UIUC Unveils the World’s Most Advanced Building

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is my undergraduate alma mater. We watched with alternating boredom and glee as the Beckman Artificial Intelligence Institute and Grainger Engineering Library went up, and clogged two of CU’s ten or so main traffic arteries. The complex is also situated a block away from my old high school. Check it out at sc.cs.uiuc.edu/index.php This new development is even more amusing:

From /.:

The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, one of the top Computer Science programs in the world has just officially opened their new $80 million Siebel Center (with its own espresso bar! –the Ed). The department head describes the building as a single computing entity, meant to be programmed and to interact with those in the building via RFID tags in their ID cards. This is probably one of the biggest and most expensive projects in ubiquitous computing ever launched, touching on all the important issues in this field, from privacy to the ultimate question about the usefulness of such a system. Several papers are covering this including the Chicago Sun Times, and the Chicago Business.

/. responds:

  • So will they use the java smart cards that work when approaching a computer?
  • I’m sorry Dave, I can’t let you in. Your GPA is too low this semester.
  • Does that mean the building is wildly overpriced and requires expensive consultants in suits to do anything right?
  • I’m not sure if I like the idea that anything between me and these 4 walls is now between me and some sort of ubiquitous building-computer.
  • The UIUC bldg sounds extremely cool, but in 5 yrs folks will be smiling politely at the “hokey-ness” of the place.
  • I guess they had to go and install “Microsoft Office… that is, REAL Office”. Now, when you go down the hall, the “Buildy” mascot asks things like. “You appear to be walking to the bathroom. Would you like some help?”
  • This proves the point that all things human go in cycles. First computers were the size of buildings, then they shrunk down to fit in the palm, now they are becoming the size of buildings again.
  • How much their next upgrade is gonna cost??
  • This building isn’t an effort to revive a program (currently ranked #3 in Engineering, #3 in ECE, and #5 in CS), it’s a natural step taking to increase the facilities available to accommodate recent advances by the University, and a continuously growing program which time and time again excels in all areas.
April 30, 2004 | science & technology | Comments Closed

Medical Malpractice Suits: 10,000 Lawyers At The Bottom Of The Ocean Now!

This just in from my brother:

The malpractice situation in Ohio is getting really bad. Cases in point follow.

Dr. A’s insurance policy was declared non-renewable because he had 3 suits in the last 1 year (all 3 of which were dropped, one in which he had not even seen the patient and the insurance company had to spend $3000 to remove his name from the suit).

Dr. B has received 3 suits in the last 6 months. One has been dropped, one is going to be dropped and the other is still being hemmed and hawed about). He will find out in a month if he is being dropped vis a vis insurance.

Dr. C had 2 suits this year with a threat of a third – the first two have been dropped.

Dr. D is waiting to hear within a month if his suit will be dropped. He has heard rumors of a family blaming doctors in another case he is involved in peripherally, so he expects to be hit by the shotgun approach.

Dr. E waits with bated breath re: a suicide case who swallowed poison and was dying but bled and he was forced to do a scope on him but the family blames the death on all the doctors (like we gave him the poison). These may not see the light of day for another year or so. The lawyers like us to stew in our misgivings for a few months so we get softened up for the kill, you see.

So, my dear girl, the question is not whether I am moving, it is only a matter of when. All of us have to have what is called tail insurance. That is, if we leave, we have to have insurance to cover us for cases that may arise several years later (thanks to a generous statute of limitations). The tail premium is about 150K and may be higher in the next two years. So, I have to pay a king’s ransom for the privilege of leaving this area. Isn’t that ironic – I cannot even leave in peace! Maybe I will turn to something else altogether like day trading or management.

My response:

Greedy f*ing lawyers!

Pardon my Cajun; that term was reserved for a special occasion and this was it. You see, this is what I despise about the two-party system. No matter which one you belong to, you are stupid unless you realize that they are playing you for the adherent that you are, the spineless supplicant to the “democratic” process which offers validation for hating a member of the other party. Do you know how many Democrats strongly believe that the Doctor is Satan? Even with their cellphones and laptops, they feel disenfranchised to the point that they have to villainize someone for their misgivings. I’m not absolving the Republicans in any way, shape, or form, they’re from a deeper rung of hell. Yet, most Americans, regardless of party affiliation, deserve the electoral college and negative campaign ads, if that’s all they are willing to perceive.

I am disgusted. I’m SO disgusted. But, you have a choice. You can move. How many other people in the throes of these lawsuits have that leisure? You guys should whip out an ad campaign that highlights how these colonies of lawyer scum make their money. You should show the nation their flashy cars, how they live, talk, and vacate, all based on the huge percentage of the lawsuit earnings the lawyers get versus how your pay goes down every year. Pan to you guys slaving over a patient and trying to help him and going home in your Acura or minivan compared to them in Mercedes Earthmovers after a day of phonecalls and subpoenas. You guys (doctors) are appealing to the wrong group – the politicians – you need to use your smarts to enlighten the patient. Show the voting class how to wise up, instead of throwing spears at the first thing they see.

Makes you believe in karma more and more, doesn’t it?

Update: I am so incensed that I have an addendum. Americans think they are invincible to the point that they think they can cheat death. If they cannot do that, how are they the supreme world power? Isn’t that why we as a country are in denial that no matter how many young human lives we wipe out on an unforgiving desert floor, we are still winning the war and that we will prevail? In our small-minded insecurity, that is our only comfort. That is the only way we can feel like we are in control.

You talk of medicine. This headache spills over into the energy industry, too. Soon we will be taken to task for not producing enough for their needs. We have reserves, but not to keep up with the growing needs of this society. It pains me to see people working their hind quarters off here everyday to produce and produce and produce hydrocarbons. All for what? To cost $1 a gallon for an SUV that a single person can drive a mile to the grocery store? I can only fantasize about the uprising if the price of gas goes up to $4.50 per gallons as it is in Europe. Then they’ll see.

Never have I seen a population that sqaundered SO much. Those who feel entitled are everywhere, but are only severely encouraged here.

April 22, 2004 | culture-society-history, government | Comments Closed

Eureka!

Archimedes was one cool guy. I just don’t believe that the world had to wait almost two millenia for another of equal prowess (Newton) to come along. Of course, this is celebrating only the western branch of science.

April 21, 2004 | science & technology | Comments Closed

The NO Wall

No post-slot-machine bliss for this girl. If breaking even is considered lucky, I made out pretty well. Gambling strategy comes to me like flying does to a penguin. Some things you can’t teach, and there are others your pocketbook just doesn’t want to learn. I did figure out that the trick to winning money at slots is not being an utter miser. Put the $20 in the machine, and you will see that you make much more – something about the machine getting hot when it has consumed above the secret magic number in total credits.

Jules asked me if I did anything that had to stay in Vegas. What ever happened to things that stayed in Gary, Indiana?

My pre-coffee response: Didn’t DO shite in Vegas that ought to stay there. How I am here, I was there. Maybe a few cousins and friends strayed over their lines, but I must be getting old. That or my liver and social sensibilities are now accustomed to the beating. Major scarcity of eye candy only exacerbated the situation. What’s up with the Bearable-Guy Famine? Or is it that only neanderthals now go to Vegas to get lucky, after having recently raided a cologne store? Gah. I hung out by the pool and “tanned,” can’t ask for more. Screw guys, let’s find us a poolside.

To which Jules mumbled something about us now being older and more discerning, and how we are in trouble only if our NO Wall starts to crumble. Along with a whisper or two in apology for the poor wording and general incoherence.

Nope, not poorly-worded at all. More than apt language on her part, in fact. Goddammit, when did we get old, Jules? But, it wouldn’t have helped if I were younger either, you know? Something about being a conscientious whippersnapper from the get-go. The NO wall hasn’t started to crumble in the least. And I am glad of that. At the end of the day, I want a reliable guy to go home to – the kind of person who calls you once you land at your destination and says, “Hey, you left your contacts solution here. So, you might want to buy some before you go out tonight or you are going to have to go on the quest for the casino’s sundries store at 4AM and you are not going to like that!” Domestic? Yes. Hot and spicy? Not really, not in this case. Consistent, loving and smells like home? Hell yeah. I don’t need stupidity and consequential soul scratching. The NO wall is staying up.

To which Jules replied, “Even if I were younger and single, I don’t think I would have had the balls to make a move. Part conscience, part pansy constitution. For once being a pansy doesn’t sound like such a bad thing. Also, if you’re ever really doubting things and thinking that romance adventure is where it’s at and want a reminder of just how good you have it, watch Blind Date, The 5th Wheel or Elimidate. It works wonders, really, and can make you laugh to boot. Or cringe. Usually a combination of both.”

This is why Jules, AEC and CEM are always what I wanted in female friends. Able to understand the strong-feminine perspective, effortlessly eloquent in my vernacular, and damned honest. I raise my free casino drink to you, ladies.

April 20, 2004 | culture-society-history, family & friends, travel | 1 Comment »

Go 3D Ramanis!

From SiliconValley.com:

Researchers have developed new search engines that can mine catalogs of three-dimensional objects such as airplane parts or architectural features.

For example, Purdue University professor Karthik Ramani created a system that can find computer-designed industrial parts, and Caterpillar Inc. engineer Rick Jeff says of Ramani’s technology: “If you’ve got to design a new elbow for an oil line, more often than not, we have a plethora of elbows”; Jeff says the problem has been that each has to be examined separately — a tedious task “that isn’t even performed that often, because it isn’t feasible or practical… It seems like there’s ever-greater demands for speed in product development, and it’s those kinds of breakthroughs that are needed to keep up. This would really just add to the efficiency.”

Professor Ramani says happily: “I think this is the beginning of the information age.”

April 16, 2004 | desi / india, gizmos & hacks, science & technology, visualization | Comments Closed

Packing For The Savage Journey

Taxes – check
Cash – check
Water – check
Ibuprofen – check
Swimsuit – check

To do:
Charge cellphone
Find Oscar Acosta

April 15, 2004 | travel | Comments Closed
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