Another mind-blowing lecture by a super smartypants today — this time by Marieke van Erp. She talked about how tough, and how valuable, it is to get machines to learn how to use everyday speech. Really “smart” computers are still a long way off, but programming computers to be “lazy learners” (like humans — most of what we learn is not through intentional study) using techniques such as the k-nearest neighbor classifier. When computers are smart enough to infer meanings, they can take over some really tedious entry work, freeing researchers’ time and money for more important things. Marieke explained it much more elegantly, but that’s the general gist.
Yesterday part of the class got stuck in an elevator at Erasmus University on our way upstairs to the guest lecture. Yep, I was one of the unlucky ones who got stuck. Unfortunately, I’m very claustrophobic, so the experience was a lot more unsettling than I let on at the time. So, what does this have to do with a very cool art museum? Nothing, except that when I was looking at a painting by one of the Surrealists, I heard a weird buzzing in my right ear and suddenly got extremely dizzy — I guess my brain needed its own version of surrealism. I went back to the hotel (it was only about 5:30 p.m.) and slept until the next morning. Greta thinks it was a delayed reaction from my elevator experience, and I’m going to agree with her on this one. I’m going to try riding the elevator again when we go to Erasmus tomorrow to try to deal with my irrational fear. I don’t know, though, whether I’ll be looking at surreal paintings again anytime soon.
Before our guest lecture today, program director Trent Hill told us that last year’s group referred to our lecturer as “that really smart woman.” It’s an incredibly apt description. Andrea Scharnhorst gave a fascinating lecture about her research into article citations as a measure of journal quality. I’m sure it would have been even more fascinating if I had actually been able to understand more than half of what she was saying. It was not a language problem; her English was nearly perfect, as all of our lecturers’ English has been. Continue reading ‘Guest lecture: Andrea Scharnhorst’
From the day I arrived in Rotterdam, I’ve been on a mission to buy a bicycle so I can get around using my preferred mode of transportation, which happens to be the same as many Dutch people’s. Yesterday Molly and I went to a bike shop near Rotterdam’s Centraal Station, but it was a bust. All the bikes were out of our price ranges, and the shop owner was arrogant, to boot.
After lecture today, we decided to try again. Jonathan found a bike yesterday at a shop on Niewe Binnenweg, so we thought we’d walk up the street and see if we could find something, too. Continue reading ‘Back on my fiets’
The past couple of days have been pretty uneventful. We moved from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, and I spent a few hours walking around to get my bearings. Hotel Baan is a vast improvement over the Bicycle Hotel. I feel much more comfortable here, and not having to share a shower with the whole floor is a giant plus. The layout of the room is a little weird — the shower and toilet are in the entryway — but it’s a minor niggle. We had another group dinner with more delicious food at Soif. I can’t wait to find a bike so I can take my preferred mode of transportation around town. Hope I can find one.
Molly had the terrific idea of biking to the North Sea as a day trip this weekend. She planned the route, and she, Jonathan and I set out at about 9 a.m. this morning. Several miles outside Amsterdam, we were delayed by a sudden, fierce rainstorm. Fortunately, there was a house nearby, so we took shelter on the side protected from the wind. We still got a little wet, but not completely soaked as we would have otherwise.
The ride there took us a lot longer than we thought it would, mainly because of a persistent headwind. When we got to the North Sea, we all agreed that the ride had been worth it. Continue reading ‘Biking to the North Sea’
We had our first free day – with no lecture – in Amsterdam today, so folks were left to their own devices for entertainment and enlightenment. Well, mostly. Sue organized a canal tour in the morning, so people just had to come up with a way to fill their afternoons.
The canal tour was lovely. I had taken a tour of Amsterdam’s many canals a week earlier, but the two experiences were completely different. Continue reading ‘‘ware the chipkaart’
The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum is amazing. The building in which the archives are housed is itself a marvel of Dutch design. Every detail was planned and executed to fit with the purpose and vision of the institute. The building is 96 meters from top to bottom; it stands 26 meters above ground and descends 70 meters underground. Part of the reason for building so much of the structure below ground level is because of building height restrictions in Hilversum. In addition, the underground temperature is a fairly constant 17 degrees Centigrade, making it easier to regulate the temperature of sensitive archived materials.
The building clearly is built for function, but it’s aesthetically brilliant, too. Continue reading ‘NISV Hilversum’
I went to my first library of the trip, and I have to say that I’m deeply impressed. Judging from the Openbare Bibliotheek, it’s evident that the Netherlands values libraries. Such care was given to the design of the building and its contents, from the bookshelf arrangement to the labels on the books. I could see myself spending a lot of time there.
I was especially impressed by the setup of the children’s section. Continue reading ‘Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam’
I’ve been itching to ride a bicycle around town from the moment I got here. Since today was the first clear day we’ve had, I took off toward Amsterdamse Bos, a wooded area southwest of central Amsterdam. I’m not really sure what route I took to get there; I just followed the signs posted along the bike path (fietspad – my Dutch word of the day), but eventually I got there. The woods were delightful. Bike and walking paths criss-crossed the entire area, which is roughly 2,500 acres. It was really easy to feel like I was alone among the trees. Continue reading ‘Amsterdamse Bos’
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