January « 2008 « Sub Ubi

Course evaluation as a conversation

By matt, on January 18th, 2008%

Continuing on from my previous post, I continue to wonder about conversational (or dialogic) forms of course evaluation. A cursory search of a few online databases doesn’t yield anything in this area, which means a more serious, systematic literature search is required. While it is true I’ve never seen anyone take a conversational approach to course . . . → Read More: Course evaluation as a conversation

Reflections on Software Design F2007

By matt, on January 17th, 2008%

This past autumn I taught Software Design at Olin College. It was an excellent experience, and I enjoyed myself a great deal. As I was experimenting with a number of things (a transition from material found in HtDP to an OO introduction to GUI programming, pair programming, the use of version control with novice programmers, extended . . . → Read More: Reflections on Software Design F2007

A body for a bot

By matt, on January 17th, 2008%

The last post on this blog was in October. Since then, things have been busy. Over the next few posts, I’ll try and catch up a bit.
For the last three months, we’ve been working hard on the new Blackfin Surveyor SRV-1.

Blackfin SRV-1, image stolen from the Surveyor webpages
We first encountered the Surveyor at AAAI 2007. [...] . . . → Read More: A body for a bot

LEGO Duplo

By matt, on January 16th, 2008%

I don’t usually impulse buy. In fact, I just plain don’t buy many things, full stop. Generally, I want less stuff laying around. But there have been two recent acquisitions around the house that may help reduce the general stress level by introducing a bit more—vegetation and play, perhaps.

After months of being back in the US, . . . → Read More: LEGO Duplo

greener hosting through smaller machines?

By matt, on January 12th, 2008%

To keep a weblog like this on the Internet requires a computer to be running, somewhere, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. My weblog, in short, consumes natural resources so that my blather can be read by a handful of wonderful, beautiful people.

In truth, there is much more running on this machine than just . . . → Read More: greener hosting through smaller machines?

Mozy is a horrible choice for automated backup

By matt, on January 8th, 2008%

Using the Mozy backup service has turned out to be a horrible choice on my part.

In near the start of 2007, I purchased a new MacBook to replace my Powerbook that had been stolen. I suffered a hard drive failure, but had good backups. When the drive was replaced, I went ahead and subscribed to Mozy, . . . → Read More: Mozy is a horrible choice for automated backup

Columbia Station to Needham, MA

By matt, on January 5th, 2008%

653 miles, 11.5 hours. Our little Echo got almost spot-on book values the whole way at 34 miles per gallon. And the MacBook did well, too: on battery, I roughed in 19 pages of a paper I’ve been trying to write in fits and starts since this summer. (Mind, I did over half the driving, so . . . → Read More: Columbia Station to Needham, MA

the little computers

By matt, on January 3rd, 2008%

There’s a great deal to reflect upon from this past semester, but I think I’ll start by looking forward.

For the last two years, I have been delving deeper into the world of embedded systems. By this, I mean computational devices that exist in the world around us. Your microwave is an example. Mobile phones. The LEGO . . . → Read More: the little computers

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