tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66299555411288232752024-03-14T02:50:57.757-04:00Andrew Eckford: The BlogNot a real doctor since 2004.Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-16461740266041781532016-01-28T11:19:00.001-05:002017-09-13T11:03:16.969-04:00Permanently Closed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This blog is now permanently closed.<br />
<br />
I'm starting a new blog at <a href="http://www.andreweckford.com/blog/">http://www.andreweckford.com/blog/</a></div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-87512441502411701962014-02-27T21:23:00.002-05:002014-02-27T21:23:22.686-05:00IEEE North American School of Information Theory<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The <a href="https://www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific/13-14/infotheory/">2014 IEEE North American School of Information Theory (NASIT)</a> will be held right here in T.O., from June 18-21, 2014. It will be held at the Fields Institute, on the lovely downtown campus of the University of Toronto.<br />
<br />
This is a great event with a stellar lineup of speakers, and <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HseUAtqxDIVeWvbcJCbrF6nL_DIGzRgSVHEqdL8tnUE/viewform">you should apply</a>. Deadline is March 7.</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-79736290136257828212014-02-05T14:29:00.003-05:002014-02-05T14:29:56.523-05:00Lab equipment for molecular communication<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You may have seen <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0082935">our PLOS ONE</a> paper about tabletop molecular communication, which received <a href="http://andreweckford.blogspot.ca/2013/12/doing-media-rounds.html">loads of media coverage</a>. One of the goals of this paper was to show that anyone can do experiments in molecular communication, without any wet labs or expensive apparatus.<br />
<br />
For molecular communication researchers, hobbyists, or anyone else who wants to do experiments like ours, my PhD student, <a href="http://www.eecs.yorku.ca/~nariman/">Nariman Farsad</a>, is making our apparatus available as an easy-to-use kit. (Full disclosure: the equipment is distributed through a small business founded by Nariman; I have no financial interest in the business.)<br />
<br />
For further details and quotes, please contact Nariman at: <a href="mailto:nariman@cse.yorku.ca">nariman@cse.yorku.ca</a><br />
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<br /></div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-42544149596772243482013-12-19T10:35:00.001-05:002013-12-23T22:21:34.603-05:00[Updated] Doing the media rounds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My paper on molecular communication came out last night on PLOS ONE:<br />
<br />
N. Farsad, W. Guo, and A. W. Eckford, "<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0082935;jsessionid=9A8A6CB7E7217B65D917D97752C04ECF">Tabletop Molecular Communication: Text Messages through Chemical Signals</a>," PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 12, December 18, 2013.<br />
<br />
Here I am giving an interview to <a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=263007">CTV News Channel</a>. <br />
<br />
Here's <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/12/18/how-canadian-scientists-used-a-mist-of-alcohol-to-develop-a-new-pheromone-inspired-way-to-send-text-messages/">coverage in the National Post</a>.<br />
<br />
I also did a radio interview, and a few other outlets picked up the story. I'll update with more links as I get them.<br />
<br />
<b>Updates:</b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/technology-video/video-researchers-find-a-way-to-text-using-vodka/article16059931/">Video from the Globe and Mail</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.chch.com/vodka-messaging/">News story on CHCH (Hamilton, Ontario) </a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-41988463287341019742013-09-27T10:38:00.000-04:002013-09-27T10:38:05.521-04:00Verdù interviews Fano<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You must check out Sergio Verdù's amazing interview with Robert Fano in <a href="http://www.itsoc.org/publications/newsletters/63nits03-printer.pdf/view">this month's IT Society newsletter</a>. A giant of information theory, Fano was the third recipient of the Shannon award, and is probably best known in our community for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fano%27s_inequality">Fano inequality</a>. <br />
<br />
The sweep of Fano's career is incredible. He coined the term <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_information">mutual information</a></i>. At MIT in 1950, he gave what was likely the first course anywhere on information theory; it was in this class that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Huffman">David Huffman</a> famously invented the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huffman_coding">Huffman code</a> in a term paper. But by the sixties, Fano was already out of information theory -- he wrote a book on electromagnetism, then got interested in computer science, becoming the founding director of the centre that would become <a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/">CSAIL</a>. Now 95 years old, he still keeps an <a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/user/688">office at MIT</a>.</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-63920790071524947232013-09-25T09:59:00.006-04:002013-10-02T10:20:15.402-04:00[Updated] Molecular Communication book: Radio interview on CKNW, Vancouver<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I did a radio interview on <i>The Shift with Mike Eckford</i>, on CKNW in Vancouver, about my new book. <a href="https://soundcloud.com/cknwnewstalk980/the-shift-tuesday-sept-24#t=25:58">Here it is on SoundCloud.</a><br />
<br />
UPDATE: Here's an embedded version.<br />
<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F112907568"></iframe>
</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-60738495870478895622013-09-18T14:23:00.003-04:002013-09-18T14:23:25.585-04:00New book: Molecular Communication<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
How does it feel to (co-)write a book and hold the finished product in your hands? About like this:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DsU4lCXAwyM/UjntmZtIo2I/AAAAAAAAAdc/aQADOqiRiUQ/s1600/IMG_0499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DsU4lCXAwyM/UjntmZtIo2I/AAAAAAAAAdc/aQADOqiRiUQ/s320/IMG_0499.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Many, many thanks to my excellent co-authors, Tadashi Nakano and Tokuko Haraguchi, for their hard work; thanks to Cambridge for accepting this project and managing it well; and thanks to Satoshi Hiyama for writing a nice blurb.<br />
<br />
Here's the back-cover text:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This comprehensive guide, by pioneers in the field, brings together,
for the first time, everything a new researcher, graduate student or
industry practitioner needs to get started in molecular communication.
Written with accessibility in mind, it requires little background
knowledge, and provides a detailed introduction to the relevant aspects
of biology and information theory, as well as coverage of practical
systems. The authors start by describing biological nanomachines, the
basics of biological molecular communication and the microorganisms that
use it. They then proceed to engineered molecular communication and the
molecular communication paradigm, with mathematical models of various
types of molecular communication and a description of the information
and communication theory of molecular communication. Finally, the
practical aspects of designing molecular communication systems are
presented, including a review of the key applications. Ideal for
engineers and biologists looking to get up to speed on the current
practice in this growing field.</blockquote>
The book will be released on October 31 in North America. You can pre-order it on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Communication-Professor-Tadashi-Nakano/dp/1107023084/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379528553&sr=8-1&keywords=molecular+communication">Amazon</a>. </div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-47138327669329236972013-09-13T13:37:00.001-04:002013-09-13T13:39:44.687-04:00Happy trails, Voyager<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img alt="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/images/neptune/20bg.jpg" class="decoded" height="300" src="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/images/neptune/20bg.jpg" width="400" /><br />
Here's Voyager 2 looking back at Neptune and its moon Triton, possibly the most poignant of the amazing pictures it returned on its voyage of discovery. Its sister ship, Voyager 1, is now <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/voyager-1-has-reached-interstellar-space-1.13735">in the interstellar medium</a>. [<a href="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/neptune.html">Image source.</a>]<br />
<br />
The issues of National Geographic with the Voyager pictures were probably the most dog-eared of my parents' collection. Back in undergrad, in the early days of the web, I remember realizing, "Hey, JPL has a website? <i>You mean I can see the Voyager pictures whenever I want</i>?!?!?!" Yes, I have always been a huge space nerd.<br />
<br />
Voyager 1 is expected to keep transmitting for another ten years or so. Happy trails.</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-31800344938192236842013-06-01T17:18:00.003-04:002013-06-01T17:19:29.932-04:00How close is the ISIT venue to the Istanbul protests?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Very likely it will all blow over by next month ... but if you're curious how close the <a href="http://www.isit2013.org/">ISIT 2013</a> venue is to the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22741644">Istanbul protests</a> in Taksim Square (about the possible development of Gezi Park), here's a quick graphic.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3MQcQqMtuR4/Uapkk_4UKMI/AAAAAAAAAak/ksRpnqqAUCE/s1600/Presentation1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3MQcQqMtuR4/Uapkk_4UKMI/AAAAAAAAAak/ksRpnqqAUCE/s640/Presentation1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-41686647116167730562013-04-22T09:57:00.003-04:002013-04-22T09:57:32.670-04:00Indefinite hiatus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I may as well admit that the blog is on hiatus for the foreseeable future. I've got plenty of things to write about, but no time. Sabbaticals, they are busy! Expect this situation to continue until at least the fall.</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-57383587866028571032013-02-19T15:59:00.001-05:002013-02-19T16:00:44.375-05:00Book on molecular communication<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For the last 18 months, I've been working on a book on molecular communication. The final complete draft was just sent off for production. It should be printed later this year. <br />
<br />
Many thanks to my excellent co-authors, Tadashi Nakano (Osaka University) and Tokuko Haraguchi (NICT); Tadashi in particular for doing most of the work, and for hosting my trips to Japan to hammer out the manuscript. Also many thanks to our contacts at Cambridge University Press for their help and support.<br />
<br />
You can read a chapter <a href="https://wiki.cse.yorku.ca/user/aeckford/_media/molecularcommunication-chapter5.pdf">here</a>. Comments are welcome. (From: T. Nakano, A. W. Eckford, T. Haraguchi, <i>Molecular Communication</i>, Cambridge University Press.)</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-9911489845709642002013-01-23T10:28:00.002-05:002013-01-23T10:29:12.852-05:00Just like the CCRAP party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In light of <a href="http://andreweckford.blogspot.ca/2012/01/another-reason-to-delete-conference.html">conference malware attacks</a>, and <a href="http://andreweckford.blogspot.ca/2009/11/conference-fraud-actually-happens.html">conference phishing scams</a>, and even the <a href="http://andreweckford.blogspot.ca/2012/11/ieee-dumps-bad-conferences-for-ieee.html">IEEE's crackdown on bad conferences</a>, I'm going to suggest that <a href="http://www.ieee-scam.org/">IEEE SCAM</a> is not the best possible acronym.</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-45404062519277535372013-01-14T13:07:00.000-05:002013-01-14T13:52:29.795-05:00On Notation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've spent the last week (and counting) trying to fix the notation in a long document that I've been writing, off and on, over the last 18 months. Since I wrote in fits and starts, I wasn't generally consistent with the notation, always thinking I could just fix it at the end. So when the end came, the results were predictably disastrous.<br />
<br />
But I've had a long time to think/swear about notation, and I made some observations:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8vLVUb5F7Ck/UPRT0NzG_lI/AAAAAAAAAWw/-tHOgAM5P64/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8vLVUb5F7Ck/UPRT0NzG_lI/AAAAAAAAAWw/-tHOgAM5P64/s640/Untitled.png" width="510" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
(Sorry for the image, it's much easier than trying to put LaTeX into Blogger.)<br />
<br />
I used to think that there should be a notation stylebook, one notation to rule them all. Or that I would, once and for all, teach my graduate students the "right" notation. But now I don't think that's possible: there simply aren't enough degrees of freedom in a concise, readable notation to make it also rigorous and universally consistent. And you have to favor readability over universality, or what is a notation for?</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-30387347901615814612013-01-04T14:08:00.005-05:002013-01-04T14:08:54.795-05:00Happy new year, happy new information theory blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Via this month's IT Society newsletter, here's the <a href="https://blogs.princeton.edu/blogit/">Princeton-Stanford Information Theory b-log</a>. Sergio Verdu is one of the authors.<br />
<br />
I've already learned something useful, namely that I should have <a href="http://texblog.net/latex-archive/maths/eqnarray-align-environment/">stopped using eqnarray years ago</a>.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-373112280553680322012-11-26T15:49:00.000-05:002012-11-26T15:49:18.027-05:00BIRS news<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm delighted to report that my <a href="http://www.birs.ca/">BIRS</a> workshop proposal, entitled "Biological and Bio-Inspired Information Theory" (co-organized with <a href="http://www.case.edu/artsci/math/thomas/thomas.html">Peter Thomas</a> and <a href="http://www.ece.virginia.edu/faculty/berger.html">Toby Berger</a>), was accepted. The workshop will take place in October 2014.<br />
<br />
BIRS is a gem of Canadian scientific research. My thanks to all the BIRS volunteers who make such a wonderful facility possible, especially the amazing <a href="http://nghoussoub.com/">Nassif Ghoussoub</a>.</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-4401871625944655592012-11-14T08:51:00.000-05:002012-11-14T08:53:06.894-05:00This Charming Man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As a fan of The Smiths from way back, I always thought Johnny Marr was the more talented member. After bouncing around several bands after The Smiths broke up, he'll be <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/48574-watch-johnny-marrs-video-for-the-messenger/">releasing his debut solo album</a> early next year.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d2W8aVDxeBY" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-17860368647535832912012-11-12T22:46:00.003-05:002012-11-13T13:04:10.139-05:00IEEE Dumps Bad Conferences from IEEE Xplore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is interesting: the IEEE has a "<a href="http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/author_form.html">Technical Program Integrity Committee</a>" which has reviewed recent IEEE-sponsored conferences, looking for "inconsistencies in some conferences with regard to the quality of the peer review and technical program development." Some 160 conferences from 2010 and 2011 did not make the cut, and will now be barred from <a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/">IEEE Xplore</a>, the IEEE's digital library. This looks like the first action of the committee, which apparently started work in 2009.<br />
<br />
First off, 160 bad conferences is a surprisingly large number. They say this is "less than 5%" of conferences from 2010 and 2011. I guess we can assume it's close to 5%, which still seems kind of high. In other words, out of every 20 conferences that the IEEE sponsors, one is bad.<br />
<br />
Second, if you read their <a href="http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/tpii_faq.html">FAQ</a>, it seems like they are concerned not only with quality, but with scope. For example:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Q - IEEE has notified us that the proceedings from this
conference will not be included in IEEE Xplore® because they are out of
scope. What is the scope of IEEE Xplore?<br />
A - Content in IEEE Xplore must contain a significant electrical (and related) engineering component.<br />
<br />
Q - How many out of scope papers can the conference proceedings have?<br />
A - The conference proceedings <b>should not have any out of scope papers.</b> </blockquote>
Emphasis is added. So how is the committee judging this? There are several rejected conference titles with a life-science focus (an area in which <a href="http://molecularcommunication.ca/">I do some research</a>), so were these rejected for scope or for quality? Where can we read this "scope"? What exactly are the rules surrounding interdisciplinary research in the IEEE?</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-59156370825562816162012-11-03T20:06:00.000-04:002012-11-03T21:36:27.018-04:00Nate Silver's odd wager<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Let's say you figured out a way to predict <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2012">a coin toss</a>. It's not a sure thing, but you think you can call the toss <a href="https://twitter.com/fivethirtyeight/status/264562251216875520">with 82% accuracy</a>. Naturally you're excited about this, so you tell everybody. <br />
<br />
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Scarborough">neighborhood bully</a> gets wind of this, and confronts you. "That's stupid," he says. "Nobody can call a coin toss. <a href="http://gop12.thehill.com/2012/10/scarborough-fires-shot-at-nate-silvers.html">It's fifty-fifty for everybody.</a>"<br />
<br />
So <a href="https://twitter.com/fivethirtyeight/status/263948379497840641">you offer the bully a bet</a>: you'll try to call one coin toss. If you call it right, you get $1000, if you're wrong, the money goes to him.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? How does that decide anything?<br />
<br />
Nate Silver is a brilliant statistician, and I think his call of the election is on the money. But his bet with Joe Scarborough solves nothing and confuses his point. Silver can be wrong and still win the bet with 50% probability, which Scarborough would be sure to point out. Worse, Silver can be <i>completely right</i> and still <i>lose</i> the bet with 18% probability. That's around one in six -- or the odds of rolling a one on a fair die. Not something I'd bet my reputation on.<br />
<br />
If Silver wants to bet, surely he can craft a bet that he is sure to win if he is right, and sure to lose if he is not. This should be a case study in decision theory.</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-82941698030363863312012-10-23T09:36:00.000-04:002012-11-11T11:32:16.323-05:00Would you include your blog in your T&P file?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What's the difference between a blog and a book, as far as "publications" are concerned? It's not quality -- it is not much harder to get a book published than it is to write the equivalent material in a blog. So if you are happy to list a book in your Tenure & Promotion file, would you also include your blog?<br />
<br />
I know of people who have done it, like our former science librarian John Dupuis (his excellent blog is <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/confessions/">here</a>). But I expect John is the exception rather than the rule.<br />
<br />
I see a couple of things holding most researchers back from using their blog professionally.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
First, John's blog is obviously professional: he is disciplined about posting regularly, and his posts are of professional interest. But like a lot of researchers, my blog is "for fun" -- I basically use it to blow off steam and write about what's on my mind; if I'm busy, I don't want to feel guilty if I go a week or two without posting. I'll post about research, but from time to time I'll also post about funny, mundane, and personal stuff. I don't think this is a bad thing; I like reading a mix of the professional and personal in other blogs. But if I had an eye towards T&P, I probably wouldn't write posts like <a href="http://andreweckford.blogspot.ca/2012/03/zombie-sheppard-subway-must-die-rant.html">this</a> or <a href="http://andreweckford.blogspot.ca/2011/04/critic-speaks.html">this</a>.<br />
<br />
Second, let's turn the tables and consider it from the perspective of a T&P committee. Books, papers, and other publications are familiar to other researchers,
but it's still a rare researcher who writes a personal blog. If a researcher submitted a blog, how would the committee evaluate it? Pageviews? Comments? Would they have to go through and read each post? My department's T&P document -- rewritten two years ago -- never uses the word "blog", so the committee would be within their rights to disregard it; moreover, it's unclear which category a blog would fit under: research, teaching, or service. Without answers to these questions, submitting a blog for T&P would be to court controversy in a process that the applicant wants to go as smoothly as possible. But forward-looking departments should be considering this question.<br />
<br />
So would you submit your blog for T&P? And if you were on the other side, how would you evaluate a blog?<br />
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Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-65586391888422217582012-10-15T12:57:00.001-04:002012-10-15T12:57:23.875-04:00On False Positives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h4 class="svArticle" id="section_lbl2" style="text-align: left;">
Methods</h4>
<div class="svArticle section" id="">
One
mature Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) participated in the fMRI study.
The salmon was approximately 18 inches long, weighed 3.8 lbs, and was
not alive at the time of scanning. The task administered to the salmon
involved completing an open-ended mentalizing task. The salmon was shown
a series of photographs depicting individuals in social situations with
a specified emotional valence. The salmon was asked to determine what
emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing. Stimuli
were presented in a block design with each photo presented for 10
seconds followed by 12 seconds of rest. A total of 15 photos were
displayed. Total scan time was 5.5 minutes.</div>
</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811909712029">Source</a>. <a href="http://xkcd.com/882/">See also</a>.</div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-31289086473564009042012-09-30T10:31:00.001-04:002012-09-30T10:31:30.628-04:00Low bandwidth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So the sabbatical is more intense than expected. I am SO BUSY <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/want-to-know-why-professors-dont-teach/article1202892/">sipping sherry</a> or drinking mojitos on the beach or whatever us lazy-ass do-nothing professors do (<a href="http://mediaculpapost.blogspot.ca/2012/09/margaret-wente-zero-for-plagiarism.html">LOL @ Margaret Wente</a>).<br />
<br />
All this to say, updates will be infrequent for the foreseeable future. <br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-50354644117765071912012-08-01T09:42:00.002-04:002012-08-01T09:42:53.281-04:00Some alternatives to the word "Webinar", in no particular order<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I hate the word "webinar". It sounds like a piano falling five stories onto pavement. But sadly, it is <a href="http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/257909">a real and widely used English word</a>.<br />
<br />
So here's my attempt find alternatives.<br />
<ol>
<li>Webtalk</li>
<li>Binar (Web log -> weblog -> blog, Web seminar -> webinar -> binar)</li>
<li>Reminar (Remote seminar?)</li>
<li>Electure (e-lecture, like electronic lecture, but first syllable like "election")</li>
<li>Caplet (Captured lecture, for lecture capture, i.e. recording and streaming lectures)</li>
</ol>
Or, the wild card: a category-killing company in the webinar space, whose whimsical company name will be used instead of "webinar" from now on, like saying "Google" instead of search.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
Any other ideas? Throw them in the comments.</div>Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-27138337687539035042012-07-24T09:13:00.000-04:002012-07-24T15:47:51.600-04:00Why is WiMob so expensive?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://conferences.computer.org/wimob2012/">WiMob</a> -- officially the IEEE International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking, and Communications -- is a prominent conference in communications and networking, organized by the <a href="http://www.computer.org/">IEEE Computer Society</a>. It also happens to be far more expensive than its peers.<br />
<br />
Suppose you're a professor with two graduate students; both your students have accepted papers, and all three of you want to attend the conference. The cost (just for registration) is given below for WiMob, compared with several peer conferences, from 2011 and 2012.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EnnPNrdUeFo/UA6aM08WhPI/AAAAAAAAAQA/6qpHbZ-xFO8/s1600/p2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EnnPNrdUeFo/UA6aM08WhPI/AAAAAAAAAQA/6qpHbZ-xFO8/s400/p2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
(For the professor, we're assuming the least expensive "limited" registration, at the early-bird IEEE or ACM member rate. For the students, we're assuming the student IEEE or ACM member rate. The plot is sorted in increasing order of 2012 cost.)<br />
<br />
First off, kudos to <a href="http://comsoc.org/">ComSoc</a> for running some of the least expensive conferences in the space.<br />
<br />
So what makes WiMob 50% more expensive than PIMRC? It's the double whammy of a high student registration rate ($570, compared with $300-350 at most of the others), plus the requirement that <i>each</i> paper have a non-student registration (or an extra paper fee, almost as much as a registration). Three papers per registration is typical of the other conferences.<br />
<br />
However, even if we consider a professor and one student with one paper, WiMob is still the most expensive for 2012, and second-most for 2011:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iCkMypYtAjU/UA6csf8a9GI/AAAAAAAAAQM/VFY1zagoTHY/s1600/p1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iCkMypYtAjU/UA6csf8a9GI/AAAAAAAAAQM/VFY1zagoTHY/s400/p1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
On the WiMob 2011 web site, the organizers say that "Due to the low acceptance ratio, each paper must have one full registration." And WiMob is a smaller conference than, say, ICC or Globecom, so it doesn't have the same economies of scale.<br />
<br />
Yet ACM's Sigcomm is a smallish conference with a lower acceptance ratio than WiMob (see <a href="http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/%7Ealmeroth/conf/stats/#sigcomm">here</a>), and still manages to be quite a bit less expensive. So what's going on with WiMob?<br />
<br />
(Hat tip to <a href="http://twitter.com/mackenab/">Allen Mackenzie</a> for pointing this out.) <br />
<br /></div>Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-38291317544510505052012-07-17T13:47:00.001-04:002012-07-17T17:22:03.791-04:00The incredible growing Transactions on Information Theory<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My complimentary copy of the Transactions on Information Theory came in the mail today, my reward for publishing <a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6191345">this paper</a>. I haven't received one of these copies in a few years, so I was pretty surprised by the size of it. You're looking at 891 pages of journal right there.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NxBu_bAe0HU/UAWg7riObFI/AAAAAAAAAPc/3yNIXNg8JZ0/s1600/IMG_0826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NxBu_bAe0HU/UAWg7riObFI/AAAAAAAAAPc/3yNIXNg8JZ0/s400/IMG_0826.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
It's not just me. The Transactions on Information Theory are getting much, much bigger.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a> Here's what I found going back to 1992:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jHNxTwLE3lU/UAWiN5tFN5I/AAAAAAAAAPk/b0NM_vjMfGE/s1600/TransIT.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="343" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jHNxTwLE3lU/UAWiN5tFN5I/AAAAAAAAAPk/b0NM_vjMfGE/s400/TransIT.png" width="400" /></a></div>
In 1992, the Transactions published under 2000 pages per year in 6 issues, and around 300 pages per issue; today, it publishes over 4 times as many pages per year in 12 issues, and well over twice as many pages per issue.<br />
<br />
This increase has gone largely unnoticed, probably because nobody gets the paper version of the journal any more. But if you did, you would notice that 2011 takes up as much shelf space as everything from 1992-1995. The July 2012 issue pictured above -- longer than average even by this year's standards -- would take up about half as much as 1992. The transactions have doubled in size since 2005.<br />
<br />
The society has faced this problem before: you'll note that pages per issue increased dramatically up to 2001, then dropped significantly in 2002; that was the year when the Transactions went from 6-7 issues to 12 issues per year. <br />
<br />
But now, with the sheer volume of material being published in the Transactions, maybe it's time to think about splitting the transactions into two or more series. Here are three off the top of my head: Series A, Fundamentals; Series B, Multiuser Information Theory; Series C, Applications. Each series could adopt its own editorial board and standards, which might also solve the persistent problem of time-to-first-decision.</div>Andrew Eckfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07739059406915664466noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6629955541128823275.post-88976656010969573772012-07-10T12:37:00.000-04:002012-07-10T14:22:54.037-04:00ISIT 2012 as it happened<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I created a <a href="http://storify.com/">Storify</a> of my tweets tagged #isit2012, after the jump. (As far as I know, I was one of only three people using this tag: the others were <a href="https://twitter.com/josepfontsegura">Josep Font-Segura</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/adgnaw">Da Wang</a>. We need more information theorists on Twitter.)<br />
<br />
It was an excellent ISIT -- one of the best I've attended. I missed 2010 and 2011 but I'm now motivated to attend more regularly. See you next year in <a href="http://www.isit2013.org/">Istanbul</a>, hopefully!<br />
<br />
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