for the magical mystery tour. Well, not quite but for a free online class on Artificial Intelligence.
Here's the info: Stanford has been offering portions of its robotics coursework online for a few years now, but professors Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig are kicking things up a notch (okay, lots of notches) with next semester's CS221: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. For the first time, you can take this course, along with several hundred Stanford undergrads, without having to fill out an application, pay tuition, or live in a dorm.
Full story (and link to register) here.
I signed up since, obviously, I have loads of free time in the Fall. Well, I signed up mainly because I want to see how this works out. And, of course, gain some knowledge, etc etc etc.
Via Marginal Revolution.
7.8.11
Hung and hanged. Also dancing.
I've been listening to some local Southern radio stations, partly to get a hold of the accent but also to see what types of discussions are going on in what will be my part of the world. Since I tend to listen to the stations late at night or early in the morning, it's mostly discussions about ethics, faith and some news. There's also music but since I'm not much of a music person (unless we are counting cheesy pop hits ) I tend to change stations at that point. However, this morning, during a discussion of Catholic weddings, there was this:
*
This is one of the few songs I remember from school. As an indication of the type of school I went to, our ethics teacher took the opportunity to tell us "People are hanged...well they can be hung but we don't know if Jesus was. He probably was, he was the son of God after all. But you can be hung and hanged."
I remember going home and asking my dad what hung was. After a look at me (and explanation of context), he directed me to a dictionary. With no pictures, sadly.
* The combination of the jaunty rhythm and the increasingly depressing words is interesting.
*
This is one of the few songs I remember from school. As an indication of the type of school I went to, our ethics teacher took the opportunity to tell us "People are hanged...well they can be hung but we don't know if Jesus was. He probably was, he was the son of God after all. But you can be hung and hanged."
I remember going home and asking my dad what hung was. After a look at me (and explanation of context), he directed me to a dictionary. With no pictures, sadly.
* The combination of the jaunty rhythm and the increasingly depressing words is interesting.
Who *is* he? Who are we?
Today's recommended read comes from the New York Times, where a professor of psychology asks, "What happened to Obama's passion?"
Two things:
1. I especially like how he calls out Obama and the Democrats on their ridiculous language-use. If I were American, especially one of the many (many) who doesn't have a job, I'd want to know what is being done to fix this. That's it. In plain language.
Even in everyday life, I've thought that Americans think they are plain speakers but they are not. Not at all. Oftentimes, a clear statement saying-- look, I know things are tough but I'm doing X, Y and Z to try sort this out--would be good to read instead of waffling.
2. The headline assumes Obama once had passion. I'm starting to doubt it. This is not the person who promised to crack down on big business, to fight for the little people (literal and figurative), to change.
3. Okay, one more thing (and I've said this here before): Obama and co. weren't voted in in 2008 for "bipartisanship" or "cross-party coalition building". They were voted in because people were not happy with how things had been going. People were not happy with the wanker bankers (h/t LilSis for this term) were becoming richer while the rest of the country was having a difficult time getting by.
The 2008 election was a clear mandate for a Democratic government to change things. Granted it's government and things move slowly and there are structural obstruction blah blah blah BUT caving in on practically every major decision is not what I had expected.
My US foreign policy course is organized around the question "Who are we?" or, in USFP-y terms, "who is the US? Who does it want to be?". Over the years, people have had different ideas of who we are and who we can be. Without being able to answer this question, policymaking can't be understood. So, I don't make students read the "usual" books on USFP but ask them to think about who "we" are at different historical junctures.
I reckon Mr. Obama needs to sort that out for himself--who is he? Is he someone who will fight for the little people and make sure people have a fairly comfortable retirement where they won't have to worry about social security and pensions and healthcare? Or, is he going to shaft the little people and happily go along with any ridiculous plan that will make the richest 1% of the country even richer than they are now?
And, what do those rich people do with all that money anyway? Isn't there a finite number of things you can buy?
Two things:
1. I especially like how he calls out Obama and the Democrats on their ridiculous language-use. If I were American, especially one of the many (many) who doesn't have a job, I'd want to know what is being done to fix this. That's it. In plain language.
Even in everyday life, I've thought that Americans think they are plain speakers but they are not. Not at all. Oftentimes, a clear statement saying-- look, I know things are tough but I'm doing X, Y and Z to try sort this out--would be good to read instead of waffling.
2. The headline assumes Obama once had passion. I'm starting to doubt it. This is not the person who promised to crack down on big business, to fight for the little people (literal and figurative), to change.
3. Okay, one more thing (and I've said this here before): Obama and co. weren't voted in in 2008 for "bipartisanship" or "cross-party coalition building". They were voted in because people were not happy with how things had been going. People were not happy with the wanker bankers (h/t LilSis for this term) were becoming richer while the rest of the country was having a difficult time getting by.
The 2008 election was a clear mandate for a Democratic government to change things. Granted it's government and things move slowly and there are structural obstruction blah blah blah BUT caving in on practically every major decision is not what I had expected.
My US foreign policy course is organized around the question "Who are we?" or, in USFP-y terms, "who is the US? Who does it want to be?". Over the years, people have had different ideas of who we are and who we can be. Without being able to answer this question, policymaking can't be understood. So, I don't make students read the "usual" books on USFP but ask them to think about who "we" are at different historical junctures.
I reckon Mr. Obama needs to sort that out for himself--who is he? Is he someone who will fight for the little people and make sure people have a fairly comfortable retirement where they won't have to worry about social security and pensions and healthcare? Or, is he going to shaft the little people and happily go along with any ridiculous plan that will make the richest 1% of the country even richer than they are now?
And, what do those rich people do with all that money anyway? Isn't there a finite number of things you can buy?
5.8.11
Debt, Dog, Danger
Because what you have been waiting for is the LOTR version of the recent (US) debt compromise/caving in. Here.
Read the comments.
Via Crooked Timber.
In other news, a Dog (not mine) has been added to my journey to my new job. So, it'll be The Driver, The Dog and [Me---I don't have an alliterative "D" name].
Talking about my new job, this happened. Yes, well.
Read the comments.
Via Crooked Timber.
In other news, a Dog (not mine) has been added to my journey to my new job. So, it'll be The Driver, The Dog and [Me---I don't have an alliterative "D" name].
Talking about my new job, this happened. Yes, well.
3.8.11
And this morning...
and to think I was whingeing about being disturbed yesterday morning. This morning, I found out I have to redo my syllabi. Why? Well, it "needs more detail". Less said about all this the better but the POINT of all this is a) I have to work all day today and possibly tomorrow to get the syllabi up to scratch and b) No Cowboys and Aliens for me.
Add to this that my current landlord is being a wanker, it's been a great day.
BUT, on the plus side, Not Dead Yet.
Yet.
Add to this that my current landlord is being a wanker, it's been a great day.
BUT, on the plus side, Not Dead Yet.
Yet.
Matt Damon is my hero.
"Teachers just want to teach"...yes!
Personally, I was making more money per year (and had much better standard of living since I was working for the UN regional commission in Bangkok) when I was 22 than when I'm 32 (now). I had regular hours and did not have to work outside of those hours.
You don't become a teacher for fun and joy. You become a teacher because you can't really think of yourself as doing anything else. Because you realise you spend your limited free time also teaching. Because you find it frustrating and annoying but also enjoyable (okay, this will be rare).
Watch till the utterly ridiculous use of "statistics" at the end--and how Damon calls him out on that too. The man's utterly fantastic.
Via Gawker.
Personally, I was making more money per year (and had much better standard of living since I was working for the UN regional commission in Bangkok) when I was 22 than when I'm 32 (now). I had regular hours and did not have to work outside of those hours.
You don't become a teacher for fun and joy. You become a teacher because you can't really think of yourself as doing anything else. Because you realise you spend your limited free time also teaching. Because you find it frustrating and annoying but also enjoyable (okay, this will be rare).
Watch till the utterly ridiculous use of "statistics" at the end--and how Damon calls him out on that too. The man's utterly fantastic.
Via Gawker.
2.8.11
This is my morning so far
Got woken up by a loud knock on the door. Quickly got up, opened it and found a very cheery chap (it was 8am. 8am!) grinning and saying: "Hello! I just moved in upstairs! I would like to borrow your vacuum!!" (yes, he spoke with exclamations.)
I brought over my vacuum. "No! I meant a real vacuum! Haha!"
Me: silence
Him: "You mean you don't have a bigger one?"(I want to remind FA readers that I currently live in a studio. I hardly think a massive hoover is necessary ).
Looks around past me..."Oh you just moved in too?" (Bah furniture) "Do you have coffee"
Me: No.
"No coffee? How do you get up in the morning? Really? No coffee?"
Seriously, this whole: let's chat with Priya thing is getting out of hand. As is the need to follow social norms. Sometimes, it'd be nice to say: No, mate, I don't have a Big Vacuum or Coffee or any desire to stand around in my PJ's and talk when I could be sleeping a couple more hours after having gone to bed at 5am. Piss off. Unfortunately, Social Norms prevent me from saying any of that.
I brought over my vacuum. "No! I meant a real vacuum! Haha!"
Me: silence
Him: "You mean you don't have a bigger one?"(I want to remind FA readers that I currently live in a studio. I hardly think a massive hoover is necessary ).
Looks around past me..."Oh you just moved in too?" (Bah furniture) "Do you have coffee"
Me: No.
"No coffee? How do you get up in the morning? Really? No coffee?"
Seriously, this whole: let's chat with Priya thing is getting out of hand. As is the need to follow social norms. Sometimes, it'd be nice to say: No, mate, I don't have a Big Vacuum or Coffee or any desire to stand around in my PJ's and talk when I could be sleeping a couple more hours after having gone to bed at 5am. Piss off. Unfortunately, Social Norms prevent me from saying any of that.
1.8.11
Me (and a bit of stuff about work)
So. This is one of those posts in which I detail things about ME. Even more so than usual.
1. I started thinking about perhaps packing up my stuff. In the process, I realized I have over 600 books, none of which I really want to give away.
2. I also have 32 pairs of shoes. 32. That is 64 shoes. While realizing this, my reaction was not: OMG! I wear about 3 of those 32 pairs! Do I really need them all? BUT Oh, I only have 4 pairs of "closed" shoes and no "neutral" coloured pumps. Time to buy some more.
I'm a lost cause. On the plus side, over 90% of my clothes and shoes are from thrift stores/op shops.
3. I'm working on my syllabi for the fall, especially as classes start in a couple of weeks. The thing about syllabi is that you never know what "angle" you are going to take. I had a perfectly fine US foreign policy syllabus, categorized according to theories and suchlike before deciding to ditch it and make another one. Right now, I'm working on this second syllabus (organized chronologically) and realizing that there is SO MUCH I feel I should tell students about. There is definitely not enough weeks in the semester for covering everything I want.
I'll attach a link to a working version once I finish it up later today.
4. KiwiSis was utterly horrified when she heard I had rented a house without actually seeing its insides. What if there are bugs? Or the bathroom is grotty? Or there are rats?, she asked.
Not much I can do about them now, is there? All will be revealed next week when I move. I know there is no air conditioning but am assuming there is a fridge (I should ask about this I suppose).
5. The Big Move is on Wednesday. Well, I'm getting picked up on Wednesday, spending the night at The Farm (not CIA headquarters, sadly) and then heading over to Woop Woop on Thursday.
1. I started thinking about perhaps packing up my stuff. In the process, I realized I have over 600 books, none of which I really want to give away.
2. I also have 32 pairs of shoes. 32. That is 64 shoes. While realizing this, my reaction was not: OMG! I wear about 3 of those 32 pairs! Do I really need them all? BUT Oh, I only have 4 pairs of "closed" shoes and no "neutral" coloured pumps. Time to buy some more.
I'm a lost cause. On the plus side, over 90% of my clothes and shoes are from thrift stores/op shops.
3. I'm working on my syllabi for the fall, especially as classes start in a couple of weeks. The thing about syllabi is that you never know what "angle" you are going to take. I had a perfectly fine US foreign policy syllabus, categorized according to theories and suchlike before deciding to ditch it and make another one. Right now, I'm working on this second syllabus (organized chronologically) and realizing that there is SO MUCH I feel I should tell students about. There is definitely not enough weeks in the semester for covering everything I want.
I'll attach a link to a working version once I finish it up later today.
4. KiwiSis was utterly horrified when she heard I had rented a house without actually seeing its insides. What if there are bugs? Or the bathroom is grotty? Or there are rats?, she asked.
Not much I can do about them now, is there? All will be revealed next week when I move. I know there is no air conditioning but am assuming there is a fridge (I should ask about this I suppose).
5. The Big Move is on Wednesday. Well, I'm getting picked up on Wednesday, spending the night at The Farm (not CIA headquarters, sadly) and then heading over to Woop Woop on Thursday.
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