Much Talk About Computing

What makes an orator?

Attended the Computing in the 21st Century 2008 in Suntec yesterday. It was part of Microsoft Research Asia's 10th Anniversary celebration, and I was invited since I interned there last year as one of the 2006 Fellows. I thought the logo was nice, though Bernard thought the color scheme (the bits floating around) was too similar to Google's. =D


-- Talk to Me

There were the welcome address and opening speeches. While everyone did read from the script, I noticed our NUS Provost, Prof. Tan Eng Chye, delivering it sort of 'newscaster-style' -- with an engaging tone and much pause/emphasis on strategic places. It gave me the feel of being spoken to (even though it was still a recognizable 'recital'), and kept my attention better. That said, I did feel guilty for drifting away from some others from time to time because their contents were all pretty interesting. =P

But anyway, that brought my thoughts to a great orator most Indonesians are proud of, Bung Karno, who never needed a script. (I vaguely remembered hearing about this from my mother. If even she was impressed...) Apart from the gift, I think it might have come from the extent of his passion for the subject-- I really imagine him as someone who lived and breathed patriotism (putting aside the infamous other side of his personality).


-- Look and Feel

Then there were the PowerPoint talks, which I usually labor a lot on myself, being fussy in the department of idea presentation. =)P

Tony Hoare (quicksort, Hoare logic) jogged up the stage stairs. (He is going to be 75 in a few months.)

His slides were plain black-on-white pure text in contrast to the colorful others with the cool demos, but I think I still like his best, emotionally speaking. =) (My own favorite slide design is the 2003 'Edge'.) They stood out in their simplicity, unclogged and easy to read. There was a kind, humorous ambience in the way he spoke, too.

The topic was his dream on zero-defect programming, with the scientific basis and a comparison to the established reliability of the Engineering disciplines. He likened it to a wave of Harry Potter's magic wand to make the errors disappear, and Bernard pointed out that it helped that he had the accent already. =D


That aside, I am still kinda lost on what to talk about to these big names in research. =P People will have technical questions or ask for inspirational advices or talk about life I suppose? I'm probably having too clear a separation between my social and technical associations... And when I feel the gap in our level I tend to fall back on silence (not necessarily awkward if you ask me) or small talk that I am not good in, either. =PP