maruku 0.2.3 → 0.2.4

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Files changed (157) hide show
  1. data/lib/maruku/to_latex.rb +1 -0
  2. metadata +1 -156
  3. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/markdown_syntax.md +0 -920
  4. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/maruku.md +0 -410
  5. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/todo.md +0 -3
  6. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/abbreviations.md +0 -11
  7. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/blank.md +0 -4
  8. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/bugs/code_in_links.md +0 -16
  9. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code.md +0 -5
  10. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code2.md +0 -8
  11. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code3.md +0 -16
  12. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/email.md +0 -4
  13. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/entities.md +0 -19
  14. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/escaping.md +0 -14
  15. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_dl.md +0 -101
  16. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_header_id.md +0 -13
  17. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_table1.md +0 -40
  18. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/footnotes.md +0 -17
  19. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/headers.md +0 -10
  20. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/hrule.md +0 -10
  21. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/images.md +0 -20
  22. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/inline_html.md +0 -35
  23. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/links.md +0 -38
  24. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list1.md +0 -4
  25. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list2.md +0 -5
  26. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list3.md +0 -8
  27. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/lists.md +0 -32
  28. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/lists_ol.md +0 -39
  29. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/misc_sw.md +0 -105
  30. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/one.md +0 -1
  31. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/paragraphs.md +0 -13
  32. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/sss06.md +0 -352
  33. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/test.md +0 -4
  34. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/docs/markdown_syntax.md +0 -920
  35. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/docs/maruku.md +0 -410
  36. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/docs/todo.md +0 -3
  37. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/markdown_syntax.md +0 -920
  38. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/maruku.md +0 -410
  39. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/todo.md +0 -3
  40. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/abbreviations.md +0 -11
  41. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/blank.md +0 -4
  42. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/bugs/code_in_links.md +0 -16
  43. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code.md +0 -5
  44. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code2.md +0 -8
  45. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code3.md +0 -16
  46. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/email.md +0 -4
  47. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/entities.md +0 -19
  48. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/escaping.md +0 -14
  49. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_dl.md +0 -101
  50. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_header_id.md +0 -13
  51. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_table1.md +0 -40
  52. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/footnotes.md +0 -17
  53. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/headers.md +0 -10
  54. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/hrule.md +0 -10
  55. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/images.md +0 -20
  56. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/inline_html.md +0 -35
  57. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/links.md +0 -38
  58. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list1.md +0 -4
  59. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list2.md +0 -5
  60. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list3.md +0 -8
  61. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/lists.md +0 -32
  62. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/lists_ol.md +0 -39
  63. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/misc_sw.md +0 -105
  64. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/one.md +0 -1
  65. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/paragraphs.md +0 -13
  66. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/sss06.md +0 -352
  67. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/test.md +0 -4
  68. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/docs/markdown_syntax.md +0 -920
  69. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/docs/maruku.md +0 -410
  70. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/docs/todo.md +0 -3
  71. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/markdown_syntax.md +0 -920
  72. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/maruku.md +0 -410
  73. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/docs/todo.md +0 -3
  74. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/abbreviations.md +0 -11
  75. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/blank.md +0 -4
  76. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/bugs/code_in_links.md +0 -16
  77. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code.md +0 -5
  78. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code2.md +0 -8
  79. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/code3.md +0 -16
  80. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/email.md +0 -4
  81. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/entities.md +0 -19
  82. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/escaping.md +0 -14
  83. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_dl.md +0 -101
  84. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_header_id.md +0 -13
  85. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/extra_table1.md +0 -40
  86. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/footnotes.md +0 -17
  87. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/headers.md +0 -10
  88. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/hrule.md +0 -10
  89. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/images.md +0 -20
  90. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/inline_html.md +0 -35
  91. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/links.md +0 -38
  92. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list1.md +0 -4
  93. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list2.md +0 -5
  94. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/list3.md +0 -8
  95. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/lists.md +0 -32
  96. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/lists_ol.md +0 -39
  97. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/misc_sw.md +0 -105
  98. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/one.md +0 -1
  99. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/paragraphs.md +0 -13
  100. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/sss06.md +0 -352
  101. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.1/tests/test.md +0 -4
  102. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/abbreviations.md +0 -11
  103. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/blank.md +0 -4
  104. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/bugs/code_in_links.md +0 -16
  105. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/code.md +0 -5
  106. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/code2.md +0 -8
  107. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/code3.md +0 -16
  108. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/email.md +0 -4
  109. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/entities.md +0 -19
  110. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/escaping.md +0 -14
  111. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/extra_dl.md +0 -101
  112. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/extra_header_id.md +0 -13
  113. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/extra_table1.md +0 -40
  114. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/footnotes.md +0 -17
  115. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/headers.md +0 -10
  116. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/hrule.md +0 -10
  117. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/images.md +0 -20
  118. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/inline_html.md +0 -35
  119. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/links.md +0 -38
  120. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/list1.md +0 -4
  121. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/list2.md +0 -5
  122. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/list3.md +0 -8
  123. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/lists.md +0 -32
  124. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/lists_ol.md +0 -39
  125. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/misc_sw.md +0 -105
  126. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/one.md +0 -1
  127. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/paragraphs.md +0 -13
  128. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/sss06.md +0 -352
  129. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/test.md +0 -4
  130. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/abbreviations.md +0 -11
  131. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/blank.md +0 -4
  132. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/bugs/code_in_links.md +0 -16
  133. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/code.md +0 -5
  134. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/code2.md +0 -8
  135. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/code3.md +0 -16
  136. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/email.md +0 -4
  137. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/entities.md +0 -19
  138. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/escaping.md +0 -14
  139. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/extra_dl.md +0 -101
  140. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/extra_header_id.md +0 -13
  141. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/extra_table1.md +0 -40
  142. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/footnotes.md +0 -17
  143. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/headers.md +0 -10
  144. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/hrule.md +0 -10
  145. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/images.md +0 -20
  146. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/inline_html.md +0 -35
  147. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/links.md +0 -38
  148. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/list1.md +0 -4
  149. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/list2.md +0 -5
  150. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/list3.md +0 -8
  151. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/lists.md +0 -32
  152. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/lists_ol.md +0 -39
  153. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/misc_sw.md +0 -105
  154. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/one.md +0 -1
  155. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/paragraphs.md +0 -13
  156. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/sss06.md +0 -352
  157. data/pkg/maruku-0.2.2/tests/test.md +0 -4
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- Subject: Software not painful to use
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- Subject_short: painless software
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- Topic: /misc/coolsw
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- Archive: no
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- Date: Nov 20 2006
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- Order: -9.5
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- inMenu: true
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-
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-
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- ### General ###
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- * *Operating System* : [Mac OS X][switch]: heaven, after the purgatory of Linux
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- and the hell of Windows.
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- * *Browser*: [Firefox][firefox]. On a Mac, [Camino][camino].
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- * *Email*: [GMail][gmail], "search, don't sort" really works.
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- * *Text Editor*: [TextMate][textmate], you have to buy it, but it's worth every
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- penny. There are rumours that it's been converting (recovering) Emacs
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- users (addicts). Unfortunately, it's Mac only. An alternative is
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- [jedit][jedit] (GPL, Java).
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-
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- ### Development ###
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-
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- * *Build system*: [cmake][cmake], throw the [autotools][autotools] away.
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- * *Source code control system*: ditch CVS for [subversion][subversion].
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- * *Project management*: [Trac][trac] tracks everything.
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- * *Scripting language*: [Ruby][ruby] is Japanese pragmatism (and has a [poignant][poignant] guide).
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- Python, you say? Python is too academic and snob:
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-
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- $ python
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- Python 2.4.1 (\#1, Jun 4 2005, 00:54:33)
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- Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
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- >>> exit
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- 'Use Ctrl-D (i.e. EOF) to exit.'
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- >>> quit
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- 'Use Ctrl-D (i.e. EOF) to exit.'
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-
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- * *Java IDE*: [JBuilder][jbuilder] is great software and has a free version (IMHO better than Eclipse). Java
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- is not a pain anymore since it gained [generics][java-generics] and got opensourced.
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- * *Mark-up language*: HTML is so 2001, why don't you take at look at [Markdown][markdown]? [Look at the source of this page](data/misc_markdown.png).
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- * *C++ libraries*:
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- * [QT][qt] for GUIs.
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- * [GSL][gsl] for math.
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- * [Magick++][magick] for manipulating images.
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- * [Cairo][cairo] for creating PDFs.
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- * [Boost][boost] for just about everything else.
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- ### Research ###
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- * *Writing papers*: [LaTeX][latex]
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- * *Writing papers & enjoying the process*: [LyX][lyx]
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- * *Handsome figures in your papers*: [xfig][xfig] or, better, [jfig][jfig].
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- * *The occasional presentation with many graphical content*:
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- [OpenOffice Impress][impress] (using the [OOOlatex plugin][ooolatex]);
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- the alternative is PowerPoint with the [TexPoint][texpoint] plugin.
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- * *Managing BibTeX*: [jabref][jabref]: multi-platform, for all your bibtex needs.
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- * *IEEExplore and BibTeX*: convert citations using [BibConverter][bibconverter].
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-
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- ### Cool websites ###
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- * *Best site in the wwworld*: [Wikipedia][wikipedia]
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- * [Mutopia][mutopia] for sheet music; [the Gutenberg Project][gutenberg] for books; [LiberLiber][liberliber] for books in italian.
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- * *Blogs*: [Bloglines][bloglines]
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- * *Sharing photos*: [flickr][flickr] exposes an API you can use.
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- [firefox]: http://getfirefox.com/
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- [gmail]: http://gmail.com/
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- [bloglines]: http://bloglines.com/
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- [wikipedia]: http://en.wikipedia.org/
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- [ruby]: http://www.ruby-lang.org/
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- [poignant]: http://poignantguide.net/ruby/
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- [webgen]: http://webgen.rubyforge.org/
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- [markdown]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
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- [latex]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX
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- [lyx]: http://www.lyx.org
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- [impress]: http://www.openoffice.org/product/impress.html
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- [ooolatex]: http://ooolatex.sourceforge.net/
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- [texpoint]: http://texpoint.necula.org/
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- [jabref]: http://jabref.sourceforge.net/
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- [camino]: http://www.caminobrowser.org/
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- [switch]: http://www.apple.com/getamac/
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- [textmate]: http://www.apple.com/getamac/
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- [cmake]: http://www.cmake.org/
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- [xfig]: http://www.xfig.org/
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- [jfig]: http://tams-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/applets/jfig/
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- [subversion]: http://subversion.tigris.org
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- [jbuilder]: http://www.borland.com/us/products/jbuilder/index.html
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- [flickr]: http://www.flickr.com/
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- [myflickr]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi
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- [bibconverter]: http://www.bibconverter.net/ieeexplore/
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- [autotools]: http://sources.redhat.com/autobook/
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- [jedit]: http://www.jedit.org/
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- [qt]: http://www.trolltech.no/
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- [gsl]: http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/
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- [magick]: http://www.imagemagick.org/Magick++/
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- [cairo]: http://cairographics.org/
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- [boost]: http://www.boost.org/
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- [markdown]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown
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- [trac]: http://trac.edgewall.org/
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- [mutopia]: http://www.mutopiaproject.org/
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- [liberliber]: http://www.liberliber.it/
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- [gutenberg]: http://www.gutenberg.org/
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- [java-generics]: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/language/generics.html
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- Category: sss06
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- Date: Sep 10 2006
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- From: "Andrea Censi" <andrea.censi@dis.uniroma1.it>
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- Subject: A report about Oxford and the 2006 SLAM Summer School
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- Encoding: BlueCloth FlickrHTML
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- format: bluecloth>
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- Let me quote the words of a renowned Oxford scholar:
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-
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- > "Life is too important to be taken seriously."
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-
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- If you do not wholeheartedly agree with this statement,
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- please stop reading this.
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-
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- ----------------------
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-
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- I stayed three weeks in Oxford: one week for the SLAM school and,
19
- before that, two weeks for an English course. You might ask: why?
20
- A very good question indeed - "Why I am not on a sunny beach?" -
21
- I kept asking myself as I walked down the misty alleys of the old town,
22
- wearing a scarf on August, 16th, and realizing that - maybe - I would not
23
- need the three pairs of shorts and the swimsuit I had brought.
24
-
25
-
26
- Summary:
27
-
28
- 1. The Queen's English
29
- 2. The Harry Potter experience
30
- 3. Parsnip, Marmite and the tea conspiracy
31
- 4. The Summer School
32
- 5. Minor open issues in SLAM
33
-
34
- > Appendix: How to offend seven nationalities at once
35
-
36
- `I`. The Queen's English
37
- ----------------------
38
-
39
- It turns out that a course of English at an advanced level is mostly
40
- about vocabulary and idioms: by the end of the first week I knew seven
41
- different ways to address a "promiscuous" woman, and I can tell which ones
42
- are applicable to American and which to British English. It remains to be
43
- seen how this will benefit my academic writing.
44
-
45
- It was a lot of fun to learn the differences (or, as the teacher put it,
46
- "to purify my English after years of prolonged unhealthy exposure to American
47
- media"), which are not only linguistic, but above all in attitude and
48
- social norms.
49
- For example, in the US the first question that people ask you is
50
- "What do you do?" (meaning: "How much do you earn?"), while in England such
51
- a question would be felt as unnecessary direct and impolite.
52
- As a rule,
53
- it is compulsory to exchange comments about the weather, and there is a lot
54
- of specialized vocabulary for this; the following table might prove handy
55
- to understand your acquaintance:
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-
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- - "It's a lovely day!" = "It doesn't rain"
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- - "It's a nice day!" = "It doesn't rain heavily"
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- - "What a wonderful day!"="This morning, at 10:13, I caught a glimpse of the sun"
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-
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- (the correct answer to any of these is "isn't it?")
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-
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- `II`. The Harry Potter experience
64
- -------------------------
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-
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- flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi/232006603/
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-
68
- During my three-week stay I tried my best to immerse myself in the English
69
- atmosphere.
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-
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- I went to a place called Oxford Story [3], where we paid &pound;7 to go through a
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- painfully slow indoor ride, sat on a mobile school-desk in the dark for 25
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- minutes. It is the claustrophobic equivalent of the American Epcot center in
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- Disney World.
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-
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- At Epcot, I learned that the final goal of all the scientific progress in the
77
- last three millennia was to let Walt Disney broadcast Snow White using
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- Siemens equipment (Siemens sponsored the ride).
79
- In Oxford, I learned that the glorious University is the repository of all
80
- human knowledge, and that the English understatement is a legend. At the end of
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- the ride, I was amazed that in Italy I had managed to learn to read and write.
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-
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- flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi/232023681/
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-
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- Still, one thing the ride did not explain is how the well-educated,
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- smart elite students of Oxford can possibly find rowing fun --
87
- (probably it IS fun, compared to cricket).
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-
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- flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi/232529032/
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-
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- I went to a candle-light baroque concert in the Exeter college chapel.
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- The ensemble was 75% Asian, all Oxford researchers, and we were given
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- a twenty minute speech about the effort they put in the historical
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- research of this obscure composer, that they had a microfilm of the original
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- manuscript delivered from a German library, that the viola would be played
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- in the original style, blah blah blah. Only in Oxford!
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-
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- flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi/232031895/
99
-
100
- I read "The Hobbit" (Tolkien was a fellow of Exeter college) - I discovered
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- that the only two peoples in the known and invented universes to have
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- the concept of a "second breakfast" are Hobbits and Italians.
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-
104
-
105
- I watched a performance of MacBeth at an open-air theatre.
106
- I couldn't understand but one sentence, which is worth mentioning:
107
- "Alcohol provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance"
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-
109
- Regarding alcohol, England is one of the places where you can't drink if you
110
- are under 21 (in Italy, at 18 you have decided to quit).
111
- Young people have their ID checked at the entrance of pubs and in liquor
112
- stores: that's only a minor annoyance, as they just need to wait outside
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- the store for the first Spanish guy passing by that will buy the wine for them
114
- (and be compensated with just the change - did you keep the penny, Felix?).
115
-
116
- Anyway the guys at the door use the ID checking mostly as a form of flattery:
117
- "You are 32? I thought you were 20!" is probably the best pick-up line that
118
- the English can come up with.
119
-
120
- The other characteristic thing is that in English pubs there is no table
121
- service: you have to walk to the bar and ask by yourself. The first time can
122
- be confusing: and you can spend quite some time waiting at the table whining
123
- about the "poor service".
124
-
125
- `III`. Parsnip, Marmite & the tea conspiracy
126
- ---------------------------------------------
127
-
128
- During the first week I was a guest of a lovely 79-year-old lady.
129
- Working at the University, she made a point of speaking very posh English.
130
- And she made a point of cooking traditional English food.
131
- The typical English dish is some meat with two vegetables aside.
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- For the vegetables, pick any two in {parsnip, carrot, potato}.
133
-
134
- Don't look in your dictionary for a translation of "parsnip" as probably
135
- there isn't one. The lady would tell me that in the next-to-last century,
136
- this famous professor spent years raising the finest crossbreed of Parsnip as
137
- to finally obtain what is best described as a big white carrot
138
- with no taste whatsoever [4].
139
-
140
- Nevertheless, the many regional variants give spectacular variety to the
141
- English cuisine: the two vegetables can be boiled, fried, baked, microwaved,
142
- or roasted. There exist also exotic twists, in which the vegetables are put
143
- on top of the meat, or underneath, or even inside.
144
- In important occasions, the recipes stay the same but gain a French name.
145
-
146
-
147
- flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi/232526897/
148
-
149
-
150
- I tried a thing called Marmite, which the teacher sold to me as "the British
151
- answer to Nutella". It has the aspect and consistency of engine grease, and,
152
- as far as I know, also the taste is similar (I've never tasted the grease,
153
- but next time, presented with choice, I'd give it a go).
154
-
155
- The austerity of English food can be explained by the pitiless weather; but
156
- how can you explain Marmite, if not with alimentary masochism?
157
-
158
- But... there's one thing that is much better in England: tea. Wherever I tried
159
- it (at the old lady's, at tearooms, at coffee breaks) it was sooo delicious.
160
- In Italy we don't get the real thing. Why is that? Is this some sort of
161
- conspiracy orchestrated by the Italian coffee producers? And is it the
162
- tea cartello which does not allow good coffee to be imported in England?
163
-
164
- `IV`. The Summer School
165
- ---------------------
166
-
167
- If you go for a career in research, in general you don't get much money,
168
- or fame, and you don't get to rescue the princess either.
169
- The two benefits that you do get are: playing with very expensive toys
170
- and the occasional trip in which you meet all sort of people.
171
-
172
- And when you talk with them, it's sort of strange to realize that your
173
- interlocutor is one of the 5 people - worldwide - that actually care about your
174
- research theme, and yet the things you have in common end there, as he has
175
- different culture, race, religion, and while you two happen to agree that Lie
176
- brackets are an indispensable tool to characterize the propagation of errors
177
- on the Euclidean group, you have very different answers to the important
178
- questions about life, the universe and everything. (In these cases I have
179
- anecdotal proof that it is much better to stick to research talk, and to
180
- avoid at all costs the kind of jokes that you can find in the Appendix).
181
-
182
- Instead, at this particular school, I would say that the European character was
183
- clearly perceived, and I enjoyed it -- but whether England is in Europe is a
184
- delicate matter.
185
-
186
-
187
- Here are some impressions of the people.
188
-
189
- * Juan Domingo Tardos (aka Mingo) is the funniest of the bunch, the man you
190
- want to go partying with.
191
-
192
- He taught us two deep truths about SLAM and life:
193
- 1. The size of your banana matters.
194
- 2. Never under-estimate the size of your lemons.
195
-
196
- I thought: wow, I want to write a paper with "banana" in the title - finally
197
- some inspiration from the school! I already had big projects for Fig. 1,2
198
- and a full-page Fig. 3, but after a little googling I found:
199
- "Functional Programming with Bananas, Lenses, Envelopes and Barbed Wire"[5]
200
- "Dealing with large bananas" [6].
201
- I gave up: I cannot beat this last one. And the existence of [6] proves
202
- once again that SLAM is a solved problem.
203
-
204
- * Paul Newman, the organizer, told us, more than once, that the future of SLAM
205
- is in long term operation if we want the systems to be reliable.
206
- (Personally, I disagree: I think that it is possible to build anything at
207
- the desired level of reliability, given reasonable funding, time, and
208
- an appropriate number of German engineers)
209
-
210
- * One of the lessons learned in the school is that almost everything has
211
- already been done by someone else.
212
- More specifically, most of the things have already been done by
213
- Durrant-Whyte some twenty years ago, when men were men, CS was electrical
214
- engineering, master students knew calculus, and Kalman filters ran
215
- free in the wild lands of Australia.
216
-
217
- * Frank Dellaert is a jolly chap as well, and he does interesting things with
218
- graphs. As he introduced three different formalisms in the first
219
- three slides, I regretted not to have put more CS in my curriculum, then
220
- shut my eyes. Interestingly, at summer schools and conferences, if you close
221
- your eyes people assume that you are very smart and that you are thinking
222
- about some new impressive algorithm -- I was just dreaming of a sunny beach.
223
-
224
- * Henrik Christensen has implemented SLAM on the cleaning robot for $45
225
- in sensors and electronics. It puts things in perspective, especially
226
- if you consider that I paid &pound;16 for a one-hour coach trip from Heathrow
227
- to Oxford.
228
-
229
- * Andy Davison is a wonderful person, he tutored the practicals with
230
- infinite patience. Never did I meet such a knowledgeable, affable,
231
- and humble person. (Probably he is the kind of person that some day will
232
- show up at work with automatic guns)
233
-
234
- * Wolfram Burgard - he wins my "best robot" award for the photo of our
235
- beloved Albert [7].
236
-
237
- * Dieter Fox wins "most nostalgic slide from the 90s": and every time we feel
238
- the same emotion as the first time.
239
-
240
- * Kurt Konolige reminded me why I bought a Mac.
241
-
242
- * Simon Lacroix - Once we sat at the same table during lunch. While he
243
- talked with Dellaert, he would send me alarmed glances, the kind of glances
244
- that you would reserve to a relative returning from death. I wanted
245
- to ask him why, but then I decided I'd better not to (was I so wasted
246
- from the night before?).
247
-
248
- * Simon Julier -- he seems very smart, but he lost me between slide #3 and #4.
249
- I started to be seasick from all those covariance matrices -
250
- so I muttered to my neighbours: "I wonder whether it still holds in
251
- higher-dimensional spaces...", then I closed my eyes and was back again on
252
- the sunny beach.
253
-
254
- * But all in all, the most interesting presentation was the magical show
255
- that Davide Scaramuzza (who at daytime pretends to work at ETHZ) gave to a
256
- selected audience after the banquet ([8]).
257
- It was another confirmation that all the time spent in front of a monitor is,
258
- in fact, wasted, and all of us should have studied card tricks instead:
259
- you have NO IDEA of how a girl's face brightens up and her eyes expand when
260
- she watches a magician.
261
-
262
- `V`. Other minor issues in SLAM
263
- --------------------------------
264
-
265
- We all know that the most important open problem in SLAM is that there are
266
- not enough women doing research in the area and coming at summer schools.
267
- As for the other minor issues, this is the result of asking
268
- "What is the future of SLAM?" to a random sampling of the participants.
269
- (the list does not include answers given after 10:00 PM)
270
-
271
- - For 30% of the respondents, SLAM is a solved problem, and we just need some
272
- German engineers to work out the details of the implementations.
273
- - Long term operation: make filters that reconsider their decisions at a
274
- a later time (so not delaying decisions, but explicitly reconsider).
275
- - Make it robust for real applications: or, your method should work in more
276
- than one experiment and possibly also outside of your lab.
277
- - Put more knowledge in SLAM about the environment. Teach your
278
- filter what is a tree, a road, a mirror so that it can make smarter
279
- decisions.
280
- - Active SLAM and SLAM-guided exploration (once we figure out good acronyms).
281
- - Some boring work is to be done for taking into account linearization errors
282
- in the already existing results about consistency, sparsity, etc.
283
- - "Where can I get some real coffee?" (2 people)
284
- - Methods and representations for real sensor fusion (laser, camera, etc).
285
- - Do robust stuff with a single camera. Omnidirectional cameras are cool.
286
- Mix different techniques at different time-scales: visual odometry between
287
- frames, then stable features, then databases of places to close the loop
288
- (or don't close the loop at all).
289
-
290
- Appendix. How to offend seven nationalities at once
291
- --------------------------------------------------
292
-
293
- In Oxford I learned the ultimate rude stereotypical joke -- I think it's
294
- worth sharing.
295
-
296
- > **Heaven & Hell**
297
- >
298
- > *In Heaven*: the policemen are British, mechanics are German, chefs are French,
299
- > wives are Japanese, neighbours are Dutch, lovers are Italian,
300
- > and the Swiss organize it all.
301
- >
302
- > *In Hell*: the policemen are German, mechanics are French, chefs are British,
303
- > neighbours are Japanese, wives are Dutch, lovers are Swiss,
304
- > and the Italians organize it all.
305
-
306
- For related work, see for example [9], [10].
307
-
308
-
309
- And here's the research version:
310
-
311
- > **The BEST international research project**
312
- >
313
- > - The French do the overall math analysis,
314
- > - a Chinese refines a ten-line proof of the main Theorem,
315
- > - the Germans design the implementation,
316
- > - Japanese undergrads do the actual work,
317
- > - the British write the paper,
318
- > - an American gives the presentation,
319
- > - the Spanish organize the social events,
320
- > - and the Italians organize the banquet.
321
- >
322
- > **The WORST international research project**
323
- >
324
- > - The Germans do the overall math analysis,
325
- > - an American PhD student spends 10 CPU year on his department's 48-node
326
- > cluster and proves with a Monte Carlo simulation in Matlab that
327
- > Theorem 1 indeed holds for some values of the parameters,
328
- > - the French design the implementation,
329
- > - one Spanish undergrad does the actual work,
330
- > - the Italians write the papers,
331
- > - a Chinese gives the presentation,
332
- > - the Japanese organize the social events,
333
- > - and the British organize the banquet.
334
-
335
- `:-)`
336
-
337
- Flickr: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi/232003838>
338
-
339
- References
340
- ----------
341
-
342
- \[1\] [http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/media/poems.php](http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/media/poems.php)
343
- \[2\] dde [http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi/236722418/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/censi/236722418/)
344
- \[3\] [http://www.oxfordstory.co.uk](http://www.oxfordstory.co.uk)
345
- \[4\] [http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/parsni12.html](http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/parsni12.html )
346
- \[5\] E. Meijer, M. Fokkinga, R. Paterson. "Functional Programming with Bananas, Lenses, Envelopes and Barbed Wire" (1991)
347
- [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/meijer91functional.html](http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/meijer91functional.html)
348
- \[6\] R. Lammel, J. Visser, J. Kort. "Dealing with large bananas" (2000) <http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/lammel00dealing.html>
349
- \[7\] [http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~burgard/](http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/lammel00dealing.html)
350
- \[8\] [http://asl.epfl.ch/~scaramuz/cabaret/cabaret.wmv](http://asl.epfl.ch/~scaramuz/cabaret/cabaret.wmv)
351
- \[9\] [http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/boster/cultvar/euweb/](http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/boster/cultvar/euweb/)
352
- \[10\] [http://www.infonegocio.com/xeron/bruno/italy.html](http://www.infonegocio.com/xeron/bruno/italy.html)