deride, v. to strongly criticize. Critics derided the writer's new book as being poorly written an filled with lies.
discern, v. to discover or to be able to tell the difference between two things. Only an expert could discern which painting was the original and which was the fake.
divulge, v. to give secret or personal information. Mrs. Smith was angry that her sister divulged her secrets.

elicit, v. to draw out. The inspector was determined to elicit as much information as he could from each suspect.
enervate, v. to weaken or to exhaust. The task of climbing three flights of stairs enervated the elderly woman so much that she had to rest for an hour.
ensue, v. to follow. With the help of this college counselor, Carlos was determined to ensue the career path he had chosen.
enticement, n. something which attracts or lures. The enticement of winning a vacation in Hawaii for two weeks caused Amy to fill out 15 entry forms for the contest.
exasperate, v. to annoy a person until they reach a state of confusion or anger. Her husband exasperated her so much that she backed into a neighbor's fence with her car.
exempt, v. to release from a commitment. James was exempted from gym class for a week after running into the fence while playing baseball.

facile, adj. easy or simple. For some complex problems, there are no facile solutions.
facilitate, v. to aid or assist. Automatic doors facilitate the movement of handicapped people who use wheelchairs.
falter, v. to stumble or to momentarily hesitate. At first he was winning the race, but as the pain in his leg increased, he began to falter.
feud, n. an argument or quarrel which has lasted a long time. The two families has a feud for so long that no one was quite sure how the argument had started.
forbearance, n. patience or tolerance. Forbearance is a necessary quality for parents with small children.
forfeit, v. to lose or to surrender. If you don't vote, then you are forfeiting your rights to participate in our democratic process of elections.
fret, v. to worry. Don't fret over how you will do in the test; study hard and hope for the best.

gist, n. the essential part or a summary. He told her he didn't have time for all the details; he just wanted the gist of the story.
grievance, n. a complaint or an objection. If a worker has a grievance, he should discuss it with his supervisor before he files a written complaint.
grudge, n. a feeling of resentment caused by action in the past. It was a grudge match between the two boxers who had fought before and felt mutual hatred.

haphazard, adj. in a careless or disorganized fashion. She was such a haphazard driver that she had four accidents in four days.
hectic, adj. confused or chaotic. Traffic is most hectic at 5:00 p.m. when everyone is leaving work.

impede, v. to hinder, restrict, or delay. Doctors has to operate to remove the obstacle which impeded the flow of blood to his heart.
impediment, n. obstacle or barrier. Nervousness is often an impediment to learning to speak a new language.
indict, v. to be brought to trial and accused. The wife, who was found holding the gun, was indicted for the murder of her husband.
indurate, v. to make unfeeling or hard. Unlike copper, which is soft, steel is an extremely indurate metal.

jilt, v. to abandon one's lover. After waiting an hour in a restaurant for her boyfriend to appear, she knew she had been jilted.

loathe, v. to hate or despise. Tom loathes broccoli.
loot, v. to steal. When the electricity went off, people began to loot the shops around the darkened street.

meddle, v. to interfere in the business of others. The young husband told his mother-in-law not to meddle in his affairs.

nadir, n. the lowest point. He considered the six months he lived in New York City without a job or a decent place to live as the nadir of his existence.
notorious, adj. famous for wrong actions. Peter was notorious for borrowing money and failing to pay back.

ominous, adj. menacing or threatening. The large black clouds looked ominous, and so the baseball game was cancelled.
ordeal, n. a painful or difficult experience. Mr. Thompson considered his visit to the dentist such a frightening ordeal that he vowed never to go back.

palatable, adj. eatable or good tasting. Mike and Sara agreed that their dinner at the new restaurant was just about palatable.
phlegmatic, adj. showing no feeling or energy. Having studied for two straight days without stopping to sleep, he appeared phlegmatic as he sat at his desk with the test before him.
placate, v. to make peace with an enemy. He tried to placate his angry wife by bringing her flowers.
plethora, n. a large amount of variety. She said it was just a dinner party, but when he saw the plethora of food and drink, he knew it was a real feast.
promulgate, v. to promote or to publicize an idea. In the late 1800s, many activists began to promulgate the idea that women should be given the right to vote.

raze, v. to demolish or destroy. It took the bulldozer only one hour to raze the old building into a pile of bricks.
recluse, n. one who wishes to live alone. The old recluse lived deep in the woods, ten miles from the nearest neighbor.
remnant, n. something left behind. The only remnant left of the ancient city is a pile of rocks.
revenue, n. money collected from taxes or by a business. The government receives the revenue needed to operate by taxing people and companies.

sagacity, n. wisdom or great knowledge. Through long years of experience and study, the old man had acquired a sagacity about the ways of men.
shrewd, adj. very clever. A shrewd man knows both his strengths and his weaknesses.
skeins, n. the coiled or wound lengths of cloth upon a reel. She spent hours looking through the skeins of silk to find the material she wanted for her dress.
soothe, v. to ease or to calm. Cool water is soothing on a hot day.
supercede, v. to displace. Judy superceded Beatrice as the president of the club.
surmise, v. to assume. Many students surmised that the history class would be difficult merely by the stern look in their professor's face.
sympathy, n. feelings of understanding for the problems of others. Many people in the neighborhood like to visit the elderly woman because of her great sympathy and concern for others.

tentative, adj. temporary or uncertain. A tentative schedule was set up for the employees until the new business was fully operational.
terse, adj. short or brief. She abruptly hung up the phone after Kurt's terse reply.
tract, n. an area or region. City officials plan to turn the tract of land along the river into a park.

utilitarian, adj. serving the needs of many people. Frank was honored at a special banquet for his generous support of utilitarian causes.

vary, v. to change. The teacher always varied her lesson plans in order to keep her students stimulated and motivated.
venture, n. a gamble or risk. John refused to financially support his son's latest business venture.
volatile, adj. explosive or unsteady. After the shooting of an innocent victim, the crowds in the streets became volatile and citizens were advised to stay at home.

wither, v. to die slowly because of lack of water. On the fifth day of no rain, Bernice's flowers began to wither and die.

--
All credit goes to the authors of the book "The Best Test Preparation for the TOEFL Test" from REA. I highly recommend their books.