"The dynamic programming matrix (Peterson, 2003), for example, was M.C.A."

Amusing: The Universal Text Imitator, which attempts to imitate the style of any arbitrary corpus of text by mere analysis of sentence structure, without any additional provided information about the documents.

More amusing: The Universal Text Imitator's output when applied to Beastie Boys lyrics.

From the "Hammering in a Screw" Department

A touching tale of an AI developer whose managers insisted that neural networks were the way to go for a project, despite all evidence indicating this was a profoundly bad idea. No doubt management had read some article about neural networks in Superficial Coverage of Technology Monthly and concluded that they, too, needed a piece of that somehow. Why can't managers leave implementation details to the people who, um, know something about implementation?

Aw, crap.

Well, I thought my plan to take advantage of sky-high copper prices and melt down the craploads of accumulated pre-1982 pennies I have to sell as scrap metal was foolproof. Sadly, I was wrong. I can't even take them to Canada and do it there! Damn you, US Mint!!! I'm so depressed now. But not depressed enough to jump off the Aurora Bridge, as nine(!) people apparently have this year.

In defense of fruitcake

Fruitcake: You can gift it, regift it, scoff at it, or toss it. Few, however, are moved to actually eat it. Two weeks ago I made Alton Brown's Free Range Fruitcake. Instead of creepy-looking artifically colored candied fruit, it uses basic dried fruit soaked in gallons of alcohol. I let the fruitcake sit and ponder its existence for two weeks, allowing flavors to mingle, spraying it with cognac to keep it nice and moist. The result:



Dense, yes, but actually quite tasty. If you've only encountered storebought fruitcake, you might be pleased by the homemade version. I am now a convert to fruitcake.

My mom's research

It has warmed the hearts of beer drinkers everywhere. Way to go, Mom.

Blogalicious links

Currently at NIPS workshops in Whistler, so my time is short. However, a few links I wanted to note/share:

Data Mining, a somewhat interesting blog on analysis of the web and textual media - although I don't find it actually involves that much data mining in the true sense of the term.

Indexed, a very highly amusing (yet low-intellectual-commitment) blog.

And, in other news, there will soon be a film based on the 1999 Seattle WTO riots. Of course, as is the case for 99% of filmed media set in Seattle, most of the filming is in Vancouver. Nonetheless, film crews will apparently be owning parts of downtown this coming week.