Getting to Europe for cheap. There are various ways you can do it.
For example, you could become an Air Courier, where you accompany a package to its destination (hopefully also yours). Or perhaps you can using a low-cost flight scanner engine like Fare Compare, which works maybe half the time. Or you could, like, go by boat.
Me, after all my other options let me down, I Expedia.ca'd it.
Vancouver (YVR) to Nice (NCE): $1202, return. Yeah, nuh-uh. Let's try again...
Vancouver (YVR) to Nice (NCE): $2452, one-way. Weird.
Now, with a bit of creativity, you can get cheaper than that. You just have to be ready to exchange these dollars for a bit of inconvenience.
My inconvenience:
Drive to Seattle, take Air Canada from Seattle (SEA) that transfers through Vancouver (YVR), to London Gatwick (LGW). Then take a charter bus to London Luton (LTN), then EasyJet to Nice (NCE).
Seattle to London: $663, return. Add another $100 for incidentals...like getting to Nice from London. Yay!
Well at least it isn't as bad as my accidental trip to Paris (My Journey Back, at the bottom).
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Decision came back
B) No.
I'm going back to France in January. If you have any connections out there so I can do better than a McJob, let me know.
I'm going back to France in January. If you have any connections out there so I can do better than a McJob, let me know.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
And THIS is how computing is relevant to life
In my biomedical imaging computing science course, I'm learning about corpus callosum segmentation of MRI scans.
This, of course, helps me predict episode 3x03 of Grey's Anatomy:
McDreamy quizzes Dr. Yang: "Mr. Tressel here's having a corpus callosotomy. What's that gonna look like?"
Me:*Shoots out Jeopardy buzzer-hand ala Elliot Reed reflex* ding! "OH I TOTALLY know this. What is... something about the bridge between the two hemispheres of the brain!?"
Dr. Yang's response: "We'll be severing some of the fibres that connect the left and right hemispheres of his brain to prevent the spread of seizure activity from one half of the brain to the other."
Me:*dances with glee*
Yep. My computing courses like, teach me stuff.
This, of course, helps me predict episode 3x03 of Grey's Anatomy:
McDreamy quizzes Dr. Yang: "Mr. Tressel here's having a corpus callosotomy. What's that gonna look like?"
Me:*Shoots out Jeopardy buzzer-hand ala Elliot Reed reflex* ding! "OH I TOTALLY know this. What is... something about the bridge between the two hemispheres of the brain!?"
Dr. Yang's response: "We'll be severing some of the fibres that connect the left and right hemispheres of his brain to prevent the spread of seizure activity from one half of the brain to the other."
Me:*dances with glee*
Yep. My computing courses like, teach me stuff.
Friday, October 13, 2006
The Day of Truth (tm)
Tomorrow. Friday the 13th. A pivotal day which could change my life. I'm anxious, giddy, and wary, too.
This ominous day is when we receive The Decision, which could go either of three ways:
A) Yes
B) No
C) Yes, but no money.
... or the ever-nerve-wracking D) We lied. You get your decision later.
What's IS the final Jeopardy question, for $1000, Alex?
---"Is mon bébé accepted into SFU CS grad school, or not?"----
If yes: Wittle sugarplums get their dance on, sunny days get breezy, and bunnies hop together in harmony with polar bears. Bibi moves here, and the happiness ensues, as we traipse together into the grapefruit West Coast sunset. (Don't forget coding together. Not so much on the beach though.)
If no: It ain't all too bad. I move to France in January for a while, and nuclear war with the momma for whisking away Bibou is averted (or at least postponed). As Harriet says, "What's wrong with you - you get a chance to go back to France and you don't go? Crazy girl." Yup, back to the Cote d'Azur. I was kinda missing the egg pizza, anyway.
If yes, but no grad funding: See no.
If decision day is not actually tomorrow: I might break things. (Keep your distance.)
Cross your fingers, people!
Update: D) They didn't finish the decisions today and still have to meet again next week. Sigh, I'm not breaking things, it's ME that's broken... It always happens this way. :(
This ominous day is when we receive The Decision, which could go either of three ways:
A) Yes
B) No
C) Yes, but no money.
... or the ever-nerve-wracking D) We lied. You get your decision later.
What's IS the final Jeopardy question, for $1000, Alex?
---"Is mon bébé accepted into SFU CS grad school, or not?"----
If yes: Wittle sugarplums get their dance on, sunny days get breezy, and bunnies hop together in harmony with polar bears. Bibi moves here, and the happiness ensues, as we traipse together into the grapefruit West Coast sunset. (Don't forget coding together. Not so much on the beach though.)
If no: It ain't all too bad. I move to France in January for a while, and nuclear war with the momma for whisking away Bibou is averted (or at least postponed). As Harriet says, "What's wrong with you - you get a chance to go back to France and you don't go? Crazy girl." Yup, back to the Cote d'Azur. I was kinda missing the egg pizza, anyway.
If yes, but no grad funding: See no.
If decision day is not actually tomorrow: I might break things. (Keep your distance.)
Cross your fingers, people!
Update: D) They didn't finish the decisions today and still have to meet again next week. Sigh, I'm not breaking things, it's ME that's broken... It always happens this way. :(
Monday, October 09, 2006
Ah, memories...
Some interesting stats, good advice and sometimes funny anecdotes from the conference.
What happens when 1,300 women in computing take over a convention centre:
"I'm kinda intimidated."
Shirley Tillman, President of Princeton, on why women planning to have families are afraid to become professors:
"I attended a conference when my children were small. After the evening session, the women were drinking beer, talking about lives, fretting about being so long away from the children. The males were bragging about how long they've been on the road, how long it's been...the longer the better. Imagine the effect on grad students at the table...40% of women find that work-life balance is a challenge vs. 2.8% of men"
Interesting study on how confidence plays a role on performance:
"Michael Inslek looked at undergrad math performances by giving math tests, placing girls and guys in separate rooms. In presence of men, women performed more poorly, and when adding more men, they performed even more poorly."
A woman from NY reminisceses back to when she was only female faculty member in CS:
"The school of computer science was going to hire a faculty member. Sometimes, it makes sense to say something like, oh, this person's a statistical specialist, we don't need another one. In our case, they were interviewing candidates for a faculty position, and one of five candidates was a woman. Right in front of me, a fellow faculty member commented, referring to the gender of the female candidate, "Well we already have one of those, why would we need another one?"
... LOL
After a Microsoft representative introduced her as "beyond the 'queen of search' title", cited her as a Stanford award winner for her impact to undergrad education, and a happy alternative to Paris Hilton on magazine covers by gracing NewsWeek, BusinessWeek and Fortune, Marissa Mayer, VP of Google, wins us over by her humility: "That's a really intimidating introduction!"
Seinfeld-esque 'so-true-it's-funny' comment about asian women's culturally engrained auto-self-deprecation and second-guessing (ie. "Maybe I'm wrong but..."): "Ever notice how even when you're 200% sure about something, you say it as if you're 70% sure? And our colleagues who know something at 50% will say it as if they know as if they're 100% sure...?"
On setting concrete, prioritized goals when developing a product: "95% of users use 5% of features"
Marissa's tips:
On walking past the line-up at the Panda Exhibit, craning our necks to glimpse the bears through the 'exit' door: "It's like that simpson's episode: Get them! They're trying to learn for free!"
What happens when 1,300 women in computing take over a convention centre:
- Women walk right into the men's restroom
- There's a designated breast-pump room for lactacting mothers
- Dancing on the dancefloor doesn't involve getting winked at or groped
- Chocolate is served (with fruit on the side)
- They can get away with purple conference totebags
- Lunch is salad, and no one's able to finish
"I'm kinda intimidated."
Shirley Tillman, President of Princeton, on why women planning to have families are afraid to become professors:
"I attended a conference when my children were small. After the evening session, the women were drinking beer, talking about lives, fretting about being so long away from the children. The males were bragging about how long they've been on the road, how long it's been...the longer the better. Imagine the effect on grad students at the table...40% of women find that work-life balance is a challenge vs. 2.8% of men"
Interesting study on how confidence plays a role on performance:
"Michael Inslek looked at undergrad math performances by giving math tests, placing girls and guys in separate rooms. In presence of men, women performed more poorly, and when adding more men, they performed even more poorly."
A woman from NY reminisceses back to when she was only female faculty member in CS:
"The school of computer science was going to hire a faculty member. Sometimes, it makes sense to say something like, oh, this person's a statistical specialist, we don't need another one. In our case, they were interviewing candidates for a faculty position, and one of five candidates was a woman. Right in front of me, a fellow faculty member commented, referring to the gender of the female candidate, "Well we already have one of those, why would we need another one?"
... LOL
After a Microsoft representative introduced her as "beyond the 'queen of search' title", cited her as a Stanford award winner for her impact to undergrad education, and a happy alternative to Paris Hilton on magazine covers by gracing NewsWeek, BusinessWeek and Fortune, Marissa Mayer, VP of Google, wins us over by her humility: "That's a really intimidating introduction!"
Seinfeld-esque 'so-true-it's-funny' comment about asian women's culturally engrained auto-self-deprecation and second-guessing (ie. "Maybe I'm wrong but..."): "Ever notice how even when you're 200% sure about something, you say it as if you're 70% sure? And our colleagues who know something at 50% will say it as if they know as if they're 100% sure...?"
On setting concrete, prioritized goals when developing a product: "95% of users use 5% of features"
Marissa's tips:
- On trying - "You can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket."
- "Creativity loves constraint." eg. google desktop was constrained by limiting memory, processor, download size, and thus they had to become more creative to overcome despite constraints
- "Surround yourself with "allies" not "adorers". That is, the people who will support you but be honest, not the ones who will just tell you how great you are.
On walking past the line-up at the Panda Exhibit, craning our necks to glimpse the bears through the 'exit' door: "It's like that simpson's episode: Get them! They're trying to learn for free!"
ghc2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Robots, robots, robots. ROBOTS.
This post is for Timbo, robot guy and art dude. I think I found your calling:
Engaging Robotics through Design and Art. Just heard a talk about it by Carl DiSalvo from Carnegie Mellon University.
Consider their project Pearl:
They created a configurable robot head that could take on 32 different looks, and trying to figure out which "look" was the most approachable. The head above was the one they finally settled on.
Designing robots, Tim! Sounds like it's right up your alley.
Another cool "robot" that'd be GREAT for long-distance relationships :P The Hug, which sends cuddly "touch-messages" via heating patches, pressure points and microphones. I'd order the first one!
Also, iRobot brought a bunch of Rhoombas. I want/need one, and GHC participants get 20% off.
I am torn once again. Intelligent User Interfaces or Robotics? OR BOTH?!
Engaging Robotics through Design and Art. Just heard a talk about it by Carl DiSalvo from Carnegie Mellon University.
Consider their project Pearl:
They created a configurable robot head that could take on 32 different looks, and trying to figure out which "look" was the most approachable. The head above was the one they finally settled on.
Designing robots, Tim! Sounds like it's right up your alley.
Another cool "robot" that'd be GREAT for long-distance relationships :P The Hug, which sends cuddly "touch-messages" via heating patches, pressure points and microphones. I'd order the first one!
Also, iRobot brought a bunch of Rhoombas. I want/need one, and GHC participants get 20% off.
I am torn once again. Intelligent User Interfaces or Robotics? OR BOTH?!
Partied out without even partying
Here I am, poolside, after the biggest party of computer science women EVER. The turquoise water still pulsates under the glow of Microsoft's rose-coloured soiree, the grand flower centrepiece still floating in the middle of the pool. Earlier in the evening, CS gals flowed in, scooping up red glitter t-shirts and mysterious red boxes containing make-up+chocolate. We even got our picture taken and printed in under 2 mins.
Up on the 9th floor of the Regency Towers, Google held up it's name for being Party Central. Neon-bright Googletinis graced the packed dancefloor during sessions of let-loose YMCA, and everyone wanted a blinky Google pin. Or three.
IBM chose to keep the fluorescent lights on and have an "educationally fun" party with demos and door prizes. HP gave out reaaally cute shrek ears to reflect their Movie Night madness. My volunteer pardner got a free Shrek dvd, too.
So Eva and I actually lucked out and were assigned the "roving volunteers" task. We stamped treasure hunt cards till our arms hurt and admired the spanish guitar, accordian, jazz, and hawaiian music players (not in the same soundspace, luckily).
<geekout>
Eva told me she also wanted to go into HCI, and told me that UBC had a good program. She had thought about going there.
Speaking of HCI, two other gals are doing some non-traditional PhD program at Georgia Tech called "Human Centered Computing" where no one seems to do anything similar to other grad students, it's so diverse... and an IBM gal named Tessa told me how she did her masters at U Dub in Washington on AI/HCI stuff, and a San Diego master's student was in speech analysis, but for dolphins :P
</geekout>
Edit: Tessa Lau from IBM is the chair for a conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI), the marriage of AI and Human Computer Interaction. I'm just flabbergasted with delight, quite honestly. THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO DO.
Up on the 9th floor of the Regency Towers, Google held up it's name for being Party Central. Neon-bright Googletinis graced the packed dancefloor during sessions of let-loose YMCA, and everyone wanted a blinky Google pin. Or three.
IBM chose to keep the fluorescent lights on and have an "educationally fun" party with demos and door prizes. HP gave out reaaally cute shrek ears to reflect their Movie Night madness. My volunteer pardner got a free Shrek dvd, too.
So Eva and I actually lucked out and were assigned the "roving volunteers" task. We stamped treasure hunt cards till our arms hurt and admired the spanish guitar, accordian, jazz, and hawaiian music players (not in the same soundspace, luckily).
<geekout>
Eva told me she also wanted to go into HCI, and told me that UBC had a good program. She had thought about going there.
Speaking of HCI, two other gals are doing some non-traditional PhD program at Georgia Tech called "Human Centered Computing" where no one seems to do anything similar to other grad students, it's so diverse... and an IBM gal named Tessa told me how she did her masters at U Dub in Washington on AI/HCI stuff, and a San Diego master's student was in speech analysis, but for dolphins :P
</geekout>
Edit: Tessa Lau from IBM is the chair for a conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI), the marriage of AI and Human Computer Interaction. I'm just flabbergasted with delight, quite honestly. THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO DO.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Day 2: A New Lease on (Conference) Life
My session choosing strategy has changed completely from Day 1. I'm D-O-N-E done with the Corporate Leadership and CEO workshops, and focusing on the cool HCI + NLP PhD forum this afternoon to get research ideas.
Google, Microsoft, IBM and a whole bunch of other conference sponsors are throwing a big, sexy bash tonight, to themes such as Mardi Gras, Cosmopolitan, Tropical... and plus there'll be a big Carmen Sandiego-inspired scavenger hunt with prizes to win!
But I'm not going.
I got a last-minute chance to volunteer run a booth during the party. That gains me volunteer hours, which gains me an unexpected $240 in conference fee reimbursement! Not too shabby, considering I still get to pick at the appetizers every once in a while anyway. I'll network with those courting companies next year. (DID I MENTION GRACE HOPPER IS GOING ANNUAL!?! Next one's in Orlando!! YAYY!)
BTW I will go to *one* corporate talk. Marissa Mayer, a former AI prof who is now a VP at Google... she's my American Idol.
Google, Microsoft, IBM and a whole bunch of other conference sponsors are throwing a big, sexy bash tonight, to themes such as Mardi Gras, Cosmopolitan, Tropical... and plus there'll be a big Carmen Sandiego-inspired scavenger hunt with prizes to win!
But I'm not going.
I got a last-minute chance to volunteer run a booth during the party. That gains me volunteer hours, which gains me an unexpected $240 in conference fee reimbursement! Not too shabby, considering I still get to pick at the appetizers every once in a while anyway. I'll network with those courting companies next year. (DID I MENTION GRACE HOPPER IS GOING ANNUAL!?! Next one's in Orlando!! YAYY!)
BTW I will go to *one* corporate talk. Marissa Mayer, a former AI prof who is now a VP at Google... she's my American Idol.
ghc2006
*drumrolll*
It's official. I'm becoming a prof.
Ze-nian will be happy!
Yup. So I sneak into the darkly lit ballroom un peu en retard because I was too busy complain-blogging, and slip thankfully into the last seat at a random table. I don't know anyone, but it's sometimes more interesting that way. Tired from a long day, I devour the raspberry and almond salad with pesto cream dressing, and introduce myself to the gal on my right, from Oregon State U.
Neereja, a 2nd year major is in something she calls "End User Software Engineering". 'Ah', I think to myself, Software Engineering. I remember that... like, mountains of documentation and stuff, right? Nope, she says. It's like HCI, and she introduced her thesis topic to me, which I thought was reeeally cool.
Another lady, a prof whose identity will remain confidential, was sitting next to her, and asked me what I wanted to do. Oh. The Question. "Well", I said, thinking thoughtfully back to my enthusiasm over the CEO talk, "I like managing. I'm good at it."
She made a face.
- "A manager?"
- "Yeah."
- "Why?"
- "Well, like I said, it's something I enjoy doing. But then, I don't like the idea of being a cog wheel in a large company. I want to feel I'm making a real difference."
She nodded understandingly.
- "Don't be a manager."
- "Huh? But I think I'd be good at it and..."
- "Hey, it's a waste when you're good at Computing and then just settle for being a manager. You can let Business students do that. Why don't you be a prof?"
- "Well, you guys are doing some really neat research. It's so... interesting. I always wanted to be an inventor...And I guess you do managing as a prof too, right?"
- "Of course. Plus, you feel you really take care of the grad students you take on. Like you're really making a difference in their lives, guiding them. It's really rewarding. I think it's the best job in the world."
And then I thought back to SFU and my co-op job there. I love working for the university. The people are wonderful and laid back, there's tons of room to start initiatives and the resources to do it... and I don't have to dress up. (Wearing the business coat on me today didn't last long.)
Then I thought about my job at Chevron's downtown hi-rise. High-heels, and sometimes colleagues who would ask the superficial questions and never get to know you you.
Oh, right, and teaching. I love that. So, what'll it be? CEO or Prof?
How about both? (cf. Fred Popowich)
Ze-nian will be happy!
Yup. So I sneak into the darkly lit ballroom un peu en retard because I was too busy complain-blogging, and slip thankfully into the last seat at a random table. I don't know anyone, but it's sometimes more interesting that way. Tired from a long day, I devour the raspberry and almond salad with pesto cream dressing, and introduce myself to the gal on my right, from Oregon State U.
Neereja, a 2nd year major is in something she calls "End User Software Engineering". 'Ah', I think to myself, Software Engineering. I remember that... like, mountains of documentation and stuff, right? Nope, she says. It's like HCI, and she introduced her thesis topic to me, which I thought was reeeally cool.
Another lady, a prof whose identity will remain confidential, was sitting next to her, and asked me what I wanted to do. Oh. The Question. "Well", I said, thinking thoughtfully back to my enthusiasm over the CEO talk, "I like managing. I'm good at it."
She made a face.
- "A manager?"
- "Yeah."
- "Why?"
- "Well, like I said, it's something I enjoy doing. But then, I don't like the idea of being a cog wheel in a large company. I want to feel I'm making a real difference."
She nodded understandingly.
- "Don't be a manager."
- "Huh? But I think I'd be good at it and..."
- "Hey, it's a waste when you're good at Computing and then just settle for being a manager. You can let Business students do that. Why don't you be a prof?"
- "Well, you guys are doing some really neat research. It's so... interesting. I always wanted to be an inventor...And I guess you do managing as a prof too, right?"
- "Of course. Plus, you feel you really take care of the grad students you take on. Like you're really making a difference in their lives, guiding them. It's really rewarding. I think it's the best job in the world."
And then I thought back to SFU and my co-op job there. I love working for the university. The people are wonderful and laid back, there's tons of room to start initiatives and the resources to do it... and I don't have to dress up. (Wearing the business coat on me today didn't last long.)
Then I thought about my job at Chevron's downtown hi-rise. High-heels, and sometimes colleagues who would ask the superficial questions and never get to know you you.
Oh, right, and teaching. I love that. So, what'll it be? CEO or Prof?
How about both? (cf. Fred Popowich)
ghc2006I shouldn't be the nicey-nice girl
Oh I'm SO disappointed. I'm not even sarcastic!
Roz Ho, General Manager for Microsoft spoke at the Asian Women Birds of a Feather session. She was amazing: dynamic, leading a team because she, like me, figures that the most fun job is leading people because that's where you can have the most impact. She oversees 200 employees on a crazy schizophrenic project developing Apple products (eg. Word for Macs). She talked about how she uses her approachability to gain harmony within the group, but still said she never sold herself short by trying to justify opinions by "Maybe I'm wrong, but..." because that loses your cred.
She does stuff I want to do, I can see myself in her. But, she's working at Microsoft.
Not that I don't love their products, but I have this stigma that working any "big box" corporation means just being a little cog in a huge system, and not seeing the fruit of my work. I'm fundamentally against that.
So, I wanted to see what Roz (who I swear I've seen in a different context, but I can't place where) had to say to that, being seemingly like-minded and all.
But she had to catch a plane, and I watched as she tried to escape after the session while students swarmed the nice woman with questions. Ok, I said to me-self, after she's done with them, I'll walk with her to her room after so she's not late. :/ Unfortunately, a more assertive gal stopped her in her tracks and then slowly moved away as I gaped after them. *Sigh*
ghc2006
Roz Ho, General Manager for Microsoft spoke at the Asian Women Birds of a Feather session. She was amazing: dynamic, leading a team because she, like me, figures that the most fun job is leading people because that's where you can have the most impact. She oversees 200 employees on a crazy schizophrenic project developing Apple products (eg. Word for Macs). She talked about how she uses her approachability to gain harmony within the group, but still said she never sold herself short by trying to justify opinions by "Maybe I'm wrong, but..." because that loses your cred.
She does stuff I want to do, I can see myself in her. But, she's working at Microsoft.
Not that I don't love their products, but I have this stigma that working any "big box" corporation means just being a little cog in a huge system, and not seeing the fruit of my work. I'm fundamentally against that.
So, I wanted to see what Roz (who I swear I've seen in a different context, but I can't place where) had to say to that, being seemingly like-minded and all.
But she had to catch a plane, and I watched as she tried to escape after the session while students swarmed the nice woman with questions. Ok, I said to me-self, after she's done with them, I'll walk with her to her room after so she's not late. :/ Unfortunately, a more assertive gal stopped her in her tracks and then slowly moved away as I gaped after them. *Sigh*
ghc2006
Thursday, October 05, 2006
The chocolate cake at lunch today? Orgasmic.
Gosh, ever since the conference opened last night with a reception and poster session, it's been a blur. A awe-inspiring, sometimes-choked-with-admiration, inspiring blur.
I mean, I've been to two GHC's before, but because I finally have an idea of what I want to be, sessions are relevant instead of just "Huh, that's kinda cool!" surveys.
Last night, the crunchy chicken taquitoes and beer aside (of course, just mere observation of alcohol and it's spectacular effects on conversation fluidity) I talked with three poster presenters who will may have an effect on my immediate future.
1. AI and HCI: a PhD student from U of T fused my two prospective research interests into one!
2. Integrating role models and CS professions into first year courses: I walked away, stupidly grinning, with a simple solution to the whole "first-years don't know what CS is really about". Greg, you don't need all those CMPT 120 labs to be about programming, how about dedicating a portion to all the "soft stuff" you can't fit into lectures? Of course! The labs! Who woulda thunk? (you probably have already, so give it to me straight - why not?)
3. Erica from UBC had been carrying an indescript white tube around since Vancouver, and I finally found out the gold that was inside. Guess what! She works with chinese character layouts on cellphone keys, permuting the possibilities such that her layout is more efficient (using her scheme of cost calculation) than the varying layouts currently provided by cellphone manufacturers today.
Holy crap and the "So, You Want to be a CEO?" session? Rocked. Hard. They love doing the stuff I love. But they say they are also able to come home and be with their families, and not spend the whole night doing e-mail. It's actually possible. I'm gonna do it.
Also, I met two ladies today who have French minors and did study-abroad in France. Am I surrounded by me-clones?
Edit: Just listened to a Microsoft senoir researcher also did a study abroad in Paris. We're everywhere!
ghc2006
I mean, I've been to two GHC's before, but because I finally have an idea of what I want to be, sessions are relevant instead of just "Huh, that's kinda cool!" surveys.
Last night, the crunchy chicken taquitoes and beer aside (of course, just mere observation of alcohol and it's spectacular effects on conversation fluidity) I talked with three poster presenters who will may have an effect on my immediate future.
1. AI and HCI: a PhD student from U of T fused my two prospective research interests into one!
2. Integrating role models and CS professions into first year courses: I walked away, stupidly grinning, with a simple solution to the whole "first-years don't know what CS is really about". Greg, you don't need all those CMPT 120 labs to be about programming, how about dedicating a portion to all the "soft stuff" you can't fit into lectures? Of course! The labs! Who woulda thunk? (you probably have already, so give it to me straight - why not?)
3. Erica from UBC had been carrying an indescript white tube around since Vancouver, and I finally found out the gold that was inside. Guess what! She works with chinese character layouts on cellphone keys, permuting the possibilities such that her layout is more efficient (using her scheme of cost calculation) than the varying layouts currently provided by cellphone manufacturers today.
Holy crap and the "So, You Want to be a CEO?" session? Rocked. Hard. They love doing the stuff I love. But they say they are also able to come home and be with their families, and not spend the whole night doing e-mail. It's actually possible. I'm gonna do it.
Also, I met two ladies today who have French minors and did study-abroad in France. Am I surrounded by me-clones?
Edit: Just listened to a Microsoft senoir researcher also did a study abroad in Paris. We're everywhere!
ghc2006
Did I mention I'm in San Diego?
*waves*
*Opens purple Grace Hopper tote bag with a flourish*
Let's see what cool swag we have today:
And THEN I walked over to the table and met Erica Rios, the person who I was corresponding with when I volunteered to be a blogger. And I thought she was just a liason for bloggers. Hah! She's only one of the major volunteers on the whole GHC organizing committee, working a dream's dream at the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. Can I do that too? Maybe one day.
I met another, different, Erica on the flight over here, from UBC. She's presenting a paper at the Poster Session, though she just finished her undergrad degree this year! I hope I see her around again. Today we experienced "World Famous Fish Tacos" together at the outdoor shopping centre food court across the way. They were ok (ie. go for the burrito instead.)
Just ate a green NCWIT smartie. It's actuallly an M&M! Awesome!
PS. Jen and Amanda will agree with me: Green is the new blue.
*Opens purple Grace Hopper tote bag with a flourish*
Let's see what cool swag we have today:
- Wells Fargo Playing cards
- CA ballcap
- Yahoo Mirror compact (omg I've wanted a new one ever since mine broke!)
- MS Nerf slingshot arrow thing that I'm scared to use (cf. my irrational terror of all things elastic)
- EZ Antivirus 2005, also from CA
- An awesome bag of NCWIT green smarties that vaguely resemble Advil tablets
- A pin and some (yay!) pens :D
And THEN I walked over to the table and met Erica Rios, the person who I was corresponding with when I volunteered to be a blogger. And I thought she was just a liason for bloggers. Hah! She's only one of the major volunteers on the whole GHC organizing committee, working a dream's dream at the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. Can I do that too? Maybe one day.
I met another, different, Erica on the flight over here, from UBC. She's presenting a paper at the Poster Session, though she just finished her undergrad degree this year! I hope I see her around again. Today we experienced "World Famous Fish Tacos" together at the outdoor shopping centre food court across the way. They were ok (ie. go for the burrito instead.)
Just ate a green NCWIT smartie. It's actuallly an M&M! Awesome!
PS. Jen and Amanda will agree with me: Green is the new blue.
ghc2006
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
I think I have a gambling problem
[Hm, title's vaguely reminiscent of that "My Drinking Team has a Skiing Problem" t-shirt.]
A couple years ago, the Vancouver radio station of "my generation", Z95.3, introduced a novel radio contest called ZFX. It quickly gained popularity, as callers called in to try and guess the "zed-effect", a short sound clip that callers identified to win cash. Each time a caller got it wrong, the jackpot was increased by $500. When caller #9 got it right, he got the jackpot, and a trip to Cabo San Lucas. I never thought much of it at the time.
Then, exactly 2 weeks ago, my life changed drastically.
While driving to my parents', a suave, recorded radio announcer came on: "Do YOU know what THIS is? *schwap ting ting* Call now to make your guess." Heehee, silly ZFX, I thought. Then, out of nowhere, flash boom bang, an image, clear as day, popped into my head. A sink. A bathroom sink. And pushing down on the metal plunger thingie to unplug it. Luckily, the mental blindness quickly faded, as I was doing 80 km/h down Lougheed and really should've be focusing on staying between those white and yellow lines, not some divine revelation.
$11,500. That's how much the caller who *did* call didn't win. I mused to myself how the answer was so obvious. Somehow, I was extremely sure of my answer. How could it be that no one had guessed it yet? I checked out the Discover Vancouver forum and sure enough, the list of guesses did not include "unplugging a bathroom sink." Curious.
That night, I hooked up a radio and waiting for the announcement to call in. Busy signals, busy signals, and more busy signals. Gah. But you see, I am not one to give up. I'm tenacious. And as the days passed and the jackpot grew bigger and bigger, I didn't miss a beat. Four times a day, Z DJ's ask listeners to call in and guess. Four times a day, I was on my phone, hitting Redial.
It got pretty bad. By bad, I mean I took 5 min "bathroom breaks" from CMPT 418 class to plug into my AM/FM radio and dial in. At 6:30am, despite going to bed at 1, I hopped out of bed, turned on the radio and sat, patiently waiting for the Morning Crew to open up the Z-lines. One time, Kelly Grant answered the phone and told me I was Caller #7, thanks for playing. I think I just about had an aneurysm.
I've had dreams about winning. That's right, plural. Dreams. But here's the kicker: See, my cell phone plan is Fido's by-the-minute Pay As You Go. The radio station has 5 lines (I've done my homework), and when they're full, you either get a busy signal or an automatic answering machine saying that the lines are full. Thus, when I use my cell phone to call (ie. every time) and get the answering machine, I pay for a full minute of air time. And then I hit the send button twice and try again.
The result? My cell phone has become a virtual slot machine, where a chance at a thousand-dollar jackpot costs 15 cents of Fido air time. Sometimes, even when I'm sure the time has passed and it's probably too late to possibly get through, I still redial and pay the 15 cents for the sake of "But maybe THIS time I'll win."
Gambling is against my religion. Gambling leads to greed, yes, even if the money would go towards helping a special someone move to Canada.
And thus, with all the facts finally set in front of me like a burning sceptre of truth, I can come to only one conclusion:
Z Effects. Is Satan.
A couple years ago, the Vancouver radio station of "my generation", Z95.3, introduced a novel radio contest called ZFX. It quickly gained popularity, as callers called in to try and guess the "zed-effect", a short sound clip that callers identified to win cash. Each time a caller got it wrong, the jackpot was increased by $500. When caller #9 got it right, he got the jackpot, and a trip to Cabo San Lucas. I never thought much of it at the time.
Then, exactly 2 weeks ago, my life changed drastically.
While driving to my parents', a suave, recorded radio announcer came on: "Do YOU know what THIS is? *schwap ting ting* Call now to make your guess." Heehee, silly ZFX, I thought. Then, out of nowhere, flash boom bang, an image, clear as day, popped into my head. A sink. A bathroom sink. And pushing down on the metal plunger thingie to unplug it. Luckily, the mental blindness quickly faded, as I was doing 80 km/h down Lougheed and really should've be focusing on staying between those white and yellow lines, not some divine revelation.
$11,500. That's how much the caller who *did* call didn't win. I mused to myself how the answer was so obvious. Somehow, I was extremely sure of my answer. How could it be that no one had guessed it yet? I checked out the Discover Vancouver forum and sure enough, the list of guesses did not include "unplugging a bathroom sink." Curious.
That night, I hooked up a radio and waiting for the announcement to call in. Busy signals, busy signals, and more busy signals. Gah. But you see, I am not one to give up. I'm tenacious. And as the days passed and the jackpot grew bigger and bigger, I didn't miss a beat. Four times a day, Z DJ's ask listeners to call in and guess. Four times a day, I was on my phone, hitting Redial.
It got pretty bad. By bad, I mean I took 5 min "bathroom breaks" from CMPT 418 class to plug into my AM/FM radio and dial in. At 6:30am, despite going to bed at 1, I hopped out of bed, turned on the radio and sat, patiently waiting for the Morning Crew to open up the Z-lines. One time, Kelly Grant answered the phone and told me I was Caller #7, thanks for playing. I think I just about had an aneurysm.
I've had dreams about winning. That's right, plural. Dreams. But here's the kicker: See, my cell phone plan is Fido's by-the-minute Pay As You Go. The radio station has 5 lines (I've done my homework), and when they're full, you either get a busy signal or an automatic answering machine saying that the lines are full. Thus, when I use my cell phone to call (ie. every time) and get the answering machine, I pay for a full minute of air time. And then I hit the send button twice and try again.
The result? My cell phone has become a virtual slot machine, where a chance at a thousand-dollar jackpot costs 15 cents of Fido air time. Sometimes, even when I'm sure the time has passed and it's probably too late to possibly get through, I still redial and pay the 15 cents for the sake of "But maybe THIS time I'll win."
Gambling is against my religion. Gambling leads to greed, yes, even if the money would go towards helping a special someone move to Canada.
And thus, with all the facts finally set in front of me like a burning sceptre of truth, I can come to only one conclusion:
Z Effects. Is Satan.
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