oscilloscope eyes

Today, I’m back in Seattle after 1.5 years.  I was last here in December 2005. June is a much nicer time to be in Seattle or maybe I’m just lucky.  The next few days, the weather is going to be lovely.

I happy to be back in the city where I went to college. Yes, UW is one of those huge public state universities, but it really has a lovely campus. Apparently though, many of the green spaces have been filled by new buildings. I’ll be there to meet an old professor of mine and I’ll check things out then.

While I’m at it, I’ll take a peek at the U-District and see how it has changed. Over the years, various restaurants and shops have come and gone.  I’m curious to see what it is like today. And of course, I’ll check out the bookstore.

I’m also happy to back to see all my friends who unlike me never left their home. While I’m here, I hope to catch with them and revisit old memories and make new ones.

206… rock rock on.

So it has been awhile since I’ve made any posting to this salsa blog. Mostly, it is because I haven’t had the chance to compress the videos I recorded. Two weeks ago, Chris introduced us to a few other latin dances, namely Cha-cha, Merengue, and the Bachata. The steps for the Merengue are pretty straightforward. Essentially, you shift your weight back and forth on each beat. On 1, you’re on one foot and on 2, you’re on the other foot. You might throw your hip or waist into it to make it look good and of course, keep your head and hands up. Posture means everything. Chris taught us a pretty nifty Merengue combination. Instead of describing what goes on, I’ve just included the video here:

The cha-cha step is similar to a salsa step. Except a) you break on 2 and b) on the 3 and 4 counts, you do a little stutter step (”cha-cha-cha”). Here’s a demonstration of the basic step and a basic step with a right turn.



Here’s a little short combination that you can do with the cha-cha.

So, last week, I attended three useful workshops teaching TAs how to be better teachers. Some interesting scenarios were presented in the handout. I’d like to learn how to be a better teacher, so these workshops really help. While I’m not sure that I want to become a professor, I think learning teaching strategies relates well to learning how to communicate effectively.

Day One: Managing the TA Duty
I was able to extract the following useful points from the workshop:

1. Set boundaries with your students and let them know that there is a limit early on in the semester. “Students are like gas, they will fill up as much time as you give them.”
2. When you have an easy week, do more research then. Don’t slack off.
3. Be buddies with your fellow TAs.
4. Start off with a strong tutorial to hook them at the beginning. Be fully prepared with a lesson plan. Be punctual and have a script. Students hate lack of structure. A rule of thumb is take 2.5 hours to 3 hours to prepare for your tutorial.
5. Help the students who have put in the effort to understand the material the most. Students who are not prepared do not deserve your time.
6. Read the book! (Oh man, I don’t like the sound of this one… the Principles of Computer Systems by Saltzer and Kaashoek looks seriously intimidating.)
7. Be fair to all your students, do not give preference. This will look bad on you.
8. Keep track of participation and attendance. Tell them that participation matters.

Read the rest of this entry »

I recently finished reading Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis. The book is essentially a commentary on the state of baseball and the closed nature of the people who are in the game.

I found it fascinating that baseball scouts and general managers do not necessarily evaluate talent based on past performance but rather on future potential. And future potential is judged by observing how a player looks in a uniform. Hmm… sounds like a beauty pageant to me and not a competitive sport.

Another funny thing about baseball is that the powers-that-be seem to care far too much about statistics that don’t really matter. One glaring example in baseball is fielding statistics. Errors in baseball are declared when an umpire makes a subjective decision about whether or not some player could have made a fielding play. To avoid errors, one can simply try not to field that ball.

Baseball pundits should be concerned with statistics that directly contribute to the scoring of runs. More runs in a game will increase the likelihood that you will win a game. Simple as that. In this sense, walks and on-base percentage are far more important than batting average and home runs.

One thing that occurred to me while reading the book was that if we can find a set of statistics that accurately represents how much a player may contribute to a team’s chance of winning under different conditions. For example, if a certain left-handed pitcher is pitching, how much does Barry Bonds contribute to the team’s chance of winning? Given the right set of statistic, we can predict with a low level of uncertainty whether a team will win or not. Given such a program, one could make millions in Vegas. Also, given enough data, one could also imagine using such a tool to evaluate players. This sounds cool, but honestly, I think it might take way too much work. It is fun to think about however.

Anyway I enjoyed the book and at the same time, acquired a slight distaste for the game. Not only are games taking forever, but it seems as though luck plays a big role in deciding the outcomes of games.

Of course, we don’t pay anyway, but that title sounds so much better. So, let’s begin.

Combination #1:

1. Start with a cross-body lead.
2. Then, on the 1, 2, 3, do a half right turn, leading with the left food 1. On 2, turn facing away from the lady and then put your left arm over your head and switch hands. So now, you should be holding the lady’s right hand in your right hand. Ideally, your hand is in her palm.
3. On the 5, 6, 7, you turn the lady right while she is behind you. On 7, leave the lady’s hand on your right shoulder. Then, on the next 1, beat, catch her right hand with your right hand at waist level. Be sure to step forward on 1 with your left foot. On 2, step back with your right foot behind the lady. At the same time, raise your arm over her head and extend out behind her. Put your left arm out in front. The lady should pick it up on 3 with her left hand.
4. On the 5, 6, 7, you make the lady to 1.5 inside turns. You’ll be in a right to right connection. Try not to fling the lady out too far.
5. On the next few beats, you can then do a hair comb. Bring the ladies right arm over your head and let it slide down. Pick it up with your left arm, and you are done.

Combination #2: In this combination, a method of picking up the lady after an open shine is demonstrated. Pretend you are doing an open shine.

1. Now, instead of stepping forward with your left foot on 1. What you do is on 1, lunge forward with your right foot, keep your left foot back. Slide your right arm behind the lady onto her shoulder blades. On 2, step back with your left foot, straighten your body and then plant with your right foot on 3.
2. Now, on the 5, 6, 7, finish the normal cross body lead.
3. Pick up the lady’s right hand with your left arm. Leave the other hand unconnected. Again do a cross body lead, but this time on 3, raise your arm high and pull the lady through (on beats 5, 6, 7). She should do an outside turn to face you on beat 7.
4. Then do a right hand turn for the lady. The man also does a half right turn and throws the lady’s hand down towards his ribs… This causes the lady to do a half turn. The idea is to catch the lady’s left hand in your right, but you are facing away from each other.
5. Then on the 1 beat, throw the lady’s arm back to the other side. She’ll basically do a half turn. On 3, grab her hand or wrist and then push back again the other way. This time, the lady should do 1.5 turns on 5, 6, 7. At the same time, you make a half left turn until you face your partner.

Both of these are simple and fun combinations.

Video for combination #2 is here. It’s embarrassing because I really mess up.

Well, on Friday, I went to the Havana Club with a bunch of my friends and learned a couple of new moves. I still haven’t perfect them yet. The idea is simple. Basically, you start with a right-to-right connection (or get into one using a cross-body lead of some kind). Then, you do a right turn and then you to a comb brush over the lady and then you kind of do a cross-body lead. However, you grab onto the lady’s left hand with your left and pull her through and then make her spin. I believe you want to do an outside turn.

This can be accomplished with two hands, right over left. At the end on beats, 1 and 2, you do comb brushes over both heads and then go into a cross body lead.

On Monday, Chris, our fearless teacher, showed us some techniques to follow when spinning. For the right hand turn, you turn on the 1, 2, 3, beat. On 1, you step forward with your left foot, putting it slightly in front of the right. You want to also raise your arms to help you spin. Hold them up about chest level, arms bent at the elbow. Cock your arms back to your left to help you spin and keep your balance. Look at a spot on the wall and use that to center yourself so you don’t get dizzy. (Easier said than done.). On the 2 beat, you kind of turn half way. Try to keep looking at the spot until it is no longer physically possible. On the 3 beat, you complete the turn until you face the spot again.

The hook turn is a very nice turn to learn for the leader. In this turn, you spin to the right, but you use hook your right foot behind your left. This turn is done on the 5, 6, 7. On the 5 beat, you hook your right foot behind your left. Remember to use arms to balance yourself. Again, keep your arms at chest level. Also, use the spotting technique to avoid getting dizzy. One tricky thing that you need to do is to change the position of your feet. On 6, you unwind your legs and do a half turn. If you’re spotting correctly, you should try to look at your spot until you can’t possibly look at it.

The next task is to spin around till you face the way you started. The idea now is to transfer weight. When you started the spin, the left heel is down and the right toe is down. After you’ve done the half turn, you’ll want to put your right heel down and your left toe down. This is the concept anyway. When you actually spin, it is not clear that this is what actually happens. You don’t need to push off very hard in order to do multiple spins. Be sure to keep your posture looking good.

It is Martin Luther King Day. Every MLK day, I like to read the I have a dream speech, listen to it, or watch it. MLK had a huge impact on the social makeup of the United States today. It is not clear what this nation would be like without his perseverance. While the successes of the Civil Right Movement can be attributed to many, MLK is known as the leader of that movement. On this day, we should be thankful, but also vigilant. His work is still not done. Happy MLK Day.

Below, I have excerpted the middle part of his speech. It talks about fighting to regain justice without violence. Given the horrible racism experienced by blacks in those days, one could imagine a violent uprising. But MLK reminds us that to achieve change, violence is not necessary. Let freedom ring!

[excerpt of I Have a Dream Speech, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.]

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹

¹ Amos 5:24 (rendered precisely in The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible)

Back to the basics… Loved today’s class. Great tips from Chris today. He’s doing an amazing job. Remember your posture. Always stand upright. You want to look good!

One tip for the spins is to use your shoulders and your arms. Lift them up and use them to balance you. On the right turn, you step forward on your left foot 1. At the same time, lift your shoulders so you can use them to balance. Pick a spot on the wall, focus on it, then keep your eyes on that point until you can’t look at it anymore. You kind of do this at the same time you hit the 2 beat. On the 2 beat you step with your right foot. Then you spin on the 3 beat until you face the spot again. One key thing is to keep your shoulders up and use them to balance you.

Now, here is some cross body lead information. When you do the cross body lead, pull with the right hand first on the 5 beat. Then, on the 6 pull with the left. If you want to do a cross body lead with inside turn, you’ll be doing the turn on beat 6. Remember small steps and keep the lady close. You want her to walk sraight in front of you.

Okay, right hand turn information. Here’s what you can do better. Do the preparation and then on the 3 put your fingers into her palm. Right hand can go behind your back for style. Then, on the 6 and 7, draw a halo around her head. Make tiny circles. Imagine a little tea cup. Try to put the arm high enough so that the lady can turn under it. Be sure to bring the arm down when it is time for the girl to stop.

One thing you can do right after right hand turn is to make yourself turn right on the 1, 2, 3. Swing your left arm left, then right and then, over your head. You’ll spin around it. Then, 5, 6, 7 is a basic step finish.

Flushed examines the history of plumbing and how the modern toilet came to be. The book is not extremely scholarly, but instead is written to entertain. Mixed in with the humor, however, is an endless stream of interesting, educational facts. The book almost makes me want to become a plumber.

Motivated by his own odd fascination with scatology and plumbing, the author, W. Hodding Carter, takes the reader through an entertaining journey through plumbing history. I was most amused by how he actually tried to make his own version of Roman pipes. While fun in theory, he almost poisons himself to death while hand molding a lead pipe. Yes, the Romans used lead to fashion their pipes; that fact alone probably explains the fall of the Roman Empire.

Another chapter in the book describes the construction of the London sewage and wastewater treatment system. Without it, London would probably not be around today or if it were, it would be one giant cesspool. Granted the London system still has issues. In particular, because London’s storm drains overflow into London’s sewer system, there is a risk that wastewater, complete with floating turds, can end up near a beach near you. This problem is present in many other metropolitan sewer systems. In fact, our own Boston sewer system, has that problem. So, as a word of warning, after a day of hard rainfall, avoid the beaches.

The last section of the book talks about future innovations in plumbing technology. This is the part of the book that really caught my attention. Humans produce a tremendous amount of waste a day on average. If the average person produces approximately 1 lb of waste a day, well, in the United States alone, we would have 300 million lbs of waste a day! Crap! Wouldn’t it be nice if we could turn this mass of human waste into energy?! Not only would that solve our waste problem, but as an alternative fuel source, perhaps, we could mitigate the global warming problem.

Subakh International of India converts humans waste into burnable methane gas which ultimately is turned into energy. The organization as a whole has a larger mission that efficient use of human waste. Part of their mission is to stop the use of dry latrines in India and to eliminate the need for the “untouchables”. I suppose some explanation is needed. In India (and probably in most of the undeveloped world), large numbers of people do not have plumbing. Instead, the human waste that is produced must be cleaned and gathered by people known as the “untouchables”. These people are part of the lowest caste, known as the Bhangi. In some sense, Subakh would raise the quality of life of millions of people. It’s social justice through technological innovation.

An even cooler idea is the use of wastewater as the electrolytic solution in fuel cells. These fuel cells are known as microbial fuel cells. Bacterial digestion of the organic matter in the wastewater releases electrons to the cathode to produce electricity! And, at the same time, the water is cleaned—78% of the organic matter in the waste is removed. So you get two birds with one stone. I never knew poop could have so much power. Think about that the next time you have to go to the bathroom or change a diaper.

So what’s the bottom line (no pun intended)? I loved the book.