Thursday, August 31, 2006

Wiki-Brittanica

So, here's a thought… (copyright Sean Brin – maybe its about a time you write something there :) I just got out of the class I am TAing on Human Computer Interaction. During the lecture, Dan, mentioned that one of the great advantages of Wikipedia is that it instantly releases material and updates; something that can hardly done by Britannica in a paper version. And I was thinking…

Britannica does have a website, so technically it could somehow adapt to the dynamics, and there is an ongoing struggle between it and Wikipedia over the online dominance (well, actually the battle has gone well beyond the borders of the cyberspace). In the last year or more, Wikipedia has been criticized for being inaccurate and mediocre, particularly compared to the established encyclopedias. Although I do favor Wikipedia's model and philosophy, today's lecture made me think that Britannica could actually have an upper hand in this online battle if it would open its mind to some new models. Thus for example I think there is place for a Wiki-Britannica: something that will have the core of Britannica content with ability for people to add and edit it. In ideal world this would be based on interaction between Britannica people and the community of Wikipedia editors, thus (hopefully) leading towards better quality, more rigorously researched, and yet more diverse and culturally sensitive content.

Here are also many questions of course. For example the question of business model arises. Today, in order to use Britannica, you have to pay, and this money is probably used to do that research the encyclopedia is so proud of. What will happen if the content will become free and dynamic online? Should all the content become free? Besides, will Britannica's content gain from a real interaction with people who care? Will the spirit of Wiki community remain if it starts interacting with an institutionalized entity such as Britannica? I don't know… but I like the idea, particularly in light of the recent changes Wikipedia had in the way the community is managed. Perhaps this is the time to consider new models for both sides of the spectrum…

We want coffee!

Well, this one is really last for today, but it is really cool and in light of the hour and the time I have to get up at the morning (7 am!!!), you can get a chance to see what I will look like.

Click here and try dragging the pot with coffee towards the dogs/bunnies/whatever they are… and there are more… (thank you Gina :)

What do I study?

Well, this is a last one for today, but it is a semi-serious one. Today we had one of those classes when we talk about defining the field of studies we all are working in. This made me wondering, how many of the people whom I know and who know me, really know what is that I am studying. Well, one thing, the previous sentence proves, is that I can't really write, but what is that I am studying? It seems that there are only two people reading my blog, but still, what do you think? :)

Macaroni with cheese and wine

Yesterday I had another culturally-culinary experience having my first ever macaroni with cheese and of course with wine. Well, Gina, my fellow student, already laughed at me claiming I made a very simple mac and cheese sound very sophisticated. And telling the truth, I was kind of disappointed myself, since all it had in the box were some macaroni and shredded cheese. As a consumer you have to add butter and milk yourself. Not very impressive. And although Erik claimed that this was a classic bachelor's dinner, I think I will switch back to simpler cooking.

Here is what a classic bachelor's dinner look like:



P.S. About the wine. I had a rather annoying accident a few days ago when I went to buy the wine and they refused selling it to me and wouldn't accept my Israeli driving license. I had a very long argument with them, including the manager of the store, but there was a very solid "no". So, now I guess I will have to get a local driving license, even if only for purpose of drinking in pubs and buying alcohol.

Proof

A few days ago a postman came and put a label with my family name on our mailbox. Apparently, here if you receive a lot of mail to a certain address, they logically conclude that you live there and put a label with your name on the mailbox. Isn't it great? I liked it…

And here is a proof that I actually live here now:


Monday, August 28, 2006

Naming the desk

Well, today (Sunday), I finished re-building my new desk and I think I am pretty happy with it. It is big, it is nice and it smells well :) A short retrospective may be useful. Here is what we had at the beginning:




And here is what we got at the end:




And this is how my future home office is starting to look like:



Did anyone say wires? :)

And now to the big task – I need a name for the desk. Since this piece of furniture is probably destined to company me in the next few years and since it will probably serve me in writing the dissertation, it really needs a name. This is because it is now like a boat with which I am sailing and as you might know, the name of the boat predicts the quality of the sail. So, suggestions for a name are required!

Friday, August 25, 2006

Summer camp pics

I think I mentioned it before that I was going through an International Teaching Assistants training. Here are the pictures of the event. You don't have to log in, just click on "View Slideshow".

I think the best thing that came out of the workshop is that I got to know many people. After less than three weeks, I walk on campus and see familiar faces. I like it :)

Thursday, August 24, 2006

The wall of fame

Tomorrow (or actually already today) the semester is about to start. Early? Yes. But what can I do about it? On Tuesday we had a departmental orientation, which included presentation of research areas of the faculty (something I believed people should've known before applying to the department, but I am not here to judge :) and giving away a lot of material about the university and more. Then there was a nice dinner where you could also have a chance to chat with the faculty and other students. However, a more amusing thing took place earlier, at the very beginning of the day, when all the new-coming faculty and students had to take a photo to be placed on a huge poster which is located at the entrance to the department. Yep, it looks like "doska pocheta" (honorary board) in the good old Soviet times. It is rather funny. And the process itself is even more entertaining. This lady photographer puts you in a very "natural" poses, to get "the best" picture for you. She takes a few and then selects the best one together with you. Mine was "sold" to me with the words: "Here you look very confident and competent. Like: 'I know what I am doing. Give me the job!'". Hopefully I will get hold of the digital version of the picture, so I could share what a composition of " I know what I am doing. Give me the job!" looks like.

Here are some pictures to get you a sense of what the situation looks like. Here is Gina being photographed:



And here is Laura going through the same process and then selecting the pictures:


I went through it too and also Amir Hezroni, who is a visiting professor from (you would never guess…) Israel.


And yes, everyone had also to sign a paper which allows Cornell to do with these pictures whatever they want. Well, that's the price of being posted on the wall of fame...

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Getting settled

Well, settling to a new place may be exciting, but may be also a bit frustrating. So I've been navigating between the two in the last 2.5 weeks, while I had to "personalize" my new home and as part of it get some furniture. Since Ithaca is appears to be kind of center of the world – it centrally remote from most major cities on the East coast – instead of going to Ikea (which, I was told, is about 250 miles away), I renovated some of the used furniture left at the basement of the house I live in. Since my time at home is limited, it was a frustrating and long process. However, as the outcomes start appearing, I think I do getting excited for the place starts getting a sense of home. So I painted some of the walls (maybe will share pictures later) and am getting some the furniture finished.

Here is the first one…. [drums]… a dresser!

Here what it looked like before:


And here what it looks like now in my room:



Well, I am not sure I am absolutely in love with colors, but it makes my room more colorful (instead of plain white) and it definitely could be worse. Now, there are more things "cooking" and I will post pictures as they are ready. So far, I think I really like how my future desk is turning out. Wait and see…

Monday, August 21, 2006

Zeus and Co.

I was pleased to discover that there are people who actually practice worshiping the 12 gods of Greek mythology. I think this is rather stylish :)

(if you don't read Greek, you can use Babel Fish to translate).

Thank you Nikos for the info!

_________

An update coming from Nikos: They also have a website. So, if you are interested in details, here is the link to the English version.

Ithaca is gorges

Yesterday (Saturday) it was raining heavily:



To me, it was nice. It wasn't cold, wasn't hot and there was a feel of freshness in the air. The sad thing about it was that I couldn't go to the planned mini-track at one of the lakes in the area. However, today, when I had to walk up the hill (!!!) to the campus (since there is no bus in proximity on weekends) I took the Cascadilla creek rote and it was amazingly beautiful! The gorge was full of water and the stream was so strong and laud… a totally different experience from the calm creek two weeks ago.






So now I start understanding where the phrase "Ithaca is gorges" came from.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Getting settled

More visual updates.

Here is my house:


Well, actually only about 2/5 of it is mine and even that is shared with Erik, my housemate. The right half of the house is ours, the left side is shared by another 4 people (but they have full autonomy, so it is a separate unit) and above us, in the attic, is another one bedroom or a studio place.

This is Erik:

And this is a street which I take on my way to and from the campus (after the creek):


To be continued…

"Head reduction"

I finished one TA training workshop (for international students) and started another one, this time a more general one. One of the latest points in the international TA workshop was about solving problems in class, particularly issues of cheating and plagiarizing. The message there was clear – if there is a problem in class (e.g. you catch someone cheating), do not do anything yourself and report to your supervisor. You have to remember that you are just a TA... Compared to a one and a half workshop, that was a rather minor, though strong, point there. Now, in the general workshop, it has grown huge. Basically this is one of the main themes in this one – whatever happens, do not make decisions! Whatever happens do not try solving anything yourself! Never make your own judgment – ask your supervisor!

Well, maybe this is the cultural shock, but this seems to me a little bit too much. How could you ever be active and to initiate, if you are being "emasculated" from the very beginning? On the one hand you are taught to be creative and to think out of a box in the class. On the other, you are very limited in your freedom to build you class environment as you see it right.

For me, this entire session reminded the army. In Israel this is called "haktanat rosh" (which I literally translated as "head reduction") - a behavior when you are (mentally) lazy, not willing to make decisions and/or to take responsibility. If you think about this, this is a rather illustrative expression…

Cascadilla creek

Well, it's been a little bit over two weeks since I moved to Ithaca and it seems like an appropriate time to start sharing my experiences about the place. I think for me, the strongest impression so far was that this town (well, more like a village :) is extremely green! Everywhere you look now, you can see green and I enjoy it a lot. Everyone is telling me that this is going to change soon as it will get colder, so I cherish the moment. Here are some pictures from the rote I take back home from the university, which is right by a very beautiful creek called Cascadilla creek:






The pictures are not in any particular order, but still, think it is beautiful and I can walk by this beauty as long as it is warm :)

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Welcome to the USA

Since I am starting a new phase in the US at the moment, I believe this blog may shift into a bit more personal vein particularly since I think it may be a good way to share pictures and share some observations and insights from my current adventure.

So here we go with the first one. I am participating in this International TA Development Program and today I received an "International Teaching Assistant Manual". On page 5 it has an explanation of what small talk is and one of the paragraphs goes like this:

"In many cases, small talk is initiated when one person comments on another person's appearance or belongings. However, there are a few social norms to be aware of in these situations. Women can generally compliment other women on their clothes or shoes. However, men generally do not compliment women, and women do not compliment men on their clothes. An exemption may be when someone is wearing a shirt or a hat with the name of a place you have visited."

Well, welcome to the USA! :)