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| I've been too busy working/cooking to post :)
A
couple things from the past couple weeks. First, some Carbonara that I made with Cfdjskaflsdal. Pasta, bacon, eggs, cheese -- really can't go wrong there.
Next, some naan, that turned out pretty nicely, but
couldn't match up with restaurant naan. The texture was kinda like
pizza crust -- not soft like the good stuff.
Finally, one of my favourite treats: butter
tarts!
I'm going to be
submitting a demonstration to CSCW 2006 as part of my
research work with Professor Baecker. I've been soooo incredibly busy,
but it's been fun.
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| I got a Silpat mat for my birthday, and so,
naturally, I spent the weekend with friends making cookies. On two
separate days, I made Ultimate
Chocolate Chip and Phoebe's
Fabulous Oatmeal Raisin cookies. Yum. I'd recommend both
recipes -- both come out with a nicely crisp exterior, but are
pleasantly chewy on the inside. The chocolate chip cookie recipe
measures in weight, so if you don't have a scale, I might pass on it.
Before I had a scale, I made some approximate conversions, and it was
always hit or miss.
A picture of the chocolate
chip cookies, about to go into the oven:
I also had the
chance to try pomegranate. I had tried the seeds before, but only as an
backing ingredient -- I had them once in a sauce, and once as part of a
dessert.
Here's a single seed, being held by a
hired hand
model.
If you've never
tried pomegranate seeds, you're missing out. They're sweet, tart, and
have a very interesting and unique texture. Fun to eat, and quite tasty
too! I imagine they'd be wonderful on a salad.
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| Do I still remember how to post?
L'see.
I found a wonderful website: The Girl Who Ate
Everything. Me hungry.
It was my
birthday yesterday, and I really didn't do much ... but I'm feeling
good. Happy. Things are going well. Tomorrow, who knows. Meh, who
cares.
Thought this was a semi-neat effect.
Where am I?
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| I'm working on a software technology called "ePresence," which is
basically a software solution for capturing/archiving/webcasting
presentations and lectures over the internet. The ePresence team is
pretty much split into two groups:
| 1 | The "Core" group:
does work on the current system, and is concerned with the more
"practical" side of things.
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| 2 | The "Research"
group: does more experimental work, which may or may not ever make it
into the final product. This group gets funding from the University --
they can pretty much just play around with neat ideas, without worrying
too much about the feasibility of said
ideas. |
I'm actually a member of both teams. I do usability work on
the current system, and I'm working on something called "Presenter
Awareness" on the experimental research side.
This "Awareness" system allows people to view lectures or
presentations from home, and gives them the opportunity to do things
that would be possible in a normal classroom, like raise their hand,
ask questions, make comments, etc. The idea of "awareness" comes from
the fact that the presenter can see the home users (and their activity
-- for instance, if they have their hand raised) through what we call
an "awareness display". Other home users can also get a sense of who
else is watching from home (though, to a lesser extent), and even chat
with them about what's being taught (or discussed).
We had a test today, which surprisingly went pretty smoothly. My
supervisor, Professor Baecker, is in New York right now, so he acted as
one of the remote "home" users in our test.
After the test, he asked me to call him. When I called him, he
offered me a position for the fall term. I'd work part-time with
ePresence, and go to school part-time. If I accept the offer, I'll be
graduating late (either a half or full year), but I'd get some great
research experience, and maybe (he said) get some experience writing
some research publications, which would obviously go a long way towards
getting into (and succeeding in) graduate school.
I really have no problem with graduating late -- I mean, I'm
already graduating late, and if I plan on going to
graduate school, it really doesn't matter how late I end up graduating.
I would become, as my father said, a professional student -- so why not
start with it sooner rather than later? I haven't really liked any of
the "regular" computer science jobs that I've had, but this position
has restored much of my faith in the subject.
I'm enjoying myself, and that's a lot more than I could say about
any work I've done in the past.
So, anyways, I
think I'm going to do it. It'll make me some money (which I very sorely
need) and give me some really important and very relevant experience.
I'll sleep on it, but I think I've already made up my mind...
Pearl Jam concert tomorrow. I'm
excited. The new album is actually pretty great --
easily their best since Yield, which it might even surpass in terms of
consistency. Anyone seen Eddie Vedder lately? He's looking
young. That short-hair thing really wasn't working out for him...
Now Eddie:
 
Short-hair
old-looking Eddie:
~1994
Eddie:
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