A CS Professor's blog

I am acquiring valuable knowledge on cat fleas. This time I have figured out that the kittens I'm fostering have fleas, before I got bitten even once.

The other night in downtown Providence, on Kennedy Plaza, I saw an older homeless couple. The man was carrying several heavy bags, and the woman was pulling a carriage. They crossed the street slowly, with slightly shuffling steps. On the other side, as the woman was having trouble pulling her carriage up, the man turned to her, saw what was delaying her, gently took the handle from her and pulled the carriage up the curb. They then resumed their share of the load and their slow walk.

A few minutes later, I saw them again, wandering back by the park, indistinct in the shadows but recognizable by their uncertain gait, before they finally disappeared out of sight.

One more thing to worry about: I must not accidentally misplace my tablet pen - else lecture preparation becomes a real challenge!

A small miracle happened today: setting up my (borrowed) tablet in an unknown classroom with unfamiliar technological equipment, I followed the directions printed by the projector etc., pushed the buttons that had a big highlighted label, according to directions, and everything worked without a hitch. Amazing.

The alternative would have been a black board, and I hate chalk dust, so I was highly motivated to do it right.

After intensive work for a couple of hours, I am usually mentally exhausted and need a short break.

Nowadays: I get some coffee and surf the web idly.

In the old days: I got some coffee and sat by the coffee machine to chat with whoever else was taking a break at that time.

Does the web make us socialize less with the people who work just down the hall from us?

- Must not lose my tablet charger

Flying on September 11: just like any other day.

Liverpool, UK. Outside the hotel there is a small plaza shaped like a mini roman amphitheater. I stood in the center and spoke up. The acoustics made my voice resonate as if I had a microphone. Incredible.

During most of August, thanks to slow internet traffic and more time to clean up my desk, I was able to contain the size of my mailbox to about 50 or less. Now, with the new semester starting, in spite of my efforts the number of messages has shot up to over 100.

Email seem impossible to contain more than temporarily. It's like malaria --with constant care, it's possible to contain it in spite of occasional feverish bouts, but it's always threatening to overwhelm at the next crisis.

Today is May 1, or rather, Labor day, the US analog. But here it is a chance to exalt work as an ethical (?) value, not to review inequalities at work nor to have street demonstrations.

Classes at Brown start on Wednesday September 1, but Monday September 6 is a holiday in the US (it's their version of May 1), complicating the schedule already in the first week. It's odd how the semester begins: three days of classes, and then immediately a long weekend. Why not start on Tuesday September 7?

I don't think it's by chance. The same thing happens every year in the local high school. It must be by design. But what's the reason?

What I learned today in class:
- that writing code on a screen in real time is horrendous. I should always have the next slide ready with the resulting code, so that after my efforts to write, a cleaner and complete version appears on the next screen.
- that freshmen have never seen truth tables before!!

What I already knew but learned again:
- that rushing to cover planned material before the end of class is not worth it! Better go slowly and carefully.