Just finished watching Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Mum has had a tape of the soundtrack for many, many years and often played it in the car. As a result I was able (read: compelled) to sing along to each and every song.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Transactional memory with data invariants
Transactional memory with data invariants by Tim Harris and Simon Peyton Jones. To appear in TRANSACT '06 (PDF).
I comment previously on a draft version of this paper. In this 'final' version the authors have removed the wrapper function which converted predicates (
They have extended the STM monad to use phantom types to restrict the operations an STM action can perform (assertions , which detect error conditions, and triggers , which are part of the programmes logic.
A good paper made even better!
LtU | Del.icio.us
I comment previously on a draft version of this paper. In this 'final' version the authors have removed the wrapper function which converted predicates (
:: STM a -> STM Bool) into actions that raise exceptions when the invariant doesn't hold (:: STM a -> STM ()) leaving the interface a little more consistent.They have extended the STM monad to use phantom types to restrict the operations an STM action can perform (
ReadOnly or Full) to help restrict the side effects of invariants. Another addition is support for invariants over pairs of states: the state before the transaction began, and the state about to be committed. This is accomplished with a new primitive: old :: STM a -> STM a which executes an STM action in the state as it was when the current transaction began. Finally, there is some new discussion of drawing on the work in databases where a distinction is made between A good paper made even better!
LtU | Del.icio.us
Friday, May 26, 2006
Fundamental Constructs in Mathematics Education
Fundamental Constructs in Mathematics Education. John Mason and Sue Johnston-Wilder (Eds. ). (buy)
After an introduction to the beingness of the thinghood of constructs (named, described phenomena as far as I can tell), this book launches straight into extracts describing some of the most important and influential experiments in mathematics education. I've read the first chapter which describes a number of experiments that have been used to investigate the way children learn mathematical concepts. So far it has been a good deal more readable than I was expecting.
After an introduction to the beingness of the thinghood of constructs (named, described phenomena as far as I can tell), this book launches straight into extracts describing some of the most important and influential experiments in mathematics education. I've read the first chapter which describes a number of experiments that have been used to investigate the way children learn mathematical concepts. So far it has been a good deal more readable than I was expecting.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Eurovision 2006
I've just watched the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest for 2006 on SBS. The only comment that springs to mind is that it is a travesty that Poland's entry Ich Troje didn't get a place in the finals.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Categories and Tags
As on my other blog, I've added support for tags and categories to TR[W[WL]]OACSS using Del.icio.us. Readers with a browser that supports JavaScript should see a list of categories at the top of the sidebar.
It's not terribly useful yet (in particular, the tag and category links lead to the whole Del.icio.us tag, not just those items that are posts on this blog), but we'll see how it goes.
It's not terribly useful yet (in particular, the tag and category links lead to the whole Del.icio.us tag, not just those items that are posts on this blog), but we'll see how it goes.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Three new philosophy books
I've just bought three new philosophy books: Logic by Greg Restall (buy); Conspicuous Consumption by Thorstein Veblen (buy); and On The Public by Alastair Hannay (buy).
I happened to spot Logic on the shelf and needed to buy it. Hence, now that I've got a bit of money to spare, Ihave bought it. I expect it will be brilliant.
I've already read one volume from Routledge's Thinking In Action series and, as previously noted, I really liked it. Hopefully On The Public will be just as good.
I've liked some of the other books in Penguin's Great Ideas series, so I hope that Conspicuous Consumption will be just as interesting.
I happened to spot Logic on the shelf and needed to buy it. Hence, now that I've got a bit of money to spare, I
I've already read one volume from Routledge's Thinking In Action series and, as previously noted, I really liked it. Hopefully On The Public will be just as good.
I've liked some of the other books in Penguin's Great Ideas series, so I hope that Conspicuous Consumption will be just as interesting.
The Fun of Programming
The Fun of Programming edited by Jeremy Gibbons and Oege de Moor. (buy)
My copy of The Fun of Programming came in the other day and I've been looking through it. It has chapters covering a wide range of topics:
Both the software from the book and details about the symposium from which its content comes are available on the Oxford Computing Laboratory web-site.
My copy of The Fun of Programming came in the other day and I've been looking through it. It has chapters covering a wide range of topics:
- functional data-structures, amortised analysis, etc.;
- testing and specification with QuickCheck;
- programming with folds, unfolds, etc.;
- music programming;
- representing financial contracts;
- graphics programming;
- hardware description;
- combinators;
- arrows; and
- phantom types
Both the software from the book and details about the symposium from which its content comes are available on the Oxford Computing Laboratory web-site.
The Cloudbuilders
We've just read a sci-fi story called The Cloudbuilders in my ICT curriculum class which, as far as I can tell was written by Colin Kapp in 1968. While a little formulaic (though, being nearly 40 years old, it probably helped to define the formula) it was an interesting read and did result in an interesting discussion of technology education touching on educational approaches, little white lies, paternalism, etc.
You might be able to find more information through Google but there doesn't seem to be a great deal on the first page.
You might be able to find more information through Google but there doesn't seem to be a great deal on the first page.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
The Gold Falcon
I went into town today and saw that Katherine Kerr's new book The Gold Falcon is out. I'm just over fifty pages in so far, and I've already squee'd twice (something I'm not generally disposed to doing).
Update: One thing that is different about The Gold Falcon compared to Kerr's earlier books is a distinct lack of parts and chapters.
Earlier volumes in the Deverry series had, to the best of my recollection, a normal proportion of chapters for novels of their length and were typically divided into several parts each set in a different era as events required, or invited, the introduction of some historical context. The Gold Falcon, on the other hand, has a few pages to reintroduce the central plot (about which is constructed several hundred years of engrossing stories and characters) and a single part spanning the current era and some 400-odd pages. No chapters, no detours through eras past, nothing.
Finally: Having finished the book, I'm struck by just how much I like Katherine Kerr's writing. I found myself, with every revelation, thinking "I remember him, or her, or that;" I could identify the origins of her characters by their patterns of speech; I could foresee some of the problems the characters encountered but the eventual outcome (of the next few books) is still very far from obvious.
One point that did occur to me is that if I hadn't been reading the Deverry books for years I might think that certain aspects were somehow inspired by recent events. The desire of the main martyrdom expressed by Alshandra's worshippers and the problem of dealing with them is reminiscent of fundamentalist Moslem suicide bombers and the problems (or, more accurately, failures) that Western countries have had in responding to them.
All up, this is another awesome book in the Deverry series. It takes a bit of a departure from the previous books in its structure, but the end of the saga is in sight.
Update: One thing that is different about The Gold Falcon compared to Kerr's earlier books is a distinct lack of parts and chapters.
Earlier volumes in the Deverry series had, to the best of my recollection, a normal proportion of chapters for novels of their length and were typically divided into several parts each set in a different era as events required, or invited, the introduction of some historical context. The Gold Falcon, on the other hand, has a few pages to reintroduce the central plot (about which is constructed several hundred years of engrossing stories and characters) and a single part spanning the current era and some 400-odd pages. No chapters, no detours through eras past, nothing.
Finally: Having finished the book, I'm struck by just how much I like Katherine Kerr's writing. I found myself, with every revelation, thinking "I remember him, or her, or that;" I could identify the origins of her characters by their patterns of speech; I could foresee some of the problems the characters encountered but the eventual outcome (of the next few books) is still very far from obvious.
One point that did occur to me is that if I hadn't been reading the Deverry books for years I might think that certain aspects were somehow inspired by recent events. The desire of the main martyrdom expressed by Alshandra's worshippers and the problem of dealing with them is reminiscent of fundamentalist Moslem suicide bombers and the problems (or, more accurately, failures) that Western countries have had in responding to them.
All up, this is another awesome book in the Deverry series. It takes a bit of a departure from the previous books in its structure, but the end of the saga is in sight.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Teachers, students & the law
I've just finished reading Teachers, students & the law by Andrew Hopkins (published by the Victoria Law Foundation). It covers a number of legal issues important to teachers and school staff including the duty of care, mandatory reporting of abuse and rights and responsibilities.
The thing that really surprised me in reading this book is that corporal punishment may be permitted in schools in the Northern Territory and non-government schools in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. I wonder when these states will catch up with the rest and abolish corporal punishment in schools altogether...
The thing that really surprised me in reading this book is that corporal punishment may be permitted in schools in the Northern Territory and non-government schools in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. I wonder when these states will catch up with the rest and abolish corporal punishment in schools altogether...
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