OK, I know… I’ve been bad and haven’t been blogging and so nobody knew that I have already come to Redmond to spend the summer coding at Microsoft again (as I did last summer). I´m sorry but I haven’t had time to write at all. I had to finish lots of stuff before leaving home and then had little time left here in Redmond (plus we got Internet set up at home this week and I don’t like blogging from work)
But enough complaining for today. The news are basically that Im alive and well and that I have still 11 weeks ahead working in mobile applications for the Microsoft Mappoint team. This is going to be a very interesting experience, as the plans for the application look like they´re going to be fun to code. My team is also great and there are some developers with a lot of experience in Mobile apps, so I´ll be able to learn a lot of details about good practices. On the personal level, I´ve got some trips planned (Vancouver, Portland, hiking in Mt. Rainier and the ACM Student meeting in New York) and lots of materials to study and read (plus some Physics exams on September!) so I won´t be bored at all
Anyway, I´ll try to keep you as updated as possible and include some photos (as soon as I get a camera!)
Through Mobisys05 web page (damn I missed the event for only some days!) I’ve bumped into “Accuracy Characterization for Metropolitan-Scale Wi-Fi Localization”, a very interesting paper that was presented some days ago comparing several systems available for using WiFi in positioning or enhancing GPS positioning data. The research shows how current systems can provide “a median positioning error of 13-40 meters” but with a much smaller calibration effort than regular indoor positioning systems, and of course working a lot better than GPS in dense urban environments and particularly indoors (GPS needs line of sight to the satellite)
Don’t you think this opens new ideas of everyday’s life enhancements? I mean, nowadays it’s quite more probable that you have a WiFi-enabled device than a GPS (think from a PDA to your laptop) and positioning does not only help in mapping/routing solutions but also in every other context-aware application, even inside a company building. And as the wireless networks are more and more commonly spread city-wide, it’s not that difficult to find yourself in a situation where you can actually use this systems outdoors.
This summer I’ll probably be working in mapping/localization technologies for mobile devices in Redmond, so if you happen to know more articles in the line of this one… please let me know! };D
UPDATE: note the full-text access in the mobisys05 website needs usenix membership. However, you can still access the full article searching for its title on your favourite engine
Published on June 5, 2005
in general.
Checking the website is taking me longer than expected (damn exams!), hopefully I’ll be back online next week.
Meanwhile, via Jimmac’s -> Jamin’s blogs I found this New Scientist’s article about how to improve your brain. Worth reading.
Also, there’s this project of creating a wiki comprising techniques and tricks on how to become a better thinker: the Mentat wiki. On their own words: “a wiki for exploring ways to become a better thinker. Topics explored on the wiki include memory techniques, mental math, critical thinking, brainstorming, shorthand systems, notebook systems, and smart drugs”. Quite interesting, don’t you think? I’ve been browsing around and will probably give some of this things a try. After all, we know it’s a common problem if there is even a t-shirt for it
