What a wonderful couple of years it has been

A couple of weeks ago, Stanislas Wawrinka won the Australian Open as the eighth seeded player. He is the winner with the lowest seeding since Gaston Gaudio (unseeded) won Roland Garros in 2004. I will not go so far as to say that it's the end of an era but it's definitely a noteworthy event given how the past couple of years it's been fairly easy to predict the winners of Grand Slam titles. I thought I take a moment to reflect on the past few years of tennis as they have been singular.

It's just amazing to think about the quality of tennis we've seen over the last few years. It's always problematic to try to compare the level of game play between different eras. But if we look at a few pieces of statistics it's clear that we've had a truly spectacular period of tennis.

• Seven players have won a career Grand Slam.
  Two of them are active now (Federer and Nadal).
• Thirteen players have won three Grans Slam in a single year.
  Three of them are active now (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic)
• When it comes to appearing in most consecutive Grand Slam finals, Federer holds both first and second place (10 and 8, which would have been 19 if he had made it to the final in Australian Open 2008)
  Nadal is 6th place with 5 (tied with three other players) and Djokovic 10th with 4 (tied with three other players).
• Feder has won five consecutive Wimbledon titles, and US open titles.
• Nadal is the only player ever to win a single Grand Slam tournament eight times (French Open), and the also the only player to win at least one Grand Slam tournament for nine consecutive years.
• Nadal is the second player to win at least two Grand Slam tournaments on three different surfaces
• Djokovic is the only player in the open era to win three consecutive Australian Open and holds the record of 31 consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series matches.
• Federer, Nadal and Djokovic share the record of playing in the final of all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and Djokovic is alone in having won eight.
• Federer has won 17 Grand Slam tournaments and have held the no. 1 position in the world for 302 weeks in total.

The really astounding thing here is that we have three record breaking machines who are active at the very same time. It really shouldn't be possible. Pretty much all other record holder in tennis have reigned supreme, or at least haven't had two other players to compete with. The Sampras - Agassi rivalry is one notable parallel but it still doesn't live up to the same standard as the current era.

It's been an amazing couple of years for tennis. Here's to another couple of amazing years!

Sources: Wikipedia.

An ode to Source Code Pro

As someone who does a lot of programming a lot I spend a lot of my days looking at terminals and text editors. In particular, I look at monospace fonts, i.e. fonts where every character takes up the same width.

For a long time I used the default monospaced fonts on Ubuntu, which is Ubuntu Mono, a pretty decent font. But some time ago I started looking into various alternatives for monospaced fonts and fell for Inconsolata. I didn't really have any objective reasons to prefer it, I just like the look.

However, a little while ago I was suggested to try out Source Code Pro in the typography subreddit. After trying it out I simply fell in love. It is absolutely beautiful to look at. Plus it ticks all the boxes for a monospace programming font such as clear difference between similar characters, lowercase characters not too small etc. It is now my go-to font for situations which require monospace fonts. However, I still use Inconsolata for the terminal as I couldn't get Source Code Pro to render well at the smallish size I'm using there.

I was reminded of Source Code Pro again today when I switched window manager from metacity, the default window manager for Gnome, to xmonad and xmobar. The step-by-step guide to setting the up gave me a really ugly font in xmobar and I decided to try out Source Code Pro for that as well. The result is beautiful.

I can definitely recommend it.

PS. For this post I also had to learn how to do screenshots from xmonad. Found this nice guide which explained very well how to do it.

QOTD

The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is OK as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which can't be easily mesaured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can't be measured easily really isn't important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can't be easily measured really doesn't exist. This is suicide.

Thanks to Pete for this one, as a response to my previous post.

I've been thinking about the problem of counting recently as the board of Chalmers, my employer, wants to start measuring various things as a way to manage the university. From the things I've heard about it, it sounds like a supremely bad idea. These quotes will come in handy.

QOTD

Not everything that can be counted counts.
Not everything that counts can be counted.

William Bruce Cameron

Oh, I'm such a nerd

I happened upon a game called Monad while browsing Google Play. Of course I had to download it and try it out. In case you don't know, Monads are a programming idiom frequently used in the language Haskell, and something I use pretty much on a daily basis. So when I found a game with this name I couldn't resist it. Though I certainly felt rather nerdy downloading it.

Turns out, the game is actually very playable. Its simple graphics and gameplay reminds me of Asteriods but Monad is not about shooting. The way playing works is to tilt your phone to steer your ship so that it collides into friendly objects. If you set them off in the right direction they will hit your enemies and that's how you can destroy them. You do not want to collide directly with your enemies.

Monad is not easy but rather fun. And it's free. I recommend it.

QOTD

The more you give people, the more complacent they become. History, though, tells us how lucky we are.

Dave Hendon, Snooker Scene Blog

QOTD

Nothing is as healing as the human touch.

The last words of Bobby Fischer.

I recently saw the documentary "Bobby Fischer against the world". Very enjoyable, I can definitely recommend it.

Great Expectations

There are two (or actually three) upcoming movies that I'm thrilled to see once they hit the theaters. It's been a long time since I've been so very excited about films to come.
The first movie is the new Batman movie: The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan's last couple of movies have been absolutely awesome and I just hope he has preserved his form. The last Batman movie is without comparison the best superhero movie ever and one of the absolute best in the whole action/thriller genre. But in that movie he had an ace (or rather a joker) up his sleeve, in Heath Ledger, who made the performance of a lifetime. It's going to be difficult to top that in the next movie.
Nolan's most recent movie, Inception, was a wonderful science fiction thriller. I know it's not everybody's cup of tea but I just love it. It seems to me that it comes down to whether you're prepared to accept the premise of the movie. If you are, then you are in for a wonderful ride. I guess it's the rule of cool at work.
So with these two movies as his latest achievements I'd say I have good reasons to expect quite a lot from Nolan. Will my high expectations make me disappointed? Perhaps, but I can't shake the feeling.

The other movie(s) I'm really psyched about is The Hobbit (part I and II). After Peter Jackson's phenomenal work with The Lord of The Rings I'm absolutely dying to see how he handles the prequel. The tone of The Hobbit (the book) is quite different, more fairytale like, than epic The Lord of The Rings, so it's not like he can just use the same blueprint once again and expect good results. It is also interesting to note that those parts of LOTR that are similar to The Hobbit are those that were mostly left out of the movies. But I'm nevertheless confident that Jackson will do a good job. I'm particularly pleased that The Hobbit finally ended up as his project given how stepmotherly it's been handled at times.

QOTD

I've spent a lot of time banging my head off these issues:
my head has a lot of dents,
but so have the issues.

Conor McBride on the Haskell cafe mailing list

Women's tennis

I've been following the WTA Championship in Doha this week, as I've been home from work due to a cold. While watching the matches I've contemplated the state of the women's tennis tour. I can't shake the feeling that the level of play could be a lot higher.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching women's tennis and I'm very much impressed by many of the top players. But there are a couple of factors that indicate that there is room for quite a bit of improvement.

First of all, consider the come-backs of Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. I find it remarkable how well they could compete with the other women after having been away from professional tennis play. Henin reached the final in Australian Open, her 2nd tournament after her comeback. Clijsters won the US Open in her 3rd tournament after comeback. Those are of course remarkable feats, and shows just how good these two players are. But I also think it says something about the competition. In a more competitive tour, like say the men's tennis tours, such dramatic comebacks would be impossible. Reaching the absolute top again in such a short time shouldn't be possible.

Another indication that the level of play is not what it could be is to consider the current world no. 1. I should start by saying that I really like Caroline Wozniacki and have followed her for a few years. But still, I'm not sure she belongs as the world no. 1. I think is says a lot about the tour when the highest ranked player almost completely lacks offensive weapons. Wozniacki's strength is in her defensive play, the fact that she somehow always manages to return the ball. However, tennis is a very aggressive and offensive sport and I think there is plenty of room to improve the offensive play to the level where a player with a game like Wozniacki wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace. Or at least not be the highest ranked player.

Speaking of player ranked as no. 1, there's been a few, including the present one, which haven't won a single Grand Slam. Before Wozniacki, both Safina and Jankovic topped the ranking without having clinched any of the four greatest titles. Maybe I'm being silly here. After all, these players won their ranking points fair and square in other tournaments and collected more points than any other. But I can't help feeling rather unsatisfied by players ranked as no. 1 without a Grand Slam victory. One reason might be that the women's Grand Slam doesn't stand out the same way it does for men. On the men's side the matches are played best of five, which makes these tournaments uniquely tough. For the women, the Grand Slams are certainly something special but they are still played using the same format. I'm not sure whether that counts in favor for the top ranked players without Grand Slam trophies at home, or not. But I still think Grand Slams and the highest rank go hand in hand.

There's no doubt that women's tennis have improved quite a bit over the last decades. In recent years we've seen for instance the Williams sisters developing the game and pushing it to new levels. I hope to see more players stepping and pushing themselves to the point where they set new standards for the game. One example from another sport that comes to mind is Annika Sörenstam, who transformed women's golf.

Lately I've been quite impressed with the way Samantha Stosur is playing. I really enjoy her game when she can keep it together and the strong serve and forehand she has feel like the future of tennis. I sure hope she can improve the other parts of her game to become a more complete player and also become stronger mentally. Then I think she could really push the limits of women's tennis.

I want to end with a thought that is plenty politically incorrect. I've just read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It's a fabulous book talking about successful people and the many reasons for their success. A central theme in the book is that some people get a special advantage from an early point in life. This advantage accumulates over the years to make them superior to their peers. One particularly interesting example from the book is hockey players in the NHL which turns out to be much more likely to be born in the first quarter of the year than any other quarter. It's a very interesting story which I will not retell here, I recommend the book instead.

When watching the top players on the WTA tour I can't help noticing that many of them are quite beautiful. Uncommonly so. How come that such a large fraction of female players have such good looks? Well, following the logic from Outliers, I would suggest that there is quite a bit of sexism among tennis trainers. It would seem like the prettier girls get the better training. This gives them an early advantage that will make them more likely to become top stars. Of course, this is just speculation on my part. But if it's true, it would be possible to improve the level of women's tennis by focusing solely on tennis talent and ignore the looks when it comes to training girls.

Aside from these rather inappropriate musings I'm really looking forward to seeing the WTA tour improve and reach new levels of play.

QOTD

I recommend anxiety as the appropriate state of mind when
designing systems of telepathy.

Conor McBride on the Agda mailing list

QOTD

If I was a native american my name would be "foot in mouth"

QOTD

Today's quote is a little longer than usual and comes in the form of a picture.

From Holstee

Facebook ate my blog

It seems since I drank the Facebook kool-aid my need for writing blog posts has decreased markedly. But that's not necessarily a bad thing and I feel that the blog still has its place for more in-depth, lengthier stuff.

While on the subject of Facebook I might add a thought that I've had. There's a lot of talk about various buttons that people think should be added. The most popular one seems to be "dislike". I'm happy we haven't seen this realized, I truly believe the world would be a worse place with this button. Other examples include "Meh" which is also not on the positive side.

I'd also like a new button but a more positive and supportive one. I often find that "Like" is not the right way to show positive support for a post. If someone says they just lost a family member that's not something I "Like". I think a "Sympathize" button would be more appropriate in situations like these. That's the kind of button I think Facebook should add.

WOTD

Word of the day: parapraxis. I couldn't find it in my rather extensive dictionary but internet has everything. The Free Dictionary says:

A minor error, such as a slip of the tongue, thought to reveal a repressed motive

Ran across it while reading "The End of Mr. Y", a thoroughly entertaining but also very disturbed book.

Orc potion

If you ever read The Lord of the Rings (and if you haven't, you should) then you might remember the passage about Merry and Pippin being captured by some Orcs. In order to keep the hobbits awake and giving the strength to run the Orcs force them to drink a special potion. I quote from The Two Towers:

[The Orc] cut the thongs round Pippin's legs and ankles, picked him up by his hair and stood him on his feet. Pippin fell down, and Uglúk dragged him up by his hair again. Several Orcs laughed. Uglúk thrust a flask between his teeth and poured some burning liquid down his throat: he felt a hot fierce glow flow through him. The pain in his legs and ankles vanished. He could stand.

I now know what this mysterious potion is. I've been taking it myself for a couple of days now to keep myself standing. It's Chi san. I can tell you, it's not a very nice sensation to drink it. But does help.

And no, I did not get any money to write this post.

Beautiful pictures

Two galleries I found online with absolutely awesome pictures.

Inside The Tube: Incredible Wave Photography

David Burdeny

Vista Service Pack 2

I've just upgraded to Vista Service Pack 2. So far I'm not that impressed.

Malfemism

Sometimes you have to invent a new word. As a scientist I have to come up with new names for new concepts I think up but it's not that often that I need a new name for something that occurs in everyday life.

This summer I was on a summer school for two weeks together with about a hundred other people. Most where Ph.D. students quite a bit younger than me and inevitably there were a couple of romances there. For reasons I won't go into we started to refer to these romances as "drowning". For example, if we suspected that one guy had fallen in love with someone we would alert that he was drowning. Some couples had serious cases of drowning. It was rather absurd but also a bit of fun to refer to it as drowning.

At some point I commented that drowning was a euphemism but quickly realized that I was wrong. A euphemism is a word which sounds much nicer that the word it is replacing. However, drowning is certainly not as pleasant as falling in love. Hence drowning, in the sense we used it, it not a euphemism. But then what is it? Is there a name for this? No one new, not even the guys from Oxford. So one of them, Christopher Broadbent, came up with a word: malfemism. It's obviously derived from euphemism using a bit of Latin which goes well beyond my knowledge. It's not that it will be the most useful word in the history but I still like it, both for the way it sounds and the fact that it was created for a situation where I actually needed it.

So here's a new word for you: malfemism, for when the actual word is too nice and boring.

Google Toolbar

I've had my ups and downs with the Google Toolbar for Firefox this week. Normally I think it has some valuable features in addition to what Firefox offers although I only use a fraction of all the things you can do with it. But things have been a little frustrating the last few days.

It started with Google announcing Sidewiki. Reading their announcement really got me fired up. This is something that I've been thinking about and wanting for many years. Well frankly, the scale was a little smaller in my head. What I've been after is a way for academics to annotate papers they read with comments and share them with others in a simple way. I've discovered quite a few bugs in research papers over the years and at times I've been frustrated with the fact that no one takes responsibility for these, not the published and very seldomly the author(s). So naturally Sidewiki got me very enthusiastic because it's just what I wanted, and on steroids even!

So I rushed to download the new Google Toolbar which is needed to access Sidewiki. After I restarted Firefox I looked around for the new feature. After a few moments of unsuccessful searching I went to consult Googles help section. As it turns out Sidewiki doesn't work in all languages yet, and one of the unsupported languages is Swedish. Dang! But why am I using a Swedish toolbar in the first place? I often use the English language version of software because I often find that the Swedish translations can be confusing and I tend to use the English terms anyway.

The next step was naturally to download the English version of the toolbar. But the download page didn't give me any choice of language. After a couple of minutes of more research I find out that the language of the toolbar is determined by the language used for Firefox. So it turns out I have a Swedish version of Firefox, something that is complete news to me, especially since all the menus are in English. Argh! And the reason for this is because I choose the Swedish as my language when installing Ubuntu some two years ago since Ubuntu handles the installation and upgrading of Firefox.

To sum up, I can't use Sidewiki because some decision I made a couple of years ago. Sigh. There are of course a whole number of things I can do to make it work but I don't know of a single one which I would actually be prepared to do at this point. I just have to be patient for a Sidewiki to be translated to Swedish.

There was also one other thing today. The new version of Google Toolbar that I now have installed has a feature for translating web pages and offering this translation of pages not in your home language. I've already disabled this feature for English pages. But a few moments ago I visited a Swedish page. Google Toolbar identified it as being in German and offered to translate into Swedish. Hello?