Date:
Fri, 12 Nov 2004 13:32:19 -0800 (PST)
From:
David Sprague <dsprague@cs.ubc.ca>
To:
grads@cs.ubc.ca
Hello
again folks. I hope you enjoyed last
week's trip to Koerner's sans me. It
was quite the turn out, however, I was also
told
that the bar itself had quite the turn out and you had to sit outside. Well that's what people get for showing up
with out
me. I hope a large number of you will be able
to make it out this week (think of it as a welcome back party.....for a guy
that
only
left for 2 days). Lets meet in the
entrance to CICSR and head out at 5. If
there are not enough chairs inside, I say we
use
last week's interim beer czar to throw people out of the bar. * So take a quick break from your studying and
exams and
relax
with your fellow grad students.
*
If he gets banned for throwing people out.....well he has already been beer
czar. He has served his purpose. :)
....and rum
and
coke != beer even if you are beer czar.
On
to this week's topic. As a select few
of you have discovered this week, I am finally running pilot subjects for an
experiment
I have been working on for months (If you are my pilot subject for this
afternoon, please do not read further until
after
I run the experiment. Thank you.).
Anyway, as I was saying, I am finally running my pilots but according to the
experiment's
design I can only use right-handed women with binocular stereo vision. Well you can imagine that my subject pool
within
this department is somewhat limited as a result (although not as limited as
finding people with 2 years of Java
programming,
UML knowledge and willing to give up 2.5 hours of their lives just before exams
start.....and not be paid......my
544
project was a tough experiment to recruit for). Anyways, in tribute to all the wonderful people who have helped
out their
fellow
CS students, I present the following list:
TOP
TEN THOUGHTS THAT PILOT SUBJECTS HAVE DURING A CS EXPERIMENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. "Wow. Another Fitts' Law experiment.
How original."
9. "Who is this Barry person, and why
is this experimenter so afraid of
his wrath?"
8. "What kind of favor can I ask in
return for helping her with this
pilot? Hmmmm. One of her
kidneys?.....no better make it a kidney
and a lung....."
7. "You take the good you take the bad
you take them both and there
you have: The Facts of Life, The Facts
of Life..."
6. ".....Wait. Better idea. I can pretend that I don't know
how to
use a mouse. That would REALLY mess up their experiment."
5. "GOD I am sooo bored. Maybe if I
stick my head through the monitor
I can end my misery...."
4. "Ha HA! If I only ask for female subjects and I need 20-40 of
them, one of them is BOUND to be
willing to grab coffee with me."
.....
No.
Wait. Sorry. Those were my
thoughts. Never mind.
2. "Why does the second hand of the
wall clock only move once every 5
seconds?"
1. "So this haptic device sends
messages to the user using
vibrations.... and it's
cylindrical......I'm starting to like this
experiment."
0. "Wow. The AROMA system** uses smell to signal system events.
That's a really cool concept and the
blindfold isn't that annoying
.... but why does every signal smell
like Adam's armpits?
.....and why do I have hair in my
mouth?"
-1. "OK. When I open my eyes I will be
at home in bed."
*opens eyes*
"Nope. It's been twenty minutes and he is still explaining how
his 'easy to use' software
works."
-2. "I know I am in the Imager
experiment room and I signed a consent
form so it should be a legitimate
experiment, but the
"movement limiter" looks
like fuzzy handcuffs and the
"stimulus generator" just
looks like a riding crop
..... and why the hell is Ed McCormick
running an experiment in
Imager !?!"
-3. "What does the consent form mean by
'involuntary release of bodily
fluids'?"
**
This is an actual system. I was one of
their subjects. They made me do
math. I sometimes still wake up in a
cold sweat
because
of this experience.
Snobby
beer quote of the week
------------------------------
In
Vino Veritas
In
Cervesio Felicitas
(In
wine there is wisdom, In beer there is joy.)
--
????? Lets pretend I said this.
David
"Afraid haptic interfaces are going to replace him" Sprague
PS. Oh and just because I found it interesting: http://www.beercook.com