JBlog

I seem to be posting a lot this week, but I hope this doesn’t raise the expectations for all you readers. I’m sure that in a few week from now I’ll get lazy and go back to my semi-regular posting schedule.

After two disappointing rejections on academic research papers I’ve been shopping around to conferences in the past 4 months, I’ve finally secured my first acceptance! Yeah, it’s a dinky little workshop hosted in Waterloo, and yeah, it’s only a poster plus a three page extended abstract. But you know what, it was peer reviewed and counts as my first real formal grad school scholarly accomplishment so I’ll take what I can get! Plus I can use this momentum to write a kick-ass paper for ECIR and hopefully get a trip to Glasgow out of it!

So I guess I owe everyone an apology since I haven’t updated this in a while. The truth is, after the resounding success of The O’Fishbein Factor (see here and here if you don’t believe me), and my subsequent blogging vacation, I really just forgot that I even had a blog!

But the recent efforts of O’Fishbein Factor Fan and former Imprint editor Tim Alamenciak have rekindled my blogging spirit. Tim’s started his @UW blog to tackle almost real-time current happenings a the UW campus which I can only assume is filling his post-Imprint free time block. And frankly, he’s doing a pretty good job. Not that I agree with everything he reports, though. His take on the C&D’s around campus proved to be lacking some facts. Most notably:

1. The prices at the EngSoc C&D were reported incorrectly (although the picture of the chalkboard with the prices was correct).
2. The EngSoc C&D has a single variety of Fair Trade coffee, not the “wide” variety as reported.
3. The MathSoc C&D is in fact the best place to go on campus if you’re looking for a brown, watery-tasting hot beverage.

But still, @UW is informative, timely and well updated (unlike this blog). Kudos Tim! And if you ever want to get into podcasting, look me up!

toothpastefordinner.com

Neural Computing at Waterloo (ScienceCareers.org)

It’s not an academic publication, but it’s one step closer! Plus those pesky journals generally don’t include pictures!

Maybe I picked the wrong topic for Masters research.

That’s right, I can now put letters after my name! Ooooooooo…

Convocation was this past Saturday and I finaly got a peice of paper certifying what I have already experinced over the past 5 years. I have to admit, the idea of convocation is rather silly when you think about it. I found that University has taught me that education is more about personally internalising and undertsanding knowledge then falunting what you know on the outside. How Ironic then that a university education concludes with a ceremony and peice of paper that you get to show off to your friends and colleagues.

Well, University has taught me that I do like learning and that’s why I’ll be returning to Waterloo next fall for a Masters degree. And I think, at least to me, that’s more important than a peice of paper!

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

I just finished my last exam of my undergrad career. I’ll be honest, I was expecting some sort of marching band to start playing as I left the PAC.

Oh well, maybe after my next degree.