Haven't watched a blink of Eurovision since I left home - until yesterday. That's how irrelevant it had become. It was about time for someone to jape the show.
I suppose that rock shows are all about theatre after a certain minumum level of musical skill has been achieved. At the same time another channel was playing a criminal comedy. It had a dance scene, where a housewife was preparing a romantic meal and dancing with apron in her front and knives in her hands. It was much more immersive than the Eurovision dance scenes. Helsingin Sanomien kuukausiliite had an article about the band, which said that the mastermind behind the band had also written storyboard comics for many Finnish movies.
My proposition for Finland's Eurovision 2007: Children of Bodom. With a stage show where they burn a miniature church made of paper, cut themselves with knives, and praise Satan. Teemu Mäki could also participate. No tits at Eurovision please - we can get better ones from other places (NSFW).
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Shaking up hearts around the world
If I met Hu Jintao face to face, I'll ask him about his past dance hobby. Secondary sources tell that according to his official biography, as a student he was a member of the dance team at the university, and occasinally danced solo at parties.
The Chinese word for dancing - tiao4 wu3 - consists of two charaters. Tiao4 means 'to jump'. Wu3 means 'to dance, to wield, to brandish'. I guess there is some deep oriental wisdom in it: according to the fighting hypothesis dancing skill is appreciated by women because it is a peaceful correlate of fighting skill: That the man is able to defend his family when needed, but prefers to stay out of trouble. Therefore, it is natural that the same word refers to brandishing and dancing.
The Chinese word for dancing - tiao4 wu3 - consists of two charaters. Tiao4 means 'to jump'. Wu3 means 'to dance, to wield, to brandish'. I guess there is some deep oriental wisdom in it: according to the fighting hypothesis dancing skill is appreciated by women because it is a peaceful correlate of fighting skill: That the man is able to defend his family when needed, but prefers to stay out of trouble. Therefore, it is natural that the same word refers to brandishing and dancing.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
About the next post
The next post is a Finnish desk drawer writing about getting old. The reason I didn't publish it 8 months ago is that it mentions my mother and her sister; and family is a topic that is mostly avoided in blogs. There are two central points.
Firstly, when people become old, they'd better to also become wise. If they don't, they are just losing things with age. Getting wise is not that difficult - moderate effort is enough, since you have tens of years time. It is also important to get enough social and storytelling skills to actually talk the experience at suitable spots. If you become wise, you can retain some kind of genuine contact with younger persons like me (but not all kinds of young persons - young persons have different values and interests). If the young person has become interested in some topic lately, the old person can leverage his long experience and try to find stories and anecdotes from his memory. This compensates for the differences in viewpoints and interests.
The second point is that education matters; this is justified by the vast personality difference between my mother and her sister.
Firstly, when people become old, they'd better to also become wise. If they don't, they are just losing things with age. Getting wise is not that difficult - moderate effort is enough, since you have tens of years time. It is also important to get enough social and storytelling skills to actually talk the experience at suitable spots. If you become wise, you can retain some kind of genuine contact with younger persons like me (but not all kinds of young persons - young persons have different values and interests). If the young person has become interested in some topic lately, the old person can leverage his long experience and try to find stories and anecdotes from his memory. This compensates for the differences in viewpoints and interests.
The second point is that education matters; this is justified by the vast personality difference between my mother and her sister.
A Finnish desk drawer post about getting old
Vietin viikonlopun mökillä siskoni ja äitini siskon (Helena) kanssa. Sadoksi tuli 9l mustikkaa, joka on keitetty 11 purkiksi hilloa.
Helena on yksi harvoista tuntemistani yli viisikymppisistä ihmisistä, jotka ovat vanhentuneet tyylikkäästi.
Helena on käynyt kauppakorkeakoulun, ja työskennellyt Valion markkinointiosastolla niin kauan kuin muistan. Hän on myös matkustellut laajalti ympäri maailmaa.
Puhuin hänen kanssaan mm. Kiinasta. Hän kertoi, että Valiolla on Kiinassa yksi harvoista ulkomaantoimistoista. Siellä myydään kilohinnaltaan korkeita, pitkään säilyviä tuotteita.
Helena ja äitini kuulemma hankkivat jossain vaiheessa käsiinsä kaiken Kiinasta kertovan kirjallisuuden. Tämän harrastuksen tuloksena Helenan kasettikokoelmassa on suuri määrä kiinalaisia kasetteja, joista muutamia kuuntelimme mökillä. Hän kertoi käyneensä Kiinassa ensimmäistä kertaa parikymmentä vuotta sitten, ja menneensä matkalla kiinalaiseen diskoon. Kuulemma siellä soitettiin samanlaista musiikkia kuin länsimaisissa (se siitä eksotiikasta).
Helenan tyylikästä vanhenemista osoittaa se, että hänen kanssaan pystyy keskustelemaan kiinnostavista aiheista. Hän ei ole urautunut eikä kaventanut perspektiiviään. Monet vanhat ihmiset muuttuvat puheissaan ylikonkreettisiksi ja ylikäytännöllisiksi. Jos haluaa säilyttää kosketuksen jaettuun todellisuuteen nuorten kanssa, pitäisi seurata maailman menoa ja pystyä puhumaan siitä.
Lisäksi Helena on vanhentuessaan viisastunut. Häntä ja äitiäni yhdistää kiinnostus puutarhanhoitoa kohtaan. Helenalla oli mökillään hyllymetreittäin puutarhakirjoja, ja hän esitteli joitakin lähiympäristön lajeja koirienulkoiluttamislenkin aikana. Jos ihminen ei vanhetessaan viisastu, hän ainoastaan menettää vikkelän järkensä. Monissa asioissa - kuten maailman menon seuraamisessa tai puutarhanhoidossa - iän tuomasta pitkästä perspektiivistä on huomattava hyöty. Tieto kasautuu, jos sitä vähänkin aktiivisesti hankkii edes silloin tällöin.
Vuorovaikutus Helenan kanssa on sujuvaa. Siitä puuttuu sellainen kömpelyys, joka saa puhumisen monien ihmisten kanssa tuntumaan tervanjuonnilta. Hänellä on tarinankerronnan taitoa, eli hän osaa pitää monologeja sellaisista aiheista, joista tietää paljon. Ei tarvitse tietää täsmälleen, mitä kysyy.
Helenan ja äitini voi olettaa olevan 50-prosenttisesti samaa geenimateriaalia. Oletetaan kuitenkin, että Helenan ÄO on ollut alunperin korkeampi.
Heidän tiensä erosivat, kun toinen meni lukioon ja toinen ammattikouluun. Voi olettaa, että heidän kaveripiirinsä alkoivat tässä vaiheessa erkaantua, ja se on ollut yksi eroja synnyttävä tekijä. He kuitenkin pysyivät kosketuksessa toisiinsa. Helena on kertonut, että äitini luki nuorena samaa korkeakirjallisuutta kuin hänkin. Myös yhteinen Kiinan-harrastus kertoo keskinäisestä kommunikoinnista.
Jossain vaiheessa he asuivat yhdessä vanhempien talon ulkopuolella jonkinlaisessa nuorten ihmisten yhteisasunnossa. Käsittääkseni tässä vaiheessa kumpikin oli saanut opintonsa päätepisteeseen.
Tässä vaiheessa voi olettaa, että homologia eli työn ihmistä muokkaava vaikutus astui esiin. Helenan piti työssään käsitellä paljon monipuolisempia ärsykkeitä. En tosin tiedä kummankaan ensimmäisistä työpaikoista mitään. Jossain vaiheessa (syntymäni aikoihin) äitini muutti Poriin ja Helena Helsinkiin nykyiseen työpaikkaansa.
Tuloksena on kaksi hyvin eri tavalla vanhentunutta ihmistä. En ole kuullut äitini mainitsevan koko Kiinan-harrastusta kuin kerran. Kun vierailen Porissa, äitini kertoo, mitä kissa on tehnyt edellisellä viikolla. Kiinnostavat asiat yksikertaisesti menevät hänen relevanssifiltteriensä ohi, ellei niillä ole suoraa käytännön merkitystä.
Kun näen Helenan, pystyn keskustelemaan hänen kanssaan kiinnostavista asioista (sopivat aiheet tosin loppuvat nopeasti, joten keskustelu jää lyhyeksi.) Elämänkokemuksen ja kiinnostuksen kohteiden erilaisuutta kompensoi se, että hänellä on pitkä ja monipuolinen kokemus.
En usko, että ero on pelkissä geeneissä, sillä 3 hengen sisarusparvestani kaikki ovat hankkineet tai hankkimassa korkeakoulutusta. Voi olla, että koulutuksen hyödyntäminen edellyttää tiettyä pohja-ÄO:ta, mutta jos tämä pohja on kunnossa, koulutuksen hiovalla vaikutuksella on valtava merkitys.
Vahnenemisesta
Helena on yksi harvoista tuntemistani yli viisikymppisistä ihmisistä, jotka ovat vanhentuneet tyylikkäästi.
Helena on käynyt kauppakorkeakoulun, ja työskennellyt Valion markkinointiosastolla niin kauan kuin muistan. Hän on myös matkustellut laajalti ympäri maailmaa.
Puhuin hänen kanssaan mm. Kiinasta. Hän kertoi, että Valiolla on Kiinassa yksi harvoista ulkomaantoimistoista. Siellä myydään kilohinnaltaan korkeita, pitkään säilyviä tuotteita.
Helena ja äitini kuulemma hankkivat jossain vaiheessa käsiinsä kaiken Kiinasta kertovan kirjallisuuden. Tämän harrastuksen tuloksena Helenan kasettikokoelmassa on suuri määrä kiinalaisia kasetteja, joista muutamia kuuntelimme mökillä. Hän kertoi käyneensä Kiinassa ensimmäistä kertaa parikymmentä vuotta sitten, ja menneensä matkalla kiinalaiseen diskoon. Kuulemma siellä soitettiin samanlaista musiikkia kuin länsimaisissa (se siitä eksotiikasta).
Helenan tyylikästä vanhenemista osoittaa se, että hänen kanssaan pystyy keskustelemaan kiinnostavista aiheista. Hän ei ole urautunut eikä kaventanut perspektiiviään. Monet vanhat ihmiset muuttuvat puheissaan ylikonkreettisiksi ja ylikäytännöllisiksi. Jos haluaa säilyttää kosketuksen jaettuun todellisuuteen nuorten kanssa, pitäisi seurata maailman menoa ja pystyä puhumaan siitä.
Lisäksi Helena on vanhentuessaan viisastunut. Häntä ja äitiäni yhdistää kiinnostus puutarhanhoitoa kohtaan. Helenalla oli mökillään hyllymetreittäin puutarhakirjoja, ja hän esitteli joitakin lähiympäristön lajeja koirienulkoiluttamislenkin aikana. Jos ihminen ei vanhetessaan viisastu, hän ainoastaan menettää vikkelän järkensä. Monissa asioissa - kuten maailman menon seuraamisessa tai puutarhanhoidossa - iän tuomasta pitkästä perspektiivistä on huomattava hyöty. Tieto kasautuu, jos sitä vähänkin aktiivisesti hankkii edes silloin tällöin.
Vuorovaikutus Helenan kanssa on sujuvaa. Siitä puuttuu sellainen kömpelyys, joka saa puhumisen monien ihmisten kanssa tuntumaan tervanjuonnilta. Hänellä on tarinankerronnan taitoa, eli hän osaa pitää monologeja sellaisista aiheista, joista tietää paljon. Ei tarvitse tietää täsmälleen, mitä kysyy.
Nature vs Nurture
Helenan ja äitini voi olettaa olevan 50-prosenttisesti samaa geenimateriaalia. Oletetaan kuitenkin, että Helenan ÄO on ollut alunperin korkeampi.
Heidän tiensä erosivat, kun toinen meni lukioon ja toinen ammattikouluun. Voi olettaa, että heidän kaveripiirinsä alkoivat tässä vaiheessa erkaantua, ja se on ollut yksi eroja synnyttävä tekijä. He kuitenkin pysyivät kosketuksessa toisiinsa. Helena on kertonut, että äitini luki nuorena samaa korkeakirjallisuutta kuin hänkin. Myös yhteinen Kiinan-harrastus kertoo keskinäisestä kommunikoinnista.
Jossain vaiheessa he asuivat yhdessä vanhempien talon ulkopuolella jonkinlaisessa nuorten ihmisten yhteisasunnossa. Käsittääkseni tässä vaiheessa kumpikin oli saanut opintonsa päätepisteeseen.
Tässä vaiheessa voi olettaa, että homologia eli työn ihmistä muokkaava vaikutus astui esiin. Helenan piti työssään käsitellä paljon monipuolisempia ärsykkeitä. En tosin tiedä kummankaan ensimmäisistä työpaikoista mitään. Jossain vaiheessa (syntymäni aikoihin) äitini muutti Poriin ja Helena Helsinkiin nykyiseen työpaikkaansa.
Tuloksena on kaksi hyvin eri tavalla vanhentunutta ihmistä. En ole kuullut äitini mainitsevan koko Kiinan-harrastusta kuin kerran. Kun vierailen Porissa, äitini kertoo, mitä kissa on tehnyt edellisellä viikolla. Kiinnostavat asiat yksikertaisesti menevät hänen relevanssifiltteriensä ohi, ellei niillä ole suoraa käytännön merkitystä.
Kun näen Helenan, pystyn keskustelemaan hänen kanssaan kiinnostavista asioista (sopivat aiheet tosin loppuvat nopeasti, joten keskustelu jää lyhyeksi.) Elämänkokemuksen ja kiinnostuksen kohteiden erilaisuutta kompensoi se, että hänellä on pitkä ja monipuolinen kokemus.
En usko, että ero on pelkissä geeneissä, sillä 3 hengen sisarusparvestani kaikki ovat hankkineet tai hankkimassa korkeakoulutusta. Voi olla, että koulutuksen hyödyntäminen edellyttää tiettyä pohja-ÄO:ta, mutta jos tämä pohja on kunnossa, koulutuksen hiovalla vaikutuksella on valtava merkitys.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Violence sucks
Today, when I was on the dancefloor in a rave, someone punched me in the face. It was totally unprovoked.
The timeline of events a bit fragmented. I don't remember the faces of the persons involved - I was too damn perplexed. The punch was preceeded by the following unusual actions: Someone asked me if the party was good, someone slapped me in the back, someone asked for light to the cigarette, I switched the position in the dancefloor to avoid further interference from that person. Then, someone touched my arm with a burning cigarette. Two persons took a fighting position in the dancefloor, but it didn't seem like a fight. I looked at them and made some uncontrolled gestures with my face (kind of impossible not to notice and not to attach attention). Someone took a fighting position at a different direction. I ignored him, thinking that it is not directed at me, but someone else (the direction was open to interpretation). I got a punch to my face. I exited dancefloor.
Some foreign person came at me and directed me to the bathroom, where he drew attention to the fact that I was bleeding between nose and eye. From bathroom I went to talk with bouncers. They got some ice (I didn't even know that ice was the correct response, not having run into this kind of situation before). After cooling down the wound for half an hour with a bag of ice, I exited the facility.
The bouncers saw two persons they suspected exiting the bar, and someone coming to them to announce that someone has been hit after that. They speculated that the folks came there instead of the going to now-closed Senssi - "väärät tyypit väärissä bileissä" - so it wasn't the rave people who did it.
It is extremely unfortunate that I don't remember the faces of the persons who did it, and that I was perplexed by the situation. Had I known what to do, I could have delayed the situation until the bouncers arrive - backing down, but not just exiting the dancefloor. This could have made it into a criminal matter, where the assholes get actually punished for it, and I would have gotten some monetary compensation.
This is exactly the kind of situation described in Vera's log about the optimal amount of violence in society, and my response to it. If I had known some self-defense, I wouldn't have been perplexed; the thugs have gotten actually punished.
By the way, unlike Jari Vaarma, my opinion is that this kind of violence sucks as much as anything can suck. Also, tiedemies, if you think that a punch to the face is the correct response to bad test results, you're wrong.
I guess that it is time to stop the whole dance hobby. The problem is not violence, but the fact that it is extremely inefficient way to familiarize with new girls. In the three months that the Chinese course lasted this year, I talked with two girls on the same course in leisure setting. After the course, they went to the same student restaurant, and I went to the same table and asked if they wanted company, to which they answered positively.
On the contrary, I haven't familiarized with new girls in the rave setting. I have talked with some girls, which I have first met on another setting, but that is also very rare. Taking into account that I have visited rave events for about a year now, that's extremely inefficient.
Maybe I should get some real hobbies. Self-defence/martial arts is a good candidate. Then, the next time some asshole punches me to the face I know what to do. And a martial arts course is probably a much better place to familiarize with new girls.
The timeline of events a bit fragmented. I don't remember the faces of the persons involved - I was too damn perplexed. The punch was preceeded by the following unusual actions: Someone asked me if the party was good, someone slapped me in the back, someone asked for light to the cigarette, I switched the position in the dancefloor to avoid further interference from that person. Then, someone touched my arm with a burning cigarette. Two persons took a fighting position in the dancefloor, but it didn't seem like a fight. I looked at them and made some uncontrolled gestures with my face (kind of impossible not to notice and not to attach attention). Someone took a fighting position at a different direction. I ignored him, thinking that it is not directed at me, but someone else (the direction was open to interpretation). I got a punch to my face. I exited dancefloor.
Some foreign person came at me and directed me to the bathroom, where he drew attention to the fact that I was bleeding between nose and eye. From bathroom I went to talk with bouncers. They got some ice (I didn't even know that ice was the correct response, not having run into this kind of situation before). After cooling down the wound for half an hour with a bag of ice, I exited the facility.
The bouncers saw two persons they suspected exiting the bar, and someone coming to them to announce that someone has been hit after that. They speculated that the folks came there instead of the going to now-closed Senssi - "väärät tyypit väärissä bileissä" - so it wasn't the rave people who did it.
It is extremely unfortunate that I don't remember the faces of the persons who did it, and that I was perplexed by the situation. Had I known what to do, I could have delayed the situation until the bouncers arrive - backing down, but not just exiting the dancefloor. This could have made it into a criminal matter, where the assholes get actually punished for it, and I would have gotten some monetary compensation.
This is exactly the kind of situation described in Vera's log about the optimal amount of violence in society, and my response to it. If I had known some self-defense, I wouldn't have been perplexed; the thugs have gotten actually punished.
By the way, unlike Jari Vaarma, my opinion is that this kind of violence sucks as much as anything can suck. Also, tiedemies, if you think that a punch to the face is the correct response to bad test results, you're wrong.
I guess that it is time to stop the whole dance hobby. The problem is not violence, but the fact that it is extremely inefficient way to familiarize with new girls. In the three months that the Chinese course lasted this year, I talked with two girls on the same course in leisure setting. After the course, they went to the same student restaurant, and I went to the same table and asked if they wanted company, to which they answered positively.
On the contrary, I haven't familiarized with new girls in the rave setting. I have talked with some girls, which I have first met on another setting, but that is also very rare. Taking into account that I have visited rave events for about a year now, that's extremely inefficient.
Maybe I should get some real hobbies. Self-defence/martial arts is a good candidate. Then, the next time some asshole punches me to the face I know what to do. And a martial arts course is probably a much better place to familiarize with new girls.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Chinese: 20% done, 80% to go
At the end of March, I had studied Chinese for 7 months. Yesterday I scored 750 recognized characters at Chinese character recognition test. (By the way, that is the only super-realistic test that I know of.)
They say that you need 3000-4000 characters to read Chinese newspapers, but educated Chinese need to know 6000 characters. By linear interpolation, 7 months for 750 translates to 3 years for 3750 characters, which should be enough for reading newspapers.
Of course the approximation is quite rough. On the one hand, learning may be slower since the amount of new characters should start to drop at some point, slowing down the character learning but vastly speeding up word learning. On the other hand, it may may faster since I now know how to write the radicals (building-blocks of the sinograms) and also have some routine in memorizing new characters.
Tampere University has 5 Chinese courses, and I've completed the 4th one. (The 5th is a paid summer course.) A girl in that course said that she has a Chinese newspaper and her goal is to find one sentence that she understands. She didn't reach that goal. I wonder if there are other languages where after 2 years of courses you are still at the "elementary" level instead of "satisfactory".
They say that you need 3000-4000 characters to read Chinese newspapers, but educated Chinese need to know 6000 characters. By linear interpolation, 7 months for 750 translates to 3 years for 3750 characters, which should be enough for reading newspapers.
Of course the approximation is quite rough. On the one hand, learning may be slower since the amount of new characters should start to drop at some point, slowing down the character learning but vastly speeding up word learning. On the other hand, it may may faster since I now know how to write the radicals (building-blocks of the sinograms) and also have some routine in memorizing new characters.
Tampere University has 5 Chinese courses, and I've completed the 4th one. (The 5th is a paid summer course.) A girl in that course said that she has a Chinese newspaper and her goal is to find one sentence that she understands. She didn't reach that goal. I wonder if there are other languages where after 2 years of courses you are still at the "elementary" level instead of "satisfactory".
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Conceptual AI
Jantunen talks about artificial intelligence, which is capable on bringing so-called "technological singularity". This means that the AI is human-like and intelligent enough to perform various informational tasks, which require independent assimilation of facts. When the AI is sophisticated enough to design software and hardware, we can tell it to design a better AI, and so we have reached the technological singularity.
First, I characterize what I mean by conceptual AI, and then I describe how it may become reality.
This writing is about conceptual AI; an artificial intelligence, which can communicate with humans in natural language. It can also think with concepts, which are not hard-wired. Although current state-of-the-art game AIs can beat most humans in many areas (Deep Blue, Masters of Orion, ...), they wouldn't be conceptual AIs even if they had a natural-language interface, since they can only handle a finite set of concepts. The game AIs couldn't use new concepts to analyze the situation.
The conceptual AI can be divided roughly to two parts: the language unit and the domain model. The language unit could analyze textual descriptions of the domain model. It would try to map the concepts of the natural language to understand what domain model phenomena they denote. It would recongize and handle various linguistic problems: indetifying what pronouns, substantives and verbs denote, recognizing ambiguous exrpressions, guessing the standard of comparison when somtehing is described as "high", "bad" or "special", assimilating new concepts based on definitions, and recognizing when the other end is using a concept in a wrong way.
The domain model would contain the mechanics and dynamics of the subject matter. For example, if the topic of discussion is stock markets, the domain model would contain a database of financial information about the companies, about their production methods, dynamics of the industries, recent news events affecting the economy, etc. This domain information would be structured in a format, which is suitable for the AI. Some parts of format would depend on what concepts the AI considers relevant, and the format would be open-ended to enable extension when new kind of information is hypothesized to be relevant.
The conceptual AI wouldn't contain emotions, goals (except answering the user's questions and performing the tasks given to it), self-interests, visual memory (except if the domain model requires visual thinking), nor other human characteristics.
I'm going to handle 3 scenarios; to reject 2 of them and give green light to one.
Rejected: Expert system is generalized into a Conceptual AI. The scenario is basically that initially there is a special-purpose AI, which has a complex and extensive domain model (expert system). The expert system is sharpened with a restricted natural-language interface to make it more usable and accessible for the people who need it. Gradually, the natural-language interface is extended and made more flexible, and metaconceptual elements are added. Why not credible:I haven't heard about expert systems, which could answer to a wide variety of different questions, nor questions which they are not designed to answer. Even if the domain model is complex, it still can probably handle only a finite types of questions. Therefore, there is little or no benefit from the metaconceptual lanugage module. The flexibility wouldn't be useful because of the rigid domain model.
Rejected: Data mining. The scenario is such that we have a huge database of numerical and textual data on some topic. We also have means to do some kind of preliminary analysis for the data: to put it to a relational database in nice tables, to parse the textual data, etc. First, a straightforward natural language interface is added to answer simple queries about the data. Secondly, the AI is sharpened with metaconceptual facilities. It is trained to recongize "normal" levels for various attributes based on distributions, so it can also recognize "higher than usual". It is made to understand definitions. It is made to point out trends and outlier cases. This time, there is both a advantage from the metaconceptual facilities. Why not credible: My impression is that the development is towards more flexible query languages. SQL (the current standard database query langauge) could be replaced by prolog-based query languages, providing a lot more flexibility and deduction. Therefore, there is little incentive to put a natural-language interface, when specialized query languages still have a long way to go.
Probable: Tech support. Suppose that we are talking about an ISP support phone. The AI would be developed gradually:
In this scenario, the incentive for a good metaconceptual unit is great right from the start, since user descriptions are seldom very clear nor logical. Secondly, each additional step towards more intelligent AI is economically justified, as it directly replaces human effort. The AI is useful right from the start, and there isn't any discontinuity point or big gap, where a big technical leap is needed to make the AI more useful. Therefore, there is constant incentive to take small steps towards a much better AI.
Why it hasn't started yet:This is possible only after a suitably robust speech recognition technology is available. The speech recognition technology must be able to recongize normal speech practically without errors, although it can ask the user to talk clearly. When the speech-to-text conversion is avalable, the work can start.
First, I characterize what I mean by conceptual AI, and then I describe how it may become reality.
This writing is about conceptual AI; an artificial intelligence, which can communicate with humans in natural language. It can also think with concepts, which are not hard-wired. Although current state-of-the-art game AIs can beat most humans in many areas (Deep Blue, Masters of Orion, ...), they wouldn't be conceptual AIs even if they had a natural-language interface, since they can only handle a finite set of concepts. The game AIs couldn't use new concepts to analyze the situation.
The conceptual AI can be divided roughly to two parts: the language unit and the domain model. The language unit could analyze textual descriptions of the domain model. It would try to map the concepts of the natural language to understand what domain model phenomena they denote. It would recongize and handle various linguistic problems: indetifying what pronouns, substantives and verbs denote, recognizing ambiguous exrpressions, guessing the standard of comparison when somtehing is described as "high", "bad" or "special", assimilating new concepts based on definitions, and recognizing when the other end is using a concept in a wrong way.
The domain model would contain the mechanics and dynamics of the subject matter. For example, if the topic of discussion is stock markets, the domain model would contain a database of financial information about the companies, about their production methods, dynamics of the industries, recent news events affecting the economy, etc. This domain information would be structured in a format, which is suitable for the AI. Some parts of format would depend on what concepts the AI considers relevant, and the format would be open-ended to enable extension when new kind of information is hypothesized to be relevant.
The conceptual AI wouldn't contain emotions, goals (except answering the user's questions and performing the tasks given to it), self-interests, visual memory (except if the domain model requires visual thinking), nor other human characteristics.
How Could Conceptual AI Be Developed?
I'm going to handle 3 scenarios; to reject 2 of them and give green light to one.
Rejected: Expert system is generalized into a Conceptual AI. The scenario is basically that initially there is a special-purpose AI, which has a complex and extensive domain model (expert system). The expert system is sharpened with a restricted natural-language interface to make it more usable and accessible for the people who need it. Gradually, the natural-language interface is extended and made more flexible, and metaconceptual elements are added. Why not credible:I haven't heard about expert systems, which could answer to a wide variety of different questions, nor questions which they are not designed to answer. Even if the domain model is complex, it still can probably handle only a finite types of questions. Therefore, there is little or no benefit from the metaconceptual lanugage module. The flexibility wouldn't be useful because of the rigid domain model.
Rejected: Data mining. The scenario is such that we have a huge database of numerical and textual data on some topic. We also have means to do some kind of preliminary analysis for the data: to put it to a relational database in nice tables, to parse the textual data, etc. First, a straightforward natural language interface is added to answer simple queries about the data. Secondly, the AI is sharpened with metaconceptual facilities. It is trained to recongize "normal" levels for various attributes based on distributions, so it can also recognize "higher than usual". It is made to understand definitions. It is made to point out trends and outlier cases. This time, there is both a advantage from the metaconceptual facilities. Why not credible: My impression is that the development is towards more flexible query languages. SQL (the current standard database query langauge) could be replaced by prolog-based query languages, providing a lot more flexibility and deduction. Therefore, there is little incentive to put a natural-language interface, when specialized query languages still have a long way to go.
Probable: Tech support. Suppose that we are talking about an ISP support phone. The AI would be developed gradually:
- Phase 0 (where we are now): Asks the user to press 1 if the problem is in broadband connections, 2 for phones and 3 for other.
- Phase 1: Asks the user to describe the problem. Uses the information to redirect the call to the person, who has handled this kinds of problems before.
- Phase 2: Asks the user for some initial information to search the customer information. Uses the description to checks if the call reports a problem, which has already been reported by someone else.
- Phase 3: The AI is extended to solve very simple and but common problems.
- Phase 4: The metaconceptual side is extended so that it can better understand ambiguous descriptions and provide some initial information before the call is redirected to a human. This way, the queueing time is less wasted.
- ...
- Phase 20: The domain model is extended with information on how specific applications (Word, etc.) work.
- ...
- Phse 56: The domain model is extended with a computer. If the user describes a problem, the AI can try to reproduce the problem in the computer.
In this scenario, the incentive for a good metaconceptual unit is great right from the start, since user descriptions are seldom very clear nor logical. Secondly, each additional step towards more intelligent AI is economically justified, as it directly replaces human effort. The AI is useful right from the start, and there isn't any discontinuity point or big gap, where a big technical leap is needed to make the AI more useful. Therefore, there is constant incentive to take small steps towards a much better AI.
Why it hasn't started yet:This is possible only after a suitably robust speech recognition technology is available. The speech recognition technology must be able to recongize normal speech practically without errors, although it can ask the user to talk clearly. When the speech-to-text conversion is avalable, the work can start.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Habbo Hotel Goes Mobile
Last Tuesday, Sampo Karjalainen, a co-founder of the Sulake Corporation that maintains and develops Habbo Hotel, kept a lecture in Tampere about the past, present and future of Habbo. Habbo is virtual hotel, where people come to chat a bit like in IRC. The participants are represented by avatars, which walk in the 3D hotel rooms. The users see the rooms in the same perspective as in Populous, newer Civilizations or Settlers, and not in the first-person-shooter perspective. From the communication point of view, the main restrictions compared to IRC are that (1) one person can only be in one room at a time, while IRC allows many channels, and (2) the messages are shown in the top of the avatars, and not logged.
The current version of the Habbo software is running localized hotels in ~20 different languages. However, the software started local and was developed gradually with many intermediate steps.
Seven years ago, the first prototype was located at the website of a band called Mobiles. From the screenshots Sampo showed it seemed to have 2 rooms, where the avatars mainly walked around. Mobiles was a non-commercial project and was not advertised, but it established a user base and demonstrated that there is demand for this kind of service.
The second version, and the first commercial version, was a Radiolinja advertisement game named Lumisota (snow war). There, the avatars first teamed up inside a skiing hut, and then went outside to throw snowballs at each others. The third version was Hotelli Kultakala (Hotel Goldfish), a Finnish virtual hotel.
The presentation was non-technical, so it is not possible to track down exactly what features were added at each point, and how the code size, complexity and technologies developed. Probably most of those facts are trade secrets anyway. The prototyping clearly had a dual role both in making the technology mature and finding out the target group and business model. I got the impression that there weren't any big risks taken; each step forward was clearly justified by extrapolating experiences from the previous prototypes.
In Habbo Hotel, the users can get their own room for free. Initially, the room is empty. The user can buy furniture to make the room less hollow. The main sources of are advertising and the sales of Habbo furniture. They also sell ringing tones and logos.
The small unit price of the furniture items requires a solid micropayment solution. The presentation said that Sulake has 160 local partners in arranging the micropayments. I didn't ask how automated the purchasing was: it would have been interesting to know how many systems were directly interfaced with the Habbo engine so that no human intervention was needed in purchases, and what kind of difficulties had to be overcome to make it possible.
The estimated income for year 2005 was 30m euros. There were 5 million different users each month visiting the hotel. This means that the average user produced 6 euros in purchases and advertising income. It's amazing that a whole company can run on personalization - on the willingness to make the environment reflect the identity - and more specifically on virtual personalization.
The age group 12-18 contains 90% of the Habbo users. Sampo pointed out a central double standards with regards to privacy and censorship in the Internet: With adults, listening to other peoples' conversations is spying, a violation of privacy, a threat to freedom of expression and in general a bad thing. With children, not watching the conversations is a comparable sin, since it exposes the underaged to paedophiles, drug dealers, foul language and bullying.
Sulake was actually contacted by Kuluttajavirasto (Finnish Consumer Agency), and they had to explain what precautions they take to protect the users. They have a special moderation system, and English conversations are watched 24h/day, while local conversations are watched only during times when there are some people in the hotels.
The first link to mobile phones was the micropayment by SMS. There was also a failed attempt to make WAP client to Habbo.
With the arrival of Symbian Series 60 phones, with the performance of native C++ applications (as opposed to Java Micro Edition) and socket connections, porting the Habbo environment became a realistic opportunity. Writing the Symbian client started in 2004 and was gradual. The first phase ensured that the phones are powerful enough to run the visual interface, which they were. The second phase concentrated on solving network-related issues.
Sampo showed an impressive demo, where he run the Habbo environment on a Symbian phone. The screen was big enough to show several avatars. The scrolling was smooth, and there was no visible lag. When the user typed, a red ball appeared on the top of the avatar to indicate that he or she is about to say something. It seemed like most technical problems in the client side were solved.
There were also some Habbo single-user games. The games were warm-ups of simple arcade and puzzle games of the past. The link between the games and the Habbo hotel is the Habbo brand, and they have little to do with the hotel environment. Apparently the intention is to use the huge user base to efficiently advertise the games.
I asked how they tested their software on wide number of mobile devices and languages. They co-operate with Universum to test Java applications. The Symbian application hadn't reached the point were this kind of testing is needed, so didn't get any tips on that.
The difference between the computer and the mobile phone is not only in screen size, keyboard, computing power and network conection, but also in the way people use them. Mobiles are ideally suited to be used in various waiting situations: trains, classrooms, meetings, pauses between events. Another typical feature for mobiles is partial attention: If a person is using a computer, he or she probably sits in front of it and notices quite quickly what happens. On the other hand, on mobiles the person may be doing something else, and only sporadically watch the Habbo interface. This creates the problem that avatars guided from mobile phones seem to be passive lampposts most of the time.
This had at least two consequences. Firstly, they intend to make a separate hotel for mobile users, instead of putting them to PC hotel. Secondly, the shift of emphasis from the Habbo groupware to single-user games reflects the problems of the mobile context of use - they don't consider mere discussion to be fancy enough in itself in the mobile context.
Gradual Development
The current version of the Habbo software is running localized hotels in ~20 different languages. However, the software started local and was developed gradually with many intermediate steps.
Seven years ago, the first prototype was located at the website of a band called Mobiles. From the screenshots Sampo showed it seemed to have 2 rooms, where the avatars mainly walked around. Mobiles was a non-commercial project and was not advertised, but it established a user base and demonstrated that there is demand for this kind of service.
The second version, and the first commercial version, was a Radiolinja advertisement game named Lumisota (snow war). There, the avatars first teamed up inside a skiing hut, and then went outside to throw snowballs at each others. The third version was Hotelli Kultakala (Hotel Goldfish), a Finnish virtual hotel.
The presentation was non-technical, so it is not possible to track down exactly what features were added at each point, and how the code size, complexity and technologies developed. Probably most of those facts are trade secrets anyway. The prototyping clearly had a dual role both in making the technology mature and finding out the target group and business model. I got the impression that there weren't any big risks taken; each step forward was clearly justified by extrapolating experiences from the previous prototypes.
Small Torrents Create a River
In Habbo Hotel, the users can get their own room for free. Initially, the room is empty. The user can buy furniture to make the room less hollow. The main sources of are advertising and the sales of Habbo furniture. They also sell ringing tones and logos.
The small unit price of the furniture items requires a solid micropayment solution. The presentation said that Sulake has 160 local partners in arranging the micropayments. I didn't ask how automated the purchasing was: it would have been interesting to know how many systems were directly interfaced with the Habbo engine so that no human intervention was needed in purchases, and what kind of difficulties had to be overcome to make it possible.
The estimated income for year 2005 was 30m euros. There were 5 million different users each month visiting the hotel. This means that the average user produced 6 euros in purchases and advertising income. It's amazing that a whole company can run on personalization - on the willingness to make the environment reflect the identity - and more specifically on virtual personalization.
Smells Like Teen Spirit
The age group 12-18 contains 90% of the Habbo users. Sampo pointed out a central double standards with regards to privacy and censorship in the Internet: With adults, listening to other peoples' conversations is spying, a violation of privacy, a threat to freedom of expression and in general a bad thing. With children, not watching the conversations is a comparable sin, since it exposes the underaged to paedophiles, drug dealers, foul language and bullying.
Sulake was actually contacted by Kuluttajavirasto (Finnish Consumer Agency), and they had to explain what precautions they take to protect the users. They have a special moderation system, and English conversations are watched 24h/day, while local conversations are watched only during times when there are some people in the hotels.
Mobility And Its Discontents
The first link to mobile phones was the micropayment by SMS. There was also a failed attempt to make WAP client to Habbo.
With the arrival of Symbian Series 60 phones, with the performance of native C++ applications (as opposed to Java Micro Edition) and socket connections, porting the Habbo environment became a realistic opportunity. Writing the Symbian client started in 2004 and was gradual. The first phase ensured that the phones are powerful enough to run the visual interface, which they were. The second phase concentrated on solving network-related issues.
Sampo showed an impressive demo, where he run the Habbo environment on a Symbian phone. The screen was big enough to show several avatars. The scrolling was smooth, and there was no visible lag. When the user typed, a red ball appeared on the top of the avatar to indicate that he or she is about to say something. It seemed like most technical problems in the client side were solved.
There were also some Habbo single-user games. The games were warm-ups of simple arcade and puzzle games of the past. The link between the games and the Habbo hotel is the Habbo brand, and they have little to do with the hotel environment. Apparently the intention is to use the huge user base to efficiently advertise the games.
I asked how they tested their software on wide number of mobile devices and languages. They co-operate with Universum to test Java applications. The Symbian application hadn't reached the point were this kind of testing is needed, so didn't get any tips on that.
The Mobile Context Of Use
The difference between the computer and the mobile phone is not only in screen size, keyboard, computing power and network conection, but also in the way people use them. Mobiles are ideally suited to be used in various waiting situations: trains, classrooms, meetings, pauses between events. Another typical feature for mobiles is partial attention: If a person is using a computer, he or she probably sits in front of it and notices quite quickly what happens. On the other hand, on mobiles the person may be doing something else, and only sporadically watch the Habbo interface. This creates the problem that avatars guided from mobile phones seem to be passive lampposts most of the time.
This had at least two consequences. Firstly, they intend to make a separate hotel for mobile users, instead of putting them to PC hotel. Secondly, the shift of emphasis from the Habbo groupware to single-user games reflects the problems of the mobile context of use - they don't consider mere discussion to be fancy enough in itself in the mobile context.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Limperin Hilma
From the point of view of Panu-style ATM activism, Limperin Hilma is probably the most realistic song about the relationships between men and women. Unfortunately my poetic abilities are not good enough to translate this hilarious song to English.
A note about the translation: "Aukusti" (August) is a Finnish male name.
Vieläkö muistatte Limperin Hilman
koulumme oppilaan niin herttaisen
mukanaan aina toi kauniin hän ilman
mietimme ken tekee valloituksen
Anttilan Augustin kaihoisat laulut
herkkähän mielehen tehosi kai
lipevä kieli ja korkea kaulus
parhaimmat pisteet ne kilvassa sai
Hilma se hääräili pellolla illat
päivisin tehtaalla työskenteli
********** kehräsi naapurin villat
********************************
Että hän mökkinsä lunastaa voisi
Augusti työstä ei piitannut lain
mielummin Augusti laulais ja joisi
eläisi helpossa maailmassa.
Vieläkö muistatte Limperin Hilman
vihdoinkin rauhassa levätä voi
ruohoinen hauta on ristiä ilman
Augusti mökkinsä viikossa joi.
A note about the translation: "Aukusti" (August) is a Finnish male name.
Do you still remember Hilma of Limberg
pupil in our school, most pretty and smart.
Her presence always brought weather a glimmer
we speculated who'd conquest her heart.
August's emotive songs and harp
made deep impression to poetic mind.
Collar so high and tongue so sharp
guaranteed best scroes for lifelong bind.
Daytime she was in factory employment,
fieldwork was how she evenings spent.
(don't remember original, can't translate)
She worked hard to pay the debt for the house
August turned out to be a full dork
He dedicated to music and booze
preferred to live in a world without work.
Do you still remember Hilma of Limberg
at last she's getting the rest that she needs.
August sold house and spent all on beer
grave has no cross and is growing weeds.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
The Morals Of Narnia
When I went to see Narnia, I expected a story with some kind of christian morals. What I found was a mere Disney spectacle.
The movie started very well. The opening scene is a prime example of how action scenes should be written. It introduced the characters, and the tension between the defiant little brother and the responsible or bossy big brother. It was an integral part of the plot - motivating the move to the countryside - and not just a fill-up whose signifigance boils down to who dies and who survives. And it was short.
The quality of the movie decreased linearly with the time. The final battle scene was a prime example of how not to write action scenes. It revealed no new information about the characters. The solution was known all the time. It was artificially lenghtened. I often close my eyes during such action scenes, and open them when the noise goes silent. Not once have missed important plot events this way in any movie.
Anyway, back to the moral side. The moral choices of the characters consisted mainly of yes/no choices: "yes" continue the adventure, and "no" to return from Narnia to the common world. There were also some multiple choices. The characters didn't plan, didn't try to predict consequences nor predict risks. They were spectators who watched the story unfold. Even christian moral is more fine-grained than the moral of Narnia.
Next, I'll define a moral imperative, which is consistent with transhumanist ideology. I call it "techno-optimist moral imperative".
A pareto improvement in efficiency is a development, which increases the productivity of an employee without making his or her job more straining or irritating. For example, digging a gutter with a digger machine instead of a shovel is such an improvement.
Two things are required to turn the misery of the past into our current comfy Western civilization: pareto improvements in efficiency and political will to spread the bigger cake to masses in the form of democracy, rule of law, education, healthcare, etc. (You could add that a third requirement is some kind of middle-class attitude to life. I'm not going to dwelve into that.)
Since the implementation of rights (I mean real rights, like right to vote, right to a phone call, various contractual rights, etc. and not the kinds of subjective rights that are often ridiculed in other Erektus blogs) requires pareto improvements in efficiency, and the adoption of pareto improvements in efficiency usually enhances the rights of the masses in the long run, it is reasonable to rise these improvements into a moral imperative:
Tommi said in one of his writings that he seldom encounters moral choices. Multiple-choice moral decisions have been removed from the life of ordinary citizens, and outsourced to judges, jurys, members of parliament, those who prioritize various life-critical services, etc. The techno-optimist moral imperative concerns a different set of people: those who can influence their own work.
This moral imperative establishes a tight link between knowledge and morality. In order to know if some modification in the way you work is an improvement, you must have good knowledge of your own field. Unlike in Narnia, where the magic bow aims to the target by itself, techno-optimist moral imperative requires training and experience. It also requires the persons involved to plan and speculate what the way of working would look like after a change, and how the various side effects of the practice should be dealt with.
In many areas of informational work, the productivity can not be measured accurately enough to detect small changes (like 10% or so). In these cases, it is necessary to resort to secondary signs of efficiency. For example, if some problem is a recurrent source of frustration, then solving it is likely to also improve efficiency. For example, continuous integration may be such a practise. Also, reducing the time required to do some subtask is a secondary sign of efficiency.
Also, the moral imperative doesn't say that you should believe just any person who says that something will be an efficiency improvement. It is quite common that marketers claim that something improves efficiency, while the real effect is questionable.
Lastly, the imperative doesn't talk about the political feasibility of adopting an improvement. Suppose that there are 6 workers in the team, and a practise can be adopted if 3 people strongly agree that it is good, and no more than one is strongly against. In this kind of situation, the percieved benefits of the new practise are of paramount importance. Here the christian moral tradition offers a good motto.
The movie started very well. The opening scene is a prime example of how action scenes should be written. It introduced the characters, and the tension between the defiant little brother and the responsible or bossy big brother. It was an integral part of the plot - motivating the move to the countryside - and not just a fill-up whose signifigance boils down to who dies and who survives. And it was short.
The quality of the movie decreased linearly with the time. The final battle scene was a prime example of how not to write action scenes. It revealed no new information about the characters. The solution was known all the time. It was artificially lenghtened. I often close my eyes during such action scenes, and open them when the noise goes silent. Not once have missed important plot events this way in any movie.
Anyway, back to the moral side. The moral choices of the characters consisted mainly of yes/no choices: "yes" continue the adventure, and "no" to return from Narnia to the common world. There were also some multiple choices. The characters didn't plan, didn't try to predict consequences nor predict risks. They were spectators who watched the story unfold. Even christian moral is more fine-grained than the moral of Narnia.
Next, I'll define a moral imperative, which is consistent with transhumanist ideology. I call it "techno-optimist moral imperative".
A pareto improvement in efficiency is a development, which increases the productivity of an employee without making his or her job more straining or irritating. For example, digging a gutter with a digger machine instead of a shovel is such an improvement.
Two things are required to turn the misery of the past into our current comfy Western civilization: pareto improvements in efficiency and political will to spread the bigger cake to masses in the form of democracy, rule of law, education, healthcare, etc. (You could add that a third requirement is some kind of middle-class attitude to life. I'm not going to dwelve into that.)
Since the implementation of rights (I mean real rights, like right to vote, right to a phone call, various contractual rights, etc. and not the kinds of subjective rights that are often ridiculed in other Erektus blogs) requires pareto improvements in efficiency, and the adoption of pareto improvements in efficiency usually enhances the rights of the masses in the long run, it is reasonable to rise these improvements into a moral imperative:
Techno-optimist moral imperative:
It is immoral not to adopt a pareto improvement in efficiency.
Tommi said in one of his writings that he seldom encounters moral choices. Multiple-choice moral decisions have been removed from the life of ordinary citizens, and outsourced to judges, jurys, members of parliament, those who prioritize various life-critical services, etc. The techno-optimist moral imperative concerns a different set of people: those who can influence their own work.
This moral imperative establishes a tight link between knowledge and morality. In order to know if some modification in the way you work is an improvement, you must have good knowledge of your own field. Unlike in Narnia, where the magic bow aims to the target by itself, techno-optimist moral imperative requires training and experience. It also requires the persons involved to plan and speculate what the way of working would look like after a change, and how the various side effects of the practice should be dealt with.
In many areas of informational work, the productivity can not be measured accurately enough to detect small changes (like 10% or so). In these cases, it is necessary to resort to secondary signs of efficiency. For example, if some problem is a recurrent source of frustration, then solving it is likely to also improve efficiency. For example, continuous integration may be such a practise. Also, reducing the time required to do some subtask is a secondary sign of efficiency.
Also, the moral imperative doesn't say that you should believe just any person who says that something will be an efficiency improvement. It is quite common that marketers claim that something improves efficiency, while the real effect is questionable.
Lastly, the imperative doesn't talk about the political feasibility of adopting an improvement. Suppose that there are 6 workers in the team, and a practise can be adopted if 3 people strongly agree that it is good, and no more than one is strongly against. In this kind of situation, the percieved benefits of the new practise are of paramount importance. Here the christian moral tradition offers a good motto.
God give me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to always tell the difference.
Monday, February 06, 2006
But There Was One Thing They Overlooked: The Masses And Multitudes Across This Land
In general I believe that the "deep structure" of international politics consists of (1)valid interest towards other countries and (2) the domeistic situation in the country. The valid interests include economic interests, security interests and geopolitical influence. The domeistic situation is more complicated and variable. Well-organized lobby groups, popular and loud ideologies, and recent events may exert pressure for changes in the foreign policy.
On the top of this "deep strucrure" there is a "surface structure", which consists of events, reactions, speeches, diplomacy, personal relations and other activities between the politicians and interested parties. In a stable and healthy foreign policy, the activities in the surface structure reflect the valid interests of the country.
The most striking feature in the Arab world's indignation towards the comics in Jylland-Posten is that there aren't any valid interests at stake. At least Helsingin Sanomat claims that it is very rare people spontaneously arrage demonstrations in the arab countries, so it is quite obvious that the burning of the Danish embassy is at least passively accepted by their government. It seems that the only interest of the Arab states is to give legitimacy for their own goverments by awaking suspicion towards the West. This interpretation would imply that many Arab governments have a dangerous legitimacy deficit.
Of course, this interpretation may be completely wrong. But if it is true, I don't see how this could be the beginning of any big change, except for the Danish dairy industry. Maybe in 10 years the internet will be full of caricatures of Mohammed, since drawing such caricatures is now brave and rebellious. At that point, the muslims which can see those comics will wonder what the fuss with the 12 first comics was all about.
On the top of this "deep strucrure" there is a "surface structure", which consists of events, reactions, speeches, diplomacy, personal relations and other activities between the politicians and interested parties. In a stable and healthy foreign policy, the activities in the surface structure reflect the valid interests of the country.
The most striking feature in the Arab world's indignation towards the comics in Jylland-Posten is that there aren't any valid interests at stake. At least Helsingin Sanomat claims that it is very rare people spontaneously arrage demonstrations in the arab countries, so it is quite obvious that the burning of the Danish embassy is at least passively accepted by their government. It seems that the only interest of the Arab states is to give legitimacy for their own goverments by awaking suspicion towards the West. This interpretation would imply that many Arab governments have a dangerous legitimacy deficit.
Of course, this interpretation may be completely wrong. But if it is true, I don't see how this could be the beginning of any big change, except for the Danish dairy industry. Maybe in 10 years the internet will be full of caricatures of Mohammed, since drawing such caricatures is now brave and rebellious. At that point, the muslims which can see those comics will wonder what the fuss with the 12 first comics was all about.
Monday, January 23, 2006
5 Strange Habits of a Highly Ineffective Person
1. Sometimes I walk to and fro on the floor as a form of procrastination. I've heard that Wittgenstein had the same habit. However, coding is different from philosophy and walking to and fro on the floor doesn't cause any progress good whatsoever.
2. Currently most of my social interaction happens in language courses. Why? No one could be less interested in my school affairs, and I'm really lousy at chit-chat.
3. When I make my own food, I choose from a set of 5 dishes. They are: oatmeal porridge, müsli, [fried potatos OR spaghetti] with fried [onions, sausage cubes and soya], and instant noodles. I don't intend to try new recipes before I graduate and leisure becomes truly leisure - now "leisure" is time, which I should use for something productive, but fail to.
4. I read foreign news with great interest, but find domeistic news uninteresting. Income distribution? Full of moralistic rhetoric and little substance. Education? Most decisions that matter are done locally. Healthcare? Being young, my generation hasn't really confronted the hospital. Taxation? What is it that you can't buy now but could by after 1% reduction in some tax, which may or may not take place next year? It is not that these questions don't matter - they do - but I fail to see any link between the headlines and anyone's daily life. After reading all these peak oil stories on how the presence or absence of energy affects our daily lives, the gas pipe explosion at Georgia feels much more relevant.
5. I don't listen much music nowadays.
It is difficult to find people, who have not been challenged to this meme yet, but I came up with two of them - Taneli Dobrowolski and Syksy Räsänen.
2. Currently most of my social interaction happens in language courses. Why? No one could be less interested in my school affairs, and I'm really lousy at chit-chat.
3. When I make my own food, I choose from a set of 5 dishes. They are: oatmeal porridge, müsli, [fried potatos OR spaghetti] with fried [onions, sausage cubes and soya], and instant noodles. I don't intend to try new recipes before I graduate and leisure becomes truly leisure - now "leisure" is time, which I should use for something productive, but fail to.
4. I read foreign news with great interest, but find domeistic news uninteresting. Income distribution? Full of moralistic rhetoric and little substance. Education? Most decisions that matter are done locally. Healthcare? Being young, my generation hasn't really confronted the hospital. Taxation? What is it that you can't buy now but could by after 1% reduction in some tax, which may or may not take place next year? It is not that these questions don't matter - they do - but I fail to see any link between the headlines and anyone's daily life. After reading all these peak oil stories on how the presence or absence of energy affects our daily lives, the gas pipe explosion at Georgia feels much more relevant.
5. I don't listen much music nowadays.
It is difficult to find people, who have not been challenged to this meme yet, but I came up with two of them - Taneli Dobrowolski and Syksy Räsänen.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
CALLT 5/5: Testing: When You Train Like You Fight, You Fight Like You Train
First, I'll define super-realistic testing; a form of computer-based testing, which provides uniform measures of skill, is sensitive to progress in language skill, makes cheating almost impossible, can be used for training and scales to a large number of students. Then I'll describe the only language testing project I have heard of [not. Just heard their specification is not ready.]
First, an example of super-realistic test for Chinese character recognition. The test material contains all chracters, which the student is supposed to recognize after the course. The test is administered with a flashcard-like web application. The test chooses randomly 20-40 characters. As I promised earlier, this kind of test would provide:
About the relationship between training and testing: In super-realistic testing, the same material can be used for training. The differences between training an testing is that (1) testing chooses a sample of material, (2) in testing, the true identity of the student needs to be checked.
The close link between training and testing ensures that there is "initial incentive" to collect material even before it reaches the level where cheating is impossible: When the amount of material is still small, it can be already used for training. Since a large number of students can use the same server, also a large number of teachers can divide the load of creating the material.
The same idea can be applied to sentence translation and reading comprehension, although not directly. For example in sentence translation it is common that there are several correct responses. Also common mistakes need to be taken into account - if the student commits a common mistake, he or she should be informed about the nature of the mistake. Just announcing that the answer is wrong does little good. In character recognition, it is OK to show the result after a wrong answer, but in sentence translation it may be better to let the user try again. Since minor spelling mistakes are more probable in long sentences, several tries are reasonable when training. Also some kind of lazy matching should be used, if the point of the sentence is grammatical and the student remembers some word a bit wrong.
In my last Chinese test, there were 4 kinds of questions: (1) Multiple choice: Given the character and the pinyin, Identify the english meaning, (2) Multiple choice: Given the character, idenify pinyin (3) Arrange the characters so that they form a sentence, (4) Given the English meaning and the pinyin, draw the character. From these 4 tasks, only the fourth is something that can't be digitized. The number of questions required to reach uncheatable level is quite low for the other types of questions. (There is a program to train character drawing, but it is too sensitive. It is good that when you train the program insists on absolutely correct form. However, in testing the standards should such that it is possible to get it right the first time.)
The fact that the progress in super-realistic testing is numerically measurable (number of characters recognized, number of sentences translated) makes it possible to draw charts of progress, if the student does the test on regular intervals (say, once every 2 weeks). These progress charts will add motivation by giving a hidden promise that if you keep on putting the same effort, eventually the progress line will reach the very top, and the effort is finished.
First, an example of super-realistic test for Chinese character recognition. The test material contains all chracters, which the student is supposed to recognize after the course. The test is administered with a flashcard-like web application. The test chooses randomly 20-40 characters. As I promised earlier, this kind of test would provide:
- Uniform measure of skill:It doesn't matter, whether you learned the characters from course material or some other way.
- Sensitive to progress:If you learn more characters, you get better scores.
- Impossible to cheat:If you memorize all characters beforehand, you have learned what you are supposed to learn.
- Scales to a large number of students:One server is more than enough for all person studying Chinese in Finland.
About the relationship between training and testing: In super-realistic testing, the same material can be used for training. The differences between training an testing is that (1) testing chooses a sample of material, (2) in testing, the true identity of the student needs to be checked.
The close link between training and testing ensures that there is "initial incentive" to collect material even before it reaches the level where cheating is impossible: When the amount of material is still small, it can be already used for training. Since a large number of students can use the same server, also a large number of teachers can divide the load of creating the material.
The same idea can be applied to sentence translation and reading comprehension, although not directly. For example in sentence translation it is common that there are several correct responses. Also common mistakes need to be taken into account - if the student commits a common mistake, he or she should be informed about the nature of the mistake. Just announcing that the answer is wrong does little good. In character recognition, it is OK to show the result after a wrong answer, but in sentence translation it may be better to let the user try again. Since minor spelling mistakes are more probable in long sentences, several tries are reasonable when training. Also some kind of lazy matching should be used, if the point of the sentence is grammatical and the student remembers some word a bit wrong.
In my last Chinese test, there were 4 kinds of questions: (1) Multiple choice: Given the character and the pinyin, Identify the english meaning, (2) Multiple choice: Given the character, idenify pinyin (3) Arrange the characters so that they form a sentence, (4) Given the English meaning and the pinyin, draw the character. From these 4 tasks, only the fourth is something that can't be digitized. The number of questions required to reach uncheatable level is quite low for the other types of questions. (There is a program to train character drawing, but it is too sensitive. It is good that when you train the program insists on absolutely correct form. However, in testing the standards should such that it is possible to get it right the first time.)
The fact that the progress in super-realistic testing is numerically measurable (number of characters recognized, number of sentences translated) makes it possible to draw charts of progress, if the student does the test on regular intervals (say, once every 2 weeks). These progress charts will add motivation by giving a hidden promise that if you keep on putting the same effort, eventually the progress line will reach the very top, and the effort is finished.
Friday, January 06, 2006
CALLT 4/5: Annotators
Annotators are programs, which take a web page as an input and annotate foreign words with extra information. For example, the annotated page could be such that when you hold the mouse cursor over some foreign word, it shows you its meaning in English.
The first annotator I saw was for Lojban. Here is one. I'm not sure if this is the same one. Lojban is an artificial language with a few tens of speakers. However, its grammar belongs to some easily parsable category (LL(k) etc.), which makes it easies to write an annotator.
Here is a Japanese annotator.
The Lukutulkki advertised in the blogilista.fi is also an annotator. I've also seen a web page which claims to contain a Chinese annotator; however, the annotator didn't produce any output.
In general, annotators are very scarce when compared to dictionaries and flashcard programs. Are they really so difficult to implement? Is the process of annotating so straining for servers? Do so many dictionaries have a copyrighted vocabulary that they can't allow anyone to download it with an annotator?
The first annotator I saw was for Lojban. Here is one. I'm not sure if this is the same one. Lojban is an artificial language with a few tens of speakers. However, its grammar belongs to some easily parsable category (LL(k) etc.), which makes it easies to write an annotator.
Here is a Japanese annotator.
The Lukutulkki advertised in the blogilista.fi is also an annotator. I've also seen a web page which claims to contain a Chinese annotator; however, the annotator didn't produce any output.
In general, annotators are very scarce when compared to dictionaries and flashcard programs. Are they really so difficult to implement? Is the process of annotating so straining for servers? Do so many dictionaries have a copyrighted vocabulary that they can't allow anyone to download it with an annotator?
Saturday, December 31, 2005
CALLT 3/5: Flashcards
A flashcard is a piece of paper, which contains a foreign word on the one side, and a known-language translation(s) on the other side. Usually you have a deck of flashcards, which contain the words for a certain textbook chapter, vocabulary on some specific topic, etc. Flashcards are used so that you look at the known-language side and try to guess the foreign word. Then you turn the card and check the correct answer. Repeat for all cards in the deck. You go through the deck until you have learned the words well enough.
A flashcard program is not only a digitized version of flashcards. The main additions are Leitner cardfile and sessions.
The Leitner cardfile is about ensuring that you spend your time with unknown words. It consists of 3 - 5 piles. The first pile is a New Words pile, and initially all cards are there. The last pile is an Under Control pile. The cards in the Under Control pile are considered learned; however, you may forget them. In addition, there are 1-3 intermediate piles representing increasing amounts of control.
When the flashcard program asks question in a card, a correct answer moves it to the next pile. A wrong answer takes the card to the lowest intermediate pile. For example, if you have 3 intermediate piles, it takes 3 consecutive correct answers to move a card from the lowest intermediate pile to the Under Control pile.
The Leitner cardfile ensures that you keep repeating the card until you learn it. There is no other way to get it to the Under Control pile. On the other hand, you'll spend your time with words, which you don't know yet - soon after you learn a word it is transfered to the Under Contorl pile.
Sessions define the order in which the cards are asked. A session is a "daily" amount of questions, and the basic input is the number of new words you want to learn per day. Suppose you want to learn 15 words a day. Then a session could consist of the following lessons.
In addition, there may be special error lessons. Error lessons happen after the main lessons (listed above) and drill those words which the user failed. The words will be asked again and again, until the user has answered correctly 3 consecutive times to each question. The error lesson happens "outside" the Leitner cardfile, and it doesn't affect where the cards are moved.
A problem with the flashcard methodology is that you don't really learn the word. You merely associate a foreign string to some known-language words. Unless traditional methods are used to learn the word (reading texts, translating sentences, etc.) the word is quickly forgotten.
The reason for this is that the words are not independent entities, but always parts of some sentence. Also from the point of view of learning it is important to see how the word is used in sentences. I would guess that adding example sentences (which are shown, if the user answers incorrectly) will greatly facilitate the efficiency of flashcards. However, I haven't seen any flashcards with example sentences yet.
A flashcard program is not only a digitized version of flashcards. The main additions are Leitner cardfile and sessions.
The Leitner cardfile is about ensuring that you spend your time with unknown words. It consists of 3 - 5 piles. The first pile is a New Words pile, and initially all cards are there. The last pile is an Under Control pile. The cards in the Under Control pile are considered learned; however, you may forget them. In addition, there are 1-3 intermediate piles representing increasing amounts of control.
When the flashcard program asks question in a card, a correct answer moves it to the next pile. A wrong answer takes the card to the lowest intermediate pile. For example, if you have 3 intermediate piles, it takes 3 consecutive correct answers to move a card from the lowest intermediate pile to the Under Control pile.
The Leitner cardfile ensures that you keep repeating the card until you learn it. There is no other way to get it to the Under Control pile. On the other hand, you'll spend your time with words, which you don't know yet - soon after you learn a word it is transfered to the Under Contorl pile.
Sessions define the order in which the cards are asked. A session is a "daily" amount of questions, and the basic input is the number of new words you want to learn per day. Suppose you want to learn 15 words a day. Then a session could consist of the following lessons.
- New Word lesson: Take 15 new cards from the New Words pile and ask them.
- Rehearse lesson: Take 15 cards from the Under Control pile. If you have forgotten some of them, put the cards to the first intermediate pile.
- Intermediate Pile 3: Ask all questions. Move correct cards to the Under Control pile and wrong cards to the Intermediate Pile 1.
- Intermediate Pile 2: Ask all questions. Correct cards go to Pile 3, wrong ones to Pile 1.
- Intermediate Pile 1: Ask all questions. Correct cards go to Pile 2, wrong ones to Pile 1.
In addition, there may be special error lessons. Error lessons happen after the main lessons (listed above) and drill those words which the user failed. The words will be asked again and again, until the user has answered correctly 3 consecutive times to each question. The error lesson happens "outside" the Leitner cardfile, and it doesn't affect where the cards are moved.
A problem with the flashcard methodology is that you don't really learn the word. You merely associate a foreign string to some known-language words. Unless traditional methods are used to learn the word (reading texts, translating sentences, etc.) the word is quickly forgotten.
The reason for this is that the words are not independent entities, but always parts of some sentence. Also from the point of view of learning it is important to see how the word is used in sentences. I would guess that adding example sentences (which are shown, if the user answers incorrectly) will greatly facilitate the efficiency of flashcards. However, I haven't seen any flashcards with example sentences yet.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
CALLT 2/5: Behaviorism
I'm currently reading Skinner's Technology of Teaching, and I may write this entry again after I've finished it. However, here's a short summary of essential behaviorism.
Behaviorism is school of thought in psychology. It emphasizes empirical research and lab experimentation. Their central claim is that because the mind and thoughts can not be observed directly, psychologists should instead concentrate on the kind of behaviour which can be observed directly.
Behaviorists are most famous for their animal experiments on learning. They used a really simple model:
In natural language, when the organism gets a specific stimulus, it responds with a certain behaviour.
For example, when a dog is trained, the words are the stimulus and the hoped behaviour is the response. The behaviorists called training conditioning - in conditioning, the stimulus becomes a condition for response.
Their central findings are that the following conditions must be met in order to achieve maximal conditioning efficiency:
These may seem obvious, but once when Skinner attended her daughter's class, he noticed that they are very much violated in the classroom. Often there were days between doing exercises and getting the feedback on their correctness. The level of difficulty was such that the bottom 1/3 had great trouble doing the exercise, while top 1/3 didn't learn much from doing them.
The solution proposed by Skinner was individualized teaching machines. They would show the material in small chunks, and present questions after each piece of material. Correct answers would take the student to the next topic, while wrong answers would present more material on the same topic.
This way, there would be more feedback compared to reading a book. The feedback would be immeadiate. The individualized teaching would ensure that the level of difficulty was always be suitable.
The behaviorists built some mechanical (the only computers back then were mainframes!) teaching devices, although they never became popular. I haven't found any proper explanation, why the movement has not been resurrected now, when computers make it easy to implement everything in software. The 3 issues are still there (except in the university, where you can take basic, intermediate and advanced courses as you wish.)
Behaviorism is school of thought in psychology. It emphasizes empirical research and lab experimentation. Their central claim is that because the mind and thoughts can not be observed directly, psychologists should instead concentrate on the kind of behaviour which can be observed directly.
Behaviorists are most famous for their animal experiments on learning. They used a really simple model:
S -> O -> R
S: Stimulus
O: Organism
R: Response
In natural language, when the organism gets a specific stimulus, it responds with a certain behaviour.
For example, when a dog is trained, the words are the stimulus and the hoped behaviour is the response. The behaviorists called training conditioning - in conditioning, the stimulus becomes a condition for response.
Their central findings are that the following conditions must be met in order to achieve maximal conditioning efficiency:
- Feedback: The learner (animal or human) gets feedback, which he, she or it clearly recognizes as positive or negative.
- Short delay: Too much delay between the act and the feedback sharply decreases the efficiency of conditioning.
- Suitable difficulty: If the behavior is already well learned, the training no more significantly reinforces the behaviour. On the other hand, difficult behavior should be divided to small components, and these component behaviors should be taught first.
These may seem obvious, but once when Skinner attended her daughter's class, he noticed that they are very much violated in the classroom. Often there were days between doing exercises and getting the feedback on their correctness. The level of difficulty was such that the bottom 1/3 had great trouble doing the exercise, while top 1/3 didn't learn much from doing them.
The solution proposed by Skinner was individualized teaching machines. They would show the material in small chunks, and present questions after each piece of material. Correct answers would take the student to the next topic, while wrong answers would present more material on the same topic.
This way, there would be more feedback compared to reading a book. The feedback would be immeadiate. The individualized teaching would ensure that the level of difficulty was always be suitable.
The behaviorists built some mechanical (the only computers back then were mainframes!) teaching devices, although they never became popular. I haven't found any proper explanation, why the movement has not been resurrected now, when computers make it easy to implement everything in software. The 3 issues are still there (except in the university, where you can take basic, intermediate and advanced courses as you wish.)
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
CALLT 1/5: Dictionaries
In this article, I'll describe various dictionaries as a continuum from the low-end to the high-end.
Electronic dictionaries have two forefathers. One is the dead-wood dictionary. The other is the word list - a text file, opened and searched with your favorite text editor.
The basic feature of an electronic dictionary is to automate the search. Other common features are
Multimedia dictionaries can contain sound and images. The obvious use of sound it to play the pronunciation as a recorded waveform or with a speech synthesizer. Images are more useful for the encyclopedias.
Hypertext is more interesting extension to a traditional dictionary. Combining a dictionary and a grammar should be techonologywise quite easy. For example, if the user looks up a preposition, a grammar page would be more beneficial than a few example sentences.
Morphological dictionaries can parse inflected words. When the user types an inflected word, the dictionary is smart enough to look up the root word.
The other direction is to produce inflected words. For example Multitran, an English-Russian dictionary, is able to produce the most common inflected verb forms.
A combination of morphological and multimedia dictionary could parse the word and offer the user grammatical information on the inflection.
Wiktionary is a collaborative dictionary, which is based on the wkimedia engine. The wikimedia engine also powers wikipedia. Anyone can edit the articles describing a word.
The core of the wiktionary are known-to-known articles - for example, explaining English words in English. These known-to-known articles have a long list of translations to other languages, for example the word "mouse" has translations to 29 languages.
There are also foreign word articles. They are shorter and contain links to the main language articles. Often they also contain links to related words, which is nice.
Personally, I consider the traditional 2-language dictionaries to be better than Wiktionary. They typeset the entries more beautifully and don't mix more than 2 languages in search. Their coverage is usually good, and sometimes they even contain grammatical information, phrases and example sentences. In the future, I expect that Wiktionary will become a good known-to-known dictionary, while the independent 2-language dictionaries will continue to beat it in the foreign-to-known area.
Basic dictionaries
Electronic dictionaries have two forefathers. One is the dead-wood dictionary. The other is the word list - a text file, opened and searched with your favorite text editor.
The basic feature of an electronic dictionary is to automate the search. Other common features are
- Reverse search: Search from the known language to the foreign one.
- Multiple meanings: The word can have several known-language translations.
- Extra information like grammatical class, pronunciation or examples.
Multimedia dictionaries
Multimedia dictionaries can contain sound and images. The obvious use of sound it to play the pronunciation as a recorded waveform or with a speech synthesizer. Images are more useful for the encyclopedias.
Hypertext is more interesting extension to a traditional dictionary. Combining a dictionary and a grammar should be techonologywise quite easy. For example, if the user looks up a preposition, a grammar page would be more beneficial than a few example sentences.
Morphological dictionaries
Morphological dictionaries can parse inflected words. When the user types an inflected word, the dictionary is smart enough to look up the root word.
The other direction is to produce inflected words. For example Multitran, an English-Russian dictionary, is able to produce the most common inflected verb forms.
A combination of morphological and multimedia dictionary could parse the word and offer the user grammatical information on the inflection.
Wiktionary: Collaborative collection of vocabularies
Wiktionary is a collaborative dictionary, which is based on the wkimedia engine. The wikimedia engine also powers wikipedia. Anyone can edit the articles describing a word.
The core of the wiktionary are known-to-known articles - for example, explaining English words in English. These known-to-known articles have a long list of translations to other languages, for example the word "mouse" has translations to 29 languages.
There are also foreign word articles. They are shorter and contain links to the main language articles. Often they also contain links to related words, which is nice.
Personally, I consider the traditional 2-language dictionaries to be better than Wiktionary. They typeset the entries more beautifully and don't mix more than 2 languages in search. Their coverage is usually good, and sometimes they even contain grammatical information, phrases and example sentences. In the future, I expect that Wiktionary will become a good known-to-known dictionary, while the independent 2-language dictionaries will continue to beat it in the foreign-to-known area.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Computer-Aided Language Learning Tools
Next, I'll write a series of articles about the topic mentioned above. The topic is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, I wrote my own bare-bones flashcard program a few years ago (none of the free existing ones I reviewed had the features I wanted. Not that my own program has them either.) Secondly, the Chinese course web page has some links to various web application. That may not be much, but it is more than anything I've seen on other language courses.
The outline of the articles is:
1. Dictionaries: These are the only tools, which are currently part of the standard infrastructure. However, even in dictionaries there is much unleashed potential. I'll describe some high-end features which are currently not implemented or implemented only in few dictionaries. I'll also talk about the Wiktionary.
2. Behaviorism: This article will tell about the learning theories of the 60s behaviorism, which is the ideological backbone of flashcard programs.
3. Flashcard Programs: This will describe some features of a good flashcard program, and review some existing programs.
4. Annotators: Annotators take a foreign-language text as an input, and annotate it with yellow notes, links, etc. The extra information tells the meaning of the word in the known language.
5. Testing: First, I'll describe some language tests I've taken this autumn, and argument that most of them could be implemented by a computer. Secondly, I'll describe a new way of testing, which is possible on a computer but impossible on paper.
The outline of the articles is:
1. Dictionaries: These are the only tools, which are currently part of the standard infrastructure. However, even in dictionaries there is much unleashed potential. I'll describe some high-end features which are currently not implemented or implemented only in few dictionaries. I'll also talk about the Wiktionary.
2. Behaviorism: This article will tell about the learning theories of the 60s behaviorism, which is the ideological backbone of flashcard programs.
3. Flashcard Programs: This will describe some features of a good flashcard program, and review some existing programs.
4. Annotators: Annotators take a foreign-language text as an input, and annotate it with yellow notes, links, etc. The extra information tells the meaning of the word in the known language.
5. Testing: First, I'll describe some language tests I've taken this autumn, and argument that most of them could be implemented by a computer. Secondly, I'll describe a new way of testing, which is possible on a computer but impossible on paper.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Enter The Dragon
This autumn I've been mainly sudying Chinese. I've spent about as much time on it as on everything else combined.
There are two main arguments for me to read Chinese. The first one is the Demographic Argument. China with its population of 1.3 billion is the most populated country in the world. If they can raise the richest 1/4 of their population to the same standard of living as the USA, they will have equal ecomonic weight. It's really simple.
The second argument is the fact that I've already run into Chinese people and language. In my previous job, one of my 2 closest co-employees was from China. We also wrote a piece of software, which was localized to Chinese.
The fundamental nature of software writing is that you write it once and take as many copies as you can sell. This makes it almost inevitable that I will work with Chinese software also in the future (unless I work only for consulting companies; consults produce local services rather than international products).
When I still subscribed to Helsingin Sanomat, I used to cut all articles written by its the foreign correspondent in China, Sami Sillanpää.
My knowledge of China isn't too deep, and I don't have many opinions on China, other than the fairly trivial ones: They should stop threatening Taiwan. They should democratize their country. EU should retain the arms embargo as long as China threatens Taiwan.
There are two main arguments for me to read Chinese. The first one is the Demographic Argument. China with its population of 1.3 billion is the most populated country in the world. If they can raise the richest 1/4 of their population to the same standard of living as the USA, they will have equal ecomonic weight. It's really simple.
The second argument is the fact that I've already run into Chinese people and language. In my previous job, one of my 2 closest co-employees was from China. We also wrote a piece of software, which was localized to Chinese.
The fundamental nature of software writing is that you write it once and take as many copies as you can sell. This makes it almost inevitable that I will work with Chinese software also in the future (unless I work only for consulting companies; consults produce local services rather than international products).
When I still subscribed to Helsingin Sanomat, I used to cut all articles written by its the foreign correspondent in China, Sami Sillanpää.
My knowledge of China isn't too deep, and I don't have many opinions on China, other than the fairly trivial ones: They should stop threatening Taiwan. They should democratize their country. EU should retain the arms embargo as long as China threatens Taiwan.
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