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Bite-sized Academics

Yesterday morning, as I prepared to make a final big push to get a CHI 2007 Notes paper on talk-to-content ratios written for Friday, I made the decision to drop the priority of that project. Standing in its way was a backlog of HCI Seminar readings and summarization, and my continued work on analyzing basketball ball movement as a network. While it is sad that I likely won’t get a solo paper in by tomorrow — part of me is still hoping I can find the energy to pull it off — a huge wave of relief passed over me the moment I made the decision. I wound up with a solid 24 hours of work on the other two things, and even came away with some helpful insights about future research.

The food on my plate is usually more than I can finish, and I have a mental freezer full of zip-lock baggies for open projects to prove it. But I am finally starting to see all of this work in the context of bite-sized chunks that are not only doable but also stimulating, if done right.

I’m also trying to keep some reserve for a Roots Camp for Bloomington in November. It has great academic and community significance for me, and I would like to make that a priority for the next 6-7 weeks. I have a feeling that burning myself out on a short paper at the expense of other classwork would have hampered my desire to take time away from other things to organize.

By Kevin Makice

A Ph.D student in informatics at Indiana University, Kevin is rich in spirit. He wrestles and reads with his kids, does a hilarious Christian Slater imitation and lights up his wife's days. He thinks deeply about many things, including but not limited to basketball, politics, microblogging, parenting, online communities, complex systems and design theory. He didn't, however, think up this profile.