Archive for December, 2003

RSS OPML and me

Monday, December 22nd, 2003

logos OPML directory
Oskar van Rijswijk has a great collection of OPML files on his site. Just browse his OPML directory in FeedDemon, then click any of the OPML links to create a new FeedDemon channel group.
Up until the words “up until the words,” this posting was generated from a program called FeedDemon, which is a [...]

Movie archive

Friday, December 19th, 2003

<img alt=”habits.bmp” src=”http://ruixue.cogsci.uiuc.edu/mt/snowtime/archives/habits.bmp” width=”160″ height=”110″ border=”0″ />
There’s an <a href=”http://www.archive.org/movies/prelinger.php”>online archive of movies and video </a>that’s potentially a very interesting historical resource .
The image comes from a movie from 1951 called <a href=”http://www.archive.org/movies/details-db.php?collection=prelinger&collectionid=09418″>Beginning Responsibility: Taking Care of Things </a> that “Instructs children how to care for toys, clothing and other property; to have a definite [...]

Powerpoint

Thursday, December 18th, 2003

<img alt=”wecandoit.gif” src=”http://ruixue.cogsci.uiuc.edu/mt/snowtime/archives/wecandoit.gif” width=”240″ height=”315″ border=”0″ />
There’s been some interesting online discussions of presentations of late, inspired by Edward Tufte’s anti-Powerpoint screed (see this article in Wired, <a href=”http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html”><i>PowerPoint is Evil</i></a> for a summary.
I find myself far from convinced by Tufte’s arguments, although I think that Powerpoint is often used badly. But I bet that [...]

Fang Ge visit

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

<img alt=”SujaiFangGeXiaobin.jpg” src=”http://ruixue.cogsci.uiuc.edu/mt/snowtime/archives/SujaiFangGeXiaobin.jpg” width=”500″ height=”294″ border=”0″ />
(L-R) Sujai Kumar, Fang Ge, Zhou Xiaobin [since it’s a Chinese restaurant, Chinese names are presented surname-first}
<img alt=”MegNeeshaDi.jpg” src=”http://ruixue.cogsci.uiuc.edu/mt/snowtime/archives/MegNeeshaDi.jpg” width=”500″ height=”354″ border=”0″ />
(L-R) Meg Schleppenbach, Neesha Noronha, Wu Di
Professor Fang Ge, my collaborator from the Institute of Psychology in Beijing, is visiting us this week. Last night we went [...]

Isn’t this a revolting development?

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

I’ve just finished submitting some web-based recommendations for a student applying to graduate school. The student is terrific; the web-based recommendation system is decidely not terrific. I really hope it doesn’t catch on the current form. The system seems to be produced by a company called “<a href=”http://www.applyyourself.com/index.asp”>Apply Yourself</a>”

Which historical lunatic are you?

Saturday, December 6th, 2003

<a href=”http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/tests/lunatics/”><img src=”http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/tests/lunatics/c.jpg” title=”I’m Caligula!” border=”0″></a><br /><a href=”http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/tests/lunatics/”>Which Historical Lunatic Are <i>You</i>?</a><br /><small><a href=”http://rumandmonkey.com/”>From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.</a></small>
I thought this was ineffably cute.

It’s hard to make predictions…

Friday, December 5th, 2003

…particularly about the future (Yogi Berra).
There’s an economist at Berkeley named Brad DeLong whose weblog I try to monitor. <a href=”http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/”>His site is here </a>and I wanted to call attention to this essay, <a href=”http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/2003_archives/002838.html”>A framework for the economic analysis of technological revolutions, with an application to nanotechnology</a>. I hadn’t been aware of the connection [...]

Gearhead

Thursday, December 4th, 2003

<img alt=”tutor.jpg” src=”http://ruixue.cogsci.uiuc.edu/mt/snowtime/archives/tutor.jpg” width=”480″ height=”640″ border=”0″ />
This is a picture of the current version of a tutoring system being developed in a project in which I’m a late addition, taking over from George McConkie as he retires.

Thanksgiving

Monday, December 1st, 2003

<img alt=”ColleenDadBrian.jpg” src=”http://ruixue.cogsci.uiuc.edu/mt/snowtime/archives/ColleenDadBrian.jpg” width=”533″ height=”400″ border=”0″ />
This picture shows my sister, Colleen, my father, and my brother Brian, taken at my parents’ house during Thanksgiving. My older brother couldn’t come, but my two other siblings and their families were there, including my sister-in-law’s mother, who took the train out from New York City. It was [...]

Back home again

Monday, December 1st, 2003

<img alt=”RuthTalbot.jpg” src=”http://ruixue.cogsci.uiuc.edu/mt/snowtime/archives/RuthTalbot.jpg” width=”400″ height=”539″ border=”0″ />
I dropped Ruth off at Smith yesterday, then drove back to Bradley airport and flew home. The picture shows my daughter in front of a bulletin board with student photos, including one (the blue one) that shows her in the same pose).
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest travel [...]