Romanian team attempting the NW face of Singunian Shan

Yup! I'm so envious I wanna scream! Here's the link.
Good luck guys!!!

[climbing]

I climb, therefore I am

I think I am back on track after one month of not climbing. I seem to be getting back into shape, though I am still f.a.t (I am not saying the F. word you know ... :) )Looks like the extra training I put in last week helped: I had a very nice (even though short) climbing session yesterday, followed by a 46 min "round the campus carrying 10 kg" session.
I think I should start increasing the weights, but I need to ask M how much am I supposed to be carrying upslope... I think it would be great if I can get to 15-20 kgs around the campus and then head on to kent rigde park with 10 in about a month :)
Dream on, baby!!

[climbing]

How PhD gets to you in SoC (Part II)

I have always wondered what is the role of GSS in the whole scheme of things. And then it finally dawned on me: to organize Sentosa Beach party!!!!! YEI!!!! Free flow of drinks for everybody! Yupiiii!!!
No, the role of GSS is not to protect the interests of graduate students, the lowest link in the academic food chain (not counting undergraduates, hi hi), but to keep their bellies full of food and cheap beer (I don't suppose they have cheap wine there). I can't report to GSS the fact that one faculty secretary DID NOT ANNOUNCE ME that I have to complete a renewal form 2 months prior to the expiration date on my contract, which lead to the fact that I won't be getting any money FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS!! They're busy organizing the beach party!!!! It's all over their web site!!!!

Wanna go party on the beach?! Sheesh!!!

[black mamba]

How PhD gets to you in SoC

Here's a letter I wrote to the SoC secretary and her answer:

Hello,

While talking to other students involved in the current and past QE
exams I realised that there is no form for a graduate student to give
feedback on the exam itself, subjects and questions. I find that a
feedback from students is important in this case, since the current form
of taking the QE is new and not quite perfected :). I have failed two
questions for this QE, and, while these are the first exams I have
failed, I am not writing to you as a complaint, but in hope that future
graduate students will somehow benefit.

I will try to give my honest feedback for each subject that I took and I
hope you will bear with me through this long e-mail.

CS 5202 I found the module webpage to be very comprehensive. I am
referring to http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~cs5202

Computer Networks question: Very nice, covering a lot of the syllabus
and requiring the student to analyze trade-offs and drawbacks.

Operating Systems question: To this day I still don't know what the
question was about :), and throughout the exam I had in mind three
possible designs for the system presented. After the exam I talked it
over with other students and we still couldn't decide to which design
the question was referring exactly.

Computer Architecture question: While previous Computer Architecture
questions required the student to think about how and why new systems
are designed and constructed from a hardware point of view, to analyze
cache protocols, etc. , this question focused on assembly instructions
and on circuits. I suppose it is indeed up to the Professor that is
grading the exam to determine what he or she thinks that is the basic
knowledge needed for a specific field and to ask a question based on
that, but as graduate students that are not hardware oriented, assembler
instructions, circuits and problems involving lab exercises (i.e not in
the reference book) seem to be too basic and refer to knowledge that is
irrelevant. Furthermore, the instructions presented in the question did
not correspond with any from the referenced book.

For CS 5201, the only feedback that I have to give is that I found out
after the exam that the page that I thought was for CS 5201 was not
http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~cs5201/Quals/ (I see it's down now), but
http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~abhik/CS-QE/ , and only some students knew
about it :). This led to the fact that I did not know that the "Logic
and Formal Systems" subject had changed to "Logic and Artificial
Intelligence" and with it the referenced book. That was indeed the
explanation I had for not finding the questions for the logic subject
familiar :) and explains to me why I failed that question. While I find
this unjust and frustrating, I wonder if this is not going to happen for
the following QE exam :) and this led me to write to you.

On a final note, I want to point out that there should be a way of
collecting feedback from graduate students on the QE exams. We are
almost researchers by now so the feedback provided would be meaningful.
Also, I understand that it is difficult to formulate only one question
to cover an entire field of research, and I will try to do by best
(again) to pass the remaining questions.

Thank you for taking the time to read my e-mail.



And the answer:

Dear Claudia,

Thank you for your feedback.

Graduate Office will looked into your comments and endeavor to improve the
current QE process.

Have a good weekend!

regards,
Jane

Riight. WTF?!

[black mamba]

I'm getting ready to rule the world

Me and my faithful companion are getting ready to rule da world!!
First impressions:

• i should not have waited until 24 to get my first lego. It proved a killer to build the first demo robot, but I'm getting there - took me about an hour of building, at it wasn't even that complicated


• Lego was really smart to preupload the first demo program unto the brick


• I have a LOT of pieces, but only connectors and such. And they are all either gray, white or black. Really not very fashion conscious

Next project: the scorpion.
Oh, and the name for my first robot is Fredo! He wants to rule the world too. Photo here.

Cum o sa ajung sa nu mai stiu sa vorbesc romaneste if I keep this up

Cand il auzeam pe unchiul meu plecat in Australia de vreo 15 ani vorbind romaneste super stricat il dispretuiam profund. Cand le auzeam pe capsunicile venite din italia/spania vorbind romaneste cu accent italian/spaniol imi venea sa le bat. Sad news is ... I'm getting there. Am ajuns sa vorbesc intr-o romgleza perfecta atat cu ceilalti romani de pe aici cat si cu cei de acasa. Ca este romgleza ar fi cum ar fi, dar deja am ajuns sa traduc din engleza in romana. De exemplu, in loc sa zic ca un lucru "n-are sens" eu zic "nu face sens" din "it doesn't make sense". In loc sa zic "de exemplu" sau "totusi" imi vine sa zic "for example" sau "nevertheless". Nu mai vorbesc de "however" , se pare ca imi place cuvantul asta la nebunie. Si cel mai si cel mai penibil este urmatorul lucru: Am ajuns sa spun un lucru in engleza (vorbind in romana) si dupa aia sa traduc in romana. Vezi commentul de aici . Cretina cu idul "carutacufraieri" sunt eu, evident. La postul cu dl prof. Andrei initial am scris "may he rest in peace sau fie-i tarana usoara" Acuma imi vine sa scriu "wtf is going on sau ce se petrece?"... AAA!!!
Rezolvare? Sa nu mai citesc carti in engleza? Sa citesc numai in romana? Sa ma controlez? Oh, how?!?!
Note to self: Control control control control.
Sau ca steve ballmer: developers! developers! developers! developers! (vezi youtube)

[black mamba]

How windows helps with your eye-hand synchronization

Start up your computer.
Select Windows from your Grub menu.
Select Windows again if you have installed your hacked macosx.
Wait for Windows to start.
Login by entering your username and password.
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del FAST!!!
Select Task manager.
Repeat until computer seems to be breathing again:
- Select unknown process.
- Press End Process (bottom right of window).
- Press "Yes" on "Are you sure ... ?" (to the left and higher)
Enjoy!

[black mamba]

Pentru domnul profesor

Dumnezeu sa-l odihneasca pe domnul profesor Eduard Andrei. Desi nu am inteles niciodata materia pe care a predat-o, mi-a ramas in amintire ca unul dintre cei mai drepti si cu adevarat DOMNI profesori pe care i-am avut.
Fie-i tarana usoara.

Lime ju

It's late late at night and we [Marian, Cristina, Ioana, Andrei and I] arrive in Singapore from a blizzard beaten Bucharest. Corneliu is here to pick us up and we head over to our home for the next six months. Both our real-estate agent and the landlord's agent are there to greet us and to proceed with the necessary formalities. It takes about three hours to get everything counted and signed, and the agents are gone. It's just us in the house, tired but anxious. I am hungry [as usual] and so are the others, so we go to a nearby food court to get something to eat. I have no idea that these are foodcourts and that they are supposed to look like they do. In my mind there's a constant bewilderment followed by wtf preceeded questions. We finally order from the waiter (she's called "auntie" - not because she's related nor because she's a waiter, but because she's older - it's not in any way arrogant or impolite, but I find it truly annoying). Our order includes our drinks also. I decide not to go safe and I order "lime juice", since I had never drank it. The auntie brings me back the juice, while first asking: limeju?limeju? We finally figure out that it's for me, it's mine!!! It tastes ok, also has some sort of plum in it. But most of the times as I later found out, it's not made from fresh limes, but from fresh (?!) concentrate. Nevertheless, whenever my order of lime ju gets yelled over the foodcourt it brings back dark and cosy memories.

[lime ju]

Leeego MINDSTORMS!!

Oh my god oh my god people!! 'Tis here my friends! On a sudden whim of mine before the last two exams, and also inspired by Cristina who went home to study/relax/sleep, I decided yesterday to go shopping!

What started out initally as a hunt for the perfect moisturizer [dun ask why or how or whom - I'll talk about it in another post] ended up with the following:

• One vitamin e moisturizer from the body shop - I don't know how much good it will do, but nevertheless


• One passion fruit incense oil


• ONE LEGO MINDSTORMS !!!! I was planning to get it after the QE, but I got it anyhows, since buying it earlier promised that I was going to get out of my zombed state. Well, I'm not out of the zombed state, I am 440 sing poorer, BUT I WILL BUILD THE BEST ROBOTS THERE ARE!!!! ... After the qe that is, right now I've only opened the box then put everything back in. Two more exams, one on monday and one on tuesday [i haven't studied anything for the latter] and I will be in robotland, photoland and climbland ... in no particular order!
  

[Lego mindstorms]

Leapsha

Tagged by puck via bookaholics, I must write now what books I would take with me if I were to leave the country for a long time. I have hands-on experience with this, so I will say here what books I took with me when I left. So, in no particular order, since I am not at home right now [YES, I am wasting time at work to post in a blog!!!!], here goes:

• Lumea vazuta de Garp, John Irving [RO]


• Cider House Rules, John Irving [EN]


• The Remains Of The Day, Kazuo Ishiguro [EN]


• Diavoliada, Mihail Bulgakov [RO]


• Maestru si Margareta, Mihail Bulgakov [RO]


• Matusa Julia si condeierul, Mario Vargas Llosa [RO]


• Un veac de singuratate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez [RO]


• Toamna patriarhului, Gabriel Garcia Marquez [RO]


• Stupid White Men, Michael Moore [EN]


• 1984, George Orwell [RO]


• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price, J.K. Rowling [EN] - for the kid in me


• Picnic la marginea drumului, Arkadi & Boris Strugatki [RO]


• a handful of computer books

Before you ask how much my luggage weighed ... A LOT!!!! But I got off with a smile, and the fact that I was flying on the 31st of december, which I think impressed the somewhat pissed-on-life ladies at the check-in counter.

PS I seem to have forgotten some books, I hope they don't get really upset and start a revolution or something (my room already looks ravaging!)

[Lime ju]

About censorship

Quoting from the MDA site, answering the question "why must there be censorship":
"Censorship is practised in all societies to some degree and in varying forms -- whether by community groups, industry bodies or government agencies. In Singapore, censorship exists to protect the young from unsuitable content as well as to maintain stability and harmony in our multi-racial and multi-religious society, while allowing more choice for adults. Our surveys show that Singaporeans generally find censorship standards acceptable. For example, in the recent Censorship Review Committee 2003 survey, more than 70% of the respondents were satisfied with our content standards.
Of course, censorship alone is not sufficient. Whether we are able to maintain the moral tone of our society depends largely on the industry, artists and the community and on what society as a whole considers to be acceptable standards for media content. Hence it is a shared responsibility among the various stakeholders, with censorship being complemented by public education for greater media awareness."

So, there must be censorship because everybody does it and because 70% of the population said that they are ok with the censorship standards. Sheesh!!! Cogito ergo sum.

I found this site after www.ktmb.com.my (malaysia railways ticket purchasing online) had banned access. I did not know that ktmb was indecent in any way ... the trains are kinda slow though :))

Ce sa imi aduca mama de acasa

[bloggin': wishing well ]
1. gentile alea doua care arata foarte bine, cel putin in amintirea mea
2. povestea lui m., jurnalul fericirii si arhipelagul gulag
3. un borcan (sau mai multe?!) de zacusca
4. toate cdurile de muzica clasica pe care le posed
5. rezerve pentru stilou
6. cozonaci
7. paine din amsterdam
8. branza telemea

Your turn now

Many a time went drunk or hungover to class? Nooo?! Sure you didn't ... Never felt that whatever that guy is saying is going to kill you if he keeps at it?
Well ... here's one for you: it's their turn now. One of them is high in class!!!!!!!!!!!

They say this is me

Here is what they say about me. Or more, about how I view myself. High masculinity? Average Femininity? AAA

Lost it

I lost it. I can't believe it, but i lost it. It fell out of my backpack in the gym. Now I can't find it. I am feeling very very distressed... My mom will be very dissapointed in me. I fucked up (again). I lost my appetite (THAT is something you don't see every day...) Here's a portrait. You will be missed... Chances of finding it in Singapore stores: ZERO (it's a 2004 model ...)

Vista scary

What i didn't get is : is it scary in its complexity .. or just because it is a dome like construction doomed to fall? (something like the Khumbu Icefall??) Brrr.... Here's the full article.

My way or the highway

why is it that every time i decide to start writing it's raining horses outside (and yes! i left the windows open again)? must be something to do with my depressive gene ... maybe everytime it starts raining i get depressive and feel the need to write?
anyways, the post title says it all :) I realised last night that the two great women that contributed to me being a whole, extraordinary, funny, smart and MODEST person today (that is, my mother and my grandmother) also contributed to two of my major flaws (by some - greatest goods by me). My mother spoiled me rotten ... even though sometimes she tried to hide the spoiling. And my grandmother always allowed me to do whatever i wanted, whether it was climbing trees (and falling from them or being stuck HIGH up there) or not eating (i had - and still have - a awful dislike for boiled eggs ... in those times boiled eggs is what little kids got for breakfast, among other things - like cheese). This led to me being what i am today and to the title of this post.
So, here's to my grandmother and mom!

Moving to Antarctica

That's it!!! I am moving to Antarctica!!! Or to any other continent where it does not rain!!! This is the first day I left the windows to my room WIDE open such that fresh air enters my room. And of course, it's raining cats and dogs and horses!!! So when i'll get home the carpet that is right beside the window will be SOAKED! SOAKED!!!!!!

To write or not to write

One of the things that really bugs me about research is that at some point you get to writing. Yes!! The horrifyin' friggin' thing I think most computer scientists just lurrrrve. I personally hate it. It's not like writing in your blog, you cannot be funny or ironic. You cannot be mean to other people's work. You must be polite and condenscending. You cannot say "try but fails" .. you must say "attempt". That's when you're writing a research paper. It's even nicer when you have to write a documentation about your program/product. "The list of steps necessary for installing this or that is" AND SO ON.... and on .. and on.. And then you have windows or linux .. and different commands for them: since i use linux, it's almost obvious that any other student who will be using my program in his/her homework will use windows... AAA
Writer's block.

Edited later: 3 new articles from Joel
about mapreduce, functors
How dell does business
Private offices vs open space for programmers