I felt a bit sleep on a late Sunday morning while reading that paper about AI consciousness and authored this motion graphics over this photo I saw a few days ago to reenergize my mind.
2023-08-27
2023-08-23
Natural American Spirit
This is a 3D drawing inspired by a pack of cigarettes I found while hiking.
Compared to 2D drawing, 3D drawing requires more efforts to place all these volumetric strokes, but also does not bother with the camera perspective and proportion.
2023-08-20
San Luis Rey mission
Drew after this photo by Henry P. Schmidt which I found mesmerizing and very different from other photos of the same mission I found online.
Ladybugs
Saw https://museum.stanford.edu/exhibitions/printing-protest and immediately visualized the ladybugs moving in my mind.
I extracted the foreground (ladies and bamboo sticks) and several individual ladybugs via https://segment-anything.com/ to, and animated them via Adobe Fresco Motion.
2023-08-16
Water lavender
I am starting to experiment with https://feather.art/ which is an app (based on https://doi.org/10.1145/3528223.3530092) for painting in 3D via a 2D interface by specifying the support surfaces first followed by projecting the (screen) strokes onto them.
It took some time to get used to the workflow, but I like it so far.
2023-08-13
The gap in the curtain
I heard from a podcast/blog about this book offering important lessons for finance, so I borrowed the annotated digital version from the local library and read it via hoopla.
In a nutshell, the book is a fable (or a collection of individual but connected fables) where having partial information about the future can be more perilous than having no information at all, as one may misinterpret the information, take actions with unintended consequences, or just be psychologically paralyzed by the uncertainty and eventuality.
From the perspective of CS/ML, the book is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of over-fitting, as the characters in the book are trying to fit the information they have to their own actions and narratives (or vice versa).
And the danger of partial information applies not just to the future but also to the present and the past, as we often have to make decisions based on incomplete information.
2023-08-12
Mapping a fly’s mind
Swatting a fly can be a fun and vigorous exercise, but here is an alternative way that is more relaxing: wait until it is dark outside, turn off all the lights inside, and then turn on a single light source which the fly would tend to follow.
You can carry a single flashlight or turn on the room lights one by one towards the outside.
2023-08-11
Acquitting myself fromContinuing review duties for a venue
During a recent gathering people have talked about how some of my works have been unfairly treated.
Beforehand I was actually not aware of the situation, in any case these are already published works for everyone to judge, and I don’t see how it could have any tangible impacts on my life and career at this stage.
However, since now it has been brought to my awareness, I feel that I should do something about it for the sake of sportsmanship, as it does not seem proper to leave it as is.
Thus, I have decided to stop reviewing duties for that venue until the situation is remedied.
As far as I remember I have never turned down review/committee requests (aside from potential conflicts) and I am pretty sure I have done my fair share of services for that venue even if I stop right now.
If I want to continue volunteering my time for a cause, I need to know it is at least fair.
Update: I realized that the decision was made by a few individuals who do not necessarily represent the whole community, and in any case this event seems quite insignificant in retrospect. Plus I still enjoy reading and discussing about research, so I have yet to turn down any paper review and committee invitations so far.
2023-08-10
SIGGRAPH Thursday
Great talk by Efros about big data + nearest neighbor algorithm.
Take out lunch from Cow Cafe, my favorite vegetarian restaurant in downtown LA.
Great poster for blue noise engraving.
Andrew Glassner gave an accessible talk about quantum computing.
The last new techniques in animation session was well attended and my first non-paper talk (aside from the appy hour in 2017) received more questions than my past paper talks.
The 411 theater is also a nice place for talks given the staggered seating arrangement.
Almost got hit by a car while crossing the Pico-Figueroa intersection, but fortunately the driver screeched to a stop in time.
Bumped into a guy whom I chatted with in the afternoon, realized that we will be on the same flight, and took the metro to the airport together.