Learning Deep Learning

Month: January 2013

  • Chekhov’s Rabbits

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    wombat
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    The first time I fell in love with Anton Chekhov was when I read “The Darling” and other short stories. The second time was when I saw Wallace Shawn play Uncle Vanya in a movie. And the third time was when, on a whim, I read some biographical notes about him. When he was young,…

  • To 80s Hong Kong Pop With Love

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    wombat
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    In the 80s, in June, when I was in graduate school, a friend called me up and asked if I wanted to make an impromptu trip from Berkeley, California to Vancouver, BC. He wanted to drive up and see his father, who was ill, and could use help driving. I had family in Vancouver too.…

  • Cumin and Hammers

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    wombat
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    Once, I had a difficult plane flight from Frankfurt to Nairobi. I’d purchased my ticket from Bulgarian Airlines about 30 hours before departure, at the height of the summer travel season. The plane stopped in Sofia, where I was told that I did not have a seat on the flight to Nairobi because I did…

  • Boost profits, analyze metrics

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    wombat
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    Once upon a time in math, I studied metric spaces, spaces for which there exists a way to measure distances between points. At first glance the non-mathematician might say: yuck, this is the genesis and justification of corporate bean counting and turning people into numbers, stay the heck away from me. But this is not…

  • says René Magritte

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    wombat
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    I despise the past, my own and everyone else’s. I despise resignation, patience, heroism and all the obligatory sentiments. This is a favorite quote from the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. As the author of a novel set in the past, it puts me on my toes. The quote is a little outré, and I…

  • Girl Mechanic Review: asianmommy.com

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    wombat
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    Yay, another blog review of the The Girl Mechanic of Wanzhou, at asianmommy.com Much appreciated!

  • Gender and The Hobbit

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    wombat
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    It’s time to come out of the closet. I love The Hobbit. I love it so much that I love the movie too. And while I usually agree with articles that deplore the absence of women in popular media and stories, in this one case I have to make a rebuttal to those who say…

  • Girl Mechanic Review: dontmesswithmama.com

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    wombat
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    Great new year’s news: a review of The Girl Mechanic Of Wanzhou on Tracey Black’s wonderful blog, dontmesswithmama.com Check it out!