theSpoke.net

Jet-lagging
Monday, April 30, 2007 6:19 AM

Ah, the effects of shifting time zones! I woke up at 1:30 this morning and could not get back to sleep. This surprised me since I slept very well the previous night (or was that just exhaustion?) and had a full day. But you know what's

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posted by Didith with

Home again
Sunday, April 29, 2007 3:51 PM

I'm home. I'm generally glad to be back, though I admit there tensions are already creeping back into my system. But overall, it is still good to be home.

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posted by Didith with

Picky
Friday, April 27, 2007 3:36 AM

I read once that friends are God's way of making up for relatives. In short, you can't choose your relatives, but you can choose your friends. How does this apply to a work setting? Is it safe to say that (at least in an academic setting)

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posted by Didith with

A fresh start
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 6:24 PM

A nephew of mine just graduated high school last March and is starting college in Ateneo this June. During his graduation party, I congratulated him. He responded, "Thank you--at last, a fresh start!" Although I was surprised at his

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posted by Didith with

Games and philosophy
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 4:55 AM

To Aids: Thanks for the recommendations! And you know what the best part is? This is RESEARCH!

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posted by Didith with

Computer games and philosophy
Monday, April 23, 2007 7:28 PM

Next semester, I am hoping to collaborate with the English, Filipino and Philosophy departments in offering the game development course. One of the Philo teachers wrote me and indicated his interest. He was apprehensive, though: In what

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posted by Didith with

More on Avenue Q
Monday, April 23, 2007 3:51 AM

This is an excerpt of a song from Avenue Q entitled "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?" I think it perfectly embodies some of the sentiments of our fresh graduates: What do you do with a B.A. in English,What is my life going to be?Four years

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posted by Didith with

Avenue Q
Saturday, April 21, 2007 2:58 PM

Thanks, Bernard, for the quote. Yes, that captures the sentiment exactly! *** I'm a big fan of musical theater. So, when we have an opportunity to do so, I try to catch a show or two. Last night we watched the musical Avenue Q.

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posted by Didith with

Victims of circumstance
Friday, April 20, 2007 4:26 PM

When I was in high school, a friend and I were talking about life in general. In the conversation, she said (with the incredible maturity and profundity that teens have), "I don't want to live my life as a victim of circumstance." Wow, I thought, that

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posted by Didith with

British Council Researcher Exchange Programme
Friday, April 20, 2007 4:09 AM

If there are any early-stage researchers out there from the UK wanting to visit other countries (or from other countries wanting to visit the UK), the British Council has funds available for visits of this nature. Check out: http://www.britishcouncil.org/science-rxp.

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posted by Didith with

Complexity
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 4:30 PM

One of the luxuries you lose when being chair is the ability to focus on just one thing at a time. Your involvement in something has to be shallow and broad--one of oversight--rather than deep and narrow. I am on my third week of third summer leave

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posted by Didith with

Programming again
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 6:22 PM

My first job was as a C/assembly language programmer at a software development firm. When I began working, my parents were disturbed by the number of hours that I invested on the job. They were morally opposed to the overnights, for example.

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posted by Didith with

Dancing with the stars; Discovering what you want
Monday, April 16, 2007 4:19 PM

To Alfred: I can identify with being rhythmically-challenged. My own theme song is Genesis's I can't dance. :) *** I'm on the third week of a month-long trip intended for research collaboration. The first two weeks were very productive.

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posted by Didith with

Another reality TV show
Sunday, April 15, 2007 2:48 PM

I've said before that I'm not a reality TV fan. Yesterday, though, we caught two reality TV shows. One was called Australian Princess. The other was Any Dream Will Do. Australian Pricess was the proverbial "turning of a sow's ear into a silk

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posted by Didith with

Imagine Cup news
Saturday, April 14, 2007 2:39 PM

Congratulations to Team Me and Team Pi for making it to the local finals of the Imagine Cup! Team Me is composed of Miguel Martinez, Patrick Velasquez, Byron Wang and RJ Yu. Team Pi is composed of Paulo Tioseco, JR Reyes, Rodz Tan, and Wil Li. Congratulations

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posted by Didith with

Perfect descriptions
Friday, April 13, 2007 3:58 PM

I love good writing. A well-constructed turn of phrase is awesome in its insight and in its power to manipulate how people think or feel. A colleague was walking me through his java code yesterday. It was something he had written to

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posted by Didith with

Computers and philosophy
Thursday, April 12, 2007 5:57 PM

Dr. Gina Hechanova of the Psychology Department sent me a call for papers to the Third Asia-Pacific Computing and Philosophy Conference in Bangkok. It's not really my area but the concept was pretty compelling. This coming year, I'm collaborating

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posted by Didith with

Ongoing high school summer camp
Wednesday, April 11, 2007 3:30 PM

Coming into the break, I resolved to not worry about the Department or the University, and I am happy to say that I was mostly successful. I say "mostly" becasue there were two last items on my "worry list" (as opposed to just a to-do list) that

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posted by Didith with

Silent waters run deep
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 5:32 PM

My attention was called today to a student of ours who has been having some emotional problems. The news surprised me because this student was always very quiet, reserved, and polite. The student had a recent spate of bad behavior and foul,

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posted by Didith with

Teaching and learning NWN and Scratch
Monday, April 09, 2007 3:49 PM

In preparation for the summer game development camps, I've started my daughter on Neverwinter Nights and Scratch. We finished the NWN tutorial yesterday. She has been playing the game and so was familiar with much of the significance of certain

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posted by Didith with

Happy Easter to all!
Sunday, April 08, 2007 4:17 PM

Happy Easter, everyone!

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posted by Didith with

Trying not to worry
Saturday, April 07, 2007 2:47 PM

Before I left the office, I spoke to some of the senior faculty to turn over the to-do list of the department. One of them asked me, "Do you want us to keep you updated?" I said no, because if I knew what was going on, I'd be compelled to

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posted by Didith with

Watching people move on
Friday, April 06, 2007 2:03 PM

Someone I've known for many years has made the decision to change the fundamental direction of his career. He said it was because his current track didn't feel right. He felt a dissonance between where he wanted to go and where his organization

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posted by Didith with

Annals of improbable research
Thursday, April 05, 2007 6:45 PM

Science can be so funny. Check out this site.

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posted by Didith with

Publish or perish
Wednesday, April 04, 2007 3:48 PM

I never realized just how real a threat this was until yesterday. I am visiting a colleague in the UK. We are collaborating on a research project. This man is completely "in the zone" when it comes to publication. He averages a

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posted by Didith with

Third summer leave; Molecular gastronomy
Tuesday, April 03, 2007 2:04 PM

To Alfred and Aids: Third summer leave is something we get only every third summer, not every summer, so we do put in quite a lot of time before we earn the break. However, you're right to be envious because we do get much more down time overall

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posted by Didith with

Third summer leave
Tuesday, April 03, 2007 3:41 AM

I'm out of the office for the next couple of months for third summer leave. This is a privilege given to the full-time faculty, an opportunity to recharge, to learn, or just relax in time for the next school year. I'm on the road with my

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posted by Didith with

April 2007 - Posts

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