inportb

I’m imagining a computer program running on a basic server cluster (read: Google) that’s able to learn stuff by asking random users random questions. It would be primed with some basic knowledge by the programmer, but every day it would find something interesting (i.e. random dictionary word) and probe its properties. The types of questions would initially be naïve (is an apple a noun or is to apple an action?), but gain depth as knowledge becomes available (how is an apple different from an orange?).

A simple way of sending the program to school would be to expose it on many websites where it could ask questions and accept answers from users. So… would this work?

He walks out onto the stage amidst thundering applause. As he basks in the recognition, he raises his electric guitar; the applause grows intense in anticipation of what is to come. He readies his fingers against the strings, poised to strike the first note; the arena is suddenly silent. And then it comes: piercing, undulating, soothing, straining, the unmistakable signature of his art. The crowd goes wild.

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Well-rounded is one of the many adjectives applied to graduates of Columbia University. Columbia University, with its rich core curriculum tradition, definitely places great emphasis on making its students well-rounded. On the one hand, well-roundedness is a human ideal; on the other hand, it is difficult to fully comprehend its implications on humanity.

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This is not a story about how Facebook makes me painfully aware of my inability to control myself. One out of every fifty people on the planet uses Facebook and most users belong to Facebook. I can truthfully say that I’m not addicted to Facebook, and I’m proud of that.

Not MySpace

In high school, online social networking was an easy way to quickly gain new contacts. We didn’t go crazy with it, but it was just cool to have an online profile. It was slightly amusing to those of us who had been building websites, but we hopped on the bandwagon anyway. MySpace was the most popular social networking website but Facebook was the friendly new kid on the block. It felt good to be part of something new, something exclusive. As our ambitions grew, Facebook grew with us. Unlike MySpace, Facebook had a simple and consistent user interface. Unlike MySpace, Facebook takes care of most page design and presentation. Unlike MySpace, Facebook was open not to the world but only to students. In short, Facebook was everything MySpace was not, and we identified with it.

As version after version of Facebook rolled into existence and new features were added, it quickly became clear that Facebook’s signature lack of customizability was also its greatest strength. Fewer design concerns meant better focus on content. Less variety of page components meant the ability to quickly find things on anyone’s profile. And a simple email notification system kept everyone up-to-date on what friends were doing.

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History is, and has always been, misunderstood. Retrospectively, we view history as a linear progression that leads logically from event to event to event, from fact to fact to fact. While such a simplification is often necessary for historical instruction, it masks the true complexity of history.

When we study history, we often ask, how did we get here from there?, where here is the state that we are in now and there is some state that we were in previously. Rarely do we ask, starting from there, where could we have gone? Historians do not concern themselves with possibilities; what could have been is not nearly as important as what has been. As far as we know, there is just one timeline linking our very beginnings to now, and we invest quite a bit of effort into linearizing our account of the past. If it did not happen to us… if it did not happen in our universe, we should not care. After all, we are a selfish people.

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The 2008 College Puzzle Challenge will commence in fewer than eight hours! Every year, Microsoft employees stage a puzzle-solving game at colleges across North America. During the event, teams of four strive to solve the largest number of puzzles within a twelve-hour timeframe. To those who will be participating today: good luck and have fun!

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I’ve been experimenting with WordPress-Facebook integration, since I use both WordPress and Facebook substantially. WPBook looks like an interesting plugin to play with — it makes a Facebook application out of your WordPress setup.

Amidst the triumphant cries of the Barackians, I cannot help but feel the community spirit. The well-oiled American political machine has entered a new phase. Congratulations, Mr. Obama; God bless America.

AMD just released a version of its proprietary video driver fglrx that works with the new Xorg 7.4. This is just in time for the release of Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex), so AMD video users should not have any trouble upgrading to or installing Ubuntu 8.10. In general, those who had been plagued by problems involving fglrx should find this release useful.

[bug entry at Launchpad] [via Ubuntu Forums]

If you’d participated in the previous event, then you should already have received an email about it. This is a puzzle-solving game held at colleges across North America by alumni who work at Microsoft; teams of four strive to solve the largest number of puzzles within a twelve-hour time frame. Each year, the puzzles are solved in the framework of a different theme.

New schools have been added this year, as usual, so sign up if your school’s participating! Though it’s not easy to win recognition, most participants have immense fun. If you do well, you might also land a job at Microsoft, but that’s not the main reason people play. This would be the third time I’m participating at Columbia.

More information is available at the Challenge’s official website.