I used to think Macs were great, but some bad experiences have left me seeing the down side of single-vendor lock-up. I also think that currently Apple is scrambling to keep up with multiple fronts - Mac, iPhone, MacOS - and it's superior quality premise is getting weaker.
For me the ideal solution would be Linux. I like SUSE. But currently I'm pretty comfortable with Windows XP (no, I don't like Vista that much, but eventually will end up using it).
I found the following article with a good case of
Why PCs are better than Macs.
2008-10-09
2008-10-08
Workshop Masters S.I.
A great initiative from the Information Systems group of DEI, IST to kick-start their students MSc works.
http://sites.google.com/site/mestradosi/
Highly recommended for all Computer Science students!
http://sites.google.com/site/mestradosi/
Highly recommended for all Computer Science students!
Experimental Models for Validating Technology
Marvin Zelkowitz and Dolores Wallace, in IEEE Computer, May 1998
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=00675630
(requires IEEE library access)
A very important and timely account of the need for proper experiments in software engineering.
The authors present various data collection methods grouped into three broad categories:
• observational,
• historical, and
• controlled.
Definitely worth a read, particularly for all Computer Science MSc and PhD students.
P.S. - Credit to my colleague Bruno Martins, for referring this article to me.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=00675630
(requires IEEE library access)
A very important and timely account of the need for proper experiments in software engineering.
The authors present various data collection methods grouped into three broad categories:
• observational,
• historical, and
• controlled.
Definitely worth a read, particularly for all Computer Science MSc and PhD students.
P.S. - Credit to my colleague Bruno Martins, for referring this article to me.
2008-10-06
More assertive talks
How to make my talks more effective? I got some top-notch advice from people I'm working with right now.
Don't just present facts. Show that you applied your wisdom in preparing the talk. Second, begin with a short introduction, then introduce your hypothesis/conclusion to capture the audience's attention! If you leave it to the end, people are just spectators during most of the talk. Next, go through the hypothesis/conclusion items, one by one, justifying them (the whys). At the end, summarize what the talk was about.
- The presentation style should pull audience from their collars; punch-line first; i.e. tell the story from end, twist, and then to beginning;
- Never repeat outside information;
- Challenge status quo;
- Make "Wall Street Journal" headlines;
- Try to always have demos or connections to physical world - it draws people's attention, particularly if they don't care that much about the subject of the talk.
The difference between the top and the rest of the world is the arrogance of people. They may be wrong 50% of the times, but they're right the other 50%. Self-confidence is a requirement to move forward. That's how change can happen!
This is particularly true when trying to promote synergy between higher education and industry:
Don't just present facts. Show that you applied your wisdom in preparing the talk. Second, begin with a short introduction, then introduce your hypothesis/conclusion to capture the audience's attention! If you leave it to the end, people are just spectators during most of the talk. Next, go through the hypothesis/conclusion items, one by one, justifying them (the whys). At the end, summarize what the talk was about.
- The presentation style should pull audience from their collars; punch-line first; i.e. tell the story from end, twist, and then to beginning;
- Never repeat outside information;
- Challenge status quo;
- Make "Wall Street Journal" headlines;
- Try to always have demos or connections to physical world - it draws people's attention, particularly if they don't care that much about the subject of the talk.
The difference between the top and the rest of the world is the arrogance of people. They may be wrong 50% of the times, but they're right the other 50%. Self-confidence is a requirement to move forward. That's how change can happen!
This is particularly true when trying to promote synergy between higher education and industry:
2008-10-04
2008-10-03
My first wikipedia edit
You've probably used Wikipedia, "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit." But have you ever edited it?
I had never edited it, until yesterday.
I was looking into the Object Naming Service (ONS) standard and I realized that a new version had came out - 1.0.1 - and that only the previous version was listed as reference on the wikipedia entry. So, I logged on using my wikipedia account and I added it! It was that easy! And now, lots of people will see the new reference. It's really amazing! And also you get a very clear notion of the precautions you have to take when using information listed on wikipedia.
Wikipedia is a very valuable resource in my research, not only as a secondary reference - good to get an overview about the subject but not definite, of course - but mostly as a keyword tuning tool.
How does the keyword tuning work? Instead of using your own keywords for your publications and research, you first check how it's called on Wikipedia. There are a lot of aliases for the same thing. At the end of the day, it's better for everyone to use the same keyword
This is a nice example of the so called "wisdom of the crowds". The crowd part is right, but the wisdom... let's just say that the truth is not always democratic. But more about that on another day.
I had never edited it, until yesterday.
I was looking into the Object Naming Service (ONS) standard and I realized that a new version had came out - 1.0.1 - and that only the previous version was listed as reference on the wikipedia entry. So, I logged on using my wikipedia account and I added it! It was that easy! And now, lots of people will see the new reference. It's really amazing! And also you get a very clear notion of the precautions you have to take when using information listed on wikipedia.
Wikipedia is a very valuable resource in my research, not only as a secondary reference - good to get an overview about the subject but not definite, of course - but mostly as a keyword tuning tool.
How does the keyword tuning work? Instead of using your own keywords for your publications and research, you first check how it's called on Wikipedia. There are a lot of aliases for the same thing. At the end of the day, it's better for everyone to use the same keyword
This is a nice example of the so called "wisdom of the crowds". The crowd part is right, but the wisdom... let's just say that the truth is not always democratic. But more about that on another day.
2008-09-28
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Arthur Spiderwick: "I was so captivated by all the magical creatures I found that I lost sight of the one I already had."
Arthur Spiderwick: "I was so captivated by all the magical creatures I found that I lost sight of the one I already had."
2008-09-26
Henry V
An adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V by CAST
Henry V:
"This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day"
Henry V:
"This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day"
2008-09-25
Virtualization paradox
For years the main JVM advantage was the portability, then Microsoft released Dot Net using the same VM approach trying to get some portability too. But nowadays with VMWare, Xen, VirtualBox, etc … with OS Based Virtualization in general, there is no problem with the portability issue.
Paradox: Maybe it is time to go back to native compiled code because there will be no real machines anymore in the world.
Blog post by Frank D. Martínez
The future of mobile
Andy Rubin, Google's Engineering Director, points out the following topics as possibilities for the future of mobile computing:
- Smart alerts
- Augmented reality
- Crowd sourcing goes mainstream
- Sensors everywhere
- Tool for development
- The future-proof device
- Safer software through trust and verification
You can read the full blog post for more details.
- Smart alerts
- Augmented reality
- Crowd sourcing goes mainstream
- Sensors everywhere
- Tool for development
- The future-proof device
- Safer software through trust and verification
You can read the full blog post for more details.
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