Because of all the traveling, there's a ton of movies I've missed--Astro Boy, 2012, New Moon, etc..
I'm also dying for some new books to read. Pocketbooks are SO much cheaper in Manila than anywhere else I've been recently. For example, in Malaysia, a pocketbook costs about 35 ringgit, which translates to approximately 490 pesos. The same pocketbook in Manila would go for about 300 pesos.
So I am fiction-deprived. It would be best not to annoy me.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Is it stress or age?
I love to sleep. If I can get 8 to 10 hours a night, sigh, I'm in bliss.
Since I resumed work in Ateneo, though, I've been sleeping less. I notice now that I get maybe 6 to 7 hours only. I'm not sure if this is because of an increased workload or because I'm starting to feel my age more. I tend to think it's the former for a number of reasons: I do feel tired during the day. My attention span during long meetings is practically non-existent. I tend to eat more, which I heard is one consequence of being puyat.
Is a lifestyle change in order? Hmmm....
Since I resumed work in Ateneo, though, I've been sleeping less. I notice now that I get maybe 6 to 7 hours only. I'm not sure if this is because of an increased workload or because I'm starting to feel my age more. I tend to think it's the former for a number of reasons: I do feel tired during the day. My attention span during long meetings is practically non-existent. I tend to eat more, which I heard is one consequence of being puyat.
Is a lifestyle change in order? Hmmm....
Friday, November 27, 2009
Baguette
Baguette is our 4-month old female chow chow. She's sweet, very playful, and very assertive--an alpha in the making. She hates it when any other dog is acknowledged before she is. Dominance issues.
Earlier this week, though, she'd been sick. There was one evening, she poohed, peed and threw up all over our home office. She stopped throwing up the next day, however her appetite was still low. The real indicator, though, was that she wasn't raising Cain with the other dogs. She'd lie down quietly and at most wag her tail.
We took her to the vet and sure enough she had a fever. She was given a couple of antibiotic shots and stayed with the vet for observation. When she started eating again, the vet sent her home. Now she's her old self again. She's tearing up the house like Speedy Gonzalez, tumbling around with her brother, Cointreau, and launching herself at Roti (our 9-month old chow) and Barbie (our 5-year old lab).
She's baaaack!
Earlier this week, though, she'd been sick. There was one evening, she poohed, peed and threw up all over our home office. She stopped throwing up the next day, however her appetite was still low. The real indicator, though, was that she wasn't raising Cain with the other dogs. She'd lie down quietly and at most wag her tail.
We took her to the vet and sure enough she had a fever. She was given a couple of antibiotic shots and stayed with the vet for observation. When she started eating again, the vet sent her home. Now she's her old self again. She's tearing up the house like Speedy Gonzalez, tumbling around with her brother, Cointreau, and launching herself at Roti (our 9-month old chow) and Barbie (our 5-year old lab).
She's baaaack!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Personal reasons
Last Wednesday, I gave a talk regarding some of the challenges involved in writing research grant proposals. I gave examples of reasons for rejection that I myself have received or that I've witnessed other people receive and I tried proposing ways to avoid these mistakes. I also gave examples for well-meant suggestions that can sometimes be unacceptable.
"Why don't you work with X?" is one such suggestion. If the person making the suggestion is among the approving authorities, you can't say "Because I don't like him/her!" You need to have a valid excuse to say no. The truth, though, is this: my research area is personal to me. On my own time and at great personal expense, I pursued it. I chased it around the world, when no one in my immediate vicinity had any real interest or any expertise in it. That gives me the right to pick and choose my partners and collaborators. To the rest, all I will say is go in peace.
"Why don't you work with X?" is one such suggestion. If the person making the suggestion is among the approving authorities, you can't say "Because I don't like him/her!" You need to have a valid excuse to say no. The truth, though, is this: my research area is personal to me. On my own time and at great personal expense, I pursued it. I chased it around the world, when no one in my immediate vicinity had any real interest or any expertise in it. That gives me the right to pick and choose my partners and collaborators. To the rest, all I will say is go in peace.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Cited by 2
Publication is good. Citation is better. And citation by someone you truly respect is the best.
A paper I wrote with Ryan Baker, Matt Jadud, Christine Amarra, Thomas Dy, Bea Lahoz, Sheryl Lim, Sam Pascua, Jess Sugay and Emily Tabanao was cited in a paper by Beverly Woolf, Winslow Burleson, Ivon Arroyo, Toby Dragon, David Cooper and Rosalind Picard.
Bev Woolf quite literally wrote the book (or at least the latest book) on intelligent tutoring while Rosalind Picard literally wrote the book on affective computing (it was, in fact, entitled Affective Computing).
I'm truly delighted. :)
A paper I wrote with Ryan Baker, Matt Jadud, Christine Amarra, Thomas Dy, Bea Lahoz, Sheryl Lim, Sam Pascua, Jess Sugay and Emily Tabanao was cited in a paper by Beverly Woolf, Winslow Burleson, Ivon Arroyo, Toby Dragon, David Cooper and Rosalind Picard.
Bev Woolf quite literally wrote the book (or at least the latest book) on intelligent tutoring while Rosalind Picard literally wrote the book on affective computing (it was, in fact, entitled Affective Computing).
I'm truly delighted. :)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
How to do this
When I was teaching a class of 8-year olds (yes, the first and only time I ever tried to handle kids), one of the kids ran up to me in despair and cried, "How to do this???"
It's become a favorite expression that I use each time I feel overwhelmed. I've been saying "how to do this" a lot.
It's become a favorite expression that I use each time I feel overwhelmed. I've been saying "how to do this" a lot.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Seething
A foreign student approached me yesterday because he wanted to learn more about distance education. He said he was considering a distance ed course from a US state school. People "back home" said that an Ateneo degree wouldn't enable him to get a good job when he returned to his country because degrees from third world countries aren't recognized.
EXCUUUUSSSSEEE MEEEE!!!!
I wanted to toss him out of my office!
Oh, and then, at some point, he asked whether my own distance ed course marginalized me in any way. I said no, it didn't, but I also worked DAMN hard on my course and I had other outputs such as publications that people could use to judge my worth. I said, but of course, publications are an academic measure. Measures in other disciplines such as business are different. He said, yeah, they're more practical.
Before I could channel Redg and his colorful vocabulary, I took what was left of my self-control and managed to say, Are we done? I think we're done.
Look, I'll be the first to admit that our educational system here can be sucky and that Ateneo is not perfect. I'll also be the first to admit that many of us academics like our ivory towers. But I'll be damned if I'm going to allow this third world country and its academics to be dismissed wholesale.
God, I need chocolate!
EXCUUUUSSSSEEE MEEEE!!!!
I wanted to toss him out of my office!
Oh, and then, at some point, he asked whether my own distance ed course marginalized me in any way. I said no, it didn't, but I also worked DAMN hard on my course and I had other outputs such as publications that people could use to judge my worth. I said, but of course, publications are an academic measure. Measures in other disciplines such as business are different. He said, yeah, they're more practical.
Before I could channel Redg and his colorful vocabulary, I took what was left of my self-control and managed to say, Are we done? I think we're done.
Look, I'll be the first to admit that our educational system here can be sucky and that Ateneo is not perfect. I'll also be the first to admit that many of us academics like our ivory towers. But I'll be damned if I'm going to allow this third world country and its academics to be dismissed wholesale.
God, I need chocolate!
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