MicroBrain’s

Archive for October, 2008

(taken from here) 

Computing in the 21st Century Conference, jointly hosted by National Natural ScienceFoundation Commission, Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) and Peking University will be held on November 4th, 2008. Thousands of professors and students from colleges all around Beijing will gather in Peking University’s Centennial Hall for this grand event. Masters in computer research throughout the country and from around the world will be given the opportunity to meet face to face with Chinese students and scholars, delivering keynote speeches and sharing their achievements in computer science research. On November 7th, the conference will then be held in Singapore, expanding the influence of world’s top research results to the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the theme of “New Horizon of Computing”, Computing in the 21st Century Conference will review the history of computer development, and look ahead to the new world of future computing. The speakers include Turing Award (which is recognized as the “Nobel Prize of computing”) recipients Dr. Raj Reddy, Dr. Butler Lampson, Dr. Tony Hoare, Dr. Rick Rashid, Senior Vice President of Microsoft Corporation, Dr. Harry Shum, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Corporation and Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon, Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia. We hope the conference will inspire young students and scholars with new angles, arouse their interest in computer science, and further enhance the development of related research fields in China and Asia Pacific.

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Wow, a nice concert will come to Singapore… Accidentally after I see Ungu’s concert ads, I see this one (which I pasted below). Well, anyone who interested to come, can go with me. Most probably, I’ll come to the concert with the $68 ticket (the 88-138 are too expensive for a student like me while from the 58 I don’t think I can see much, hehe…).

Well I know it’s kinda late, I hope I didn’t wake you. But what I’ve got to say can’t wait…
I’ll have to say I love you in a song…

(taken from here)

The distinctive and pure vocals of Emi Fujita made the song Hidamari no Uta (which was part of the soundtrack for the Japanese TV drama series Under One Roof 2) a sensational hit for the group Le Couple. The CD single sold over 1.8 million copies. Emi Fujita made her solo debut in November 2001 with the album Camomile, which received Platinum and Golden Disc Awards in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.

Since then, Emi has released a series of albums under the same title achieving the No. 1 ranking in many Asian countries. The Camomile series has established her as a vocalist of immense depth and soul. Emi Fujita’s last performance in Singapore was for a SOLD-OUT concert at the Esplanade Concert Hall in 2004. Emi Fujita now returns after 4 years, she is ready to give you the best ‘Sound Therapy’. Do not miss this great opportunity to catch Emi ‘Live’ in Singapore

For some reasons, my topic for URECA was changed. It is now “An approach of evolutionary and local search for solving job shop optimization”. A co-supervisor also involved now, he is Dr. Ho Nhu Binh from SIMTech. So, mainly, now I’m dealing with memetic algorithm (evolutionary algorithm + local search). In a way, it’s a totally new thing for me. Somehow it changes “my belief”, from the one who usually dealing with something can be proven mathematically into something which can not be proven mathematically. So, it’s like a magic (from the amazing natural world behaviour) which just do thing better in average. I’m open for discussion with everyone who also interested in this field.

(good points quoted from “Knowing God’s Will; Biblical Principles of Guidance” [Blain, M. Smith])

Some reasons why knowledge of the future could be harmful for us:

1. Knowledge of the future could be paralyzing, e.g. Saul’s experience when he consulted the witch (1 Sam 28). God leads us as much by information he withholds as by information he gives.

2. Knowledge of the future could stifle our moment-by-moment obedience to God. We would begin to feel as though we had God “locked in” – that no disobedience on our part would prevent God from carrying out His plan.

3. Such knowledge could also stifle our moment-by-moment faith and trust in God. We would have no opportunity for the kind of faith required when we are forced to trust Him each moment for fresh guidance.

4. It could stunt the growth of the intellectual faculties God has given us for decision making. We would not develop our rational abilities to make responsible decisions.

5. It could add a dimension of boredom to our lives. Knowing what the future held would cause us to lose the sense of curiosity which adds a continual element of anticipation of our existence. Being guided step-by-step is surely a much more exciting experience than having before us an elaborate blueprint of the future.