And when it rains on your parade,
look up rather than down.
Without the rain,
there would be no rainbow.

~ Winston Churchill

The 50 Most Innovative Computer Science Departments in the U.S.

Read all about it at Computer Science Degree Hub.

Spoiler: MIT is number 1 ;)

Resources for you to learn online

Recently I found a blog post that lists great resources for on-line learning.
Here is the link and the list. Enjoy!

1. Coursera

2. Udacity

3. Khan Academy

4. MIT OpenCourseWare

5. Open Education Consortium

6. Academic Earth

7. Open Learning Initiative (OLI)

EXTRA – Treehouse

Sleeping Beauty Christian meta-narrative

Excerpt from Disney's "Maleficent": The Devil is in the Details...But So Is God by Fr. Steve Grunow, Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

What about that older tale--the 1959 “Sleeping Beauty” which evidently is so problematic that it requires “updating”?

The older film’s story is derived from the scenario presented in the ballet “Sleeping Beauty” by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovski, whose story is derived from even older stories, distilled in the “Tales from the Brothers Grimm” as the tale of Briar Rose. The earliest renditions of the story of “Sleeping Beauty” would likely be understood in a contemporary context as being true tales of terror involving unspeakable acts of cruelty. The literal details mask the cultural memory of what might be described as “corn maiden myths”, which are narrative descriptions of the cycles of nature in general and of planting and harvest in particular. In such myths, nature is personified and the characters in the story are intended as symbolic representations of nature and humanity’s relationship to it. (It seems that Disney’s “Maleficent” is gesturing towards all this but it seems incapable of communicating clearly what the pre-cursors to the “Sleeping Beauty” story were all about).

Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” preserves the basic plotline provided by Tchaikovski with a few variations. The sorceress Maleficent takes the place of the evil fairy Caraboose, while the number of fairies present at Princess Aurora’s christening is reduced to three. The great battle at the end of animated classic is unique to the film. Minor distinctions aside, Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” is pretty much in sync with the staging of Tchaikovski’s ballet (which I believe was precisely what Walt Disney wanted for his film). But there is something else present in the animated classic (more so that even Tchaikovski’s ballet) that I think is worth thinking about--what I would identify as a kind of Christian meta-narrative.

By Christian meta-narrative I mean that the details of the plot, presentation of the characters, and, whether intended or not, the symbols employed to advance the story all suggest that Disney’s telling of the tale of “Sleeping Beauty” emerged from and was influenced by a distinctly Christian cultural matrix. How so? Note how the story begins in the setting of party which celebrates the “christening”, that is, the baptism of the Princess Aurora (the personification of the soul), who is attended to by three spiritual beings (personifications of faith, hope, and love). The celebration is disrupted by the appearance of Maleficent (a personification of the devil) who brings with her the curse of death- a curse that is mitigated by the power of the personifications of the spiritual virtues--the devil’s curse will not be fully effective. The three spiritual beings, serve as protectors for Aurora (the soul), and despite appearances to the contrary (they seem small and trivial, for this is how the world perceives faith, hope, and love) they will ultimately prove to be Maleficent’s (the devil) undoing.

The condition placed on Aurora’s (the soul’s) rescue is the arrival of her true love, the son of a king, a character who is a stand-in for Christ. The son of the king suffers (his passion) for the sake of his love for Aurora (the soul), even being imprisoned for a time by Maleficent’s (devil) power, and then at the right moment, and empowered by weapons imbued with supernatural grace, engages in direct combat with Maleficent (who takes the form of the dragon and promises, prior to her transformation, that the son of the king will deal with her and all the powers of hell). Also note how "the son of the king"'s access to the sleeping beauty, Aurora (the soul), is blocked by thorny plants, an evocation of the curse that falls upon humanity as a result of the original sin. Christ conquers, and does so through the sign of the cross, and so too does the prince in the animated film. The story concludes with Aurora and her prince, the soul and Christ, sharing communion with one another (represented in their dance) in a kingdom that gives way to a heavenly realm. The animated classic, whether intentionally or unintentionally yields up its meaning in what can be described as a kind of Christian meta-narrative and serves up an ending that is not just a “happily ever after”, but an evocation of the union of Christ and the Church, as described in the finality of the New Testament Book of Revelation.

Too much? Perhaps. But in regards of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Maleficent”, God and the devil may be in the details of the stories.

The Wilderness Explorer Summer Guide 5

The Wilderness Explorer Summer Guide 4

The Wilderness Explorer Summer Guide 3

The Wilderness Explorer Summer Guide 2

The Wilderness Explorer Summer Guide 1

http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/2014/06/01/the-wilderness-explorer-summer-guide/

Marriage Tip

Choose a virtue to practice today.
Do not tell anybody what it is but consider:
charity,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness, or
generosity.

At the end of the day, ask your spouse or child if they can guess which one you picked.

Source: http://www.foryourmarriage.org/june-20-2014/

Thesis Defense

My Doctoral Thesis defense is approaching... it will be on Tuesday, June 17th 2014, 10:00 at PA-3 (Level -1 at IST's Math Building).

Scalable and secure RFID data discovery

The combined use of Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems has greatly improved the efficiency of supply chains. Further improvements require a deeper connection between the virtual and physical worlds. Automatic Identification technologies, like radio-frequency identification (RFID), allow identification data about tagged physical objects to be collected continuously by readers deployed across locations in the supply chain. This data is stored and managed using traceability systems to allow efficient answers to traceability queries, like Track and Trace.

A practical traceability system should address both the scale and data visibility problems. The system should perform adequately for the number of physical objects flowing in the supply chain; and it should protect the sensitive business data from unauthorized access.

The original contributions of this dissertation are a quantitative assessment framework, called TrakChain, that compares traceability systems for given supply chain scenarios; and a supply chain authorization language that can be used to define and enforce data visibility restriction policies. The results are illustrated with examples from several industries and a case study in the Pharmaceutical supply chain.

--

Descoberta de dados RFID de forma escalável e segura

Os sistemas ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning) e SCM (Supply Chain Management) trouxeram grandes melhorias ao funcionamento das cadeias de fornecimento. Para continuar a melhorar é necessária uma maior ligação entre os mundos virtual e físico. Aqui, as tecnologias de identificação automática por rádio-frequência (RFID), permitem que dados de identificação de objectos físicos etiquetados possam ser recolhidos continuamente por leitores instalados em localizações relevantes (fábricas, armazéns, centros de distribuição, etc). Os dados são guardados e geridos por sistemas de rastreabilidade que permitem dar resposta a interrogações, tais como Localizar e Rastrear.

Um sistema de rastreabilidade prático deve tratar os problemas da escalabilidade e da visibilidade dos dados. O sistema deve ter um desempenho adequado ao número de objectos físicos que circulam na cadeia de fornecimento; e deve proteger os dados de negócio de acessos não autorizados.

As contribuições originais desta dissertação são as ferramentas de avaliação quantitativa, que permitem a comparação de sistemas de rastreabilidade para diversos cenários de cadeias de fornecimento; e uma linguagem de autorização que pode ser usada para definir e aplicar políticas de restrição da visibilidade de dados. Os resultados são ilustrados com exemplos de várias indústrias e com um caso de estudo da indústria Farmacêutica.

Incorrect vs Invalid vs Illegal

incorrect -> not correct as to fact; inaccurate; wrong

Invalid -> An 'invalid argument' is an argument which cannot proceed to any logical or sensible conclusion because the premise of the argument as stated is not based on real evidence or upon fact or reasonable judgement: an argument based on faulty reasoning

Illegal -> contrary to or forbidden by official rules

10 simple things to do to be happier

1. Exercise more – 7 minutes might be enough
2. Sleep more – you’ll be less sensitive to negative emotions
3. Move closer to work – a short commute is worth more than a big house
4. Spend time with friends and family – don’t regret it on your deathbed
5. Go outside – happiness is maximized at 13.9°C
6. Help others – 100 hours a year is the magical number
7. Practice smiling – it can alleviate pain
8. Plan a trip – but don’t take one
9. Meditate – rewire your brain for happiness
10. Practice gratitude – increase both happiness and life satisfaction

via Buffer blog

Creative breakthroughs in the late 30s? Like! :)

"Genius, it seems, happens when a seasoned mind sees a problem with fresh eyes."

Read the Quartz article.

Eyes on the stars

Don't forget to dream with the eyes on the stars!



"On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, who was the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in Lake City, South Carolina."

Breakfast Before the MOOC

Thomas L. Friedman

February 19, 2014
NYT

Beginning March 2, Prof. Hossam Haick, will teach the first ever massive open online course, or MOOC, on nanotechnology in Arabic. What’s more interesting, though, he explained to me the other day over breakfast is some of the curious email he’s received from students registering for his MOOC from all over the Arab world. Their questions include: Are you a real person? Are you really an Arab, or are you an Israeli Jew speaking Arabic, pretending to be an Arab? That’s because Haick is an Israeli Arab from Nazareth and will be teaching this course from his home university, the Technion, Israel’s premier science and technology institute, and the place we were having breakfast was Tel Aviv.

His course is entitled Nanotechnology and Nanosensors and is designed for anyone interested in learning about Haick’s specialty: “novel sensing tools that make use of nanotechnology to screen, detect, and monitor various events in either our personal or professional life.” The course includes 10 classes of 3 to 4 short lecture videos — in Arabic and English — and anyone with an Internet connection can tune in and participate for free in the weekly quizzes, forum activities and do a final project.

If you had any doubts about the hunger for education in the Middle East today, Haick’s MOOC will dispel them. So far, there are about 4,800 registrations for the Arabic version, including students from Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and the West Bank. Iranians are signing up for the English version. Because the registration is through the Coursera MOOC website, some registrants initially don’t realize the course is being taught by an Israeli Arab scientist at the Technion, said Haick, and when they do, some professors and students “unregister.” But most others are sticking with it. (MOOC’s have just started to emerge in the Arab world via Coursera, edX, Edraak, Rwaq, SkillAcademy and MenaVersity — some with original content, much still translated.)

Asked why he thought the course was attracting so much interest in the neighborhood, Haick said: “Because nanotechnology and nanosensors are perceived as futuristic, and people are curious to understand what the future looks like.” And because nanotechnology “is so cross- and multi-disciplinary. ... It offers a large diversity of research opportunities.”

Haick, 38, whose Ph.D. is from the Technion, where his father also graduated, is a science prodigy. He and the Technion already have a start-up together, developing what he calls “an electronic nose” — a sensory array that mimics the way a dog’s nose works to detect what Haick and his team have proved to be unique markers in exhaled breath that reveal different cancers in the body. In between that and teaching chemical engineering, the Technion’s president, Peretz Lavie, suggested that Haick lead the school into the land of MOOCs.

Lavie, Haick explained, “thinks there is a high need to bring science beyond the boundaries between countries. He told me there is something called a ‘MOOC.’ I did not know what is a MOOC. He said it is a course that can be given to thousands of people over the Web. And he asked if I can give the first MOOC from the Technion — in Arabic.”

The Technion is funding the project, which took nine months to prepare, and Haick is donating the lectures. Some 19 percent of the Technion’s students today are Israeli Arabs, up from 9 percent 12 years ago. Haick says he always tells people, “If the Middle East was like the Technion, we would already have peace. In the pure academy, you feel totally equal with every person. And you are appreciated based on your excellence.” He adds without meaning to boast, “I have young people who tell me from the Arab world: ‘You have become our role model. Please let us know the ingredients of how we become like you.’ ”

I know what some readers are thinking: nice bit of Israeli propaganda, now could you please go back to writing about Israel’s ugly West Bank occupation. No. This story is a useful reminder that Israel is a country, not just a conflict, and, as a country, it’s still a work in progress. It has its lows, like the occupation and economic discrimination against Israeli Arabs, and its highs, like the collaboration between Haick and the Technion, which is providing a tool for those in the Arabic-speaking world eager to grasp the new technologies reshaping the global economy. Those, like members of the B.D.S. — boycott, divestiture, sanctions — movement who treat Israel as if it is only the sum of how it deals with the West Bank and therefore deserves to be delegitimized as a state, would do well to reflect on some of these complexities.

For me, though, Haick’s MOOC is also a reminder of what an utter waste of money and human talent has been the Arab-Israeli conflict. Look how eager all these young Arabs and Persians are for the tools and resources to realize their full potential, wherever they can find that learning. Arab dictators so underestimated their people for so long. That’s what fueled the Arab awakening. It makes you weep for the wasted generations and pray this will be the last of them.

What's coming to Higher Education

Here is a short summary of the Horizon Report 2014 Higher Education Edition that I received via Prof JLB.
You'll find much more information in the full report.

Key Trends Accelerating Higher Education Technology Adoption

Fast Trends: Driving changes in higher education over the next one to two years
> Growing Ubiquity of Social Media
> Integration of Online, Hybrid, and Collaborative Learning

Mid-Range Trends: Driving changes in higher education within three to five years
> Rise of Data-Driven Learning and Assessment
> Shift from Students as Consumers to Students as Creators

Long-Range Trends: Driving changes in higher education in five or more years
> Agile Approaches to Change
> Evolution of Online Learning


Significant Challenges Impeding Higher Education Technology Adoption

Solvable Challenges: Those that we understand and know how to solve
> Low Digital Fluency of Faculty
> Relative Lack of Rewards for Teaching

Difficult Challenges: Those we understand but for which solutions are elusive
> Competition from New Models of Education
> Scaling Teaching Innovations

Wicked Challenges: Those that are complex to even define, much less address
> Expanding Access
> Keeping Education Relevant


Important Developments in Educational Technology for Higher Education

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less
> Flipped Classroom
> Learning Analytics

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
> 3D Printing
> Games and Gamification

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years
> Quantified Self
> Virtual Assistants

Keeping the Internet of Things Human

(...) ground rules.

First, not everything should be connected. Sensors and connectivity don’t always result in a better experience, increased sales or usable information.

Secondly, we need to think clearly about how data will impact people in a significant way in the immediate, aggregate and latent value framework. Equally important, let’s not be afraid to make something new, because we can’t rely on the notion that old things will be inherently better once they are connected. Some things will need to be connected and others won’t, and many things will need to be made new from the ground up.

The Internet of Things: Keeping it Human
By Michael DelGaudio - January 6, 2014

Why Computer Science?

Top 5 reasons to take Computer Science

5 - Without computer science... not much works
4 - There will always be jobs for coders
3 - Solving problems is never boring
2 - Creating technology is lucrative
1 - Making really cool things.

Source: CS Education Week