There was some confusion about my recent post on the Melnick book on manhole covers from people who were unfamiliar with the term "manhole." One way to describe a manhole cover is a sewer lid. However, manhole covers are employed to cover a variety of holes that men (and women) explore for a variety of purposes. I prefer to think of a manhole cover as exactly what an obelisk isn’t.
Postal Addresses
Mika pointed out a striking similarity between the official business addresses of Apple and Canonical:
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Canonical Ltd.
One Circular Road
Douglas, Isle of Man
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Apple
One Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA
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A friend I trust tells me that Infinite Loop is not, in fact, infinite. I have every reason to believe that Circular Road is everything the name implies.
Honesty is very important to me.
“Jose”
My country’s national intelligence is now in the hands of a man so powerful that he is not publicly referred to with even a fake last name.
Of course, it’s nice to know that as mysterious as he is, "Jose" is a maximum of three shorts degrees of separation from me on the social networking graph. Add this to the list of benefits that come from knowing Nicholas.
Ubuntu Talk at BLU
Last night, I decided to check out the Boston Linux Unix webpage to find out when the next meeting would be and what the talk would be on.
To my surprise, the talk is tomorrow and is slated to be given by none other than Benjamin Mako Hill. Hmmm.
I vaguely remember agreeing to give a talk like this in general sense but don’t remember ever agreeing to a specific day. In any case, I’m not one to disappoint and am working on my slides.
If you’re interested in some post-Breezy action in Boston, please show up! If you can’t make it, I’m trying to arrange a proper release party for some point after I receive my Breezy CDs (a week or two I guess).
I’m sorry for the short notice. Of course, I’m giving the talk on short notice so I’m not too sorry. Additionally, I am missing both a class and a Media Lab sponsors dinner that I was already double booked for. You should be able to cancel up to one of your prior engagements to attend.
Information on the talk is on the BLU website. The talk will be held at MIT in E51-315.
Manhole Covers by Mimi and Robert Melnick
Mika and I went to the MIT Press Bookstore loading dock sale today. It provided what was, by far, the most relevant selection at any bargain book sale I’ve attended. It was two small rooms and I could have easily walked out with 100+ books that I would have read. Even with most books at three, five, or seven dollars (US), my student budget was the limiting factor.
At the sale, I bought a large coffee-table sized book called Manhole Covers by Mimi and Robert Melnick. It offers page after mesmerizing page of black and white photographs of manhole covers of all designs, shapes and sizes. At seven dollars, I felt like it was asking a lot but Mika and I decided that on a per-manhole-cover basis, the price was really unbeatable.
The price was 3.3 cents (US) per full-page manhole cover photograph if you do not account for the small thumbnails of manhole covers that pepper the books front matter.
If you are in or around Boston, you should go to their next loading dock sale — probably in the spring.
Groups: Interaction and Performance by Joseph Edward McGrath
Much of my research at the Media Lab in the next couple years is going to involve me trying to help make collaboration around chunks of text, both code and other types of creative works, more effective and efficient.
To prime myself a bit, I’m participating in a class on Computer Supported Cooperative Work being taught in the the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (!!). This week we’re reading about group theory including the book Groups: Interaction and Performance by Joseph Edward McGrath. The professor suggested that we could start on Chapter 3. Chapter 3 begins:
Science is the systematic use of theoretical and empirical methods to try to increase understanding of some set of phenomena or events.
If the third chapter begins by defining science, I can imagine why my professor thought the first two were unnecessary.
Cost Benefit Analysis
One benefit of having a blog is that you don’t have tell the same stories over and over to all of your friends and acquaintances.
One drawback is that you can’t.
Fisherman’s Friends
I have a sore throat today and I asked Mika if she had any Fisherman’s Friends. She asked what they were. I said "fish."
I was making a joke. After all, calling a fish a "fisherman’s friend" implies a relationship that is beyond the realm of even dysfunctional friendships. Of course, this also makes one wonder about the term "friend" in the context of a throat lozenge that hardly fairs any better than the fish in the same company.
Reflections on Free Software Past and Present
I’ve been reading First Monday for several years now. It’s probably the only academic journal that I take the time to scan every single time a new issue is released. As you might imagine, I was felt honored to be asked by Sandeep Krishnamurthy to submit a set of reflections on Free and Open Source Software’s from a "where have we been, where are we going" perspective for a upcoming special issue of First Monday on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
First Monday has published or republished some of the most important articles on FOSS — both academic and non-academic — over the last few years and this issues tries to highlight many of the best pieces.
The issue was released today and can find the whole issue here. You can jump direction to my reflections on free software past and future as well.
Overall, Krishnamurthy puts together a solid collection. My only critique is that I felt that at least one piece from someone on the Free Software side of the Open Source/Free Software divide would be essential to a complete collection. I found it conspicuously missing.
Thinking along these lines, I could not help but remember that Eben Moglen’s Anarchism Triumphant: Free Software and the Death of Copyright was published in First Monday early on and I’m sad that it was no included. I understand that Moglen’s piece is more radical and less "academic" than others but I’m not convinced it would be any more out of place than the Raymond’s The Cathedral and the Bazaar which was included. While less visible, Moglen is at least on par with Raymond in terms of the impact and importance of this thought in the FOSS world.
Moglen’s piece was one of the two articles that first brought FM to my attention and, whether you agree with it or not, it is a controversial and important piece. The other article on FOSS that I an think of in relation to FM was George Dafermos’ Management and virtual decentralized networks. Looking at again, I’m not sure it’s aged very well (or perhaps I haven’t aged well in relation to it) but I was happy to see that it make it in.
Metaphor
I was talking to Eben Moglen a couple days ago. In addition to saying many insightful and inspirational things, Eben used the word "physical" metaphorically.
I am looking for suggestions on sensible way to use the word "metaphor" metaphorically.
Contacts as Context
While some people think it’s fine to soak their contacts in water overnight, it is my opinion than water is no solution.
Interact Ions
In a paper on computer supported collaborative work I was reading recently, I read this line in the opening paragraph:
This has partly to do with the fact that in recent years the importance of understanding human computer interact ions in social and cultural context has increasingly been acknowledged.
I spent longer than I should have trying to figure out what "interact ions" were before I realized that there had simply been an extra space inserted into "interactions."
I still think "interact ions" sounds like an excellent Media Lab project.
A Blog Entry
Mika tells me that Greg Pomerantz — who still refuses to have his own blog — once bought a book called A History of Mathematics. He was looking for a book like it and this volume was sandwiched between several others sharing the similar name The History of Mathematics.
Greg went with A and he made the correct choice. It’s clear that the authors of the latter books got at least one thing wrong that the former got right.
I recently bought A Tour of the Calculus.
Marvin Making Marvin
At the lab, I share an office with two folks working in Push Singh and Marvin Minsky’s Common Sense Computing artificial intelligence research group. The group has recently been looking at finding new corpora of data for helping to teach computers common sense. Recently, someone had the idea of using blogs as a source. My officemate, Dustin, decided to try out Livejournal.
Now LJ has something of a reputation for being a place where angst-ridden and depressed teenagers vent their spleen. From a small random sampling of data, Dustin seems ready to conclude that:
- LJ’s reputation is not as fully undeserved as some might hope.
- LJ is probably not the best source of data on which to build the future’s artificial intelligences.
These snippets are from the first 5-6 random posts:
Certain people think I suck, but others don’t. Feel free to be the judge.
…
And I’m going to slaughter the person who gave me whatever it is that I have right now. As soon as I find them. And I’m about to be one of those people who go to work sick because I need money.
…
My thoughts of late have been pretty scattered and off the wall. But the last few nights have been very rough on me. My dreams, actually nightmares, have been of death, violent death. Death of myself, both body and soul. As a result, I am in the process of making a will. I don’t want to sound morbid but I feel that this is something I have to do. I’m not sure why and maybe I’m just in a wonky mood.
The Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy anyone?
Scheduling Conflict
It seems that the new exclusive Cambridge, Massachusetts social space The Acetarium is having it’s grand opening at the same time and in the same place that I’m having my house warming party.
Both parties are tomorrow (Saturday September 17th) at The Acetarium.
If you’re interested in coming to either event, contact me. The time to show up is 8pm or later if you’re interested in just drinks and earlier (4pm on) if you’re interested in making or eating sushi.