Internships--11/4/2012

I looked at an internship at Nuance for a visual designer job. Expert level of design tools, like Adobe Photoshop are required and knowledge on speech recognition technology is a plus. The job involves perfecting the look of most Nuance mobile applications.

Philosophy--11/4/2012

I read about Independence, which is defined as a virtue with which one is self-supporting. This means they don't consume what they haven't earned. Dependence would be relying on the charity of others rather than working for it. Independence is often referred to in the context of production but it can also apply to how the mind works. If someone were to take someone else's thoughts and try to substitute them for their own, they wouldn't be able to judge how accurate they are, because they aren't this person's thoughts.

Articles--11/4/2012

There was an interesting article in the Union Tribune about how Microsoft is helping fill jobs in computer science. Engineers at Microsoft teach one class on computer science for an entire school year in an effort to get students more interested in the field. There are a lot of jobs in computer science right now but hardly anyone to fill them. Companies like Google have also done their part to get students interested, but Microsoft is the only one teaching classes.

Rosetta Stone--11/4/2012

I did the core lesson for level 1, unit 4, lesson 3. This lesson included vocab like "wood/metal/plastic", "heavy/light", "slow/fast", "some/more/most", and "expensive/cheap".

To-Do--11/4/2012

To-Do:

• Wake-up: 9:30 am
• Done
• Check email (10 minutes)
• Done
• Archery (2 hours)
• Done
• Lunch (.5 hours)
• Done
• Polish project proposal (1 hour)
• Done
• Read ahead for Italian next week (1 hour)
• Done
• Look up Spanish phonetics for next week (1 hour)
• Done
• Revise Muir 50 proposal (1 hour)
• Done
• Dinner (1 hour)
• Done
• Python programming (1 hour)
• Chapter 13
• Didn't get to this
• Sleep: 1 am

Internships--11/3/2012

I looked at an NLP Research Manager job at Nuance. The job description involves overseeing the development of new NLP technology and planning tools and processes in order to cut out the research involvement stage for professional service teams.

Philosophy--11/3/2012

I read about harmony of interests, which is what motivates people to be a part of a society. The harmony of interests is the idea that people can benefit from positive interactions with people who share the same interests and while their desires might be different, their basic interests will be the same.

Articles--11/3/2012

There was an interesting article in Google News about how the Apple UK website has been modified in a way so the apology to Samsung isn't clearly visible without scrolling down first. This is due to a JavaScript resize code that makes it impossible to see the apology without scrolling down, no matter the browser length or size. It's still unclear though whether this was a deliberate move to make the apology less visible or just an ill-timed marketing strategy.

Rosetta Stone--11/3/2012

I did pronunciation, writing, vocab, grammar, and listening for level 1, unit 4, lesson 2.

To-Do--11/3/2012

To-Do:

• Wake-up: 9:30 am
• Check email (10 minutes)
• Breakfast with dad (1 hour)
• Check if prof. emailed back (5 minutes)
• Create excel datasheet with differences in Italian and English IPAs (1 hour)
• Pick sentences/phrase for project that highlight differences (1 hour)
• Lunch (.5 hours)
• Nap (1 hour)
• Write up rough draft of proposal (.5 hours)
• Read up on Western American English (1 hour)
• Read up on Italian (1 hour)
• Make notes of characteristics in each language/accent (1 hour)
• Dinner (1 hour)
• Python programming (1 hour)
• Sleep: 1 am

Internships--11/2/2012

I looked at an NLP research scientist job at Nuance. The job requires working on conversational systems and experiences in C++ and Jave is also required.

Philosophy--11/2/2012

I read about self interest, which shouldn't be confused with desires. Desires are what people want to happen or achieve but interests are what need to happen or need to be achieved. Self interests are the interests that benefit one's life in some way.

Articles--11/2/2012

There was an interesting article in the LA Times about Microsoft possibly making a company-branded smartphone. Right now, Microsoft has it's own operating system but leaves the hardware to other companies, like Nokia. There have been no official reports about a possible Microsoft smartphone but it's been speculated that it will happen.

Rosetta Stone--11/2/2012

I did the core lesson for level 1, unit 4, lesson 2. This lesson covered words like "like/dislike", "less than/more than", and various types of currency like "euros" and "dollars".

To-Do--11/2/2012

To-Do:

• Wake-up: 10:30 am
• Done
• Check email (10 minutes)
• Done
• Finish Phonetics homework and submit (1 hour)
• Done
• Lunch (.5 hours)
• Done
• Italian Tutorial (1 hour)
• Done
• Study session in library (2 hours)
• Done
• Look in library for books with info on Italian dialects (1 hour)
• Didn't find anything at the library. Will have to request books.
• Review Italian notes (.5 hours)
• Done
• Review notes from entire week in Italian (1 hour)
• Done
• Review all Phonetics notes from week (1 hour)
• Done
• Dinner (1 hour)
• Done
• Movie with friends (1.5 hours/2 hours)
• Done
• Python programming (1 hour)
• Didn't get to this
• Sleep: 1 am/2:30 am

Internships--11/1/2012

I looked at a NLP research engineer at Nuance. Expertise in C++ and Java is required along with an ability to use speech APIs.

Philosophy--11/1/2012

I read about virtues, which are moral habits that help maintain one's values. The common misconception that there is something "good" out there that differs from a person's own natural tendencies and to be virtuous, they need to strive for that "good". In reality, all a virtue does is help maintain a person's values, whatever that may be, good or bad.

Articles--11/1/2012

There was an interesting article in Google News about a smartphone app that could allow doctors to monitor patients with the potential for heart failure from virtually anywhere. The app would allow patients to record clinical-quality ECGs and then the data would be processed in a cloud-computing based server. This would allow doctors to access the data from anywhere so they could monitor patients and hopefully catch things before they happen.

Rosetta Stone--11/1/2012

I did pronunciation, vocab, grammar, reading, writing, and review for level 1, unit 4, lesson 1.

To-Do--11/1/2012

To-Do:

• Wake-up: 8:30 am
• Done
• Check email (10 minutes)
• Done
• Italian Discussion (1.5 hours)
• Done
• Lunch (.5 hours)
• Done
• Review Italian notes (.5 hours)
• Done
• Print out emails I sent professor (10 minutes)
• Didn't have to do
• Phonetics (1.5 hours)
• Done
• Review Phonetics notes (.5 hours)
• Done
• Do more of Phonetics hw (1 hour)
• Done
• Dinner (1 hour)
• Done
• Python programming (1 hour)
• Finished reading chapter 12
• Read ahead for Italian (1 hour)
• Done
• Read ahead for Phonetics (1 hour)
• Done
• Edit Annotated Bibliography and project proposal for Muir 50 (1 hour)
• Done
• Sleep: 1 am/2 am

Articles--10/31/2012

There was an interesting article in the LA Times about Siri no longer giving users answers regarding prostitutes and escorts in China. Prostitution of any kind is illegal in China so Apple has modified Siri for Chinese users. When a user asks about prostitutes, brothels, or escorts, Siri simply replies with the equivalent of "no results found".

Internships--10/31/2012

I looked at the careers page on the Nuance website. They have a Healthcare Team and a Mobile Team. The Mobile Team combines voice recognition technology with natural language processing to create the Nuance products that are available for mobile devices.

Philosophy--10/31/2012

I read about values, which are relationships between people and goals. Without them, life wouldn't be possible, or at least wouldn't have a purpose. Without value, people can't act and as a result, they would die. Values are self-generated action, which people need in order to act.

Rosetta Stone--10/31/2012

I did the core lesson for level 1, unit 4, lesson 1. This lesson included the verbs "to need", "to want", "to pay", and "to sell". It also included vocab like "store", "supermarket", "toys", "broken", "old/new", and "jewelry".