I'm a Distinguished Prof. Emeritus of Computer Engineering at UCSB, USA. My passions are science, tech, & equal rights, but I'll share other human stories too.
Santa Barbara, CA
Joined July 2017
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Final thought for the day: The human population shrank to ~1200 about 900,000 years ago. It’s a miracle that humanity survived.
facebook.com/reel/2812469389…
Area isn’t the same as importance or power:
Half of the US GDP comes from the tiny blue regions on this map.
… My hotel is a very short walking distance from the Asilomar Conference Grounds, which is a national park. It’s the first hotel for me in a very long time that uses actual metal room keys. [2/2]
I am in Pacific Grove, CA (near Monterey) to attend a conference, where I will be presenting the paper “Exploring Reliable Voter Designs Based on Comparator Networks” (Yuchen He & B. Parhami): … [1/2]
The US map redrawn, with state sizes made proportional to their shares of GDP: Now, consider red vs. blue regions if this adjusted map is colored.
IRGC & Islamist politicians it controls are visibly happy about protesters in France and the police roughing them up. See, we’re not the only ones!
- Sep. 2026: We have approved Ukraine’s request to manufacture Patriot missiles.
- Oct. 2026: Oil prices are up because of Zelensky’s insistence on continuing to fight. (A pronouncement made right after talking to Putin, shifting the blame from his own Iran war to Ukraine.) [2/2]
Trump on Zelensky, in the span of a 1.5 years:
- Early 2025: Zelensky is a dictator who has done a terrible job. He must agree to Russian demands because he doesn’t have the cards.
- July 2026 (at NATO summit): Zelensky has done an amazing job & has been very effective. ...[1/2]
Inca Empire’s history needs revision:
A new batch of radiocarbon dating results reveals the Inca empire started earlier & lasted longer than we had gathered from transcribed oral accounts (the Incans left almost no written records), before radiocarbon dating became available.
Yet another piece of evidence that AI does not need to emulate humans in exhibiting human-like behavior:
The TRON 2 robot moves up and down stairs with its wheeled legs. Notice that the “knees” are bent backward instead of forward. [2-minute video]
youtube.com/watch?v=1JXafnZu…
Today’s date formed the last right triangle of the century:
October 24, ’26 (10^2 + 24^2 = 26^2). The next one will be on March 4, ’05 (3^2 + 4^2 = 5^2).
Stoned Age? Humans’ use of mind-altering substances goes back thousands of years. [24-minute video] facebook.com/reel/1680961872…
My daughter and I had an enjoyable dinner at Hilton Garden Inn’s Rooftop Restaurant, with spectacular views of Goleta, listening to the music of Los Mezcaleros, a 5-member subset of the larger band Mezcal Martini.
Final thought for the day:
A quick tour of operating systems. [4-minute video]
facebook.com/reel/2063299884…
The ancient underground residences of Matmata, Southern Tunisia: The design helped residents escape the heat and hide from invaders.
Scientists build a complete transistor from a single 2D crystal:
The process involves selective chemical conversion that transforms a layered crystal into semiconductor, insulation, and electrical contact regions.
nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-…
NAMI’s Thursday evening ceremony to honor George Kaufmann with the Ann Eldridge Award was held at Santa Barbara’s Mental Wellness Center.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Instagram post, in Persian: Whether or not the sentiments expressed in the post are sincere, I am impressed with the quality of Persian writing produced by his aides (much better than anything coming from Iran’s Islamic regime).
