For all my students

We have had a few interruptions this week, but we are going to have a strong finish before the break.

For the seniors, period 2 you will have a short answer question on robots at the beginning of next class and then we will continue with robotic surgery and other special applications of robots. Period 7 your question will come one class later after we cover the material.

Also for the HL seniors I want to have your interview contacts next week and I want the survey first drafts by the end of next week.

For the juniors, you will also have a short answer question at the beginning of class on Sunday. This will relate to what we have covered in the chapter so far. After that we will start operating systems, move on to interfaces and finish with piracy and other issues before we break.

My son Yousif on his first trip to Hong Kong Restaurant in Um Al Hassam.

OSC at MKS

We had our first ever visit form Oxford Study Courses on Wednesday at it went great. Rosanna and Aisha gave a lot of great information and good advice for all who attended.
I thought the time management presentation given by Rosanna was very helpful. As an IB student you have more to do than there are hours in the day. Learning to manage your time effectively is important and will help you avoid the last minute frenzy that so man students go through.









One thing that really stood out for me was the way that so many students connected with Aisha after the presentation was over. She talked to you for almost thirty minutes and everybody was completely engaged. After you left both Rosanna and Aisha told me that they absolutely loved you. That was Aisha's first comment to me. They were very impressed.


For those of you seriously considering taking one of their courses, either a summer course or an exam prep course, you should go to the website and sign up as soon as possible. There will be a few thousand students attending this year, so get a spot while you can.

More Robot news

Here we enter the final frontier. The Mail has an article about a robot which looks human and can imitate human expressions. I wonder, when robots do become intelligent, will they really want to look like us? Or will they want their own features?

Mount Allison University Returns

We had another good visit with Charlie Hunter from Mount Allison University. Aside form being a great speaker, he always gets all of the students engaged in what he is talking about. And what he is talking about is always important. It also helps that this year we have a couple of students that are seriously considering Mount Allison as their first or second choice.











I think what his presentation did best was make clear the advantages of attending a smaller school that is focused on the student. I try to make this point with you as well. Many of our students would benefit from this close personal attention when they attend university. Going to a larger school may seem like the best choice because of its ranking or name, but is that what you want from your university years?



What you should really look for is the 'best fit'. This is a term you see a lot in counseling and it means finding a place that is best for you, not best because of a subjective ranking which is totally remote from you. Maybe a large school in the heart of a large city is best for you, in that case you should choose the best one. If it isn't, don't make the mistake of going to one because other people think it is the best for you. We will have more visits throughout the year, with two more next week.

And finally, a picture of my son Yousif, the artistic genius.

First chess, now music

For the 12s.

Now there is a robot that can play music flawlessly!

I thought that music and creative pursuits were our strong point. I guess we will have to cede this territory also. Keep in mind that it plays, it doesn't compose. What would a robot composition sound like anyway?

There are AI guys working on programs that can compose music among other things. They are usually set up according to music rules that humans find pleasant. Would a truly intelligent machine want to follow our preferences when it comes to music? I think that they would want to create their own.

It reminds me of the Matrix, more specifically the making of DVD. The conceptual planners were all talking about hot they came up with the idea of the Machine City and the large machine at the end which negotiates with Neo. They went deep into the creative well to design a look that would be something machines would make for themselves, rather than something we would make machines design. Anyway, it was way metaphysical, you can check it out for yourself.

We will be back to AI and expert systems when I get back on Sunday.

Update

Well, I just met the doctor a few minutes ago here at Bahrain Specialist Hospital and she wants me to stay home until next week. So I guess I won't see you tomorrow.

I will put up a post for the work that we are going to be doing to get everyone started.

I'm not dead

I am just sick.

I have stayed away from school because the doctor ordered it and told me I was contagious. Apparently I caught some type of Bahraini virus making the rounds that seems to resemble Scarlett Fever. I'm not saying it is the fever, just seems to resemble it.

Anyway, I am feeling better today than yesterday and I should be back on Wednesday. I sent Mr. Dewey an email with all of your grades, and I increased them (yes, yours too). If there are any problems I will be hearing supplications upon my return.

C U soon.