The Impact of Computer Science

Hmm, been a while since I last blogged in any meaningful way - and I had such high hopes for this blog, too! I promise I'll be better over the summer.

Anyway, I feel moved to post about something I came across just this morning: a project to place the names of victims of 9/11 on a memorial in New York. The concept for the memorial was that names should be arranged not alphabetically, but rather according to where people were and who they were with when they died - linking victims through "meaningful adjacencies", in the words of the architect. It's a wonderful idea, but how could such a thing be achieved?

This is, of course, precisely the kind of problem that computer scientists like to tackle. I won't go into the details here, other than to note that guy implementing this, Jer Thorp, made some interesting use of Processing for the visualisation of victim relationships and name placement. You can read Jer's blog entry if you want to know more.

What strikes me most about this work is that it represents a very human and emotionally significant application of computer science. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that CS makes an impact only by improving technology, but this little project demonstrates brilliantly that it has the capacity to connect with human beings more directly than that.

UCU Strikes

My photos from last week's UCU strike action are available as a set and as a slideshow:

Shadowmarch

I'm a big fan of the writing of Tad Williams, and the other day I finished reading Shadowheart - the final volume of his Shadowmarch tetralogy.

Those familiar with Tad's work will know of his earlier forays into epic fantasy, such as the Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series with which he made his name a couple of decades ago. It is interesting to compare this recent saga with that earlier work.

The Memory, Sorrow & Thorn books flirt with the cliches of fantasy fiction - magical swords, prophecy, etc - but this is leavened by touches of real originality. The elvish race featured in the books (the Sithi) are portrayed more as orientals than as stereotypical sylvan folk, for example. The stand-out feature for me was the large cast of interesting and well-rounded characters - perhaps none more interesting, well-rounded and complex than the guilt-ridden monk Cadrach.

So how does the Shadowmarch series compare?

Whilst it revisits similar territory - a madman meddling with godlike forces that he cannot ultimately control - this an altogether more nuanced piece of work. It is still strongly character-driven, but has a more intricate and intriguing plot. The two main characters, twins Barrick & Briony Eddon, are far from classic hero/heroine material. Tad pulls off the difficult trick of making them deserving of sympathy but not entirely likeable: 'satisfyingly flawed' might be a good description - rather like Cadrach in the earlier books. That same subtlety is there in other aspects of the books, but there is also plenty of action to keep you greedily turning the pages - particularly in the extended final battle that is the core of Shadowheart.

In short: his best work to date, highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy.

As a postscript, let me note that I bought this from Amazon in hardback form, despite owning a Kindle for several months. It may be a bit OCD, but it would have bothered me to have three hardbacks plus a purely digital version to complete the set! I almost regret the decision now, because I found the bulk, weight and small print size of the physical book to be very off-putting after having got used to the Kindle...

Flickr

Perceptive quote from the NY Times:

"No one questions Flickr’s appeal to photographers who post, admire and comment on a wealth of artistic images, many of which are magazine quality. Where Flickr is faltering is with people who want to store and share more mundane snapshots."

I guess Facebook is where people are increasingly turning for casual photo sharing.