As promised, a video from the Groovie Goolies cartoon. The Goolies are cousins of the original Sabrina (the Teenage Witch). The witch in the cartoon has the same animation character as one of Sabrina's aunts, although I'm not sure which one (and in the GG, she had a different name). BTW, this song was later remade by Daddy Dewdrop, and became a top 40 hit.



Happy Hallowe'en to all who celebrate it.

Gone to Wall Street, every one ...

Well, not literally, but for those who are wondering why there aren't more engineers, it's an argument I've made in the past. (Some) people who might otherwise have gone into engineering decided to work on Wall Street because the money was better.

There are numerous articles, blogs, clips, etc. that mention warnings that were not heeded about the financial instruments created on Wall Street. Why weren't they heeded? Did the smart guys ignore the doomsayers? Why weren't the doomsayers' arguments considered? Scott Berkun's Why smart people defend bad ideas offers an explanation. As in my past arguments about the dangers of pay-per-click advertising, especially when web publishers are paid a share of ad revenue, if you're not (considered to be) as smart as the people espousing something you see problems with, you may be ignored, especially when lots of money is being made.

One more theory blog for you – Computational Complexity, by Lance Fortnow and Bill Gasarch, a couple of CS theorists. I haven't had a chance to read too much of it, but they touch on a fair number of topics I've commented on. I'll just throw out a couple of links I found interesting:

How I Became a Theorist
Inspiring a Love of Math

There is some mention of puzzles having influenced their (and commenters on their blog's) choice to do CS theory, but they also stress the importance of taking lots of formal mathematics – analysis, algebra, topology, combinatorics, etc.

As a point of fact, the two CS theory grad students at UCLA that I knew best had different backgrounds and approaches. EP, my study partner for the first two quarters of the 1989-1990 academic year, attributed most of his success to being able to solve puzzles. In fact, he did not have much of a (formal) mathematics background. OTOH, Liz Borowsky was an undergrad math major. However, she started a year after I did, so she did not take any of the theory classes that I took from Stott Parker. (We were both in Greibach's computational complexity class, however.) So I don't know how well she would have done, or what she would have thought of Stott's classes. By his own admission, Stott was a low grader, and some people might be discouraged about pursuing research with him if they received a low grade from him. But he encouraged people to approach him with their research ideas. (Guess who was one of the professors on my master's research project committee.) So for me, it was a mixed bag, having (perhaps) lower grades than if I'd taken the first three theory classes from Greibach, but being able to make a connection with a professor who was actively interested in my research.

Since I'm reflecting on my UCLA experiences a bit, I'll just briefly recall what my first few days of grad school were like. There was no great assembly of new grad students along Bruin Walk, or anything like that, but there was a little gathering in a courtyard off of entrances to Boelter Hall and one of the Engineering buildings. (I don't remember which one for sure, and there has been a lot of construction since 1989.) I remember going to the campus bookstore looking for (used) textbooks, and being followed by some guy who claimed to be a university employee and was trying to tell me that I would have a good but challenging experience at UCLA. (I guess he was right.) Before classes started, I rode my bicycle from my Mar Vista apartment to campus (about 6.5 miles, mostly uphill, but I was in much better shap back then). But for Kleinrock's 8am intro to network modeling and analysis class, I took two buses.

One more thing, major love out to Verra Morgan, graduate CS student affairs officer extraordinaire, who recently announced her retirement. IMO, she was the heart and soul of the graduate CS department.

Well, what do you know. Mihai gives his opinion on puzzles, and I respond.

Found another blog from a CS theorist, WebDiarios de Motocicleta. This guy stirred up a lot of controversy because he complained about not being the first theory hire chosen by the UCSD CS department. (As you might expect, he got ripped for this by posters in his blog.) However, he does make some interesting (IMO) comments on subjects such as teaching and whether it's better to get a research position in academia or a lab.

As for me, still very busy, although things have quieted down a little. I'm sleeping a little better also. I still have disconcerting dreams every so often, but at least I'm waking up in the middle of the night less.

Speaking of CS theory, I owe you all a memory of my first days of grad school, roughly 20 years ago.

Can't resist ... it was #1 on WABC 40 years ago today. For those not in the know, the girl giving out the kisses is the original Sabrina (the Teenage Witch). Her cousins are the Groovie Goolies. (More on that later.)

Still very busy ... nothing new there. I had to work on Saturday and Sunday. I was hoping to rest up from a very busy previous week, but wasn't able to, so I'm going into this week tired, which isn't good, because there are a lot of things going on that I need to be on top of.

Just wanted to point out another interesting blog by a theorist, Shtetl-Optimized. I'll be checking in on it and posting links here to content I find interesting there, time permitting. One really long thread I really found interesting was where the author asked his readers to ask him (almost) anything. Several topics were covered that I have touched on in the past. I wish I'd seen it earlier; perhaps he'd have some comments on why engineering is hard, how to better prepare for an insight/intution-based test, etc.

(As a side note, after reading some of this blog, I realized quantum computing is a bigger deal than I'd previously thought it was.)

Chorus resumed last night. Because Labor Day came late this year, we had to combine "Meet
the Director" (our version of an audition) with a rehearsal. I think five people showed
up, including one who's returning after being away for ten years. At least for now, we're
really low on (low) basses -- only two. If you are close to Palo Alto on Tuesday nights
and are a low bass, consider checking us out.

In other news, I went to the "new" Starlite, aka Cheryl Burke Dance studio, on Saturday
night. I hadn't danced at all for three months, so it took me a little while to get used
to being on the dance floor again. But I had a good time. Even better -- no shoulder
pain. So now I want to take dance lessons again, but as usual, I am very busy, and expect
to continue to be over the next few months. IME, it's hard to make real progress in
dancing if you can't do at least one private lesson, group class, and dance party per
week.

Since I'm really busy, I can't write a whole lot about the 30th anniversary of Rush Week at the 'tute. I remember going to the Student Center to check in. They didn't have my room assignment, although I was registered, so they gave me a room in EC. Then I went off to Kilian Court, where all the new freshman were gathered to hear the orientation speech. I looked for familiar faces, and saw a few people who I'd met either from MITE (now MITES) or my spring '79 visit to the 'tute, and a few Stuy folks. When the speeches ended, all the rushers swarmed in. I thought it was interesting how all these people wanted so very much to get to know me. :)

However, I didn't participate in the rush right away. A couple of people I knew from MITE were talking to a guy who looked a lot older than most of the students. He wanted to know if we were interested in a pick-up basketball game. I said yes, so we went to play in the DuPont center. Turns out JP was a former student who liked to come back to campus every year to relive the first day of orientation. He thought I was a little more nerdly than my other two friends (and was probably right). I don't remember exactly what I did after the game, but somehow I was able to get a ride over to a ZBT party.

JP and I would cross paths again a few more times during my first two years at the 'tute. Eventually I would work for him for a couple of summers and an IAP from 1981-82. I would eventually learn that he was a 6-3 major, and that Jerry Saltzer was his advisor. A long story for another time, but JP is probably more responsible than anyone for convincing me not to drop out of MIT, and in fact, to seek out UROP info from JS, which is how I wound up in LCS, learned about Internet protocols, etc.

I had an odd dream, not quite a nightmare, last night. I was back at (the old) Stuy for a choral concert. However, I was not in the concert, just visiting. Some of the singers said it would be OK if I joined them, so I agreed. But I didn't have a music folder. After looking for a folder, someone brought me the individual pieces of music, but did not bring a folder. I started thinking that perhaps I shouldn't sing, since I didn't know the music by heart, and that I'd rather give my full attention to the director. So I declined the invitation to sing, and set off to find the entrance to the auditorium and a seat. I was in a staircase going down to the auditorium when the dream ended.

As usually, I've been really busy. We're coming up on the 30th anniversary of my first day of (old school) Rush Week at the 'tute, but I may not get around to writing about it.

In Technology Woman, Gayle Laakmann, founder of the interview-coaching site CareerCup, praises outsourcing, which has greatly aided her small businesses. It may come as a surprise to you that I'm not going to complain about this. Why? Because she's honest about why she's outsourcing – to save money. She can't afford to hire US workers, so she hires people from India and the Philippines. I wish the CEOs of some of her former employers would be as honest as she is about why they seek workers outside of the US.

Speaking of interviews, I've had some interesting experiences from the other side of the desk, interviewing candidates for a couple of positions. Without going into too much detail, I'll say that I do not see any substantial difference in abilities between those who were born (and educated) in the US and those who were not. Granted, I have a small sample, but until I see some substantial difference, I'll continue to insist that there is none. But I have learned a lot about interviewing from both perspectives over the past few years. Perhaps I should write a book about it.

I'm still really busy, so I don't have much time to write. But I wanted to mention that
I've been having disquieting nightmares lately. In last night's nightmare, I was back at
UCLA, working in Boelter Hall. There was a powerful earthquake. I looked out from a
walkway and saw a huge brick building fall down. Somehow I got into a room and dove onto
the floor. When the earthquake stopped, I got up and looked for survivors. I found the
accompanist for my chorus. Then I was outside walking around to see what else had
happened. I walked over to some parking structures that hadn't been damaged, then I woke
up.

No need to provide any links, as the news is everywhere. Just wanted to pay respects to the King of Pop. I felt sorry for him, despite his talent and success. He had a troubled and tragic life.

A mini-memory: About 35 years ago to the date, we went to Cape Cod for the summer as we usually did after our summer house was completed in 1973. My cousin Lisa stayed with us because her mother was too sick to care for her. A song she really liked was "Dancing Machine". She was only five, and didn't know all the words, so she made the rest up.

I've been really busy lately, so I haven't been posting much. The 'tute's 25th reunion was a couple of weeks ago. I didn't go, but I wrote up something briefly in the Reunion Book. I don't know if it's publicly accessible, but I didn't write anything there that you haven't already seen here.

However, I did want to briefly recall moving from Cambridge to NJ. I moved in two stages. In the first stage, I rented a U-Haul van, loaded most of my (few) possessions into it, and drove off. (I did require the assistance of a friend who lived one floor below me in the house I lived in to bring my new mattress and boxspring down to the van.)
The place I was moving to was in Edison NJ, not far from the I-287/NJ 440 NJ Turnpike interchange, but I had only been to the place once, so I was a little unsure of how to get to the place from the Garden State Parkway, which is how I got there the first time. (Unusual for me not to know how to get somewhere I'd previously been, something I should have paid a bit more attention to.) But I did get there without incident, unloaded all my stuff, and quickly picked up some items from a "Quik Stop" (a 7-11 kind of store) before going to bed. I got up early the next day and drove back up to Cambridge. My father wanted me to come to Queens so he could see the van, but I didn't want to drive it in the heavy traffic of the Belt/Cross Island, etc. parkways, especially since I had to rely on side view mirrors only, so I just headed back.

The second stage of the move came towards the weekend, I think. I picked up whatever was left in the place that was mine (it was rented and partially furnished), met my friend Wes, and we drove down together. (He was going to visit his gf who was staying on Rutgers' campus as part of a Bell Labs summer program.) This time, we rode down I-95 all the way into NJ, then took the NJ Turnpike to the I-287/NJ 440 interchange. We unpacked the rest of my stuff, then I drove him over to Rutgers.

I went back to Cambridge by plane one last time, toward the end of the month. While I was there, I met up with andybeals, sierra_nevada and a few others for some hacking around campus. After that, I went back to see some of my other friends from the house, turned in my keys, and flew home.

I haven't had much time to write about problem solving, etc. lately, but something over at MyBiasedCoin caught my eye. The author asks whether it's a good idea to have a problem archive containing exam questions and solutions. (The exams would actually be drawn from the archive.) Several people, myself included, replied that it would be a good idea to have both problems and solutions. However, the author doesn't think including solutions is a good idea, because he feels that it's more important for students to think about CS theory problems the right way. If you've been following me over the past few years, you can imagine what my reaction to this was. (I don't disagree, but I still think making solutions available is helpful for students so they don't get stuck.) He hasn't replied yet, and perhaps he won't, but I hope some others respond. I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who can describe their "acquisition process" of CS theory – if they encountered any difficulties, how they worked through them, etc. Were they ever tested before working through their difficulties, and did they get lower grades than they'd hoped?

About three years ago to the date, I started noticing some snoulder problems. They turned into full-blown impingement syndrome, which took me quite some time to get over. I think I'm almost completely over that now, but I seem to have developed another type of RSI that affects my right shoulder mostly after I've been using a standard QWERTY keyboard and mouse for a full day. Rather than retype everything, I'll just point you over to cellio where I described what is wrong and what I plan to do about it. I've suspected that I needed to use ergonomic computer equipment for some time, but it looks like I'll have to get some pretty soon, or else things will get worse.

In addition, I've been working pretty hard, and haven't had much vacation since I started my job in January 2008. (Even when I went to visit my parents last December, I worked during some of the time I was away.) I've been reluctant to take time off, because I don't want anything to go wrong while I'm gone that I could have taken care of easily if I was there (my usual gripe).

The idea is being floated by Paul Graham. The idea is to allow those individuals who are currently applying for the existing visas who want to come to the US in order to start companies to do so.

I can see some potential flaws with this. For one thing, how do we (legally) define a startup? Another issue is that existing companies (who wanted to hire these people outright) might do an "end run" around immigration laws by buying these companies, thus acquiring those workers. It still would not necessarily prevent US workers from being displaced.

These points aside, I think PG has a rather optimistic outlook on the potential success of these companies, particularly with regards to creating jobs. Even in the best of economic times, the vast majority of startups do not grow anywhere close to Google's size.

I haven't had a chance to write here much lately, but wanted to pay tribute to Bea Arthur, 86, who recently died of cancer. I once met her after performing at a People's Choice awards ceremony. The "UCLA Chorale" (people drawn from all of the choral groups in the UCLA music department) provided the backup to Clint Holmes (of Playground In My Mind fame) at the awards ceremony back in the spring of 1991. Afterwards, we got to mingle with the guests a bit.

The following NYT article, a footnote to the one I (indirectly) referred to in my last posting on immigration, has touched off a lively debate on whether Google's hiring practices are fair, in light of the current economic downturn:

Google’s ‘Immigration Fixer’

My comments are here.

I'd also like to add to yesterday's comments on immigration to say that if we are really afraid that we will lose out to other countries technologically if we don't attract and retain more tech workers than current cap limits permit, we've already lost. We have no hold on non-US citizens. They have no good reason to come or stay here any more. Our financial system is a shambles; unemployment is rising; there is growing social unrest. In other words, we are becoming the very thing these people are trying to escape. They are in a position to make their countries better, and a growing number of them are doing just that.

As he usually does in his engineering blog, CuriousCat laments the US government's refusal to let more technology workers enter the US.

My (edited) response (awaiting moderation) below:

First of all, we don't turn away all talented scientists and engineers who were not born
or naturalized here. We have visa programs in place that allow a finite number of such
people to enter the US and work.

Secondly, let's say that the visa programs stay as they are, indefinitely. Is the sky
falling? Are we failing to compete, globally, technically? For example, which country
has the superior electrification infrastructure - India or the US? Which country has the
better motor vehicle transportation infrastructure? Which country has the better emission
standards?

If you want to talk technology, which country supplies the most Internet routers and
switches on a global scale? India, China, Russia, or the US? Which country develops the
most cost-effective desktop and server hardware?

I could go on. It strikes me that with the visa limits in place, we are doing pretty
well.

So what is it that we are afraid of? That a few disgruntled people decide to live and
work in someplace like Canada, or they return to their home countries? That they decide
to form businesses there? They're already doing that; they've been doing that despite the
existence of visas. OTOH, they're not exactly putting the US out of business.

I could also make the argument here that hiring visa-holding people to do work that those
born or naturalized in the US puts an unnecessary strain on our unemployment benefits
system. Here in California, the EDD has become so swamped with claims that they've had to
hire extra people. Arguably, some of those people were displaced by visa holders who were
asked to train their replacements. There was no good reason for any of these people to
need to draw unemployment checks because they were getting their jobs done. (Otherwise,
why would they be asked to train their replacements?)

Could we improve the STEM education available to US residents? Yes. Are we in danger of
becoming technically irrelevant? IMO, no.