Left or Right Brain Video

They say that if you see the dancer in this video spinning clockwise, you're right-brained. Counter-clockwise, left-brained. Supposedly, more people will see counter-clockwise.

Which way (clockwise or counter-clockwise) do you see the dancer spinning?
I assure you, you can see her spinning the other way just by questioning your perception.



I saw clockwise, at first and was very frustrated that I couldn't see the other rotation.
If you get to this point, look in the "comments" section of this post for a couple of hints.

3 Things to remember about human nature

1. People are not malicious by default
2. People are self-centered, whether they behave as such or not
3. People are retaliatory

Items 2 and 3 can reinforce each other a vicious circle that would appear to contradict item 1. But this wouldn’t happen if everyone always remembered the 3 things. Then they could make a conscious effort to break the cycle.

I think this applies at the personal level and group level, regardless of culture, location, age, religion, etc.

No one is out to get you(#1), and if they are it’s probably because they think you did them wrong in some way (#2-3).

Please interpret this advise beyond face value.

Get Google Chrome

Do it now.


My Favorite Features:
1. The COMPLETELY integrated download manager.
2. Fast rendering from Webkit and V8.
3. Tabs run in separate processes (for graceful crashes & security)
4. Application Windows & Shortcuts.
5. The "New Tab" Window
6. The omni address bar
7. Task manager (especially the extra info for "nerds")
8. Search site-specific engines from the omni bar
9. Drag tabs out of and in to the main window.

*UPDATE
My Annoyances:
1. I miss my google toolbar with all my bookmarks (ironic, huh?)
2. Hulu audio doesn't work

Story Behind "Where the Hell is Matt?"

I really hope I get to travel like this.

length =~ 1hour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVcwqQlwnmY

What you can do with a pile of neurons

There's research like this going on at UM too.

Misc M$ Stuff

Two pieces of news today, both about Micro$oft.
1. Apparently users can be tricked into saying that Vista is better than XP when they're told that they're using some new Windows version code-named Mojave. So I guess this means that Vista's negative image is entirely fabricated and that it really is the best thing since sliced bread. Not really. These machines were probably specifically built for the purpose of the test and they are not necessarily representative of the problems that Joe User (myself included) experienced when using it. Sure it has some "wow" features, but incompatibility, usability & stability issues trump all that (especially when running resource-intensive research algs). Vista is crap, no PR stunt is going to fix that.

2. On a brighter note, I've finally gotten around to trying Micro$oft WorldWide Telescope and it really is cool! It definitely beats the Google Sky feature in Google Earth (for now). I really like the Office 2007-esque fluent interface that changes options based on the region of the sky you are viewing. I'm shocked I'm not forced to pay a subscription for the service. Download it from the link above, or the one in the sidebar. Stay tuned... Google Sky is being ported as a pure web service too, and it looks promising.

AI Infects the IPod

A company has developed an app/plugin for the IPod that analyzes the songs you skip to avoid the songs you don't want to hear (thus, playing the songs you do want to hear) at the moment.
From the article:

Instead of a random shuffle, our ’smart shuffle’ uses some cool machine learning to analyze what music you want to hear based on the songs you skip and the ones you don’t. Within just a few skips, we can play the songs that fit your current mood and activity. Whether you’re working out, walking in the park or road-tripping with your friends, our new Instinctiv Shuffle will be able to understand what you want to hear within just a few skips

I have seen it work, and the most interesting part is that it doesn't bog down the IPod, yet doesn't require any song preprocessing either. So it must be analyzing song attributes and building its database in the background.
hmm, I wonder how it works...

Commentary on The Neuroscience of False Beliefs

Daily Kos recently posted an article on the neuroscience of false beliefs.
I think it should provide people with some much-needed insight into themselves.

My brief take (maybe I'll elaborate later):
I think the article and the science behind it, illustrate my premise that four of the most valuable characteristics with which people can endow themselves are:
1. Skepticism, both with your ideas and the ideas of others.
2. Self-awareness. If you are aware of how you work, you can actively prevent undesirable behavior.
3. Open mindedness or willingness to discard/refine your current beliefs with discovery of new, factual information.
4. Empathy for others. Armed with the knowledge that everyone is acting on their model of the world, and understanding that it is NOT necessary that their model coincide with your own, you might be more likely to understand others' intentions as just different, and likely not malevolent.

I think there's a lot more to be said, but for me, time is always an issue...

Cheers,

Water-Powered Car

Google it.

The Grass is Greener...

So I came across this site while listening to the StackOverflow podcast yesterday. Joel from Fog Creek was talking about their new offices (wherein every employee gets a private office) and comparing them to various others, including Google Zurich.

I saw this as a testament to the synergy (excuse the catch phrase) between treatment of employees and their productivity in the early stages of a software startup's life. Really makes me wish older companies would compromise on these benefits. I'm sure they increase morale.

Model Musician

For those who haven't heard of Serj Tankian, he is best known as the front man for one of my favorite bands, System of a Down. I like them for their odd and humorous take on rock, and because they occasionally sprinkle some purpose into their music.

I've known for a while that Serj did a solo album last year, but haven't looked into it until recently. It has a bit more of an agenda than SOAD, but still has the fun feel. Better yet, the music compels people to look into the agenda, which includes Serj's foundation Axis of Justice as well as activism on war, politics, and the US in general.

Two of his initiatives I really like:
1. Abolish the electoral college. (we now have the means for true democracy; lets take advantage)
2. On your tax form you should be able to specify which projects your money will be spent on. e.g. I might allow my taxes to be spent on health care, education (including research), infrastructure, and humanitarian efforts, but NOT on war, nation-building, or other careless spending.

Here are a pair of interviews with Serj:

Good Google Talk

Google recently had Noam Chomsky take questions.
For those outside the fields of AI, Linguistics, Psych, etc., he is a very influential and highly quoted theorist. The talk begins on the topic of universal grammar (which I think is a misleading and utterly useless premise), but quickly(about 16min in) opens to politics, history, culture, and current events (on which, his insights are more useful).

If you can spare an hour, it's worth a watch.
Heres the link so you can go watch it full screen, and it's also embedded below.

I have a confession...

I knew I didn't buy into the media's portrayal of Rev. Wright, but my reasons were naive. I figured that the media's attempts to project a clergyman's words onto a member of the church, political or not, were ridiculous. I figured that it was no coincidence that these videos surfaced just as Hillary was at her most desperate point in the campaign. The fact that the media was looping the same 5 seconds of his sermon was an indicator that his controversial statements were more sparse than they would have the public believe.

My intuition told me that this "scandal" was an overblown, convenient, load of garbage with a purely political effect(and it worked).

I am ashamed to say, however, that I never bothered to hear Rev. Wright's side of the story or simply watch one of the sermons in its entirety to put the media's sound byte in context. Nor did I consider the collateral damage of this political stunt; the effect on the church. The fact that they've had to defend themselves against undeserved public scrutiny and threats of violence.

So I saw Rev. Wright's interview on PBS (both parts) tonight and I was compelled to share it. Not only do I identify with many of his views, I admire his character, and after seeing his message in context, I think it would be good if he has influenced Barack (not that Barack's principles aren't already sound)

If you saw that looped clip the media has been parading and it affected your views on race, on Barack, or even if you shrugged it off without questioning it's consistency, you should really consider watching the interview. You might realize how effective a manufactured, misrepresentation of one's message can be in politics. Or you might realize how little regard the media has for objective, balanced conveyance of facts. Rather, they act more readily on political views, or dramatic appeal("hey, the more shocking we make this, the more people will watch!")

Bottom line; I'm recommending you watch it.
Take your own lessons from it...

Cheers,


UPDATE: Added link to part II of the video.

Brain farts aren't as productive as real ones.

haha, I'm proud of that title.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a link to an interesting article:
Mind-Reading Hat Could Prevent Brain Farts

The fact that there was observable abnormal brain activity was kind of a "duh" to me, but 30 seconds before? It must take people a while to start daydreaming (i.e. a very gradual transition).

Worth a Read

I got this link from my Google Alert for "Cognitive Architecture."
http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2008/04/11/news/news04.txt
Not quite what I was looking for, but still worth a read.

It follows what I've been preaching since I read my first neuroscientific text. (waaaay back in October 2007).
The brain is extremely plastic and the worst thing you can do for it is to overindulge in passive activities (both mental AND physical).

Even YouTube (generally passive) is better than traditional media because at least you are more likely to actively search for interesting content. Even THAT will engage more of your brain than letting whatever content is on the tube come to you.

Even better, do some (re)searching, reading, or a hands-on activity.

This Is My Jam

This is pretty cool.
You can go to this site and make your own jam.
Just create an account, search for some songs, order them, and have it generate the jam. You can use custom settings to control the transitions, or let the app do it automatically.

Here's one I just slapped together:



It's a bit clunky right now. And if I'm right, the music not extracted from each song on the fly, but is taken from the previews at Amazon.com. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon was behind the development of this.
Still, I think it's a cool concept.

Fresh from the front lines

So it's been a while. I figured I would post a couple thoughts.

I must have allergies I wasn't aware of, since I'm noticing that this time every year (or at least the last few years) I feel like crap. I've had a headache, poor mental clarity, and irritated eyes for 2 weeks now. bleh.

Wednesday, just as I began to think that I might be making a mistake in quitting my job, I was brought back to reality so quick it made my head spin. I won't go into detail (since this is a public blog), but suffice to say I was reminded of one of the primary reasons why I applied to grad school. I can't WAIT to move on.

Also Wednesday, I went to a talk by Steve Grossberg. He presents a very compelling argument for his model of laminar cortical dynamics and his push for a unified theory of the cortex. And while many of the PhD students will likely be quick to dismiss his arguments (I'm not sure why they ALWAYS do this, pride?, a greater understanding of the issues than my own?) I thought he was brilliant. Although I had some questions about the fundamentals of his models, I don't doubt that most of the details are as well-formed as his main theories.... btw. I don't expect this section to appeal to the majority of my audience, but the point is that one of the most satisfying experiences is to hear someone talk (on or slightly above your level) and having it make you think so heavily that you walk out of the talk feeling fried. (like after studying for finals)

Thursday was the last day of my class. I enjoyed this particular class so much, I wish the semester was longer. As usual, of the 2 classes this semester, I did very well in the class I really enjoyed and it's iffy how I did in the one I didn't enjoy.

I will be doing research this summer on Self Organizing Maps. The project doesn't sound like anything ground-breaking (so far), but I hear that it's a typical first summer project. Regardless, I will have the opportunity to research with a couple very talented people, SOMs are closely related to some of my bigger research interests, and I might even get published. So, it doesn't get much better than that!


Aaaannnnd, lets finish with a laugh. Watch the first half of this.

Beyond the Superficial Post

I have a minute tonight to myself and I decided to use it to organize my thoughts and explain myself on a deeper level that my usual, "check this out" post...


I tend to immerse myself in things. Call it lack of will power, poor self control, an unquenchable thirst for exhaustively exploring every aspect of whatever task, hobby, job, person, or idea for which I have a current fascination; I can't help it.

When I first went to college, I got a taste for REAL academics (not that high school junk). Class was life. Then there were some boring classes; partying was life. Then classes became interesting again; class was life. I would have spent every waking hour on class and work if it were always up to me. (luckily I had some great friends that would force me to have fun on occasion) When I graduated, I accepted my first career-like job(I had lots of other jobs but they always took a back seat to academics), and that was my sole focus. Last year, that job lost its luster (for reasons that will go unmentioned here), so, after some massive deliberation, I applied for graduate school.

Present day; I'm in graduate school, still working the job until August, doing extensive future-planning (from summer, to next year, to 10 years), and trying to maintain SOME basic contact with family and friends. School is way harder than I expected, and some of my biggest projects are culminating this year at work. I've never been so overwhelmed, yet I still get angry that I'm not able to balance them better.

It's that character flaw I alluded to at the beginning of this post. When I'm at school, I want nothing to do with work. When I'm at work, I wish I didn't have school to worry about, so I could get more done. And when I hang out with family and friends, I don't feel like going back to work or school. And it's difficult to give any of them the attention they deserve while thoughts of the other two are lurking overhead. This is especially true because they (school, work, f&f) clash so vividly(while I'm in one of the situations, those people don't care about or don't understand me when I talk about the other two). So, it's a conundrum, and my current coping mechanism is to consolidate my focus by ignoring whatever I can (usually family & friends).

Firstly, I apologize. Some of you think I'm mad at you, ignoring you, or don't care. But you're wrong. I'm just acting on my current priorities (which are probably misguided). Second, I'm looking to reduce my load and achieve a better balance, so hang in there. In the meantime, give me a nudge now and then.

So there it is, my self explanation. For you worriers out there, this isn't a "break down" or a "cry for help," just a moment of honesty. An attempt to explain myself so that you may better understand why (at times) I may seem distant, or dismissive, or whatever.

I wouldn't expect this kind of post regularly. It takes some self reflection, it's time-consuming, and I personally don't think I'm all that interesting.

Cheers,

Cobert

Best Colbert since the writers came back.

"Here in My Car..."

Cars;
Another passion of mine for which I haven't yet done a post.
A passion that I was certain that I was willing to give up.

I was planning on selling my RX7 in the next year, since I won't have the time for it anymore. Plus I can't take it to CA, if my career takes me there.

So that's that.
Or at least it was until I was shown the following video.







That car is called Furai.
It has the 3-rotor, ethanol, Renesis version of the engine in my car.
It idles like a wicked laugh. It responds like it's electric!
It reminds me that the most fun I've had in recent history was at an open track day.
Now I'm not so sure I want to let my baby go...
Maybe I can find a way to hang on to it.

Oh, life's dilemmas. :-)
Thanks, Wolff.

Adios

True Knowledge

True Knowledge is apparently a new service that enables you to ask questions in plain language and get direct answers. It's an obvious idealization of how Internet search should work.

So why isn't everyone doing it?
This topic is commonly discussed in early AI courses and is considered intractable (theres no efficient way to do it).
For starters, a service like this is heavily language dependent. Natural language processing is a huge problem because of all the meanings/connotations implied by context, structure, sarcasm, and other dimensions of a language. Right now, translation engines interpret language statistically, but they are far from extracting the true meaning from any given sentence. To get around this, True Knowledge engineers likely code keywords/phrases into the search and use those to invoke different subsystems to answer the question. Good luck rolling it out to other languages.

Also, the type of inference they are doing requires a huge (possibly hierarchical) knowledgebase of propositional (or higher order) logic symbols. Again this has a large dependence on language, but more importantly, it only does well with logical questions. It probably wouldn't do well in answering "What is peanut butter jelly time?"

You know, I realized I'm wasting WAY too much time on this post.

Cliff notes:
Big problem.
Limited use.
Currently requires a lot of human intervention.
Difficult to port to new languages.

blah blah, here's their video... (still pretty cool)

Working at Google

So I just read a pretty good blog post on life at Google.
If you're a techie and you want to see how much better things could be, read this.
It's long, but it will get your gears turning.

Blind Post

By request, I'm posting this link.
I know, by the server, that its from the Daily Show, but I haven't viewed it (hence the title).

Two other pieces of news:
1. Most recent updates to this blog have been in the side bar, so look over here ===>
2. I hte Mac kybords!!!! (I need a freaking hammer to make these stupid keys drop)

Cheers,

Engineering at its Best

This is the type of impact all engineers should strive for.




Original Post

Warm Feet and the Crazy Bus

Haha, that title sounds like a children's book, or the subtitle of a Harry Potter novel.

Ok, so, warm feet.
Is it wrong to be in your mid-twenties and become absolutely giddy (like a kid on Christmas) when you get your ordered slippers in the mail? Woohoo! Now while sitting, reading research papers in my freezing apt. my feet will be warm!

And now the (short) story of the crazy bus.
At 5:30 tonight, I was getting out of my last class. It was just getting dark when I finished walking to the bus stop. I'm sitting there, freezing, waiting for the right bus (come on, Glazier Way... UGH, another Bursley Baits!!!), when I see a bus in the distance turning the corner. It soon becomes evident that this is not the bus I'm waiting for. It's horn is blazing, it keeps stopping for no reason (no bus stop) and as it approaches I notice that it's one of those funny short busses, and its PACKED. Is the bus driver crazy? Where are they going? Who are they honking at? (the road was clear)
Well, as it passes by, I can see through the dark; it's plastered with Ron Paul posters and reminders to "vote today"
Way to go guys! You're the only ones still going this late.

Audiosurf: you have to be there?

So if you haven't caught wind of Audiosurf, here's the skinny:
It's basically just a 3D music visualizer combined with some kind of Guitar Hero meets Tetris game. It seems to be getting a whole lot of hype. However, it's in beta for now, so we can only take the beta testers' word for it.

Personally, I don't see the big deal. Supposedly you feel like you're in the music, but all I see is the "road" bumping with the bass and a rough correlation of the blocks (and scenery) with the rest of the song. Also, I don't understand the goal of the game. If I were writing it, I would have made it so the game is easier if you know the song, so your movements have to be correlated with some dimension of the song. I guess you have to play it in order to understand.

Here are couple videos (apparently most of the beta testers are into techno, but I found 1 rock demo)

New on Facebook...

ME!!!

It's possibly the most counter-intuitive reason to join a social network, but I joined to participate in the closed-loop portions of the ABC New Hampshire Debate.

Now that I'm a member, I realize I may have been missing out.
They have a fantastic user experience.
* Rich integration of components.
* Great search capabilities.
* Privacy
* Strong user base.
* One of the nicest AJAX interfaces I've seen to date.

Impressive!
Check it out, if you haven't already.