View source for User:Guslacerda

I am a person. I have a [http://www.optimizelife.com website].

{{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] -->
| name = Gustavo Lacerda
| birthdate = {{birth date and age|1979|2|11|mf=y}}
| website = {{URL|http://www.optimizelife.com}}
}}

{{Babel|en|pt|nl-3|fr-3|es-2|de-2}}

'''Disclaimer:''' Strictly speaking, I am '''not''' a native speaker of English. For most purposes, however, it is my best language. It would make little sense for me to list Portuguese as 5 if my English were listed as 4. I would like a more objective way of rating one's language skills, such as [[Cloze | Cloze tests]]. Also, my Dutch should be a 3.5.
See [[User:Guslacerda/Languages]]

== My contributions to Wikipedia ==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Guslacerda contributions as Guslacerda]
When not logged in, I sometimes edited as [[User:84.81.60.126]] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?limit=50&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=84.81.60.126&namespace=&year=&month=-1 contributions]) This page's history suggests that I've also edited as: 128.237.225.179, 128.2.188.52, 151.201.247.135, 151.201.233.133, 67.171.70.182, 76.80.9.155, 128.2.247.105, 128.2.247.28, 201.52.64.39, 201.9.134.208, 146.50.8.81 .

=== Articles I've created or otherwise significantly contributed to ===

==== of academic relevance ('''very''' broadly speaking) ====
[[Alan Bundy]], [[User modeling]], [[Marc Hauser]], [[Joseph Halpern]], [[Production rule]], [[Model (abstract)]], [[Folk science]], [[Independence-friendly logic]] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Independence-friendly_logic&diff=88759295&oldid=88497391 here]), [[Bayesian cognitive science]], [[Many Eyes]]

==== Brazil ====
[[Frevo]], [[Mombojó]], [[Frans Post]]

==== Angola ====
[[Capanda Dam]]

==== Music ====
[[Jason Carter (fiddler)]], [[Mike Auldridge]], [[Alison Brown]], 

==== Other ====
[[Panarchism]]

=== Less significant contributions, but possibly interesting: ===
I added the [[5-string banjo]] to [[Template:Vocal and instrumental pitch ranges]], [[Validating carrier]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matt_Ridley&diff=20629878&oldid=19612148 Matt Ridley],
[[Exposure effect]]

== Admirable Wikipedians who I've met in real life ==
[[User:Kzollman]], [[User:Michael Hardy]], [[User:Metaeducation]]


== My thoughts on Wikis ==

I believe that Wikis need:
* editing in-line, both for real content and comments (in normal wikis, once you hit 'edit', you lose your visual bookmarks of what needs changing). See also the [[WYSIWYG]] issue below.
* [[modular design]], à la [[software design]]. [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Template#General MediaWiki] offers [[Transclusion]] in the form of so-called "templates"). I am interested in general design principles, whether applied to scientific methodology (see [[Lakatos]]) or [[Methodology_(software_engineering) | software development methodology]]. See, for example, [http://kybele.escet.urjc.es/PHISE05/papers/sesionII/Priestly.pdf 1] and [http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~mmk/papers/02-AAI-design.html 2]).
* more formal structures: interactive reading through semantically-rich text. I like the ideas of the [[Semantic MediaWiki]].
* Integration with endorsement-based [[Reputation_management | reputation systems]], so that you know how much the information can be trusted. See [http://www.optimizelife.com/wiki/index.php/TrustOPedia TrustOPedia], my system project for a practical epistemology. In the same vein, Wikipedia's history viewer should allow one to query which editor (i.e. which version) introduced a given piece of text into the article.
* Smart-linking: renders images that give information about the linked page (e.g. how complete / how rough the link is / whether it gives academic references, etc) without committing to loading the whole page.
* integration with [[LaTeX]] for rich editing (see [[Wikipedia:WikiTeX|WikiTeX]]), and hybrid editors that mix [[WYSIWYG]] with text (à la [[Macromedia_Dreamweaver | DreamWeaver]]).

Some of my thoughts on this are influenced by [[User:Metaeducation]].

[http://optimizelife.com My website] is based on MediaWiki, except for the home page. I haven't implemented any of the above hacks.


{| style="border: #99B3FF solid 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em; width: 242px;"
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | '''[[Wikipedia:Instruments]]'''
|-
| {{User violin-3}}
|-
| {{User guitar-2}}
|-
| {{User vocals-2}}
|-
| {{User piano-2}}
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | [[:Category:User instruments|Search user instruments]]
|}

== My Wiki Sandbox ==


WikiTeX seems to work here
: <math> \emph{M} \vdash P(x,n) \rightarrow \sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>

<math>{\bf e} = x</math>




<math>B_{M} =
\left[
\begin{array}{ccccc}
0 &  \ldots & 0 & b_{k,1}\\
b_{1,2} & 0 & \ldots & 0\\
0 & b_{2,3} & \ddots & 0\\
0 & 0 & \ddots & 0\\
\end{array}
\right]</math>

== A wiki-linked biography ==

=== Early years (1979-1997) ===
I was born in [[Recife]] on [[11 Feb]] [[1979]]. I loved the beach in [[Boa Viagem]] and had an obsession with geographical facts. In [[1986]], I got an [[MSX]] and learned to [[programming | program]] in [[BASIC]]. In [[1989]] (age 10), my family moved to [[Luanda]], as my father worked in the [[Capanda]] project, building a [[hydro plant]] on the [[Kwanza River]]. I learned to [[skateboard]], to bike, and to play [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bete bete], a variant of [[cricket]]. In mid [[1992]], because of the upcoming elections with a predictable outcome (war), we returned to Brazil. [[1993]] was spent in [[São Paulo]], and in 1994 we moved to [[London]], where I gained fluency in [[English language|English]]. Programming remained a lonely hobby (now with [[MS-DOS BASIC]]), and my projects included [[reverse-engineering]] [[Minesweeper]] and testing hypotheses about number theory. I studied at [[Southbank International School]] in [[Notting Hill]], where I met a very diverse group of rich kids, while following the [[IB_Diploma_Programme#Curriculum | IB program]], which included an independent project on [[fluid dynamics]]. An angsty teen, I subscribed to [[mystic]]al beliefs, became interested in [[taoism]] and [[zen buddhism]], until I grew out of it 3 or 4 years later (since then I've been a pretty good [[skeptic]]). My main hobby, which I enjoyed a lot, was playing soccer, both with my school, and with strangers at [[Kensington Gardens]]. I also learned to both enjoy and despise solitude. I often went to the [[Whiteleys]] mall and movie theater and bookstore by myself, and spent a lot of time photographing flowers and clouds.  I once read about [[Laplace's demon]] in [[James Gleick]]'s "Chaos" and it had a profound effect on my philosophy.

=== College (1997-2001) ===
For reasons still mysterious to myself, I decided to study in the [[USA]]. After visiting 6 colleges in [[October 1996]], I ended up at [[Bucknell University]] with [[early decision]]. I started out majoring in [[Physics]] and [[Philosophy]]. My [[Philosophy]] major quickly turned into [[Psychology]]. [[Linguistics]] was not an option. Displeased with physics education (see [http://gustavolacerda.livejournal.com/330526.html my compiled rants]), I became a [[Mathematics]] major. As the [[Psychology]] curriculum too proved disappointing, the distant promise of being able to take an [[AI]] class (looking back, I have been an "AI person" ever since my teens), along with a small bit of financial pragmatism, convinced me to major in [[Computer Science]], a decision which surprisingly (to me) paid off in terms of knowledge of [[programming languages]] and [[algorithms]]. In the Summer of [[2000]], I interned at [[Bell Labs]] and met many [[geek]]s, among whom I found my social home, like I never had before (fortunately, this would happened again, in less temporary fashion, at CMU in 2006). Finally, in [[May 2001]], I got a [[B.S.]] in [[Mathematics]] and [[Computer Science]].

=== Boston and Traveling (2001-2003) ===
Unemployed, I moved to [[Boston]]. Spoiled by college, and with few social channels, I had to figure out how to meet people. I quickly became a regular at the [[Bluegrass music|bluegrass]] sessions at the [[Cantab Lounge]] and taught myself to play [[fiddle]] (with much help from that wonderful community). I also bought a [[guitar]], and learned to [[jam]] with other people. This way, I found out about my talent for [[melody]] (I've been obsessed with [[solfege]] ever since I had piano lessons as a child), and near-impairment with [[rhythm]]. This year, I acquired a taste for [[Celtic music]] and [[gypsy jazz]], and met several people from [[Berklee]] and [[MIT]], where I often played [[soccer]]. I got a boring programming job in [[Woburn]], which paid twice as much as I spent, despite the extra expense of buying a car for the commute (and parking). I occasionally went to other MIT events, such as [[swing dancing]] and [[Tech Squares]]. I also attended a monthly philosophical [[salon (gathering)|salon]], and hung out with some friends from college. 

Unhappy with the job, in [[August 2002]], I left everything (i.e. my [[H1B]], my life in America) [http://gustavolacerda.livejournal.com/10255.html to do something crazy]: attend a logic conference in Europe and go traveling. I went to [http://gustavolacerda.livejournal.com/10255.html ESSLLI 2002] in Trento, and ended up doing a 19-city tour of Western Europe in 3.5 months. In [[Paris]], I met [http://fare.tunes.org Fare] [[IRL]].

At the end of 2002, I spend several months with my family in Recife, in which I discovered what Brazil is really like as an adult. I took 2 classes at [[UFPE]]: one on [[AI]] and one on [[information theory]]. The future was very uncertain.

=== Europe (2003-2006) ===
While traveling in [[Amsterdam]], I had been lucky to meet the Dutch logicians again, as they were having a "schoolweek". So in [[2003]], I started an [[M.Sc.]] in [[Logic]] at the [[Institute for Logic, Language and Computation]] at the [[University of Amsterdam]], what I imagined to be a sort of "[[G%C3%B6del%2C_Escher%2C_Bach|Goedel, Escher, Bach]] studies". There, I learned a little bit about [[modal logic]], [[formalized mathematics]] (and science), and [[type theory]], [[Kolmogorov Complexity]], [[game theory]] and [[formal semantics]] and [[pragmatics]], and did work on the cognitive science of [[autism]], automatic dictionary building (for [[information retrieval | IR]] purposes), and for my thesis, I wrote an equational [[automated reasoning | reasoner]] in [[Lisp]] (quite a learning experience!). I was part of a delicious [http://staff.science.uva.nl/~oladinig/readinggroup.html music cognition reading group], a couple of workshops on the [[evolution of language]], and helped organize AIED2005, on [[educational software]]. 

2004 was a busy year: I started tutoring high-school students in math and physics. I met [http://www.laurensjoensen.nl Laurens Joënsen] (who made me the official Brazilian [[bluegrass]] [[fiddle]]r at [http://blijburg.nl Blijburg], in sandy [[IJburg]]), and [http://www.impromptu.nl/biographies.html Ralph de Rijke]. Started learning [[theatre improvisation | theatre improv]] with [http://www.problemsolved.nl ProblemSolved] and [http://www.boomchicago.nl BoomChicago]. I hitchhiked to (almost) [[Luxemburg]] on the way to [[Nancy]]. Other trips: [[Alkmaar]], [[Bloemendaal]] (hiking), [[Utrecht]], [[Leiden]], [[Rijswijk]], [[Voorthuizen]], [[Alphen aan de Rijn]], [[the Hague]] ([[Escher]] Museum), [[Nijmegen]], [[Eindhoven]].

Through the influence of my dancer housemate Erik, I started learning [[contact improvisation]]. I practiced this at the [http://www.ahk.nl/ Hogeschool voor de Kunst] as well as at [[Vondelpark]]. I got to know the wonderful feeling of improvised self-expression: acrobatics, dancing, singing and acting, all completely improvised! Oh, the joy of expressing pure emotion... the fun of forging [[semantics]]less communication with strangers, and of creating something from nothing together, on the spot. 


After graduating, I went to [[Munich]] to work for [[Cadence Design Systems]] as [[Lisp]] programmer. Despite the fun I had with new language (learning German is fun(ny) when you know [[Dutch]]), my social life sucked, and I felt it was time to return to academia and to America. Americans, I feel, are easier to get to know. In Germany, friendliness towards strangers is often interpreted as a sign of insanity, and after a couple of months, even I was starting to think like them (I think of it as a game with two [[Nash equilibria]]: when you think like a German, you behave like a German, unless you're insane! So when you see a local being friendly, they are most likely insane.). Maybe it's because Europeans live their whole lives in one place, whereas the typical educated American moves several times in their lifetime (which would favor the second, friendly, equilibrum). Trips: [[Potsdam]], [[Berlin]], [[Hamburg]], [[Garmisch-Partenkirchen]].

=== CMU (2006- ) ===

My frustration with the non-customized format of classes and textbooks increasingly fueled my interest in [[educational software]]. In 2006, after flirting with [[Carnegie Mellon University]]'s philosophy department, I came to work as a [[researcher]] / [[programmer]] for the [[Human–computer interaction | HCI]] and [[Machine Learning]] departments at the [[Carnegie_Mellon_School of Computer Science | School of Computer Science]], making [[cognitive modeling]]-based [[educational software]]. I also intended to pursue interests in:

* developing [[argument-mapping]] software as: (1) a [[formalization]] and [[decision-making]] tool (2) [[model-tracing]] argumentative behavior for [[knowledge-tracing]] (a form of [[user modeling]]).
* [[scientific methodology]], including: (1) [[statistics]] and (2) [[model selection]] and [[causal inference]] from non-experimental data.
* formalizing all forms of [[reasoning]], as seen in [[mathematical AI]]: integrating [[multiple representations]], e.g. [[diagrammatic reasoning]]
* symbolic [[cognitive modeling]] with [[ACT-R]].

As it turned out, I became more interested in [[Bayesian]] [[machine learning]], and less interested in dreamy ideas like many of the above.

In July 2007, I attended a Summer School in Bayesian Cognitive Science in [[Los Angeles]]. In July 2008, I will be presenting at [http://uai2008.cs.helsinki.fi/ UAI] in [[Helsinki]].

== Labels ==
=== Labels I accept ===

* [[computer scientist]]
* [[statistician]]
* [[artificial intelligence]] researcher
* [[cognitive scientist]]

=== Labels that are a stretch ===

* [[mathematician]]

=== Labels that I might have accepted in the distant past ===

* [[logician]]
* [[philosopher]]
* [[linguist]]

== Hobbies ==

[[word game]]s, [[ball game]]s, [[improv game]]s