The Times Higher Education University Ranking and it sucks

At work, the new university ranking of the Times Higher Education was brought up. Since the UK schools rank very high and many US schools do not, it became the talk of the day in the office.

Before spitting out my 2cents, here's the disclosure: neither of my alma mater (college and grad school) are ranked well. Maybe that's why I don't like it.

First, let's see the methodology:
50% is in subjective surveys:
Peer review/survey: 40%; employer survey: 10%

50% is in "objective" numbers:
Faculty/student ratio: 20%; Citation/Faculty ration: 20%
International Faculty: 5%; International Student: 5%

I'd like to comment on two of the six measures.
The first is the "citation/faculty" ratio. It measures the importance of research by quantify the number of publication per faculty member being cited by other researchers. The citation is used instead of publications to eliminate junk papers nobody is reading/using.

In short, this number measures the quality of the faculty in research.

The second is the "peer review/survey", in which a certain group of people (Times does say much about what this group is) ranks a school's reputation. Since it counts 40%, this score basically determines the ranking.

Now let's see some examples.

First, if ranked only by "citation/faculty", which measures research quality:
The top 21 schools (98-100) include 16 US, 2 Canadian, 2 Switzerland, & 1 Israel schools. The US schools include Harvard, Stanford, MIT, a bunch of the rest Ivy League schools as well as Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, and Minnesota.

Not bad.

The top UK schools in this category are UCL (90, 37th) and Cambridge (89, 39th), which are the 37th & 39th, respectively. Most of the UK schools are ranked lower than 100th by this measure.

Other worth mentioning schools are: Peking (35 &188th) from China and Monash (42 & 176th) from Australia.

Now let's how the peer survey says:

Harvard (100 & 1-23rd), Peking (100 & 1-23rd), JHU (98 & 28-32nd), Monash (98 & 28-32nd), Minnesota (74 & 106th).

So, the "peer" believes Peking is as good as Harvard; JHU is as good as Monash while worse than Peking; Minnesota sucks.

The final ranking is dominated by the peer survey score:
Harvard (100 & 1st), JHU (94 & 13th),

Minnesota (67 & 105th),

Peking (78 & 52nd), Monash (80 & 45th).

All I'm trying to say is that if the "peer" ranks Harvard's reputation is the same as Peking, while JHU is a little less, it's a group of idiots who knows nothing about college education.

Crazy lucky video

It seems that nobody was seriously hurt in these videos.


This+is+some+crazy+shit!!!+MUST+SEE

Got it from a friend on Facebook.

Computer trouble #1: change Windows Server 2003 Volume License Key

Recently, many of the computers I'm using/taking care of had problems. For starters, I'm using a Compaq Proliant server at work so I can log to it remotely doing things involving huge data transfer between a separtate data server. It's running Windows Server 2003 with a volume license. Starting early this year, the volume license provided along with the server by an outside vendor stopped working and I can't get microsoft update any more. The vendor provided another license but they told me to reinstall everything in order to update the license key.

After some searching, I found out that you do not have to reinstall Windows to change the license key. Here's an Microsoft support article:

Briefly, I need to modify the registry so the windows to deactivate Windows. Once deactivated, Windows will automatically remind you to activate windows through the Internet or phone a MS customer service representative to get a new license key.

So I pretended that I called Microsoft and get the new license key. Once entering the new key, and reactivate Windows registry, everything works.

One problem the MS support article didn't mention is that there's an activation code field which is the default of the activation process. I assume that this is the code the MS call center gives out. In my case, since I have a new volume license key, I had to specifically choose entering CD-key.

Now one problem is out of the way, I can come back to deal with the failed hard drive on my X61 tablet. The annonying part is that the new Intel X-25M 80G SSD I ordered from NewEgg failed also. I had to mail it back for replacement. Will update that later.

The 230 mpg Chevy Volt

GM just said that their preliminary test on the 2011 Chevy Volt shown a health 230 mile per gallon in city driving. I assume this is great news comparing to the 14 mpg (city) on my old Explorer.

Wait a minute, this is a plug-in electric viehcle, what does the 230 mpg mean? My understanding would be if running purely on the gas generator, the car with run at 230 miles for each gallon of gas used. That will be translated into roughly 0.43 gallon or $1.3 per 100 miles based on today's gas prices of $3/gallon.

Not bad.

On the bottom of the Times' article, the author also mentioned that "GM... expected the Volt to consume as little as 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles in city driving". Based on current California's consumer electricity price of 14.5 cents per KWH, it will cost $3.63 to drive 100 miles.

Now let's see whether I get this right:

According to this article, a completely gas powered electrical car will be about 2.8 times cheaper than the same car using electricity from the the grid.

There's something wrong with this picture or I am not capable of do 2nd grade math. If it's true, why would anyone want to plug in for 8 hours for each 40 miles single charge driving range?

Who's been acting stupidly?

Here's a funny article about the Obama-Stupidly comments from the Examiner

My imaginary transcript of the phone conversation between Sgt. James Crowley and President Obama

Since I can't copy the whole thing, here's some funny excerpts:

"Sgt. Crowley: Hello this James.

President Obama: Hello Sgt. Crowley this is Barack Obama the President of the United States.

Sgt. Crowley: Oh that is funny. Nice one. Really who is this?

President Obama: Really Sergeant it is me you are talking to the man from the White House.

Sgt. Crowley: Hmmm. I have to be sure could you fax me over some identification please.

President Obama: NO I WILL NOT!

Sgt. Crowley: Sir how am I suppose to believe this is really you.

President Obama: Is this how a black President gets treated in America? Would you be asking President Bush for some identification?"

Racism and stupidity

It's easy to say racism is stupid. Here's the argument from both sides:

"If a mild-mannered, bespectacled Ivy League professor who walks with a cane can be pulled from his own home and arrested on a minor charge (only because of he's black), the rest of us don't stand a chance. "

From the other side, the police is doing him a public service by acting on a potential break-in. He's out of line by, allegedly, yelling the following to the police:
"you don't know who you're messing with" and something regarding the officer's mum.

I can feel the entitlement he has as a University Professor at Harvard. After all that he has achieved, he is only a black man in a nice neighborhood: he has to make extra effort to explain why he's there. Well, in the case, all he needs to do is not talking trash.

To me, both sides are losers over this.

The end of late night comedy

Tomorrow night is the night.  Tonight is the 2nd to last. 

Billy Crystal has put on a few pounds and and he's a Twitter?  

Now that I'm getting old, an hour and a half ealier may be a good thing. 

The chain reaction

"Hay Kevin, the economy is bad..." 

Step 1: A major video game company decided that they will not spend money on new games since fewer people are buying them, they cut the contract with a small Pasadena startup that develops the new games. 

Step 2: The startup subsequently laid off one of its writer. 

Step 3: The writer who lost his job has to let his nanny go and starts homeschooling. 

Step 4: The Nanny starts to cut his own hair and stops going to a Barber shop; 

Step 5: The Barber has fewer and fewer customers and stop dinning out as he previously did. 

Step 6: The restaurant has fewer patrons so the owner cut the hours of a waitress; 

Step 7: The waitress brings home less money and can't afford new video games for her kids. 

Step 8/1: Fewer people buying video games. 

The Trillion question is where should Obama give out his money to break this cycle? 

See the Los Angeles Times report: "One lay off leads to another". 

 

Red Light Camera

Here's another attack on red light cameras by Patrick Bedard at the Car and Driver: 

The most significant arguments I agree with Mr. Bedard are the following: 

1. You can't force the owner of the viehcle to rat out the actual driver. As long as the prosecution doesn't have sufficient evidence proven it's the driver who was driving, they can't convict the driver. 

2. It's conflict of interests since the evidences are collected by a for-profit organization which makes profit from every conviction. 

3. Red light camera is not about safety, it's about revenue. 

4. Red light cameras may increase rear-end collisions at the intersection. 

Nevertheless, I do think Mr. Bedard needs to provide more details about the studies he cited in his article. There are many uncertainties such as whether the increase of accidents associated with the installation of red light cameras are inline with accidents increase due to other factors such as traffice flow and population increase. 

Robot Revenuing: Shots Were Fired - Column

When the cameras go up, the money comes in: shorten the yellow to boost the take.

BY PATRICK BEDARD
March 2008

"This just in: A red-light camera on Broadway Street in Knoxville, Tennessee, has suffered fatal gunshot wounds. Three bullets struck the device, destroying the lens and rendering it inop. Clifford E. Clark III, 47, holed up in a nearby minivan, was arrested and charged with felony vandalism." 

"Let’s be clear about the tyranny here. This is not about running red lights. Camera enforcement is a revenuing scheme ... "

"Moreover, it’s a robot employed by a for-profit business that makes its profits from guilty verdicts. It makes nothing on innocent verdicts. Such an obvious conflict of interest should bring out allthe rifles." 

"Students: Test your knowledge. Red-light cameras are about (a) the money, (b) the money, (c) THE MONEY." 

"This tyranny will fall as research builds a slam-dunk case that it’s a safety sham. A report last year, funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation, said that “cameras were associated with an increase in total crashes.” Six Virginia cities with red-light cameras were studied. Injury crashes were down five percent in one and up from six to 89 percent in the others. Rear-enders were up in all the cities, by 136 percent in Falls Church and 139 percent in Arlington." 

"Crashes were up in Stockton, California, too, from an average of 14 per year before to more than 20 per year in the 2004–6 period, after red-light cameras were installed. Same story in Seattle, where crashes rose from 4.94 per intersection before to 5.25 after cameras were installed at four intersections. Untroubled by the facts, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske declared complete victory and proposed camera coverage on 14 more intersections."

"If red-light cameras don’t reduce violations, what does? The length of the yellow light is the most important factor, says the Texas Transportation Institute, which studied 181 intersection approaches over three years. Adding one second to the Institute of Transportation Engineers formula cut violations by 53 percent. Conversely, shortening the ITE time by one second hiked violations by 110 percent." 

"As good as it might be for safety, lengthening the yellow is bad for (a), (b), and (c) above. San Diego saw a $2 million increase in revenues in the first year after trimming its “grace period” to 0.1 second versus 0.3 to 0.5 before. In Dallas, 7 of the 10 highest revenue-raising cameras have yellows shorter than the minimum recommendation of the Texas Department of Transportation." 

"When the choice comes down to safety versus the money, safety doesn’t stand a chance."

Copyright ©2007 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.

Let me be your hero

Be so busy since my December trip, it's the first time I sat down and watch a full concert. 

It's the 2007 Enrique Iglesias Belfast concert on HD.  

He's done a good job entertaining the audience. Especially in the legendary Hero: 

Was very surprised that he really went out his way to please the crowd.  

Can't image any female singer would ever allow an audiance to do the same (similar) thing.  

Here's the MTV version. 

Lyrics

(Whispered) Let me be your hero 

Would you dance if I asked you to dance? 

Would you run and never look back 

Would you cry if you saw me crying 

Would you save my soul tonight? 

Would you tremble if I touched your lips? 

Would you laugh oh please tell me these 

Now would you die for the one you love? 

Hold me in your arms tonight? 

(Chorus) 

I can be you hero baby 

I can kiss away the pain 

I will stand by you forever 

You can take my breath away 

Would you swear that you'll always be mine? 

Would you lie would you run away 

Am I in to deep? 

Have I lost my mind? 

I don't care you're here tonight 

Chorus 

I just want to hold you (2x) 

Am I in too deep? 

Have I lost my mind? 

Well I don't care you're here tonight 

Chorus (2x) 

You can take my breath my breath away 

I can be your hero