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Recent Entries
You are viewing the most recent 18 entries.
2nd October 2012
23rd November 2008
: A surprisingly good article on saving money on technology
Cost-savings, a topic near and dear to the grad students heart.
How to get more of your techno-services on the cheap
In addition to what the article suggests, I'd probably go with a pre-paid cell phone plan as opposed to a contract one. Yes, contract ones come with nicer phones, but the phones often come as cheap as $20, and tend to cost around $20 a month, as opposed to $40 + for contract phones.
Cost-savings, a topic near and dear to the grad students heart.
How to get more of your techno-services on the cheap
In addition to what the article suggests, I'd probably go with a pre-paid cell phone plan as opposed to a contract one. Yes, contract ones come with nicer phones, but the phones often come as cheap as $20, and tend to cost around $20 a month, as opposed to $40 + for contract phones.
17th November 2008
: You might be an IST grad student if...
1. You'd totally give ITS a whole new plan for their network and everything - if you had the time.
2. Circuit City and Best Buy never have the parts you need.
3. You have 1.5 megabit or greater internet connection but no television.
4. All of your textbooks are pdfs.
5. You spend more time on social networking sites doing research than being social.
6. Your graduation requirements change - and then change back - before you hear about it.
7. You consider "powerpoint" to be a verb.
8. You try really hard not to look at the projected first year salaries of the undergraduate students.
9. You care about it being a game weekend - because there's likely to be free tailgate food.
10. You've ever gotten into a discussion on facebook - and had someone cite a source for their claim in APA format (yes, actually happened to me).
1. You'd totally give ITS a whole new plan for their network and everything - if you had the time.
2. Circuit City and Best Buy never have the parts you need.
3. You have 1.5 megabit or greater internet connection but no television.
4. All of your textbooks are pdfs.
5. You spend more time on social networking sites doing research than being social.
6. Your graduation requirements change - and then change back - before you hear about it.
7. You consider "powerpoint" to be a verb.
8. You try really hard not to look at the projected first year salaries of the undergraduate students.
9. You care about it being a game weekend - because there's likely to be free tailgate food.
10. You've ever gotten into a discussion on facebook - and had someone cite a source for their claim in APA format (yes, actually happened to me).
13th November 2008
: Other people's advice
One word: Plastics
Or perhaps revamped for my generation But trust me on the sunscreen.
When you suffer some travesty of graduate school--when your advisor gives someone else your teaching slot because he assumed your engagement meant you didn’t need the assistantship, or you walk in unannounced to your major professor’s office only to find her on the floor with your lab partner--tell yourself: it will make a good story later. Try hard not to collapse and act as if your life is over. Grad school is full of travesties. If you’re good at what you do and have reasonable resilience, it will be OK.
Grad school, and life in general, really, is full of unfairness. In undergrad, the stress of academia is somewhat mitigated by the fact that you're considered something of a protected species by professors and the institution in general. Grad students tend to have to deal with more responsibility, both in personal life and scholastic careers. Academia is great because your schedule is relatively fluid aside from some absolute deadlines. Academia is awful because your schedule is relatively fluid - aside from some absolute deadlines.
In grad school and adulthood in general, the best advice is "know thyself". 90% of time management advice I've read simply doesn't work for me. I'm a multi-tasker, and absolutely cannot concentrate on only one thing for more than about an hour unless under extreme duress (think, 3 hour SAT test). If I try, I end up staring blankly at the computer screen/article/wall. Some people are very good at setting their own schedules, and some people are better off having a side job even if it cuts into the absolute amount of time they have to work, because it helps them structure the time they do have. And yes, it has been shown (by researchers here at Penn State, even) that different people have different work completion strategies (that are stable over time, and difficult to change). To thine own self be true. Be realistic. Yes, you do need to start that 15 page report sooner than the week before it's due, but do plan to have time free that week to work on it if you suspect that's likely to happen. If you tend to work steadily, make time to do this. Keep in mind that what you're doing is actually, considered to be fairly difficult. It's ok to struggle at times, in fact, it's expected. It is how you handle that struggle that is important.
Polonius to Laertes in Hamlet, William Shakespeare:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
One word: Plastics
Or perhaps revamped for my generation But trust me on the sunscreen.
When you suffer some travesty of graduate school--when your advisor gives someone else your teaching slot because he assumed your engagement meant you didn’t need the assistantship, or you walk in unannounced to your major professor’s office only to find her on the floor with your lab partner--tell yourself: it will make a good story later. Try hard not to collapse and act as if your life is over. Grad school is full of travesties. If you’re good at what you do and have reasonable resilience, it will be OK.
Grad school, and life in general, really, is full of unfairness. In undergrad, the stress of academia is somewhat mitigated by the fact that you're considered something of a protected species by professors and the institution in general. Grad students tend to have to deal with more responsibility, both in personal life and scholastic careers. Academia is great because your schedule is relatively fluid aside from some absolute deadlines. Academia is awful because your schedule is relatively fluid - aside from some absolute deadlines.
In grad school and adulthood in general, the best advice is "know thyself". 90% of time management advice I've read simply doesn't work for me. I'm a multi-tasker, and absolutely cannot concentrate on only one thing for more than about an hour unless under extreme duress (think, 3 hour SAT test). If I try, I end up staring blankly at the computer screen/article/wall. Some people are very good at setting their own schedules, and some people are better off having a side job even if it cuts into the absolute amount of time they have to work, because it helps them structure the time they do have. And yes, it has been shown (by researchers here at Penn State, even) that different people have different work completion strategies (that are stable over time, and difficult to change). To thine own self be true. Be realistic. Yes, you do need to start that 15 page report sooner than the week before it's due, but do plan to have time free that week to work on it if you suspect that's likely to happen. If you tend to work steadily, make time to do this. Keep in mind that what you're doing is actually, considered to be fairly difficult. It's ok to struggle at times, in fact, it's expected. It is how you handle that struggle that is important.
Polonius to Laertes in Hamlet, William Shakespeare:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
11th November 2008
: Write Or Die: Putting the "Prod" in Productivity!
Write or Die!
Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you're fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences.
Write or Die!
Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you're fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences.
7th November 2008
:
I have in the past looked into and attended several student groups on campus, including Hillel. I have also joined events with the campus Association for Computing Machinery, as I have mentioned in previous entries (good speakers! free pizza!). As those in 590 may already know, I also regularly attend OSAs (also known as the Activity formerly known as Beer Club). Thankfully, State College has gone mostly smoke-free, making its bars a better venue for casual conversation.
One student event I have yet to experience...
According to the youtube comments, the video does not do it justice. Honestly, I like watching tennis a lot more than football, but, apparently Penn State football games are mostly an experience in deindividuation in order to affirm a sense of group identity. Or to put it another way, a bonding experience with other students with the occasional tendency to get a little out of control.
Student groups and organizations are useful for a number of reasons, including work-life balance (and pursing *gasp* interests outside of research), but truthfully, researchers are far more likely to collaborate with people they're also willing to grab a beer (or non-alcoholic beverage of choice) with. There is no doubt a psychology study somewhere stating it, but I'll let you google scholar it. Penn State is a big university, with a lot of resources to tap, but those resources are not always well publicized. The best way to find out where to get ice skating lessons, or where you can find a plasma screen TV to borrow for research purposes (or "research purposes") is usually to ask someone. And the more someones you have to ask, the more likely it is you'll find what you're looking for. And the more you can help other people too.
One student event I have yet to experience...
According to the youtube comments, the video does not do it justice. Honestly, I like watching tennis a lot more than football, but, apparently Penn State football games are mostly an experience in deindividuation in order to affirm a sense of group identity. Or to put it another way, a bonding experience with other students with the occasional tendency to get a little out of control.
Student groups and organizations are useful for a number of reasons, including work-life balance (and pursing *gasp* interests outside of research), but truthfully, researchers are far more likely to collaborate with people they're also willing to grab a beer (or non-alcoholic beverage of choice) with. There is no doubt a psychology study somewhere stating it, but I'll let you google scholar it. Penn State is a big university, with a lot of resources to tap, but those resources are not always well publicized. The best way to find out where to get ice skating lessons, or where you can find a plasma screen TV to borrow for research purposes (or "research purposes") is usually to ask someone. And the more someones you have to ask, the more likely it is you'll find what you're looking for. And the more you can help other people too.
31st October 2008
: Aude Oliva
Aude Oliva is famous for a certain definition of famous (very well known within her field). It's probably fair to say that if I were a better scientist than I am, I would like to be more like her (and let's hope that one day, I will be a better scientist than I am now).
Aude Oliva's work combines elements of creativity, psychology, and computation, while at the same time not losing track of the larger picture.
While her work and the work of her lab at MIT does relate to the area of research I studied at Bucknell (contrast and spatial frequency in visual perception), it is not merely her contribution to the area that I find impressive. I am also impressed by the way that her research, which is mathematically complex at times, is nonetheless clear and comprehensible to those outside of her field, and possibly to those outside of academia entirely. This is reflected in the wide range of venues that she and her lab have published in. These range from Siggraph to Cognitive Psychology.
She writes:
Ultimately, the results of characterizing human perceptual and cognitive abilities and limitations in a natural setting holds promise for inspiring the next generation of artificial vision systems, interactive visual displays but also gives invaluable insights for the understanding of visual and cognitive disorders. Our research programs bring together disciplines such as perceptual science, cognitive neuroscience, photography, architecture, interior design, image processing and computer graphics.
If the purview of a scientist is to combine different areas of knowledge in order to better understand all of them, then I would say that Aude Oliva has succeeded. Too often, I think, research becomes embroiled in the details of a particular problem and fails to relate it back to the overall picture. The details are important, as are small differences. However, the startling differences, visible to the naked eye, are more interesting, if you can find them.
Aude Oliva is famous for a certain definition of famous (very well known within her field). It's probably fair to say that if I were a better scientist than I am, I would like to be more like her (and let's hope that one day, I will be a better scientist than I am now).
Aude Oliva's work combines elements of creativity, psychology, and computation, while at the same time not losing track of the larger picture.
While her work and the work of her lab at MIT does relate to the area of research I studied at Bucknell (contrast and spatial frequency in visual perception), it is not merely her contribution to the area that I find impressive. I am also impressed by the way that her research, which is mathematically complex at times, is nonetheless clear and comprehensible to those outside of her field, and possibly to those outside of academia entirely. This is reflected in the wide range of venues that she and her lab have published in. These range from Siggraph to Cognitive Psychology.
She writes:
Ultimately, the results of characterizing human perceptual and cognitive abilities and limitations in a natural setting holds promise for inspiring the next generation of artificial vision systems, interactive visual displays but also gives invaluable insights for the understanding of visual and cognitive disorders. Our research programs bring together disciplines such as perceptual science, cognitive neuroscience, photography, architecture, interior design, image processing and computer graphics.
If the purview of a scientist is to combine different areas of knowledge in order to better understand all of them, then I would say that Aude Oliva has succeeded. Too often, I think, research becomes embroiled in the details of a particular problem and fails to relate it back to the overall picture. The details are important, as are small differences. However, the startling differences, visible to the naked eye, are more interesting, if you can find them.
24th October 2008
: Conferences
This is your poster tube.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to put a poster into the tube, travel to the conference location, and present the poster. And if you've already applied to present a poster and gotten accepted, then it kind of behooves you to do that. It's not a great idea to pull out of a conference after being accepted.
What conference do you want to go to? Generally, your advisor, other faculty, or random people will forward you links to conferences you may wish to consider attending. You may also want to search out conferences on your own, but to preserve the signal to noise ratio, I suggest that you look at where others in your field have already presented, and consider attending there. Google is not the answer here.
I would be willing to go back to VSS, because it was a very comprehensive conference that covered all aspects of vision. I feel that if I do good work in that area, there will probably be a place for me, and content that I will find interesting.
Looking at some of the other labs that I admire, including the Computational Visual Cognition lab at MIT, and Helene Intraub's lab at University of Delaware, I see that Helene Intraub often presents at VSS, and occasionally at the Psychonomics Society conference . The Computational Visual Cognition lab often presents at the Cognitive Sciences Society. The Cognitive Sciences Society conference in particular seems like an interesting conference for Information Science Students, as it states that it is an interdisciplinary conference. This is not unexpected, given the interdisciplinary facets of cognitive science.
Other conferences I am currently thinking about submitting proposals to include ISCRAM 2009, The 6th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, which has a section for HCI related issues.
This is your poster tube.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to put a poster into the tube, travel to the conference location, and present the poster. And if you've already applied to present a poster and gotten accepted, then it kind of behooves you to do that. It's not a great idea to pull out of a conference after being accepted.
What conference do you want to go to? Generally, your advisor, other faculty, or random people will forward you links to conferences you may wish to consider attending. You may also want to search out conferences on your own, but to preserve the signal to noise ratio, I suggest that you look at where others in your field have already presented, and consider attending there. Google is not the answer here.
I would be willing to go back to VSS, because it was a very comprehensive conference that covered all aspects of vision. I feel that if I do good work in that area, there will probably be a place for me, and content that I will find interesting.
Looking at some of the other labs that I admire, including the Computational Visual Cognition lab at MIT, and Helene Intraub's lab at University of Delaware, I see that Helene Intraub often presents at VSS, and occasionally at the Psychonomics Society conference . The Computational Visual Cognition lab often presents at the Cognitive Sciences Society. The Cognitive Sciences Society conference in particular seems like an interesting conference for Information Science Students, as it states that it is an interdisciplinary conference. This is not unexpected, given the interdisciplinary facets of cognitive science.
Other conferences I am currently thinking about submitting proposals to include ISCRAM 2009, The 6th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, which has a section for HCI related issues.
16th October 2008
: I wouldn't belong to a society that would have me for a member... Ok, yes I would.
I have in the past been a member of the Visual Sciences Society where I presented a poster in 2006 (No relation to my previous advisor - Shapiro is a common last name, but we did put "no relation" on the poster - people found it very amusing, though they agreed it was important information). I have considered a membership in both the ACM, as well as the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. I have also considered membership in the American Psychological Association (APA). I am currently qualified to be an Associate.
Sadly, ACM no longer appears to be offering a free alarm clock or calculator with membership, but perhaps they will again next fall. Either way, student membership is only $20, there is a local chapter at Penn State's campus, and they do have fun speakers. I went to one of their meetings last spring, and they had a speaker from the video game industry come and talk about some of the issues with AI in gaming, and careers in gaming. It was a good blend of educational content and fun graphics from game development. Also, free pizza. Really, I'm surprised more grad students don't go. Once you've graduated, it offers you a way to continue to access the ACM's library and to get in touch with other technologically savvy individuals, both in academia and in industry through the forums. This could potentially be useful.
The American Psychological Association gives accreditation to doctoral level psychology programs in the fields of school, clinical, and counseling psychology, as opposed to research only based programs. However, it is still a potentially valuable resource. Benefits include some fulltext access, and reduced rates on some journals and conferences. At $207 a year for an Associate (after the low introductory rate of $69). Student affiliate rates are only $52. But, as an affiliate, you cannot vote, and you can only vote as an Associate after 5 years of membership.
HFES:
The Society furthers serious consideration of knowledge about the assignment of appropriate functions for humans and machines, whether people serve as operators, maintainers, or users in the system. And, it advocates systematic use of such knowledge to achieve compatibility in the design of interactive systems of people, machines, and environments to ensure their effectiveness, safety, and ease of performance.
HFES also has a conference every year, and many IST graduate students and professors submit material.
I have in the past been a member of the Visual Sciences Society where I presented a poster in 2006 (No relation to my previous advisor - Shapiro is a common last name, but we did put "no relation" on the poster - people found it very amusing, though they agreed it was important information). I have considered a membership in both the ACM, as well as the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. I have also considered membership in the American Psychological Association (APA). I am currently qualified to be an Associate.
Sadly, ACM no longer appears to be offering a free alarm clock or calculator with membership, but perhaps they will again next fall. Either way, student membership is only $20, there is a local chapter at Penn State's campus, and they do have fun speakers. I went to one of their meetings last spring, and they had a speaker from the video game industry come and talk about some of the issues with AI in gaming, and careers in gaming. It was a good blend of educational content and fun graphics from game development. Also, free pizza. Really, I'm surprised more grad students don't go. Once you've graduated, it offers you a way to continue to access the ACM's library and to get in touch with other technologically savvy individuals, both in academia and in industry through the forums. This could potentially be useful.
The American Psychological Association gives accreditation to doctoral level psychology programs in the fields of school, clinical, and counseling psychology, as opposed to research only based programs. However, it is still a potentially valuable resource. Benefits include some fulltext access, and reduced rates on some journals and conferences. At $207 a year for an Associate (after the low introductory rate of $69). Student affiliate rates are only $52. But, as an affiliate, you cannot vote, and you can only vote as an Associate after 5 years of membership.
HFES:
The Society furthers serious consideration of knowledge about the assignment of appropriate functions for humans and machines, whether people serve as operators, maintainers, or users in the system. And, it advocates systematic use of such knowledge to achieve compatibility in the design of interactive systems of people, machines, and environments to ensure their effectiveness, safety, and ease of performance.
HFES also has a conference every year, and many IST graduate students and professors submit material.
2nd October 2008
: Ben Hellar
Ben Hellar is a student in Minds lab at Penn State, majoring in Information Science and Technology. Currently, he is the only 3rd or 4th year student in the lab. Last year 3 different students graduated, including Varun Adhibhatla, Bimal Balakrishnan, and Mark Pfaff. Varun was a Masters recipient, and now works for Bank of America. Mark Pfaff acheived a Ph.D and now works at the Indiana University School of Informatics as an Assistant Professor. Bimal now works at University of Missouri-Columbia as an Assistant professor in the dept. of Architectural studies, after recieving a Ph.D in the field of Mass Communications.
Ben Hellar was an undergraduate IST student (graduating class of 2004) who initially entered the IST graduate program as a Masters student, but then became a Ph.D candidate. He is currently researching ways of using Neocities as a test platform to study cognitive load and user interface designs that may increase or decrease the effects thereof. Ben successfully passed his proposal defense, and is currently heavily engaged in product development in order to test a new version of Neocities.
Ben has co-authored a number of papers related to Homeland Security and Data Fusion. On graduation, he is most likely interested in pursuing a career outside of academia.
Ben Hellar is a student in Minds lab at Penn State, majoring in Information Science and Technology. Currently, he is the only 3rd or 4th year student in the lab. Last year 3 different students graduated, including Varun Adhibhatla, Bimal Balakrishnan, and Mark Pfaff. Varun was a Masters recipient, and now works for Bank of America. Mark Pfaff acheived a Ph.D and now works at the Indiana University School of Informatics as an Assistant Professor. Bimal now works at University of Missouri-Columbia as an Assistant professor in the dept. of Architectural studies, after recieving a Ph.D in the field of Mass Communications.
Ben Hellar was an undergraduate IST student (graduating class of 2004) who initially entered the IST graduate program as a Masters student, but then became a Ph.D candidate. He is currently researching ways of using Neocities as a test platform to study cognitive load and user interface designs that may increase or decrease the effects thereof. Ben successfully passed his proposal defense, and is currently heavily engaged in product development in order to test a new version of Neocities.
Ben has co-authored a number of papers related to Homeland Security and Data Fusion. On graduation, he is most likely interested in pursuing a career outside of academia.
26th September 2008
: Who is my advisor?
My advisor is currently Dave Hall, though it might be more accurate to say I am effectively co-advised by Dave Hall and Michael McNeese. Hall and McNeese have authored several papers together on recognition primed decision making.
Dave Hall received his Ph.D in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Penn State University. He became interested in the domain of information studies while analyzing the large amount of information generated by Astronomy, and his area of interest is data fusion, having co-authored one of the seminal papers in the area, . He is currently the Director for the Center for Network Centric Cognition and Information Fusion , and formerly the Director for Research and Development - HRB Systems (Raytheon). Hall has extensive experience, therefore, in both the academic and professional domains.
Dave Hall publishes at IEEE conferences, both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as in the Proceedings of the MSS National Symposium on Sensor and Data Fusion.
My advisor is currently Dave Hall, though it might be more accurate to say I am effectively co-advised by Dave Hall and Michael McNeese. Hall and McNeese have authored several papers together on recognition primed decision making.
Dave Hall received his Ph.D in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Penn State University. He became interested in the domain of information studies while analyzing the large amount of information generated by Astronomy, and his area of interest is data fusion, having co-authored one of the seminal papers in the area, . He is currently the Director for the Center for Network Centric Cognition and Information Fusion , and formerly the Director for Research and Development - HRB Systems (Raytheon). Hall has extensive experience, therefore, in both the academic and professional domains.
Dave Hall publishes at IEEE conferences, both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as in the Proceedings of the MSS National Symposium on Sensor and Data Fusion.
22nd September 2008
: Will the media format create more sales?
New SD cards with DRM-free mp3s.
Let's be honest here. Why are CD album sales falling while online digital format music sales aren't quite rising to meet them? Is it that people hate CDs? They're just too bulky, and hard to convert to mp3?
I do not think so.
Personally, I like CDs. They're the most stable storage format I've ever seen. Yes, they can get scratched, but there's no problem with magnetic fields, and heck, you could drop one in a bucket of water and it would be fine. I don't know any other media format you can say that about. They also have that shiny rainbow gloss going for them.
But seriously, online piracy has expanded in myriad ways since the demise of napster, from p2p software that encrypts information en route, to online services that make transferring large files trivial, to new p2p services such as bit torrent that lower the strain on bandwidth for sharing outgoing files.
Transferring files from CD mp3 is trivial. And, honestly, I like having the backup in lossless format (audio CD tracks are in AIFF) for songs I do spend money on. Or I like getting mp3s on Amazon for the ease of it.
I could also go on a rant about how there really hasn't been much new music of any note (pun unintended) in the last few years, certainly not the way there was in the early 90s, but I would likely come off sounding like an old fogey (darn kids get off my lawn! In my day, we had Lollapalooza! You don't know commitment to the music until you've had to pay $60 for flannel shirts to wear in the desert!).
New SD cards with DRM-free mp3s.
Let's be honest here. Why are CD album sales falling while online digital format music sales aren't quite rising to meet them? Is it that people hate CDs? They're just too bulky, and hard to convert to mp3?
I do not think so.
Personally, I like CDs. They're the most stable storage format I've ever seen. Yes, they can get scratched, but there's no problem with magnetic fields, and heck, you could drop one in a bucket of water and it would be fine. I don't know any other media format you can say that about. They also have that shiny rainbow gloss going for them.
But seriously, online piracy has expanded in myriad ways since the demise of napster, from p2p software that encrypts information en route, to online services that make transferring large files trivial, to new p2p services such as bit torrent that lower the strain on bandwidth for sharing outgoing files.
Transferring files from CD mp3 is trivial. And, honestly, I like having the backup in lossless format (audio CD tracks are in AIFF) for songs I do spend money on. Or I like getting mp3s on Amazon for the ease of it.
I could also go on a rant about how there really hasn't been much new music of any note (pun unintended) in the last few years, certainly not the way there was in the early 90s, but I would likely come off sounding like an old fogey (darn kids get off my lawn! In my day, we had Lollapalooza! You don't know commitment to the music until you've had to pay $60 for flannel shirts to wear in the desert!).
18th September 2008
: What is IST's flavor
Write a blog post on IST.
Use the following questions as a guide.
1. What is IST’s flavor? What does IST specialize in/do well?
2. If IST has no departments, how is it structured? Does that structure work?
3. Where do I fit into the IST structure?
Halloween is fast approaching, and for those who don't know, that means that small children in costumes will parade door to door, yelling "Trick or Treat!" and holding out bags in expectation of candy.
Those of us who live in apartments, sadly, we will likely not get very many Trick or Treaters, as they tend to assume that folks in houses have more money and therefore better goodies. But, it's always good to have a small bag of sealed treats on hand around Oct. 31st, just in case. How does this relate to IST?
The first question was what flavor is IST. I immediately began thinking in terms of candy. Is it like this bag of assorted treats? Or a more visual metaphor, the candy corn, which metaphorically symbolizes the I, T, and P triangle in white, orange and yellow layers?
IST is probably multi-flavored, like Jelly Bellys. Different combinations of methods, ideologies, and topic areas result in different types of research, publishable in different types of journals.
IST's structure is in a state of quiet flux, I think, composed of slightly mysterious labels such as "centers", and the more specific "labs". Centers, in theory, provide focus, and potentially funding, to a number of individuals and labs.
All proposals for newly formed Research Institutes, Consortia, and Centers should be transmitted for approval to the Senior Vice President for Research/Dean of the Graduate School via the Associate Dean, Dean, or Director of the originating college/unit. Approvals will be forwarded from the Senior Vice President for Research/Dean of the Graduate School to the Executive Vice President and Provost.
Centers have an advantage in grouping individuals of like mind and interest. However, they cannot devise their own course requirements for students or directly impact the academic life of a grad student.
I have sometimes said that grad students wear many hats - we are students, we are sometimes teachers, we are researchers, and sometimes we are university employees. This makes us oddly liminal - we float between identities within a university environment that likes to have it's members well-defined.
Grad students therefore fit into IST in general in different ways, depending on a variety of factors. We will all do research during our time here, and we will all take classes. Beyond that, what a grad student actually does depends largely on the individual grad student's area, maturity, and focus.
Write a blog post on IST.
Use the following questions as a guide.
1. What is IST’s flavor? What does IST specialize in/do well?
2. If IST has no departments, how is it structured? Does that structure work?
3. Where do I fit into the IST structure?
Halloween is fast approaching, and for those who don't know, that means that small children in costumes will parade door to door, yelling "Trick or Treat!" and holding out bags in expectation of candy.
Those of us who live in apartments, sadly, we will likely not get very many Trick or Treaters, as they tend to assume that folks in houses have more money and therefore better goodies. But, it's always good to have a small bag of sealed treats on hand around Oct. 31st, just in case. How does this relate to IST?
The first question was what flavor is IST. I immediately began thinking in terms of candy. Is it like this bag of assorted treats? Or a more visual metaphor, the candy corn, which metaphorically symbolizes the I, T, and P triangle in white, orange and yellow layers?
IST is probably multi-flavored, like Jelly Bellys. Different combinations of methods, ideologies, and topic areas result in different types of research, publishable in different types of journals.
IST's structure is in a state of quiet flux, I think, composed of slightly mysterious labels such as "centers", and the more specific "labs". Centers, in theory, provide focus, and potentially funding, to a number of individuals and labs.
Research Centers should:
- have an identifiable focus
- have on-going funding
- have funding including multiple grants and contracts; not a single grant
- engage multiple faculty (more than 2) and graduate students (optimal but not a requirement)
- have some clearly identified rationale for being established
All proposals for newly formed Research Institutes, Consortia, and Centers should be transmitted for approval to the Senior Vice President for Research/Dean of the Graduate School via the Associate Dean, Dean, or Director of the originating college/unit. Approvals will be forwarded from the Senior Vice President for Research/Dean of the Graduate School to the Executive Vice President and Provost.
Centers have an advantage in grouping individuals of like mind and interest. However, they cannot devise their own course requirements for students or directly impact the academic life of a grad student.
I have sometimes said that grad students wear many hats - we are students, we are sometimes teachers, we are researchers, and sometimes we are university employees. This makes us oddly liminal - we float between identities within a university environment that likes to have it's members well-defined.
Grad students therefore fit into IST in general in different ways, depending on a variety of factors. We will all do research during our time here, and we will all take classes. Beyond that, what a grad student actually does depends largely on the individual grad student's area, maturity, and focus.
10th September 2008
: I-schools
I-Schools tend to be interdisciplinary schools with students from a multiplicity of backgrounds including those related information, technology, and the social sciences. Depending on your view of on the Philosophy of Science, this either represents an intolerable pollution of the pure scientific methods used by a particular domain, or a fortuitious and logical combination of methods when analyzing a situation from multiple contexts (often, some form of social science and technology).
My personal background is in psychology, and as previously mentioned, I chose the field of Information Science and Technology based on a variety of factors, including personal interest in the field of technology, but also due to the relative flexibility in career options after graduation.
It may be disheartening to new students to hear, but Ph.Ds do not necessarily increase the average salary after graduation, particularly for individuals in the technology field. Generally speaking, the American Psychological Association reports that for individuals holding degrees in Psychology, salaries are significantly higher for individuals holding Ph.Ds. Eventual salary is certainly not the only factor that should influence a person's decision to consider an advanced degree, but it is nonetheless one aspect of education one should consider. IST is certainly not hesitant about mentioning to undergrads that their undergraduate degree program has one of the highest median starting salaries in the University. This is no doubt in part due to the relationship IST has built with a number of major corporations including IBM, Dell, and others that recruit undergraduate interns from Penn State's IST department. In fact, if you're planning to go into academia, your starting salary as an Assistant Professor may be less than the median starting salary for one of the undergraduates (but not, fortunately, if you go into the private sector).
The APA in general has a good website intended for graduate students in psychology, but with some general relevance for all graduate students.
Here are some videos from different information science programs.
I-Schools tend to be interdisciplinary schools with students from a multiplicity of backgrounds including those related information, technology, and the social sciences. Depending on your view of on the Philosophy of Science, this either represents an intolerable pollution of the pure scientific methods used by a particular domain, or a fortuitious and logical combination of methods when analyzing a situation from multiple contexts (often, some form of social science and technology).
My personal background is in psychology, and as previously mentioned, I chose the field of Information Science and Technology based on a variety of factors, including personal interest in the field of technology, but also due to the relative flexibility in career options after graduation.
It may be disheartening to new students to hear, but Ph.Ds do not necessarily increase the average salary after graduation, particularly for individuals in the technology field. Generally speaking, the American Psychological Association reports that for individuals holding degrees in Psychology, salaries are significantly higher for individuals holding Ph.Ds. Eventual salary is certainly not the only factor that should influence a person's decision to consider an advanced degree, but it is nonetheless one aspect of education one should consider. IST is certainly not hesitant about mentioning to undergrads that their undergraduate degree program has one of the highest median starting salaries in the University. This is no doubt in part due to the relationship IST has built with a number of major corporations including IBM, Dell, and others that recruit undergraduate interns from Penn State's IST department. In fact, if you're planning to go into academia, your starting salary as an Assistant Professor may be less than the median starting salary for one of the undergraduates (but not, fortunately, if you go into the private sector).
The APA in general has a good website intended for graduate students in psychology, but with some general relevance for all graduate students.
Here are some videos from different information science programs.
: Apple iPod Nano
Now with 9 different ways to be a conformist!
Zune makers take note: there is no ugly brown color. That color had to go on woot.com TWICE because no one wanted it.
Aluminum and glass, fancy, sounds cool - wait. Glass? Safety glass, or "I drop it and it shatters" glass? But hey, this model plays video, which is pretty cool, in the required mp4/mov format, of course.
iPod nano embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:
Anyone with guesses as to what the most popular color will be?
Now with 9 different ways to be a conformist!
Zune makers take note: there is no ugly brown color. That color had to go on woot.com TWICE because no one wanted it.
Aluminum and glass, fancy, sounds cool - wait. Glass? Safety glass, or "I drop it and it shatters" glass? But hey, this model plays video, which is pretty cool, in the required mp4/mov format, of course.
iPod nano embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:
- Arsenic-free glass
- Brominated flame retardant-free
- Mercury-free
- PVC-free
- Highly recyclable aluminum enclosure
Anyone with guesses as to what the most popular color will be?
8th September 2008
25th August 2008
: Introduction
ETA2: MOST OF THIS JOURNAL IS "FRIENDS ONLY". YOU WILL NEED AN ACCOUNT AT IJ TO SEE IT. COMMENT HERE TO BE ADDED.
First, a word about why I chose InsaneJournal. InsaneJournal is a "blogging tool" conceptualized as a sort of journal. It is one of many clones of the hugely successful if sometimes ill-respected Livejournal. Livejournal is no longer entirely open source (though it mostly is), but InsaneJournal remains so. While online blogs are public, InsaneJournal offers a variety of tools to restrict users ability to access "private" content. You can build a trusted network of "friends" who can access selected entries, and filter that list of "friends" so that only one or a few can access a specific entry. It is also possible to post "private" entries that only you, when logged on, can see. From a usability perspective, it also allows the writer to "cut" entries, or to put part of an entry behind a link so the reader can choose to access it or to skip it and move on to the next entry.
Of course, nothing online is truly private, as a long time user of journal-type communities, it has become quite obvious that print-screen key remains a powerful tool. That is to say, you have to trust your friends won't make copypasta of your entries.
My professional research interests remain in the field of vision and cognition, with a specific interest in learning and training. My driving interest is probably best understood as a desire to help people and to understand the enduring patterns of human behavior.
Personally, much of my technological interaction has come from an early interest in graphic design, games, and later, online social interaction (via online journals and other fora). I have also worked in technical support (e.g. laptop repair and general helpdesk support), which provided an interesting window into usability issues. I might be talked into a research project on how individuals develop an understanding of legitimate vs. illegitimate online sources.
I do not personally like having my picture up on an unfiltered site (facebook allows privacy restrictions). However, if anyone from the class wishes to create a free InsaneJournal account, you can reply to this post using that account, I'll friend you, and you can get access to a locked post with a picture of myself. Personally, I dislike pictures of authors on blogs - most of them I'll never meet, so how they look is irrelevant.
My current icon is a yucca, fyi, a plant common to Las Vegas, where I am from.
ETA (edited to add): OpenID may work to allow you to comment on public entries, but thus far it does not appear that I can add you as a "friend". Livejournal may support this functionality (sort of), but insanejournal does not.
ETA2: MOST OF THIS JOURNAL IS "FRIENDS ONLY". YOU WILL NEED AN ACCOUNT AT IJ TO SEE IT. COMMENT HERE TO BE ADDED.
First, a word about why I chose InsaneJournal. InsaneJournal is a "blogging tool" conceptualized as a sort of journal. It is one of many clones of the hugely successful if sometimes ill-respected Livejournal. Livejournal is no longer entirely open source (though it mostly is), but InsaneJournal remains so. While online blogs are public, InsaneJournal offers a variety of tools to restrict users ability to access "private" content. You can build a trusted network of "friends" who can access selected entries, and filter that list of "friends" so that only one or a few can access a specific entry. It is also possible to post "private" entries that only you, when logged on, can see. From a usability perspective, it also allows the writer to "cut" entries, or to put part of an entry behind a link so the reader can choose to access it or to skip it and move on to the next entry.
Of course, nothing online is truly private, as a long time user of journal-type communities, it has become quite obvious that print-screen key remains a powerful tool. That is to say, you have to trust your friends won't make copypasta of your entries.
My professional research interests remain in the field of vision and cognition, with a specific interest in learning and training. My driving interest is probably best understood as a desire to help people and to understand the enduring patterns of human behavior.
Personally, much of my technological interaction has come from an early interest in graphic design, games, and later, online social interaction (via online journals and other fora). I have also worked in technical support (e.g. laptop repair and general helpdesk support), which provided an interesting window into usability issues. I might be talked into a research project on how individuals develop an understanding of legitimate vs. illegitimate online sources.
I do not personally like having my picture up on an unfiltered site (facebook allows privacy restrictions). However, if anyone from the class wishes to create a free InsaneJournal account, you can reply to this post using that account, I'll friend you, and you can get access to a locked post with a picture of myself. Personally, I dislike pictures of authors on blogs - most of them I'll never meet, so how they look is irrelevant.
My current icon is a yucca, fyi, a plant common to Las Vegas, where I am from.
ETA (edited to add): OpenID may work to allow you to comment on public entries, but thus far it does not appear that I can add you as a "friend". Livejournal may support this functionality (sort of), but insanejournal does not.
21st July 2008
: Blog
Welcome to my blog.
(See info for disclaimers)
Welcome to my blog.
(See info for disclaimers)