Train blogging…
So, I’m writing this from the 0920 GNER from Leuchars to London Kings Cross. Fortunately due to the excellent Google Gears, I can read my RSS feeds and catch up with the 60ish unread items I currently have sitting in my Google Reader.
I’ve recently subscribed to two new feeds, both of which I find excellent. The first of these is 43Folders, which is written for GTD addicts (like Merlin Mann, the author of the blog) and wannabes (like me.) I’d been aware of 43folders for a while, but not really paid it any attention. However I recently watched a Google Tech Talk from Merlin Mann about “Inbox Zero” which is a GTD technique to minimize the amount of time one spends in their mail reader. Having had this problem for some time, I found his tips really useful, although his comparison of the Blackberry to a spontaneously combusting cat a little tenuous (watch it, you’ll understand.)
My other recent feed acquisition is Coding Horror, which has some neat tips and tricks for those doing webdev. I found it while looking for a good explanation of SQL JOINs (which I found.)
So, a few items in, I’ve stumbled across Dave Gorman’s latest entry. He offers an an excellent solution to both the current “phone in scandal” problem and the postal strikes.
From Kernel Trap an excellent initiative by the Linux kernel team to have a list of projects available for (CS) students. This is a great idea, no more lame “I’m going to build an online shopping system” or “the world really needs another CMS”-type projects. Students can feel like they are doing something useful and the kernel team get some of the work done for them.
Andrew Gelman received an e-mail about bad analysis, that didn’t really concern me, but the last two lines are absolutely true. He also has a nice article about the difference between an article and a web page in academic research. I like the idea of publishing your research as a web page and getting it out to as wide an audience as possible. This seems like what research should really be about. Not just getting your paper into JASA or Biomerika, but actually getting the guy on the street to understand what scientists do all day.This does of course mean more work for the authors, but why be a researcher if you are not trying to tell people something they didn’t know about the world.
Stephan Fry’s latst blog entry is on fame. It is, as usual, lengthy but ultimately satisfying. My favorite paragraph being:
Is it fun? Or, as student journalists always ask, what’s it like? ‘What’s it like working with Natalie Portman, what’s it like doing QI, what’s it like being famous?’ I don’t know what it is like. What is being English like? What is wearing a hat like? What’s eating Thai red curry like? I don’t believe that I can answer any question formulated that way. So, student journalists, tyro profilers and rooky reporters out there, seriously, quite seriously never ask a ‘what’s it like’ question, it instantly reveals your crapness. I used to try getting surreal when asked the question and say things like ‘being famous is like wearing blue pyjamas at the opera. It’s like kissing Neil Young, but only on Wednesdays. It’s like a silver disc gummed to the ear of a wolverine. It’s like licking crumbs from the belly of a waitress called Eileen. It’s like lemon polenta cake but slightly wider. It’s like moonrise on the planet Posker.’ I mean honestly. What’s it like?? Stop it at once.
Finally, a quick word about what else I’ve been up to. Mostly this week I’ve been attempting to do some work on my dissertation. This has been pretty tough, all in all. I really enjoy reading papers and trying to work out what’s going on, but sometimes it’s extremely frustrating when you reach an impasse and work stops for half a day until you figure out how you were being stupid this time.
While I’ve been working, I’ve been listening to a few new albums I’ve acquired over the past week or so. My dad sent me Amy Winehouse’s album, “Back to Black” which I realise I should probably slate but I have to say it’s great. A really good pop record, not much more than that, but really great at what it does. He also sent me a Freestylers double CD, “Different Story, Vol. 1″ which is a whole lot of drum’n'bass. It’s great to code to. Finally, I also downloaded the new Radiohead album. A lot has been said online about it and about how it is going to change the business model for online music. I’m not going to echo all of these comments here, I’ll just say it’s an excellent record. Maybe not as good as Thom Yorke’s “Eraser” from last year, but still excellent.
At this point the train pulls into Edinburgh Waverley, the train fills with the smell of brewery and I think I should probably do some real work.
