Last week I took part in IoT Zurich's city walkshop. Put simple, we went around the city making observations about various types of sensors collecting data about people and the environment, what kind of data was being collected and how open to public access these collections of data can be.

Regardless of the fact that it was raining frogs, the walkshop was very informative and quite a lot of fun. =) We even did a bit of snooping into CCTV feeds from various stores and such… ;) Looks like Zurich is quite a smart city, but as to how accessible the data is in general…. I think some work needs to be done in that direction.

In case anyone would like to look into the rout we took, here it is. Definitely worth checking out. And here you can find everything about the walkshop.  

And here's our little group….

Labels: Activities, Electronics, Events, Fun, Learning, Technology, Zürich

Map of the Internet by Peer 1: Discovered this app this morning and I've been playing with it here and there all day. As the title suggests, it's a 3D interactive map of the internet, and it's quite nice to play with. =D

Labels: Data Visualization, Interesting, Internet, Software, Technology

"Star Trek: Into Darkness" : I LUUUUUUUUUUUUUV IT! =D I mean, I really really really love it. We went to watch it on Monday evening, and it's still running in the background of my mind. Fantastic plot, awesome visuals, perfect cast…. This is definitely one of the very best Star Trek movies I've ever seen, and I already have the feeling that unfortunately it is, and it is going to be, underrated.

[Warning, from here on there could be spoilers.]

"Wrath of Khan", and "The Search for Spock", were actually the first 2 Star Trek movies I watched as a child [very little =)], and basically the first time I watched anything Star Trek. Somehow the two movies left quite an impression on me… perhaps the reason why I've always been such a huge fan of the franchise. The scene of Spock's death in "Wrath of Khan" was something that really affected me… the idea, the feelings, the message… So you can imagine, for me it was quite amazing to watch the same scene in the new movie, except with the positions reversed. In fact all the "mirrors" in "Into Darkness" were very exciting for me.

I also think that the choice of Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, was basically as good as it could possibly get. =D He was completely perfect for the role. The character of Khan was always interesting, but I feel that Benedict Cumberbatch's performance somehow managed to make something new out of the character. A much deeper, much more twisted, and terribly impressive new Khan. I'm also a huge fan of the "old Spock" cameos, and Simon Pegg as Scotty is also a completely brilliant choice.

I really cannot understand all the criticism that the movie is receiving. I just hope that J.J. Abrams keeps doing what he's doing, and I look forward, impatiently, to the next one. =D

Labels: Entertainment, J.J. Abrams, Motion Picture, Movies, Nerdism, Sci-Fi, Star Trek

By the way this is pretty cool: Structure101. Last week there was an interesting talk hosted by the "Zurich Developers .NET User Group" with the topic of "Rediscovering Modularity", which was to a great extent about the above software architecture  management tool. Aside from the fact that I managed to walk into a glass wall, [yes, really, quite the classic!], it was a great event and quite informative. And now I'm seriously considering giving the tool a try as it seems to be possibly what I've been looking for, for a while… If anyone here is using it/ ends up using it please let me know.

Labels: .NET, Coding, Computer Science, Events, Programming, Technology

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of the easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep….

Labels: Art, Feelings, Poems, Poetry

Yesterday noon my mom flew back to Toronto, which has left me with a black mood and a broken heart. You'd think with everything I've been through in my life, I'd handle it better… well not really. =(

The distance is murdering us. Everything that I have gained here, all that I love about here, everything that is positive about the collection of migrations I've made, at times none of it helps the way I feel. What I've lost, what I've left behind and what I have to ignore every single day is not a small load. In the perfect world, I would not have had to leave my birth country to start with.

*sigh*…….

Labels: Life, Sad

Ah, great, I just noticed now that the slides and all the relevant material from last week's "Understanding Eventual Consistency and Riak" are available here.

The event that was hosted by the "Zurich FLOSS and IT geeks", was as usual interesting, informative and well organized. Looking forward to their next one…

Labels: Computer Science, Events, Programming, Technology, Zürich

EPFL's "Salamandra Robotica II", pretty cool design! More about it here.

Labels: Design, Electronics, Engineering, Mechanics, Mechatronics, Robotics, Switzerland, Technology

And for the few people who were asking about the Haskell talk I attended last week, you can read about pretty much everything that was discussed here.

Previously due to my German course on Thursday evenings I couldn't attend any of the Haskell group's events. Now, happily, I can. =)

Labels: Coding, Computer Science, Haskell, Programming, Technology

A few weeks ago I attended a very informative [as well as extremely funny] tech talk titled "Neo4j And Connected Data".  During the presentation Jim Webber made a  mention of his new book called "Graph Databases", which is available to download from here.

During the past weeks I've had a chance to have a better look into the book, and simply put, I like it! =) For anyone interested in the relevant topics, I really recommend checking it out.

Labels: Academia, Authors, Books, Coding, Computer Science, Events, Programming, Technology