Feeling fine now after a week-long cold with fever, cough, etc. Meanwhile, I've recompiled the PhD bibliography. 1:08 AM Jan 31st
Got some great feedback for my proposal. Still needs work, though... Looking forward to it! 1:56 AM Jan 24th
Preparing to present my research proposal to the team 1:54 AM Jan 23rd
I'm having cool ideas at -20º Celcius 2:11 PM Jan 16th
Third time's a charm... Back in Boston, back in business! 1:55 AM Jan 5th
2009-01-31
By Love Refined
By Love Refined: Letters to a Young Bride by Alice Von Hildebrand
A great book about Christian marriage. It is composed by a set of letter responses from an older friend to a young bride, full of advice about some of the little things that make a marriage great (hint: JC ;-).
Worth reading together, before or after you get married.
A great book about Christian marriage. It is composed by a set of letter responses from an older friend to a young bride, full of advice about some of the little things that make a marriage great (hint: JC ;-).
Worth reading together, before or after you get married.
2009-01-30
2009-01-29
2009-01-27
2009-01-25
No Reservations
No Reservations
Kate: What are we going to do about work?
Nick: What we always do. You tell me what to do and then I'll go behind your back and do whatever I want.
Kate: What are we going to do about work?
Nick: What we always do. You tell me what to do and then I'll go behind your back and do whatever I want.
The heart desires
Dil Chahta Hai
Sid: "What season is this, where hearts blossom like flowers?"
A great movie, very colorful, very musical; very romantic.
It tells the story of 3 friends growing up, and their personal lives.
Don't miss the spectacular song-dance sequences.
Sid: "What season is this, where hearts blossom like flowers?"
A great movie, very colorful, very musical; very romantic.
It tells the story of 3 friends growing up, and their personal lives.
Don't miss the spectacular song-dance sequences.
2009-01-20
Change
As the President changes, so does his web site.
I'm curious to see how Obama will use the Internet during his presidency. It was instrumental in his campaign.
Photo credits: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/obama-renovates-whitehousegov/
I'm curious to see how Obama will use the Internet during his presidency. It was instrumental in his campaign.
Photo credits: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/obama-renovates-whitehousegov/
2009-01-17
New York Encounter
Included the presentation by Julián Carrón of the second part of the book: Is it possible to live this way? He did a good presentation. I look forward to read the book.
But the most interesting talk for me was by John L. Allen Jr.. You can find his latest articles at http://johnallen.ncrcafe.org/.
2009-01-15
Peter and Paul
Peter and Paul
A 1981 TV series about the lives of the apostles Peter and Paul. Paul is the leading character played by Anthony Hopkins. The series has several flaws, mainly the absence of prayer in the early church. Also, the story telling is not very fluid even though the gaps are due to missing historical records. The soundtrack is also very weak. The main feature that comes out of the movie is the extreme disproportion between the task of Peter and Paul and the hurdles the world had for them.
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.Saint Paul (2 Timothy 4)
A 1981 TV series about the lives of the apostles Peter and Paul. Paul is the leading character played by Anthony Hopkins. The series has several flaws, mainly the absence of prayer in the early church. Also, the story telling is not very fluid even though the gaps are due to missing historical records. The soundtrack is also very weak. The main feature that comes out of the movie is the extreme disproportion between the task of Peter and Paul and the hurdles the world had for them.
2009-01-14
Steve Jobs letter to Apple
Team,
I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.
In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.
I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple's day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.
I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.
Steve
Steve, get yourself back into shape!
All the best!
P.S. - Calling 'team' to a huge company like Apple really impressed me. It has a lot to do with Apple's corporate culture that set it apart from the rest of the industry.
2009-01-12
Moving forward
It isn’t about how hard you're hit.
It is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa, 2006
The pathway is narrow, but it exists. And it's within our reach.Aníbal Cavaco Silva, 2009
Live politics / A política em directo
The New Year message of the President of Portugal is on-line at his web site (in portuguese).
It's very important to be able to hear from the politicians directly, without filtering from the press, that so many times reduces these addresses to sound bytes.
P.S. - For me it's always an emotion to hear the Portuguese National Anthem!
/ This post is bilingual: English (U.S.) and Portuguese (Portugal) /
A mensagem de Ano Novo do Presidente Português está disponível no seu sítio.
É muito importante podermos ouvir os políticos directamente, sem a filtragem da imprensa, que tantas vezes reduz os discursos a excertos sonantes.
P.S. - Para mim é sempre uma emoção ouvir o Hino de Portugal!
It's very important to be able to hear from the politicians directly, without filtering from the press, that so many times reduces these addresses to sound bytes.
P.S. - For me it's always an emotion to hear the Portuguese National Anthem!
/ This post is bilingual: English (U.S.) and Portuguese (Portugal) /
A mensagem de Ano Novo do Presidente Português está disponível no seu sítio.
É muito importante podermos ouvir os políticos directamente, sem a filtragem da imprensa, que tantas vezes reduz os discursos a excertos sonantes.
P.S. - Para mim é sempre uma emoção ouvir o Hino de Portugal!
2009-01-10
My first official paper reviews
I've been invited to review some papers for a major conference in my research area. I did it gladly, after all, peer-reviewing is the cornerstone of the scientific process.
I became a user of the EDAS Conference Manager and I can say it's a very competent knowledge work system. Not very flashy, but helps a lot in getting the job done.
The review form is very concise and provides guidance when writing a review.
--
Familiarity: Expert, Familiar, Some knowledge, Novice
Presentation: Well written and understandable, Mostly well written and understandable, Understandable but needs improvement, Difficult to follow poorly written or organized
Recommendation: Strong accept, Weak accept, Weak reject, Strong reject
Contribution: What are the major issues addressed in this paper? What are the main contributions? Are these important and relevant for the conference?
Strength: What is the strength of the paper? What would be major reasons to consider this paper for inclusion in the program? (1-3 sentences)
Weakness: What are the weak points in this paper? What would be the major reasons NOT to include this paper in the program? (1-3 sentences)
Detailed Comments: Please provide detailed feedback on technical quality and presentation to help the Program Committee assess the paper and to help the authors improve their paper.
Comments to the Program Committee: These comments will be seen ONLY by the Program Committee Members (not by the authors)
I became a user of the EDAS Conference Manager and I can say it's a very competent knowledge work system. Not very flashy, but helps a lot in getting the job done.
The review form is very concise and provides guidance when writing a review.
--
Familiarity: Expert, Familiar, Some knowledge, Novice
Presentation: Well written and understandable, Mostly well written and understandable, Understandable but needs improvement, Difficult to follow poorly written or organized
Recommendation: Strong accept, Weak accept, Weak reject, Strong reject
Contribution: What are the major issues addressed in this paper? What are the main contributions? Are these important and relevant for the conference?
Strength: What is the strength of the paper? What would be major reasons to consider this paper for inclusion in the program? (1-3 sentences)
Weakness: What are the weak points in this paper? What would be the major reasons NOT to include this paper in the program? (1-3 sentences)
Detailed Comments: Please provide detailed feedback on technical quality and presentation to help the Program Committee assess the paper and to help the authors improve their paper.
Comments to the Program Committee: These comments will be seen ONLY by the Program Committee Members (not by the authors)
2009-01-09
Vincent and Theo
... Van Gogh. Two brothers.
A new addition to my read-list: Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh.
A new addition to my read-list: Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh.
2009-01-05
Escaping the media vortex
Have you ever had the feeling of being "sucked" into your TV or computer and lose the notion of time? You're not alone. Nowadays media is so professional, and the viewing devices are so good - HD TVs, laptops, mobile phones, etc - that you are not alone, for sure.
Clipart credit: clker.com
The problem of this is that you end up being mostly a consumer of information and not a producer. This numbs your mind and makes it more difficult to be sharp in your knowledge-based work.
As a computer scientist, I've personally experienced this as a major obstacle in my work.
Here are some hard-learned tips to escape the media vortex.
TV
1) Have only one TV at home. Keep it on a central part of the house, a common zone. Watching TV should be a family experience. Family get together and not family each one for him/herself.
2) Make turning on the TV hard. People are lazy by default and you can avoid casual TV viewing if you have to remove a cover or turn on a projector or something that entails some work, even if minimal.
3) Forget cable. All the money you spend on all those channels you don't watch can be used to buy the movies you really want, either on disc or on-line (iTunes). For sporting events, go to a restaurant or a coffee shop with some friends and watch it there.
4) Don't "let's see what's playing on TV now". See the listings and turn on the TV to watch the programs you want to watch.
Computer
1) You can work at the computer but you can also have fun. Long gone are times when you saying "I'm at the computer" was equivalent to say "I'm working".
2) Your computer is a super TV. Internet media delivery can be even more addictive than TV. You can spend hours in YouTube and other similar sites viewing clips and related clips, and related clips, and... you get the picture.
3) Use your computer as a tool. Close the lid and open it saying: "I'm going to use the computer to write a document", "I'm going to read an article", "I'm going to watch the latest episode of my favorite TV show", etc.
3) Social networks are also very addictive. You want to see what is happening with your friends, etc. Pick a time of the week to go there, like the weekend. Or use the last 20 minutes before lunch.
4) Avoid the temptation of starting something else when the computer is "thinking" (e.g. hourglass in Windows, colorful ball in Mac, web page loading). Just wait. Don't go check some site or something else. You'll known that you're doing this when you see a program window an say: "Oh, I was trying to do that 10 minutes ago".
5) Implement a "communication hour" in your daily routine, where you enable all your email, instant messaging, blogging, etc; Zero your inbox. After that, disable your internet connection - I really mean it, go to the network options and click disable - and go to work. Have one or two "communication hours" a day and log off the rest of the time and you'll notice how much better you can concentrate.
At first all these tips might seem like a downgrade in your life. You probably will complain, because you're so used to consuming information. But, with some strength of will, you'll overcome and win.
Feel free to share your experiences and media vortex escape tips in the comments.
Clipart credit: clker.comThe problem of this is that you end up being mostly a consumer of information and not a producer. This numbs your mind and makes it more difficult to be sharp in your knowledge-based work.
As a computer scientist, I've personally experienced this as a major obstacle in my work.
Here are some hard-learned tips to escape the media vortex.
TV
1) Have only one TV at home. Keep it on a central part of the house, a common zone. Watching TV should be a family experience. Family get together and not family each one for him/herself.
2) Make turning on the TV hard. People are lazy by default and you can avoid casual TV viewing if you have to remove a cover or turn on a projector or something that entails some work, even if minimal.
3) Forget cable. All the money you spend on all those channels you don't watch can be used to buy the movies you really want, either on disc or on-line (iTunes). For sporting events, go to a restaurant or a coffee shop with some friends and watch it there.
4) Don't "let's see what's playing on TV now". See the listings and turn on the TV to watch the programs you want to watch.
Computer
1) You can work at the computer but you can also have fun. Long gone are times when you saying "I'm at the computer" was equivalent to say "I'm working".
2) Your computer is a super TV. Internet media delivery can be even more addictive than TV. You can spend hours in YouTube and other similar sites viewing clips and related clips, and related clips, and... you get the picture.
3) Use your computer as a tool. Close the lid and open it saying: "I'm going to use the computer to write a document", "I'm going to read an article", "I'm going to watch the latest episode of my favorite TV show", etc.
3) Social networks are also very addictive. You want to see what is happening with your friends, etc. Pick a time of the week to go there, like the weekend. Or use the last 20 minutes before lunch.
4) Avoid the temptation of starting something else when the computer is "thinking" (e.g. hourglass in Windows, colorful ball in Mac, web page loading). Just wait. Don't go check some site or something else. You'll known that you're doing this when you see a program window an say: "Oh, I was trying to do that 10 minutes ago".
5) Implement a "communication hour" in your daily routine, where you enable all your email, instant messaging, blogging, etc; Zero your inbox. After that, disable your internet connection - I really mean it, go to the network options and click disable - and go to work. Have one or two "communication hours" a day and log off the rest of the time and you'll notice how much better you can concentrate.
At first all these tips might seem like a downgrade in your life. You probably will complain, because you're so used to consuming information. But, with some strength of will, you'll overcome and win.
Feel free to share your experiences and media vortex escape tips in the comments.
2009-01-04
More cloud computing criticism
When using the cloud, don't forget to backup. Just think what would happen if one of your Google Docs just disappeared overnight?
Read more about it on the article Retro Computing and the Cloud.
Read more about it on the article Retro Computing and the Cloud.
The Price of Forgoing Basic Research
Not all research is the same. What role can academia play in the economic development of a country?
Read the business week article by Bill Buxton, Principal Scientist at Microsoft Research.
Read the business week article by Bill Buxton, Principal Scientist at Microsoft Research.
An American Carol
An American Carol
Mohammed: "It is getting harder to recruit suicide bombers, and all the really good ones are gone."
A crude comedy of the anti-american americans, namely, Michael Moore.
Some fun moments, although more subtlety wouldn't do it any harm.
And the underlying martial thesis is also very disputable.
Mohammed: "It is getting harder to recruit suicide bombers, and all the really good ones are gone."
A crude comedy of the anti-american americans, namely, Michael Moore.
Some fun moments, although more subtlety wouldn't do it any harm.
And the underlying martial thesis is also very disputable.
2009-01-02
Madredeus & A Banda Cósmica - Metafonia
Madredeus & A Banda Cósmica - Metafonia
A new musical beginning for Madredeus without Teresa Salgueiro. An intriguing album. I still want to hear more of it.
This time there are drums, with a taste of African and Brazilian sounds.
The new voices are OK but can't replace Teresa.
A new musical beginning for Madredeus without Teresa Salgueiro. An intriguing album. I still want to hear more of it.
This time there are drums, with a taste of African and Brazilian sounds.
The new voices are OK but can't replace Teresa.
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