CS Librarian News

Check out Jay Walker’s personal library in Wired magazine…absolutely phenomenal!  For engineers and computer scientists, make sure to check out the last photo of the owner’s Gadget Lab…

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-10/ff_walker?currentPage=1

Our Carnegie Mellon campus held a memorial yesterday for Randy Pausch.  The auditorium was reserved for those who knew Randy the best.  There wasn’t enough room for everyone.  So most of us settled for watching the live webfeed thanks to ABC News.  We even showed the feed live in our Engineering & Science Library during the memorial.

Since Randy was first diagnosed, we all became a witness to something truly remarkable.  When he gave his “Last Lecture”, our campus was changed forever–by this one man.  His goal was to leave a message for his three children.  But in the process, he left sage pieces of advice for all of us.

Many of us took to heart his advice to be willing to be the first penguin to jump into the water, potentially risking utter failure in our occasional risky ventures in our jobs and in life.  Even if our act proved to be a failure, Randy reminded us of how important it was to occasionally fail because there’s no better way to learn.

Randy taught us so much about handling life with grace during the most dire of times in one’s life.  He left a shining example of how to resist anger and resentment when faced with a limited future.  He showed us how important it is to make a point to pause…to see…and to appreciate the small things in our daily lives–to check on a co-worker who’s family member may be having a difficult time, to say thank you when a friend does something small to help us, to make sure our family member knows we love them and that we don’t take them for granted.

Randy also reminded us how important it is to make a choice:  are we going to be a Tigger or an Eyeore?  Randy and Disney were made for each other.  Both together remind us of the importance, even as adults, to occasionally look at things in the world through the eyes of a child–to see the magic, the awe, and the wonder that surrounds us.

So I hope you’ll take a moment to share in our memorial for Randy Pausch.  He has left a lasting legacy for his children and at the same time, he has transformed our campus.  We will not forget him or the lessons he has left behind.

The Last Lecture:  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LastLecture/

Carnegie Mellon Memorial:  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/page?id=5754198

Pittsburgh PostGazette article:  http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08267/914333-298.stm

These days, all of us take for granted the emoticons we use in our emails, chat, and so on.  Did you know the first Smiley was created by Scott Fahlman 26 years ago here at Carnegie Mellon?

Join us in our celebration:  http://www.cs.cmu.edu/smiley/

I want to mention some other places where Scott and his smiley are mentioned:

FOLDOC:  http://foldoc.org/index.cgi?query=smiley&action=Search

Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon

Make a special point of reading Scott’s history of the Smiley:  http://www.cs.cmu.edu/smiley/history.html

The following new titles were published in August:

• Integral Equation Methods for Electromagnetic and Elastic Waves by Weng Chew, University of Hong Kong and University of Illinois, et al.
• Interactive Shape Design by Marie-Paule Cani, Grenoble Institute of Technology, France, et al.
• Introduction to Engineering: A Starter’s Guide with Hands-On Analog Multimedia Explorations by Lina Karam and Naji Mounsef, Arizona State University
• Introduction to Engineering: A Starter’s Guide with Hands-On Digital Multimedia and Robotics Explorations by Lina Karam and Naji Mounsef, Arizona State University
• An Introduction to Multivariable Mathematics by Leon Simon, Stanford University
• Jordan Canonical Form: Application to Differential Equations by Steven H. Weintraub, Lehigh University
• Neural Interfacing: Forging the Human-Machine Connection by Thomas D. Coates, Jr.
• Nonimaging Optics in Solar Energy by Joseph J. O’Gallagher
• Quantitative Neurophysiology by Joseph V. Tranquillo, Bucknell University
• Tremor: From Pathogenesis to Treatment by Giuliana Grimaldi, University of Palermo, Italy and Mario Manto, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

I’m delighted to report that we have a new reference tool that may be of interest to people on campus:

World Robotics provides comprehensive global statistics on industrial and service robots with country comparisons. It contains statistical data for about 50 countries, broken down by application areas, industrial branches, types of robots and by other technical and economic variables. Also included are new installations by countries, applications, and industries for 1993-2006; operational stock by countries, applications, and industries for 1993-2006; forecasts analysis of robot densities; price development; studies on the profitability of industrial robots; and service robots statistics, analysis, and applications.

https://www.library.cmu.edu/Research/EngineeringAndSciences/WorldRobotics/

Access is available to Carnegie Mellon users ONLY.

Here are a few new books that may catch your interest. At the moment, they’re sitting on the New Book Shelf in the E&S Library for your review…

• Self-defending networks: The next generation of network security / Duane De Capite.  Indianapolis: Cisco Press.  Call #:  TK5105.59 .D4

• Frontiers in robotics research / Max A. Denket (ed.).  New York:  Nova Science.  Call #:  TJ211 .F776

• Artificial intelligence with uncertainty / Deyi Li and Yi Du.  Boca Raton: Chapman & Hall/CRC.  Call #:  Q335 .L5 2008

• NanoBioTechnology: Bioinspired devices and materials of the future / Oded Shoseyov and Ilan Levy (eds.).  Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.  Call #: TP248.25 .N35 N28 2008

• Physics and theoretical computer science: From numbers and languages to (quantum) cryptography / Jean-Pierre Gazeau, Jaroslav Nesetril, and Branislav Rovan (eds.).  Amsterdam: IOS Press.  Call #: QA76.9 .M35 P48

• The student’s guide to cognitive neuroscience / Jamie Ward.  Hove [England]: Psychology Press.  Call #:  QP360.5 .W37