scribbles

The Lambda Gene

I'm currently reading Gary Marcus' The Birth of the Mind:

The reason that animals can learn is that they can alter their nervous systems on the basis of external experience. And the reason that they can do that is that experience itself can modify the expression of genes.

The role of genes is not just to create the brain and body of a newborn, but to create an organism that is flexible enough to deal with an ever-changing world. Genes play an important role throughout life, not just until the moment of birth, and one of the most important ways in which they participate throughout life is by making learning possible.

I like how, in another section of the book, Marcus explains how genes are like functions. Immediately, in my mind flashes: f(x)=... and geneX(args);. Or maybe it's more like: geneX(experience, memory);.

7 Years of Bachelorism

How is this possible? Seven years and eleven schools, and come May this is what I'll be wearing. Beware, brave new world!

SPCTutors Blog

I used to teach CS at Berkeley with a lot of cool geeky folks. Carol's setup a blog for us. I guess it's kind of like a reunion, but.. on the Internet.

Carol's so much more a blogger than any of us silly former tutors are. :)

French Food for Chinese New Years

During the week of this year's Lunar New Years, my family and I went to Bistro Chapeau! I had orange soup. Wow!

minusbella

In need of knowing cool music? Check out minusbella. They'll "make your heart wide."



Know of a cool drummer dude (or preferably a cute J-girl drummer) looking for a totally spankalicious band to join? Let them know.

iPod is Hungry

Sometimes, I forget that many people aren't necessarily so tech-savvy and they need help, even to use and fill their iPods with music. That's where some smart ideas come into play.

Moo.

Overclocking Mac mini

Andy recently got his Mac mini. If he wants to void his warranty and push some more electron-power into it, he can. Though, I'm not sure how well it would do with his already-often-crashing box. Hmm...

漢字で考える

今日、久しぶりの自然に日本語でしゃべられた。最近、口とか頭とかもあまり日本語を使えへん。けど、今日、いつものように一生懸命勉強して（もちろん！）、宿題もやって、いっぱい漢字も読んで、ちょっと僕の日本語の実力やっと守ってきた。それで、前もうちょっと思った考えを出てきた。

それは：日本語でしゃべる時、頭が日本語で考えなくても、漢字で考えてほうがいい。

なんでそういうか？とりあえず、言語がどうやって習う？友達と会話したり、テレビを見たり、本を読んだりするね？それは、本を読むこと意外に聞くことが大切やねん。で、聞く時、言葉のご存知のが大事。けど、聞いたことない言葉を聞いたら、どうすればいいか？この場合、一番いいテックは「何の漢字か？」って考えてほうがいいと思う。会話中に何回も分からへん言葉あるのでこのテックよく使えって、単語があふられて、もっと日本人っぽい考え方になれるかも。

Stupid Client Quotes

Clientcopia, for all the broken computer cupholders of the world.

That Other Ivan Tse

Yuko Kishimoto, currently working at Kagiya Links, and SFSU alum, recently contacted me when, through work, she bumped up against another fellow with my exact same name!

What strangeties this world holds!

Java Programming in OS X

Since I'm starting to do more Java work (particularly with Swing) in OS X, I thought it would be prudent to make a list (I love lists!) of sites with appropriate documentation:

Java page at Apple's Developer Connection.
Java Programming on the Mac at O'Reilly.

XML GUI, a library to help accelerate Swing GUI development; I haven't really messed with this much yet.

I'll update this list in the upcoming days.