Students considering graduate work in the Salla lab should have some background in at least two of the following fields: neuroprogramming; computational psychology; endocrinology (wet or simulated); complexity mathematics; recursive logic; behavioral psychology (wet or simulated); mediation; data mechanics; artificial communities; human/AI interaction; robot design; ambient studies.


There's something odd about this professor.

"I was at the Cha-Cha Lounge."

SeattleStories.net is an interesting experiement. It's a random collection of local stories and lore. You've got to dig a bit, but there are some real gems in here. I'm wondering if this is just a freaky idea someone had, or if there was the intention of making a buisness out of it by tying it to localized advertising. I hope not, because it won't work. Cynic, me.

"But in the big money world of journalism, keep in mind many reporters are not only lazy, but also headstrong and stupid. They want the story and they think they're so clever and determined that they will be the next Woodward and Bernstein. Of course, the lesson of Woodward and Bernstein is always missed."

Steve Baldwin over at NetSlaves catches fire!

We got a '96 Celica, less than 50,000 miles. WOO HOO! (5/2/01 correction: We got a '96 Camry.)

Well, we're off to go car shopping.

STICK FIGURE MAYHEM!

This is just really, really funny.

The Day the Wheels Fell off Kozmo.com is an article my fellow Menno House alumnus, Skip Kempe, wrote.

And now, a little song:

"A," you're adorable,
"B," you're so beautiful,
"C," you're a cutie full of charms.
"D," you're a darling and
"E," you're exciting
And "F," you're a feather in my arms.
"G," you look good to me,
"H," you're so heavenly,
"I," you're the one I idolize.
"J," we're like Jack and Jill,
"K," you're so kissable,
"L," is the lovelight in your eyes.
"M," "N," "O," "P," I could go on all day.
"Q," "R," "S," "T," alphabetically speaking, you're OK.
U," made my life complete,
"V," means you're very sweet,
Double-"U" "X" "Y" "Zee."
It's fun to wander through the alphabet with you
To tell you what you mean to me.

by Buddy Kaye, Sidney Lippman and Fred Wise.

"If I were you, I would immediately turn your computer off rather than view any of the dreadful images, read any of the wretched information, play any of the unnerving games or examine the unpleasant books presented within this website." Welcome to the world of the mysterious, furtive Lemony Snicket, who has devoted his hunted existence to researching the true story of the charming, resourceful but extremely unfortunate Baudelaire children and their angst-filled flight from the dreaded Count Olaf.

Spoiler: Lemony Snicket is the nom de plume of Daniel Handler, who has written two novels: The Basic Eight and Watch Your Mouth.) For further reading, check out the Salon article:
The Mysterious Mr. Snicket

"Of the 100 or so stories on Salon, I would bet not one mentioned that the company spent more on content alone than it took in across the entire company. That is far more relevant than the issue of subscriptions, because the figure indicates that the company is running way out of wack."

Steve Gilliard lets us know one way journalism is failing us.

Yes. The Beach by Alex Garland is worth your time. Strongly recommended.

"Nintendo's clearly aiming for the Maxim set here—frat guys who think poop is funny—and it's a solid strategy."

On the right track... Slat wonders why video games for grownups seem to revolve around scatology. If you've played Black and White, you know what I mean.

"To implement the creature learning, we used a combination of methods: We used perceptron training for learning desires, and symbolic (decision-tree) learning for the opinions. Perceptron training has been used before in A-Life programs like Creatures, but decision-tree learning has not to my knowledge been used before in games."

The designer of the AI in Black & White speaks. By the way, he was a philosophy major.

Star Wars Linkfest!

I'm linking to Slashdot's coverage, not to the origonal article because it's really no use reading a John Dvorak article in the origonal anyway. As usual, he gets it all wrong.

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters
"Forbes has an article by John C. Dvorak which summarizes the TiVo and similar devices as follows: "It's a way to steal programming." He justifies this remark by claiming that the main purpose of a TiVo is to "skip commercials" that pay for TV content. He also seems upset that people can use these devices to record content onto a hard drive without paying royalties to the content companies. Never mind the fact that the article has numerous factual errors (Dvorak claims that TiVo systems cost $500 and implies that the systems are difficult to use; he also makes a ridiculous comparison between MP3 file-sharing and TiVo). This guy seems to never have heard of the Betamax court case which legitimized time-shifting. "

Hee hee, I'm having great fun with Epinions.com, writing some scathing reviews of stuff no one has the guts to pan. It's also a cool site if you're car shopping. I had particular fun with this one.

"US aerospace giant Boeing and the Russian aviation and space agency RKA have signed a deal to launch commercial satellites and market a future Russian module for the International Space Station (ISS). There was also agreement to develop two new jetliners within the next four or five years, a business-class plane and a regional passenger aircraft similar to the Russian Tu-324."

Leaving Seattle - but how far from Seattle?

"The Trellix Corporation, which lets clients like About.com provide site-building tools and Web server space to their users, will announce today that it has licensed Pyra's Blogger technology for an undisclosed sum."

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Blogger is the kernel of something kickass.

"Joey Ramone, the singer whose misfit style and guileless shout in the band the Ramones defined punk rock as a music for Everyman, died yesterday at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center. He was 49."

"The frustrating thing about "Josie and the Pussycats" is that even though the girls finally realize they don't want to be pawns in the big-business music game, they never return to their garage roots, and that was the time they looked their best, in their ripped T-shirts, chain belts and messy mascara."

Hello? Hello? Hello.... anyone awake in there? Hello?

Our first family Easter Meal

Last week a friend invited me to his Seder. I must admit, I felt a little ritual envy. There's something, I think, very sensible about a ritual that begins with a glass of wine. That's because I had forgotten how Catholics cook. The first bottle of wine should be empty before the meal enters the oven. I am experimenting, by the way, with Jerusalem Artichoke stuffing. Odd that Jerusalme artichokes are neither artichokes nor are they from Jerusalem. They are a Native American food related to the walnut.

The next step: making product placements cool. The corporations, Mr. Big, THEM, need something new to fight back against growing grassroots anti-corporate sentiment. Their answer? Josie and the Pussycats. This movie has so many corporate logo palcements, faux-subliminals and outright plugs that there's no longer any question of wether it's a movie or a commercial. It's all out in the open now. In fact, by blogging this I'm doing just what they want me to. I'm adding to the buzz. C'mon, corporate placements are cool now. Free will is SOOO, like 1990's.

"I am the proud "renter" of journal 82. It is now in Eugene Oregon where I go to school (UofO art student). The journal was given to me by my boyfriend who did some freelance work for Character, where the book was first dropped off.


I'm still trying to find the perfect place to put numero 82. For now it lies in the hands of yours truly........"

Some bunch of weirdos are handing out 1000 journals and asking people to pass them around. The journals include a message asking people who find them to check in at 1000journals.com. Neat.

"Gold fever swept Thailand today after a controversial politician said a vast hoard of treasure hidden by Japanese troops during World War Two had been found in a cave and could help solve the country's economic woes."

A Thai Senator claims that he has found the location of the lost Japanese gold hidden by departing troops at the end of World War II, a la Neal Stephenson's Crytponomicon. By the way, if you haven't read the Cryptonomicon, you should.

"And when David Sears began working on it, and I said to him, I want a game that you can not possibly win. And he said, ' Well, that might, that might frustrate the player a little.' I said, 'A noble endeavor as far as I'm concerned, what better fun is there than to frustrate game players."

This is an oldie but a goodie. And interview with Harlan Ellison on the making of a video game based on his "I Have no Mouth but I Must Scream." Incidently, the interviewer is J Michael Straczynski, creator of Bablyon 5.

Another Seattle gaming store closes down

It looks like Games and Gizmos, who closed down their Capitol Hill and Bellevue stores after a bad Christmas, are closing down their last store in Redmond as well. It will be missed.

Nancy (a.k.a. "N.K.") Stouffer claims that J.K. Rowling stole her ideas for the Harry Potter series. Ms. Stouffer claims that she invented the word Muggles. (She also claims J.K. Rowling registered her Harry Potter copyright as a United States citizen. I had the link for that site yesterday. Today, it mysteriously vanished.) You can find all of the allegations on "Real Muggles."

"I think coincidences happen," Stouffer says, "but I still say if it looks like a duck and acts like a duck, it's a duck." In a similar vein, if it acts like a rat and smells like a rat.... Stouffer's claims that she invented the word "Muggles" (see above link) may very well be her undoing.

Divided Democrats

Ergonomic Regulations Repeal is Just One Example

by Ralph Nader

"Software giant Microsoft is laying off one of its most controversial employees: Clippy."

Neat technology, poor application. Shades of Bob.

Emily (left) and Mercedes (right).

Click here for Kevin Underhill's new translation of Dante's Inferno (as heard on NPR's Weekend All Things Considered). You'll never again look at drivers talking on their cell-phones in the same way!

Well, I just uploaded my Grand Tournament pictures and report to my old ISP account at http://www.oz.net/~plato/GT2001/prelims.htm. Enjoy.

She's bold! She's sassy! She's helpful! She's The Lipstick Librarian! You will find neither Peter Pan collars nor bun-in-the-back hairstyles here. Glasses are fashion statements and flat-heeled shoes have been replaced by ruby slippers or purple high tops. If you've ever gone to your library and wondered, "Who is that exquisitely attired woman and are my tax dollars paying for it?" this website is for you! (It is also a tribute to all of my glamour-girl and guy colleagues who have ever been told, "But you don't look like a librarian!")

Calvin and Hobbes Resurrection is not the official C & H site. Here, you may study the fine points of Snow Art, and play Calvinball or Escape From The Mysterious, Uncharted Planet.

"Crew remains in the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley show sailors at their stations, indicating whatever sank the sub happened quickly, an official said Friday."

Scientists have excavated the remains of a Confederate submarine, the first sub to ever sink an enemy vessle.

"Expanding rapidly from the Eastern Fringes of the Warhammer 40,000 galaxy a new alien empire has been sighted."

Games Workshop has a preview of their next line of 40k models up. Looking pretty good!

"Highly regarded by many people, this game definitely deserves a place in the Gaming Hall of Fame, if only because it was so original for its time. Originally produced by Eon in the seventies, Cosmic Encounter has since been produced West End and Mayfair as well. Each version is different, but a couple features are universal to all versions."

Here's another Cosmic Encounter link from Boargamegeek.com, for the curious.

"Big News! KCMU radio is now KEXP! KCMU, University of Washington, and EMP announce innovative partnership."

Paul Allen just bought KCMU. Is Seattle's best radio station doomed?

Cosmic Encounter is considered by many to be one of the great classic board games. Richard Garfield called it one of the primary ancestors of Magic. Some enterprising engineers are working on Cosmic Encounter Online. The game is quite playable, though you should expect to get you butt handed to you until you figure out what's going on.

uh-huh

I can't find anything interesting on the net to post today.

There is only one possible conclusion.

The days of new content are over.

All there is left is to post and re-post someone else's.

Stay tuned for my "the best of All Your Base Are Belong To Us" feature.

"An attorney was convicted Monday of trying to extort $310,000 from Erin Brockovich and her boss, Ed Masry."

I didn't really like that movie much, but Albert Phinney nevertheless rules.

I'm back. I am tired. I scored 65/120 battle points, 104/120 sportsmanship, 41/60 painting, 37/60 composition (totally undeserved), and 4/10 on the dreaded quiz. Good night. I sleep now.