This goes along very nicely with the type of reading and thinking I’m doing for my Cybernetics and Society class (STV 205). In fact, I’ll even make sure to pass on the link to my prof.
The computer-networked, digital world poses enormous threats to humanity that no government, no matter how totalitarian, can stop. A fully open society is our best chance for survival.
via Salon
A few people have asked me about mobile gaming. There is a large number of projects going on worldwide. Rather than try to find and list them myself, IN-duce.net has done a nice job doing just that.
On a related note they also have a story about a 3D movement recognition mobile phone. Very cool. I imagine I will use 3D movement recognition as part of my interface on the wearable computer I’ll build some day.
Here is one about your brain acting on information, in this case sensing fear in eyes, with ultra-fast response times.
And this other story about stereotyping — making judgments about the personality of strangers based on their appearance. Apparently these judgments are reliable - that is to say, that people tend to agree about what personality a face represents, at a level higher than chance would allow. Below are a few of the quotes I like.
Penton-Voak took the faces of the people who rated themselves as highest on that factor (the top ten percent) and used them to create a personality composite. This was achieved by overlaying each face, preserving their commonalities but gradually smoothing out the differences to arrive at some kind of ‘platonic ideal’ of the face for that factor.
…the computer graphic faces generated by this project will be useful in an applied setting, as they will allow controlled alterations of perceived personality in faces. The use of computer generated characters (avatars) that successfully elicit personality judgements of the designer’s (or user’s) choosing may increase the usability of, and satisfaction with, computer interfaces.
We need more of this type of work. Faces send out a lot of information, and much if not all of it is lost when communicating in the virtual world.
Both links via Mind Hacks
Researchers combined specially-designed minute particles called quantum dots, three to four nanometres across, with a polymer to make a plastic that can detect energy in the infrared.
The film can convert up to 30 per cent of the sun’s power into usable, electrical energy. Today’s best plastic solar cells capture only about six per cent.
I wonder if this is at all similar to my previous post regarding Photoelectrochemical hydrogen production. It seems we are getting much better at harnessing energy.
Zed is really cool. It is a show on the CBC that showcases independent creative work. I’ve seen it a few times and I was quite impressed with the quality of the programming. Members can upload their submissions online through ZeD.cbc.ca — Zed currently has over 30,000 original submissions. ZeD staff screen every single submission and greenlight the best for TV broadcast.
And, as the topic announces, their source code is now available in an open source license.
I’m fairly busy right now, so I’ll just throw up a quick link to some great physics stories of 2004 via PhysicsWeb.
via Justin Pfister.
Got an email from my mom telling me to check the London Free Press website, where my sister happens to pictured on the front page. Good picture Julie! It’s still on the main page right now but I’ll link to the PDF as well for later reference.
Yet more work coming forward dealing with holographic projectors. When the price and performance of these devices is within reason I have a number of projects I’d like to build that involve them in one way or other.
At present, Light Blue Optics has a lab-based demonstrator, which converts a standard composite video signal into high-quality 2D holographic video, in real time. The hologram generation engine runs in a commercially available FPGA (field-programmable gate array) chip, whose design extends naturally to cheap mass production.
How does it work? A hologram pattern, which to the naked eye looks like a collection of random dots, is displayed on a small liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) microdisplay - a tiny, very fast liquid crystal display built on top of a chip. The hologram patterns are calculated by Light Blue Optics’ proprietary “hologram chip” so that when the microdisplay is illuminated by laser light, the light interferes with itself in a complex manner through the physical process of diffraction which, when carefully controlled, results in the formation of a large, high quality projected image on, for example, a screen or a wall.
Here is an interesting tidbit I’ll quote from some assigned reading for my MSci 311 - Organization Design and Technology class.
Maruyama’s (1978) notion of the cassette response. As individuals learn the organizational culture they learn which responses are appropriate for various circumstances. These responses are stored away, as on tape cassettes, and as the questions are asked, individuals merely select a “cassette” that seems appropriate, plug it into their brain, and an answer comes forward. Assuming that this answer has anything to do with the real reasons for behavior is probably a mistake. So once again, my arument seems to be that unless you take the time to really know the people you are dealing with, or whose behavior you are trying to model, the data for your model will be based on fiction.
This is something I have definitetly seen on some of my co-op terms.
Found via my MSci 311 class, in the reading for the first tutorial entitled “Give the Kid a Number” (pdf).
This looks quite interesting… Sorry for the delay on it, the press release is from January 12, but I’ve been away from blogging for a bit.
ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. has donated $50,000 in support of the FIRST Waterloo Regional student robotics competition which will be hosted by the University of Waterloo, March 24-26.
FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology and engineering. FIRST inspires in young people, their schools and communities an appreciation of science and technology, and how mastering these can enrich the lives of all.
More information about the competition is available at University of Waterloo FIRST Regional website.
Links to 2005 FIRST Robotics Competition Documents (pdf).
One of my previous co-op terms was one of ATS’s competitors, Meikle Automation. I worked with their machine vision software in the Photonics department. I was quite impressed with the amount of effort and the resulting machines that their engineers designed and built.
Found via the University of Waterloo News Releases, who’ve had an RSS feed up for a while now.
Since I’m basically to the point now where sites that don’t have an RSS feed are invisible to me, any site that does have one is at a much greater chance of stealing some of my attention. With the notable exception of my class web pages I cannot think of any web sites I consistently visit that do not have an RSS feed. I still goto specific sites for specific tasks, such as finding a location or when I need to dig into a database somewhere, but generally much of the information I am looking for is available in the blogosphere.
My class web pages don’t have any RSS feeds, which would allow me to receive timely updates. Instead, I have to manually check the page and often class newsgroups for information. Newsgroups are actually pretty useful, and for some classes the traffic is quite high. Maybe I will setup a newsgroup-to-rss feed for each of my classes. Hmm, I could even setup one for anyone who wants to RSS feed any of the UW groups.. hmm.. Well, that idea is added to the ‘to do’ list for now, as I still have other priorities to attend to before another recreational coding project. Well, semi-recreational, it would have purpose. I could even scrape the class web pages into RSS feeds that update when the page is updated, but that’s even lower down on the list right now.
So I’m back to blogging after a few weeks break. It has been busy; some family time, some party time, some study time, and not a lot of time for blogging. But, I’ve got a few stories lined up and more are always awaiting in my newsreader (Bloglines).
I’m on a school term again, back to the University of Waterloo where I am completing my 3B term of a Computer Science degree, co-op style. I’m taking some solid CS courses this term such as Developing User Interfaces (CS349) and Introduction to Scientific Computing (CS370), but by far the most interesting class I’m taking right now is Cybernetics and Society (STV205) which is being taught by Mark Morley. I’ve only had two classes of STV thus far, but already my interest level is much higher than usual. I’ve read a great deal of the course material already, some of which I will comment on in coming days, as much of it is along the lines of other content on this site. Some of the course readings are even books on my To Read: list anyways!
I’ve recently finished my work term with HEPCOE Credit Union, where I had been doing development work on both their online banking system and corporate intranet, mostly using JSP and ASP. I was also given the opportunity to explore design opportunities utilizing CSS and XHTML, which were two technologies I had not had a great deal of experience with before this term that I now feel quite comfortable with. I love learning new technologies, especially such useful ones.
Co-op has been full of many wonderful, and a few painful experiences thus far, but I often find myself in companies where the work environment is slow and cumber sum. This term I am seeking an entrepreneurial and energetic company to work with. I want a challenging place to work, where my brain will be mashed into the ground to build something of real value. I do not want to do what everyone else it doing.
Check out my blogroll to find out where some of my interests lie, such as with wearable computing technology, ubiquitous Internet availability, sustainable development, advanced materials, economics, politics, computer science theory, and so on. I simply follow what my mind desires to learn more about.
I am interested in more experience in entrepreneurial environments more than anything else. I have always been, and will always be, an entrepreneur. If the development team is staying till midnight, you know the number for the pizza place by heart, and the next release will make or break the company, than you need me, and I need you. OK, maybe it doesn’t have to be that drastic, but I’m just using the example to show the type of effort I’m willing to put in to really make something come alive.
I bring extremely solid computer science skills and a keen business sense, but more so I will bring an exceptional amount of energy and intensity that are needed in an entrepreneurial environment — energy and enthusiasm that is contagious and beneficial to those others that feed from it.
Computer science is a set of ideas that can be used to solve problems. I will end up with a CS degree, but I never limit myself to working on CS-type work. The CS stuff is the easy part, used when needed to solve a business problem.
If your company can convince me your problem is worth solving, I may be willing help in every way possible. I am looking for a co-op position during the Spring 2005 co-op term (May - August). Feel free to drop me an email (jjtimmer at student.cs.uwaterloo.ca). I’m currently located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, but as has been the case in past co-op terms, I usually end up in another city. I quite enjoy getting to travel for my co-op terms. Locations outside of Canada are more than acceptable.
Oh, and I’ll be posting my updated resume on the site quite soon… Stay tuned.
