blog.zgraggen.name  All-day insanity or I have a blog too!

Most of us have heard of CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA and many also know what it is. But how many know the developer/inventor of it: Luis von Ahn. He is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at CMU and has already won several awards and fellowships even though he is only 30 years old. A few days ago a received a message that Luis von Ahn was on the show on NOVA scienceNOW. This short clip gives some insight who he is and what he does or better said what he did so far.

About four months ago I was attending a lecture of Luise von Ahn which was called Teaching Shenanigans. He gave this lecture because he won the “Herbert A. Simon Award for Excellence in Teaching” in 2008. In this lecture he gives some insights on his tricks he uses to teach the class “Great Theoretical Ideas in Computer Science”.

Download - Teaching Shenanigans

Do you think you would like this class as a student?

I like energy drinks!
Red Bull is still one of my all time favorite. But when I arrived in USA, I discovered that the energy drink offer in America is much more diverse then in Switzerland. So I was trying many different energy drinks over the course of the last year (well 10 months to be exact).
Besides that I like energy drinks, it also helps to keep up with the demanding workload of the Carnegie Mellon University.

Here is my newest acquisition. I ordered it from ThinkGeek.

Doesn’t it look cool… I’m looking forward to try them

Tip for all the energy drinks junkies! Check out this page http://www.edjunkie.com/

This is a new record on this blog. Obviously, this is not the kind of record you want to break!

Towards the end of the fall semesters in 2008, I was busy and was not motivated to write any posts. After that during the winter break, I was too lazy to write anything. (It is not holiday if you have to work…) Besides, I had better things to do than sitting in front of the computer like skiing and snowboarding in the Swiss Mountains

I started many posts but published none of them. I finally decided to do the write up and publish all of them. I will mark them as relict.

Last Wednesday we had to leave the classroom early. The reason for this was a fire alarm.
It was a “nice” experience because nobody panicked and there was no hectic rush. Within a few minutes the whole class was outside. After a while (no clue how long it took) we were allowed back into the building. Someone told us that the fire alarm was set off by butter popcorn which were too long in the microwave

After that a friend told me that this is the reason why it is not allowed to make popcorn in government buildings…

After the beer incidence I decided to apply for a StateID.
In order to get a StateID you have to fulfill certain criteria and gather many different forms. The main criterion is that you will stay longer than one year in the US. Gathering all the different forms (Affirmation form the University, lease, bills (proof of Residency), Passport, Visa, I-20, Social Security Number (SSN) number or a denial letter) is not difficult. An interesting document is the SSN denial letter. As a foreign student with no employment I can’t get a SSN. In order to get the StateID I had to go to the Social Security Office and get a confirmation, that I can’t get a SSN. This took me about 30 minutes.
Finally, at the Pittsburgh State Office I had to wait for over 60 minutes till it was my turn. After filling out another form and answering a few question and writing a 10$ check (I get slowly used to it) I received my temporary StateID. This temporary ID will be valid for 15 days till I get the final version. The clerk told me they have to check my picture in the database if I am not registered anywhere…

Jiihaa! After 3 hours I am finally able to buy beer

Today, I already did my third presentation. The first time I was really nervous. The second time was much better and now the third time was nearly enjoyable. A couple more presentations and it will feel like presenting in Swissgerman.
My next presentation is due in two weeks…

Okay, I admit I did not think that I will blog so early again… Maybe I got used to the workload or my time management improved either way I have a little spare time.
Therefore, I will tell you some more interesting stuff which I experience here in Pittsburgh. But, I will keep my post shorter than usual!

This weekend Pittsburgh celebrated the 250 anniversary and they promised to show the best firework in the history of Pittsburgh.
They used 17 diverent launch sites for the fireworks. Several of them where launched from roof of buildings in the town.

I am not sure if it was the best firework I have ever seen but for sure the biggest one!

Cool janitors:

Roof top:

Some youtube videos:
here
and here

At least for a long time…
I started this post over a week ago and added more and more stuff to it, because there is a lot to write about here around…

I will start with the bad news:
Verizon
I am trying get internet for about 7 weeks now. A tip for anyone who is looking for a internet connection in USA. Do not choose Verizon! NO-GO! STOP! I had so much trouble with them, and their service is really, really bad! Believe me, Cablecom seems to have the perfect service when compared with Verizon.

That’s it! Now all the good news:
Heads up on some more stuff David and I did last weekend.
Rib Festival & Baseball
his PGR experience
The 1st week er month is over
If you want some more insights what is going on at the CMU, you should check the blog from David regularly.

MSE/MSIT Wins Team Championship
This is a quote of a CMU which was sent to all CS students.

On the team championship front, the MSE/MSIT team of Guido Zgraggen, Harrison Strowd and Ryan Miller finished 3, 11 and 15 respectively to make it to the winner’s circle. They also had a lot of support on the trail with almost a third of the entrants from MSE/MSIT. Congratulations to Guido, Harrison and Ryan and the rest of the MSE/MSIT team!

Business Dinner with the eBusiness Program
David was kind enough to invite me to his business dinner in return for the MSE picnic. It was a very nice evening with good food (yes, as in Switzerland). Some pictures…
Thanks to David!

Loads of Work…
I was expecting a hard time around here, but… let me put it this way: My undergrad study at the HSR was a piece of cake compared to the CMU
And I am not the only one who is working all day… the CMU campus is as busy at the weekend as during the week with the exception of less faculties walking around.
The biggest advantage of this is, I will not get homesick. I really have no time for it =)

Anyway, I like my program and I am sure that I have made the right decision! As a result to the time management I will cut down in blogging… sorry guys!

Career
CMU has its own “Career Center” which can help by finding a job, preparing for an interview, and you can even borrow a suit there for a job interview.
At the moment I receive a lot of emails about companies who will come on campus and offer a information session. Mostly it is in combination with free pizza and drinks.

I also went to an etiquette dinner to learn how to behave at an “Job Interview Dinner”. But I did not learn much… most of the things I already knew. But for the American people most of the things were new

TOC - Technical Opportunities Conference (Job fair). I took this chance to speak to several companies (Google, Microsoft, Facebook, CIA, IBM, EA, Mitre, DrwTrading, Timken, Palantir, etc.)
Yes, you read it rite… I tried my luck and spoke to the CIA! After I told the “Agent” I have only a visa. He told me that they do not employ foreign people. =)

Extreme Energy Rush I am not sure how healthy this is… but it works Working hours

Record-Breaking Class
This is a quote of a MSE Mail which was sent to all MSE/MSIT students.

Students entering the MSE program in the fall broke a record even before setting foot on campus. The graduate software engineering professional programs received a record number of applications for the 08-09 academic year, and for the first time in history, a waiting list was established to accommodate the overflow of highly-qualified candidates.

CMU movie screening
Yesterday, I took some time off to see the “new” Indiana Jones - The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The screening was in a big auditorium with a good sound system.
Each weekend they show different selection of movies. Some of them are more recent like Wall-E. And this for just 1$ per movie =)

Have a nice one!

I was not so busy writing posts in the last few days but thanks to David you can read what we/he did:
International and Graduate Student Orientation @ CMU
The Fence and Tropic Thunder
Davids own Apartment

Yesterday I attended the first day of the MSE Orientation. After the general orientation from the CMU, I am now used to the information flood.

I would like to quote a few things our faculties told us during this orientation.
Mel Rosso-Lleopart:

There are two kinds of mentors:
- One which waits at the cliff: “You have to stop now, one step more and you will fall.”
- The other mentor will wait at the Bottom.

You can make a guess which kind of mentor we will have They told us it is okey to make mistakes, as long as we can explain what/why it went wrong.

General comment about the MSE program:

I do not know why people sign up for such a torturous program. I would not do that.

Dave Root:

You pay a lot of money for this education so come into class everyday it does not matter how sick or tired you are or if your dog just died.

Concerning the different cultural backgrounds and egos:

The brain is like a parachute, it works better when it is open!

Today, the five studio projects were presented to us (25 MSE Students). Afterwards we had to hand in our prioritized choices. Of course our advisor will make the final decision depending on the work experience and lot of other factors besides our choice. One very important thing is that we do something new otherwise it would be to easy =)

Besides the courses which start next week. We will also start a boot camp for our studio projects. That is a “new” idea to get started in a team project with people which have different background. It looks like I will be very busy in the upcoming semester…

It is been a while since I moved into my apartment but I think you are still interested in some details about it. After we received the keys on Wednesday David rented a car from Thursday to Sunday to go on a road trip to St. Louis. (I am sure he will write about it soon). But before he left we went together to IKEA, which is located about 16Km outside of Pittsburgh. There we bought all the small things needed for a comfortable living in an apartment. This starts with stuff for cleaning goes over to kitchen material and also things which makes living more comfortable such as a comforter and a nice pillow.
Back at the apartment we started cleaning, after more or less 4 hours David decided to leave for St. Louis. I carried on for another 2 hours. Over the weekend I invested another 4 to 5 hours of cleaning and organizing my apartment. Finally, I live now in my very first own apartment!
What a feeling

The apartment for David is not free yet so he is staying at my place. As soon as David has moved into his own apartment I will upload some more pictures.

btw: The reason I did not accompany David on his road trip were the third semester presentations from the current MSE students. They were so kind and invited me to attend. Now I have a better understanding what the faculty members will expect from us.