On “calmness” and computing
About fifteen years ago (!!!) Mark Weiser proposed that the aim of design in an age of ubiquitous computing ought to be to create "calm technology." As Weiser
Talk about contemplative computing
This is a Prezi outlining my contemplative computing work. I initially created it for a talk at Microsoft Research, but expect I'll be updating it over the next couple
Mayhem: or, just a regular Saturday in Cambridge
mayhem, via flickr
After spending much of the day doing laundry and working on an NSF proposal (boy, those people are picky), I got on the bike and went into town-- all of three blocks. As soon as I hit the Magdalen Bridge, I ran into a solid wall of tourists.
My first though was, "Who the Hell are all these visitors?" but of course I'm not really in a position to complain. My bike may have huge wicker basket, but I'm hardly a local yet.
Happening Friday night!
I've finished my first week (or set of weekdays) here, and I'm now pretty much set up with everything for the next three months. Friday morning I went to the bike store, bought a helmet, a couple tools, and things that flash, so now I can bike around reasonably safely.
Riding on the left side of the road turns out to be easier than I expected, especially when other cars or cyclists are around. The example of other practitioners serves as a reminder of what I ought to be doing, and of course when the practitioners are buses or cars, you want to stay out of their way.
I paid the first of what will doubtless be many trips to Heffers, one of the big bookstores in town, to stock up on philosophy books. After years of avoiding philosophy in favor of sociology-- my graduate program was pretty militantly anti-philosophical, a way of differentiating itself from what its founders saw as the excessive influence of philosophy on the history of science-- I'm now having to catch up. But what better place than here to read about Wittgenstein, the philosophy of mind, and arguments about embodied cognition?
the menu at gardies, via flickr
Late night observation
Biking around town tonight, it looks to me that on Friday night downtown Cambridge is abandoned by everyone but men with foreign accents, and women who think that
Getting more settled in
After a decent (and resonably-timed) night's sleep, I had my first full day at the Lab, uninterrupted by 3-hour detours to the bank, visits to the cellphone store, etc. Until today, I'd been around, but not really present: physically there, and certainly interested in everything, but no able to spend enough time in a day to really start engaging with the place and people.
via flickr
Eagle, grasshopper and chips
After a full day at the lab, I wandered around town a bit more, and after crossing the river found three things I'd been looking for.
the Cam, via flickr
Cowboy hat
I bought a cowboy hat when I was in Montana, and decided to bring it with me. I tend to become somewhat more American when I come here, partly because clients are buying a certain Silicon Valley aura, and partly because I never want to become one of those Americans who after a month here sounds like a BBC announcer.
my hat, via flickr
First REAL day in Cambridge
I woke up some time before 6 this morning, roused myself out of bed after a while, and got my morning started.
The house I've rented is a century-old place, with singing pipes and radiators that deliver a certain amount of heat. It's actually fairly cozy in some rooms, which is nice; the bathroom includes some fixtures-- including a gravity toilet and a cast-iron water tank that would kill whoever it fell on-- that I suspect are original, or if not are built to last the ages.
my road, via flickr
First day in Cambridge!
After many months of proposals, preparation, visas, rallying parents, reassuring children, and wondering how elderly cats would handle it, I'm finally in England-- in Cambridge, starting my three-month visit at Microsoft Research.
I started last night, on the evening flight out of San Francisco, and ended around dinnertime, when I got into the flat (technically a terrace house, I think) we're subletting. About 18 hours all told, though none of it was really stressful: heavy yes, thanks to my having brought two suitcases (I am going to be here for three months, after all), but not really difficult. The bus even took me into downtown Cambridge, more or less, to the station on the edge of Parker's Piece, rather than the car and park on the edge of town (damn you, National Express Web site-- I could only buy a ticket as far as the Park and Ride on the edge of town, but the driver was fine about letting me go into city centre).
After I got things more or less sorted out I went out and wandered around the town a little. Naturally I headed for the town center, walking past St. John's and Gonville and Caius, then up along the market.
