So I recently fell upon this gem of a find, called God and Computers, a seven part series of lectures given by no other than Computer Science/Jedi Master Donald Knuth. The audio and video files can be found at the TechNetCast archives. The video files are .ram, however, and since I didn't feel like befouling my computer with Real Player, I originally downloaded just the MP3s. However, on second glance, I realized that VLC ( <3 ) plays .ram files, and so I'm planning to download those as well.
This series of lectures was given by Dr. Knuth at MIT in 1999. In it, Knuth talks about the interplay of faith (particularly that of Christianity) and Computer Science, and the relevence one has to the other. I have only so far gotten through most of the introduction, but I have a feeling I will be spending a good part of Saturday listening /watching it. It should, in short, be an awesome experience :-)
Just thought I should share...
Laters.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Computer Science Rock Stars
Now that I'll be going to Graduate School, I will be writing papers, attending conferences, and probably rubbing shoulders with some prominent people in the computer science and bioinformatics worlds. I'm sure that in another five to ten years, I'll be quite used to all this, and see certain people as contempories. But your first time is quite an experience, especially if the first famous computer scientist you meet is none other than C++ Godfather Bjarne Stroustrup.
About two weeks ago, we were told by the CS department at TAMU that today we'd be getting a presentation by Bjarne Stoustrup, the inventor and standardizer of C++. At first, I treated the news with much nochalance; when have I wished to walk in the world of CS gods? I pay no attention to movie stars or rock stars or any other famous persons, since I never cared to meet them (at age 12, I thought all my female classmates were prematurely lobotomized, seeing they way they went on about some actors), and I felt like I had better things to do with my time.
Meeting Stroustrup is not a big deal, I thought. That was two weeks ago. In two weeks, my attitude of general indifference transformed into one of expectant anticipation, into one of eagerness and excitement. Why would I care about Stroustrup so much? Well, it has to do with my love of C++.
I learned C++ for the first time when I was 16 years old, the summer before my Junior year of high school. I had one of those tutorial books, and I wrote little programs here and there. It was my first taste of anything resembling object oriented programming, and I was thrilled. I loved the concept of an object, the fact that I could represent the characteristics of almost anything imaginable by a set of attributes, and that all these attributes can be melted together to form one, singular and cohesive object.
I know that is an awful lot of romanticizing, but what do you expect from a sixteen year old who having her first secret love affair with programming? I knew Pascal by that point, but it didn't excite me, it didn't make me wonder what I can build, what I could create, and, most of all, didn't inspire me to pursue Computer Science as a career option. I remember thinking about all the ridiculous things I could represent with object oriented code: cups, dining sets, houses, relationships, a universe of interaction. And puppy dogs (giggle). A puppy dog is composed of a set of actions, of fur, of smell, of a set of barks, of a set of emotions, of a set of organs... and an organ is composed of set of tissues.. and these tissues are composed of a set of cells... sets within sets; objects within objects. I can only wonder now if perhaps it was then that I first thought about molecules, DNA and life as code. Was this when the passion for Bioinformatics was born inside of me?
As today drew closer, I felt like there was a lot I needed to thank this man for. Would I have started liking programming, if it weren't for C++? Would I have been interested in Computer Science? Would I have a Computer Science degree? Would I have gone into Bioinformatics? Bjarne Stroustrup... could it be? Could this be the man that had a hand in the fates that would cause me to choose Bioinformatics? Rensselaer asked me, "Why not change the world?" Bjarne Stroustrup said, "Here, use this."
I knew it would be an experience that I wouldn't want to forget. It was suggested to us by the department that we bring copies of Dr. Stroustrup's C++ Bible, The C++ Programming Language or The Design and Evolution of C++. I secretly wanted the latter, but, I feared that paying $50+ dollars for a book for Dr. Stroustrup to sign was not only very nerdy but also very very wasteful. I'm sure that's one of the reasons I thought that perhaps my boyfriend Dan would love to have an autographed copy of a book from Dr. Stroustrup (yeah right). I eventually realized that I ought to find a better option as a birthday gift, so I looked for other ways to have a memento. I eventually settled on my digital camera and resolved that I would get a picture of him and me.
12 noon today I sat eagerly in my chair in the conference room that sat about 20 people, wondering when he'd show up. Some of the other guys gently teased me about bringing a camera, and I lightheartedly replied that they were jealous that they didn't think of the idea first. Genius! I thought to myself. At this moment, Dr. Stroustrup walked into the room, and I smiled at him, embarassed. I'm sure if I was any lighter he would have seen me blush.
Dr. Stroustrup was a fairly thin man, very gentle and soft-spoken with a sharp wit and likeable sense of humor. He had a thick European accent, which only added to his Rockstar appeal. He looked at us (who brought lunches) and remarked on how great it will be to stand up in front of everyone and watch us eat while he himself had an empty stomach. I immediately offered him some food, and then clamped my mouth shut. What's wrong with you? I asked myself, furious for drawing attention to myself.
Dr. Stroustrup didn't seem to notice and started talking about C++, its applications (did you know Photoshop is written in C++?), and some of its design decisions. "I am reluctant to call [C++] an object oriented language" he said, "because the object oriented component is merely an option. I hate languages that force the concept of object oriented design on you, preventing you from deciding what should be an object and what should not." I grinned. Like Java, I thought, remembering one of the biggest reasons I hated the language. At this point, I'm staring at him with this look of utter adoration that could be best described as the female version of the last panel of this comic.
He eventually went into more complicated and advanced portions of the language's design, heavily using terms in Computer Science that I vaguely remembered hearing about in Programming Languages. I looked around me. Some students were nodding and smiling, while others had blank looks on their faces. Even the ones who are nodding have no clue what he's saying, I comforted myself. Except the guy from Purdue. He was during research in Compiler Design, and I knew out of all of us, he would be the best equipped to understand exactly what the good Professor was referring to. But, regardless, we all hung on Stroustrup's every word.
Soon the presentation was over. It was time to say goodbye, and to get autographs(!) Several people asked me if they could get a picture using my camera. I was fine with it; I didn't care, so long as I got a picture with Dr. Stroustrup. When it was my turn, I stammered something out about getting a picture with him and if it would be ok. One of the other girls took my picture with him, but I was so nervous I didn't tell her how to operate the camera. I stood there, with a terrified grin on my face, simultaneously caught up by a frenzy of excitement and agonizing on whether or not my hair looked ok. As soon as the picture was done, I looked up at him (realized that I had pressed back into him, partially out of fear), squeaked out a 'thank-you' and ran for it. I asked one of the guys who had his book signed if I could take a picture of it (I did). I had also forgotten to lend the others the camera; thankfully one of the other kids had also smartly brought one, and not being as freaked out about it, took everyone's picture with Stroustrup.
As I left, I berated myself for not saying something to him. Then again, what was I supposed to say? I learned your language when I was 16, and it eventually inspired me to pursue Computer Science, thank you for inventing it? The picture I took of myself with Stroustrup also didn't come out well; It's too blurry to make either of us out (which is saying something, considering I'm petite, brown, and female).
And so ends my encounter with a CS Rockstar. I wonder as I encounter other famous CS'ers, if I will act the same. Hopefully by then I will be able to hold myself with a dignity that is worthy of a 21 year old, rather than that of a trembling 12 year old girl laying her eyes on her first superstar.
Ugh. I'm pathetic :-) That's all for now.
About two weeks ago, we were told by the CS department at TAMU that today we'd be getting a presentation by Bjarne Stoustrup, the inventor and standardizer of C++. At first, I treated the news with much nochalance; when have I wished to walk in the world of CS gods? I pay no attention to movie stars or rock stars or any other famous persons, since I never cared to meet them (at age 12, I thought all my female classmates were prematurely lobotomized, seeing they way they went on about some actors), and I felt like I had better things to do with my time.
Meeting Stroustrup is not a big deal, I thought. That was two weeks ago. In two weeks, my attitude of general indifference transformed into one of expectant anticipation, into one of eagerness and excitement. Why would I care about Stroustrup so much? Well, it has to do with my love of C++.
I learned C++ for the first time when I was 16 years old, the summer before my Junior year of high school. I had one of those tutorial books, and I wrote little programs here and there. It was my first taste of anything resembling object oriented programming, and I was thrilled. I loved the concept of an object, the fact that I could represent the characteristics of almost anything imaginable by a set of attributes, and that all these attributes can be melted together to form one, singular and cohesive object.
I know that is an awful lot of romanticizing, but what do you expect from a sixteen year old who having her first secret love affair with programming? I knew Pascal by that point, but it didn't excite me, it didn't make me wonder what I can build, what I could create, and, most of all, didn't inspire me to pursue Computer Science as a career option. I remember thinking about all the ridiculous things I could represent with object oriented code: cups, dining sets, houses, relationships, a universe of interaction. And puppy dogs (giggle). A puppy dog is composed of a set of actions, of fur, of smell, of a set of barks, of a set of emotions, of a set of organs... and an organ is composed of set of tissues.. and these tissues are composed of a set of cells... sets within sets; objects within objects. I can only wonder now if perhaps it was then that I first thought about molecules, DNA and life as code. Was this when the passion for Bioinformatics was born inside of me?
As today drew closer, I felt like there was a lot I needed to thank this man for. Would I have started liking programming, if it weren't for C++? Would I have been interested in Computer Science? Would I have a Computer Science degree? Would I have gone into Bioinformatics? Bjarne Stroustrup... could it be? Could this be the man that had a hand in the fates that would cause me to choose Bioinformatics? Rensselaer asked me, "Why not change the world?" Bjarne Stroustrup said, "Here, use this."
I knew it would be an experience that I wouldn't want to forget. It was suggested to us by the department that we bring copies of Dr. Stroustrup's C++ Bible, The C++ Programming Language or The Design and Evolution of C++. I secretly wanted the latter, but, I feared that paying $50+ dollars for a book for Dr. Stroustrup to sign was not only very nerdy but also very very wasteful. I'm sure that's one of the reasons I thought that perhaps my boyfriend Dan would love to have an autographed copy of a book from Dr. Stroustrup (yeah right). I eventually realized that I ought to find a better option as a birthday gift, so I looked for other ways to have a memento. I eventually settled on my digital camera and resolved that I would get a picture of him and me.
12 noon today I sat eagerly in my chair in the conference room that sat about 20 people, wondering when he'd show up. Some of the other guys gently teased me about bringing a camera, and I lightheartedly replied that they were jealous that they didn't think of the idea first. Genius! I thought to myself. At this moment, Dr. Stroustrup walked into the room, and I smiled at him, embarassed. I'm sure if I was any lighter he would have seen me blush.
Dr. Stroustrup was a fairly thin man, very gentle and soft-spoken with a sharp wit and likeable sense of humor. He had a thick European accent, which only added to his Rockstar appeal. He looked at us (who brought lunches) and remarked on how great it will be to stand up in front of everyone and watch us eat while he himself had an empty stomach. I immediately offered him some food, and then clamped my mouth shut. What's wrong with you? I asked myself, furious for drawing attention to myself.
Dr. Stroustrup didn't seem to notice and started talking about C++, its applications (did you know Photoshop is written in C++?), and some of its design decisions. "I am reluctant to call [C++] an object oriented language" he said, "because the object oriented component is merely an option. I hate languages that force the concept of object oriented design on you, preventing you from deciding what should be an object and what should not." I grinned. Like Java, I thought, remembering one of the biggest reasons I hated the language. At this point, I'm staring at him with this look of utter adoration that could be best described as the female version of the last panel of this comic.
He eventually went into more complicated and advanced portions of the language's design, heavily using terms in Computer Science that I vaguely remembered hearing about in Programming Languages. I looked around me. Some students were nodding and smiling, while others had blank looks on their faces. Even the ones who are nodding have no clue what he's saying, I comforted myself. Except the guy from Purdue. He was during research in Compiler Design, and I knew out of all of us, he would be the best equipped to understand exactly what the good Professor was referring to. But, regardless, we all hung on Stroustrup's every word.
Soon the presentation was over. It was time to say goodbye, and to get autographs(!) Several people asked me if they could get a picture using my camera. I was fine with it; I didn't care, so long as I got a picture with Dr. Stroustrup. When it was my turn, I stammered something out about getting a picture with him and if it would be ok. One of the other girls took my picture with him, but I was so nervous I didn't tell her how to operate the camera. I stood there, with a terrified grin on my face, simultaneously caught up by a frenzy of excitement and agonizing on whether or not my hair looked ok. As soon as the picture was done, I looked up at him (realized that I had pressed back into him, partially out of fear), squeaked out a 'thank-you' and ran for it. I asked one of the guys who had his book signed if I could take a picture of it (I did). I had also forgotten to lend the others the camera; thankfully one of the other kids had also smartly brought one, and not being as freaked out about it, took everyone's picture with Stroustrup.
As I left, I berated myself for not saying something to him. Then again, what was I supposed to say? I learned your language when I was 16, and it eventually inspired me to pursue Computer Science, thank you for inventing it? The picture I took of myself with Stroustrup also didn't come out well; It's too blurry to make either of us out (which is saying something, considering I'm petite, brown, and female).
And so ends my encounter with a CS Rockstar. I wonder as I encounter other famous CS'ers, if I will act the same. Hopefully by then I will be able to hold myself with a dignity that is worthy of a 21 year old, rather than that of a trembling 12 year old girl laying her eyes on her first superstar.
Ugh. I'm pathetic :-) That's all for now.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Still in Texas...
And still alive! Sorry I haven't posted in here much. I have to keep a journal and a website for my DMP internship, so I 'm busy maintaining those this summer. But I haven't forgotten about autologica.
This will have to be a short post, since I have to get back to installing stuff (*sigh*) on the computer I use at work. In happier news, I have something new(old) to share! So far, 5 people have linked me to this clip on YouTube (a big thank you to all of you who thought of me when they saw this ^-^). Therefore, it is my solemn duty to share it with all of you:
Kitten v. Front Row
Very cute, but I would not let my cat near my laptop. Imagine all the scratches on the screen.. *shudder* $2500 is pretty steep for a cat toy to boot. Still, very cute ^-^
Take care all. Back to the grind.
This will have to be a short post, since I have to get back to installing stuff (*sigh*) on the computer I use at work. In happier news, I have something new(old) to share! So far, 5 people have linked me to this clip on YouTube (a big thank you to all of you who thought of me when they saw this ^-^). Therefore, it is my solemn duty to share it with all of you:
Kitten v. Front Row
Very cute, but I would not let my cat near my laptop. Imagine all the scratches on the screen.. *shudder* $2500 is pretty steep for a cat toy to boot. Still, very cute ^-^
Take care all. Back to the grind.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Texas, here I come!
So tomorrow morning, I am leaving for Texas. Hooray! I've been looking forward to this for the last couple of weeks. I'm finally packed: I'm bringing with me two computers and then extraneous stuff, like clothes, food, etc. I'll be arriving around 9pm EST tomorrow night, and then it's check-in, crashing, sleeping, whatever.
So I had a series of goals of things that I wanted to do these last two weeks: They were:
1.) Relaxing
2.) Cover some FORTRAN
3.) Relearn C
4.) Read research papers
5.) Contact people about qualifiers
Of those objectives, the following were accomplished:
1.) Relaxing
2.) Cover Some FORTRAN - A little
3.) Relearn C - A bit more
4.) Read research papers - 30% (longest one read)
5.) Contact people about qualifiers - nada
I have a few days in Texas before "work" officially starts, so I can finish reading my research papers easily in that time frame and look over C some more. In the case I never make it to Texas or back, I have decided to assemble a series of last words:
"Planes are completely safe!"
"Hmm.. pointers in C look easier than the ones in C++."
"Genetic and Cooperative Algorithms? Psh. Piece of cake."
"I'm 95 miles from Houston! I'm safe from whatever hurricane blows through the Gulf this summer. Six major storms? What a joke!"
--alternatively --
"Global warming totally doesn't exist!"
In other news, Dan is up at our new apartment for the summer. He's taken a bunch of pictures of our place, which he will be sending over to me shortly. So, apartment pics will be posted soon! Yay!
Ok. I better stop being hyper and get some rest. I have a plane to catch tomorrow.
Have a good night.
-Suzanne
So I had a series of goals of things that I wanted to do these last two weeks: They were:
1.) Relaxing
2.) Cover some FORTRAN
3.) Relearn C
4.) Read research papers
5.) Contact people about qualifiers
Of those objectives, the following were accomplished:
1.) Relaxing
2.) Cover Some FORTRAN - A little
3.) Relearn C - A bit more
4.) Read research papers - 30% (longest one read)
5.) Contact people about qualifiers - nada
I have a few days in Texas before "work" officially starts, so I can finish reading my research papers easily in that time frame and look over C some more. In the case I never make it to Texas or back, I have decided to assemble a series of last words:
"Planes are completely safe!"
"Hmm.. pointers in C look easier than the ones in C++."
"Genetic and Cooperative Algorithms? Psh. Piece of cake."
"I'm 95 miles from Houston! I'm safe from whatever hurricane blows through the Gulf this summer. Six major storms? What a joke!"
--alternatively --
"Global warming totally doesn't exist!"
In other news, Dan is up at our new apartment for the summer. He's taken a bunch of pictures of our place, which he will be sending over to me shortly. So, apartment pics will be posted soon! Yay!
Ok. I better stop being hyper and get some rest. I have a plane to catch tomorrow.
Have a good night.
-Suzanne
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Transition
... And then, with the draw of a breath, it was all over. I just sit here, blinking, at my parents' house, 200 miles away from the place I had definitively called "home" for the last four years. In a sense, it shouldn't come as such a shock; unlike the other students who are graduating, I am returning to RPI. I will still see my friends, my professors and everyone else I know. I'm not leaving. Yet, in another way, I am.
I can't even imagine what it will be like when I enter RPI again in August, this time as a first year graduate student. I can't even imagine what being in Texas this summer is going to be like. It blows my mind that, in two weeks, I'm going to 1700 miles away from where I am now doing bleeding edge research with a professor! And that in 10 weeks after that, I'm going to be done with said research, and I will be flying back for a two day break before I head over to RPI again to start TA training, and move into my new apartment with Dan. And then, just a little while after that, I will be a graduate student! It seems so surreal. My life is starting to speed up and I don't know if I'll be exhillirated or suffering from Toxic Shock at the end of the summer.
So I have two weeks to prepare. In these two weeks, I want to 1.) Refamiliarize myself with C and possibly FORTRAN, 2.)Start reading all the research papers on my summer professor's site, and get a general gist of what I'm going to do, 3.) Contact RPI about taking a qualifier or two and 4.) Get on a new diet. I have reached the unhappy weight of 133 lbs, which, at my height, is a bit too much for me to bear. I'm not "heavy" by a long shot, but I am definitely overweight, having gained approximately 15 lbs in the last year itself (partially due to illness). So tomorrow, I will start my new exercising plan ("Oh no.. call the cops. She's going to diet again?"). Seriously. This one is legit. I've been reading The Hacker's Diet by John Walker. It seems intresting, and hell, I need something to amuse myself in my spare time this summer, so what's better than trying to shed those ugly extra pounds?
That's for tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to sit back, relax and just think about how I'm actually a college graduate, with a Bachelors in Computer Science. A song Dan introduced me to, "Here's to the Night", is stuck in my head. While it's about a one night stand, I think this song accurately protrays my current feelings about finally graduating. Good night everyone. To my friends who are graduating (Ethan, Theo, and so many more), congratulations :-) And I wish you all the best in whatever you do: "Here's a toast to all those who hear me all to well..."
"Here's to the night we felt alive
Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry
Here's to goodbye tomorrow's going to come to soon"
I can't even imagine what it will be like when I enter RPI again in August, this time as a first year graduate student. I can't even imagine what being in Texas this summer is going to be like. It blows my mind that, in two weeks, I'm going to 1700 miles away from where I am now doing bleeding edge research with a professor! And that in 10 weeks after that, I'm going to be done with said research, and I will be flying back for a two day break before I head over to RPI again to start TA training, and move into my new apartment with Dan. And then, just a little while after that, I will be a graduate student! It seems so surreal. My life is starting to speed up and I don't know if I'll be exhillirated or suffering from Toxic Shock at the end of the summer.
So I have two weeks to prepare. In these two weeks, I want to 1.) Refamiliarize myself with C and possibly FORTRAN, 2.)Start reading all the research papers on my summer professor's site, and get a general gist of what I'm going to do, 3.) Contact RPI about taking a qualifier or two and 4.) Get on a new diet. I have reached the unhappy weight of 133 lbs, which, at my height, is a bit too much for me to bear. I'm not "heavy" by a long shot, but I am definitely overweight, having gained approximately 15 lbs in the last year itself (partially due to illness). So tomorrow, I will start my new exercising plan ("Oh no.. call the cops. She's going to diet again?"). Seriously. This one is legit. I've been reading The Hacker's Diet by John Walker. It seems intresting, and hell, I need something to amuse myself in my spare time this summer, so what's better than trying to shed those ugly extra pounds?
That's for tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to sit back, relax and just think about how I'm actually a college graduate, with a Bachelors in Computer Science. A song Dan introduced me to, "Here's to the Night", is stuck in my head. While it's about a one night stand, I think this song accurately protrays my current feelings about finally graduating. Good night everyone. To my friends who are graduating (Ethan, Theo, and so many more), congratulations :-) And I wish you all the best in whatever you do: "Here's a toast to all those who hear me all to well..."
Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry
Here's to goodbye tomorrow's going to come to soon"
Saturday, May 06, 2006
In the Final Stretch..
Well here we are. Classes have finally ended. I have one final. Not too bad, right? Except it is in the one class that I'm worried about. Graph Theory. It's a really informative course, and my instructor is terribly brilliant, but he has very high, albeit sometimes unrealistic standards for the class. Graph Theory is about definitions, theorems and proofs concerning graphs and their general construction ("well yeah," you might say, "it's Graph THEORY you idiot. What did you expect?"). In other words, proofs + definitions + theorems = oodles of memorization. It shouldn't be as bad as the midterm, since he is letting us have a "cheat sheet" containing theorems and definitions. I'm still doomed. The worse that can happen is that I get a C in Graph Theory. The best scenario, I get an A. I think my current study plan involves concentrating on the creation of mentioned cheat sheet, and going over all my homeworks and the midterm. If I understand all the proofs in that, I will at least be free of the guilt that I didn't sufficiently prepare.
In between study bursts, I'm amusing myself with a rediscovery of an old classic, Lemmings. I also am amusing myself with a game that one of my friends (Ethan) showed me, called Planarity. I'm trying to convince myself that this game counts as studying for my final.
I am sooo doomed.
In between study bursts, I'm amusing myself with a rediscovery of an old classic, Lemmings. I also am amusing myself with a game that one of my friends (Ethan) showed me, called Planarity. I'm trying to convince myself that this game counts as studying for my final.
I am sooo doomed.
Friday, April 28, 2006
I <3 Google Video!
So here are just a couple of links to some cool Google Videos that I've stumbled on during the last few days...
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" - R.P. Feyman Interview: For anyone who is a big fan of Richard Feyman, you gotta watch this :-)
Marbles! Amazing Japanese video containing some clever tricks using some simple items and marbles. The middle part is pretty hilarious. I believe the song starts and ends with the phrase "Algorithm Gymnatics". Very reminiscent of Rube Goldberg machines, and a must see for anyone who likes stuff like this or have ever played The Incredible Machine (one of my favorite childhood computer games).
There are also some very interesting 9-11 documentaries listed, included Loose Change 2E. Also highly recommended for watching.
Bah. Less than a week left till school ends. And.. I still have four things left to do, including a paper, a major homework assignment, a test and a big project. Let's see if I survive! Wheee!
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" - R.P. Feyman Interview: For anyone who is a big fan of Richard Feyman, you gotta watch this :-)
Marbles! Amazing Japanese video containing some clever tricks using some simple items and marbles. The middle part is pretty hilarious. I believe the song starts and ends with the phrase "Algorithm Gymnatics". Very reminiscent of Rube Goldberg machines, and a must see for anyone who likes stuff like this or have ever played The Incredible Machine (one of my favorite childhood computer games).
There are also some very interesting 9-11 documentaries listed, included Loose Change 2E. Also highly recommended for watching.
Bah. Less than a week left till school ends. And.. I still have four things left to do, including a paper, a major homework assignment, a test and a big project. Let's see if I survive! Wheee!
Monday, April 17, 2006
Naptime
A picture is worth a thousand words:
The cute kitty pic is from Flickr
A belated happy Easter to all. To all of you harboring a malicous hatred toward sugar-coated marshmallow chicks, check out this site if you haven't already done so. I personally won't touch these things unless nuked in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Gotta cut this short. If professor calls about Comp Alg., just tell him sorry, I had to go and see about a nap.
The cute kitty pic is from Flickr
A belated happy Easter to all. To all of you harboring a malicous hatred toward sugar-coated marshmallow chicks, check out this site if you haven't already done so. I personally won't touch these things unless nuked in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Gotta cut this short. If professor calls about Comp Alg., just tell him sorry, I had to go and see about a nap.
Monday, March 27, 2006
An update.. in a hurry
Dang it. Whenever I want to post in here, I always have something else to do.
Hello again. Haven't posted in over two months now. It hasn't been an uneventful two months, but my life is significantly different than it was before ("right, so how can your life be different in just a manner of two months?"). I got notice from all my schools and I know what I'm doing this summer.
So a quick recap of what's been happening:
So I guess I will be sticking around Rensselaer for a few more years. I'm happy I got into the CS PhD program, and that I was offered a TAship. It hurts that I didn't get in anywhere else (though, it seems the sole reason for that was my GPA). But, I guess I'll have to take it as it comes. I'm working with the best at RPI, and I am in good hands. The Computer Science department here is great, I'm comfortable with them, I know everyone already, so I'm in good shape, right? I'll be doing research that I want, with the person I want, at a school I am comfortable at. But four more years... what will my life be like in four more years?
At this point in time, it seems that I'm just waiting for this chapter of my life to end. I'm just waiting for all the courses to finish, for commencement to roll around, for me to get my degree. And then... a new life begins. As a researcher. Wow. And then, in a few years, I'll hold a PhD in Computer Science. How cool is that? Dr. Suzanne Matthews. Scary...
I'll probably talk about a few things later. For now, it's lunch time! So I got to go.
And did I mention Dan and I are moving in together?
And so a new life waits to begin...
Hello again. Haven't posted in over two months now. It hasn't been an uneventful two months, but my life is significantly different than it was before ("right, so how can your life be different in just a manner of two months?"). I got notice from all my schools and I know what I'm doing this summer.
So a quick recap of what's been happening:
- I dropped Differential Equations
- I got into grad school (RPI, got rejected everywhere else)
- I have a research internship for the summer
So I guess I will be sticking around Rensselaer for a few more years. I'm happy I got into the CS PhD program, and that I was offered a TAship. It hurts that I didn't get in anywhere else (though, it seems the sole reason for that was my GPA). But, I guess I'll have to take it as it comes. I'm working with the best at RPI, and I am in good hands. The Computer Science department here is great, I'm comfortable with them, I know everyone already, so I'm in good shape, right? I'll be doing research that I want, with the person I want, at a school I am comfortable at. But four more years... what will my life be like in four more years?
At this point in time, it seems that I'm just waiting for this chapter of my life to end. I'm just waiting for all the courses to finish, for commencement to roll around, for me to get my degree. And then... a new life begins. As a researcher. Wow. And then, in a few years, I'll hold a PhD in Computer Science. How cool is that? Dr. Suzanne Matthews. Scary...
I'll probably talk about a few things later. For now, it's lunch time! So I got to go.
And did I mention Dan and I are moving in together?
And so a new life waits to begin...
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Listen...
So I found the following picture on Stumble Upon, and I think it's really neat.
I've included the Original URL so please don't sue me :-)
Well, I'm back in school... back in class.
Here are the courses I'm taking this semester:
Differential Equations
Computer Algorithms
Graph Theory
Bioinformatics II
Personality
I'm taking the last one only because I have to (stupid humanity requirements). I'm a little unsure on whether or not I should stay in Differential Equations. I don't need to take Differential Equations or Graph Theory (I'm taking them for kicks). However, Graph Theory is going to be ridiculously cool while Differential Equations is... well, going to be Differential Equations. I don't want to waste my time in a course that won't help me in the long run and right now, I'm a bit unsure how much Differential Equations will help me for Bioinformatics. And one of my professors pointed out that I don't have to take every single course in RPI that might help me. I know that's logical, and that it's probably not worth sacrificing my grades in the long run, but I can't help but think... "why not?" It's just so... frustrating. There is still so much that I want to learn.
I could audit the course. However, I feel like it's almost cheating. *sigh* Something's very wrong with me.
Anyways, it's friday night. I'm getting yelled at for doing work, so I should probably be relaxing :-) That's all for now.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
The Sleepy Rebel
Ahh... 3 am after a fairly successful day.
I should have gone to bed about, oh, 2 hours ago. But i don't care. An early Happy New Year's eve to everyone.
Today was fairly productive. I was able to see where in the algorithm I was getting tripped up for my protein folding project, and I was able to redesign my code so it was much more simplified. Then, I found a standard for writing research papers in LaTeX and went about converting my Bird Flu pandemic report into it.
I should probably explain the two projects I'm working on these next few weeks.
The protein folding project I'm working on is really interesting. Pretty much, I'm implementing a modified Genetic Algorithm first mentioned in a paper written by Unger and Moult in 1993. What it does is simulates a "protein" chain, composed of hydrophobic and hydrophillic amino acids, folding on a 2-d plane. Hopefully this implementation will be faster than that done by Unger and Moult... but hey, we'll have to see.
The second project relates to influenza. I'm sure you've all heard about H5N1. Well, my partner and I did a research project over last semester for our Bioinformatics class, and we have reason to believe that H5N1 has very high pandemic potential.. we have to perform a bit more sequence analysis before our paper becomes more publishable ( according to our professor). Heh. That's all I'm going to say though... Theo (my partner) and I are trying to keep as mum on this as possible, since we are really excited about what we've found. So today I transcribed our paper into LaTeX... good Lord, what a beautiful formatting tool! Our paper is even more gorgeous than before. Tomorrow most likely I'll import all the images in. If I get the feedback from my other professor that I'm waiting for, I'll also do some coding.
Ah. So New Year's eve... should I relax? or continue working? maybe I'll relax for a little while... or work for a little while.. maybe I'll decide in the morning ^-^
Have a good night. It's way past my bedtime.
I should have gone to bed about, oh, 2 hours ago. But i don't care. An early Happy New Year's eve to everyone.
Today was fairly productive. I was able to see where in the algorithm I was getting tripped up for my protein folding project, and I was able to redesign my code so it was much more simplified. Then, I found a standard for writing research papers in LaTeX and went about converting my Bird Flu pandemic report into it.
I should probably explain the two projects I'm working on these next few weeks.
The protein folding project I'm working on is really interesting. Pretty much, I'm implementing a modified Genetic Algorithm first mentioned in a paper written by Unger and Moult in 1993. What it does is simulates a "protein" chain, composed of hydrophobic and hydrophillic amino acids, folding on a 2-d plane. Hopefully this implementation will be faster than that done by Unger and Moult... but hey, we'll have to see.
The second project relates to influenza. I'm sure you've all heard about H5N1. Well, my partner and I did a research project over last semester for our Bioinformatics class, and we have reason to believe that H5N1 has very high pandemic potential.. we have to perform a bit more sequence analysis before our paper becomes more publishable ( according to our professor). Heh. That's all I'm going to say though... Theo (my partner) and I are trying to keep as mum on this as possible, since we are really excited about what we've found. So today I transcribed our paper into LaTeX... good Lord, what a beautiful formatting tool! Our paper is even more gorgeous than before. Tomorrow most likely I'll import all the images in. If I get the feedback from my other professor that I'm waiting for, I'll also do some coding.
Ah. So New Year's eve... should I relax? or continue working? maybe I'll relax for a little while... or work for a little while.. maybe I'll decide in the morning ^-^
Have a good night. It's way past my bedtime.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Science, Religion and Research
Recently, there was a post on Slashdot on Writing Genetic Code. Apparently a research group has taken a shot at "coding" an artifical organism. Really cool. And guess who's heading off the project? Craig Venter. Even cooler :-)
For people who may not be familiar with him, Craig Venter founded The Institute for Genomic Research, or TIGR during the mad rush to sequence the human genome. While the Human Genome Project swung ahead, Venter developed a new shotgunning method to complete the sequencing even quicker. NIH wasn't impressed; they denied him and his group funding. However, Venter duped them all when his group sequenced the genome quicker and cheaper than the Human Genome Project. This had a large deal to do with skipping over the physical map creation step, needed in the BAC-to-BAC sequencing method (used by the Human Genome Project), and the use of software.
I take my hat off to you, Dr. Venter! I wish you and your group the best of luck! Maybe his group will succeed where others have failed.
Some slashdotters took the news fairly well (Soviet jokes aside); however, the discussion predictably started becoming one about religion. On previous stories like this one, atheists crowed at the project, calling it a "smoking gun" against those who favor the theory of intelligent design. The intelligent design crowd retorted (essentially reversing the direction of the gun) that the project only supports the theory of intelligent design. And the squabbling and squawking continued.
Just as a personal opinion, can't people just respect other people's choice of religions and beliefs? Is it necessary to forcibly impose one's own belief system on others? It's one thing to express an opinion, but the things some people do are ridiculous. Fundies are pretty bad (Hi Mr. Falwell!), but atheists can be just as bad. Some of them are really hilarious ("I hate you and you don't exist!"). How do you hate something you don't believe exists? Idiots. Hey, I respect the beliefs of my atheists friends (and they respect my Christian ones), but these smacktards walking around thinking that anyone who believes in God lacks intelligence need to seriously grow up. It seems that such people are atheist because it's what's "in" in rebel fashion now. Sinfest did a nice piece on this.
I honestly hope that one day that people will come to realize or accept that Science is not necessarily the antithesis of God. The answer to such a complex question such as the origin of life is rarely housed in any extremist wing. Like Stephen Crane once wrote:
"When the prophet, a complacent fat man,
Arrived at the mountain-top,
He cried: "Woe to my knowledge!
I intended to see good white lands
And bad black lands,
But the scene is grey."
Until then, I get to hear the fundies and the atheists of fucktardia duke it out on Slashdot and other online news sources. *sigh*.
In other news, I've started working on my protein folding research project again. The coding is going fairly slow, but I think that's mainly a motivation issue. I guess that's because I'm on winter break. Oh well. Adding a bit of discipline to my schedule should break me of that. I can't wait to get the GA done. Oh! And after that, I can start work again on my avian flu project. Muahahahaha.
For people who may not be familiar with him, Craig Venter founded The Institute for Genomic Research, or TIGR during the mad rush to sequence the human genome. While the Human Genome Project swung ahead, Venter developed a new shotgunning method to complete the sequencing even quicker. NIH wasn't impressed; they denied him and his group funding. However, Venter duped them all when his group sequenced the genome quicker and cheaper than the Human Genome Project. This had a large deal to do with skipping over the physical map creation step, needed in the BAC-to-BAC sequencing method (used by the Human Genome Project), and the use of software.
I take my hat off to you, Dr. Venter! I wish you and your group the best of luck! Maybe his group will succeed where others have failed.
Some slashdotters took the news fairly well (Soviet jokes aside); however, the discussion predictably started becoming one about religion. On previous stories like this one, atheists crowed at the project, calling it a "smoking gun" against those who favor the theory of intelligent design. The intelligent design crowd retorted (essentially reversing the direction of the gun) that the project only supports the theory of intelligent design. And the squabbling and squawking continued.
Just as a personal opinion, can't people just respect other people's choice of religions and beliefs? Is it necessary to forcibly impose one's own belief system on others? It's one thing to express an opinion, but the things some people do are ridiculous. Fundies are pretty bad (Hi Mr. Falwell!), but atheists can be just as bad. Some of them are really hilarious ("I hate you and you don't exist!"). How do you hate something you don't believe exists? Idiots. Hey, I respect the beliefs of my atheists friends (and they respect my Christian ones), but these smacktards walking around thinking that anyone who believes in God lacks intelligence need to seriously grow up. It seems that such people are atheist because it's what's "in" in rebel fashion now. Sinfest did a nice piece on this.
I honestly hope that one day that people will come to realize or accept that Science is not necessarily the antithesis of God. The answer to such a complex question such as the origin of life is rarely housed in any extremist wing. Like Stephen Crane once wrote:
Arrived at the mountain-top,
He cried: "Woe to my knowledge!
I intended to see good white lands
And bad black lands,
But the scene is grey."
Until then, I get to hear the fundies and the atheists of fucktardia duke it out on Slashdot and other online news sources. *sigh*.
In other news, I've started working on my protein folding research project again. The coding is going fairly slow, but I think that's mainly a motivation issue. I guess that's because I'm on winter break. Oh well. Adding a bit of discipline to my schedule should break me of that. I can't wait to get the GA done. Oh! And after that, I can start work again on my avian flu project. Muahahahaha.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Words of Inspiration
I hope I will never, ever forget the following:
"It will not do you any harm whatever to think in original fashion. . . The odds that your theory will be right, and that the general thing that everybody's working on will be wrong, is low. But the odds that you, Little Boy Schmidt, will be the guy who figures a thing out, is not smaller. . . It is very important that we do not all follow the same fashion. Because although it is ninety percent sure that the answer lies over there . . . what happens if it doesn't?"
Also:
"It doesn't do any good if it just increases the number of guys following the comet head. So it's necessary to increase the amount of variety . . . and the only way to do it is to implore a few of you guys to take a risk with your lives that you will never be heard of again, and go off in the wild blue yonder and see if you can figure it out."
- Richard P. Feynman (excerpted from "Genius" by James Gleick).
What an excellent book, and an excellent lesson. I am off to bed for now.
"It will not do you any harm whatever to think in original fashion. . . The odds that your theory will be right, and that the general thing that everybody's working on will be wrong, is low. But the odds that you, Little Boy Schmidt, will be the guy who figures a thing out, is not smaller. . . It is very important that we do not all follow the same fashion. Because although it is ninety percent sure that the answer lies over there . . . what happens if it doesn't?"
Also:
"It doesn't do any good if it just increases the number of guys following the comet head. So it's necessary to increase the amount of variety . . . and the only way to do it is to implore a few of you guys to take a risk with your lives that you will never be heard of again, and go off in the wild blue yonder and see if you can figure it out."
- Richard P. Feynman (excerpted from "Genius" by James Gleick).
What an excellent book, and an excellent lesson. I am off to bed for now.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
First Post
I look out the window and it's snowing. Again. Such is Upstate NY. It's finals week of my seventh semester, and in a sudden act of frivolity I decided to create a blog.
"What on earth will you do with a blog?" My boyfriend had asked me.
"Err... use it to.. chronicle.. research?" I replied meekly.
"As long as you don't become one of those depressing goth teenager types who write nothing but dark poetry and talk about their pain all the freakin' time." He said, returning back to his book.
"Those people suck." I said, somewhat uncertaintly, bitingly reminded that I, too, was once a black-wearing teenager who wrote poetry. I never was a goth though. The Computer Science side must have cancelled that out. I hung out with the academic types, my best friend the "czar" of the Computer Programming Unit (CPU) , the high school's Computer Science club that he and I and our friend Tian had founded. Granted, it was mostly him and Tian. I had my own club to tend to. I was the editor-in-chief of the school literary magazine, Eidolon. Day after day I sifted through piles of poetry that could be classified into three main groups. a.) "Dark and Depressing with Suicidal Overtones" b.) "I love him/her but s/he doesn't love me back" or c.) "I rhyme so hard that I lose sight of what I was trying to write". We had good writers. But when we saw one that fell solidly in one of the above stereotypes, it usually was quickly moved to the reject pile.
Heading Eidolon was my greatest achievement, as far as clubs went. But I was painfully aware that if it wasn't for the C.P.U., my choosing of a major in college would have been a bigger bolt out of the blue to many than it already was. It was the same reaction, time after time again: "Computer Science? I thought you would be an English Major." or, "Why Computer Science? Aren't you better at English?" Yes. I was good at English. I had the touching story of a first generation American learning English in public school and excelling in all her English classes, going on to becoming the Editor-in-chief of the literary magazine for two years, and earning the English award in her high school, winning creative writing contests, etc. etc. The stuff that people would say, South Park style, "Oh that's so courageous", at absolutely nothing at all. So why wasn't I an English major?
Because it's English. Because I have better uses of my time and my intelligence. Because the world according to English majors is bounded by definitions and books, by words and naunces. Because with Science, I have no limits. English is a static field. But Science... Science vibrates with the unknown, it glows, it glimmers. I would be one of many souls, thousand-fold, shooting through the varied expanse of science and pushing at its frontiers. When given the choice, of living in swamps and consuming the most brackish of knowledge, and living by the instant and being sunstained by ones discoveries, what would you choose?
That and because when I thought of English majors, I pictured Raven from Penny Arcade.
Fast forward four years. It's the end of semester 7 of my undergraduate career in Computer Science, and I lean back on the bed, very happy with myself. I feel like a rebel - relaxing, instead of studying for my last final of the semester.
"Research. And the daily thoughts of being a researcher. That's what I'll use it for." I say, curling up to Dan, who discards his book. He holds me close.
"Well, if it makes you happy. And as long as it doesn't distract you in your work." He says fondly.
"It won't my love."
"What on earth will you do with a blog?" My boyfriend had asked me.
"Err... use it to.. chronicle.. research?" I replied meekly.
"As long as you don't become one of those depressing goth teenager types who write nothing but dark poetry and talk about their pain all the freakin' time." He said, returning back to his book.
"Those people suck." I said, somewhat uncertaintly, bitingly reminded that I, too, was once a black-wearing teenager who wrote poetry. I never was a goth though. The Computer Science side must have cancelled that out. I hung out with the academic types, my best friend the "czar" of the Computer Programming Unit (CPU) , the high school's Computer Science club that he and I and our friend Tian had founded. Granted, it was mostly him and Tian. I had my own club to tend to. I was the editor-in-chief of the school literary magazine, Eidolon. Day after day I sifted through piles of poetry that could be classified into three main groups. a.) "Dark and Depressing with Suicidal Overtones" b.) "I love him/her but s/he doesn't love me back" or c.) "I rhyme so hard that I lose sight of what I was trying to write". We had good writers. But when we saw one that fell solidly in one of the above stereotypes, it usually was quickly moved to the reject pile.
Heading Eidolon was my greatest achievement, as far as clubs went. But I was painfully aware that if it wasn't for the C.P.U., my choosing of a major in college would have been a bigger bolt out of the blue to many than it already was. It was the same reaction, time after time again: "Computer Science? I thought you would be an English Major." or, "Why Computer Science? Aren't you better at English?" Yes. I was good at English. I had the touching story of a first generation American learning English in public school and excelling in all her English classes, going on to becoming the Editor-in-chief of the literary magazine for two years, and earning the English award in her high school, winning creative writing contests, etc. etc. The stuff that people would say, South Park style, "Oh that's so courageous", at absolutely nothing at all. So why wasn't I an English major?
Because it's English. Because I have better uses of my time and my intelligence. Because the world according to English majors is bounded by definitions and books, by words and naunces. Because with Science, I have no limits. English is a static field. But Science... Science vibrates with the unknown, it glows, it glimmers. I would be one of many souls, thousand-fold, shooting through the varied expanse of science and pushing at its frontiers. When given the choice, of living in swamps and consuming the most brackish of knowledge, and living by the instant and being sunstained by ones discoveries, what would you choose?
That and because when I thought of English majors, I pictured Raven from Penny Arcade.
Fast forward four years. It's the end of semester 7 of my undergraduate career in Computer Science, and I lean back on the bed, very happy with myself. I feel like a rebel - relaxing, instead of studying for my last final of the semester.
"Research. And the daily thoughts of being a researcher. That's what I'll use it for." I say, curling up to Dan, who discards his book. He holds me close.
"Well, if it makes you happy. And as long as it doesn't distract you in your work." He says fondly.
"It won't my love."
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