Yum-o!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Tony Oursler: Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two
Here are some photos of our favorite exhibition at 798 this time.
The title comes from a paper by George Miller from 1956. Apparently, "psychological experiments have shown that people have a hard time remembering more than about seven unrelated pieces of really dull data all at once."
Seven unrelated pieces of really dull data...
plus or minus two...
...it kind of reminds me of work somehow.
But fortunately, the exhibition did not! In fact, it reminded me of another exhibition I saw in Eindhoven in 1995!
The title comes from a paper by George Miller from 1956. Apparently, "psychological experiments have shown that people have a hard time remembering more than about seven unrelated pieces of really dull data all at once."
Seven unrelated pieces of really dull data...
plus or minus two...
...it kind of reminds me of work somehow.
But fortunately, the exhibition did not! In fact, it reminded me of another exhibition I saw in Eindhoven in 1995!
Economizing
We wanted to have a light lunch, so we thought we'd go for Korean. For just 12 euros they brought us enough light dishes for a week.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Dear Coworker
We were intrigued by the presentation of your research today. Especially this "one million dollar question" you talked about. Something like "P vs MP"??? Or was it "P vs MQ"? We, being from OR (Operations Research) and hence somewhat backward, had not heard of this before, so we were glad you explained a bit what this was all about. We are so excited that you are going to solve this in the next few years! Please, do keep us abreast of your progress, even if it may be way over our pretty little OR heads.
We also hope to hear more from you about your research on scheduling, something that we have studied a lot. Although of course you think we use different terminology and we worry about obtaining trivial results only, such as, say the matroid intersection theorem, which any CS (Computer Science) person would prove in just an afternoon.
We are happy to have you perhaps throw us a little problem now and then, while you are off solving the million dollar questions.
P.S. even though we normally are very good at giving credit where credit is due, we are afraid our coworker will have to remain anonymous (until he solves the P vs P^2 problem).
P.P.S. this post was written by my husband.
We also hope to hear more from you about your research on scheduling, something that we have studied a lot. Although of course you think we use different terminology and we worry about obtaining trivial results only, such as, say the matroid intersection theorem, which any CS (Computer Science) person would prove in just an afternoon.
We are happy to have you perhaps throw us a little problem now and then, while you are off solving the million dollar questions.
P.S. even though we normally are very good at giving credit where credit is due, we are afraid our coworker will have to remain anonymous (until he solves the P vs P^2 problem).
P.P.S. this post was written by my husband.
Brain Teaser
Find the logic in the following announcement:
Arrangements of Public Holidays in 2010 Spring
1. Tomb-sweeping Day
1.1 April 3-5: public holidays for 3 days
1.2 Courses originally arranged on April 3 (Saturday) and April 4 (Sunday) will be given accordingly.
1.3 Courses arranged on April 5 (Monday) will be cancelled and the course hours will not be made up for later.
2. University Anniversary and the May Day Holiday
2.1 April 30 – May 4: public holidays for 5 days.
2.2 On April 24 (Saturday) and April 25 (Sunday, university anniversary), all the faculty and staff members will work as usual, and will take holidays on April 30 (Friday) and May 4 (Tuesday) instead.
2.3 The courses originally arranged on April 24 and 25 will be shifted to April 30 and May 4 respectively; courses originally arranged on May 3 (Monday) are to be shifted to April 29 (Thursday).
2.4 Courses originally arranged on April 29, April 30, May 1, May 2 and May 4 will be cancelled and the course hours will not be made up for later.
3. Dragon Boat Festival
3.1 June 14-16: public holidays for 3 days.
3.2 On June 12 (Saturday) and June 13 (Sunday), all the faculty and staff members will work as usual.
3.3 Courses originally arranged on June 12 and June 13 will be shifted to June 14 and June 15 respectively; and courses originally arranged on June 14 and June 15 will be shifted to June 12 and June 13.
3.4 Courses originally arranged on June 16 (Wednesday) will be cancelled, and the course hours will not be made up for later
Apparently, they are trying to ensure that only one class on each day of the week is canceled in the course of the semester. But what is the logic in number 3.3?
Arrangements of Public Holidays in 2010 Spring
1. Tomb-sweeping Day
1.1 April 3-5: public holidays for 3 days
1.2 Courses originally arranged on April 3 (Saturday) and April 4 (Sunday) will be given accordingly.
1.3 Courses arranged on April 5 (Monday) will be cancelled and the course hours will not be made up for later.
2. University Anniversary and the May Day Holiday
2.1 April 30 – May 4: public holidays for 5 days.
2.2 On April 24 (Saturday) and April 25 (Sunday, university anniversary), all the faculty and staff members will work as usual, and will take holidays on April 30 (Friday) and May 4 (Tuesday) instead.
2.3 The courses originally arranged on April 24 and 25 will be shifted to April 30 and May 4 respectively; courses originally arranged on May 3 (Monday) are to be shifted to April 29 (Thursday).
2.4 Courses originally arranged on April 29, April 30, May 1, May 2 and May 4 will be cancelled and the course hours will not be made up for later.
3. Dragon Boat Festival
3.1 June 14-16: public holidays for 3 days.
3.2 On June 12 (Saturday) and June 13 (Sunday), all the faculty and staff members will work as usual.
3.3 Courses originally arranged on June 12 and June 13 will be shifted to June 14 and June 15 respectively; and courses originally arranged on June 14 and June 15 will be shifted to June 12 and June 13.
3.4 Courses originally arranged on June 16 (Wednesday) will be cancelled, and the course hours will not be made up for later
Apparently, they are trying to ensure that only one class on each day of the week is canceled in the course of the semester. But what is the logic in number 3.3?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sandstorm
We were very happy to see that it was very windy on Saturday morning, because this usually really helps to get rid off the pollution --- and it was bad on Saturday morning. However...
... we did not expect that these winds would turn into sandstorms! We were looking forward to sandstorms ever since we arrived in Beijing, but experiencing them once is plenty. This is worse than pollution!
(By the way, we have been told the current sand storms are very mild indeed. But still they suck and make us feel miserable and feverish.)
... we did not expect that these winds would turn into sandstorms! We were looking forward to sandstorms ever since we arrived in Beijing, but experiencing them once is plenty. This is worse than pollution!
(By the way, we have been told the current sand storms are very mild indeed. But still they suck and make us feel miserable and feverish.)
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Pineapple a la Jamie
It's spring, it's time for pineapple.
Dr. Oliver recommends putting yoghurt and mint mashed with sugar on top.
Dr. Oliver recommends putting yoghurt and mint mashed with sugar on top.
Extreme Sightseeing: Peking University
Today we met Anke's office mate from Cornell, who is here to give a job talk at Tsinghua. As she was an undergraduate at Peking University, she took us on a tour of Peking University's campus.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
More often than duck
Unfortunately we get to eat pollution quite often... It's bad again this weekend.
(Here are some pictures from a similar angle on our blog.)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
It is nice to feel appreciated
Today, F heard that one of the new postdocs (who will be faculty next year) will be next year's instructor of the course we are currently teaching. The postdoc asked our fearless leader (in F's presence) what the curriculum for the course was.
"Oh, it is wide open", said our fearless leader.
No mention of the fact that the course is being taught this semester, and was taught twice before by another postdoc.
Of course the new guy should make this course into whatever he likes, but would it really be too much work to tell him that the course is also being taught this semester and was taught twice before? So that he could find out what others did?
Oh well, at least we are just being ignored but not yet fired.
Not like another postdoc who was told they have "run out of positions for next year" when he inquired about renewing his contract, even though there are still openings listed on the website and he knows at least one additional position that is not filled because it was offered to a friend of his who said no.
"Oh, it is wide open", said our fearless leader.
No mention of the fact that the course is being taught this semester, and was taught twice before by another postdoc.
Of course the new guy should make this course into whatever he likes, but would it really be too much work to tell him that the course is also being taught this semester and was taught twice before? So that he could find out what others did?
Oh well, at least we are just being ignored but not yet fired.
Not like another postdoc who was told they have "run out of positions for next year" when he inquired about renewing his contract, even though there are still openings listed on the website and he knows at least one additional position that is not filled because it was offered to a friend of his who said no.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Ribbon Fish
For dinner on Friday we decided to eat Chinese food. We didn't bring our beloved Beijing Eats book, so we did the next best thing: look at the Eileen Eats-website (the bloggress is the writress of Beijing Eats). Her very first post recommends a restaurant with homestyle cooking (who can resist that?) which was very close to Cafe Konstanz: Fu Man Yuan. So we went there and had the recommended dishes:
Ribbon fish
Eggplant with garlic and garlic (and then some more garlic)
Shredded potatoes
Good, but not great. Either the quality of restaurant went down or the raving in her blogpost is a bit over the top.
Ribbon fish
Eggplant with garlic and garlic (and then some more garlic)
Shredded potatoes
Good, but not great. Either the quality of restaurant went down or the raving in her blogpost is a bit over the top.
Meatfest Friday
This Friday we again went to our surrogate office in Cafe Konstanz. One starts to wonder whether Germany is more vegetarian friendly than China.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Hot water
To continue with our stories about how easy things have gotten here these days: we have hot water! Perhaps it is due to rising temperatures outside, but we have had only very minor problems the past 10 days or so (sometimes it takes 5 minutes to get warm). So it is completely safe for y'all to come and visit!
Old China hands
Today, we went to the bank. To transfer money abroad. As you may recall, we have done this once before, with a lot of help from a wonderful junior secretary. As we predicted at the time, she was way too good for our (under)boss, who really likes people who do not show any initiative, do not really do anything, but who do spend lots of time in the office. Indeed, the junior secretary was gone after we came back from winter break.
So this time we had to obtain the help of one of the secretaries who has been around a bit longer. (But not that long, mind you! Our institute makes sure to kick out any secretary once she has gotten some experience and we have gotten used to dealing with her!) Due to our previous experiences, we asked her to fax all our documents in advance, so the bank employee could be convinced of our worthiness. Of course, we could not immediately be deemed worthy. First, all sorts of new documents were demanded; information that the secretary duly conveyed to us without showing any sign of trying to help us get them.
A little more prodding did get her to help us, most of the documents turned out not to be needed after all (monthly income statements and such) and all we needed to do was go to Tsinghua's HR office to get another one of those pieces of paper that say that F's Chinese name and regular name belong to the same person. At the HR office they told us that they are constantly printing these out for the foreigners employed by Tsinghua (200 long term and 600 short term foreign employees). Nonetheless, it took 30 minutes to produce.
At lunch hour today we were finally able to go to the bank. It had to be during lunch, because our secretaries are no longer allowed to leave the office during their work hours. The bank employee complained that the form the Tsinghua HR had given us was the wrong one -- it stated that F had changed his name, not that he had two names. Now, the secretary showed some balls (I am afraid she will get fired soon) and told the bank employee to stop being so difficult, since (i) we had already provided one of those documents when we opened the account, and (ii) last time we transferred money they also let us get away with not having it.
And, yay for the secretary, because pretty soon there was some heavy photocopying and triple red stamping going on.
The experience was so painless that we did not even get drunk tonight. Instead, we had dinner with fellow postdocs. We have a new one and there is a strong rivalry developing about who can be the most obnoxious. Fun!
So this time we had to obtain the help of one of the secretaries who has been around a bit longer. (But not that long, mind you! Our institute makes sure to kick out any secretary once she has gotten some experience and we have gotten used to dealing with her!) Due to our previous experiences, we asked her to fax all our documents in advance, so the bank employee could be convinced of our worthiness. Of course, we could not immediately be deemed worthy. First, all sorts of new documents were demanded; information that the secretary duly conveyed to us without showing any sign of trying to help us get them.
A little more prodding did get her to help us, most of the documents turned out not to be needed after all (monthly income statements and such) and all we needed to do was go to Tsinghua's HR office to get another one of those pieces of paper that say that F's Chinese name and regular name belong to the same person. At the HR office they told us that they are constantly printing these out for the foreigners employed by Tsinghua (200 long term and 600 short term foreign employees). Nonetheless, it took 30 minutes to produce.
At lunch hour today we were finally able to go to the bank. It had to be during lunch, because our secretaries are no longer allowed to leave the office during their work hours. The bank employee complained that the form the Tsinghua HR had given us was the wrong one -- it stated that F had changed his name, not that he had two names. Now, the secretary showed some balls (I am afraid she will get fired soon) and told the bank employee to stop being so difficult, since (i) we had already provided one of those documents when we opened the account, and (ii) last time we transferred money they also let us get away with not having it.
And, yay for the secretary, because pretty soon there was some heavy photocopying and triple red stamping going on.
The experience was so painless that we did not even get drunk tonight. Instead, we had dinner with fellow postdocs. We have a new one and there is a strong rivalry developing about who can be the most obnoxious. Fun!
Quanjude
But no duck! Duck tongue in aspic does not count, of course.
Eggplant and other stuff (if I remember correctly pork and salt fish).
An evergreen: Tuna, salmon and wasabi mustard.
And finally some leg of rabbit, that was not too bad either.
Me likey Quanjude a lot nowadays.
Eggplant and other stuff (if I remember correctly pork and salt fish).
An evergreen: Tuna, salmon and wasabi mustard.
And finally some leg of rabbit, that was not too bad either.
Me likey Quanjude a lot nowadays.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
When Shall We Three Meet Again?
No lightning, no rain. Just cold. But finally we met Amanda again, to go to dinner in a restaurant from our Beijing Eats book. It turned out that it had moved, and that the new location is quite a bit closer to our home than the old one, so we basically traveled twice the distance we needed to travel. The food was very tasty, and maybe tasted even better as we thought we really earned it after the two taxi rides.
Without further ado, I present to you:
Pork
For some reason both the book and the waitress stressed that there was no water added when braising this dish for 9 hours.
Eggplant and tomato
Sesame Cake
These were recommended by the restaurant, according to our book, and they were my favorite dish of the day.
Clam Soup
Corn Thingies
They had a different name on the menu.
And what is dinner without a fish?
As an added bonus, here is a picture from their aquarium:
Without further ado, I present to you:
Pork
For some reason both the book and the waitress stressed that there was no water added when braising this dish for 9 hours.
Eggplant and tomato
Sesame Cake
These were recommended by the restaurant, according to our book, and they were my favorite dish of the day.
Clam Soup
Corn Thingies
They had a different name on the menu.
And what is dinner without a fish?
As an added bonus, here is a picture from their aquarium:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)