Posts from — December 2003

Linguistics Meets Linux: A Review of Morphix-NLP. 12 Dec 2003: Zhang Le, a Chinese scientist working on NLP has decided to pack the most important language analysis and processing applications into a single bootable CD: Morphix-NLP. More than 640 MB of NLP specific software is included and there's still a lot of place on the CD which uses a compressed filesystem for bringing us the best of both worlds…The rest of the review is here. [RootPrompt.org -- Nothing but Unix]

Chuck Needs Some Love. Poor Chuck. He deleted his blog. It was an alcohol related blogging accident. You hate to see those. Appropriately, as the official blogumentarian for our generation, Chuck has made a short film about his experience. It will make you laugh…. [Eat Your Vegetables]

Doublethink on GOP hypocrisy

Check Doublethink. They're running a series of articles, meticulously detailing Republican hypocrisy in matters of sex, morality, and race. Good stuff, and massively documented!

[Politics in the Zeros]

sometimes you just have to revisit your youth, and i've been considering buying the cd's of the tv show 'tales of the golden monkey' which some say is a rip-off of indiana jones, but really is a rip off of something else for some time. well they came in the mail today.

Not that i don't expect a whole slew of rejections for academic jobs, primarily because I tend not to fit expectations and i tend not to sell myself, but i figure this season i'll share a bit of the reasons, this one says:

although you have a well-rounded resume and had many of the qualifications that are of interest to us, we have identified candidates whose background and experience more closely match the combination of social scientific training and informatics skills we seek.

Which is fair enough to me, i don't know exactly what people are looking for, but i tend to have a feel that they aren't really looking for me exactly, usually they are looking for someone who is more disciplinary and institutionally normal, or so my assumptions lead me to believe.

Now we'll see what the next ones say.

No More Pencils, No More Books. Even as there are reports of the increased importance of libraries, especially with the rise of information overload and new technology to combat it, schools are finding it harder and harder to find and finance qualified librarians. During times of… [TechnoBiblio]

Gender Inequality in Domestic Labor. The current topic in my Gender and Social Institutions class is gender inequality in domestic labor. The basic story is that women do way more work in the home than their male partners, even when they work full time outside… [Eat Your Vegetables]

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interesting…. what if there is no woman in the home though, i wonder….. do all men then hire domestic servants….

Beating Around the Bush.

Via Steve Gilliard's News Blog.

What has to be stressed over and over is the fragility of Bush's support.

Wrong on the issues, the war in Iraq, Bush only has an aura of personal charm which keeps his presidency afloat. People mistake his obstinancy for plain spokenness. It isn't. Bush is really just that stubborn and simple.

Someone said Bush has a glass jaw, I think that's kind. Bush is one real challenge from a complete collapse. That bubble they built around him isn't for laughs. The idea that a president doesn't read the news may sound cute to some, but it's frighteningly disconnected to me.

Bush plays into the worst prejudices of American political life: a belief in authority over curiousity, a xenopohobia which is deeply personal. A man with his education doesn't not travel abroad unless he has a deep aversion to it. His inability to admit error, the excessive stage management, the fear-based war on terror. All are indicative of someone unable to face the world on its own terms.

[wirearchy News]

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back when i was a teen, i had a copy of the book of lists 3, in which there were two lists for the scariest person ever, on the u.s. list, there were the usual suspects, on the world list near the top was ronald reagan, shocking… but true. i think the failed bush presidency now far surpasses reagan on the world fear factor. that is not a good thing.

yup, that's about it, a paper, a fairly interesting one that i'm writing with tim, well so far he wrote probably 160% of it, and i've cut it down to 85% but now it is back to around 96% his work, but all in all i think i have around 1000 words in it, i wrote around 3200 words for it, but you know how it goes. he writes 7200 words, i write 3200 words, and the paper is supposed to be 4-5000 words, life is interesting like that sometimes.

WSIS Round Table on ICTs as a tool to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The WSIS Round Table on “ICTs as a tool to achieve the Millennium Development Goals” has just ended. The main ideas debated were:

• Countries need to develop a national plan if they are going to achieve the goals. Without the plan, there is no chance for success by 2015.
• There is a debate on which comes first, development or ICTs. One side is saying that basic development needs to occur before the country can put scarce resources towards ICTs. The other side is proposing investing in ICTs as a way to increase development.
• Community access centers are going to be key to expanding access in the developing world. Many countries are currently making plans to have these centers as ways to reach the furthest regions of their countries.
• There are two digital divides, one external among countries, and the other INTERNAL within the country. Many speakers highlighted that this internal divide is the most severe and is the most urgent to address.

Some quotes of interest:

“Community access centers will guarantee ICT access to most of our population, converting the digital divide into a digital opportunity“, by Mr. Leonel Fernandez REYNA, President, Global foundation for democracy and development (FUNGLODE)

“There should be an open source fund for a foundation that would help developing economies gain access to inexpensive software needed to fuel the information society“, by Mr. Askar AKAEV, President of the Kyrgyz Republic

“Jobs will follow training and expertise“, by Ms. Tae Yoo, Vice President of Corporate Philanthropy, Cisco, USA, (in suggesting how education can play the initial role that will help attract the investment needed to fuel ICT development and growth)

[ITU Strategy and Policy Unit Newslog]