Category: Cogitating

  • Toycathon 2021 – A Few Thoughts

    I had the opportunity to contribute to (the terribly named) Toycathon –  a competition to promote “AtmaNirbhar Bharat” and “challenge India’s innovative minds to conceptualize novel Toy and Games based on Bharatiya civilization, history, culture, mythology and ethos”  A few observations (of course my own!) and  learnings follow: I’m against the entire AtmaNirbhar philosophy — […]

  • Desiderata, Max Ehrmann

    An old favorite: Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. […]

  • Personal Philosophy?

    From a strictly non-religious perspective: Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can. — John Wesley

  • Little Things

    Student activities: Operate a slot machine using your eyes This is cool and fun and took just a few days to do. BUT this could be done by using other interfaces – mouse, keyboard, sound(?), etc. What would be a good use of eye-tracking or blinking that would not be possible with existing interfaces?

  • Rapoport’s Rules

    [From Dennett’s Intuition Pumps – guess what I’m currently reading!] How to compose a successful critical commentary: You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.” You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are […]

  • Learning from mistakes

    [Inspired by Dennett’s Intuition Pumps] My current approach and where I’d like to be works 1:1 or in a small group, much more difficult to do in a lecture-style setting. When I’m trying to teach a new concept – programming, algorithm, mathematics – I try to give students a bit of structure and context and […]

  • You and Your Research – Richard Hamming

    Transcript Background This is the first article I recommend everyone read (currently, ‘everyone’ refers to students or recent graduates). Every paragraph is full of insights. It encourages a proactive approach to the world around us. It lays out an approximate framework for anyone interested in thinking about what they are doing, and where they would […]

  • You and Your research – Richard Hamming

    Transcript Background This is the first article I recommend everyone read (currently, ‘everyone’ refers to students or recent graduates). Every paragraph is full of insights. It encourages a proactive approach to the world around us. It lays out an approximate framework for anyone interested in thinking about what they are doing, and where they would […]

  • Bringing Sanity to the Campus Recruitment process

    For the last 2 months, my interns have been MIA, because “companies are coming to campus.” When I speak with students about the process that they (the companies) follow and the torture that they (the students) undergo, a few things become apparent: Every company does things its own way. In broad terms, the process is […]