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CSLI Calendar, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, vol. 19:15
CSLI CALENDAR OF PUBLIC EVENTS
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10 December 2003 Stanford Vol. 19, No. 15
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A weekly publication of the
Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI)
Stanford University, Ventura Hall, Stanford, CA 94305-4115
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/
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ACTIVITIES FROM 10 DECEMBER 2003 TO 19 DECEMBER 2003
THURSDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2003
12 noon UC Berkeley Oxyopia Lecture
489 Minor Hall (UC Berkeley)
"The Geo Wall: Stereo Projection's Contribution to Earth
Science Education"
Paul Morin
Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota
http://spectacle.berkeley.edu/ucbso/oxyopia/oxy_current.html
Abstract below
12:15pm CSLI CogLunch
Ventura 17 (note room change)
"Notes on Expressivity, Synonymy, Translation, and Compositionality"
Dag Westerstahl
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/events/Coglunch/
Abstract below
4:00pm PARC Forum
George Pake Auditorium at PARC
"Cosmology and Dark Matter"
Joel Primack
Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz
http://www.parc.com/forum/
4:15pm Fundamental Themes in Neuroscience Seminar
Munzer Auditorium, Beckman B060
"Moving Parts in GABA Receptors"
David Weiss
UAB School of Medicine, Neurobiology Department
http://www-med.stanford.edu/sbrc/calendar/
MONDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2003
11:00am CIS Seminar
CIS 101
"A Psychologically-Inspired VLSI Architecture for
Human-Like Soft Computing Systems"
Tadashi Shibata
Frontier Informatics, Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo
Abstract below
2:00pm CSLI Talk
Ventura 17
"Project: System for Training English Pronunciation for the Blind"
George Losik
Fulbright Fellow and United Institute of Information of
National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~glosik/
Abstract below
TUESDAY, 16 DECEMBER 2003
4:15pm Computer Musings
Gates B01
"finding All Spanning Trees"
Don Knuth
http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/musings.html
THURSDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2003
4:15pm Fundamental Themes in Neuroscience Seminar
Munzer Auditorium, Beckman B060
"The Nature of Nurture: Insights from Analysis of Brain
Immediate Early Genes"
Paul Worley
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience
http://www-med.stanford.edu/sbrc/calendar/
7:00pm SDForum Distinguished Speaker Series
George Pake Auditorium, PARC
"The Impact of Future Technology on Society"
John Gage
Sun Microsystems
http://www.sdforum.org/
(there is a fee)
Abstract below
____________
Stanford Blood Center status: Shortage of O+, O-, A+, A-, B+, B-, and
AB-. For an appointment: http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu/ or call
650-723-7831. It only takes an hour of your time.
December has many traditions, one of them is that fewer people
donate. Change the tradition if you are qualified to give blood.
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UC BERKELEY OXYOPIA LECTURE
on Thursday, 11 December 2003, 12 noon
489 Minor Hall (UC Berkeley)
http://spectacle.berkeley.edu/ucbso/oxyopia/oxy_current.html
"The Geo Wall:
Stereo Projection's Contribution to Earth Science Education"
Paul Morin
Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota,
National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics
Host: Marty Banks
http://geowall.geo.lsa.umich.edu/
A good understanding of spatial relationships is a fundamental
requirement in the study of the Earth Sciences. Traditional teaching
methods have strongly relied on the 2D representations through maps
and profiles that are occasionally augmented by physical models.
Although most Earth Scientists have been trained to understand the 3D
structure from such representations, the extrapolation requires
spatial thinking skills that are difficult to learn and often form a
stumbling block for students at the introductory level.
The GeoWall project's mission is to broaden the use of scientific
visualization tools for Earth Science research and education by the
use of low cost virtual reality visualization devices. Over 200 of
these a low-cost (<$10,000) stereo projection systems have been
deployed to more than 60 institutions around the world serving about
25% of undergraduate, non-major students in the U.S.
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CSLI COGLUNCH
on Thursday, 11 December 2003, 12:15pm-1:30pm
Ventura 17
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/events/Coglunch/
with FREE burritos at 12 for the first arrivals
"Notes on Expressivity, Synonymy, Translation, and Compositionality"
Dag Westerstahl
Theoretical Philosophy, Gothenburg University, Sweden
The talk brings up some issues from a chapter in a forthcoming book by
Stanley Peters and me. The book is about quantification, but this
chapter has wider scope, and is meant as an introduction to the
concept of expressive power in both formal and natural
languages. Various questions present themselves, including: What is a
suitable level at which to talk about expressivity in a sufficiently
general yet informative way? Surprisingly little appears to be
available in the literature. Perhaps no very exciting claims can be
made, but some points do seem to merit the attention of
semanticists. At least that's what I'll argue, focusing on the
concepts mentioned in the title. They hang together in an obvious way:
A notion of relative expressivity relies on a concept of translation,
which in turn presupposes a notion of synonymy, within and between
languages. Compositional translations are especially nice. There are
details to fill in, and some compensation in the form of provable
structural facts. But why are there so many notions of synonymy
around, and what follows from that? And what, if any, is the
relevance of logic (model theory) in all of this?
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CIS SEMINAR
on Monday, 15 December 2003, 11:00am
CIS 101
"A Psychologically-Inspired VLSI Architecture for
Human-Like Soft Computing Systems"
Tadashi Shibata
Frontier Informatics, Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo
A psychologically-inspired VLSI (very large scale integrated circuit)
brain model has been developed utilizing the state-of-the-art
semiconductor technology. The system stores a vast quantity of past
experience in the on-chip memory and the most relevant event in the
past is automatically recalled in an immediate response to the current
input. Since search is carried out by a fully parallel processing on
the chip, the response is extremely fast. In order to carry out
human-like robust image recognition using the system, the PPED
(Projected Principal-Edge Distribution) algorithm has been
developed. It represents two-dimensional images by feature vectors
that very well preserve the human perception of similarity in the
vector space. The application of the system to handwritten pattern
recognition and medical radiograph analysis are presented as
illustrative examples. VLSI chips dedicated to image feature-vector
generation have been also developed aiming at a real-time response of
such human-like systems.
About the Speaker: After receiving his Ph.D. from Osaka University,
Dr. Tadashi Shibata joined the scientific staff of Toshiba R&D in the
area of semiconductor process research. His early work includes
pioneering research for laser annealing. In 1986 Dr. Shibata joined
the faculty of Tohoku University where he extended his research in the
area of low temperature semiconductor processing. Since joinging the
EE Dept. at the University of Tokyo in 1997, Prof. Shibata has led the
research of VLSI architecture for human-like soft computing systems.
In the early 1980's Dr. Shibata was a visiting research associate at
Stanford University.
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CSLI TALK
on Monday, 15 December 2003, 2:00pm
Ventura 17
"Project: System for Training English Pronunciation for the Blind"
George Losik
Fulbright Fellow and
United Institute of Information of National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~glosik/
1. Area of application -- teaching the Blind the skills of English
pronunciation
2. Why have we selected just this project?
a. When I was staying at Stanford I was studying the following
systems for the Blind:
* screen reader systems such as JAWS-5.0, Window-Eyes,
ZoomText-8.0, IBM Page Reader for Windows, Narrator, Delphi, DAISY
* Speech Recognition: SoundAdvice (Telesensory)
* Scanner-Reader: Optocon
* Navigation Systems:
Our Conclusions: there are many software and hardware systems
* for reading, writing text from screen, e-books, paper
* for navigation process
* But there are not enough software systems for teaching and
training Blind people
This was the first reason why we are selected this Project. There is
second reason why we suggest this Project:
b) In the USA there are many companies that are interested in Blind
Training Systems. Why?
* Because the interface of most software for the Blind is not
easy to use.
* Oral training systems allow teaching the Blind at a
distance, as distant education
We have a third reason to suggest this Project:
c) Because in Minsk we began to build such a system for training
Belarusian blind students English articulation and pronunciation. It
was pilot project that was breaking.
What kinds of systems exist nowadays? Doctor Higgins
3. We are planning to apply this system not only for our TASK
* But, at first, for NAVIGATION system for Blind
* for the training of LARINX patients
4. What is the know-how of the system project?
* Training English pronunciation through phrases but not sound
* Inspect, check the pronunciation through Speech Recognition of
mistakes. Segmentation of phrases into Syllables (FIG)
The problem of speech recognition... Identification
We decide problem of verification.
As a result, the interface of our system is only oral, without a
screen. Therefore it is easy and convenient for the Blind.
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SDFORUM DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES
on Thursday, 18 December 2003, 6:00pm (talk starts at 7:00pm)
George Pake Auditorium, PARC
http://www.sdforum.org/
($10 in advance for preregistered members of SDForum and co-hosting
organizations, $20 otherwise ($15/$25 at the door)
"The Impact of Future Technology on Society"
John Gage
Chief Researcher and Director of the Science Office, Sun Microsystems
About the speaker: One of the founders of Sun Microsystems, John Gage
is responsible for Sun's relationships with world scientific and
technical organizations, and for public policy and governmental
relations relating to science and technology.
In 1995, Gage created NetDay, a volunteer project to connect all
schools and libraries to the Internet.
Gage has served and continues to serve on numerous boards and advisory
panels, including those for the National Library of Medicine,
FermiLabs, NetDay, Schools On Line, The Markle Foundation Task Force
on National Security, and the United States Institute for Peace. He is
a frequent keynote speaker at industry and public policy conferences
around the world.
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