NSF W8F: Last heave

Thanks to efforts of many, and mainly thanks to those who accepted our invitation to come out and brainstorm (without giving a talk, and with minimal information on what the workshop will be. my sincere thanks to them and this is an IOU, collect when you need it), we are near the beginning of the NSF Workshop on Algorithms In The Field (W8F). The webpage has been updated with the list of attendees, schedule, abstracts, breakout meeting rooms, etc.

We have a limited number of talks. These will frame individual issues, large themes, and set us for our discussions. Check out the abstracts, some truly exciting talks on the menu, from FOCS to Education, right things to cheap wins!

We have a fantastic set of attendees. Now all that remains is to bring an open mind, discuss and find exciting ideas, directions, collaborations. Weather is rainy and promises to be that way M-W. We will be away from grading, teaching and admin (in case of academics) and bosses, quarters, or deliverables (in other cases), so let us have fun, solve some problems, or at least pose them.

Local Talks

Upcoming talks in NY area:

• Mark Hansen at the NY Academy of Sciences on The Intersection of Data and Design ("Data are as ubiquitous as the air we breathe."). D.E. Shaw speaks on June 17 in Imaging, Visualization and Simulation: New Tools for Technology and Healthcare meeting.
• NY Area Security and Privacy day is on May 20 at CUNY.

NSF Workshop on Algorithms In The Field (8F) Contd

The workshop 8F is in the final lap of preparations. The schedule is up, breakout groups have been announced, etc. Time for some humor. Urban dictionary tells me: 8F is hexadecimal term for 143 which is known as the numeric term for "I Love You". I postulate that every word is within four degrees of separation from love, or sex. Let us say this is the 8F postulate.

Rutgers Hires

David Cash, Swastik Kopparty and Shubhangi Saraf and have accepted to be on the faculty at Rutgers Univ. Awesome! The Theory CS at Rutgers wall of fame is here.

The Manhattan Squeeze

50 cent's In Da Club is tight, a composition with pace, and no moment to spare. Manhattan is like that. Real estate is measured in $'s per square foot (1000+), life in $'s per min for children's swimming pool (2, no tips), and leisure in $ per min of massage (3, including tips). NY has a certain tightness of geometry. The traditional buildings stand shoulder to shoulder, elbows tucked in, holding their breath and not heaving; once they clear the shoulder line, they squeeze further to form tiered rooftop gardens. There are a few exceptions --- the bulbous Gehry building or the infamously spiral Guggenheim --- trying to elbow out their neighbors, build moat spaces around them and break the squeeze. Me, I like the squeeze.

Short Comedy Films at the Y

There is a scene in Godfather 2 when Robert De Niro tenderly looks down upon his son in the crib in defused light, and there is my favorite Keith Haring's painting on the left of a father holding his child high. In reality, life is not as serene or playful, but for an evening, I can enjoy movies, holding the only 14 month old at the The Iron Mule Short Comedy Films shown at the Tribeca Y. I got to see some amazing shorts in the April edition. In Houseguest, Julian Assange (of WikiLeaks fame) is an awful houseguest. In the adorable Oktapodi, two octopuses try to escape. In The Man in the Blue Gordini, a radical clothing revolution targets the monochromic orange totalitarianism, thanks to the Pied Pier in blue Gordini. In the Sounds of Summer Camp, a NFL training session becomes a rap song. The hilarious Bacon is a 12 part documentary journey through the myth, legend of bacon. In "Television is a Drug", the TV tries to get your attention. And finally, in Regrets: Kid, a mother faces her forgetfulness.

Rutgers Day 2011

Rutgers Day took place on Saturday Apr 30. A day to showcase programs, campus and the people. Lot of great booths, demos, performances all through the day, and the weather was perfect too. Five of Rutgers CS students --- Aparna, Hongzhong, Maurya, Shyamsundar, and Vasisht --- built an Android tool called "Rutgers Day Review" that lets one review the events and the various booths during the day (take a picture, write review, share by uploading it to facebook via our servers, if you are funny, you might win an awesome LiveScribe Smartpen as the prize). It is live on Android market now, but the server has been shut down after the day. Some of the uploads are on the facebook page here.

ps: Winner Vukosi's caption for the upload on the left, "Been waiting for the weekend science bus for ages". Also, the Aero Engg dept that had big model airplanes in the booth ran a raffle for an iPad to draw the crowd! The Jet Age is over and we live in the Apple Universe.