I traveled recently to Rennes, France for an in-person conference, Eurosys, and had occasion to spend a wondrous week basking in the French sun, getting soaked in the French rain, interacting with people who are their entire selves, and remembering the joys and the tribulations of physical travel. I hope I will never have to […]
Category: Itinerant
To The Migrant In Us
Citation Many of the graduate students in our universities have come from lands far and near, outside the borders of the US. They adapt to the ways of life here, which are different in ways small and large, and become the engine that keeps our research enterprise galloping along. This article reflects on some challenges […]
Short Take: Policy Issues to Beat the Autocracy of Autonomous Systems
In a previous post, I discussed, through a dystopian scenario, how autonomous systems can reduce our lives to one of hapless destiny. And in the last post, I discussed some design and development principles that we as technologists can follow that can help us avoid plunging into such dystopian scenarios. In this article, I will […]
Short Take: Summer Travel
Citation For many academic researchers in the science and engineering disciplines, summer offers the chance to travel far and wide, for rejuvenating research contacts with colleagues and for conferences. It does help when the venue for the travel is a off-the-beaten-path old university town in Europe, rather than … just to pick a place at […]
What’s Multitasking Doing to Me?
Citation We believe that multitasking is the essential ingredient to being healthy, wealthy, and happy. We do it incessantly in our work lives and even in our personal lives. While conversing with the person across the dinner table, our Google Glass, or if you have upgraded, the VR goggle, keeps telling you of the latest […]
How to Fall … and Stay in Love for Long
Citation A little town to all outside observers, miles away from anything exciting happening, is where I have been for the last eight years. When I try to answer why this town has grown on me, and now all around me, many vignettes come jumping up all agog to get the prime spot in this […]
Distant Whispers from an Academic Engineer's World 