theSpoke.net

Things to stop doing
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 8:36 AM

In the interests of stretching my bounderies, I tried teaching a couple of subjects this year that are far removed from CS or MIS. I realized after the experience that handling these subjects is far too unnatural. They're too great a departure

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posted by Didith with

Recruitment; Commando team applicants
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 8:24 AM

To Alfred: I'm shocked to learn that high school is already too late. Perhaps American teenagers come of age earlier than their Filipino counterparts. If you have any tips about evangelizing at the earlier grade levels, please share them (assuming

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posted by Didith with

Maturity in blogging; Waning interest in ICTs
Monday, January 29, 2007 9:48 AM

To Bernard: Hahaha! I'm not sure I actually behave as maturely as I blog. I may talk a better game than I play. :) *** One of the biggest problems confronting the department is the waning interest in ICTs. There are fewer

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posted by Didith with

Moving on
Sunday, January 28, 2007 1:53 PM

Thank you, Alfred, for your comments on the last two posts. If I may further both discussions-- There are so many reasons why a change is due. I'm a believer in the need for changes in leadership, even (or perhaps especially) when the going

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posted by Didith with

The harm in trying
Saturday, January 27, 2007 5:33 AM

I told you it wouldn't work. But you insisted on trying. Baka sakali--just in case. If you could take rejection well, then I suppose there would have been no harm in trying. But knowing you, with your paper-thin hide, this was

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posted by Didith with

Touche
Friday, January 26, 2007 8:09 AM

During our last faculty meeting, the last item on the agenda was turnover. I started by saying, "Next year is my last year as chair..." William Yu interjected, "That's what you said last term." Haha! This time, there is no renewal in my

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posted by Didith with

More money != more time
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 8:28 AM

Yesterday and today, I've had two people communicate essentially the same message: Please do this--we'll pay you. First, let me say that money is good. I like money. However, permit me to also say that it is not my principal motivation.

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posted by Didith with

Computing social costs
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 7:57 AM

We hail our overseas contract workers as modern-day heroes. They suffer separation and loneliness to ensure the financial well-being of their families. This country stays financially afloat because of their remittances. Unfortunately,

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posted by Didith with

Collaboration
Monday, January 22, 2007 2:32 PM

It blows me away how willing people are to collaborate. I've touched base with several researchers in Europe and North America over the past few months. For the most part, people have responded with generosity and kindness. I recently sent

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posted by Didith with

Flow and family
Sunday, January 21, 2007 5:18 PM

I keep forgetting to blog about this... There's a section in the Flow book about family relationships. Czikszentmihalyi says that the unconditional acceptance we feel from our family gives us the courage to venture forward, to test our limits.

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posted by Didith with

Immigration
Sunday, January 21, 2007 7:59 AM

If I were to move out of Metro Manila, I would most probably opt to move to the provinces instead of abroad. The cost of living is lower. The pace of life is calmer. Depending on which province (I was actually thinking of Davao),

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posted by Didith with

Commando recruitment
Saturday, January 20, 2007 6:12 AM

The Department is in search of our next support team--our elite commando unit. For the last two years or so, the team was composed of Erin, Krizia, Justin, and Kate for the ACM ICPC and Max and April for the documentation requirements. These

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posted by Didith with

The grass is no more greener on the other side
Friday, January 19, 2007 8:05 AM

With the number of opportunities that come to the Department, it is a challenge to stay focused. There's a temptation to wonder if you should be doing "that other thing" that seems to be so much cooler. However, as the title of this blog entry

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posted by Didith with

Bonus points; Reverse job fair
Thursday, January 18, 2007 8:59 AM

To Alfred: I agree completely that bonus points cheapen the grade. To Punzki: Yes, you're completely right--some of these talks are not really worth attending. *** This coming March, the ECCE Department is organizing a poster session featuring student

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posted by Didith with

Anti-organization
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 8:16 AM

I've recently issued two guidelines that will be unpopular among the students. First, I've tightened restrictions on the borrowing of computer laboratories. Second, I've said no to issuing bonus points for attending extracurricular events.

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posted by Didith with

What God has not brought together
Tuesday, January 16, 2007 7:00 PM

A friend of a friend is scheduled to get married this coming Saturday. Two days ago, her prospective groom called the wedding off. Whatever the reasons, it was the wisest course of action--to end things while they could still be ended

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posted by Didith with

Are you psycho?
Monday, January 15, 2007 5:36 PM

A few years ago, I visited a doctor with a nasty cold. The very unusual doctor that he was, he asked me an intersting question: Are you psycho? I said, Excuse me? He explained, Are you a very mental person, that your body responds to

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posted by Didith with

Motivational problems
Sunday, January 14, 2007 8:21 AM

I had a conversation with a student in academic peril. There's a good chance he won't be with us anymore after this semester. He is not pleased with with that possibility. However, he doesn't seem to be disturbed enough to do anything about it.

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posted by Didith with

Playing favorites
Friday, January 12, 2007 11:54 AM

There were once two students who were equally brilliant. Each performed excellently in class. Each got an A. Student A, though, was more sociable and endeared himself to the teacher. Student B focused on her studies and didn't really

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posted by Didith with

Bye to Akie, Cecilia, Queen, and Joanna
Thursday, January 11, 2007 8:43 AM

For the first time in the Department's history, we are sending out our students for extended periods of time. Akie Mejia and Cecilia Hung are leaving on Monday for the Nara Institute of Science and Technology for a six-week research visit in

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posted by Didith with

Essay; work
Wednesday, January 10, 2007 9:38 AM

Thanks, everyone, for your comments on yesterday's post. I see this is a common experience--misery loves company. :) *** Both yesterday and today I thought that I would be able to get so much done because I had large blocks of unallocated time.

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posted by Didith with

Between friends
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 8:13 AM

I had a long conversation with a colleague yesterday in which he asked me, "You and X were so close before, what happened? Why can't you be close again?" The entire talk made me remember this essay that I had written years ago. It has

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posted by Didith with

Tagged
Monday, January 08, 2007 6:36 PM

Thank you to Alfred for tagging me--this was a surprise. Now I have to write five things about myself that you probably didn't know. <Deep breath> Here goes: I'm a frustrated singer. I enrolled for voice lessons at some

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posted by Didith with

More funny warnings
Sunday, January 07, 2007 8:14 AM

Just to add to Bernard's post about funny warnings, here's my own contribution, taken somewhere in Beijing last December:

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posted by Didith with

Research momentum
Sunday, January 07, 2007 6:44 AM

Just as the calendar year begins, the school year draws to a close. Upon reflection, it has been a very good year for DISCS in terms of research. Research has always been the Department's weakest area. This year, though, research groups

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posted by Didith with

Know thyself
Saturday, January 06, 2007 8:50 AM

One of the components essential to finding flow is self-knowledge. We have to know our goals--who we want to be, what we want to achieve, what it is we value, etc.--before we can pursue them. Self-knowledge, though, is elusive. We spend so

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posted by Didith with

The value of alumni relations
Friday, January 05, 2007 8:43 AM

I belatedly read Punzki's post regarding the cost of sending out Christmas cards. I just wanted to add my two cents. Before the university sends out mass mailouts of any kind, we do the math. When we had to raise money for the ACM

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posted by Didith with

Pleasure vs enjoyment
Thursday, January 04, 2007 6:26 PM

OK, so aside from playing Neverwinter Nights, I finished reading Flow: The Psychology of the Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I read it not as a self-help book but because I needed it for some research that I'm doing (I seem to

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posted by Didith with

Back to school
Wednesday, January 03, 2007 8:46 AM

I've just come back from what feels like a very long vacation. We were out of town for more than one week, which is unusual for the Christmas break. We're normally only out for three or four days. I wish I could say that I got a lot of work

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posted by Didith with

Explosive new year
Tuesday, January 02, 2007 2:40 PM

My family and I are flying back from Bangkok today. We spent the new year here. We're not the partying kind, though. For the last decade, we've pretty much slept through the new year. The fact that I have asthma and react very

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posted by Didith with

January 2007 - Posts

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