karltk's neck of the woods

As some of you probably noticed, the last couple of months, and especially the last few weeks, have been rather unstable here at boblycat.org. The reason for the former has mostly been some severe network hiccups in Nextgentel's Laksevåg switch.

These incessant network outages combined with our own aging and increasingly unstable hardware, finally forced us into finding an alternative hosting solution. We ended up subscribing to a VPS (virtual private server) service in Stockholm.

The initial migration went rather smoothly, though we ran out of inodes (one of the resources severely limited by the VPS). The hosting company was kind enough to bump this limit for us. Unfortunately, at some point, the limit was reset, which caused last week's outage. We didn't report the problem as we mistakenly believed it was due to payment issues (we were transitioning from a trial service to a fully paid service).

In any event, things are up and running now. There are likely to be many small issues lurking about, so don't hesitate to contact Stig or myself if things need to be fixed. As usual, Stig manages Drupal and the gallery, while I do most of the other stuff.

Summer, and what resembled a vacation, is over. It was perhaps not as recuperating as I would have liked, but it certainly wasn't dull, either. All in all, I got to see a few Broadway shows, a gig in Madison Square Garden, a concert with the Blue Man Group, a comedy club show, a jazz club performance, bunches of movies and of course a lot of wining and dining in various restaurants. Pretty metropolitan, but I notice that a few weeks in a big city makes me miss good old Nature quite a bit.

I didn't spend all my time in the city, fortunately. I also found the time to visit Seemant, Aimee, Josh and Daniel in Boston (part of the Boston Gentoo posse, for those of you not in the know). Courtesy of a confused Fung Wah bus driver, we trawled the coastline from NYC to Boston, visiting all cities and ports on the way. In the end, we what was supposed to be a four hour bus drive turned into a six hour trek into the night.

I regret not having had more time to spend on visiting more acquaintances and people. I hardly left the city in my weeks there. Ah, well. Next time. Now I'm back in Bergen, moving out of my office at the CS department and tending to the remaining pieces of post-graduation formalities.

In the last few weeks, I've been hanging around in New York, living at Einar's place. It's been a very good experience so far. Especially after we discovered that the sofa doubles as a foldout bed and I could rid of the air mattress. There's a free pool in the building, which is mostly empty -- wonderful:)

Random images from the summer will be collected in this year's summer gallery. So far, there are only a couple of images from last weekend's trip to Princeton.

When you have the time, New York can (surprise, surprise) be a really social place. I've attended an uncharacteristic amount (for me, anyway) of bars, pubs, restaurants and night clubs. It feels great to part of the "real world" (inasmuch as New York could classify under that label) again.

Ooh, and then there's all the great people. I ran into Iqbal and Nissa, his verbally swashbuckling sister. Iqbal is back at IBM Watson this year. I regret not spending another summer there, because I'm confident we could have had a great time together this year as well. I guess we'll try to hang out in the weekends, at least, when he's not busy researching:)

It turns out that a friend of mine from middle school, Torgeir, has married and is moving to NYC. I met up with him and his wife, Maria, yesterday. She's American and works as a doctor at a hospital on the Upper East Side. She speaks a fair bit of Norwegian and has the best grasp of the rolling 'r' I've ever heard in an English native speaker. She can even do the proper 'r' that we from Vestlandet use.

Given the low value of dollars these days, everything here feels (and is!) dirt cheap. Even the expensive restaurants are cheaper than the average ones back home. However, if you really want to, you can find crazy and insanely crazy expensive restaurants over here, so there's ample opportunity to run out of money should one so desire. So far, I've only bought a new wardrobe, but I'm about to stack up on tech gadgets starting next week. Just have to find an additional suitcase. Wiiii;)

Finally! It's over! Never again! The defense mostly followed the specified procedure. I first had about 45 minutes to give a presentation of the results of the dissertation, then the first opponent, Neil Jones, gave a 15 minute summary putting my work into a larger context.

After his summary, he proceeded to ask several high-level questions about various parts of the dissertation. One question I liked a lot was (paraphrased): "are the axiom-based Java testing techniques you propose in your case study applicable to Stratego and would you actually use them?". All the tools and prototypes discussed in the thesis are written in Stratego, and are applied to Java, C and a toy language called TIL. However, few of the tools are actually available for Stratego itself. This is the classical story of the cobbler's children's shoes... I certainly think it would be worthwhile to do the work necessary to make some of the the tools available to Stratego as well.

Peter Mosses followed with a series of detailed questions. Clearly, Peter had read the text and figures very carefully, because some of his questions were about rather subtle issues and ambiguities in my work. There were also a few (fortunately minor) mistakes that made some of the figures more difficult to comprehend than necessary. He also nailed me on a very embarrassing definite-instead-of-indefinite article mistake. Normally, these things do not matter very much, but in this particular sentence it sort of reversed one of my main arguments in the dissertation. Whoops;)

After I'd answered their questions as best as I could, they retired to discuss whether my performance was good enough. This is mostly a formality in the current tradition, so I can't say I was very worried at that point. Once they came back, the dean proclaimed my successful completion of the degree, and we all rushed off for some (sadly delayed) champagne and cake.

I even wore a suit, and here's a picture to prove it:

Much thanks to Uwe Wolter, who was the local member of the committe and therefore the grand orchestrator of all the formalities, the formal parts went smoothly. After the defense, the stressful part of the day started: I had to collect all people's menu choices for the evening, send my family and friends shopping for the evening's party, clean the apartment and of course smear huge swaths of marzipan cake all over my suit. Thanks to very good help from my brother, his girlfriend, Håvard (my roommate) and my mother, and Tilde, we managed to get ready just in time to arrive ten minutes late for the scheduled dinner.

Magne and Peter:

Neil and Uwe:

Tilde:

Since Eelco took the pictures, he's not in any of them. Fortunately, Tilde has a few pictures of Eelco, and of the other people present. I'm still waiting for those and will upload a few once I get them (and get some green lights from the people depicted).

After dinner, we all (committee, advisors, friends and family) drove back to my apartment and Tilde whipped up drinks to all. She even tricked one into me;) I was very pleased to see that my office neighbour and student advisor, Ida Holen, found the time to show up. Also, I had friends flying in from Oslo (okay, Holmestrand) and Trondheim for the event, namely Karl Thomas, Karina and Leif Olav. Thanks guys! Hope the drinks and food was worth it;) The usual Bergen posse showed up as well, including Stig, Fay, Knute, Glenn, Espen, Tommy x 2 and Paul Simon (if I forgot somebody, ping me).

My PhD defense will be held Wednesday June 27 at 13:00. The location is the Big Auditorium (room 2144) in the Bergen High-technology Center (HIB) in Thormøhlensgt 55. All interested parties are cordially invited. Announcement (in Norwegian).

The committee consists of Neil D. Jones, Peter D. Mosses and Uwe E. Wolter.

I will post a link to an electronic version of the dissertation once it has been published in the Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA).

Disputasfest, onsdag 27.06.07, kl 21:00
Sted: St Halvardsvei 25B

I anledning overstått sommersolverv (og muligens overstått disputas ) falt det seg naturlig å invitere til en liten sammenkomst. Av upraktiske årsaker blir kalaset hjemme hos Håvard og meg i St. Halvardsvei 25B. Varm og kald voksen- og barnedrikke blir servert, med kaker og kaffe, gjerne alt på en gang. DJ Sørbø står for kveldens smekre toner. Ta gjerne med følge og godt humør, samt en fluktstol eller krakk. Kleskode: polynesisk bastskjørt eller annet ikke-formelt antrekk.

Selve disputasen avholdes i Store Aud, 2. etasje (rom 2144) på Høyteknologisenteret i Bergen (HIB) [ikke Høyskolen], kl 13:00.

Disputasen min blir onsdag 27. juni kl 13:00 [mulig dette blir flyttet pittelitt avhengig av flyforsinkelser] i rom 2144 (Store Auditorium), Datablokken, Høyteknologisenteret i Bergen. Alle som er interessert er hjertelig velkomne til å dukke opp. Ring eller send e-post hvis du vil ha retningsanvisning

Komiteen er Neil D. Jones, Peter D. Mosses og Uwe E. Wolter.

Jeg får først ca 40 minutter til å presentere oppgaven, deretter skal Neil Jones gi et 15 minutters sammendrag. Etter dette kommer det egentlige forsvaret, der komiteen og tilskuere stiller spørsmål. Etterhvert blir enten hele greia forkastet eller så går tilskuermengden tom for spørsmål. I begge tilfeller avsluttes seansen.

I samsvar med innleveringsritualet har komiteen har allerede evaluert (og anbefalt forsvar av) den innleverte oppgaven. Papirkopier finnes i universitetsbiblioteket, på mat.nat.-filiane. En reformattert (etter universitetets profilmal, må vite), korrigert versjon vil bli gjort tilgjengelig i trykket form på disputasen.

På kvelden, rundt 21:00-tiden (også onsdag 27. juni) blir det fest. Sted er ikke avklart enda, men jeg annonserer det så fort jeg finner ut. Igjen, alle som er tørste, sultne eller selskapslystne er naturligvis velkomne.

There I was, idling my own business when all of a sudden:


22:06 :: Quit: genstef (n=genstef@gentoo/developer/genstef) [K-lined]
22:06 :: Quit: karltk (n=karltk@gentoo/developer/karltk) [K-lined]
22:06 :: Quit: Decko_ (i=Jonas@cpe.atm2-0-1041193.0x50a63582.bynxx14.customer.tele.dk) [Client
Quit]
22:06 @(seemant) k-lined?
22:06 @(seemant) wtf
22:06 @(tsunam) eh?
22:07 @(seemant) karltk and genstef just got k-lined
22:07 :: Quit: Renacor (n=kvirc@port-83-236-179-6.static.qsc.de) [Connection timed out]
22:07 @(seemant) christel: ^^
22:07 @(christel) OH SHIT
22:07 * agaffney giggles
22:08 @(Cardoe) hahaha
22:08 @(Cardoe) OWNED
22:08 @(araujo) :-P
22:08 @(christel) that was my fault
22:08 @(agaffney) hahahahaha
22:08 @(christel) they are unklined now
22:08 @(Cardoe) genstef needs to stop joining so many herds..
22:08 @(Cardoe) Now you see what his punishment is.
22:08 @(agaffney) christel: overly broad k-line? :P
22:08 @(christel) i wanted to test whether a automated thing needed X number of letters, and as i am kline excempt i didnt think...
22:08 @(tsunam) christel: haha
22:08 @(christel) and then the kline was set (on my host) disconnecting everyone not excempt :O
22:09 @(agaffney) heh
22:09 * agaffney mocks christel
22:09 @(tsunam) christel: you blond again?
22:09 @(agaffney) whoopsy :P
22:09 @(christel) next time staff asks me a question i shall not answer 'i dont know, lets find out' and proceed to try :P
22:09 * christel emauls karltk and genstef
22:10 @(seemant) now you're e-mauling people?
22:10 @(Battousai) so you ban them then maul them
22:10 @(Battousai) perfect
22:10 @(seemant) when will it stop??
22:10 @(christel) HAHAHAHA


I honestly didn't notice until I heard a bing in my inbox with an apology from Christel.


23:39 <@karltk> christel: god kveld til deg også;P
23:40 <@christel> jeg skal legge til slik at den hosten ikke kan bli klina :)
23:41 <@karltk> christel: man skal vœre forsiktig med slik klining offentlig:)
23:41 * christel kliner med karltk
23:42 * karltk er litt overrasket, men setter pris på oppmerksomheten;P


As the norwegian-reading audience can clearly see, we're still good friends:)

(Vanligvis driter jeg en lang i debatten om utdanning. Kvalitetsreformen er en vits, og de fleste utspill fra politisk hold om dagen er like troverdige som Bush sin retorikk om hvor nødvendig invasjonen av Irak var. Dessverre klarte jeg ikke holde meg i skinnet i dag etter å ha lest de siste blødmene i dagspressen.)

Det later fortsatt til å være en utbredt oppfatning om at lenger semestre fører til dyktigere studenter. De siste dagers artikler belyser spesielt Jens Masengs (NSU) utspill om at Norge er flinkest i klassen fordi sammenlignet med Nederland og Sverige så studerer norske studenter lenger. Øystein Djupedal har også vært på banen og sagt at studenter må studere mer.

Dette er jo fiffige men utrolig simplistiske tanker. Antakelig har man blitt forledet til følgende resonnement: Vi kan måle tid. Det er lett. Og hvis vi kan få folk med på at tid = kvalitet, så er det enkelt å øke kvaliteten -- vi bare forlenger semesteret. Det er dessverre ikke noen klar, linær sammenheng mellom tid og studiekvalitet, men så lenge ingen påpeker dette, slipper vi nok unna med et godt, gammeldags semesterforlengingstriks(tm).

For de av oss som ser innsiden av universitetssystemet på daglig basis, vet vi at lenger semestre ikke fører til mer studering eller flinkere studenter. Det finnes få, om ingen, fungerende mekanismer som får dagens studenter til å jobbe godt. (Men husk: det er ikke noe mål at studenter skal jobbe godt, bare mye.) Med unntak av de meste nevrotiske studentene på profesjonsstudiene, så er det skippertaksmetoden som råder for alle studentene. Det er denne som gir best uttelling for den enkelte. Systemet er lagt opp slik at for den enkelte svarer det seg aldri å bruke mer tid enn nødvendig. I praksis er det alltid karakter/tid som gjelder, ikke karakter alene. Man kommer inn på master med C i snitt, så bruk tiden på noe fornuftig -- ikke på studier! Såfremt man har litt vett i skolten, kan man derfor fint ha en deltidsjobb, eller en fleksibel heltidsjobb, ved siden av studiene. Og hvis man først har litt vett, ser man jo at dette er det økonomisk fornuft i, også:)

Hvis man i tillegg til vett har en sosial antenne (én er tilstrekkelig), finner man ut at folk som leser jevnt og trutt ofte blir sett ned på (og hvem liker vel disse patetiske streberne?). Man ser også at livet ikke foregår på universitetet, men i ymse sosiale lag (klubber, foreninger, laug, interesseorganisasjoner med tilknytning til universitetet). Det er med andre ord liten eller ingen grunn til å dukke opp på lesesal eller forelesning for noe annet å pleie samvittigheten. Som student lærer man for å mestre samvittighetskvaler. F.eks. fungerer bierstube utmerket til slikt.

Som en fotnote kan det er også verdt å merke seg at elever som har overlevd videregående har vanligvis bygget seg opp en forsvarsmekanisme mot kjedsommelighet som forhindrer stabil studieprogresjon. Det er faktisk helt utrolig hvor effektiv den norske skolen er til å avlære gode studievaner hos elever som skulle ha fått disse inn annetstedsfra.

Som Djupedal så elegant klarer å unngå å si: det er såklart ikke mer studier vi trenger, det er bedre studier. Dessverre er ikke dette så lett å få til, og det ville antakelig kreve en del alvorlig omkalfatringer i videregående for å støtte opp under.

Det er dog ikke slik at jeg klager. For fulltidsarbeidende som vil ha studentrabatt på telefon, buss, breiband, reiser, forsikring, et rentefritt lån, samt invitasjon til nattelange fester, er livet som pro-forma student helt brillefint!

Due to professoral scheduling constraints, I've had to move the Spoofax seminar. New time, same place:

Time: Tuesday 8th of May, 14:15.
Location: Lunch room, 3rd floor.