http://blog.matthewmaurer.org/ On the path to understanding en http://blog.matthewmaurer.org/templates/default/img/s9y_banner_small.png http://blog.matthewmaurer.org/ 100 21 http://blog.matthewmaurer.org/archives/1-A-New-Start.html I'm going to begin writing as often as I can to keep my thoughts organized and directed. While I can get by on a more chaotic life, I have to wonder if I could be more effective if my actions were more focused. It is to this end, and to encourage myself to clean up/present my projects, that I am starting this blog.<br /> <br /> First, I should probably give a brief overview of who I am. I am currently a Caltech CS major headed to CMU for grad school next fall. In addition to the obvious computer science interest, I also dabble in physics. Within computer science, I am somewhat specialized in systems, though I also enjoy PL and some theory topics. I administer a student run cluster (<a href="http://ugcs.caltech.edu">UGCS</a>) here, and am involved with a research project on queuing policies for an objective function which is a linear combination of time and energy function on the multi-datacenter scale. Personally, I tend to be very open, fierce, and strong willed, though with things in flux for me as they are, these may change.<br /> <br /> My primary direction in life is to try to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, that's a pretty big task, and one that I clearly cannot accomplish alone. However, the hope is that with the right thought, I can give nudges in the right situations to help things fall into place. I'm still trying to determine how best to do this, and am considering several options still (this may be the subject of a future post).<br /> <br /> At the moment, I am rather out of shape. I will also be trying to fix this as I focus myself, and believe that this goal, being very straightforward and linear, will work well to give a low variance sample of the performance of the more organized life I am going to try to lead.<br /> <br /> Finally, I will include a basic list of positions I believe strongly in. I will not bother to justify these right now, but may do so later:<br /> Humanities and social sciences have too much influence in our educational system.<br /> Object oriented programming usually makes code worse, not better, unless you are writing a simulator of some variety.<br /> Strongly typed programming allows for stronger analysis which makes for more reliable code.<br /> Functional and pure programming is an interesting optimization space that even today has not been fully explored.<br /> Self-organizing and fault tolerant systems can reduce overall labor (by removing some machine maintenance) and can be used as a model for removing labor from manufacturing processes.<br /> While some secretaries/administrative assistants are truly necessary, most are not and are in place only to stroke someone's ego or because someone is lazy.<br /> When administration of a group is performed by someone with no experience in the actual work being performed (a school being run by MBAs, a construction crew foreman who has never built anything himself, etc.) they are usually not only not useful, but an active hindrance.<br /> Copyright extensions are way out of hand.<br /> Patents have too broad a scope.<br /> Personal responsibility in this country has hit an all time low.<br /> Our legal system makes money a major determining factor in who wins a case, leading to a myriad of problems.<br /> As a country, it wouldn't hurt to move a little bit further towards the socialist side of the spectrum.<br /> Free speech is the foundation of a free society.