About Miles

Miles is currently 2.5 years old.

His favorite thing in the world right now are "bongs", his word for "robots".

We have several robots but his two favorite are our Roomba and our Scooba. Miles will literally wake up in the morning and his first words will be "Bongs. Where they go?"

These robots come with "virtual walls" that you can position to confine the robot to a particular area within your house while they clean. Miles only needed to see me use them once and now he completely understands them. He will, on his own, go into our laundry room and push out both robots, go back and get the virtual walls, put them in roughly the right position for cleaning the dining room area, turn on both robots, and stand back and watch both robots quite intently. (He sometimes dances while watching the robots.)

Sometimes when the robots are done, he'll help me put them away. I tell him they need to "rest" but most of the time he cries and cries and won't be happy until I leave them be and allow him to push them around the house until he decides that he's ready to do something else.

I have seen Miles play with the two robots for easily two hours in a row with no let up in intensity or enjoyment on his part. I have a feeling that Robots will always be a big part of his life!

Other things about Miles:

He received cars of various shapes and sizes for xmas along with a Thomas the Train duplo set, he loves all of them plus a scooter he received for his last birthday, so in addition to robots, he's really into vehicles right now.

He also loves the moon and if he happens to catch sight of the actual moon, he will break your eardrum yelling "MOOON!" and pointing to it. This usually happens in the car where he can attempt to break the eardrums of all of his family members at once.

He calls Lilja "La La" and calls Max "Da Da". We're not sure why he calls Max that but he came up with it all on his own. He calls me "Pa Pa" so he's doesn't know that "Da Da" is another way that kids say "Dad"; no, to him, "Da Da" means Max. His word for airplane is "hum"; a word he devised, I think, based on the sound they make as they go by in the sky. When we are outside, Miles is super attentive and will yell "HUMMM!!!!" as loud as he can at the first hint that there's a plane in the air. Miles's generic word for animals is "ga ga". He recently learned to assign the word "cow" to actual cows and so they are now "cows" and not "ga gas". But any new animal that he encounters is called a "ga ga". When he wants something, Miles says "I want to"... that phrase is clearly a chunk that means "I want" because he'll say things like "I want to bongs" to indicate that he wants to play with our robots.

Miles understands many more words than he speaks. Unlike his sister, who was saying short sentences at 18 months and repeated every word ever spoken to her as a toddler, Miles is reluctant to say new words and when I ask him to say a word that he isn't one hundred percent confident on, he'll instead wave at the object (if present) and just say "hi". So, earlier today, he pointed at something and said "What's That?" and I responded "That's a chair; can you say 'chair'?" And he just waved and said "hi" to the chair.

He realized just recently that he can use chairs to get up to places that he normally can't reach. We've had to become extra vigilant during this "phase", as its easy for him to get to rather precarious positions if left unattended for more than five minutes!

I read to Miles every night before he goes to bed and now I am no longer able to finish the story. Instead of passively listening, he is now very active pointing at everything and asking "What's that?". His favorite book is easily Good Night Moon, because Max loves the moon and he loves loves loves to look for the mouse that hides on every color page of that book.

Miles has been rolling along with the holidays this year without really understanding what's going on. "Oh, there's a tree in our house now! Ok!" "Oh, there are strange looking boxes under the tree. Ok!" "Oh, we are suddenly tearing the strange boxes open this morning. Ok!" I suspect he'll be in the game next year fully understanding what's going on with the help of his older siblings.

All in all, Miles is an inquisitive, happy boy who always smiles (except in pictures) and is also unbelievably cute, although, if pressed, I will admit to some bias on the matter. And, now I think I've captured a snapshot of what he's like at the age of 2.5!

Ken

The Packaging Industry

We've had a wonderful xmas here at the Palen Anderson household! The kids are all happy and have been playing with toys and reading new books; we even relaxed and watched a movie (Kung Fu Panda, which was funny and very well done I thought).

But each xmas, I'm reminded of one thing: I absolutely hate the packaging industry! This industry must be filled with sadist loners who have no children of their own, as they must never have the need to actually open a toy for a kid who is standing anxiously only inches away asking over and over again when it will be ready.

Modern packaging has succeeded in its goal to keep a toy immobile and safe until it has been purchased. It unfortunately cannot shield the toy from damage as increasingly desperate parents start to apply chain saws, flame throwers, and other weapons of war to release the toy from the implacable grip of its fasteners, tape, cardboard, and (I suspect) carbon buckytubes!

I wish nothing but curses on these people; I hope they get paper cuts every time they pick up a piece of paper, may they trip on unseen objects everywhere they go, may they spill red wine on their new xmas sweaters, may they always get flat tires when they drive their cars, and may small children rear back in fright from their frightening visages.

But, other than that, I'm having a great and relaxing day and I hope you are too!

With love,

Ken

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Happiness is watching your kids write letters for Santa Claus, even our 8 year old who still believes!

:-)

Ken

Another victory for anti-intellectualism

The Bush administration has just committed yet another injustice against the people of the United States. It has passed a rule that protects medical workers who decide to deny care to patients if they believe the techniques involved in that care violate their personal beliefs.

That means, for instance, if a young woman has been raped and gets unlucky enough to be seen by a doctor or nurse who believe that birth control and abortion are immoral, then its perfectly fine for the doctor or nurse to withhold vital information about the options that woman has to avoid becoming the mother of her rapist's child.

This is, in short, insanity.

It would to me, at least, seem to violate the Doctor's Oath of "First, do no harm" as having to move forward with an unwanted pregnancy due to rape visits a multitude of harms on the woman involved.

But, no, if a medical worker is uncomfortable with a particular medical technique, they can no refuse to do it and the patient will have no recourse when they later find they were denied legitimate medical care.

Of course, this rule was rammed through over vigorous protest (this rule was opposed by the American Medical Association, plenty of health-related organizations, 28 senators and more than 110 House members) to throw the pro-life movement a bone before Bush slinks back to Texas with his tail between his legs.

But, while I hope that the Obama administration quickly reverses this ghastly legislation, I hope it comes back to haunt the people who passed it, perhaps by having one of them being refused necessary medical treatment because he or she was seen by doctors who think that aiding anti-intellectuals in any way goes against their personal beliefs... one can hope.

Ken

Come So Far, Have a Long Way to Go

With the election of Barack Obama, the United States has taken a major step forward in the equality of the races, and yet, we have a long way to go, as this message from the organization Color Of Change and the related articles from The Nation reveal:

Dear Friend,

A new report in The Nation[1] documents what many have claimed for years--for some Black New Orleanians the threat of being killed by White vigilantes in Katrina's aftermath became a bigger threat than the storm itself.

After the storm, White vigilantes roamed Algiers Point shooting and, according to their own accounts, killing Black men at will--with no threat of a police response. For the last three years, the shootings and the police force's role in them have been an open secret to many New Orleanians. To date, no one has been charged with a crime and law enforcement officials have refused to investigate.

The report is helpful, but given Lousiana's horrible record on protecting its Black citizens, justice will only come if we demand it.

I've joined ColorOfChange in calling on Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, and the U.S. Department of Justice--to conduct a full investigation of these crimes and any police cover-up. Will you join me? It takes only a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/nation/?id=1893-154792

In the two weeks after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the media created a climate of fear with trumped-up stories of Black lawlessness. Meanwhile an armed group of White vigilantes took over the Algiers Point neighborhood in New Orleans and mercilessly hunted down Black people. "It was great!" said one vigilante. "It was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it."

The Nation's article tells the story of Donnell Herrington, Marcel Alexander, and Chris Collins--a group of friends who were attacked by shotgun-wielding White men as they entered Algiers Point on September 1, 2005. As they tried to escape, Herrington recalls, their attackers shouted, "Get him! Get that nigger!" He managed to get away. Alexander and Collins were told that they would be allowed to live on the condition that they told other Black folks not to come to Algiers Point. Herrington, shot in the neck, barely survived.

And there's the story of Henry Glover, who didn't survive after being shot by an unknown assailant.[2] Glover's brother flagged down a stranger for help, and the two men brought Glover to a police station. But instead of receiving aid, they were beaten by officers while Henry Glover bled to death in the back seat of the stranger's car. A police officer drove off in the car soon afterward. Both Glover's body and the car were found burnt to cinders a week later. It took DNA analysis to identify the body.

These are only a few of the stories of Black folks who were accosted in Algiers Point, and you can read more in The Nation. But unless you speak out, we may never learn the full extent of the violence. Journalists have encountered a wall of silence on the part of the authorities. The coroner had to be sued to turn over autopsy records. When he finally complied, the records were incomplete, with files on several suspicious deaths suddenly empty. The New Orleans police and the District Attorney repeatedly refused to talk to journalists about Algiers Point. And according to The Nation journalist A.C. Thompson, "the city has in nearly every case refused to investigate or prosecute people for assaults and murders committed in the wake of the storm."

The Nation article is important, but it's just a start. For more than three years now, these racist criminals have by their own admission gotten away with murder while officials in New Orleans have systematically evaded any kind of accountability. We have to demand it.

Please join me in calling on state and federal officials to investigate these brutal attacks and the conduct of Orleans Parish law enforcement agencies, and please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/nation/?id=1893-154792

Thanks.

------

1. "Katrina's Hidden Race War," The Nation, 12-18-2008
http://www.colorofchange.org/link/?id=1893-154792&cat=nation&link=1

2. "Body of Evidence," The Nation, 12-18-2008
http://www.colorofchange.org/link/?id=1893-154792&cat=nation&link=2

That something like this can happen in the US in the 21st century is both sad and disgraceful. That law enforcement officials are actively working to protect the murderers is beyond the pale. Please join the members of Color of Change in raising the awareness of this story and perhaps we can see justice done.

The Holidays: So Close, Yet So Far

So, I haven't had time to blog in a while due to the simple fact that the four weeks since Thanksgiving have been absolutely nuts!

But, I finished the grading for my two classes yesterday and I have just one more major to-do item to do by Friday and then I'll be able to shut the computer and take a break for a while.

We plan to stay home during Christmas and have fun with the kids: go to Denver's terrific Museum of Nature and Science, catch up on some movies, go bowling (if you can believe it) as well as playing D&D with my 8.5 year old, working on the alphabet with my nearly 5-year old, and reading to my 2.5 year old!

We also hope to see some friends, drink some eggnog, and the like!

So, just one more task, by Friday, and then I'm free!

Happy Holidays!

Ken

Software Released: ACE

Just a quick note to celebrate the release of software that I've been working on for the past five years.

Well, requirements and design for the past five years, then three years on prototypes that didn't pan out and then the past two years working on the prototype that was released last week!

The software is hosted here:

<http://ace.hwr.arizona.edu/>

Its called ACE which stands for Age Calculation Engine and its targeted at geoscientists who work in an area known as cosmogenic nuclide dating. This work was funded by my NSF ITR grant entitled "ITR: Collaborative Research: Software for Interpretation of Cosmogenic Isotope Inventories - A Combination of Geology, Modeling, Software Engineering, and Artificial Intelligence." I'm a Co-PI (principle investigator) on the project, the PIs were my colleagues Liz Bradley (also at CU) and Marek Zreda, a geoscientist at the University of Arizona.

I published a paper on ACE at the ADVCOMP 2007 conference entitled ACE: Age Calculation Engine — A Design Environment for Cosmogenic Dating Techniques although that paper discusses and shows screenshots of our second prototype that was ultimately abandoned for the one released last week.

After five years of work, its incredibly pleasing to have the software out in the wild and gaining increasing attention from Marek's research community!

We have a few updates planned: new components, analytical tools and a graphical, drag-and-drop workflow editor that I'm working on now.

Enjoy!

Ken