Mesh conference 2008 schedule is up

I just got an e-mail saying that the Mesh conference 2008 schedule is up as well as the MeshU schedule. I'm pretty excited as I'm attending both events and I got both for only $30 each through student ticket pricing! For the past 2 years, I've wanted to go to Mesh but I was always late in getting the student tickets and they are limited and go by so fast! So, I wasn't going to be disappointed this time. Looks like there will be a great roundup of speakers, I'm impressed as to how the organizers were able to get these speakers, but kudos go out to them, as it's not easy to get the right set of speakers. I know since I've organized many workshops and getting speakers is not easy.

With that being said, Mesh is about less than a month from now! And speaking about Mesh, do you know that Microsoft has Live Mesh? It's their answer to Web 2.0, many people were saying how Microsoft is not onto the Web 2.0 bandwagon. Again, Microsoft may be late to the game, but they have a pretty neat platform called Live Mesh that is designed to synchronize not just people you know, but devices and content. It was the brainchild of Chief Software Architect and CTO, Ray Ozzie and has been 2 years in the making. It just got released last week. More info on Live Mesh on here. To me it sounds like service-oriented architecture like Jini or web services but has a Web 2.0ish flavour to it, plus a open extended programmable framework that allows programmers to write and get data from the mesh using any programming language. What do people think about Live Mesh?

On Technorati: Mesh2008, LiveMesh

Allan Borodin talk - Fields CRM-PIMS prize

Today, I'm in the Fields CRM-PIMS prize talk by Allan Borodin, a professor in Computer Science at the University of Toronto. The talk is on Understanding Simple Algorithms: Toward a More Systematic Study of Algorithms. He is looking into an attempt of a more systematic study of algorithms. Typical algorithms courses deal with big three (simple, greedy, dynamic programming), search algorithm, combinatorial algorithms, but they don't deal with the actual topic of algorithms. So the question is then who cares about algorithms because you can't really give a formal definition. A second thing is that it has been done before. Algorithms have been used in social networks as that done by Jon Kleinberg. Many greedy algorithms deal with maximizing a submodular function. Sometimes there is no maximum cost function in the study of greedy algorithms. In algorithm, you can't capture everything but you want to capture the majority of all cases.

The algorithm should be easy to explain to others and be able to be formalized. Allan explained about his framework for priority algorithms that help to explain greedy algorithms. An example that he gave is to schedule athletes to do biathlon where they do swimming first in one lane and then biking. One example that he is describing is interval scheduling.

Babbage's Difference Engine on show

This is quite exciting. See the news below, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine #2 is being displayed and shown working at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. I was at the Computer History Museum in 2006 when I did my internship at PARC, let me say, if you're a computer geek, you'll LOVE this place! You can see my blog post I did when I was there.

Here's the info on the Difference Engine which I got as a subscriber to news from The Computer History Museum:

Join the Computer History Museum in launching its exciting exhibit: Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2, exhibited for the first time in North America. Bring your family and friends to see and hear the Engine in action!

This five-ton Engine is one of only two Charles Babbage’s computing engines ever built, consisting of 8,000 parts of bronze, cast iron and steel and measuring 11 feet long and 7 feet high. It was designed to calculate and print mathematical tables. Come to see the docents “crank” the Engine and watch it mechanically calculate - an arresting spectacle of automatic computing.

The Exhibit Launch and Open House, a Victorian-themed event, promises a stunning display of Babbage’s elegant design and inspired engineering. His designs for vast mechanical calculating engines rank as one of the startling achievements of the 19th century.

The Babbage Exhibit is made possible through the generosity of the following donors: Nathan Myhrvold, Andreas Bechtolsheim, Bell Family Trust, Donna Dubinsky & Len Shustek, Judy Estrin, Fry’s Electronics - Kathryn Kolder, Dorrit & F. Grant Saviers, Marva & John Warnock, and with special thanks to Science Museum, London.

Come to see what no Victorian ever saw.


Where
Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Directions

When

Saturday, May 10, 2008
12 noon - 5:00 p.m.

Activities:
- Engine demonstrations throughout the afternoon
- 1:00 & 3:30 p.m. - Screening of Ada Lovelace Film, “To Dream Tomorrow” (53min)
- Popcorn and snowcones available all afternoon

Sign Up

To sign up for your coupon for free popcorn, please click here.

To attend the Member's Only Breakfast at 10:30 a.m., please click here.
Last day to sign up is May 8.

So if you're in the area, have a look and perhaps take some photos to share back to the rest of us!

On Technorati: Computer History Museum, Charles Babbage,difference engine

Passed the PhD departmental exam!

I just had my PhD departmental exam today and I passed! So, now it's just changes to the thesis and to schedule a PhD defense and then I'll be finished with my PhD. So, 5 years of blood and sweat actually were worth it! It won't be long till everyone is going to have call me Dr. Chin hehe (of course not a medical doctor)!