Yotel: A Review

November 3, 2016

Capsule Review Markets itself as “luxury”. The hard product is comparable to business class on a plane (which is much easier to provide since a Yotel doesn’t have to fly), but not comparable to 4* accommodation on land. Is fit for purpose. Comparable to a Hampton Inn with 10x less space. Beats a hostel or a, say, America’s Best Value Inn/Super8, by far. More Words A couple of days after arriving in Amsterdam, I realized that the first of my returning flights departed at 7AM.

Kitchener-Waterloo Restaurants

September 8, 2016

In which Patrick Lam pretends to be a restaurant reviewer. Afghan: Chopan Kabob has generous and tasty servings. Asian Fusion: Have only been to Bhima’s Warung once, I think. Was good. Bahn Mi: Givral Deli near Kitchener Market has excellent banh mi with crispy bread and the right fillings. Dim Sum: had one (of one) good experience at Sam’s Chinese Kitchen on Victoria. We prefer carts, but they’re rare in Ontario.

Good Talks

June 8, 2016

In my Static Analysis for Software Engineering graduate course, each student is expected to present 2 papers to the class; Software Engineering undergrads also give talks as part of their Capstone Design Project. Here are some recommendations on how to give a good paper presentation. Avoid bullets. When appropriate, diagrams are way better than bullet points for explaining concepts. Just because PowerPoint (or clone) makes it easy to write bullet points doesn’t mean that you should use bullet points.

Lexicon

June 8, 2016

Lexicon Here are some academic terms that I’ve invented. Pre-batical. A one-year postdoc taken straight out of one's PhD, after obtaining a tenure-track Assistant Professorship, but before starting said professorship. Usage. Her pre-batical at UW turbocharged the start of her independent research career and let her branch out into that up-and-coming field. Associate professor purgatory. The period a few years after returning from one's post-tenure sabbatical where one is no longer protected from service but still expected to constantly ramp up research productivity.

Letter to Minister Bardish Chagger

January 28, 2016

Letter to Minister Bardish Chagger My parents Dear Minister Chagger, I am writing to you as one of your constituents. I know that multiculturalism is important to you from your past involvement with the KW Multicultural Centre. Given yesterday’s deplorable news from the United States about a ban on Syrian refugees, we in Canada absolutely must take up the slack as best we can. I understand that we’re accepting a number of Syrian refugees already; way less than Germany, but more than the US, and that this number continues to increase and is slated to be higher in 2017 than in 2016.