First Berkeley, and now Stanford is cracking down on "illegal use of file-sharing technology." Sounds like they're leaving it up to the RIAA/MPAA to determine violations and to establish a definition of "legal" -- a bit dangerous, if you ask me, given how liberally they're flinging about takedown notices (and how difficult it is to challenge one). ( Read more... )

My life's been invaded by robots. It all started with dag29580863 getting a robotic dog last fall, when he was still at IBM. At the time he was exploring cognitive computing and was hoping to use it for something involving that, but when he moved to Google it came home with him ( Read more... )

It's nearly two and I'm not tired and for once I have no urgent assignments to finish, so perhaps I should write a bit about how my life is going. I haven't updated in -- how long has it been now? -- well, either mid-summer or the end of spring, depending on what you count as an update. In that time I've passed the quarter-century mark; moved to ( Read more... )

I can't help but smile every time I pass by the two relocatables named "Harold" and "Maude" on campus.

I'll be teaching a seven-week "Swing Essentials" class at Stanford this July and August (a reprise of "Swing Essentials" classes I've taught over the years for UCBD). Feel free to join! It's a beginning class but I hope to cover a lot of ground. You'll learn the basics of East Coast Swing, Jitterbug, (ballroom) Jive, Lindy Hop, and West Coast Swing ( Read more... )

I've decided to move to the Stanford Department of Communication next year. The decision was difficult and involved, but I think it's for the best. I am planning on keeping my Berkeley contacts alive, especially that with my current advisor, and I'll probably be back to sit in on a class or two as well (especially the one Jean Lave and Peter ( Read more... )